SYBIL [prompted by the impediment, which is in hiding, quite close]. Did he ... forget?
[There is more than a touch of malice in the question. It is a challenge, and the Wylies as a family are almost too quick to accept a challenge.]
MAGGIE [lifting the gage of battle]. John forget? Never! It’s a pendant, father.
[The impediment bolts. JOHN rises.]
ALICK. A pendant? One of those things on a chain?
[He grins, remembering how once, about sixty years ago, he and a lady and a pendant—but we have no time for this.]
MAGGIE. Yes.
DAVID [who has felt the note of antagonism and is troubled]. You were slow in speaking of it, Mr. Shand.
MAGGIE [This is her fight.] He was shy, because he thought you might blame him for extravagance.
DAVID [relieved]. Oh, that’s it.