At the mention of the brooch, Lord Goring takes it out of a drawer in his writing table and as She identifies it, tells Mrs. Cheveley that the brooch can also be worn as a bracelet and clasps it onto her wrist. He reveals that he knows this because he gave the item of jewelry to his cousin Mary as a wedding gift, and it was subsequently stolen from her. Arthur tells Cheveley that unless she gives him Robert's letter, he will turn her in to the police. She panics and tries to remove the bracelet, but can't get it off; Goring says that it has a secret clasp that, having stolen it, she doesn't know about. Surrendering to the threat of incarceration, Mrs. Cheveley gives Arthur the letter, which he immediately burns.
Act III changes locations, occurring in Lord Goring's residence. It is now evening and Arthur is preparing for a night on the town, having his long-suffering servant Phipps bring him different flowers for his lapel, trying to find the perfect one. He also regales the impassive Phipps with an amusing series of opinions on everything from fashion to romance. At this point, a note arrives for him from Lady Chiltern who, following her confrontation with her husband, remembered that Goring told her that she should come to him for help if she needed it. Consequently, her note reads: "I want you. I trust you. I'm coming to you.- Gertrude" Arthur delays going out in order to wait for Gertrude's arrival. To his dismay, the first person to arrive is his father, Lord Caversham. He, too, had been at the Chiltern's dinner party the previous evening where he harangued his son on his two favourite topics: Arthur's lack of a serious career, and also his lack of a wife. He has arrived at his son's house to continue this discussion of Goring's shortcomings. This is awkward, because it's socially inappropriate for a married woman to visit a bachelor at his residence- especially at night- and Arthur certainly doesn't want Gertrude running into his dad. He hustles his father into the smoking room, hurriedly and surreptitiously telling Phipps that he's expecting a female visitor and to show her into the drawing room when she arrives. The door bell rings, and Goring intends to answer it himself, but his father intercepts him and drags him into the smoking room for a lecture. Phipps opens the door, and Mrs. Cheveley enters. Phipps assumes that she is the female to whom Arthur had been referring and says that Lord Goring has been expecting her. Mrs. Cheveley realizes that Phipps has made a mistake and wonders what woman Arthur is actually expecting. Left on her own in the room, she rifles through his papers and finds his letter from Gertrude. She intends to steal it, but Phipps reenters and shows her into the drawing room. She attempts to sneak back out to steal the note, but hears Goring and his dad coming and retreats back to the drawing room. Having managed to get his father out of the house, Arthur is dismayed by the arrival of a distraught Sir Robert. As awkward as it would be for Gertrude to run into Lord Caversham at his house, it will be a hundred times worse for her to come face to face with her husband there. Robert tells Arthur that Gertrude knows everything, and pretty much hates him. More bad news: he's heard back from Vienna and nothing scandalous was discovered about Mrs. Cheveley's past that he can use against her. Arthur makes an excuse to speak privately to Phipps, who quietly informs him that the lady is waiting for him in the drawing room. Trying to help both of his friends, Arthur tells Robert that he should convince Gertrude of his love, suggesting that he'll find that his wife will be willing to forgive him. Sir Robert speaks of the infamous canal scheme, and is about to tell Arthur what he intends to say about it in the House when he hears a noise in the drawing room. Trying to avert disaster, Arthur denies that there is anyone in the room, but Robert yanks the door open and finds Mrs. Cheveley. He is outraged, accusing Arthur of betrayal. Arthur, who can't see into the room and is under the impression that the lady in question is Gertrude, defends her honour and says that she has done nothing wrong. Robert takes this as evidence that Arthur is in cahoots with Mrs. Cheveley and storms out. An amused Mrs. Cheveley then emerges from the drawing room, and Lord Goring realizes what has happened. As the two confront each other, it comes out that, when he was much younger Mrs. Cheveley had used her wiles to get Lord Goring to propose to her in order to bilk money out of him. He broke it off when he found her with another man. Mrs. Cheveley says now, however, that Arthur is the only man she really cared for and offers to give him the Sir Robert's incriminating letter to the Baron if he will agree to renew their engagement. She says that she'll give him the letter on their wedding day. Not willing to sacrifice himself, Arthur categorically refuses. Mrs. Cheveley says fine: she's going to ruin Sir Robert. Lord Goring tells her that doing this will destroy the sacred love between Robert and Gertrude. He implies that this will be worse than all the other dishonest things she has done in her life. Mrs. Cheveley pretends that she didn't mean to expose Sir Robert to his wife... it just slipped out while she was sparring with Gertrude when she went to the Chiltern's to try to find her lost brooch. At the mention of the brooch, Lord Goring takes it out of a drawer in his writing table and as She identifies it, tells Mrs. Cheveley that the brooch can also be worn as a bracelet and clasps it onto her wrist. He reveals that he knows this because he gave the item of jewelry to his cousin Mary as a wedding gift, and it was subsequently stolen from her. Arthur tells Cheveley that unless she gives him Robert's letter, he will turn her in to the police. She panics and tries to remove the bracelet, but can't get it off; Goring says that it has a secret clasp that, having stolen it, she doesn't know about. Surrendering to the threat of incarceration, Mrs. Cheveley gives Arthur the letter, which he immediately burns. Always scheming, while Arthur is distracted Mrs. Cheveley manages to get hold of Gertrude's note from where she left it earlier. She triumphantly tells Goring that she has the letter from his paramour, Gertrude and is going to send it to Sir Robert. Knowing that the letter's wording could be misconstrued as a love note, Arthur intends to wrest it away from Mrs. Cheveley, but she quickly rings for Phipps and leaves before he can do so. The scene ends with Lord Goring alone, smoking and contemplating the impending disaster.
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