PETER. Ah!

FREDERIK. Why do you ask me? What should I know of her?

WILLIAM. Grandmother doesn't know; Miss Catherine doesn't know; nobody
knows.

FREDERIK. I don't know, either. [_Tears up the picture--turning so that_
WILLIAM _does not see what he is doing._ PETER, _who has been smiling at_
WILLIAM, _motions him to come nearer._ WILLIAM, _feeling_ PETER'S
_presence, looks round the room._

WILLIAM. Mr. Frederik, where's _old_ Mr. Grimm?

FREDERIK. Dead.

WILLIAM. Are you sure he's dead? 'Cause--[_Puzzled--unable to explain
himself, he hesitates._

FREDERIK. [_Annoyed._.] You'd better go to bed.

WILLIAM. [_Pointing to a glass of water on a tray._] Can I have a drink of
water, please?

FREDERIK. Go to bed, sir, or you'll be punished. Water's not good for
little boys with fever.

WILLIAM. [_Going towards the stairs._] Wish I could find a cold brook and
lie in it. [_Goes slowly up the stairs._ FREDERIK _would destroy the
pieces of the picture; but_ PETER _faces him as though forbidding him to