LAURA [Taking out handkerchief]. My husband's mind is affected. Now you know all, and may judge for yourself when you see him.
DOCTOR. What do you say? I have read the Captain's excellent treatises on mineralogy with admiration, and have found that they display a clear and powerful intellect.
LAURA. Really? How happy I should be if we should all prove to be mistaken.
DOCTOR. But of course it is possible that his mind might be affected in other directions.
LAURA. That is just what we fear, too. You see he has sometimes the most extraordinary ideas which, of course, one might expect in a learned man, if they did not have a disastrous effect on the welfare of his whole family. For instance, one of his whims is buying all kinds of things.
DOCTOR. That is serious; but what does he buy?
LAURA. Whole boxes of books that he never reads.
DOCTOR. There is nothing strange about a scholar's buying books.
LAURA. You don't believe what I am saying?
DOCTOR. Well, Madam, I am convinced that you believe what you are saying.