to a man who laid the foundation of his fortune by selling to a Stock
Exchange speculator a Cabinet secret.

SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. [Biting his lip.] What do you mean?

MRS. CHEVELEY. [Rising and facing him.] I mean that I know the real
origin of your wealth and your career, and I have got your letter,
too.

SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. What letter?

MRS. CHEVELEY. [Contemptuously.] The letter you wrote to Baron
Arnheim, when you were Lord Radley's secretary, telling the Baron to
buy Suez Canal shares - a letter written three days before the
Government announced its own purchase.

SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. [Hoarsely.] It is not true.

MRS. CHEVELEY. You thought that letter had been destroyed. How
foolish of you! It is in my possession.

SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. The affair to which you allude was no more than
a speculation. The House of Commons had not yet passed the bill; it
might have been rejected.

MRS. CHEVELEY. It was a swindle, Sir Robert. Let us call things by
their proper names. It makes everything simpler. And now I am going
to sell you that letter, and the price I ask for it is your public
support of the Argentine scheme. You made your own fortune out of
one canal. You must help me and my friends to make our fortunes out