l of the stage is almost pitch dark. JOSEPH gets into the remotest corner. As ENENKHET opens the door, on the right, wide, the SOLDIER appears without.]
SOLDIER: Is all well?
ENENKHET: All is well. Pass on. [The soldier passes on. ENENKHET turns to JOSEPH.] Lie close! She cometh. I leave the door ajar. [He slips out.]
ASENATH'S VOICE: [Singing.] — Beloved, what though I seek in vain, Thou knowest
[The VOICE ceases abruptly. The figure of a WOMAN, covered from head to foot in a purple veil, appears in the doorway. The scene is flooded with soft moonlight, so that it is nearly as light as day.]
JOSEPH: [Coming slowly forward.] Thou—! Thou—! Asenath! I dare scarce move, lest the vision vanish—! Is it thou?—Dare I think it?—Thou knowest me guiltless? Speak! Speak! [She stretches her arms out towards him; he hurries to her and sinks at her feet. At the same moment another figure, swathed in a black veil, appears within the door.] I love thee! I worship thee! What other woman could have power over me? I clasp thy knees! I have longed for thee, day and night! Ah! Touch me! Draw me up to thee! [She does so.] Nearer to thy heart! Nearer to thy lips! The lips I have thirsted for!
THE FIGURE IN THE DOOR: [With a wailing cry.] Oh me—! [She vanishes.]
JOSEPH: [Startled, holding the figure at an arm's length.] Who spoke?—Asenath's voice—not thine!—What double vision is this? [With a horrible suspicion.] Who art
