Worthing

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Jack: I don't actually know who I am by birth. I was...well, I was found. 

Lady Bracknell: Found? 

Jack: Yes. The late Mr. Thomas Cardew, an old gentlemen of a kindly disposition found me and gave me the name of Worthing because he happened to have a first class ticket to Worthing at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It's a seaside resort. 

Lady Bracknell: And where did this charitable gentlemen with the first class ticket to the seaside resort find you? 

Jack: In a handbag. 

Lady Bracknell: [Closes eyes briefly] A handbag? 

Jack: Yes, Lady Bracknell, I was in a hand bag. A somewhat large...black...leather handbag with handles...to it. 

[Pause] 

An ordinary handbag. 

Lady Bracknell: And where did this Mr. James...or, Thomas Cardew come across this ordinary handbag? 

Jack: The cloak room at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own... 

Lady Bracknell: [Shocked] The cloak room at Victoria Station? 

Jack: Yes. The Brighton line. 

Lady Bracknell: The line is immaterial. . . .


Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest