I dont believe another half-hour would do Mr Dubedat a bit of harm . Well , Mrs Dubedat , we have had a most enjoyable evening . Wrong ! Why , we are all charmed with him . You shall go away quite happy . He 's worth saving . He must and shall be saved . Mrs Dubedat rises and gasps with delight , relief , and gratitude . They all rise except Sir Patrick and Schutzmacher , and come reassuringly to her . No : dont cry . Your husband had better not know that weve been talking about him . MRS DUBEDATNo , of course not . Please dont mind me . What a glorious thing it must be to be a doctor !Dont laugh . You dont know what youve done for me . I never knew until now how deadly afraid I was — how I had come to dread the worst . I never dared let myself know . But now the relief has come : now I know . Louis Dubedat comes from the hotel , in his overcoat , his throat wrapped in a shawl . He is a slim young man of 23 , physically still a stripling , and pretty , though not effeminate . He has turquoise blue eyes , and a trick of looking you straight in the face with them , which , combined with a frank smile , is very engaging . Although he is all nerves , and very observant and quick of apprehension , he is not in the least shy . He is younger than Jennifer ; but he patronizes her as a matter of course . The doctors do not put him out in the least : neither Sir Patrick 's years nor Bloomfield Bonington 's majesty have the smallest apparent effect on him : he is as natural as a cat : he moves among men as most men move among things , though he is intentionally making himself agreeable to them on this occasion . Like all people who can be depended on to take care of themselves , he is welcome company ; and his artist 's power of appealing to the imagination gains him credit for all sorts of qualities and powers , whether he possesses them or not . LOUISNow , Jinny-Gwinny : the motor has come round . Why do you let him spoil your beautiful name like that , Mrs Dubedat ? No , no : if Loony doesnt want it , I do . Never fear . Never mind . I 'll make that cough all right . Gone . BLENKINSOPGone ! Just this moment — Theyre really very nice people . I confess I was afraid the husband would turn out an appalling bounder . But he 's almost as charming in his way as she is in hers . And theres no mistake about his being a genius . It 's something to have got a case really worth saving . Somebody else will have to go ; but at all events it will be easy to find a worse man . Come now , Sir Paddy , no growling . Have something more to drink . Well , did you catch him ? Was it anything about Dubedat ? BLENKINSOPI ought to keep it to myself , I know . I cant tell you , Ridgeon , how ashamed I am of dragging my miserable poverty to your dinner after all your kindness . It 's not that you wont ask me again ; but it 's so humiliating . And I did so look forward to one evening in my dress clotheswith all my troubles left behind , just like old times . But what has happened ? Oh , never mind that — BLENKINSOPNo : I know what youre going to say ; but I wont take it . Ive never borrowed a penny ; and I never will . Ive nothing left but my friends ; and I wont sell them . If none of you were to be able to meet me without being afraid that my civility was leading up to the loan of five shillings , there would be an end of everything for me . I 'll take your old clothes , Colly , sooner than disgrace you by talking to you in the street in my own ; but I wont borrow money . I 'll train it as far as the twopence will take me ; and I 'll tramp the rest . Come , Loony ! do you mean to say that Jews are never rogues and thieves ? Eh ? Well , what do you want ? The woman ! Do you mean the lady who dined here ? the gentleman 's wife ? Yes . What am I to do ? Shall I give her the address or not ? Tuberculosis . BLENKINSOPAnd can you cure that ? I believe so . Its not an easy case to judge , is it ? Blenkinsop 's an honest decent man ; but is he any use ? Dubedat 's a rotten blackguard ; but he 's a genuine source of pretty and pleasant and good things . Thats true . Her life will be a hell . Thats a devilishly difficult question , Paddy . The pictures are so agreeable , and the good people so infernally disagreeable and mischievous , that I really cant undertake to say offhand which I should prefer to do without . It would be simpler if Blenkinsop could paint Dubedat 's pictures . Well , I 'll be as fair as I can . I 'll put into one scale all the pounds Dubedat has borrowed , and into the other all the half-crowns that Blenkinsop hasnt borrowed . Come come , Paddy ! none of your claptrap with me : I 'm too sceptical for it . I 'm not at all convinced that the world wouldnt be a better world if everybody behaved as Dubedat does than it is now that everybody behaves as Blenkinsop does . Ah , that beats me . Thats the experimental test . Still , it 's a dilemma . It 's a dilemma . You see theres a complication we havnt mentioned . Well , if I let Blenkinsop die , at least nobody can say I did it because I wanted to marry his widow . Now if I let Dubedat die , I 'll marry his widow . I cant . I 'm at my limit . I can squeeze in one more case , but not two . I must choose . Is that clear to you ? Mind : it 's not clear to me . She troubles my judgment . It 's easier to replace a dead man than a good picture . In short , as a member of a high and great profession , I 'm to kill my patient . In B . B . ' s , for instance : eh ?SIR PATRICKSir Ralph Bloomfield Bonington is a very eminent physician . He is . Not at all . Not at all . Mrs Dubedat looks at him , a little puzzled by his formal manner ; then goes into the inner room . LOUISI say : dont look so grave . Theres nothing awful going to happen , is there ? No . She shewed it to me a fortnight ago when she first called on me . LOUISOh ! did she ? Good Lord ! how time does fly ! I could have sworn I 'd only just finished it . It 's hard for her here , seeing me piling up drawings and nothing coming in for them . Of course I shall sell them next year fast enough , after my one-man-show ; but while the grass grows the steed starves . I hate to have her coming to me for money , and having none to give her . But what can I do ? I understood that Mrs Dubedat had some property of her own . No . LOUISWhy not ? I am not a rich man ; and I want every penny I can spare and more for my researches . I presume people sometimes have that in view when they lend money . LOUISWell , I can manage that for you . I 'll give you a cheque — or see here : theres no reason why you shouldnt have your bit too : I 'll give you a cheque for two hundred . Why not cash the cheque at once without troubling me ? I mean on the score of its being — shall I say dishonorable ? Indeed ! Well , you will have to find some other means of getting it . Do I mean —!Of course I refuse , man . What do you take me for ? How dare you make such a proposal to me ? Faugh ! You would not understand me if I tried to explain . Now , once for all , I will not lend you a farthing . I should be glad to help your wife ; but lending you money is no service to her . My patients call me in as a physician , not as a commercial traveller . A knock at the door . Louis goes unconcernedly to open it , pursuing the subject as he goes . — they could afford it . But to clean poor Blenkinsop out of his last half-crown was damnable . I intend to give him that half-crown and to be in a position to pledge him my word that you paid it . I 'll have that out of you , at all events . How , pray ? Were you lying ? We havnt trapped her into a mock marriage and deserted her . Did you tell her you were already married ? My mind 's made up . When the law breaks down , honest men must find a remedy for themselves . I will not lift a finger to save this reptile . Not in mine . My hands are full . I have no time and no means available for this case . About Dubedat . Yes . So good that I should like to have it . Oh , for that matter , I will give you six for it . Damn his impudence ! Diagnose artistic genius , B . B. Thats what saves his self-respect . You look quite discouraged again .What 's the matter ? Are you disappointed ? Well ? hills DUBEDAT . I had set my heart YOUR curing Louis . Well , Sir Ralph Bloomfield Bonington — I explained to you . I cannot take another case . At Richmond I thought I could make room for one more case . But my old friend Dr Blenkinsop claimed that place . His lung is attacked . MRS DUBEDATDo you mean that elderly man — that rather — RIDGEONI mean the gentleman that dined with us : an excellent and honest man , whose life is as valuable as anyone else 's . I have arranged that I shall take his case , and that Sir Ralph Bloomfield Bonington shall take Mr Dubedat 's . MRS DUBEDATI see what it is . Oh ! it is envious , mean , cruel . And I thought that you would be above such a thing . What do you mean ? Yes : I can forgive him for all that . I am like all the rest . Face to face , I cannot tell you one thing against him . MRS DUBEDATBut your manner is changed . And you have broken your promise to me to make room for him as your patient . I think you are a little unreasonable . You have had the very best medical advice in London for him ; and his case has been taken in hand by a leader of the profession . Surely — Nonsense . I AM a doctor . But mind you , dont call Walpole one . He asked me for some once . MRS DUBEDATOh , I am so sorry — so sorry . But he will never do it again : I pledge you my word for that . He has given me his promise : here in this room just before you came ; and he is incapable of breaking his word . That was his only real weakness ; and now it is conquered and done with for ever . Was that really his only weakness ? Yes : I understand . Come ! dont exaggerate . You did not see much of the world in Cornwall , did you ? MRS DUBEDATOh yes . I saw a great deal every day of the beauty of the world — more than you ever see here in London . But I saw very few people , if that is what you mean . I was an only child . That explains a good deal . As I guess . You havnt yet told me what it was . I know that . Well , I am going to test you — hard . Will you believe me when I tell you that I understand what you have just told me ; that I have no desire but to serve you in the most faithful friendship ; and that your hero must be preserved to you . At all hazards .No : you have not heard the rest .You must believe me when I tell you that the one chance of preserving the hero lies in Louis being in the care of Sir Ralph . MRS DUBEDATYou say so : I have no more doubt : I believe you . Thank you . Good-bye .I hope this will be a lasting friendship . Death ends everything , doesnt it ? Goodbye . With a sigh and a look of pity at her which she does not understand , he goes . Whats the matter ! Have you been sent for , too ? What has happened ? Is that whats happened ? So long as he goes before his wife finds him out , I dont care . I fully expected this . SIR PATRICKIt 's a little hard on a lad to be killed because his wife has too high an opinion of him . Fortunately few of us are in any danger of that . Sir Ralph comes from the inner room and hastens between them , humanely concerned , but professionally elate and communicative . Yes . We are all here . LOUISThat voice sounded devilish . Take care , Ridgeon : my ears hear things that other people 's cant . Ive been thinking — thinking . I 'm cleverer than you imagine . SIR PATRICKYouve got on his nerves , Colly . Slip out quietly . RIDGEONWould you deprive the dying actor of his audience ? LOUISI heard that , Ridgeon . That was good . Jennifer dear : be kind to Ridgeon always ; because he was the last man who amused me . RIDGEONWas I ? I said the other day that the most tragic thing in the world is a sick doctor . I was wrong . The most tragic thing in the world is a man of genius who is not also a man of honor . Ridgeon and Walpole wheel the chair into the recess . THE NEWSPAPER MANI thought it shewed a very nice feeling , his being so particular about his wife going into proper mourning for him and making her promise never to marry again . Good-bye .MRS DUBEDATI said his friends , Sir Colenso .She unfolds the great piece of silk , and goes into the recess to cover her dead . Good morning . May I look round , as well , before the doors open ? Thanks . Whats this ? So did I .I 'll take a look round . The Secretary puts on the shining hat and goes out . Ridgeon begins looking at the pictures . Presently he comes back to the table for a magnifying glass , and scrutinizes a drawing very closely . He sighs ; shakes his head , as if constrained to admit the extraordinary fascination and merit of the work ; then marks the Secretary 's list . Proceeding with his survey , he disappears behind the screen . Jennifer comes back with her book . A look round satisfies her that she is alone . She seats herself at the table and admires the memoir — her first printed book — to her heart 's content . Ridgeon re-appears , face to the wall , scrutinizing the drawings . After using his glass again , he steps back to get a more distant view of one of the larger pictures . She hastily closes the book at the sound ; looks round ; recognizes him ; and stares , petrified . He takes a further step back which brings him nearer to her . RIDGEONClever brute !I beg your pardon . I thought I was alone . JENNIFERI am glad we have met , Sir Colenso Ridgeon . I met Dr Blenkinsop yesterday . I congratulate you on a wonderful cure . RIDGEON I mean that he has been made a Medical Officer of Health . He cured the Chairman of the Borough Council very successfully . No . I believe it was with a pound of ripe greengages . JENNIFERFunny ! Yes . Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh . What was that ? That is what the public doctor always thinks of the private doctor . Well , Blenkinsop ought to know . He was a private doctor long enough himself . Come ! you have talked at me long enough . Talk to me . You have something to reproach me with . There is reproach in your face , in your voice : you are full of it . Out with it . I have met people who had none . Well , did you find us so very cruel , after all ? They tell me that though you have dropped me , you stay for weeks with the Bloomfield Boningtons and the Walpoles . I think it must be true , because they never mention you to me now . I am very sorry . I see I had better go . JENNIFERI beg your pardon . I forgot myself . But it is not yet — it is a private copy . But for me it would have been a very different book . You know then that I killed him ? JENNIFEROh , doctor , if you acknowledge that — if you have confessed it to yourself — if you realize what you have done , then there is forgiveness . I trusted in your strength instinctively at first ; then I thought I had mistaken callousness for strength . Can you blame me ? But if it was really strength — if it was only such a mistake as we all make sometimes — it will make me so happy to be friends with you again . I tell you I made no mistake . I cured Blenkinsop : was there any mistake there ? I cant be your friend on false pretences . Something has got me by the throat : the truth must come out . I used that medicine myself on Blenkinsop . It did not make him worse . It is a dangerous medicine : it cured Blenkinsop : it killed Louis Dubedat . When I handle it , it cures . When another man handles it , it kills — sometimes . JENNIFERThen why did you let Sir Ralph give it to Louis ? I 'm going to tell you . I did it because I was in love with you . JENNIFERIn lo — You ! elderly man ! RIDGEONDubedat : thou art avenged !I never thought of that . I suppose I appear to you a ridiculous old fogey . Oh , quite . More , perhaps . In twenty years you will understand how little difference that makes . I think I did . It really comes to that . Thou shalt not kill , but needst not strive Officiously to keep alive . I suppose — yes : I killed him . I am a doctor : I have nothing to fear . It is not an indictable offense to call in B . B . Perhaps it ought to be ; but it isnt . I am so hopelessly idiotic about you that I should not mind it a bit . You would always remember me if you did that . Pardon me . I succeeded . JENNIFERNo . Doctors think they hold the keys of life and death ; but it is not their will that is fulfilled . I dont believe you made any difference at all . Perhaps not . But I intended to . JENNIFERAnd you tried to destroy that wonderful and beautiful life merely because you grudged him a woman whom you could never have expected to care for you ! Who kissed my hands . Who believed in me . Who told me her friendship lasted until death . No . Whom I was saving . JENNIFERPray , doctor , from what ? From making a terrible discovery . From having your life laid waste . No matter . I have saved you . I have been the best friend you ever had . You are happy . You are well . His works are an imperishable joy and pride for you . Yes , now that he is dead . Were you always happy when he was alive ? JENNIFEROh , you are cruel , cruel . When he was alive I did not know the greatness of my blessing . I worried meanly about little things . I was unkind to him . I was unworthy of him . RIDGEONHa ! King of Men ! Oh , this is too monstrous , too grotesque . We cruel doctors have kept the secret from you faithfully ; but it is like all secrets : it will not keep itself . The buried truth germinates and breaks through to the light . What truth ! Why , that Louis Dubedat , King of Men , was the most entire and perfect scoundrel , the most miraculously mean rascal , the most callously selfish blackguard that ever made a wife miserable . JENNIFERHe made his wife the happiest woman in the world , doctor . No : by all thats true on earth , he made his WIDOW the happiest woman in the world ; but it was I who made her a widow . And her happiness is my justification and my reward . Now you know what I did and what I thought of him . Be as angry with me as you like : at least you know me as I really am . If you ever come to care for an elderly man , you will know what you are caring for . JENNIFERI am not angry with you any more , Sir Colenso . I knew quite well that you did not like Louis ; but it is not your fault : you dont understand : that is all . You never could have believed in him . It is just like your not believing in my religion : it is a sort of sixth sense that you have not got . Anddont think that you have shocked me so dreadfully . I know quite well what you mean by his selfishness . He sacrificed everything for his art . In a certain sense he had even to sacrifice everybody — Everybody except himself . By keeping that back he lost the right to sacrifice you , and gave me the right to sacrifice him . Which I did . JENNIFERHe was one of the men who know what women know : that self-sacrifice is vain and cowardly . Yes , when the sacrifice is rejected and thrown away . Not when it becomes the food of godhead . Oh !I have marked five pictures as sold to me . By whom ?!! ! Good morning .