(Sigsby enters, damaged. His appearance is comic. Lady Mogton makes no effort to repress a grim smile.)
Sigsby. Funny, ain’t it?
Lady Mogton. I am sorry.
Sigsby. (He snarls.) “The Mother’s Hand shall Help Us!” One of your posters, I think.
Lady Mogton. You shouldn’t have insulted them—calling them old washerwomen!
Sigsby. Insult! Can’t one indulge in a harmless jeu d’esprit—(he pronounces it according to his own ideas)—without having one’s clothes torn off one’s back? (Fiercely.) What do you mean by it—disgracing your sex?
Lady Mogton. Are you addressing me?
Sigsby. All of you. Upsetting the foundations upon which society has been reared—the natural and lawful subjection of the woman to the man. Why don’t you read St. Paul?
Lady Mogton. St. Paul was addressing Christians. When men behave like Christians there will be no need of Votes for Women. You read St. Paul on men. (To Janet.) I shall want you!
(She goes out, followed by Janet.)