RICHARD. [_Smiles._] That is your way of saying that she proposed what I would not accept. ROBERT. [_Nods._] I remember. And she went away with you. But was it of her own free choice? Answer me frankly. RICHARD. [_Turns to him, calmly._] I played for her against all that you say or can say; and I won. ROBERT. [_Nodding again._] Yes, you won. RICHARD. [_Rises._] Excuse me for forgetting. Will you have some whisky? ROBERT. All things come to those who wait. [_Richard goes to the sideboard and brings a small tray with the decanter and glasses to the table where he sets it down._] RICHARD. [_Sits down again, leaning back on the lounge._] Will you please help yourself? ROBERT. [_Does so._] And you? Steadfast? [_Richard shakes his head._] Lord, when I think of our wild nights long ago—talks by the hour, plans, carouses, revelry... RICHARD. In our house. ROBERT. It is mine now. I have kept it ever since though I don’t go there often. Whenever you like to come let me know. You must come some night. It will be old times again. [_He lifts his glass and drinks._] _Prosit!_ RICHARD. It was not only a house of revelry; it was to be the hearth of a new life. [_Musing._] And in that name all our sins were committed. ROBERT. Sins! Drinking and blasphemy [_he points_] by me. And drinking and heresy, much worse [_he points again_] by you—are those the sins you mean? RICHARD. And some others. ROBERT. [_Lightly, uneasily._] You mean the women. I have no remorse of conscience. Maybe you have. We had two keys on those occasions. [_Maliciously._] Have you? RICHARD. [_Irritated._] For you it was all quite natural? ROBERT. For me it is quite natural to kiss a woman whom I like. Why not? She is beautiful for me. RICHARD. [_Toying with the lounge cushion._] Do you kiss everything that is beautiful for you? ROBERT. Everything—if it can be kissed. [_He takes up a flat stone which lies on the table._] This stone, for instance. It is so cool, so polished, so delicate, like a woman’s temple. It is silent, it suffers our passion; and it is beautiful. [_He places it against his lips._] And so I kiss it because it is beautiful. And what is a woman? A work of nature, too, like a stone or a flower or a bird. A kiss is an act of homage. RICHARD. It is an act of union between man and woman. Even if we are often led to desire through the sense of beauty can you say that the beautiful is what we desire? ROBERT. [_Pressing the stone to his forehead._] You will give me a headache if you make me think today. I cannot think today. I feel too natural, too common. After all, what is most attractive in even the most beautiful woman? RICHARD. What?