GRAY. [_Solicitous_] I was afraid it would come hard on you. Has he--? But you can tell me all that later. MARGARET. I must tell it you now. GRAY. Be quick, then. We’ve got a fifty mile drive before us. MARGARET. [_Not looking at him_] I--I’m not coming. GRAY. [_Smiling_] Not? There, sit quiet a moment. My dear--my dear heart--you’re all to pieces. MARGARET. I’m not coming. GRAY. [_Checking what he takes for hysteria]_ Margaret--Margaret-- MARGARET. I’m not coming. It’s Hilary. GRAY. What? Collapsed again? I thought as much. MARGARET. I-- GRAY. Tragic! But--it simplifies his problem, poor devil. Has Alliot charge of him? MARGARET. No, no. It’s not that. He’s not ill. He’s well. That’s it. He’s well--and--he won’t let me go. GRAY. He won’t, won’t he? [_He turns from her._] MARGARET. Where are you going? GRAY. To settle this matter. Where is he? MARGARET. Leave him alone. It’s me you must punish. I’ve made up my mind. Oh, how am I to tell you? He convinced me. He--cried, Gray. [_Then, as_ GRAY _makes a quick gesture_] You mustn’t sneer. You must understand. He’s so unhappy. And there’s Sydney to think of. And Gray, he won’t marry us. GRAY. What’s that? MARGARET. The Rector. He’s been here. GRAY. [_Furious_] My God, why wasn’t I? MARGARET. And Aunt Hester--she made it worse. [_Despairingly_] You see what it is--they all think I’m wicked. GRAY. Damned insolence! MARGARET. But it’s not them--it’s Hilary. I did fight them. I can’t fight Hilary. I see it. It’s my own fault. I ought never to have let myself care for you. GRAY. Talk sense. MARGARET. But there it is. It’s too much for me. I’ve got to stay with him. GRAY. [_For the first time taking her seriously_] Say that again, Margaret, if you dare-- MARGARET. I’ve got to--stay-- [_With a sharp crying note in her voice_] Gray, Gray, don’t look at me like that! _He turns abruptly away from her and walks across to the hearth. He stands a moment, deep in thought, takes out and lights a cigarette, realises what he is doing, and with an exclamation flings it into the fire. Then he comes to_ MARGARET, _who has not moved_. GRAY. [_Very quietly_] This--this is rather an extraordinary statement, isn’t it? MARGARET. [_Shrinking_] Don’t use--that tone. GRAY. I am being as patient as I can. But--it’s not easy. MARGARET. Easy--? GRAY. Do you mind telling me exactly what you mean? MARGARET. I can’t talk. You know I’m not clever. I’m trying to do what’s right-- GRAY. Then shall I tell you? MARGARET _makes a little quick movement with her hands, but she says nothing_. GRAY. [_Watching her keenly while he speaks_] You mean that you’ve made a mistake-- MARGARET. [_Misunderstanding_] Yes. GRAY.--that the last five years goes for nothing--that you don’t care for me. MARGARET. Gray! GRAY. Wait. That you’ve never cared for me--that you don’t want to marry me-- MARGARET. How can you say these things to me? GRAY. But aren’t they true?