Oh, he must at least have stopped to lean against a tree for a few
moments. He must even have taken time enough--and I am mighty glad he
did--to photograph the little house in which you were living. (_He
takes from the desk a small framed photograph and hands it to Marie,
who is seated on the couch_)
MARIE (_surprised_)
And you have that standing on your writing desk?
AMADEUS (_slightly puzzled_)
Why shouldn't I?
MARIE (_studying the photograph_)
Just as it was--Cecilia and I sitting on the bench there--yes. And
there's the hazel by the garden fence.... How it does bring back the
memory of that beautiful, warm Summer day...
AMADEUS (_bending over the desk to look at the picture_)
I can make out you and Cecilia, but those three boys puzzle me
hopelessly.
MARIE
In what way...? That's little Peter, who is doing like this ... (_She
blinks_)
AMADEUS
Oh, is that it?
MARIE
And that's Max--and he with the hoop is Mauritz.
AMADEUS
So that's a hoop?... I took it for one of those cabins used by the
watchmen along the railroad. The background comes out much better. The
landscape actually looks as if steeped in Summer and stillness....
(_Brief pause_)
MARIE
It was really nice. The deep shadows of the woods right back of the
house, and that view of the mountain peaks--oh, marvelous! And then the
seclusion.... It's too bad that you never had a look at that darling
place. We thought ... Cecilia did expect you after all....
AMADEUS (_has risen and is walking to and fro_)
I don't believe it.... And it didn't prove feasible, for that matter.
The pull of the South was still on me.
MARIE (_smiling_)
You call that the South?
AMADEUS (_smiling also_)
Oh, Marie!
MARIE (_a little embarrassed_)
I hope you're not offended?
AMADEUS
Why should I be? I didn't make a secret of my whereabouts to anybody.
MARIE (_confidentially_)
Albert told me about the villa, and the park, and the marble steps....
AMADEUS
So he gave you all those details? And yet he wasn't there more than an
hour.
MARIE
I think he intends to use the park for his last act.
AMADEUS
Is that so? If he would only bring it to me... I mean the last act. I
want to take it with me on my tour.
MARIE
Do you think you'll find time to work?
AMADEUS
Why not? I am always working. And I have never in my life been more
eager about it. I, too, am having a brilliant period. For years I
have not been doing better. And I am no less industrious than Cecilia.
With the difference that regular hours are not in my line--nine to
nine-forty-five, twelve to twelve-thirty, and so on. But you ask
Albert! When he threw himself on the bed exhausted, in that inn at the
Fedaja Pass, I sat down and finished the instrumentation for the
_Capriccio_ in my Fourth.
CHAMBERMAID (_enters with a couple of letters and goes out again_)
AMADEUS
You'll pardon me, my dear Marie?
MARIE
Please don't mind me. (_She rises_)
AMADEUS
A letter from Cecilia, written yesterday, before the performance. I
have had letters like this every day.
MARIE
Go right on and read it, please.
AMADEUS (_having opened the letter_)
Oh, there's plenty of time. In another hour Cecilia will be telling me
all that's in it.... (_He opens the other letter, runs through it, and
flings it away_) How stupid people are ... _how_ stupid! ... Ugh! And
mean! (_He glances through Cecilia's letter once more_) Cecilia writes
me about a reception at the house of the Director.... Sigismund was
there, too. Yes, you know, of course, that Sigismund has been in
Berlin?
MARIE (_embarrassed_)
I ... I thought ... Or rather, I knew ...
AMADEUS (_with an air of superiority_)
Well, well--there is no cause for embarrassment in that. Don't you
consider the Prince an uncommonly sympathetic person?
MARIE
Yes, he's very pleasant. But I can assure you, Amadeus, that he came
only once to our place in the Pustertal,[4] and he didn't stay more
than two hours.
[4] A valley along the river Rienz, marking the northern
limit of the Dolomite ranges in the Tirol.
AMADEUS (_laughing_)
And what if he had stayed a week...? Really, Marie, you're very funny!
MARIE (_shyly_)
May I tell you something?
AMADEUS
Anything you want, Marie.
MARIE
I'm convinced that you two will find each other again in spite of all.
AMADEUS
Find each other...? Who should? Cecilia and I? (_He rises_) Find each
other? (_He walks to and fro, but stops finally near Marie_) A
sensible woman like you, Marie--you ought to understand that Cecilia
and I have never lost each other in any way. I think it's very
singular.... (_He strolls back and forth again_) Oh, you must
understand that the relationship between her and me is so
beautiful--that now only it has become such that we couldn't imagine
anything more satisfactory. We don't have to find each other again!
Look here now--here are her letters. She has been writing me from
eight to twelve pages every day--frank, exhaustive letters, as you can
only write them to a friend--or rather, only to your very best friend.
It is simply impossible to imagine a finer relationship.
ALBERT (_entering from the right_)
Good evening.
AMADEUS
You're rather late in getting here.
ALBERT
Good evening, Marie. (_He pats her patronizingly on the cheek_)
AMADEUS
There will hardly be time for work now. Cecilia will be here very soon.
ALBERT
Oh, we can always put in half an hour. I have brought along some notes
for the third act.
MARIE
I think I shall go home, as the boys will be expecting me soon.
ALBERT
All right, child, you go on home.
AMADEUS
Why don't you stay instead? I am sure Cecilia will be glad to see you.
And then Albert can take you home. You might get Peter to entertain you
in the meantime.... Or would you prefer to stay here and listen?
ALBERT
No, child, you had better go in to Peter. Especially as Mr. von Rabagas
doesn't appear in the third act--so you won't be losing much.
MARIE
I'll leave you alone. Bye-bye! (_She goes out_)
ALBERT
Now let's fall to! (_He brings out some notes from one of his pockets
and begins to read_) "The stage shows an open stretch of rolling
ground that slopes gradually toward the footlights. In the background
stands a villa, with marble steps leading up to it. Still farther
back, the sea can be felt rather than seen." (_Bowing to Amadeus_) "A
tall plane tree in full leaf stands in the center of the stage."
AMADEUS (_laughing_)
So you have got it there?
ALBERT
It's meant as a compliment to you.
AMADEUS
Many thanks.
ALBERT (_after a pause_)
Tell me, Amadeus, is it actually true that the Count has become
reconciled with the Countess after his duel with the painter?
AMADEUS
I don't know. For a good long while I haven't seen the Countess except
at the opera. (_He rises and begins walking to and fro again_)
ALBERT (_shaking his head_)
There's something uncanny about that affair.
AMADEUS
Why? I think it's quite commonplace. A husband who has discovered his
wife's (_sarcastically_) "disloyalty"....
ALBERT
That wasn't the point. But that he discovers it only six months too
late, when his wife is already deceiving him with another man.--There
would have been nothing peculiar about the Count having a fight with
you. But the case is much more complicated. Here we have a young man
all but killed because of an affair that is long past. And in the
meantime you are left perfectly unmolested--or have been so far, at
least.
AMADEUS (_walking as before_)
ALBERT
Do you know, what I almost regret--looking at it from a higher
viewpoint? That the painter is not a man of genius ... and that the
Count hasn't _really_ killed him. That would have put something
tremendously tragi-comical into the situation. And that's what would
have happened, if ... _he up there_ had a little more wit....
AMADEUS
How? What do you mean by that?
ALBERT
I mean, if I had been writing the play....
AMADEUS (_makes a movement as if hearing some noise outside_)
ALBERT
What is it?
AMADEUS
I thought I heard a carriage, but it was nothing. (_He looks at his
watch_) And it wouldn't be possible yet.... You read on, please.
(_Once more he begins walking back and forth_)
ALBERT
You're very preoccupied. I'll rather come back to-morrow morning.
AMADEUS
No, go on. I am not at all....
ALBERT (_rising_)
Let me tell you something, Amadeus. If it would please you--and it
would be all one to me, you know--I could go with you.
AMADEUS
Where?... What do you mean?
ALBERT
On your tour. For a week, at least, or a fortnight, I should be very
glad to stay by you ... (_affectionately_) until you have got over
the worst.
AMADEUS
But...! Good gracious, do you think it's because of the Countess...?
Why, that story is over long ago.
ALBERT
Which I know. And I know, too, that you are now trying other means of
making yourself insensible. But I see perfectly well that, under the
circumstances, you can't succeed all at once.
AMADEUS
What circumstances are you talking of anyhow?
ALBERT
My dear fellow, I should never have dreamt of forcing myself into your
confidence, but as the matter has already got into the papers....
AMADEUS
What has got into the papers?
ALBERT
Haven't you read that thing in the New Journal to-night?
AMADEUS
What thing?
ALBERT
That Cecilia and Prince Sigismund.... But, of course, you are familiar
with the main facts?
AMADEUS
I'm familiar with nothing. What is in the New Journal?
ALBERT
Just a brief notice--without any names, but not to be mistaken.... It
reads something like this: "One of our foremost artists, who has just
been celebrating triumphs in the metropolis of an adjoining state ...
until now the wife of a gifted musician" ... or perhaps it was "highly
gifted" ... and so on ... and so on ... "and a well-known Austrian
gentleman, belonging to our oldest nobility, intend, we are told ..."
and so on....
AMADEUS
Cecilia and the Prince...?!
ALBERT
Yes ... and then a hint that, in such a case, it would not prove very
difficult to obtain a dispensation from the Pope....
AMADEUS
Has everybody gone crazy?... I can assure you that not a word of it is
true!... You won't believe me?... I hope you don't think I would deny
it, if.... Or do you actually mean that Cecilia might have ... from
me.... Oh, dear, and you are supposed to be a friend of ours, a student
of the human soul, and a poet!
ALBERT
I beg your pardon, but after what has happened it would not seem
improbable....
AMADEUS
Not improbable...? It is simply impossible! Cecilia has never thought
of it!
ALBERT
However, it ought not to surprise you that such a rumor has been
started.
AMADEUS
Nothing surprises me. But I feel as if the relationship between Cecilia
and myself were being profaned by tittle-tattle of that kind.
ALBERT
Pioneers like yourself must scorn the judgment of the world. Else they
are in danger of being proved mere braggarts.
AMADEUS
Oh, I am no pioneer. The whole thing is a private arrangement between
me and Cecilia, which gives us both the greatest possible comfort. Be
kind enough, at least, to tell the people who ask you, that we are not
going to be divorced--but that, on the other hand, we are not deceiving
each other, as it is asserted in these scrawls with which I have been
bombarded for some time. (_He indicates the letter which arrived at
the same time as Cecilia's_)
ALBERT (_picks up the letter, glances through it, and puts it away
again_) An anonymous letter...? Well, that's part of it....
AMADEUS
Explain to them, please, that there can be no talk of deceit where no
lies have been told. Tell them that Cecilia's and my way of keeping
faith with each other is probably a much better one than that practiced
in so many other marriages, where both go their own ways all day long
and have nothing in common but the night. You are a poet, are you
not--and a student of the human soul? Well, why don't you make all this
clear to the people who refuse to understand?
ALBERT
To convey all that would prove a rather complicated process. But if it
means so much to you, I could make a play out of it. Then they would
have no trouble in comprehending this new kind of marriage--at least
between the hours of eight-thirty and ten.
AMADEUS
Are you so sure of that?
ALBERT
Absolutely. In a play I can make the case much clearer than it is
presented by reality--without any of those superfluous, incidental side
issues, which are so confusing in life. The main advantage is, however,
that no spectators attend the entr'acts, so that I can do just what I
please with you during those periods. And besides, I shall make you
offer an analogy illuminating the whole case.
AMADEUS
An analogy, you say...?
ALBERT
Yes, analogies always have a very soothing effect. You will remark to a
friend--or whoever may prove handy--something like this: "What do you
want me to do anyhow? Suppose that Cecilia and I were living in a nice
house, where we felt perfectly comfortable, and which had a splendid
view that pleased us very much, and a wonderful garden where we liked
to take walks together. And suppose that one of us should feel a desire
sometime to pick strawberries in the woods beyond the fence. Should
that be a reason for the other one to raise a cry all at once about
faithlessness, or disgrace, or betrayal? Should that force us to sell
the house and garden, or make us imagine that we could never more look
out of the window together, or walk under our splendid trees? Merely
because our strawberries happened to be growing on the other side of
the fence..."
AMADEUS
And you would make me say that?
ALBERT
Do you fear it's too brilliant for you?--Oh, that wouldn't occur to
anybody. Trust me to fix it. In such a play I can do nothing whatever
with your musical talent. You see, I can't let you conduct your
symphony for the benefit of the public. And so I get both myself and
you out of it by putting into your character a little more sense and
energy and consistency....
AMADEUS
Than God has given me originally.
ALBERT
Well, it's not very hard to compete with Him!
AMADEUS
I shall certainly be curious about one thing: how you mean to end that
play.
ALBERT (_after a brief pause_)
Not very happily, my dear fellow.
AMADEUS (_a little staggered_)
Why?
ALBERT
It is characteristic of all transitional periods, that a conflict which
might not exist to a later generation, must end tragically the moment a
fairly decent person becomes involved in it.
AMADEUS
But there is no conflict.
ALBERT
I shall not shirk the duty of inventing one.
AMADEUS
Suppose you wait a little while yet...? Perhaps life itself might....
ALBERT
My dear chap, I am not at all interested in what may be done with us by
this ridiculous reality which has to get along without stage manager or
prompter--this reality which frequently never gets to the fifth act,
merely because the hero happens to be struck on the head by a brick in
the second. I make the curtain rise when the plot takes a diverting
turn, and I drop it the moment I have proved myself in the right.
AMADEUS
Please, my dear fellow, don't forget when writing your play, to
introduce a figure on which reality in this case has lavished much more
care than on the hero--I mean, the fool.
ALBERT
You can't insult me in that way. I have always regarded myself as
closely akin to him.
[_Marie enters with little Peter and the Governess._
PETER
Mamma is coming!
MARIE
The carriage has just stopped outside.
GOVERNESS
It was impossible to make the boy stay in bed.
ALBERT
And look at the fine flowers he has got!
PETER
That's for mamma!
AMADEUS (_takes a flower out of the bunch_)
I hope you permit, sonny ...
CECILIA (_enters followed by the Chambermaid_)
Good evening!--Oh, are you here, too? That's awfully nice!
PETER
Mamma!--Flowers!
CECILIA (_picks him up and kisses him_)
My boy! My boy! (_Then she shakes hands with the rest_)
AMADEUS (_handing her the single flower_)
Peter let me have one, too.
CECILIA
Thanks. (_She shakes hands with him; then to the chambermaid_) Get my
things out of the carriage, please. The coachman will help you. He has
been paid already.
CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
CECILIA (_taking off her hat_)
Well, Marie?... (_To the other two_) Can it be possible that you
have been working?
ALBERT
We have tried.
CECILIA (_to the governess_)
Has he behaved like a little man?
PETER
Indeed I have! Have you brought anything for me?
CECILIA
Of course. But you won't get it until to-morrow morning.
PETER
Why not?
CECILIA
Because I am too tired to unpack. To-morrow, when you wake up, you'll
find it on your little table.
PETER
What is it?
CECILIA
You'll see by and by....
PETER
Is my little table big enough for it?
CECILIA
We'll hope so.
AMADEUS (_who is leaning against the piano, keeps looking at her all
the time_)
CECILIA (_pretends not to notice him_)
ALBERT
You're looking splendid.
CECILIA
I'm a little bit worn out.
AMADEUS
You must be hungry.
CECILIA
Not at all. We had something to eat in the dining car. Almost everybody
did. But I do want a cup of tea. (_To the governess_) Will you see
to it, please?
AMADEUS
Let me have a cup, too, and please see that I get a few slices of cold
meat.
GOVERNESS
I have given orders for it already. (_She goes out_)
CECILIA
Have you really been waiting for me with the supper?
AMADEUS
No ... I haven't been waiting. I ... simply never thought of it.
CECILIA (_to Albert and Marie_)
Why don't you sit down?
ALBERT
No, we are going, my dear Cecilia. Let me congratulate you with all my
heart--that will be enough for to-day.
MARIE
You have celebrated regular triumphs, they say?
CECILIA
Well, it wasn't bad. (_To Amadeus_) Did you get my telegram?
AMADEUS
Yes, it pleased me tremendously.
CECILIA
Think of it, children! After the performance I was commanded to appear
in the box of His Majesty!
ALBERT
Commanded...? Invited, I hope you mean! Neither emperor nor king has
the right to command you.
CECILIA
You old anarchist! But what does it matter? One goes to the box
nevertheless. And you would have done that, too.
ALBERT
Why not? One must, if possible, study every form of existence at close
quarters.
AMADEUS
And what did the Emperor have to say?
CECILIA
He was very complimentary. Had never seen a better Carmen.
ALBERT
The very next thing he'll order an opera for you from some Spaniard.[5]
[5] This refers to a habit of Emperor William's, from whom
the Italian composer, Leoncavallo, among others, once received
such an order.
GOVERNESS (_enters_)
The tea will be here in a moment.
AMADEUS
Now you must get back to bed, Peter. It's late.
GOVERNESS (_wants to take the boy away_)
PETER
No, mamma must take me to bed as when I was a little baby.
CECILIA
Come on then!--Mercy me, how heavy you have grown. (_Goes out with
Peter and the governess_)
MARIE
My, but she is pretty!
AMADEUS
Haven't you discovered that before?
ALBERT
Well, good-by then!
AMADEUS
Until to-morrow. I shall be expecting you early--between nine and ten.
MARIE (_to Amadeus as she is going out_)
Don't you regret having to leave her again at once?
AMADEUS
Duty, my dear Marie....
CECILIA (_returning_)
Oh, are you really going?--Good-by then--for a little while!
[_Albert and Marie go out._
CECILIA (_going to the fireplace_)
Home again! (_She sits down_)
AMADEUS (_near the door and speaking rather shyly_)
It's a question whether it can please you as much as it does me.
CECILIA (_holds out her hand to him_)
AMADEUS (_takes her hand and kisses it; then he seats himself_)
Tell me all about it.
CECILIA
What am I to tell? I haven't left anything untold--or hardly anything.
AMADEUS
Well....
CECILIA
Getting home every night--and it was quite late at times, as you
know--I sat down and wrote to you. I wish you had been equally
explicit.
AMADEUS
But I have written you every day, too.
CECILIA
Nevertheless, my dear, it seems to me you must have lots to add.
(_With a laugh_) To many things you have referred in a strikingly
casual fashion.
AMADEUS
I might say the same to you.
CECILIA
No, you can't. My letters have practically been diaries. And that's
more than could be said of yours.--Well, Amadeus...? Without frankness
the whole situation becomes meaningless, I should say.
AMADEUS
What is there to be cleared up?
CECILIA
Is it really all over with Philine?
AMADEUS
That was all over--(_rising_) before you left. And you know it. I
really don't think it's necessary to discuss bygone matters.
CECILIA
Will she be able to stay in the company, by the way--after this scandal
in connection with your--pardon me!--predecessor?
AMADEUS
Everything has been arranged, I hear. And she has even made up with her
husband again.
CECILIA
Is that so?--That's rather unpleasant, don't you think? At bottom, it
matters very little then to have the story all over. In the case of a
man who has the disconcerting habit of not finding out certain things
until months afterward....
AMADEUS
It is better not to think of such things.
CECILIA
Has she any letters of yours?
AMADEUS (_having thought for a moment_)
Only the one in which I bade her farewell.
CECILIA
That might be enough. Why haven't you demanded it back?
AMADEUS
How could I?
CECILIA
How frivolous you are! Yes, frivolous is just the word. (_Putting her
hand on his shoulder_) Now it's possible to talk of a thing like this,
Amadeus. Formerly you might have misunderstood such a remark--taking
it for jealousy, or something like that.... But, really, I do hope you
don't get mixed up in any more affairs of that kind. I don't like to
be scared to death all the time on behalf of my best friend. There is
nothing in the world I begrudge you--of that you may be sure. But
getting killed for the sake of somebody else--that's carrying the joke
a little too far!
AMADEUS
I promise you, that you'll no longer have to be scared to death on my
behalf.
CECILIA
I hope so. Otherwise I must leave you to take care of yourself.--And
seriously speaking, Amadeus, I hope you don't forget that your life has
been preserved for more sensible and more important things--that you
have a lot more to do in this world.
AMADEUS
Yes, that's what I feel. I don't think I have ever felt it so strongly
in all my life. (_Radiantly_) My symphony ...
CECILIA (_eagerly_)
... is done?
AMADEUS
It is, Cecilia. And ... I didn't mean to tell you about it to-day, but
it leaves me no peace....
CECILIA
Well, what is it?
AMADEUS
The chorus in the final passage--you know the principal theme of it
already--it is led and dominated by a soprano solo. And that solo has
been written for you.
CECILIA
My revered Master! How proud your trust in me makes me!
AMADEUS
Don't make fun of it, Cecilia, I beg you. There is nobody in the world
who can sing that solo like you.... That solo is yours--and only yours.
While writing it, the ring of your voice was in my mind. Next February,
as soon as I get back, I shall have the symphony put on, and then you
must sing that solo.
CECILIA
Next Feb...? With pleasure, my dear Amadeus--provided I am still here.
AMADEUS
Why?
CECILIA
Oh, you haven't heard everything yet. After the performance last night
the Director had a talk with me.
AMADEUS (_disturbed_)
Well?!--There was a hint in the telegram about brilliant conditions....
But, of course, they could only refer to the next season?
CECILIA
If I can break away from here, they want me in Berlin from the
beginning of the year.
AMADEUS
But you can't break away!
CECILIA
Oh, if I really want to. The Director does not care to enforce the
contract.
AMADEUS
But you don't want to, Cecilia!
CECILIA
That's a matter for careful consideration. I shall be doing a great
deal better there.
AMADEUS
Beginning next Fall, I shall--probably be free. You might wait that
long, I should think. Then we could make the move together. But....
CECILIA
It doesn't have to be settled to-day, Amadeus. To-morrow we shall have
time to discuss the whole matter thoroughly. Really, I am not in a
condition to do so to-night.
AMADEUS
You are tired...?
CECILIA
Of course, you must understand that. In fact, I should very much
prefer.... (_She looks in direction of the door leading to her own
room_)
CHAMBERMAID (_brings in the tea tray and puts it on a small table_)
CECILIA
Oh, that's right!--May I pour you a cup, too?
AMADEUS
If you please.
CECILIA (_pours the tea; to the chambermaid_)
Open one of the windows a little, will you. There's such a lot of
cigarette smoke in here.
CHAMBERMAID (_opens the window at the right_)
AMADEUS
Won't it be too cold for you?
CECILIA
Cold? It has turned very warm again.
AMADEUS
And how did last night's performance go otherwise?
CECILIA