Thérèse. Now listen. You mustn't sacrifice your whole life for a love affair, no matter how great the love is.
René. It's by losing you I shall sacrifice my life.
Thérèse. Try and be brave; control yourself. Let us face this quietly. Suppose we do without your people's consent. What will become of us? Try to look the thing in the face. How should we live? René, it's horrible to bring our love down to the level of these miserable realities, but facts are facts. You know very well that if you marry me without your father and mother's consent, they won't give you any money. Isn't that so?
René. Oh! father is hard.
Thérèse. He's quite right, my dear, quite right. If I was your sister, I should advise you not to give up the position you have been brought up in and the profession you've been educated for.
René. But I love you.
Thérèse [moved] And I love you. Well, we've got to forget one another.
René. That's impossible.
Thérèse. We must be wise enough to—[She stops, her voice breaks]
René. Oh! how unhappy I am.