Robert monologue (Act 3) — Beyond the Horizon

I wasn’t going to tell you, but I feel I have to. It can’t matter now that I’m going so far away, and for so long--perhaps forever. I’ve loved you all these years, but the realization never came ’til I agreed to go away with Uncle Dick. Then I thought of leaving you, and the pain of that thought revealed to me in a flash--that I loved you, had loved you as long as I could remember. (_He gently pulls one of_ RUTH’S _hands away from her face_) You mustn’t mind my telling you this, Ruth. I realize how impossible it all is--and I understand; for the revelation of my own love seemed to open my eyes to the love of others. I saw Andy’s love for you--and I knew that you must love him.