Read the excerpt from act i of the importance of being earnest. algernon. in the third place, i know perfectly well whom she will place me next to, to-night. she will place me next mary farquhar, who always flirts with her own husband across the dinner-table. that is not very pleasant. indeed, it is not even decent . . and that sort of thing is enormously on the increase. the amount of women in london who flirt with their own husbands is perfectly scandalous. it looks so bad. it is simply washing one’s clean linen in public. besides, now that i know you to be a confirmed bunburyist i naturally want to talk to you about bunburying. which part of the excerpt contains a paradox?