Act IV

The studio. The easel is pushed back to the wall. Cardinal Death,
holding his scythe and hour-glass like a sceptre and globe, sits
on the throne. On the hat-stand hang the hats of Sir Patrick and
Bloomfield Bonington. Walpole, just come in, is hanging up his
beside them. There is a knock. He opens the door and finds
Ridgeon there.
**

WALPOLE. Hallo, Ridgeon!

They come into the middle of the room together, taking off their
gloves.

RIDGEON. Whats the matter! Have you been sent for, too?

WALPOLE. Weve all been sent for. Ive only just come: I havnt seen
him yet. The charwoman says that old Paddy Cullen has been here
with B. B. for the last half-hour. [Sir Patrick, with bad news in
his face, enters from the inner room]. Well: whats up?

SIR PATRICK. Go in and see. B. B. is in there with him.

Walpole goes. Ridgeon is about to follow him; but Sir Patrick
stops him with a look.

RIDGEON. What has happened?

SIR PATRICK. Do you remember Jane Marsh's arm?

RIDGEON. Is that whats happened?

SIR PATRICK. Thats whats happened. His lung has gone like Jane's
arm. I never saw such a case. He has got through three months
galloping consumption in three days.

RIDGEON. B. B. got in on the negative phase.

SIR PATRICK. Negative or positive, the lad's done for. He wont
last out the afternoon. He'll go suddenly: Ive often seen it.

RIDGEON. So long as he goes before his wife finds him out, I dont
care. I fully expected this.

SIR PATRICK [drily] It'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.

B. B. Ah, here you are, Ridgeon. Paddy's told you, of course.

RIDGEON. Yes.

B. B. It's an enormously interesting case. You know, Colly, by
Jupiter, if I didnt know as a matter of scientific fact that I'd
been stimulating the phagocytes, I should say I'd been
stimulating the other things. What is the explanation of it, Sir
Patrick? How do you account for it, Ridgeon? Have we over-
stimulated the phagocytes? Have they not only eaten up the
bacilli, but attacked and destroyed the red corpuscles as well? a
possibility suggested by the patient's pallor. Nay, have they
finally begun to prey on the lungs themselves? Or on one another?
I shall write a paper about this case.

Walpole comes back, very serious, even shocked. He comes between
B. B. and Ridgeon.

WALPOLE. Whew! B. B.: youve done it this time.

B. B. What do you mean?

WALPOLE. Killed him. The worst case of neglected