"All that I can say, Hetta. You ask me to be your brother; but I cannot put myself in the place of your brother. I tell you plainly that I am your lover, and shall remain so. Your brother would welcome the man whom you would choose as your husband. I can never welcome any husband of yours. I think if twenty years were to pass over us, and you were still Hetta Carbury, I should still be your lover,--though an old one. What is now to be done about Felix, Hetta?"
"Ah,--what can be done? I think sometimes that it will break mamma's heart."
"Your mother makes me angry by her continual indulgence."

"Hetta, you ask me to be your brother; but I cannot put myself in a brother's place. I tell you plainly that I am your lover, and shall remain so. Your brother would welcome the man whom you would choose as your husband. I can never welcome any husband of yours. If twenty years were to pass, and you were still Hetta Carbury, I should still be your lover - though an old one. What is now to be done about Felix, Hetta?"
"Ah - what can be done? I think sometimes that it will break mamma's heart."
"Your mother makes me angry by her continual indulgence."
