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.

Bernick: You know quite well that Betty was in love with me.

Lona: But what about me?

Bernick: Believe me, Lona, you would never have been happy with
me.

Lona: Was it out of consideration for my happiness that you
sacrificed me?

Bernick: Do you suppose I acted as I did from selfish motives? If
I had stood alone then, I would have begun all over again with
cheerful courage. But you do not understand how the life of a man
of business, with his tremendous responsibilities, is bound up
with that of the business which falls to his inheritance. Do you
realise that the prosperity or the ruin of hundreds--of
thousands--depends on him? Can you not take into consideration
the fact that the whole community in which both you and I were