Weakened? It’s grown stronger with each new thing I’ve come to know. And Mabel. She is with Dr. Russell now. Dr. Russell is wonderful! From what Mabel tells me I believe his analysis is going to prove that I was right. Today I discovered a remarkable confirmation of my theory in the hen-dream. STEVE What is your theory? HENRIETTA Well, you know about Lyman Eggleston. I’ve wondered about him. I’ve never seen him, but I know he’s less bourgeois than Mabel’s other friends--more intellectual--and [_Significantly_] she doesn’t see much of him because Bob doesn’t like him. STEVE But what’s the confirmation? HENRIETTA Today I noticed the first syllable of his name. STEVE Ly? HENRIETTA No--egg. STEVE Egg? HENRIETTA [_Patiently._] Mabel dreamed she was a _hen_. [_STEVE laughs._] You wouldn’t laugh if you knew how important names are in interpreting dreams. Freud is full of just such cases in which a whole hidden complex is revealed by a single significant syllable--like this egg. STEVE Doesn’t the traditional relation of hen and egg suggest rather a maternal feeling? HENRIETTA There is something maternal in Mabel’s love, of course, but that’s only one element. STEVE Well, suppose Mabel hasn’t a suppressed desire to be this gentleman’s mother, but his beloved. What’s to be done about it? What about Bob? Don’t you think it’s going to be a little rough on him? HENRIETTA That can’t be helped. Bob, like everyone else, must face the facts of life. If Dr. Russell should arrive independently at this same interpretation I shall not hesitate to advise Mabel to leave her present husband. STEVE Um--hum! [_The lights go up on Fifth Avenue. STEVE goes to the window and looks out._] How long is it we’ve lived here, Henrietta? HENRIETTA Why, this is the third year, Steve. STEVE I--we--one would miss this view if one went away, wouldn’t one? HENRIETTA How strangely you speak! Oh, Stephen, I _wish_ you’d go to Dr. Russell. Don’t think my fears have abated because I’ve been able to restrain myself. I had to on account of Mabel. But now, dear--won’t you go? STEVE I--[_He breaks off, turns on the light, then comes and sits beside HENRIETTA._] How long have we been married, Henrietta? HENRIETTA Stephen, I don’t understand you! You _must_ go to Dr. Russell. STEVE I have gone. HENRIETTA You--what? STEVE [_Jauntily._] Yes, Henrietta, I’ve been psyched. HENRIETTA You went to Dr. Russell? STEVE The same. HENRIETTA And what did he say? STEVE He said--I--I was a little surprised by what he said, Henrietta. HENRIETTA [_Breathlessly._] Of course--one can so seldom anticipate. But tell me--your dream, Stephen? It means--? STEVE It means--I was considerably surprised by what it means. HENRIETTA _Don’t_ be so exasperating! STEVE It means--you really want to know, Henrietta? HENRIETTA Stephen, you’ll drive me mad! STEVE He said--of course he may be wrong in what he said. HENRIETTA He _isn’t_ wrong. _Tell_ me! STEVE