Duchesse: Where are you going? Tony: No...

Duchesse: Where are you going?

Tony: Nowhere in particular.

Duchesse: Then you’d better stay here.

Tony: I thought you wished to be alone.

Duchesse: Is that why you’ve kept away from me all day?

[He sinks sulkily into an armchair.]

Duchesse: Haven’t you got anything to say for yourself at all?

Tony: What’s the good of talking?

Duchesse: You might at least say you’re sorry for the pain you’ve caused me. If you’d had any affection for me you wouldn’t have done all you could to avoid me.

Tony: I knew you’d only make a scene.

Duchesse: Good heavens, you surely don't expect me not to make a scene.

Tony: The whole thing’s very unfortunate.

Duchesse: Ha! Unfortunate. You break my heart and then you say it’s unfortunate.

Tony: I didn’t mean that. I meant it was unfortunate that you caught us out.

Duchesse: Oh, hold your stupid tongue. Every word you say is more unfortunate than the last.

Tony: It’s because I knew you’d take offence at everything I said that I thought the best thing I could do was to keep out of the way.

Duchesse: That’s the very best thing you can do. I hope you ’ll have to break stones, and dig, and paint — with lead paint. I hope you’re miserable.

Tony: Oh, well, it’ll have its compensations.

Duchesse: Such as?

Tony: I shall be my own master. I was about fed up with this, I can tell you.

Duchesse: Yes, you can say that now.

Tony: Do you think it was all jam, never being able to call my soul my own? I was sick to death of it.

Duchesse: You cad!

Tony: Well, you may just as well know the truth.

Duchesse: Do you mean to say you never cared for me? Not even at the beginning? Tony, I’ve done everything in the world for you. I’ve been like a mother to you. How can you be so ungrateful? You haven’t got any heart. If you had you’d have asked me to forgive you. You’d have made some attempt to…don’t you want me to forgive you?

Tony: What do you mean by that?

Duchesse: If you’d only asked me, if you’d only shown you were sorry, I’d have been angry with you, I wouldn’t have spoken to you for a week, but I’d have forgiven you — I’d have forgiven you, Tony. But you never gave me a chance. It’s cruel of you, cruel!

Tony: Well, anyhow, it’s too late now.

Duchesse: Do you want it to be too late ?

Tony: It’s no good grousing about the past. The thing’s over now.

Duchesse: Aren’t you sorry?

Tony: I don’t know. I suppose I am in a way. I don’t want to make you unhappy.

Duchesse: Do you mean to say it’s good-bye? Good-bye forever? Oh, how can you be so cruel!

Tony: When one’s made up one’s mind to do a thing, it’s best to do it at once.

Duchesse: Oh, I can’t bear it. I can’t bear it. [She begins to cry] Oh, what a fool I was! I ought to have pretended not to see anything. I wish I’d never known. Then you wouldn’t have thought of leaving me.

Tony: Come, my dear, pull yourself together. You’ll get over it.

Duchesse: Tony, if you want to marry me — I’m willing to marry you.

[Pause]

Tony: I should be just as dependent on you. D’you think it would be jolly for me having to come to you for every five pounds I wanted?

Duchesse: I’ll settle something on you so that you’ll be independent. A thousand a year. Will that do?

Tony: You are a good sort, Minnie. [He goes over and sits down beside her.]

Duchesse: You will be kind to me, won’t you?

Tony: Rather! And look here, you needn’t give me that two-seater. I shall be able to drive the Rolls-Royce.

Duchesse: You didn’t want to go to the colonies, did you?

Tony: Not much.

Duchesse: Oh, Tony, I do love you so.

Tony: That’s right.

Duchesse: We won’t stay another minute in this house. Ring the bell, will you? You’ll come with me in the luggage cart?

Tony: I much prefer that to walking.

Citation: W. Somerset Maugham, Our Betters, William Heinemann LTD, 1924, pp. 149-158.

Full Text