Warden monologue (Act 3) — The climbers : $b A play in four acts

I am, and I _love her_. But surely the silent love of a man, like mine, is no insult to a good woman--cannot harm her! A love that is never spoken, not even whispered, can't hurt any one, except, perhaps, the one who loves. You must acknowledge even _you_ have never heard a hint; you _showed_ just now your real surprise at what circumstances revealed to you! I'd die sooner than bring the slightest shadow of a scandal on her, and I've hugged my secret tight. Have you any idea what such a love means? How it grows and grows, its strength shut in, held back, doubling and redoubling its powers!--its ideality increasing, the passion _suppressed_, locked up! Good God! I tremble sometimes when I think--suppose some day it should burst out, _break_ my control, MASTER ME! [_A pause._] And here, now, I've told _you_; I'm sorry, but I had to for _her_ sake again. Will you help me keep my secret?