The Essential Works of Theodore Dreiser. Theodore Dreiser

I ask you to?” she returned.

      “Well, I did it,” said Drouet, “and you took it.”

      “You talk as though I had persuaded you,” answered Carrie. “You stand there and throw up what you’ve done. I don’t want your old things. I’ll not have them. You take them to-night and do what you please with them. I’ll not stay here another minute.”

      “That’s nice!” he answered, becoming angered now at the sense of his own approaching loss. “Use everything and abuse me and then walk off. That’s just like a woman. I take you when you haven’t got anything, and then when some one else comes along, why I’m no good. I always thought it’d come out that way.”

      He felt really hurt as he thought of his treatment, and looked as if he saw no way of obtaining justice.

      “It’s not so,” said Carrie, “and I’m not going with anybody else. You have been as miserable and inconsiderate as you can be. I hate you, I tell you, and I wouldn’t live with you another minute. You’re a big, insulting” — here she hesitated and used no word at all — “or you wouldn’t talk that way.”

      She had secured her hat and jacket and slipped the latter on over her little evening dress. Some wisps of wavy hair had loosened from the bands at the side of her head and were straggling over her hot, red cheeks. She was angry, mortified, grief-stricken. Her large eyes were full of the anguish of tears, but her lids were not yet wet. She was distracted and uncertain, deciding and doing things without an aim or conclusion, and she had not the slightest conception of how the whole difficulty would end.

      “Well, that’s a fine finish,” said Drouet. “Pack up and pull out, eh? You take the cake. I bet you were knocking around with Hurstwood or you wouldn’t act like that. I don’t want the old rooms. You needn’t pull out for me. You can have them for all I care, but b’George, you haven’t done me right.”

      “I’ll not live with you,” said Carrie. “I don’t want to live with you. You’ve done nothing but brag around ever since you’ve been here.”

      “Aw, I haven’t anything of the kind,” he answered.

      Carrie walked over to the door.

      “Where are you going?” he said, stepping over and heading her off.

      “Let me out,” she said.

      “Where are you going?” he repeated.

      He was, above all, sympathetic, and the sight of Carrie wandering out, he knew not where, affected him, despite his grievance.

      Carrie merely pulled at the door.

      The strain of the situation was too much for her, however. She made one more vain effort and then burst into tears.

      “Now, be reasonable, Cad,” said Drouet gently. “What do you want to rush out for this way? You haven’t any place to go. Why not stay here now and be quiet? I’ll not bother you. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

      Carrie had gone sobbing from the door to the window. She was so overcome she could not speak.

      “Be reasonable now,” he said. “I don’t want to hold you. You can go if you want to, but why don’t you think it over? Lord knows, I don’t want to stop you.”

      He received no answer. Carrie was quieting, however, under the influence of his plea.

      “You stay here now, and I’ll go,” he added at last.

      Carrie listened to this with mingled feelings. Her mind was shaken loose from the little mooring of logic that it had. She was stirred by this thought, angered by that — her own injustice, Hurstwood’s, Drouet’s, their respective qualities of kindness and favour, the threat of the world outside, in which she had failed once before, the impossibility of this state inside, where the chambers were no longer justly hers, the effect of the argument upon her nerves, all combined to make her a mass of jangling fibres — an anchorless, storm-beaten little craft which could do absolutely nothing but drift.

      “Say,” said Drouet, coming over to her after a few moments, with a new idea, and putting his hand upon her.

      “Don’t!” said Carrie, drawing away, but not removing her handkerchief from her eyes. “Never mind about this quarrel now. Let it go. You stay here until the month’s out, anyhow, and then you can tell better what you want to do. Eh?”

      Carrie made no answer.

      “You’d better do that,” he said. “There’s no use your packing up now. You can’t go anywhere.”

      Still he got nothing for his words.

      “If you’ll do that, we’ll call it off for the present and I’ll get out.”

      Carrie lowered her handkerchief slightly and looked out of the window.

      “Will you do that?” he asked.

      Still no answer.

      “Will you?” he repeated.

      She only looked vaguely into the street.

      “Aw! come on,” he said, “tell me. Will you?”

      “I don’t know,” said Carrie softly, forced to answer.

      “Promise me you’ll do that,” he said, “and we’ll quit talking about it. It’ll be the best thing for you.”

      Carrie heard him, but she could not bring herself to answer reasonably. She felt that the man was gentle, and that his interest in her had not abated, and it made her suffer a pang of regret. She was in a most helpless plight.

      As for Drouet, his attitude had been that of the jealous lover. Now his feelings were a mixture of anger at deception, sorrow at losing Carrie, misery at being defeated. He wanted his rights in some way or other, and yet his rights included the retaining of Carrie, the making her feel her error.

      “Will you?” he urged.

      “Well, I’ll see,” said Carrie.

      This left the matter as open as before, but it was something. It looked as if the quarrel would blow over, if they could only get some way of talking to one another. Carrie was ashamed, and Drouet aggrieved. He pretended to take up the task of packing some things in a valise.

      Now, as Carrie watched him out of the corner of her eye, certain sound thoughts came into her head. He had erred, true, but what had she done? He was kindly and good-natured for all his egotism. Throughout this argument he had said nothing very harsh. On the other hand, there was Hurstwood — a greater deceiver than he. He had pretended all this affection, all this passion, and he was lying to her all the while. Oh, the perfidy of men! And she had loved him. There could be nothing more in that quarter. She would see Hurstwood no more. She would write him and let him know what she thought. Thereupon what would she do? Here were these rooms. Here was Drouet, pleading for her to remain. Evidently things could go on here somewhat as before, if all were arranged. It would be better than the street, without a place to lay her head.

      All this she thought of as Drouet rummaged the drawers for collars and laboured long and painstakingly at finding a shirt-stud. He was in no hurry to rush this matter. He felt an attraction to Carrie which would not down. He could not think that the thing would end by his walking out of the room. There must be some way round, some way to make her own up that he was right and she was wrong — to patch up a peace and shut out Hurstwood for ever. Mercy, how he turned at the man’s shameless duplicity.

      “Do you think,” he said, after a few moments’ silence, “that you’ll try and get on the stage?”

      He was wondering what she was intending.

      “I don’t know what I’ll do yet,” said Carrie.

      “If you do, maybe I can help you. I’ve got a lot of friends in that line.”

      She made no answer to this.

      “Don’t