Everitt

But why on earth didn't you come right out with it?

Mrs. Everitt

Oh! You can't realize how crushed I felt. I wanted only to run away, like a wounded animal.... And then I couldn't bear to quarrel, for the sake of Walter. So it's been festering in me all this time.

Everitt

So that's it. Well, thank heaven! (He starts to embrace her)

Mrs. Everitt

But that letter you picked up so quickly to-night—was that from somebody else?

Everitt

Lord, I'd almost forgotten it.