III
1 §
“It can’t go on, Mother. It simply can’t. I feel an absolute worm whenever I’m with him. I shall have to clear out, like Beryl. He has just one object all the time—to make everyone feel small and mean.”
“Remember what he’s been through!”
“I don’t see why we should be part of his revenge. We’ve done nothing, except suffer through him.”
“He doesn’t want to hurt us or anyone.”
“Well, whenever people talk to him they dry up at once, as if he’d skinned them. It’s a disease.”
“One can only pity him.”
“He’s perfectly happy, Mother. He’s getting his own back.”
“If only that first night——”