OLIVIA (repeating it, oh, so tenderly). Or didn't--quite--marry. (She
looks at him with all her heart in her eyes. She is giving him his
last chance to say "Damn Telworthy; you're mine!" He struggles
desperately with himself. . . . Will he?--will he? . . . But we shall never
know, for at that moment ANNE comes in.)
ANNE. Mr. Pim is here, sir.
GEORGE (emerging from the struggle with an effort). Pim? Pim? Oh, ah,
yes, of course. Mr. Pim. (Looking up) Where have you put him?
OLIVIA. I want to see Mr. Pim, too, George.
LADY MARDEN. Who on earth is Mr. Pim?
OLIVIA. Show him in here, Anne.
ANNE. Yes, madam. [She goes out.
OLIVIA. It was Mr. Pim who told us about my husband. He came across
with him in the boat, and recognised him as the Telworthy he knew in
Australia.
LADY MARDEN. Oh! Shall I be in the way?
GEORGE. No, no. It doesn't matter, does it, Olivia?
OLIVIA. Please stay.
[ANNE enters followed by MR. PIM.
ANNE. Mr. Pim.
GEORGE (pulling himself together). Ah, Mr. Pim! Very good of you to
have come. The fact is--er--(It is too much for him; he looks
despairingly at OLIVIA.)
OLIVIA. We're so sorry to trouble you, Mr. Pim. By the way, do you
know Lady Marden? (MR. PIM and LADY MARDEN bow to each other.) Do come
and sit down, won't you? (She makes room for him on the sofa next to
her) The fact is, Mr. Pim, you gave us rather a surprise this morning,
and before we had time to realise what it all meant, you had gone.
MR. PIM. A surprise, Mrs. Marden? Dear me, not an unpleasant one, I
hope?
OLIVIA. Well, rather a--surprising one.
GEORGE. Olivia, allow me a moment. Mr. Pim, you mentioned a man called
Telworthy this morning. My wife used to--that is to say, I used
to--that is, there are reasons--
OLIVIA. I think we had better be perfectly frank, George.
LADY MARDEN. I am sixty-five years of age, Mr. Pim, and I can say that
I've never had a moment's uneasiness by telling the truth.
MR. PIM (after a desperate effort to keep up with the conversation).
Oh! . . . I--er--I'm afraid I am rather at sea. Have I--er--left anything
unsaid in presenting my credentials to you this morning? This
Telworthy whom you mention--I seem to remember the name--
OLIVIA. Mr. Pim, you told us this morning of a man whom you had met on
the boat, a man who had come down in the world, whom you had known in
Sydney. A man called Telworthy.
MR. PIM (relieved). Ah yes, yes, of course. I did say Telworthy,
didn't I? Most curious coincidence, Lady Marden. Poor man, poor man!
Let me see, it must have been ten years ago--
GEORGE. Just a moment, Mr. Pim. You're quite sure that his name was
Telworthy?
MR. PIM. Telworthy--Telworthy--didn't I say Telworthy? Yes, that was
it--Telworthy. Poor fellow!
OLIVIA. I'm going to be perfectly frank with you, Mr. Pim. I feel
quite sure that I can trust you. This man Telworthy whom you met is my
husband.
MR. PIM. Your husband? (He looks in mild surprise at GEORGE.)
But--er--
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