r
poise. She liked beauty, as you do. But this woman looked forward, as I
don't think you do. She saw herself always going down. She saw herself
in the end like the helmet-maker's daughter, in some archway of the
city, seeking a couple of pence.... And she was afraid, horribly
afraid...."

"She was a silly woman."

"How, Hedda?"

"She didn't know two things. That luck changes; destiny is sometimes as
kind as it is cruel. And also, when you are old, the money of the
archway will bring you as much joy, a drink, a bed, a meal for the
morrow, as do the diamonds of youth. The old don't need much, Shane.
They haven't far to go."

"But you, Hedda. Aren't you afraid of--the archway, and the few pence--"

"No, Shane. That will not be my way." The broidery dropped to her lap.
Her eyes, blue as winter, looked away, away. "I shall survive it all,
barring death of course, and in seven, eight, ten years, I shall drop
all this and go back, and be a lady in the land of my birth, a quiet,
soft-voiced woman in a little house that has glinting brass in winter
and flowers around it in summer. And I shall be very kind to the poor,
Shane.... And all young things that are baffled or hurt can come to me,
and tell their troubles, and I shall understand. And oftentimes, sitting
in the long Northern twilights, I shall think: Is this Froken Hagen, who
is all the world's friend, the girl who was once despised in Buenos
Aires?... And I shall choke a little, and think: 'God is good!'"

"You are very sure of yourself, Hedda."

"Yes, Shane. I know my own capabilities. I know, too, my own
limitations. I know I can always be of service. But I know, too, that
there will be no love ever for me, nor any little children of my body,
nor any big man to protect me and my house ..."

"This other woman--I killed her to save her from the archway--she
dreaded so much ..."

"You were very silly, Shane," she snipped off a thread with the
scissors. "People outgrow fear, and it may only have been a passing
mood, that would have gone with the moon or the season. You know very
little about women, Shane."

He laughed bitterly. "I have been married twice, and once I loved a
woman greatly."

"From what you tell me," her voice was calm, "you have never been
married. You made a mistake as a boy. And once again you bought a woman,
as you might a fine dog, admired her, as you might admire a fine dog,
and gave her a little passion, which comes and goes, knocks, pa