“I didn’t mean to talk that way to you,” he said. “It’s rude. And you’re so kind and nice.”
“But I want you to! I want to hear what you think! I shouldn’t be satisfied to what?”
“Well ... to take everything and give nothing.”
“But do you imagine that I give nothing? I have three children.”
“That’s nothing. I’ll be frank, if you really want.... What I mean is, you don’t count. You don’t try to help. You just try to make life bearable for yourself. Don’t you see? Even with your children. You don’t teach them to serve. You just tell them to live decently.”
“Even that is something—in a world like this,” she said, with a little smile.
He shook his head.
“Not to me! Better to forget your own life—even your own decency—a little....”
“But—since you have so clear an idea of the scheme of things—what would you like people like me—myself for instance—to do?”
“I guess it’s too late for you to do much,” he said, gravely. “All you could do would be to learn to understand.”