Page:The Return of the Soldier (Van Druten).djvu/21

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ACT I

Kitty : Mrs. Grey, forgive me, but, really, I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is it that I don’t know?

Margaret (avoiding her eyes): About Mr. Baldry. I’m sorry, but . . . I don’t know his rank.

Kitty : Captain Baldry. What is it that I don’t know about him?

Margaret : Why, that he’s . . . hurt.

Kitty : Hurt?

Margaret : Yes.

Kitty: Wounded, do you mean?

Margaret : Yes, wounded . . . at least . . .

Kitty : He’s dead??

Margaret : No . . . oh, no.

Kitty : What, then?

Margaret (miserably) : Well, I . . . I don’t know exactly how to explain. You see, he . . . he’s not exactly wounded. It’s more . . . you see, there was a shell burst, and . . . and . . . well, it’s shell-shock. Anyway . . . he’s not well.

Kitty : Not well? Is he dangerously ill?

Margaret : No . . . oh, no . . . not dangerously ill. But he’s not well . . . he’s in the Queen Mary Hospital at Bullone.

Kitty (suspiciously): Indeed! And how do you know all this?

Margaret (with a pitiful glibness): A man

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