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114 interview on the plea of illness; when he believes that there is some cause of quarrel which is concealedfrom him between her and his mother, whom he dearly loves; and the struggle between his love for his wife, and his sense of what is due to his own honour, when he learns the real cause of her withdrawal, are all very finely drawn. So are the little passages in which poor Sostrata, still believing that the cause of Philumena's estrangement is some unaccountable dislike which she has taken to herself, though conscious that she has done her best to make her a happy home, proposes to give up her pleasant town-house and retire into the country, and so leave the young pair to themselves. Laches himself is touched at last by her simple and unselfish goodness; and though the indications of this are slight in the Roman play, compared with the fuller and more gradual development which would be thought necessary in a modern comedy, there is in the short scene between them a simple pathos which, when the characters were played by good actors, no doubt touched the feelings of the audience as it was meant to do.

La. Well, well; we'll go into the country; there

You'll have to bear with me, and I with you.

Sos. (throwing Iter arms round her husband and sobbing).

Husband, I hope we may!

La. (disengaging himself awkwardly, and trying to hide

his emotion). There, there!—go in;

Get ready all you want—I've said the word.

Sos. I'll do your bidding—aye, and gladly.

Pamphilus (who has entered unperceived). Father!

La. Well, Pamphilus, what is it?