I'm sorry. It was only a figure of speech.
3 seconds sound clip from the Isle of the Dead (1945) movie soundboard.
You can hear this line at 00:03:35.849 in the Blu-ray version of the movie.
Quote context
[...]
- I don't think I'd be very comfortable being a watchdog.
- Do you think I wanted to send Col. Tolditis to his death? He and I were friends.
- I think you'd kill your wife or child for your country's sake, if you had a wife.
- I'm sorry. It was only a figure of speech.
- It's all right. She is long dead.
- You think I am a cold man. Cold and brutal. If you had asked her, she would never have said so.
- She's buried near here. You saw that island off the shore? It's a cemetery, her burial place.
[...]