--They tell me it's a great success.

CECILIA

It would be a wonder if it were not. The artist spent six months on it,
they say....

AMADEUS

Is that too much for a good picture?

CECELIA

No, but for the Countess.--She will probably sing Philine pretty well,
by the way.

AMADEUS

You think so? I fear you are mistaken.... (_Pause_) Well, Cecilia, what
were you talking of to-day--you and Sigismund?

CECILIA

What were we talking of...? (_Pause_) It's so hard to recall the
words.... (_As she goes slowly to the fireplace_) And they have such a
different sound when recalled in that way.

AMADEUS

True indeed. (_Coming nearer to her_) And I don't suppose it's the
words that matter.... Well, Cecilia, can it be possible that you have
nothing more to tell me?

CECILIA

Nothing _more_...? (_Hesitatingly_) Don't you think, Amadeus, that many
things actually change character when you try to put them into words?

AMADEUS

Not for people like us.

CECILIA

That may have been true once. But ... you know as well as I do ... that
things are no longer as they used to be.

AMADEUS

Not quite, perhaps. I know. But this shouldn't be a reason for either
one of us to refuse telling the other one. Scruples of that kind would
be unworthy of ourselves. This is _we_, Cecilia--you and me! So you may
tell me fearlessly what you have to tell.

CECILIA (_rising_)

Don't try to encourage me, Amadeus.

AMADEUS

Well...?

CECILIA (_remains silent_)

AMADEUS

Do you love him?

CECILIA

Do I love him...?

AMADEUS (_urgently_)

Cecilia...!

CECILIA

Am I to tell you _more_ than I think is true? Wouldn't that be a lie,
too--as good or as bad as any other one?... No, I don't think I love
him. It is nothing like it was when I became acquainted with you,
Amadeus.

AMADEUS

_That_ time is long past.--And you have probably forgotten what it was
like. On the whole, it must be the same thing, I suppose. Only you have
grown a little older since then, and you have been living with me for
seven years.... No matter how far apart we may have been, you have been
living _with me_--and we have a child....

CECILIA

Well, perhaps that's what makes the difference--but there _is_ a
difference.

AMADEUS

What really matters is nothing new, however. You feel attracted to him,
don't you?

CECILIA (_speaking with genuine feeling and almost tenderly_)

But perhaps there is still something that holds back--that cou