GER. Good-bye!

HAGEN. Free!

[Exit, with GERALD, amid chorus of farewells, and wild uproar of music.]

[CURTAIN] [ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]

ACT II

[Scene shows the library in a Fifth Avenue mansion; spacious and magnificent. There are folding doors right centre. There is a centre table with a reading lamp and books, and soft leather chairs. The walls are covered with bookcases. An entrance right to drawing-room. Also an entrance left.]

[At rise: GERALD, in evening clothes, reading in front of fire.]

GER. [Stretching, and sighing.] Ah, me! I wish I'd stayed at the club. Bother their dinner parties!

MRS. IS. [Enters right, a nervous, fussy little woman, in evening costume.] Well, Gerald...

GER. Yes, mother?