mrs. cheveley.  [Leaning back on the sofa and looking at him.]  How very disappointing!  And I have come all the way from Vienna in order that you should thoroughly understand me.

sir robert chiltern.  I fear I don’t.

mrs. cheveley.  [In her most nonchalant manner.]  My dear Sir Robert, you are a man of the world, and you have your price, I suppose.  Everybody has nowadays.  The drawback is that most people are so dreadfully expensive.  I know I am.  I hope you will be more reasonable in your terms.

sir robert chiltern.  [Rises indignantly.]  If you will allow me, I will call your carriage for you.  You have lived so long abroad, Mrs. Cheveley, that you seem to be unable to realise that you are talking to an English gentleman.

mrs. cheveley.  [Detains him by touching his arm with her fan, and keeping it there while she is talking.]  I realise that I am talking 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 Governm