Page:The Return of the Soldier (Van Druten).djvu/102

 (defiantly, after a pause) : This is only just in time. I packed the things myself this morning, because I was going to make a bonfire of them.



(silkily) : Why were you going to do that, Mrs. Baldry?

(to, in a low vicious tone) : I spoke of it to you, Jenny, the other day, about dismantling the room. I didn’t really mean it then. I love the room. I only said it because you hurt me, hinting that I was callous about Chris. I made myself talk as I did; you goaded me to it. But these last days when he didn’t belong to me any more  then I made up my mind to finish with the past  absolutely.

(very quietly) : What were your exact relations with your husband, Mrs. Baldry?



[Something catches in her throat, and she turns and walks quickly out of the room.

(after a pause) : It’s all so dreadful

(to ) : Was the marriage ever a happy one?

(with a shrug) : You mustn’t ask me.

I’m sure Chris was always kind.

[There is another silence. ''walks slowly about the room. He finds the volume of''