FLAMM Are you done, mother? MRS. FLAMM Far from it! FLAMM Well, then I'll have to wait a bit longer. MRS. FLAMM Christie, what did I tell you that day when you out with it an' said you wanted to marry me? FLAMM What was it? MRS. FLAMM I'm much too old for you. A woman can be sixteen years younger than her husband, but not three or four years older. I wish you had listened to me then! FLAMM Isn't it real idle to dish up those old stories now? Haven't we something more important to do?--I may be wrong, but it seems to me that we have, mother.--I've had no notion until to-day of what Rose means to me. Otherwise I'd have acted very differently, of course. Now it's got to be seen if there's anything that can be retrieved. And for that very reason, mother, I was going to beg you not to be petty, and I wanted first of all to try to see whether you could gain some comprehension of what really happened. Up to the moment when it was agreed that that tottery manikin was to marry Rose--our relations were strictly honourable. But when that marriage was determined on--it was all over.--It may be that my ideas are becoming confused. I had seen the girl grow up ... some of our love for little Kurt clung to her. First of all I wanted to protect her from misfortune, and finally, one day, all of a sudden, the way such things happen ... even old Plato has described that correctly in the passage in Phaedrus about the two horses:--the bad horse ran away with me and then ... then the sea burst in and the dykes crashed down. MRS. FLAMM 'Tis a real interesting story that you've told me, an' even tricked out with learned allusions. An' when you men do that--you think there's no more to say. A poor woman can look out then to see how to get even! Maybe you did it all just to make Rose happy, an' sacrificed yourself into the bargain ... There's no excuse for such things! FLAMM Very well, mother. Then we'll adjourn the session. Remember though, that when Kurt died, I couldn't bear to see the girl around the house. Who kept her and persuaded her to come back? MRS. FLAMM Because I didn't want life to become so dead around us. I didn't keep her for my sake. FLAMM And I have said nothing for your sake. MRS. FLAMM Every tear is wasted that one might shed for you an' your kind. But you can spare me your speeches, Flamm. _The MAID brings in the afternoon coffee._ THE MAID Rose Bernd's out in the kitchen. MRS. FLAMM Come, girl! Wheel me out! [_To FLAMM._] You can help shove me aside. Somewhere in the world there'll be a little room for me! I won't be in the way. You can call her in when I'm gone. FLAMM [_Sternly, to the MAID._] Tell the girl to wait for a moment. [_The MAID leaves the room._] Mother, you have to say a word to her! I can't.... My hands are tied. MRS. FLAMM An' what am I to say to her, Flamm? FLAMM