PHILIP. Ahah! (He goes to the hearth and plants himself there in his best head-of-the-family attitude.) McComas, looking very serious, comes in quickly with Mrs. Clandon, whose first anxiety is about Gloria. She looks round to see where she is, and is going to join her at the window when Gloria comes down to meet her with a marked air of trust and affection. Finally, Mrs. Clandon takes her former seat, and Gloria posts herself behind it. McComas, on his way to the ottoman, is hailed by Dolly. DOLLY. What cheer, Finch? McCOMAS (sternly). Very serious news from your father, Miss Clandon. Very serious news indeed. (He crosses to the ottoman, and sits down. Dolly, looking deeply impressed, follows him and sits beside him on his right.) VALENTINE. Perhaps I had better go. McCOMAS. By no means, Mr. Valentine. You are deeply concerned in this. (Valentine takes a chair from the table and sits astride of it, leaning over the back, near the ottoman.) Mrs. Clandon: your husband demands the custody of his two younger children, who are not of age. (Mrs. Clandon, in quick alarm, looks instinctively to see if Dolly is safe.) DOLLY (touched). Oh, how nice of him! He likes us, mamma. McCOMAS. I am sorry to have to disabuse you of any such idea, Miss Dorothea. DOLLY (cooing ecstatically). Dorothee-ee-ee-a! (Nestling against his shoulder, quite overcome.) Oh, Finch! McCOMAS (nervously, moving away). No, no, no, no! MRS. CLANDON (remonstrating). D e a r e s t Dolly! (To McComas.) The deed of separation gives me the custody of the children. McCOMAS. It also contains a covenant that you are not to approach or molest him in any way. MRS. CLANDON. Well, have I done so? McCOMAS. Whether the behavior of your younger children amounts to legal molestation is a question on which it may be necessary to take counsel's opinion. At all events, Mr. Crampton not only claims to have been molested; but he believes that he was brought here by a plot in which Mr. Valentine acted as your agent. VALENTINE. What's that? Eh? McCOMAS. He alleges that you drugged him, Mr. Valentine. VALENTINE. So I did. (They are astonished.) McCOMAS. But what did you do that for? DOLLY. Five shillings extra. McCOMAS (to Dolly, short-temperedly). I must really ask you, Miss Clandon, not to interrupt this very serious conversation with irrelevant interjections. (Vehemently.) I insist on having earnest matters earnestly and reverently discussed. (This outburst produces an apologetic silence, and puts McComas himself out of countenance. He coughs, and starts afresh, addressing himself to Gloria.) Miss Clandon: it is my duty to tell you that your father has also persuaded himself that Mr. Valentine wishes to marry you-- VALENTINE (interposing adroitly). I do. McCOMAS (offended). In that case, sir, you must not be surprised to find yourself regarded by the young lady's father as a fortune hunter. VALENTINE. So I am. Do you expect my wife to live on what I earn? ten-pence a week!