Mrs. Akers (decidedly): That’s impossible.
Mrs. Lloyd-Evans: She pitched a long yarn about the girl herself not having known what was happening. They pretend it came to light by accident, through something Fanny said to her mother, which made her suspicious.
Mrs. Akers (eagerly): What was that? If we’re to help at all, we’d better know everything.
(Mrs. Lloyd-Evans whispers to her, and Mrs. Akers whispers in her turn to Mrs. Ballantyne.)
Mrs. Ballantyne: And when do they expect——
Mrs. Lloyd-Evans: In three months’ time, actually.
(The members of the Committee, in silence, make rapid movements upon their fingers, in evident calculation.)
Mrs. Akers: Then it must have happened after they got down here, that’s clear.
Mrs. Lloyd-Evans: I think it’s much more likely it was in London. There’d just be time. Londoners are always immoral. Besides, as I said to her, in our town these things don’t happen.
Mrs. Ballantyne: How did they take it?