[She stops from the over-quivering of her lips. JILL, standing beside the chair, strokes her shoulder. HILLCRIST stands very still, painfully biting at a finger.]
You see, my father went bankrupt, and I was in a shop——
HILLCRIST. [Soothingly, and to prevent disclosures] Yes, yes; Yes, yes!
CHLOE. I never gave a man away or did anything I was ashamed of—at least—I mean, I had to make my living in all sorts of ways, and then I met Charlie.
[Again she stopped from the quivering of her lips.]
JILL. It's all right.
CHLOE. He thought I was respectable, and that was such a relief, you can't think, so—so I let him.
JILL. Dodo! It's awful
HILLCRIST. It is!
CHLOE. And after I married him, you see, I fell in love. If I had before, perhaps I wouldn't have dared only, I don't know—you never know, do you? When there's a straw going, you catch at it.