A short
radio play by
Tom Stoppard, dating from 1964, written for a BBC series called
Just Before Midnight. Stoppard thinks he wrote it in a single day.
Boot (a surname that he keeps using for characters) has run out of money: in fact he has one and threepence halfpenny. The problem is he is in a taxi with his fiancée, and the fare is a shilling more than he has got. He keeps trying to butt in and ask her for some, but doesn't manage to.
He then tries the round of banks, clocking up cab fare, and when that fails trying his boss, his mother, and finally selling all his possessions to the taxi driver. Including the engagement ring.