Hamar (yawning). They are the best thing in life, anyway.
Signe. To eat, yes—but not to cook; I never will cook a dinner.
Mrs. Tjaelde (sitting down at the table). One could put up with the cooking. It's the having always to think of something fresh!
Hamar. Why don't you get a chef from one of the hotels, as I have so often advised you?
Mrs. Tjaelde. Oh, we have tried that, but he was more trouble than it was worth.
Hamar. Yes, because he had no invention. Get a French chef!
Mrs. Tjaelde. Yes, and have to be always beside him to interpret!—But I am no nearer this dinner. And lately I have been finding such difficulty in getting about.
Hamar. I have never in my life heard so much talk about meals as I have in this house.
Mrs. Tjaelde. You see, you have never been in a prosperous business-man's house before. Our friends are mostly business-men, of course—and most of them have no greater pleasures than those of the table.
Signe. That's true.