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74 Did you not see that when I came in this afternoon I went into my study suddenly for a moment?

You did. I remember.

To give you time to recover yourself. It made me sad to see your eyes. And the roses too. I cannot say why. A great mass of overblown roses.

I thought I had to give them. Was that strange? [Looks at with a tortured expression.] Too many, perhaps? Or too old or common?

That was why I did not hate you. The whole thing made me sad all at once.

[To himself.] And this is real. It is happening—to us.

And she, too, was trying me; making an experiment with me for your sake!

You know women better than I do. She says she felt pity for you.

[Brooding.] Pitied me, because I am no longer an ideal lover. Like my roses. Common, old.