BERTHA. [_Gazing before her and speaking with intense passion._] To meet my lover! [_Holding out her arms before her._] My lover! Yes! My lover! [_She bursts suddenly into tears and sinks down on a chair, covering her face with her hands. Richard approaches her slowly and touches her on the shoulder._] RICHARD. Bertha! [_She does not answer._] Bertha, you are free. BERTHA. [_Pushes his hand aside and starts to her feet._] Don’t touch me! You are a stranger to me. You do not understand anything in me—not one thing in my heart or soul. A stranger! I am living with a stranger! [_A knock is heard at the hall door. Bertha dries her eyes quickly with her handkerchief and settles the front of her gown. Richard listens for a moment, looks at her keenly and, turning away, walks into his study. Robert Hand enters from the left. He is dressed in dark brown and carries in his hand a brown Alpine hat._] ROBERT. [_Closing the door quietly behind him._] You sent for me. BERTHA. [_Rises._] Yes. Are you mad to think of going away like that—without even coming here—without saying anything? ROBERT. [_Advancing towards the table on which the paper lies, glances at it._] What I have to say I said here. BERTHA. When did you write it? Last night—after I went away? ROBERT. [_Gracefully._] To be quite accurate, I wrote part of it—in my mind—before you went away. The rest—the worst part—I wrote after. Much later. BERTHA. And you could write last night! ROBERT. [_Shrugs his shoulders._] I am a welltrained animal. [_He comes closer to her._] I passed a long wandering night after... in my office, at the vicechancellor’s house, in a nightclub, in the streets, in my room. Your image was always before my eyes, your hand in my hand. Bertha, I will never forget last night. [_He lays his hat on the table and takes her hand._] Why do you not look at me? May I not touch you? BERTHA. [_Points to the study._] Dick is in there. ROBERT. [_Drops her hand._] In that case children be good. BERTHA. Where are you going? ROBERT. To foreign parts. That is, to my cousin Jack Justice, _alias_ Doggy Justice, in Surrey. He has a nice country place there and the air is mild. BERTHA. Why are you going? ROBERT. [_Looks at her in silence._] Can you not guess one reason? BERTHA. On account of me? ROBERT. Yes. It is not pleasant for me to remain here just now. BERTHA. [_Sits down helplessly._] But this is cruel of you, Robert. Cruel to me and to him also. ROBERT. Has he asked... what happened? BERTHA. [_Joining her hands in despair._] No. He refuses to ask me anything. He says he will never know. ROBERT. [_Nods gravely._] Richard is right there. He is always right. BERTHA. But, Robert, you must speak to him. ROBERT. What am I to say to him? BERTHA. The truth! Everything! ROBERT. [_Reflects._] No, Bertha. I am a man speaking to a man. I cannot tell him everything. BERTHA. He will believe that you are going away because you are afraid to face him after last night.