The Fourth Act, as generally performed, is entitled “On the Threshold,” and the departure from the original occurs on p. 122, when Dunstan Renshaw is about to drink the poison. From that point it runs thus:-- DUNSTAN. [_He is raising the glass to his lips when he recoils with a cry of horror._] Ah! stop, stop! This is the deepest sin of all my life--blacker than that sin for which I suffer! No, I’ll not! I’ll not! [_He dashes the glass to the ground._] God, take my wretched life when You will, but till You lay Your hand upon me, I will live on! Help me! Give me strength to live on! Help me! Oh, help me! [_He falls on his knees, and buries his face in his hands. LESLIE enters softly, carrying a lamp which she places on the sideboard; she then goes to DUNSTAN._ LESLIE. Dunstan! Dunstan! DUNSTAN. [_Looking wildly at her._] You! You! LESLIE. I have remembered. When we stood together at our prayerless marriage, my heart made promises my lips were not allowed to utter. I will not part from you, Dunstan. DUNSTAN. Not--part--from me? LESLIE. No. DUNSTAN. I don’t understand you. You--will--not--relent? You cannot forget what I am! LESLIE. No. But the burden of the sin you have committed I will bear upon my shoulders, and the little good that is in me shall enter into your heart. We will start life anew--always seeking for the best that we can do, always trying to repair the worst that we have done. [_Stretching out her hand to him._] Dunstan! [_He approaches her as in a dream._] Don’t fear me! I will be your wife, not your judge. Let us from this moment begin the new life you spoke of. DUNSTAN. [_He tremblingly touches her hand as she bursts into tears._] Wife! Ah, God bless you! God bless you, and forgive me! [_He kneels at her side, she bows her head down to his._ LESLIE. Oh, my husband! This ending found many advocates, even Mr. Clement Scott and Mr. William Archer, who may be regarded as representing the opposite poles of dramatic criticism, agreeing in their decision that this was the only logical conclusion. “There can be but one end to such a play,” wrote Mr. Scott, “and Mr. Pinero has chosen the right one. To make this wretched man whose sin has found him out a wanderer and an outcast is bad enough; to make him a suicide would be worse.” Yet there were others who thought differently. Wednesday, the 24th of April, 1889, saw the opening of the Garrick Theatre and the production of “The Profligate,” the programme of which occasion is here appended. _Programme._ OPENING OF THE GARRICK THEATRE. THIS EVENING, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24th, 1889. WILL BE ACTED FOR THE FIRST TIME THE PROFLIGATE A New and Original Play in Four Acts. BY A. W. PINERO.