CATHERINE.  Thank you, Uncle Peter, thank you very much.  And now you must have your cup of coffee.

PETER.  What a fine little housewife!  A busy girl about the house, eh, Fritz?  Is there anything you need to-day, Katie?

CATHERINE.  No, Uncle Peter, I have everything I need, thank you.

PETER.  Not everything,—­not everything, my dear. [Smiling at FREDERIK.  JAMES, ignored, is standing in the background.] Wait!  Wait till I give you a husband.  I have my plans. [Looking from FREDERIK to CATHERINE.] People don’t always know what I’m doing, but I’m a great man for planning.  Come, Katie, tell me, on this fine spring morning, what sort of husband would you prefer?

CATHERINE. [Annoyed,—­with girlish impatience.] You’re always speaking of weddings, Uncle Peter.  I don’t know what’s come over you of late.

PETER.  It’s nesting time, ... spring weddings are in the air; besides, my grandmother’s linen-chest upstairs must be used again for you [Impulsively drawing CATHERINE to him.], my house fairy. [Kisses her.] There, I mustn’t tease her.  But I leave it to Fritz if I don’t owe her a fine husband—­this girl of mine.  Look what she has done for me!

CATHERINE.  Done for you?  I do you the great favour to let you do everything for me.

PETER.  Ah, but who lays out my linen?  Who puts flowers on my desk every day?  Who gets up at dawn to eat breakfast with me?  Who sees that I have my second cup of coffee?  But better than all that—­who brings youth into my old house?

CATHERINE.  That’s not much—­youth.

PETER.  No?  We’ll leave it to Fritz. [FREDERIK, amused, listens in silence.] What should I be now—­a rough old fellow—­a bachelor—­without youth in my house, eh?  God knows!  Katie has softened me towards all the ladies—­er—­mellowed me as time has mellowed my old pictures. [Points to pictures.] And I was growing hard—­hard and fussy.

CATHERINE. [Laughing.] Ah, Uncle Peter, have I made you take a liking to all the rest of the ladies?

PETER.  Yes.  It’s just as it is when you have a pet:  you like all that breed.  You can only see your kind of kitten.

JAMES. [Coming down a step, impressed by PETER’S remark—­speaking earnestly.] That’s so, sir. [The others are surprised.] I hadn’t thought of it in that way, but it’s true.  You study a girl for the first time, and presently you notice the same little traits in every one of them.  It makes you feel differently towards all the rest.

PETER. [Amused.] Why, James, what do you know about girls?  “Bachelor” is stamped all over you—­you’re positively labelled.

JAMES. [Good-naturedly.] Perhaps. [Goes back to the office.

PETER.  Poor James!  What a life before him!  When a bachelor wants to order a three-rib roast, who’s to eat it?  I never had a proper roast until Katie and Frederik came to make up my family; [Rubbing his hands.] but the roasts are not big enough. [Giving FREDERIK a knowing look.] We must find a husband.