To London? All alone? (Janet nods) Why did you do that? And why didn’t you let me know? JANET _(shrugs)_ You were out of England by that time. MONTY But why London? JANET I had to go somewhere. And it seemed better to go where I shouldn’t be known. Besides it’s easier to be lost sight of in a crowd. MONTY But what did you do when you got there? JANET _(calmly)_ I got a place in a shop, Monty. MONTY A shop? You! JANET Yes, a hat-shop, in Regent Street. My dear Monty, don’t gape like that. Hat-shops are perfectly respectable places. Almost too respectable to judge by the fuss two of them made about employing _me_. MONTY What do you mean? JANET Well, when I applied to them for work they naturally asked if I had ever worked in a hat-shop before. And when I said “No” they naturally asked why I wanted to begin. In the innocence of my heart I told them. Whereupon they at once refused to employ me--not in the politest terms. MONTY Poor Janet. What beastly luck! Still... [_Hesitates._ JANET Yes, Monty? MONTY I mean naturally they couldn’t be expected... _(flustered)_ At least I don’t mean that exactly. Only... [_Stops._ JANET My dear Monty, I quite understand what you mean. You needn’t trouble to be explicit. Naturally they couldn’t be expected to employ an abandoned person like me to trim hats. That was exactly their view. MONTY But I thought you said you _did_ get a place in a shop? Janet Yes. But not at either of _those_ shops. They were _far_ too virtuous. MONTY How did you do it? JANET Told lies, Monty. I believe that’s how most women get employment. MONTY Told lies? JANET Yes. I invented a husband, recently deceased, bought several yards of crêpe and a wedding ring. This is the ring. [_Takes off glove._ MONTY Oh, Janet, how beastly for you! [_Janet shrugs_. JANET _(laughing)_ Everything seems to be “Beastly” to you, Monty. Brendon and telling lies and lots of other things. Luckily I’m less superfine. MONTY Didn’t they find out? JANET No. That was why I decided to be a widow. It made inquiries more difficult. MONTY I should have thought it made them easier. JANET On the contrary. You can’t cross-question a widow about a recent bereavement. If you do she cries. I always used to look tearful directly my husband’s name was even mentioned. So they gave up mentioning it. Women are so boring when they will cry. MONTY They might have inquired from other people. JANET Why should they? Besides there was no one to inquire from. I called him Seagrave--and drowned him at sea. You can’t ask questions of the sharks. MONTY Oh, Janet, how can you joke about it? JANET I couldn’t--then. I wanted work-too badly. But I can now--with your kind permission, I mean. MONTY And you’ve been at the shop ever since? JANET Not _that_ shop. I was only there about six months --till baby was born, in fact... MONTY _(horrified)_