I really don’t understand. [Almost vehemently.] You’re wrong, John. He suffers much more pain than you think. That’s what gives him that look.
John.
[Gravely.] It’s fear that’s in his face, mother, the fear of death. You know it just as well as I do.
Mrs. Wharton.
[With dismay.] I was so hoping that no one would know but me. It tears my heart. And I can do nothing. And he’s so strange. Sometimes he looks at me almost as though I were his enemy.
John.
He doesn’t want to die, does he? At the bottom of his heart is envy because you can go on living.
Mrs. Wharton.
Have you noticed that? I tried not to see it.
John.