Vir. To send me to school?
Mr. C. High time, ain’t it? I could n’t make up my mind before whether ’t was to be the seminary at Bowville or Maryburg. But I had a letter this morning which settled it for Bowville. Suits me exactly—suits me exactly. So get your hat and come along.
I drove across the ridge and left my trap at Judge Carroll’s.
Mrs. C. Her clothes, Nelson! There ’s nothing ready—
Mr. C. You mean to say! When we ’ve been talkin’ this thing a whole year? And you a thrifty woman tell me her clothes ain’t ready? Well, she ’ll come without ’em, that’s all. You can send ’em along afterwards. I ’ve got it all fixed up, I tell you. My brother’s child shall have her chance—she shall have her chance, so long as I ’ve got a dollar in my pocket and she walks exactly to please me—walks exactly to please me. It ’s for you to say, Maria, whether you ’ll stand in the way o’ your own flesh and blood or not.
Mrs. C. Of course, Nelson, I am very grateful, and do not dream of depriving Virginia of this opportunity, only—
Mr. C. That’s all there is to it then. No onlys about it. Go get your hat, girl. (Virginia goes slowly into the house. At the door she meets Zurie who turns back and goes in with her)
Mrs. C. Now, Nelson?
Mr. C. It ’s just this. My brother’s child shan’t stay another hour in the same house with Edgar Poe. That’s the plain tale of it, Maria.
Mrs. C. Nelson Clemm!