Come, come, my boy, you're too young to play the heavy father. We're both your friends. Hadn't you better make a clean breast of it? After all, your mother and I are interested in nothing so much as your welfare.
Lady Mereston.
[Imploring.] Charlie!
Mereston.
Of course I'd ask her to marry me if I thought for a moment that she'd accept. But I'm so terrified that she'll refuse, and then perhaps I shall never see her again.
Lady Mereston.
The boy's stark, staring mad.
Mereston.
I don't know what I should do if she sent me about my business. I'd rather continue in this awful uncertainty than lose all hope for ever.
Fouldes.