[_Advancing to him._] After _that_ admission, you will hardly be surprised if I tell you--as I _do_--that you may consider your engagement to my daughter at an end. HORACE. At an end! Why, what have I _done_? PROFESSOR FUTVOYE. Done, sir, done? You ask _that_, after grossly insulting my wife and daughter by this--this outrageous exhibition! [_He goes up, followed by PRINGLE._ HORACE. [_Going to MRS. FUTVOYE._] Mrs. Futvoye, _you_ don't misunderstand me, I'm sure? MRS. FUTVOYE. [_Icily._] For _once_, I entirely agree with my husband, and I believe Sylvia herself will tell you---- [_She turns, and joins the PROFESSOR on the left._ HORACE. No, she won't? _Will_ you, Sylvia? _You_ won't give me up? SYLVIA. What else _can_ I do? HORACE. What else? Why, trust me, stick to me--in spite of everything and everybody! SYLVIA. After what I've just seen! No, that's _too_ much to expect!--unless, of course, you've some satisfactory explanation? HORACE. Well, I _have_--if you'll all promise to _listen_ to it--you wouldn't when I tried to explain before, you know. Now you _must_ hear me out! [_They all prepare to listen attentively._] It's like this. Sylvia wasn't far wrong about that beastly jar I bought this afternoon--there _was_ a Jinnee inside it. PROFESSOR FUTVOYE. ) ) What? How dare you, sir--how _dare_ ) you trifle with us like this? ) ) MRS. FUTVOYE. ) ) Disgraceful! To stand there talking ) such nonsense--at such a time! ) _All_ ) _speaking_ SYLVIA. ) _together._ ) Turning it all into a _joke_! Oh, how ) can you--how _can_ you? ) ) PRINGLE. ) ) Upon my word, Ventimore, you ought ) to be ashamed of yourself! ) HORACE. There you _are_, you see! You _won't_ give me a hearing! I _ought_ to know what was inside the bottle, considering I let it out. Fakrash-el--_what_ did he tell me his name was?--oh, Aamash--Fakrash-el-Aamash. He's a Jinnee. Of the _Green_ Jinn. PRINGLE. Well, _we're_ not Green Jennies! HORACE. [_Losing his temper._] Shut up, Pringle! This is _my_ story--and you'll be good enough to let me finish it. Well, according to old Fakrash, he'd been sealed up in that bottle by Solomon---- PROFESSOR FUTVOYE. What, in the name of common sense, has all this to do with the case? HORACE.