"That I'd marry her? Good God! Ally! What on earth made you think I'd do that? I wouldn't have married her if there hadn't been another woman in the world."
"I couldn't be sure. But after what you said about her I had to give her a chance."
"What did I say?"
"That she'd die or go mad if somebody didn't marry her."
"I never said that. I wouldn't be likely to."
"But you did, dear. You frightened me. So I went away to see if that would make it any better."
"Any better for whom?"
"For Ally."
"Oh—Ally. I see."
"I thought if it didn't—if you didn't marry her—I could come back again. And when I did come back you'd married Mary."