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Page 76
DOCTOR. Yes. That's what it was called, but in reality she'd been
the mistress of a married man, whom she denounced for rape, after
she'd forced herself into his studio and posed to him naked, as a
model.
STRANGER. And that was the woman you married?
DOCTOR. Yes. After she'd seduced me, she denounced me for breach of
promise, so I had to marry her. She'd engaged two detectives to see
I didn't get away. And that was the woman you married!
STRANGER. I did it because I soon saw it was no good choosing when
all were alike.
BEGGAR. Come away from here. You'll be sorry if you don't.
STRANGER (to the DOCTOR). Was she always religious?
DOCTOR. Always.
STRANGER. And tender, good-hearted, self-sacrificing?
DOCTOR. Certainly!
STRANGER. Can one understand her?
DOCTOR. No. But you can go mad thinking about her. That's why one
had to accept her as she was. Charming, intoxicating!
STRANGER. Yes, I know. But one's powerless against pity. That's why
I don't want to fight this case. I can't defend myself without
attacking her; and I don't want to do that.
DOCTOR. You were married before. How was that?
STRANGER. Just the same.
DOCTOR. This love acts like henbane: you see suns, where there are
none, and stars where no stars are! But it's pleasant, while it
lasts!
STRANGER. And the morning after? Oh, the morning after!
BEGGAR. Come, unhappy man! He's poisoning you, and you don't know
it. Come!
STRANGER (getting up). Poisoning me, you say? Do you think he's
lying?
BEGGAR. Every word he's said's a lie.
STRANGER. I don't believe it.
BEGGAR. No. You only believe lies. But that serves you right.
STRANGER. Has he been lying? Has he?
BEGGAR. How can you believe your enemies?
STRANGER. But he's my friend, because he's told me the bitter
truth.
BEGGAR. Eternal Powers, save his reason! For he believes everything
evil's true, and everything good evil. Come, or you'll be lost!
DOCTOR. He's lost already! And now he'll be whipped into froth,
broken up into atoms, and used as an ingredient in the great
pan-cake. Away with you hell! (To those present.) Howl like victims
of the pit. (The guests all howl.) And no more womanly pity. Howl,
woman! (The WOMAN refuses with a gesture of her hand.)
STRANGER (to the BEGGAR). That man's not lying.
Curtain.
SCENE II
IN A RAVINE
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