t wish you mixin'
in with her work and tellin' her how to do it.

EILEEN (_aghast_). Her work! (_She seems at the end of her
tether--wrung too dry for any further emotion. She kisses her father at
the door with indifference and speaks calmly._) Good-bye, father.

CARMODY (_in a whining tone of injury_). A cold kiss! And never a small
tear out of her! Is your heart a stone? (_Drunken tears well from his
eyes and he blubbers._) And your own father going back to a lone house
with a stranger in it!

EILEEN (_wearily, in a dead voice_). You'll miss your train, father.

CARMODY (_raging in a second_). I'm off, then! Come on, Fred. It's no
welcome we have with her here in this place--and a great curse on this
day I brought her to it! (_He stamps out._)

EILEEN (_in the same dead tone_). Good-bye, Fred.

NICHOLLS (_repenting his words of a moment ago--confusedly_). I'm
sorry, Eileen--for what I said. I didn't mean--you know what your
father is--excuse me, won't you?

EILEEN (_without feeling_). Yes.

NICHOLLS. And I'll be out soon--in a week if I can make it. Well
then,--good-bye for the present. (_He bends down as if to kiss her, but
she shrinks back out of his reach._)

EILEEN (_a faint trace of mockery in her weary voice_). No, Fred.
Remember you mustn't now.

NICHOLLS (_in an instant huff_). Oh, if that's the way you feel
about----

(_He strides out and slams the door viciously behind him._ Eileen
_walks slowly back towards the fire-place, her face fixed in a
dead calm of despair. As she sinks into one of the armchairs, the
strain becomes too much. She breaks down, hiding her face in her
hands, her frail shoulders heaving with the violence of her sobs.
At this sound,_ Murray _turns from the windows and comes over
near her chair._)

MURRAY (_after watching her for a moment--in an embarrassed tone of
sympathy_). Come on, Miss Carmody, that'll never do. I know it's hard
at first--but--getting yourself all worked up is bad for you. You'll
run a temperature and then they'll keep you in bed--which isn't
pleasant. Take hold of yourself! It isn't so bad up here--really--once
you get used to it! (_The shame she feels at giving way in the presence
of a stranger only adds to her loss of control and she sobs
heartbrokenly._ Murray _walks up and down nervously, visibly nonplussed
and upset. Finally he hits upon something._) One of the nurses will be
in any minute. You don't want