] I think this has rather bowled you over, Shand.
[JOHN's head sinks lower.]
Well, well, good news doesn't kill.
MAGGIE [counsel for the defence]. Surely the important thing about
the speech is its strength and knowledge and eloquence, the things
that were in the first speech as well as in the second.
VENABLES. That of course is largely true. The wit would not be enough
without them, just as they were not enough without the wit. It is the
combination that is irresistible. [JOHN's head rises a little.]
Shand, you are our man, remember that, it is emphatically the best
thing you have ever done. How this will go down at Leeds!
[He returns gaily to his hammock; but lower sinks JOHN'S head, and
even the COMTESSE has the grace to take herself off. MAGGIE's arms
flutter near her husband, not daring to alight.]
MAGGIE. You heard what he said, John. It's the combination. Is it so
terrible to you to find that my love for you had made me able to help
you in the little things?
JOHN. The little things! It seems strange to me to hear you call me
by my name, Maggie. It's as if I looked on you for the first time.
MAGGIE. Look at me, John, for the first time. What do you see?
JOHN. I see a woman who has brought her husband low.
MAGGIE. Only that?
JOHN. I see the tragedy of a man who has found himself out. Eh, I
can't live with you again, Maggie.
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