] Insist! I'll not urge you again. [Pointing to the
box.] Get rid of it somehow. Are you copying that manuscript of mine?
AGNES. I had just finished it.
LUCAS. Already! [Taking up her copy.] How beautifully you write! [Going
to her eagerly.] What do you think of my Essay?
AGNES. It bristles with truth; it is vital.
LUCAS. My method of treating it?
AGNES. Hardly a word out of place.
LUCAS [Chilled.] Hardly a word?
AGNES. Not a word, in fact.
LUCAS. No, dear, I daresay your "hardly" is nearer the mark.
AGNES. I assure you it is brilliant, Lucas.
LUCAS. What a wretch I am ever to find the smallest fault in you! Shall
we dine out tonight?
AGNES. As you wish, dear.
LUCAS. At the Grunwald? [He goes to the table to pick up his
manuscript; when his back is turned she looks at her watch quickly.]
We'll solemnly toast this, shall we, in Montefiascone?
AGNES. [Eyeing him askance.] You are going out for your chocolate this
afternoon as usual, I suppose?
LUCAS. Yes, but I'll look through your copy first, so that I can slip
it into the post at once. You are not coming out?
AGNES. Not till dinner-time.
LUCAS. [Kissing her on the forehead.] I talked over the points of this
--[tapping the manuscript]--with a man this morning; he praised some
of the phrases warmly.
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