Don’t be cross—you don’t understand.
Mrs Scholz.
Ah yes! I’m only a simpleton, I suppose,—but really, you weren’t answerable to anyone; it wasn’t at all necessary for you—
Dr Scholz.
—St! It was very necessary (half mysteriously). After guilt, atonement; after sin, chastisement.
Mrs Scholz.
Yes, yes, Fritz,—it is true—you too had much to answer for. (From here to the end of the conversation, she continually looks with anxiety towards the front door, as though she feared every moment to see William come in.) We might have been so peaceful, so contented, if you had only let us.
Dr Scholz.
It was all my fault, all of it.
Mrs Scholz.