TEDDIE. Not at all.
C.-C. When are you going back to the F.M.S.?
TEDDIE. In about a month.
C.-C. I see.
[_He goes out._
ELIZABETH. I wonder what he has at the back of his head.
TEDDIE. D"you think he was talking at you?
ELIZABETH. He"s as clever as a bagful of monkeys.
[_There is a moment"s pause. TEDDIE hesitates a little and when he speaks it is in a different tone. He is grave and somewhat nervous._
TEDDIE. It seems very difficult to get a few minutes alone with you. I wonder if you"ve been making it difficult?
ELIZABETH. I wanted to think.
TEDDIE. I"ve made up my mind to go away to-morrow.
ELIZABETH. Why?
TEDDIE. I want you altogether or not at all.
ELIZABETH. You"re so arbitrary.
TEDDIE. You said you--you said you cared for me.
ELIZABETH. I do.
TEDDIE. Do you mind if we talk it over now?
ELIZABETH. No.
TEDDIE. [_Frowning._] It makes me feel rather shy and awkward. I"ve repeated to myself over and over again exactly what I want to say to you, and now all I"d prepared seems rather footling.
ELIZABETH. I"m so afraid I"m going to cry.
TEDDIE. I feel it"s all so tremendously serious and I think we ought to keep emotion out of it. You"re rather emotional, aren"t you?
ELIZABETH. [_Half smiling and half in tears._] So are you for the matter of that.
TEDDIE. That"s why I wanted to have everything I meant to say to you cut and dried. I think it would be awfully unfair if I made love to you and all that sort of thing, and you were carried away. I wrote it all down and thought I"d send it you as a letter.
ELIZABETH. Why didn"t you?
TEDDIE. I got the wind up. A letter seems so--so cold. You see, I love you so awfully.
ELIZABETH. For goodness" sake don"t say that.
TEDDIE. You mustn"t cry. Please don"t, or I shall go all to pieces.
ELIZABETH. [_Trying to smile._] I"m sorry. It doesn"t mean anything really. It"s only tears running out of my eyes.
TEDDIE. Our only chance is to be awfully matter-of-fact.
[_He stops for a moment. He finds it quite difficult to control himself. He clears his throat. He frowns with annoyance at himself._
ELIZABETH. What"s the matter?
TEDDIE. I"ve got a sort of lump in my throat. It is idiotic. I think I"ll have a cigarette.
[_She watches him in silence while he lights a cigarette._
You see, I"ve never been in love with anyone before, not really. It"s knocked me endways. I don"t know how I can live without you now... .
Does that old fool know I"m in love with you?
ELIZABETH. I think so.
TEDDIE. When he was talking about Lady Kitty smashing up Lord Porteous" career I thought there was something at the back of it.
ELIZABETH. I think he was trying to persuade me not to smash up yours.
TEDDIE. I"m sure that"s very considerate of him, but I don"t happen to have one to smash. I wish I had. It"s the only time in my life I"ve wished I were a h.e.l.l of a swell so that I could chuck it all and show you how much more you are to me than anything else in the world.
ELIZABETH. [_Affectionately._] You"re a dear old thing, Teddie.
TEDDIE. You know, I don"t really know how to make love, but if I did I couldn"t do it now because I just want to be absolutely practical.
ELIZABETH. [_Chaffing him._] I"m glad you don"t know how to make love.
It would be almost more than I could bear.
TEDDIE. You see, I"m not at all romantic and that sort of thing. I"m just a common or garden business man. All this is so dreadfully serious and I think we ought to be sensible.
ELIZABETH. [_With a break in her voice._] You owl!
TEDDIE. No, Elizabeth, don"t say things like that to me. I want you to consider all the _pros_ and _cons,_ and my heart"s thumping against my chest, and you know I love you, I love you, I love you.
ELIZABETH. [_In a sigh of pa.s.sion._] Oh, my precious!
TEDDIE. [_Impatiently, but with himself, rather than with ELIZABETH._]
Don"t be idiotic, Elizabeth. I"m not going to tell you that I can"t live without you and a lot of muck like that. You know that you mean everything in the world to me. [_Almost giving it up as a bad job._]
Oh, my G.o.d!
ELIZABETH. [_Her voice faltering._] D"you think there"s anything you can say to me that I don"t know already?