ACT 2

• ACT 2: (Gerald) (with an effort) inspector, I think miss birling ought to be excused any more of this questioning. She'd nothing more to tell you. She's had a long exciting and tiring day – we were celebrating our engagement, you know – and now she's obviously had about as much as she can stand
• ACT 2: (Sheila) He means that I'm getting hysterical now.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) Why should you? It's bound to be unpleasant and disturbing
• ACT 2: (Inspector) and you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?
• ACT 2: (Gerald) You've been through it – and now you want to see somebody else put through it
• ACT 2: (Sheila) (bitterly) so that's what you think I'm like. I'm glad I realized it in time, Gerald
• ACT 2: (Sheila) (cutting in) Yes, you did. And if you'd really loved me, you couldn't have said that. You listened to that nice story about me. I got that girl sacked from Milwards. And now you've made up your mind I must obviously be a selfish, vindictive creature.
• ACT 2: (Inspector) : (massively taking charge) allow me, miss Birling. (to Gerald.) I can tell you why miss Birling wants to stay on and why she says it might be better for her if she did
• ACT 2: (Inspector) (Ignoring this) now miss Birling has just been made to understand what she did to this girl. She feels responsible. And if she leaves us now, and doesn't hear any more, then she'll feel she's entirely to blame, she'll be alone with her responsibility, the rest of tonight, all tomorrow, all the next night--
• ACT 2: (Sheila) you see, I feel you're beginning all wrong. And I'm afraid you'll say or do something that you'll be sorry for afterwards.
• ACT 2: (Sybil Birling) you seem to have made a great impression on this child, inspector
• ACT 2: (Inspector) (coolly) we often do on the young ones. They're more impressionable.
• ACT 2: (Sybil Birling) you're looking tired, dear. I think you ought to go to bed – and forget about this absurd business. You'll feel better in the morning
• ACT 2: (Sybil Birling) please don't contradict me like that. And in any case I don't suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class--
• ACT 2: (Sheila) (slowly, carefully now) you mustn't try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do, then the inspector will just break it down. And it'll be all the worse when he does.
• ACT 2: (Sybil Birling) No, of course not. He's only a boy.
• ACT 2: (Inspector) No, he's a young man. And some young men drink far too much
• ACT 2: (Sheila) I don't want to get poor Eric into trouble. He's probably in enough trouble already. But we really must stop these silly pretences. This isn't the time to pretend that Eric isn't used to drink. He's been steadily drinking too much for the last two years.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) Actually I've never seen much of him outside this house – but- well, I have gathered that he does drink pretty hard.
• ACT 2: (Sheila) That's what I meant when I talked about building up a wall that's sure to be knocked flat. It makes it all harder to bear.
• ACT 2: (Arthur Birling) (angrily) inspector, I've told you before, I don't like the tone nor the way you're handling this inquiry. And I don't propose to give you much rope.
• ACT 2: (Sheila) (rather wildly, with laugh) No, he's giving us the rope – so that we'll hang ourselves.
• ACT 2: (Arthur Birling) (to Mrs Birling) What's the matter with that child?
• ACT 2: (Sheila) nothing would induce me. I want to understand exactly what happens when a man says he's so busy at the works that he can hardly ever find time to come and see the girl he's supposed to be in love with. I wouldn't miss it for worlds--
• ACT 2: (Gerald) I happened to look in, one night, after a long dull day, and as the show wasn't very bright, I went down into the bar for a drink. It's a favourite haunt of women of the town--
• ACT 2: (Gerald) I hate those hard-eyed dough-faced women. But then I noticed a girl who looked quite different. She was very pretty – soft brown hair and big dark eyes
• ACT 2: (Sybil Birling) (sharply) sheila, don't talk nonsense.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) she looked young and fresh and charming and altogether out of place down here. And obviously she wasn't enjoying herself. Old joe meggarty, half-drunk and goggle-eyed, had wedged her into a corner with that obscene fat carcass of his--
• ACT 2: (Gerald) the girl saw me looking at her and then gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help. So I went across and told Joe Meggarty some nonsense – that the manager had a message for him or something like that – got him out of the way – and then told the girl that if she didn't want any more of that sort of thing, she'd better let me take her out of there. She agreed at once.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) What she did let slip – though she didn't mean to – was that she was desperately hard up and at that moment was actually hungry. I made the people at the county find some food for her.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) So I insisted on Daisy moving into those rooms and I made her take some money to keep her going there. (carefully, to the inspector.) I want you to understand that I didn't install her there so that I could make love to her. I made her go to morgan Terrace because I was sorry for her, and didn't like the idea of her going back to the palace bar. I didn't ask for anything in return.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) yes. I suppose it was inevitable. She was young and pretty and warm hearted – and intensely grateful. I became at once the most important person in her life – you understand?
• ACT 2: (Inspector) yes. She was a woman. She was lonely. Were you in love with her?
• ACT 2: (Inspector) (turning on him sharply) why should you do any protesting? It was you who turned the girl out in the first place
• ACT 2: (Inspector) (sharply) your daughter isn't living on the moon. She's here in brumley too.
• ACT 2: (Sheila) And I'm not a child, don't forget. I've a right to know. Were you in love with her, gerlad?
• ACT 2: (Gerald) (hesitatingly) it's hard to say. I didn't feel about her as she felt about me.
• ACT 2: (Sheila)(with sharp sarcasm) of course not. You were the wonderful fairy prince. You must have adored it, gerald.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) no. I wasn't telling you a complete lie when I said i'd been very busy at the works all that time. We were very busy. But of course I did see a good deal of her.
• ACT 2: (Gerald) No, it wasn't. ( he waits a moment, then in a low, troubled tone.) she told me she'd been happier than she'd ever been before – but that she knew it couldn't last – hadn't expected it to last. She didn't blame me at all. I wish to God she had now. Perhaps I'd feel better about it.