Mopsa. If you were only a married man—but I have to be so careful now, you know!
San. Eng. Bloch. It tortures me to think of our two handbags each taking its own way; it really does, Miss Mopsa. And then for me to have to plumb all by myself. Though, to be sure, one can always get round the district surveyor alone.
Mopsa. Ah, yes, that you can surely manage alone.
San. Eng. Bloch. But it takes two to connect the ventilating shaft with the main drainage.
Mopsa (looking up at him). Always two? Never more? Never many?
San. Eng. Bloch. Well, then, you see, it becomes quite a different matter—it cuts down the profits. But are you sure you can never make up your mind to share my great new job with me?
Mopsa. I tried that once—with Alfred. It didn't quite answer—though it was delightful, all the same.
San. Eng. Bloch. Then there really has been a bright and happy time in your life? I should never have suspected it!
Mopsa. Oh yes, you can't think how amusing Alfred was in those days. When he distinguished himself by failing to pass his examinations, and then, from time to time, when he lost his post in some school or other, or when his big, bulky manuscripts were declined by some magazine—with thanks!
San. Eng. Bloch. Yes, I can quite see that such an existence must have had its moments of quiet merriment. (Shaking his head.) But I don't see what in the world possessed Alfred to go and marry as he did.