Mrs. von Tiedemann(toPaul). Have you any children, Doctor?
Paul. No, I'm sorry to say, madam.
Mr. von Tiedemann(to his wife). We're better off in that respect, Bess, aren't we? Three lusty bairns!
Mrs. Schnaase. Andwe, with our five!
Laskowski(touched). Do you see, dearie! What am I always tellin' you! An agriculturalist without children ...
Kunze. Abraham scored one hundred when the Lord bestowed his son Isaac upon him.
Laskowski. But a fellow like me can't wait that long—stuff and nonsense. What if I die and ...
Paul. You will take care not to do that.
Laskowski. Don't say that, brother! I'm going to die young! I'm sure of it. An old woman once told my fortune, and she said I wouldn't see more than fifty. But, do you know what, dearie?
Mrs. von Tiedemann(toAntoinette). I suppose you frequently came to Ellernhof in the old days, Madam von Laskowski?
Antoinette. Why, the departed was my guardian, you know, Mrs. Von Tiedemann.
Mrs. von Tiedemann. Oh yes. I had forgotten that.
von Tiedemann. Do you ride horseback as much as ever, madam?
Antoinette. Now and then, for pastime!
Laskowski. Now don't you say a word, dearie! Why, you're pasted on a horse all day long, and then from horseback right into the cold, cold water. Did anybody ever hear the like of it?
Paul(toAntoinette). Yesterday I had a horseback ride again too, madam. Have I told you about it? The first time in years. And, what is more, I got quite near your place. I was even able to see the houses of Klonowken.
Antoinette. Did you ride through the forest?
Paul. Of course, through the pine forest of Klonowken, yesterday morning. Right through the snow.
Antoinette. Why, I was out at the same time.
Paul(looks at her). You were, madam? Too bad! Why did we not chance to meet?
Antoinette. I suppose it was not ordained so.
Laskowski(after drinking again). I say, dearie, one of these days when I die, do you know what I'll do?
Mertens. If one of us dies, I'll go to Karlsbad, eh, Laskowski?
Laskowski. Listen, dearie! You'll inherit all I have an' marry another fellow!
Paul(sternly). Control yourself a bit, Laskowski.
Laskowski(undaunted). Ain't that true, dearie? Tell me that you'll come to my grave! Promise me that much, dearie! Then I'll die easy. You'll come along and sit down and cry a few tearies on my grave. (He chokes down his tears and drinks again.)
von Tiedemann(has also been drinking freely). Well, here's to our friend, departed in his prime. (He raises his glass toLaskowski. )
Mrs. von Tiedemann(disapprovingly). Why, Fritz!
von Tiedemann(collecting himself). H'm! Well ... Didn't think ofthat. One forgets. Pardon me!
Antoinette. Will you not help yourselves, ladies and gentlemen? (ToLene, who is just passing with dishes in her hands.) Serve around once more!
von Tiedemann(helps himself). My favorite dish, veal-roast!... (ToBodenstein. ) What do you say, Doctor, you are so quiet?
Dr. Bodenstein. Do whatever you do, with a will! I am now devoting myself to culinary delights!
Mertens. I regard this sauce a phenomenal achievement.
Mrs. Schnaase. There are tomatoes in it, I think.
Mertens. I must ask for the recipe.
Raabe, Junior's(voice in the background). Here's to you!
Voices(in confusion, in the background). Here's to you! Your health!
Laskowski(gets up, raises his glass toward the background). Here's to everybody!
Voices(from behind). Here's to you, Laskowski!
Schrock's(voice). Here's to you, old rough-neck!
Paul. Don't drink so much, Laskowski! (Antoinettebites her lips and looks away.)
Laskowski(whispering). Let me drink, brother! Drink and forget your pain, says Schiller. Ain't that it, old chap, ain't it, now? You're a kind of a poet yourself, ain't you?
von Tiedemann(in an undertone, toMertens). He's tanking up again!
Antoinette(toPaul, through her teeth). Awful!
Paul(in an undertone). Oh, don't mind him.
Laskowski. Let me drink, old fellow. I'm not going to live long anyhow. It's on my chest ... Do you hear it rattle, old boy? Listen! Just listen! Listen tome, not to my dearie. When we're dead, we're out of it! We'll not get another drop! An' then we'll sleep till judgment day in the pitch-dark grave. Then you'll be rid of me, dearie!
Antoinette(gets up). Excuse me, Doctor!
Paul(also jumps up). Are you ill, madam?
Mrs. von Tiedemann(moves aside). Now it is getting a bit uncanny.
Mrs. Borowski(her hand at her ear). Are they talking about the judgment day?
Kunze(who eats away lustily, partly to himself). On the judgment day when the Lord will return to judge the quick and the dead.
Paul(toAntoinette, who partly leans upon him). How are you, Antoinette!
Antoinette(has become composed again). I am all right again.
Mrs. Schnaase. Would you like a glass of water?
Mrs. von Tiedemann. Yes, water!
Antoinette. No, thank you! This awful heat!... Don't let me disturb you.
[The conversation which had become very loud is carried on in a more subdued manner. All are whispering to each other.]
Paul, Shall I take you out, madam?
Antoinette(with a supreme effort). No, thank you, I shall remain! (Sits down again.)
Laskowski(with a stupid stare). Just stay here, dearie! Just stay here!
Paul. Now do be quiet, Laskowski. (Also sits down again.)
LaskowskiAin't I quiet, brother? Quiet!... Quiet!... Quiet!... Quiet as the grave! Damn it all. I wonder how your father feels now.
Kunze. We are happy, but he is happier.
Antoinette(frantically controlling herself). Help yourselves, ladies and gentlemen! Mr. von Tiedemann, don't be backward!
von Tiedemann. I'm getting my share.
Mertens. So am I. I don't let things affect my appetite.
Laskowski(singing half audibly). Jinks, do you have to die, young as you are ... young as ...
Mrs. Borowski(toPaul). Now it has come, just as the departed always wished.
Paul. How so, Mrs. Borowski?
Mrs. Borowski. That you would be back, Paul, and that everything about the estate would go right on as before! If he could only look down upon that.
Paul(nervously). Yes!
von Tiedemann(leans over toPaul). Settled fact is it, Mr. Warkentin? Really going to get into the harness?
Laskowski(pricking up his ears). Can't do it, old chap! Come on!... Can't begin to do it!
Paul. I do intend to, Mr. von Tiedemann.
von Tiedemann. Well, you'd better think that over! Not every one can match your father as an agriculturalist.
Paul. With a little honest effort ...
von Tiedemann. Ifthatwere all! To begin with, you can't match your father physically. You have to be accustomed to such things. In all kinds of weather! And then ... No child's play to farm now-a-days! Starvation prices for grain! Simply a shame! If that continues I'll vouch that all this blooming farming will go to the devil within twenty years!
Mrs. von Tiedemann(shaking her head). To think of having you speak that way, Fritz!
von Tiedemann. Of course, if a fellow has a few pennies to fall back on, it's not so bad. But how many are there who have. The rest will go broke!
Laskowski(hums again). The Count of Luxemburg has squandered all his cash ... cash ... cash ...
von Tiedemann(eagerly). And who will have the advantage? The few who have money. They will buy for a song and some day, when times are better again, they will sell for twice as much. Some day they are likely to roll in wealth!
Laskowski(as before). Has squandered all his cash ... In one old merry night ... ha, ha!
Antoinette(leans back in her chair). My husband is no longer conscious of what he is saying!
Laskowski. Me? Not conscious?... Don't I know. Word for word! Shall I tell you, dearie? What you said and what I said and what Paul said to you ... Antoinette, how are you?... How are you Antoinette? (Short laugh.) Well, do I know, dearie? Did I hold on to it?
Paul. One must excuse you in your condition.
von Tiedemann. Don't worry abouthim, madam. He's one of these fellows with a big purse. He may chuckle! I can foresee that he will buy up the whole county some day!
Laskowski. Just what I'll do. What's the price of the world! Five bits a fling!... We can still raise that much. The more foolish the farmer, the bigger his spuds!
Mertens. His sugar-beets!
Laskowski. I say, boys!... Do you know how many tons of sugar-beets I raised to the acre! Last round?
von Tiedemann. Now, don't Spread it on!
Laskowski(jumps up). Fellows! My word of honor! I'm not lying! Thirty-five tons an acre! Who can match that? Nobody can! I can! I'm a devil of a fellow, I've always said so, ain't I, dearie? You know! (He strikes his chest and sits down.)
von Tiedemann. Thirty-five ton per acre! Ridiculous!
Mertens. I can honestly swear to the contrary!
Laskowski. And your dad, I tell you he was mad! He just couldn't look at me! But I don't bear him any grudge! I'm a man of honor! Shake hands, old chap! You say so, ain't I a man of honor? Put 'er there! Man of honor face to face with man of honor. But you must look at me, man alive! Or I won't believe you! (He extends his hand over toPaul. )
Paul(negative gesture). Never mind! Just believe me.
Laskowski(looks atAntoinette). Dearie, don't make such a face! Eat! Eat!... So you can get strong, so you can survive your poor Heliodor! (All exceptPaulandAntoinettelaugh.)
Dr. Bodenstein(toMertens). Incipient delirium!
[Mrs. von Tiedemannwhispers something intoMertens' ear.]
Paul(toAntoinette). You really haven't taken a thing, madam!
Antoinette. I am not hungry. But will the ladies and gentlemen not take something more? A little more of the dessert, perhaps.
von Tiedemann. No, thanks, madam! I can't eat another thing! Not if I try! Or I'll burst!
Mrs. von Tiedemann(reproachfully). Fritz!
Dr. Bodenstein. Albumen! Fat! Carbo-hydrates!In hoc signo vinces.Mertens. And now a little cup of coffee!
von Tiedemann. And a cock-tail!
Dr. Bodenstein. To retard metabolism!
Paul. The coffee will be here directly!
[Aunt Claraappears upon the scene and talks toAntoinettein an undertone.]
Laskowski(who has been dozing, wakes up again, takes his glass and addressesPaul). You know what I'de done, Paul, if I'd been your dad?
Antoinette(nodding toAunt Clara). Miss Clara tells me that the coffee is in the next room. Whenever the ladies and gentlemen are so disposed ...
Laskowski(interrupts). If I'de been your father, old chap, I'd drunk all of my claret before my wind-up! I wouldn't 'a left a drop!
Schrock's(voice). Greedy gut!
[All get up and are about to exchange formalities.]
Raabe Junior's(voice in the background). Here's to you!
Dr. Bodenstein(knocks on his glass, with a loud voice). Ladies and gentlemen! Let us dedicate a glass to the memory of the departed, according to the beautiful tradition of our fathers; that we must not mourn the dead, that we should envy them! Our slumbering friend lives on in the memory of those who were near to him! To immortality, in this sense, all of us may, after all, agree in a manner! (He raises his glass and clinks with those beside him. All the rest do the same. Silence prevails. Only the clinking of glasses is heard.)
Paul(raising his glass, toAntoinette). The doctor is right! Let us drink to his memory, madam! May the earth rest lightly on him! (Antoinettelowers her head and stifles her tears.)
Paul(looking at her fervently). Aren't yon going to respond?
Antoinette(musters her strength, raises her head, and with tears in her eyes clinks glasses with him).
Paul(drinks). To the memory of my father.
Antoinette(nods). Your father!
Paul. To that of our parents, madam! A silent glass! (He empties his glass.)
[Antoinetteputs down her glass, after she has drunk.]
Laskowski(has noticedAntoinette). Just cry ahead, dearie! Cry your fill! That's the way they'll drink to your Heliodor some day!
Dr. Bodenstein. And so they will drink to all of us some day!
Kunze. For man's life on earth is like unto the grass of the field, on which the wind bloweth. It flourisheth for a season and withereth and no one remembereth it. So also the children of men.
Dr. Bodenstein. This goblet to the departed, one and all! (He drinks again.)
Paul. The departed on these walls! I drink to you! (He raises his glass to the portraits on the walls. All have risen meanwhile, and broken up into new groups. Confusion of voices in the background.)
SchrockandRaabe(have intonated the Gaudeamus. At first softly, then more distinctly the following stanza is sung):
Ubi sunt qui ante nosIn mundo fuere?Vadite ad superos,Transite ad inferos,Ubi jam fuere.
Ubi sunt qui ante nosIn mundo fuere?Vadite ad superos,Transite ad inferos,Ubi jam fuere.
Fording_the_River
FORDING THE WATER
Glyszinski(has joined in lustily at the end, and repeats alone). Ubi jam fuere!
[Mertens,von Tiedemann,Mrs. Schnaase,Mrs. von Tiedemannstand in the foreground where they have been conversing in an undertone.]
Mertens(in an undertone). Now the pot is boiling!
von Tiedemann(a bit mellow). That's the way a funeral should be! No airs! The dead won't become alive again anyhow!
Mertens. Many a man might object to that anyhow!
von Tiedemann. The devil take it. A fellow doesn't want to give up what he once has!
Mertens. Wasn't Laskowski superb again!
von Tiedemann. Always is, of late! Never see him any other way!
Mrs. von Tiedemann. And then Mrs. Laskowski? Did you watch, Gretchen?
Mrs. Schnaase. I don't exactly see, Elizabeth!
Mrs. von Tiedemann. Youdidn't, how they kept on whispering together? She hasn't a bit of modesty!
von Tiedemann. I'll bet my head Laskowski will plant himself here some day. The young man surely can't make it go in the long run. Why he can't hold on to the estate.
Mrs. von Tiedemann. Didn't she bat her eyes again!
Mertens. Shedoeshave eyes!
von Tiedemann.Doesshe!
Mrs. von Tiedemann. Just go ahead and propose to her, the togged-out thing!... Come on Gretchen!
[Both go off to the left.]
von Tiedemann. Bang!
Mertens. What do you think ofthat?
von Tiedemann. Let's see if we can find a cocktail! Come on Mertens! (They go out at the left.)
[Paul,Antoinette,Glyszinskicome over from the right.]
[Illustration: FORDING THE WATER]
Glyszinski(quite intoxicated, toAntoinette). Without a doubt, madam, a beautiful, sensitive soul will, above all, find expression in the hand. So would you, perhaps, let me have your hand for a moment....
Antoinette(chilly). For what purpose?
Glyszinski(has seized her hand, impassioned). Only to imprint a kiss upon these beautiful, soft, delicate, distinguished, aristocratic finger-tips! (He kisses her finger-tips.)
Antoinette(withdraws her hand). I beg your pardon, sir!
Laskowski(is detained in a group consisting ofSchrock,Raabe Jr. , and others. He has seenGlyszinskikissAntoinette'shand). Boys, let me go!
Schrock,Raabe, andOthers. Stay right here, old boy.
Laskowski. Let me go, I say ... I want to get to my dearie! (He tries to disengage himself.)
Schrock(very unsteady on his feet). Dear old chap! I'll ... not ... let you!... Let's have another drink first!
Laskowski. I want to get to my dearie! (They restrain him.)
Glyszinski(followsAntoinettewith his eyes. She has retreated behind the oleanders in the foreground on the left). Ravishing creature! I must follow her! (About to follow her.)
Paul. That you will not do! (Intercepts him.)
Glyszinski. Let me pass!
Paul. That way, please! (He points to the left.)
Glyszinski(with clenched fists). Brutal fellow! (He struts toward the left and runs intoLaskowski, who is still standing in the group withSchrockand the rest, and who immediately fraternizes with him.)
Paul(looking at him as he goes). A rare team!
Laskowski(approachesGlyszinski, trying to embrace him). Old chap!... Are you a Pole?
Glyszinski. A Pole! Yes, indeed! von Glyszinski!
Laskowski. Your name is Glyszinski! Mine is Laskowski! Come to my heart, fellow countryman!
Raabe. Boys, such a thing as that calls for a drink. (He goes over toward the left.)
Laskowski. Drink, fellow countryman! Drink and kiss my wife. Do you want to kiss my wife?
Glyszinski(pompously). Sir!
Laskowski.Youmay. Nobody else. A Pole may. Ain't she beautiful, that dearie of mine?
Glyszinski. Beautiful as the starry sky!
Laskowski(embracing his neck). Brother! Come along!
Schrock(stands near them, swaying). Your health, you ... jolly ... brothers!
Laskowski. Brotherhood? Yes, we'll drink to our brotherhood, my fellow countryman.
Raabe(comes in from the left). There's lots of good stuff in there. Come, be quick about it. Too bad to waste your time here!
Laskowski(leadingGlyszinski, who resists a trifle, out at the left, singing as he goes). Poland is not lost forever!
[RaabeandSchrockfollow arm in arm. The rest have gradually withdrawn toward the left in the course of the preceding scene.LeneandFritzclear the table and carry out the dishes.Aunt Claradirects the work and assists now and then.Paulstands near the table in the foreground, lost in thought.]
Aunt Clara. Won't you go and have some coffee, Paul?
Paul. No, not now, Auntie! Later! I need a little rest! Will you soon be through?
Aunt Clara. Directly, my boy!... (ToLene. ) Hurry now! There is plenty of work ahead!
Paul(subdued). Leave me alone for a little while, Auntie!
Aunt Clara(understanding him). I'll be going, Paul!
[LeneandFritzhave completed their work and go out at the right.]
Aunt Clara(in an undertone, as she goes toward the right). Have a good chat, Paul!
Paul(seriously). No occasion!
[Aunt Claragoes off at the left. One can hear her, as she closes the door on the left. Silence.]
Paul(stands undecided for a moment, then he slowly walks over to the row of oleanders, whereAntoinettesits leaning back in a chair at the sofa table with her hands pressed to her face. He looks at her for a long while, then softly says). Antoinette!
Antoinette(moans to herself, without stirring). My God!... My God!
Paul(places his hand on the crown of her head). You poor ... poor child! (He sits down in the chair beside her, takes her hand which she surrenders to him passively, presses it and tenderly kisses it, saying). Sweet ... sweet Toinette!
[Antoinettecovers her face with her left hand whilePaulcontinues to hold her right hand. She is breathing convulsively.]
Paul(looks at her with devotion, closes his hands nervously). I fairly worship you! (Continues to look at her, then says.) Won't you look at me, Antoinette? (He gently removes her hand from her face.) Please, please, Toinette! Let me see your eyes! Just let me see your eyes! (He stoops down over her.)
Antoinette(sinks upon his breast, putting her arms around his neck). Dearest!... Dearest Paul!
Paul(embraces her impetuously). Sweetheart!... Now you are mine!... Sweetheart! (Continuing in a silent, fervent embrace. Pause.)
Antoinette(startled, and tries to withdraw from him). God! Great God!... What have I done?
Paul(holds her and embraces her again). No retreat, Antoinette. No retreat is possible!
Antoinette(beside herself). Let me go, Paul!
Paul. I shall not let you go, Toinette. And if it is a matter of life and death.
Antoinette(with a slight outcry). Paul!
Paul, (presses her to him firmer than ever). Do you want the people to come in? Then call them! Let them find us!
Antoinette(on his breast). I had an intimation of this.
Paul. Did you? You too?
Antoinette. Both of us, Paul! (In rapture.) Kiss me, my friend!... My beloved!
Paul. A thousand times over! (He kisses her.)
Antoinette(returns his kisses). AndI,youa thousand times over!
Paul. My dear, tell me that you love me!
Antoinette(nestling up to him). You know I do, dear! ... Why have me tell you?
Paul(with folded hands). Please, please tell me!
Antoinette. I do love you, Paul!
Paul. Tell me again! I have never heard the word! Say it once more!
Antoinette. I have always loved you, Paul!
Paul. Always? Always? Always?
Antoinette. Always!
Paul. And I failed to realize it all!... Fool, fool, fool! (He moans convulsively.)
Antoinette(places her arms about him again). Don't think of it! Not now!
Paul. You are right, dear! Our time is short!
Antoinette. Forget all! Forget! Forget!
Paul. Icannotforget! It was too long!
Antoinette. Indeed it was long! But I knew that you would return.
Paul. And you took the other man?
Antoinette(sadly, but with a touch of roguishness). Andyouthe other woman!
Paul(startled). Do not remind me of it!
Antoinette(endearingly). I took the other man while I was thinking of you! I waited for you!
Paul. Waited for me, and I was not conscious of it. Missed my happiness. Staked my life for nothing! For a delusion! Some one had to die before I could realize what I might have enjoyed! Too late, too late, too late!
Antoinette(endearingly). Forget, my love! Forget! Forget! Lay your head upon my breast!
Paul(places his head upon her bosom). A good resting place.
Antoinette(rocks him in her arms). Sleep, beloved! Sleep!
Paul, (straightens up, beside himself with longing). Antoinette!...
Antoinette. Mine again, lover of my youth!
Paul. Dearest!... Dearest!
Antoinette. Cruel, cruel man!... Mine after tireless seeking.
Paul. Idol of my heart!... Safe in my arms at last! (Pause. Rapturous embrace.)
Paul(straightens up and looks into her eyes). Is this still sinful, sweetheart?
Antoinette(nods gravely). Still! And will remain so.
Paul(roguishly). Not to be forgiven?
Antoinette(gravely). Not to be forgiven!
Paul. And yet you consent, with all your piety?
Antoinette. I do consent! I have no other choice! (She leans upon his breast.)
Paul(embraces her, then with a sad smile).Neverto be forgiven, Antoinette?
Antoinette(gently). Possibly! In heaven.
Paul. Your God is inexorable, Antoinette.
Antoinette(impassioned). You are my god! I have ceased to have another!
Paul. And would you follow me, even unto death?
Antoinette. Unto death and beyond!
Paul(is forced to smile). Even to damnation, I dare say?
Antoinette. These terrors have lost their force for both of us!
Paul. Do you think so? Have you already come to this?
Antoinette. We have had our damnation here on earth!
Paul(jumps up). Here on earth! But not one hour more! Now the end is at hand!
Antoinette. Come, dear, sit down with me.
Paul. Yes, let us ponder what we are to do now. (He sits down beside her again.)
Antoinette(nestles up to him). Not now! Not today! Promise me!
Paul. When, when, Toinette? It must come to an end.
Antoinette. It shall! But letmedetermine the hour, dearest!
Paul. You?
Antoinette, Yes, the day and the hour, do you hear?
Paul. Antoinette, if you put the matter in this way ... I cannot refuse, whatever you may ask!
Antoinette. Only one more day! Then I will write or come and tell you. Will you be ready?
Paul. Then I shall be ready for anything! Then we shall have a reckoning. Then life shall begin all over again.
Antoinette. Yes, another life!
Paul(sadly). Even though the sun is already sinking.... Possibly there is still time.
Antoinette. I shall do anything for you and you will do anything for me.... We agree to that! (They look into each other's eyes.)
Paul(gently). Do you remember, Toinette, on this very spot ...?
Antoinette. Ten years ago? I do! I do!
Paul. How strangely all has come about and how necessary nevertheless! So predestined! So inexorable! Fate! Fate!
Antoinette(brooding). I hung upon your lips and you ignored me! I had ceased to exist for you!
Paul. And so we lost each other.
Antoinette. But today, today we have found each other once more, oh lover of my youth!
Paul. Late, Toinette, so late!
Antoinette. Heavens, how stupid I was in those days!
Paul. Stupid because you loved me, Toinette?
Antoinette. No, because I did not tell you.
Paul. And I did not suspect it! Now who was worse?
Antoinette. Both of us, dear! We were too young!
Paul. And today I am an old man!
Antoinette. And what ofme... An old woman!
Paul. Beloved!... Young and beautiful as ever. How young you have remained all of these years!
Antoinette. For your sake, dear. I knew that I must remain young till you would return! That is why I insisted upon riding like a Cossack ...
Paul. That is why?
Antoinette. And swimming like a trout in the stream! And rowing like a sailor!
Paul. And all in order to remain young and beautiful?... You vain, vain creature!
Antoinette(mysteriously). And in order to forget, you foolish, foolish fellow!
Paul(to himself, bitterly). In order to forget!
Antoinette(taking his head in her hands). Don't think of it! Don't think of it! Now we have found each other again. That too is past!
Paul. Yes, all is past! I have you and shall never leave you!... (Looking up at the walls). Yes, look down upon me out of your frames! Father and mother, envy me! Venerable hall, rarely have you beheld such happiness!...
Antoinette. Happiness and death in one, lover!
Paul. Possibly they are one and the same! (The door at the left is opened, both get up.)
Aunt Clara's(voice from the left). Paul, are you here?
Paul. We are here. Aunt Clara! (Noise from the left.)
Aunt Clara(comes forward). Our guests are about to go, Paul.
Antoinette. Very well! Then we'll go too. (The two walk erectly into the center passage.)
Hella(has opened the door at the right, enters and seesPaulandAntoinettewithAunt Clara). Paul!
Paul(turning around very calmly). Is it you, Hella?
Hella. As you see! (She stands immediately before them, looks at them with a hostile expression; toAntoinette. ) I beg your pardon, madam!
Antoinette(nods her head). Please!
Paul(coldly). What do you wish?
Hella(looks at him nonplussed, is silent a moment and then says curtly). Where is Glyszinski? I need him!
Paul(as before). There, if you please. If you will take the trouble to step into the next room ... (LaskowskiandGlyszinski, arm in arm, enter from the left, followed by the other guests.)
Laskowski(very tipsy, but not completely robbed of his senses). Brother! Polish brother! Don't leave me in the lurch ... Help me find my dearie!
Antoinette(with head erect). Here I am.
Laskowski(sobered at the sight of her). Why dearie, where have you been? Have you had a long talk with Paul?
Antoinette(extends her hand toPaul). Good-by, Doctor!
Paul. Good-by, madam! We shall see each other again! (He looks squarely into her eye.)
Antoinette(significantly). Weshallsee each other again.
Laskowski. Shan't we go, dearie? Why, it's almost evening.Antoinette. Yes, almost evening. I am ready. (She walks over to the right calmly and goes out. The guests prepare to go.)
Hella(has been standing silently witnessing the scene, and now approachesPaul). What does this mean, Paul?
Paul(about to go, frigidly). A woman whom I knew in the old days!... Good-by. (He leaves her and goes out at the right with the guests.)
Hella(partly to herself, partly calling after him). Paul! Whatdoesthis mean?... Paul!