Claude.
No, I know you didn’t. It just came out unawares. And—oh, Grace, I couldn’t bear to think you—you couldn’t stick me, don’t you know.... I suppose I’m a damned fool, but I haven’t made you hate and loathe me, have I?
Grace.
I’m not worth so much troubling about, Claude.
Claude.
I can’t help it. You’ve just somehow got in my blood and bones, and if it didn’t sound such drivel, I’d say you meant everything in the world to me. Only you just laugh at me when I say things like that.
Grace.
[Explaining to herself rather than to him.] It’s very hard for all of us to say what we mean. The words we use are so frayed. One ought to guess at—at the soul within them.
Claude.
I’ve been trying to think about Gann and his daughter, but I can’t really think of anything but you.