VENNEMA. I can"t help being distressed over it. That she should have descended to this!
VAN ELST. Do you know what the maid told me? She said that they are happy together, and that he is truly in love with her.
VENNEMA. Yes. But why did he allow her to go this far?
VAN ELST. She won"t see anybody.
VENNEMA. Not even me? Her father?
VAN ELST. Perhaps you.
VENNEMA. What do you think? Will she come home with us? Have you found out?
VAN ELST. She didn"t pay any attention to me. She didn"t quite understand my mission. I don"t know. Perhaps you had better speak to her.
LOUISE [_calling_]. I.... Oh.... Help! [_She sits up in the middle of the couch, with her hands to her face. She droops and seems to fall asleep in a sitting posture._]
VENNEMA. Is she...?
VAN ELST. Yes, she"s coming to.
LOUISE [_wakes with a start_]. Bah! [_She looks around, does not recognize Van der Elst and Vennema. Then, peering closer, she registers surprise, sudden fright and finally anger. Van der Elst is about to speak, but she interrupts him._]
LOUISE. Who are you? [_Coughs._] Who are you and what is your business here? Go away.... Go away.
VAN ELST. Madam.... I....
VENNEMA. Let me speak. [_He goes toward Louise._] Louise ... it is I.
Don"t you recognize me? [_After a pause._] Louise!
LOUISE [_after a pause_]. Father!
VENNEMA. Aren"t you glad to see your father?
LOUISE [_in a low tone of voice_]. Oh, father.
VENNEMA. You are not ill, my child?
LOUISE. No. Why have you come?
VENNEMA. I wanted to speak to you.
LOUISE. Why did you come? Why?
VENNEMA [_seating himself beside Louise on the couch_]. Listen to me, my dear.
LOUISE. Yes.
VENNEMA. I came to find out whether you are happy or not.
LOUISE. I don"t know. Happy ... that"s a strange word.
VENNEMA. Why strange? Are you happier here than--with us.
LOUISE [_leaning forward on her hands_]. Than with you? [_Looking up._]
I prefer to be here.
VENNEMA. Don"t you miss us all, just the least little bit?
LOUISE. Sometimes, when I"m alone. All the same, I"d rather be here.
VENNEMA. Aren"t you deluding yourself? Wasn"t your life with us at home better?
LOUISE. Better? What do you mean, better?
VENNEMA. You know what I mean. Don"t you regret running off with ... him ... and spreading sorrow in our hearts?
LOUISE. I loved him. And then I yearned for freedom, for the pleasures of life and travel. At home everything was so dull and monotonous. I couldn"t stand the smug people at home. Their life is one round of lying and gossiping, of scolding and backbiting.
VENNEMA. But what of this sort of existence? You don"t quite appreciate the damage you have done. How you have stained the fair reputation of your parents. I wonder whether that has ever occurred to you? You say that you do not like the people who are our neighbors back home, but it is these very people who make and unmake reputations. We must live with them. Can"t you realize that?
LOUISE. Father, I"m sorry, but I couldn"t go back to them. The commonplace tattlers with their humdrum, uneventful lives scarcely exist for me.
VENNEMA. They don"t exist for you, you say. But, remember, that they despise you. They and their contempt do not reach you, but they reach us.
LOUISE [_almost inaudibly_]. Yes.
VENNEMA. But your future? Have you thought of that? What will it be?
Wretchedness and contempt. When I came in and saw you stretched out in that condition, I....
LOUISE. Father, I want to forget. I don"t want to think of the past.
VENNEMA. In order not to think of the past, you resort to drink?
LOUISE. Sometimes it is hard to forget.
VENNEMA. Tell me, Louise: does he love you, and do you love him? And even if this be true, will he continue to love you always? Won"t the time come when he will grow indifferent to you?
LOUISE [_getting up_]. Never ... never. Not he. You don"t believe that such a thing is impossible? He cannot forget me. I have given him everything ... my love, myself ... all that is truly myself.
VENNEMA. Aren"t you a little too optimistic?
LOUISE. Not when it concerns him. He knows what I have sacrificed. He knows what I have given him. There is no room for doubt, father.
VENNEMA. Very well, we will not speak of it again. But how about us, Louise? Don"t you ever think of us? Don"t you ever long to come back to us, to the old home where you were born? Wouldn"t you like to see it again?
LOUISE [_sadly_]. Yes.
VENNEMA [_anxious and excited_]. Then come back with me. Come back to us. You know my motive for coming. Won"t you come back home with me?