No.
BEERMANN. I thought not. If you had a family you would not speak
in that fashion of sentimentality.
STROEBEL. If I had a family, I would not, to begin with, be
involved in this.
BEERMANN. But ...
STROEBEL. My name would not appear in the diary of Hauteville.
BEERMANN. You never can tell.
STROEBEL. Excuse me. What is there left of family life when such
things happen?
BEERMANN. What do you mean? If nobody finds it out?
STROEBEL. But such a man must live constantly under a deception.
BEERMANN. My dear Assessor. If the white lie ceases in married
life, the couple drifts apart.
STROEBEL. I cannot believe that!
BEERMANN [persuadingly]. Take my word for it. In every happy
marriage the parties lie to each other to keep their affection
from cooling.
STROEBEL. But both of them remain faithful.
BEERMANN. Not in the least.
STROEBEL. Don't say that!
BEERMANN. Not in the least; anyhow not to the very letter. A
husband is true to his wife even if he ... and so forth.
STROEBEL. Your views surprise me.
BEERMANN. This is what I mean. He is true in his own fashion. He
remains kind to his wife, takes a good care of his family, and
that is the principal thing. That other which you have in mind is
only an ideal.
STROEBEL. Ideals are lived up to.
BEERMANN. Well, yes. But if we don't live up to them, we at least
respect them.
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