"Go, Elizabeth?"
"Yes, go!"
"But where?"
"Anywhere, so long as it's away from Seabourne and you. I've had enough of this existence; even you, Joan, are not worth it. I'm going before it's too late to go, before I get so deeply rooted that I can't free myself."
Joan said dully: "If you leave me, I think—I don't think I can bear it."
"Then come with me."
"No, I can't."
"You can. You're quite free except in your own imagination, and your mother is not ill except in hers. You'd find that she'd get on all right once she hadn't got you as an audience; naturally she'll depend on you as long as you let her. But I say to you, don't let her, she's little short of a vampire! Well, let her vampire herself for a change, she shall certainly not vampire me; if you choose to be drained dry, I do not. Good God! You and she between you are enough to drive anyone insane!"
Joan faced her with bright, desperate eyes. "Elizabeth, you can't go away, I need you too much."
"I must go away."