JOY. I can't bear it that you—if you 'll only—I'll never leave you. You think I don't know what I 'm saying, but I do, because even now I—I half love somebody. Oh, Mother! [Pressing her breast.] I feel—I feel so awful—as if everybody knew.
MRS. GWYN. You think I'm a monster to hurt you. Ah! yes! You'll understand better some day.
JOY. [In a sudden outburst of excited fear.] I won't believe it— I—I—can't—you're deserting me, Mother.
MRS. GWYN. Oh, you untouched things! You——
[Joy' looks up suddenly, sees her face, and sinks down on her knees.]
JOY. Mother—it 's for me!
GWYN. Ask for my life, JOY—don't be afraid.
[Joy turns her face away. MRS. GWYN bends suddenly and touches her daughter's hair; JOY shrinks from that touch.]
[Recoiling as though she had been stung.] I forgot—I 'm deserting you.
[And swiftly without looking back she goes away. Joy, left alone under the hollow tree, crouches lower, and her shoulders shake. Here DICK finds her, when he hears no longer any sound o f voices. He falls on his knees beside her.]