Scene 16

HOPE
Brutal! That maiden! You were right! What a deceiver! She just wanted to trap him. Sir Richard was only doing what was right – he was saving a maiden in the woods. But then I guess you know how these stories go, don’t you?

WISDOM
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

HOPE
Now Sir Richard has lost the path.

WISDOM
The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life.

HOPE
It doesn’t seem fair. Sir Richard goes to help someone, and then he almost gets killed. I can’t believe that all along that maiden was deceiving him.

WISDOM
All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Great King.

HOPE
His motives were wrong? Will he find the path again, or will he be destroyed by his enemy?

WISDOM
Whoever confesses & renounces his sins finds mercy.

HOPE
So, who is he supposed to confess his sins to?

WISDOM
The Great King extends mercy to those who ask. There may be mercy for your love.

HOPE
What do you know about my x love.

WISDOM
Only what you told me.

HOPE
Are you suggesting – that I forgive him? I was betrayed. That kills love. Or so I thought. I’m so confused. t seems the more Wisdom shows me, the less I know. (pause) Ronnie was his name. We were married for 8 years. We had so much fun together. The way he proposed to me, I’ll never forget it. He was so romantic. We were hiking, and he found a treasure map. He got me so excited about it. I thought it was real. Together we followed the map, until we found the spot. X marked the spot. You know, like in the movies. We dug for the treasure, and we found a chest. He let me open it. And there inside was a note, and a ring. Will you marry me Hope? So romantic! (pause) How can that kind of romance turn sour? I guess it’s kind of like Sir Richard going off the path. Ronnie went off our path, and followed that… that floozy, that man hungry, man seducing secretary of his. Oh I know, it’s the classic story, man falls in love with his secretary. The interfering secretary. Late nights at the office… Oh, it burns me (pause)

HOPE
Ronnie actually confessed it to me. I had no idea. Hope, I had an affair. It’s over, and it will never happen again.” Can you believe it? But it happened!! Saying sorry doesn’t change that! How could I trust him again.? Yet, after all this, I wonder. Was what we had love? It started out so right. How could he have betrayed me?

WISDOM
The young lovers are approaching again.

HOPE
Where? I don’t see anything.

WISDOM
Shhhhh. Listen

HOPE
I hope that it is Hermia, so I can tell her about what happened to Lysander and that love juice that Puck put in his eyes. Lysander has betrayed her, and it’s not his fault. It’s that meddling fairy…..

WISDOM
Wait. Listen & watch.