LATIMER. I see. And then, as the fairy-books tell us, you will live happy ever after? (ANNE is silent.)
LEONARD. I need hardly say that I shall do my best to——
LATIMER (to ANNE). And then, as the fairy-books tell us, you will live happy ever after? (ANNE is silent.) I live within my high walls which keep the world out; I am old-fashioned, Anne. You are modern, you know the world. You don’t believe the fairy-books, and yet—you are going to live happy ever after?
LEONARD. I don’t see what you’re driving at.
LATIMER. Anne does.
ANNE (raising her eyes to his). I take the risk, Mr. Latimer.
[114]LATIMER. But a big risk.... Oh, believe me, I am not so much out of the world as you think. Should I have known all about you, should I have brought you here, if I were? I know the world; I know the risks of marriage. Marriage is an art—well, it’s a profession in itself. (Sharply) And what are you doing? Marrying a man whose only qualification for the profession is that he has tried it once, and made a damned hash of it.
LEONARD. Well, really, sir!
LATIMER. Isn’t it true?
LEONARD. Well—er—I admit my marriage has not been a happy one, but I venture to say—well, I don’t wish to say anything against Eustasia——