The relations, after discussing whether the mother will live or not, end by talking--always in set phrases--of ordinary topics, the men of whether smoking is harmful, the women of how to remove grease stains from silk; and then the infant is heard crying and the curtain falls. The second scene is called “Love and Poverty.” The Man is grown up. It is his room. He is married. His room is quite bare, the walls are damp but lit up with bright, warm light. The grey figure is there; a third of the candle that he holds in his hands has burnt down. The neighbours come into the room. They are bright, cheerful puppets, and they bring flowers and leaves and ribbons. They talk of the Man and his wife. They are so poor, the neighbours say, and so happy, they sing and dance for joy. They are so good and kind. They leave flowers for the Man and his wife, and a bottle of milk, a piece of bread and a very cheap, strong cigar. They go, and they are followed by the wife of the Man. She is young and pretty. She tells of her poverty; of how her husband is a talented architect and cannot find work. She prays Heaven to send her bread so that her dear, good husband may not hunger; she prays that if her husband be cross to her, that it may be forgotten. She goes out and the figure in grey speaks and says, “She little knows that her desire is already fulfilled; that two rich men are already seeking the Man to give him work which shall bring him riches and fame. Thus does fortune come to Man, and thus does it go.” Then the Man and his wife return. The Man complains of his hunger and fatigue. He is cross and irritable. The wife’s eyes fill with tears, and then immediately he curses himself for his selfishness and his thoughtlessness and kisses away her tears. Hope rises triumphant in him, and turning to the grey figure, whom, of course, he does not see, he challenges Life and Fate: “Come out to battle,” he cries, “I _shall_ conquer,” and the wife of the Man applauds him. Then the Man and his wife play at make believe. They build castles in the air. They weave the future out of rainbows. They imagine palaces where they will live in Italy or in the North. They find the milk and bread and flowers brought by the neighbours. They eat it greedily together, and the Man lights the cigar, which tastes like heaven. They dance for joy. They imagine they are in a great palace giving a ball--that the wife of the Man is the queen of the ball. She puts the ribbons and flowers in her hair, and they dance wildly together, while the figure in grey looks on indifferent, and the candle in his hands burns brightly.