But Mortimer? A gentleman too, my dear--except that a man shouldn't be too thankful at being rid of a woman! He showed signs once of having been shaken up. They have vanished! This is partly the prospect of the Cabinet, partly the family, a little bit Audrey, and mainly--_Me_! I have deliberately fostered his worst respectabilities and ministered to his profoundest conceits. As a woman? I scorn the imputation. As a friend? I wouldn't take the trouble. As an aunt? I plead guilty. I had my purposes to serve. Incidentally I have obliterated Trix Trevalla. If he talks of her at all, it is as a converted statesman does of the time when he belonged to the opposite party (as most of them have). He vindicates himself, but is bound to admit that he needs vindication. He says he couldn't have done otherwise, but tells you with a shrug that you're not to take that too seriously. _Mortimer_: We were fundamentally unsuited. _Myself_ (_tactfully_): She was. (What did I mean? Sheer, base flattery, Sarah!) _Mortimer_: She had not our (_waving arm_)--our instincts. _Myself_: I think I always told you so. [!!!] _Mortimer_: I daresay. I would listen to nothing. I was very impetuous. (Bless him, Sarah!) _Myself_: Well, it's hardly the time---- (Do wise people ever finish sentences, Sarah?) _Mortimer_: It is a curious chapter. Closed, closed! By the way, do you know anything of this Airey Newton? _Myself_: A distinguished inventor, I believe, Mortimer. _Mortimer_: So the papers say. (He 'glances at' them all.) What sort of man is he? _Myself_: Oh, I suppose she likes him. Bohemian, you know. _Mortimer_: Ah, yes, Bohemian! (_A reverie._) Bo-hem-i-an! Exactly! _Myself_: Is that Audrey in her habit? _Mortimer_: Yes, yes, of course. Bohemian, is he? Yes! Well, I mustn't keep her waiting. That is how I behave. 'O limèd soul that, struggling to be free'--gets other people more and more engaged! Tennyson, Sarah. And when they're quite engaged, whether it's in or out of the season, I'm going to Monte Carlo--for the same reason that the gentleman in the story travelled third, you know.