MARIA : And what’s more your watch was fast!
JOHN : What’s that got to do with it? It should have made us early.
MARIA : No, it didn’t stop us from missing the train though did it? Just because you were fooled enough to fall through the floor.
JOHN : I didn’t fall through the floor. My foot got stuck. A floorboard was missing.
MARIA : Well, you should look after the house. That’s your responsibility. You should see that it’s in proper repair.
JOHN : I can hardly test the floors in the attic every day.
MARIA : What were you doing in the attic anyway?
JOHN : I was looking for my trousers.
MARIA : In the attic?
JOHN : I told you. I couldn’t find them anywhere.
MARIA : They wouldn’t be in the attic, would they?
JOHN : I thought they might be in one of the trunks up there.
MARIA : And they were in your suitcase all the time! It’s so typical!
JOHN : Oh please Maria. It isn’t typical.
MARIA : And then the newspaper bill. Why haven’t you paid for it?
JOHN : Everyone forgets sometimes.
MARIA : But not all the time. I felt so ashamed. That man behaved as if we were deliberately making off without paying.
JOHN : Perhaps that was the impression you gave.
MARIA : Well, I couldn’t help it.
JOHN : But of course, you could! You needn’t have told him we were going.
MARIA : No, but –
JOHN : If you’d come up straight away and helped me get my foot out of that blasted floor instead of standing in a panic on the doorstep…
MARIA : Well there was every reason to be in a panic.
JOHN : Just because we were going to miss a train!
MARIA : Well, Pamela and Peter were going to meet us.
JOHN : Well, we managed to phone them, didn’t we?
MARIA : Yes.
JOHN : So?
MARIA : I don’t know.
JOHN : It’s ridiculous!
MARIA : You always forget something.
TICKET : Tickets, please! Can I see your tickets, please?
INSPECTOR : Can I see your tickets please, sir?
JOHN : You’ve got them, haven’t you?
MARIA : No, I haven’t got them. You have.
JOHN : No, really. You took them.
MARIA : But I gave them to you.
JOHN : Well, I haven’t got them now.
MARIA : Oh, no!
TICKET : I’ll come back in a few minutes, shall I? When
INSPECTOR : you’ve sorted everything out.