Lady Hunstanton. Good morning, Gerald.
Gerald. [Rising.] Good morning, Lady Hunstanton. Good morning, Mrs. Allonby.
Lady Hunstanton. [Sitting down.] We came to inquire for your dear mother, Gerald. I hope she is better?
Gerald. My mother has not come down yet, Lady Hunstanton.
Lady Hunstanton. Ah, I am afraid the heat was too much for her last night. I think there must have been thunder in the air. Or perhaps it was the music. Music makes one feel so romantic—at least it always gets on one’s nerves.
Mrs. Allonby. It’s the same thing, nowadays.
Lady Hunstanton. I am so glad I don’t know what you mean, dear. I am afraid you mean something wrong. Ah, I see you’re examining Mrs. Arbuthnot’s pretty room. Isn’t it nice and old-fashioned?
Mrs. Allonby. [Surveying the room through her lorgnette.] It looks quite the happy English home.
Lady Hunstanton. That’s just the word, dear; that just describes it. One feels your mother’s good influence in everything she has about her, Gerald.
Mrs. Allonby. Lord Illingworth says that all influence is bad, but that a good influence is the worst in the world.