HILDEGARDE. The Countess of Blackfriars—you said.
TRANTO. Yes. Auntie Joe's. I've just sent her a telephone message to say I'm ill and confined to the house.
HILDEGARDE. Which house?
TRANTO. I didn't specify any particular house.
HILDEGARDE. And are you ill?
TRANTO. I am not.... To get back to the realm of fact, when I read Sampson Straight's article about the degradation of honours this afternoon—
HILDEGARDE. Didn't you read it before you published it?
TRANTO. No. I had to rush off and confront the Medical Board at 9 a.m. I felt certain the article would be all right.
HILDEGARDE. And it wasn't all right.
TRANTO ( positively ). Perfectly all right.