Twisden monologue (Act 3) — The Fugitive: A Play in Four Acts

[Bowing slightly] I am instructed by Mr. Dedmond to say that if you will leave your present companion and undertake not to see him again, he will withdraw the suit and settle three hundred a year on you. [At CLARE's movement of abhorrence] Don't misunderstand me, please--it is not--it could hardly be, a request that you should go back. Mr. Dedmond is not prepared to receive you again. The proposal--forgive my saying so--remarkably Quixotic--is made to save the scandal to his family and your own. It binds you to nothing but the abandonment of your present companion, with certain conditions of the same nature as to the future. In other words, it assures you a position--so long as you live quietly by yourself.