"It is beautiful," Catherine said, looking at the canal.
"It is."
More silence. Catherine clenched her hands in her lap. The words wouldn't come out.
"You don't have to apologize," Philip said suddenly. "Not in front of anyone, remember?"
"But I want to," Catherine said, her voice trembling. "There is no excuse for what I did tonight. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what you do. You did not deserve to be treated like that."
Philip looked at her. There was something different in his eyes now: less distance, less guardedness.
"I have spent my entire life thinking I was special," Catherine continued, tears starting to fall. "Thinking that my money, my mansion, my important friends made me better than others. And now..."
"And now?" Philip asked gently.
"Now I am ashamed," she whispered. "I am ashamed of who I have become. Tonight, I saw myself through your eyes, and what I saw hurt."
Philip said nothing, waiting.
"You lost everything," Catherine said. "Your mother, your career, your life. And you still managed to remain dignified. To remain kind. I have everything, and I am empty." She took a deep breath. "I am sorry, Philip. I am truly sorry. Not because of what the others saw, but because I hurt a human being who did not deserve any of it."
The tears fell freely now, her perfect makeup completely ruined, but she no longer cared.
Philip turned fully toward her. "Do you know what I learned when I lost everything?"
Catherine looked at him through her tears.
"I learned that life doesn't end when you fall," Philip said. "It only ends when you stop getting up." He looked at the starry sky above them. "Tonight, you did the hardest thing. You admitted your mistakes. Not many people in your position would do that."
"Do you forgive me?" Catherine asked in a small voice.