lford's badly cut up.

MARGARET ORME and COLFORD enter.

COLFORD. [Striding forward] There must be some mistake about this, Mr
Twisden.

TWISDEN. Hssh! Dancy's in there. He's admitted it.

Voices are subdued at once.

COLFORD. What? [With emotion] If it were my own brother, I couldn't
feel it more. But--damn it! What right had that fellow to chuck up the
case--without letting him know, too. I came down with Dancy this
morning, and he knew nothing about it.

TWISDEN. [Coldly] That was unfortunately unavoidable.

COLFORD. Guilty or not, you ought to have stuck to him--it's not playing
the game, Mr Twisden.

TWISDEN. You must allow me to judge where my duty lay, in a very hard
case.

COLFORD. I thought a man was safe with his solicitor.

CANYNGE. Colford, you don't understand professional etiquette.

COLFORD. No, thank God!

TWISDEN. When you have been as long in your profession as I have been in
mine, Major Colford, you will know that duty to your calling outweighs
duty to friend or client.

COLFORD. But I serve the Country.

TWISDEN. And I serve the Law, sir.

CANYNGE. Graviter, give me a sheet of paper. I'll write a letter for
him.

MARGARET. [Going up to TWISDEN] Dear Mr Jacob--pay De Levis. You know
my pearls--put them up the spout again. Don't let Ronny be--

TWISDEN. Money isn't the point, Margaret.

MARGARET. It's ghastly! It really is.

COLFORD. I'm going in to shake hands with him. [He starts to cross the
room].

TWISDEN. Wait! We want him to go straight off to Morocco. Don't upset
him. [To COLFORD and MARGARET] I think you had better go. If, a little
later, Margaret, you could go round to Mrs Dancy--

COLFORD. Poor little Mabel Dancy! It's perfect hell for her.

They have not seen that DANCY has opened the door behind them.

DANCY. It is!

They all turn round in consternation.

COLFORD. [With a convulsive movement] Old boy!

DANCY. No good, Colford. [Gazing round at them] Oh! clear out--I can't
stand commiseration; and let me have some air.

TWISDEN motions to COLFORD and MARGARET to go; and as he turns to
DANCY, they go out. GRAVITER also moves towards the door. The
GENERAL sits motionless. GRAVITER goes Out.

TWISDEN. Well?

DANCY. I'm going home, to clear up things with my wife. General
Canynge, I don't quite know why I did the damned thing. But I did,
and there's an end of it.

CANYNG