Oberville. Mrs. Warland!
Isabel. So you really have become a great man! They always remember people’s names.
Oberville. Were you afraid I was going to call you Isabel?
Isabel. Bravo! Crescendo!
Oberville. But you have changed, all the same.
Isabel. You must indeed have reached a dizzy eminence, since you can indulge yourself by speaking the truth!
Oberville. It’s your voice. I knew it at once, and yet it’s different.
Isabel. I hope it can still convey the pleasure I feel in seeing an old friend. (She holds out her hand. He takes it.) You know, I suppose, that Mrs. Raynor is not here to receive you? She was called away this morning very suddenly by her aunt’s illness.
Oberville. Yes. She left a note for me. (Absently.) I’m sorry to hear of Mrs. Griscom’s illness.
Isabel. Oh, Mrs. Griscom’s illnesses are less alarming than her recoveries. But I am forgetting to offer you any tea. (She hands him a cup.) I remember you liked it very strong.