There are cabs at this corner, aren’t there? YOUNG MAN Yes, as many as you want. Well, the day after to-morrow, here at six o’clock. Please say “yes,” sweetheart. YOUNG WIFE … We’ll discuss that to-morrow night during the cotillion. YOUNG MAN (_Embracing her_) My angel. YOUNG WIFE Don’t muss my hair again. YOUNG MAN Well then, to-morrow night at Lobheimer’s, and the day after to-morrow in my arms. YOUNG WIFE Good-by… YOUNG MAN (_Suddenly anxious again_) And what will you—tell him to-night?— YOUNG WIFE Don’t ask me … don’t ask me … it’s too terrible.—Why do I love you so?—Good-by—If I meet any one again on the stairway, I shall faint.—Ugh! YOUNG MAN (_Kisses her hand for the last time_) YOUNG WIFE (_Exit_) YOUNG MAN (_Remains standing. Then he sits down on the couch. He smiles reflectively, and says to himself_) Now, at last, I have an affair with a respectable woman. THE YOUNG WIFE AND THE HUSBAND _A comfortable bedroom. It is half past ten at night. The WIFE is lying abed and reading. The HUSBAND enters the room in a dressing gown._ YOUNG WIFE (_Without looking up_) You have stopped working? HUSBAND Yes. I’m too tired. And besides… YOUNG WIFE Well?— HUSBAND I felt so lonely at my desk all at once. A longing for you came over me. YOUNG WIFE (_Looking up_) Really? HUSBAND (_Sitting down on the bed beside her_) Don’t read any more to-night. You will ruin your eyes. YOUNG WIFE (_Closing the book_) What’s the matter with you? HUSBAND Nothing, child. I’m in love with you. But you know that. YOUNG WIFE One might almost forget it sometimes. HUSBAND One _must_ forget it sometimes. YOUNG WIFE Why? HUSBAND Because, otherwise, marriage would be something imperfect. It would … how shall I express it … it would lose its sanctity. YOUNG WIFE Oh… HUSBAND Believe me—it is so… If we hadn’t sometimes forgotten that we are in love with each other during the five years we have been married—we might not be in love any longer. YOUNG WIFE That’s beyond me. HUSBAND The case is simply this. We have had perhaps ten or twelve love-affairs with each other… Doesn’t it seem that way to you, too? YOUNG WIFE I haven’t counted them! HUSBAND If we had enjoyed the first one to the last drop, if I had from the very beginning surrendered without restraint to my passion for you, the same thing would have happened to us that has happened to millions of other lovers. We would be tired of each other. YOUNG WIFE Ah … do you mean that? HUSBAND Believe me—Emma—in the early days of our marriage, I was afraid that this would happen. YOUNG WIFE I, too. HUSBAND See? Am I not right? Therefore, it is wise every now and then to live only as good friends. YOUNG WIFE Oh. HUSBAND And some can always experience new honeymoons, especially since I am careful never to let such weeks of honeymoon… YOUNG WIFE Run into months. HUSBAND That is true. YOUNG WIFE