Scene III
Manet Sostrata.
Sostra. How unjustly
Do husbands stretch their censures to all wives
Because of the offences of a few,
Whose faults reflect dishonour on the rest!
—For, heav’n so help me, as I’m innocent
For the offenses of a few, whose vices
Reflect dishonor on the rest!—For, Heaven
So help me, as I’m wholly innocent
Of what my husband now accuses me!
But ’tis no easy task to clear myself;
So fix’d and rooted is the notion in them,
That Step-Mothers are all severe.—Not I;
For I have ever lov’d Philumena
As my own daughter; nor can I conceive
What accident has drawn her hatred on me.
My son’s return, I hope, will settle all;
And, ah, I’ve too much cause to wish his coming.
Exit.