Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne1945

H?l?ne:
It happened gradually with my realizing it. I couldn't laugh. I couldn't sleep. I wondered if it was your fault, but no. You're as wonderful as ever. You stay the same. I am the one who has changed. I asked myself over and over. Why am I no longer impatient? Why does my heart not leap up when he arrives? The sound of the elevator's approach no longer thrills me.

Jean:
H?l?ne!

H?l?ne:
It's a horrible discovery, but I wish to be frank. My heart is drifting away from you. I'm ready for your reproaches, bitterness and insults. I've called myself the worst name already. Only one insult could wound me now - hypocrite.

Jean:
H?l?ne, you are wonderful. You were the first to speak, but I was guilty first. The story of your love is exactly the story of my own. All you thought, I thought as well. I kept silent, suffering. What a lesson you've taught me!

H?l?ne:
Really?

Jean:
Really. H?l?ne, you're beautiful, you're stunning. It's as if I'm seeing you for the first time. We should congratulate ourselves. It would have been awful if one went on loving longer than the other.

H?l?ne:
Yes, awful. What now?

Jean:
Neither of us has betrayed the other. We can avoid a messy breakup. We'll continue to see each other. We'll elude the death throes of a languishing love. No deceit, no suprises, no disgust. We'll be unique among our kind. I give you back your freedom, and you give me mine. We each go our own way. We'll be each other's confidant though I doubt I'll find anyone to confide in you about. You've set such a high standard. Can anyone ever know the future? I may soon find you were the only woman capable of making me happy. Perhaps you'll feel the same. And one day we'll meet again, I'll be at your side until we die.

H?l?ne:
What if you don't find me when you return? Anything's possible. I might fall for another. He couldn't compare to you, but still...

Jean:
That would be nobody's fault. Goodnight, H?l?ne.