MARTHA--[Embarrassed.] So I was! How stupid!

LILY--[With an inquisitive glance at MARTHA'S face but with
studied carelessness.] Do you like Bigelow?

MARTHA--Yes, very much. And Curt thinks the world of him.

LILY--Oh, Curt is the last one to be bothered by anyone's morals.
Curt and I are the unconventional ones of the family. The trouble
with Bigelow, Martha, is that he was too careless to conceal his
sins--and that won't go down in this Philistine small town. You
have to hide and be a fellow hypocrite or they revenge themselves
on you. Bigelow didn't. He flaunted his love-affairs in everyone's
face. I used to admire him for it. No one exactly blamed him, in
their secret hearts. His wife was a terrible, straitlaced
creature. No man could have endured her. [Disgustedly.] After her
death he suddenly acquired a bad conscience. He'd never noticed
the children before. I'll bet he didn't even know their names. And
then, presto, he's about in our midst giving an imitation of a wet
hen with a brood of ducks. It's a bore, if you ask me.

MARTHA--[Flushing.] I think it's very fine of him.

LILY--[Shaking her head.] His reform is too sudden. He's joined
the hypocrites, I think.

MARTHA--I'm sure he's no hypocrite. When you see him with the
children--