Sunday Noon at the Dibdins
(Mr. Dibdin reading a pile of business letters, fresh from the post-office; Mrs. Dibdin, in a pearl-coloured brocade and lace ruffles, devouring “Bleak House.”)
Mrs. Dibdin.—“Jane, is it possible I see you on the holy Sabbath day, with Mother Goose’s Melodies? Put it away, this minute, and get your Bible. There’s the pretty story of Joseph building the ark, and Noah in the lion’s den, and Isaac killing his brother Cain, and all that.”
Jane.—“Well, but, mamma, you know I can’t spell the big words. Won’t you read it to me?”
Mrs. Dibdin.—“I am busy reading now, my dear; go and ask your papa.
Jane.—“Please, papa, will you read to me in my little Bible? mamma is busy.”
Mr. Dibdin.—“My dear, will you be kind enough to pull that bell for Jane’s nursery maid?—she is getting troublesome.”
Exit Miss Jane to the nursery, to listen to Katy’s and her friend Bridget’s account of their successful flirtations with John O’Calligan and Michael O’Donahue.