LETITIA
John... Nathaniel... my boys, it isn't my way to interfere; but please for my sake, for your mother's sake—think what you're doing.
JOHN (With some tenderness he lays his hand on Letitia's)
I have thought, Aunt Letitia. I can not allow this boy's life to be ruined as Emily's and Henry's and Nathaniel's were.
NATHANIEL
Ruined? John, I'll tell you how ruined my life has been and I'll tell you in terms you'll understand. My income last year was over $350,000!
JOHN
Are you acting now?
NATHANIEL
Yes, I'm acting—I'm acting in terms that you will understand.... You know that I'm your brother Nathaniel. Do you know who else I am? I am a writer and a playwright and a director in the United Baking Company and a stockholder in the National Munitions Company—munitions, John; think of it, millions, millions in them—and I'm willing and eager to take Emily's boy and educate him in the way he wants to live his life.