SALOME.
Oh, do, do, do!
GEORGIANA.
Go away--I won"t. I say decidedly, I will not!
SHEBA.
Oh, do, do!
SALOME.
Do! Do, and we"ll love you for ever and ever, Aunt Georgiana.
GEORGIANA.
You will! [_She embraces them heartily._] Bless your little innocent faces! Do you want to win forty pounds?
SALOME _and_ SHEBA.
Yes, yes!
GEORGIANA.
Do you want to win _fifty_ pounds?
SHEBA and SALOME.
Oh, yes, yes!
GEORGIANA.
[_Taking her betting book from her pocket._] Very well, then, put your very petticoats on Dandy d.i.c.k!
[_The girls stand clutching their skirts, frightened._
SALOME.
Oh!
SHEBA.
Oh!
END OF THE FIRST ACT.
THE SECOND ACT.
The morning-room at the Deanery, with the fire and the lamps lighted.
It is after dinner.
SHEBA is playing the piano, SALOME lolling upon the settee, and GEORGIANA pouring out tea. They are in evening dress.
GEORGIANA.
Sugar, Sally? I call you Sally, Salome--the evening"s too short for your name.
SALOME.
All right, Aunt George--two lumps, please.
GEORGIANA.
[_To SHEBA._] Little "un?
SHEBA.
Two lumps and one in the saucer, to eat.
GEORGIANA.
Quite a relief to shake off the gentlemen, isn"t it?
SALOME.
Do you think so, Aunt?
SHEBA.
Oh, _I_ don"t think so.
GEORGIANA.
H"m! Now I understand why my foot was always in the way under the dinner-table.
[_She holds out two cups, which the girls take from her._
SALOME.
I thought the dinner was an overwhelming success.
SHEBA.
All our dinners are at the Deanery.