Letter from an Unknown Woman1948

Lisa:
Johann, you don't think I wanted this to happen.

Johann:
No. [Pause] What are you going to do?

Lisa:
I don't know.

Johann:
Lisa, we have a marriage. Perhaps it's not all you once hoped for, but you have a home, and your son, and people who care for you.

Lisa:
I know that, Johann. I'd do anything to avoid hurting you, but I can't help it.

Johann:
And your son, you think you can avoid hurting him?

Lisa:
He won't be harmed. I'll see to that.

Johann:
There are such things as honor and decency.

Lisa:
I told myself that a hundred times this one evening.

Johann:
You talk as though it were out of your hands. It's not, Lisa. You have a will, you can do what's right, what's best for you, or you can throw away your life.

Lisa:
I've had no will but his, ever.

Johann:
That's romantic nonsense.

Lisa:
Is it? Johann, I can't help it. I can't. You must believe that.

Johann:
What about him? Can't he help himself either?

Lisa:
I know now that he needs me as much as I've always needed him.

Johann:
Isn't it a little late for him to find out?