It was entirely for the sake of the money. I
needed it; I had to make sure of it.
Lona: And you have the face to tell me that?
Bernick: Yes, I have. Listen, Lona.
Lona: And yet you wrote to me that an unconquerable passion for
Betty had overcome you--invoked my magnanimity--begged me, for
Betty's sake, to hold my tongue about all that had been between
us.
Bernick: I had to, I tell you.
Lona: Now, by Heaven, I don't regret that I forgot myself as I
did that time--
Bernick: Let me tell you the plain truth of how things stood with
me then. My mother, as you remember, was at the head of the
business, but she was absolutely without any business ability
whatever. I was hurriedly summoned home from Paris; times were
critical, and they relied on me to set things straight. What did
I find? I found--and you must keep this a profound secret--a
house on the brink of ruin. Yes--as good as on the brink of ruin,
this old respected house which had seen three generations of us.
What else could I--the son, the only son--do than look about for
some means of saving it?
Lona: And so you saved the house of Bernick at the cost of a
woman.
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