FREDERIK. Why do you ask me? What should I know of her?
WILLIAM. Grandmother doesn't know; Miss Catherine doesn't know; nobody knows.
FREDERIK. I don't know, either. [Tears up the picture—turning so that
WILLIAM does not see what he is doing. PETER, who has been smiling at
WILLIAM, motions him to come nearer. WILLIAM, feeling PETER'S
presence, looks round the room.
WILLIAM. Mr. Frederik, where's old Mr. Grimm?
FREDERIK. Dead.
WILLIAM. Are you sure he's dead? 'Cause—[Puzzled—unable to explain himself, he hesitates.
FREDERIK. [Annoyed..] You'd better go to bed.
WILLIAM. [Pointing to a glass of water on a tray.] Can I have a drink of water, please?
FREDERIK. Go to bed, sir, or you'll be punished. Water's not good for little boys with fever.
WILLIAM. [Going towards the stairs.] Wish I could find a cold brook and lie in it. [Goes slowly up the stairs. FREDERIK would destroy the pieces of the picture; but PETER faces him as though forbidding him to touch it, and, for the first time, FREDERIK imagines he sees the apparition of his uncle.