Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/110

 I am so placed that it is impossible not to commit one at every step. Good evening, Madame.

. Yes, hold your head high! You may be nobler than I am, but, after all, we both fill about the same void in the world.

. What is the matter?

. Nothing. That old Baroness! I wish I could have had the last word. What does Chantel say?

. He confirms it. The Princess has obtained a loan from the Comte, absolutely without security.

. Beyond what there is in her name.

. And her reputation. We might as well face it. In spite of all this pretense of boredom and superiority, the Comte is snob enough and sufficiently vain to ruin himself on account of this Princess, a thing which I can never consent to, after having sacrificed myself all these years to his whims and a life of flat monotony.

. It would be irritating to say the least, especially if he does not marry you. You gave up your artistic career to please him, and you had a brilliant future. You abandoned your poor father, too, who took to drink when you left.

. No, no, that is not true. He took to drink before I left.

. But he drank more heavily afterward, because you sent him more money.

. Chantel, we have always been friends. Advise me. For the first time I am confronted with a serious danger.

. Do you prefer the offensive or the defensive? The defensive is more dignified, as it permits you to ignore the situation. The secret of defense is delay. In the first place, the Comte's attachment to you, which is something more than passion by this time, or than momentary caprice,