way2go! 7. Coursebook, Schulbuch

120 LITERATURE Lady Bracknell. That is satisfactory. […] You have a town house, I hope? A girl with a simple, unspoiled nature, like Gwendolen, could hardly be expected to reside in the country. Jack. Well, I own a house in Belgrave Square, but it is let 4 by the year to Lady Bloxham. Of course, I can get it back whenever I like, at six months’ notice. Lady Bracknell. Lady Bloxham? I don’t know her. Jack. Oh, she goes about very little. She is a lady considerably advanced in years. Lady Bracknell. Ah, nowadays that is no guarantee of respectability of character. What number in Belgrave Square? Jack. 149. Lady Bracknell. [Shaking her head.] The unfashionable side. I thought there was something. However, that could easily be altered. Jack. Do you mean the fashion, or the side? Lady Bracknell. [Sternly.] Both, if necessary, I presume. What are your politics? Jack. Well, I am afraid I really have none. I am a Liberal Unionist. Lady Bracknell. Oh, they count as Tories. They dine with us. Or come in the evening, at any rate. Now to minor matters. Are your parents living? Jack. I have lost both my parents. Lady Bracknell. To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. Who was your father? He was evidently a man of some wealth. Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce 5 , or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy? Jack. I am afraid I really don’t know. The fact is, Lady Bracknell, I said I had lost my parents. It would be nearer the truth to say that my parents seem to have lost me … I don’t actually know who I am by birth. I was … well, I was found. Lady Bracknell. Found! Jack. The late Mr. Thomas Cardew, an old gentleman of a very charitable and kindly disposition, found me, and gave me the name of Worthing, because he happened to have a first-class ticket for Worthing in his pocket at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It is a seaside resort. Lady Bracknell. Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you? Jack. [Gravely.] In a hand-bag. Lady Bracknell. A hand-bag? Jack. [Very seriously.] Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag – a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it – an ordinary hand-bag in fact. 4 let: vermietet 5 the purple of commerce: people who might have become rich only recently and were looked down on by the aristocracy Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv