THE STORY: There are two characters, the Wife and the Woman, who love the same man and who sit chatting pleasantly over teacups. They would speak of kind and gentle matters and would be civilized above all. But war and things of violence intrude so they turn to French, most civilized of all languages, for “we do not quarrel in French.” But in so saying, they have returned to English and talk while waiting for the phone to ring, to bring them news of the man they love. As they wait they retell their memories of the man, and as each grows possessive and envious of the other’s part in his life, they quarrel. Their anguish for the man they love and their anger at each other reaches a peak broken only by the ring of the phone—their beloved “will live. The blood has stopped.” And the Wife and the Woman sit quietly, peaceably, again.
