Well, why shouldn't she be proud? (After a pause)
Two years ago, if you want to know.
LADY PEMBURY. It was then that you found out who your father was?
STRANGER. That's right. I found these old letters. She'd kept them
locked up all those years. Bit of luck for me.
LADY PEMBURY (almost to herself). And that was two years ago. And for
two years you had your hopes, your ambitions, for two years you were
proud and independent. . . . Why did you not come to us then?
STRANGER (with a touch of vanity). Well, I was getting on all right,
you know--and----
LADY PEMBURY. And then suddenly, after two years, you lost hope.
STRANGER. I lost my job.
LADY PEMBURY. Poor boy! And couldn't get another.
STRANGER (bitterly). It's a beast of a world if you're down. He's in
the gutter--kick him down--trample on him. Nobody wants him. That's
the way to treat them when they're down. Trample on 'em.
LADY PEMBURY. And so you came to your father to help you up again. To
help you out of the gutter.
STRANGER. That's right.
LADY PEMBURY (pleadingly). Ah, but give him a chance!
STRANGER. Now, look here, I've told you already that I'm not going to
have any of _that_ game.
LADY PEMBURY (shaking her head sadly).
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