I should have thought they’d soothe you, not get you so excited. Though there is one that put me in a terrible temper. (_He looks at her quickly._) Why did you conceal the _Gazette_ notice from me? (_Smiling, she shows it to him: he takes it._) Did you think this would worry me because Arthur Black said THE SAND BAR didn’t live up to the promise of your other plays? GRANT (_Half to himself_) And he was the only one who liked the others that failed. JERRY But it is outrageous of him to say you’d deserted your ideals. I have half a mind to write to the Editor. GRANT (_With a thought_) Would it mean so very much to you if it were true? JERRY Of course it would. GRANT (_Defensively_) But, after all, Jerry, does it make any difference to anybody but the artist whether he sells out or not? JERRY But, dear, _I_ think you’ve just begun to reach your ideals. GRANT Just begun? JERRY Yes. I never told you before because I didn’t want to discourage you when we were so hard up. But, Grant dear, I never liked all those other plays--especially THE LONELY WAY. They seemed unworthy of you. THE SAND BAR is the first play that really seems true to life. GRANT (_Staring at her_) Really true to life? JERRY Yes. And I hope from now on you’ll go on writing the plays that will make people feel happier and.... GRANT (_Suddenly bursting out in an ironic laugh_) I’ve got it. I’ve got it. JERRY What? GRANT The curtain raiser Trebaro wants. I’ll call it THE MASK. No. MASKS! That’s the title. I’ll show _them_ whether I’m dead or not. JERRY What are you talking of? GRANT The theme of my play: that so long as an artist knows what he is doing with his art he is alive: that the only thing which can kill him is self-deception. JERRY Dear me, you’re going to write another play nobody will understand? GRANT (_Contemptuously_) Why should I care whether _anybody_ will understand it? JERRY But Trebaro won’t produce it, dear. GRANT Oh yes, he will: he said he’d produce anything I wrote no matter how good it was. JERRY (_Seeing him eagerly go to his typewriter_) You’re going to begin it _now_? GRANT Yes. _Now._ I can write it off at a sitting. JERRY To-night--of all nights? GRANT Yes. As Tom said: while the “glow” is here. Now that I’m free. I’ll show them whether I’m dead or not. I’ll use their very words. I’ll make it bite. JERRY (_Completely lost_) I don’t understand you or what you are talking about. GRANT (_Gives her a look_) You don’t need to understand now, Jerry; THE SAND BAR has released you. JERRY (_Hurt_) I never heard you talk like this before. You’re unkind. GRANT (_Putting paper in machine_) I don’t mean to be, dear; only my nerves are on edge. JERRY (_Begins to cry_) I can see that. You’ve no regard for my feelings. GRANT I have my work.... JERRY You seem so far off all of a sudden. To-night of all nights! Just when you’ve made your first real success! GRANT (_More testily_)