Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 5).djvu/211

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act iv.]
caesar's apostasy.
175

this. Thou knowest our sweet secret. Oh thou, my days' desire, my nights' delight! It was thou thyself—in the form of thy servant—in the oratory; yes, yes, thou wast there; it was thou—in the darkness, in the heavy air, in the shrouding incense-clouds, that night, when the Caesar growing beneath my heart——

Julian.

[Recoiling with a cry.] Ah! Helena. [With outstretched arms.] My lover and my lord! Mine, mine——! [She falls swooning on the floor; the slave-girls hasten forward and crowd round her.


Julian.

[Stands for a moment immovable; then shakes his clenched fist in the air, and cries:] Galilean! [The slave-girls carry the Princess out on the right; at the same moment the Knight Sallust comes hastily in by the door in the back.


Sallust.

The Princess in a swoon! Oh, then it is true!

Julian.

[Grasps the Physician by the arm, and leads him aside.] Tell me the truth. Did you know before to-day that——; you understand me; have you known aught of——the Princess's condition?

Oribases.

I, like every one else, my lord.