Oscar—That's right! That's right! There's only one thing I want to impress upon you. No scandal.
Adele—He'd never make a scandal.
Oscar—And you have no business going to his house after this. When you leave here to-day there is only one place for you to go: your mother's house.
Adele—Now, dear, you're getting excited again.
Oscar—How can you expect me to be calm? I stand at the turning point of my life. And I'm subject to heart attacks. It runs in our family. I have to be very careful. . . . And yet, my God . . . [stops his work] when I think that to-night . . . this ordinary spring night . . . this commonplace Thursday evening . . . you are to be mine . . . definitely and forever . . . mine . . . body and soul. . . . Come here!
Adele—Be careful.
Oscar—Come here, come here!
Adele—[Goes to him.] There now, you are getting all excited again.
Oscar—Only your hand, your hand . . . for a moment.
Adele—But Oscar!
Oscar—Your hand! You know I've got heart trouble! [She gives him her hand. He takes it, looks cautiously through the archway, then speaks, softly but passionately.] Mine! My own wife!
