- Miguel Castro: The other day, someone told me a very interesting story. The story of a happy marriage that went downhill.
- María José de Castro: Why?
- Miguel Castro: The woman tricked the man.
- María José de Castro: Oh really? How original.
- Miguel Castro: Let me finish. The woman tricked the man. They were both good people, especially the woman. And he had a lot of money.
- María José de Castro: So what did the husband do, kill his wife?
- Miguel Castro: No, even better. He left her. Without a penny, suddenly she lost her entire life. Even everyday life, lost. And nobody wanted to give her a hand. Do you like it?
- María José de Castro: The story? It's not too bad. Who told it to you?
- Miguel Castro: Rafa.
- Juan Fernández Soler: The war. The war is very convenient. You can blame everything on it. All the death and destruction, all the guys like me left hollow inside - who never believe in anything ever again. Not even the sweetheart who doesn't wait and marries a rich man. Now I'm talking nonsense. I sound like some dime store novel.
- Juan Fernández Soler: Carmina is happily married. I fulfill my role as black sheep. The virtuous brothers are deceased and the family's glory is on display behind glass.
- Rafael Sandoval: Have you seen the paper?
- María José de Castro: Anything important?
- Rafael Sandoval: Depends what you call important.
- María José de Castro: What is it?
- Rafael Sandoval: Wait a minute. Not the editorials. The comics are dumb. Sports - nothing. "News in Brief." Here it is. Let's see. Don't you love the News in brief? "House Under Construction Collapses." "Crime of Passion." "Death of a Cyclist." Here it is.
- María José de Castro: We have to find out what we did.
- Juan Fernández Soler: We killed a man, didn't we?
- Miguel Castro: Have you taken up business now?
- Rafael Sandoval: Not exactly business. More like a game.
- Miguel Castro: A forbidden game?
- Rafael Sandoval: A dangerous one.
- María José de Castro: In fairy tales, the evil fairy always asks for three things. What's your third wish?
- Rafael Sandoval: You.
- María José de Castro: I'll have to tell my husband.
- Rafael Sandoval: Just what I intend to do.
- Rafael Sandoval: I am Rafael Sandoval, or Rafa. Good for nothing, but granted entrance to the most exclusive circles. At your charity balls, at parties for wealthy merchants and landowners, I, art critic, represent culture with a capital C. I eat your caviar, drink your whiskey, and smoke your cigarettes. In exchange - and I'm the loser in the bargain - I endure you all.
- María José de Castro: And you're bored stiff.
- Rafael Sandoval: No, I'm really not. It's fun observing you. I see your sins, classify them, file them away - and wait.
- María José de Castro: For what?
- Rafael Sandoval: The right moment to act. All the ugly things you hide, I dig them up and lay them before you. It's a means of purification.
- Cristina: This canasta tournament will be great fun. It's for poor children, or stupid children, or something - but it'll be fun.
- Miguel Castro: People talk about us. The way you behave. The things I do. Social chatter. It's not important.
- María José de Castro: It could be.
- Miguel Castro: Never. In my book, it's not what you say, it's what you do.
- Cristina: [to Miguel] Come. I have some juicy gossip.
- Rafael Sandoval: Can't we hear?
- Cristina: Gossip is for one person at a time. Group sessions are so tiresome.
- Rafael Sandoval: Your husband tells me you're leaving Madrid very soon.
- María José de Castro: That's my plan. Why?
- Rafael Sandoval: Just curious. I'd rather you didn't run off. I thought I might...
- María José de Castro: What?
- Rafael Sandoval: Surprise you.
- María José de Castro: You're going to die.
- María José de Castro: What did he say?
- Miguel Castro: The priest?
- María José de Castro: No, Rafa.
- Miguel Castro: Just small talk. Why?
- María José de Castro: I can't stand the creep.
- Miguel Castro: He's just a poor devil, a poet.
- María José de Castro: He's always criticizing.
- Miguel Castro: Isn't that his job?
- María José de Castro: He's always gossiping.
- Miguel Castro: We all talk about what we see, imagine, suspect. You talk about others, and they talk about you.
- Juan Fernández Soler: We can't even kiss now. You can't stand to let me caress you. I don't dare to touch you. Maybe I don't even want to.
- María José de Castro: It's you I love.
- Juan Fernández Soler: But why? Mrs. Castro yawns her way through cocktail parties, is bored silly at canasta tournaments, falls asleep at gala concerts. The old teenage affair becomes a romantic adventure, nice and exciting - as long as there are no complications.
- Juan Fernández Soler: We'll lose everything.
- María José de Castro: What does "everything" mean?
- Juan Fernández Soler: To you? I don't know. Your world, your home, your husband, your position in society, your wonderful life.
- María José de Castro: And you.
- Juan Fernández Soler: Thanks. I'm in there somewhere too.
- María José de Castro: What do you envy most? The name or the money?
- Miguel Castro: What do you think? A name can be tarnished by some unseemly act.
- María José de Castro: Unseemly? Like what?
- Miguel Castro: I don't know. How about murder?
- Miguel Castro: Is he still in love with you?
- María José de Castro: Juan? What a thing to say!
- Miguel Castro: Why not? You're prettier by the day.
- María José de Castro: Very kind of you.
- Juan Fernández Soler: Sometimes I wish it would all come out. That we killed one man while deceiving another, that we think only of ourselves. It would be a relief.
- Miguel Castro: An unseemly act tarnishes a name but the name still remains, whereas money is more fragile.
- Rafael Sandoval: Don't touch me! I'm tired of always being your guest. The intelligent and witty guest. Good old Rafa. Nice Rafa. I have the upper hand here! You're all filthy scum, a bunch of selfish pigs! And I know all your dirty secrets!
- Matilde Luque Carvajal: Why are you doing all this? Why go away?
- Juan Fernández Soler: Because of something bad that I did.
- Juan Fernández Soler: Can't you see it's wonderful?
- Matilde Luque Carvajal: What is?
- Juan Fernández Soler: This selflessness, this unity, this solidarity.
- Juan Fernández Soler: This morning I got quite a scare. The police came looking for me. That's always frightening, even with a clean conscience.
- Doña Maria: I've never understood you, Juan. Never. You're too complicated for a woman like me. Everything was given to me sorted out and measured. But you always managed to escape, and I've never known where your true peace lies. Forgive me. I've never known how to help you. I couldn't.
- Juan Fernández Soler: I must have been a great disappointment to you, Mother. Always searching for a way out - like bumblebees flying into windowpanes. You know, the other day at school, someone broke the windowpane.
- María José de Castro: I love you, Miguel. I love you.
- Miguel Castro: No, you don't love me. You love what I represent. All this. Everything I can give you. Everything I can take away.
- María José de Castro: Miguel, you're what matters most.
- Miguel Castro: No! No, it's not me. It's your selfishness.
- María José de Castro: My selfishness?
- Miguel Castro: Yes. It's the only thing I can use to my advantage. Your selfishness, your greed, your lust for life, your unquenchable desires.
- Juan Fernández Soler: I like this hour of the day. Twilight. There's a moment when everything falls silent. I want so much to live, like never before.
- Rafael Sandoval: I saw you.5:30pm, the highway to France, in a Fiat, going 60 mph.
- María José de Castro: Destination?
- Rafael Sandoval: Unknown. Reason for the journey?
- María José de Castro: Tourism.
- Rafael Sandoval: Anything to declare? Jewels? Drugs? Sins?
- María José de Castro: Just personal effects.
- Rafael Sandoval: Lovers?
- Doña Maria: They're waiting for you at the party.
- Juan Fernández Soler: I'll pass.
- Doña Maria: Not interested?
- Juan Fernández Soler: In my sister?
- Rafael Sandoval: Just what is it you want?
- María José de Castro: To know.
- Rafael Sandoval: To know - abstract art?
- María José de Castro: Cold.
- Rafael Sandoval: Klee's influence on modern painting?
- María José de Castro: Cold.
- Rafael Sandoval: What I earn as an art critic.
- María José de Castro: Freezing.
- Rafael Sandoval: Ho much I like you?
- María José de Castro: Warmer.
- Rafael Sandoval: What you suspect?
- María José de Castro: Hot.
- Rafael Sandoval: What I want?
- María José de Castro: Sizzling.
- María José de Castro: There's something more important than you or me: fear.
- Juan Fernández Soler: Of what?
- María José de Castro: Everything. People watching. A phone ringing. Rafa.
- María José de Castro: What else? What else?
- Rafael Sandoval: What else?
- María José de Castro: Yes, what else?
- Rafael Sandoval: What else?
- María José de Castro: What else? What else?
- Juan Fernández Soler: You know, for the first time in a long time, I have something to believe in.
- María José de Castro: Yourself?
- Juan Fernández Soler: Us. Our dignity.