lord goring. Oh dear no, Robert. Your debt is to Lady Chiltern, not to me!
sir robert chiltern. I owe you much. And now tell me what you were going to ask me just now as Lord Caversham came in.
lord goring. Robert, you are your sister’s guardian, and I want your consent to my marriage with her. That is all.
lady chiltern. Oh, I am so glad! I am so glad! [Shakes hands with lord goring.]
lord goring. Thank you, Lady Chiltern.
sir robert chiltern. [With a troubled look.] My sister to be your wife?
lord goring. Yes.
sir robert chiltern. [Speaking with great firmness.] Arthur, I am very sorry, but the thing is quite out of the question. I have to think of Mabel’s future happiness. And I don’t think her happiness would be safe in your hands. And I cannot have her sacrificed!
lord goring. Sacrificed!
sir robert chiltern. Yes, utterly sacrificed. Loveless marriages are horrible. But there is one thing worse than an absolutely loveless marriage. A marriage in which there is love, but on one side only; faith, but on one side only; devotion, but on one side only, and in which of the two hearts one is sure to be broken.