Prof. [Very angry.] Not a word more, if you please. Mrs. Telfer, you have doubtless heard——
Dolly. Yes——?
Prof. I leave for London to-night-to consult my lawyer. Mrs. Sturgess will, I trust, return to her friends until——
Matt. Perhaps Mrs. Sturgess may be able to explain——
Prof. What explanation can be offered of language like this. [Reading from letter.] "From the first moment I saw you, I felt that you were entirely different from any woman I have ever met——" A monstrously inexact statement to start with. And a woman who is capable of practising such deceit——
[Renie bursts into tears.
Matt. I think you ought to hear what Mrs. Sturgess has to say——
Renie. [Through her tears.] What would be the use? With such a nature as his he could never begin to understand the loyal and exalted devotion which Captain Wentworth feels for me! No, all my life I have been misunderstood, misjudged, condemned! Let it be so till the end! Dolly, come and help me pack!
[Exit. Matt goes up to table and takes up proofs of Professor's book and looks through them.
Dolly. You're really too severe with poor Renie——