human
Let me go,
gpt
Anna, Anna, I love you so--I have loved you so long!
human
Let me go, let me go!
gpt
You are my adored one--I adore you above all things.
human
Let me go. You horrify me.
gpt
But what have you come here for?
human
I have come to commit an infamy.
gpt
Anna, Anna, you are killing me!
human
What is it, Anna? Something is troubling you, and you won't tell me what it is. My poor friend! You have come here with an anguish in your heart, wishing to escape from it; you have come here to weep; and I have behaved like a brute, a blackguard.
gpt
No, you are good, I shall remember you,
human
Don't go away. Tell me first what it is. Tell me what you came for. Tell me, dearest Anna.
gpt
It's too long a story, too long, she said, as if in a dream, passing her hand over her brow.
human
And now I must go, I must go.
gpt
No, stop here, talk to me, weep. It will do you good.
human
I can't.
gpt
Why?
human
My minutes are numbered. You'll understand some day--to-morrow. Now I must go.
gpt
Anna, how can I let you go like this? You have come here to be comforted, and I have treated you shamefully. Forgive me.
human
You are not to blame, not in the least.
gpt
But what is it that you are in trouble about, Anna? Who has been making you miserable, my poor fond soul? Whose fault is it? Who is to blame? Cesare?
human
No, I am to blame, I only.
gpt
And Cesare--you admit it.
human
No.
gpt
Cesare is an infamous scoundrel, and I know it,
human
It is I who am infamous.
gpt
I don't believe you. I should believe no one who said that, Anna.
human
I must be infamous, since I alone am unhappy. I must go.
gpt
Will you come back?--to-morrow? Anna, you are so sad, you are in such distress, I can't let you go.
human
No one can detain me, no one.
gpt
Anna, forget that I have spoken to you of love.
human
I have forgotten it. Good-bye.
gpt
You musn't go like this. You are too much agitated.
human
No, I am calm. Listen, will you do me a favour? You repeated some verses to me one evening at Sorrento--some French verses--do you remember?
gpt
Yes. Baudelaire's '_Harmonie du Soir_,'
human
Have you the volume?
gpt
Yes.
human
Take it, and copy that poem for me. Afterwards I will say good-bye.
gpt
Shall I write?