LILY goes out, a little indignant.
CHARLEY enters from kitchen, dressed for the office.
MAGGIE. Charley!
CHARLEY. What’s up? Don’t rot, Mag!
MAGGIE. And now—
CHARLEY. Oh, let’s drop it. I was a fool all along—a bit of a beast, too—it’s done with. . . .
MAGGIE. But—
CHARLEY. What’s the good of talking? Don’t make me out more of a brute than I am! No, the thing was meant to be! I was mad. After all, a man can’t do just what he likes! It’s better as it is. If this hadn’t happened I should have done it—and a pretty mess, I daresay, I’d have been in—and dragged her in, too—
MAGGIE. If—