The Lonely Way-Intermezzo-Countess Mizzie Part 81

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