Chapters (27)
| AMALIA |
Augustus, there you are! What’s happening? I called Ticey, but she won’t come! |
| AUGUSTUS | (Backing her into the room.) |
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I thought you didn’t care what happened out there. |
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| AMALIA |
Why are they shouting? Why doesn’t Jones make them stop? |
| AUGUSTUS |
I reckon the dead don’t make good overseers. Your slaves are rebelling, Missy. Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité! |
| AMALIA | (Stares at him uncomprehendingly, then runs to the window.) |
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Rebelling? My slaves? Augustus, make them stop! They’ll listen to you! |
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| AUGUSTUS |
Like I listened to you? You led me into your parlor like a dog on a leash. Sit, dog! Heel! Care for a sherry? A fairy tale? |
| AMALIA |
No, you were different! You were— |
| AUGUSTUS | (Grabs her.) |
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No more conversation! Where is my mother? |
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| AMALIA | Your mother? How would I know a thing like that? |
| AUGUSTUS | Your husband confessed. |
| AMALIA | (Aware of danger on all sides, seeking escape.) |
| What could Louis have to confess? | |
| AUGUSTUS |
A shrewd piece of planning, to destroy him with his own son after you had failed to destroy the son himself! But you had to be patient. Twenty years you had to wait before you could buy me back. |
| AMALIA | Louis, your father? You must be joking! |
| AUGUSTUS |
Shall I help you remember? You supplied the basket yourself— |
| AMALIA | Basket? |
| AUGUSTUS | —lined in blue satin, trimmed with rosettes— |
| AMALIA | Red rosettes? |
| AUGUSTUS |
Monsieur LaFarge agreed to sell his own baby—but that wasn’t enough, was it? You wanted the child dead. So you slipped a pair of riding spurs into the sewing basket. And you know the kind of scars spurs leave, Missy. Like crowns . . . or exploding suns. |
| AMALIA | My God. |
| AUGUSTUS |
The woman who patched me up kept that basket as a reminder. |
| AMALIA | No . . . |
| AUGUSTUS | (Shakes her.) |
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What did you do with my mother? Who is she? |
Slaps her.
| Tell me! | |
| AMALIA | (Wrenches free to face him; her voice trembling.) |
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So you want to know who your mother is? You think, if I tell you, the sad tale of your life will find its storybook ending? Well then, this will be my last story— and when I have finished, you will wish you had never stroked my hair or kissed my mouth. You will wish you had no eyes to see or ears to hear. You will wish you had never been born. |
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| AUGUSTUS |
I’ve heard grown men scream, watched as the branding iron sank into their flesh. I’ve seen pregnant women slit open like melon, runaways staked to the ground and whipped until they floated in their own blood and piss. Don’t think you can frighten me, Missy: Nothing your lips can tell can be worse than what these eyes have seen. |
| AMALIA |
Bravo! What a speech! But you’ve seen nothing. |
Backs up to appraise him, smiling, slightly delirious.
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That same expression! How could I forget? My lover then stood as tall as you now. |
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| AUGUSTUS | Your lover? |
PHEBE bursts in.