Leave it, I say.
Will you not? Will you not? An eye for a jewel, then!
She attacks the face of the YOUNGER WOMAN with her disengaged hand.
The Younger Woman (starting back):
Oh!
The ELDER WOMAN breaks the cord and thrusts the jewel into her pocket.
The Younger Woman:
Aie! Aie! Aie! Old thief! You are always thieving!
You stole a necklace on your wedding day:
You could not bear a child, you stole your daughter:
You stole a shroud the morn your husband died:
Last week you stole the Princess Regan's comb...
She stumbles into the chair by the bed, and, throwing her loose sleeves over her head, rocks herself and moans.
The Elder Woman (resuming her clothes-folding and her song):
"The lady's linen's no longer neat;" —
Ahumm, Ahumm, Ahee —
"Her savour is neither warm nor sweet;
It's close for two in a winding sheet,
And lice are too good for worms to eat;
So here's no place for me."