You can do what you damned well like; but if Peggy hasn’t gone by to-morrow night I shall turn you off the estate on Tuesday.

Gann.

[Hoarsely.] You wouldn’t do it! You couldn’t do it.

[There is a sound of talking and laughter, and of a general movement as the dining-room door is opened.

Claude.

They’re just coming in. You’d better hook it.

[Miss Vernon and Edith Lewis come in, followed by Grace. For a moment Gann stands awkwardly, and then leaves the room. Miss Vernon is a slight, faded, rather gaunt woman of thirty-five. Her deliberate manner, her composure, suggest a woman of means and a woman who knows her own mind. Edith Lewis is a pretty girl of twenty. Grace is thirty. She is a beautiful creature with an eager, earnest face and fine eyes. She has a restless manner, and her frequent laughter strikes you as forced. She is always falling from one emotion to another. She uses a slightly satirical note when she speaks to her husband.

Edith.

[Going to the window.] Oh, what a lovely night! Do let’s go out. [To Grace.] May we?