DICK—Sure thing—only hurry, darn you! [He goes out.]
LILY—[Stops at the door in rear and catching MARTHA's eye, looks meaningly at the others.] Phew! I need fresh air! [She makes an encouraging motion as if pummeling someone to MARTHA, indicating her assembled family as the victim—then goes out laughing. A motor is heard starting—running off.]
ESTHER—[With a huge sigh of relief.] Thank goodness, she's gone. What a vixen! What would you do if you had a sister like that, Martha?
MARTHA—I'd love her—and try to understand her.
SHEFFIELD—[Meaningly.] She's a bad ally to rely on—this side of the fence one day, and that the next.
MARTHA—Is that why you advised her to become a lawyer, Mr. Sheffield?
SHEFFIELD—[Stung, but maintaining an unruffled front.] Now, now, that remark must be catalogued as catty.
MARTHA—[Defiantly.] It seems to be in the Bridgetown atmosphere. I never was—not the least bit—in the open air.
JAYSON—[Conciliatingly.] Oh, Bridgetown isn't so bad, Martha, once you get used to us.
JOHN—It's one of the most prosperous and wealthy towns in the U.S.—and that means in the world, nowadays.