Julie:
Pres, why did you do it? Why Pres?
Preston Dillard:
Because I love her.
Julie:
But you had my love.
Preston Dillard:
And lost it.
Julie:
Wasn't that memory more real than anything she had to give to you?
[Preston walks away]
Julie:
Oh, don't be cross with me, Pres. Just tell me. You must!
Preston Dillard:
Please don't, Julie!
Julie:
Shall I cry for you? Nobody ever made me cry but you... And that was only twice! Do you remember?
Preston Dillard:
Yes.
Julie:
How much do you remember?
Preston Dillard:
Everything you ever said or did. But that's passed now, Julie. Done. Finished.
Julie:
I ought to have come to you. I wanted to so terribly. It was because I wanted to so much that I couldn't. You do understand that, don't you, Pres?
Preston Dillard:
I didn't understand. I just knew what you did.
Julie:
But you had to come back home, didn't you? You had to come back to the country and the things you know, because you belong here! Nothing can change that. Pres, Listen... Can you hear them? The night noises? The mockingbird in the magnolia? See the moss hanging from the moonlight? You can fairly taste the night, can't you? You're part of it, Pres, and it's part of you. Like I am. You can't get away from us, Pres, we're both in your blood. This is the country you were born to, the country you know and trust. Your country, Pres! Amy wouldn't understand. She'd think there'd be snakes.
Preston Dillard:
Julie, please!
Julie:
Oh, it isn't tame and easy like the North. It's quick and dangerous, but you trust it! Remember how the fever mist smells in the bottoms, rank and rotten? But you trust that, too, because it's part of you. Just as I'm part of you and we'll never let you go!
[Julie kisses Preston, he pushes her away]
Julie:
Pres, you're afraid!
[Preston glares at her angrily and walks away]
