SHE. He will: he does. You take it back, Henry?--yes.

HE [savagely] Yes. I take it back. [She lets go his coat. He gets
up. So does Teddy]. I take it all back, all, without reserve.

SHE [on the carpet] Is nobody going to help me up? [They each
take a hand and pull her up]. Now won't you shake hands and be
good?

HE [recklessly] I shall do nothing of the sort. I have steeped
myself in lies for your sake; and the only reward I get is a lump
on the back of my head the size of an apple. Now I will go back
to the straight path.

SHE. Henry: for Heaven's sake--

HE. It's no use. Your husband is a fool and a brute--

HER HUSBAND. What's that you say?

HE. I say you are a fool and a brute; and if you'll step outside
with me I'll say it again. [Teddy begins to take off his coat for
combat]. Those poems were written to your wife, every word of
them, and to nobody else. [The scowl clears away from Bompas's
countenance. Radiant, he replaces his coat]. I wrote them because
I loved her. I thought her the most beautiful woman in the world;
and I told her so over and over again. I adored her: do you hear?
I told her that you were a sordid commercial chump, utterly
unworthy of her; and so you are.