OCEANA. I have chosen a certain course. I have forced myself to be calm, to think it out in the cold light of reason, to decide what is right for me to do. And now I must keep to my resolution. You would not want our love to lead me into shame! HENRY. No! OCEANA. Do you read Nietzsche, Henry? HENRY. He is a mere name to me. OCEANA. I will give you some lines of Nietzsche's. "Canst thou give thyself thy good and thine evil, and hang thy will above thee as thy law? Canst thou be thine own judge, and avenger of thy law? Fearful is it to be alone with the judge and the avenger of thy law. So is a stone flung out into empty space and into the icy breath of isolation." HENRY. That's all right... but if you expect Letitia to face this problem in any such way, you will be sadly disappointed. OCEANA. That's none of my affair. All I have to do is to give her a chance. If she cannot face the facts, she has passed sentence upon herself. HENRY. [Laughs.] All right, my dear. It will certainly be a scene to watch! OCEANA. You think she will come? HENRY. Oh, she'll certainly come. OCEANA. And she won't bring her mother? HENRY. I can't tell about that. OCEANA. If she does, we'll simply have to send her down to the village ... I won't talk in Aunt Sophronia's presence. HENRY. I was perfectly explicit on that point. [Takes paper from table.] Here's the telegram: "Come to the bungalow immediately, upon a matter of extreme urgency. Do not bring your mother." OCEANA. Certainly that is clear enough. HENRY. And bewildering enough. But I suppose they are prepared for anything by now. OCEANA. It's past the time. [Looking from window.] We should be able to see a sleigh. HENRY. No, the road turns behind that hillock there. OCEANA. But look! HENRY. What? OCEANA. There's some one coming afoot. HENRY. Where? OCEANA. Round that side! By the path! Why, it's Ethel! HENRY. Good Lord! Ethel! OCEANA. She's come up from the village afoot. HENRY. Well, of all the apparitions! OCEANA. Run help her, Henry. She's running. [Opens window and calls.] Ethel! [HENRY exit hurriedly.] Why, the poor, dear child! I wonder if she came in Letitia's stead! But then... why wouldn't she get a sleigh? [Calls.] Ethel! What's the matter? HENRY. [Off.] She says Letitia is coming! OCEANA. Oh! HENRY. She's just behind! OCEANA. But, Ethel, what are you doing here? ETHEL. [Off, breathless.] Wait! OCEANA. Why, you poor child, you're exhausted. What in the world... ETHEL. Wait. [Enters, breathless, half carried by Henry.] OCEANA. [Pounces upon her.] Ethel! Of all the surprises! You dear thing! [Embraces her, shakes snow from her.] What in the world has happened? ETHEL. Oceana, I ran away! OCEANA. You ran away? ETHEL. To you! I couldn't stand it! I must be with you, Oceana--no matter how wicked it is, I must be with you! OCEANA. [Breathlessly.] Ethel! ETHEL. Yes, I'm desperate... I'll die if I have to stay at home. OCEANA. My dear, dear girl! [Clasps her.]