50
CRAIG’S WIFE
Mrs. Craig
- I don’t want her.
- [She strikes the table with her knuckles.
Miss Austen (looking directly at her)
- You don’t want your husband—(Mrs. Craig starts slightly and then stands rigid) only that he’s necessary to the upkeep here. But if you could see how that could be managed without him, his position here wouldn’t be as secure as the position of one of those pillows there.
- [She indicates the pillows on the seat at the right of the stairway.
Mrs. Craig
- Well, I must say, Miss Austen, that’s a very nice thing for you to say to me.
Miss Austen
- It’s the truth, whether you like to hear it or not. You want your house, Harriet, and that’s all you do want. And that’s all you’ll have, at the finish, unless you change your way. People who live to themselves, Harriet, are generally left to themselves; for other people will not go on being made miserable indefinitely for the sake of your ridiculous idolatry of house furnishings.
Mrs. Craig
- You seem to have borne it rather successfully.
Miss Austen
- I did it for Walter’s sake; because I knew he wanted to have me here; and I didn’t want to make it difficult. But I’ve been practically a recluse in that room of mine upstairs ever since we’ve been here; just to avoid scratching that holy stairway, or leaving a footprint on one of these sacred rugs. I’m not used to that kind of stu-
