HUNTER _and_ CLARA _go out Right._
BLANCHE. I wish _they_ wouldn't advise me to do what I _want_ to.
RUTH. Ah!
BLANCHE. But who do I harm by it? Surely, it wouldn't be for _his_ good
to be brought up under the influence of his father!
RUTH. If he saw you patiently bearing a cross for the sake of duty, can
you imagine a stronger force for good on the boy's character? What an
example _you_ will set him! What a chance for a mother!
BLANCHE. But my own life, my own happiness?
RUTH. Ah, my dear, that's just it! The watchword of our age is self! We
are all for ourselves; the twentieth century is to be a glorification of
selfishness, the Era of Egotism! Forget yourself, and what would you do?
The dignified thing. You would live quietly _beside_ your husband if not
_with_ him. And your son would be worthy of such a mother!
BLANCHE. And I?
RUTH. You would be _glad_ in the end.
BLANCHE. Perhaps--
RUTH. Surely! Blanche, for twenty years Mr. Mason and I have loved each
other.
[BLANCHE _is astonished. There is a pause._
[RUTH _smiles while she speaks, though her voice breaks._]
You never guessed! Ah, well, your father knew.
BLANCHE. But Mrs. Mason is hopelessly insane; surely--
RUTH. A principle is a principle; I took my stand against divorce.
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