GWENDOLEN.
[After a pause.] They don’t seem to notice us at all. Couldn’t you cough?
CECILY.
But I haven’t got a cough.
GWENDOLEN.
They’re looking at us. What effrontery!
CECILY.
They’re approaching. That’s very forward of them.
GWENDOLEN.
Let us preserve a dignified silence.
CECILY.
Certainly. It’s the only thing to do now. [Enter Jack followed by Algernon. They whistle some dreadful popular air from a British Opera.]
GWENDOLEN.
This dignified silence seems to produce an unpleasant effect.
CECILY.
A most distasteful one.
GWENDOLEN.
But we will not be the first to speak.
CECILY.
Certainly not.