Bought groceries and meat daily. (_Relieved_) Well, that ain’t criminal.
PEATTIE (_sulkily_)
I never see him dynamite nobody, if that’s what you’re trying to get
at. Allus bin civil enough to me. Gi’me a cigar once.
LIEUTENANT (_poising pencil with same heavy police humor_) Ah! Cigar!
Loaded?
PEATTIE (_annoyed_)
No, ’twarn’t. ’Twas as good as any two fer a nickel I ever bought myself.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_scandalized as he remembers the episode and the
price_) Two for a nickel! It was a—(_Pulls himself up sharply_)
LIEUTENANT (_explaining apologetically, supposing the outbreak to be
due to a millionaire’s ignorance of such cheap matters_) An expression,
Mr. Magnus—“twofera nickel” is two cigars for five cents. Rubes smoke
’em.
PEATTIE (_angry_)
Rubes, eh? Well, thank Joshyouway, I ain’t a New Yorker, mister—where
every next fella’s a Harp or a Ginny, a Kike or a Polack; where haff of
’em don’t even talk Amurrican. (_Turning to The Devil, who has been
listening with approval_) Doctor Agnus, be ashamed of yourself! I’m
older’n you: old enough to be Sheriff here when your daddy was Senator.
And your dad, young gentleman, he told me to arrest old Commodore
Vanderbilt. Yes, sir—the Commodore—driving his hosses too fast ‘long
Main Street, endangerin’ lives and limbs of old women and children.
Your dad, he sez: “St. Elmo, no matter who he is, any _big_ man that
breaks laws is _little_.” _Little_, yes, sir; and why? “Because,”
says your dad, the Honnible Maxwell Agnus, “because, Sheriff, people
who don’t know no better is goin’to say: ‘If the biggest man in the
country breaks laws then them laws ’es no good’—and so,” sez your dad,
“ignorant people start breakin’ ’em too—” and, sez he, “the law’s like
a brick barn, Sheriff; taking one brick out makes the walls git weak
and, pritty soon, the whole blamed thing starts tumbling down.”
THE DEVIL (_interested_)
And did the Honorable Maxwell Agnus get elected to the Senate again
after telling you to arrest the biggest man in the country?
PEATTIE
Betcha he did! People was different then. They was Amurricans. And when
they found out why the Commodore hated your dad; why he was tryin’to
keep him outa office agin; why, they just swan to goodness _that_ was
the sorta fella they wanted in Congress—what would take up for the weak
agin’ the strong. He was Senator pritty nigh fifteen years after—
THE DEVIL (_smiling_)
And then?
PEATTIE (_reluctantly_)
Wa-al _then_. Then that there Eye-talian colony got so big over to Cove
Neck, and, seeing as how their votes war only a dollar apiece and a
kiss for the babies, why, our votes warn’t strong enough to beat the
politicians.
THE DEVIL
You see, money has a long memory, Sheriff. And it always wins in the
end.
PEATTIE
But think of all the good he done in them fifteen years.
THE DEVIL
With the result that the railroad doesn’t run within seven miles of
this village and the population has fallen to two thousand inhabitants.
PEATTIE (_sulkily_)
Wa-al—we’re all Amurricans, anyway. It kept the Eye-talians and
the Polacks _out_. You—can’t—buy—votes—here—and _he_ (_points to
Schwartzenhopfel, meaning Magnus_) can’t scare anybody like he kin
New Yorkers. (_He jerks his head with a sneer at the Detectives_)
Keeping ’em from arresting the man they’re sent to git—a furriner—not
Amurrican, mind—a cowardly furriner that blows people up. Magnus,
nor twenty Magnuses couldn’t keep me from doing my dooty on sich a
villin—couldn’t keep any real Amurrican. (_Turning to the Detectives_)
I’ll bet you folks ain’t Amurricans?
LIEUTENANT (_who all along has spoken with an Irish accent, and now,
when violently angry, speaks with a pronounced brogue_) Go on, ye scut!
(_He makes threatening motion at him_)
PEATTIE (_triumphantly_)
Amurrican! Huhnh? (_To second Detective_) And you?
SECOND DETECTIVE (_excitedly_)
I haf my naduraladion pabers got us goot as you or any udder man—
PEATTIE (_more triumphantly_)
Amurrican! Hey? (_To the third Detective_) And you?
THIRD DETECTIVE (_trying to speak carefully_)
I—was—born—in—New—York—
[_Peattie slaps thigh and grins unbelievingly._
THIRD DETECTIVE (_angrily_)
By your lave, Lootenant, I’ll—(_Losing his temper, he takes a step
forward_)
PEATTIE (_clapping his hands in glee_)
You see? Not an Amurrican in the lot. (_To The Devil_) And so
it’s with such cattle—and with anarchists—for just as your dad
said of the Commodore, he’s (_points to Schwartzenhopfel, meaning
Magnus_) as much of an anarchist as him (_points to Agnus, meaning
Schwartzenhopfel_)—it’s with such—that the son of my old Senator has
truck today. Good day to you, sir, and (_sorrowfully_) may you learn
better before you come to my age.
[_He goes out._
THE DEVIL (_to Judge Critty, indicating Detectives_)
See that these fellows are paid something to keep their mouths shut—
LIEUTENANT (_protesting_)
Now, Doctor—you know—
THE DEVIL
Pshaw! No nonsense, my man! That old fellow just gone is worth the lot
of you. With such men in your shoes, we’d hear no more talk of police
graft and extortion.
LIEUTENANT (_sarcastically, pointing to Agnus_)
We’ll take this fellow if it’ll please you better—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_thoroughly enjoying himself_)
Keep your tongue quiet, policeman!—Here! (_Takes out a handful of bills
and gives them to Judge_) Give ’em these. (_He looks for approval
toward The Devil, who nods_) Now get out: the lot of you!
LIEUTENANT (_hurt_)
That’s no kind of language to use to men doing their best to favor you,
Mr. Magnus. And, as for the money, that’s an insult—
THE DEVIL
I suppose you want it sent mysteriously? From an unknown benefactor who
loves your fat housewife and your ugly babies. Well—you’ll—take—it—this
way—(_He has snatched the bills from the Judge while talking and
separated them into three parts; now he forces one on the Lieutenant_)
[_The Lieutenant pretends to push them away._
THE DEVIL (_finishing_)—or—not at all—(_He looks at Schwartzenhopfel to
back him up_)
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_importantly_)
Or not at all—
[_The Lieutenant hesitates, but takes the money shamefacedly. The two
Detectives repeat his actions and manners._
LIEUTENANT (_to Schwartzenhopfel diffidently, after looking at the
women, the Judge and Agnus_) I suppose (_humbly_) there’ll be no
come-back to this? It’s value received, ain’t it, sir?
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Yes. Get out.
LIEUTENANT
Yes, sir. (_He tips his hat and goes out on tip-toe_)
SECOND AND THIRD DETECTIVES (_in the same manner_)
Yes, sir. (_They go out_)
JUDGE CRITTY (_to Schwartzenhopfel_)
Such actions cause talk, sir—
THE DEVIL
If I’ve promoted even the germ of Socialism in those
robber-barons’men-at-arms, I’m satisfied—
JUDGE CRITTY (_stiffly_)
I was not addressing you, Doctor Agnus—
THE DEVIL
Don’t try that fake dignity with me, you hoary-headed old fraud,
because you haven’t the moral dignity back of it to hold you up. Get
out, you arrant knave! (_Catches Schwartzenhopfel’s eye_)
JUDGE CRITTY (_dumfounded_)
Mr. Magnus—will you allow me to be so insulted by this cockerel? He’s
either drunk or crazy.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_softly motioning The Devil to wait_) Didn’t you say
once, Judge, that to properly punish anarchists they should not be
hanged but burned?
JUDGE CRITTY (_with swelling dignity, thinking that Magnus is recalling
the incident favorably_) I certainly did, Mr. Magnus.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
You didn’t say anything about the causes that make them anarchists,
though—did you? (_Catching The Devil’s eye_) But how about a
six-months’ strike prolonged because millionaires wouldn’t pay fifty
cents more a day to men who work with hot rivets two hundred feet in
the air—twenty-five per cent of them killed every year? How about the
wives of those strikers who died of overwork and little food trying to
support homes and husbands until employers gave in? How about their
children who died unborn—eh? Who was it murdered wives and children?
And who, after six months, still refused even to compromise? Was it
any wonder that men went crazy? Murder for murder—they said—murder
for murder. Schwartzenhopfel had such a wife, such children, all dead
now, and he shouted: Dynamite, the worker’s friend! (_Fiercely to the
Judge_) And so it isn’t enough to hang him? You’ve got to burn him,
have you? Well, what about the men who took an honest workman and made
him what he is today?
JUDGE CRITTY (_frantically_)
Mr. Magnus—
[_The Devil goes to the garden door, opens it and points the way out._
JUDGE CRITTY (_nervously, suddenly changing his attitude_) Mr. Magnus,
your admission delights me—for the first time in my relations with you,
I—I find it—possible—to—to—be—to be—perfectly natural with you. You
cannot blame me for being a hypocrite. If you will pardon me, sir: who
made me a hypocrite?—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_disgruntled_)
I didn’t tell you to burn anarchists, did I?
JUDGE CRITTY
Pardon me, sir—theoretically, no; but practically, yes, you did. If
my bench orations hadn’t been passionately opposed to everything that
even threatened the divine right of capital, why, you wouldn’t be
considering me for the Supreme Bench now. How can a lawyer succeed
nowadays except through capital?
THE DEVIL (_closes door and stands with his back to it_)
True enough, Magnus; true enough—(_Looks at the light, which has hung
gravely suspended through these operations_)
THE DEVIL
The greedy millionaire criminal makes all the little criminals. He
needs men like this hypocrite here (_pointing to the Judge_)—needs them
to save corporations from fines, their officers from jail—with that
damnable word “unconstitutional”; just as he needs Senators to make
trust laws easy to break; Governors to sign exemptions and pardons;
aldermen to steal city franchises; bosses to elect those aldermen
to order; murdering gangsters to kill honest voting; and police who
will permit the gangsters to steal, pimp and kill, and who share in
their spoils. (_Still addressing the light_) And every crime of the
lot—yes—don’t shrink from your guilt—even the stealing, the pimping,
and the killing—is the fault of the greedy millionaire. (_Pointing to
the Judge_) Even that might have been a man—
JUDGE CRITTY (_anxiously_)
But, Mr. Magnus—
THE DEVIL
No hypocrite may be trusted upon the Supreme Bench, Judge.
[_Schwartzenhopfel nods._
JUDGE CRITTY (_wildly_)
You use me—cast me aside—
THE DEVIL
Just what a prostitute would say when the man to whose worst passions
she has pandered seeks to be clean again and casts her off. (_He opens
the door again and points_) Get out! (_He fixes the unhappy Judge with
his eyes. Unable to resist, the Judge follows the slowly pointing
finger and goes out_)
DOLL BLONDIN (_whose admiration for The Devil has grown quickly, as
evidenced by the expression on her face as she has sat listening almost
with awe_) You are some man—believe me!
FANNY (_turns quickly on her at this danger-note in her voice, and
speaks with an effort at politeness_) You said you would not like a
certain party to hear a certain story—
[_The Devil, being recalled to this situation, looks hopelessly around._
DOLL BLONDIN
Let the certain party go—
FANNY (_glares at her_)
What?
DOLL BLONDIN (_glares back_)
I wouldn’t stay where I wasn’t wanted if I were some people—
FANNY
And I suppose you think you are wanted?
[_Doll Blondin smiles aggravatingly._
FANNY
What?
DOLL BLONDIN
I’ve been asked to stay anyhow. That’s more’n some people have—
FANNY
Addington! You’ll let this woman insult me?
THE DEVIL
Certainly, my dear.
DOLL BLONDIN
You see—(_She spreads hands and her manner becomes still more
aggravating_)
FANNY
I’ll go and get mother. Even she will see who’s in the wrong now. When
I’m prepared to give up everything for you—
THE DEVIL
But you aren’t—
FANNY (_wildly_)
I am. You needn’t even have a flat in town. I’ll stay here. Why, I’ll
even live on your income.
THE DEVIL
You only say that until you get me safely married.
FANNY (_beside herself_)
I swear it. Addington—I didn’t realize how much I loved you until I
saw you save your friend (_points to Agnus_); heard you defy those
policemen, and—then—the way you talked to that nasty old Judge. Oh! I
want you—I love you—
THE DEVIL (_stepping back to avoid an embrace_)
Well, you can’t have me!
DOLL BLONDIN
You see—(_Spreads her hands as before_)
FANNY
You give me up—for this woman?
THE DEVIL (_desperately_)
Yes!
FANNY (_suddenly realizing she is combating Fate_)
Oh, Addington, Addington, Addington—I love you—I love you—(_She
bursts into real tears; there is no tragedy in her attitude now, no
affectation, no theatricalism—just real sorrow and regret_)
AGNUS (_wildly to The Devil_) You must explain! You must! You must!
THE DEVIL (_whispering_)
Who’d believe us? We’d all be clapped into a lunatic asylum. Is one
woman to stand in the way of science—a big step in world-regeneration?
Think, man! One woman against a million better men? For the sake of
humanity—think!
[_Agnus turns away. It is his tragic moment; his face should be that of
a combined Hamlet and King Lear—for, while to others Fanny is comedic,
to him she represents earthly happiness. Fanny continues her sobbing
like an animal in pain. Doll Blondin looks troubled, but stands her
ground._
THE DEVIL (_awkwardly_)
See here, Fanny—
FANNY (_trying to stem, her tears_)
Yes, dear—
THE DEVIL
It isn’t any woman—it’s my work. It needs me—all of me—
DOLL BLONDIN
Then you don’t love me?
THE DEVIL (_impatiently_)
Of course not. I only just saw you—didn’t I?
FANNY
You don’t love her? Your work? You’re giving me up for—
THE DEVIL
The good of humanity, Fanny—
FANNY (_forgetting tears_)
Ah, I knew you were too noble, Addington, too big to jilt me for
another woman. “For the good of humanity!” That’s different. We’ll work
together, dear. I’ll help, not hinder.
[_The Devil groans._
FANNY
You’ve brought out my true nature. I’m changed. I see now how hateful I
was.
THE DEVIL
Fanny—
FANNY
Yes, dear—
THE DEVIL
No!
[_Doll Blondin catches his eye above Fanny’s head and winks hopefully._
THE DEVIL (_to Doll, in the same tone_)
No!
[_Mrs. Felix and Tromper enter, bundled up for motoring. They are
followed by Magnus’s chauffeur and his valet carrying motoring coats._
VALET
Miss Felix, miss! (_He holds up her coat_)
[_Fanny inserts her arms mechanically in sleeves._
TROMPER (_grumpily, showing his watch to Schwartzenhopfel_) I took
the liberty of getting ready to go back, Mr. Magnus. I thought you’d
forgotten the time.
VALET
You have an appointment for dinner with Mr. Gayton, sir.
[_Schwartzenhopfel looks blank._
VALET
You know, sir—the Secretary of the Treasury—
[_The Devil nudges Schwartzenhopfel._
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_arrogantly_)
The Secretary must wait; that’s all! I’m staying here tonight.
THE DEVIL (_sotto voce to Agnus, indicating Tromper_)
Who’s he?
[_Agnus whispers the information in a thoroughly miserable manner._
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_to the chauffeur_)
You take these ladies back to New York. (_To the valet_) You go with
him and bring me some clothes back.
THE DEVIL
Enough for a week or so.
[_The light shows that it is struck motionless by this last statement._
And now, Mrs. Felix, good-bye! Come and see me some time. I’ll find a
husband for you yet.
[_The light flirts across his eyes._
THE DEVIL (_looks at it meditatively_)
I don’t know but what you’re right, Magnus. After I start training
you—she might be able to complete the training—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_viewing Mrs. Felix with approval_) Suits me!
[_The light darts as viciously at Schwartzenhopfel as the latter once
did when he was in Magnus’s condition._
THE DEVIL (_to the light_)
I meant you—Magnus—
[_The light hovers, sullenly suspicious._
THE DEVIL (_to all_)
And—now—good day to all of you. Schwartzenhopfel and I are about to do
some important work together. (_Puts his arm on Agnus’s shoulder_) So
we must ask you to excuse us.
DOLL BLONDIN
And what about me?
THE DEVIL
Aren’t the rooms good?
[_Doll Blondin nods._
THE DEVIL
And the food?
[_Doll Blondin nods again._
THE DEVIL
And the service?
DOLL BLONDIN
Yes—but—
THE DEVIL
Then what about you? And as for amusement: why, there’s Magnus. (_He
points to Schwartzenhopfel. Then he goes, almost dragging Agnus with
him_)
[_Agnus’s head is turned, with lack-lustre eyes, toward Fanny. They
pass out through the folding-doors, closing these behind them._
TROMPER (_whose indignation has been mounting, now vents himself
explosively_) Well, damn his nerve! I beg your pardon, ladies. Mr.
Magnus, you let a whippersnapper doctor talk that way to you? You! Why,
sir, I wouldn’t—I actually wouldn’t permit you to talk that way to me!
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_viciously_)
You wouldn’t?
TROMPER (_nervously_)
With all respect: no, sir.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Then you’re discharged.
TROMPER (_thunderstruck_)
Have you gone crazy, Mr. Magnus? Discharged? After twenty-five
years’service? After saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars?
MRS. FELIX (_putting her hand on his shoulder_)
John, that’s petty! That’s small, John. I never knew you to be petty or
small before.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_to Mrs. Felix_)
Wait! (_To Tromper_) Saving? How?
TROMPER (_stuttering_)
Why, the Churchstead strike alone—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_militantly_)
Strike! Ha! Go on! What did you do?
TROMPER (_miserably_)
You know well enough what I did, sir—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Tell me anyhow—
TROMPER
I locked ’em out, the bums!
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
What did they want? Just union rates, union hours; white men’s pay,
white men’s hours; not nigger slaves—?
MRS. FELIX (_admiringly_)
Bravo, John! You ’re shaping up!
[_The light moves closer, as if listening intently._
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_nodding_)
I told you to wait! (_To Tromper_) You beat them, didn’t you?
TROMPER
And a tough job! Strike-breakers weren’t enough—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_to Mrs. Felix_)
New York thugs, gunmen—with brass knuckles, hand spikes, and
automatics—licensed to bruise, maim and kill—
TROMPER
Weren’t the strikers breaking windows and burning fences? Didn’t they
threaten to burn the works?
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Fighting for their children and their homes, they were—for the right
to have more than cattle or pigs—more than a place to sleep—and
enough food to keep them working. Food! Ha! Like gasoline put into a
motor-car—
TROMPER
I was fighting to save you money—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Against the men you used to work with, side by side, your own
blood-brothers—
TROMPER
No brothers of mine, those sweating, smelly ignorant dogs! I might have
been born one. That wasn’t _my_ fault. But I didn’t stay one.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
No, and I’ll bet I know why. Because you spied on them, carried tales,
for little foreman jobs, and sweated more work out of them.
TROMPER (_bitterly_)
Always saving you money—
MRS. FELIX (_to Schwartzenhopfel_)
You see, John: all crime, bloodshed, murder finally comes back to
yourself. He said it: “_Always saving you money_.”
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
I’m going to change all that. Consequently I don’t need his sort any
more.
MRS. FELIX (_delightedly_)
You are? (_Suspiciously_) But so suddenly—what’s changed you?
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_points toward the laboratory_) The—(_corrects
himself_) D—Doctor. (_Enthusiastically_) The trouble about us human
beings is that we don’t know nothing about nothing—
MRS. FELIX
Can’t you be moral and retain your grammar?
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_disregarding her, enthusiastically_) Then he comes
along (_pointing toward laboratory_) and shows us that millionaires on
one hand—anarchists on the other—are one part right, ninety-nine parts
wrong—
FANNY (_bursts into wild tears again_)
And I’ve lost him! I’ve lost him!
[_Mrs. Felix comforts her._
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_to Tromper_)
How much have you saved? Not for me—for yourself?
TROMPER (_haughtily_)
I don’t save; I invest.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Worth half a million, aren’t you? Not above grafting some of that
sweat-and-blood money you saved for me, are you?
TROMPER
I defy you to prove it. I defy anybody. I’ve been strictly honest.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
No matter, Tromper, no matter—you ’re fired! I never want to see your
face again.
TROMPER
You’ll regret this the longest day you live, you—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Be careful. I still own the judges and the politicians. Don’t try to
stand in my way, or I’ll job you into jail. Get out!
TROMPER (_suddenly whining_)
How am I to get back to New York?
MRS. FELIX (_touching Schwartzenhopfel’s shoulder_)
Don’t be little, John—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_repressing himself_)
The automobile will take you back. Wait for it at the Inn.
TROMPER (_thinking he is relenting_)
One word, sir—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Not one. (_Points to the door_)
[_Tromper goes out abjectedly._
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_turning suddenly to valet_)
What do I pay you?
VALET (_alarmed on behalf of his own position_)
Only a hundred a month, sir.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
And what you can steal, eh?
VALET (_earnestly_)
Mr. Magnus, sir.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Percentages from haberdashers and shirt-makers, tailors, bootmakers,
jewellers. Double bills: one for me, one for you—you pocket the
difference?
VALET (_astounded at his accuracy_)
Mr. Magnus, I swear—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Don’t perjure yourself. Take one hundred and fifty dollars a month—I’m
buying back your self-respect with the extra fifty and giving it to
you. But if you cheat again—remember, if you cheat again—jail!
VALET (_with tears in his eyes and choking voice_)
Sir—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Wait in there. (_Points to the door, and the valet goes out; then to
chauffeur_) And I give you?
CHAUFFEUR (_trembling_)
One hundred and twenty-five dollars a month, sir.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
And the gasoline you take out every night and put back in the morning?
The extra shoes that don’t wear out? The valve-cleaning and new parts
that only figure in the bill? Other things—how much do they come to?
CHAUFFEUR
Mr. Magnus—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Don’t lie. Please—how much?
CHAUFFEUR (_whining_)
I don’t know, sir. Please—
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Take one seventy-five and be a decent man—a skilled mechanic who
respects himself and his craft too much to be a thief. Will that do?
CHAUFFEUR (_thickly_)
If they all treated us like that, nobuddy ’ud steal except dirty
scoundrels, sir. (_Goes out_)
MRS. FELIX
You see: the generals make the morals of their soldiers. Let generals
loot a church-treasure, and the privates will loot a hen-roost. Magnus
steals a Subway. Therefore, his manager steals his profits, his valet
steals his stickpins, his chauffeur his gasoline.
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL
Reform always begins at the top, _I_ know. The trouble with
us—(_corrects himself_) with Socialists and anarchists—they try to
begin reforms among the ignorant. It will take me many years to break
even with my criminal misunderstanding.
MRS. FELIX (_suddenly touched_)
I’ll help you. (_In a whisper_) I love you, John—
[_The light jumps._
MRS. FELIX (_with her hand on his shoulder_)
I’ve always wanted to say “Yes”—always hoped for the day when your
great brain would resent the petty use you were making of it—
[_Fanny does not hear this. For some time she has been sitting all
humped up, staring blankly into space. Doll Blondin sits in same
position, showing the same attitude, and the same lack of expression.
The two of them look more like decorative statues than human beings,
one on either side of the room. The light flies about distractedly.
Mrs. Felix slowly drawing the startled Schwartzenhopfel around until he
faces her and stares into her eyes._
SCHWARTZENHOPFEL (_stutters_)
When I’m—wor—worthy, I—I ’ll ask you to say “Yes” again—I don’t
de—deserve you yet—
[_Doll Blondin turns wearily around to watch them. Fanny does the same.
The light pauses, satisfied._
MRS. FELIX
John Magnus—you’re a great man at last— (_Smiling shyly, she
practically offers her cheek to be kissed_) Remember _my_ worthless
years, too, and _consider_ you’re worthy now—