Act 1, Part 2 Summary

Mrs. Cheveley tells Sir Robert that she wants to talk to him about a "political and financial scheme" involving a canal construction company in Argentina, referring to his previous interest in a similar scheme involving the Suez Canal, several years before. Sir Robert says that the Suez program had overall importance for the empire, but the Argentine scheme is nothing more than a stock swindle. He explains that he set up a private commission to inquire into it. The commission has revealed that the money already invested in it has disappeared, and practically no work has been done. He hopes that Mrs. Cheveley hasn't put her money into it. Mrs. Cheveley tells him that she's done exactly that on the advice of Baron Arnheim, and refers to the Baron's interest in the project as his second last romance. We, and perhaps...