sment; his manner is in every respect dignified;
there is a slight smile on his face_) We have not seen each other for
some time, and you'll probably assume that my visit to-day has a
special reason.

AMADEUS

Naturally. (_Pointing to a chair_) Please.

SIGISMUND

Thank you. (_He comes nearer, but remains standing_) I have decided to
take this step--which has not come easy to me, I can assure you--because
I find the situation in which we ... in which all of us have been placed,
untenable and, in a certain sense, ridiculous ... and because I think
that, in one way or another, it should be brought to an end. The sole
object of my visit is to put before you a proposition.

AMADEUS

I'm listening.

SIGISMUND

I don't want to waste any words. My proposition is that you get a
divorce from your wife.

AMADEUS (_shrinks back for a moment, staring at Sigismund; then, after
a pause he says calmly_) You wish to marry Cecilia?

SIGISMUND

There is nothing I wish more eagerly.

AMADEUS

And what is the attitude of Cecilia toward your intentions?

SIGISMUND

Not encouraging so far.

AMADEUS (_puzzled_)

Cecilia is absolutely in a position to decide for herself. And of
course, she would also have the right to leave me--whenever and
howsoever it might please her to do so. For that reason you must pardon
me if I find the object of your visit incomprehensible, to say the
least.

SIGISMUND

You'll soon find it comprehensible, I think. The discouraging attitude
of Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg proves nothing at all in this connection, I
must say. As long as Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg has not been set free by
you--even if that be done against her own will--she is, in a sense,
bound to you. To get this matter fully cleared up, it seems to me
necessary that you yourself, my dear Master, insist on a divorce. Mrs.
Adams-Ortenburg will not be in a position to choose freely until she
has been divorced from you. Until then the struggle between us two will
not be on equal terms--as, I trust, you would like to have it.

AMADEUS

There can be no talk of any struggle here. You misunderstand the actual
state of affairs in a manner that seems to me incomprehensible. For I
have no right to suppose that Cecilia has made any secret of the more
deep-lying reasons that have so far prevented us from considering a
dissolution of our marriage.

SIGISMUND

Certainly, I am aware of those reasons, but to me they don't by any
means seem suffici