I want to have a little talk with you. [_As_ BLENKINSOP _holds open the door for her, in a whisper_.] Aren’t I tactful? [LADY SELLENGER _goes out_. BLENKINSOP. What villainy is that old woman up to now? MRS. DOT. You idiot! Don’t you see that she’s discovered the passion that devours our hearts--your manly bosom and my timid, fluttering heart--and she wants to leave us alone. BLENKINSOP. I’m beginning to feel very unwell. MRS. DOT. [_Archly._] Wouldn’t you be rather flattered if I really were in love with you? BLENKINSOP. [_Alarmed._] Dot, don’t make these horrible suggestions. You make my flesh creep. MRS. DOT. But you’ve been so cold, you haven’t given me a chance. BLENKINSOP. Cold! Heaven knows what would have happened if I’d given you any encouragement. I’ve never been able to take my eyes off the ground without finding yours fixed on me with the languishing expression of a dying duck in a thunderstorm. I’ve never been able to go near you without your stroking me as if I were a velvet cushion or a Persian cat. I’ve not eaten a single meal in peace in case you suddenly took it into your head to press my foot under the table. MRS. DOT. What would you have done if I had? BLENKINSOP. [_With outraged dignity._] I should have screamed! And the thought of that special licence has cast a chill in my heart. I don’t know what it’s all coming to. You are my witness, Miss MacGregor, that I won’t marry her, however deeply she compromises me. AUNT ELIZA. [_Smiling._] I am your witness. BLENKINSOP. She shan’t make an honest man of me. [MRS. DOT _takes from a drawer of the escritoire one of the licences_. MRS. DOT. [_Smiling._] Frances Annandale Worthley--James Blenkinsop. BLENKINSOP. I feel as though some one were walking over my grave. AUNT ELIZA. But how on earth are you going to get Nellie Sellenger and Freddie to use the other licence? MRS. DOT. When the right moment comes I shall leave it under their noses, and allow them to draw what consequences they choose.... If any woman ever earned a husband, I have. I’ve taken every opportunity to snub Gerald till he can hardly contain himself with rage. I’ve thrown him in Nellie’s company till they’re both so bored they could almost cry. I’ve been constantly on the watch to prevent Nellie and Freddie from having two minutes by themselves till they can hardly bear the sight of me. And I’ve made love to you with a persistence that would have melted the heart of a fish. If I fail, it will be your fault. BLENKINSOP. But what on earth do you want me to do? MRS. DOT. Good heavens, throw a little passion into your behaviour. Look at me as though you’d never seen any one so ravishing in your life. When you take my hand, hold it as if you would never let it go. [_She takes his hand._ BLENKINSOP. Remember, there’s no one but Miss MacGregor present. MRS. DOT. [_With a yearning glance._] Look into my eyes like this. BLENKINSOP.