“Yes, I think I must have been glad of his helplessness. Do you understand? His helplessness gave me an excuse to mother him. I had to mother somebody! The worst thing is, no good at all has come of our being married--no good to either of us. No, it has hurt us both.” She turned her head, holding it a little sideways as she had when she sat on the couch by her husband, and looked at him again. There was something childlike in the expression of her face and in her pose. Her whole body expressed ingenuous bewilderment and trouble. She put her finger to her lips. The tall man, his hands at his side, studied her face. He said nothing. He waited for her to go on. She made a little gesture with her hand as if she were brushing something away. “See, now he has got to where he no longer wants even to be helped. Now he doesn’t even want to be cared for.” Her voice was tired and plaintive, the voice of a tired child. “To be a coddled baby doesn’t satisfy him any more. He wants to be a sleeping baby. Sleep! Sleep! Only let him sleep! He gets drunk at night and sleeps till morning. He gets drunk in the morning and sleeps till night. That is what drinking is with him. That is what drinking is for. That is the way he escapes--he has always drunk to escape--he is backing out of life entirely. Do you see? Now he doesn’t want me to take care of him any more, for that reminds him that he is alive and in the world. I know. He is trying to find again the deep sleep that a baby has before it is born.” The tall man would have spoken but she went on. “Can’t you see how it is with me now? There is no longer any satisfaction, not even the kind of satisfaction I got from it at first. Maybe I should have known better at first. But we always say that afterward, when it is too late.” “It isn’t too late,” the tall man said. “You know it was a mistake. It’s a simple thing to correct that mistake, and you know it’s perfectly straight. As far as Eddie is concerned we will take care of him.” “But I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t, somehow. You don’t know how it is. But I know. The whole thing is like a habit, only it’s worse than a habit. I know. I have tried to break it. But I didn’t use much will power. Maybe I didn’t want to break it. “You think I am strong. Maybe I am strong. But I am like most women. My strength does just about as it pleases with me.” She bowed her head and looked hopelessly at the floor. The tall man had already taken her by the shoulders. She lifted her head quickly. Her face wore a look of surprise and fear because of his sudden and strong grip on her shoulders. “You may call it a habit or whatever you like, you’ve had enough of it,” he said. His face had turned pale and his mouth was stern. But his eyes regarded her kindly. She made no attempt to pull away from him. The frightened look left her face. “You’ll put an end to this business. I’ll make you. Then you’ll be glad.”