Are not these feelings a little belated in their appearance?

JULIAN

Oh, I suppose they were there long before I knew. And, you know, I saw
the youngster for the first time when he was ten or eleven years old,
and it was only then I learned that he was my son.

SALA

It must have been a strange meeting between you and Mrs. Gabrielle, ten
years after you had committed that piece of hideous perfidy--as our
ancestors used to put it.

JULIAN

It wasn't strange even. It came about quite naturally. Shortly after my
return from Paris I happened to meet Wegrat on the street. Of course,
we had heard of each other from time to time, and we met as old
friends. There are people who seem born to a fate of that kind.... And
as for Gabrielle....

SALA

She had forgiven you, of course?

JULIAN

Forgiven...? It was more or less than that. Only once did we talk of
the past--she without reproach, and I without regret: as if the whole
story had happened to somebody else. And after that never again. I
might have thought some miracle had wiped those earlier days out of her
memory. In fact, as far as I am concerned, there seemed to be no real
connection between that quiet matron and the creature I had once loved.
And as for the youngster--well, you know--at first I didn't care more
for him than I might have cared for any other pretty and gifted
child.--Of course, ten years ago my life had a different aspect. I was
still clinging to so many things which since then have slipped away
from me. It was only in the course of time that I became more and more
drawn to the house, until at last I began to feel at home there.

SALA

I hope you never took offense at my gradual discovery of the true state
of affairs.

JULIAN

You, at any rate, didn't think me very sensible....

SALA

Why not? I too find that family life in itself is quite attractive.
Only it ought, after all, to be experienced in one's own family.

JULIAN

You know very well that I have frequently felt something like actual
shame at the incongruity of that relationship. It was in fact one of
the things that drove me away. Of course, there were a lot of other
things that pressed on me at the time. Especially that I couldn't make
a real success out of my work.

SALA

But you hadn't been exhibiting anything for a long time.

JULIAN

It wasn't external success I had in mind. I could never get into the
right mood any more, and I hoped that traveling would help