_Lady Lull. (by an act of unconscious cerebration)._ Poker-etching! How very _very_ nice! [_Her eyelids close gently._ _Lady Rhoda._ Oh, but indeed, Lady CULVERIN, I thought he was perfectly charmin'; not a bit booky, you know, but as clever as he can stick; knows more about terriers than any man I ever met! _Lady Culverin._ So glad you found him agreeable, my dear. I was half afraid he might strike you as--well, just a little bit _common_ in his way of talking. _Lady Rhoda._ Pr'aps--but, after all, one can't expect those sort of people to talk quite like we do ourselves, _can_ one? _Lady Cantire._ Is that Mr. SPURRELL you are finding fault with, ALBINIA? It is curious that _you_ should be the one person here who----_I_ consider him a very worthy and talented young man, and I shall most certainly ask him to dinner--or _lunch_, at all events--as soon as we return. I daresay Lady RHODA will not object to come and meet him. _Lady Rhoda._ Rather not. _I_'ll come, like a shot! _Lady Culv. (to herself)._ I suppose it's very silly of me to be so prejudiced. Nobody else seems to mind him! _Miss Spelwane (crossing over to them)._ Oh, Lady CULVERIN, Lady LULLINGTON has such a _delightful_ idea--she's just been saying how very very nice it would be if Mr. SPURRELL could be persuaded to read some of his poetry aloud to us presently. _Do_ you think it could be managed? _Lady Culv. (in distress)._ Really, my dear VIVIEN, I--I don't know _what_ to say. I fancy people would so _much_ rather talk--don't you think so, ROHESIA? _Lady Cant._ Probably they would, ALBINIA. It is most unlikely that they would care to hear anything more intellectual and instructive than the sound of their own voices. _Miss Spelw._ I _told_ Lady LULLINGTON that I was afraid you would think it a bore, Lady CANTIRE. _Lady Cant._ You are perfectly mistaken, Miss SPELWANE. I flatter myself I am quite as capable of appreciating a literary privilege as anybody here. But I cannot answer for its being acceptable to the majority. _Lady Culv._ No, it wouldn't do at all. And it would be making this young man so _much_ too conspicuous. _Lady Cant._ You are talking nonsense, my dear. When you are fortunate enough to secure a celebrity at Wyvern, you can't make him _too_ conspicuous. I never knew that LAURA LULLINGTON had any taste for literature before, but there's something to be said for her suggestion--if it can be carried out; it would at least provide a welcome relief from the usual after-dinner dullness of this sort of gathering. _Miss Spelw._ Then--would _you_ ask him, Lady CANTIRE? _Lady Cant._ I, my dear? You forget that _I_ am not hostess here. My sister-in-law is the proper person to do that. _Lady Culv._ Indeed I couldn't. But perhaps, VIVIEN, if you liked to suggest it to him, he might----