GUSTAV.  You were not present when this was taken?

ADOLPH.  No.

GUSTAV.  Look at it.  Does it bear much resemblance to the portrait you painted of her?  Hardly any!  The features are the same, but the expression is quite different.  But you don’t see this, because your own picture of her creeps in between your eyes and this one.  Look at it now as a painter, without giving a thought to the original.  What does it represent?  Nothing, so far as I can see, but an affected coquette inviting somebody to come and play with her.  Do you notice this cynical line around the mouth which you are never allowed to see?  Can you see that her eyes are seeking out some man who is not you?  Do you observe that her dress is cut low at the neck, that her hair is done up in a different way, that her sleeve has managed to slip back from her arm?  Can you see?

ADOLPH.  Yes—­now I see.

GUSTAV.  Look out, my boy!

ADOLPH.  For what?

GUSTAV.  For her revenge!  Bear in mind that when you said she could not attract a man, you struck at what to her is most sacred—­the one thing above all others.  If you had told her that she wrote nothing but nonsense, she would have laughed at your poor taste.  But as it is—­believe me, it will not be her fault if her desire for revenge has not already been satisfied.

ADOLPH.  I must know if it is so!

GUSTAV.  Find out!

ADOLPH.  Find out?

GUSTAV.  Watch—­I’ll assist you, if you want me to.

ADOLPH.  As I am to die anyhow—­it may as well come first as last! 
What am I to do?

GUSTAV.  First of all a piece of information:  has your wife any vulnerable point?

ADOLPH.  Hardly!  I think she must have nine lives, like a cat.

GUSTAV.  There—­that was the boat whistling at the landing—­now she’ll soon be here.

ADOLPH.  Then I must go down and meet her.

GUSTAV.  No, you are to stay here.  You have to be impolite.  If her conscience is clear, you’ll catch it until your ears tingle.  If she is guilty, she’ll come up and pet you.

ADOLPH.  Are you so sure of that?

GUSTAV.  Not quite, because a rabbit will sometimes turn and run in loops, but I’ll follow.  My room is nest to this. [He points to the door on the right] There I shall take up my position and watch you while you are playing the game in here.  But when you are done, we’ll change parts:  I’ll enter the cage and do tricks with the snake while you stick to the key-hole.  Then we meet in the park to compare notes.  But keep your back stiff.  And if you feel yourself weakening, knock twice on the floor with a chair.

ADOLPH.  All right!—­But don’t go away.  I must be sure that you are in the next room.