"So that was the condition?"
"It was not a condition, Constance: it was merely advice, given in your own interest...."
"And in yours."
"Very well, in ours too. People come to my days, just because of my husband's position and connections, people who are relations and friends of De Staffelaer's, people who have never forgiven you and never will. Can't you see that for yourself, Constance? Must I explain it to you?"
"Bertha, I never had any desire to push or assert myself."
"Then what makes you?"
"What makes me?" And it was as though Constance was searching for the answer. "What but you, all of you?"
"Don't be unreasonable, Constance."
"What else did I want but to come and live here quietly at the Hague and see all of you again—my brothers, my sisters, your children—without ever dreaming of pushing myself? Who first spoke of pushing? You, you and your husband, Bertha!"
"Constance!"