ROBERT. [_In a low voice._] Yes. I must have been mad. [_Rapidly._] Listen to me, Richard. It is a great relief to me that you have come—the greatest relief. I assure you that ever since this afternoon I have thought and thought how I could break it off without seeming a fool. A great relief! I even intended to send word... a letter, a few lines. [_Suddenly._] But then it was too late... [_Passes his hand over his forehead._] Let me speak frankly with you; let me tell you everything. RICHARD. I know everything. I have known for some time. ROBERT. Since when? RICHARD. Since it began between you and her. ROBERT. [_Again rapidly._] Yes, I was mad. But it was merely lightheadedness. I admit that to have asked her here this evening was a mistake. I can explain everything to you. And I will. Truly. RICHARD. Explain to me what is the word you longed and never dared to say to her. If you can or will. ROBERT. [_Looks down, then raises his head._] Yes. I will. I admire very much the personality of your... of... your wife. That is the word. I can say it. It is no secret. RICHARD. Then why did you wish to keep secret your wooing? ROBERT. Wooing? RICHARD. Your advances to her, little by little, day after day, looks, whispers. [_With a nervous movement of the hands._] _Insomma_, wooing. ROBERT. [_Bewildered._] But how do you know all this? RICHARD. She told me. ROBERT. This afternoon? RICHARD. No. Time after time, as it happened. ROBERT. You knew? From her? [_Richard nods._]. You were watching us all the time? RICHARD. [_Very coldly._] I was watching you. ROBERT. [_Quickly._] I mean, watching me. And you never spoke! You had only to speak a word—to save me from myself. You were trying me. [_Passes his hand again over his forehead._] It was a terrible trial: now also. [_Desperately._] Well, it is past. It will be a lesson to me for all my life. You hate me now for what I have done and for... RICHARD. [_Quietly, looking at him._] Have I said that I hate you? ROBERT. Do you not? You must. RICHARD. Even if Bertha had not told me I should have known. 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.