Marsden
[Nodding his head several times—stupidly]
Yes.
Nina
[In same tones]
It’s too bad. I brought Doctor Darrell. I thought there might be a chance.
[She pauses and looks about the room]
[Thinking confusedly]
His books . . . his chair . . . he always sat there . . . there’s his table . . . little Nina was never allowed to touch anything . . . she used to sit on his lap . . . cuddle against him . . . dreaming into the dark beyond the windows . . . warm in his arms before the fireplace . . . dreams like sparks soaring up to die in the cold dark . . . warm in his love, safe-drifting into sleep . . .“Daddy’s girl, aren’t you?” . . .
[She looks around and then up and down]
His home . . . my home . . . he was my father . . . he’s dead . . .
[She shakes her head]
Yes, I hear you, little Nina, but I don’t understand one word of it. . . .
[She smiles with a cynical self-contempt]
I’m sorry, Father! . . . you see you’ve been dead for me a long time . . . when Gordon died, all men died . . . what did you feel for me then? . . . nothing . . . and now I feel nothing . . . it’s too bad . . .
Marsden
[Thinking woundedly]
I hoped she would throw herself in my arms . . . weeping . . . hide her face on my shoulder . . . “Oh, Charlie, you’re all I’ve got left in the world . . .”
