Adelaide monologue (Act 2) — Plays

(_going to her, as she is still looking through that little hole_) Claire, dear, I wish I could make you feel how much I care for you. (_simply, with real feeling_) You can call me all the names you like--dull, commonplace, lazy--that is a new idea, I confess, but the rest of our family's gone now, and the love that used to be there between us all--the only place for it now is between you and me. You were so much loved, Claire. You oughtn't to try and get away from a world in which you are so much loved, (_to_ HARRY) Mother--father--all of us, always loved Claire best. We always loved Claire's queer gaiety. Now you've got to hand it to us for that, as the children say.