Dear one, whatever is, is right. There is nothing to regret. Egypt, indeed, has drawn me strangely. There is some power out there--a spiritual power--that has cast a glamour over me. It has been a passion with me. _Mrs. Lattin_ My instinctive terror! _Phillip_ And my instinctive love! [_They glance together in silence at a great picture above the bed--an Egyptian night-scene, with stars and Nile._ Yes … yes … strange indeed! From my earliest days it drew me. Those palms and temples, that majestic desert----! _Mrs. Lattin_ Phillip, don’t! Those stars, that river bring me sadness--immense regret. I feel them always rising over me. They watch me! _Phillip_ Forgive me. It was the marvellous beauty took me. I---- _Mrs. Lattin_ But it’s an unearthly beauty. And something in it--lost. It’s lost to you. And I--oh, but I do love you so; for ever and ever you are _mine_--aren’t you? [_He stoops and kisses her. She half rises, whispering_: Phillip, dearest--something strange comes over me. I see a lifting of this heavy English sky. I have been through this before--I have done this very thing before--long, long ago--injured you somehow! Oh, Phillip, can it be that we have lived before--pre-existence--is it true? (_Sinks back._) I think … I think I must be near to … death! _Phillip_ Hush, hush, my darling. These are sick fancies only. Your brain is tired. We must not talk like this. _Mrs. Lattin_ I _am_ tired, yes; but it is my soul that aches and not my body. Phillip, I want your forgiveness. _Phillip_ There is nothing to forgive. I love you. _Mrs. Lattin_ (_Spiritually tortured and perplexed._) I want your real forgiveness--before I go. I have been suffering deeply, deeply. Curtains have been rising. I almost see. Something seems growing clearer to me. I’ve done wrong somewhere! Why have I pulled against you all these years--against your work? It cannot be my love that is at fault. You’re wholly mine--and yet I want your forgiveness somehow---- _Phillip_ (_Deep patience._) All the love and forgiveness in the world I give you, Little Child. But you ask for what was always yours. _Mrs. Lattin_ Your broken mission. You alone have the strength and patience Egypt needs. I have ruined all, all, all! _Phillip_ There! I forgive you, then. (_Kisses her._) I forgive you all, all, all. But please calm yourself. This excitement does you harm. You torment yourself for nothing. It is I who have been, and am, the egoist. All men who think their work is a mission are shameless egoists. _Mrs. Lattin_ Thank you, Phillip, for this great gift of your forgiveness. But it is not enough. I want to understand--and so forgive _myself_. _Phillip_ You must rest now a little. It was criminal of me to let you talk so much. No, not another word. I’ll leave you for a bit. You must be calm to see the Doctor. It’s nearly six---- _Mrs. Lattin_ Dr. Ogilvie can’t help me. _Phillip_ What! The first man of the day! His wonderful cures----