Hands Around [Reigen]: A Cycle of Ten Dialogues
Part 2
Let me be for a minute—please … oh, please, please, Alfred!
(_She is still standing at the door_)
YOUNG MAN
(_Standing before her, holding her hand_)
YOUNG WIFE
Where am I?
YOUNG MAN
With me.
YOUNG WIFE
This house is terrible, Alfred.
YOUNG MAN
Why terrible? It is a very proper house.
YOUNG WIFE
But I met two gentlemen on the staircase.
YOUNG MAN
Acquaintances of yours?
YOUNG WIFE
I don’t know. It’s possible.
YOUNG MAN
But, Madame—You surely know your friends!
YOUNG WIFE
I couldn’t see their faces.
YOUNG MAN
But even had they been your best friends—they couldn’t possibly have recognized you… I, myself … if I didn’t know it was you … this veil—
YOUNG WIFE
There are two.
YOUNG MAN
Won’t you come closer?… And take off your hat, at least?
YOUNG WIFE
What are you thinking of, Alfred? I promised you: Five minutes… Not a moment more … I swear it, no more—
YOUNG MAN
Well, then, your veil—
YOUNG WIFE
There are two of them.
YOUNG MAN
Very well, both of them—you will at least let me see your face.
YOUNG WIFE
Do you really love me, Alfred?
YOUNG MAN
(_Deeply hurt_) Emma! You ask me…
YOUNG WIFE
It’s so warm here.
YOUNG MAN
You’re still wearing your fur-coat—really, you will catch cold.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Finally enters the room, and throws herself into the armchair_) I’m tired—dead tired.
YOUNG MAN
Permit me.
(_He takes off her veil, removes her hat-pin, and puts hat, pin, and veil aside_)
YOUNG WIFE
(_Permits it_)
YOUNG MAN
(_Stands before her, and shakes his head_)
YOUNG WIFE
What is the matter?
YOUNG MAN
You’ve never been so beautiful.
YOUNG WIFE
How is that?
YOUNG MAN
Alone … alone with you—Emma—
(_He kneels down beside her chair, takes both her hands, and covers them with kisses_)
YOUNG WIFE
And now … now let me go again. I have done what you asked me to do.
YOUNG MAN
(_Lets his head sink into her lap_)
YOUNG WIFE
You promised me to be good.
YOUNG MAN
Yes.
YOUNG WIFE
It is stifling hot in this room.
YOUNG MAN
(_Gets up_) You still have your coat on.
YOUNG WIFE
Put it with my hat.
YOUNG MAN
(_Takes off her coat, and puts it on the sofa_)
YOUNG WIFE
And now—good-by—
YOUNG MAN
Emma—! Emma—!
YOUNG WIFE
The five minutes are long past.
YOUNG MAN
Not one yet!—
YOUNG WIFE
Alfred, tell me truly now, how late it is.
YOUNG MAN
It is now exactly a quarter past six.
YOUNG WIFE
I should have been at my sister’s long ago.
YOUNG MAN
You can see your sister any time…
YOUNG WIFE
Oh, Merciful Heaven, Alfred, why did you tempt me to come?
YOUNG MAN
Because … I adore you, Emma!
YOUNG WIFE
To how many have you said the same thing?
YOUNG MAN
Since I met you, to no one.
YOUNG WIFE
What a foolish woman I am! If anybody had predicted … just a week ago … or even yesterday…
YOUNG MAN
But you had already promised me the day before yesterday.
YOUNG WIFE
You plagued me so. But I didn’t want to do it. God is my witness—I didn’t want to do it… Yesterday, I was firmly decided… Do you know I even wrote you a long letter last night?
YOUNG MAN
I didn’t receive any.
YOUNG WIFE
I tore it up later. Oh, if only I had sent it to you.
YOUNG MAN
It is better as it is.
YOUNG WIFE
Oh, no, it’s awful … of me. I don’t understand myself. Good-by, Alfred, let me go.
YOUNG MAN
(_Seizes her, and covers her face with burning kisses_)
YOUNG WIFE
So … is that the way you keep your word…
YOUNG MAN
One more kiss—one more.
YOUNG WIFE
The last.
(_He kisses her, and she returns the kiss; their lips remain joined for a long time_)
YOUNG MAN
Shall I tell you something, Emma? It is now for the first time that I know what happiness is.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Sinks back into the armchair_)
YOUNG MAN
(_Sits on the arm of the chair, and puts one arm lightly about her neck_) … or rather, I know now what happiness might be.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Sighs deeply_)
YOUNG MAN
(_Kisses her again_)
YOUNG WIFE
Alfred—Alfred, what are you doing to me!
YOUNG MAN
Wasn’t I right?—It isn’t so awfully uncomfortable here… And we are so safe here. It’s a thousand times better than those meetings outdoors…
YOUNG WIFE
Oh, don’t remind me of them.
YOUNG MAN
I shall always recall them with a thousand delights. Every minute you have let me spend with you is a sweet memory.
YOUNG WIFE
Do you remember the ball at the Manufacturers’ Club?
YOUNG MAN
Do I remember it…? I sat beside you through the whole supper—quite close to you. Your husband had champagne…
YOUNG WIFE
(_Looks at him with a hurt expression_)
YOUNG MAN
I meant to speak only of the champagne. Emma, would you like a glass of cognac?
YOUNG WIFE
Only a drop, but first give me a glass of water.
YOUNG MAN
Surely… But where is—oh, yes, I remember…
(_He opens the portières, and goes into the bedroom_)
YOUNG WIFE
(_Follows him with her eyes_)
YOUNG MAN
(_Comes back with a water-bottle and two glasses_)
YOUNG WIFE
Where have you been?
YOUNG MAN
In … the adjoining room.
(_Pours her a glass of water_)
YOUNG WIFE
Now I’m going to ask you something, Alfred—and you must tell me the truth.
YOUNG MAN
I swear—
YOUNG WIFE
Has there ever been any other woman in these rooms?
YOUNG MAN
But, Emma—this house was built twenty years ago!—
YOUNG WIFE
You know what I mean, Alfred … in these rooms, with you!
YOUNG MAN
With me—here—Emma!—It’s not kind of you even to imagine such a thing.
YOUNG WIFE
Then there was … how shall I… But, no, I’d rather not ask. It is better that I shouldn’t ask. It’s my own fault. Every fault has its punishment.
YOUNG MAN
But what is wrong? What is the matter with you? What fault?
YOUNG WIFE
No, no, no, I mustn’t think… Otherwise I would sink through the floor with shame.
YOUNG MAN
(_With the water-bottle in his hand, shakes his head sadly_) Emma, if you only knew how you hurt me.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Pours a glass of cognac_)
YOUNG MAN
I want to tell you something, Emma. If you’re ashamed of being here—if you don’t care for me—if you don’t feel you are all the happiness in the world for me—then you’d better go.—
YOUNG WIFE
Yes, I shall go.
YOUNG MAN
(_Taking hold of her hand_) But if you feel that I cannot live without you, that a kiss upon your hand means more to me than all the caresses of all the women in the whole world… Emma, I’m not like other young men, who are experienced in love-making—perhaps, I am too naïve … I…
YOUNG WIFE
But suppose you were like other young men?
YOUNG MAN
Then you wouldn’t be here to-night—because you are not like other women.
YOUNG WIFE
How do you know that?
YOUNG MAN
(_Drawing her close beside him on the sofa_)
I have thought a lot about it. I know you are unhappy.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Pleased_) Yes.
YOUNG MAN
Life is so dreary, so empty—and then,—so short—so horribly short! There is only one happiness—to find some one who loves you.—
YOUNG WIFE
(_Takes a candied pear from the table, and puts it into her mouth_)
YOUNG MAN
Give me half of it!
(_She offers it to him with her lips_)
YOUNG WIFE
(_Catches the hands of the Young Man that threaten to stray_) What are you doing, Alfred?… Is that the way you keep your promise?
YOUNG MAN
(_Swallows the pear, then, more daringly_) Life is so short.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Weakly_) But that’s no reason—
YOUNG MAN
(_Mechanically_) Oh, yes.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Still more weakly_) Alfred, you promised to be good … and then it’s so light…
YOUNG MAN
Come, come, you only, only…
(_He lifts her from the sofa_)
YOUNG WIFE
What are you doing?
YOUNG MAN
It’s not so light in the other room.
YOUNG WIFE
Is there another room?
YOUNG MAN
(_Drawing her with him_) A beautiful one … and quite dark.
YOUNG WIFE
We’d better stay in here.
YOUNG MAN
(_Already past the bedroom portières with her, loosening her waist_)
YOUNG WIFE
You are so… O merciful Heaven, what are you doing with me!—Alfred!
YOUNG MAN
I adore you, Emma!
YOUNG WIFE
So then wait, wait a little… (_Weakly_) Go… I’ll call you.
YOUNG MAN
Let you help me—let us help you (_becoming confused_) … let … me—help—you.
YOUNG WIFE
But you’ll tear everything.
YOUNG MAN
You have no corset on?
YOUNG WIFE
I never wear a corset. Odilon[2] doesn’t wear any either. But you can unbutton my shoes.
YOUNG MAN
(_Unbuttons her shoes and kisses her feet_)
YOUNG WIFE
(_Slips into bed_) Oh, how cold it is.
YOUNG MAN
It’ll be warm in a minute.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Laughing softly_) Do you think so?
YOUNG MAN
(_Slightly hurt, to himself_) She ought not to have said that.
(_He undresses in the dark_)
YOUNG WIFE
(_Tenderly_) Come, come, come!
YOUNG MAN
(_Mollified_) In a minute, dear—
YOUNG WIFE
It smells like violets here.
YOUNG MAN
That’s you… Yes (_To her_) you, yourself.
YOUNG WIFE
Alfred… Alfred!!!!
YOUNG MAN
Emma…
* * * * *
YOUNG MAN
Apparently I love you too much … yes… I am as if out of my senses.
YOUNG WIFE
… …
YOUNG MAN
I have been beside myself all these days. I was afraid of this.
YOUNG WIFE
Don’t mind.
YOUNG MAN
Oh, certainly not. It’s perfectly natural, if one…
YOUNG WIFE
No … don’t… You are nervous. Calm yourself first.
YOUNG MAN
Do you know Stendhal?
YOUNG WIFE
Stendhal?
YOUNG MAN
The “Psychologie de l’amour.”
YOUNG WIFE
No. Why do you ask me?
YOUNG MAN
There’s a story in that book which is very much to the point.
YOUNG WIFE
What kind of a story?
YOUNG MAN
There is a gathering of cavalry officers—
YOUNG WIFE
Yes.
YOUNG MAN
And they are telling each other about their love affairs. And each one of them tells that with the woman he loved best—most passionately, you know … that with him, that then—well, in short, that the same thing happened just as it happened to me now.
YOUNG WIFE
Yes.
YOUNG MAN
That is very characteristic.
YOUNG WIFE
Yes.
YOUNG MAN
The story is not yet ended. One of them maintained … that this thing had never in his life happened to him, but, adds Stendhal—he was known as a great boaster.
YOUNG WIFE
And.—
YOUNG MAN
And, yet, it makes you feel blue—that’s the stupid side of it, even though it’s so unimportant.
YOUNG WIFE
Of course. Anyway, you know … you promised me to be good.
YOUNG MAN
Sh-h! Don’t laugh. That doesn’t help things any.
YOUNG WIFE
But no, I’m not laughing. That story of Stendhal’s is really interesting. I have always thought that only older people … or people who … you know, people who have lived fast…
YOUNG MAN
The idea! That has nothing to do with it. By the way, I had completely forgotten the prettiest of Stendhal’s stories. One of the cavalry officers went so far as to say that he stayed for three or even six nights… I don’t remember now—that is he stayed with a woman, whom he wanted for weeks—_desirée_—you understand—and nothing happened all those nights except that they wept for happiness … both…
YOUNG WIFE
Both?
YOUNG MAN
Yes. Does that surprise you? It seems very comprehensible—especially when two people love each other.
YOUNG WIFE
But surely there are many who don’t weep.
YOUNG MAN
(_Nervously_) Certainly … however, that is an exceptional case.
YOUNG WIFE
Oh—I thought Stendhal said that all cavalry officers weep on such an occasion.
YOUNG MAN
Look here, now you are laughing at me.
YOUNG WIFE
What an idea! Don’t be childish, Alfred.
YOUNG MAN
Well, it makes me nervous anyway… Besides I have the feeling that you are thinking about it all the time. That embarrasses me still more.
YOUNG WIFE
I’m not thinking of it at all.
YOUNG MAN
If I were only sure that you love me.
YOUNG WIFE
Do you want still further proofs?
YOUNG MAN
Didn’t I tell you … you are always laughing at me.
YOUNG WIFE
How so? Come, let me hold your sweet little head.
YOUNG MAN
Oh, that feels so good.
YOUNG WIFE
Do you love me?
YOUNG MAN
Oh, I’m so happy.
YOUNG WIFE
But you needn’t cry about it.
YOUNG MAN
(_Moving away from her, highly irritated_) There! Again! I begged you not to…
YOUNG WIFE
To tell you that you shouldn’t cry…
YOUNG MAN
You said: “You needn’t cry about it.”
YOUNG WIFE
You are nervous, sweetheart.
YOUNG MAN
I know.
YOUNG WIFE
But you ought not to be. It is beautiful even that … that we are together like good comrades…
YOUNG MAN
Now you are beginning again.
YOUNG WIFE
Don’t you remember! That was one of our first talks. We wanted to be comrades, nothing more. Oh, how nice that was … at my sister’s ball in January, during the quadrille… For heaven’s sake, I should have gone long ago… My sister expects me—what shall I tell her… Good-by, Alfred—
YOUNG MAN
Emma!—You will leave me in this way!
YOUNG WIFE
Yes—so!—
YOUNG MAN
Five minutes more…
YOUNG WIFE
All right. Five minutes more. But you must promise me … not to move?… Yes?… I want to give you a good-by kiss… Psst … be still … don’t move, I told you, otherwise I’ll get up at once, you, my sweetheart, sweet…
YOUNG MAN
Emma … my ador… …
* * * * *
YOUNG WIFE
My Alfred!
YOUNG MAN
Oh, it is heaven to be with you.
YOUNG WIFE
But now I’ve really got to go.
YOUNG MAN
Oh, let your sister wait.
YOUNG WIFE
I must go home. It is much too late to see my sister. How late is it?
YOUNG MAN
How should I know?
YOUNG WIFE
You might look at your watch.
YOUNG MAN
My watch is in my waistcoat.
YOUNG WIFE
Get it.
YOUNG MAN
(_Gets up with a jump_) Eight o’clock.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Jumps up quickly_) For heaven’s sake… Quick, Alfred, give me my stockings. What shall I say? They must be waiting for me at home … eight o’clock…
YOUNG MAN
When shall I see you again?
YOUNG WIFE
Never.
YOUNG MAN
Emma! Don’t you love me any more?
YOUNG WIFE
Just for that reason. Give me my shoes.
YOUNG MAN
Never again? Here are your shoes.
YOUNG WIFE
My button-hook is in my bag. Please, be quick…
YOUNG MAN
Here is the button-hook.
YOUNG WIFE
Alfred, this may cost us our lives.
YOUNG MAN
(_Unpleasantly moved_) In what way?
YOUNG WIFE
What shall I say, if he asks me where I’ve been?
YOUNG MAN
At your sister’s.
YOUNG WIFE
Oh, if I only could lie.
YOUNG MAN
Well, you’ll have to.
YOUNG WIFE
Everything for a man like you. Oh, come here … let me give you a last kiss. (_She embraces him_)—And now—leave me by myself, go in the other room.—I can’t dress, if you are around.
YOUNG MAN
(_Goes into the drawing-room, where he dresses. He eats some pastry and drinks a glass of cognac_)
YOUNG WIFE
(_Calls after a while_) Alfred!
YOUNG MAN
Yes, sweetheart.
YOUNG WIFE
Isn’t it better that we didn’t weep?
YOUNG MAN
(_Smiling, not without pride_) How can you talk so frivolously?—
YOUNG WIFE
Oh, how difficult it will be now—if we should meet by chance in company?
YOUNG MAN
By chance?—sometime?… Surely you are coming to Lobheimer’s to-morrow?
YOUNG WIFE
Yes. You too?
YOUNG MAN
Of course. May I ask for the cotillion?
YOUNG WIFE
Oh, I shall not go. What do you imagine?—I would… (_She enters the drawing-room fully dressed, and takes a piece of chocolate pastry_) sink through the floor.
YOUNG MAN
To-morrow at Lobheimer’s. That’s fine.
YOUNG WIFE
No, no… I shall decline … certainly decline—
YOUNG MAN
Well, the day after to-morrow … here.
YOUNG WIFE
The idea!
YOUNG MAN
At six…
YOUNG WIFE
There are cabs at this corner, aren’t there?
YOUNG MAN
Yes, as many as you want. Well, the day after to-morrow, here at six o’clock. Please say “yes,” sweetheart.
YOUNG WIFE
… We’ll discuss that to-morrow night during the cotillion.
YOUNG MAN
(_Embracing her_) My angel.
YOUNG WIFE
Don’t muss my hair again.
YOUNG MAN
Well then, to-morrow night at Lobheimer’s, and the day after to-morrow in my arms.
YOUNG WIFE
Good-by…
YOUNG MAN
(_Suddenly anxious again_) And what will you—tell him to-night?—
YOUNG WIFE
Don’t ask me … don’t ask me … it’s too terrible.—Why do I love you so?—Good-by—If I meet any one again on the stairway, I shall faint.—Ugh!
YOUNG MAN
(_Kisses her hand for the last time_)
YOUNG WIFE
(_Exit_)
YOUNG MAN
(_Remains standing. Then he sits down on the couch. He smiles reflectively, and says to himself_) Now, at last, I have an affair with a respectable woman.
THE YOUNG WIFE AND THE HUSBAND
_A comfortable bedroom. It is half past ten at night. The WIFE is lying abed and reading. The HUSBAND enters the room in a dressing gown._
YOUNG WIFE
(_Without looking up_) You have stopped working?
HUSBAND
Yes. I’m too tired. And besides…
YOUNG WIFE
Well?—
HUSBAND
I felt so lonely at my desk all at once. A longing for you came over me.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Looking up_) Really?
HUSBAND
(_Sitting down on the bed beside her_) Don’t read any more to-night. You will ruin your eyes.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Closing the book_) What’s the matter with you?
HUSBAND
Nothing, child. I’m in love with you. But you know that.
YOUNG WIFE
One might almost forget it sometimes.
HUSBAND
One _must_ forget it sometimes.
YOUNG WIFE
Why?
HUSBAND
Because, otherwise, marriage would be something imperfect. It would … how shall I express it … it would lose its sanctity.
YOUNG WIFE
Oh…
HUSBAND
Believe me—it is so… If we hadn’t sometimes forgotten that we are in love with each other during the five years we have been married—we might not be in love any longer.
YOUNG WIFE
That’s beyond me.
HUSBAND
The case is simply this. We have had perhaps ten or twelve love-affairs with each other… Doesn’t it seem that way to you, too?
YOUNG WIFE
I haven’t counted them!
HUSBAND
If we had enjoyed the first one to the last drop, if I had from the very beginning surrendered without restraint to my passion for you, the same thing would have happened to us that has happened to millions of other lovers. We would be tired of each other.
YOUNG WIFE
Ah … do you mean that?
HUSBAND
Believe me—Emma—in the early days of our marriage, I was afraid that this would happen.
YOUNG WIFE
I, too.
HUSBAND
See? Am I not right? Therefore, it is wise every now and then to live only as good friends.
YOUNG WIFE
Oh.
HUSBAND
And some can always experience new honeymoons, especially since I am careful never to let such weeks of honeymoon…
YOUNG WIFE
Run into months.
HUSBAND
That is true.
YOUNG WIFE
And now … now it seems we are at the end of another such period of friendship—?
HUSBAND
(_Pressing her tenderly to him_) So it might seem.
YOUNG WIFE
But if … if I should feel differently?
HUSBAND
You couldn’t. You are the wisest and most delicious being in the world. I am very happy to have found you.
YOUNG WIFE
You know how to make love very well—every now and then.
HUSBAND
(_Who has also gone to bed_) Well, for a man who has looked about in the world a bit—come, lay your head on my shoulder—who has seen something of the world, marriage is really something much more mysterious than it is for you sheltered young girls. You come to us entirely innocent and … to a certain degree, at least, ignorant of things, and therefore you really understand the essence of love much better than we.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Laughing_) Oh!
HUSBAND
Certainly. For we get all tangled up by the many experiences that we have to go through before marriage. You women, of course, hear a lot of things, you know a lot of things, no doubt read too much, but you can’t have any real idea of the things men experience. We men really become quite disgusted with this thing people call love, for the kind of creatures to which we are restricted really are…
YOUNG WIFE
Tell me—what kind of creatures are they?
HUSBAND
(_Kissing her on the forehead_) You ought to be glad, dear child, that you never have had a glimpse of relations like that. After all most of the poor things deserve pity—it is not for us to throw stones.
YOUNG WIFE
But—this pity—it doesn’t seem quite appropriate to me.
HUSBAND
(_With gentle benevolence_) They deserve it. You young girls of good family, who wait quietly under the care of your parents for the man who desires you in marriage,—you won’t know the misery that drives most of these poor creatures into the arms of sin.
YOUNG WIFE
Do all of them really sell themselves?
HUSBAND
I would hardly say that. I don’t mean the material misery alone. There is also—one might call it—a moral misery, a lack of appreciation for what is permissible, and, especially, for what is noble.
YOUNG WIFE
But why are they to be pitied?—They seem to enjoy themselves.
HUSBAND
You have strange ideas, my child. You must not forget that such people are predestined by nature to sink lower and lower. There is no stopping them.
YOUNG WIFE
(_Cuddling to him_) It seems pleasant to fall.
HUSBAND
(_Hurt_) How can you say things like that, Emma? I should think that to good women like you, nothing could be more repulsive than those who are not!
YOUNG WIFE
Of course, Karl, of course. I was just thinking. Go on, tell me more. I like it when you talk like this. Tell me something.
HUSBAND
What?—
YOUNG WIFE
Why—about these people.
HUSBAND
The idea!
YOUNG WIFE
But, I asked you a long time ago—you know, when we were first married to tell me something of your younger days.
HUSBAND
Why does that interest you?
YOUNG WIFE
Aren’t you my husband? Isn’t it a sort of injustice that I really know nothing about your past?
HUSBAND
You surely don’t think I have such bad taste, as to—No, Emma … it would be like a profanation.
YOUNG WIFE
And yet you have … heaven knows how many other women you have held in your arms, just as you are holding me now.
HUSBAND
Don’t say “women.” You are _the_ woman.
YOUNG WIFE
But you must answer one question … otherwise … otherwise … there won’t be any honeymoon.
HUSBAND
That’s a nice way to talk … remember you are a mother … our little girl is sleeping in there…
YOUNG WIFE
(_Snuggling against him_) But I want a boy, too.
HUSBAND
Emma!
YOUNG WIFE
Don’t be silly … of course, I am your wife … but I’d like also to be … to be your sweetheart.
HUSBAND
Would you?…
YOUNG WIFE
Well—now my question.
HUSBAND
(_Accommodating_) All right.
YOUNG WIFE
Was there … a married woman … amongst them?
HUSBAND
Why? What do you mean?
YOUNG WIFE
You know what I mean.
HUSBAND
(_Slightly disconcerted_) What makes you think of a thing like that?
YOUNG WIFE
I would like to know if … I mean—there are such women… I know that very well. But did you?…
HUSBAND
(_Seriously_) Do you know such a woman?
YOUNG WIFE
Well, I hardly know.
HUSBAND
Is there, perhaps, such a woman among your friends?
YOUNG WIFE
How can I be sure that there is—or that there isn’t?
HUSBAND
Did any of your friends … women talk about a lot of things—alone among themselves—did any of them ever confess—?
YOUNG WIFE
(_Uncertainly_) No.
HUSBAND
Do you suspect any of your friends—that she…
YOUNG WIFE
Suspect … oh … suspect.
HUSBAND
It would seem so.
YOUNG WIFE
No, indeed, Karl, most certainly not. When I think things over—I don’t believe there is any one.
HUSBAND
No one?
YOUNG WIFE
Not among my friends.
HUSBAND
Promise me something, Emma.
YOUNG WIFE
Well?
HUSBAND
That you will never associate with a woman about whom you have the slightest suspicion that she … doesn’t lead a completely blameless life.
YOUNG WIFE
And you think it necessary for me to promise that?
HUSBAND
I know that you will not seek out the company of such women. But, it might happen that you … in fact it often happens that such women, whose reputations are not of the best, seek out good women, partly to give them standing, and partly because they feel … how shall I say?… because they feel a certain homesickness for virtue.
YOUNG WIFE
Do they?
HUSBAND
Yes. I believe what I just said is very true. Homesickness for virtue. For all of these women are at heart very unhappy; you can believe that.
YOUNG WIFE
Why?
HUSBAND
You ask me, Emma?—How can you even ask?—Just imagine what a life these women lead! Full of lies, perfidy, vulgarity, and danger.
YOUNG WIFE
Yes, of course. You are right.
HUSBAND
Truly … they pay for their little happiness … their little…
YOUNG WIFE
Pleasure.
HUSBAND
Why “pleasure”? Why do you call it “pleasure”?