Philip monologue (Act 4) — The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts

[_Approaching_ LADY FILSON.] You see, Lady Filson, Master Bertram is endowed with an exceptionally active brain; and when I gave those assurances to you and Sir Randle last June, it occurred to him that, in the event of my book failing to attract the market, there was a danger of my palming it off, with the kind aid of my publisher, as the out-and-out triumph I'd bragged of in advance; and the loud blasts of Titterton's trumpet strengthened Master Bertie's apprehensions. [OTTOLINE, _unobserved, rises unsteadily and, with her eyes fixed fiercely upon_ BERTRAM, _crosses the room at the back._] So what does he do, bless him for his devotion to his belongings! To safeguard his parents from being jockeyed, and as a brotherly precaution, he enlists the services, on the sly, of the obliging Mr. Dunning. We shall shortly have an opportunity of judging what that individual's game is. [_With a shrug._] He _may_ have stumbled legitimately into a mare's nest; but I doubt it. These ruffians'll stick at nothing to keep an ingenuous client on the hook--[_He is interrupted by feeling_ OTTOLINE's _hand upon his arm. He lays his hand on hers gently._] Otto dear----