PHILIP—Good morning, Mr. Juhasz. Did you get my telegram? [_He bows
curtly to PAULA._]
JUHASZ—I got it, Philip. How are you?
PHILIP—I met his excellency in the garden. He said I would find you here.
Am I interrupting?
JUHASZ—No, Philip. I was only saying good-bye to Miss Paula.
PAULA—[_Cordially._] Are you still angry with me, Philip?
PHILIP—[_Very earnestly; bows coldly._] Yes, I am. [_To JUHASZ._] I am
glad to hear that you are coming to Budapest. That’s what I came for. To
ask you to come to town for a day or two.
PAULA—How are things at the shop?
PHILIP—[_Ignoring her._] That’s really what I came for. I hope you don’t
mind my saying, Mr. Juhasz ... that business has been wonderful since you
went away. The receiver——
JUHASZ—Mr. Geiringer?
PHILIP—Yes.... Mr. Geiringer has been collecting all the old outstanding
accounts and keeping a sharp eye on the cash. He sent me down here to see
you, Mr. Juhasz. It seems he has fallen in love with the shop, and has
been wanting to buy it for himself. And when he found out that Mr. Oscar
had gone bankrupt in Berlin, he decided——
JUHASZ—What’s that? What did Mr. Geiringer find out?
PHILIP—That Oscar had gone into bankruptcy ... then he went straight to
the lawyer for your creditors.
JUHASZ—[_Excitedly._] Slowly, please. You say that Oscar went bankrupt in
Berlin?
PHILIP—Yes. Didn’t you know it?
JUHASZ—[_Looking at PAULA._] No.
PHILIP—I’m sorry to have been the first to tell you ... but everyone in
the city knows it.
JUHASZ—You are quite sure?
PHILIP—Well, his wife has been back in Budapest, living with her mother,
for the past two weeks.... And I see Oscar every day.
JUHASZ—Are they divorced?
PHILIP—No, but they are so hard up that they have to live at her mother’s
house.
JUHASZ—If that’s so, there has been a terrible mistake somewhere. [_He
looks again at PAULA; takes out the receipt, crosses to PHILIP._] Read
this.