DOCTORS OF PHILOSOPHY
65
MRS. S. : Yes she does. She wears a vest in the winter when she isn't
going out with a boy.
CATHERINE: Not her father's vests. Charlie, you aren't going to
your club, are you?
CHARLIE: Yes I am, I'm getting out of this
till
you've sorted things
out.
MRS. S.: It'll do nicely for my niece's husband that
is
to be. It's his
build, but of course he's young. But on the other hand, of course,
he's fussy, so he might decline. She says he can't have children, I
said how does he know if he hasn't had a bash at it? He must have
done. She says the doctors can tell. Well you're damn lucky then,
I said, in one sense, but you watch out for him in the psycho–
logical sense.
CATHERINE: It was going to be my birthday today, Charlie.
CHARLIE: It was your birthday last week.
MRS. S.: Charlie was out of pocket over it, unless my ears deceived
me.
CATHERINE: A rat. I was saving up my birthday for Daphne.
CHARLIE: I'll ring you after lunch. Ask her if she's ever walked in
her sleep before.
MRS. S.:
If
they walk in their sleep they don't talk in their sleep. She
walked and she talked as far as I've made it my business to gather.
It's nerve-wracking, Mrs. D., as between one scholar and another
scholar. Charlie's not cut out for it.
CHARLIE
goes out.
She sits down and points to another chair.
Take a seat. Rest yourself.
CATHERINE: Mrs. S., can you put all those things somewhere out of
the way? Daphne will be home before lunch and Mrs. Wood will
be here after lunch.
MRS. S.: Oh, Annie Wood's coming, is she? You didn't tell me
Annie was coming. Well that puts a different complexion on things,
doesn't it? That just about puts the tin hat on it, doesn't it? What
you want to invite Annie for?
CATHERINE: She rang and invited herself last night. Mrs. S., would
you mind clearing away--?
MRS. S.: Well, you'll have to keep your eye on Charlie. Need I elabo–
rate on the subject?
