Oskar comes towards bed-time. He is biting his lips and his eyes are bloodshot. She looks up at him helplessly—all the strength of her soul has gone out of her.
“You’ve heard the result?”
“Yes, I have heard,” he says, speaking between his teeth.
“I can’t think how people could be so unkind.”
“Unkind!”
He is laughing bitterly, fiercely.
“One’s nearest neighbours—the people one has known all one’s life.”
“Oh, your people are no worse than any other—not an atom. People are the same everywhere. It’s the war, Mona. It has drained every drop of humanity out of them.”
He is laughing again, still more bitterly and fiercely.