PETER
I can play theater already. There is a king, and a peasant, and a bride, and a devil--one that"s all red--almost as red as the king himself. And in the back there is a mill, and a sky, and a forest, and a hunter.... Won"t you come and look at it, papa?
AMADEUS (_seated on the couch, with the boy standing between his knees; speaking absentmindedly_) Of course I must come and look at it.
CHAMBERMAID (_entering_)
Sir....
AMADEUS
What is it?
CHAMBERMAID
His Highness asks if you"ll see him.
AMADEUS
What highness?
CHAMBERMAID
His Highness, the Prince Lohsenstein.
AMADEUS (_rising_)
What?
GOVERNESS
Come, Peter--we"ll go back and play in the summer-house. (_She goes out with Peter_)
AMADEUS (_with dignity_)
Tell the Prince.... (_Turning away from her_) One moment, please. (_To himself_) What can that mean...? (_Abruptly_) Ask him to come in.
CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
AMADEUS (_walks quickly to and fro, but stops at some distance from the door when Sigismund enters_)
SIGISMUND (_is slender, blonde, twenty-six, elegantly dressed, but appears in no respect foppish; he bows to Amadeus_) Good-morning.
AMADEUS (_takes a few steps forward to meet him and nods politely_)
SIGISMUND (_looks around a little shyly, but wholly free from any ridiculous embarra.s.sment; his manner is in every respect dignified; there is a slight smile on his face_) We have not seen each other for some time, and you"ll probably a.s.sume that my visit to-day has a special reason.
AMADEUS
Naturally. (_Pointing to a chair_) Please.
SIGISMUND
Thank you. (_He comes nearer, but remains standing_) I have decided to take this step--which has not come easy to me, I can a.s.sure you--because I find the situation in which we ... in which all of us have been placed, untenable and, in a certain sense, ridiculous ... and because I think that, in one way or another, it should be brought to an end. The sole object of my visit is to put before you a proposition.
AMADEUS
I"m listening.
SIGISMUND
I don"t want to waste any words. My proposition is that you get a divorce from your wife.
AMADEUS (_shrinks back for a moment, staring at Sigismund; then, after a pause he says calmly_) You wish to marry Cecilia?
SIGISMUND
There is nothing I wish more eagerly.
AMADEUS
And what is the att.i.tude of Cecilia toward your intentions?
SIGISMUND
Not encouraging so far.
AMADEUS (_puzzled_)
Cecilia is absolutely in a position to decide for herself. And of course, she would also have the right to leave me--whenever and howsoever it might please her to do so. For that reason you must pardon me if I find the object of your visit incomprehensible, to say the least.
SIGISMUND
You"ll soon find it comprehensible, I think. The discouraging att.i.tude of Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg proves nothing at all in this connection, I must say. As long as Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg has not been set free by you--even if that be done against her own will--she is, in a sense, bound to you. To get this matter fully cleared up, it seems to me necessary that you yourself, my dear Master, insist on a divorce. Mrs.
Adams-Ortenburg will not be in a position to choose freely until she has been divorced from you. Until then the struggle between us two will not be on equal terms--as, I trust, you would like to have it.
AMADEUS
There can be no talk of any struggle here. You misunderstand the actual state of affairs in a manner that seems to me incomprehensible. For I have no right to suppose that Cecilia has made any secret of the more deep-lying reasons that have so far prevented us from considering a dissolution of our marriage.
SIGISMUND
Certainly, I am aware of those reasons, but to me they don"t by any means seem sufficiently pressing--not even from your own viewpoint--to exclude all thought of a divorce. And I am anxious to a.s.sure you that, under all circ.u.mstances, I shall feel bound to treat those reasons with the most profound respect.
AMADEUS
What do you mean?
SIGISMUND