PHILIP—[_To PAULA, with an inflection of contemptuous amazement._] Good
day? [_The ARISTOCRATIC LADY enters._]
PAULA—Good day.
PHILIP—[_Very cordially._] Good day.
ARISTOCRATIC LADY—[_To PHILIP._] What about my raincoat?
PHILIP—We are expecting it from Vienna any day, madame.
OLD GENTLEMAN—[_Takes the package which OSCAR has made up for him._] What
do I owe?
OSCAR—Twenty-four kronen.
OLD GENTLEMAN—I suppose you can change a thousand.
OSCAR—[_Hesitates, leans over the counter, looks from PAULA to JUHASZ,
then calls._] I ... eh ... a thousand?... Oh, Mr. Juhasz! The gentleman
wants to know if we can change a thousand. [_There is a painful silence._]
PAULA—[_Rises, addresses the OLD GENTLEMAN sweetly._] Certainly, sir.
OSCAR—Just a moment, sir. [_The OLD GENTLEMAN, on the point of going to
PAULA, pauses, in surprise._]
JUHASZ—[_In great perplexity._] How much does the gentleman pay?
OSCAR—[_Leaning far out over the counter, looks from JUHASZ to PAULA then
back again._] Twenty-four.
JUHASZ—[_After a short inward struggle._] Cash! Twenty-four out of a
thousand! [_The OLD GENTLEMAN goes to PAULA, pays her._]
PAULA—[_Ecstatically._] Twenty-four out of a thousand. [_Rings the
register loudly, opens the drawer._] Twenty-four and six make thirty ...
fifty ... one hundred ... two ... five ... and five are one thousand.
Thank you, sir.
OLD GENTLEMAN—Good day.
PAULA—Come and see us again.
OLD GENTLEMAN—[_Has gone to the door, counting his change, now turns._]
Look here! You gave me a hundred too much. [_Returns a banknote to her._]
PAULA—[_In confusion._] Oh, I beg your pardon.
OLD GENTLEMAN—That’s all right. I never mind getting too much. [_He
exits, chuckling over his joke._]
OSCAR—[_Has replaced the boxes on the shelves._] No matter. Such things
happen. [_He goes out through the archway._]
PHILIP—[_To the ARISTOCRATIC LADY._] Shall we look at the Burberrys?
JUHASZ—[_To the ARISTOCRATIC LADY._] That coat from Vienna should arrive
to-night at the latest.
ARISTOCRATIC LADY—Am I mistaken? That man who just went in there....
Wasn’t that ... Oscar?
JUHASZ—Yes.
ARISTOCRATIC LADY—Is he back here again?
JUHASZ—He’s ... helping out.
ARISTOCRATIC LADY—[_Stares at PAULA._] Helping out?... and ... this is
the young lady who used to be here, isn’t it?
PAULA—[_Ironically sweet._] Yes, madame, the same young lady.
ARISTOCRATIC LADY—Come, Mr. Philip, let us look at the Burberrys, and you
can tell me all about it. [_Sees that JUHASZ is about to follow her._]
Don’t you bother, Mr. Juhasz. We’ll manage without you. [_She and PHILIP
exit through the archway. JUHASZ stands rigid, mute. A cabman enters from
the street, whip in hand._]
CABMAN—Beg pardon, lady.... Have you forgot me? You said I wouldn’t have
to wait long.
JUHASZ—[_Thrusts his hand in his pocket._] How much do you get?
CABMAN—Three kronen.
JUHASZ—Here are six for you.
PAULA—Nothing of the kind. [_Opens the drawer of the register._] Three
kronen fifty are plenty. [_Gives the money to the CABMAN._] There you
are. [_The CABMAN looks at the money, then at JUHASZ and at PAULA._] What
are you waiting for?
CABMAN—[_Disappointed, surly._] All right, all right. I’m going. [_Gives
her a withering glance and exits. There is a brief pause._]
JUHASZ—What about the motor?
PAULA—That was it.
JUHASZ—Fifty horse-power.
PAULA—Only one horse-power.
JUHASZ—[_Goes to the cashier’s desk._] Then ... the motor is in the
garage?
PAULA—In the moon.
JUHASZ—That’s far off.
PAULA—Far off.
JUHASZ—Shall I telephone now about the footman’s cap?
PAULA—Don’t bother. The footman has his cap.
JUHASZ—Has he?
PAULA—But he hasn’t got a job.
JUHASZ—How’s that?
PAULA—Because there is no mansion for him to work in. While I sat over
there ... [_points to the counter_] there might have been.
JUHASZ—Gauntlets?
PAULA—Shan’t need any.
JUHASZ—Twenty-four pair of white gloves.
PAULA—That’s twenty-three too many. I do need one pair.
JUHASZ—One pair?
PAULA—For myself.
JUHASZ—Eight pair ladies’ silk pajamas.