(_Takes paper and reads_) "The Councillor and the Strong Woman." The--the gentleman is certainly very much like him. MRS. BEN DIXON. The whole thing is like him. PRIMROSE DEANE. (_To Nelly_.) Do you think it _is_ Mr. Ben Dixon? NELLY MORRIS. I can't say. I didn't look at it very closely. Come upstairs, dear, and show me your new hat, will you? (_The two girls go off talking._) ADAM CHERRY. It can't be, you know. MRS. BEN DIXON. But there he is. What does it say about it? ADAM CHERRY. "The Councillor at the Aquarium. A shameful spectacle (see illustration) was witnessed by our artist at the Aquarium on Monday evening last. A certain guardian of the public morals, well known as a philanthropist, and a member of the Vigilance Society----" MRS. BEN DIXON That's Ben right enough. There can't be two of 'em. Go on. ADAM CHERRY "Appears to have thought fit to visit this place of entertainment on the evening in question. Not content with insulting various respectable people among the audience, he proceeded, in company with his degraded companions, to force his way behind the scenes. There, meeting Mdlle. Bruno, the Female Hercules, and pretending to recognise her as his long-lost cousin, he immediately threw his arms around the lady's neck, and endeavoured to kiss her. Fortunately, Mdlle. Bruno is a lady well able to protect herself. Taking the villain up by the collar of his coat and the------ (_Sinks his voice._) she promptly carried him out and handed him over to the Aquarium officials, who finally rid the building of his presence by the simple but effective process known as chucking. We trust that----" MRS. BEN DIXON. That will do. That's enough. I wonder if I'm going to find out anything more about him to-day? ADAM CHERRY. It's impossible. There's been a mistake. MRS. BEN DIXON. There has been, and I'm the poor ninny that's made it. ADAM CHERRY. If anyone had asked me for my ideal of respectability-- MRS. BEN DIXON. Respectability! Man alive, don't talk about it. The very sound of the word makes me ill. It's been my curse from a child. I refused to play hopscotch at eight years old because I thought it wasn't respectable, and went sliding instead and was nearly drowned. It was I who persuaded poor father to give up the fried-fish shop because fried fish wasn't respectable, and he went into oysters and ruined himself in a year. I was earning twenty pounds a week at the Halls, and what did I do? Threw it up and went on the stage as principal boy at five pounds--all to be respectable. And then the stage wasn't respectable enough for me, so I married Travers, and _he_ wasn't respectable enough for me. And what has it all ended in? What has this insatiable craving for respectability brought me to? Why, I'm the wife of a man who has been chucked--chucked from the Aquarium. ADAM CHERRY It is certainly very disappointing. MRS. BEN DIXON. And that's not all. ADAM CHERRY What! Has he been chucked from somewhere else too?