LAWYER
No, ten's the hour.
But I was anxious that we should be prompt,
And so have rather overdone our haste.
DOCTOR
It doesn't matter; we can wait a bit.
How curiously impatient, though, you are
To hear this talk! I personally have doubts
Whether it's worth our trouble.
LAWYER
Well, I know
The man, however slightly; you do not,
And so can hardly share my expectation.
But he has been, throughout these many years,
So secretive, so self-contained, so deep
In matters that I could not guess, that now,
When he at last promises to proclaim
Some strange discovery, I half believe
It will be worth our coming.
[Two women enter together. The younger one is
leading a child by the hand. The older, a gaunt,
spinsterly-looking figure, peers about with a near-sighted
glance.
MERCHANT'S WIFE
Take that seat.
And now be quiet.
CHILD
Mother, will he have
The Devil with him?