JAMES. Hello! [Turns.] Rochester asks for Mr. Peter Grimm to the 'phone.
Another message from Hicks' greenhouses.
PETER. Ask them to excuse me.
JAMES. [Bluntly.] You'll have to excuse him. [Listens.] No, no, the gardens are not in the market. You're only wasting your time.
PETER. Tc! Tc! James! Can't you say it politely? [JAMES listens at 'phone.
FREDERIK. [Aside to PETER.] James is so painfully blunt. [Then changing.] Is it—er—a good offer? Is Hicks willing to make it worth while? [Catching his uncle's astonished eye—apologetically.] Of course, I know you wouldn't think of—
CATHERINE. I should say not! My home? An offer? Our gardens? I should say not!
FREDERIK. Mere curiosity on my part, that's all.
PETER. Of course, I understand. Sell out? No indeed. We are thinking of the next generation.
FREDERIK. Certainly, sir.
PETER. We're the last of the family. The business—that's Peter Grimm. It will soon be Frederik Grimm. The love for the old gardens is in our blood.