Now sit down and make yourselves comfortable, won’t you? Have you had tea? JAMES FORD. Yes, thank you. BOYCE. [_Rather pompously._] I took them into my club. GEORGE WINTER. Will you have a drink? I can recommend my father-in-law’s whisky. I know it’s no good offering you one, Mr. Swalecliffe? JAMES FORD. Boyce and I had a little drop of Scotch to our tea. GEORGE WINTER. Then we’ll get to business at once, shall we? SWALECLIFFE. [_Clearing his throat._] I should like to say, before we go any further, that it is with the greatest regret that Mr. Ford and I have come up to London on such an errand. JAMES FORD. There’s been a lot of gossip in Middlepool, and, well, we thought the shortest way to settle it was.... BOYCE. I personally don’t think this is a matter of which the committee ought to take any notice. A man’s private life is his private life, and.... JAMES FORD. That’s all very well, Colonel. Winter’s an old friend of mine. We’ve had business dealings together for the past twenty years. But ... well, it’s a question of winning the election or losing it. There’s never been much in it one way or another, and fifty votes more or less will make all the difference. SWALECLIFFE. I want to tell you frankly, Mr. Winter, that I should feel it my duty to vote against you, if there were any truth in the reports that have been going about. And I should feel it my duty to advise my congregation to follow my example. GEORGE WINTER. That’s clear enough in all conscience. Gentlemen, the best answer I can make to you is that I receive you in my father-in-law’s house. My wife is upstairs in her mother’s boudoir. I give you my word of honour that there is not the smallest shadow of truth in any single syllable that you have heard. I have issued a writ for libel against the _Herald_, and.... BOYCE. Surely that ought to satisfy anyone. JAMES FORD. Well, it doesn’t satisfy me. GEORGE WINTER. Perhaps you would like my father-in-law to tell you that every word I say is scrupulously true? SWALECLIFFE. We don’t doubt your word, Mr. Winter, but we came to London with a particular object. BOYCE. I must say I thought from the beginning it was open to the gravest question. JAMES FORD. The committee discussed it at length, and the majority agreed that.... GEORGE WINTER. [_Rising._] Of course, of course, Etchingham, will you give these gentlemen the assurance? ETCHINGHAM. [_After a moment’s hesitation._] I think the whole thing’s damned impertinent. BOYCE. That’s exactly what I said. JAMES FORD. [_Quietly._] You’re only wasting time, Winter. SWALECLIFFE. We made up our minds that we must have a certain assurance from the lips of Mrs. Winter. Then we can go back to Middlepool with comfortable minds. GEORGE WINTER. [_Trying bluster._] D’you mean to say you wish to cross-examine my wife? SWALECLIFFE. I merely wish her to answer the questions that were put to you in Colonel Boyce’s letter on behalf of the committee.