"But as you have no real intention of killing yourself you have no right to subject me to a scene like this. I want a little peace."
"A little peace! Oh, my God, a little peace!" Mrs. Farley shut her eyes and let her head fall backward and forward limply as though there were no vertebræ in her neck.
Alice shook her. "Stop it, Mamma."
Mrs. Farley rocked herself like a drunken woman. Finally, her eyes yet closed, she shuddered and was still.
"Are you calm now?"
"Yes. I'm calm. Whatever I do makes no difference to you. Nothing I do affects you. You're hard as nails."
"We won't talk about that. You can affect me, but because that is just what you want to do I'm not going to let you."
"I want to do! She says I want to do!"
"I have to talk you into a state of common sense."
Still Mrs. Farley's head nodded as if with sleep and her eyes remained shut. "Common sense. Yes, common sense," she repeated like a dream.