Resigned himself?--Do you think he too can see those veils coming down? FELIX (_having first shaken his head slightly_) Nothing but imagination, Johanna--I am sure.--But now I want to.... (_Turning toward the house_) Papa hasn't come home yet? JOHANNA No. As a rule he's very late these days. He has an awful lot to do in the Academy. FELIX I'll try not to wake her up--I'll be careful. (_He goes out by way of the veranda_) [_While alone for a while, Johanna seats herself on the garden bench with her hands clasped across her knees. Sala enters. He is forty-five, but looks younger. Slender to the verge of leanness, and smooth-shaven. His brown hair, which has begun to turn gray at the temples, and which he wears rather long, is parted on the right side. His features are keen and energetic; his eyes, gray and clear._ SALA Good evening, Miss Johanna. JOHANNA Good evening, Mr. von Sala. SALA They told me your mother was having a little nap, and so I permitted myself to come out here in the meantime. JOHANNA Felix just got here. SALA Well? Have they already granted him another furlough? In my days they were stricter in that regiment. However, we were then stationed near the border--somewhere in Galicia. JOHANNA I can never keep in mind that you have gone through that kind of thing too. SALA Yes, it's long ago now. And it didn't last more than a couple of years. But it was good fun as I look back at it now. JOHANNA Like almost everything else you have experienced. SALA Like much of it. JOHANNA Won't you sit down? SALA Thank you. (_He seats himself on the support of the armchair_) Am I permitted? (_Johanna having nodded assent, he takes a cigarette from his case and lights it_) JOHANNA Are you already settled in your new place, Mr. von Sala? SALA I move in to-morrow. JOHANNA And it gives you a great deal of pleasure, doesn't it? SALA That would be a little premature. JOHANNA Are you superstitious? SALA Well, for that matter--yes.--But that was not what I had in mind. I only take possession temporarily, not for good. JOHANNA Why not? SALA I'm going abroad--for a prolonged stay. JOHANNA Oh? You are to be envied. I wish I could do the same--go here and there in the world, and not bother myself about a single human being. SALA Still at it? JOHANNA Still at it.... What do you mean? SALA Oh, I recall how the same kind of schemes for traveling used to occupy your mind when you were nothing but a little girl. What was it you wanted to become?--A ballet dancer, I think. Wasn't that it? A very famous one, of course. JOHANNA Why do you say that as if it were nothing at all to be a ballet dancer? (_Without looking at him_) You, in particular, Mr. von Sala, should not be talking like that. SALA Why not I, in particular? JOHANNA (_glances up calmly at him_) SALA I don't quite make out what you mean, Miss Johanna.... Unless I must.... (_Simply_) Johanna, did you know at the time that I was looking at you?