CURT. She is a little impetuous, but a fine girl.
ALLAN. When a girl is cruel and rude, she is always said to be a fine girl.
CURT. Don't be so severe, Allan! Are you not satisfied with your new relatives?
ALLAN. I like Uncle Edgar——
CURT. Yes, he has many good sides. How about your other teachers—the Lieutenant, for instance?
ALLAN. He's so uncertain. Sometimes he seems to have a grudge against me.
CURT. Oh, no! You just go here and make people "seem" this or that. Don't brood, but look after your own affairs, do what is proper, and leave others to their own concerns.
ALLAN. So I do, but—they won't leave me alone. They pull you in—as the cuttlefish down at the landing—they don't bite, but they stir up vortices that suck——
CURT. You have some tendency to melancholia, I think. Don't you feel at home here with me? Is there anything you miss?
ALLAN. I have never been better off, but—there is something here that smothers me.