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LAURA
If you had not returned.
COL. SELBY
(After a pause.)Laura, you were here and—
LAURA
(Flings upon him a glance
of scorn, then resumes
her bantering tone.)How well you act! You must have rehearsed frequently.
COL. SELBY
(Resuming his reserve manner.)As you will— I have no right to [reproach] you.
LAURA
(Gazes at him a moment, pauses,
then walks away, restrains passion,
but presently it breaks forth.)Oh, I cannot help it. I love him! I love him! And I thought I hated him, as God knows I ought. Will nothing break these fetters?
(Buries her face. SELBY approaches.)
COL. SELBY
Laura, I have wronged you shamefully. I was a miscreant. If my life can atone for my sin, take it; for in losing you I lose all that makes my life worth living.
LAURA
(Her face still buried.)Oh, George, George, if you ever loved me, how could you deceive me so cruelly?
COL. SELBY
How could I? Did not the deception give me you?
LAURA
(Rising suddenly.)And how have you left me? You found me young, ignorant and trusting. Now, only six months later, I'm old in heart [and] wise in experience, without faith in the goodness of God, or the honor of man.
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