I understand things are supposed to have gone rather further than that. ETCHINGHAM. That’s the kind of thing a tactful woman must close her eyes to. You’re a woman of the world, Kate. You know what men are. You must extend a certain degree of licence to a man of George Winter’s temperament. CATHERINE. You don’t understand, father. I bore my life till I couldn’t bear it any longer. I’m not the sort of woman to make scenes. I held my tongue, I closed my eyes, till something happened which I couldn’t endure. I’ve left him fully decided to divorce him. Nothing that you can say will move me. ETCHINGHAM. But you can’t divorce him. You’ve accused him of nothing but infidelity. You can’t be so ignorant of the law.... CATHERINE. [_Interrupting._] I’m not at all ignorant of the law. I assure you that he has complied fully with all the conditions which are needful. LADY FRANCIS. Kate. CATHERINE. Please don’t ask me. I feel that my whole soul is foul with.... ETCHINGHAM. Well, of course there are always two sides to every question. CATHERINE. Oh, father, you’re not going to tell me that that, too, is usual in polite society, for a man to.... Oh! [_She gives a gesture and a cry of disgust._ LADY FRANCIS. I wonder if you’d go and read your _Times_, Frank. I should like to talk to Katie alone. ETCHINGHAM. [_With a look from his wife to his daughter._] Eh, very well. Perhaps you can do something with her. Tell her what it means if she persists. I suppose I shall find the _Times_ in the library. [_He goes out._ LADY FRANCIS. [_With a smile._] Your father has such a power of delusion. He never looks at anything but the _Daily Mail_, but he’s quite convinced that he reads nothing but the _Times_. CATHERINE. [_Passionately._] Oh, mother, you’ll stand by me, won’t you? You know what I’ve gone through. If you care for me at all you must have some pity. [LADY FRANCIS _looks at her coolly. She is quite unmoved by the vehemence of the appeal. She pauses for a moment before answering._ LADY FRANCIS. Why have you chosen this particular moment to leave your husband? CATHERINE. There are limits to human endurance. LADY FRANCIS. You’ve lived a good deal apart. Like civilized people you’ve made the best of a mutual want of sympathy. I should have thought George interfered with you very little. I have an idea that no woman would care to undergo the--inconvenience of proceedings for divorce without a very good reason. You’ve got a peculiarly fastidious taste, Katie. It must be something rather out of the way that induces you to expose your private life to all and sundry. CATHERINE. It’s merely a choice of ignominies. [LADY FRANCIS _pauses an instant, then raps out the question sharply_. LADY FRANCIS. Are you in love? CATHERINE. You have no right to ask me that, mother. LADY FRANCIS. [_With a slight smile._] Your indignation is almost an answer in itself, isn’t it? I suppose you want to marry.