CRAIG’S WIFE
69
Mrs. Harold
- I’ve been here nearly a year now, and I have my first time to see her do anything—only a lot of snoopin’—after somebody else has finished.
Mazie
- It’s too bad Miss Austen didn’t tell her that while she was at it.
Mrs. Harold (raising her hand, with a touch of solemnity)
- She told her enough.
- [She goes up to the foot of the stairs and looks up.
Mazie
- Well, didn’t he say anything?
Mrs. Harold
- Not very much; Miss Austen done most of the talkin’. (She comes down to Mazie’s left, confidentially) She told him if he didn’t do something very soon, his wife ’ud make him look like an echo.
Mazie
- She will, too.
Mrs. Harold
- He said she had a peculiar disposition—and that Miss Austen didn’t understand her. Well, I felt like sayin’ if Miss Austen don’t understand her, I do. And I’d soon tell her how well I understand her, too, only that she gives me a wide berth.
Mazie
- I feel kind of sorry for him sometimes, though.
Mrs. Harold
- Yes, it’s a pity for him. (Lowering her voice, and speaking with great conviction) She could build a nest in his ear, and he’d never know it.
- [She turns to the table and settles the various ornaments.
