(Very kindly.) Come along now!
MRS. S. (Obeying.) Thank you, m'm.
JANET. (To JOHN.) And which of you boys was it that had the idea of
keeping a middle-aged woman perishing on a doorstep before daylight in
February?
JOHN. How else could we--
JAMES. (Interrupting him.) Excuse me, John.
JOHN. (Subsiding.) I beg your pardon, James.
JAMES. (To JANET.) All questions should be addressed to me. My brother
John is here solely to take charge of our mother. We have done our
best, by careful forethought, to ensure that this painful interview
shall be as brief and as dignified as possible.
JANET. And couldn't you think of anything cleverer than to give your
poor mother her death of cold for a start?
JAMES. How else could we have arranged it? I myself rang at your door
for a quarter of an hour yesterday afternoon.
JANET. We never heard you.
JAMES. Strange!
JANET. No, it isn't. We took the bell off three days ago.
JAMES. I was told that it was impossible to effect an entrance in the
ordinary way.
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