FRANCIS. Yes, my lord. [_Exit_.] LORD ILLINGWORTH. Shall we go in to tea? MRS. ALLONBY. Do you like such simple pleasures? LORD ILLINGWORTH. I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex. But, if you wish, let us stay here. Yes, let us stay here. The Book of Life begins with a man and a woman in a garden. MRS. ALLONBY. It ends with Revelations. LORD ILLINGWORTH. You fence divinely. But the button has come off your foil. MRS. ALLONBY. I have still the mask. LORD ILLINGWORTH. It makes your eyes lovelier. MRS. ALLONBY. Thank you. Come. LORD ILLINGWORTH. [_Sees_ MRS. ARBUTHNOT’S _letter on table_, _and takes it up and looks at envelope_.] What a curious handwriting! It reminds me of the handwriting of a woman I used to know years ago. MRS. ALLONBY. Who? LORD ILLINGWORTH. Oh! no one. No one in particular. A woman of no importance. [_Throws letter down_, _and passes up the steps of the terrace with_ MRS. ALLONBY. _They smile at each other_.] ACT DROP. SECOND ACT SCENE _Drawing-room at Hunstanton_, _after dinner_, _lamps lit_. _Door_ L.C. _Door_ R.C. [_Ladies seated on sofas_.] MRS. ALLONBY. What a comfort it is to have got rid of the men for a little! LADY STUTFIELD. Yes; men persecute us dreadfully, don’t they? MRS. ALLONBY. Persecute us? I wish they did. LADY HUNSTANTON. My dear! MRS. ALLONBY. The annoying thing is that the wretches can be perfectly happy without us. That is why I think it is every woman’s duty never to leave them alone for a single moment, except during this short breathing space after dinner; without which I believe we poor women would be absolutely worn to shadows. [_Enter Servants with coffee_.] LADY HUNSTANTON. Worn to shadows, dear? MRS. ALLONBY. Yes, Lady Hunstanton. It is such a strain keeping men up to the mark. They are always trying to escape from us. LADY STUTFIELD. It seems to me that it is we who are always trying to escape from them. Men are so very, very heartless. They know their power and use it. LADY CAROLINE. [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] What stuff and nonsense all this about men is! The thing to do is to keep men in their proper place. MRS. ALLONBY. But what is their proper place, Lady Caroline? LADY CAROLINE. Looking after their wives, Mrs. Allonby. MRS. ALLONBY. [_Takes coffee from Servant_.] Really? And if they’re not married? LADY CAROLINE. If they are not married, they should be looking after a wife. It’s perfectly scandalous the amount of bachelors who are going about society. There should be a law passed to compel them all to marry within twelve months. LADY STUTFIELD. [_Refuses coffee_.] But if they’re in love with some one who, perhaps, is tied to another?