Perigal.
Not a bit! But I can tell you at once what his answer will be. He’ll say that he loves you, and if he must choose between you and everything that has seemed to make his life worth living, he chooses you without a moment’s hesitation.
[Catherine gives a little sigh of relief and delight.
Perigal.
But while he’s in the very act of renouncing the world for your sake, look into his eyes, and perhaps you’ll see in them—oh, only for a moment, and you’ll have to look sharply—the shadow, the merest shadow of regret.... And perhaps in ten years, when I bring an ill-spent life to a close, you’ll say to yourself: If I hadn’t sacrificed him, he might be standing now in the shoes of that poor old incompetent Perigal.
Catherine.
[Hoarsely, more moved than she wishes to show.] I don’t believe Robert is ambitious.
Perigal.
You have to be a shrewd observer always to know the difference between ambition and patriotism.
Catherine.