Bernick.
Let me tell you, calmly and deliberately, what my position was at that time. My mother, you know, stood at the head of the business; but she had no business capacity. I was hurriedly called home from Paris; the times were critical; I was to retrieve the situation. What did I find? I found—and this, remember, had to be kept strictly secret—a house as good as ruined. Yes, it was as good as ruined, the old, respected house, that had stood through three generations. What could I, the son, the only son, do, but cast about me for a means of saving it?
Lona.
So you saved the house of Bernick at the expense of a woman.
Bernick.
You know very well that Betty loved me.
Lona.
But I?
Bernick.
Believe me, Lona, you would never have been happy with me.