GREGORY. I say never. On many occasions I have resorted to prevarication; but on great occasions I have always told the truth. I regard this as a great occasion; and I won't be intimidated into breaking my promise. I solemnly declare that I did not know until this evening that Mrs. Juno was married. She will bear me out when I say that from that moment my intentions were strictly and resolutely honorable; though my conduct, which I could not control and am therefore not responsible for, was disgraceful--or would have been had this gentleman not walked in and begun making love to my wife under my very nose. JUNO [flinging himself back into his chair] Well, I like this! MRS. LUNN. Really, darling, there's no use in the pot calling the kettle black. GREGORY. When you say darling, may I ask which of us you are addressing? MRS. LUNN. I really don't know. I'm getting hopelessly confused. JUNO. Why don't you let my wife say something? I don't think she ought to be thrust into the background like this. MRS. LUNN. I'm sorry, I'm sure. Please excuse me, dear. MRS. JUNO [thoughtfully] I don't know what to say. I must think over it. I have always been rather severe on this sort of thing; but when it came to the point I didn't behave as I thought I should behave. I didn't intend to be wicked; but somehow or other, Nature, or whatever you choose to call it, didn't take much notice of my intentions. [Gregory instinctively seeks her hand and presses it]. And I really did think, Tops, that I was the only woman in the world for you. JUNO [cheerfully] Oh, that's all right, my precious. Mrs. Lunn thought she was the only woman in the world for him. GREGORY [reflectively] So she is, in a sort of a way. JUNO [flaring up] And so is my wife. Don't you set up to be a better husband than I am; for you're not. I've owned I'm wrong. You haven't. MRS. LUNN. Are you sorry, Gregory? GREGORY [perplexed] Sorry? MRS. LUNN. Yes, sorry. I think it's time for you to say you're sorry, and to make friends with Mr. Juno before we all dine together. GREGORY. Seraphita: I promised my mother-- MRS. JUNO [involuntarily] Oh, bother your mother! [Recovering herself] I beg your pardon. GREGORY. A promise is a promise. I can't tell a deliberate lie. I know I ought to be sorry; but the flat fact is that I'm not sorry. I find that in this business, somehow or other, there is a disastrous separation between my moral principles and my conduct. JUNO. There's nothing disastrous about it. It doesn't matter about your principles if your conduct is all right. GREGORY. Bosh! It doesn't matter about your principles if your conduct is all right. JUNO. But your conduct isn't all right; and my principles are. GREGORY. What's the good of your principles being right if they won't work? JUNO. They WILL work, sir, if you exercise self-sacrifice.