JUNO. That takes away the last rag of excuse for such conduct. A nice world it would be if married people were to carry on their endearments before everybody! GREGORY. This is ridiculous. What the devil business is it of yours what passes between my wife and myself? You're not her husband, are you? JUNO. Not at present; but I'm on the list. I'm her prospective husband: you're only her actual one. I'm the anticipation: you're the disappointment. MRS. LUNN. Oh, my Gregory is not a disappointment. [Fondly] Are you, dear? GREGORY. You just wait, my pet. I'll settle this chap for you. [He disengages himself from her embrace, and faces Juno. She sits down placidly]. You call me a disappointment, do you? Well, I suppose every husband's a disappointment. What about yourself? Don't try to look like an unmarried man. I happen to know the lady you disappointed. I travelled in the same ship with her; and-- JUNO. And you fell in love with her. GREGORY [taken aback] Who told you that? JUNO. Aha! you confess it. Well, if you want to know, nobody told me. Everybody falls in love with my wife. GREGORY. And do you fall in love with everybody's wife? JUNO. Certainly not. Only with yours. MRS. LUNN. But what's the good of saying that, Mr. Juno? I'm married to him; and there's an end of it. JUNO. Not at all. You can get a divorce. MRS. LUNN. What for? JUNO. For his misconduct with my wife. GREGORY [deeply indignant] How dare you, sir, asperse the character of that sweet lady? a lady whom I have taken under my protection. JUNO. Protection! MRS. JUNO [returning hastily] Really you must be more careful what you say about me, Mr. Lunn. JUNO. My precious! [He embraces her]. Pardon this betrayal of my feeling; but I've not seen my wife for several weeks; and she is very dear to me. GREGORY. I call this cheek. Who is making love to his own wife before people now, pray? MRS. LUNN. Won't you introduce me to your wife, Mr. Juno? MRS. JUNO. How do you do? [They shake hands; and Mrs. Juno sits down beside Mrs. Lunn, on her left]. MRS. LUNN. I'm so glad to find you do credit to Gregory's taste. I'm naturally rather particular about the women he falls in love with. JUNO [sternly] This is no way to take your husband's unfaithfulness. [To Lunn] You ought to teach your wife better. Where's her feelings? It's scandalous. GREGORY. What about your own conduct, pray? JUNO. I don't defend it; and there's an end of the matter. GREGORY. Well, upon my soul! What difference does your not defending it make? JUNO. A fundamental difference. To serious people I may appear wicked. I don't defend myself: I am wicked, though not bad at heart. To thoughtless people I may even appear comic. Well, laugh at me: I have given myself away. But Mrs. Lunn seems to have no opinion at all about me. She doesn't seem to know whether I'm wicked or comic. She doesn't seem to care. She has no more sense. I say it's not right. I repeat, I have sinned; and I'm prepared to suffer.