no interest in life

The gentleman I met on the road walked with me back to his home, along the rough road where I'd been idling Sunday. Without a sidewalk, we occasionally stepped into the damp green left crippled by the snow. There was a woman at his doorstep.
Meg, it is that time so soon?
It's been a long time, sir, she whined and minced at him before he agreed that she could clean the doorknobs. She bunched up the front of her rather dirty shirt as though to start immediately using her own clothes. He stepped by her and I followed him into the house at his sign but he noticed the look on my face.
It's her nature, that she cleans doorknobs with her tshirt, he said. You think it's odd but I've tried giving her rags to do the job; she stuffed them in strange places and cackled disconcertingly about it. I tried letting her do the floors but she left inconvenient spills and laughed more. She doesn't want to do anything other than clean the doorknobs with her shirt, maybe the forks if she's in a calm mood. Asking her to do more is just unsettling to everyone.
You don't believe me, but it's her nature and I can't change it. It takes a great deal to override someone's nature, taking them from the normal course of events into some new experience entirely. I can prove it.
Look out the window, do you see Lucy? Is she still sitting there on the swing? She was when I left, she's a little bit heartbroken, but not too much. She still has her appetite, but she sits on that swing every chance just daydreaming about some life that didn't quite manifest.
Why don't you go out there and talk to her for a little while, I'll find the things to help you with your car. In fact, why don't you make her fall in love with you a little bit, instead? Oh, it doesn't matter if you can't do that, can't make her really fall for you. Whatever happens, as long as you attract her interest someway, I'll still use this as an experiment. I'll prove to you that people always act according to their nature, because whatever does happen, I'll tell you what to do to prove the test. Why don't you go out there and do it? I'll be back in just a few moments.