The Big Drum - LightNovelsOnl.com
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BERTRAM.
[_Straightening himself._] Look heah, Ottoline----!
OTTOLINE.
Stand up when I speak to you!
[BERTRAM _gets to his feet in a hurry._
LADY FILSON.
[_Appealingly._] Otto----!
OTTOLINE.
[_To_ BERTRAM.] All your life you've been paltry, odious, detestable----
BERTRAM.
Look heah----!
OTTOLINE.
But _this_! My G.o.d! For you--for any of us--to impugn the honesty of a man whose shadow we're not fit to walk in----!
SIR RANDLE.
[_To_ LADY FILSON_--pained._] Winifred----!
OTTOLINE.
[_To_ BERTRAM.] You--you--you're no better than your common, hired spy----!
LADY FILSON.
[_Rising and going to_ OTTOLINE.] My child, remember----!
OTTOLINE.
[_Clenching her hands and hissing her words at_ BERTRAM.] _C'est la verite! Tu n'es qu'une canaille--une vile canaille----!_
LADY FILSON.
Control yourself, I _beg_!
OTTOLINE.
[_To_ LADY FILSON.] Leave me alone----!
[_She pa.s.ses_ LADY FILSON _and sits on the settee on the right with glittering eyes and heaving bosom._ PHILIP _has withdrawn to the fireplace and is standing looking into the fire._
LADY FILSON.
[_To_ BERTRAM.] Bertie dear, I'm surprised at you! To do a thing like this behind our backs!
BERTRAM.
My dear mother, I knew that you and father wouldn't do it----
LADY FILSON.
I should think not, indeed!
SIR RANDLE.
[_To_ BERTRAM.] Your mother and I!
LADY FILSON.
[_Horrified at the notion._] Oh!
BERTRAM.
Upon my word, this is rather rough! [_Walking away._] I mean to _say_----!
PHILIP.
[_Turning._] We mustn't be too hard on poor Bertram, Lady Filson----
BERTRAM.
[_Pacing the room near the big doors._] Poor Bertram! Ho!
SIR RANDLE.
[_To_ PHILIP.] I trust we are never unduly hard on our children, my dear Philip----
PHILIP.
To do him justice, he was most anxious to postpone these dreadful revelations till to-morrow----
BERTRAM.
Exactly! [_Throwing himself into the chair between the big doors and the vestibule door._] I predicted a scene! I predicted a scene!
PHILIP.
[_To_ SIR RANDLE _and_ LADY FILSON, _penitently._] Perhaps it would have been wiser of me--more considerate--to have complied with his wishes. But I was in a fury--naturally----
