I was just going to say that if you really wanted it, I'd withdraw. It was Tubby's idea to buy it, you know—not mine. You do want it, don't you?
HE
I can't say that I do. It's so infernally big. But Maria thinks I ought to have it. (Explanatorily) Maria is—
SHE (gently)
She's—the one who is interested in furnaces, I understand. I saw her with you at the real-estate office yesterday. Well—furnaces are necessary, I suppose. (There is a pause, which she breaks suddenly) Do you see that bee?
HE
A bee? (He follows her gaze up to a cluster of blossoms.)
SHE
Yes—there! (Affectionately) The rascal! There he goes. (Their eyes follow the flight of the bee across the orchard. There is a silence, in which Maria and Tubby drift into the limbo of forgotten things. Alone together beneath the blossoms, a spell seems to have fallen upon them. She tries to think of something to say—and at last succeeds.)
SHE