Garden Pavilion
Gretchen and Faust are caught kissing in the garden pavilion. Mephistopheles interrupts. He gives Faust a sleeping draught — for Gretchen's mother.
Summary
A brief scene, almost nothing in terms of length, devastating in what it sets in motion. Gretchen and Faust are in the garden pavilion. She is playing; he catches her; she kisses him back. "Best of men! With all my heart I love you!" Mephistopheles knocks from outside.
He is businesslike: it is time to leave. Faust cannot take his eyes from Gretchen. Mephistopheles observes the difficulty with amusement and hauls him toward the door. Before they go, he hands Faust a small bottle. A sleeping draught, he explains — for the mother. Gretchen is to put it in her mother's evening drink the night of the assignation. It is mild, utterly harmless; the mother will sleep deeply and notice nothing.
Faust takes the bottle. No objection, no hesitation: the same man who had scruples about testifying to a stranger's death in court takes the bottle without a word. Gretchen will give her mother the draught. The mother will not wake.
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