ma'am.

(_The ladies are for a moment bereft of speech, and the uplifted_
PHOEBE _cannot refrain from a movement which, if completed, would be a
curtsy. Her punishment follows promptly._)

MISS HENRIETTA (_from her heart_). Phoebe, I am so happy 'tis you.

MISS FANNY. Dear Phoebe, I give you joy. And you also, sir. (MISS
PHOEBE _sends her sister a glance of unutterable woe, and escapes from
the room. It is most ill-bred of her._) Miss Susan, I do not
understand!

MISS HENRIETTA. Is it that Miss Livvy is an obstacle?

MISS SUSAN (_who knows that there is no hope for her but in flight_).
I think I hear Phoebe calling me--a sudden indisposition. Pray excuse
me, Henrietta. (_She goes._)

MISS HENRIETTA. We know not, sir, whether to offer you our
felicitations?

VALENTINE (_cogitating_). May I ask, ma'am, what you mean by an
obstacle? Is there some mystery about Miss Livvy?

MISS HENRIETTA. So much so, sir, that we at one time thought she and
Miss Phoebe were the same person.

VALENTINE. Pshaw!

MISS FANNY. Why will they admit no physician into her presence?

MISS HENRIETTA. The blinds of her room are kept most artfully drawn.

MISS FANNY (_plaintively_). We have never seen her, sir. Neither Miss
Susan nor Miss Phoebe will present her to us.

VALENTINE (_impressed_). Indeed.

(MISS HENRIETTA _and_ MISS FANNY, _encouraged by his sympathy, draw
nearer the door of the interesting bedchamber. They falter. Any one
who thinks, however, that they would so far forget themselves as to
open the door and peep in, has no understanding of the ladies of
Quality Street. They are, nevertheless, not perfect, for_ MISS
HENRIETTA _knocks on the door._)

MISS HENRIETTA. How do you find yourself, dear Miss Livvy?

(_There is no answer. It is our pride to record that they come away
without even touching the handle. They look appealing at_ CAPTAIN
BROWN, _whose face has grown grave._)

VALENTINE. I think, ladies, as a physician--

(_He walks into the bedroom. They feel an ignoble drawing to follow
him, but do not yield to it. When he returns his face is inscrutable._)

MISS HENRIETTA. Is she very poorly, sir?

VALENTINE. Ha.

MISS FANNY. We did not hear you address her.

VALENTINE. She is not awake, ma'am.

MISS HENRIETTA. It is provoking.

MISS FANNY (_sternly just_). They informed Mary that she was nigh
asleep.

VALENTINE. It is not a serious illness I think, ma'am. With the