Theodore Ivánitch. Ask the housekeeper.
[Exit JACOB.
Theodore Ivánitch (to TÁNYA). How is that?
Tánya. Why, don't you see, my position is such....
Jacob (runs in). There are not enough oranges.
Theodore Ivánitch. Serve up as many as you've got. (Exit JACOB.) Now's not the time! Just see what a bustle we are in.
Tánya. But you know yourself, Theodore Ivánitch, there is no end to this bustle; one might wait for ever—you know yourself—and my affair is for life.... Dear Theodore Ivánitch, you have done me a good turn, be a father to me now, choose the right moment and tell her, or else she'll get angry and won't let me have my [passport.][18]
Theodore Ivánitch. Where's the hurry?
Tánya. Why, Theodore Ivánitch, it's all settled now.... And I could go to my godmother's and get ready, and then after Easter we'd get [married.][19] Do tell her, dear Theodore Ivánitch!
Theodore Ivánitch. Go away—this is not the place.