Robert
You see, I am more honest than you thought.
Richard
I wish you had not thought of her now—whoever she was, or is.
Robert
[Easily.] She was and is the wife of a stockbroker.
Richard
[Turning.] You know him?
Robert
Intimately.
[Richard sits down again in the same place and leans forward, his head on his hands.]
Robert
[Moving his chair a little closer.] May I ask you a question?
Richard
You may.
Robert
[With some hesitation.] Has it never happened to you in these years—I mean when you were away from her, perhaps, or travelling—to . . . betray her with another. Betray her, I mean, not in love. Carnally, I mean . . . Has that never happened?
Richard
It has.
Robert
And what did you do?
Richard
[As before.] I remember the first time. I came home. It was night. My house was silent. My little
