Frances comes back.
Frances. Henry ... this is dreadful about that poor little woman.
Trebell. An unwelcome baby was arriving. She got some quack to kill her.
These exact words are like a blow in the face to her, from which, being a woman of brave common sense, she does not shrink.
Trebell. What do you say to that?
She walks away from him, thinking painfully.
Frances. She had never had a child. There's the common-place thing to say.... Ungrateful little fool! But....
Trebell. If you had been in her place?
Frances. [Subtly.] I have never made the mistake of marrying. She grew frightened, I suppose. Not just physically frightened. How can a man understand?
Trebell. The fear of life ... do you think it was ... which is the beginning of all evil?