Who could that be--except----?
Ebeling (breathing heavily).
Except that man, there is only one other.
Frau v. Yburg.
(Stares at him uncomprehendingly with her hands clasped, then stammering.) Oh! oh, God! What a joy that would be!
Ebeling.
What more can I say? Such things come and grow great in a man, one knows not how. She bore her sorrow, her shame, I mine. At first, perhaps, it was no more than a casual fancy--no, an interest, for my inclinations were always involved--but to-day it has become a passion, a passion that, lonely man as I am, gnaws me to the very core of my being.
Frau v. Yburg.
But how have you managed through it all to keep so quiet, so deliberate, so----?
Ebeling.