"I'm sure me and the Missis we've done what we could to make it easier for you."
He gazed before him, conjuring up between them a quiet vision of the long procession of hampers, a reminder to Randall of how deeply, as it was, he stood indebted.
"And we can't do no more. That's how it is. No more we can't do."
"I'm not asking you to do anything. What do you want?"
"I want to know what you're going to do, my boy."
"Do?"
"Yes, do."
"About what?"
"About Virelet. Talk of responsibility, you took it on yourself contrary to the warnings what you had, when you married her. And having taken it you ought to have looked after her. Knowing what she is you ought to have looked after her better than you've done."
"How could I have looked after her?"