EILEEN (_her lips trembling_). She told me I mustn't forget to shield
my mouth with my handkerchief when I cough.

MURRAY (_consolingly_). Yes, that's one of the rules, you know.

EILEEN (_falteringly_). She said they'd give me--a--cup to carry
around--(_She stops, shuddering._)

MURRAY (_easily_). It's not as horrible as it sounds. They're only
little paste-board things you carry in your pocket.

EILEEN (_as if speaking to herself_). It's so horrible (_She holds out
her hand to_ Murray.) I'm to go to my room now. Good night, Mr. Murray.

MURRAY (_holding her hand for a moment--earnestly_). Don't mind your
first impressions here. You'll look on everything as a matter of course
in a few days. I felt your way at first. (_He drops her hand and shakes
his finger at her._) Mind your guardian, now! (_She forces a trembling
smile._) See you at breakfast. Good night.

(Eileen _goes out to the hall in rear._ Miss Howard _comes in
from the door just after her, carrying a glass of milk._)

MISS HOWARD. Almost bedtime, Mr. Murray. Here's your diet. (_He takes
the glass. She smiles at him provokingly._) Well, is it love at first
sight, Mr. Murray?

MURRAY (_with a grin_). Sure thing! You can consider yourself
heartlessly jilted. (_He turns and raises his glass towards the door
through which_ Eileen _has just gone, as if toasting her._)

"A glass of milk, and thou
Coughing beside me in the wilderness--
Ah--wilderness were Paradise enow!"

(_He takes a sip of milk._)

MISS HOWARD (_peevishly_). That's old stuff, Mr. Murray. A patient at
Saranac wrote that parody.

MURRAY (_maliciously_). Aha, you've discovered it's a parody, have you,
you sly minx! (Miss Howard _turns from him huffily and walks back
towards the office, her chin in the air._)

THE CURTAIN FALLS

Act Two

Act Two: Scene One

_The assembly room of the main building of the sanatorium--early in
the morning of a fine day in June, four months later. The room is
large, light and airy, painted a fresh white. On the left forward,
an armchair. Farther back, a door opening on the main hall. To the
rear of this door, a pianola on a raised platform. At back of the
pianola, a door leading into the office. In the rear wall, a long
series of French windows looking out on the lawn, with wooded hills
in the far background. Shrubs in flower grow immediately outside
the windows Inside, the