in the city: all clerics have been summoned to the palace by the Grand Duke of Pfennig-Halbpfennig to discuss his own forthcoming marriage. Everyone has grown to resent the Grand Duke, and all of the company had already become members of a plot to blow him up with dynamite and place a new man on the throne. The secret sign by which members of the conspiracy recognise each other is to eat a sausage roll – a food of which they are by now all heartily sick. It is clear that Ernest will win the election which is to follow the coup and become Grand Duke, which troubles Julia Jellicoe, a famous English comedian. As leading lady of the company, she is bound by contract to play the leading female role in any production. If Ernest, the manager, becomes the Grand Duke, she reasons that she will have to be the Grand Duchess. She says that this is a repugnant prospect to her (though it is a delightful one to Ernest), but that she will play the part in a professional manner.Note: Gilbert supplied a topsy-turvy twist by writing Julia's dialogue in a German accent, since she is the only English character in Ernest's company; all of the Germans speak with an English accent. The first Julia, Ilka Pálmay, was Hungarian but performed mostly in German. Modern productions do not always carry out this idea. For instance, in the 1976 D'Oyly Carte recording (which did not include the dialogue), the singer playing Julia did not affect a German accent. Meanwhile, Ludwig has met a man who returned his secret salute by eating three sausage rolls. Ludwig believed him to be a member of the conspiracy and told him all the details; only then did he realise that he had revealed the entire plot to the Grand Duke's private detective. The company are aghast, believing they are doomed once the Grand Duke learns of the plot. The company's notary, Dr. Tannhäuser, appears and offers a solution. He explains that a century ago the Grand Duke of the time, concerned about the loss of life in duelling, had created the statutory duel: the duellers draw cards, and the one who draws the lower card loses. He becomes legally dead, and the winner takes over his position: his property, responsibilities and debts. The law regulating statutory duels, like all laws of Pfennig-Halbpfennig, lasts