But you said at first that you hadn't brought down any child at all.
JOHN
An' you pretend to know nothin' o' that whole business, mother? [MRS. JOHN stares at him; SELMA gazes helplessly and confusedly at MRS. JOHN.] Mother, you got rid o' the child o' Bruno an' that Polish wench an' then, when people came after it, you went an' substitooted that little crittur o' Knobbe's.
WALBURGA
[Very pale and conquering her repugnance.] Tell me, Mrs. John, what happened on that day when I so foolishly took flight up into the loft at papa's coming? I'll explain that to you later, papa. On that occasion, as became clear to me later, I saw the Polish girl twice: first with Mrs. John and then with her brother.
HASSENREUTER
You, Walburga?
WALBURGA
Yes, papa. Alice Rütterbusch was with you that day, and I had made an engagement to meet Erich here. He came to see you finally but failed to meet me because I kept hidden.