And
how far are you, gentlemen?
STROEBEL. In principles we are agreed.
BEERMANN. Absolutely.
SCHMETTAU. Then we shall have no difficulty in finding the right
solution.
STROEBEL. I have taken Herr Beermann into our confidence.
SCHMETTAU. That was a very disagreeable mishap, was it not? Very
bad. Whoever has any patriotism can realize it.
BEERMANN. Herr Baron was also ...
SCHMETTAU. Locked in the closet.
STROEBEL. Permit me to revert to the facts. I was just telling
Herr Beermann that this Hauteville woman refuses to leave. She
boasts that she has not the bail and even if she had it, she would
not pay it.
SCHMETTAU. Confound her! She controls the situation.
STROEBEL. Now we come to the most difficult part of it. She says
that if she is compelled to leave the city and is deprived of her
livelihood, she wants proper damages for it. Of course I told the
woman that this, to say the least, was an extortionate demand.
Well then, she says, we will have a trial in court.
BEERMANN. The fox! She knows well that's out of the question.
SCHMETTAU. I am very grateful to you for these sentiments.
STROEBEL. I asked what she considered proper damages. "Ten
thousand marks," she says. I almost lost my senses. With the
necessary bail that would make Fifteen thousand marks.
SCHMETTAU. In the end perhaps that is not so gigantic.
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