Page:The Return of the Soldier (Van Druten).djvu/17

 child would be glad of them. We ought to send them all to the Children’s Hospital.







It’s like mummifying the child. I know Chris wanted it; there’s a curious sentimental streak in him. I don’t believe in all this tying of oneself to things embalming memories  keepsakes and locks of hair; it’s  Victorian  Marcus Stone  photographs even. The only photo of the child in the house is in your bedroom.

I tried to reason with Chris but you can’t change it now, while he’s away  behind his back. It’s treachery.





(a trifle ashamedly) : No, I didn’t mean that but  it isn’t even like the rest of this house  full of old associations for Chris. It’s part of the new wing that he built when we married. I’m almost tempted to be jealous sometimes of what this place means to you and him all the memories it has for you  of your childhood. But that’s a thing I can respect, even if I don’t share it. If you’d spent your childhood as I did, in about a dozen different houses and all over the place, perhaps you’d understand my