BETTY. [Calmly.] Liar.

WALTER. [Falling back.] Betty!

BETTY.  Liar—­yes.  Why these stupid, silly lies?  “Always, deep down in me!”
Where was it, this beautiful feeling, when you got me to go to your rooms?

WALTER. [Harshly.] We needn’t—­

BETTY.  I liked you—­I’ve said that—­I liked you from the first.  But I was straight enough.  Liked you, of course—­but I had no idea, not the slightest....  Thought it fun to play the fool, flirt just a bit.  But it was you, you, you who—­

WALTER. [Breaking in sulkily and stamping his foot.] Never mind about who it was.

BETTY. [Passionately.] Never mind!  You dare!

WALTER. [Doggedly.] Yes—­I dare.  And look here—­since you force me to it—­that’s all rot—­yes, it is—­just rot.  Just as you like it now, hearing Hector ask me to stop with you, and kissing me the moment his back is turned—­so you met me halfway, and more than halfway.

BETTY.  You cur!

WALTER.  That’s what a woman always says, when a man speaks the truth.  Because it is the truth—­and you know it.  “The way I squeezed your hand!” D’you think I meant to squeeze it—­in a way!  Why, as there’s a Heaven above me, you were as sacred to me—­as my own sister!

BETTY. [Quietly, as she sits, to right of the table.] What I’m wondering is—­you see, you’re the only lover I’ve had—­what I wonder is, when a man breaks off, tells a woman he’s tired of her, wants to get married—­does he always abuse the woman—­

WALTER. [Sulkily.] I haven’t—­

BETTY.  Degrade, and throw mud on, the love she has had for him?

WALTER. [With a bitter shrug.] Love—­

BETTY. [Passionately, as she springs to her feet.] Love, love, yes, you—­cruel man!  Love, what else?  I adore you, don’t you know that?  Live for you! would give up everything in the world—­everything, everything!  And Walter, Walter!  If it’s only that—­that you want a home—­well, let’s go off together.  He’ll divorce us—­we can get married.  Don’t go away, and leave me here, alone with him!  I couldn’t stand it—­Walter, I couldn’t, I couldn’t!

     [She goes eagerly to him, flings her arms round his neck, and a
     dry sob bursts from her.

WALTER. [Very gently.] Betty, Betty, you’ve been so brave ...  Betty, dear, the horrid things I’ve said were only to make you angry, to make you feel what a brute I was, how well you’re rid of me.  Oh, I’m not proud of myself!  But look here, we must be sensible—­we must, really....  You know, if you were divorced—­if I were the co-respondent in a divorce case—­I’d lose my berth, get the sack—­

BETTY. [Clinging to him.] We could go to Australia—­anywhere—­

WALTER.  I’ve no money.

BETTY. [With a sudden movement, raising her head and leaving him.] And
Mary Gillingham has lots?