I don't ask anything--I don't guess anything, my dear child--my little sister. I was wrong to press you to tell me your trouble; for what could a hardened, rough-natured man do with the secrets of a young girl's heart?
Don't speak like that; only say that I may go.
[_Sees the rose where he has placed it. After a slight pause she takes it up. During the following, she slowly picks it to pieces, dropping the petals on the ground._
[_Coming down to back of table and speaking very gently._] I suppose there must soon come a time to every girl of heart who goes out alone into the world--a time when life seems to press hardly upon her and weariness of the unaccustomed stress makes her heart falter, and when she longs to take rest for a time in the old childhood, in the home she perhaps once thought to be dull and dreary, in the mother's arms that have always been ready to open with love for her.
[_Sinks into chair, R.C.; buries her face in her hands._
Perhaps you feel that that time has come now. If so, go home for a little while, and get rest and fresh strength for the battle of life. Come back to the fight soon. You are bound to succeed, because you have talent and ambition and courage. [_Slight pause. He takes her hand._] Don't cry. There is nothing you have lost or suffered yet quite worth a tear--
_Enter MRS. PARBURY, R., GUNNING, and ARMITAGE._
--nothing quite worth a tear. [_He is bending towards her._]
[_MRS. PARBURY, who is slightly in advance of ARMITAGE and GUNNING, stops near MISS WOODWARD and PARBURY, brought up short by seeing their intimate position. PARBURY draws back from MISS WOODWARD, who remains upright and motionless. GUNNING and ARMITAGE, who exchange glances, remain L. MISS WOODWARD crosses L. to go._
[_In a low voice, speaking slowly, with deep emotion._] I suppose--I have still a right to ask--for some explanation?
You shouldn't mistake sympathy for familiarity. I was only giving Miss Woodward some advice about her affairs.
Mr. Parbury very kindly and very properly advised me to go home for a time--[_She comes down to MRS. PARBURY and speaks to her alone_]--and I--I descended to your level--I cried!
[_Upon the curtain rising, MISS WOODWARD is discovered at the desk. A luncheon gong is immediately heard. MISS WOODWARD looks up and listens for a moment, then shrugs her shoulders and resumes her work. She opens a drawer of the desk, glances at its contents, and then writes._]