WILLIAM. Oh, mother!
HELEN. Happy!
(MRS. CROSBY crosses to HELEN, pats her hand and stands between WILLIAM and HELEN R.C.)
WILLIAM. Shall we tell 'em all?
MRS. CROSBY. Tell them? (She laughs.) What do you think they are? Blind and deaf? It's been a perfectly wonderful dinner. You were so blind to everything but each other. Oh, Billy, I thought your father would have a fit.
HELEN. I thought he had an awful cold, he was coughing terribly.
MRS. CROSBY. Coughing? He nearly choked to keep from laughing. I told him I'd send him from the table if he laughed at you.
WILLIAM. Why you never spoke to him once.
MRS. CROSBY. Child, explain to him that wives don't have to—Oh, I forget you haven't learned that yet. You know, Billy, I can talk to your father very effectively without words.
(Crosses to below table R.)