Riis. Hold your tongue!—Anyway, how old do you think people take me to be?
Mrs. Riis. Forty, of course.
Riis. "Of course"? I don't see that it is so obvious. This suit is a kind of Bridal Symphony, composed at Cologne when I got the telegram telling me of Svava's engagement. Just think of it! At Cologne—not ten hours' journey from Paris! But I could not wait ten hours; I had risen too much in my own estimation in view of my approaching relationship with the richest family in the country.
Mrs. Riis. Is that suit all you have to show for it, then?
Riis. What a question! Just you wait till I have got my luggage through the custom-house!
Mrs. Riis. We shall be quite out of it, I suppose?
Riis. You out of it! When a very lucky daddy finds himself in Paris at a most tremendous moment—
Mrs. Riis. And what did you think of the party yesterday?
Riis. I was quite delighted with the boat for being late so that I was landed in the middle of a fête champêtre as by magic. And Naturally one had a tremendous welcome as the party was in honour of one's own only daughter!
Mrs. Riis. What time did you come in last night?