SIR PEARCE. And what did she say?

O'FLAHERTY. She asked me how did I know he wasn't, and fetched me
a clout on the side of my head.

SIR PEARCE. But have you never mentioned any famous Englishman to
her, and asked her what she had to say about him?

O'FLAHERTY. The only one I could think of was Shakespeare, sir;
and she says he was born in Cork.

SIR PEARCE [exhausted]. Well, I give it up [he throws himself
into the nearest chair]. The woman is--Oh, well! No matter.

O'FLAHERTY [sympathetically]. Yes, sir: she's pigheaded and
obstinate: there's no doubt about it. She's like the English:
they think there's no one like themselves. It's the same with the
Germans, though they're educated and ought to know better. You'll
never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the
human race.

SIR PEARCE. Still, we--

O'FLAHERTY. Whisht, sir, for God's sake: here she is.

The General jumps up. Mrs. O'Flaherty arrives and comes between
the two men. She is very clean, and carefully dressed in the old
fashioned peasant costume; black silk sunbonnet with a tiara of
trimmings, and black cloak.