‘Oh dear! oh dear! How absurd, how absolutely ridiculous all this is! If you had just come out of the schoolroom I could have understood it, but any woman who has led the life you have must surely have grasped a few of the elementary realities of life. You appear to think what people say on the stage is real life, and what you see behind the scenes is play-acting.’ ‘So it is. Behind the scenes of a theatre nobody is the same as they are in their own homes; we all play our parts there, but we put all the reality we have in us into our acting.’ ‘Silly child! I am saying the absurd notions you have about love appear to have come out of plays. Of course, people always say beforehand that eternity will not be long enough for their raptures. The curtain falls on this situation; if it was to rise again, they would have to own ignominiously that half an hour had been found ample.’ ‘My God! and I believed you when you told me you could not live without me. In six weeks I see you flirting with another woman.’ ‘Oh, is that it? Well, I suppose if I had cared to play the spy, I should have seen you flirting with another man.’ ‘How dare you! how dare you speak like that, when you know you asked me to be your decoy! You needn’t deny it; that is the long and short of it, and I refuse, I will not submit to this. I will go away, and you can get a divorce if you like. The whole thing is a miserable, degrading, horrible dream. Now I am awake, and will escape.’ She rushed to the door; he reached it first, and caught her in his arms. ‘I never saw you look so beautiful.’ He covered her face with kisses. She struggled; he murmured, ‘My own dear love, I was only teasing; don’t let us remember a word we have said.’ ‘But you were flirting with that Lady Geraldine!’ ‘Never mind her; she is the sort of woman men always imagine they are in love with, except when they are alone with her.’ ‘When were you alone with her?’ ‘I haven’t been alone with her, but I can read women like books; you needn’t be afraid that curiosity about the sex will lead me astray.’ ‘And you really meant it when you said I was the only woman you ever really loved?’ ‘You know it well enough, my darling. When a man like me marries, he has been shot straight through the heart.’ After a pause, she said, ‘Well, shall we go back to the cottage?’ ‘No, we’ll stay here and have a little feast. Come along, we will forage about and get up a bottle of champagne. You get the things out of this cupboard, while I go down to the cellar.’ * * * * *