I believed that she would cling to them till then, and I think
I had an idea that she read Aspern's letters over every night
or at least pressed them to her withered lips. I would have
given a good deal to have a glimpse of the latter spectacle.
I asked Miss Tita if the old lady were seriously ill, and she
replied that she was only very tired--she had lived so very,
very long. That was what she said herself--she wanted to die
for a change. Besides, all her friends were dead long ago;
either they ought to have remained or she ought to have gone.
That was another thing her aunt often said--she was not
at all content.

"But people don't die when they like, do they?" Miss Tita inquired.
I took the liberty of asking why, if there was actually enough money
to maintain both of them, there would not be more than enough in case
of her being left alone. She considered this difficult problem
a moment and then she said, "Oh, well, you know, she takes care of me.
She thinks that when I'm alone I shall be a great fool, I shall not know
how to manage."

"I should have supposed that you took care of her.
I'm afraid she is very proud."

"Why, have you discovered that already?" Miss Tita cried with the glimmer
of an illumination in her face.

"I was shut up with her there for a considerable time, and she struck me,
she interested me extremely. It didn't take me long to make my discovery.
She won't have much to say to me while I'm here."