Delphi Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Illustrated) (72 page)

Algernon.
Yes, Aunt Augusta!

Lady Bracknell.
There are distinct social possibilities in Miss Cardew’s profile.

Algernon.
Cecily is the sweetest, dearest, prettiest girl in the whole world. And I don’t care twopence about social possibilities.

Lady Bracknell.
Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.
[To
Cecily
.]
Dear child, of course you know that Algernon has nothing but his debts to depend upon. But I do not approve of mercenary marriages. When I married Lord Bracknell I had no fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed for a moment of allowing that to stand in my way. Well, I suppose I must give my consent.

Algernon.
Thank you, Aunt Augusta.

Lady Bracknell.
Cecily, you may kiss me!

Cecily.
[Kisses her.]
Thank you, Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell.
You may also address me as Aunt Augusta for the future.

Cecily.
Thank you, Aunt Augusta.

Lady Bracknell.
The marriage, I think, had better take place quite soon.

Algernon.
Thank you, Aunt Augusta.

Cecily.
Thank you, Aunt Augusta.

Lady Bracknell.
To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.

Jack.
I beg your pardon for interrupting you, Lady Bracknell, but this engagement is quite out of the question. I am Miss Cardew’s guardian, and she cannot marry without my consent until she comes of age. That consent I absolutely decline to give.

Lady Bracknell.
Upon what grounds may I ask? Algernon is an extremely, I may almost say an ostentatiously, eligible young man. He has nothing, but he looks everything. What more can one desire?

Jack.
It pains me very much to have to speak frankly to you, Lady Bracknell, about your nephew, but the fact is that I do not approve at all of his moral character. I suspect him of being untruthful.
[
Algernon
and
Cecily
look at him in indignant amazement.]

Lady Bracknell.
Untruthful! My nephew Algernon? Impossible! He is an Oxonian.

Jack.
I fear there can be no possible doubt about the matter. This afternoon during my temporary absence in London on an important question of romance, he obtained admission to my house by means of the false pretence of being my brother. Under an assumed name he drank, I’ve just been informed by my butler, an entire pint bottle of my Perrier-Jouet, Brut, ‘89; wine I was specially reserving for myself. Continuing his disgraceful deception, he succeeded in the course of the afternoon in alienating the affections of my only ward. He subsequently stayed to tea, and devoured every single muffin. And what makes his conduct all the more heartless is, that he was perfectly well aware from the first that I have no brother, that I never had a brother, and that I don’t intend to have a brother, not even of any kind. I distinctly told him so myself yesterday afternoon.

Lady Bracknell.
Ahem! Mr. Worthing, after careful consideration I have decided entirely to overlook my nephew’s conduct to you.

Jack.
That is very generous of you, Lady Bracknell. My own decision, however, is unalterable. I decline to give my consent.

Lady Bracknell.
[To
Cecily
.]
Come here, sweet child.
[
Cecily
goes over.]
How old are you, dear?

Cecily.
Well, I am really only eighteen, but I always admit to twenty when I go to evening parties.

Lady Bracknell.
You are perfectly right in making some slight alteration. Indeed, no woman should ever be quite accurate about her age. It looks so calculating . . .
[In a meditative manner.]
Eighteen, but admitting to twenty at evening parties. Well, it will not be very long before you are of age and free from the restraints of tutelage. So I don’t think your guardian’s consent is, after all, a matter of any importance.

Jack.
Pray excuse me, Lady Bracknell, for interrupting you again, but it is only fair to tell you that according to the terms of her grandfather’s will Miss Cardew does not come legally of age till she is thirty-five.

Lady Bracknell.
That does not seem to me to be a grave objection. Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years. Lady Dumbleton is an instance in point. To my own knowledge she has been thirty-five ever since she arrived at the age of forty, which was many years ago now. I see no reason why our dear Cecily should not be even still more attractive at the age you mention than she is at present. There will be a large accumulation of property.

Cecily.
Algy, could you wait for me till I was thirty-five?

Algernon.
Of course I could, Cecily. You know I could.

Cecily.
Yes, I felt it instinctively, but I couldn’t wait all that time. I hate waiting even five minutes for anybody. It always makes me rather cross. I am not punctual myself, I know, but I do like punctuality in others, and waiting, even to be married, is quite out of the question.

Algernon.
Then what is to be done, Cecily?

Cecily.
I don’t know, Mr. Moncrieff.

Lady Bracknell.
My dear Mr. Worthing, as Miss Cardew states positively that she cannot wait till she is thirty-five — a remark which I am bound to say seems to me to show a somewhat impatient nature — I would beg of you to reconsider your decision.

Jack.
But my dear Lady Bracknell, the matter is entirely in your own hands. The moment you consent to my marriage with Gwendolen, I will most gladly allow your nephew to form an alliance with my ward.

Lady Bracknell.
[Rising and drawing herself up.]
You must be quite aware that what you propose is out of the question.

Jack.
Then a passionate celibacy is all that any of us can look forward to.

Lady Bracknell.
That is not the destiny I propose for Gwendolen. Algernon, of course, can choose for himself.
[Pulls out her watch.]
Come, dear,
[
Gwendolen
rises]
we have already missed five, if not six, trains. To miss any more might expose us to comment on the platform.

[Enter
Dr. Chasuble
.]

Chasuble.
Everything is quite ready for the christenings.

Lady Bracknell.
The christenings, sir! Is not that somewhat premature?

Chasuble.
[Looking rather puzzled, and pointing to
Jack
and
Algernon
.]
Both these gentlemen have expressed a desire for immediate baptism.

Lady Bracknell.
At their age? The idea is grotesque and irreligious! Algernon, I forbid you to be baptized. I will not hear of such excesses. Lord Bracknell would be highly displeased if he learned that that was the way in which you wasted your time and money.

Chasuble.
Am I to understand then that there are to be no christenings at all this afternoon?

Jack.
I don’t think that, as things are now, it would be of much practical value to either of us, Dr. Chasuble.

Chasuble.
I am grieved to hear such sentiments from you, Mr. Worthing. They savour of the heretical views of the Anabaptists, views that I have completely refuted in four of my unpublished sermons. However, as your present mood seems to be one peculiarly secular, I will return to the church at once. Indeed, I have just been informed by the pew-opener that for the last hour and a half Miss Prism has been waiting for me in the vestry.

Lady Bracknell.
[Starting.]
Miss Prism! Did I hear you mention a Miss Prism?

Chasuble.
Yes, Lady Bracknell. I am on my way to join her.

Lady Bracknell.
Pray allow me to detain you for a moment. This matter may prove to be one of vital importance to Lord Bracknell and myself. Is this Miss Prism a female of repellent aspect, remotely connected with education?

Chasuble.
[Somewhat indignantly.]
She is the most cultivated of ladies, and the very picture of respectability.

Lady Bracknell.
It is obviously the same person. May I ask what position she holds in your household?

Chasuble.
[Severely.]
I am a celibate, madam.

Jack.
[Interposing.]
Miss Prism, Lady Bracknell, has been for the last three years Miss Cardew’s esteemed governess and valued companion.

Lady Bracknell.
In spite of what I hear of her, I must see her at once. Let her be sent for.

Chasuble.
[Looking off.]
She approaches; she is nigh.

[Enter
Miss Prism
hurriedly.]

Miss Prism.
I was told you expected me in the vestry, dear Canon. I have been waiting for you there for an hour and three-quarters.
[Catches sight of
Lady Bracknell
, who has fixed her with a stony glare.
Miss Prism
grows pale and quails. She looks anxiously round as if desirous to escape.]

Lady Bracknell.
[In a severe, judicial voice.]
Prism!
[
Miss Prism
bows her head in shame.]
Come here, Prism!
[
Miss Prism
approaches in a humble manner.]
Prism! Where is that baby?
[General consternation. The
Canon
starts back in horror.
Algernon
and
Jack
pretend to be anxious to shield
Cecily
and
Gwendolen
from hearing the details of a terrible public scandal.]
Twenty-eight years ago, Prism, you left Lord Bracknell’s house, Number 104, Upper Grosvenor Street, in charge of a perambulator that contained a baby of the male sex. You never returned. A few weeks later, through the elaborate investigations of the Metropolitan police, the perambulator was discovered at midnight, standing by itself in a remote corner of Bayswater. It contained the manuscript of a three-volume novel of more than usually revolting sentimentality.
[
Miss Prism
starts in involuntary indignation.]
But the baby was not there!
[Every one looks at
Miss Prism
.]
Prism! Where is that baby?
[A pause.]

Miss Prism.
Lady Bracknell, I admit with shame that I do not know. I only wish I did. The plain facts of the case are these. On the morning of the day you mention, a day that is for ever branded on my memory, I prepared as usual to take the baby out in its perambulator. I had also with me a somewhat old, but capacious hand-bag in which I had intended to place the manuscript of a work of fiction that I had written during my few unoccupied hours. In a moment of mental abstraction, for which I never can forgive myself, I deposited the manuscript in the basinette, and placed the baby in the hand-bag.

Jack.
[Who has been listening attentively.]
But where did you deposit the hand-bag?

Miss Prism.
Do not ask me, Mr. Worthing.

Jack.
Miss Prism, this is a matter of no small importance to me. I insist on knowing where you deposited the hand-bag that contained that infant.

Miss Prism.
I left it in the cloak-room of one of the larger railway stations in London.

Jack.
What railway station?

Miss Prism.
[Quite crushed.]
Victoria. The Brighton line.
[Sinks into a chair.]

Jack.
I must retire to my room for a moment. Gwendolen, wait here for me.