Lady Frederick
Good heavens, you don't mean to say you can do all that?
Maid
Miladi, he said I was his best pupil.
Lady Frederick
Very well. Express – express a great crisis in my affairs.
Maid
That is the easiest thing in the world, miladi. I bring the hair rather low on the forehead, and that expresses a crisis in her ladyship's affairs.
Lady Frederick
But I always wear my hair low on the forehead.
Maid
Then it is plain her ladyship's affairs are always in a critical condition.
Lady Frederick
So they are. I never thought of that.
Mereston
You've got awfully stunning hair, Lady Frederick.
Lady Frederick
D'you like it, really?
Mereston
The colour's perfectly beautiful.
Lady Frederick
It ought to be. It's frightfully expensive.
Mereston
You don't mean to say it's dyed?
Lady Frederick
Oh, no. Only touched up. That's quite a different thing.
Mereston
Is it?
Lady Frederick
It's like superstition, you know, which is what other people believe. My friends dye their hair, but I only touch mine up. Unfortunately, it costs just as much.
Mereston
And you have such a lot.
Lady Frederick
Oh, heaps. [She opens a drawer and takes out a long switch.] Give him a bit to look at.
Maid
Yes, miladi.
[She gives it to him.
Mereston
Er – yes. [Not knowing what on earth to say.] How silky it is.
Lady Frederick
A poor thing, but mine own. At least, I paid for it. By the way, have I paid for it yet, Angélique?
Maid
Not yet, miladi. But the man can wait.
Lady Frederick
[Taking it from Mereston.] A poor thing, then, but my hairdresser's. Shall I put it on?
Mereston
I wouldn't, if I were you.
Maid
If her ladyship anticipates a tragic situation, I would venture to recommend it. A really pathetic scene is impossible without a quantity of hair worn quite high on the head.
Lady Frederick