Help me--you? And yet, why not? His friend and his beloved! It is we, you and I, who are paying the last honours to the dead. Who could know his worth better than we? Whose grief could be more eloquent than ours? No, no, no--I must not talk. Ah, I see him before me now with his bright, careless smile--his conqueror's smile! I suppose you never were courted by women as he was?
My dear Countess, I lead a fairly quiet, uneventful life.
But you're not--you're not a Puritan, are you?
I must let others judge of that, Countess.
Oh! I should like to cry out my sorrow to the whole world--say to them all, "You sordid souls, you couldn't know how much I loved him! What do I care if you damn me, if you----" (_The bell rings. She starts._) There's the bell!
Why, Daisy is outside. But to make sure-- (_Listens at the door, then opens it cautiously._) Daisy! (The Lady _drops her veil_. Daisy _appears at the threshold._)
Come here, dear. (Daisy _comes forward._) You used to open the door for me, didn't you?
(_Taking out a gold purse, to_ v. Wolters.) Do you think one might give her anything? (v. Wolters _shakes his head._) Thank you, dear. We shall see each other again. (_As_ Daisy _lingers._) What is it?
Very well--since I shall see my lady again. (_Goes out._)
It did seem though, as if she were waiting for something.
If you will pardon me for the suggestion, it was surely not--not for money.
By the way, this incident reminds me of something I was just about to-- Herr von Wolters, are you my friend?
If you consider me worthy of that distinction, Countess.
Most assuredly. Well, Herr von Wolters, there is something that troubles me--something that desecrates my grief, if I may use the word. There's the anxiety--the fear that-- Yes, yes--I must tell you all. Herr von Wolters, he has my letters. Do you understand? (_He nods._) Didn't he give you something for me--a small, sealed package, perhaps--nothing?
You are forgetting, Countess, that I was ignorant of all this until a short time ago.
Yes, that's true. H'm--it's really too bad. Who has the keys?
Why, he gave them to me just before the duel. I have them with me.
Yes, I had to hand over his papers to the legal authorities. I didn't consider myself entitled to touch his private correspondence at present.