HAUSER. Unfortunately, I was not there. [He has taken off his
overcoat and is laying it on a chair.] Tell me, you seem to me all
upset.
BEERMANN. I am upset.
HAUSER. I suppose that is why you sent for me. Well, then, what is
it?
BEERMANN. Have a seat, please. [They sit down to the left on the
sofa.] I must begin a little way back. ... Have a cigar? [He goes
over to the humidor, takes out a box of cigars and offers it to
Hauser, who takes one.] I must begin a little way back ... Can you
remember the subject we discussed last night?
HAUSER. The genuinely righteous moral life? [He lights his cigar.]
Of course, I remember it. Such sermons are not easily forgotten.
BEERMANN. Do you know I got the impression that you have a rather
liberal viewpoint.
HAUSER. Liberal?
BEERMANN. I mean that you are not a prude.
HAUSER. I am an old lawyer, you know, and just out of sheer habit
contradict people. I made myself blacker than I actually am. So,
if you have scruples on my account ...
BEERMANN. I merely mentioned it because you understand life and I
must speak to someone who judges more liberally than our narrow
minded bourgeois.
HAUSER. More liberally than you judged last night?
BEERMANN. I was overzealous, but don't let us talk about it. I
want to ask you for advice. [Short pause.] You lawyers are bound
to respect professional secrets?
HAUSER.
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