ESSIE (scaredly). No.

JUDITH. Then say it, like a good girl.

ESSIE. Amen.

UNCLE WILLIAM (encouragingly). That's right: that's right. We
know who you are; but we are willing to be kind to you if you are
a good girl and deserve it. We are all equal before the Throne.

This republican sentiment does not please the women, who are
convinced that the Throne is precisely the place where their
superiority, often questioned in this world, will be recognized
and rewarded.

CHRISTY (at the window). Here's Dick.

Anderson and Hawkins look round sociably. Essie, with a gleam of
interest breaking through her misery, looks up. Christy grins and
gapes expectantly at the door. The rest are petrified with the
intensity of their sense of Virtue menaced with outrage by the
approach of flaunting Vice. The reprobate appears in the doorway,
graced beyond his alleged merits by the morning sunlight. He is
certainly the best looking member of the family; but his
expression is reckless and sardonic, his manner defiant and
satirical, his dress picturesquely careless. Only his forehead
and mouth betray an extraordinary steadfastness, and his eyes are
the eyes of a fanatic.