Bertha
Did you hear the garden gate?
Robert
[Rising also.] No.
[A short pause. The piano can be heard faintly from the upper room.]
Robert
[Pleading.] Do not go away. You must never go away now. Your life is here. I came for that too today—to speak to him—to urge him to accept this position. He must. And you must persuade him to. You have a great influence over him.
Bertha
You want him to remain here.
Robert
Yes.
Bertha
Why?
Robert
For your sake because you are unhappy so far away. For his too because he should think of his future.
Bertha
[Laughing.] Do you remember what he said when you spoke to him last night?
Robert
About . . .? [Reflecting.] Yes. He quoted the Our Father about our daily bread. He said that to take care for the future is to destroy hope and love in the world.
Bertha
Do you not think he is strange?
