RUTH. I mean that if you want me there's a price to pay, and a secret marriage by a puppet priest with no witnesses is too low a price for me.
GUY (blustering). You thought that!
RUTH (calmly). Wasn't I right? How badly do you want me, Mr. Guy Barlow? You see me, and you know the price.
GUY (quite shocked). You didn't talk this way outside. You've made it all so ugly. You've taken all romance away.
RUTH. Romance is safe for men. It's dangerous for women. You tell me I was soft and yielding. What if I'd been too soft, and yielded further than I should? You'd still have life, and life would still be beautiful for you and you'd be looking for another woman with a pretty face to make love beautifully with you. But I'd be dead. I should have killed myself and you'd forget me in a little while.
GUY (genuinely moved). Ruth, stop! I'm not a black-guard.
RUTH. I'm hoping not, if I'm to be your wife.
GUY. I never meant you harm. I simply didn't think.
RUTH. You thought fast enough of a secret marriage. You remembered to be prudent, and prudence, as I think you said, is made for cowards, not for lovers. Are you a coward, Mr. Guy?
GUY. I'm a lover, Ruth. Will you be my wife?