Merlin.
Do not raise your voice to interrupt a crime which you do not wish to see.... They will not hear you; they listen only to the sound of their lips!... But turn, Joyzelle, I beseech you!... Your life is at stake and all the happiness to which you have a right!... Do not reject the proffered truth that comes to save you if you have the courage at last to accept it! It will not return except to make you weep, when it is too late!... But look! Look!... You need not even turn your head!... Your star is kind to you and does not tire!... Do not close your eyes, it is coming to unseal them!... See!... The shadow of their arms, lengthened by the moonlight, is creeping along that arch and covering your knees!... Open your eyes! Look!... It is coming to defy you, it is rising to your lips!...
Joyzelle.
No.
[A pause.
Merlin.
I understand you, Joyzelle.... You must not deny what remains of your love while I am here.... I leave you to yourself, face to face with your duty, face to face with your destiny.... Such sacrifices ask for no witnesses: they demand silence.... The truth is there; it is cowardly to fly from it.... You will know how to face it when you are alone.... There is yet time.... I admire you, Joyzelle.... Your life and your happiness invoke your courage and depend upon a glance....
[Exit Merlin. Joyzelle, for a long moment, remains seated on the bank, motionless, with wide-open eyes, staring fixedly before her. Then she rises, draws herself up and goes out slowly, without turning her head.