Yes, and the guilty one was the obvious person.
Johan.
Stop! Then the obvious person was the innocent one. I was alone, free, an orphan; it was a positive blessing to me to escape from the grind of the office. You, on the other hand, had your mother still living; and, besides, you had just got secretly engaged to Betty, and she was devoted to you. What would have become of her if she had learnt——?
Bernick.
True, true, true; but——
Johan.
And was it not just for Betty’s sake that you broke off the entanglement with Madam Dorf? It was for the very purpose of putting an end to it that you were up at her house that night——
Bernick.
Yes, the fatal night when that drunken brute came home——! Yes, Johan, it was for Betty’s sake; but yet—that you should have the generosity to turn appearances against yourself and go away——
Johan.