JULIE [obeying] Have his parents formally proposed for him?
MME. DUPONT. No. But if they should do so your father and I wish to know—
DUPONT [to Madame Dupont, giving her the last chair cover, which he has taken off himself] Take all these away. [Madame Dupont goes out]. The formal offer has not been made, but it will be soon, in less than an hour.
JULIE. Is that why you are taking all this trouble? [She points to the chairs].
DUPONT. Precisely. We mustn’t appear to be paupers or people without social position. [He seizes a bowl in which there are some visiting cards]. Very old, these cards. Very yellow. And the names, too, common rather. I must put that right. [To his wife, who returns] Go down to the printing office and ask Courthezon to give you some printed specimens of our new visiting cards at three francs—no, three francs fifty. And then put that Wagner opera on the piano which someone left to be bound. [Madame Dupont goes. To Julie] I have no desire to influence you, my dear.
JULIE. Still—
DUPONT [going to the mantelpiece] Still what? Wait while I light the lamp [He strikes a match].
JULIE. Why, it’s still quite light.
DUPONT. When one receives visitors one doesn’t wait till it is dark before—You are old enough to know—what the deuce is the matter with the oil?—old enough to know what you are about. Damn the lamps! When they are never lighted it is the devil’s own job to make them burn. Yes, as I was saying, it is for you to weigh the pros and the cons. Marriage—— There! [He looks round him] Is there anything else to be done to make things look better? What is that over there? That great stupid Caroline’s hat!
MME. DUPONT [coming in and bringing visiting cards and a piano score of an opera] Here are the cards and the music book.