.] You see, Letitia, times have
changed; our ideas of marriage have charged. In the beginning a woman
was a man's economic dependent; now that the man has become ashamed
of that, he is made the woman's spiritual dependent. You play upon his
sense of chivalry, his sympathy, his pity; and you prey upon him, you
devour him alive. But the time has come when that must cease, Letitia
... man will not always be a domestic appendage! And you will simply
have to face this new situation. Do you still possess your husband's
love? Do you really love him? Nothing else will count... none of your
"rights"... we are not afraid of man or devil.

LETITIA. [Gasps.] Oh! [Turns to HENRY.] Henry, will you tell me what all
this means? Can it be that you assent to these outrageous ideas?

HENRY. I assent to them, Letitia. It may be that you still love me,
but you have given me few signs of it. You have been... you are.. . a
selfish woman.

LETITIA. Henry!

HENRY. How often do you give a thought to me... to the needs of my
nature? You think of your whims and your prejudices; you think of your
social position... of your "world" and its conventions. You think of
what your mother approves, of what your father approves, of what this
person will say and what that person will say. And I follow you about...
I play my part in the hollow show that you call life; but all the time
my heart is crying out in me... I am starving... starving!

LETITIA. [Startled.] Henry!

OCEANA. Ah! She is beginning to see it!

LETITIA. [Stretches out her arms and totters towards him, weeping.]
Henry! I love you! [Wildly.] Believe me! Believe me! I love you! Don't
you remember when you were ill three years ago... how I nursed you and
watched over you? You knew that I loved you then. Why, you said I'd worn
myself to a shadow! You kissed me, and told me I'd saved your life! And
when I was ill myself, and you thought I was dying... didn't you realize
that you loved me? And the children? Have you never given a thought to
them? Are they nothing to you? And you to them? You know that you love
them, Henry... you dare not deny it. Are they to be without a father all
their lives? [Falls into his arms.] My husband!

HENRY. [Catches her, deeply moved.] Letitia!

OCEANA. [Has been watching them intently; now, startled and pained.] Ah
I thought so! [She turns away; supports herself by the table; whispers.]
That settles it!

LETITIA. Henry, if I have been selfish, I am sorry!