[_She goes eagerly to him, flings her arms round his neck, and a dry sob bursts from her._
WALTER. [_Very gently._] Betty, Betty, you've been so brave ... Betty, dear, the horrid things I've said were only to make you angry, to make you feel what a brute I was, how well you're rid of me. Oh, I'm not proud of myself! But look here, we must be sensible--we must, really.... You know, if you were divorced--if I were the co-respondent in a divorce case--I'd lose my berth, get the sack--
BETTY. [_Clinging to him._] We could go to Australia--anywhere--
BETTY. [_With a sudden movement, raising her head and leaving him._] And Mary Gillingham has lots?
WALTER. [_Dropping his head, and speaking under his breath._] Yes.
BETTY. [_Wringing her hands._] You do, you do?
WALTER. Yes, that's the truth--I do. Oh, Betty I'm so frightfully sorry--
BETTY. [_With a groan._] Then you don't love me any more ...
BETTY. [_Moaning._] You don't, you don't!
[_She stands there, crushed, overwhelmed, dry-eyed, broken moans escaping from her; suddenly she hears a key turning in the lock of the hall-door outside, and rushes to the card-table._
[WALTER _flies to the table, and sits by her side. He seizes one pack and proceeds to shuffle it, she is dealing with the other. All this takes only a second._ HECTOR _comes in--they both spring up._
HECTOR. [_Kissing her._] Play postponed, my child--bit of luck! When I got to the theatre I found that the actor-manager's car had collided with a cab outside the stage-door--he was thrown through the window--there's a magnificent exit for you! and has been cut about a bit. Nothing serious. But the play's postponed for a week. Bit of luck!
HECTOR. Oh _he_ has had luck enough--tons of it! I'll get into a jacket--then we'll have some bridge. See what progress you've made, Betty!
BETTY. [_Producing a little mirror from her bag, looking into it, touching her hair._] We were only just in time.
WALTER. [_Eagerly, as he bends across the table._] You're splendid--you are--splendid!
BETTY. Yes. All very nice and comfortable for you--isn't it? [_She puts the mirror back into the bag._]
BETTY. To-morrow you'll go to her--or to-night perhaps--
WALTER. To-night--ridiculous! At this hour!
BETTY. She's a deceitful little cat. I saw her last week--she never told me--