'I hated it. And she hated me. My God, how she hated me before that child was born! I often think she conceived it out of hate. Anyhow, after the child was born I left her alone. And then came the war, and I joined up. And I didn't come back till I knew she was with that fellow at Stacks Gate.'
He broke off, pale in the face.
'And what is the man at Stacks Gate like?' asked Connie.
'A big baby sort of fellow, very low-mouthed. She bullies him, and they both drink.'
'My word, if she came back!'
'My God, yes! I should just go, disappear again.'
There was a silence. The pasteboard in the fire had turned to grey ash.
'So when you did get a woman who wanted you,' said Connie, 'you got a bit too much of a good thing.'
'Ay! Seems so! Yet even then I'd rather have her than the never-never
