SYBIL. [Fiercely.] I will have them told! I will have them told!
[SANDFORD goes to the door of the adjoining room and knocks, returning
to SYBIL as GERTRUDE and AMOS enter. SYBIL draws down her veil.]
GERTRUDE. [Looking round.] Mrs. Ebbsmith--? Mrs. Ebbsmith--!
SIR SANDFORD. Er--many matters have been discussed with Mrs. Ebbsmith.
Undoubtedly, she has, for the moment, considerable influence over my
brother. She has consented to exert it, to induce him to return at once
to London.
AMOS. I think I understand you! [AGNES appears at the door of her room
dressed in bonnet and cloak.]
GERTRUDE. Agnes--! [AGNES comes forward, stretches out her hand to
GERTRUDE, and throws herself upon the settee.]
SYBIL. [To SANDFORD, clutching his arm.] Take me away. [They turn to
go.]
GERTRUDE. [To SYBIL.] Mrs Cleeve--! [Looking down upon AGNES.] Mrs.
Cleeve, we--my brother and I--hoped to save this woman. She was worth
saving. You have utterly destroyed her. [SYBIL makes no answer, but
walks slowly away with SANDFORD, then stops and turns abruptly.]
SYBIL. [With a gasp.] Oh--! No--I will not accept the services of this
wretched woman. I loathe myself for what I have done. [Coming to
AGNES.] Look up! Look at me! [Proudly--lifting her veil.] I decline
your help--I decline it. [To GERTRUDE and AMOS.] You hear me--you--
and you? I unsay all that I've said to her. It's too degrading. I will
not have such an act upon my conscience. [To AGNES.] Understand me! If
you rejoin this man I shall consider it a fresh outrage upon me. I hope
you will keep with your friends. [GERTRUDE holds out her hand to SYBIL;
SYBIL touches it distantly.]
AGNES. [Clutching at SYBIL'S skirts.] Forgive me! forgive--!
SYBIL. [Retreating.] Ah, please--! [Turning and confronting SANDFORD.]
Tell your mother I have failed. I am not going back to England.
[LUCAS enters quickly; he and SYBIL come face to face. They stand
looking at each other for a moment, then she sweeps past him and goes
out. SANDFORD follows her.]
LUCAS. [Coming to AGNES.] Agnes--[To AGNES, in rapid, earnest
undertones.] They sent me to the railway station; my brother told me
you were likely to leave for Milan tonight. I ought to have guessed
sooner that you were in the hands of this meddling parson and his
sister. Why has my wife been here--?
AGNES. [In a low voice, rocking herself gently to and fro.] You wife--
your wife--!
LUCAS. And the others? What scheme is afoot now? Why have you left me?
Why didn't you tell me outright that I was putting you to too severe a
test? You tempted me, you led me on, to propose that I should patch up
my life in that way. [She rises, with an expressionless face.] But it
has had one good result. I know now how much I depend on you. Oh, I
have had it all out with myself, pacing up and down that cursed railway
station. [Laying his hand upon her arm and speaking into her ear.] I
don't deceive myself any longer. Agnes, this is the great cause of the
unhappiness I've experienced of late years--I'm not fit for the fight
and press of life. I wear no armour; I am too horribly sensitive. My
skin bleeds at a touch; even flatter wounds me. Oh, the wretchedness of
it! But you can be strong--at your weakest, there is a certain
strength in you. With you, in time, I feel I shall grow stronger. Only
I must withdraw from the struggle for a while; you must take me out of
it and let me rest--recover breath, as it were. Come! Forgive me for
having treated you ungratefully, almost treacherously. Tomorrow we
shall begin our search for our new home. Agnes!
AGNES. I have already found a home.
LUCAS. Apart from me, you mean?
AGNES. Apart from you.
LUCAS. No, no. You'll not do that!
AGNES. Lucas, this evening, two or three hours ago, you planned out the
life we were to lead in the future. We had done with "madness", if you
remember; henceforth we were to be "mere man and woman."