(_Supported by_ FLORIS, _she staggers to a chair, where she sits huddled, staring before her, dry-eyed._ FLORIS _puts his arms round her and, with his cheek against hers, rocks her to and fro, whispering, “Dearest, dearest, dearest!” A pause. The door opens and the_ MAJOR _and_ OTTO _appear on the threshold._) THE MAJOR (_Ceremoniously._) Madam, I have done your father the honour of myself taking command of the firing-party. All I wanted was that your husband should prove his respect for discipline to the end! I give him back to you; you have nothing to blame him for. Everything went off very well, in a most correct and satisfactory manner. Your father died like a hero.... And now, Lieutenant Hilmer, go and embrace your wife.... ISABELLE (_Suddenly drawing herself to her full height._) Go away!... Go away, both of you!... OTTO What, I too, Isabelle?... But you don’t understand.... ISABELLE I understand everything, I understand too much, it’s you who will never understand anything!... OTTO (_Coming towards her._) But, Isabelle!... ISABELLE (_Shrinking back._) Don’t touch me!... Go away!... Don’t touch me!... Go! It’s over ... for good!... FLORIS (_Stamping his foot._) She’s right! She’s right! She’s right!... Kiss me, kiss me! Let me kiss you!... It’s we two now, you and I!... THE MAJOR (_To_ OTTO.) Let them be; I want you. I hear they’re attacking on the Oostwinkel side.... You’ve done your duty, Hilmer. This is incomprehensible. But they’re all more or less mad in this country.... CURTAIN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Note Punctuation has been normalized. Repeated titles in the front of the book have been deleted. Italicized words and phrases are presented by surrounding the text with _underscores_. The author’s use of mixed-size capital letters to identify the characters is presented by the use of all capital letters. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Burgomaster of Stilemonde, by Maurice Maeterlinck