Géronte. Somewhat worse since your remedy.

Sganarelle. So much the better; it shows that it takes effect.

Géronte. Yes; but while it is taking effect, I am afraid it will choke her.

Sganarelle. Do not make yourself uneasy; I have some remedies that will make it all right! and I will wait until she is at death’s door.

Géronte (pointing to Léandre). Who is this man that is with you?

Sganarelle (intimates by motions of his hands that it is an apothecary). It is.…

Géronte. What?

Sganarelle. He who …

Géronte. Oh!

Sganarelle. Who …

Géronte. I understand.

Sganarelle. Your daughter will want him.

Scene VI.—Lucinde, Géronte, Léandre, Jacqueline, Sganarelle.

Jacqueline. Here is your daughter, Sir, who wishes to stretch her limbs a little.

Sganarelle. That will do her good. Go to her, M. Apothecary, and feel her pulse, so that I may consult with you presently about her complaint. (At this point he draws Géronte to one end of the stage, and putting one arm upon his shoulder, he places his hand under his chin, with which he makes him turn towards him, each time that Géronte wants to look at what is passing between his daughter and the apothecary, while he holds the following discourse with him.) Sir, it is a great and subtle question among physicians to know whether women or men are more easily cured. I pray you to listen to this, if you please. Some say “no, ” others say “yes’’: I say both “yes ” and “no’’; inasmuch as the incongruity of the opaque humours, which are found in the natural temperament of women, causes the brutal part to struggle for the mastery over the sensitive, we find that the conflict of their opinion depends on the oblique motion of the circle of the moon; and as the sun, which darts its beams on the concavity of the earth, meets …

Lucinde (to Léandre). No; I am not at all likely to change my feelings.

Géronte. Hark! my daughter speaks! O great virtue of the remedy! O excellent physician! How deeply am I obliged to you, Sir, for this marvellous cure! And what can I do for you after such a service?

Sganarelle (strutting about the stage, fanning himself with his hat). This case has given me some trouble.

Lucinde. Yes, father, I have recovered my speech; but I have recovered it to tell you that I will never have any other husband than Léandre, and that it is in vain for you to wish to give me to Horace.

Géronte. But …

Lucinde. Nothing will shake the resolution I have taken.

Géronte. What …

Lucinde. All your fine arguments will be in vain.