Alma. Because to-day I was----
Robert. Well, well?
Alma. Oh, please----
Robert. (Kindly) Out with it!
Alma. I wanted--to--go--so bad--to the masked ball! (There is a long pause, Robert gets up and paces the room) May I?
Alma. May I?
Robert. Call father and mother.
Alma. Why not? (Whining) Just once! Can't a person have just one good time, if it's to be the last of everything.
Robert. Do you know what you're saying?--You----
Alma. (Arrogantly) Yes, I do know what I'm saying! I'm not such a little fool! I know a few things about life myself--What are you so excited about, anyway? Isn't it a pretty hard lot when a person has to sit here for nothing? The sun never shines in an old hole like this, nor the moon either, and all you hear on every side is jabbering and scolding!--and nobody with any decent manners. Father scolds, and mother scolds--and you sew your fingers bloody!--and you get fifty pfennigs a day and that don't even pay for the kerosene!--and when you are young and pretty--and you want to have a good time and go in decent society a little--I was always in favor of something higher--I always liked to read about it in the stories. And as for getting married? Who should I marry, then? Such plebeians as those that work down there in the factory don't interest me! No siree! All they can do is drink up their pay and come home and beat you!--I want a gentleman and if I can't have one I don't want anybody! And Kurt has always treated me decently--I never learned any dirty words from him, I'll tell you--I've picked them up right here at home! And I'm not going to stay here, either! And I don't need you to take care of me, either! Girls like me don't starve to death!