Arnold. [Interrupting.] When you were proposing to do exactly the same thing. Well, now you’ve seen her what do you think of her? Do you think it’s been a success? Is that the sort of woman a man would like his mother to be?
Elizabeth. I’ve been ashamed. I’ve been so sorry. It all seemed dreadful and horrible. This morning I happened to notice a rose in the garden. It was all overblown and bedraggled. It looked like a painted old woman. And I remembered that I’d looked at it a day or two ago. It was lovely then, fresh and blooming and fragrant. It may be hideous now, but that doesn’t take away from the beauty it had once. That was real.
Arnold. Poetry, by God! As if this were the moment for poetry!
[Teddie comes in. He has changed into a dinner jacket.
Teddie. [To Elizabeth.] Did you want me?
Arnold. I sent for you.
[Teddie looks from Arnold to Elizabeth. He sees that something has happened.
When would it be convenient for you to leave this house?
Teddie. I was proposing to go to-morrow morning. But I can very well go at once if you like.
Arnold. I do like.