BISHOP. [Sitting again, speaks slowly.] I am guilty of a great wrong against my son.
TIPPY. I'm sure it wasn't a wilful wrong.
BISHOP. No. I love my son. I meant to help him. Sometimes it is hard to know what is right and what is wrong. Timothy, I arranged for my son to have a job. [Pause.] I conspired to let him think he had secured the job in the usual manner. I fear I made a great mistake.
TIPPY. I understand the spirit that prompted you.
BISHOP. Thank you. [Pause.] He called me up on the telephone and said I had ruined his life with my meddling. He said I was an unworthy example of a man of God. He said I had betrayed him ... [He is too moved to go on,] He said harsh things--very harsh things.
TIPPY. I am very sorry, sir. [He feels helpless to comfort the old man. In the ensuing, uncomfortable silence, KEN, MARTIN and LAURA come in. KEN is drunk and boisterous, MARTIN is trying to hold him back, KEN backs into the room, dragging MARTIN with him. LAURA follows.]
KEN. I got to go in. Got to find Ted. I got to 'pologize to Ted. [MARTIN, seeing BISHOP, lets go of KEN who nearly falls, KEN does not see his father.] I got to shake hands with him and say, Ted, ol' boy, you're right. We're in the same boat. We're brothers under the skin. We are both kept men.
BISHOP. My son!
KEN. [Turns slowly and sees his father.] Hi, dad! [Gestures to LAURA.] Meet the wife. She got the job. You paid for it. [Silence. Gestures to MARTIN.] Meet Martin. He's a god-damned Communist. But I like him.
BISHOP. My son, you have been drinking.