REBECCA. I can’t understand him.
VAN. What I mean is, I am not his father, but his mother is my wife.
REBECCA. Mrs. Bobbins!
VAN. Bobbins! What, does she openly bear his name? Monstrous! The whole history of crime, from the Heathen Mythology down to the Newgate Calendar, has nothing to equal this!
REBECCA. Do you mean to say, then, that she is not his wife?
VAN. His wife! no more than you are.
REBECCA. What, they are not married?
VAN. Married!
REBECCA. Well, hang me, if I didn’t half suspect it! Now it’s all out—it’s all explained. Oh, sir, how I do pity you! What a shocking bad woman! I never liked her—and since she has behaved so wickedly, I think it becomes my duty to tell you all I know.