A few minutes later. The interior of the parlor is shown. A grim, repressed room like a tomb in which the family has been interred alive. Abbie sits on the edge of the horsehair sofa. She has lighted all the candles and the room is revealed in all its preserved ugliness. A change has come over the woman. She looks awed and frightened now, ready to run away.
The door is opened and Eben appears. His face wears an expression of obsessed confusion. He stands staring at her, his arms hanging disjointedly from his shoulders, his feet bare, his hat in his hand.
ABBIE--(after a pause--with a nervous, formal politeness) Won't ye set?
EBEN--(dully) Ay-eh. (Mechanically he places his hat carefully on the floor near the door and sits stiffly beside her on the edge of the sofa. A pause. They both remain rigid, looking straight ahead with eyes full of fear.)
ABBIE--When I fust come in--in the dark--they seemed somethin' here.
EBEN--(simply) Maw.
ABBIE--I kin still feel--somethin'.
EBEN--It's Maw.
ABBIE--At fust I was feered o' it. I wanted t' yell an' run. Now--since yew come--seems like it's growin' soft an' kind t' me. (addressing the air--queerly) Thank yew.
EBEN--Maw allus loved me.
ABBIE--Mebbe it knows I love yew, too. Mebbe that makes it kind t' me.
EBEN--(dully) I dunno. I should think she'd hate ye.
ABBIE--(with certainty) No. I kin feel it don't--not no more.
EBEN--Hate ye fur stealin' her place--here in her hum--settin' in her parlor whar she was laid--(He suddenly stops, staring stupidly before him.)
ABBIE--What is it, Eben?
EBEN--(in a whisper) Seems like Maw didn't want me t' remind ye.
ABBIE--(excitedly) I knowed, Eben! It's kind t' me! It don't b'ar me no grudges fur what I never knowed an' couldn't help!
EBEN--Maw b'ars him a grudge.
ABBIE--Waal, so does all o' us.
EBEN--Ay-eh. (with passion) I does, by God!
ABBIE--(taking one of his hands in hers and patting it) Thar! Don't git riled thinkin' o' him. Think o' yer Maw who's kind t' us. Tell me about yer Maw, Eben.
EBEN--They hain't nothin' much. She was kind. She was good.
ABBIE--(putting one arm over his shoulder. He does not seem to notice--passionately) I'll be kind an' good t' ye!
EBEN--Sometimes she used t' sing fur me.
ABBIE--I'll sing fur ye!
EBEN--This was her hum. This was her farm.
ABBIE--This is my hum! This is my farm!
EBEN--He married her t' steal 'em. She was soft an' easy. He couldn't 'preciate her.
ABBIE--He can't 'preciate me!
EBEN--He murdered her with his hardness.
ABBIE--He's murderin' me!
EBEN--She died. (a pause) Sometimes she used to sing fur me. (He bursts into a fit of sobbing.)
ABBIE--(both her arms around him--with wild passion) I'll sing fur ye! I'll die fur ye! (In spite of her overwhelming desire for him, there is a sincere maternal love in her manner and voice--a horribly frank mixture of lust and mother love.) Don't cry, Eben! I'll take yer Maw's place! I'll be everythin' she was t' ye! Let me kiss ye, Eben! (She pulls his head around. He makes a bewildered pretense of resistance. She is tender.) Don't be afeered! I'll kiss ye pure, Eben--same 's if I was a Maw t' ye--an' ye kin kiss me back 's if yew was my son--my boy--sayin' good-night t' me! Kiss me, Eben. (They kiss in restrained fashion. Then suddenly wild passion overcomes her. She kisses him lustfully again and again and he flings his arms about her and returns her kisses. Suddenly, as in the bedroom, he frees himself from her violently and springs to his feet. He is trembling all over, in a strange state of terror. Abbie strains her arms toward him with fierce pleading.) Don't ye leave me, Eben! Can't ye see it hain't enuf--lovin' ye like a Maw--can't ye see it's got t' be that an' more--much more--a hundred times more--fur me t' be happy--fur yew t' be happy?
EBEN--(to the presence he feels in the room) Maw! Maw! What d'ye want? What air ye tellin' me?
ABBIE--She's tellin' ye t' love me. She knows I love ye an' I'll be good t' ye. Can't ye feel it? Don't ye know? She's tellin' ye t' love me, Eben!
EBEN--Ay-eh. I feel--mebbe she--but--I can't figger out--why--when ye've stole her place--here in her hum--in the parlor whar she was--
ABBIE--(fiercely) She knows I love ye!
EBEN--(his face suddenly lighting up with a fierce, triumphant grin) I see it! I sees why. It's her vengeance on him--so's she kin rest quiet in her grave!
ABBIE--(wildly) Vengeance o' God on the hull o' us! What d'we give a durn? I love ye, Eben! God knows I love ye! (She stretches out her arms for him.)
EBEN--(throws himself on his knees beside the sofa and grabs her in his arms--releasing all his pent-up passion) An' I love yew, Abbie!--now I kin say it! I been dyin' fur want o' ye--every hour since ye come! I love ye! (Their lips meet in a fierce, bruising kiss.)
