SILVIA

I’m sure you would, Mr. Wentworth.  You’ve always been interested in art, haven’t you?

MR. WENTWORTH

Yes indeed.  Of course I have been very busy, until lately.  But I always followed the best English magazines.

SILVIA

My husband’s upstairs getting the paint off his hands.  He will be down in a minute.  Then we’ll have some tea.

MR. WENTWORTH

You don’t paint, do you, Silvia?  I may call you Silvia, may I not?

SILVIA

Of course.  No, I don’t paint.  I just fly around amongst the artists and see what’s going on.  Are you staying in Paris very long?

MR. WENTWORTH

A couple of weeks more, at least.  I am revelling in the galleries and museums here.

SILVIA

Here comes Joe.  Joe, I want you to meet my cousin, Mr. Wentworth.  Mr. Wentworth—­Mr. Carson.

JOE

Very glad to meet you, Mr. Wentworth.

MR. WENTWORTH

It’s a great pleasure for me to meet a real artist, Mr. Carson.

SILVIA

Excuse me a moment.  I’ll bring on the tea.

JOE

Oh, as for that—­I’m working along.  Sometimes I hit it—­

MR. WENTWORTH

Ars longa, vita brevis you know!  I want to see your pictures very much.  I was just telling Silvia how I delight in the Louvre.  I go there with a class for lectures every morning.  I suppose you often copy the old masters?

JOE

Copy the old masters?  I should say not.  I’m not out to be a camera.  It’s all I can do to work out my own impressions.

MR. WENTWORTH

Oh, I see.  But—­

SILVIA

The tea’s ready.  Joe, bring up that chair for Mr. Wentworth.  Mr. Wentworth, do you take cream and sugar?

MR. WENTWORTH If you please.  Yes, two lumps.  There’s nothing like the atmosphere of a studio, is there?  I love it.  I feel I have missed so much.  Still, the instinct for beauty, fragile as it is, does persist....  I was surprised to feel so many of my old emotions awake on coming to Paris.  So much that hasn’t been real to me for years!  I have gained much inspiration for planning my new house.