Vernon (from without)
It is I.
Pauline Come in, doctor! (Aside) Curiosity brings him to see me, curiosity will take him away.
Vernon I see, my child, that between you and your stepmother, there are secrets of life and death?
Pauline
Yes, and, above all, death.
Vernon I was afraid so! And that, of course, I must attend to. But tell me—You must have had some terrible quarrel with your stepmother.
Pauline
Let me hear no more of that creature. She deceives my father.
Vernon
I know it.
Pauline
She never loved him.
Vernon
I was quite sure of that!
Pauline
She has sworn to ruin me.