How are you? (_He shakes hands with Felix_)
JOHANNA (_who has risen_)
Mr. Fichtner. (_She holds out her hand to him_)
JULIAN
I could hardly recognize you, Johanna. You have grown into a young lady now.--Has your father not come home yet?
JOHANNA
He hasn"t gone out yet. He has nothing to do at the Academy until twelve.
JULIAN
I suppose he"s in his studio?
JOHANNA
I"ll call him.
[_Julian looks around. As Johanna is about to leave the room, Wegrat enters, carrying his hat and stick._
WEGRAT (_giving his hand to Julian_)
I"m delighted, my dear fellow.
JULIAN
I heard of it only after my arrival here yesterday--through Sala. I don"t need to tell you ...
WEGRAT
Thank you very much for your sympathy. I thank you with all my heart.--But sit down, please.
JULIAN
You were going out?
WEGRAT
Oh, it"s no hurry. I have nothing to do in the Academy until twelve.
Johanna, will you please get a carriage for me, just to be on the safe side?
[_Johanna goes out. Wegrat seats himself, as does Julian. Felix stands leaning against the glazed oven._
WEGRAT
Well, you stayed away quite a while this time.
JULIAN
More than two years.
WEGRAT
If you had only got here ten days earlier, you could have had a last look at her. It came so very suddenly--although it wasn"t unexpected.
JULIAN
So I have heard.
WEGRAT
And now you are going to stay right here, I suppose?
JULIAN
A little while. How long I am not yet able to tell.
WEGRAT
Of course not. The making of schedules has never been your line.
JULIAN
No, I have a certain disinclination for that kind of thing. (_Pause_)
WEGRAT
Oh, mercy, my dear fellow ... how often have I not been thinking of you recently!
JULIAN
And I....
WEGRAT
No, you haven"t had much chance for it.... But I.... As I enter the building where I now hold office and authority, I remember often how we two young chaps used to sit side by side in the model cla.s.s, full of a thousand plans and hopes.
JULIAN
Why do you say that in such a melancholy tone? A lot of those things have come true, haven"t they?
WEGRAT
Some--yes.... And yet one can"t help wanting to be young again, even at the risk of similar sorrows and struggles....
JULIAN