LADY MOGTON. This is not a laughing matter. If I could think of any one to take Annys’s place I should not insist. I cannot. PHOEBE. You see, it mustn’t be a crank. GEOFFREY. (_He is losing his temper_.) Yes, I suppose that does limit you. ELIZABETH. And then—thanks to you—Mrs. Chilvers has had such excellent training in politics. It was that, I think, that decided us. GEOFFREY. (_Convention forbids his strangling her_.) Will somebody kindly introduce me to this lady? ST. HERBERT. Ah, yes, of course. You don’t know each other, do you? Mr. Geoffrey Chilvers—Mrs. Joseph Spender. Mrs. Spender—Mr. Chilvers, M.P. ELIZABETH. (_Sweetly_.) Delighted! GEOFFREY. (_Not_.) Charmed. LADY MOGTON. (_To_ ANNYS.) I am not indifferent to your difficulty. But the history of woman, my dear Annys, is a history of sacrifice. We give our sons—if necessary, our husbands. MRS. MOUNTCALM-VILLIERS. (_Affected_.) How true! ANNYS. But you are not asking me to give him. You are asking me to fight him. I can’t. LADY MOGTON. You mean you won’t. ANNYS. You can put it that way if you like. I won’t. (_A pause_.) JANET. I thought Mrs. Chilvers had pledged her word. ELIZABETH. Yes. But without her husband’s consent. So, of course, it doesn’t count. GEOFFREY. (_He turns on her_.) Why not you—if there must be a fight? Or would it be against your principles? ELIZABETH. Not in the least. GEOFFREY. Ah! ELIZABETH. I would offer myself as a substitute. Only it might seem like coming between husband and wife. GEOFFREY. (_He turns away with a grunt of disgust_.) PHOEBE. It’s awfully rough on you, Geoffrey. I can see it from your point of view. But one can’t help remembering the things that you yourself have said. GEOFFREY. I know; I know. I’ve been going up and down the country, excusing even your excesses on the ground that no movement can force its way to the front without treading on innumerable toes. For me, now, to cry halt merely because it happens to be my own toes that are in the way would be—ridiculous—absurd—would be monstrous. (_Nobody contradicts him_.) You are perfectly justified—if this case means what you say it does—in putting up a candidate against me for East Poplar. Only, naturally, it cannot be Annys. (_He reaches out his hand to where_ ANNYS _stands a little behind him_, _takes her hand_.) Annys and I have fought more than one election. It has been side by side. ELIZABETH. The lady a little behind. GEOFFREY. (_He moves away with an expression of deep annoyance_.)