Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/161

. Oh! Some old admirer. Adela! I beg your pardon… Here is Don Paco.

. Ah, Don Paco! What news?

. Good. The best! Nothing could be better.

. Which?

. Nothing could be better than best.

. [To ] Let me embrace you.

. Woman! Not on the public street! You mustn't let people see you embracing Don Paco, not if we are to appear here in that scandalous play. Have a little reserve.

. What difference does it make? He's our manager. A manager isn't a man; he's like an author on a first night. You embrace him without meaning anything by it. [To ] This gentleman is our manager.

. Delighted to meet you.

. You must be a bold man, sir, to come here to present this objectionable play.

. "Obscurantismo." We are anxious to see what it is like.

. Why? Don't you think?…

. I am afraid you are going to be disappointed and lose your money.

. Ah, Don Paco! But you said you brought good news.

. So I did. For the present the Governor will not prohibit the performance, as we feared.

. But have you seen the Governor's wife? Wait till she hears of it.

. Nothing is done here without her approval. She belongs to everything—all the ladies' clubs and all the church societies. She will never consent to her husband's prejudicing himself by permitting the performance of an objectionable play.