Nobody needn't be scared about that, Julius. I ain't sayin' but what you'll live to see things. That girl will be livin' up on the first floor some day and we'll be glad to have her condescend to know us. What is it the doctor said to me? Your daughter, he says, is a handsome girl; she'd make a stir on the stage.
JULIUS
Then let her see about gettin' there.
MRS. WOLFF
You got no education, Julius. Yon ain't got a trace of it. Lord, if it hadn't been for me! What would ha' become o' those girls! I brought 'em up to be educated, y'understand? Education is the main thing these days. But things don't come off all of a sudden. One thing after another—step by step. Now she's in service an' that'll learn her somethin'. Then maybe, for my part, she can go into Berlin. She's much too young for the stage yet.
[During MRS. WOLFF'S speech repeated knocking has been heard. Now ADELAIDE'S voice comes in. Mama! Mama! Please, do open! MRS. WOLFF opens the door, ADELAIDE comes in. She is a somewhat overgrown schoolgirl of fourteen with a pretty, child-like face. The expression of her eyes, however, betrays premature corruption.
Why didn't you open the door, mama? I nearly got my hands and feet frozen!
MRS. WOLFF
Don't stand there jabberin' nonsense. Light a fire in the oven and you'll soon be warm. Where've you been all this long time, anyhow?