(_The settee slowly moves nearer them as their voices become more indistinct._) RUPERT I want to ask you-- JESSIE Yes? RUPERT (_with hushed tenderness_) Do you _really_ love me, dearest? JESSIE (_gazing upward, tranced_) Oh, dearest, I do! (_The settee goes back to where it came from._) RUPERT But you don’t think your mother’ll ever change her mind about me? JESSIE She never does change her mind. RUPERT Then what can we do? JESSIE (_in a low voice_) Darling, there’s something I wouldn’t say for anything in the world to anybody but you. (_The settee again approaches slightly._) RUPERT Yes? JESSIE I think Mamma really knows you’re not mercenary, but the _real_ reason for her opposition to you is pretty selfish. I think it’s because she doesn’t want me to marry and go away and leave her alone in the world. RUPERT But she wouldn’t be. She’d still have the companionship of your young brother. JESSIE (_shaking her head_) That’d be the same as none. Lancelot seems to have scarcely _any_ sense, you see. (_The settee once more retires._) RUPERT Then I don’t see what possible hope-- JESSIE (_warning him as she sees someone approaching in the corridor to the right_) Sh-h-h! RUPERT (_following her gaze_) Who _is_ that old chap? JESSIE It’s old Mr. Ingoldsby. He’s some old friend of mamma’s that happened to turn up here. RUPERT (_moving as if to withdraw_) I’d better-- JESSIE (_quickly_) No; he doesn’t know you. Sit still. (_She turns toward Mr. Ingoldsby with a smile as he enters._) Good afternoon, Mr. Ingoldsby. Did you do it in eighty-five again today? (_Ingoldsby is a man of fifty-five or, possibly, sixty. He wears neat knickerbockers and is otherwise sprightly in his outdoor attire. He smiles rather absently as he replies._) INGOLDSBY Eighty-five? No, I--ah--no. I didn’t go round today. Ah--has Mrs. Briggs been here? JESSIE Here? INGOLDSBY Yes, I mean--ah--here. JESSIE I think she’s somewhere looking for Lancelot. INGOLDSBY Yes? Ah--I-- JESSIE Is there something you’d like me to tell her when I see her? INGOLDSBY (_going toward the left entrance_) No; I--I-- (_He glances at his watch, and looks absently at Jessie._) No, I believe I-ah-- (_He departs._) RUPERT Well, I _do_ hope nobody else’ll come poking about like that, because I-- JESSIE No, darling; we’re alone again now. RUPERT Darling-- JESSIE Yes, darling? RUPERT We’ve had such difficulties in managing our little interviews; it does seem a precious thing to be near you again. JESSIE Oh, it does! RUPERT If we could only go away together, where it could _always_ be like this-- JESSIE (_dreamily_) Yes, with the world shut out. RUPERT Why can’t we-- JESSIE Hush, darling. (_She sees someone approaching in the corridor on the left. He looks dolefully in that direction._) JESSIE It’s that dreadful woman.