MR. MORLAND. It is stealing.
SIMON (prudently). Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
(From the ceiling there comes a gentle tapping, as from a senior officer who is indicating that England expects her lieutenant this day to do his duty. SIMON inflates.)
It is beastly hard on you, of course; but if you knew what Mary Rose is!
MRS. MORLAND (pardonably). We feel that even we know to some extent what Mary Rose is.
SIMON (tacking). Yes, rather; and so you can see how it has come about. (This effort cheers him.) I would let myself be cut into little chips for her; I should almost like it. (With a brief glance at his misspent youth.) Perhaps you have thought that I was a rather larky sort in the past?
MRS. MORLAND (sarcastically). We see an extraordinary change in you, Simon.
SIMON (eagerly). Have you noticed that? Mary Rose has noticed it too. That is my inner man coming out. (Carefully.) To some young people marriage is a thing to be entered on lightly, but that is not my style. What I want is to give up larks, and all that, and insure my life, and read the political articles.
(Further knocking from above reminds him of something else.)
Yes, and I promise you it won’t be like losing a daughter but like gaining a son.