Faust. So Mephistopheles is growing old!
Kindly omit your stage philosophy,
And tell me all your plans about the play.
Mephisto. First we must make you young and fresh as paint,
Philters and elixirs are out of date.
A week in London—that is what you want;
London Society is our objective.
There you will find a not unlikely Gretchen,
For actresses are all the rage just now;
Countesses quarrel over Edna May,
And Mrs. Patrick Campbell is received
In the best houses. I shall introduce you
As a philosopher from Tübingen.
A sort of Nordau, no? Then Doctor Reich—
Advocates polyandry, children suffrage—
One man, one pianola; the usual thing
That will secure success: here is a card
For Thursday next—Lady Walpurge ‘At Home’
From nine till twelve—a really charming hostess.
Her ladyship is intellectual,
The husband rich, dishonest, a collector
Of objets d’art, especially old masters.
He got his title for his promises
To England in the war; financed the raid,
A patriot millionaire within whose veins
Imperial pints of German-Jewish blood
Must make the English think imperially,
And rather bear with all the ills they have
Than fly to others that they know not of.
Faust. Excellent plan! Except at Covent Garden,
I’ve hardly been in England since the ’eighties.
Act II.
Scene: Brocken House, Park Lane.
The top of the Grand Staircase. Lord and Lady Walpurge receiving their guests. The greatest taste is shown in the decorations, which are lent for the occasion of the play free of charge, owing to the deserved popularity of Mr. George Alexander. Furniture supplied by Waring, selected by Mr. Percy Macquoid; Old Masters by Agnew & Son, P. & D. Colnaghi, Dowdeswell & Dowdeswell; Wigs by Clarkson. A large, full-length Reynolds, seen above the well of staircase; r. a Gainsborough, l. a Hoppner. The party is not very smart, rather intellectual and plutocratic; well-known musicians and artists in group r., and second-rate literary people l. An
Irish peer and a member of the White Rose League are the only ‘Society’ present. There are no actors or actresses. Faust, who has aged considerably since the Prologue, is an obvious failure, and is seen talking to a lady journalist. Mephistopheles, disguised as a Protectionist Member of Parliament, is in earnest conversation with Lord Walpurge. Footman announcing the guests: The Bishop of Hereford, Mr. Maldonado, Mr. Andrew Undershaft, Mr. Harold Hodge, Mrs. Gorringe, Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey Tanqueray, &c.
Lady Walpurge (archly). Ah, Mr. Tanqueray, you never forwarded me my photographs; it is nearly three weeks ago since I sent you a cheque for them.
Tanqueray. Labby has been poisoning your mind against me. You shall have a proof to-morrow!