MRS. W. A short farewell, sir, is all that is necessary--and more than I shall allow. My domestics will have instructions to remove you, within five minutes, from this domain. What ho! there--cook and serving-maid! (_Exit_ MRS. WATMUFF, _door_ L.) EMILY. Walter, surely you do not mean to give me up! WALTER. My darling, do you--can you--doubt me? I shall never give you up; but I am convinced that our only course is to temporize. Your mother is, to say the least of it, arbitrary; but does she not give me a glorious chance of proving the strength of my affection for you? EMILY. How, dearest? WALTER. I am prepared to marry you, my darling, even during her lifetime. (_Enter_ MR. WATMUFF, _door_ R.) EMILY. Oh, papa, I am in sad trouble. Mamma still withholds her consent. MR. W. My dear child, your mother, with the exception of her tongue, has a habit of withholding everything. EMILY. And she has ordered Walter to quit the house. MR. W. Well, my dear, beyond a not unnatural feeling of envy for Walter, I don't feel that I can express any sentiment on the subject. I have given my consent. EMILY. But of what use is it? MR. W. Not much, my dear, I must own. But I thought you might derive some comfort from it. EMILY. Do you know that mamma is now giving orders to the cook and housemaid to remove poor Walter by force? MR. W. My dear child, it is, I must admit, an extreme measure. But what can I do? EMILY. You ought not to brook such treatment. MR. W. Dearest love, I don't know that I do brook it; because I never mastered the full meaning of that word. But even if I did, how can I unbrook it? WALTER. My dear sir, I think I comprehend your position better than poor Emily does; and, indeed, I have been trying to persuade her that our better plan is to yield to the storm until it has passed. We must remember the old fable of the oak and the willow. MR. W. It has been Mrs. Watmuff's good fortune to dwell in a perfect grove of willows since the day of her birth. I confess that I have yielded so long that I am limp with yielding. WALTER. And I mean to yield only so far as to retain strength for a final spring, and a final growth in a right and firm direction. Come, Emily, be guided by me, and I promise you all shall be well. If I remain here a moment longer I fear the storm may burst, and at present we are both too oak-like to stand it. (_Exeunt_ EMILY _and_ WALTER, _door_ R.)