MRS. MUSKAT

Miss you? Not I. But the silly girls miss you. They’re always asking for you. Well, are you going to be sensible and come back?

LILIOM

And leave—her?

MRS. MUSKAT

You beat her, don’t you?

LILIOM

No, I don’t beat her. What’s all this damn fool talk about beating her? I hit her once—that was all—and now the whole city seems to be talking about it. You don’t call that beating her, do you?

MRS. MUSKAT