The Mother
Not he? Not he? The house is haunted with dreams. [She sits up suddenly in bed, glancing round with feverish anxiety] Why do you not summon him?
Ahab
Summon whom?
The Mother
How can you ask? Can you not see that death’s hand is upon me? Yet you will not send for him.
Ahab
How should I dare …
The Mother
Alas, that I should be immured here, too ill to move, tended by blind servants with hearts of stone. Away, away.