_The_ JURORS _confer in low tones among themselves_.
_The_ BARON _and the_ BARONESS _in the background_.
_The_ SPECTATORS _form groups and talk_.
BARON. [_To the_ BARONESS] You do not shrink from perjuring
yourself?
BARONESS. I shrink from nothing when my child is concerned.
BARON. But if I have proofs?
BARONESS. Well, you have not.
BARON. The letters were burned, but certified copies of them are
still in existence.
BARONESS. You lie to frighten me!
BARON. To show you how deeply I love my child, and to save the
mother at least, as I seem to be lost, you--may have the proofs.
But don't be ungrateful.
[_Hands her a bundle of letters_.
BARONESS. That you are a liar, I knew before, but that you were
scoundrel enough to have the letters copied, that I could never
have believed.
BARON. That is your thanks! But now both of us are lost.
BARONESS. Yes, let both go down--then there will be an end to
the fight----
BARON. Is it better for the child to lose both its parents and
be left alone in the world?
BARONESS. That will never occur!
BARON. Your absurd conceit, which makes you think yourself
above all laws and above other human beings, has lured you into
starting this fight, in which there can be only one loser: our
son! What were you thinking of when you began this attack,
which could not fail to provoke a defence? Not of the child, I
am sure. But of revenge, I suppose? Revenge for what? For my
discovery of your guilt?
BARONESS. The child? Were you thinking of the child when you
dragged me in the mire before this rabble?
BARON. Helen!--Like wild beasts we have clawed each other
bloody. We have laid our disgrace open to all these who take
pleasure in our ruin, for in this room we have not a single
friend. Our child will after this never be able to speak of his
parents as respectable people; he will not be able to start life
with a recommendation from father and mother; he will see the
home shunned, the old parents isolated and despised, and so the
time must come when he will flee us!
BARONESS. What do you want then?
BARON. Let us leave the country after selling the property.
BARONESS. And begin the same squabble all over again! I know
what will happen: for a week you will be tame, and then you will
abuse me.
BARON. Just think--now they are settling our fate in there.
You cannot hope for a good word from the Pastor, whom you have
just called a liar; and I, who am known to be no Christian, can
expect no mercy either. Oh, I wish I were in the woods, so that
I could crawl in under some big roots or put my head under a
rock--this is more shame than I can bear!
BARONESS. It is true that the minister hates both of us, and it
may happen as you say. Why don't you speak to him?
BARON. Of what? Making up?
BARONESS. Of anything you please, if it only be not too late!
Oh, if it should be too late!--What can that man Alexandersson
want that makes him prowl about us two all the time? I am afraid
of that man!
BARON. Alexandersson is a nice fellow.
BARONESS. Yes, he is nice to you, but not to me--I have observed
those glances before--Go and see the Pastor now; but take my
hand first--I am scared!
BARON. Of what, dear, of what?
BARONESS. I don't know--Everything, everybody!
BARON. But not of me?
BARONESS. No, not now! It is as if our clothes had been caught
in the mill wheels, and we had been dragged into the machinery.
What have we been doing? What have we been doing in our anger?
How they will enjoy themselves, all these who are now seeing
the Baron and the Baroness stripped naked and flogging each
other--Oh, I feel as if I were standing here without a rag to
cover me.
[_She buttons her coat_.
BARON. Calm yourself, my dear. It is not exactly the proper
place to tell you what I have said before: that there is only
one friend and one home--but we might start over again!--Well,
heaven knows! No, we cannot do it. You have gone too far. It is
all over. And this last--yes, let it be the last! And it had
to come after all the rest. No, we are enemies for life! And
if I let you go away with the child now, then you might marry
again--I see that now. And my child might have a step-father;
and I should have to watch another man going about with my wife
and child--Or I might myself be going about with somebody else's
wench hanging on my arm. No! Either you or I! One of us must be
struck down! You or I!
BARONESS. You! For if I let you take the child, you might marry
again, and I might have to see another woman taking my place
with my own child. The mere thought of it could make me a
murderess! A step-mother for _my_ child!
BARON. You might have thought of it before! But when you saw me
champing at the chain of love that bound me to you, then you
believed me incapable of loving anybody but yourself.
BARONESS. Do you think I ever loved you?
BARON. Yes, once at least. When I had been faithless to you.
Then your love grew sublime. And your pretended scorn made
you irresistible. But my error caused you to respect me, too.
Whether it was the male or the criminal you admired most, I
don't know, but I believe it was both--it must have been both,
for you are the most typical woman I have ever met. And now you
are already jealous of a new wife whom I have never thought
of. What a pity that you became my mate! As my mistress, your
victory would have been unchallenged, and your infidelities
would only have seemed the bouquet of my new wine.
BARONESS. Yes, your love was always material.
BARON. Material as everything spiritual, and spiritual as all
that is material! My weakness for you, which gave strength to
my feeling, made you believe yourself the stronger, when you
were simply coarser, more ill-natured, and more unscrupulous
than I.
BARONESS. You the stronger? You, who never want the same thing
two minutes in a stretch! You, who as a rule never know what you
want!
BARON. Yes, I know perfectly well what I want, but there is room
in me for both love and hatred, and while I love you one minute,
I hate you the next. And just now I hate you!
BARONESS. Are you now thinking of the child also?
BARON. Yes, now and always! And do you know why? Because he is
our love that has taken flesh. He is the memory of our beautiful
hours, the link that unites our souls, the common ground where
we must ever meet without wishing to do so. And that is why
we shall never be able to part, even if our separation be
declared--Oh, if I could only hate you as I want to!