Lady Mereston.
After all, it was largely your fault. He was deeply religious, and as the president of the Broad Church Union he couldn't countenance your mode of life.
Fouldes.
[With great unction.] Thank God in my day I've been a miserable sinner!
Lady Mereston.
[Laughing.] You're quite incurable, Paradine. But you will help me now. Since his father's death, the boy and I have lived a very retired life, and now we're quite helpless. It would break my heart if Charlie married that woman.
Fouldes.
I'll do my best. I think I can promise you that nothing will come of it.
[The door is flung open, and Lady Frederick
enters, followed by Mereston, a young
boyish man of twenty-two; by her brother,
Sir Gerald O'Mara, a handsome fellow of
six-and-twenty; by Captain Montgomerie,
Admiral Carlisle, and Rose, his daughter.
Lady Frederick is a handsome Irish
woman of thirty to thirty-five, beautifully
dressed. She is very vivacious, and light-hearted.
She has all the Irish recklessness
and unconcern for the morrow. Whenever
she wants to get round anybody she falls
into an Irish brogue, and then, as she knows
very well, she is quite irresistible. Captain
Montgomerie is a polished, well-groomed
man of thirty-five, with suave manners.
The Admiral is bluff and downright.
Rose is a pretty ingénue of nineteen.
Lady Mereston.