The mother says that Emily did not like the nursery and that she, the mother, knew that the teacher was evil and cruel to the children. Despite this, Emily continued to go to the nursery, the mother justifying this by saying," It was the only place there was. It was the only way we could be together, the only way I could hold a job." She also mentions that Emily never directly opposed going to the nursery, always having an excuse instead, but never direction protest. Then, back in the present, the mother puts down the iron and, feeling ill, thought of what the goodness her daughter showed then, costed her now. How she could as a mother possibly demand that of her own child at such a young