The Lady.
I want to know what I have done that I should be doomed to bring so much sorrow into the lives of others. I had only just left school when a strange young man shot himself under my window. It was on my account that my husband was transferred here from his former garrison. Tell me, what mark of Cain do I bear that all men follow me? I dress as simply as I can. I never go out without a double veil. Sometimes I have actually been tempted to throw vitriol in my face!
v. Wolters (candidly).
Oh, that would have been a shame, Countess!
The Lady (severely).
Herr von Wolters!
v. Wolters.
Yes, Countess, to mar that image of divinity would be a sin--and I do not hesitate to repeat it beside the coffin of my friend.
The Lady.
Don't! (Reaches him her hand, which he kisses respectfully.) Dear me, how strange it seems! Yesterday we scarcely knew one another--those few visits at my house don't count. To-day--this short conversation--and here we are, sitting side by side, the guardians of a secret which will be buried forever with him. It will, Herr von Wolters?