GEORGE. Well--er--confound it, Olivia, I love you. Will you marry me? OLIVIA. Thank you, George, I will think it over. GEORGE (_laughing_). Silly girl. (_Pats her on the shoulder and crosses to_ R.) Well, then, to-morrow morning. No wedding cake, I'm afraid, Olivia. (_He laughs again and moves up centre_.) But we'll go and have a good lunch somewhere. OLIVIA. I will think it over, George. GEORGE (_good-humouredly and coming down to back of settee to her_ R.). Well, give me a kiss while you're thinking. OLIVIA. I'm afraid you mustn't kiss me until we are actually engaged. GEORGE (_laughing uneasily, and sitting and leaning over on table_ L.C. _towards_ OLIVIA). Oh, we needn't take it as seriously as all that. OLIVIA. But a woman must take a proposal seriously. GEORGE (_a little alarmed at last_). What do you mean? OLIVIA. Well, what I mean is that the whole question--(_with a sly look at_ GEORGE)--as I heard somebody say once, demands much more anxious thought than either of us has given it. These hasty marriages---- GEORGE (_rising and crossing at back of_ OLIVIA _round settee and to_ L. _of_ OLIVIA). Hasty! OLIVIA. Well, you've only just proposed to me, and you want me to marry you to-morrow. GEORGE. Now you're talking perfect nonsense, Olivia. You know quite well that our case is utterly different from--well--from any other. OLIVIA. All the same, one must ask oneself questions. With a young girl like--well, with a young girl--love may well seem to be all that matters. But with a woman of my age it is different. I have to ask myself whether you can afford to support a wife. GEORGE. You know perfectly well that I can afford to support a wife as my wife should be supported. OLIVIA. Oh, I am glad. Then your income--you are not really worried about that at all? GEORGE (_stiffly_). You know perfectly well what my income is. I see no reason for anxiety, in the future. OLIVIA. Ah, very well, then we needn't think about it any more. GEORGE. You know I can't make out what you're up to. (_Sits to her_ L. _on settee_.) Don't you want to get married--to--er--legalize this extraordinary situation in which we are placed? OLIVIA. I must consider the whole question very carefully. I can't just jump at the very first offer I have had since my husband died. (_Rising and crossing to centre_.) GEORGE. Oh, so I'm under consideration, eh? OLIVIA (_moving up_ R.C.). Every suitor is. GEORGE. Oh, very well, go on! Go on! OLIVIA. Well then, there's your niece. You have a niece living with you. Of course Dinah is a delightful girl, but one doesn't like marrying into a household where there's another grown-up woman. But perhaps she will be getting married herself soon. GEORGE. I see no prospect of it. OLIVIA. It would make it so much easier, George, if she did. GEORGE (_rising_). Is this a threat, Olivia? (_Crossing up to_ OLIVIA.) Are you telling me that if I do not allow young Strange to marry Dinah, you will not marry me?