Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/138

. Thanks, lady. I'll show it to you, if you like. Here…

. Oh! Terrible!

. What is it?

. Can't you see? A great gash, which circles her neck entirely, like a collar. Where did you get this scar?

. I did it myself; it was an accident!

. You cannot believe what she says. She met a stranger one night at the Casino two years ago; he was a foreigner, and they went out together—it was one of I don't know how many such adventures. The man was a professional gambler who had lost everything—we have plenty of them every season—and he determined to recoup himself at the expense of one of these unfortunate women, who, naturally, are not able to be too particular about the persons with whom they deal. As soon as he thought she was asleep, he ripped the lock off the drawer where he expected to find her valuables; but she awoke, and before she could cry out, he flung himself upon her to kill her; and he thought that he had killed her. The wound was a terrible one, as you see. He fled…

. But surely you were able to arrest him?

. The next morning, although she was in no condition to appear against him. They had been seen leaving the Casino together; they had been observed when they entered the house. We had no difficulty in apprehending the man.

. Needless to say he paid dearly for his exploit.

. You will not believe it, but when he was taken before this woman, she denied roundly that he was the