"The winter of 1862 was an unusually happy time of my life." "The war was over." "Even the expedition against Gen. Garibaldi had come to an end." "The budding kingdom of Italy, united once and for all no longer paid me to kill." "Only to train others to kill and be killed, when the need arose..." "Moreover, I had met Clara." "A love affair always begins with a look." "Clara's was gentle and sad." "There's something indecent about relating a happy love affair." "Perhaps because such stories repeat themselves." "And few people have never loved, or loved so little as to ignore their content." " You grew up in a hurry?" " I was married off at 16." "You see, more proof of my stupidity." "You're experiencing the happiness you were denied at 15." "Thanks to you." "I'll undress you." "I'll be your orderly." "I am your orderly." "Close your eyes." "I said don't look." "We lost all so much time before we met before we even knew we existed." "I could have given you my youth..." "Intact..." "Don't catch cold." "What is it?" ""Captain Giorgio Bachetti..."" ""You are hereby transferred to the 4th Frontier Brigade."" ""Report for duty at your new post within two days."" "Love of my life, now we're so far from each other." "Yesterday, in the park I noticed you hiding your tears from me." "Let me confess, in turn on the train that bore me away from you, I cried, too." "Good night, gentlemen." "Crying is no sign of weakness." "Or if it is, then of the sweetest kind." "I'm proud to agonize over you." "What saddens me most is that with me at your side, you were happy." "I fear that in your loneliness you may renew the bonds it helped you sever." "No, Clara, don't punish yourself." "Ignore the laws of men." "Heaven is kinder to lovers." "Its laws are more generous and more just." "They honor a woman who sacrifices her good name for the man she loves." "Adultery can restore to a woman the rights nature gave her, and that society and marriage have denied her." "Comfort me." "Banish my fears of losing you." "Every night, I'll think about you." "I'll spend my every leave visiting you." "We'll meet again in our little room where we were so happy." "My heart will beat again on yours remembering the many gifts you gave me." "Your youthful body, your beauty..." "Our separation becomes even harder to bear." "Farewell for now." "Forgive these confused thoughts, but I write as if in a dream." "To be near you, to die at your feet." "I won't live anywhere else." "Now hear my oath:" "All I live for is you." "I shall forget all other creatures." "You will be my religion." "Captain Bachetti, then a lieutenant was with our forces in the Crimea." "According to the citation at Sebastopol, he rescued a soldier pinned down by Russian infantry." "The Lieutenant rode back, under enemy fire put the wounded man on a horse, and carried him back to camp." "An accurate rendering of the event?" "Yes, Colonel." "But I didn't take him back to camp." "Just to our batallion which was fleeing the Russian cavalry." "Honor before glory." "Am I right, Doctor?" "Yes, Demosthenes said it even better...to..." "When criticized for having fled from the Macedonians, he said..." ""A soldier who runs away..."" ""..." "lives to fight another day."" "Indeed." "The Captain is now here amongst us." "So, what's new in the civilized world?" "Actually, Colonel..." "We're isolated here." "Far from life, from ideas, from everything." "We have a life of our own." "Colonel..." "You dined in our mess last night, didn't you?" "I arrived after nightfall." "The mess had closed." "It's for junior officers who don't know good food." "Come eat with us in my quarters." "I've set up a mess of our own." "But it's hard to prepare good food here:" "In mountain soil, vegetables especially, grow up dispirited." "Yet I can provide a decent meal." "At my age, that's an imperative pleasure." "You'll enjoy the company and the conversation." "Right, Doctor?" "Absolutely." "As long as you remember, Captain, that subtlety and irony are quite alien to the military mind." "You'll meet all kinds." "Besides me, a mediocre doctor fast forgetting what little he knew you'll meet Major Tarasso who could belly laugh at his mother's funeral, having first eaten her... and washed her down with his customary gallon of wine." "Captain Rivolti: the blandest of officers." "He is best described by silence." "He only comes to life at billiards." "Lt. Baggi, our veterinarian." "Horses appreciate his talents, even on their deathbeds." "I've added vinegar, but there's no nutmeg." "His culinary skills are forever thwarted by the lack of good ingredients." "No contact with the Chief of Staff." "Just one letter, which I didn't have to answer!" "My orders to report here." "You owe them a thank you note!" "That's Signora Fosca's place." "She's my cousin." "I have no family." "Neither does she." "So she lives with me." "Poor dear, her health is so precarious." "It worries me greatly." "She stays in bed on average, 7 days a week." "She's no better today." "But one day, she'll join us for a meal." "She eats like a sparrow." "Why has Minghetti kept on Della Rovere at the War Ministry?" "We fought together at Alessandria in '21." "Alessandria!" "I served there, too." "Our commanding general caught his young wife flirting with his aide-de-camp!" "He just stood there, dazed." "The lady screamed and fainted, or pretended to." "Ah, the major." "Fuiron, the general, shouted: "You..."" ""You were kissing my wife!"" "The poor fellow, the wife in his arms, blurted out:" ""Yes, General, Sir!"" ""But our tongues hardly touched!"" "Line up!" "By the right!" "Keep your distances!" "Captain, ready to march!" "Do you want to inspect?" "No need, Lieutenant." "I trust you implicitly." "Thank you, Captain, Sir!" "My Clara..." "During the absurd exertions of military discipline an art that deadens the mind through physical strain and saps the soul by means of violence I take refuge in my memories of you." "In your voice, your letters." "The letters I'll write you." "I invoke your name:" "Clara!" "I went there on my son's birthday." "But the real reason I visited that portrait studio was to have one of me to send you." "You see?" "I'm smiling for you." "But I had to restrain my heart." "It was ordering my eyes to weep." "She loves to read." "I can't find enough books to lend her." "Don't you have some to lend her?" "Sure." "I brought some." "I'll gladly be of service to your cousin." "I hope they'll appeal to her." "As long as it's print!" "She even reads military handbooks." "Colonel, I'll get them before she comes down." "Fosca's in bed today." "Give them to me later." "The trick is to soften the breadstick, stirring." "But without letting it crumble." "Now that you're getting used to being so isolated from life from ideas, as the Colonel says, do you miss the city?" "Life is quite different there." "For one thing you see hundreds of faces on the street." "And at least half of them have rosy, red lips that are kissable!" "That's more of the Captain's age." "As for us..." "I don't agree with you." "Seasoned wood burns better than green!" "Risotto without marrow is no risotto." "Anyway, it's well known that a woman's heart is more vulnerable to a hussar's charge than a foot soldier's gait." "A six-legged beast outpaces one that has two." "Don't be alarmed." "It's my cousin." "It'll be over in a few minutes." "I can't do a thing for her, but a doctor is always expected to give aid." "One gets used to it." "It happens often." "Amazingly, it's the first time it's happened since you got here." "She's a walking collection of every conceivable disease." "A unique phenomenon, as far as I'm concerned." "I can't even diagnose all her ills, let alone their origin." "I didn't know a human voice could utter such terrifying sounds." "Nervous fits." ""Hysterical" is the more fashionable word." "She's prone to constant irritability." "As if all her nerves were exposed." "The slightest conflict is enough to bring on those fits." "Her cousin doesn't seem unduly worried." "He's resigned to it." "Nothing can be done for Fosca." " Is her life in danger?" " I doubt it." "She's so weak, her body hasn't the energy to produce a fatal illness." "A strange thing to say." "Why?" "Every victory, even death's, is the result of a struggle." "In Fosca, all those diseases compensate each other." "She's not in danger, unless..." "Unless something upsets the balance." "It's miraculous and fragile." "If she's so sick, why is her place always set at the table?" "As if she might be cured imminently?" "Because there may be a break in her illness." "She may come down and join us for a meal without warning." "Her living here alone..." "Could she be, or have once been..." "The Colonel's mistress?" "I doubt it." "In fact I know she wasn't." "Is she young?" "She's 29." "Pretty?" "You'll meet her." "Decide for yourself." "The colonel was looking for you, Sir." "Ours is the finest in the regiment, Captain, Sir." "He said he'd wait for you in his office." "First I'll go to my room." "Oh no, in his room." "You wanted to see me?" "Yes." "She's already finished them." "I told you." "She devours books." "She said:" "If you'd be patient, she'll come thank you herself." "I'm honored to await her." "This work...never a moment's rest." "JULIET, OR THE NEW HELOISE" ""Heavenly powers, since I have a soul for pain..."" ""....give me one for joy."" ""Tortured love offers a disturbing pleasure to replace happiness."" "Signora Fosca is very sorry." "She's not well and can't come down to see you." "Please give her my regards." "I'll teach you to ride." "Time you learned!" "Give me your leg." "The left one." "Where are you going?" "Come back." "After a fall, one must remount instantly." "You can make it." "Be loose." "Get on." "Good." "Sit up." "Word has reached us that an Italian patriot fighting with the Polish rebels against Russian domination Lt. Nullo of Bergamo, fell heroically in battle." "He was one of the original 1089 members of Garibaldi's Red Shirts." "I wanted to meet you and thank you personally for those books." "I loved the Rousseau novel." "It is so full of spiritual beauty and virtue." "I'm delighted." "The passages you underlined were the loveliest." "Also...the saddest." "I know about unhappiness from personal experience." "Did you know that Rouseeau so concerned with virtue in his books put 5 of his children out for adoption in a Paris poorhouse?" "Didn't my cousin imply that you and I were both voracious readers?" "He said reading was your passion." "I read to forget." "To learn of the joys society metes out to the fortunate." "My only salvation is escaping reality." "Inventing new lives for myself, dreaming a lot." "To understand why I must adhere to that rule all you need to do is look at me, Captain." "I'm mad to drag you into a discussion like this." "Even though I realize that with me, one can venture fearlessly on the most slippery of paths." "Have you visited the castle?" "What castle?" "You've been here for days, without opening your eyes." "You dream, like me?" "Sometimes." "It's a ruin." "That's why it's so lovely." "My cousin promised to take me this afternoon." "If you care to come with us..." "If you'll honor us..." "To be truthful, I can't today." "I'll come with pleasure." "How can I express in words the ugliness of that poor wretch?" "Her deformities..." "Her sufferings were like a sinister presence on that site of military stupidity where exertion could defeat idleness but not boredom." "The south is still infested with bandits fighting mountain warfare." "These traitors attack our troops from behind." "Banditism needs to be studied, not just repressed." "It's a popular phenomenon rooted in abysmal social conditions." "It is fed by the arrogance of the landowners." "They aren't just bandits but peasants, women, old men...boys." "Bourbon soldiers, still loyal to Francois II." "Bandits are bandits!" "Will you look after my cousin?" "Gladly, Colonel." "Of course." "I know how to walk." "My cousin still treats me like a child." "His last trip, he brought me paper figures to cut out." "I'm grown up...even though I like paper and scissors." "I frightened you yesterday." "I'm terribly sorry." "Unfortunately, it happens without warning." "Now you seem better." "You're cured." "Cured?" "No." "Sickness is a normal state for me as health is for you." "Did the sight of that funeral upset you?" "I'm not afraid of death, I swear." "Even if I don't have much time left." "I'm afraid of the trappings of death." "The body borne aloft, the funeral procession..." "Being hemmed in by four boards...covered by earth." "Today I visited a castle." "I walked, immersed in my selfish love for you." "You filled my entire soul." "Your first letter was in my pocket." "I could feel it." "I read your words with my fingers, though I knew them by heart." "And they echoed round my head among those walls..." "Those are harmful thoughts." "Chase them away." "Look around you." "Look at the mountains." "The snow, the light..." "Just being alive, seeing breathing, makes life a supreme joy." "Absolute happiness doesn't exist." "Nor does absolute unhappiness." "I think there's a way to be happy." "What's that?" "To love." "You mean affection, friendship, fondness?" "No, I mean love." "The union of two souls, fostering..." "Love...is a privilege that makes everything beautiful." "Noble and pure." "When you love, everything reminds you of the one you love." "Even nature, animals the people you're with." "What is it?" "I don't feel well." "Let's go back." "Your hand is shaking." "I have a fever." "Colonel!" "Doctor!" "It's nothing." "I always have a fever." "The lady is tired." "She wants to go home." "Perhaps, the foolish things I said..." "Either you're incredibly naïve or incredibly cruel." "I'm sorry." "To speak to me...of happiness, of love, like that..." "I'm sorry." "I didn't realize." "Sometimes I talk irresponsibly." "It was foolish of me." "No, it's just that I'm alone." "To them, we're bandit chiefs." "The Government must enact a law." "A law against banditry would be like a law against poverty or injustice." "Order first, then justice." "My cousin likes me, but doesn't understand me." "The others are vulgar." "They're soldiers." "Forgive me." "They're polite." "But behind my back, they make fun of me." "They say I'm capricious and sarcastic." "Sarcasm, a trait not liked in a man, is unbearable in a woman." "Let alone an ugly woman!" "You're different, I know." "When I first saw you, I thought you might tolerate me without deriding me." "Please, Captain, don't you reject me, too." "Don't deny me your mercy." "Can we meet again?" "So I can tell you more of myself, of my life?" "May I, Captain?" "I have nothing." "I assure you of my trust and friendship." "I'm happy to have you as a friend." "Come..." " The law's been proposed by Sen. Pica." " By Di Negro, the minister." "I'm sure it was Pica." "Captain, do you know..." "Idiot!" "I was an idiot!" "A schoolboy!" "My trust and friendship?" "For her?" "Why?" "Am I a doctor?" "A priest?" "A relative of hers?" "My tongue should be cut out, like in Turkey." "I'm sorry for her." "But I intend to go back on my word!" "I'll sever this bond before it's too late." "What bond, anyway?" "I feel queasy inside, frightened." "Yes, frightened." "Don't look at me like that, stupid!" "Captain, we're 3 hours from the garrison." "Should we go back?" "We're going on." "The men may eat their rations." "Quiet!" "Installed in the opera box the General told his orderly to wake him at the end of Act I, so he could applaud." "Act I ended, but the General snored on!" "The orderly was asleep, too!" "The dashing Captain." "Tireless as ever." "We haven't seen you in 3 days." "I was out with my regiment, Sir." "My cousin looked for you often." "I'm sorry." "Give her my respects." "You'll give them to her in person." "Get changed." "We'll all go out in my carriage." "I just got a new pair of horses." "I showed them to the Major." "If I didn't despise horses, I'd call them superb." "I'll be there in half an hour." "Months ago, I applied for a new pair." "They only had bays or piebalds." "At last I found the pair I wanted." "You'll like them too, Fosca." "Shouldn't be long now, excuse me." "Santino!" "Well?" "Are we ready?" "Soon, Colonel, sir!" "You're hopeless." "Can't trust anyone." "I'd better deal with it myself." "You look well." "In fine fettle." "Giorgio, where are you?" "I looked for you." "I suffered hell on Earth." "Oh, Giorgio!" "I don't understand." "You feel ill?" "Won't be a couple of minutes..." "What is it, Fosca?" "Nothing." "A splitting headache." "I won't come with you." "I feel ill..." "I feel ill..." "There, you see?" "The slightest thing." "Even my new horses can set her off." "I can't leave her alone." "We'll go out some other time." "Unharness the horses." "I'm depressed, and taciturn in the mornings." "Then I'll avoid you afternoons and evenings." "And I only drink black coffee." "Must be the pressure." "What can I take?" "Stimulants?" "I don't know." "Get a check-up in town." "Some doctor!" " Anyone up there?" " No one." "You can eat in peace." "My bowels don't function." "Shall we go up together?" "Look what Fosca has done for all of us." "Haven't you understood?" "Or are you avoiding me?" "Yet that day, you promised me your friendship." "I must tell you a secret, Giorgio." "I've watched you from the day you got here." "I spied on you..." "But I never came down from my room." "I would set out, then change my mind." "I was scared, ashamed." "I was revolting you." "I'm so ugly." "The day I came down and appeared before you for the first time my heart raced so, it almost flew out of my breast." "That day, I would have traded the rest of my life to be beautiful for one hour." "That day, I would have traded the rest of my life to be beautiful for one hour." "If I have discussed things with you that no woman would discuss with a man she just met it's because my appearance exonerates me from ulterior motives." "My ugliness has that sole advantage." "Don't take that away from me." "You're a kind person." "Be kind to me, too." "...A man waited hours in his carriage for his beloved..." "Why didn't you answer my letters?" "One day, his coachman said..." ""This is no life for either of us!"" "Excuse me, Doctor." "Why do you always put that gold coin on the table?" "Any particular reason?" "For 30 years, I've done that whenever I eat with other officers." "The first meal where no one talks about horses or women I'll surrender my gold coin." "Some risk!" "You'll never lose it." "My home-town was famous for its wine." "There was only one lawyer." "The local inn was his study and home." "Anyone who needed advice, he'd say..." ""Wait." "First, let's ask him."" "He'd point to his wine glass and say..." ""This is my young clerk."" "Not hungry, Captain?" "Colonel..." "I got a letter:" "I'm urgently needed in town." "I request a leave of at least 5 days." "In my office, I might have refused." "The Captain has only been here a month." "But at the table, one can't say no to a guest." "Leaving tomorrow?" "On the first train." "Tomorrow at this hour, you'll be in the arms of some cutie!" "A month is a long time." "Did I tell you about it." "Derio?" "A swarthy Sardinian, obsessed with sex..." "When will you return?" "I have a 5 day leave." "Will you think of me?" "Thinking of my work, of my superiors, of your cousin I'll also think of you." "Have mercy on me, Giorgio." "Please, they can hear you." "Goodbye." "Despise me." "I don't mind." "But let me continue to see you, let me tell you of my pain." "Have pity." "One can love a dog, an animal." "Why can't you love me, a human being like yourself?" "Get up, Madam." "Calm down." "I'll write you from town." "You will?" "You promise?" "Yes." "As of tomorrow, I promise." "Go, they may notice." "Notice how happy I am." "Thank you for your mercy." "The sweethearts!" "The sweethearts!" "Halt, lady!" "You failed to salute a brave Captain of the young realm of Italy." "Mercy!" "What's my punishment?" "The law of 1841 stipulates 1800 lashes." "That'll hurt." "Would you settle for 1700?" "Depends on your behavior." "Let's see." "My dear friend." "I'm writing as I promised." "Listen calmly to what I'm about to say." "I cannot love you." "My heart is not free." "I am desperately in love, and am desperately loved in return." "Now you know I can never be your lover." "Do you still want me as a friend?" "But mere friendship is no longer possible between us." "They say I am capricious and sarcastic." "And women who have spoken of love..." "How beautiful you are." "Suppose the woman I loved was you, Fosca." "How would you feel if I betrayed you?" "You'd despise me as the one I love would despise me." "And would you, Fosca entrust your love to a despicable man?" "I must be cruel to be fair." "It is essential that we end instantly what, in fact, never began." "I shall need your help." "You know I can't avoid your house." "We must be able to meet openly to know we can shake hands." "Only thus can we avoid trouble for us both." "No other relationship is possible." "Let me quote a phrase you wrote me:" ""You're a kind person." "Be kind to me, too."" "My love!" "Thank you!" "Till soon!" "Again!" "You still don't know it." "Take it away!" "Just got back?" "I wanted to know at once if you got the letter that I sent you from town." "And if you read it." "I read it." "I hope I'm still allowed to shake your hand." "Of course." "We never ceased being on good terms." "I'm deeply ashamed of what happened here before you left." "Why?" "There's no need." "You're a very sensitive person." "But you see, in the end, good sense prevailed." "You're so tolerant." "Was your leave pleasant?" "Yes...very." "Admit that you only left to visit my rival." "You don't need deep intuition to guess that." "You'll go back to her?" "As soon as possible." "If you get another leave." "Why shouldn't I?" "I could have it turned down." "I'll speak to my cousin." "Place more value on your dignity." "Don't offend your own pride." "We deal with our pride as best we can." "Do you really love that woman?" "I wrote you:" "Insanely!" "Is she beautiful?" "Very." "Is she kind?" "An angel." "Why don't you marry her?" "She has a husband." "And you respect her?" "Yes." "Respect has nothing to do with love." "That's not true, but no matter." "Let's stop torturing each other." "It's humiliating and unworthy of us." "When you're kind and gentle, you're dear to me." "When you're sarcastic, I'm much less fond of you." "I told you once I had flaws that were unbearable in a woman." "Aside from my ugliness, I mean." "I'm sorry for you and everyone else!" "I'm neither kind nor gentle." "Very well." "Now our situation is clear." "There's no need to talk about ourselves." "On a personal level, I mean." "I think we both agree on that." "Maybe we should avoid each other from now on." "That may be best." "I have things to do." "You may go." "His name was Machiavello." "You won't believe it, Doctor but long before I was in the saddle, he knew my mood." "If I was happy, so was he." "If I was sullen, he'd trot accordingly." "He died of heartbreak, the day my mother died." "That horse had a soul." "Rovami said to her: "No, madam..."" ""...by 'cock,' I meant rooster." "Not what you're thinking of!"" "A fine wit, Rovami is also a great author." "And prolific: poems, criticism, short stories." "At least a dozen novels." "His father-in-law always said..." ""He doesn't do the writing." "My crazy daughter does."" ""All he does is dictate!"" "The Major is relentless." "Many writers would do better to have their books written by their wives or maids." "Doctor, come quickly!" "She hasn't been down in nearly 3 weeks." "They say she's never been this bad." "Yes, she's suddenly got much worse." "Like the food at this table!" "I must talk to you of a matter that concerns you." "I'll get to the point." "You know that right now, Signora Fosca's health is critical." "Last night, she told me what happened between you." "That woman is dying for you, dashing captain?" "Dying?" "For me?" "What did you say?" "I said:" "It must be her illness!" "That, too." "Both things at once." "She didn't have long to live, anyway." "But the passion she developed for you the shock and pain of her humiliation are enough to hasten her death." "You come here to speak to me of "passion," of "death."" "That is not my responsibility." "I don't see what I can do for that woman." "You must go to Fosca." "This very evening." "My room adjoins hers." "I'll let you in." "She asked me to speak to you." "I accepted, because I fear there's no other way to save her." "I'm not much of a doctor." "But I know when someone has lost the will to live." "Never!" "Forgive me, but this is blackmail!" "Do you realize what you're asking?" "You, Doctor?" "Would you do it?" "I and the other officers here are vulgar, primitive types." "You know of our tastes, and how we talk." "We need a different type of woman." "But Fosca is cultivated." "She has a delicate, subtle mind." "The day you came, I told myself:" "Fosca will love him." "You're handsome...and sensitive." "Woe to he who is born with that blemish of original sin." "I await you tonight in my room." "Looking at my obsessions?" "What must I do?" "Speak to her." "Comfort her." "Lie to her." "Must I promise to love her?" "Be your most convincing." "That's awful." "I can imagine." "The Colonel is expecting me for our card game." "Wait for a few minutes, before going into Fosca's room." "Remember, you're a brave man decorated in battle." "Forgive me for asking you to come." "I won't forgive you that it took you so long." "I'm asking you to make a big sacrifice, I know." "You can only feel pity for me." "But tonight I'll pretend." "Don't look at me." "I'm ugly!" "Your kindness makes you beautiful." "You value such beauty?" "Above any other kind." "Don't lie to me." "It's enough for me to know you value my heart." "You're in love." "And your heart?" "No." "I shouldn't have told you not to lie." "Lie to me, please!" "Forgive me." "Take that bouquet." "Kiss it..." "Open the shutters." "Wider." "Moonlight is more becoming." "The countryside is lovely from here." "Come back here." "Just for tonight, forget all else." "As you wish." "Say my name." "Say:" "Fosca and Giorgio." "What an unexpected joy:" "You here, saying our names." "I could die happy right now." "You'd be happier alive." "Only if you loved me." "Will you stay till morning?" "As long as you want." "Is it tiring to speak?" "A little." "Rest your head on my pillow." "Shall we sleep?" "Give me your hand." "You're so beautiful." "You're both so beautiful..." "If you knew what it's like for a woman not to be beautiful..." "Being an ugly woman is the worst of tortures." "There's no comparable agony in a man's life." "Even a deformed, unloved man has compensations." "Society is lenient towards him." "If he can't obtain love, he can fall back on ambition." "A woman can't escape from the life planned for her." "Never." "She has to please to be loved." "And for that she needs beauty." "Is she tall?" " Who?" " Her..." " Don't punish yourself." " Is she tall?" "Your height." "What color hair?" "Black." "Like mine?" "Yours is lovelier." "Do you have sisters?" "Yes." "Why?" "Do you ever kiss them?" "Kiss me like you kiss them." "Not that way." "Kiss me as you kiss her." "Like her!" "Now, go." "We won't meet again, until my health is back." "The doctor might think..." "But I'll write you." "Leave me something of yours, some token." "Your handkerchief." "You go." "Run." "Tears are getting the better of me." "Go away." "I feel my sickness coming on." "I must scream." "They'll come." "It's the Captain's lucky night." "15-3." "Such luck!" "It's at least 20-3." "You're very pale." "Is her illness so serious?" "Did I really have to visit her the other night?" "Your questions are insulting, young man." "You're suggesting I'm a pimp, not a doctor." "A more amusing profession than mine." "But not the one I chose." "She'd already be dead without you." "And now, in a few days, she'll be cured." "You're so lucky." "It really is the captain's lucky night." "43-3." "She was shunned by other children and unloved by adults." "It's cruel but that's how it is:" "Ugly children don't get much affection." "Fosca did not improve with age." "But she was healthy and had a youthful grace." "After my uncle died, I still visited Fosca and her mother." "Once, I brought along a young man I'd met at my club." "A Venetian count with a lively mind whose conversation dazzled everyone." "Especially Fosca." "In less than a month, they wanted to get married." "Signora Fosca has been married?" "For a few hours." "The groom was no count:" "A scoundrel with a past." "He disappeared the same day with Fosca's entire dowry." "A fortune, in cash." "Fosca got sick, lost weight." "She became as you've seen her." "Fosca's mother died within a few days of heartbreak." "I spent months looking for that man:" "He was in a Dalmatian jail." "He'd already been married...three times." "My cousin was now poor and alone." "I asked her to come live with me." "It was the least I could do." "I'd introduced her to the man responsible for her misfortunes and mine." "Life raced by with lightning speed." "And now here I am:" "In a couple of years, I'll be retired." "A scribbler, about to be pensioned off." "Besides what's the point of being in uniform behind a desk?" "No excitement, nothing." "It's almost grotesque." "Once I was young...and handsome like you." "But I was never brave." "A pity." "It's a pity to grow old without any memories." "A scribbler." "I told you all about Fosca, Captain so you'll understand how grateful I am to you." "You've been very patient with my cousin." "Your company does her good." "Every favor you do her, is a favor to me." "Your attitude towards Fosca makes me admire you." "Envy you." "It pains me to leave you, Fosca." "Especially when you're so well, like today." "Captain, will you keep her company?" "I'm afraid I'm on duty." "To hell with that." "I'll fix it." "Stay here." "You wanted to get away." "I was riding out with my squadron." "That's not true." "It is." "Would you sit at the writing table, please?" "Why?" "I want to dictate a letter." "Write the date." "November 15, 1863." ""My love..."" ""My beloved Fosca..."" "It's to me." "Since you deny me what you accord others." "Have you written it?" ""My beloved Fosca..."" ""Yesterday, my husband said: 'You have a grey hair.'" ""It's the silver hair I enclosed in the envelope."" ""When did it turn white?"" ""Perhaps the day you left?" "Perhaps."" "Why don't you answer?" "Why are you here?" "I needed to be alone." "It's from Clara." "Yet you're not happy." "I was." "Until a moment ago." "Want me to jump?" "Make it seem an accident?" "Don't be unfair." "You know I have moments of sadness, when I seem mean." "But you know I'm not." "That's why I want to free you of me, your burden." "You think I don't notice your agony?" "What happened?" "You're cut." "I hadn't noticed..." "It's those bushes." "Why did you want to be alone?" "To think." "About her?" "About nothing." "Don't you ever want to be alone to think?" "Only when I want to cry." "Maybe I wanted to cry, too." "Why would you cry?" "I torture you, don't I?" "Answer me." "Do I bore you?" "Want me to go away?" "Leave me alone." "I want to be alone!" "A thought..." "A horrible thought..." "What thought?" "Now I understand." "She wants to drag me down into the grave with her." "Doctor..." "Now I know why whenever we're alone she hugs me, kisses me with her cold lips." "Those arms pull at me. draw me in suffocate me like icy tentacles..." "Never leave us alone together." "I watched you wither by the day." "I thought you'd manage by yourself to cut short that liaison." "Go ask my orderly for my white pipe." "Your fever is insignificant." "But you, too, are in danger." "I can't say: "Do this, do that."" "But I must warn you of the dangers." "It's Fosca's life or yours." "Decide." "A month ago, you told me what to do." "I'm also telling you now." "Leave that woman." "Go away." "Last time you said the opposite." "I thought it was the right thing!" "How could I know you were so sensitive?" "So fragile of mind and heart!" "Maybe I should have thought of it." "So I made a mistake!" "I did." "I erred." "I don't only have good ideas." "I told you:" "Every day I forget something new." "What will happen to Fosca if I leave?" "What did you say?" "What did I say?" "I don't know..." "That woman is eating you alive." "And you..." "I'll tell you this in confidence:" "If passion drives Fosca to lose all control..." "If Fosca taking advantage of your condition..." "I mean if...if..." "Her senses, her organs her nervous system, her weak heart especially couldn't withstand the the experience of love that is so consuming so vital to a normal woman, let alone Fosca." "She's almost 30, and in her physical condition it would almost certainly be fatal to her." "Does she know that?" "Yes, but she also knows her life is almost over." "To exchange what's left of her life for the joy of being a woman, at least once would seem a reasonable bargain to her." "I'll put you on sick leave." "You need the care of a hospital." "You leave tomorrow." "Major, I couldn't find the white pipe." "Why did you?" "We're getting off at the next station!" "You've cost me 40 days' leave!" "I'm sick, too." "I need help, too." "Getting off the train was your idea." "I only wanted to follow you to town, independently." "Without even speaking to you." "That's the reasoning of a capricious child." "You, in a big town!" "I have a little money." "I can live in the same town as you on the same street as you." "No one can prevent me." "I'll follow wherever you go." "What do you want from me?" "Nothing." "I told you." "This will make me love you?" "No matter:" "I love you." "I don't!" "My heart feels nothing for you!" "Your heart!" "If I was less ugly, if I could fix this nose, this mouth, this face..." "If I had some meat on these breast-bones, you'd love me!" "It's nothing to do with your heart!" "More reason to leave me alone!" "Why?" "We all must deal with our pain." "I needed a goal for what's left of my life:" "You!" "I'm wholly devoted to you." "When I've smothered you under the weight of my feelings when I've followed you step by step, wherever you go, like your shadow when I've died for you you'll be compelled to love me!" "Kill me!" "We'll both be freed instantly." "You mustn't..." "I unpack?" "No, I'm leaving tomorrow." "She led you back like a lamb." "Fosca told me of your railroad adventures." "She wants you to know the episode has no consequences." "Her cousin hadn't found the letter yet." "I'm glad for her, and for him." "You told her I was leaving today?" "I said for two days." "Good thing I lied." "You didn't lie." "I'll be back in two days." "Why?" "You have 40 days sick leave." "I only need a few hours in town." "I promised her that." "Forget your promise." "Impossible." "I can't..." "You must be transferred permanently." "Our commanding general is an old friend." "I'll send him a dispatch today." "Then you'll be ordered to leave." "Fosca can't stop that." "Have you thought of..." "I'm thinking of you!" "Since you're incapable of it." "That woman's presence is developing in you a destructive urge that is consuming you." "I don't understand it." "It's my duty to help her." "No one can help Fosca." "You, as I've already said can hasten her death." "And since when do you discuss orders from superiors?" "Have a good trip." "Ready?" "Whenever you say, Sir." "Well?" "You won't be back." "Today, I knew we'd never see those places again." "Why?" "We love each other." "I can't give you up." "For that poor wretch, I only feel pity." "That can be stronger than love." "She's a monster." "Maybe it's a nobler love." "She needs you." "Don't you need me?" "I need you to be happy." "She, to survive." "I'm beautiful." "You've told me a thousand times." "That should be enough." "Christmas is in a week:" "That's the gift I'll give my husband." "I've had those figures since childhood." "This is my favorite." "Maybe because it's the ugliest." "I could imagine how he must have suffered in his village." "Kids mocking his deformity." "I'm neither a Turk, nor a Catholic." "Just an honest man." "But I like to celebrate Christmas properly." "With my closest friends." "Thanks to all of you." "You must specially thank the Captain, who was on leave and returned to spend Christmas with us in his regiment." "Tonight, we'll have lots of fine people to dinner." "All the better halves of our colleagues." "Even the beautiful Emma?" "Certainly, dear." "Great." "Not only our stomachs, but our aesthetic sense will also feast." "What is it?" "Put it in..." "Wait, this one's from the ministry." "Turkey-hen with truffles." "I chose them myself." "For me, as many tortellini as I have years." "58." "No more." "It's a tradition." "When we met, he was at 35 tortellini!" "Of all his old vices, only eating remains." "Like you, dear." "The ministry has a surprise for us." "You're transferred to the town depot." "You have to report immediately for duty." "Transferred?" "To town?" "How?" "I don't understand." "No!" "Don't abandon me!" "No." "Giorgio, my love!" "You promised me, Giorgio!" "Captain, wait for me in your quarters." "You, of all people basely abused my trust." "I don't know what your aim was." "You took advantage of my cousin, like any other scoundrel." "You're right to be silent." "Words can't repair the damage." "I want satisfaction of another kind." "What do you mean?" "We'll fight." "Fight?" "A duel?" "Is the brave Captain afraid?" "Tell him!" "It's not your responsibility!" "Go ahead, say it!" "How you were forced..." "Not at all." "Nothing was forced on me." "I'm at your disposal." "It's my first duel." "I hate those foolish duels that end with a scratch." "One of us won't leave the field." "Gentlemen!" "Can't soldiers, for once show a little intelligence?" "At 7 am, at the old castle." "I'll provide the weapons." "My cousin mustn't know of this duel." "If you don't tell her, she won't know." "This silly duel could have been avoided." "Your attitude was a kind of provocation." "Of course, I'm indirectly responsible for what happened." "Ever since..." "I encouraged you to go to Fosca's room." "Tonight I'm going back there." "I must see her." "You must tell her I'm coming and let me in, like last time." "You want to see that...woman?" "It's absurd!" ""That woman?" Doctor..." ""That woman"...risked humiliation for me." "And ridicule." "She endured my rejection, my anger." "She surrendered her pride, her self-respect." "For me." "It's easy to love when one is loved." "But she, though spurned loved me more than anyone." "I love her, too." "Go ahead and be surprised." "I love Fosca." "Whatever you said, I didn't hear it." "Another of your works!" "You may have forgotten how to cure diseases, but you induced mine!" "So don't pretend you can't hear me." "I can't hear you!" "I love Fosca!" "Is that a crime against nature?" "You say you forget something every day." "Today, forget your "aesthetic sense."" "I love her." "And I want to tell her before I abandon her." "Tomorrow, however the duel ends, I'll be gone." "I love you..." "I love you..." "Do you love me as you would any other woman, like Clara?" "More." "Be mine, Giorgio." "We can't." "You can't, you know it." "One hour, one moment with you." "More happiness than I ever hoped for." "To die loved, is to have lived." "And I fainted in the Doctor's arms." "At that moment, I received the legacy of that sad affair..." "As if Fosca's illness had been transmitted to me." "For 5 years, it has gnawed at my soul." "And my body." "I relish the havoc that time, little by little is playing with my memory." "And Fosca?" "She died 3 days after that night." "She died happy." "The Doctor sent me Fosca's hair." "On her deathbed she'd cut it off for me." "A jolly story." "Very jolly!" "What did you hope to do?" "Change the eternal laws of nature?" "What an absurd tale!" "It would make sense if Fosca had been a great beauty, and Giorgio had been..." "like me." "Everyone would have undestood that "passionate affair."" "But this way..." "Giorgio and Fosca, what an absurd tale!" "What an absurd tale!"