DOI article:
Hobbes, John Oliver; Moore, George: The fool's hour: the first act of a comedy
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20196#0262
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The Fool's Hour
Lord Dol. He seems melancholy and eats nothing but oranges.
Yes, Cyril is a source of great uneasiness.
Soame. Does Lady Doldrummond share this uneasiness ?
Lord Dol. My wife would regard a second thought on any
subject as a most dangerous form of temptation. She insists that
Cyril has everything which a young man could desire, and when
he complains that the house is dull, she takes him for a drive !
Soame. But you understand him ?
Lord Dol. I think I do. If I were young again-
Soame. Ah, you regret ! I always said you would regret it if you
did not take your fling ! The pleasures we imagine are so much
more alluring, so much more dangerous, than those we experience.
I suppose you recognise in Cyril the rascal you might have been,
and feel that you have missed your vocation ?
Lord Dol. \_Meekly.~\ I was never unruly, my dear Soame. We
all have our moments, I own, yet—well, perhaps Cyril has
inherited the tastes which I possessed at his age, but lacked the
courage to obey.
Soame. And so you wish me to advise you how to deal with
him ! Is he in love ? I have constantly observed that when
young men find their homes unsympathetic, it is because some
particular lady does not form a member of the household. It is
usually a lady, too, who would not be considered a convenient
addition to any mother's visiting-list!
Lord Dol. Lady Doldrummond has taught him that women
are the scourges of creation. You, perhaps, do not share that
view !
Soame. Certainly not. I would teach him to regard them as the
reward, the compensation, the sole delight of this dreariest of all
possible worlds.
Lord Dol. [Uneasily.~] Reward! Compensation! Delight! I
beg
The Fool's Hour
Lord Dol. He seems melancholy and eats nothing but oranges.
Yes, Cyril is a source of great uneasiness.
Soame. Does Lady Doldrummond share this uneasiness ?
Lord Dol. My wife would regard a second thought on any
subject as a most dangerous form of temptation. She insists that
Cyril has everything which a young man could desire, and when
he complains that the house is dull, she takes him for a drive !
Soame. But you understand him ?
Lord Dol. I think I do. If I were young again-
Soame. Ah, you regret ! I always said you would regret it if you
did not take your fling ! The pleasures we imagine are so much
more alluring, so much more dangerous, than those we experience.
I suppose you recognise in Cyril the rascal you might have been,
and feel that you have missed your vocation ?
Lord Dol. \_Meekly.~\ I was never unruly, my dear Soame. We
all have our moments, I own, yet—well, perhaps Cyril has
inherited the tastes which I possessed at his age, but lacked the
courage to obey.
Soame. And so you wish me to advise you how to deal with
him ! Is he in love ? I have constantly observed that when
young men find their homes unsympathetic, it is because some
particular lady does not form a member of the household. It is
usually a lady, too, who would not be considered a convenient
addition to any mother's visiting-list!
Lord Dol. Lady Doldrummond has taught him that women
are the scourges of creation. You, perhaps, do not share that
view !
Soame. Certainly not. I would teach him to regard them as the
reward, the compensation, the sole delight of this dreariest of all
possible worlds.
Lord Dol. [Uneasily.~] Reward! Compensation! Delight! I
beg