Amazing Journey
 
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     Passion
(She disappears as the Colonel enters, brandishing a piece of paper)
Colonel Bachetti, I found this letter at my cousin's bedside. This is your signature, isn't it?  
Giorgio Yes.  
Colonel You have taken advantage of my cousin's affections.  
Giorgio That was not my intention, sir. Perhaps you should discuss this matter with Signora Fosca.  
Colonel My Cousin is asleep. And in any event, I wouldn't subject her to such a question. No one can make me believe that a man such as yourself would desire a woman like Signora Fosca. Would ever write her a letter like this.  
Giorgio Why is that?  
Colonel The reason seems obvious.  
Giorgio Not to me. Forgive me for saying this but you had no right to read that letter, no right to take it from her room.  
Colonel My cousin is at the end of her life! She does not deserve to be led on in such a manner!  
Giorgio You don't know your cousin. She is not a child! She is not just a sick person. Signora Fosca is as responsible for her actions as I am for mine.  
Colonel You have abused my good faith, come into my house to dishonor it. Your attitude towards me is nothing short of contemptuous. I must demand a reparation from you - and mere words will not suffice.  
Giorgio What? Fight? A duel?  
Colonel I confided you. You know that my cousin has been taken advantage of before.
(The Doctor enters and stands off to the side)
We will meet tomorrow mornint at eight, behind the castle steps.
 
Doctor (trying to make light of the situation)
Gentlemen, please. Colonel, there is an explanation. Captain Bachetti, speak up. Say how she forced you -
 
Giorgio Not at all. Nothing was forced on me.  
Doctor Oh please, let's come to our senses here.  
Colonel My cousin knows nothing of this discovery. She must know nothing of what is going to happen. I need your word on that.  
Giorgio She will not hear of this matter from me.  
Colonel Very well. Tomorrow. (he exits)
Doctor It's deplorable that that woman should have brought you to this. Let's not panic. The Colonel will calm down. There's still time to explain -
Giorgio You will arrange for me to see Fosca.
Doctor Are you totally mad?
Giorgio Whatever the outcome of this duel, I will never see her again. You will arrange for me to see her as you did before.
Doctor Impossible.

I Was Wrong
Giorgio Don't you see what you've endured, Doctor?
What that woman has endured?
My rejection, my disgust
My indifference, my anger
My contempt and, yes, my ugliness
What that woman has endured, Doctor
No one has ever loved me as that woman has
No one has truly loved me, just Fosca
Love without reason
Love without mercy
Love without pride or shame
Love unconcerned with being returned
No wisdom, no judgement
No caution, no blame
No one has ever known me as that woman has
No one has truly shown me
What love could be like until now
I was wrong
I was wrong
 
Doctor You're taken leave of your senses
Giorgio You may have forgotten how to cure a disease, Doctor, but you induced mine.
Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.
Doctor I hope you understand that woman can never be your lover. Her physical condition -
Giorgio I was wrong,
Love's a demand,
I was wrong,
Love needn't grow,
Love can be sudden surrender,
Not tender, not slow,
And I know now that
I love Fosca,
No, not the way that she loves me,
But, I love Fosca,
And nothing will come of it,
And, if I should die tomorrow,
Or live and be forced to go,
No one has truly loved her but me,
And I want her to know...
Giorgio You will arrange for me to see her.
Doctor No, I take no part in this madness (The Doctor exits)

 
Scene Nine
Fosca's bedroom.
Quietly, Giorgio enters. Fosca is resting on the bed and doesn't hear him.
Giorgio Fosca. Fosca.
(She lifts herself up)
I'm sorry to surprise you like this.
Fosca Thank you for coming.
Giorgio I wanted you to know that I had nothing to do with this transfer.
Fosca I know that now. The Doctor told me.
Giorgio That letter from Clara ...
Fosca Yes?
Giorgio It's over. Finished.  
Fosca I'm so sorry.  
Giorgio Sorry? I thought you'd be happy.
Fosca There was a time when I'd welcomed that. But I realise now I don't want you to be unhappy. I don't wish to see you sad.
Giorgio I feel so much ... but I'm not really sad.
Fosca I thought you loved Clara?
Giorgio I did love Clara. I did. But ...    
No One Has Ever Loved Me
Giorgio No one has ever loved me
As deeply as you.
No one has truly shown me
What love could be like until now:
Not pretty or safe or easy
But more than I ever knew.
Love within reason -
That isn't love.
And I've learned that from you ...
Are you cold?
Fosca No, I'm afraid.  
Giorgio Of what?  
Fosca All this happiness,
Coming when there's so little time.
Too much happiness
More than I can bear.

I pray for the strength to enjoy it. You'll leave tomorrow. This is the only time we have.
You do love me, don't you?
Giorgio Yes, I love you.  
Fosca Say it again.  
Giorgio I love you.  
Fosca Once more.  
Giorgio I love you.
Be calm. Be strong. I am yours.
 
Fosca This isn't a dream?  
Giorgio This isn't a dream.
(She begins to lead him towards the bed but Giorgio resists)
W, e can't.
 
Fosca To die loved is to have lived.  
(They kiss. Fosca becomes weak, and Giorgio lifts her and carries her to the bed where he gently puts her down. He stares at her momentarily; her strength returns and she pulls him onto the bed as the music swells and the lights fade.)
  Scene Ten
An open field.
We hear the sound of military drums. Daybreak. The Colonel, the Doctor, Torasso, Barri, Lombardi, Augenti and two Soldiers are waiting. Giorgio enters. He looks hollow-eyed and dishevelled.
 
Lombardi Gentlemen
(The Colonel crosses to center; Giorgio stands numb)
Doctor Captain.  
(Giorgio comes to life and makes his way to center; Lombardi presents a box with the pistols. Giorgio and the Colonel each take one and then move to their positions.)
Torasso Ten paces, Gentlemen. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
(The Colonel and Giorgio mark off ten paces. They turn and fire almost simultaneously. The Colonel stands frozen for an instant, then trembles and falls to the ground; the Doctor and the other men rush to his aid, leaving Giorgio standing alone on the other side of the stage. Suddenly, Giorgio lets out a high-pitched howl - a cry that is clearly reminiscent of Fosca's - as lights fade to black)





Scene Eleven
A hospital.
Lights up on Giorgio, dazed, sitting at a desk. A nurse enters and brings him a box with a letter. As Giorgio opens the letter, the Doctor enters.
 
Doctor Captain Bachetti.
I didn't write to you before, because I knew your illness might prevent you from comprehending the contents of my letter. I now have heard that you're close to recovering and that your nervous condition has improved.
I don't know what you've been told or what you even remember of the events that led you away. Signora Fosca died three days after the night you last saw one another. She died without knowing of what took place between you and her cousin. The Colonel's wound was serious, but not mortal. He recovered in a few months. I wanted to speak to the Colonel about you in oder to convince him of your innocence, but in the end I was afraid that I would hurt your cause more than help it.
In a box that I am sending, you will find papers that were left behind in your desk. Also, I've enclosed some personal belongings of Signora Fosca's, and a letter she wrote to you just prior to her death.
(As Giorgio goes through the papers in the box, he summons up his past.)
 
Finale
Barri, Rizzolli, Torasso The town, it is remore, isn't it?
And provincial -
Don't you think?
 
Clara I'm filling up our room,
Our little room,
With every flower in bloom.
I'll have the fire lit,
The table set,
I'll wear the blue chemise ...
Ludovic The time has come to face the truth
Signorina ...
 
Attendants This sterile little town
These pompous little men.
 
Lombardi, Augenti, Soldier 1 This military madness ...
Attendants Military madness ...
Lombardi, Augenti, Attendants Uniforms, uniforms ...
Clara Imagining your fingers touching mine
Imagining our room
The bed, the secrecy
The world outside
Your mouth on mine ...
Colonel An unattractive woman
Is easily deceived ...
 
Doctor What is the cost of a few words when a life hangs in the balance? (Giorgio picks up Fosca's letter, opens it and starts to read)  
Giorgio My dearest Giorgio.
The end is near. The time has come for me to surrender life gracefully. These past two days since you have left, since we were together, have been a revelation.
Now at last I see what comes from feeling loved.
Strange, how merely feeling loved,
Giorgio, Fosca You see things clearly.
Things I feared, like the world itself,
I now love dearly.
I want to live.
Now I want to live,
Fosca Just from being loved.
All that pain I nursed inside
For all those years -
 
Giorgio All that vain and bitter self-concern -  
Both All those tears and all that pride
Have vanished into air ...
Fosca I don't want to leave.  
Giorgio Now that I am loved.
Fosca I don't want to leave.
Both Everywhere I turn, you are there.
Fosca Everywhere I look things are different.
Both Everything seems right
Everythings seems possible,
Every moment bursts with feeling.
Why is love so easy to give
And so hard to receive?
 
Fosca But though I want to live,
I now can leave
With what I never knew:
I'm someone to be loved.
Giorgio I'm someone to be loved.
Fosca And that I learned from you.
All I don't know how I let you
So far inside my mind.
But there you are and there you will stay
How could I ever wish you away?
I see now I was blind.
Fosca And should you die tomorrow,
Another thing I see:
 
Giorgio Your love will live in me ...
Fosca Your love will live in me ...
Giorgio, Group 1 Your love will live in me ...
Fosca, Group 2 Your love will live in me ...
Giorgio, Group 1 Your love will live in me ...
Fosca, Group 2 Your love will live in me ...
Giorgio, Group 1 Your love will live in me ...
Fosca, Group 2 Your love will live in me ...
Giorgio Your love will live in me ...  
Fosca Your love will live in me ...  
Giorgio Your love will live in me ...  
    End
     

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