SARAH. Dimmuck, Mr. Tetgeen has been left to find his own way here. DIMMUCK. I couldn't help it, my lady. _And he follows_ ANN. SARAH. Our father is confined to his room. GEORGE. By your leave. _Then_ GEORGE _takes himself off up the steps, and out of sight. The old lawyer bows to_ LADY COTTESHAM, _who regards him steadily_. MR. TETGEEN. From Sir Charles . . . a talking machine. SARAH. Please sit. _He sits carefully upon the rim of the fountain, she upon the seat opposite._ SARAH. [_Glancing over her shoulder._] Will you talk nonsense until the gardener is out of hearing? He is on his way away. You have had a tiring journey? MR. TETGEEN. Thank you, no . . . by the night coach to Reading and thence I have walked. SARAH. The country is pretty, is it not? MR. TETGEEN. It compares favourably with other parts. SARAH. Do you travel much, Mr. Tetgeen? He has gone. MR. TETGEEN. [_Deliberately and sharpening his tone ever so little._] Sir Charles does not wish to petition for a divorce. SARAH. [_Controlling even her sense of humour._] I have no desire to jump over the moon. MR. TETGEEN. His scruples are religious. The case would be weak upon some important points, and there has been no public scandal . . . at the worst, very little. SARAH. My good manners are, I trust, irreproachable, and you may tell Sir Charles that my conscience is my own. MR. TETGEEN. Your husband's in the matter of . . . SARAH. Please say the word. MR. TETGEEN. Pardon me . . . not upon mere suspicion. SARAH. Now, is it good policy to suspect what is incapable of proof? MR. TETGEEN. I advise Sir Charles, that, should you come to an open fight, he can afford to lose. SARAH. And have I no right to suspicions? MR. TETGEEN. Certainly. Are they of use to you? SARAH. I have been a tolerant wife, expecting toleration. MR. TETGEEN. Sir Charles is anxious to take into consideration any complaints you may have to make against him. SARAH. I complain if he complains of me. MR. TETGEEN. For the first time, I think . . . formally. SARAH. Why not have come to me? MR. TETGEEN. Sir Charles is busy. SARAH. [_Disguising a little spasm of pain._] Shall we get to business? MR. TETGEEN _now takes a moment to find his phrase_. MR. TETGEEN. I don't know the man's name. SARAH. This, surely, is how you might address a seduced housemaid. MR. TETGEEN. But Sir Charles and he, I understand, have talked the matter over. _The shock of this brings_ SARAH _to her feet, white with anger_. SARAH. Divorce me. MR. TETGEEN. [_Sharply._] Is there ground for it? SARAH. [_With a magnificent recovery of self control._] I won't tell you that. MR. TETGEEN. I have said we have no case . . . that is to say, we don't want one; but any information is a weapon in store. SARAH. You did quite right to insult me. MR. TETGEEN. As a rule I despise such methods. SARAH. It's a lie that they met . . . those two men? MR. TETGEEN. It may be. SARAH. It must be.