The Doctor Takes Notes — Washington Square

Mrs. Penniman tells Sloper that Morris Townsend has just paid a delightful visit, and Sloper asks whether the stranger came to propose to Catherine. Catherine murmurs and turns to the window while Lavinia claims romantic permission Catherine never granted. Sloper says the next time Morris calls, Lavinia should summon him, though Morris returns twice more without the doctor present. Lavinia assures Catherine that Morris esteems her deeply and that this visit was for her, not the aunt.

Sloper watches without full alarm yet, treating the situation as possible theater rather than immediate crisis. Morris continues calling; Catherine receives him with growing absorption while still saying little to her father. James shows three actors reading one visit differently: Lavinia as romance, Catherine as trembling hope, Sloper as inquiry. The chapter turns a missed introduction into open courtship supervised by an aunt who confuses her own delight with her niece's consent.

Morris flatters Catherine's nature while Sloper treats the matter as information to be logged, not romance to be cheered. Each return visit widens the gap between what Catherine feels and what she can say aloud in her father's hearing. James keeps comedy and threat in the same sentence: a proposal question at dusk, a window turned away, and an aunt already casting the wedding.