The Green Bag
404
them? If I have not been a bad mother, my right to my children is entire and absolute. Unworthy! I could be a thousand times more guilty. More ‘unworthy’ as you say, but neither you nor the priests, not God have the right to take my children from me. As a
woman I may have been guilty, but as a mother no one can reproach me. No one can steal my children from me. And you who propose to do it are a wretch. Yes, because you wish to revenge yourself upon me by separating me from them. You are nothing but a coward You—and when you say I am unworthy to bring them up, you lie. Think of it! It is impossible!" "You are right. I do revenge myself. My mother has already taken my children away." “I will find them." “America is large." “I will find them." "Then I will tell them why I have sepa rated them from you." “Never! That-never! 1 will obey you. But swear—" At this moment the assistant enters and tells the acquitted man that he is free. His wife says to the assistant, “Wait a moment, sir," and to her husband,
“I accept the
separation, since it must be. I will dis .appear. You shall never hear of me again. But in exchange for this atrocious sacrifice,
swear to me solemnly that you will never tell——-" "I swear it." "Swear that you will never say anything which could lessen their love for me." “I swear it." “Promise, also, I beg of you, in the name of our happiness and of my suffering, promise not to let them forget me. You will let them pray for me, will you not?" "I swear it." “Then go. My life is over." "Adieu!" he says quickly, and rushes out without touching her or looking at her. As he disappears the sporting judge enters, and the assistant says, “Here is the wife of the man who was acquitted." The sporting judge replies, "Oh, she is there, is she? The prosecutor spoke to me about her. Very well, I withdraw my com plaints.
Now that I am counsellor, I have
no wish to come back here for an investiga tion. Proceed with the necessary formalities to let her go." Then the judge turns to the wife and says, “Since you have been im
prisoned awhile, I am willing to let you out on probation, perhaps even to withdraw my
complaints if you express regret for having insulted me." ' "I do not regret insulting you." “Do you want to go back to prison?" "Ah, poor man, if you only knew how in different I am now as to going to prison." llwhy_ll
"Because I have nothing left —neither house, nor home, not husband nor children, and I believe-—-" “What?" "I believe that you are the cause of all this evil." "You have both been acquitted. What more do you want?" "It is true we have been acquitted, but all the same I am no longer an honest woman to my husband, my children, or the world." He tells her that the law and not the magistrate is responsible. She says, "Then you can ruin people and not be responsible?" Suddenly she catches sight of a sharp knife on his desk which he uses as a paper cutter. She secretly grasps it, and waits for an opportunity. He says, “Now I order you to go." She speaks deliberately as follows : “Listen. For the last time I demand of you what you will do to restore what you have taken from me, to give me back my chil dren P" “I have nothing to say to you. I owe you nothing." “You owe me nothing! You owe me more than my life. My children! I shall never see them again. What you have taken is the happiness of every minute, their kisses in the evening, the pride I had in seeing them grow up. Never—never more shall I hear them say, ‘Mamma.’ It is as if they were dead. It is as if you had killed them before me. (She prepares to strike). Yes, that is
your work. ~ You wicked judges! You take an innocent man and make him a fraud, and you turn an honest woman, a mother, into a criminal." She stabs him, and as he falls he clutches her dress and dies holding her fast. The feelings and conduct of the prosecuting attorney who is afraid to get a verdict of guilty because of his own doubts are rather the imaginary phases of morals which a French author not a lawyer would wish a
