Act 2 Scene 4 Summary

This scene takes place three and a half years earlier. Robert sits on the porch wearing a thin t-shirt and writing in a notebook. Catherine's voice calls to him from inside. She comes out on the porch wearing a parka and asks her father what he's doing outside in a t-shirt when it's thirty degrees. Robert insists that the cold is helping him work. Catherine admonishes him, telling him she has been calling and calling and because he didn't answer, she had felt compelled to skip a class in order to drive the hour and a half to check in on him. Robert apologizes, but explains that the phone is a distraction to his work. Catherine is thrilled to hear him say he's working, especially when he enthuses that he feels positively inspired and his mind is clearer than ever. He...