[_Dabs on paint. LUCIA silent. Collapses to her knees and hides her face._ _Medici_ Improved already! So swiftly! You are, indeed, the greatest of them all. We shall beat Verio out of court, and Gagliano will die of envy on the spot. (_To MEN._) Begone with you! No, stay a moment--take the picture with you and lay it carefully in the gondola. It shall be finished under my own eye--before the ceilings are begun. (_MEN obey._) Carefully! One smear and your lives are forfeit. (_Turns to LUCIA and raises her._) You are not quick to thank me, Signora, yet I have fulfilled my promise to you. All that you begged of me is accomplished. Henceforth Salviati, your husband, shall work in comfort and lack nothing. _Lucia_ (_Faint._) How--how could I have done this thing? What ancient deep perversity--what lack of faith--what hidden destiny in me? (_To PAULO._) Paulo, look, look at me! (_He keeps his back to her. MEDICI watches them quietly._) Hark! [_Sound of water lapping heard outside._ _Medici_ So you will not thank me--either one of you? No matter. I like a little spirit. (_Goes to door._) Carefully, now! The edges safe. No flick of dust, mind. [_Stands looking down steps._ _Lucia_ (_Low._) Hark! (_To PAULO._) It is another sound I hear. (_Whispers._) Paulo! It is water. (_Stands listening intently to the lap of the sea. Distress increases. Passes hand over forehead, as if trying to remember something._) The rising water! (_She turns her head slowly to look at PAULO. He turns slowly too. Their eyes meet. Very low._) You hear? (_Whispers._) That sound is in my soul. Paulo--I half remember--something--that hides behind it, yet comes with it. (_Goes up and clings to him._) I have done this thing before--destroyed you--with my selfish love. _Paulo_ Hush, hush! _Lucia_ You look so strangely at me. Your face changes. Dios! (_Frantic._) Speak to me, beloved! If you cannot forgive--say that you understand. Oh, what is it in your eyes? (_Fear._) [_Dusk increases._ _Paulo_ (_Tender whisper._) The night is coming--with her stars. In my eyes is only love. (_Patiently._) There is nothing to forgive. (_Embraces her for several moments. Then breaks suddenly away._) Where is the gold--the scarlet? (_Bewildered. To MEDICI._) What is my Lord’s desire? _Lucia_ (_Screams._) Oh, I have killed--killed _again_. [_Falls._ _Paulo_ (_Catching her._) Little Child! _Medici_ (_Turning at the scream._) She is even more beautiful than I first thought. Well, well, the picture is mine at any rate, and she--(_smiles_). A good evening’s work. How dark it grows. And the rising tide is at the full. Ho! Without there! My gondola! [_Exit._ [_PAULO and LUCIA in each other’s arms._ CURTAIN EPILOGUE PRESENT DAY CHARACTERS PHILLIP LATTIN. MRS. LATTIN. THE DOCTOR. EPILOGUE SCENE--SAME AS PROLOGUE. TIME--PRESENT.