HELIOGABALUS
[Uncertainly] I was just coming out to—
LUCIA
[Catching sight of the wives—PAULA in the middle of the floor in her chemise and the other three in bed—she gives a scream and totters toward the centre of the stage. There she does a grand faint at PAULA'S feet]
PAULA
[Leaping back] Oh, my God!
HELIOGABALUS
[Solemnly] You have killed her. She has frozen to death.
PAULA
[Alarmed] I did nothing of the sort. She went out of her own free will.