Ritter. [Coming through the center-door] If I wouldn’t be in the way.
Mrs. Pampinelli. Not at all,—very glad to have you.
Mrs. Fell. He can sit over here with the promptress. [He crosses towards Nelly, picking up the little chair above the table at the left, as he passes. Hossefrosse emerges from the right hallway carrying a light, soft hat, a cane and gloves, and stands in the center-door. Florence steps across below the piano and asks Mrs. Pampinelli something.] If you can behave yourself. [Florence returns to the corner of the piano nearest the window and drapes herself on it. She’s a very gorgeous-looking thing, in a sleeveless gown of canary-colored metallic silk, made quite daringly severe, to exploit the long, lithe lines of her greyhound figure. There’s a chain-effect girdle with the dress, of vivid jade, worn loose, and an ornament of the same jade on the left shoulder, from which the goods falls in a plain drape down in front of the arm to the bottom of the skirt. She has a perfect shock of hair,—rather striking,—a kind of suspicious auburn; and she has it bobbed. Her slippers and stockings are white.]
Mrs. Pampinelli. You needn’t sit there yet, Teddy, I’m going to run through the last scene first,—
Teddy. [Rising] Oh, all right.
Mrs. Pampinelli. For Mr. Hossefrosse’s lines. [Teddy passes in front of the table at the left and goes up to the center-door and out into the right hallway, where he chats with Twiller and watches the proceedings over the partition. Spindler comes over and asks Mrs. Pampinelli something. Ritter places his chair beside Nelly’s, above it, and sits down, assuming the attitude of a lover.]
Mrs. Fell. [Pushing Ritter’s arm away] Stop it, Frederick Ritter! Paula! [Spindler returns to his post.]
Mrs. Ritter. [Inanely] Behave yourself, Fred.
Mrs. Pampinelli. Now, folks,—[She moves slowly down and across towards the table at the left.] Mr. Spindler will attend to the various cues tonight, and at the performance tomorrow night as well. [Speaking directly to Nelly] So we won’t have to bother about that. [Turning round to her left and addressing the others] He will do all the rapping. [She raps a little.] And he has a little telephone-bell of his own, [She moves across again towards the back of the table at the right.] which he has very kindly tendered the use of. Have you that bell with you tonight, Mr. Spindler? [He holds out a bell and battery arrangement on a piece of wood, having taken it from his pocket immediately she referred to it, and rings it twice.] Splendid. [She passes above the table and comes forward at the right of it, very thoughtfully.] That’s splendid. [Spindler replaces the battery.] Now, children,—[She crosses in front of the table.] I think, first, I should like to take that scene at the finish, between Doctor Arlington and his wife; [She is standing at the left of the table, speaking directly to Hossefrosse, who is standing in the center-door, with his hat on, at a rather absurd angle, and holding his cane in one hand and his gloves in the other, in a very stilted fashion. Hossefrosse is a terribly well-fed-looking person in dinner clothes, perhaps, thirty-eight years of age,—flamingly florid of complexion, and with an effusiveness of manner that is probably only saved from absolute effervescence by the ponderous counterpoise of his dignity.] there are a few little things in there I want to correct. [Crossing over back of the table at the left towards Mrs. Fell] Page eighteen or nineteen, I think it is, Nelly. It’s the scene at the finish between Mr. Hossefrosse and Miss McCrickett. [Nelly looks for the place, through her lorgnon.] Oh! [Mrs. Pampinelli turns back to the others again.] and one thing more I want to mention, boys and girls, before I forget it. [She takes a funny little coughing spell.] Pardon me. [She coughs again.] Oh, dear me! [She closes her eyes tight and shivers her head.]
Mrs. Fell. Page eighteen did you say it was, Betty?