(Frollo has collapsed on the floor. The fire has gone out. For a moment there is silence. An unseen presence causes Frollo to look up, semi-terrified. He stands and whirls around, eyes scanning the darkness.)

Voice: You wanted a discussion.

Frollo: What? Who’s there? Step out immediately! (He is frantic, knowing that whoever the person is, they have just heard his confession)

Voice: I’m by the fireplace. Now, as I said, you wanted a discussion?

Frollo: Guards! (he backs away from the fireplace, which he is straining to look at in the darkness)

Voice: I’ll allow you to be difficult for the first few minutes. Let me use this time appropriately, however. (The doors open, and two guards appear, silhouetted in the hallway. Frollo gestures widely at the room and puts his hand to his head, trying to speak.)

Voice: Now, really, they’re only going to think you’ve gone crazy. We both know very well they won’t find me: that is entirely the point, Minister Frollo. (there is a moment of silence as the guards move into the room. Frollo winces as they approach the fireplace.)

Frollo: Never mind. Go back to your posts. (the guards exit)

Voice: Let me begin provocatively. You are a hypocrite.

Frollo: What is this?

Voice: An interrogation, if you like. They seem to be your specialty. (Frollo now has an infuriated look on his face as he searches every corner of the room) I can see that you’re not going to settle down any time soon. Let’s make things easier between ourselves. There. (A figure appears in the middle of the room, face shadowed. It is in robes identical to Frollo’s, and one can barely make out that is wearing the tri-cornered hat (chaperon). Frollo stops and grasps his head as if in pain, then looks up at the figure.) Good, that should stop your confusion. On to the interrogation.

Frollo: (he begins to speak, but his line of speech is somehow limited. For a moment he is frightened, clenching his fists, and then he slowly recomposes himself, brushing his hair back) You were...saying...

Voice: That you are a hypocrite of highest degree.

Frollo: I’m a servant of God!

Voice: Really? (there is a moment of silence) First point, which we shall debate. One, you claim that all humans are the children of the Lord. Yet you oppress those selfsame children: in your case you seem to have chosen the Romani as your victims.

Frollo: They’re pagans, they love their own idols! They were born of the Devil! They corrupt the righteous...

Voice: Just as Esmeralda has corrupted you, you say? I’ll save you from having to say it. Do you truly believe that if a person doesn’t take Jesus Christ as their particular guide that they don’t love God, or abide by higher morals? It is the principle of Christian teachings, not the details, that matter the most. Is an evil Pope better for the world than a virtuous pagan?

Frollo: Such a Pope never took God as his own.

Voice: I was using the Pope to represent you, Minister. You destroy good people, you mistreat the one whom you claim to love: he is ringing the evening mass as we speak. You destroy what God creates. Second point.

Frollo: I won’t allow it! You have seen the licentious squabblings of the gypsies! You see the smut they portray, you see the thieving, you see the worldly evil they inspire!

Voice: They do not deny what is human. You do. That is why your attraction to Esmeralda confuses you. You have the impudence to suppress your humanity: and when a simple woman releases it, you must destroy something. You are frightened, Minister.

Frollo: Of course I'm frightened! She is a witch.

Voice: Calm yourself. Beneath your confusion there is some virtue, man, I challenge you to find it. Listen to me, if only for the sake of that boy.

Frollo: Quasimodo has nothing to do with this. I’ve been kind to him.

Voice: You’re hiding your motives. You know very well how you treat him.

Frollo: I try to teach him and yet he disobeys. I warn him of the world and he runs into it, like a misbehaved dog. I try to purge the world of sin, and yet sin overcomes me.

Voice: You inspire sin. In the Bible, God’s error was to tell Adam and Eve not to take the apple: to refuse is to make something all the more worthy of seeking out. Quasimodo learned a lesson in reality, surely: he learned that he can trust no one, not even you. He shouldn’t trust you. You abuse him, you lock him away to retain your own public image.

Frollo: (looks for a moment at the figure, then runs his hand through his hair) I’m sorry.

Voice (somewhat impressed): Remarkable. That was very sudden. I almost think that you care for that unfortunate young man.

Frollo: Does that amaze you so much? Does God hate me so much? (he straightens)

Voice: I didn’t say that I was a messenger of God.

Frollo: the Devil, then?

Voice: Not that, either. So you admit that you acted wrongly with the boy. Good. I return to the gypsies. You scapegoat them.

Frollo: They deserve it. (He looks painfully at the fireplace)

Voice: Ah. I would say, Minister, that you enjoy watching others in pain; having Esmeralda or killing her are equally attractive options. You want to love and be loved, yet you do everything in exactly the wrong way. I would like to know the reasons.

Frollo: How should I know? The world is wicked, it is a dark place, full of sin. To harm the Devil’s seed is to praise God, as I have.

Voice: I agree. There is evil in the world. Murdering a murderer, however, is not the way to go about ending it, yes?

Frollo: That is the principle of justice, whose face you seem to have stolen!

Voice (the figure gestures to Frollo): Which of us wears the mask? You do not end pain by causing more. Just as you did not extinguish Quasimodo’s curiosity by instigating it. Do you agree?

Frollo: Nobody ever expressed love to me! Why should I give love to others?

Voice: There, there is your problem! You just confessed it! You say you never received affection: I even believe you. Perhaps you aren’t as guilty of original sin as some.

Frollo: I can’t overcome darkness on my own!

Voice: No, not all of it...but you’re off topic, Minister. You essentially say that you were never loved. I think, sir, that if you were more of a father to Quasimodo, you would indeed be greatly loved. He calls you Master and fears you, when he should call you Father.

Frollo: I never wanted him. You seem to know enough! I never asked for him!

Voice: But you caused him. That is responsibility, which you, Minister, seem to know enough about. You must care for what you create. That is God's mission on earth. You wish to be closer to God? Then practice it, instead of speaking it!

Frollo: (frowning, a light going on.) You’re angry. (He moves closer to the figure)

Voice: I have my own weaknesses, but they are in appropriate places. You move in on me like a viper: you extort. Think beyond yourself. (Frollo stands coldly, looking in another direction) I thought we were making progress. Very well then, Minister of Justice Claude Frollo de Paris. I leave you to your own mental misconceptions.

(Frollo turns, but the figure is gone. The fire is relit in the fireplace. He looks at it for a moment in horror, then his gaze traces up to the crucifix, and from the crucifix to the silhouette of Notre Dame in the night.)