Valentinus.
Only the miracle of youth!
Tertulla.
[Imploring.] Father!
Pertinax.
[Also imploring.] Father-in-law!
Asterius.
[Almost speechless.] Father and father-in-law! Now, by— [Nerva splutters with laughter, on which he raises his stick to him, then drops it.] O ye gods! In vain do I remind myself that I am a Roman father! Vainly do I call to mind the portico of one son-in-law, the estate at the seventh milestone of the other! Even the bath fails me, the bath equipped with hot and cold water and hot air! I am not enraged as I should be! Even the brazen-tongued Nerva causes me mirth rather than fury!
Quartilla.
[Dancing about.] A miracle! A miracle!