LUCIE. There’s too much unhappiness!
CATHERINE. The children of poor folk are unhappy, all of them, all.
ANNETTE. The child of an unmarried woman, too, is born only to suffering.
LUCIE. Children who are born sickly or ill ought not to be born at all.
CATHERINE. You see, Annette, we must bear it. God’s given us eyes; it’s to cry with.
ANNETTE. To cry with!
The four women cry silently. Catherine is in Madeleine’s arms. Lucie has her head on Annette’s lap.
CATHERINE [making ready to leave] Please to forgive me.
MADELEINE. We have the same troubles.
ANNETTE. Yes; we have the same troubles.