mrs. cheveley. [With a mock curtsey] Good evening, Lord Goring!

lord goring. Mrs. Cheveley! Great heavens! . . . May I ask what you were doing in my drawing-room?

mrs. cheveley. Merely listening. I have a perfect passion for listening through keyholes. One always hears such wonderful things through them.

lord goring. Doesn’t that sound rather like tempting Providence?

mrs. cheveley. Oh! surely Providence can resist temptation by this time. [Makes a sign to him to take her cloak off, which he does.]

lord goring. I am glad you have called. I am going to give you some good advice.

mrs. cheveley. Oh! pray don’t. One should never give a woman anything that she can’t wear in the evening.

lord goring. I see you are quite as wilful as you used to be.

mrs. cheveley. Far more! I