SCENE V _Herod, Herodias_ [_later Salome with Maecha, on the balcony. Herod and Herodias stand together a few moments in silence._] HERODIAS Art thou content? HEROD Thy kindness oppresses me. Whether thou art content seemeth to me of more importance. HERODIAS [_Feeling his tone of contempt._] I have had no roof over my head for three nights. Like a tramp I have wandered in the dust of the roads. My serving-women one by one deserted me. Only Salome hath not forsaken me. I have robbed her of her father; the father I have robbed of his child. And what I have robbed my husband of thou canst estimate better than it beseemeth me. See, all this I have done for thee! HEROD I have abandoned my wife, who also said she loved me. She flew to her father. He now maketh ready for war to avenge his child's wrong. Only a trifle is lacking: I have no army. In Rome I am threatened with disgrace; my brother curses me; Judea points the finger of scorn at me.... So little have I done for thee---- HERODIAS And thou repentest this little already? HEROD No! only forgive me if I blame thy coming too soon. HERODIAS Too soon! Was warmer welcome ever heard than this "too soon"? HEROD Take not my words amiss, I entreat thee! HERODIAS I dare not say that longing drove me here. HEROD [_With an embarrassed smile._] Say it ... by all means! HERODIAS Then thou hast not forgotten the days--of eloquent looks and silent vows--when every breath was a longing desire and every word a feast? HEROD How should I forget? Love, how should I----? HERODIAS And thou rememberest no more the nights when wandering footsteps stole their way to the fragrant gardens, where, in the feverish blossoming around them, two sleepless ones mingled their sighs? HEROD How could I not remember; Love, how could I not? HERODIAS I have clothed myself in Indian draperies; I have put pomegranate blossoms in my bosom, and gold dust in my hair ... but thou seest nothing!... My converse is bridal, but thou hearest it not. [_Salome has appeared on the balcony with Maecha. Herod notices her._] SALOME Wait; let me see whether he has already come. [_She looks over, and after her eyes have met Herod's she vanishes._] HERODIAS [_Observing his absence of mind, with an exclamation._] No! thou hearest nothing. HEROD [_Quickly recovering himself?_] Well; what if it is so? The language of our soul, which thou art kind enough to call bridal, was fitting to the delight of those fragrant gardens. To-day, methinks, we have another task before us! HERODIAS Thinkest thou that I have been idle? Am I a woman who cometh to beg of you a nightly dole of caresses? Look at me.... Not thy beloved.... She exists no longer.... See in me thy ruling mistress! HEROD I am looking, and I see a woman who raves. HERODIAS As real as the ambition of thy mistress, as real as the secret resentment which gnaws beneath thy own; despite thy ever-ready smiles. HEROD