_The Duchess of Southbridge (to_ Lord Reggie). Oh, Reggie, what _did_ you
say?

_Lord Reggie (putting up his eyeglass)_. Said I'd bally
well--top-hole--what?--don'cherknow.

_Lady Evangeline (to_ Lady Violet, as _they walk across the stage)_. Oh,
I _must_ tell you what that funny Mr. Danby said. (_Doesn't._ Lady
Violet, _none the less, trills with happy laughter.)_

_Prince von Ichdien, the well-known Ambassador (loudly, to an unnamed
gentleman)_. What your country ought to do--_(He finishes his remarks
in the lip-language, which the unnamed gentleman seems to understand. At
any rate he nods several times.)_

_There is more girlish laughter, more buzz and more deaf-and-dumb
language. Then_

_Lord Tuppeny_. Well, what about auction?

_Amid murmurs of_ "You'll play, Field-Marshal?" _and_ "Auction,
Archbishop?" _the crowd drifts off, leaving the hero and heroine alone in
the middle of the stage_.

And then you can begin.

But now I must give you a warning. You will never be a dramatist until
you have learnt the technique of