The Master of Mrs Chilvers | Page 9

LADY MOGTON [Hammers.] Order, please!
[The three subside.]
This is serious business. The next step is, of course -
[The door opens; GEOFFREY enters. He is a youngish-looking man of

three or four and thirty. LADY MOGTON, at the sound of the door,
turns. ST. HERBERT rises. There is a pause.]
LADY MOGTON We've been talking about you. We must apologise
for turning your drawing-room -
GEOFFREY My dear mother-in-law, it is Providence. [He kisses her.]
There is no one I was more longing to see.
ANNYS [She has risen.] Hake told me you would be dining at the
House.
GEOFFREY [He comes to her, kisses her, he is in a state of suppressed
excitement.] I shall be. I came back to bring you some news.
PHOEBE We've got some news for you. Have you heard -
GEOFFREY [He stays her.] May I claim man's privilege for the first
word? It is news, I am sure, you will all be delighted to hear. A friend
of yours has been appointed to an office where--it is quite possible--he
may be of service to you.
PHOEBE Governorship of Holloway Gaol?
GEOFFREY Not a bad guess. Very near it. To the Under-
Secretaryship for Home Affairs.
LADY MOGTON Who is it?
GEOFFREY [He bows.] Your affectionate and devoted servant.
ANNYS You!
PHOEBE [Genuinely delighted. She is not a quick thinker.] Bravo!
Congratulations, old boy! [She has risen--she slaps him on the back.]
ANNYS Geoffrey! [She puts her arms about him.] You never told me
anything.

GEOFFREY I know, dear. I was afraid. It mightn't have come off. And
then you would have been so disappointed.
ANNYS [There are tears in her eyes. She still clings to him.] I am so
glad. Oh, I am so glad!
GEOFFREY It is all your doing. You have been such a splendid help.
[He breaks gently away from her. Turns to ST. HERBERT, with a
lighter tone.] Haven't you anything to say to a fellow? You're not
usually dumb.
ST. HERBERT It has all been so sudden--as the early Victorian heroine
was fond of remarking!
GEOFFREY [Laughs.] It has been sudden. We had, none of us, any
idea till yesterday that old Bullock was thinking of resigning.
ELIZABETH [She has risen and moved towards the fire.] Won't it
necessitate a bye-election?
[LADY MOGTON and ST. HERBERT have been thinking it out. On
the others the word falls like a bombshell.]
GEOFFREY [He turns to her. He does not see their faces.] Yes. But I
don't anticipate a contest. The Conservatives are without a candidate,
and I am on good terms with the Labour Party. Perhaps Mr.
Hunnable--[He laughs, then, turning, catches sight of his wife's face.
From ANNYS he looks to the others.]
LADY MOGTON [She has risen.] You haven't heard, then, of McCaw
versus Potts?
GEOFFREY "McCaw versus Potts!" What the -
ST. HERBERT Was decided in the House of Lords late yesterday
afternoon. Briefly stated, it confers upon women the right of becoming
Parliamentary candidates.
GEOFFREY [He is staggered.] You mean -

LADY MOGTON Having regard to which, we have decided to bring
forward a woman candidate to contest the next bye-election.
GEOFFREY Um! I see.
ANNYS But we never thought--we never anticipated it would be
Geoffrey's.
LADY MOGTON I really cannot admit that that alters the case.
Geoffrey himself would never dream, I am sure, of asking us to
sacrifice our cause to his convenience.
GEOFFREY No. Of course not. Certainly not.
LADY MOGTON It is perhaps unfortunate that the candidate selected -
ANNYS It is quite impossible. Such a dilemma was never dreamed of.
LADY MOGTON And if not? Is the solidarity of woman -
GEOFFREY [Beginning to guess.] Forgive my impatience; but whom
HAVE you selected?
ELIZABETH [When she likes she can be quite sweet.] Your wife. [He
expected it.] We rather assumed [she appeals to the others with a
gesture], I think, that the president of the Man's League for the
Extension of the Franchise to Women would regard it as a compliment.
GEOFFREY [His dislike of her is already in existence.] Yes. Very
thoughtful.
ANNYS You must choose some one else.
PHOEBE But there IS no one else.
ANNYS There's mamma.
PHOEBE Mamma's too heavy.

ANNYS Well, then, there's Elizabeth--there's you!
GEOFFREY Yes. Why not you? You and I could have a jolly little
fight.
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