MARY. Do you want him here?
MR MARCH. Yes.
MARY. [Dubiously] Well—if I can.
She goes out. A silence, during which the MARCHES look at each other by those turns which characterise exasperated domesticity.
MRS MARCH. If she doesn't go, Johnny must. Are you going to turn him out?
MR MARCH. Of course not. We must reason with him.
MRS MARCH. Reason with young people whose lips were glued together half an hour ago! Why ever did you force me to take this girl?
MR MARCH. [Ruefully] One can't always resist a kindly impulse, Joan. What does Mr Bly say to it?
MRS MARCH. Mr Bly? "Follow your instincts" and then complains of his daughter for following them.
MR MARCH. The man's a philosopher.