Albert
I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!
(Exit Albert. As soon as Albert leaves, everybody stops and there is a moment of absolute quiet.)
Worthy Don't lose any time—let's get out of here. Head for the woods. Albert won't know which way love has headed us.
Arabella
I put my life and my fate in your hands.
Scratch Live, live, Scratch—and long live Folly. Let's run cross-country to meet our fate—and leave Albert all alone here to pour out his rage.
(Exit Worthy, Arabella, Scratch, and Jenny in a wild burst of speed.
After a moment, enter Albert with a phial in his hand.)
Albert I bring an elixir of astonishing strength.— But, I don't see anybody. What suspicion overwhelms me. Jenny! Arabella! Oh, heaven! All is deaf to my cries. What's become of them? What road have they taken? Where to run? Thief— Police! Help! I stagger, I faint, I fall—for this feigned folly has seduced me, and I alone have lost my wits today. Here's the ridiculous end of my love. Ah, cursed bottle (throws the phial) and credulous old man. Come, follow their steps, we won't give up. Traitorous ravishers—you will be hanged! And you, deceitful sex— more to be feared than fire, plague, famine, and war—you ought to be cursed by all men. I consign you forever to the devil. Let him take you!
CURTAIN