ST. OLPHERTS. If you please, he cannot, will not, exist without her.
Reputation, fame, fortune are nothing weighed against—Mrs. Ebbsmith.
And we may go to perdition, so that he recovers—Mrs. Ebbsmith.
AMOS. Well—to be plain—you're not asking us to sympathise with Mrs.
Cleeve and her brother-in-law over their defeat?
ST. OLPHERTS. Certainly not. All I ask, Mr. Winterfield, is that you will raise no obstacle to a meeting between Mr. Cleeve and—and—
GERTRUDE. No!
[ST. OLPHERTS signifies assent; GERTRUDE makes a movement.]
ST. OLPHERTS. [To her.] Don't go.
AMOS. The object of such a meeting?
ST. OLPHERTS. Mrs. Cleeve desires to make a direct, personal appeal to
Mrs. Ebbsmith.
GERTRUDE. Oh, what kind of woman can this Mrs. Cleeve be?
ST. OLPHERTS. A woman of character, who sets herself to accomplish a certain task—