ALLMERS. On father's.
ASTA. [Half rising from the bench.] On—father's! [Sitting down again.] What do you mean by that, Alfred?
ALLMERS. Father was never really kind to you.
ASTA. [Vehemently.] Oh, don't say that!
ALLMERS. Yes, it is true. He did not love you—not as he ought to have.
ASTA. [Evasively.] No, perhaps not as he loved you. That was only natural.
ALLMERS. [Continuing.] And he was often hard to your mother, too—at least in the last years.
ASTA. [Softly.] Mother was so much, much younger than he—remember that.
ALLMERS. Do you think they were not quite suited to each other?
ASTA. Perhaps not.