We know why he is staring at Alice, but of course he is too gallant a gentleman to tell. Besides his astonishment has dazed him.
STEVE. ‘Was I?’
ALICE, with her arms extended, ‘Amy, don’t be afraid of me.’
AMY, going into them contemptuously, ‘I’m not.’
COLONEL, badgered, ‘Then kiss and make it up.’
Amy bestows a cold kiss upon her mother. Alice weeps. ‘This is too much. Just wait till I get you home. Are you both ready?’
It is then that Amy makes her first mistake. The glove that the Colonel has tossed to Steve is lying on a chair, and she innocently begins to put it on. Her father stares at her; his wife does not know why.
ALICE. ‘We are ready, Robert. Why don’t you come? Robert, what is it?’
COLONEL, darkening, ‘Steve knows what it is; Amy doesn’t as yet. The simple soul has given herself away so innocently that it is almost a shame to take notice of it. But I must, Steve. Come, man, it can’t be difficult to explain.’
In this Steve evidently differs from him.