"I know them too well for that," said I, perhaps a bit scornfully.
"You know what it would signify for them, don't you? You can easily put yourself in their position. You defy public opinion for the sake of a woman, but you can't expect that your former friends should do it for your sake."
"If I had thought that they were friends, I should perhaps expect it. But I know that they are not friends, only acquaintances, and I demand nothing of them."
The judge looked at me a while, not without kindliness. He seemed to feel a certain respect for my stoicism.
"Good!" he said again. "But what can I do for you then? What is your object in calling on me?"
"To make you happier than you are."
"That is indeed very generous. For after all I did not get the impression that I was the unhappier of us two. And if you would have me continue to believe in your mental balance, you must give me a more plausible reason."
"Is it so unlikely that I should increase my own happiness by means of yours?"
"Aha! Of what kind of happiness are we talking?"
"Of the most desirable, that can alone be attained by straining all our energies to their utmost capacity, their utmost efficiency."