NELLIE and Edward left alone,
Feeling their house again their own,
Stood by the fire. "It seemed to me
The Great Man fell with a crash for Lee. . .""Nellie, the dinner was very good."
"Darling, so glad you liked your food:
I'm afraid it's all the fun you had,
With Mrs. Wayne . . .""No, not so bad.
I rather liked her. The old girl said
Good things; she's got a tongue in her head.
But why the deuce need she look like that?
She isn't old and she isn't fat.
Wayne's probably generous, certainly rich,
Why need she dress like a Salem witch?""Oh, I could talk an hour," said Nell,
"On the psychic basis of dressing well.
It isn't a question of pocket-books,
It isn't a figure, it isn't looks.
It isn't going to first-rate places.
Believe me, the thing has a psychic basis.
It's caring. . . caring a terrible lot. . .
Whether you're right, or whether you're not.
It's being a slave, yet now and then
Snapping your fingers at gods and men.
It's art, it's genius, it's using your mind. . .
What does the Bible say-'that kind
Comes not forth but by fasting and prayer. . .'
Well, that's the answer. . . you've got to care:
And Mrs. Wayne clearly has not been caring
For twenty years about what she was wearing."