thomas. A damned life, Susan—with you, and others.
julia. Oh, Laura, why did you do this?
martha. If this goes on, I shall leave the room.
laura. Where are those others now?
thomas. Three of them I see before me. You, Laura, used to scream horribly. When you were teething, I was sleepless. Your Mother insisted on having you in the room with us. No wonder I went elsewhere.
martha. I'm going!
thomas. Don't, Martha! You were the quietest of the lot. When you were two years old I even began to like you. You were the exception.
laura. Haven't you any affection for your old home?
thomas. None. It was a prison. You were the gaolers and the turnkeys. To keep my feet in the domestic way you made me wool-work slippers, and I had to wear them. You gave me neckties, which I wouldn't wear. You gave me affection of a demanding kind, which I didn't want. You gave me a moral atmosphere which I detested. And at last I could bear it no more, and I escaped.
laura (deaf to instruction). Papa, we wish you and our dear Mother to come back and live with us.