Cecil. Came here to find a girl shipwrecked off the coast of Japan years ago (smiles at Miss P.), more than twenty years ago. The parents were drowned, but one of the sailors has always persisted that the baby was not drowned, but adopted by kind Japanese. All sorts of inquiries have been made. A great deal of money comes to her if she can be found, but my brother, who keeps it if no trace of her can be discovered, would not rest satisfied until he had visited Japan himself.
Mimosa. Is it the treasure-flower of most worshipful Englishman that has been sadly lost?
Cecil. Treasure-flower? What a sweet name! No, Mimosa. The great barbarian has no little barbarians!
Miss P. Barbarian, indeed! One of the most enlightened and cultivated members of the powerful English aristocracy!
Mimosa (bowing). We reverence your words, O Most Ancient. Treat an honorable old woman as thy mother (bows) we learn in our cradles. May you, O most venerated, grow more and more like the pine and the lobster!
Miss P. (indignantly). Cecil, I am insulted! A lobster, indeed! Is my face heated?
Cecil (quickly). No, no! Don’t look vexed. It means something immensely complimentary. See, they are bowing again.
Mimosa. O most exalted, will you let honorable feet rest longer on unworthy floor while I see if most exalted Princess returns from the land of Sleep? Is it known to your powerful intelligence that the Princess fears a terrible curse?
Cecil. We heard it, Mimosa.