Answer:
In the first act, John encounters Abigail on her own at her uncle’s house, a rare opportunity for them to talk together without anyone else around (except for Betty, who is supposedly unconscious on her bed). Here, John admits that he remembers his time with Abigail fondly, but that they’ll never be together again. In fact, he tells her to forget it ever happened.
Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches around your heart. I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!
In the beginning of the second act, Miller shows the Proctors at home, revealing that John’s affair with Abigail is still causing a great deal of tension in their house.
