They regret what might have been.
They do not, like the old, dwell fondly upon what the gods actually granted them.

It is _you_ who will suffer from this sacrifice, not Peter; that will be some consolation to you, I suppose, even if it be also a disappointment." "Ah, how you understand!" said Peter's mother, sadly.
"Perhaps because, as you said just now, I have been a young man too," he said, forcing a smile.

"Oh, forgive me, but let me save you; for I believe that if you deserted your husband to-day, you would sorrow for it to the end of your life." "And Peter--" she murmured.
He came to her side, and straightened himself, and spoke hopefully.
"Give me your last words and your last gifts--and a letter--for Peter, and send me in your stead to-night.

I will deliver them faithfully.

I will tell him--for he should be told--of the sore straits in which you find yourself.