[_Shouting._] For goodness’ sake let me hear myself speak. [_These speeches are said simultaneously, and immediately afterwards is heard the dull roar of a train passing through the station, and a long, shrill whistle._ ETCHINGHAM _starts nervously_. ETCHINGHAM. Oh, confound those trains. JAMES FORD. [_Impatiently._] I should have thought you’d got used to them by now. ETCHINGHAM. Good Lord, I’ve not slept for a week. They go on all night. BENNETT. They worried me a bit last night. And when I did get to sleep I heard them whistling away through my dreams. BOYCE. They don’t seem to trouble Winter. ETCHINGHAM. If they did I suppose he wouldn’t come to this hotel. JAMES FORD. [_Nodding in the direction of_ GEORGE WINTER’S _room_.] He sleeps next door, doesn’t he? BOYCE. He told me he slept like a top last night. BENNETT. [_Simultaneously._] He looked as fresh as paint this morning. ETCHINGHAM. And his room’s practically on the line. JAMES FORD. Oh, nonsense. ETCHINGHAM. Yes, it is. You just walk down a flight of steps into the garden, and there you are within twenty feet of the line. JAMES FORD. Worst place in Middlepool for a hotel. I told them so when they came to me about it. Wanted me to put money in it. Not me. SWALECLIFFE. [_Breaking in before_ JAMES FORD _has finished_.] Surely Mr. Winter ought to be here by now. JAMES FORD. You won’t make him come any quicker by looking out of the window. BOYCE. Every moment’s valuable. Something ought to be done at once. ETCHINGHAM. [_Interrupting._] Don’t you know where he is, Colonel? BOYCE. He was booked to speak to the men at Parker and Gibbons at 10.30. But you know what he is. Half a dozen places at once. He’s about the most difficult person to catch I know. SWALECLIFFE. Have you sent down to Parker and Gibbons? BOYCE. Yes, of course I have; I’ve sent a dozen fellows after him to tell him to come to the hotel at once. BENNETT. [_Talking through._] You’ve been careful? You’ve not ...? BOYCE. You don’t think I’m a beginner at this game, do you? BENNETT. Well, I didn’t know how you’d made him understand what had happened. JAMES FORD. He’s not made him understand. When Winter’s told he’s expected at the Palace at once he’ll guess something’s in the wind. SWALECLIFFE. You’re sure he won’t go to the Committee Rooms? BOYCE. If he does he’ll be sent on. I thought it would cause a lot of gossip if we had a meeting there. That’s why I suggested the hotel. ETCHINGHAM. [_Interrupting._] I wish to goodness you wouldn’t look so depressed, Mr. Swalecliffe. SWALECLIFFE. You’re a business man, Mr. Ford. D’you think there’s any truth in this article? JAMES FORD. You’d better ask Lord Francis. He’s chairman of the new company; I’m only an investor. BENNETT. Of course there’s nothing in it. The whole thing’s a malicious libel. JAMES FORD. Well, we’ll hear what Winter’s got to say about it. ETCHINGHAM.