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!