)
MAGGIE. You thought me past the marrying age. I'm not. That's
all.
HOBSON. Didn't you hear me say I'd do the choosing when it came
to a question of husbands?
MAGGIE. You said I was too old to get a husband.
HOBSON. You are. You all are.
VICKEY. Father!
HOBSON. (_crossing to_ C.) And if you're not, it makes no
matter. I'll have no husbands here.
(VICKEY R., ALICE L. _of_ HOBSON.)
ALICE. But you said--
HOBSON. I've changed my mind. I've learnt some things since then.
There's a lot too much expected of a father nowadays. There'll be
no weddings here.
ALICE. Oh, father!
HOBSON (_taking them down_). Go and get my dinner served and
talk less. Go on now. I'm not in right temper to be crossed.
(_He drives_ ALICE _and_ VICKEY _before him. They go out
protesting loudly. But MAGGIE stands in his way as he follows
and she closes the door. She looks at him from the stair_.)
MAGGIE. You and I 'ull be straight with one another, father. I'm
not a fool and you're not a fool, and things may as well be put
in their places as left untidy.
HOBSON. I tell you my mind's made up. You can't have Willie
Mossop. Why, lass, his father was a workhouse brat. A come-by-
chance. (_Moves_ C.)
MAGGIE. It's news to me we're snobs in Salford.
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