JUHASZ—I didn’t mean to tell you. But when you said I had no right ...
it slipped out.... I might have gone on pretending.... I don’t know....
But now I can ask you again ... to come with me ... if you will ... as my
wife. [_A pause._] Won’t you answer me?
PAULA—I have been pretending, too, Mr. Juhasz.
JUHASZ—You?
PAULA—I let you think I came here ... out of loyalty to you. But I
didn’t. I came because I wanted to come ... because I am bad and
depraved. And that is why I want to stay.... I am sick of poverty, Mr.
Juhasz.... I don’t want to go back to work in a dingy little office ...
of a dingy little shop.... I am young, Mr. Juhasz, and pretty.... I want
to do the things that make living worth while ... meet interesting people
... see beautiful places ... wear fine clothes ... enjoy the leisure and
luxury that only rich folks can have.... I have thought about such things
... and longed for them so fiercely ... that it makes me cold and sick
... only to think that I may not have them.... Oh, it’s so difficult to
tell you, Mr. Juhasz! My heart is so heavy!
JUHASZ—Do you ... love the count?
PAULA—No.
JUHASZ—Tell me the truth.... You can tell me now.
PAULA—He isn’t a man to me at all. He is only the door that leads into
a new life.... He is rich, Mr. Juhasz, rich, rich—— [_Hides her face in
shame on his shoulder._]
JUHASZ—[_Half dazed._] Come with me ... and I will be rich, too.... I
will work for you, Paula, as no man ever worked before.... There are
people who will help me.... I will be ambitious, grasping ... until I
have all the money you want....
PAULA—[_Still has her face buried in his shoulder._] And by the time you
had made your money I should be too old to want it.
JUHASZ—[_Bitterly._] After all, you are right, Paula. I am absurd.
Another man would offer to lay down his life for the woman he loved.... I
offer to open an account in a savings bank. [_She raises her head. There
is a knock at the door._] Come in. [_Louder._] Come in! [_SANTHA enters
at left, carrying an envelope and two receipts._]
SANTHA—Pardon me, Mr. Juhasz, but the cashier sent this in. Will you sign
this receipt, please?
JUHASZ—Yes.... I’ll be there in a moment.