And then--. I
might have known she couldn't leave Pip alone. . . . But for weeks
I didn't dream. I wouldn't dream. Right under my nose. The
impudence of it!"
Her voice broke. "Such a horrid mess! Such a hopeless, horrid
mess!"
She wiped away a bright little tear. . . .
"It's all alike. It's your way with us. All of you. There isn't a
man in the world deserves to have a woman in the world. We do all
we can for you. We do all we can to amuse you, we dress for you and
we talk for you. All the sweet, warm little women there are! And
then you go away from us! There never was a woman yet who pleased
and satisfied a man, who did not lose him. Give you everything and
off you must go! Lovers, mothers. . . ."
It dawned upon Benham dimly that his mother's troubles did not deal
exclusively with himself.
"But Amanda," he began.
"If you'd looked after her properly, it would have been right
enough. Pip was as good as gold until she undermined him. . . . A
woman can't wait about like an umbrella in a stand. . . . He was
just a boy.
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