Why the dickens didn ’ t you tell me last night , Angela ? Upon my soul , I don ’ t know what you mean . It ’ s incomprehensible to me that you should have slept like a top . I couldn ’ t have closed my eyes the whole night . I should have thought I had enough to do without being pestered with a foolish woman ’ s matrimonial difficulties . Really , Angela , I must beg you not to make this a subject of flippancy . Do ? What do you expect me to do ? You tell me that Kate came home at twelve o ’ clock last night without a stitch of clothing .... In a ball dress , with an opera cloak on — without her luggage , without even a dressing-case — and informs you that she ’ s left her husband .... It ’ s absurd . And when ’ s she going home ? She ’ s not going to stay here ? And George ? You don ’ t suppose her husband ’ s going to put up with this nonsense ? Has he made no sign ? Why a toothbrush ? Well , that shows he doesn ’ t look upon the matter as serious . Of course , it was a whim on Kate ’ s part . Luckily he ’ s coming here this morning .... Yes , he promised to fetch me in his car . We ’ re going to drive down to the City together . I ’ ll bring him in , and meanwhile you can talk to Kate . I dare say she ’ s thought better of it already . It only wants a little tact , and we can settle the whole thing . George is clever enough to have given some plausible explanation to the servants . Why not ? Angela , for goodness ’ sake don ’ t try to be bright and amusing . You don ’ t mean to say you think Kate will refuse to go back to her husband ? But what reasons does she give ? Why did she say she left him ? Well , she must go back to her husband . Because a woman ’ s place is by her husband ’ s side , Angela . You know just as well as I do that I can ’ t afford to quarrel with George Winter . I ’ m chairman of half a dozen of his companies . The position would be intolerable . I should be expected to take Kate ’ s side if she were right or wrong . No , not exactly . We ’ re mixed up together in any number of business undertakings , and naturally we have a sort of running account . If we settled up I dare say I should have to find something like fifteen thousand pounds . Yes , I did , but the fact is , we ’ ve been very badly hit lately . Practically all our interests are in Central America , and we couldn ’ t foresee that there ’ d be a revolution there . Oh , I knew you ’ d blame me . And I suppose you ’ ll blame me because a confounded earthquake smashed up one of our railways . That ’ s just it . It would be devilish awkward . And George is in a confounded tight place too . You must talk to her seriously , Angela . You must tell her that her behaviour is outrageous . Be so good as to sit down , Catherine . I want to talk to you . Your mother and I have sent for you ....Now what does all this mean ? It ’ s ridiculous nonsense . You ’ re surely old enough to have learnt a little self-control . Am I to understand that what your mother tells me is true ? You ’ ve never complained before of George ’ s behaviour . Why have you never said a word to your mother about it ? I can ’ t imagine why you shouldn ’ t get on with George . I don ’ t suppose you ’ ve ever expressed a whim that he hasn ’ t gratified . Your allowance is princely . Your pearls are the envy of every woman in London . Then what have you got to complain of ? Well , Angela ? I suppose he ’ s been flirting with two or three pretty women . That ’ s the kind of thing a tactful woman must close her eyes to . You ’ re a woman of the world , Kate . You know what men are . You must extend a certain degree of licence to a man of George Winter ’ s temperament . But you can ’ t divorce him . You ’ ve accused him of nothing but infidelity . You can ’ t be so ignorant of the law .... Well , of course there are always two sides to every question . Eh , very well . Perhaps you can do something with her . Tell her what it means if she persists . I suppose I shall find the Times in the library . My dear , I was hoping that after a talk with your mother you ’ d have .... Macdonald is George ’ s expert . He ’ s the soundest man in the profession . Well , Catherine , I hope you ’ ve thought better of things . What the deuce can he want ? No , let him come up . Perhaps it ’ s something important , and he ’ ll want to see me too . He ’ s the secretary of two or three of our companies . He manages the office and that sort of thing . I don ’ t know about that . I flatter myself I ’ m worth my salt . Nothing has happened , Mr. Bennett ? Of course not . Nothing serious , I hope , George ? I really can ’ t stand my room any longer . And I can walk quite well now . O ’ Farrell ’ s an idiot . That little joke of Angela ’ s didn ’ t quite come off . Or Eve ! I remember that little woman quite well . Not much to look at . I wondered at the time what Perigal saw in her . No , dear . Are you going out ? Oh ! Ah , Mr. Bennett , forgive me if I don ’ t get up . Is anything the matter ? I ? Ah yes , of course . George didn ’ t mention it . I suppose he wants me to sign cheques . I can do it just as well here as at the office . I expect Mr. Winter is in . Would you mind ringing ? By Jove , I ’ d forgotten all about them . I say , George , you made a mistake in letting them come . By the way , was it you who sent for Bennett ? Quite , thank you . I don ’ t feel it at the moment . Ah , that ’ s good news . Now we can get to work at once . Yes , hand it over , Bennett . This is really a thrilling moment . I believe I ’ m going to make my fortune at last . Impressive document , isn ’ t it ? Upon my soul , I don ’ t know why Macdonald can ’ t put it into plain English ? I must honestly confess that I don ’ t quite grasp what he means . Ah ! You ’ re — you ’ re joking ! Then .... Is this true , Mr. Bennett ? My God ! What ’ s to be done now ? I ? We must just pocket our loss . The slump must come to an end soon . Then what the deuce is to be done ? It doesn ’ t mean that we smash up , George ? George , don ’ t play the fool now . I ’ ve put all my eggs in this basket . I thought I was going to be rich at last . I wanted to get out of the whole thing . I wanted to live quietly and comfortably . But isn ’ t that dishonest ? George ! The public will find out there ’ s no gold there when you pay no dividends . But you say yourself it ’ s dishonest . What is that ? What d ’ you mean ? What are you talking about , George ? Well ? But I ’ ve never signed anything . Then my signature ’ s been forged . But I never looked at them . I didn ’ t know .... I shall go to the police . Mr. Bennett , you ’ ll testify that I never realized for a moment what I was doing . You told me they were purely formal documents . I saw George sign them . I added my signature without hesitation . That ’ s just what I want you to do . Oh , my God ! You ’ ve tricked me . You ’ re a common swindler . In a month we may all be in prison . Well , I see my duty before me . I didn ’ t know , but now there can be no excuse for me . I must go to Scotland Yard at once . I shall make a clean breast of the whole thing . Every one will know that I ’ m incapable of such an act . I must do my duty . But nothing can be done . The mine ’ s worthless . How are we to raise eighty thousand pounds ? There ’ s no more chance of replacing them in six weeks than there is the day after to-morrow . Good God ! I ’ d forgotten Kate . You wouldn ’ t have got into such a mess with Kate if you hadn ’ t made such a damned fool of yourself . Why couldn ’ t you leave these women alone ? To go and tell my daughter that I ’ m a thief and a swindler , and throw myself on her mercy ! I ’ ll see you damned first ! What does he mean ? Good God ! Is that true , Mr. Bennett ? I never knew . My God ! I ’ ll see you damned first . I tell you I won ’ t . And you can go to Hell ! If I speak to her it ’ ll only be to tell her that you ’ re a rotten scoundrel , and it ’ s worth her while to put up with anything to be rid of you . For you and that dirty convict there . You miserable fellow , d ’ you think I shall try to escape my penalty ? I tell you I won ’ t . You ’ ve made a catspaw of me . And you thought you ’ d only got to say the word and I ’ d come to heel . I don ’ t want any mercy . You think you ’ ve got me tight . Don ’ t you know that I ’ ve got a way of escape whenever I choose to take it . That ’ s my business . I ’ m obliged to you for the permission . You have , a confounded mess . Get out of my way , you damned bounder . I wish you a pleasant time at Portland , gentlemen . What are you going to do ? You ’ re not going to see those fellows ? Oh , you needn ’ t think she ’ ll back you up in your confounded lies . Have you got something up your sleeve ? You ’ re counting on that ? I won ’ t say a word to move her . Perigal ? It ’ s very kind of you to say so . I think the whole thing ’ s damned impertinent . If he ’ s not there , you ’ d better try somewhere else . Oh , confound those trains . Good Lord , I ’ ve not slept for a week . They go on all night . If they did I suppose he wouldn ’ t come to this hotel . And his room ’ s practically on the line . Yes , it is . You just walk down a flight of steps into the garden , and there you are within twenty feet of the line . Don ’ t you know where he is , Colonel ? I wish to goodness you wouldn ’ t look so depressed , Mr. Swalecliffe . My Lord , I wish he ’ d come . It would be monstrous if people didn ’ t vote for him because of an article in a London newspaper . Ring up the Committee Rooms , Boyce , and ask if anything ’ s been heard of him . When do the London papers get here , Mr. Ford ? Why the devil don ’ t they bring them in ? I wonder what the other side are going to do when they hear this . It seems to me the whole thing has been about as disgracefully mismanaged as it could be . I ’ m not an election agent . It ’ s not my business . The whole article ? It ’ s infamous . I don ’ t know what the devil you mean by that . You seem to forget that you ’ re speaking of my son-in-law . He ’ d got everything fixed up by then . Well , you weren ’ t obliged to apply for shares , were you ? I can tell you there ’ s no harm in keeping a civil tongue in your head . It seems to me that you ’ ve bungled everything you could . Thank God , now we shall know the worst . The whole thing ’ s a pack of lies . It ’ s scandalous that such methods should be used to influence an election . D ’ you think it ’ ll interfere with the issue ? Can ’ t something be done to find Winter ? Hang it all , we can ’ t go on waiting , and waiting , and waiting . Isn ’ t there one of you who can do something ? Thank God . At last . We thought you were never coming . I didn ’ t see that . Couldn ’ t be better . Here ’ s Bennett . Good Lord . D ’ you mean our shares are falling , Mr. Bennett ? Is it all up with us , George ? They ’ ve found out the truth . It ’ s there in black and white that the wretched mine ’ s worthless . Ever since I knew I ’ ve scarcely closed my eyes at night . I wish I ’ d shot myself when you first told me . And the worst of it is ....At first I was overcome with the horror of it . But little by little I ’ ve got used to it , used to your being a thief and a swindler . And Bennett was a convict . It all seems quite natural now . And I can talk and laugh with you . And I eat by your side every day . There are always those missing bonds . They ’ re in my thoughts day and night . But will you be able to go to allotment ? George , I believe Ford is uneasy . I don ’ t trust him . Supposing he found out about the bonds ? You ’ ll never buy him . Take care of Ford , George . Sometimes I ’ m afraid , you ’ re so confident . It ’ s impossible a thing like this can end well . I wonder how many ruined lives will be sacrificed to give you all you want . You walk over dead bodies and broken hearts . What d ’ you mean ? But supposing ...? No , I was too anxious to stay any longer . Who can tell ? The seat has always been lost or held by a handful of votes . Winter , Morrison , Winter , Morrison . One vote on one side , one vote on the other . It seemed interminable . Who can tell the effect of all these rumours and suspicions and attacks ? They may just have made the difference . Oh , it ’ s maddening . Even George is anxious . I know his face so well . He ’ s trying to appear as if he were certain . Oh , my dear , will you ever forgive me ? The only hope we ’ ve got is to go on . If he gets in , if we can pull things together , we may get out of the muddle . He ’ s positive of it . The only thing that held me up was the thought of all of you . If I ’ d gone to the police there and then — or made away with myself , it would have meant the ruin of all of you . You think I was right , Kate , don ’ t you ? It wasn ’ t just cowardice on my part ? But if it was all in vain ? If he ’ s not able to float the company and the truth comes out , then I shall have sacrificed you for nothing . I believe if he wins the election he ’ ll be strong enough to force the issue on them . We ’ re going to buy the shares in when the tide turns in Central America . Things are looking brighter already . He ’ s promised me that no one shall lose a farthing . When that ’ s done I go . Oh , how thankful I shall be ! I had to tell some one , and I couldn ’ t tell your mother . Thank God . The suspense was awful . Is he in ? Is he in ? If it ’ s all right , then we ’ re safe . I ’ m sure it ’ s the beginning of the turn . I expect they ’ re reading out the figures . Well , he ’ s in at all events . Thank God ! It ’ s been an exciting day for all of us . Good-night . I say , what the devil ’ s all this row ? It ’ s bad enough to have the trains banging under one ’ s window all night long . Upon my soul . How the deuce should I know ? What on earth ’ s the matter with you , Kate ? Perhaps he ’ s gone for a walk .