Verus monologue (Act 3) — Mary Magdalene: A Play in Three Acts

I do not ask for what one gives to the poor.... And, besides, I have had enough of those evasions which lead to nothing and of those shuffling phrases.... Ah, much I care for justice and a vagrant more or less in the world and my own fate and my own exile!... Have you not understood that it is you I want, you alone and all of you; that I have wanted you for years; and that this is my hour?... It is not beautiful, I know, and it is not as I dreamt it!... But it is all I have; and a man takes what he can to make his life!... We stand here face to face, with our two madnesses, which are more powerful than ourselves and cannot recede; we must come to an understanding!... The more you love him, the more I love you, the more you wish to save him and the more I wish to destroy him! We must come to an understanding!... You want his life, I want mine; and you shall have his life, but I shall have you, before he escapes his death.... Is it understood?... Are we agreed?... Say no, if you dare, and let his blood be upon her who has brought him to this pass and who is destroying him twice over!...