It was from no light motive I professed to be what I am not. It was because I wished to strip the memory of my husband from my heart as he has stripped his presence from my life. (SIR H: He left you?) Do you care to know? (sits R.) If you can listen to me I should like to tell you. I was a giddy girl when I was young--one who thought nothing of the past and little of the future. My husband was a serious sort of man--absorbed in his pursuit. I thought I was neglected, and--well, it's a humiliating thing to say, but I must say it--the attention I didn't get from him I accepted from others. I didn't doubt he loved me, but he didn't show it; and I determined that he should. At last I forced him to speak. He wasn't angry--he used no hard words--but he--he frightened me. I pretended not to care; but I was cured. (SIR H: Go on.) With one man I had gone too far to withdraw easily. I was obliged to write to him. It was rather a long letter. When I had written the first sheet I put it in my desk and went on with the next. In the middle of it I was called away on some household matter, and when I returned that second sheet was gone.

Alma Monologue from The Silver Shield: An Original Comedy in Three Acts

Rehearse Alma's monologue