Dr. H. Oh, pooh, pooh! [Waves his hand incredulously at E.] When patients are first up from a sickness, how prudent they mean to be!
Aunt H.-T. But seriously, Doctor, you must tell us how much it will be well to have Emily do.
Aunt F. One doesn't want to give up the world entirely, and yet one doesn't want to lose one's health.
Dr. H. I appreciate the case fully. [Walks up and down considering] Let her begin with the opera twice a week and one dance kept up till daylight. In a week she will feel stronger than ever she did and declare nothing hurts her, then she can take two dances, then three, and so on.
Emily. But, Doctor, I'm not going to dances at all. I know now what life is, and what health is worth, and I'm not going to waste it in that way.
Dr. H. Oh, it's all very well to talk! I knew a rich girl once right in this city of New York who would go round visiting the poor and sitting up with sick people, and there was no end to the remarks made about her. No, you mustn't breathe bad air, nor over-exert yourself unless you do so from a purely selfish motive. Then, it's all right and proper. [To Pussy] Oh, you needn't sit over there, looking mischievous, miss! What do you know of life? You will soon learn to be ashamed of your rosy cheeks, and think it's pretty to have bad health. I'll bet a copper [Slaps his knee] that by spring, if we manage right, we can send you back as white and withered as Miss Emily was.
E. Now, Dr. Hardhack, you dreadful man! You must stop this talk. I brought Pussy down here on purpose to help me live better than I have lived. It's so interesting now in New York that Pussy is here with me. I never knew what wonderful things there were here. Pussy taught me to know the birds this summer at her home, and now we have been this morning to see a most wonderful collection at the museum.
Mamma P. [Anxiously] Is it wise, Doctor, for them to go and look at those stuffed birds? To be sure the birds are under glass, but I'm so afraid they will breathe poison.
Dr. H. Not nearly as much as they would breathe if they went to a crowded theatre, madam.
E. It makes me shudder to think of all the hours I've spent at the theatre. As I think of it now, the rooms were so hot and overcrowded I wonder I ever lived through it. Since I've been away, I have learned to love everything that is connected with out-door life. Pussy has taught me. So now we have arranged that Pussy shall spend the winter with me. She is to take singing and music lessons and have all the advantages of the city, and I shall go to her for the summer. Of course, we shall take a peep or two at New York sights, but we are not going into the gay world, Doctor, really, we're not!