MARGERY.
I couldn’t, sir. Don’t ask me!
GERALD.
Then you refuse me? [Margery is silent—he turns away.] Well, I don’t deserve you.
MARGERY [approaching him.]
Oh, don’t think I mean that! Do you suppose you are the only man that’s ever made love to me? It’s a man’s business to make love; and it’s a woman’s business to stop him—when he makes love too hard. But if we can’t be lovers, Mr. Gerald, we can be friends.
GERALD.
It’s got past friendship with me, Margery. Since I came back to town, everything’s changed. My pursuits all feel so empty and so meaningless; every woman I meet seems different from what she was: and oh, how different from you!
MARGERY.
Gentry are different. We’re different breeds. That’s why we can’t be lovers.