ut there you are! Why isn't Bob in the Foreign Office
and Gerald on the Stock Exchange? Why, because Gerald's the clever
one, Gerald's the popular one, the good-looking one, the lucky one, the
county cricketer, the plus three at golf--

WENTWORTH. Oh Lord! I thought you'd get golf into it. I suppose you were
working up to your climax. Poor old Bob is about eighteen at golf, eh?

TOMMY. As a matter of fact, he's a very decent five. And there you are
again. In any other family, Bob would be thought rather a nut. As it
is--

WENTWORTH. As it is, Tommy, there are about thirty-five million people
in England who've never played golf and who would recognize Bob, if they
met him, for the decent English gentleman that he is.

TOMMY. I think you exaggerate, old chap. Golf's been getting awfully
popular lately.

WENTWORTH. Personally I am very fond of Bob.

TOMMY. Oh, so am I. He's an absolute ripper. Still, _Gerald_, you
know--I mean it's jolly bad luck on poor old Bob. Now Paderewski and I--

[Enter GERALD from the garden, a charming figure in a golfing coat and
white flannels. Perhaps he is a little conscious of his charm; if so, it
is hardly his fault, for hero-worship has been his lot from boyhood. He
is now about twenty-six; everything that he has ever tried to do he has
done well; and, if he is rather more unembarrassed than most of us when
praised, his unself-consciousness is to a stranger as charming as the
rest of him. With it all he is intensely reserved, with the result that
those who refuse to succumb to his charm sometimes make the mistake of
thinking that there is nothing behind it.]

GERALD. Hallo, Wentworth, how are you? All right?

WENTWORTH (getting up and shaking hands). Yes, thanks. How are you?

GERALD. Simply bursting. Have you seen your room and all that sort of
thing?

WENTWORTH. Yes, thanks.

GERALD. Good. And Tommy's been entertaining you. (To TOMMY) Tommy, I
interrupted your story about Paderewski. I don't think I know it. (To
WENTWORTH) You must listen to this; it may be fairly new.

TOMMY. Don't be an ass. As a matter of fact, we were discussing
something quite serious.

GERALD (to WENTWORTH). How long have you been here?

WENTWORTH. About ten minutes.

GERALD. And Tommy hasn't told you that he did the eighth in one this
morning?

WENTWORTH. He hasn't really told me yet. He's only mentioned it once or
twice in passing.

TOMMY (modestly). Well, I mean it's bound to appear in the