Richard
[Contemptuously.] I care very little whether it is or not because there is something I fear much more.
Robert
[Shakes his head.] You fear? I disbelieve you, Richard. Since we were boys together I have followed your mind. You do not know what moral fear is.
Richard
[Lays his hand on his arm.] Listen. She is dead. She lies on my bed. I look at her body which I betrayed—grossly and many times. And loved, too, and wept over. And I know that her body was always my loyal slave. To me, to me only she gave . . . [He breaks off and turns aside, unable to speak.]
Robert
[Softly.] Do not suffer, Richard. There is no need. She is loyal to you, body and soul. Why do you fear?
Richard
[Turns towards him, almost fiercely.] Not that fear. But that I will reproach myself then for having taken all for myself because I would not suffer her to give to another what was hers and not mine to give, because I accepted from her her loyalty and made her life poorer in love. That is my fear. That I stand between her and any moments of life that should be hers, between her and you, between her and anyone, between her and anything. I will not do it. I cannot and I will not. I dare not.
[He leans back in his chair breathless, with shining eyes. Robert rises quietly, and stands behind his chair.]
