We have neither deceived each other, nor become reconciled--we have been free, and have merely found each other again. CECILIA Each other, you say?... As if that were possible! What is it then, that has made me seem so desirable to you all at once? Not the fact that I am Cecilia--oh, no! But the fact that I seem to have come back another woman. And have I really become yours again? Not at all! Not unless you have grown so modest all at once that you can be satisfied with a happiness that might have fallen to somebody else perhaps, if he had merely chanced to be on hand at that particular moment. AMADEUS (_shrinking back_) But even if last night be sacrificed to this fixed idea of yours, Cecilia--it is daylight now--we are awake--and in this moment of clear light you must feel, no less than I, that we love each other, Cecilia--love as we have never loved before. CECILIA This moment might prove deceptive--and I am sure it would. No other moment would be more apt to prove such. Do you think those many moments in which we felt our tenderness gradually ebbing away--those many moments when we felt the lure of other loves--do you think them less worthy of consideration than this one? The only thing urging us together now is our fear of the final leave-taking. And our feelings at this moment make a pretty poor sample upon which to base an eternity. I don't trust them. What has happened once, may ... nay, must repeat itself--to-morrow--or two years from now--or five ... in a more indiscreet manner, perhaps, or in a manner more tragical--but certainly in a manner to be much more regretted. AMADEUS Oh, no--never again! Now--after what I have felt and experienced lately, I can vouch for myself. CECILIA I don't feel equally certain of myself, Amadeus. AMADEUS That doesn't scare me, Cecilia, for now I'm prepared to fight for you--now I'm worthy and capable of fighting for you. Hereafter you shall never more be left unprotected as you were in the past--my tenderness will guard you. CECILIA But I don't want to be guarded! I shall no longer permit you to guard me! And I can no more give you any promises than I care to accept yours. AMADEUS And if I should forgo them myself--if I should risk it on a mere uncertainty? CECILIA That's more than I dare--whether the risk concern you or myself ... more than I would risk even with certainty in mind. (_She turns away from him_) AMADEUS Then I cannot possibly understand you, Cecilia. What is it you want to make us pay for so dearly--yes, both of us? Is it our guilt or our happiness? CECILIA