Mrs. Denham.
He loves her—let him go to her. (Rises and crosses l. Stopped by Miss Macfarlane.)
Miss Macfarlane.
Fiddlesticks, my dear! Don't force him into her arms. Mind you, he has vowed to cherish you as well as to love you; and how can he do that if you drive him away? Do ye remember one of his misquotations from Byron:
"Man's love is from his life a thing apart,
'Tis woman's main subsistence?"
There's truth in that.
Mrs. Denham.
Men make love, like everything else, a mere game.
Miss Macfarlane.
Ay, you're right there. But until we hold the purse strings, it's hard to keep them to the strict rules o' the game.