"Aha, I repeat it, it is in vain--we stand under the laws of Italy and of the Church, and what will you prove? That which was done was done with her consent, according to her own desire, yet at first in opposition to mine; and who tells you that I do not love her, love her fervently, that I will always remain far from her? If she cease to be the queen of the stage, then she will belong to me once again. No more beautiful angel of damnation ever dwelled with Lucifer in the depths of hell! Ha! how my bonds will rise; she shall preside at the green board, it will be like a gaming hell in heaven! For me, at least, because she shall be my slave, whom I love and chastise at the same time." "The dreams of a madman." "If they are only beautiful, those dreams, enchantingly beautiful, then it is a foretaste, and the day will come on which this madness will seek and find its victim." "Baluzzi, be reasonable," said Beate, insinuatingly, as she drew the Italian down beside her, "you are not so foolish as you pretend to be; you consented formerly, because you saw that it was for your mutual good. Be reasonable now, too!" "How the little cat can caress with its velvet paws." "There is something in the air that can do you good also!" "I curse that something and him, for I hate him also." "Jealousy still, senseless jealousy--_sareble vero!_ She does not love you; you cannot force her to do so! Is she the only woman in the world? You give yourself freedom again. Take a large profit with you, and then trouble yourself no more about her! We others may not be so beautiful, to be sure, yet we are not made of marble either, but of flesh and blood, and, if our eyes have not such depth, they flash all the more merrily." Beate looked at the gambler with seductive glances. He put his arms round her supple form, which only resisted feebly, pressed a kiss upon her lips, but then wrenched himself away, pushed her from him, and cried, as he sprang up-- "_Corpo di bacco_, I know you, _diavola_! That is a worn-out game, and I know, too, how the cards are shuffled! You are not indisposed to be the victim of friendship. Aha, that is the cause of this sudden, pretended, fervent love. But where are the witnesses--the dumb walls, the lamps burning down? And, if there were witnesses, they would only be of use so far as separate maintenance is concerned, with which the Signora is not supplied. You have miscalculated, my child! To-day is buried from the world, and to-morrow I shall not know you again." Beate stood drawn up erectly, the open dagger in her hand. "You misunderstand me, Signor Baluzzi! Our business is at an end!" At that moment Kätchen's head appeared in the half-open doorway. "You called me, Signor?" "Listener," cried Baluzzi, enraged, "this eavesdropping in my own house! Do not let me catch you a second time. Open the garden gate for the Signora; wait below with the key!" Kätchen disappeared.