Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/246

. The bride and groom? Ah, yes! I remember… I am so sorry.

. Perhaps you will conceal your feelings, as you almost prostrated yourself to entertain them when they first arrived in Madrid; the change would come as too much of a shock—although I never cared for them myself. He seems foolish, and she—well, she is too forward. To convince us that she talks Spanish, she employs the most objectionable language.

. May I have a moment? I have made two slips already…

. I beg your pardon. You should have said so.

. [To the ] Take this letter to the club. Never mind the clothes. Lay them out in my room. [The withdraws] At what hour do we have dinner?

. At half after seven—half an hour earlier than usual, so as to accommodate the young Parisians. In Paris they dine early. When Arenales drops in at about nine, that French girl will say that all Spaniards have bad manners.

. What French girl?

. The bride. A foolish question to ask!

. She is not French. Besides, I consider it bad taste to call people names. No one could be more thoroughly Spanish—she has lived in Paris all her life, so that I find her intelligent, indeed especially delightful.

. I had no idea that you felt so strongly.

. Nonsense. Do we have to go through this all over again?

. All over again? How about me? How do you suppose I feel?

. You are a martyr of course; this is intolerable.

. Gonzalo, you are not willing to let me say a single word. You don't like it if I am silent, either.