Leslie. I name no names. It would be unjust to him; and, upon my word, it was so silly it would be unfair to me. However, here I sit, night after night. I mean him to come back; come back he shall; and I’ll tell you who he was next morning.
Lawson. Let sleeping dogs lie, Mr. Leslie; ye dinna ken what ye micht see. And then, leave him alane, he’ll come nae mair. And sitting up a’ nicht ... it’s a factum imprestabile, as we say: a thing impossible to man. Gang ye to your bed, like a guid laddie, and sleep lang and soundly, and bonnie, bonnie dreams to ye! (Without.) Let sleeping dogs lie, and gang ye to your bed.
SCENE III
Leslie (calling). In good time, never fear! (He carefully bolts and chains the door.) The old gentleman seems upset. What for, I wonder? Has he had a masked visitor? Why not? It’s the fashion. Out with the lights. (Blows out the candles. The stage is only lighted by the moon through the window.) He is sure to come one night or other. He must come. Right or wrong, I feel it in the air. Man, but I know you, I know you somewhere. That trick of the shoulders, the hang of the clothes—whose are they? Where have I seen them? And then, that single look of the eye, that one glance about the room as the window opened ... it is almost friendly; I have caught it over the glass’s rim! If it should be ... his? No, his it is not.
Watchman (without). Past ten o’clock, and a fine moonlight night.
Another (further away). Past ten o’clock, and all’s well.
Leslie. Past ten? Ah, there’s a long night before you and me, watchmen. Heavens, what a trade! But it will be something to laugh over with Mary and ... with him! Damn it, the delusion is too strong for me. It’s a thing to be ashamed of. “We Brodies”: how she says it! “We Brodies and our Deacon”: what a pride she takes in it, and how good it sounds to me! “Deacon of his craft, sir, Deacon of the ...” (Brodie, masked, appears without at the window, which he proceeds to force.) Ha! I knew he’d come. I was sure of it. (He crouches near and nearer to the window, keeping in the shade.) And I know you too. I swear I know you.
SCENE IV
Brodie, Leslie
Brodie enters by the window with assurance and ease, closes it silently and proceeds to traverse the room. As he moves, Leslie leaps upon and grapples him.