You--proposed--to-day!
WALTER. [_Very embarra.s.sed._] Yes--I mean--
BETTY. You--proposed--to-day! And waited till she had accepted you--to tell _me_--
WALTER. [_Eagerly._] Don"t be so silly--come, come, he"ll be back in a minute.... And, believe me, I"m not worth making a fuss about!
BETTY. [_Looking contemptuously at him._] That"s true.
WALTER. Yes, it is, worse luck! I deserve all you"ve said to me. And you"ll be ... much better ... without me.
BETTY. Better?
WALTER. Yes, better, better--any way you choose to put it! I"m a--but never mind that!--Look here--you"d like me to stop?
BETTY. He wants to play bridge.
WALTER. Don"t you think that I--
BETTY.[_Hearing_ HECTOR _coming._] Sh.
[HECTOR _comes in--she is idly tossing the cards about._ HECTOR _has put on a smoking-jacket--he comes in, very jolly, fussing around, rubbing his hands, so glad to be home. He sits, to the right of_ BETTY.
HECTOR. Now for a game!
[_He seizes a pack, and spreads out the cards._
BETTY. [_Leaning back._] Not sure that I want to play.
HECTOR. Don"t be disagreeable, Betty! Why?
BETTY. [_Listlessly, as she rises and moves across the room._] No fun, being three.
HECTOR. Good practice for you. Come on.
BETTY. [_Leaning against the other table, and turning and facing them._]
Besides, _he_ has something to tell you.
HECTOR. Walter?
BETTY. Yes.
HECTOR. [_Looking inquiringly at_ WALTER.] To tell _me?_ What is it?
BETTY. That he"s engaged.
HECTOR. [_Shouting, as he leans across the table._] Never! Walter!
Engaged? You?
WALTER. [_Nervously._] Yes.
HECTOR. [_Noisily and affectionately._] You old scoundrel! You rascal and villain! Engaged--and you don"t come and tell _me_ first! Well I--am--d.a.m.ned!
WALTER. [_Trying to take it gaily._] I knew you"d chaff me about it.
HECTOR. Chaff you! Silly old c.o.o.n! why I"m glad! Of course we shall miss you--but marriage--it"s the only thing, my boy--the only thing! Who is she? Do I know her?
WALTER. [_Mumbling, as he fingers the cards._] A friend of Betty"s--I fancy you"ve met her--
HECTOR. Who?
BETTY. Mary Gillingham. We"re the first to know--he only proposed to-day.
HECTOR. Gillingham, Gillingham.... Oh yes, I"ve seen her, just seen her, but I don"t remember.... I say, not the daughter of the sealing-wax man?
WALTER. Yes.
HECTOR. Then there"s lots of tin! Fine! Oh you artful old dodger! Is she pretty?
WALTER. So-So.
BETTY. [_Still leaning against the table, and looking at them both._]
She"s excessively pretty. She has yellow hair and blue eyes.
HECTOR. [_Chuckling._] And she has caught old Wallie. The cynical old Wallie who sniffed at women! Though perhaps it"s the money--
BETTY. No. He"s in love with her.
HECTOR. That"s good. I"m glad. And I congratulate you--heartily, my boy.
[_He seizes_ WALTER"S _hand, and wrings it._] We must drink to it! [_He gets up, goes to the side-table, and pours some whiskey into a tumbler._]
Charge your gla.s.s, Walter! [WALTER _rises and goes to the side-table._]
Ladies and gentlemen. I give you the bride and bridegroom! [_He fills the gla.s.s from the syphon and pa.s.ses it to_ WALTER, _then proceeds to fill his own._] Betty, you must join us.
BETTY. [_Quietly._] No.
HECTOR. You can"t toast him in water, of course. Has she cleared away yet?
I"ll get you some Hock.
[_He puts his gla.s.s down and moves to the door at back._
BETTY. Don"t be so silly. I won"t drink at all.
HECTOR. [_Amazed._] Not to old Walter?
BETTY. [_Steadily._] No.
HECTOR. Why?
BETTY. [_Almost jeeringly._] Because--old Walter--has been my lover.