Mrs. Thorne. He hasn’t come yet. I am waiting for him. We never can tell.
Mrs. Fayth. Doesn’t the dinner get cold?
Mrs. Thorne. The dinner is subject to chronic bronchitis and acute pneumonia.
Mrs. Fayth. (laughs merrily). Acute pneu-mo-nia is good.... You were always clever.
Mrs. Thorne. But I don’t fret. A doctor’s wife can never do that.... Give me your cape, dear. You’ll wait for him.
Mrs. Fayth. I did want to surprise him. He would be so pleased. My husband calls me Doctor Thorne’s miracle. But never mind. I can’t wait for him. I’m on my way to the Hospital Fair.... Think of that! I’m to be let stay till half-past eight o’clock. Fred is to meet me there, and we’re to dine at the café with the crowd and see the tableaux.... Think of it!—like common, vulgar, healthy people. Isn’t it wonderful? To be half alive! I have been half dead so long! Kiss me, Helen.
Mrs. Thorne. (anxiously). I hope you won’t pay for it to-morrow, dear. (Kisses her affectionately.)
Mrs. Fayth (cheerily). Oh, I expect to be flat to-morrow. But it’s worth it—to go somewhere with one’s husband ... after six years. I’m going to the Fifteen Cent Museum next—when I get a little farther along—some big, noisy, healthy, shabby place. Fred has promised to take me. He dotes on the gorillas.... Well, I only ran in. The horses are getting cold. I must go. Give my love to the Doctor—Helen! I’m going to church when I get well. I want to hear the Te Deum.... It’s a good while since I did that. They won’t let me. They put it off till the last. Fred said I must begin with the Hospital Fair and work up through the gorillas to re-li-gious dis-si-pa-tion. The Doctor says I’m to get well in a sci-en-ti-fic manner; on the Law of Ev-o-lution. Poor dear Doctor! He doesn’t care about the Te Deum.—Helen, I wish your husband believed. He is so good—so kind. He ought to be a re-li-gious man.
Mrs. Thorne (sadly, with almost imperceptible bitterness). He is a doctor.
Mrs. Fayth. He is so great, you see. He is almighty to so many miserable people.... I can understand that. His mind stops there. He is so strong, so powerful; he works the miracles himself.