It is well, stand up.... I do not keep you by force. But I could not have believed that you had come to this.... I have fallen into one of your Jewish traps. Do you see the crowd posted there, under the portico, spying upon its hostages?... I will not have Roman property defiled.... I bear you no grudge, Magdalene. Love, in me, is not extinguished in a moment; and I possess more constancy than woman.... I shall watch over you. I know now that, by destroying him, I can save her whom he wished to destroy. He does not suspect that he owes his life to me; for hitherto, from pity or indifference, I had held back the threats that were gathering over his head. But, since he himself comes to attack me in my happiness, I add to those threats all the weight of flouted love.... And, now, go with your guide from the tombs.... We shall meet again before long.
(Lazarus goes out slowly through the vestibule. Magdalene, without a word, without a movement, without a look, GOES OUT after him, amid the profound, still silence of all present.)
Appius (after a long pause)
We have this day seen more than one thing that we had not seen before....
Silanus
It is true, Appius; and this is as surprising as the resurrection of a dead man....
CURTAIN
ACT III
(In the house of Joseph of Arimathæa. The Supper-room in which the Last Supper took place. Windows at the back. Doors to the right and left. Judæo-Roman architecture. The lamps are lit. It is the end of the night of the sixth of April.)