The general [somewhat dazed] Well but—­excuse my mentioning it—­dont you want children?

Lesbia.  I ought to have children.  I should be a good mother to children.  I believe it would pay the country very well to pay me very well to have children.  But the country tells me that I cant have a child in my house without a man in it too; so I tell the country that it will have to do without my children.  If I am to be a mother, I really cannot have a man bothering me to be a wife at the same time.

The general.  My dear Lesbia:  you know I dont wish to be impertinent; but these are not the correct views for an English lady to express.

Lesbia.  That is why I dont express them, except to gentlemen who wont take any other answer.  The difficulty, you see, is that I really am an English lady, and am particularly proud of being one.

The general.  I’m sure of that, Lesbia:  quite sure of it.  I never meant—­

Lesbia [rising impatiently] Oh, my dear Boxer, do please try to think of something else than whether you have offended me, and whether you are doing the correct thing as an English gentleman.  You are faultless, and very dull. [She shakes her shoulders intolerantly and walks across to the other side of the kitchen].

The general [moodily] Ha! thats whats the matter with me.  Not clever.  A poor silly soldier man.

Lesbia.  The whole matter is very simple.  As I say, I am an English lady, by which I mean that I have been trained to do without what I cant have on honorable terms, no matter what it is.

The general.  I really dont understand you, Lesbia.

Lesbia [turning on him] Then why on earth do you want to marry a woman you dont understand?

The general.  I dont know.  I suppose I love you.

Lesbia.  Well, Boxer, you can love me as much as you like, provided you look happy about it and dont bore me.  But you cant marry me; and thats all about it.

The general.  It’s so frightfully difficult to argue the matter fairly with you without wounding your delicacy by overstepping the bounds of good taste.  But surely there are calls of nature—­ Lesbia.  Dont be ridiculous, Boxer.

The general.  Well, how am I to express it?  Hang it all, Lesbia, dont you want a husband?

Lesbia.  No.  I want children; and I want to devote myself entirely to my children, and not to their father.  The law will not allow me to do that; so I have made up my mind to have neither husband nor children.

The general.  But, great Heavens, the natural appetites—­

Lesbia.  As I said before, an English lady is not the slave of her appetites.  That is what an English gentleman seems incapable of understanding. [She sits down at the end of the table, near the study door].