Lionnette monologue (Act 2) — The Princess of Bagdad: A Play In Three Acts

Whatever may be the punishment of the adulteress, I merit it. (_To the Secretary, who hesitates._) Write, sir, I have not finished. Write. (_She rises, and walks to the table where the Secretary is writing._) So that there may not, by any possibility, be any mistake in the scandalous trials that will follow this scene, and in order that my husband may not have to accuse himself of casting upon me an unjust and hasty suspicion, I declare that not only have I given myself to Mr. Nourvady because I loved him, but because he is rich and I am poor; that after having ruined my husband I sold myself, so incapable was I of bearing poverty. The price of my fall is there: a million in gold struck expressly for me! My husband, there, was right yesterday, when he treated me like a prostitute. I am one, and very happy to be so. And if what I have told you does not convince you; if proofs are necessary, there they are! (_She steeps her bare arms in the gold, and throws handfuls of it all round her._ _To_ JOHN.) And you, sir, if you are in want of money, take some; after the baseness that you commit at this moment, there remains only this for you to do.