FANNY [_seeing the Doctor_, _she pauses_]. Oh!
DR. FREEMANTLE [_rises_]. I beg pardon, have I the pleasure of seeing Lady Bantock?
DR. FREEMANTLE. Delighted. May I introduce myself—Dr. Freemantle? I helped your husband into the world.
FANNY. Yes. I’ve heard of you. You don’t mind my closing this door, do you? [_Her very voice and manner are changed_.]
DR. FREEMANTLE [_a little puzzled_]. Not at all.
FANNY [_she closes the door and returns_]. Won’t—won’t you be seated?
DR. FREEMANTLE. Thanks. [_They both sit_.] How’s the headache?
DR. FREEMANTLE. Ah! [_A silence_.] Forgive me—I’m an old friend of the family. You’re not a bit what I expected.
FANNY. But you like it? I mean you think this—[_with a gesture_]—is all right?
DR. FREEMANTLE. My dear young lady, it’s charming. You couldn’t be anything else.
DR. FREEMANTLE. I merely meant that—well, I was not expecting anything so delightfully demure.
FANNY. That’s the idea—“seemly.” The Lady Bantocks have always been “seemly”? [_She puts it as a question_.]
DR. FREEMANTLE [_more and more puzzled_]. Yes—oh, yes. They have always been—[_His eye catches that of Constance_, _first Lady Bantock_, _looking down at him from above the chimney-piece_. _His tone changes_.] Well, yes, in their way, you know.
FANNY. You see, I’m in the difficult position of following her _late_ ladyship. _She_ appears to have been exceptionally “seemly.” This is her frock. I mean it _was_ her frock.
DR. FREEMANTLE. God bless my soul! You are not dressing yourself up in her late ladyship’s clothes? The dear good woman has been dead and buried these twenty years.
FANNY [_she looks at her dress_]. Yes, it struck me as being about that period.
DR. FREEMANTLE [_he goes across to her_]. What’s the trouble? Too much Bennet?
FANNY [_she looks up_. _There is a suspicion of a smile_]. One might say—sufficient?
DR. FREEMANTLE [_laughs_]. Excellent servants. If they’d only remember it. [_He glances round—sinks his voice_.] Take my advice. Put your foot down—before it’s too late.
FANNY. Sit down, please. [_She makes room for him on the settee_.] Because I’m going to be confidential. You don’t mind, do you?
DR. FREEMANTLE [_seating himself_]. My dear, I take it as the greatest compliment I have had paid to me for years.