Did you not see that when I came in this afternoon I went into my study suddenly for a moment?
Robert
You did. I remember.
Richard
To give you time to recover yourself. It made me sad to see your eyes. And the roses too. I cannot say why. A great mass of overblown roses.
Robert
I thought I had to give them. Was that strange? [Looks at Richard with a tortured expression.] Too many, perhaps? Or too old or common?
Richard
That was why I did not hate you. The whole thing made me sad all at once.
Robert
[To himself.] And this is real. It is happening—to us.
[He stares before him for some moments in silence, as if dazed; then, without turning his head, continues.]
Robert
And she, too, was trying me; making an experiment with me for your sake!
Richard
You know women better than I do. She says she felt pity for you.
Robert
[Brooding.] Pitied me, because I am no longer . . . an ideal lover. Like my roses. Common, old.
