Summary

Hirst enters with Briggs. He addresses Spooner as Charles and greets him as if they are old friends. He embarks on a long monologue about the history of their shared friendship including their days together at Oxford and the revelation that he, Hirst, had an ongoing affair with Spooner’s wife Emily. In contrast to the opening scene, Hirst speaks at length and without interruption while Spooner responds with short, reticent replies to Hirst’s attempts to engage him in conversation. Spooner brings up a shared acquaintance of theirs named Stella Winstanley and remind Hirst that he had an affair with her, angering her brother, a man named Bunty whom both Spooner and Hirst were apparently friends with. Spooner claims that is was him who told Bunty about Hirst’s affair with Stella. Spooner goes onto claim that he also had an...