BOB. Come and sit near me. You're the only friend I've got in the world. PAMELA. You know that isn't true. (She sits down in the armchair and he sits on the floor at her feet.) BOB. If it hadn't been for you, I should have shot myself long ago. PAMELA. That would have been rather cowardly, wouldn't it? BOB. I am a coward. There's something about the Law that makes people cowards. It's so--what's the word? It goes on. You can't stop it, you can't explain to it, you can't even speak to it. PAMELA. But you can stand up to it. You needn't run away from it. BOB. I think I would have broken my bail and run, if it hadn't been for you. But you would have thought less of me if I had. Besides, I shouldn't have seen you again. PAMELA. Bob, you mustn't just do, or not do, things for _me_; you must do them because of yourself. You must be brave because it's you, and honourable because it's you, and cheerful because it's you. You mustn't just say, "I won't let Pamela down." You must say, "I won't let myself down." You must be proud of yourself. BOB (bitterly). I've been taught to be proud of myself, haven't I? Proud of myself! What's the family creed? "I believe in Gerald. I believe in Gerald the Brother. I believe in Gerald the Son. I believe in Gerald the Nephew. I believe in Gerald the Friend, the Lover, Gerald the Holy Marvel." There may be brothers who don't mind that sort of thing, but not when you're born jealous as I was. Do you think father or mother cares a damn what happens to me? They're upset, of course, and they feel the disgrace for themselves, but the belovèd Gerald is all right, and that's all that really matters. PAMELA. Bob, dear, forget about Gerald now. Don't think about him; think about yourself. BOB. I shan't think about myself or about Gerald when I'm in prison. I shall only think of you. PAMELA. Will it help you to think of me? BOB. You're the only person in the world I've got to think of. I found you first--and then Gerald took you from me. Just as he's always taken everything from me. PAMELA. No, no. Not about Gerald again. Let's get away from Gerald. BOB. You can't. He's a devil to get away from. (There is silence for a little.) When I was a small boy, I used to pray very hard on the last day of the holidays for a telegram to come saying that the school had been burnt down.... It never had. PAMELA. Oh, Bob! BOB. I suppose I've got about ten minutes more. But nothing will happen. PAMELA (in a hopeless effort to be hopeful). Perhaps after all you might-- BOB. Why can't the world end suddenly now? It wouldn't matter to anybody. They wouldn't know; they wouldn't have time to understand. (He looks up and sees her face of distress and says) All right, Pamela, you needn't worry. I'm going through with it all right. PAMELA. You must keep thinking of the afterwards. Only of the afterwards. The day when you come back to us.