My mother did as she pleased; I, too, shall do as I please; and, as my mother is dead, I refrain from saying all I think.
Richard.
Why do you care so much about those letters?
Lionnette.
You ask me that, Mr. Richard? Why do I care so much for the letters of a father whom I loved, who loved me, the man who was my father, and who is dead?
Richard.
What do you intend to do with them?
Lionnette.
To keep them, to read them over again, as I do now from time to time, when the living trouble or disgust me; and when I die, carry them with me and give them back to him—to him—if it be true that one meets again in death those one has loved in life. Who knows? Perhaps, after being so powerful on earth, he will have no one but me in heaven. So I must keep something by which he may know me—up there—since he was not able to recognize me here below.
John (to Richard).