Ruby. (crying out) Oh!
Plant. How dare you interrupt me!
Ruby. I didn't, pa, it was——
Pearl. Sneak! (pinching her arm) Ruby. It was nothing!
(Pearl sits in big armchair.)
(aside to Pearl) Little cat!
Plant. I accept your explanation, without prejudice. You have heard from that stupid Buttons what a noble character the doctor bears, and no man is a hero to his—his Buttons. The one thing the doctor wants is a wife.
Pearl. To look after his buttons?
Plant. Silence, miss! And you, my dear Ruby, my favourite, I mean my first-born, have all the qualifications for a doctor's wife.
Ruby. A doctor's wife? (looks at Pearl)