The same room as in the first three acts. It is night, but the moonlight throws a moderate brightness into the room. It is empty. Several days have passed since the occurrences in the fourth act.
A candle is lit in the small adjoining room; at the end of a few seconds HENSCHEL enters, carrying the candle in a candlestick of tin. He wears leathern breeches but his feet are cased in bedroom slippers. Slowly he approaches the table, gazes hesitatingly first backward, then toward the window, finally puts the candlestick on the table and sits down by the window. He leans his chin on his hand and stares at the moon.
MRS. HENSCHEL
[Invisible, from the adjoining chamber, calls:] Husband! Husband! What are you doin' out there?—the same mortal foolishness all the time! —[She looks in, but half-clad.] Where are you? Come 'n go to bed! 'Tis time to sleep! To-morrow you won't be able to go out again! You'll be lyin' like a sack o' meal and everythin' 'll go upside down in the yard. [She comes out, half-clad as she is, and approaches HENSCHEL hesitatingly and fearfully.] What are you doin', eh?
HENSCHEL
—Me?
MRS. HENSCHEL
Why are you sittin' there an' not sayin' a word?
HENSCHEL
I'm lookin' at the clouds.