[Steps are heard approaching.
NELI. Get up! Some one is coming.
[Hugh gets up very unwillingly.
HUGH. [Whispering still.] Aye, but Neli....
NELI. [Angrily.] Put down that book, I say! [She crunches over some eggshells.] Eggs? Broken?
HUGH. [Putting down book.] Aye, Neli, my elbow an' the eggs in Babylon....
NELI. [Sarcastically.] Aye, I see beasts in Babylon here together—doleful creatures smearin' one an' sixpence worth of eggs all over the floor. An' a half-dozen eggs gone last week. [Wiping up eggs.] An' I'm to suppose Babylon had something to do with that half-dozen eggs, too? They were put in the basket after Mrs. Jones the Wash had left whatever, an' before Deacon Roberts came.
HUGH. Neli, I did not say——
NELI. [Still angrily.] Well, indeed, unlock that door!
HUGH. [Going to unlock door.] But, Neli....