Lucy (entering)
Retire. My mistress approaches. She's coming here to cry on the way.
She needs practice.
Tuneless
Exactly. Soon she'll be crying for her money. Real tears then.
Lucy
Don't joke. I'm afraid all this may be dangerous for her.
Tuneless
Why is that?
Lucy I'm sorry for her. When the Countess guaranteed she was a widow, it was like a knife thrust in her heart.
Tuneless
What? She felt the blow?
Lucy Think what she's going to feel when they undeceive her. The loss of her delightful status of widowhood will cause her to die.
Tuneless Let's come to the business. Tell me truly, now that she believes her husband is dead—is she in love with Desmond, and does she plan to marry him?
Lucy She thought about it even while she was alive. And I always thought she prayed the nephew would outlive his uncle.
Tuneless >From the confidences her husband has made to me, I have often thought he destined his niece for the post of her aunt. He was quite explicit that Arabella was the niece of his wife only in the third degree.