Evans
[Perfunctorily]
Too bad.
[Thinking vindictively]
Serve her right, the old scandal-monger, after the way she’s gossiped about Nina! . . .
Marsden
[With assumed carelessness]
Just a little indigestion. Nothing serious but it annoys her terribly.
[Thinking frightenedly]
That dull pain she complains of . . . I don’t like it . . . and she won’t see anyone but old Doctor Tibbetts . . . she’s sixty-eight . . . I can’t help fearing . . . no! . . .
Evans
[Bored—vaguely]
Well, I suppose you’ve got to be careful of every little thing when you get to her age.
Marsden
[Positively bristling]
Her age? Mother isn’t so old!
Evans
[Surprised]
Over sixty-five, isn’t she?
Marsden
[Indignantly]
You’re quite out there! She’s still under sixty-five—and in health and spirits she isn’t more than fifty! Everyone remarks that!
