OSCAR—[_Excitedly._] I won’t have you go home with him any more.
ADELE—Don’t get so excited. I’ll talk to him right here. But I have to
wait until the customers are gone, haven’t I?
OSCAR—Yes, certainly. [_Nervously resumes his task of clearing the
counter._] Forgive me, dear, but I’m awfully nervous. And no wonder.
ADELE—I’m nervous, too. But I control myself.
OSCAR—I’ll be right near you, and if you need me I’ll come over. The main
thing is to keep cool. Now, of all times, you must be cool.
ADELE—Leave everything to me. If I need you I’ll call you in.
OSCAR—That’s right! That’s right! There’s only one thing I want to
impress upon you. No scandal.
ADELE—He’d never make a scandal.
OSCAR—And you have no business going to his house after this. When you
leave here to-day there is only one place for you to go: your mother’s
house.
ADELE—Now, dear, you’re getting excited again.
OSCAR—How can you expect me to be calm? I stand at the turning point of
my life. And I’m subject to heart attacks. It runs in our family. I have
to be very careful.... And yet, my God ... [_stops his work_] when I
think that to-night ... this ordinary spring night ... this commonplace
Thursday evening ... you are to be mine ... definitely and forever ...
mine ... body and soul.... Come here!
ADELE—Be careful.
OSCAR—Come here, come here!
ADELE—[_Goes to him._] There now, you are getting all excited again.
OSCAR—Only your hand, your hand ... for a moment.
ADELE—But Oscar!
OSCAR—Your hand! You know I’ve got heart trouble! [_She gives him her
hand. He takes it, looks cautiously through the archway, then speaks,
softly but passionately._] Mine! My own wife! Before all the world! And
together we begin a new and wonderful life. To-night I lead you forth
from your prison.... Don’t take your hand away! I won’t have you take
your hand away!
ADELE—[_Leaves him; returns to her desk._] You must behave yourself,
Oscar, or you’ll make me nervous, too.
OSCAR—Your hand, your hand, your mouth....
ADELE—But, Oscar!... You know I need all my wits just now. Clear away
that Zephir.
OSCAR—Clear away, clear away! Now, when I want to explode, I must clear
a lot of Zephir away! [_Gazes at her adoringly._] When I think, you
sweet, slender, white.... [_He looks quickly toward the archway, as if
he heard something there. His voice changes suddenly._] Forty Nagykorona
Street, apartment two. [_He writes on a tag._] First floor. Madame Aurel
Szelenyi. [_PHILIP and the YOUNG GENTLEMAN enter through the archway._]