MRS HUSHABYE [jumping up mischievously, and going to him]. Would you like a walk on the heath, Alfred? With me? ELLIE. Go, Mr Mangan. It will do you good. Hesione will soothe you. MRS HUSHABYE [slipping her arm under his and pulling him upright]. Come, Alfred. There is a moon: it's like the night in Tristan and Isolde. [She caresses his arm and draws him to the port garden door]. MANGAN [writhing but yielding]. How you can have the face-the heart-[he breaks down and is heard sobbing as she takes him out]. LADY UTTERWORD. What an extraordinary way to behave! What is the matter with the man? ELLIE [in a strangely calm voice, staring into an imaginary distance]. His heart is breaking: that is all. [The captain appears at the pantry door, listening]. It is a curious sensation: the sort of pain that goes mercifully beyond our powers of feeling. When your heart is broken, your boats are burned: nothing matters any more. It is the end of happiness and the beginning of peace. LADY UTTERWORD [suddenly rising in a rage, to the astonishment of the rest]. How dare you? HECTOR. Good heavens! What's the matter? RANDALL [in a warning whisper]. Tch--tch-tch! Steady. ELLIE [surprised and haughty]. I was not addressing you particularly, Lady Utterword. And I am not accustomed to being asked how dare I. LADY UTTERWORD. Of course not. Anyone can see how badly you have been brought up. MAZZINI. Oh, I hope not, Lady Utterword. Really! LADY UTTERWORD. I know very well what you meant. The impudence! ELLIE. What on earth do you mean? CAPTAIN SHOTOVER [advancing to the table]. She means that her heart will not break. She has been longing all her life for someone to break it. At last she has become afraid she has none to break. LADY UTTERWORD [flinging herself on her knees and throwing her arms round him]. Papa, don't say you think I've no heart. CAPTAIN SHOTOVER [raising her with grim tenderness]. If you had no heart how could you want to have it broken, child? HECTOR [rising with a bound]. Lady Utterword, you are not to be trusted. You have made a scene [he runs out into the garden through the starboard door]. LADY UTTERWORD. Oh! Hector, Hector! [she runs out after him]. RANDALL. Only nerves, I assure you. [He rises and follows her, waving the poker in his agitation]. Ariadne! Ariadne! For God's sake, be careful. You will--[he is gone]. MAZZINI [rising]. How distressing! Can I do anything, I wonder? CAPTAIN SHOTOVER [promptly taking his chair and setting to work at the drawing-board]. No. Go to bed. Good-night. MAZZINI [bewildered]. Oh! Perhaps you are right. ELLIE. Good-night, dearest. [She kisses him]. MAZZINI. Good-night, love. [He makes for the door, but turns aside to the bookshelves]. I'll just take a book [he takes one]. Good-night. [He goes out, leaving Ellie alone with the captain]. The captain is intent on his drawing. Ellie, standing sentry over his chair, contemplates him for a moment.