Lady Windermere's Fan

the long version

"A comedy of manners by Oscar Wilde. Annoyed at her husband's persistent interest in Mrs Erlynne, a woman of little reputation, Lady Windermere decides to leave him and run away with Lord Darlington. Mrs Erlynne, actually Lady Windermere's mother, who deserted her husband and daughter years ago for a lover who then left her, finds the note and rushes to Lord Darlington's apartments. Here, without revealing her identity, she persuades Lady Windermere not to take this rash step and succeeds in rushing her off in a carriage just as Lord Darlington appears with Lord Windermere. Lord Windermere immediately notices his wife's fan; Mrs Erlynne comes forth and generously assumes guilt, saying that she mistook it for her own. She succeeds, however, in convincing Lord Augustus Lawton that it was in his interests that she came to Lord Darlinton's rooms, and the two marry." - - Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia - Fourth Edition