of an Argus." Have you written it?     

       LOUISA. Proceed, proceed!     

       WORM. "The president was here yesterday. It was amusing to see how warm the poor major was in defence of my honor."     

       LOUISA. Excellent! Excellent! Oh! Admirable! Quick! quick, go on!     

       WORM. "I had recourse to a swoon—a swoon—that I might not laugh aloud"——     

       LOUISA. Oh, Heavens!     

       WORM. "But the mask which I have worn so long is becoming insupportable       —insupportable. Oh! if I could but rid myself of him."     

       LOUISA (rises, and walks a few turns with her head bent down, as if she sought something upon the floor: then returns to her place, and continues to write). "Rid myself of him."     

       WORM. "He will be on duty to-morrow—observe when he leaves me, and hasten to the usual place." Have you written "the usual place?"     

       LOUISA. Everything, everything!     

       WORM. "To the usual place, to meet your devotedly attached Louisa."     

       LOUISA. Now then, the address?     

       WORM. "To Marshal von Kalb."     

       LOUISA. Eternal Providence! A name as foreign to my ear as these scandalous lines are to my heart! (She rises, and for some moments surveys the writing with a vacant gaze. At length she hands it to WORM, speaking in a voice trembling and exhausted.) Take it, Sir! What I now put into your hands is my good name. It is Ferdinand—it is the whole joy of my life! You have it, and now I am a beggar——     

       WORM. Oh! Not so! Despair not, dear girl! You inspire me with the most heartfelt pity! Perhaps—who knows? I might even now overlook certain parts of your conduct—yes! Heaven is my witness, how deeply I compassionate your sorrows!     

       LOUISA (giving him a piercing look). Do not explain yourself! You are on the point of asking something more terrible than all.     

       WORM 

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