AMY. ‘Don’t ask me, please. I have sworn not to talk of it.’
ALICE. ‘Sworn? To whom?’
AMY. ‘To another.’
Alice, with a sinking, pounces on her daughter’s engagement finger; but it is unadorned.
ALICE. ‘Tell me, Amy, who is that other?’
AMY, bravely, ‘It is our secret.’
ALICE. ‘Amy, I beg you—’
AMY, a heroic figure, ‘Dear mother, I am so sorry I must decline.’
ALICE. ‘You defy me.’ She takes hold of her daughter’s shoulders. ‘Amy, you drive me frantic. If you don’t tell me at once I shall insist on your father—. Oh, you—’
It is not to be denied that she is shaking Amy when the Colonel once more intrudes.