[There it is. The expected calling of Albert's delicate bluff. Yes, he went to someone else, someone he deeply cares about, someone who makes his heart light. He knows William could likely feel the entire thing. Still, it was something he needed to do for himself, so he did, unashamedly.

Why does he feel shame now? Perhaps... he isn't loved in the same way he loves. With William, he knows it's unequal, two different types of devotion from two different men who share ideals and a past, but hardly any of the things that would make two people lovers, no matter how much they might want that.

No. In the past, he would have wanted it all the more. Now, he wants more desperately for William to live a life he chooses, rather than one he takes up out of obligation or necessity.

Leaning down, embracing William at this awkward angle, he sighs.]

I suspect... he may truly love me. [He smiles, bittersweet.] He's a beautiful, brilliant, elegant man, with depths and secrets I haven't yet touched. Yet the more I learn, the deeper I fall. Even... if it isn't the same for him ultimately, I'm satisfied with how it stands.

[That sincere wish. He thought William would be angry with him, jealous somehow, fearsome and in need of placating, but could it just be that simple? Wishing him well? Still, Albert must be just as firm with William as he's been with himself tonight.]

That world isn't worth returning to if you aren't in it.