(Brook's club one evening. SHERIDAN enters and finds FOX at a card table. SHERIDAN approaches him just as the hand ends and FOX is collecting his winnings.)
SHERIDAN
How much have you lost today, eh?
FOX
I've gained £200 tonight, thank you!
SHERIDAN
Your belly told me that much.
FOX
(Half-joking)
Very clever, you scrawny bastard!
(SHERIDAN laughs, sits next to FOX, and begins to play in the next hand. Beat.)
SHERIDAN
I've just come from Carlton House.
FOX
Oh? I haven't had a chance to call on Prinny since he returned from Brighthelmstone last month.
SHERIDAN
(More serious)
Then you haven't seen him?
FOX
No, I presumed I would have come across him in Westminster by now, but I haven't yet.
(SHERIDAN gives him a grave look, mildly concerning FOX.)
FOX (cont.)
Why, is he ill?
SHERIDAN
(Pause, lowered voice)
He isn't well; I shall put it that way.
FOX
Has he got another one of his 'colds?'
SHERIDAN
I wish it were only that... The truth is I've never seen him in a worse state. He eats almost nothing—he has lost so much weight I hardly recognize him. He drinks to excess at all hours of the day. He bursts into tears at the drop of a hat and doesn't stop for hours. He keeps himself up all night writing letters in a state of ecstasy; and he cannot be persuaded to sleep until he eventually faints from exhaustion in the early hours of the morning.
(Pause; FOX cannot believe what he is hearing.)
FOX
You're bluffing... That cannot be our Prinny; he is always so gay and good-humored. Sure, he is nervous and depressed periodically, but aren't we all?
SHERIDAN
Not like the Prince. I've noticed this pattern in his mood for some time, but it has grown considerably worse since last we saw him.
FOX
You said he has a habit of writing letters all night; who is the recipient?
(SHERIDAN gives him a look, and FOX instantly knows.)
FOX (cont.)
Mrs. Fitzherbert, still? It can't be. He has never longed for a woman this long.
(Dismissively, looking at his cards)
I cannot understand him.
SHERIDAN
His groomsmen of the bedchamber say he is threatening to kill himself.
(FOX is dumbfounded; he cannot believe what he is hearing.)
SHERIDAN (cont.)
You ought to make a point of seeing him as soon as possible.
(FOX considers this. Cut to SCENE IV.)