PAOLO. The scoundrel.
MARIO. What date is that letter?
PAOLO. Luciano himself has noted the hour and date when he received it.
He has written here in pencil: "Received to-day, June 26th, 11 A.M." He killed himself before noon.
MARIO. Poor devil! One can see it was a stroke of insanity; the writing demonstrates that.
PAOLO. You understand of course, that I did not stop there. I opened the wallet. I found four other letters from Anna all on the same subject and in the same tone. The first is of three years ago. There are few words; returning a letter Luciano had written. I looked for this letter of Luciano--it is not here. He must have destroyed it. He kept only hers.
Then there is a little note from Rome; you know Anna visited her mother in Rome for a month last winter. It is evident that our friend followed her. Anna would not see him. Then there is a long one which must have been written when he was recovering from that fall he had from his horse. It is the only long one among the five--written in affectionate terms, reasoning and begging; a wonderful letter, good, n.o.ble; read--read.
MARIO [_turning away_]. No, no, no.
PAOLO. Listen, just a moment.
MARIO. I don"t like to.
PAOLO. She does nothing but speak of me, of our brotherly youth. She also speaks of you. She says--
MARIO. No, I beg of you. It is useless. I know what kind of a woman my sister-in-law is and I do not need proofs of her virtue. Why do you bother with those poor letters? Is it so painful that you have found them?
PAOLO. Painful? It is painful that I am not able to weep for a false relative who wished to rob--
MARIO. Let him alone. He is dead and he has not robbed you of anything.
If he had lived he would not have robbed you of anything, the same. Anna knew how--
PAOLO. And this? And this? You count as little? Is this painful? I never had the shadow of a doubt about Anna, but--nor has the thought even pa.s.sed through my mind--but it is different not to have doubted and not to have thought, than to possess the palpable proof of her faith and love. "I love my husband." It is the refrain of all her letters.
MARIO. Was it necessary that she tell you this?
PAOLO. She did not tell it to me, she told it to him. She told it to him--do you understand? Luciano had all the qualities which attract a woman. He was younger, better looking than I, well spoken, full of fire and courage.
MARIO. How it pleases you, eh? To praise him now!
PAOLO. Painful? If I had burned, as you wished, those papers and then one day I should have discovered this love, who could then have lifted this suspicion from my mind?
MARIO. The certainty makes you suspicious!
PAOLO. What do you mean?
MARIO. If you had feared this a year ago, that which has happened would not have occurred. I was wrong not to have opened your eyes. A long way off, perhaps Luciano would not have killed himself.
PAOLO. But I would have lacked the proof.
MARIO. Your tranquility costs much--to the others.
PAOLO. You can"t pretend that I should feel badly about the fate of Luciano?
MARIO. I am not speaking of him.
PAOLO. Of whom?
MARIO. Of your wife. Think what she must be suffering!
PAOLO. Do you think she blames herself?
MARIO. Of course.
PAOLO. I have noticed that she was distressed but not agitated.
MARIO. You do not see the continuous things, you only see the unexpected. Besides, Anna is mistress of herself.
PAOLO. And she has done her duty.
MARIO. It is a long time that she has done her duty.
PAOLO. I shall know how to comfort her, there, I shall know how to cheer her. You shall see, Mario. I feel that we have returned to the first days of our marriage, that I possess her only from to-day.
MARIO. Leave it to time. You have read--you have known. It is enough. It is useless that Anna knows you know.
PAOLO. She was here when the Syndic gave me the wallet. But she went out immediately.
MARIO. She does not know, then, that you have read?
PAOLO. She will have imagined it.
MARIO. No. And in any case she would be grateful if you pretended to ignore....
PAOLO. Let us be frank. Don"t let"s argue. Nothing is more dreadful than to plan out a line of conduct in these matters. What she has done, Anna has done for me. I must think how to repay her. She has done this for me, for me, do you understand?
MARIO. And who says the contrary? See how you excite yourself.
PAOLO. Excite myself! Certainly, I will not go and say: "I have read your letters and I thank you very much!" One understands that when I speak of comforting her and of cheering her I intend to do it with the utmost tenderness, with the utmost confidence. I have always been like that. That was why she loved me. There is no need to change even to please you.
MARIO. How you take it!
PAOLO. It is you who take it badly. You have not said a just word to me.
I thought better of you. One would say, to hear you, that this discovery was a disgrace. What has happened new from this discovery? Luciano is dead a month ago, the first grief is pa.s.sed. If I did continue to ignore everything he would not return to life! He did not arrive to do me the harm he wanted to; so peace be to his soul. There remains the certainty of my wife"s love and for this, think as you wish, I rejoice for the best fortune which could befall me.
MARIO. Come here. [_He places an arm around Paolo"s shoulders._] Are you persuaded that I love you?
PAOLO. Yes.
MARIO. Well then, if you are content, so am I. Is it all right?
PAOLO. Yes. Now go and pack your bag.
MARIO. Ah, that reminds me, I cannot go to-morrow.