feel, now? Why have you stopped teasing my wrists? Why are you leaving me? What is it? What is it?
Leonardo.—Nothing. No. No. Nothing. I only need to be alone. For a little. All alone. By myself.
(Malvina, who has left Leonardo and gone over to the other side, remains quiet and immovable. Suddenly she starts, and returns to his side, as to a refuge.)
Leonardo.—What is it now?
Malvina.—It is they . . . do you hear? Your sisters . . . They are already quarreling.
Leonardo.—You seem to be afraid of them . . .
Malvina.—I am not afraid of them: they disgust me.
(Battista, Francesca and Dora come out of the house. Battista lounges over and ensconces himself at the extreme side of the stage. He crosses his hands over his stomach, and twirls his thumbs, one around the other, beating time with his feet.)
Francesca.—Why did you come up-stairs?
Dora.—Just for curiosity.
Francesca.—Don't you know that Clara can't bear you? She knows what you are thinking. You have expressed yourself to her very clearly, so many times . . .
Dora.—I don't know how to pretend.
Francesca.—We will grant that. But you must realize that one must never say to a mother: "The child that you are carrying, here next your heart, is a disgrace, and we will cast it out." A mother is always a mother.
Dora.—And you must realize that in a house like ours—our name has always been held in respect—in a house like ours one does not bring an element of this nature . . . . .
Francesca.—Our uncle is privileged to receive whom he pleases in his own home.
Dora.—The home of our uncle is also partly ours . . .
Francesca (With a sneer)—Not yet. You must have patience. . . . (The two sisters look at each other threateningly. Leonardo, with a nonchalant air, steps between them.) What are you looking for?
Dora.—What do you want?
Leonardo.—Nothing. I only wanted to retire into the bosom of my family. I never feel tranquil unless I am near you, so . . (The General enters. He is agitated and cannot calm himself. He feels that the sisters have quarreled.)
General.—Again?
