Sir Wilfrid. [Impressed.] Not if you don't mind my watchin'. [Sitting down on the sofa.] And sayin' how wel you do it.
Vida. It's most original of you to come here this morning. I don't quite see why you did.
She places the roses here and there, as if to see their effect, and leaves them on a small table near the door through which her visitors entered.
Sir Wilfrid. Admiration.
Vida. [Sauntering slowly toward the mirror as she speaks.] Oh, I saw that you admired her! And of course, she did say she was coming here at eleven! But that was only bravado! She won't come, and besides, I've given orders to admit no one!
Sir Wilfrid. [Attempting to dam the stream of her talk which flows gently but steadily on.] May I ask you—
Vida. And, indeed, if she came now, Mr. Karslake has gone, and her sole object in coming was to make him uncomfortable. [She moves toward the table, stopping a half minute at the mirror to see that she looks as she wishes to look.] Very dangerous symptom, too, that passionate desire to make one's former husband unhappy! But, I can't believe that your admiration for Cynthia Karslake is so warm that it led you to pay me this visit a half hour too early in the hope of seeing—
Sir Wilfrid. [Rising; most civil, but speaking his mind like a Briton.] I say, would you mind stopping a moment! [She smiles.] I'm not an American, you know; I was brought up not to interrupt. But you Americans, it's different with you! If somebody didn't interrupt you, you'd go on forever.
Vida. [Passing him to tantalize.] My point is you come to see Cynthia—
Sir Wilfrid. [Believing she means it.] I came hopin' to see—