Summary
Ben and Oscar come back into the room, and Regina is excited about the fact that they made the deal. "The children, Alexandra and Leo, make a very handsome couple, Regina. Marshall remarked to himself what fine young folks they were," says Oscar, but Regina does not seem interested in this assessment.
Regina dreams of a stable, "a rich man's pleasure, the sport of kings..." Oscar says he would like to go on some trips and asks Birdie if she would like to go. He then asks her what she would like, and Birdie tells them she would like to fix up Lionnet, her family's plantation. She goes into a reverie about how wonderful the plantation was, saying, "Papa used to say that nobody had ever lost their temper at Lionnet, and nobody ever would."
Ben asks Regina what she wants, and she tells him she wants to go to Chicago, where she will learn "the right things to buy" and then go to Paris to buy them. Birdie asks Oscar to stop hunting animals, so that poor people who need the food can have it.
Suddenly, Ben reveals to Regina that he has estimated the profits very high for himself and Oscar, but that they have asked Regina's husband for his share of the investment money and he has not offered it. "We would like to have you in and you would like to come in...But we haven't heard from Horace," Ben and Oscar tell Regina, threatening that she might not be included in the business deal. Regina insists that they have her word that Horace will invest the money, but Ben insists that Horace has been in Baltimore for 5 months, and they are unsure of whether he will actually come home and make good on the deal.
Regina insists that Horace has heart trouble and so cannot just come home when he pleases. She suggests that Horace is dissatisfied with the terms of the deal, that he doesn't want to invest $75,000 if he only gets a third of the deal. Regina says, "I should think that if you knew your money was very badly needed, well, you just might say, I want more, I want a bigger share. You boys have done that. I've heard you say so."
Suddenly, Ben accuses Regina of trying negotiate a larger share in the company on her husband's behalf. In her own defense, Regina says, "Well, you should know me well enough to know that I wouldn't be asking for things I didn't think I could get." She tells them that she can get Horace to come home, and tells them that she is negotiating the deal because Horace is so sick. "I will send Alexandra to Baltimore. She will ask him to come home."
Ben thinks this is a good plan, but Regina isn't satisfied, saying, "But before she brings him home, I want to know what he's going to get." She asks for twice what was offered him initially. Ben is impatient and offers that Horace will get 40%, provided that he is home and "his money is up within two weeks." Regina agrees.
Oscar is displeased to hear that the share that Horace will get will come from his own share. Ben suggests that he is being attacked and hints that perhaps Alexandra and Leo should get married in order to keep the money in the family. Oscar is interested in this idea, but Regina thinks they should hold off on discussing it. When Oscar insists that their grandparents were first cousins, Regina jokes, "And look at us."
Ben tries to convince Regina that Leo and Alexandra ought to get married, but Regina alludes to the fact that Leo has been irresponsible with money in the past. When Ben insists that she reassure Oscar, she says, "Very well. I assure Oscar that I will think about it seriously." Regina adds that Horace will have to give his consent. Birdie tries to interrupt with her own disapproval about the marriage, as Regina goes to greet Alexandra, who has just returned.
Leo enters discussing how fine Marshall's clothes were and speculating that they came from England. Regina tells Alexandra that she has to go to Baltimore to bring her father home, alone. Alexandra wants Addie to come, but Regina insists that she go alone. Alexandra and Birdie both worry that Horace may be too sick to travel, but Regina insists.
As everyone leaves, Leo teases Alexandra about going to Baltimore, insisting that he would love to go there. "I can guess the kind of things you could do," Alexandra says, alluding to his wildness. Everyone leaves, with Birdie and Alexandra left alone. Alexandra complains to Birdie that Leo beat the horses, and Birdie tells her, "He's my son. My own son. But you are more to me—more to me than my own child. I love you more than anybody else—" She hints that she does not want Alexandra to have to marry Leo, warning her that her uncles are plotting the marriage. "They'll make you," Birdie warns her, but Alexandra insists that she won't do it.
Oscar calls to Birdie, and Alexandra bids her goodbye. As Birdie attempts to walk past Oscar, he slaps her across the face, and she cries out. Alexandra turns back confused, and asks what happened, but Birdie lies that she twisted her ankle.
Analysis
Regina is a woman who longs to have the social and economic autonomy of a man. Her brothers are both hard workers and are committed to accumulating wealth, and she studies them and wants in on the fun of the deal, even though, as a woman, she is beholden to the financial authority of her husband. Her great burden is the fact that, as a woman, she is unable to make her own financial decisions, even though she seems to have a certain acumen when it comes to strategizing and discussing business matters.
While the Hubbards look towards the future, Birdie is obsessed with the past. When they ask her how she would like to spend the money they make from cotton mill, she talks ecstatically about the beauty of Lionnet, her family's plantation, the fact that it was so beautiful, newly painted every year, and that it was a place where nobody was ever "nasty spoken, or mean." Ironic that she characterizes a slave-owning plantation as a peaceful and idyllic place, but her dreamy reverence is emblematic of a more widespread antebellum romanticism.
Regina is perhaps savvier than her two brothers, in spite of the limits placed on her as a woman at the turn of the 20th century. She sees the fact that her husband's money is necessary for the deal as leverage for her to negotiate for a larger share of the company. While we do not know Horace's actual thoughts on the deal, Regina seems intent on negotiating a sweeter arrangement than the one proposed by her brothers.
It is rather ironic that, after William Marshall makes such a big deal out of the fact the Hubbard family is so unified, they are so divisive about money. The siblings fight with one another viciously, negotiating without any regard for fairness or decency. Their greed supersedes their sense of human connection, and we see that money can be a corrupting force, especially for those who long for extreme wealth.
Indeed, for the Hubbard siblings, money is more important than everything else, even the health of a loved one. When the family discusses the fact that Alexandra is to go and fetch her father from Baltimore, Birdie and Alexandra wonder if he is up to traveling, given his health. Regina exhibits no concern for his health whatsoever, insisting that he come home to finalize the business deal that she and her brothers have discussed. In The Little Foxes, everyone has a price, and greed knows no limits.
