LA CONTAT. That, too, is only a play.

HOCHE. Nothing is play. Everything is serious. Cinna and Nicomède exist, just as I do.

LA CONTAT. You are strange! Actors and authors construct make-believe things, which you accept as gospel!

HOCHE. You're mistaken, it isn't make-believe for you: you don't know yourself.

LA CONTAT. You make me laugh! Do you know me?

HOCHE. I've seen you on the stage.

LA CONTAT. And do you imagine I feel what I act?

HOCHE. You can't deny it: your instinct makes you feel. A power is never an illusion; it carries you along. I know better than you what it does to you.

LA CONTAT. What?

HOCHE. What is strong goes with what is strong. You will be one of us.