ards the men we
are fond of! Of course I love Jack. I'm cruel to him sometimes; and there
comes a look into his eyes--he has dog's eyes, you know--a faithful
Newfoundland--

SIR GEOFFREY. [_Very earnestly._] I don't think women quite realise what
friendship means to a man.

LADY TORMINSTER. I am certain that men don't realise what marriage means
to a woman! Dear funeral, am I not a good wife--shall I not remain a good
wife, till the end of the chapter? Because there isn't only Jack--there
are Jack's children.

SIR GEOFFREY. Yes.

LADY TORMINSTER. And isn't it wonderful, when you think of it--here are we
two, Jack's friend and his wife, alone on a desert island--and we have
confessed our love for each other, and we are able to discuss it as calmly
as though it were rheumatism!

SIR GEOFFREY. [_With a groan._] If only I hadn't induced you to stay!

LADY TORMINSTER. [_Smiling._] My dear friend, you didn't!

SIR GEOFFREY. [_Amazed._] I didn't?

LADY TORMINSTER. Why no--of course not. I knew you were going to-morrow.

SIR GEOFFREY. How?

LADY TORMINSTER. Oh, never mind how! I knew. And I suspected you would be
sitting up here to-night. So I came down, hoping to find you. I wanted
this talk with you. And I extracted your confession--as though it had been
a tooth.

SIR GEOFFREY. And why?

LADY TORMINSTER. Why? Because it will be something to think of, in the
dull days ahead. Because I knew that you loved me, and wanted to be told.
Because your life lies before you, and mine is ended. Because I love you,
and insisted that you should know. You leave me now, and I have no
illusions. Paolo and Francesca are merely a poet's dream. You will
marry--of course you will marry--but this moment, at least, has been mine.

SIR GEOFFREY. [_Stretching out yearning hands._] This moment, and every
moment, in past and future!

LADY TORMINSTER. Ah, the future! Strange little syllables that hide so
much! I can see you, introducing your wife to me, a little shyly--I can
see myself, shaking hands with her--and with you.... My boy is seven
already--time travels fast.... But it's good to know that you really have
loved me, all these years....

SIR GEOFFREY. By day and by night--you, and only you!

LADY TORMINSTER. And I have loved you--ah, yes, I have loved you!... And,
having said this to each other, we will not meet again--till you bring me
your wife.

SIR GEOFFREY. Ah--then!

LADY TORMINSTER. I have loved you, and I love you