MRS. IS. Yes... it was too bad she couldn"t come. Good-bye. [LORD ALDERDYCE exit.]
MRS. IS. [Pointing to throne.] Look at that thing, Gerald!
GER. Yes... no wonder the crowd came!
MRS. IS. I imagine a good many came because they didn"t dare stay away.
They certainly can"t be enjoying themselves after such a day down town.
GER. It was too bad the panic should come just on the eve of the ball.
MRS. IS. My dear Gerald! That"s his sense of humor! He wanted to bring them here and set them to dancing and grinning, while in their hearts they are frightened to death.
GER. How did he do it, anyway?
MRS. IS. Why, he seems to have money without limit... and he"s been buying and buying... everything in sight! You know how prices have been soaring the past two months. And of course the public went wild, and took to speculating. Then Prince Hagen sold; and the bottom has simply dropped out of everything.
GER. I see. And do you suppose the slump has. .h.i.t father?
MRS. IS. I don"t know. He won"t talk to me about it. But it"s easy to see how distressed he is. And then, to cap the climax, Estelle refuses to come here! Prince Hagen is certain to be furious.
GER. For my part, I admire her courage.
MRS. IS. But, Gerald... we can"t afford to defy this man.
GER. Estelle can afford it, I hope.
MRS. IS. Here comes your father now. Look at him! Gerald, won"t you go, please... I want to have a talk with him.
GER. All right. [Exit, right.]
MRS. IS. John!
ISMAN. [Enters, left, pale and depressed.] What is it?
MRS. IS. You look so haggard and worried!
IS. I AM worried!
MRS. IS. You ought to be home in bed.
IS. I couldn"t sleep. What good would it do?
MRS. IS. Aren"t you going to get any rest at all?
IS. It"s time for reports from the London markets pretty soon. They open at five o"clock, by our time. And I"m hoping there may be some support for Intercontinental... it"s my last hope.
MRS. IS. Oh, dear me! Dear me!
IS. If that fails, there is nothing left for us. We are ruined! Utterly ruined!
MRS. IS. John!
IS. We shall be paupers!
MRS. IS. John Isman, that"s absurd! A man who"s worth a hundred million dollars, like you...
IS. It"ll be gone... all of it!
MRS. IS. Gone?
Is. Do you realize that to-day I had to sell every dollar of my Transatlantic stock?
MRS. IS. [Horrified.] Good G.o.d!
IS. There has never been a day like it in all history! There are no words to tell about it!
MRS. IS. Oh, that monster!
IS. And the worst of it is, the man seems to be after me particularly!
Everything I rely upon seems to collapse... everywhere I turn I find that I"m blocked.
MRS. IS. Oh, it must have been because of that affair in our house.. .
and in the saloon that dreadful night. We ought never to have gone to that place! I knew as soon as I laid eyes on the man that he"d do us harm.
IS. We must keep out of his power. We must save what we can from the wreck and learn to do with it. You"ll have to give up your Newport plans this year.
MRS. IS. [Aghast.] What!
IS. We won"t be able to open the house.
MRS. IS. You"re mad!
IS. My dear...
MRS. IS. Now, John Isman, you listen to me! I was quite sure you had some such idea in your mind! And I tell you right now, I simply will not hear of it! I...
IS. But what can we do, my dear?
MRS. IS. I don"t know what we can do! But you"ll have to raise money somehow. I will not surrender my social position to Mrs. Bagley-Willis ... not for all the Wall Street panics in the world. Oh, that man is a fiend! I tell you, John Isman...
IS. Control yourself!
HAGEN. [Off right.] Very well! I shall be charmed, I"m sure. [Enters.]
Oh! How do you do, Mrs. Isman?
MRS. IS. Oh, Prince Hagen, a most beautiful evening you"ve given us.
HAGEN. Ah! I"m glad if you"ve enjoyed it.