MALISE. Don't spoil it!

CLARE. I'd been walking up and down the Embankment for about three
hours. One does get desperate sometimes.

MALISE. Thank God for that!

CLARE. Only makes it worse afterwards. It seems so frightful to
them, too.

MALISE. [Softly and suddenly, but with a difficulty in finding the
right words] Blessed be the respectable! May they dream of--me!
And blessed be all men of the world! May they perish of a surfeit
of--good form!

CLARE. I like that. Oh, won't there be a row! [With a faint
movement of her shoulders] And the usual reconciliation.

MALISE. Mrs. Dedmond, there's a whole world outside yours. Why
don't you spread your wings?

CLARE. My dear father's a saint, and he's getting old and frail; and
I've got a sister engaged; and three little sisters to whom I'm
supposed to set a good example. Then, I've no money, and I can't do
anything for a living, except serve in a shop. I shouldn't be free,
either; so what's the good? Besides, I oughtn't to have married if I
wasn't going to be happy. You see, I'm not a bit misunderstood or
ill-treated. It's only----