GUSTAV. And do you realise that I am jealous of your husband?
TEKLA. [Rising] And now we must part! Forever!
GUSTAV. Yes, we must part! But not without a farewell--or what do you say?
TEKLA. [Agitated] No!
GUSTAV. [Following after her] Yes!--Let us have a farewell! Let us drown our memories--you know, there are intoxications so deep that when you wake up all memories are gone. [Putting his arm around her waist] You have been dragged down by a diseased spirit, who is infecting you with his own anaemia. I"ll breathe new life into you. I"ll make your talent blossom again in your autumn days, like a remontant rose. I"ll----
(Two LADIES in travelling dress are seen in the doorway leading to the veranda. They look surprised. Then they point at those within, laugh, and disappear.)
TEKLA. [Freeing herself] Who was that?
GUSTAV. [Indifferently] Some tourists.
TEKLA. Leave me alone! I am afraid of you!
GUSTAV. Why?
TEKLA. You take my soul away from me!
GUSTAV. And give you my own in its place! And you have no soul for that matter--it"s nothing but a delusion.
TEKLA. You have a way of saying impolite things so that n.o.body can be angry with you.
GUSTAV. It"s because you feel that I hold the first mortgage on you--Tell me now, when--and--where?
TEKLA. No, it wouldn"t be right to him. I think he is still in love with me, and I don"t want to do any more harm.
GUSTAV. He does not love you! Do you want proofs?
TEKLA, Where can you get them?
GUSTAV. [Picking up the pieces of the photograph from the floor] Here!
See for yourself!
TEKLA. Oh, that"s an outrage!
GUSTAV. Do you see? Now then, when? And where?
TEKLA. The false-hearted wretch!
GUSTAV. When?
TEKLA. He leaves to-night, with the eight-o"clock boat.
GUSTAV. And then--
TEKLA. At nine! [A noise is heard from the adjoining room] Who can be living in there that makes such a racket?
GUSTAV. Let"s see! [Goes over and looks through the keyhole] There"s a table that has been upset, and a smashed water caraffe--that"s all! I shouldn"t wonder if they had left a dog locked up in there.--At nine o"clock then?
TEKLA. All right! And let him answer for it himself.--What a depth of deceit! And he who has always preached about truthfulness, and tried to teach me to tell the truth!--But wait a little--how was it now?
He received me with something like hostility--didn"t meet me at the landing--and then--and then he made some remark about young men on board the boat, which I pretended not to hear--but how could he know?
Wait--and then he began to philosophise about women--and then the spectre of you seemed to be haunting him--and he talked of becoming a sculptor, that being the art of the time--exactly in accordance with your old speculations!
GUSTAV. No, really!
TEKLA. No, really?--Oh, now I understand! Now I begin to see what a hideous creature you are! You have been here before and stabbed him to death! It was you who had been sitting there on the sofa; it was you who made him think himself an epileptic--that he had to live in celibacy; that he ought to rise in rebellion against his wife; yes, it was you!--How long have you been here?
GUSTAV. I have been here a week.
TEKLA. It was you, then, I saw on board the boat?
GUSTAV. It was.
TEKLA. And now you were thinking you could trap me?
GUSTAV. It has been done.
TEKLA. Not yet!
GUSTAV. Yes!
TEKLA. Like a wolf you went after my lamb. You came here with a villainous plan to break up my happiness, and you were carrying it out, when my eyes were opened, and I foiled you.
GUSTAV. Not quite that way, if you please. This is how it happened in reality. Of course, it has been my secret hope that disaster might overtake you. But I felt practically certain that no interference on my part was required. And besides, I have been far too busy to have any time left for intriguing. But when I happened to be moving about a bit, and happened to see you with those young men on board the boat, then I guessed the time had come for me to take a look at the situation. I came here, and your lamb threw itself into the arms of the wolf. I won his affection by some sort of reminiscent impression which I shall not be tactless enough to explain to you. At first he aroused my sympathy, because he seemed to be in the same fix as I was once. But then he happened to touch old wounds--that book, you know, and "the idiot"--and I was seized with a wish to pick him to pieces, and to mix up these so thoroughly that they couldn"t be put together again--and I succeeded, thanks to the painstaking way in which you had done the work of preparation. Then I had to deal with you. For you were the spring that had kept the works moving, and you had to be taken apart--and what a buzzing followed!--When I came in here, I didn"t know exactly what to say. Like a chess-player, I had laid a number of tentative plans, of course, but my play had to depend on your moves. One thing led to the other, chance lent me a hand, and finally I had you where I wanted you.--Now you are caught!
TEKLA. No!
GUSTAV. Yes, you are! What you least wanted has happened. The world at large, represented by two lady tourists--whom I had not sent for, as I am not an intriguer--the world has seen how you became reconciled to your former husband, and how you sneaked back repentantly into his faithful arms. Isn"t that enough?
TEKLA. It ought to be enough for your revenge--But tell me, how can you, who are so enlightened and so right-minded--how is it possible that you, who think whatever happens must happen, and that all our actions are determined in advance--
GUSTAV. [Correcting her] To a certain extent determined.
TEKLA. That"s the same thing!
GUSTAV. No!
TEKLA. [Disregarding him] How is it possible that you, who hold me guiltless, as I was driven by my nature and the circ.u.mstances into acting as I did--how can you think yourself ent.i.tled to revenge--?
GUSTAV. For that very reason--for the reason that my nature and the circ.u.mstances drove me into seeking revenge. Isn"t that giving both sides a square deal? But do you know why you two had to get the worst of it in this struggle?
(TEKLA looks scornful.)
GUSTAV. And why you were doomed to be fooled? Because I am stronger than you, and wiser also. You have been the idiot--and he! And now you may perceive that a man need not be an idiot because he doesn"t write novels or paint pictures. It might be well for you to bear this in mind.
TEKLA. Are you then entirely without feelings?