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diff --git a/old/15788-h.zip b/old/15788-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 303fbd2..0000000 --- a/old/15788-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/15788-h/15788-h.htm b/old/15788-h/15788-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 2acf763..0000000 --- a/old/15788-h/15788-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6904 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Waste: A Tragedy, In Four Acts, by Granville Barker. - </title> - <style type="text/css"> -/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ -<!-- - p { margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; - } - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; - } - hr { width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; - } - - table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} - - body{margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - } - - blockquote {margin-left: 30%; - } - - .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ - .blockquot{margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 5%;} - .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ - .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; - padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; - float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; - font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} - - .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} - .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} - .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} - .br {border-right: solid 2px;} - .bbox {border: solid 2px;} - - .center {text-align: center;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .u {text-decoration: underline;} - - .caption {font-weight: bold;} - - .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} - - .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: - 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} - - .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; - margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} - - .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} - .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} - .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} - - .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} - .poem br {display: none;} - .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em;} - .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} - .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} - // --> - /* XML end ]]>*/ - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Waste, by Granville Barker - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Waste - A Tragedy, In Four Acts - -Author: Granville Barker - -Release Date: May 7, 2005 [EBook #15788] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASTE *** - - - - -Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h1>WASTE: A TRAGEDY, IN FOUR ACTS,</h1> -<h2>BY GRANVILLE BARKER</h2> - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p class="center">LONDON: SIDGWICK & JACKSON, LTD.<br /> -3 ADAM STREET, ADELPHI. MCMIX. -</p> - - -<hr style="width: 25%;" /> -<p class="center"><i>Entered at the Library of Congress, Washington, U.S.A.<br /> -All rights reserved.</i> -</p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h1>Waste</h1> - -<p class="center">1906-7 -</p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h1>WASTE</h1> - - -<p>At Shapters, <span class="smcap">George Farrant's</span> house in Hertfordshire. -Ten o'clock on a Sunday evening in summer.</p> - -<p><i>Facing you at her piano by the window, from which she -is protected by a little screen, sits</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>; -<i>a woman of the interesting age, clear-eyed and all -her face serene, except for a little pucker of the brows -which shows a puzzled mind upon some important -matters. To become almost an ideal hostess has been -her achievement; and in her own home, as now, this -grace is written upon every movement. Her eyes -pass over the head of a girl, sitting in a low chair by -a little table, with the shaded lamplight falling on her -face. This is</i> <span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>; <i>twenty-three, undefeated -in anything as yet and so unsoftened. The -book on her lap is closed, for she has been listening -to the music. It is possibly some German philosopher, -whom she reads with a critical appreciation of -his shortcomings. On the sofa near her lounges</i> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell</span>; <i>a charming woman, if by charming -you understand a woman who converts every quality -she possesses into a means of attraction, and has no use -for any others. On the sofa opposite sits</i> <span class="smcap">Miss Trebell</span>. -<i>In a few years, when her hair is quite grey, -she will assume as by right the dignity of an old maid. -Between these two in a low armchair is</i> <span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. -<i>She has attained to many dignities. Mother -and grandmother, she has brought into the world -and nourished not merely life but character. A -wonderful face she has, full of proud memories and -fearless of the future. Behind her, on a sofa between -the windows, is</i> <span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. <i>He is just what -the average English father would like his son to be. -You can see the light shooting out through the -windows and mixing with moonshine upon a -smooth lawn. On your left is a door. There are -many books in the room, hardly any pictures, a -statuette perhaps. The owner evidently sets beauty -of form before beauty of colour. It is a woman's -room and it has a certain delicate austerity. By the -time you have observed everything</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span> -<i>has played Chopin's prelude opus 28, number 20 -from beginning to end.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Thank you, my dear Julia.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Protesting.</i>] No more?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I won't play for a moment longer than -I feel musical.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Trebell</span>. Do you think it right, Julia, to finish -with that after an hour's Bach?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I suddenly came over Chopinesque, -Fanny; ... what's your objection? [<i>as she sits by her.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. What ... when Bach has raised -me to the heights of unselfishness!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Grimacing sweetly, her eyes only -half lifted.</i>] Does he? I'm glad that I don't understand -him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>Putting mere prettiness in its -place.</i>] One may prefer Chopin when one is young.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. And is that a reproach or a compliment?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Boldly.</i>] I do.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Or a man may ... unless he's a -philosopher.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>To the rescue.</i>] Miss Trebell, -you're very hard on mere humanity.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>Completing the reproof.</i>] That's -my wretched training as a schoolmistress, Lady Davenport -... one grew to fear it above all things.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. [<i>Throwing in the monosyllable -with sharp youthful enquiry.</i>] Why?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. There were no text books on the -subject.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Smiling at her friend.</i>] Yes, Fanny ... -I think you escaped to look after your brother only just -in time.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. In another year I might have been -head-mistress, which commits you to approve of the -system for ever.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>Shaking her wise head.</i>] I've -watched the Education fever take England....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. If I hadn't stopped teaching things -I didn't understand...!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Not without mischief.</i>] And what -was the effect on the pupils?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. I can tell you that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Frances never taught you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. No, I wish she had. But I was at -her sort of a school before I went to Newnham. I know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>Very distastefully.</i>] Up-to-date, it -was described as.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. Well, it was like a merry-go-round -at top speed. You felt things wouldn't look a bit like that -when you came to a standstill.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. And they don't?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. [<i>With great decision.</i>] Not a -bit.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>In her velvet tone.</i>] I was taught -the whole duty of woman by a parson-uncle who disbelieved -in his Church.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. When a man at Jude's was going to -take orders....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Jude's?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. At Oxford. The dons went very -gingerly with him over bits of science and history.</p> - -<blockquote><p>[<i>This wakes a fruitful thought in</i> <span class="smcap">Julia Farrant's</span> -<i>brain.</i>]</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Mamma, have you ever discussed so-called -anti-Christian science with Lord Charles?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span> ... Cantelupe?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Yes. It was over appointing a teacher -for the schools down here ... he was staying with us. The -Vicar's his fervent disciple. However, we were consulted.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. Didn't Lord Charles want you to -send the boys there till they were ready for Harrow?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Quite the last thing in Toryism!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Mamma made George say we were -too <i>nouveau riche</i> to risk it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>As she laughs.</i>] I couldn't resist that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Catching something of her subject's -dry driving manner.</i>] Lord Charles takes the superior -line and says ... that with his consent the Church may -teach the unalterable Truth in scientific language or -legendary, whichever is easier understanded of the people.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Is it the prospect of Disestablishment -suddenly makes him so accommodating?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>With large contempt.</i>] He needn't -be. The majority of people believe the world was made -in an English week.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. Oh, no!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. No Bishop dare deny it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>From the heights of experience.</i>] Dear -Lucy, do you seriously think that the English spirit—the -nerve that runs down the backbone—is disturbed by new -theology ... or new anything?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>Enjoying her epigram.</i>] What a -waste of persecution history shows us!</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span> <i>now captures the conversation with a -very young politician's fervour.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. Once they're disestablished they must -make up their minds what they do believe.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. I presume Lord Charles thinks -it'll hand the Church over to him and his ... dare I say -'Sect'?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. Won't it? He knows what he wants.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Subtly.</i>] There's the election to come -yet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. But now both parties are pledged to a -bill of some sort.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Political prophecies have a knack of -not coming true; but, d'you know, Cyril Horsham warned -me to watch this position developing ... nearly four years -ago.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Sitting on the opposition bench -sharpens the eye-sight.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Ironically.</i>] Has he been pleased with -the prospect?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>With perfect diplomacy</i>] If the -Church must be disestablished ... better done by its -friends than its enemies.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Still I don't gather he's pleased -with his dear cousin Charles's conduct.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Shrugging.</i>] Oh, lately, Lord Charles -has never concealed his tactics.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. And that speech at Leeds was the -crowning move I suppose; just asking the Nonconformists -to bring things to a head?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Judicially.</i>] I think that was precipitate.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Giving them</i> <span class="smcap">Lord Charles's</span> <i>oratory.</i>] -Gentlemen, in these latter days of Radical opportunism!—You -know, I was there ... sitting next to an old gentleman -who shouted "Jesuit."</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. But supposing Mallaby and the -Nonconformists hadn't been able to force the Liberals' -hand?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Speaking as of inferior beings.</i>] -Why, they were glad of any cry going to the Country!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>As she considers this.</i>] Yes ... -and Lord Charles would still have had as good a chance of -forcing Lord Horsham's. It has been clever tactics.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. [<i>Who has been listening, sharp-eyed.</i>] -Contrariwise, he wouldn't have liked a Radical Bill -though, would he?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>With aplomb.</i>] He knew he was safe -from that. The government must have dissolved before -Christmas anyway ... and the swing of the pendulum's a -sure thing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>With her smile.</i>] It's never a sure -thing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. Oh, Mrs. Farrant, look how unpopular -the Liberals are.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. What made them bring in Resolutions?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Overflowing with knowledge of the -subject.</i>] I was told Mallaby insisted on their showing -they meant business. I thought he was being too clever -... and it turns out he was. Tommy Luxmore told -me there was a fearful row in the Cabinet about it. -But on their last legs, you know, it didn't seem to matter, -I suppose. Even then, if Prothero had mustered up an -ounce of tact ... I believe they could have pulled them -through....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Not the Spoliation one.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. Well, Mr. Trebell dished that!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Henry says his speech didn't -turn a vote.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>With charming irony.</i>] How disinterested -of him!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Enthusiastic.</i>] That speech did if ever -a speech did.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Is there any record of a speech that -ever did? He just carried his own little following with -him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. But the crux of the whole matter is -and has always been ... what's to be done with the -Church's money.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. [<i>Visualising sovereigns.</i>] A hundred -millions or so ... think of it!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. There has been from the start a -good deal of anti-Nonconformist feeling against applying -the money to secular uses.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Deprecating false modesty, on anyone's -behalf.</i>] Oh, of course the speech turned votes ... twenty -of them at least.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. [<i>Determined on information.</i>] Then -I was told Lord Horsham had tried to come to an understanding -himself with the Nonconformists about Disestablishment—oh—a -long time ago ... over the Education -Bill.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Is that true, Julia?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. How should I know?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>With some mischief</i>] You might.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Weighing her words.</i>] I don't think -it would have been altogether wise to make advances. -They'd have asked more than a Conservative government -could possibly persuade the Church to give up.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. I don't see that Horsham's much better -off now. He only turned the Radicals out on the Spoliation -question by the help of Trebell. And so far ... I -mean, till this election is over Trebell counts still as one of -them, doesn't he, Miss Trebell? Oh ... perhaps he -doesn't.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. He'll tell you he never has counted -as one of them.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. No doubt Lord Charles would sooner -have done without his help. And that's why I didn't ask -the gentle Jesuit this week-end if anyone wants to know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Stupent at this lack of party spirit.</i>] -What ... he'd rather have had the Liberals go to the -country undefeated!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>With finesse.</i>] The election may -bring us back independent of Mr. Trebell and anything -he stands for.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Sharply.</i>] But you asked Lord -Horsham to meet him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>With still more finesse.</i>] I had my -reasons. Votes aren't everything.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span> <i>has been listening with rather a -doubtful smile; she now caps the discussion.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. I'm relieved to hear you say so, my -dear Julia. On the other hand democracy seems to have -brought itself to a pretty pass. Here's a measure, which -the country as a whole neither demands nor approves -of, will certainly be carried, you tell me, because a minority -on each side is determined it shall be ... for totally -different reasons.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Shrugging again.</i>] It isn't our business -to prevent popular government looking foolish, -Mamma.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Is that Tory cynicism or feminine?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>At this moment</i> <span class="smcap">George Farrant</span> <i>comes through -the window; a good natured man of forty-five. He -would tell you that he was educated at Eton and -Oxford. But the knowledge which saves his life -comes from the thrusting upon him of authority and -experience; ranging from the management of an -estate which he inherited at twenty-four, through -the chairmanship of a newspaper syndicate, through -a successful marriage, to a minor post in the last -Tory cabinet and the prospect of one in the near-coming -next. Thanks to his agents, editors, permanent -officials, and his own common sense, he always -acquits himself creditably. He comes to his -wife's side and waits for a pause in the conversation.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. I remember Mr. Disraeli once -said to me ... Clever women are as dangerous to the State -as dynamite.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>Not to be impressed by Disraeli.</i>] -Well, Lady Davenport, if men will leave our intellects -lying loose about....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Blackborough's going, Julia.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Yes, George.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>Concluding her little apologue to</i> -<span class="smcap">Miss Trebell</span>.] Yes, my dear, but power without responsibility -isn't good for the character that wields it -either.</p> - -<blockquote><p>[<i>There follows</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>through the window a man -of fifty. He has about him that unmistakeable air -of acquired wealth and power which distinguishes -many Jews and has therefore come to be regarded as a -solely Jewish characteristic. He speaks always with -that swift decision which betokens a narrowed view. -This is</i> <span class="smcap">Russell Blackborough</span>; <i>manufacturer, -politician ... statesman, his own side calls him.</i>]</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>To his hostess.</i>] If I start now, -they tell me, I shall get home before the moon goes down. -I'm sorry I must get back to-night. It's been a most -delightful week-end.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Gracefully giving him a good-bye -hand.</i>] And a successful one, I hope.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. We talked Education for half an hour.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Her eyebrows lifting a shade.</i>] Education!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Then Trebell went away to work.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. I've missed the music, I fear.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. But it's been Bach.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. No Chopin?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. For a minute only.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Why don't these new Italian men -write things for the piano! Good-night, Lady Davenport.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>As he bows over her hand.</i>] And -what has Education to do with it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Non-committal himself.</i>] Perhaps it -was a subject that compromised nobody.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Do you think my daughter has been -wasting her time and her tact?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Clapping him on the shoulder.</i>] Blackborough's -frankly flabbergasted at the publicity of this -intrigue.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Intrigue! Mr. Trebell walked across -the House ... actually into your arms.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>With a certain dubious grimness.</i>] -Well ... we've had some very interesting talks since. And -his views upon Education are quite ... Utopian. Good -bye, Miss Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Good-bye.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I wouldn't be so haughty till after the -election, if I were you, Mr. Blackborough.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Indifferently.</i>] Oh, I'm glad he's -with us on the Church question ... so far.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. So far as you've made up your minds? -The electoral cat will jump soon.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>A little beaten by such polite cynicism.</i>] -Well ... our conservative principles! After all we know -what they are. Good-night, Mrs. O'Connell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Good-night.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Your neuralgia better?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. By fits and starts.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Robustly.</i>] Come and play billiards. Horsham -and Maconochie started a game. They can neither -of them play. We left them working out a theory of angles -on bits of paper.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. Professor Maconochie lured me on to -golf yesterday. He doesn't suffer from theories about -that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>With approval.</i>] Started life as a -caddie.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>Pulling a wry face.</i>] So he told me -after the first hole.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. What's this, Kent, about Trebell's -making you his secretary?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. He thinks he'll have me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Almost reprovingly.</i>] No question -of politics?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. More intrigue, Blackborough.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>With disarming candour.</i>] The truth -is, you see, I haven't any as yet. I was Socialist at -Oxford ... but of course that doesn't count. I think I'd -better learn my job under the best man I can find ... and -who'll have me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Gravely.</i>] What does your father -say?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. Oh, as long as Jack will inherit the -property in a Tory spirit! My father thinks it my wild -oats.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>A Footman has come in.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Footman</span>. Your car is round, sir.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Ah! Good-night, Miss Davenport. -Good-bye again, Mrs. Farrant ... a charming week-end.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He makes a business-like departure</i>, <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>follows -him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Footman</span>. A telephone message from Dr. Wedgecroft, -ma'am. His thanks; they stopped the express for -him at Hitchin and he has reached London quite -safely.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Thank you.</p> - -<blockquote><p>[<i>The Footman goes out.</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span> <i>exhales -delicately as if the air were a little refined by</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough's</span> -<i>removal.</i>]</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Mr. Blackborough and his patent -turbines and his gas engines and what not are the motive -power of our party nowadays, Fanny.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Yes, you claim to be steering -plutocracy. Do you never wonder if it isn't steering you?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell</span>, <i>growing restless, has wandered -round the room picking at the books in their cases.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. I always like your books, Julia. It's -an intellectual distinction to know someone who has read -them.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. That's the Communion I choose.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Aristocrat ... fastidious aristocrat.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. No, now. Learning's a great leveller.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. But Julia ... books are quite -unreal. D'you think life is a bit like them?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. They bring me into touch with ... Oh, -there's nothing more deadening than to be boxed into a set -in Society! Speak to a woman outside it ... she doesn't -understand your language.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. And do you think by prattling -Hegel with Gilbert Wedgecroft when he comes to physic -you—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Joyously.</i>] Excellent physic that is. -He never leaves a prescription.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Don't you think an aristocracy of -brains is the best aristocracy, Miss Trebell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>With a little more bitterness than -the abstraction of the subject demands.</i>] I'm sure it is just -as out of touch with humanity as any other ... more so, -perhaps. If I were a country I wouldn't be governed by -arid intellects.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Manners, Frances.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. I'm one myself and I know. -They're either dead or dangerous.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">George Farrant</span> <i>comes back and goes straight to</i> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell</span>.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Still robustly.</i>] Billiards, Mrs. O'Connell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Declining sweetly.</i>] I think not.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Billiards, Lucy?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. [<i>As robust as he.</i>] Yes, Uncle -George. You shall mark while Walter gives me twenty-five -and I beat him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. [<i>With a none-of-your-impudence air.</i>] -I'll give you ten yards start and race you to the billiard -room.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. Will you wear my skirt? Oh ... -Grandmamma's thinking me vulgar.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>Without prejudice.</i>] Why, my dear, -freedom of limb is worth having ... and perhaps it fits -better with freedom of tongue.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>In the proper avuncular tone.</i>] I'll play -you both ... and I'd race you both if you weren't so disgracefully -young.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span> <i>has reached an open window.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. I shall go for a walk with my -neuralgia.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Poor thing!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. The moon's good for it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. Shall you come, Aunt Julia?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>In flat protest.</i>] No, I will not sit -up while you play billiards.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell</span> <i>goes out through the one window, -stands for a moment, wistfully romantic, gazing at</i> -<span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>are standing at the other, looking across the -lawn.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Horsham still arguing with Maconochie. -They're got to Botany now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span>. Demonstrating something with a ... -what's that thing?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Walter</span> <i>goes out.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>With a throw of his head towards the distant</i> -<span class="smcap">Horsham</span>.] He was so bored with our politics ... -having to give his opinion too. We could just hear your -piano.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>And he follows</i> <span class="smcap">Walter</span>.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Take Amy O'Connell that lace thing, -will you, Lucy?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy Davenport</span>. [<i>Her tone expressing quite wonderfully -her sentiments towards the owner.</i>] Don't you think she'd -sooner catch cold?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She catches it up and follows the two men; then after -looking round impatiently, swings off in the direction</i> -<span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell</span> <i>took. The three women now -left together are at their ease.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Did you expect Mr. Blackborough -to get on well with Henry?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. He has become a millionaire by -appreciating clever men when he met them.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Yes, Julia, but his political conscience -is comparatively new-born.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Well, Mamma, can we do without Mr. -Trebell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Everyone seems to think you'll -come back with something of a majority.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>A little impatient.</i>] What's the good -of that? The Bill can't be brought into the Lords ... and -who's going to take Disestablishment through the Commons -for us? Not Eustace Fowler ... not Mr. Blackborough -... not Lord Charles ... not George!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>Warningly.</i>] Not all your brilliance -as a hostess will keep Mr. Trebell in a Tory Cabinet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>With wilful avoidance of the point.</i>] -Cyril Horsham is only too glad.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Because you tell him he ought -to be.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>Coming to the rescue.</i>] There is -this. Henry has never exactly called himself a Liberal. -He really is elected independently.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I wonder will all the garden-cities -become pocket-boroughs.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. I think he has made a mistake.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. It makes things easier now ... his -having kept his freedom.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. I think it's a mistake to stand -outside a system. There's an inhumanity in that -amount of detachment ...</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Brilliantly.</i>] I think a statesman may -be a little inhuman.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>With keenness.</i>] Do you mean -superhuman? It's not the same thing, you know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Most people don't know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Proceeding with her cynicism.</i>] Humanity -achieves ... what? Housekeeping and children.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. As far as a woman's concerned.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>A little mockingly.</i>] Now, Mamma, -say that is as far as a woman's concerned.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. My dear, you know I don't think -so.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. We may none of us think so. But -there's our position ... bread and butter and a certain -satisfaction until ... Oh, Mamma, I wish I were like -you ... beyond all the passions of life.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>With great vitality.</i>] I'm nothing -of the sort. It's my egoism's dead ... that's an intimation -of mortality.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I accept the snub. But I wonder what -I'm to do with myself for the next thirty years.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Help Lord Horsham to govern the -country.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Julia Farrant</span> <i>gives a little laugh and takes up the -subject this time.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Mamma ... how many people, do -you think, believe that Cyril's <i>grande passion</i> for me takes -that form?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. Everyone who knows Cyril and -most people who know you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Otherwise I seem to have fulfilled my -mission in life. The boys are old enough to go to school. -George and I have become happily unconscious of each -other.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>With sudden energy of mind.</i>] -Till I was forty I never realised the fact that most -women must express themselves through men.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Looking at</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>a little curiously.</i>] -Didn't your instinct lead you to marry ... or did you fight -against it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. I don't know. Perhaps I had no -vitality to spare.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. That boy is a long time proposing -to Lucy.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>This effectually startles the other two from their -conversational reverie.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Walter? I'm not sure that he means -to. She means to marry him if he does.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Has she told you so?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. No. I judge by her business-like -interest in his welfare.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. He's beginning to feel the responsibility -of manhood ... doesn't know whether to be frightened -or proud of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. It's a pretty thing to watch young -people mating. When they're older and marry from -disappointment or deliberate choice, thinking themselves -so worldly-wise....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>, [<i>Back to her politely cynical mood.</i>] -Well ... then at least they don't develop their differences -at the same fire-side, regretting the happy time when -neither possessed any character at all.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>Giving a final douche of common -sense.</i>] My dear, any two reasonable people ought to be -able to live together.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Granted three sitting rooms. -That'll be the next middle-class political cry ... when -women are heard.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Suddenly as practical as her mother.</i>] -Walter's lucky ... Lucy won't stand any nonsense. She'll -have him in the Cabinet by the time he's fifty.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. And are you the power behind your -brother, Miss Trebell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>Gravely.</i>] He ignores women. -I've forced enough good manners on him to disguise the -fact decently. His affections are two generations -ahead.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. People like him in an odd sort of way.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. That's just respect for work done ... one -can't escape from it.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is a slight pause in their talk. By some not -very devious route</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant's</span> <i>mind travels to -the next subject.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Fanny ... how fond are you of Amy -O'Connell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. She says we're great friends.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. She says that of me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. It's a pity about her husband.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Almost provokingly.</i>] What about him?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. It seems to be understood that he -treats her badly.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>A little malicious.</i>] Is there any -particular reason he should treat her well?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Don't you like her, Lady Davenport?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>Dealing out justice.</i>] I find her -quite charming to look at and talk to ... but why shouldn't -Justin O'Connell live in Ireland for all that? I'm going to -bed, Julia.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She collects her belongings and gets up.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I must look in at the billiard room.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. I won't come, Julia.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. What's your brother working at?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. I don't know. Something we -shan't hear of for a year, perhaps.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. On the Church business, I daresay.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Did you hear Lord Horsham at -dinner on the lack of dignity in an irreligious state?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Poor Cyril ... he'll have to find a way -round that opinion of his now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Does he like leading his party?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>After due consideration.</i>] It's an intellectual -exercise. He's the right man, Fanny. You see -it isn't a party in the active sense at all, except now and -then when it's captured by someone with an axe to grind.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. [<i>Humorously.</i>] Such as my brother.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>As humorous.</i>] Such as your brother. -It expresses the thought of the men who aren't taken in by -the claptrap of progress.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. Sometimes they've a queer way of -expressing their love for the people of England.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. But one must use democracy. Wellington -wouldn't ... Disraeli did.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span>. [<i>At the door.</i>] Good-night, Miss -Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>. I'm coming ... it's past eleven.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>At the window.</i>] What a gorgeous -night! I'll come in and kiss you, Mamma.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>follows</i> <span class="smcap">Lady Davenport</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span> -<i>starts across the lawn to the billiard room.... -An hour later you can see no change in the room -except that only one lamp is alight on the table in -the middle.</i> <span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Henry Trebell</span> -<i>walk past one window and stay for a moment in the -light of the other. Her wrap is about her shoulders. -He stands looking down at her.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. There goes the moon ... it's quieter -than ever now. [<i>She comes in.</i>] Is it very late?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>As he follows.</i>] Half-past twelve.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>is hard-bitten, brainy, forty-five and very -sure of himself. He has a cold keen eye, which -rather belies a sensitive mouth; hands which can -grip, and a figure that is austere.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. I ought to be in bed. I suppose -everyone has gone.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Early trains to-morrow. The billiard room -lights are out.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. The walk has just tired me comfortably.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Sit down. [<i>She sits by the table. He sits -by her and says with the air of a certain buyer at a market.</i>] -You're very pretty.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. As well here as by moonlight? Can't -you see any wrinkles?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. One or two ... under the eyes. But they -give character and bring you nearer my age. Yes, -Nature hit on the right curve in making you.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She stretches herself, cat-like.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Praise is the greatest of luxuries, isn't -it, Henry? ... Henry ... [<i>she caresses the name.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Quite right ... Henry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Henry ... Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Having formally taken possession of my -name....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. I'll go to bed.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>His eyes have never moved from her. Now she -breaks the contact and goes towards the door.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I wouldn't ... my spare time for love -making is so limited.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She turns back, quite at ease, her eyes challenging him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. That's the first offensive thing you've -said.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Why offensive?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. I may flirt. Making love's another -matter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Sit down and explain the difference ... Mrs. -O'Connell.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She sits down.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Quite so. 'Mrs. O'Connell'. That's -the difference.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Provokingly.</i>] But I doubt if I'm interested -in the fact that your husband doesn't understand you and -that your marriage was a mistake ... and how hard you -find it to be strong.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Kindly.</i>] I'm not quite a fool -though you think so on a three months' acquaintance. But -tell me this ... what education besides marriage does a -woman get?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His head lifting quickly.</i>] Education....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Don't be business-like.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I beg your pardon.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Do you think the things you like to -have taught in schools are any use to one when one comes -to deal with you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>After a little scrutiny of her-face.</i>] Well, -if marriage is only the means to an end ... what's the end? -Not flirtation.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>With an air of self-revelation.</i>] I -don't know. To keep one's place in the world, I suppose, -one's self-respect and a sense of humour.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Is that difficult?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. To get what I want, without paying -more than it's worth to me....?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Never to be reckless.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>With a side-glance.</i>] One isn't so -often tempted.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. In fact ... to flirt with life generally. Now, -what made your husband marry you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Dealing with the impertinence in her -own fashion.</i>] What would make you marry me? Don't -say: Nothing on earth.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Speaking apparently of someone else.</i>] A -prolonged fit of idleness might make me marry ... a clever -woman. But I've never been idle for more than a week. -And I've never met a clever woman ... worth calling a -woman.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Bringing their talk back to herself, -and fastidiously.</i>] Justin has all the natural instincts.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. He's Roman Catholic, isn't he?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. So am I ... by profession.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It's a poor religion unless you really believe -in it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Appealing to him.</i>] If I were to live -at Linaskea and have as many children as God sent, -I should manage to make Justin pretty miserable! -And what would be left of me at all I should like to -know?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. So Justin lives at Linaskea alone?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. I'm told now there's a pretty housemaid ... [<i>she shrugs.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Does he drink too?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Oh, no. You'd like Justin, I daresay. -He's clever. The thirteenth century's what he knows -about. He has done a book on its statutes ... has been -doing another.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. And after an evening's hard work I find you -here ready to flirt with.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. What have you been working at?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. A twentieth century statute perhaps. That's -not any concern of yours either.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She does not follow his thought.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. No, I prefer you in your unprofessional -moments.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Real flattery. I didn't know I had any.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. That's why you should flirt with me ... Henry ... to -cultivate them. I'm afraid you lack imagination.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. One must choose something to lack in this -life.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Not develop your nature to its utmost -capacity.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. And then?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Well, if that's not an end in itself ... -[<i>With a touch of romantic piety.</i>] I suppose there's the -hereafter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Grimly material.</i>] What, more developing! -I watch people wasting time on themselves with amazement ... I -refuse to look forward to wasting eternity.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Shaking her head.</i>] You are very -self-satisfied.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Not more so than any machine that runs -smoothly. And I hope not self-conscious.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Rather attractively treating him as a -child.</i>] It would do you good to fall really desperately -in love with me ... to give me the power to make you -unhappy.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He suddenly becomes very definite.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. At twenty-three I engaged myself to be -married to a charming and virtuous fool. I broke it off.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Did she mind much?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. We both minded. But I had ideals of -womanhood that I wouldn't sacrifice to any human being. -Then I fell in with a woman who seduced me, and for a -whole year led me the life of a French novel ... played -about with my emotion as I had tortured that other poor -girl's brains. Education you'd call it in the one case as I -called it in the other. What a waste of time!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. And what has become of your -ideal?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Relapsing to his former mood.</i>] It's no -longer a personal matter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>With coquetry.</i>] You're not interested -in my character?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh, yes, I am ... up to kissing point.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She does not shrink, but speaks with just a shade of -contempt.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. You get that far more easily than a -woman. That's one of my grudges against men. Why -can't women take love-affairs so lightly?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. There are reasons. But make a good -beginning with this one. Kiss me at once.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He leans towards her. She considers him quite -calmly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. No.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. When will you, then?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. When I can't help myself ... if that -time ever comes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Accepting the postponement in a business-like -spirit.</i>] Well ... I'm an impatient man.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Confessing engagingly.</i>] I made up -my mind to bring you within arms' length of me when we'd -met at Lady Percival's. Do you remember? [<i>His face -shows no sign of it.</i>] It was the day after your speech on -the Budget.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Then I remember. But I haven't observed -the process.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Subtly.</i>] Your sister grew to like me -very soon. That's all the cunning there has been.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The rest is just mutual attraction?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. And opportunities.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Such as this.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>At the drop of their voices they become conscious of -the silent house.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Do you really think everyone has gone -to bed?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Disregardful.</i>] And what is it makes my -pressing attentions endurable ... if one may ask?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Some spiritual need or other, I suppose, -which makes me risk unhappiness ... in fact, welcome -it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With great briskness.</i>] Your present need -is a good shaking.... I seriously mean that. You get to -attach importance to these shades of emotion. A slight -physical shock would settle them all. That's why I asked -you to kiss me just now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. You haven't very nice ideas, have you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. There are three facts in life that call up -emotion ... Birth, Death, and the Desire for Children. -The niceties are shams.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Then why do you want to kiss me?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I don't ... seriously. But I shall in a -minute just to finish the argument. Too much diplomacy -always ends in a fight.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. And if I don't fight ... it'd be no -fun for you, I suppose?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You would get that much good out of me. -For it's my point of honour ... to leave nothing I touch as -I find it.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He is very close to her.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. You're frightening me a little ...</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Come and look at the stars again. Come -along.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Give me my wrap ... [<i>He takes it up, -but holds it.</i>] Well, put it on me. [<i>He puts it round her, -but does not withdraw his arms.</i>] Be careful, the stars -are looking at you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No, they can't see so far as we can. That's -the proper creed.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Softly, almost shyly.</i>] Henry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Bending closer to her.</i>] Yes, pretty thing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Is this what you call being in love?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He looks up and listens.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Here's somebody coming.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Oh!...</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. What does it matter?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. I'm untidy or something....</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She slips out, for they are close to the window. The -</i> <span class="smcap">Footman</span> <i>enters, stops suddenly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Footman</span>. I beg your pardon, sir. I thought -everyone had gone.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I've just been for a walk. I'll lock up if -you like.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Footman</span>. I can easily wait up, sir.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>At the window.</i>] I wouldn't. What do -you do ... just slide the bolt?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Footman</span>. That's all, sir.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I see. Good-night.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Footman</span>. Good-night, sir.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> <i>demeanour suddenly changes, -becomes alert, with the alertness of a man doing -something in secret. He leans out of the window and -whispers.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Amy!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is no answer, so he gently steps out. For a -moment the room is empty and there is silence. -Then</i> <span class="smcap">Amy</span> <i>has flown from him into the safety of -lights. She is flushed, trembling, but rather ecstatic, -and her voice has lost all affectation now.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Oh ... oh ... you shouldn't have -kissed me like that!</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>stands in the window-way; a light in his -eyes, and speaks low but commandingly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Come here.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Instinctively she moves towards him. They speak -in whispers.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. He was locking up.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I've sent him to bed.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. He won't go.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Never mind him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. We're standing full in the light ... anyone -could see us.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With fierce egotism.</i>] Think of me ... not -of anyone else. [<i>He draws her from the window; then -does not let her go.</i>] May I kiss you again?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Her eyes closed.</i>] Yes.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He kisses her. She stiffens in his arms; then -laughs almost joyously, and is commonplace.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Well ... let me get my breath.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Letting her stand free.</i>] Now ... go along.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Obediently she turns to the door, but sinks on the -nearest chair.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. In a minute, I'm a little faint. [<i>He -goes to her quickly.</i>] No, it's nothing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Come into the air again. [<i>Then half -seriously.</i>] I'll race you across the lawn.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Still breathless and a little hysterical.</i>] -Thank you!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Shall I carry you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Don't be silly. [<i>She recovers her -self-possession, gets up and goes to the window, then looks -back at him and says very beautifully.</i>] But the night's -beautiful, isn't it?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He has her in his arms again, more firmly this -time.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Make it so.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Struggling ... with herself</i>] Oh, -why do you rouse me like this?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Because I want you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Want me to...?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Want you to ... kiss me just once.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. [<i>Yielding.</i>] If I do ... don't let me -go mad, will you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Perhaps. [<i>He bends over her, her head drops -back.</i>] Now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy O'Connell</span>. Yes!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She kisses him on the mouth. Then he would -release her, but suddenly she clings again.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p>Oh ... don't let me go.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With fierce pride of possession.</i>] Not yet.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She is fragile beside him. He lifts her in his arms -and carries her out into the darkness.</i></p></blockquote> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h2>THE SECOND ACT</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> house in Queen Anne Street, London. Eleven -o'clock on an October morning.</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> <i>working room is remarkable chiefly for the love -of sunlight it evidences in its owner. The walls are -white; the window which faces you is bare of all but -the necessary curtains. Indeed, lack of draperies -testifies also to his horror of dust. There faces you -besides a double door; when it is opened another door -is seen. When that is opened you discover a writing -table, and beyond can discern a book-case filled with -heavy volumes—law reports perhaps. The little -room beyond is, so to speak, an under-study. Between -the two rooms a window, again barely curtained, -throws light down the staircase. But in the -big room, while the books are many the choice of -them is catholic; and the book-cases are low, running -along the wall. There is an armchair before the -bright fire, which is on your right. There is a sofa. -And in the middle of the room is an enormous -double writing table piled tidily with much appropriate -impedimenta, blue books and pamphlets and with -an especial heap of unopened letters and parcels. -At the table sits</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>himself, in good health -and spirits, but eyeing askance the work to which he -has evidently just returned. His sister looks in on -him. She is dressed to go out and has a housekeeping -air.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Are you busy, Henry?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. More or less. Come in.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. You'll dine at home?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Anyone coming?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Julia Farrant and Lucy have run up to -town, I think. I thought of going round and asking -them to come in ... but perhaps your young man will -be going there. Amy O'Connell said something vague -about our going to Charles Street ... but she may be out -of town by now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well ... I'll be in anyhow.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Going to the window as she buttons her -gloves.</i>] Were you on deck early this morning? It must -have been lovely.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No, I turned in before we got out of le Havre. -I left Kent on deck and found him there at six.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I don't think autumn means to come at all -this year ... it'll be winter one morning. September -has been like a hive of bees, busy and drowsy. By the way, -Cousin Mary has another baby ... a girl.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Indifferent to the information.</i>] That's the -fourth.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Fifth. They asked me down for the -christening ... but I really couldn't.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. September's the month for Tuscany. The -car chose to break down one morning just as we were -starting North again; so we climbed one of the little hills -and sat for a couple of hours, while I composed a fifteenth -century electioneering speech to the citizens of Siena.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>With a half smile.</i>] Have you a vein of -romance for holiday time?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Dispersing the suggestion.</i>] Not at all -romantic ... nothing but figures and fiscal questions. -That was the hardest commercial civilisation there has -been, though you only think of its art and its murders now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. The papers on both sides have been very -full of you ... saying you hold the moral balance ... -or denying it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. An interviewer caught me at Basle. I offered -to discuss the state of the Swiss navy.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Was that before Lord Horsham wrote to you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes, his letter came to Innsbruck. He -"expressed" it somehow. Why ... it isn't known that -he will definitely ask me to join?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. The Whitehall had a leader before the -Elections were well over to say that he must ... but, of -course, that was Mr. Farrant.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Knowingly.</i>] Mrs. Farrant. I saw it in -Paris ... it just caught me up.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. The Times is very shy over the whole -question ... has a letter from a fresh bishop every day ... -doesn't talk of you very kindly yet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Tampering with the Establishment, even -Cantelupe's way, will be a pill to the real old Tory right -to the bitter end.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span> <i>comes in, very fresh and happy-looking. -A young man started in life.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>hails him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Hullo ... you've not been long getting shaved.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. How do you do, Miss Trebell? Lucy turned me -out.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. My congratulations. I've not seen you since -I heard the news.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. [<i>Glad and unembarrassed.</i>] Thank you. I do -deserve them, don't I? Mrs. Farrant didn't come down ... -she left us to breakfast together. But I've a message for -you ... her love and she is in town. I went and saw -Lord Charles, sir. He will come to you and be here at -half past seven.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Look at these.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He smacks on the back, so to speak, the pile of -parcels and letters.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Oh, lord! ... I'd better start on them.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Continuing in her smooth oldmaidish manner.</i>] -Thank you for getting engaged just before you -went off with Henry ... it has given me my only news -of him, through Lucy and your postcards.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh, what about Wedgecroft?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. I think it was he spun up just as I'd been let in.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh, well ... [<i>And he rings at the telephone -which is on his table.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. [<i>Confiding in</i> <span class="smcap">Miss Trebell</span>.] We're a common -sense couple, aren't we? I offered to ask to stay behind but -she....</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Simpson</span>, <i>the maid, comes in.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Simpson</span>. Dr. Wedgecroft, sir.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>is on her heels. If you have an eye for -essentials you may tell at once that he is a doctor, but -if you only notice externals you will take him, for -anything else. He is over forty and in perfect -health of body and spirit. His enthusiasms are his -vitality and he has too many of them ever to lose one. -He squeezes</i> <span class="smcap">Miss Trebell's</span> <i>hand with an air of -fearless affection which is another of his characteristics -and not the least loveable.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. How are you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I'm very well, thanks.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span>, <i>as they shake hands.</i>] -You're looking fit.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With tremendous emphasis.</i>] I am!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You've got the motor eye though.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Full of dust?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Look at Kent's. [<i>He takes</i> <span class="smcap">Walter's</span> -<i>arm.</i>] It's a slight but serious contraction of the pupil ... -which I charge fifty guineas to cure.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. It's the eye of faith in you and your homeopathic -doses. Don't you interfere with it.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Frances Trebell</span>, <i>housekeeper, goes out.</i> <span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>has -seized on the letters and is carrying them to his room.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. This looks like popularity and the great heart -of the people, doesn't it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Trebell, you're not ill, and I've work to -do.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I want ten minutes. Keep anybody out, -Kent.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. I'll switch that speaking tube arrangement to my -room.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>, <i>overflowing with vitality, starts to face the -floor.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I've seen the last of Pump Court, Gilbert.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. The Bar ought to give you a testimonial -... to the man who not only could retire on twenty -years' briefs, but has.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Fifteen. But I bled the City sharks with a -good conscience ... quite freely.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>With a pretence at grumbling.</i>] I wish -I could retire.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No you don't. Doctoring's a priestcraft ... -you've taken vows.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Then why don't you establish <i>our</i> -church instead of ...</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes, my friend ... but you're a heretic. I'd -have to give the Medical Council power to burn you at -the stake.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. [<i>With the book packages.</i>] Parcel from the -S.P.C.K., sir.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I know.... Disestablishment a crime against -God; sermon preached by the Vicar of something -Parva in eighteen seventy three. I hope you're aware -it's your duty to read all those.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Suppose they convert me? Lucy wanted to -know if she could see you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His eyebrows up.</i>] Yes, I'll call at Mrs. -Farrant's. Oh, wait. Aren't they coming to dinner?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. To-night? No, I think they go back to Shapters -by the five o'clock. I told her she might come round -about twelve on the chance.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes ... if Cantelupe's punctual ... I'd sooner -not have too long with him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. All right, then.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes, shutting the door; then you hear the door -of his room shut too. The two friends face each -other, glad of a talk.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Well ... you'll never do it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes, I shall.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You can't carry any bill to be a credit -to you with the coming Tory cabinet on your back. You -know the Government is cursing you with its dying breath.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Rubbing his hands.</i>] Of course. They've -been beaten out of the House and in now. I suppose they -will meet Parliament.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. They must, I think. It's over a month -since—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His thoughts running quickly.</i>] There'll -only be a nominal majority of sixteen against them. The -Labour lot are committed on their side ... and now that -the Irish have gone—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. But they'll be beaten on the Address -first go.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes ... Horsham hasn't any doubt of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. He'll be in office within a week of the -King's speech.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With another access of energy.</i>] I'll pull -the bill that's in my head through a Horsham cabinet -and the House. Then I'll leave them ... they'll go to -the country—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You know Percival's pledge about that -at Bristol wasn't very definite.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Horsham means to.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>With friendly contempt.</i>] Oh, Horsham!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Anyway, it's about Percival I want you. -How ill is he?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Not very.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Is he going to die?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Well, I'm attending him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Pinked.</i>] Yes ... that's a good answer. -How does he stomach me in prospect as a colleague, so far?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Sir, professional etiquette forbids me -to disclose what a patient may confess in the sweat of -his agony.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. He'll be Chancellor again and lead the -House.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Why not? He only grumbles that he's -getting old.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Thinking busily again.</i>] The difficulty is I -shall have to stay through one budget with them. He'll -have a surplus ... well, it looks like it ... and my only -way of agreeing with him will be to collar it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. But ... good heavens! ... you'll have a -hundred million or so to give away when you've disendowed.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Not to give away. I'll sell every penny.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>With an incredulous grin.</i>] You're -not going back to extending old-age pensions after turning -the unfortunate Liberals out on it, are you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No, no ... none of your half crown measures. -They can wait to round off their solution of that till they've -the courage to make one big bite of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. We shan't see the day.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Lifting the subject off its feet.</i>] Not if I -come out of the cabinet and preach revolution?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Or will they make a Tory of you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Acknowledging that stroke with a return grin.</i>] -It'll be said they have when the bill is out.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. It's said so already.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Who knows a radical bill when he sees it!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I'm not pleased you have to be running -a tilt against the party system. [<i>He becomes a little -dubious.</i>] My friend ... it's a nasty windmill. Oh, -you've not seen that article in the Nation on Politics and -Society ... it's written at Mrs. Farrant and Lady Lurgashall -and that set. They hint that the Tories would never -have had you if it hadn't been for this bad habit of opposite -party men meeting each other.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Unimpressed.</i>] Excellent habit! What we -really want in this country is a coalition of all the shibboleths -with the rest of us in opposition ... for five years -only.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Smiling generously.</i>] Well, it's a sensation -to see you become arbiter. The Tories are owning -they can't do without you. Percival likes you personally ... -Townsend don't matter ... Cantelupe you buy -with a price, I suppose ... Farrant you can put in your -pocket. I tell you I think the man you may run up against -is Blackborough.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No, all he wants is to be let look big ... and -to have an idea given him when he's going to make a -speech, which isn't often.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Otherwise ... I suppose ... now I may -go down to history as having been in your confidence. -I'm very glad you've arrived.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With great seriousness.</i>] I've sharpened -myself as a weapon to this purpose.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Kindly.</i>] And you're sure of yourself, -aren't you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Turning his wrist.</i>] Try.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Slipping his doctor's fingers over the -the pulse.</i>] Seventy, I should say.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I promise you it hasn't varied a beat these -three big months.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Well, I wish it had. Perfect balance -is most easily lost. How do you know you've the power of -recovery? ... and it's that gets one up in the morning -day by day.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Is it? My brain works steadily on ... hasn't -failed me yet. I keep it well fed. [<i>He breathes deeply.</i>] -But I'm not sure one shouldn't have been away from England -for five years instead of five weeks ... to come back -to a job like this with a fresh mind. D'you know why -really I went back on the Liberals over this question? -Not because they wanted the church money for their pensions ... -but because all they can see in Disestablishment is -destruction. Any fool can destroy! I'm not going to let a -power like the Church get loose from the State. A thirteen -hundred years, tradition of service ... and all they can -think of is to cut it adrift!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I think the Church is moribund.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh, yes, of course you do ... you sentimental -agnostic anarchist. Nonsense! The supernatural's a bit -blown upon ... till we re-discover what it means. But -it's not essential. Nor is the Christian doctrine. Put a -Jesuit in a corner and shut the door and he'll own that. -No ... the tradition of self-sacrifice and fellowship in -service for its own sake ... that's the spirit we've to capture -and keep.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Really struck.</i>] A secular Church!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With reasoning in his tone.</i>] Well ... why -not? Listen here. In drafting an act of Parliament one -must alternately imagine oneself God Almighty and the -most ignorant prejudiced little blighter who will be -affected by what's passed. God says: Let's have done -with Heaven and Hell ... it's the Earth that shan't pass -away. Why not turn all those theology mongers into -doctors or schoolmasters?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. As to doctors—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Quite so, you naturally prejudiced blighter. -That priestcraft don't need re-inforcing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. It needs recognition.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. What! It's the only thing most people -believe in. Talk about superstition! However, there's -more life in you. Therefore it's to be schoolmasters.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. How?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Listen again, young man. In the youth of -the world, when priests were the teachers of men....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Not to be preached at.</i>] And physicians -of men.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Shut up.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. If there's any real reform going, I want -my profession made into a state department. I won't -shut up for less.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Putting this aside with one finger.</i>] I'll -deal with you later. There's still Youth in the world in -another sense; but the priests haven't found out the -difference yet, so they're wasting most of their time.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Religious education won't do now-a-days.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. What's Now-a-days? You're very dull, Gilbert.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I'm not duller than the people who will -have to understand your scheme.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. They won't understand it. I shan't explain -to them that education <i>is</i> religion, and that those who -deal in it are priests without any laying on of hands.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. No matter what they teach?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No ... the matter is how they teach it. I -see schools in the future, Gilbert, not built next to the -church, but on the site of the church.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Do you think the world is grown up -enough to do without dogma?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes, I do.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. What!... and am I to write my prescriptions -in English?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes, you are.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Lord save us! I never thought to find -you a visionary.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Isn't it absurd to think that in a hundred -years we shall be giving our best brains and the price of -them not to training grown men into the discipline of destruction -... not even to curing the ills which we might -be preventing ... but to teaching our children. There's -nothing else to be done ... nothing else matters. But -it's work for a priesthood.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Affected; not quite convinced.</i>] Do you -think you can buy a tradition and transmute it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Don't mock at money.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I never have.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. But you speak of it as an end not as a means. -That's unfair.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I speaks as I finds.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I'll buy the Church, not with money, but -with the promise of new life. [<i>A certain rather gleeful -cunning comes over him.</i>] It'll only look like a dose of -reaction at first ... Sectarian Training Colleges endowed -to the hilt.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. What'll the Nonconformists say?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Bribe them with the means of equal efficiency. -The crux of the whole matter will be in the -statutes. I'll force on those colleges.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. They'll want dogma.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Dogma's not a bad thing if you've power to -adapt it occasionally.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Instead of spending your brains in -explaining it. Yes, I agree.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With full voice.</i>] But in the creed I'll -lay down as unalterable there shall be neither Jew nor -Greek.... What do you think of St. Paul, Gilbert?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I'd make him the head of a college.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I'll make the Devil himself head of a college, -if he'll undertake to teach honestly all he knows.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. And he'll conjure up Comte and Robespierre -for you to assist in this little <i>rechauffée</i> of their -schemes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Hullo! Comte I knew about. Have I -stolen from Robespierre too?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Giving out the epigram with an air.</i>] -Property to him who can make the best use of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. And then what we must do is to give the -children power over their teachers?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Now he is comically enigmatic.</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> -<i>echoes him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. And what exactly do you mean by -that?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Serious again.</i>] How positive a pedagogue -would you be if you had to prove your cases and justify -your creed every century or so to the pupils who had -learnt just a little more than you could teach them? Give -power to the future, my friend ... not to the past. Give -responsibility ... even if you give it for your own discredit. -What's beneath trust deeds and last wills and -testaments, and even acts of Parliament and official creeds? -Fear of the verdict of the next generation ... fear of -looking foolish in their eyes. Ah, we ... doing our best -now ... must be ready for every sort of death. And to provide -the means of change and disregard of the past is a -secret of statesmanship. Presume that the world will -come to an end every thirty years if it's not reconstructed. -Therefore give responsibility ... give responsibility ... give -the children power.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Disposed to whistle.</i>] Those statutes -will want some framing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Relapsing to a chuckle.</i>] There's an incidental -change to foresee. Disappearance of the parson -into the schoolmaster ... and the Archdeacon into -the Inspector ... and the Bishop into—I rather hope -he'll stick to his mitre, Gilbert.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Some Ruskin will arise and make him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>As he paces the room and the walls of it fade -away to him.</i>] What a church could be made of the -best brains in England, sworn only to learn all they could -teach what they knew without fear of the future or favour -to the past ... sworn upon their honour as seekers -after truth, knowingly to tell no child a lie. It will -come.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. A priesthood of women too? There's -the tradition of service with them.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With the sourest look yet on his face.</i>] -Slavery ... not quite the same thing. And the paradox -of such slavery is that they're your only tyrants.</p> - -<blockquote><p>[<i>At this moment the bell of the telephone upon the -table rings. He goes to it talking the while.</i>]</p></blockquote> - -<p>One has to be very optimistic not to advocate the harem. -That's simple and wholesome.... Yes?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>comes in.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Does it work?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Slamming down the receiver.</i>] You and -your new toy! What is it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. I'm not sure about the plugs of it ... I thought -I'd got them wrong. Mrs. O'Connell has come to see -Miss Trebell, who is out, and she says will we ask you if -any message has been left for her.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No. Oh, about dinner? Well, she's round -at Mrs. Farrant's.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. I'll ring them up.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes back into his room to do so leaving</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> -<i>door open. The two continue their talk.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. My difficulties will be with Percival.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Not over the Church.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You see I must discover how keen he'd be on -settling the Education quarrel, once and for all ... what -there is left of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. He's not sectarian.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It'll cost him his surplus. When'll he be up -and about?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Not for a week or more.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Knitting his brow.</i>] And I've to deal with -Cantelupe. Curious beggar, Gilbert.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Not my sort. He'll want some dealing -with over your bill as introduced to me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I've not cross-examined company promoters -for ten years without learning how to do business with a -professional high churchman.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Providence limited ... eh?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>They are interrupted by</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell's</span> <i>appearance -in the doorway. She is rather pale, very -calm; but there is pain in her eyes and her voice is -unnaturally steady.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Your maid told me to come up and I'm interrupting -business.... I thought she was wrong.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With no trace of self-consciousness.</i>] Well ... -how are you, after this long time?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. How do you do? [<i>Then she sees</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> -<i>and has to control a shrinking from him.</i>] Oh!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. How are you, Mrs. O'Connell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Kent is telephoning to Frances. He knows -where she is.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. How are you, Dr. Wedgecroft? [<i>then to</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span>.] -Did you have a good holiday? London pulls one to pieces -wretchedly. I shall give up living here at all.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You look very well.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Do I!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. A very good holiday. Sit down ... he -won't be a minute.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She sits on the nearest chair.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. You're not ill ... interviewing a doctor?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The one thing Wedgecroft's no good at is -doctoring. He keeps me well by sheer moral suasion.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>comes out of his room and is off downstairs.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>calls to him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Mrs. O'Connell's here.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Oh! [<i>He comes back and into the room.</i>] Miss -Trebell hasn't got there yet.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>has suddenly looked at his watch.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I must fly. Good bye, Mrs. O'Connell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Putting her hand, constrained by its glove, into -his open hand.</i>] I am always a little afraid of you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. That isn't the feeling a doctor wants to -inspire.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span>.] David Evans—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Evans?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. The reverend one ... is downstairs and wants -to see you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>As he comes to them.</i>] Hampstead Road -Tabernacle ... Oh, the mammon of righteousness!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Shut up! How long have I before Lord -Charles—?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Only ten minutes.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell</span> <i>goes to sit at the big table, and -apparently idly takes a sheet of paper to scribble on.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Half thinking, half questioning.</i>] He's a -man I can say nothing to politely.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I'm off to Percival's now. Then I've -another case and I'm due back at twelve. If there's -anything helpful to say I'll look in again for two minutes ... -not more.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You're a good man.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>As he goes.</i>] Congratulations, Kent.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. [<i>Taking him to the stairs.</i>] Thank you very -much.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Beckoning with her eyes.</i>] What's this, Mr. -Trebell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Eh? I beg your pardon.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes behind her and reads over her shoulder what -she has written.</i> <span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>comes back.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Shall I bring him up here?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>looks up and for a moment stares at his -secretary rather sharply, then speaks in a matter-of-fact -voice.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. See him yourself, downstairs. Talk to him -for five minutes ... find out what he wants. Tell him it -will be as well for the next week or two if he can say he -hasn't seen me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Yes.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>follows him to the door which -he shuts. Then he turns to face</i> <span class="smcap">Amy</span>, <i>who is tearing -up the paper she wrote on.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. What is it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Her steady voice breaking, her carefully calculated -control giving way.</i>] Oh Henry ... Henry!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Are you in trouble?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. You'll hate me, but ... oh, it's brutal of you to -have been away so long.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Is it with your husband?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Perhaps. Oh, come nearer to me ... do.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Coming nearer without haste or excitement.</i>] -Well? [<i>Her eyes are closed.</i>] My dear girl, I'm too busy -for love-making now. If there are any facts to be faced, -let me have them ... quite quickly.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She looks up at him for a moment; then speaks -swiftly and sharply as one speaks of disaster.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. There's a danger of my having a child ... your -child ... some time in April. That's all.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>A sceptic who has seen a vision.</i>] Oh ... -it's impossible.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Flashing at him, revengefully.</i>] Why?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Brought to his mundane self</i>] Well ... -are you sure?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>In sudden agony.</i>] D'you think I want it to be -true? D'you think I—? You don't know what it is to have -a thing happening in spite of you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His face set in thought.</i>] Where have you -been since we met?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Not to Ireland ... I haven't seen Justin for a -year.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. All the easier for you not to see him for another -year.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. That wasn't what you meant.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It wasn't ... but never mind.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>They are silent for a moment ... miles apart ... Then -she speaks dully.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. We do hate each other ... don't we!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Nonsense. Let's think of what matters.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Aimlessly.</i>] I went to a man at Dover ... -picked him out of the directory ... didn't give my own -name ... pretended I was off abroad. He was a kind -old thing ... said it was all most satisfactory. Oh, my -God!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>He goes to bend over her kindly.</i>] Yes, -you've had a torturing month or two. That's been wrong, -I'm sorry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Even now I have to keep telling myself that it's -so ... otherwise I couldn't understand it. Any more than -one really believes one will ever die ... one doesn't -believe that, you know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>On the edge of a sensation that is new to him.</i>] -I am told that a man begins to feel unimportant from this -moment forward. Perhaps it's true.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. What has it to do with you anyhow? We don't -belong to each other. How long were we together that -night? Half an hour! You didn't seem to care a bit -until after you'd kissed me and ... this is an absurd -consequence.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Nature's a tyrant.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Oh, it's my punishment ... I see that well enough ... -for thinking myself so clever ... forgetting my duty and -religion ... not going to confession, I mean. [<i>Then hysterically.</i>] -God can make you believe in Him when he -likes, can't he?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With comfortable strength.</i>] My dear girl, -this needs your pluck. [<i>And he sits by her.</i>] All we have -to do is to prevent it being found out.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Yes ... the scandal would smash you, wouldn't -it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. There isn't going to be any scandal.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. No ... if we're careful. You'll tell me what to -do, won't you? Oh, it's a relief to be able to talk -about it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. For one thing, you must take care of yourself -and stop worrying.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>It soothes her to feel that he is concerned; but it -is not enough to be soothed.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Yes, I wouldn't like to have been the means of -smashing you, Henry ... especially as you don't care for -me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I intend to care for you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Love me, I mean. I wish you did ... a little; -then perhaps I shouldn't feel so degraded.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>A shade impatiently, a shade contemptuously</i>] -I can say I love you if that'll make things easier.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>More helpless than ever.</i>] If you'd said it at -first I should be taking it for granted ... though it wouldn't -be any more true, I daresay, than now ... when I should -know you weren't telling the truth.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Then I'd do without so much confusion.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Don't be so heartless.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>As he leaves her.</i>] We seem to be attaching -importance to such different things.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Shrill even at a momentary desertion.</i>] What do -you mean? I want affection now just as I want food. I -can't do without it ... I can't reason things out as you -can. D'you think I haven't tried? [<i>Then in sudden -rebellion.</i>] Oh, the physical curse of being a woman ... -no better than any savage in this condition ... worse off -than an animal. It's unfair.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Never mind ... you're here now to hand me -half the responsibility, aren't you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. As if I could! If I have to lie through the night -simply shaking with bodily fear much longer ... I believe -I shall go mad.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>This aspect of the matter is meaningless to him. He -returns to the practical issue.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. There's nobody that need be suspecting, is -there?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. My maid sees I'm ill and worried and makes -remarks ... only to me so far. Don't I look a wreck? I -nearly ran away when I saw Dr. Wedgecroft ... some of -these men are so clever.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Calculating.</i>] Someone will have to be -trusted.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Burrowing into her little tortured self again.</i>] -And I ought to feel as if I had done Justin a great wrong ... -but I don't. I hate you now; now and then. I was -being myself. You've brought me down. I feel worthless.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The last word strikes him. He stares at her.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Do you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Pleadingly.</i>] There's only one thing I'd like -you to tell me, Henry ... it isn't much. That night we -were together ... it was for a moment different to everything -that has ever been in your life before, wasn't it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Collecting himself as if to explain to a child.</i>] -I must make you understand ... I must get you to realise -that for a little time to come you're above the law ... above -even the shortcomings and contradictions of a man's -affection.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. But let us have one beautiful memory to share.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Determined she shall face the cold logic of her -position.</i>] Listen. I look back on that night as one looks -back on a fit of drunkenness.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Neither understanding nor wishing to; only -shocked and hurt.</i>] You beast.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With bitter sarcasm.</i>] No, don't say that. -Won't it comfort you to think of drunkenness as a beautiful -thing? There are precedents enough ... classic ones.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. You mean I might have been any other woman.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Quite inexorable.</i>] Wouldn't any other -woman have served the purpose ... and is it less of a -purpose because we didn't know we had it? Does my -unworthiness then ... if you like to call it so ... make you -unworthy now? I must make you see that it doesn't.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Petulantly hammering at her idée fixe.</i>] But you -didn't love me ... and you don't love me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Keeping his patience.</i>] No ... only within -the last five minutes have I really taken the smallest -interest in you. And now I believe I'm half jealous. Can -you understand that? You've been talking a lot of nonsense -about your emotions and your immortal soul. Don't -you see it's only now that you've become a person of some -importance to the world ... and why?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Losing her patience, childishly.</i>] What do you -mean by the World? You don't seem to have any personal -feelings at all. It's horrible you should have thought of me -like that. There has been no other man than you that I -would have let come anywhere near me ... not for more -than a year.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He realises that she will never understand.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. My dear girl, I'm sorry to be brutal. Does -it matter so much to you that I should have wished to -be the father of your child?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Ungracious but pacified by his change of tone.</i>] -It doesn't matter now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Friendly still.</i>] On principle I don't make -promises. But I think I can promise you that if you -keep your head and will keep your health, this shall all be -made as easy for you as if everyone could know. And -let's think what the child may mean to you ... just the -fact of his birth. Nothing to me, of course! Perhaps -that accounts for the touch of jealousy. I've forfeited my -rights because I hadn't honourable intentions. You -can't forfeit yours. Even if you never see him and he has -to grow up among strangers ... just to have had a child -must make a difference to you. Of course, it may be a -girl. I wonder.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>As he wanders on so optimistically she stares at him -and her face changes. She realises....</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Do you expect me to go through with this? -Henry! ... I'd sooner kill myself.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is silence between them. He looks at her as -one looks at some unnatural thing. Then after a -moment he speaks, very coldly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh ... indeed. Don't get foolish ideas -into your head. You've no choice now ... no reasonable -choice.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Driven to bay; her last friend an enemy.</i>] I -won't go through with it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It hasn't been so much the fear of scandal -then—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. That wouldn't break my heart. You'd marry me, -wouldn't you? We could go away somewhere. I could be -very fond of you, Henry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Marvelling at these tangents.</i>] Marry you! -I should murder you in a week.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>This sounds only brutal to her; she lets herself be -shamed.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. You've no more use for me than the use you've -made of me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Logical again.</i>] Won't you realise that -there's a third party to our discussion ... that I'm of no -importance beside him and you of very little. Think of -the child.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Amy</span> <i>blazes into desperate rebellion.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. There's no child because I haven't chosen there -shall be and there shan't be because I don't choose. You'd -have me first your plaything and then Nature's, would you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>A little abashed.</i>] Come now, you knew -what you were about.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Thinking of those moments.</i>] Did I? I found -myself wanting you, belonging to you suddenly. I -didn't stop to think and explain. But are we never to be -happy and irresponsible ... never for a moment?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well ... one can't pick and choose consequences.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Your choices in life have made you what you -want to be, haven't they? Leave me mine.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. But it's too late to argue like that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. If it is, I'd better jump into the Thames. I've -thought of it.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He considers how best to make a last effort to bring -her to her senses. He sits by her.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Amy ... if you were my wife—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Unresponsive to him now.</i>] I was Justin's -wife, and I went away from him sooner than bear him -children. Had I the right to choose or had I not?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Taking another path.</i>] Shall I tell you -something I believe? If we were left to choose, we should -stand for ever deciding whether to start with the right foot -or the left. We blunder into the best things in life. -Then comes the test ... have we faith enough to go on ... to -go through with the unknown thing?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>So bored by these metaphysics.</i>] Faith in what?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Our vitality. I don't give a fig for beauty, -happiness, or brains. All I ask of myself is ... can I pay -Fate on demand?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Yes ... in imagination. But I've got physical -facts to face.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>But he has her attention now and pursues the advantage.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Very well then ... let the meaning of them -go. Look forward simply to a troublesome illness. In a -little while you can go abroad quietly and wait patiently. -We're not fools and we needn't find fools to trust in. Then -come back to England....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. And forget. That seems simple enough, doesn't -it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. If you don't want the child let it be mine ... -not yours.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Wondering suddenly at this bond between them.</i>] -Yours! What would you do with it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Matter-of-fact.</i>] Provide for it, of course.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Never see it, perhaps.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Perhaps not. If there were anything to be -gained ... for the child. I'll see that he has his chance as -a human being.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. How hopeful! [<i>Now her voice drops. She is -looking back, perhaps at a past self.</i>] If you loved me ... -perhaps I might learn to love the thought of your child.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>As if half his life depended on her answer.</i>] -Is that true?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Irritably.</i>] Why are you picking me to pieces? -I think that is true. If you had been loving me for a long, -long time—[<i>The agony rushes back on her.</i>] But now -I'm only afraid. You might have some pity for me ... I'm -so afraid.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Touched.</i>] Indeed ... indeed, I'll take -what share of this I can.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She shrinks from him unforgivingly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. No, let me alone. I'm nothing to you. I'm a -sick beast in danger of my life, that's all ... cancerous!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He is roused for the first time, roused to horror and -protest.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh, you unhappy woman! ... if life is -like death to you....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. [<i>Turning on him.</i>] Don't lecture me! If you're -so clever put a stop to this horror. Or you might at least -say you're sorry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Sorry! [<i>The bell on the table rings jarringly.</i>] -Cantelupe!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes to the telephone. She gets up cold and -collected, steadied merely by the unexpected sound.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. I mustn't keep you from governing the country. -I'm sure you'll do it very well.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>At the telephone.</i>] Yes, bring him up, of -course ... isn't Mr. Kent there? [<i>then to her.</i>] I may be -ten minutes with him or half an hour. Wait and we'll -come to a conclusion.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>comes in, an open letter in his hand.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. This note, sir. Had I better go round myself -and see him?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>As he takes the note.</i>] Cantelupe's come.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. [<i>Glancing at the telephone.</i>] Oh, has he!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>As he reads.</i>] Yes I think you had.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Evans was very serious.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes back into his room.</i> <span class="smcap">Amy</span> <i>moves swiftly to -where</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>is standing and whispers.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Won't you tell me whom to go to?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Oh, really ... what unpractical sentimental children -you men are! You and your consciences ... you and -your laws. You drive us to distraction and sometimes to -death by your stupidities. Poor women—!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The Maid comes in to announce</i> <span class="smcap">Lord Charles -Cantelupe</span>, <i>who follows her.</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>is -forty, unathletic, and a gentleman in the best and -worst sense of the word. He moves always with a -caution which may betray his belief in the personality -of the Devil. He speaks cautiously too, and as if -not he but something inside him were speaking. -One feels that before strangers he would not if he -could help it move or speak at all. A pale face: the -mouth would be hardened by fanaticism were it not -for the elements of Christianity in his religion: and -he has the limpid eye of the enthusiast.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Glad to see you. You know Mrs O'Connell.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>bows in silence.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. We have met.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She offers her hand. He silently takes it and drops it.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Then you'll wait for Frances.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Is it worth while?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>with his hat on leaves his room and goes -downstairs.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Have you anything better to do?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. There's somewhere I can go. But I mustn't -keep you chatting of my affairs. Lord Charles is impatient -to disestablish the Church.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Unable to escape a remark.</i>] Forgive me, -since that is also your affair.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Oh ... but I was received at the Oratory when I -was married.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>With contrition.</i>] I beg your pardon.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Then he makes for the other side of the room</i>, <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> -<i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Mrs. O'Connell</span> <i>stroll to the door, their -eyes full of meaning.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. I think I'll go on to this place that I've heard -of. If I wait ... for your sister ... she may disappoint me -again.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Wait.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Kent's</span> <i>room is vacant.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Well ... in here?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. If you like law-books.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. I haven't been much of an interruption now, -have I?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Please wait.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Amy</span>. Thank you.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>shuts her in, for a moment seems inclined to -lock her in, but he comes back into his own room and -faces</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>, <i>who having primed and trained -himself on his subject like a gun, fires off a speech, -without haste, but also apparently without taking -breath.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I was extremely thankful, Mr. Trebell, -to hear last week from Horsham that you will see your -way to join his cabinet and undertake the disestablishment -bill in the House of Commons. Any measure of -mine, I have always been convinced, would be too much -under the suspicion of blindly favouring Church interests -to command the allegiance of that heterogeneous mass of -thought ... in some cases, alas, of free thought ... which -now-a-days composes the Conservative party. I am -more than content to exercise what influence I may from -a seat in the cabinet which will authorise the bill.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes. That chair's comfortable.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>takes another.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Horsham forwarded to me your memorandum -upon the conditions you held necessary and I -incline to think I may accept them in principle on behalf of -those who honour me with their confidences.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He fishes some papers from his pocket.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> -<i>sits squarely at his table to grapple with the -matter.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Horsham told me you did accept them ... -it's on that I'm joining.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Yes ... in principle.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well ... we couldn't carry a bill you disapproved -of, could we?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>With finesse.</i>] I hope not.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>A little dangerously.</i>] And I have no -intention of being made the scapegoat of a wrecked Tory -compromise with the Nonconformists.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Calmly ignoring the suggestion.</i>] So far -as I am concerned I meet the Nonconformists on their own -ground ... that Religion had better be free from all -compromise with the State.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Quite so ... if you're set free you'll look -after yourselves. My discovery must be what to do with -the men who think more of the state than their Church ... -the majority of parsons, don't you think? ... if the -question's really put and they can be made to understand -it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>With sincere disdain.</i>] There are more -profitable professions.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. And less. Will you allow me that it is -statecraft to make a profession profitable?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>picks up his papers, avoiding theoretical -discussion.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Well now ... will you explain to me -this project for endowing Education with your surplus?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Putting Appropriation, the Buildings and -the Representation question on one side for the moment?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Candidly, I have yet to master your -figures....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The roughest figures so far.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Still I have yet to master them on the -first two points.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Firmly premising.</i>] We agree that this -is not diverting church money to actually secular uses.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>As he peeps from under his eyelids.</i>] I can -conceive that it might not be. You know that we hold -Education to be a Church function. But....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Can you accept thoroughly now the secular -solution for all Primary Schools?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Haven't we always preferred it to the -undenominational? Are there to be facilities for <i>any</i> of -the teachers giving dogmatic instruction?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I note your emphasis on any. I think we -can put the burden of that decision on local authorities. -Let us come to the question of Training Colleges for your -teachers. It's on that I want to make my bargain.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Alert and cautious.</i>] You want to endow -colleges?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Heavily.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Under public control?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Church colleges under Church control.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. There'd be others?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. To preserve the necessary balance in the -schools.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Not founded with church money?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Think of the grants in aid that will be released. -I must ask the Treasury for a further lump sum -and with that there may be sufficient for secular colleges ... -if you can agree with me upon the statutes of those over -which you'd otherwise have free control.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>is weighing his words.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. "You" meaning, for instance ... what -authorities in the Church?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Bishops, I suppose ... and others, [<span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> -<i>permits himself to smile.</i>] On that point I shall -be weakness itself and ... may I suggest ... your seat in -the cabinet will give you some control.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Statutes?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. To be framed in the best interests of educational -efficiency.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Finding an opening.</i>] I doubt if we agree -upon the meaning to be attached to that term.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Forcing the issue.</i>] What meaning do you -attach to it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Smiling again.</i>] I have hardly a sympathetic -listener.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You have an unprejudiced one ... the -best you can hope for. I was not educated myself. I -learnt certain things that I desired to know ... from -reading my first book—Don Quixote it was—to mastering -Company Law. You see, as a man without formulas -either for education or religion, I am perhaps peculiarly -fitted to settle the double question. I have no grudges ... -no revenge to take.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Suddenly congenial.</i>] Shelton's translation -of Don Quixote I hope ... the modern ones have no -flavour. And you took all the adventures as seriously as -the Don did?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Not expecting this.</i>] I forget.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. It's the finer attitude ... the child's -attitude. And it would enable you immediately to comprehend -mine towards an education consisting merely of -practical knowledge. The life of Faith is still the happy -one. What is more crushingly finite than knowledge? -Moral discipline is a nation's only safety. How much of -your science tends in support of the great spiritual doctrine -of sacrifice!</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>returns to his subject as forceful as ever.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The Church has assimilated much in her -time. Do you think it wise to leave agnostic science at the -side of the plate? I think, you know, that this craving for -common knowledge is a new birth in the mind of man; -and if your church won't recognise that soon, by so much -will she be losing her grip for ever over men's minds. -What's the test of godliness, but your power to receive -the new idea in whatever form it comes and give it life? -It is blasphemy to pick and choose your good. [<i>For a -moment his thoughts seem to be elsewhere.</i>] That's an unhappy -man or woman or nation ... I know it if it has -only come to me this minute ... and I don't care what -their brains or their riches or their beauty or any of -their triumph may be ... they're unhappy and useless if -they can't tell life from death.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Interested in the digression</i>] Remember -that the Church's claim has ever been to know that -difference.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Fastening to his subject again.</i>] My -point is this: A man's demand to know the exact structure -of a fly's wing, and his assertion that it degrades any child -in the street not to know such a thing, is a religious -revival ... a token of spiritual hunger. What else can it -be? And we commercialise our teaching!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I wouldn't have it so.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Then I'm offering you the foundation of a -new Order of men and women who'll serve God by teaching -his children. Now shall we finish the conversation in -prose?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Not to be put down.</i>] What is the prose -for God?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Not to be put down either.</i>] That's what we -irreligious people are giving our lives to discover. [<i>He -plunges into detail.</i>] I'm proposing to found about -seventy-two new colleges, and of course, to bring the ones -there are up to the new standard. Then we must gradually -revise all teaching salaries in government schools ... -to a scale I have in mind. Then the course must be -compulsory and the training time doubled—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Doubled! Four years?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well, a minimum of three ... a university -course. Remember we're turning a trade into a calling.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. There's more to that than taking a degree.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I think so. You've fought for years for -your tests and your atmosphere with plain business men -not able to understand such lunacy. Quite right ... -atmosphere's all that matters. If one and one don't make -two by God's grace....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Poetry again!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I beg your pardon. Well ... you've no -further proof. If you can't plant your thumb on the earth -and your little finger on the pole star you know nothing of -distances. We must do away with text-book teachers.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>is opening out a little in spite of himself.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I'm waiting for our opinions to differ.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Businesslike again.</i>] I'll send you a draft -of the statutes I propose within a week. Meanwhile shall -I put the offer this way. If I accept your tests will you -accept mine?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. What are yours?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I believe if one provides for efficiency one -provides for the best part of truth ... honesty of statement. -I shall hope for a little more elasticity in your dogmas than -Becket or Cranmer or Laud would have allowed. When -you've a chance to re-formulate the reasons of your faith -for the benefit of men teaching mathematics and science -and history and political economy, you won't neglect to -answer or allow for criticisms and doubts. I don't see -why ... in spite of all the evidence to the contrary ... such a -thing as progress in a definite religious faith is impossible.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Progress is a soiled word. [<i>And now he -weighs his words.</i>] I shall be very glad to accept on the -Church's behalf control of the teaching of teachers in these -colleges.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Good. I want the best men.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. You are surprisingly inexperienced if you -think that creeds can ever become mere forms except to -those who have none.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. But teaching—true teaching—is learning, and -the wish to know is going to prevail against any creed ... -so I think. I wish you cared as little for the form in which -a truth is told as I do. On the whole, you see, I think I -shall manage to plant your theology in such soil this -spring that the garden will be fruitful. On the whole -I'm a believer in Churches of all sorts and their usefulness -to the State. Your present use is out-worn. Have -I found you in this the beginnings of a new one?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. The Church says: Thank you, it is a -very old one.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Winding up the interview.</i>] To be sure, for -practical politics our talk can be whittled down to your -accepting the secular solution for Primary Schools, if -you're given these colleges under such statutes as you and I -shall agree upon.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. And the country will accept.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The country will accept any measure if -there's enough money in it to bribe all parties fairly.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. You expect very little of the constancy of -my Church to her Faith, Mr. Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I have only one belief myself. That is in -human progress—yes, progress—over many obstacles and -by many means. I have no ideals. I believe it is statesmanlike -to use all the energy you find ... turning it into -the nearest channel that points forward.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Forward to what?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I don't know ... and my caring doesn't -matter. We do know ... and if we deny it it's only to be -encouraged by contradiction ... that the movement is -forward and with some gathering purpose. I'm friends -with any fellow traveller.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>has been considering him very curiously. -Now he gets up to go.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I should like to continue our talk when I've -studied your draft of the statutes. Of course the political -position is favourable to a far more comprehensive bill -than we had ever looked for ... and you've the advantage -now of having held yourself very free from party ties. -In fact not only will you give us the bill we shall most -care to accept, but I don't know what other man would -give us a bill we and the other side could accept -at all.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I can let you have more Appropriation -figures by Friday. The details of the Fabrics scheme will -take a little longer.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. In a way there's no such hurry. We're -not in office yet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. When I'm building with figures I like to -give the foundations time to settle. Otherwise they are -the inexactest things.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Smiling to him for the first time.</i>] We -shall have you finding Faith the only solvent of all problems -some day.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I hope my mind is not afraid ... even of -the Christian religion.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I am sure that the needs of the human -soul ... be it dressed up in whatever knowledge ... do not -alter from age to age....</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He opens the door to find</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>standing -outside, watch in hand.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Hullo ... waiting?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I was giving you two minutes by my -watch. How are you, Cantelupe?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>, <i>with a gesture which might be mistaken -for a bow, folds himself up.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Shall I bring you the figures on Friday ... -that might save time.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>, <i>by taking a deeper fold in himself seems -to assent.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Will the afternoon do? Kent shall fix the hour.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>With an effort.</i>] Kent?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. My secretary.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Friday. Any hour before five. I know -my way.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The three phrases having meant three separate -efforts,</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>escapes.</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>has -walked to the table, his brows a little puckered. Now</i> -<span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>notices that</i> <span class="smcap">Kent's</span> <i>door is open; he goes -quickly into the room and finds it empty. Then he -stands for a moment irritable and undecided before -returning.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Been here long?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Five minutes ... more, I suppose.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Mrs. O'Connell gone?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. To her dressmaker's.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Frances forgot she was coming and went out.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Pretty little fool of a woman! D'you -know her husband?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Says she's been in Ireland with him -since we met at Shapters. He has trouble with his -tenantry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Won't he sell or won't they purchase?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Curious chap. A Don at Balliol when -I first knew him. Warped of late years ... perhaps by -his marriage.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Dismissing that subject.</i>] Well ... how's -Percival?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Better this morning. I told him I'd -seen you ... and in a little calculated burst of confidence -what I'd reason to think you were after. He said you and -he could get on though you differed on every point; but -he didn't see how you'd pull with such a blasted weak-kneed -lot as the rest of the Horsham's cabinet would be. -He'll be up in a week or ten days.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Can I see him?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You might. I admire the old man ... -the way he sticks to his party, though they misrepresent -now most things he believes in!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. What a damnable state to arrive at ... -doubly damned by the fact you admire it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. And to think that at this time of day -you should need instructing in the ethics of party government. -But I'll have to do it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Not now. I've been at ethics with Cantelupe.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Certainly not now. What about my -man with the stomach-ache at twelve o'clock sharp! -Good-bye.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He is gone,</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>battles with uneasiness and -at last mutters.</i> "Oh ... why didn't she wait?" -<i>Then the telephone bell rings. He goes quickly as if -it were an answer to his anxiety.</i> "Yes?" <i>Of -course, it isn't..</i> "Yes." <i>He paces the room, impatient, -wondering what to do. The Maid comes in -to announce</i> <span class="smcap">Miss Davenport</span>. <span class="smcap">Lucy</span> <i>follows her. -She has gained lately perhaps a little of the joy -which was lacking and at least she brings now into -this room a breath of very wholesome womanhood.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. It's very good of you to let me come; I'm not -going to keep you more than three minutes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Sit down.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Only women unused to busy men would call him -rude.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. What I want to say is ... don't mind my being -engaged to Walter. It shan't interfere with his work for -you. If you want a proof that it shan't ... it was I got -Aunt Julia to ask you to take him.... Though he didn't -know ... so don't tell him that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You weren't engaged then.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. I ... thought that we might be.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With cynical humour.</i>] Which I'm not to -tell him either?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Oh, that wouldn't matter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With decision.</i>] I'll make sure you don't -interfere.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. [<i>Deliberately ... not to be treated as a child.</i>] -You couldn't, you know, if I wanted to.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Why, is Walter a fool?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. He's very fond of me, if that's what you mean?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>looks at her for the first time and changes -his tone a little.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. If it was what I meant ... I'm disposed to -withdraw the suggestion.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. And, because I'm fond of his work as well, I -shan't therefore ask him to tell me things ... secrets.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Reverting to his humour.</i>] It'll be when -you're a year or two married that danger may occur ... in -his desperate effort to make conversation.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span> <i>considers this and him quite seriously.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. You're rather hard on women, aren't you ... -just because they don't have the chances men do.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Do you want the chances?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. I think I'm as clever as most men I meet, though -I know less, of course.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Perhaps I should have offered you the -secretaryship instead.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. [<i>Readily.</i>] Don't you think I'm taking it in a -way ... by marrying Walter? That's fanciful of course. -But marriage is a very general and complete sort of -partnership, isn't it? At least, I'd like to make -mine so.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. He'll be more under your thumb in some -things if you leave him free in others.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She receives the sarcasm in all seriousness and then -speaks to him as she would to a child.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Oh ... I'm not explaining what I mean quite -well perhaps. Walter has been everywhere and done -everything. He speaks three languages ... which all -makes him an ideal private secretary.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Quite.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Do you think he'd develop into anything else ... -but for me?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. So I have provided just a first step, have I?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. [<i>With real enthusiasm.</i>] Oh, Mr. Trebell, it's a -great thing for us. There isn't anyone worth working -under but you. You'll make him think and give him ideas -instead of expecting them from him. But just for that -reason he'd get so attached to you and be quite content -to grow old in your shadow ... if it wasn't for me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. True ... I should encourage him in nothingness. -What's more, I want extra brains and hands. It's -not altogether a pleasant thing, is it ... the selfishness of -the hard worked man?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. If you don't grudge your own strength, why -should you be tender of other people's?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He looks at her curiously.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Your ambition is making for only second-hand -satisfaction though.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. What's a woman to do? She must work through -men, mustn't she?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I'm told that's degrading ... the influencing -of husbands and brothers and sons.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. [<i>Only half humorously.</i>] But what else is one -to do with them? Of course, I've enough money to live -on ... so I could take up some woman's profession ... -What are you smiling at?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Who has smiled very broadly.</i>] As you -don't mean to ... don't stop while I tell you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. But I'd sooner get married. I want to have -children. [<i>The words catch him and hold him. He looks -at her reverently this time. She remembers she has transgressed -convention; then, remembering that it is only convention, -proceeds quite simply.</i>] I hope we shall have -children.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I hope so.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Thank you. That's the first kind thing you've -said.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh ... you can do without compliments, -can't you?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She considers for a moment.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Why have you been talking to me as if I were -someone else?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Startled.</i>] Who else?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. No one particular. But you've shaken a moral -fist so to speak. I don't think I provoked it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It's a bad parliamentary habit. I apologise.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She gets up to go.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Now I shan't keep you longer ... you're always -busy. You've been so easy to talk to. Thank you very -much.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Why ... I wonder?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. I knew you would be or I shouldn't have come. -You think Life's an important thing, don't you? That's -priggish, isn't it? Good-bye. We're coming to dinner ... -Aunt Julia and I. Miss Trebell arrived to ask us just as I -left.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I'll see you down.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. What waste of time for you. I know how the -door opens.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>As she goes out</i> <span class="smcap">Walter Kent</span> <i>is on the way to his -room. The two nod to each other like old friends.</i> -<span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>turns away with something of a sigh.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Just come?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Just going.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. I'll see you at dinner.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span>. Oh, are you to be here? ... that's nice.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Lucy</span> <i>departs as purposefully as she came.</i> <span class="smcap">Kent</span> -<i>hurries to</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span>, <i>whose thoughts are away again -by now.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. I haven't been long there and back, have I? -The Bishop gave me these letters for you. He hasn't -answered the last ... but I've his notes of what he means -to say. He'd like them back to-night. He was just -going out. I've one or two notes of what Evans said. -Bit of a charlatan, don't you think?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Evans?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Well, he talked of his Flock. There are quite -fifteen letters you'll have to deal with yourself, I'm afraid.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>stares at him: then, apparently, making -up his mind....</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Ring up a messenger, will you ... I must -write a note and send it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Will you dictate?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I shall have done it while you're ringing ... -it's only a personal matter. Then we'll start work.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Kent</span> <i>goes into his room and tackles the telephone -there.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>sits down to write the note, his -face very set and anxious.</i></p></blockquote> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h2>THE THIRD ACT</h2> - - -<p>At <span class="smcap">Lord Horsham's</span> house in Queen Anne's Gate, in the -evening, a week later.</p> - -<p><i>If rooms express their owners' character, the grey and black -of</i><span class="smcap"> Lord Horsham's</span> <i>drawing room, the faded brocade -of its furniture, reveal him as a man of delicate taste -and somewhat thin intellectuality. He stands now -before a noiseless fire, contemplating with a troubled -eye either the pattern of the Old French carpet, or the -black double doors of the library opposite, or the -moulding on the Adams ceiling, which the flicker of -all the candles casts into deeper relief. His grey hair -and black clothes would melt into the decoration of his -room, were the figure not rescued from such oblivion -by the British white glaze of his shirt front and—to a -sympathetic eye—by the loveable perceptive face of the -man. Sometimes he looks at the sofa in front of him, -on which sits</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>, <i>still in the frock coat -of a busy day, depressed and irritable. With his -back to them, on a sofa with its back to them, is -</i> <span class="smcap">George Farrant</span>, <i>planted with his knees apart, his -hands clasped, his head bent; very glum. And -sometimes</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>glances at the door, as if waiting -for it to open. Then his gaze will travel back, up -the long shiny black piano, with a volume of the -Well Tempered Clavichord open on its desk, to where -</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>is perched uncomfortably on the bench; -paler than ever; more self-contained than ever, looking, -to one who knows him as well as Horsham does, a -little dangerous. So he returns to contemplation of -the ceiling or the carpet. They wait there as men -wait who have said all they want to say upon an -unpleasant subject and yet cannot dismiss it. At -last</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>breaks the silence.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. What time did you ask him to come, -Horsham?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Eh ... O'Connell? I didn't ask him directly. -What time did you say, Wedgecroft?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Any time after half past ten, I told him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Grumbling.</i>] It's a quarter to eleven. -Doesn't Blackborough mean to turn up at all?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. He was out of town ... my note had to be -sent after him. I couldn't wire, you see.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. No.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. It was by the merest chance your man -caught me, Cyril. I was taking the ten fifteen to Tonbridge -and happened to go to James Street first for some -papers.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The conversation flags again.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. But since Mrs. O'Connell is dead what -is the excuse for a scandal?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>At this unpleasant dig into the subject of their -thoughts the three other men stir uncomfortably.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Because the inquest is unavoidable ... apparently.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Suddenly letting fly.</i>] I declare I'd -I'd have risked penal servitude and given a certificate, but -just before the end O'Connell would call in old Fielding -Andrews, who has moral scruples about everything—it's -his trademark—and of course about this...!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Was he told of the whole business?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. No ... O'Connell kept things up before -him. Well ... the woman was dying.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Couldn't you have kept the true state of the -case from Sir Fielding?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. And been suspected of the malpractice -myself if he'd found it out? ... which he would have done -... he's no fool. Well ... I thought of trying that....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. My dear Wedgecroft ... how grossly quixotic! -You have a duty to yourself.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Rescuing the conversation from unpleasantness.</i>] -I'm afraid I feel that our position to-night is most -irregular, Wedgecroft.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Still if you can make O'Connell see -reason. And if you all can't.... [<i>He frowns at the alternative.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Didn't you say she came to you first of all?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I met her one morning at Trebell's.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Actually <i>at</i> Trebell's!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. The day he came back from abroad.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Oh! No one seems to have noticed them -together much at any time. My wife ... No matter!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. She tackled me as a doctor with one -part of her trouble ... added she'd been with O'Connell -in Ireland, which of course it turns out wasn't true ... -asked me to help her. I had to say I couldn't.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Echoing rather than querying.</i>] You -couldn't.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Shocked.</i>] My dear Horsham!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Well, if she'd told me the truth!... No, -anyhow I couldn't. I'm sure there was no excuse. One -can't run these risks.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Quite right, quite right.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. There are men who do on one pretext -or another.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Not too shocked to be curious.</i>] Are there -really?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Oh yes, men well known ... in other -directions. I could give you four addresses ... but of -course I wasn't going to give her one. Though there -again ... if she'd told me the whole truth!... My God, -women are such fools! And they prefer quackery ... look -at the decent doctors they simply turn into charlatans. -Though, there again, that all comes of letting a trade work -mysteriously under the thumb of a benighted oligarchy ... -which is beside the question. But one day I'll make you -sit up on the subject of the Medical Council, Horsham.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>assumes an impenetrable air of statesmanship.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I know. Very interesting ... very important -... very difficult to alter the status quo.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Then the poor little liar said she'd go off -to an appointment with her dressmaker; and I heard -nothing more till she sent for me a week later, and I found -her almost too ill to speak. Even then she didn't tell me -the truth! So, when O'Connell arrived, of course I spoke -to him quite openly and all he told me in reply was that it -wouldn't have been his child.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Poor devil!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. O'Connell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Yes, of course.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I wonder. Perhaps she didn't realize -he'd been sent for ... or felt then she was dying and -didn't care ... or lost her head. I don't know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Such a pretty little woman!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. If I could have made him out and -dealt with him, of course, I shouldn't have come to you. -Farrant's known him even longer than I have.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. I was with him at Harrow.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. So I went to Farrant first.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>That part of the subject drops.</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>, <i>who -has not moved, strikes in again.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. How was Trebell's guilt discovered?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. He wrote her one letter which she didn't -destroy. O'Connell found it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Picked it up from her desk ... it -wasn't even locked up.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Not twenty words in it ... quite enough -though.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. His habit of being explicit ... of writing -things down ... I know!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He shakes his head, deprecating all rashness. There -is another pause.</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span>, <i>getting up to pace about, -breaks it.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Look here, Wedgecroft, one thing is worrying -me. Had Trebell any foreknowledge of what she did and -the risk she was running and could he have stopped it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Almost ill-temperedly.</i>] How could he -have stopped it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Because ... well, I'm not a casuist ... but -I know by instinct when I'm up against the wrong thing -to do; and if he can't be cleared on that point I won't lift a -finger to save him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>With nice judgment.</i>] In using the term -Any Foreknowledge, Farrant, you may be more severe -on him than you wish to be.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>, <i>unappreciative, continues.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Otherwise ... well, we must admit, Cantelupe, -that if it hadn't been for the particular consequence -of this it wouldn't be anything to be so mightily shocked -about.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I disagree.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. My dear fellow, it's our business to make -laws and we know the difference of saying in one of 'em -you may or you must. Who ever proposed to insist on -pillorying every case of spasmodic adultery? One would -never have done! Some of these attachments do more -harm ... to the third party, I mean ... some less. But it's -only when a menage becomes socially impossible that a -sensible man will interfere. [<i>He adds quite unnecessarily.</i>] -I'm speaking quite impersonally, of course.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>As coldly as ever.</i>] Trebell is morally -responsible for every consequence of the original sin.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. That is a hard saying.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Continuing his own remarks quite independently.</i>] -And I put aside the possibility that he deliberately -helped her to her death to save a scandal because I don't -believe it is a possibility. But if that were so I'd lift my -finger to help him to his. I'd see him hanged with pleasure.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Settling this part of the matter.</i>] Well, -Farrant, to all intents and purposes he didn't know and -he'd have stopped it if he could.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Yes, I believe that. But what makes you -so sure?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I asked him and he told me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. That's no proof.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You read the letter that he sent her ... -unless you think it was written as a blind.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Oh ... to be sure ... yes. I might have -thought of that.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He settles down again. Again no one has anything -to say.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. What is to be said to Mr. O'Connell -when he comes?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Yes ... what exactly do you propose we -shall say to O'Connell, Wedgecroft?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Get him to open his oyster of a mind -and....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. So it is and his face like a stone wall yesterday. -Absolutely refused to discuss the matter with me!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. May I ask, Cyril, why are we concerning -ourselves with this wickedness at all?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Just at this moment when we have official -weight without official responsibility, Charles....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I wish I could have let Percival out of -bed, but these first touches of autumn are dangerous to a -convalescent of his age.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. But you saw him, Farrant ... and he -gave you his opinion, didn't he?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Last night ... yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I suppose it's a pity Blackborough hasn't -turned up.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Never mind him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. He gets people to agree with him. That's a -gift.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Wedgecroft, what is the utmost O'Connell -will be called upon to do for us ... for Trebell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Probably only to hold his tongue at the -inquest to-morrow. As far as I know there's no one but -her maid to prove that Mrs. O'Connell didn't meet her -husband some time in the summer. He'll be called upon -to tell a lie or two by implication.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Cantelupe ... what does perjury to that -extent mean to a Roman Catholic?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe's</span> <i>face melts into an expression of mild -amazement.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Your asking such a question shows that -you would not understand my answer to it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Leaving the fellow to his subtleties.</i>] Well, -what about the maid?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. She may suspect facts but not names, I -think. Why should they question her on such a point if -O'Connell says nothing?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. He's really very late. I told ... [<i>He stops.</i>] -Charles, I've forgotten that man's name again.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Edmunds, you said it was.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Edmunds. Everybody's down at Lympne ... -I've been left with a new man here and I don't know his -name. [<i>He is very pathetic.</i>] I told him to put O'Connell -in the library there. I thought that either Farrant or I -might perhaps see him first and—</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>At this moment</i> <span class="smcap">Edmunds</span> <i>comes in, and, with that -air of discreet tact which he considers befits the establishment -of a Prime Minister, announces</i>, "Mr. -O'Connell, my lord." <i>As</i> <span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> <i>follows him</i>, -<span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>can only try not to look too disconcerted.</i> -<span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>, <i>in his tightly buttoned frock coat, with -his shaven face and close-cropped iron grey hair, -might be mistaken for a Catholic priest; except that -he has not also acquired the easy cheerfulness which -professional familiarity with the mysteries of that -religion seems to give. For the moment, at least, his -features are so impassive that they may tell either -of the deepest grief or the purest indifference; or it -may be, merely of reticence on entering a stranger's -room. He only bows towards</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham's</span> <i>half-proffered -hand. With instinctive respect for the -situation of this tragically made widower the men -have risen and stand in various uneasy attitudes.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Oh ... how do you do? Let me see ... do -you know my cousin Charles Cantelupe? Yes ... we were -expecting Russell Blackborough. Sir Henry Percival is -ill. Do sit down.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> <i>takes the nearest chair and gradually -the others settle themselves</i>; <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>seeking an -obscure corner. But there follows an uncomfortable -silence, which</i> <span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> <i>at last breaks.</i> -</p></blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. You have sent for me, Lord Horsham?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I hope that by my message I conveyed no -impression of sending for you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. I am always in some doubt as to by what -person or persons in or out of power this country is -governed. But from all I hear you are at the present -moment approximately entitled to send for me.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The level music of his Irish tongue seems to give -finer edge to his sarcasm.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Well, Mr. O'Connell ... you know our -request before we make it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. Yes, I understand that if the fact of Mr. -Trebell's adultery with my wife were made as public as its -consequences to her must be to-morrow, public opinion -would make it difficult for you to include him in your -cabinet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Therefore we ask you ... though we have no -right to ask you ... to consider the particular circumstances -and forget the man in the statesman, Mr. O'Connell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. My wife is dead. What have I to do at all -with Mr. Trebell as a man? As a statesman I am in any -case uninterested in him.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Upon this throwing of cold water</i>, <span class="smcap">Edmunds</span> <i>returns -to mention even more discreetly....</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Edmunds</span>. Mr. Blackborough is in the library, my -lord.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Patiently impatient.</i>] No, no ... here.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Let me go.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>To the injured</i> <span class="smcap">Edmunds</span>.] Wait ... wait.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I'll put him <i>au fait.</i> I shan't come back.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Gratefully.</i>] Yes, yes. [<i>Then to</i> <span class="smcap">Edmunds</span> -<i>who is waiting with perfect dignity.</i>] Yes ... yes ... yes.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Edmunds</span> <i>departs and</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>makes for the -library door, glad to escape.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. If you are not busy at this hour, Wedgecroft, -I should be grateful if you'd wait for me. I shall -keep you, I think, but a very few minutes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>In his most matter-of-fact tone.</i>] All -right, O'Connell.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes into the library.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Don't you think, Cyril, it would be wiser -to prevent your man coming into the room at all while we're -discussing this?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Collecting his scattered tact.</i>] Yes, I thought -I had arranged that he shouldn't. I'm very sorry. He's -a fool. However, there's no one else to come. Once -more, Mr. O'Connell.... [<i>He frames no sentence.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. I am all attention, Lord Horsham.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>with a self-denying effort has risen to his -feet.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Mr. O'Connell I remain here almost -against my will. I cannot think quite calmly about this -double and doubly heinous sin. Don't listen to us while -we make light of it. If we think of it as a political bother -and ask you to smooth it away ... I am ashamed. But I -believe I may not be wrong if I put it to you that, looking -to the future and for the sake of your own Christian dignity, -it may become you to be merciful. And I pray too ... I -think we may believe ... that Mr. Trebell is feeling need of -your forgiveness. I have no more to say. [<i>He sits down -again.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. It may be. I have never met Mr. Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I tell you, Mr. O'Connell, putting aside -Party, that your country has need of this man just at this -time.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>They hang upon</i> <span class="smcap">O'Connell's</span> <i>reply. It comes with -deliberation.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. I suppose my point of view must be an -unusual one. I notice, at least, that twenty four hours -and more has not enabled Farrant to grasp it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. For God's sake, O'Connell, don't be so -cold-blooded. You have the life or death of a man's -reputation to decide on.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. [<i>With a cold flash of contempt.</i>] That's a -petty enough thing now-a-days it seems to me. There are -so many clever men ... and they are all so alike ... surely -one will not be missed.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Don't you think that is only sarcasm, Mr. -O'Connell?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The voice is so gently reproving that</i> <span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> -<i>must turn to him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. Will you please to make allowance, Lord -Charles, for a mediaeval scholar's contempt of modern -government? You at least will partly understand his -horror as a Catholic at the modern superstitions in favour -of popular opinion and control which it encourages. You -see, Lord Horsham, I am not a party man, only a little -less enthusiastic for the opposite cries than for his own. -You appealed very strangely to my feelings of patriotism -for this country; but you see even my own is—in the -twentieth century—foreign to me. From my point of -view neither Mr. Trebell, nor you, nor the men you have -just defeated, nor any discoverable man or body of men -will make laws which matter ... or differ in the slightest. -You are all part of your age and you all voice—though -in separate keys, or even tunes they may be—only the -greed and follies of your age. That you should do this -and nothing more is, of course, the democratic ideal. You -will forgive my thinking tenderly of the statesmanship of -the first Edward.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>The library door opens and</i> <span class="smcap">Russell Blackborough</span> -<i>comes in. He has on evening clothes, complicated -by a long silk comforter and the motoring cap which he -carries.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. You know Russell Blackborough.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. I think not.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. How d'you do?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> <i>having bowed</i>, <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>having -nodded, the two men sit down</i>, <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>with -an air of great attention</i>, <span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> <i>to continue his -interrupted speech.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. And you are as far from me in your code of -personal morals as in your politics. In neither do you -seem to realise that such a thing as passion can exist. No -doubt you use the words Love and Hatred; but do you -know that love and hatred for principles or persons should -come from beyond a man? I notice you speak of forgiveness -as if it were a penny in my pocket. You have been -endeavouring for these two days to rouse me from my -indifference towards Mr. Trebell. Perhaps you are on -the point of succeeding ... but I do not know what you -may rouse.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I understand. We are much in agreement, -Mr. O'Connell. What can a man be—who has any pretensions -to philosophy—but helplessly indifferent to the -thousands of his fellow creatures whose fates are intertwined -with his?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. I am glad that you understand. But, -again ... have I been wrong to shrink from personal -relations with Mr. Trebell? Hatred is as sacred a responsibility -as love. And you will not agree with me when -I say that punishment can be the salvation of a man's -soul.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>With aggressive common sense.</i>] Look here. -O'Connell, if you're indifferent it doesn't hurt you to let -him off. And if you hate him...! Well, one shouldn't -hate people ... there's no room for it in this world.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Quietly as ever.</i>] We have some authority -for thinking that the punishment of a secret sin is awarded -by God secretly.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. We have very poor authority, sir, for -using God's name merely to fill up the gaps in an argument, -though we may thus have our way easily with men who -fear God more than they know him. I am not one of -those. Yes, Farrant, you and your like have left little -room in this world except for the dusty roads on which -I notice you beginning once more to travel. The rule of -them is the same for all, is it not ... from the tramp and -the labourer to the plutocrat in his car? This is the age -of equality; and it's a fine practical equality ... the -equality of the road. But you've fenced the fields of -human joy and turned the very hillsides into hoardings, -Commercial opportunity is painted on them, I think.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Not to be impressed.</i>] Perhaps it is -O'Connell. My father made his money out of newspapers -and I ride in a motor car and you came from Holyhead by -train. What has all that to do with it? Why can't you -make up your mind? You know in this sort of case one -talks a lot ... and then does the usual thing. You must -let Trebell off and that's all about it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. Indeed. And do they still think it worth -while to administer an oath to your witnesses?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He is interrupted by the flinging open of the door -and the triumphant right-this-time-anyhow voice in -which</i> <span class="smcap">Edmunds</span> <i>announces</i> "Mr. Trebell, my -lord." <i>The general consternation expresses itself -through</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span>, <i>who complains aloud and unreservedly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Good God.... No! Charles, I must give -him notice at once ... he'll have to go. [<i>He apologises -to the company.</i>] I beg your pardon.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>By this time</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>is in the room and has discovered -the stranger, who stands to face him without -emotion or anger</i>, <span class="smcap">Blackborough's</span> <i>face wears -the grimmest of smiles</i>, <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>is sorry</i>, <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> -<i>recovers from the fit of choking which seemed imminent -and</i> <span class="smcap">Edmunds</span>, <i>dimly perceiving by now some fly in -the perfect amber of his conduct, departs. The two -men still face each other</i>, <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>is prepared to -separate them should they come to blows, and indeed -is advancing in that anticipation when</i> <span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> -<i>speaks.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. I am Justin O'Connell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I guess that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. There's a dead woman between us, Mr. -Trebell.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>A tremor sweeps over</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span>; <i>then he speaks -simply.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I wish she had not died.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. I am called upon by your friends to save -you from the consequences of her death. What have you -to say about that?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I have been wondering what sort of expression -the last of your care for her would find ... but not much. -My wonder is at the power over me that has been given to -something I despised.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Only</i> <span class="smcap">O'Connell</span> <i>grasps his meaning. But he, -stirred for the first time and to his very depths, -drives it home.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. Yes.... If I wanted revenge I have it. -She was a worthless woman. First my life and now yours! -Dead because she was afraid to bear your child, isn't she?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>In agony.</i>] I'd have helped that if I could.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. Not the shame ... not the wrong she had -done me ... but just fear—fear of the burden of her -woman-hood. And because of her my children are -bastards and cannot inherit my name. And I must live -in sin against my church, as—God help me—I can't -against my nature. What are men to do when this is -how women use the freedom we have given them? Is the -curse of barrenness to be nothing to a man? And that's -the death in life to which you gentlemen with your fine -civilisation are bringing us. I think we are brothers in -misfortune, Mr. Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Far from responding.</i>] Not at all, sir. If -you wanted children you did the next best thing when she -left you. My own problem is neither so simple nor is it -yet anyone's business but my own. I apologise for -alluding to it.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>takes advantage of the silence that follows.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Shall we....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. [<i>Measuring</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>with his eyes.</i>] And -by which shall I help you to a solution ... telling lies or -the truth to-morrow?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Roughly, almost insolently.</i>] If you want -my advice ... I should do the thing that comes more -easily to you, or that will content you most. If you haven't -yet made up your mind as to the relative importance of my -work and your conscience, it's too late to begin now. Nothing -you may do can affect me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. <i>[fluttering fearfully into this strange dispute.</i>] -O'Connell ... if you and I were to join Wedgecroft....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. You value your work more than anything -else in the world?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Have I anything else in the world?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">O'Connell</span>. Have you not? [<i>With grim ambiguity.</i>] -Then I am sorry for you, Mr. Trebell. [<i>Having said all -he had to say, he notices</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span>.] Yes, Lord Horsham, -by all means....</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Then</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>opens the library door and sees him -safely through. He passes</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>without any -salutation, nor does</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>turn after him; but -when</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>also is in the library and the door -is closed, comments viciously.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The man's a sentimentalist ... like all -men who live alone or shut away. [<i>Then surveying his -three glum companions, bursts out.</i>] Well...? We can -stop thinking of this dead woman, can't we? It's a waste -of time.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Trebell, what did you want to come -here for?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Because you thought I wouldn't. I knew -you'd be sitting round, incompetent with distress, calculating -to a nicety the force of a scandal....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>With the firmest of touches.</i>] Horsham -has called some of us here to discuss the situation. -I am considering my opinion.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You are not, Blackborough. You haven't -recovered yet from the shock of your manly feelings. Oh, -cheer up. You know we're an adulterous and sterile -generation. Why should you cry out at a proof now and -then of what's always in the hearts of most of us?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Plaintively.</i>] Now, for God's sake, Trebell -... O'Connell has been going on like that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well then ... think of what matters.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Of you and your reputation in fact.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Kindly.</i>] Why do you pretend to be callous?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He strokes</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> <i>shoulder, who shakes him off -impatiently.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Do you all mean to out-face the British Lion -with me after to-morrow ... dare to be Daniels?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Bravado won't carry this off.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Blackborough ... it would immortalize you. -I'll stand up in my place in the House of Commons and tell -everything that has befallen soberly and seriously. Why -should I flinch?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. My dear Trebell, if your name comes out at -the inquest—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. If it does!... whose has been the real -offence against Society ... hers or mine? It's I who am -most offended ... if I choose to think so.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. You seem to forget the adultery.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Isn't Death divorce enough for her? And ... -oh, wasn't I right?... What do you start thinking of once -the shock's over? Punishment ... revenge ... uselessness ... waste -of me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>With finality.</i>] If your name comes out at -the inquest, to talk of anything but retirement from public -life is perfect lunacy ... and you know it.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>comes back from the passage. He is a -little distracted; then the more so at finding himself -again in a highly-charged atmosphere.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. He's gone off with Wedgecroft.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Including</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>now in his appeal.</i>] -Does anyone think he knows me now to be a worse man ... -less fit, less able ... than he did a week ago?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>From the piano-stool comes</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe's</span> <i>quiet voice.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Yes, Trebell ... I do.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>wheels round at this and ceases all bluster.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. On what grounds?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Unarguable ones.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Finding refuge again in his mantelpiece.</i>] -You know, he has gone off without giving me his promise.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. That's your own fault, Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. The fool says I didn't give him explicit -instructions.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. What fool?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. That man ... [<i>The name fails him.</i>] ... my -new man. One of those touches of Fate's little finger, -really.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He begins to consult the ceiling and the carpet once -more.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>tackles</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>with gravity.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I have only a logical mind, Cantelupe. I -know that to make myself a capable man I've purged myself -of all the sins ... I never was idle enough to commit. I -know that if your God didn't make use of men, sins and -all ... what would ever be done in the world? That one -natural action, which the slight shifting of a social law -could have made as negligible as eating a meal, can make -me incapable ... takes the linch-pin out of one's brain, -doesn't it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Trebell, we've been doing our best to get you -out of this mess. Your remarks to O'Connell weren't of -any assistance, and....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>stands up, so momentously that</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham's</span> -<i>gentle flow of speech dries up.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Perhaps I had better say at once that, -whatever hushing up you may succeed in, it will be -impossible for me to sit in a cabinet with Mr. Trebell.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>It takes even</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>a good half minute to recover -his power of speech on this new issue.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. What perfect nonsense, Cantelupe! I hope -you don't mean that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Complication number one, Horsham.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Working up his protest.</i>] Why on earth -not? You really mustn't drag your personal feelings and -prejudices into important matters like this ... matters of -state.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I think I have no choice, when Trebell -stands convicted of a mortal sin, of which he has not even -repented.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With bitterest cynicism.</i>] Dictate any form -of repentance you like ... my signature is yours.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Is this a matter for intellectual jugglery?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His defence failing at last.</i>] I offered to face -the scandal from my place in the House. That was mad, -wasn't it....</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>—<i>his course mapped out—changes -the tone of the discussion.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Horsham, I hope Trebell will believe -I have no personal feelings in this matter, but we may as -well face the fact even now that O'Connell holding his -tongue to-morrow won't stop gossip in the House, club -gossip, gossip in drawing rooms. What do the Radicals -really care so long as a scandal doesn't get into the papers! -There's an inner circle with its eye on us.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Well, what does that care as long as scandal's -its own copyright? Do you know, my dear father refused -a peerage because he felt it meant putting blinkers -on his best newspaper.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>A little subtly.</i>] Still ... now you -and Horsham are cousins, aren't you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Off the track and explanatory.</i>] No, no ... -my wife's mother....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. I'm inaccurate, for I'm not one of -the family circle myself. My money gets me here and any -skill I've used in making it. It wouldn't keep me at a -pinch. And Trebell ... [<i>He speaks through his teeth.</i>] ... -do you think your accession to power in the party is popular -at the best? Who is going to put out a finger to make it -less awkward for Horsham to stick to you if there's a -chance of your going under?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>smiles at some mental picture he is -making.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Can your cousins and aunts make it so -awkward for you, Horsham?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Repaying humour with humour.</i>] I bear -up against their affectionate attentions.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. But I quite understand how uncongenial I -may be. What made you take up with me at all?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Your brains, Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. He should have enquired into my character -first, shouldn't he, Cantelupe?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>With crushing sincerity.</i>] Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh, the old unnecessary choice ... Wisdom -or Virtue. We all think we must make it ... and we all -discover we can't. But if you've to choose between -Cantelupe and me, Horsham, I quite see you've no choice.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>now takes the field, using his own weapons.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Charles, it seems to me that we are somewhat -in the position of men who have overheard a private -conversation. Do you feel justified in making public -use of it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. It is not I who am judge. God knows -I would not sit in judgment upon anyone.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Cantelupe, I'll take your personal judgment -if you can give it me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Good Lord, Cantelupe, didn't you sit in a -cabinet with ... Well, we're not here to rake up old -scandals.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. I am concerned with the practical -issue.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. We know, Blackborough. [<i>Having quelled -the interruption he proceeds.</i>] Charles, you spoke, I think, -of a mortal sin.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. In spite of your lifted eyebrows at the -childishness of the word.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Theoretically, we must all wish to guide -ourselves by eternal truths. But you would admit, -wouldn't you, that we can only deal with temporal things?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Writhing slightly under the sceptical -cross-examination.</i>] There are divine laws laid down for -our guidance ... I admit no disbelief in them.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Do they place any time-limit to the effect -of a mortal sin? If this affair were twenty years old would -you do as you are doing? Can you forecast the opinion -you will have of it six months hence?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Positively.</i>] Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Can you? Nevertheless I wish you had -postponed your decision even till to-morrow.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Having made his point he looks round almost for -approval.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. What had Percival to say on the -subject, Farrant?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. I was only to make use of his opinion under -certain circumstances.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. So it isn't favourable to your remaining -with us, Mr. Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Indignantly emerging from the trap.</i>] I -never said that.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Now</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>gives the matter another turn, very -forcefully.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Horsham ... I don't bow politely and stand -aside at this juncture as a gentleman should, because I -want to know how the work's to be done if I leave you what -I was to do.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Are we so incompetent?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I daresay not. I want to know ... that's all.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Please understand, Mr. Trebell, that I -have in no way altered my good opinion of your proposals.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Well, I beg to remind you, Horsham, -that from the first I've reserved myself liberty to criticise -fundamental points in the scheme.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Pacifically.</i>] Quite so ... quite so.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. That nonsensical new standard of -teachers' salaries for one thing ... you'd never pass it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Quite easily. It's an administrative point, -so leave the legislation vague. Then, as the appropriation -money falls in, the qualifications rise and the salaries rise. -No one will object because no one will appreciate it but -administrators past or future ... and they never cavil at -money. [<i>He remains lost in the beauty of this prospect.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Will you take charge of the bill, Blackborough?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Are you serious?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Brought to earth.</i>] Oh no! [<i>He corrects -himself smiling.</i>] I mean, my dear Blackborough, why -not stick to the Colonies?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. You see, Trebell, there's still the -possibility that O'Connell may finally spike your gun to-morrow. -You realise that, don't you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Thank you. I quite realise that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Can nothing further be done?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Weren't we doing our best?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Yes ... if we were bending our thoughts -to that difficulty now....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Hardly.</i>] May I ask you to interfere on -my behalf no further?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. My dear Trebell!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I assure you that I am interested in the -Disestablishment Bill.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>So they turn readily enough from the more uncomfortable -part of their subject.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Well ... here's Farrant.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. I'm no good. Give me Agriculture.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Pity you're in the Lords, Horsham.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Horsham, I'll devil for any man you choose -to name ... feed him sentence by sentence....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. That's impossible.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well, what's to become of my bill? I want -to know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Casting his care on Providence.</i>] We -shall manage somehow. Why, if you had died suddenly ... -or let us say, never been born....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Then, Blackborough ... speaking as a dying -man ... if you go back on the integrity of this scheme, -I'll haunt you. [<i>Having said this with some finality, he -turns his back.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Cyril, I agree with what Trebell is saying. -Whatever happens there must be no tampering with the -comprehensiveness of the scheme. Remember you are in -the hands of the extremists ... on both sides. I won't -support a compromise on one ... nor will they on the other.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Well, I'll confess to you candidly, Trebell, -that I don't know of any man available for this piece of -work but you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Then I should say it would be almost a -relief to you if O'Connell tells on me to-morrow.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. We seem to have got off that subject altogether. -[<i>There comes a portentous tap at the door.</i>] Good -Lord!... I'm getting jumpy.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Excuse me.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>A note is handed to him through the half opened -door; and obviously it is at</i> <span class="smcap">Edmunds</span> <i>whom he -frowns. Then he returns fidgetting for his glasses.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p>Oh, it turns out ... I'm so sorry you were blundered in -here, Trebell ... this man ... what's his name ... Edwards ... -had been reading the papers and thought it was a cabinet -council ... seemed proud of himself. This is from -Wedgecroft ... scribbled in a messenger office. I never -can read his writing ... it's like prescriptions. Can you?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>It has gradually dawned on the three men and then -on</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>what this note may have in it.</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> -<i>hand even trembles a little as he takes it. He gathers -the meaning himself and looks at the others with a -smile before he reads the few words aloud.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. "All right. He has promised."</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. O'Connell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Thank God. [<i>He turns enthusiastically to</i> -<span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>who stands rigid.</i>] My dear fellow ... I hope -you know how glad I am.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I am very glad.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Of course we're all very glad indeed, -Trebell ... very glad we persuaded him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. That's dead and buried now, isn't it?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>moves away from them all and leaves them -wondering. When he turns round his face is as hard -as ever; his voice, if possible, harder.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. But, Horsham, returning to the more important -question ... you've taken trouble, and O'Connell's -to perjure himself for nothing if you still can't get me into -your child's puzzle ... to make the pretty picture that a -Cabinet should be.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>looks at</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>and scents danger.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. We shall all be glad, I am sure, to postpone -any further discussion....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I shall not.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Encouragingly.</i>] Quite so, Trebell. -We're on the subject, and it won't discount our pleasure -that you're out of this mess, to continue it. This habit of -putting off the hour of disagreement is ... well, Horsham, -it's contrary to my business instincts.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. If one time's as good as another for you ... -this moment is better than most for me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>A little irritated at the wantonness of this -dispute.</i>] There is nothing before us on which we are -capable of coming to any decision ... in a technical sense.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. That's a quibble. [<i>Poor</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> -<i>gasps.</i>] I'm not going to pretend either now or in a -month's time that I think Trebell anything but a most -dangerous acquisition to the party. I pay you a compliment -in that, Trebell. Now, Horsham proposes that we -should go to the country when Disestablishment's through.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. It's the condition of Nonconformist support.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. One condition. Then you'd leave us, -Trebell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I hope not.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. And carry with you the credit of our -one big measure. Consider the effect upon our reputation -with the Country.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Waking to</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough's</span> <i>line of action.</i>] -Why on earth should you leave us, Trebell? You've -hardly been a Liberal, even in name.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Vigorously making his point.</i>] Then -what would be the conditions of your remaining? You're -not a party man, Trebell. You haven't the true party feeling. -You are to be bought. Of course you take your -price in measures, not in money. But you are preeminently -a man of ideas ... an expert. And a man of ideas is -often a grave embarrassment to a government.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. And vice-versa ... vice-versa!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Facing</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>across the room.</i>] -Do I understand that you for the good of the Tory party ... -just as Cantelupe for the good of his soul ... will refuse to -sit in a cabinet with me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Unembarrassed.</i>] I don't commit -myself to saying that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. No, Trebell ... it's that I must believe -your work could not prosper ... in God's way.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>softens to his sincerity.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Cantelupe, I quite understand. You may -be right ... it's a very interesting question. Blackborough, -I take it that you object first of all to the scheme that I'm -bringing you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. I object to those parts of it which I -don't think you'll get through the House.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Feeling that he must take part.</i>] For -instance?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. I've given you one already.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>His eye on</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>.] Understand -there are things in that scheme we must stand or fall -by.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Suddenly</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>makes for the door</i>, <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> -<i>gets up concernedly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Horsham, make up your mind to-night -whether you can do with me or not. I have to see Percival -again to-morrow ... we cut short our argument at the -important point. Good-bye ... don't come down. Will -you decide to-night?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I have made up my own mind.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Is that sufficient?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. A collective decision is a matter of development.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well, I shall expect to hear.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. By hurrying one only reaches a rash conclusion.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Then be rash for once and take the consequences. -Good-night.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He is gone before</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>can compose another -epigram.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Deprecating such conduct.</i>] Lost his -temper!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Ruffling considerably.</i>] Horsham, if Trebell -is to be hounded out of your cabinet ... he won't go alone.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Bitter-sweet.</i>] My dear Farrant ... I -have yet to form my cabinet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. You are forming it to carry disestablishment, -are you not, Cyril? Therefore you will form it in the -best interests of the best scheme possible.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Trebell was and is the best man I know of -for the purpose. I'm a little weary of saying that.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He folds his arms and awaits further developments. -After a moment</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>gets up as if to address a -meeting.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Then if you would prefer not to include -me ... I shall feel justified in giving independent support -to a scheme I have great faith in. [<i>And he sits -down again.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Impatiently.</i>] My dear Cantelupe, -if you think Horsham can form a disestablishment cabinet -to include Trebell and exclude you, you're vastly mistaken. -I for one....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. But do both of you consider how valuable, -how vital Trebell is to us just at this moment? The -Radicals trust him....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. They hate him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Elucidating.</i>] Their front bench hates -him because he turned them out. The rest of them hate -their front bench. After six years of office, who wouldn't?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. That's true.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Oh, of course, we must stick to Trebell, -Blackborough.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>is silent; so</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>turns his -attention to his cousin.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Well, Charles, I won't ask you for a decision -now. I know how hard it is to accept the dictates of -other men's consciences ... but a necessary condition -of all political work; believe me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Uneasily.</i>] You can form your cabinet -without me, Cyril.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>At this</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>charges down on them, so to -speak.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. No, I tell you, I'm damned if he can. -Leaving the whole high church party to blackmail all -they can out of us and vote how they like! Here ... I've -got my Yorkshire people to think of. I can bargain for -them with you in a cabinet ... not if you've the pull -of being out of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>With charming insinuation.</i>] And have -you calculated, Blackborough, what may become of us if -Trebell has the pull of being out of it?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>makes a face.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Yes ... I suppose he might turn -nasty.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. I should hope he would.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>.[<i>Tackling</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>with great ease.</i>] -I should hope he would consider the matter not from the -personal, but from the political point of view ... as I am -trying to do.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Tasting his epigram with enjoyment.</i>] -Introspection is the only bar to such an honourable endeavour, -[<span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>gapes.</i>] You don't suffer from -that as—for instance—Charles here, does.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Pugnaciously.</i>] D'you mean I'm -just pretending not to attack him personally?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Safe on his own ground.</i>] It's only a -curious metaphysical point. Have you never noticed -your distaste for the colour of a man's hair translate -itself ultimately into an objection to his religious opinions -... or what not? I am sure—for instance—I could trace -Charles's scruples about sitting in a cabinet with Trebell -back to a sort of academic reverence for women generally -which he possesses. I am sure I could ... if he were not -probably now doing it himself. But this does not make the -scruples less real, less religious, or less political. We -must be humanly biased in expression ... or not express -ourselves.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Whose thoughts have wandered.</i>] The -man's less of a danger than he was ... I mean he'll -be alone. The Liberals won't have him back. He -smashed his following there to come over to us.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Giving a further meaning to this.</i>] Yes, -Blackborough, he did.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. To gain his own ends! Oh, my dear -Horsham, can't you see that if O'Connell had blabbed to-morrow -it really would have been a blessing in disguise? I -don't pretend to Cantelupe's standard ... but there must -be something radically wrong with a man who could get -himself into such a mess as that ... now mustn't there? -Ah! ... you have a fatal partiality for clever people. I -tell you ... though this might be patched up ... Trebell -would fail us in some other way before we were six months -older.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>This speech has its effect; but</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>looks at him -a little sternly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. And am I to conclude that you don't want -Charles to change his mind?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>On another tack.</i>] Farrant has not -yet allowed us to hear Percival's opinion.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>looks rather alarmed.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. It has very little reference to the scandal.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. As that is at an end ... all the more -reason we should hear it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Ranging himself with</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span>.] I called -this quite informal meeting, Blackborough, only to dispose -of the scandal, if possible.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Well, of course, if Farrant chooses to -insult Percival so gratuitously by burking his message to -us....</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is an unspoken threat in this</i>, <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>sees -it and without disguising his irritation....</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Let us have it, Farrant.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>With a sort of puzzled discontent.</i>] Well ... -I never got to telling him of the O'Connell affair at all. -He started talking to me ... saying that he couldn't for a -moment agree to Trebell's proposals for the finance of his -bill ... I couldn't get a word in edgeways. Then his wife -came up....</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>takes something in this so seriously that he -actually interrupts.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Does he definitely disagree? What is his -point?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. He says Disestablishment's a bad enough -speculation for the party as it is.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. It is inevitable.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. He sees that. But then he says ... to go -to the country again having bolstered up Education and -quarrelled with everybody will be bad enough ... to go -having spent fifty millions on it will dish us all for our -lifetimes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. What does he propose?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. He'll offer to draft another bill and take it -through himself. He says ... do as many good turns as we -can with the money ... don't put it all on one horse.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. He's your man, Horsham. That's -one difficulty settled.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham's</span> <i>thoughts are evidently beyond</i> -<span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>, <i>beyond the absent</i> <span class="smcap">Percival</span> <i>even.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Oh ... any of us could carry that sort of a -bill.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>has heard this last passage with nothing -less than horror and pale anger, which he contains -no longer.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I won't have this. I won't have this -opportunity frittered away for party purposes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Expostulating reasonably.</i>] My dear -Cantelupe ... you'll get whatever you think it right for the -Church to have. You carry a solid thirty eight votes -with you.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham's</span> <i>smooth voice intervenes. He speaks -with finesse.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Percival, as an old campaigner, expresses -himself very roughly. The point is, that we are after all -only the trustees of the party. If we know that a certain -step will decimate it ... clearly we have no right to take -the step.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Glowing to white heat.</i>] Is this a time to -count the consequences to ourselves?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Unkindly.</i>] By your action this evening, -Charles, you evidently think not. [<i>He salves the wound.</i>] -No matter, I agree with you ... the bill should be a comprehensive -one, whoever brings it in.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Not without enjoyment of the situation.</i>] -Whoever brings it in will have to knuckle under to -Percival over its finance.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Trebell won't do that. I warned Percival.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Then what did he say?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. He only swore.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>suddenly becomes peevish.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I think, Farrant, you should have given me -this message before.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. My dear Horsham, what had it to do with -our request to O'Connell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Scolding the company generally.</i>] Well -then, I wish he hadn't sent it. I wish we were not discussing -these points at all. The proper time for them is at -a cabinet meeting. And when we have actually assumed -the responsibilities of government ... then threats of -resignation are not things to be played about with.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Did you expect Percival's objection to the -finance of the scheme?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Perhaps ... perhaps. I knew Trebell was -to see him last Tuesday. I expect everybody's objections -to any parts of every scheme to come at a time when I am -in a proper position to reconcile them ... not now.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Having vented his grievances he sits down to recover.</i> -<span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>takes advantage of the ensuing -pause.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. It isn't so easy for me to speak against -Trebell, since he evidently dislikes me personally as much -as I dislike him ... but I'm sure I'm doing my duty. -Horsham ... here you have Cantelupe who won't stand -in with the man, and Percival who won't stand in with -his measure, while I would sooner stand in with neither. -Isn't it better to face the situation now than take trouble to -form the most makeshift of Cabinets, and if that doesn't go -to pieces, be voted down in the House by your own party?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is an oppressive silence,</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>is sulky. -The matter is beyond</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>whose -agonies have expressed themselves in slight writhings, -at last, with an effort, writhes himself to his feet.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I think I am prepared to reconsider my -decision.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. That's all right then!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He looks round wonderingly for the rest of the chorus -to find that neither</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>nor</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> -<i>have stirred.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Stealthily.</i>] Is it, Horsham?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Sotto voce.</i>] Why did you ever make it?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>leaves him for</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. You're afraid for the integrity of -the bill.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. It must be comprehensive ... that's vital. -<span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Very forcefully.</i>] I give you my -word to support its integrity, if you'll keep with me in -persuading Horsham that the inclusion of Trebell in his -cabinet will be a blow to the whole Conservative Cause. -Horsham, I implore you not to pursue this short-sighted -policy. All parties have made up their minds to Disestablishment -... surely nothing should be easier than to -frame a bill which will please all parties.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>At last perceiving the drift of all this.</i>] But -good Lord, Blackborough ... now Cantelupe has come -round and will stand in ...</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. That's no longer the point. And -what's all this nonsense about going to the country again -next year?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Mildly.</i>] After consulting me Percival -said at Bristol....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Quite unchecked.</i>] I know. But if -we pursue a thoroughly safe policy and the bye-elections -go right ... there need be no vote of censure carried for -three or four years. The Radicals want a rest with the -country and they know it. And one has no right, what's -more, to go wantonly plunging the country into the expenses -of these constant general elections. It ruins trade.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Forlornly sticking to his point.</i>] What has -all this to do with Trebell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Thoughtfully.</i>] Farrant, beyond what -you've told us, Percival didn't recommend me to throw -him over.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. No, he didn't ... that is, he didn't exactly.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Well ... he didn't?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. I'm trying to be accurate! [<i>Obviously their -nerves are now on edge.</i>] He said we should find him -tough to assimilate—as he warned you.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>with knit brows, loses himself in thought -again,</i> <span class="smcap">Blackborough</span> <i>quietly turns his attention -to</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span>.</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Farrant, you don't seriously think -that ... outside his undoubted capabilities ... Trebell is an -acquisition to the party?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Unwillingly.</i>] Perhaps not. But if you're -going to chuck a man ... don't chuck him when he's -down.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. He's no longer down. We've got -him O'Connell's promise and jolly grateful he ought to -be. I think the least we can do is to keep our minds clear -between Trebell's advantage and the party's.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>From the distant music-stool.</i>] And the -party's and the Country's.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Countering quite deftly.</i>] Cantelupe, -either we think it best for the country to have our party in -power or we don't.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>In judicious temper.</i>] Certainly, I don't -feel our responsibility towards him is what it was ten -minutes ago. The man has other careers besides his -political one.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Ready to praise.</i>] Clever as paint -at the Bar—best Company lawyer we've got.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. It is not what he loses, I think ... but -what we lose in losing him.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He says this so earnestly that</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>pays attention.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. No, my dear Charles, let us be practical. -If his position with us is to be made impossible it is better -that he shouldn't assume it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Soft and friendly.</i>] How far are you -actually pledged to him?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>looks up with the most ingenuous of smiles.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. That's always such a difficult sort of point -to determine, isn't it? He thinks he is to join us. But I've -not yet been commanded to form a cabinet. If neither -you—nor Percival—nor perhaps others will work with him -... what am I to do? [<i>He appeals to them generally to -justify this attitude.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. He no longer thinks he's to join us ... -it's the question he left us to decide.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He leaves</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span>, <i>whose perplexity is diminishing.</i> -<span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>makes an effort.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. But the scandal won't weaken his position -with us now. There won't be any scandal ... there won't, -Blackborough.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. There may be. Though, I take it we're all -guiltless of having mentioned the matter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>Very detached.</i>] I've only known of -it since I came into this house ... but I shall not mention -it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. Oh, I'm afraid my wife knows. [<i>He adds -hastily.</i>] My fault ... my fault entirely.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. I tell you Rumour's electric.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>has turned to</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>with a sweet smile -and with the air of a man about to be relieved of all -responsibility.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. What does she say?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>As one speaks of a nice woman.</i>] She was -horrified.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Of course. [<i>Once more he finds refuge and -comfort on the hearthrug, to say, after a moment, with fine -resignation.</i>] I suppose I must let him go.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>On his feet again.</i>] Cyril!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Yes, Charles?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>With this query he turns an accusing eye on</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>, -<i>who is silenced.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Have you made up your mind to that?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>In great distress.</i>] You're wrong, Horsham. -[<i>Then in greater.</i>] That is ... I think you're wrong.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I'd sooner not let him know to-night.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. But he asked you to.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>All show of resistance gone.</i>] Did he? -Then I suppose I must. [<i>He sighs deeply.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Then I'll get back to Aylesbury.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He picks up his motor-cap from the table and settles -it on his head with immense aplomb.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. So late?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Really one can get along quicker at -night if one knows the road. You're in town, aren't you, -Farrant? Shall I drop you at Grosvenor Square?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Ungraciously.</i>] Thank you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. [<i>With a conqueror's geniality.</i>] I -don't mind telling you now, Horsham, that ever since we -met at Shapters I've been wondering how you'd escape -from this association with Trebell. Thought he was -being very clever when he crossed the House to us! It's -needed a special providence. You'd never have got a -cabinet together to include him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>With much intention.</i>] No.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. [<i>Miserably.]</i> Yes, I suppose that intrigue -was a mistake from the beginning.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Well, good-night. [<i>As he turns to go -he finds</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>upright, staring very sternly at him.</i>] -Good-night, Cantelupe.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. From what motives have we thrown -Trebell over?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Blackborough</span>. Never mind the motives if the move -is the right one. [<i>Then he nods at</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span>.] I shall -be up again next week if you want me.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>And he flourishes out of the room; a man who has -done a good hour's work</i>, <span class="smcap">Farrant</span>, <i>who has been -mooning depressedly around, now backs towards the -door.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Farrant</span>. In one way, of course, Trebell won't care a -damn. I mean, he knows as well as we do that office isn't -worth having ... he has never been a place-hunter. On -the other hand ... what with one thing and the other ... -Blackborough is a sensible fellow. I suppose it can't be -helped.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Blackborough will tell you so. Good-night.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>So</i> <span class="smcap">Farrant</span> <i>departs, leaving the two cousins together.</i> -<span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>has not moved and now faces</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> -<i>just as accusingly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Cyril, this is tragic.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>More to himself than in answer.</i>] Yes ... -most annoying.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Lucifer, son of the morning! Why is it -always the highest who fall?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>shies fastidiously at this touch of poetry.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. No, my dear Charles, let us above all -things keep our mental balance. Trebell is a most -capable fellow. I'd set my heart on having him with me ... -he'll be most awkward to deal with in opposition. But -we shall survive his loss and so would the country.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Desperately.</i>] Cyril, promise me there -shall be no compromise over this measure.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Charmingly candid.</i>] No ... no unnecessary -compromise, I promise you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>With a sigh.</i>] If we had done what we -have done to-night in the right spirit! Blackborough was -almost vindictive.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Smiling without amusement.</i>] Didn't you -keep thinking ... I did ... of that affair of his with Mrs. -Parkington ... years ago?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. There was never any proof of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. No ... he bought off the husband.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Uneasily.</i>] His objections to Trebell -were—political.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Yours weren't.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>More uneasily still.</i>] I withdrew -mine.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>With elderly reproof.</i>] I don't think, -Charles, you have the least conception of what a nicely -balanced machine a cabinet is.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Imploring comfort.</i>] But should we have -held together through Trebell's bill?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>A little impatient.</i>] Perhaps not. But -once I had them all round a table ... Trebell is very keen -on office for all his independent airs ... he and Percival -could have argued the thing out. However, it's too late -now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Is it?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>For a moment</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>is tempted to indulge in the -luxury of changing his mind; but he puts Satan -behind him with a shake of the head.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Well, you see ... Percival I can't do without. -Now that Blackborough knows of his objections -to the finance he'd go to him and take Chisholm and offer -to back them up. I know he would ... he didn't take -Farrant away with him for nothing. [<i>Then he flashes out -rather shrilly.</i>] It's Trebell's own fault. He ought not to -have committed himself definitely to any scheme until he -was safely in office. I warned him about Percival ... I -warned him not to be explicit. One cannot work with -men who will make up their minds prematurely. No, I -shall not change my mind. I shall write to him.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes firmly to his writing desk leaving</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> -<i>forlorn.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. What about a messenger?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Not at this time of night. I'll post it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. I'll post it as I go.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He seeks comfort again in the piano and this time -starts to play, with one finger and some hesitation, -the first bars of a Bach fugue</i>, <span class="smcap">Horsham's</span> <i>pen-nib -is disappointing him and the letter is not easy to -phrase.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. But I hate coming to immediate decisions. -The administrative part of my brain always tires after -half an hour. Does yours, Charles?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. What do you think Trebell will do now?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>A little grimly.</i>] Punish us all he can.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>On reaching the second voice in the fugue</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe's</span> -<i>virtuosity breaks down.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. All that ability turned to destructiveness ... -what a pity! That's the paradox of human activities....</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Suddenly</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>looks up and his face is lighted -with a seraphic smile.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Charles ... I wish we could do without -Blackborough.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>Struck with the idea.</i>] Well ... why not?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. Yes ... I must think about it. [<i>They -both get up, cheered considerably.</i>] You won't forget this, -will you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>The letter in</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham's</span> <i>hand accusing -him.</i>] No ... no. I don't think I have been the cause -of your dropping Trebell, have I?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>, <i>rid of the letter, is rid of responsibility -and his charming equable self again. He comforts -his cousin paternally.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. I don't think so. The split would have -come when Blackborough checkmated my forming a -cabinet. It would have pleased him to do that ... and he -could have, over Trebell. But now that question's out of -the way ... you won't get such a bad measure with -Trebell in opposition. He'll frighten us into keeping it up -to the mark, so to speak.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>A little comforted.</i>] But I shall miss -one or two of those ideas ...</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>So pleasantly sceptical.</i>] Do you think -they'd have outlasted the second reading? Dullness in the -country one expects. Dullness in the House one can cope -with. But do you know, I have never sat in a cabinet -yet that didn't greet anything like a new idea in chilling -silence.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. Well, I should regret to have caused you -trouble, Cyril.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>His hand on the other's shoulder.</i>] Oh ... -we don't take politics so much to heart as that, I hope.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>. [<i>With sweet gravity.</i>] I take politics very -much to heart. Yes, I know what you mean ... but that's -the sort of remark that makes people call you cynical. -[<span class="smcap">Horsham</span> <i>smiles as if at a compliment and starts with</i> -<span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span> <i>towards the door.</i> <span class="smcap">Cantelupe</span>, <i>who would not -hurt his feelings, changes the subject.</i>] By the bye, I'm -glad we met this evening! Do you hear Aunt Mary wants -to sell the Burford Holbein? Can she?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Horsham</span>. [<i>Taking as keen, but no keener, an interest in -this than in the difficulty he has just surmounted.</i>] Yes, -by the will she can, but she mustn't. Dear me, I thought -I'd put a stop to that foolishness. Well now, we must -take that matter up very seriously ...</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>They go out talking arm in arm.</i></p></blockquote> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h2>THE FOURTH ACT</h2> - - -<p>At <span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> again; later, the same evening.</p> - -<p><i>His room is in darkness but for the flicker the fire makes -and the streaks of moonlight between the curtains. -The door is open, though, and you see the -light of the lamp on the stairs. You hear his -footstep too. On his way he stops to draw back the -the curtains of the passage-way window; the moonlight -makes his face look very pale. Then he serves -the curtains of his own window the same; flings it -open, moreover, and stands looking out. Something -below draws his attention. After leaning over -the balcony with a short</i> "Hullo" <i>he goes quickly -downstairs again. In a minute</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>comes -up.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>follows, pausing by the door a moment -to light up the room.</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>is radiant.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>With a twist of his mouth.</i>] Promised, has -he?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Suddenly broke out as we walked along, -that he liked the look of you and that men must stand by -one another nowadays against these women. Then he -said good-night and walked away.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Back to Ireland and the thirteenth century.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. After to-morrow.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Taking all the meaning of to-morrow.</i>] Yes. -Are you in for perjury, too?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>His thankfulness checked a little.</i>] -No ... not exactly.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>walks away from him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It's a pity the truth isn't to be told, I think. I -suppose the verdict will be murder.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. They won't catch the man.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You don't mean ... me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. No, no ... my dear fellow.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You might, you know. But nobody seems -to see this thing as I see it. If I were on that jury I'd say -murder too and accuse ... so many circumstances, -Gilbert, that we should go home ... and look in the cupboards. -What a lumber of opinions we inherit and keep!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Humouring him.</i>] Ought we to burn -the house down?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Rules and regulations for the preservation of -rubbish are the laws of England ... and I was adding to -their number.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. And so you shall ... to the applause of a -grateful country.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Studying his friend's kindly encouraging -face.</i>] Gilbert, it is not so much that you're an incorrigible -optimist ... but why do you subdue your mind to flatter -people into cheerfulness?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I'm a doctor, my friend.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You're a part of our tendency to keep things -alive by hook or by crook ... not a spark but must be -carefully blown upon. The world's old and tired; it -dreads extinction. I think I disapprove ... I think I've -more faith.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Scolding him.</i>] Nonsense ... you've -the instinct to preserve your life as everyone else has ... -and I'm here to show you how.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Beyond the reach of his kindness.</i>] I -assure you that these two days while you've been fussing -around O'Connell—bless your kind heart—I've been waiting -events, indifferent enough to understand his indifference.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Not indifferent.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Lifeless enough already, then. [<i>Suddenly -a thought strikes him.</i>] D'you think it was Horsham and -his little committee persuaded O'Connell?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. On the contrary.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. So you need not have let them into -the secret?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. No.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Think of that.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He almost laughs; but</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>goes on quite -innocently.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Yes ... I'm sorry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Upsetting their moral digestion for nothing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. But when O'Connell wouldn't listen to -us we had to rope in the important people.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. With their united wisdom. [<i>Then he breaks -away again into great bitterness.</i>] No ... what do they -make of this woman's death? I saw them in that room, -Gilbert, like men seen through the wrong end of a telescope. -D'you think if the little affair with Nature ... her offence -and mine against the conveniences of civilization ... had -ended in my death too ... then they'd have stopped to -wonder at the misuse and waste of the only force there -is in the world ... come to think of it, there is no other ... -than this desire for expression ... in words ... or through -children. Would they have thought of that and stopped -whispering about the scandal?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Through this</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>has watched him very -gravely.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Trebell ... if the inquest to-morrow -had put you out of action ...</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Should I have grown a beard and travelled -abroad and after ten years timidly tried to climb my way -back into politics? When public opinion takes its heel from -your face it keeps it for your finger-tips. After twenty -years to be forgiven by your more broad-minded friends -and tolerated as a dotard by a new generation....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Nonsense. What age are you now ... -forty-six ... forty-seven?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well ... let's instance a good man. Gladstone -had done his best work by sixty-five. Then he began -to be popular. Think of his last years of oratory.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He has gone to his table and now very methodically -starts to tidy his papers,</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>still watching -him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You'd have had to thank Heaven for a -little that there were more lives than one to lead.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. That's another of your faults, Gilbert ... -it's a comfort just now to enumerate them. You're an -anarchist ... a kingdom to yourself. You make little -treaties with Truth and with Beauty, and what can disturb -you? I'm a part of the machine I believe in. If my life -as I've made it is to be cut short ... the rest of me shall -walk out of the world and slam the door ... with the -noise of a pistol shot.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Concealing some uneasiness.</i>] Then -I'm glad it's not to be cut short. You and your cabinet -rank and your disestablishment bill!</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>starts to enjoy his secret.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes ... our minds have been much relieved -within the last half hour, haven't they?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I scribbled Horsham a note in a messenger -office and sent it as soon as O'Connell had left me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. He'd be glad to get that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. He has been most kind about the whole -thing.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh, he means well.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Following up his fancied advantage.</i>] -But, my friend ... suicide whilst of unsound mind would -never have done.... The hackneyed verdict hits the truth, -you know.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You think so?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I don't say there aren't excuses enough -in this miserable world, but fundamentally ... no sane -person will destroy life.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His thoughts shifting their plane.</i>] Was she -so very mad? I'm not thinking of her own death.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Don't brood, Trebell. Your mind -isn't healthy yet about her and—</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. And my child.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Even</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft's</span> <i>kindness is at fault before the -solemnity of this.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Is that how you're thinking of it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. How else? It's very inexplicable ... this -sense of fatherhood. [<i>The eyes of his mind travel down—what -vista of possibilities. Then he shakes himself free.</i>] -Let's drop the subject. To finish the list of shortcomings, -you're a bit of an artist too ... therefore I don't think -you'll understand.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Successfully decoyed into argument.</i>] -Surely an artist is a man who understands.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Everything about life, but not life itself. -That's where art fails a man.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. That's where everything but living fails -a man. [<i>Drifting into introspection himself.</i>] Yes, it's true. -I can talk cleverly and I've written a book ... but I'm -barren. [<i>Then the healthy mind re-asserts itself.</i>] No, -it's not true. Our thoughts are children ... and marry -and intermarry. And we're peopling the world ... not -badly.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Well ... either life is too little a thing to -matter or it's so big that such specks of it as we may be are -of no account. These are two points of view. And then -one has to consider if death can't be sometimes the last -use made of life.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is a tone of menace in this which recalls</i> -<span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>to the present trouble.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I doubt the virtue of sacrifice ... or the -use of it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. How else could I tell Horsham that my work -matters? Does he think so now?... not he.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. You mean if they'd had to throw you -over?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Once again</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>looks up with that secretive -smile.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes ... if they'd had to.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Unreasonably nervous, so he thinks.</i>] -My dear fellow, Horsham would have thought it was the -shame and disgrace if you'd shot yourself after the inquest. -That's the proper sentimental thing for you so-called -strong men to do on like occasions. Why, if your name -were to come out to-morrow, your best meaning friends -would be sending you pistols by post, requesting you to -use them like a gentleman. Horsham would grieve over -ten dinner-tables in succession and then return to his -philosophy. One really mustn't waste a life trying to -shock polite politicians. There'd even be a suspicion of -swagger in it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Quite so ... the bomb that's thrown at their -feet must be something otherwise worthless.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>comes in quickly, evidently in search of her -brother. Though she has not been crying, her eyes -are wide with grief.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Oh, Henry ... I'm so glad you're still up. -[<i>She notices</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>.] How d'you do, Doctor?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Doubling his mask of indifference.</i>] Meistersinger's -over early.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Is it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Not much past twelve yet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>The little gibe lost on her.</i>] It was Tristan -to-night. I'm quite upset. I heard just as I was coming -away ... Amy O'Connell's dead. [<i>Both men hold their -breath.</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>is the first to find control of his and give -the cue.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes ... Wedgecroft has just told me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. She was only taken ill last week ... it's so -extraordinary. [<i>She remembers the doctor.</i>] Oh ... have -you been attending her?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I hear there's to be an inquest.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. But what has been the matter?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Sharply forestalling any answer.</i>] You'll -know to-morrow.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>The little snub almost bewildering her.</i>] Anything -private? I mean....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No ... I'll tell you. Don't make Gilbert -repeat a story twice.... He's tired with a good day's work.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Yes ... I'll be getting away.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>never heeds this flash of a further meaning -between the two men.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. And I meant to have gone to see her to-day. -Was the end very sudden? Did her husband arrive in time?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. They didn't get on ... he'll be frightfully -upset.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>resists a hideous temptation to laugh.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Good night, Trebell.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Good night, Gilbert. Many thanks.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is enough of a caress in</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> <i>tone to -turn</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>towards their friend, a little remorseful -for treating him so casually, now as always.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. He's always thanking you. You're always -doing things for him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Good night. [<i>Seeing the tears in her -eyes.</i>] Oh, don't grieve.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. One shouldn't be sorry when people die, I -know. But she liked me more than I liked her ... [<i>This -time</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>does laugh, silently.</i>] ... so I somehow feel -in her debt and unable to pay now.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>An edge on his voice.</i>] Yes ... people -keep on dying at all sorts of ages, in all sorts of ways. But -we seem never to get used to it ... narrow-minded as we -are.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Don't you talk nonsense.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>One note sharper yet.</i>] One should occasionally -test one's sanity by doing so. If we lived in the -logical world we like to believe in, I could also prove that -black was white. As it is ... there are more ways of -killing a cat than hanging it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Had I better give you a sleeping draught?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Are you doctoring him for once? Henry, -have you at last managed to overwork yourself?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No ... I started the evening by a charming -little dinner at the Van Meyer's ... sat next to Miss Grace -Cutler, who is writing a <i>vie intime</i> of Louis Quinze and -engaged me with anecdotes of the same.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. A champion of her sex, whom I do not like.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. She's writing such a book to prove that -women are equal to anything.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He goes towards the door and</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>goes with him.</i> -<span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>never turns his head.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I shall not come and open the door for you ... -but mind you shut it.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>comes back.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Henry ... this is dreadful about that poor -little woman.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. An unwelcome baby was arriving. She got -some quack to kill her.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>These exact words are like a blow in the face to her, -from which, being a woman of brave common sense, -she does not shrink.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. What do you say to that?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She walks away from him, thinking painfully.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. She had never had a child. There's the -common-place thing to say.... Ungrateful little fool! -But....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. If you had been in her place?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Subtly.</i>] I have never made the mistake of -marrying. She grew frightened, I suppose. Not just -physically frightened. How can a man understand?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The fear of life ... do you think it was ... -which is the beginning of all evil?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. A woman must choose what her interpretation -of life is to be ... as a man must too in his way ... -as you and I have chosen, Henry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Asking from real interest in her.</i>] Was -yours a deliberate choice and do you never regret it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Very simply and clearly.</i>] Perhaps one does -nothing quite deliberately and for a definite reason. My -state has its compensations ... if one doesn't value them -too highly. I've travelled in thought over all this question. -You mustn't blame a woman for wishing not to bear children. -But ... well, if one doesn't like the fruit one mustn't -cultivate the flower. And I suppose that saying condemns -poor Amy ... condemned her to death ... [<i>Then her -face hardens as she concentrates her meaning.</i>] and brands -most men as ... let's unsentimentally call it illogical, -doesn't it?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He takes the thrust in silence.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Did you notice the light in my window as -you came in?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Yes ... in both as I got out of the cab. Do -you want the curtains drawn back?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes ... don't touch them.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He has thrown himself into his chair by the fire. -She lapses into thought again.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Poor little woman.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>In deep anger.</i>] Well, if women will be -little and poor....</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She goes to him and slips an arm over his shoulder.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. What is it you're worried about ... if a mere -sister may ask?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Into the fire.</i>] I want to think. I haven't -thought for years.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Why, you have done nothing else.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I've been working out problems in legal and -political algebra.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. You want to think of yourself.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Gentle and ironic.</i>] Have you ever, for one -moment, thought in that sense of anyone else?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Is that a complaint?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. The first in ten years' housekeeping.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No, I never have ... but I've never thought -selfishly either.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. That's a paradox I don't quite understand.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Until women do they'll remain where they -are ... and what they are.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Oh, I know you hate us.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes, dear sister, I'm afraid I do. And I -hate your influence on men ... compromise, tenderness, -pity, lack of purpose. Women don't know the values of -things, not even their own value.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>For a moment she studies him, wonderingly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I'll take up the counter-accusation to-morrow. -Now I'm tired and I'm going to bed. If I may insult you -by mothering you, so should you. You look tired and I've -seldom seen you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I'm waiting up for a message.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. So late?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It's a matter of life and death.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Are you joking?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes. If you want to spoil me find me a -book to read.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. What will you have?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Huckleberry Finn. It's on a top shelf -towards the end somewhere ... or should be.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She finds the book. On her way back with it she -stops and shivers.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I don't think I shall sleep to-night. Poor -Amy O'Connell!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Curiously.</i>] Are you afraid of death?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>With humorous stoicism.</i>] It will be the -end of me, perhaps.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She gives him the book, with its red cover; the '86 -edition, a boy's friend evidently. He fingers it -familiarly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Thank you. Mark Twain's a jolly fellow. -He has courage ... comic courage. That's what's wanted. -Nothing stands against it. You be-little yourself by -laughing ... then all this world and the last and the next -grow little too ... and so you grow great again. Switch -off some light, will you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Clicking off all but his reading lamp.</i>] -So?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Thanks. Good night, Frankie.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She turns at the door, with a glad smile.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Good night. When did you last use that -nursery name?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Then she goes, leaving him still fingering the book, -but looking into the fire and far beyond. Behind him -through the open window one sees how cold and -clear the night is.</i></p></blockquote> - -<hr style='width: 45%;' /> - -<blockquote><p><i>At eight in the morning he is still here. His lamp -is out, the fire is out and the book laid aside. The -white morning light penetrates every crevice of the -room and shows every line on</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> <i>face. The -spirit of the man is strained past all reason. The -door opens suddenly and</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>comes in, troubled, -nervous. Interrupted in her dressing, she has put -on some wrap or other.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Henry ... Simpson says you've not been to -bed all night.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He turns his head and says with inappropriate -politeness</i>—</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No. Good morning.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Oh, my dear ... what is wrong?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The message hasn't come ... and I've been -thinking.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Why don't you tell me? [<i>He turns -his head away.</i>] I think you haven't the right to -torture me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Your sympathy would only blind me towards -the facts I want to face.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Simpson</span>, <i>the maid, undisturbed in her routine, brings -in the morning's letters.</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>rounds on her -irritably.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. What is it, Simpson?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Maid</span>. The letters, Ma'am.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>is on his feet at that.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Ah ... I want them.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Taking the letters composedly enough.</i>] Thank -you.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Simpson</span> <i>departs and</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>comes to her for his -letters. She looks at him with baffled affection.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Can I do nothing? Oh, Henry!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Help me to open my letters.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Don't you leave them to Mr. Kent?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Not this morning.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. But there are so many.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>For the first time lifting his voice from its -dull monotony.</i>] What a busy man I was.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Henry ... you're a little mad.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Do you find me so? That's interesting.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>With the ghost of a smile.</i>] Well ... -maddening.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>By this time he is sitting at his table; she near him -watching closely. They halve the considerable post -and start to open it.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. We arrange them in three piles ... personal ... -political ... and preposterous.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. This is an invitation ... the Anglican -League.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I can't go.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She looks sideways at him, as he goes on mechanically -tearing the envelopes.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I heard you come upstairs about two -o'clock.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. That was to dip my head in water. Then I -made an instinctive attempt to go to bed ... got my tie off -even.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Her anxiety breaking out.</i>] If you'd tell me -that you're only ill....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Forbiddingly commonplace.</i>] What's that -letter? Don't fuss ... and remember that abnormal -conduct is sometimes quite rational.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>returns to her task with misty eyes.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. It's from somebody whose son can't get into -something.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The third heap ... Kent's ... the preposterous. -[<i>Talking on with steady monotony.</i>] But I -saw it would not do to interrupt that logical train of -thought which reached definition about half past six. I -had then been gleaning until you came in.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Turning the neat little note in her hand.</i>] -This is from Lord Horsham. He writes his name small -at the bottom of the envelope.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Without a tremor.</i>] Ah ... give it me.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He opens this as he has opened the others, carefully -putting the envelope to one side.</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>has -ceased for the moment to watch him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. That's Cousin Robert's handwriting. [<i>She -puts a square envelope at his hand.</i>] Is a letter marked -private from the Education Office political or personal?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>By this he has read</i> <span class="smcap">Horsham's</span> <i>letter twice. So he -tears it up and speaks very coldly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Either. It doesn't matter.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>In the silence her fears return.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Henry, it's a foolish idea ... I suppose -I have it because I hardly slept for thinking of her. -Your trouble is nothing to do with Amy O'Connell, -is it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His voice strangled in his throat.</i>] Her -child should have been my child too.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Her eyes open, the whole landscape of her -mind suddenly clear.</i>] Oh, I ... no, I didn't think so ... -but....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Dealing his second blow as remorselessly as -dealt to him.</i>] Also I'm not joining the new Cabinet, my -dear sister.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Her thoughts rushing now to the present—the -future.</i>] Not! Because of...? Do people know? -Will they...? You didn't...?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>As mechanically as ever he has taken up</i> <span class="smcap">Cousin -Robert's</span> <i>letter and, in some sense, read it. Now he -recapitulates, meaninglessly, that his voice may just -deaden her pain and his own.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Robert says ... that we've not been to see -them for some time ... but that now I'm a greater man -than ever I must be very busy. The vicarage has been -painted and papered throughout and looks much fresher. -Mary sends you her love and hopes you have no return of -the rheumatism. And he would like to send me the proof -sheets of his critical commentary on First Timothy ... for -my alien eye might possibly detect some logical lapses. -Need he repeat to me his thankfulness at my new attitude -upon Disestablishment ... or assure me again that I -have his prayers. Could we not go and stay there only -for a few days? Possibly his opinion—</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She has borne this cruel kindness as long as she can -and she breaks out....</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Oh ... don't ... don't!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He falls from his seeming callousness to the very -blankness of despair.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No, we'll leave that ... and the rest ... and -everything.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Her agony passes.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. What do you mean to do?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. There's to be no public scandal.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Why has Lord Horsham thrown you over -then ... or hasn't that anything to do with it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. It has to do with it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Lifting her voice; some tone returning to it.</i>] -Unconsciously ... I've known for years that this sort of -thing might happen to you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Why?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Power over men and women and contempt -for them! Do you think they don't take their revenge -sooner or later?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Much good may it do them!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Human nature turns against you ... by -instinct ... in self-defence.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. And my own human-nature!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Shocked into great pity, by his half articulate -pain.</i>] Yes ... you must have loved her, Henry ... in -some odd way. I'm sorry for you both.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I'm hating her now ... as a man can only -hate his own silliest vices.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Flashing into defence.</i>] That's wrong of -you. If you thought of her only as a pretty little fool.... -Bearing your child ... all her womanly life belonged to -you ... and for that time there was no other sort of life -in her. So she became what you thought her.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. That's not true.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. It's true enough ... it's true of men towards -women. You can't think of them through generations -as one thing and then suddenly find them another.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Hammering at his fixed idea.</i>] She should -have brought that child into the world.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. You didn't love her enough!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I didn't love her at all.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Then why should she value your gift?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. For its own sake.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Turning away.</i>] It's hopeless ... you don't -understand.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Helpless; almost like a deserted child.</i>] -I've been trying to ... all through the night.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Turning back enlightened a little.</i>] That's -more the trouble then than the Cabinet question?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He shakes himself to his feet and begins to -pace the room; his keenness coming back to -him, his brow knitting again with the delight of -thought.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Oh ... as to me against the world ... -I'm fortified with comic courage. [<i>Then turning on her -like any examining professor.</i>] Now which do you believe -... that Man is the reformer, or that the Time brings forth -such men as it needs and lobster-like can grow another -claw?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Watching this new mood carefully.</i>] I -believe that you'll be missed from Lord Horsham's -Cabinet.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The hand-made statesman and his hand-made -measure! They were out of place in that pretty -Tory garden. Those men are the natural growth of the -time. Am I?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Just as much. And wasn't your bill going -to be such a good piece of work? That can't be thrown -away ... wasted.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Can one impose a clever idea upon men and -women? I wonder.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. That rather begs the question of your very -existence, doesn't it?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He comes to a standstill.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I know.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>His voice shows her that meaning in her words and -beyond it a threat. She goes to him, suddenly -shaking with fear.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Henry, I didn't mean that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You think I've a mind to put an end to -that same?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Belittling her fright.</i>] No ... for how -unreasonable....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. In view of my promising past. I've stood -for success, Fanny; I still stand for success. I could still -do more outside the Cabinet than the rest of them, inside, -will do. But suddenly I've a feeling the work would be -barren. [<i>His eyes shift beyond her; beyond the room.</i>] -What is it in your thoughts and actions which makes them -bear fruit? Something that the roughest peasant may -have in common with the best of us intellectual men ... -something that a dog might have. It isn't successful -cleverness.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She stands ... his trouble beyond her reach.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Come now ... you've done very well with -your life.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Do you know how empty I feel of all virtue -at this moment?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He leaves her. She must bring him back to the -plane on which she can help him.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. We must think what's best to be done ... -now ... and for the future.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Why, I could go on earning useless money -at the Bar ... think how nice that would be. I could -blackmail the next judgeship out of Horsham. I think I -could even smash his Disestablishment Bill ... and perhaps -get into the next Liberal Cabinet and start my own all -over again, with necessary modifications. I shan't do -any such things.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. No one knows about you and poor Amy?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Half a dozen friends. Shall I offer to give -evidence at the inquest this morning?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>With a little shiver.</i>] They'll say bad -enough things about her without your blackening her -good name.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Without warning, his anger and anguish break -out again.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. All she had ... all there is left of her! She -was a nothingness ... silly ... vain. And I gave her this -power over me!</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He is beaten, exhausted. Now she goes to him, -motherlike.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. My dear, listen to me for a little. Consider -that as a sorrow and put it behind you. And think -now ... whatever love there may be between us has -neither hatred nor jealousy in it, has it, Henry? Since -I'm not a mistress or a friend but just the likest fellow-creature -to you ... perhaps.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Putting out his hand for hers.</i>] Yes, my -sister. What I've wanted to feel for vague humanity has -been what I should have felt for you ... if you'd ever made -a single demand on me.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She puts her arms round him; able to speak.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Let's go away somewhere ... I'll make -demands. I need refreshing as much as you. My joy -of life has been withered in me ... oh, for a long time -now. We must kiss the earth again ... take interest in -common things, common people. There's so much of the -world we don't know. There's air to breathe everywhere. -Think of the flowers in a Tyrol valley in the early spring. -One can walk for days, not hurrying, as soon as the passes -are open. And the people are kind. There's Italy ... -there's Russia full of simple folk. When we've learned to -be friends with them we shall both feel so much better.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>Shaking his head, unmoved.</i>] My dear -sister ... I should be bored to death. The life contemplative -and peripatetic would literally bore me into a living -death.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Letting it be a fairy tale.</i>] Is your mother -the Wide World nothing to you? Can't you open your -heart like a child again?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. No, neither to the beauty of Nature nor the -particular human animals that are always called a part of -it. I don't even see them with your eyes. I'm a son of -the anger of Man at men's foolishness, and unless I've -that to feed upon...! [<i>Now he looks at her, as if for the first -time wanting to explain himself, and his voice changes.</i>] -Don't you know that when a man cuts himself shaving, -he swears? When he loses a seat in the Cabinet he turns -inward for comfort ... and if he only finds there a spirit -which should have been born, but is dead ... what's to be -done then?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>In a whisper.</i>] You mustn't think of that -woman....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. I've reasoned my way through life....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I see how awful it is to have the double blow -fall.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>The wave of his agony rising again.</i>] But -here's something in me which no knowledge touches ... -some feeling ... some power which should be the beginning -of new strength. But it has been killed in me unborn -before I had learnt to understand ... and that's killing me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Crying out.</i>] Why ... why did no woman -teach you to be gentle? Why did you never believe in any -woman? Perhaps even I am to blame....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. The little fool, the little fool ... why did -she kill my child? What did it matter what I thought -her? We were committed together to that one thing. Do -you think I didn't know that I was heartless and that she -was socially in the wrong? But what did Nature care -for that? And Nature has broken us.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Clinging to him as he beats the air.</i>] Not -you. She's dead, poor girl ... but not you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Yes ... that's the mystery no one need believe -till he has dipped in it. The man bears the child in his -soul as the woman carries it in her body.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>There is silence between them, till she speaks low and -tonelessly, never loosing his hand.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Henry, I want your promise that you'll go on -living till ... till....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Don't cry, Fanny, that's very foolish.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Till you've learnt to look at all this calmly. -Then I can trust you.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span> <i>smiles, not at all grimly.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. But, you see, it would give Horsham and -Blackborough such a shock if I shot myself ... it would -make them think about things.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>With one catch of wretched laughter.</i>] Oh, -my dear, if shooting's wanted ... shoot them. Or I'll -do it for you.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He sits in his chair just from weariness. She -stands by him, her hand still grasping his.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You see, Fanny, as I said to Gilbert last -night ... our lives are our own and yet not our own. We -understand living for others and dying for others. The -first is easy ... it's a way out of boredom. To make the -second popular we had to invent a belief in personal resurrection. -Do you think we shall ever understand dying -in the sure and certain hope that it really doesn't matter ... -that God is infinitely economical and wastes perhaps less -of the power in us after our death than men do while we -live?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I want your promise, Henry.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. You know I never make promises ... it's -taking oneself too seriously. Unless indeed one has the -comic courage to break them too. I've upset you very -much with my troubles. Don't you think you'd better -go and finish dressing? [<i>She doesn't move.</i>] My dear ... -you don't propose to hold my right hand so safely for -years to come. Even so, I still could jump out of a -window.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I'll trust you, Henry.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>She looks into his eyes and he does not flinch. Then, -with a final grip she leaves him. When she is at the -door he speaks more gently than ever.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Your own life is sufficient unto itself, -isn't it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Oh yes. I can be pleasant to talk to and -give good advice through the years that remain. [<i>Instinctively -she rectifies some little untidiness in the room.</i>] -What fools they are to think they can run that government -without you!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Horsham will do his best. [<i>Then, as for the -second time she reaches the door.</i>] Don't take away my -razors, will you? I only use them for shaving.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Almost blushing.</i>] I half meant to ... I'm -sorry. After all, Henry, just because they are forgetting -in personal feelings what's best for the country ... it's -your duty not to. You'll stand by and do what you can, -won't you?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. [<i>His queer smile returning, in contrast to her -seriousness.</i>] Disestablishment. It's a very interesting -problem. I must think it out.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Really puzzled.</i>] What do you mean?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He gets up with a quick movement of strange strength, -and faces her. His smile changes into a graver -gladness.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Trebell</span>. Something has happened ... in spite of me. -My heart's clean again. I'm ready for fresh adventures.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>With a nod and answering gladness.</i>] -That's right.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>So she leaves him, her mind at rest. For a minute -he does not move. When his gaze narrows it falls -on the heaps of letters. He carries them carefully -into</i> <span class="smcap">Walter Kent's</span> <i>room and arranges them as -carefully on his table. On his way out he stops for a -moment; then with a sudden movement bangs the door.</i></p></blockquote> - -<hr style='width: 45%;' /> - -<blockquote><p><i>Two hours later the room has been put in order. It -is even more full of light and the shadows are harder -than usual. The doors are open, showing you</i> <span class="smcap">Kent's</span> -<i>door still closed. At the big writing table in</i> <span class="smcap">Trebell's</span> -<i>chair sits</i> <span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>, <i>pale and grave, intent on -finishing a letter.</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>comes to find him. For -a moment she leans on the table silently, her eyes half -closed. You would say a broken woman. When she -speaks it is swiftly, but tonelessly.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Lord Horsham is in the drawing room ... -and I can't see him, I really can't. He has come to say -he is sorry ... and I should tell him that it is his fault, -partly. I know I should ... and I don't want to. Won't -you go in? What are you writing?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>, <i>with his physicianly pre-occupation, -can attend, understand, sympathise, without looking -up at her.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Never mind. A necessary note ... to -the Coroner's office. Yes, I'll see Horsham.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I've managed to get the pistol out of his -hand. Was that wrong ... oughtn't I to have touched it?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Of course you oughtn't. You must -stay away from the room. I'd better have locked -the door.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Pitifully.</i>] I'm sorry ... but I couldn't -bear to see the pistol in his hand. I won't go back. After -all he's not there in the room, is he? But how long do you -think the spirit stays near the body ... how long? When -people die gently of age or weakness.... But when the -spirit and body are so strong and knit together and all -alive as his....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>His hand on hers.</i>] Hush ... hush.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. His face is very eager ... as if it still could -speak. I know that.</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span> <i>comes through the open doorway.</i> -<span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>hears her steps and turning falls into her -outstretched arms to cry there.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Oh, Julia!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Oh my dear Fanny! I came with -Cyril Horsham ... I don't think Simpson even saw me.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I can't go in and talk to him.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. He'll understand. But I heard you -come in here....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I'll tell Horsham.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He has finished and addressed his letter, so he goes -out with it.</i> <span class="smcap">Frances</span> <i>lifts her head. These two -are in accord and can speak their feelings without -disguise or preparation.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Julia, Julia ... isn't it unbelievable?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I'd give ... oh, what wouldn't I give -to have it undone!</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I knew he meant to ... and yet I thought -I had his promise. If he really meant to ... I couldn't -have stopped it, could I?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Walter sent to tell me and I sent round -to....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Walter came soon after, I think. Julia, I was in -my room ... it was nearly breakfast time ... when I heard -the shot. Oh ... don't you think it was cruel of him?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. He had a right to. We must remember -that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. You say that easily of my brother ... you -wouldn't say it of your husband.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>They are apart by this</i>, <span class="smcap">Julia Farrant</span> <i>goes to her -gently.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Fanny ... will it leave you so very -lonely?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Yes ... lonelier than you can ever be. You -have children. I'm just beginning to realise....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Leading her from the mere selfishness -of sorrow.</i>] There's loneliness of the spirit, too.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. Ah, but once you've tasted the common joys -of life ... once you've proved all your rights as a man or -a woman....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Then there are subtler things to miss. -As well be alone like you, or dead like him, without them ... -I sometimes think.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Responsive, lifted from egoism, reading her -friend's mind.</i>] You demand much.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. I wish that he had demanded much of -any woman.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. You know how this misery began? That -poor little wretch ... she's lying dead too. They're both -dead together now. Do you think they've met...?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Julia</span> <i>grips both her hands and speaks very steadily -to help her friend back to self control.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. George told me as soon as he was told. -I tried to make him understand my opinion, but he thought -I was only shocked.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I was sorry for her. Now I can't forgive -her either.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>Angry, remorseful, rebellious.</i>] When -will men learn to know one woman from another?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>With answering bitterness.</i>] When will all -women care to be one thing rather than the other?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>They are stopped by the sound of the opening of</i> -<span class="smcap">Kent's</span> <i>door.</i> <span class="smcap">Walter</span> <i>comes from his room, some -papers from his table held listlessly in one hand. He -is crying, undisguisedly, with a child's grief.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. Oh ... am I in your way...?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. I didn't know you were still here, Walter.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kent</span>. I've been going through the letters as usual. I -don't know why, I'm sure. They won't have to be answered -now ... will they?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span> <i>comes back, grave and tense.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Horsham has gone. He thought perhaps -you'd be staying with Miss Trebell for a bit.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Yes, I shall be.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. I must go too ... it's nearly eleven.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. To the other inquest?</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>This stirs her two listeners to something of a -shudder.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. Yes.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>In a low voice.</i>] It will make no -difference now ... I mean ... still nothing need come -out? We needn't know why he ... why he did it.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. When he talked to me last night, and -I didn't know what he was talking of....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. He was waiting this morning for Lord -Horsham's note....</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. [<i>In real alarm.</i>] Oh, it wasn't because -of the Cabinet trouble ... you must persuade Cyril -Horsham of that. You haven't told him ... he's so -dreadfully upset as it is. I've been swearing it had nothing -to do with that.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Wedgecroft</span>. [<i>Cutting her short, bitingly.</i>] Has a time -ever come to you when it was easier to die than to go on -living? Oh ... I told Lord Horsham just what I -thought.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>He leaves them, his men grief unexpressed.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frances</span>. [<i>Listlessly.</i>] Does it matter why?</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Farrant</span>. Need there be more suffering and -reproaches? It's not as if even grief would do any good. -[<i>Suddenly with nervous caution.</i>] Walter, you don't know, -do you?</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Walter</span> <i>throws up his tear-marked face and a man's -anger banishes the boyish grief.</i></p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Walter</span>. No, I don't know why he did it ... and I -don't care. And grief is no use. I'm angry ... just -angry at the waste of a good man. Look at the work -undone ... think of it! Who is to do it! Oh ... the -waste...!</p> -<hr style="width: 95%;" /> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Waste, by Granville Barker - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASTE *** - -***** This file should be named 15788-h.htm or 15788-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/7/8/15788/ - -Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Waste - A Tragedy, In Four Acts - -Author: Granville Barker - -Release Date: May 7, 2005 [EBook #15788] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASTE *** - - - - -Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. - - - - - - -WASTE: A TRAGEDY, IN FOUR ACTS, -BY GRANVILLE BARKER - -LONDON: SIDGWICK & JACKSON, LTD. -3 ADAM STREET, ADELPHI. MCMIX. - - - - -_Entered at the Library of Congress, Washington, U.S.A. -All rights reserved._ - - - - -Waste - -1906-7 - - - - -WASTE - - -At Shapters, GEORGE FARRANT'S house in Hertfordshire. Ten o'clock on a -Sunday evening in summer. - -_Facing you at her piano by the window, from which she is protected by a -little screen, sits_ MRS. FARRANT; _a woman of the interesting age, -clear-eyed and all her face serene, except for a little pucker of the brows -which shows a puzzled mind upon some important matters. To become almost an -ideal hostess has been her achievement; and in her own home, as now, this -grace is written upon every movement. Her eyes pass over the head of a girl, -sitting in a low chair by a little table, with the shaded lamplight falling -on her face. This is_ LUCY DAVENPORT; _twenty-three, undefeated in anything -as yet and so unsoftened. The book on her lap is closed, for she has been -listening to the music. It is possibly some German philosopher, whom she -reads with a critical appreciation of his shortcomings. On the sofa near her -lounges_ MRS. O'CONNELL; _a charming woman, if by charming you understand a -woman who converts every quality she possesses into a means of attraction, -and has no use for any others. On the sofa opposite sits_ MISS TREBELL. _In -a few years, when her hair is quite grey, she will assume as by right the -dignity of an old maid. Between these two in a low armchair is_ LADY -DAVENPORT. _She has attained to many dignities. Mother and grandmother, she -has brought into the world and nourished not merely life but character. A -wonderful face she has, full of proud memories and fearless of the future. -Behind her, on a sofa between the windows, is_ WALTER KENT. _He is just what -the average English father would like his son to be. You can see the light -shooting out through the windows and mixing with moonshine upon a smooth -lawn. On your left is a door. There are many books in the room, hardly any -pictures, a statuette perhaps. The owner evidently sets beauty of form -before beauty of colour. It is a woman's room and it has a certain delicate -austerity. By the time you have observed everything_ MRS. FARRANT _has -played Chopin's prelude opus 28, number 20 from beginning to end._ - -LADY DAVENPORT. Thank you, my dear Julia. - -WALTER KENT. [_Protesting._] No more? - -MRS. FARRANT. I won't play for a moment longer than I feel musical. - -MISS TREBELL. Do you think it right, Julia, to finish with that after an -hour's Bach? - -MRS. FARRANT. I suddenly came over Chopinesque, Fanny; ... what's your -objection? [_as she sits by her._] - -FRANCES TREBELL. What ... when Bach has raised me to the heights of -unselfishness! - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Grimacing sweetly, her eyes only half lifted._] Does he? -I'm glad that I don't understand him. - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_Putting mere prettiness in its place._] One may prefer -Chopin when one is young. - -AMY O'CONNELL. And is that a reproach or a compliment? - -WALTER KENT. [_Boldly._] I do. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Or a man may ... unless he's a philosopher. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_To the rescue._] Miss Trebell, you're very hard on mere -humanity. - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_Completing the reproof._] That's my wretched training as -a schoolmistress, Lady Davenport ... one grew to fear it above all things. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Throwing in the monosyllable with sharp youthful -enquiry._] Why? - -FRANCES TREBELL. There were no text books on the subject. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Smiling at her friend._] Yes, Fanny ... I think you escaped -to look after your brother only just in time. - -FRANCES TREBELL. In another year I might have been head-mistress, which -commits you to approve of the system for ever. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_Shaking her wise head._] I've watched the Education fever -take England.... - -FRANCES TREBELL. If I hadn't stopped teaching things I didn't understand...! - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Not without mischief._] And what was the effect on the -pupils? - -LUCY DAVENPORT. I can tell you that. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Frances never taught you. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. No, I wish she had. But I was at her sort of a school before -I went to Newnham. I know. - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_Very distastefully._] Up-to-date, it was described as. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. Well, it was like a merry-go-round at top speed. You felt -things wouldn't look a bit like that when you came to a standstill. - -AMY O'CONNELL. And they don't? - -LUCY DAVENPORT. [_With great decision._] Not a bit. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_In her velvet tone._] I was taught the whole duty of woman -by a parson-uncle who disbelieved in his Church. - -WALTER KENT. When a man at Jude's was going to take orders.... - -AMY O'CONNELL. Jude's? - -WALTER KENT. At Oxford. The dons went very gingerly with him over bits of -science and history. - - [_This wakes a fruitful thought in_ JULIA FARRANT'S _brain._] - -MRS. FARRANT. Mamma, have you ever discussed so-called anti-Christian -science with Lord Charles? - -FRANCES TREBELL ... Cantelupe? - -MRS. FARRANT. Yes. It was over appointing a teacher for the schools down -here ... he was staying with us. The Vicar's his fervent disciple. However, -we were consulted. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. Didn't Lord Charles want you to send the boys there till -they were ready for Harrow? - -MRS. FARRANT. Yes. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Quite the last thing in Toryism! - -MRS. FARRANT. Mamma made George say we were too _nouveau riche_ to risk it. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_As she laughs._] I couldn't resist that. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Catching something of her subject's dry driving manner._] -Lord Charles takes the superior line and says ... that with his consent the -Church may teach the unalterable Truth in scientific language or legendary, -whichever is easier understanded of the people. - -LADY DAVENPORT. Is it the prospect of Disestablishment suddenly makes him so -accommodating? - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_With large contempt._] He needn't be. The majority of -people believe the world was made in an English week. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. Oh, no! - -FRANCES TREBELL. No Bishop dare deny it. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_From the heights of experience._] Dear Lucy, do you -seriously think that the English spirit--the nerve that runs down the -backbone--is disturbed by new theology ... or new anything? - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_Enjoying her epigram._] What a waste of persecution -history shows us! - - WALTER KENT _now captures the conversation with a very young - politician's fervour._ - -WALTER KENT. Once they're disestablished they must make up their minds what -they do believe. - -LADY DAVENPORT. I presume Lord Charles thinks it'll hand the Church over to -him and his ... dare I say 'Sect'? - -WALTER KENT. Won't it? He knows what he wants. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Subtly._] There's the election to come yet. - -WALTER KENT. But now both parties are pledged to a bill of some sort. - -MRS. FARRANT. Political prophecies have a knack of not coming true; but, -d'you know, Cyril Horsham warned me to watch this position developing ... -nearly four years ago. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Sitting on the opposition bench sharpens the eye-sight. - -WALTER KENT. [_Ironically._] Has he been pleased with the prospect? - -MRS. FARRANT. [_With perfect diplomacy_] If the Church must be -disestablished ... better done by its friends than its enemies. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Still I don't gather he's pleased with his dear cousin -Charles's conduct. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Shrugging._] Oh, lately, Lord Charles has never concealed -his tactics. - -FRANCES TREBELL. And that speech at Leeds was the crowning move I suppose; -just asking the Nonconformists to bring things to a head? - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Judicially._] I think that was precipitate. - -WALTER KENT. [_Giving them_ LORD CHARLES'S _oratory._] Gentlemen, in these -latter days of Radical opportunism!--You know, I was there ... sitting next -to an old gentleman who shouted "Jesuit." - -FRANCES TREBELL. But supposing Mallaby and the Nonconformists hadn't been -able to force the Liberals' hand? - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Speaking as of inferior beings._] Why, they were glad of any -cry going to the Country! - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_As she considers this._] Yes ... and Lord Charles would -still have had as good a chance of forcing Lord Horsham's. It has been -clever tactics. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Who has been listening, sharp-eyed._] Contrariwise, he -wouldn't have liked a Radical Bill though, would he? - -WALTER KENT. [_With aplomb._] He knew he was safe from that. The government -must have dissolved before Christmas anyway ... and the swing of the -pendulum's a sure thing. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_With her smile._] It's never a sure thing. - -WALTER KENT. Oh, Mrs. Farrant, look how unpopular the Liberals are. - -FRANCES TREBELL. What made them bring in Resolutions? - -WALTER KENT. [_Overflowing with knowledge of the subject._] I was told -Mallaby insisted on their showing they meant business. I thought he was -being too clever ... and it turns out he was. Tommy Luxmore told me there -was a fearful row in the Cabinet about it. But on their last legs, you know, -it didn't seem to matter, I suppose. Even then, if Prothero had mustered up -an ounce of tact ... I believe they could have pulled them through.... - -FRANCES TREBELL. Not the Spoliation one. - -WALTER KENT. Well, Mr. Trebell dished that! - -FRANCES TREBELL. Henry says his speech didn't turn a vote. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_With charming irony._] How disinterested of him! - -WALTER KENT. [_Enthusiastic._] That speech did if ever a speech did. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Is there any record of a speech that ever did? He just -carried his own little following with him. - -MRS. FARRANT. But the crux of the whole matter is and has always been ... -what's to be done with the Church's money. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Visualising sovereigns._] A hundred millions or so ... -think of it! - -FRANCES TREBELL. There has been from the start a good deal of -anti-Nonconformist feeling against applying the money to secular uses. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Deprecating false modesty, on anyone's behalf._] Oh, of -course the speech turned votes ... twenty of them at least. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Determined on information._] Then I was told Lord Horsham -had tried to come to an understanding himself with the Nonconformists about -Disestablishment--oh--a long time ago ... over the Education Bill. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Is that true, Julia? - -MRS. FARRANT. How should I know? - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_With some mischief_] You might. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Weighing her words._] I don't think it would have been -altogether wise to make advances. They'd have asked more than a Conservative -government could possibly persuade the Church to give up. - -WALTER KENT. I don't see that Horsham's much better off now. He only turned -the Radicals out on the Spoliation question by the help of Trebell. And so -far ... I mean, till this election is over Trebell counts still as one of -them, doesn't he, Miss Trebell? Oh ... perhaps he doesn't. - -FRANCES TREBELL. He'll tell you he never has counted as one of them. - -MRS. FARRANT. No doubt Lord Charles would sooner have done without his help. -And that's why I didn't ask the gentle Jesuit this week-end if anyone wants -to know. - -WALTER KENT. [_Stupent at this lack of party spirit._] What ... he'd rather -have had the Liberals go to the country undefeated! - -MRS. FARRANT. [_With finesse._] The election may bring us back independent -of Mr. Trebell and anything he stands for. - -WALTER KENT. [_Sharply._] But you asked Lord Horsham to meet him. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_With still more finesse._] I had my reasons. Votes aren't -everything. - - LADY DAVENPORT _has been listening with rather a doubtful smile; she - now caps the discussion._ - -LADY DAVENPORT. I'm relieved to hear you say so, my dear Julia. On the other -hand democracy seems to have brought itself to a pretty pass. Here's a -measure, which the country as a whole neither demands nor approves of, will -certainly be carried, you tell me, because a minority on each side is -determined it shall be ... for totally different reasons. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Shrugging again._] It isn't our business to prevent popular -government looking foolish, Mamma. - -LADY DAVENPORT. Is that Tory cynicism or feminine? - - _At this moment_ GEORGE FARRANT _comes through the window; a good - natured man of forty-five. He would tell you that he was educated at - Eton and Oxford. But the knowledge which saves his life comes from the - thrusting upon him of authority and experience; ranging from the - management of an estate which he inherited at twenty-four, through the - chairmanship of a newspaper syndicate, through a successful marriage, - to a minor post in the last Tory cabinet and the prospect of one in - the near-coming next. Thanks to his agents, editors, permanent - officials, and his own common sense, he always acquits himself - creditably. He comes to his wife's side and waits for a pause in the - conversation._ - -LADY DAVENPORT. I remember Mr. Disraeli once said to me ... Clever women are -as dangerous to the State as dynamite. - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_Not to be impressed by Disraeli._] Well, Lady Davenport, -if men will leave our intellects lying loose about.... - -FARRANT. Blackborough's going, Julia. - -MRS. FARRANT. Yes, George. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_Concluding her little apologue to_ MISS TREBELL.] Yes, my -dear, but power without responsibility isn't good for the character that -wields it either. - - [_There follows_ FARRANT _through the window a man of fifty. He has - about him that unmistakeable air of acquired wealth and power which - distinguishes many Jews and has therefore come to be regarded as a - solely Jewish characteristic. He speaks always with that swift - decision which betokens a narrowed view. This is_ RUSSELL - BLACKBOROUGH; _manufacturer, politician ... statesman, his own side - calls him._] - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_To his hostess._] If I start now, they tell me, I shall get -home before the moon goes down. I'm sorry I must get back to-night. It's -been a most delightful week-end. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Gracefully giving him a good-bye hand._] And a successful -one, I hope. - -FARRANT. We talked Education for half an hour. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Her eyebrows lifting a shade._] Education! - -FARRANT. Then Trebell went away to work. - -BLACKBOROUGH. I've missed the music, I fear. - -MRS. FARRANT. But it's been Bach. - -BLACKBOROUGH. No Chopin? - -MRS. FARRANT. For a minute only. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Why don't these new Italian men write things for the piano! -Good-night, Lady Davenport. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_As he bows over her hand._] And what has Education to do -with it? - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Non-committal himself._] Perhaps it was a subject that -compromised nobody. - -LADY DAVENPORT. Do you think my daughter has been wasting her time and her -tact? - -FARRANT. [_Clapping him on the shoulder._] Blackborough's frankly -flabbergasted at the publicity of this intrigue. - -MRS. FARRANT. Intrigue! Mr. Trebell walked across the House ... actually -into your arms. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_With a certain dubious grimness._] Well ... we've had some -very interesting talks since. And his views upon Education are quite ... -Utopian. Good bye, Miss Trebell. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Good-bye. - -MRS. FARRANT. I wouldn't be so haughty till after the election, if I were -you, Mr. Blackborough. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Indifferently._] Oh, I'm glad he's with us on the Church -question ... so far. - -MRS. FARRANT. So far as you've made up your minds? The electoral cat will -jump soon. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_A little beaten by such polite cynicism._] Well ... our -conservative principles! After all we know what they are. Good-night, Mrs. -O'Connell. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Good-night. - -FARRANT. Your neuralgia better? - -AMY O'CONNELL. By fits and starts. - -FARRANT. [_Robustly._] Come and play billiards. Horsham and Maconochie -started a game. They can neither of them play. We left them working out a -theory of angles on bits of paper. - -WALTER KENT. Professor Maconochie lured me on to golf yesterday. He doesn't -suffer from theories about that. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_With approval._] Started life as a caddie. - -WALTER KENT. [_Pulling a wry face._] So he told me after the first hole. - -BLACKBOROUGH. What's this, Kent, about Trebell's making you his secretary? - -WALTER KENT. He thinks he'll have me. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Almost reprovingly._] No question of politics? - -FARRANT. More intrigue, Blackborough. - -WALTER KENT. [_With disarming candour._] The truth is, you see, I haven't -any as yet. I was Socialist at Oxford ... but of course that doesn't count. -I think I'd better learn my job under the best man I can find ... and who'll -have me. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Gravely._] What does your father say? - -WALTER KENT. Oh, as long as Jack will inherit the property in a Tory spirit! -My father thinks it my wild oats. - - _A Footman has come in._ - -THE FOOTMAN. Your car is round, sir. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Ah! Good-night, Miss Davenport. Good-bye again, Mrs. Farrant -... a charming week-end. - - _He makes a business-like departure_, FARRANT _follows him._ - -THE FOOTMAN. A telephone message from Dr. Wedgecroft, ma'am. His thanks; -they stopped the express for him at Hitchin and he has reached London quite -safely. - -MRS. FARRANT. Thank you. - - [_The Footman goes out._ MRS. FARRANT _exhales delicately as if the - air were a little refined by_ BLACKBOROUGH'S _removal._] - -MRS. FARRANT. Mr. Blackborough and his patent turbines and his gas engines -and what not are the motive power of our party nowadays, Fanny. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Yes, you claim to be steering plutocracy. Do you never -wonder if it isn't steering you? - - MRS. O'CONNELL, _growing restless, has wandered round the room picking - at the books in their cases._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. I always like your books, Julia. It's an intellectual -distinction to know someone who has read them. - -MRS. FARRANT. That's the Communion I choose. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Aristocrat ... fastidious aristocrat. - -MRS. FARRANT. No, now. Learning's a great leveller. - -FRANCES TREBELL. But Julia ... books are quite unreal. D'you think life is a -bit like them? - -MRS. FARRANT. They bring me into touch with ... Oh, there's nothing more -deadening than to be boxed into a set in Society! Speak to a woman outside -it ... she doesn't understand your language. - -FRANCES TREBELL. And do you think by prattling Hegel with Gilbert Wedgecroft -when he comes to physic you-- - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Joyously._] Excellent physic that is. He never leaves a -prescription. - -LADY DAVENPORT. Don't you think an aristocracy of brains is the best -aristocracy, Miss Trebell? - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_With a little more bitterness than the abstraction of the -subject demands._] I'm sure it is just as out of touch with humanity as any -other ... more so, perhaps. If I were a country I wouldn't be governed by -arid intellects. - -MRS. FARRANT. Manners, Frances. - -FRANCES TREBELL. I'm one myself and I know. They're either dead or -dangerous. - - GEORGE FARRANT _comes back and goes straight to_ MRS. O'CONNELL. - -FARRANT. [_Still robustly._] Billiards, Mrs. O'Connell. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Declining sweetly._] I think not. - -FARRANT. Billiards, Lucy? - -LUCY DAVENPORT. [_As robust as he._] Yes, Uncle George. You shall mark while -Walter gives me twenty-five and I beat him. - -WALTER KENT. [_With a none-of-your-impudence air._] I'll give you ten yards -start and race you to the billiard room. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. Will you wear my skirt? Oh ... Grandmamma's thinking me -vulgar. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_Without prejudice._] Why, my dear, freedom of limb is -worth having ... and perhaps it fits better with freedom of tongue. - -FARRANT. [_In the proper avuncular tone._] I'll play you both ... and I'd -race you both if you weren't so disgracefully young. - -AMY O'CONNELL _has reached an open window._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. I shall go for a walk with my neuralgia. - -MRS. FARRANT. Poor thing! - -AMY O'CONNELL. The moon's good for it. - -LUCY DAVENPORT. Shall you come, Aunt Julia? - -MRS. FARRANT. [_In flat protest._] No, I will not sit up while you play -billiards. - - MRS. O'CONNELL _goes out through the one window, stands for a moment, - wistfully romantic, gazing at_ KENT _are standing at the other, - looking across the lawn._ - -FARRANT. Horsham still arguing with Maconochie. They're got to Botany now. - -WALTER KENT. Demonstrating something with a ... what's that thing? - - WALTER _goes out._ - -FARRANT. [_With a throw of his head towards the distant_ HORSHAM.] He was so -bored with our politics ... having to give his opinion too. We could just -hear your piano. - - _And he follows_ WALTER. - -MRS. FARRANT. Take Amy O'Connell that lace thing, will you, Lucy? - -LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Her tone expressing quite wonderfully her sentiments -towards the owner._] Don't you think she'd sooner catch cold? - - _She catches it up and follows the two men; then after looking round - impatiently, swings off in the direction_ MRS. O'CONNELL _took. The - three women now left together are at their ease._ - -FRANCES TREBELL. Did you expect Mr. Blackborough to get on well with Henry? - -MRS. FARRANT. He has become a millionaire by appreciating clever men when he -met them. - -LADY DAVENPORT. Yes, Julia, but his political conscience is comparatively -new-born. - -MRS. FARRANT. Well, Mamma, can we do without Mr. Trebell? - -LADY DAVENPORT. Everyone seems to think you'll come back with something of a -majority. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_A little impatient._] What's the good of that? The Bill -can't be brought into the Lords ... and who's going to take Disestablishment -through the Commons for us? Not Eustace Fowler ... not Mr. Blackborough ... -not Lord Charles ... not George! - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_Warningly._] Not all your brilliance as a hostess will -keep Mr. Trebell in a Tory Cabinet. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_With wilful avoidance of the point._] Cyril Horsham is only -too glad. - -LADY DAVENPORT. Because you tell him he ought to be. - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_Coming to the rescue._] There is this. Henry has never -exactly called himself a Liberal. He really is elected independently. - -MRS. FARRANT. I wonder will all the garden-cities become pocket-boroughs. - -FRANCES TREBELL. I think he has made a mistake. - -MRS. FARRANT. It makes things easier now ... his having kept his freedom. - -FRANCES TREBELL. I think it's a mistake to stand outside a system. There's -an inhumanity in that amount of detachment ... - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Brilliantly._] I think a statesman may be a little inhuman. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_With keenness._] Do you mean superhuman? It's not the same -thing, you know. - -MRS. FARRANT. I know. - -LADY DAVENPORT. Most people don't know. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Proceeding with her cynicism._] Humanity achieves ... what? -Housekeeping and children. - -FRANCES TREBELL. As far as a woman's concerned. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_A little mockingly._] Now, Mamma, say that is as far as a -woman's concerned. - -LADY DAVENPORT. My dear, you know I don't think so. - -MRS. FARRANT. We may none of us think so. But there's our position ... bread -and butter and a certain satisfaction until ... Oh, Mamma, I wish I were -like you ... beyond all the passions of life. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_With great vitality._] I'm nothing of the sort. It's my -egoism's dead ... that's an intimation of mortality. - -MRS. FARRANT. I accept the snub. But I wonder what I'm to do with myself for -the next thirty years. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Help Lord Horsham to govern the country. - - JULIA FARRANT _gives a little laugh and takes up the subject this - time._ - -MRS. FARRANT. Mamma ... how many people, do you think, believe that Cyril's -_grande passion_ for me takes that form? - -LADY DAVENPORT. Everyone who knows Cyril and most people who know you. - -MRS. FARRANT. Otherwise I seem to have fulfilled my mission in life. The -boys are old enough to go to school. George and I have become happily -unconscious of each other. - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_With sudden energy of mind._] Till I was forty I never -realised the fact that most women must express themselves through men. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Looking at_ FRANCES _a little curiously._] Didn't your -instinct lead you to marry ... or did you fight against it? - -FRANCES TREBELL. I don't know. Perhaps I had no vitality to spare. - -LADY DAVENPORT. That boy is a long time proposing to Lucy. - - _This effectually startles the other two from their conversational - reverie._ - -MRS. FARRANT. Walter? I'm not sure that he means to. She means to marry him -if he does. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Has she told you so? - -MRS. FARRANT. No. I judge by her business-like interest in his welfare. - -FRANCES TREBELL. He's beginning to feel the responsibility of manhood ... -doesn't know whether to be frightened or proud of it. - -LADY DAVENPORT. It's a pretty thing to watch young people mating. When -they're older and marry from disappointment or deliberate choice, thinking -themselves so worldly-wise.... - -MRS. FARRANT, [_Back to her politely cynical mood._] Well ... then at least -they don't develop their differences at the same fire-side, regretting the -happy time when neither possessed any character at all. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_Giving a final douche of common sense._] My dear, any two -reasonable people ought to be able to live together. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Granted three sitting rooms. That'll be the next -middle-class political cry ... when women are heard. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Suddenly as practical as her mother._] Walter's lucky ... -Lucy won't stand any nonsense. She'll have him in the Cabinet by the time -he's fifty. - -LADY DAVENPORT. And are you the power behind your brother, Miss Trebell? - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_Gravely._] He ignores women. I've forced enough good -manners on him to disguise the fact decently. His affections are two -generations ahead. - -MRS. FARRANT. People like him in an odd sort of way. - -FRANCES TREBELL. That's just respect for work done ... one can't escape from -it. - - _There is a slight pause in their talk. By some not very devious - route_ MRS. FARRANT'S _mind travels to the next subject._ - -MRS. FARRANT. Fanny ... how fond are you of Amy O'Connell? - -FRANCES TREBELL. She says we're great friends. - -MRS. FARRANT. She says that of me. - -FRANCES TREBELL. It's a pity about her husband. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Almost provokingly._] What about him? - -FRANCES TREBELL. It seems to be understood that he treats her badly. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_A little malicious._] Is there any particular reason he -should treat her well? - -FRANCES TREBELL. Don't you like her, Lady Davenport? - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_Dealing out justice._] I find her quite charming to look -at and talk to ... but why shouldn't Justin O'Connell live in Ireland for -all that? I'm going to bed, Julia. - - _She collects her belongings and gets up._ - -MRS. FARRANT. I must look in at the billiard room. - -FRANCES TREBELL. I won't come, Julia. - -MRS. FARRANT. What's your brother working at? - -FRANCES TREBELL. I don't know. Something we shan't hear of for a year, -perhaps. - -MRS. FARRANT. On the Church business, I daresay. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Did you hear Lord Horsham at dinner on the lack of dignity -in an irreligious state? - -MRS. FARRANT. Poor Cyril ... he'll have to find a way round that opinion of -his now. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Does he like leading his party? - -MRS. FARRANT. [_After due consideration._] It's an intellectual exercise. -He's the right man, Fanny. You see it isn't a party in the active sense at -all, except now and then when it's captured by someone with an axe to grind. - -FRANCES TREBELL. [_Humorously._] Such as my brother. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_As humorous._] Such as your brother. It expresses the -thought of the men who aren't taken in by the claptrap of progress. - -FRANCES TREBELL. Sometimes they've a queer way of expressing their love for -the people of England. - -MRS. FARRANT. But one must use democracy. Wellington wouldn't ... Disraeli -did. - -LADY DAVENPORT. [_At the door._] Good-night, Miss Trebell. - -FRANCES TREBELL. I'm coming ... it's past eleven. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_At the window._] What a gorgeous night! I'll come in and -kiss you, Mamma. - - FRANCES _follows_ LADY DAVENPORT _and_ MRS. FARRANT _starts across the - lawn to the billiard room.... An hour later you can see no change in - the room except that only one lamp is alight on the table in the - middle._ AMY O'CONNELL _and_ HENRY TREBELL _walk past one window and - stay for a moment in the light of the other. Her wrap is about her - shoulders. He stands looking down at her._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. There goes the moon ... it's quieter than ever now. [_She -comes in._] Is it very late? - -TREBELL. [_As he follows._] Half-past twelve. - - TREBELL _is hard-bitten, brainy, forty-five and very sure of himself. - He has a cold keen eye, which rather belies a sensitive mouth; hands - which can grip, and a figure that is austere._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. I ought to be in bed. I suppose everyone has gone. - -TREBELL. Early trains to-morrow. The billiard room lights are out. - -AMY O'CONNELL. The walk has just tired me comfortably. - -TREBELL. Sit down. [_She sits by the table. He sits by her and says with the -air of a certain buyer at a market._] You're very pretty. - -AMY O'CONNELL. As well here as by moonlight? Can't you see any wrinkles? - -TREBELL. One or two ... under the eyes. But they give character and bring -you nearer my age. Yes, Nature hit on the right curve in making you. - - _She stretches herself, cat-like._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. Praise is the greatest of luxuries, isn't it, Henry? ... -Henry ... [_she caresses the name._] - -TREBELL. Quite right ... Henry. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Henry ... Trebell. - -TREBELL. Having formally taken possession of my name.... - -AMY O'CONNELL. I'll go to bed. - - _His eyes have never moved from her. Now she breaks the contact and - goes towards the door._ - -TREBELL. I wouldn't ... my spare time for love making is so limited. - - _She turns back, quite at ease, her eyes challenging him._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. That's the first offensive thing you've said. - -TREBELL. Why offensive? - -AMY O'CONNELL. I may flirt. Making love's another matter. - -TREBELL. Sit down and explain the difference ... Mrs. O'Connell. - - _She sits down._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. Quite so. 'Mrs. O'Connell'. That's the difference. - -TREBELL. [_Provokingly._] But I doubt if I'm interested in the fact that -your husband doesn't understand you and that your marriage was a mistake ... -and how hard you find it to be strong. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Kindly._] I'm not quite a fool though you think so on a -three months' acquaintance. But tell me this ... what education besides -marriage does a woman get? - -TREBELL. [_His head lifting quickly._] Education.... - -AMY O'CONNELL. Don't be business-like. - -TREBELL. I beg your pardon. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Do you think the things you like to have taught in schools -are any use to one when one comes to deal with you? - -TREBELL. [_After a little scrutiny of her-face._] Well, if marriage is only -the means to an end ... what's the end? Not flirtation. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_With an air of self-revelation._] I don't know. To keep -one's place in the world, I suppose, one's self-respect and a sense of -humour. - -TREBELL. Is that difficult? - -AMY O'CONNELL. To get what I want, without paying more than it's worth to -me....? - -TREBELL. Never to be reckless. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_With a side-glance._] One isn't so often tempted. - -TREBELL. In fact ... to flirt with life generally. Now, what made your -husband marry you? - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Dealing with the impertinence in her own fashion._] What -would make you marry me? Don't say: Nothing on earth. - -TREBELL. [_Speaking apparently of someone else._] A prolonged fit of -idleness might make me marry ... a clever woman. But I've never been idle -for more than a week. And I've never met a clever woman ... worth calling a -woman. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Bringing their talk back to herself, and fastidiously._] -Justin has all the natural instincts. - -TREBELL. He's Roman Catholic, isn't he? - -AMY O'CONNELL. So am I ... by profession. - -TREBELL. It's a poor religion unless you really believe in it. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Appealing to him._] If I were to live at Linaskea and have -as many children as God sent, I should manage to make Justin pretty -miserable! And what would be left of me at all I should like to know? - -TREBELL. So Justin lives at Linaskea alone? - -AMY O'CONNELL. I'm told now there's a pretty housemaid ... [_she shrugs._] - -TREBELL. Does he drink too? - -AMY O'CONNELL. Oh, no. You'd like Justin, I daresay. He's clever. The -thirteenth century's what he knows about. He has done a book on its statutes -... has been doing another. - -TREBELL. And after an evening's hard work I find you here ready to flirt -with. - -AMY O'CONNELL. What have you been working at? - -TREBELL. A twentieth century statute perhaps. That's not any concern of -yours either. - - _She does not follow his thought._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. No, I prefer you in your unprofessional moments. - -TREBELL. Real flattery. I didn't know I had any. - -AMY O'CONNELL. That's why you should flirt with me ... Henry ... to -cultivate them. I'm afraid you lack imagination. - -TREBELL. One must choose something to lack in this life. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Not develop your nature to its utmost capacity. - -TREBELL. And then? - -AMY O'CONNELL. Well, if that's not an end in itself ... [_With a touch of -romantic piety._] I suppose there's the hereafter. - -TREBELL. [_Grimly material._] What, more developing! I watch people wasting -time on themselves with amazement ... I refuse to look forward to wasting -eternity. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Shaking her head._] You are very self-satisfied. - -TREBELL. Not more so than any machine that runs smoothly. And I hope not -self-conscious. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Rather attractively treating him as a child._] It would do -you good to fall really desperately in love with me ... to give me the power -to make you unhappy. - - _He suddenly becomes very definite._ - -TREBELL. At twenty-three I engaged myself to be married to a charming and -virtuous fool. I broke it off. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Did she mind much? - -TREBELL. We both minded. But I had ideals of womanhood that I wouldn't -sacrifice to any human being. Then I fell in with a woman who seduced me, -and for a whole year led me the life of a French novel ... played about -with my emotion as I had tortured that other poor girl's brains. Education -you'd call it in the one case as I called it in the other. What a waste of -time! - -AMY O'CONNELL. And what has become of your ideal? - -TREBELL. [_Relapsing to his former mood._] It's no longer a personal matter. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_With coquetry._] You're not interested in my character? - -TREBELL. Oh, yes, I am ... up to kissing point. - - _She does not shrink, but speaks with just a shade of contempt._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. You get that far more easily than a woman. That's one of my -grudges against men. Why can't women take love-affairs so lightly? - -TREBELL. There are reasons. But make a good beginning with this one. Kiss me -at once. - - _He leans towards her. She considers him quite calmly._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. No. - -TREBELL. When will you, then? - -AMY O'CONNELL. When I can't help myself ... if that time ever comes. - -TREBELL. [_Accepting the postponement in a business-like spirit._] Well ... -I'm an impatient man. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Confessing engagingly._] I made up my mind to bring you -within arms' length of me when we'd met at Lady Percival's. Do you remember? -[_His face shows no sign of it._] It was the day after your speech on the -Budget. - -TREBELL. Then I remember. But I haven't observed the process. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Subtly._] Your sister grew to like me very soon. That's all -the cunning there has been. - -TREBELL. The rest is just mutual attraction? - -AMY O'CONNELL. And opportunities. - -TREBELL. Such as this. - - _At the drop of their voices they become conscious of the silent - house._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. Do you really think everyone has gone to bed? - -TREBELL. [_Disregardful._] And what is it makes my pressing attentions -endurable ... if one may ask? - -AMY O'CONNELL. Some spiritual need or other, I suppose, which makes me risk -unhappiness ... in fact, welcome it. - -TREBELL. [_With great briskness._] Your present need is a good shaking.... I -seriously mean that. You get to attach importance to these shades of -emotion. A slight physical shock would settle them all. That's why I asked -you to kiss me just now. - -AMY O'CONNELL. You haven't very nice ideas, have you? - -TREBELL. There are three facts in life that call up emotion ... Birth, -Death, and the Desire for Children. The niceties are shams. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Then why do you want to kiss me? - -TREBELL. I don't ... seriously. But I shall in a minute just to finish the -argument. Too much diplomacy always ends in a fight. - -AMY O'CONNELL. And if I don't fight ... it'd be no fun for you, I suppose? - -TREBELL. You would get that much good out of me. For it's my point of honour -... to leave nothing I touch as I find it. - - _He is very close to her._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. You're frightening me a little ... - -TREBELL. Come and look at the stars again. Come along. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Give me my wrap ... [_He takes it up, but holds it._] Well, -put it on me. [_He puts it round her, but does not withdraw his arms._] Be -careful, the stars are looking at you. - -TREBELL. No, they can't see so far as we can. That's the proper creed. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Softly, almost shyly._] Henry. - -TREBELL. [_Bending closer to her._] Yes, pretty thing. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Is this what you call being in love? - - _He looks up and listens._ - -TREBELL. Here's somebody coming. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Oh!... - -TREBELL. What does it matter? - -AMY O'CONNELL. I'm untidy or something.... - - _She slips out, for they are close to the window. The_ FOOTMAN - _enters, stops suddenly._ - -THE FOOTMAN. I beg your pardon, sir. I thought everyone had gone. - -TREBELL. I've just been for a walk. I'll lock up if you like. - -THE FOOTMAN. I can easily wait up, sir. - -TREBELL. [_At the window._] I wouldn't. What do you do ... just slide the -bolt? - -THE FOOTMAN. That's all, sir. - -TREBELL. I see. Good-night. - -THE FOOTMAN. Good-night, sir. - - _He goes._ TREBELL'S _demeanour suddenly changes, becomes alert, with - the alertness of a man doing something in secret. He leans out of the - window and whispers._ - -TREBELL. Amy! - - _There is no answer, so he gently steps out. For a moment the room is - empty and there is silence. Then_ AMY _has flown from him into the - safety of lights. She is flushed, trembling, but rather ecstatic, and - her voice has lost all affectation now._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. Oh ... oh ... you shouldn't have kissed me like that! - - TREBELL _stands in the window-way; a light in his eyes, and speaks low - but commandingly._ - -TREBELL. Come here. - - _Instinctively she moves towards him. They speak in whispers._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. He was locking up. - -TREBELL. I've sent him to bed. - -AMY O'CONNELL. He won't go. - -TREBELL. Never mind him. - -AMY O'CONNELL. We're standing full in the light ... anyone could see us. - -TREBELL. [_With fierce egotism._] Think of me ... not of anyone else. [_He -draws her from the window; then does not let her go._] May I kiss you again? - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Her eyes closed._] Yes. - - _He kisses her. She stiffens in his arms; then laughs almost joyously, - and is commonplace._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. Well ... let me get my breath. - -TREBELL. [_Letting her stand free._] Now ... go along. - - _Obediently she turns to the door, but sinks on the nearest chair._ - -AMY O'CONNELL. In a minute, I'm a little faint. [_He goes to her quickly._] -No, it's nothing. - -TREBELL. Come into the air again. [_Then half seriously._] I'll race you -across the lawn. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Still breathless and a little hysterical._] Thank you! - -TREBELL. Shall I carry you? - -AMY O'CONNELL. Don't be silly. [_She recovers her self-possession, gets up -and goes to the window, then looks back at him and says very beautifully._] -But the night's beautiful, isn't it? - - _He has her in his arms again, more firmly this time._ - -TREBELL. Make it so. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Struggling ... with herself_] Oh, why do you rouse me like -this? - -TREBELL. Because I want you. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Want me to...? - -TREBELL. Want you to ... kiss me just once. - -AMY O'CONNELL. [_Yielding._] If I do ... don't let me go mad, will you? - -TREBELL. Perhaps. [_He bends over her, her head drops back._] Now. - -AMY O'CONNELL. Yes! - - _She kisses him on the mouth. Then he would release her, but suddenly - she clings again._ - -Oh ... don't let me go. - -TREBELL. [_With fierce pride of possession._] Not yet. - - _She is fragile beside him. He lifts her in his arms and carries her - out into the darkness._ - - - - -THE SECOND ACT - -TREBELL'S house in Queen Anne Street, London. Eleven o'clock on an October -morning. - - -TREBELL'S _working room is remarkable chiefly for the love of sunlight it -evidences in its owner. The walls are white; the window which faces you is -bare of all but the necessary curtains. Indeed, lack of draperies testifies -also to his horror of dust. There faces you besides a double door; when it -is opened another door is seen. When that is opened you discover a writing -table, and beyond can discern a book-case filled with heavy volumes--law -reports perhaps. The little room beyond is, so to speak, an under-study. -Between the two rooms a window, again barely curtained, throws light down -the staircase. But in the big room, while the books are many the choice of -them is catholic; and the book-cases are low, running along the wall. There -is an armchair before the bright fire, which is on your right. There is a -sofa. And in the middle of the room is an enormous double writing table -piled tidily with much appropriate impedimenta, blue books and pamphlets and -with an especial heap of unopened letters and parcels. At the table sits_ -TREBELL _himself, in good health and spirits, but eyeing askance the work to -which he has evidently just returned. His sister looks in on him. She is -dressed to go out and has a housekeeping air._ - -FRANCES. Are you busy, Henry? - -TREBELL. More or less. Come in. - -FRANCES. You'll dine at home? - -TREBELL. Anyone coming? - -FRANCES. Julia Farrant and Lucy have run up to town, I think. I thought of -going round and asking them to come in ... but perhaps your young man will -be going there. Amy O'Connell said something vague about our going to -Charles Street ... but she may be out of town by now. - -TREBELL. Well ... I'll be in anyhow. - -FRANCES. [_Going to the window as she buttons her gloves._] Were you on deck -early this morning? It must have been lovely. - -TREBELL. No, I turned in before we got out of le Havre. I left Kent on deck -and found him there at six. - -FRANCES. I don't think autumn means to come at all this year ... it'll be -winter one morning. September has been like a hive of bees, busy and drowsy. -By the way, Cousin Mary has another baby ... a girl. - -TREBELL. [_Indifferent to the information._] That's the fourth. - -FRANCES. Fifth. They asked me down for the christening ... but I really -couldn't. - -TREBELL. September's the month for Tuscany. The car chose to break down one -morning just as we were starting North again; so we climbed one of the -little hills and sat for a couple of hours, while I composed a fifteenth -century electioneering speech to the citizens of Siena. - -FRANCES. [_With a half smile._] Have you a vein of romance for holiday time? - -TREBELL. [_Dispersing the suggestion._] Not at all romantic ... nothing but -figures and fiscal questions. That was the hardest commercial civilisation -there has been, though you only think of its art and its murders now. - -FRANCES. The papers on both sides have been very full of you ... saying you -hold the moral balance ... or denying it. - -TREBELL. An interviewer caught me at Basle. I offered to discuss the state -of the Swiss navy. - -FRANCES. Was that before Lord Horsham wrote to you? - -TREBELL. Yes, his letter came to Innsbruck. He "expressed" it somehow. Why -... it isn't known that he will definitely ask me to join? - -FRANCES. The Whitehall had a leader before the Elections were well over to -say that he must ... but, of course, that was Mr. Farrant. - -TREBELL. [_Knowingly._] Mrs. Farrant. I saw it in Paris ... it just caught -me up. - -FRANCES. The Times is very shy over the whole question ... has a letter from -a fresh bishop every day ... doesn't talk of you very kindly yet. - -TREBELL. Tampering with the Establishment, even Cantelupe's way, will be a -pill to the real old Tory right to the bitter end. - - WALTER KENT _comes in, very fresh and happy-looking. A young man - started in life._ TREBELL _hails him._ - -TREBELL. Hullo ... you've not been long getting shaved. - -KENT. How do you do, Miss Trebell? Lucy turned me out. - -FRANCES. My congratulations. I've not seen you since I heard the news. - -KENT. [_Glad and unembarrassed._] Thank you. I do deserve them, don't I? -Mrs. Farrant didn't come down ... she left us to breakfast together. But -I've a message for you ... her love and she is in town. I went and saw Lord -Charles, sir. He will come to you and be here at half past seven. - -TREBELL. Look at these. - - _He smacks on the back, so to speak, the pile of parcels and letters._ - -KENT. Oh, lord! ... I'd better start on them. - -FRANCES. [_Continuing in her smooth oldmaidish manner._] Thank you for -getting engaged just before you went off with Henry ... it has given me my -only news of him, through Lucy and your postcards. - -TREBELL. Oh, what about Wedgecroft? - -KENT. I think it was he spun up just as I'd been let in. - -TREBELL. Oh, well ... [_And he rings at the telephone which is on his -table._] - -KENT. [_Confiding in_ MISS TREBELL.] We're a common sense couple, aren't we? -I offered to ask to stay behind but she.... - - SIMPSON, _the maid, comes in._ - -SIMPSON. Dr. Wedgecroft, sir. - - WEDGECROFT _is on her heels. If you have an eye for essentials you may - tell at once that he is a doctor, but if you only notice externals you - will take him, for anything else. He is over forty and in perfect - health of body and spirit. His enthusiasms are his vitality and he has - too many of them ever to lose one. He squeezes_ MISS TREBELL'S _hand - with an air of fearless affection which is another of his - characteristics and not the least loveable._ - -WEDGECROFT. How are you? - -FRANCES. I'm very well, thanks. - -WEDGECROFT. [_To_ TREBELL, _as they shake hands._] You're looking fit. - -TREBELL. [_With tremendous emphasis._] I am! - -WEDGECROFT. You've got the motor eye though. - -TREBELL. Full of dust? - -WEDGECROFT. Look at Kent's. [_He takes_ WALTER'S _arm._] It's a slight but -serious contraction of the pupil ... which I charge fifty guineas to cure. - -FRANCES. It's the eye of faith in you and your homeopathic doses. Don't you -interfere with it. - - FRANCES TREBELL, _housekeeper, goes out._ KENT _has seized on the - letters and is carrying them to his room._ - -KENT. This looks like popularity and the great heart of the people, doesn't -it? - -WEDGECROFT. Trebell, you're not ill, and I've work to do. - -TREBELL. I want ten minutes. Keep anybody out, Kent. - -KENT. I'll switch that speaking tube arrangement to my room. - - TREBELL, _overflowing with vitality, starts to face the floor._ - -TREBELL. I've seen the last of Pump Court, Gilbert. - -WEDGECROFT. The Bar ought to give you a testimonial ... to the man who not -only could retire on twenty years' briefs, but has. - -TREBELL. Fifteen. But I bled the City sharks with a good conscience ... -quite freely. - -WEDGECROFT. [_With a pretence at grumbling._] I wish I could retire. - -TREBELL. No you don't. Doctoring's a priestcraft ... you've taken vows. - -WEDGECROFT. Then why don't you establish _our_ church instead of ... - -TREBELL. Yes, my friend ... but you're a heretic. I'd have to give the -Medical Council power to burn you at the stake. - -KENT. [_With the book packages._] Parcel from the S.P.C.K., sir. - -TREBELL. I know.... Disestablishment a crime against God; sermon preached by -the Vicar of something Parva in eighteen seventy three. I hope you're aware -it's your duty to read all those. - -KENT. Suppose they convert me? Lucy wanted to know if she could see you. - -TREBELL. [_His eyebrows up._] Yes, I'll call at Mrs. Farrant's. Oh, wait. -Aren't they coming to dinner? - -KENT. To-night? No, I think they go back to Shapters by the five o'clock. I -told her she might come round about twelve on the chance. - -TREBELL. Yes ... if Cantelupe's punctual ... I'd sooner not have too long -with him. - -KENT. All right, then. - - _He goes, shutting the door; then you hear the door of his room shut - too. The two friends face each other, glad of a talk._ - -TREBELL. Well? - -WEDGECROFT. Well ... you'll never do it. - -TREBELL. Yes, I shall. - -WEDGECROFT. You can't carry any bill to be a credit to you with the coming -Tory cabinet on your back. You know the Government is cursing you with its -dying breath. - -TREBELL. [_Rubbing his hands._] Of course. They've been beaten out of the -House and in now. I suppose they will meet Parliament. - -WEDGECROFT. They must, I think. It's over a month since-- - -TREBELL. [_His thoughts running quickly._] There'll only be a nominal -majority of sixteen against them. The Labour lot are committed on their side -... and now that the Irish have gone-- - -WEDGECROFT. But they'll be beaten on the Address first go. - -TREBELL. Yes ... Horsham hasn't any doubt of it. - -WEDGECROFT. He'll be in office within a week of the King's speech. - -TREBELL. [_With another access of energy._] I'll pull the bill that's in my -head through a Horsham cabinet and the House. Then I'll leave them ... -they'll go to the country-- - -WEDGECROFT. You know Percival's pledge about that at Bristol wasn't very -definite. - -TREBELL. Horsham means to. - -WEDGECROFT. [_With friendly contempt._] Oh, Horsham! - -TREBELL. Anyway, it's about Percival I want you. How ill is he? - -WEDGECROFT. Not very. - -TREBELL. Is he going to die? - -WEDGECROFT. Well, I'm attending him. - -TREBELL. [_Pinked._] Yes ... that's a good answer. How does he stomach me in -prospect as a colleague, so far? - -WEDGECROFT. Sir, professional etiquette forbids me to disclose what a -patient may confess in the sweat of his agony. - -TREBELL. He'll be Chancellor again and lead the House. - -WEDGECROFT. Why not? He only grumbles that he's getting old. - -TREBELL. [_Thinking busily again._] The difficulty is I shall have to stay -through one budget with them. He'll have a surplus ... well, it looks like -it ... and my only way of agreeing with him will be to collar it. - -WEDGECROFT. But ... good heavens! ... you'll have a hundred million or so to -give away when you've disendowed. - -TREBELL. Not to give away. I'll sell every penny. - -WEDGECROFT. [_With an incredulous grin._] You're not going back to extending -old-age pensions after turning the unfortunate Liberals out on it, are you? - -TREBELL. No, no ... none of your half crown measures. They can wait to round -off their solution of that till they've the courage to make one big bite of -it. - -WEDGECROFT. We shan't see the day. - -TREBELL. [_Lifting the subject off its feet._] Not if I come out of the -cabinet and preach revolution? - -WEDGECROFT. Or will they make a Tory of you? - -TREBELL. [_Acknowledging that stroke with a return grin._] It'll be said -they have when the bill is out. - -WEDGECROFT. It's said so already. - -TREBELL. Who knows a radical bill when he sees it! - -WEDGECROFT. I'm not pleased you have to be running a tilt against the party -system. [_He becomes a little dubious._] My friend ... it's a nasty -windmill. Oh, you've not seen that article in the Nation on Politics and -Society ... it's written at Mrs. Farrant and Lady Lurgashall and that set. -They hint that the Tories would never have had you if it hadn't been for -this bad habit of opposite party men meeting each other. - -TREBELL. [_Unimpressed._] Excellent habit! What we really want in this -country is a coalition of all the shibboleths with the rest of us in -opposition ... for five years only. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Smiling generously._] Well, it's a sensation to see you become -arbiter. The Tories are owning they can't do without you. Percival likes you -personally ... Townsend don't matter ... Cantelupe you buy with a price, I -suppose ... Farrant you can put in your pocket. I tell you I think the man -you may run up against is Blackborough. - -TREBELL. No, all he wants is to be let look big ... and to have an idea -given him when he's going to make a speech, which isn't often. - -WEDGECROFT. Otherwise ... I suppose ... now I may go down to history as -having been in your confidence. I'm very glad you've arrived. - -TREBELL. [_With great seriousness._] I've sharpened myself as a weapon to -this purpose. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Kindly._] And you're sure of yourself, aren't you? - -TREBELL. [_Turning his wrist._] Try. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Slipping his doctor's fingers over the the pulse._] Seventy, I -should say. - -TREBELL. I promise you it hasn't varied a beat these three big months. - -WEDGECROFT. Well, I wish it had. Perfect balance is most easily lost. How do -you know you've the power of recovery? ... and it's that gets one up in the -morning day by day. - -TREBELL. Is it? My brain works steadily on ... hasn't failed me yet. I keep -it well fed. [_He breathes deeply._] But I'm not sure one shouldn't have -been away from England for five years instead of five weeks ... to come back -to a job like this with a fresh mind. D'you know why really I went back on -the Liberals over this question? Not because they wanted the church money -for their pensions ... but because all they can see in Disestablishment is -destruction. Any fool can destroy! I'm not going to let a power like the -Church get loose from the State. A thirteen hundred years, tradition of -service ... and all they can think of is to cut it adrift! - -WEDGECROFT. I think the Church is moribund. - -TREBELL. Oh, yes, of course you do ... you sentimental agnostic anarchist. -Nonsense! The supernatural's a bit blown upon ... till we re-discover what -it means. But it's not essential. Nor is the Christian doctrine. Put a -Jesuit in a corner and shut the door and he'll own that. No ... the -tradition of self-sacrifice and fellowship in service for its own sake ... -that's the spirit we've to capture and keep. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Really struck._] A secular Church! - -TREBELL. [_With reasoning in his tone._] Well ... why not? Listen here. In -drafting an act of Parliament one must alternately imagine oneself God -Almighty and the most ignorant prejudiced little blighter who will be -affected by what's passed. God says: Let's have done with Heaven and Hell -... it's the Earth that shan't pass away. Why not turn all those theology -mongers into doctors or schoolmasters? - -WEDGECROFT. As to doctors-- - -TREBELL. Quite so, you naturally prejudiced blighter. That priestcraft don't -need re-inforcing. - -WEDGECROFT. It needs recognition. - -TREBELL. What! It's the only thing most people believe in. Talk about -superstition! However, there's more life in you. Therefore it's to be -schoolmasters. - -WEDGECROFT. How? - -TREBELL. Listen again, young man. In the youth of the world, when priests -were the teachers of men.... - -WEDGECROFT. [_Not to be preached at._] And physicians of men. - -TREBELL. Shut up. - -WEDGECROFT. If there's any real reform going, I want my profession made into -a state department. I won't shut up for less. - -TREBELL. [_Putting this aside with one finger._] I'll deal with you later. -There's still Youth in the world in another sense; but the priests haven't -found out the difference yet, so they're wasting most of their time. - -WEDGECROFT. Religious education won't do now-a-days. - -TREBELL. What's Now-a-days? You're very dull, Gilbert. - -WEDGECROFT. I'm not duller than the people who will have to understand your -scheme. - -TREBELL. They won't understand it. I shan't explain to them that education -_is_ religion, and that those who deal in it are priests without any laying -on of hands. - -WEDGECROFT. No matter what they teach? - -TREBELL. No ... the matter is how they teach it. I see schools in the -future, Gilbert, not built next to the church, but on the site of the -church. - -WEDGECROFT. Do you think the world is grown up enough to do without dogma? - -TREBELL. Yes, I do. - -WEDGECROFT. What!... and am I to write my prescriptions in English? - -TREBELL. Yes, you are. - -WEDGECROFT. Lord save us! I never thought to find you a visionary. - -TREBELL. Isn't it absurd to think that in a hundred years we shall be giving -our best brains and the price of them not to training grown men into the -discipline of destruction ... not even to curing the ills which we might be -preventing ... but to teaching our children. There's nothing else to be done -... nothing else matters. But it's work for a priesthood. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Affected; not quite convinced._] Do you think you can buy a -tradition and transmute it? - -TREBELL. Don't mock at money. - -WEDGECROFT. I never have. - -TREBELL. But you speak of it as an end not as a means. That's unfair. - -WEDGECROFT. I speaks as I finds. - -TREBELL. I'll buy the Church, not with money, but with the promise of new -life. [_A certain rather gleeful cunning comes over him._] It'll only look -like a dose of reaction at first ... Sectarian Training Colleges endowed to -the hilt. - -WEDGECROFT. What'll the Nonconformists say? - -TREBELL. Bribe them with the means of equal efficiency. The crux of the -whole matter will be in the statutes. I'll force on those colleges. - -WEDGECROFT. They'll want dogma. - -TREBELL. Dogma's not a bad thing if you've power to adapt it occasionally. - -WEDGECROFT. Instead of spending your brains in explaining it. Yes, I agree. - -TREBELL. [_With full voice._] But in the creed I'll lay down as unalterable -there shall be neither Jew nor Greek.... What do you think of St. Paul, -Gilbert? - -WEDGECROFT. I'd make him the head of a college. - -TREBELL. I'll make the Devil himself head of a college, if he'll undertake -to teach honestly all he knows. - -WEDGECROFT. And he'll conjure up Comte and Robespierre for you to assist in -this little _rechauffée_ of their schemes. - -TREBELL. Hullo! Comte I knew about. Have I stolen from Robespierre too? - -WEDGECROFT. [_Giving out the epigram with an air._] Property to him who can -make the best use of it. - -TREBELL. And then what we must do is to give the children power over their -teachers? - - _Now he is comically enigmatic._ WEDGECROFT _echoes him._ - -WEDGECROFT. And what exactly do you mean by that? - -TREBELL. [_Serious again._] How positive a pedagogue would you be if you had -to prove your cases and justify your creed every century or so to the pupils -who had learnt just a little more than you could teach them? Give power to -the future, my friend ... not to the past. Give responsibility ... even if -you give it for your own discredit. What's beneath trust deeds and last -wills and testaments, and even acts of Parliament and official creeds? Fear -of the verdict of the next generation ... fear of looking foolish in their -eyes. Ah, we ... doing our best now ... must be ready for every sort of -death. And to provide the means of change and disregard of the past is a -secret of statesmanship. Presume that the world will come to an end every -thirty years if it's not reconstructed. Therefore give responsibility ... -give responsibility ... give the children power. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Disposed to whistle._] Those statutes will want some framing. - -TREBELL. [_Relapsing to a chuckle._] There's an incidental change to -foresee. Disappearance of the parson into the schoolmaster ... and the -Archdeacon into the Inspector ... and the Bishop into--I rather hope he'll -stick to his mitre, Gilbert. - -WEDGECROFT. Some Ruskin will arise and make him. - -TREBELL. [_As he paces the room and the walls of it fade away to him._] What -a church could be made of the best brains in England, sworn only to learn -all they could teach what they knew without fear of the future or favour to -the past ... sworn upon their honour as seekers after truth, knowingly to -tell no child a lie. It will come. - -WEDGECROFT. A priesthood of women too? There's the tradition of service with -them. - -TREBELL. [_With the sourest look yet on his face._] Slavery ... not quite -the same thing. And the paradox of such slavery is that they're your only -tyrants. - - [_At this moment the bell of the telephone upon the table rings. He - goes to it talking the while._] - -One has to be very optimistic not to advocate the harem. That's simple and -wholesome.... Yes? - - KENT _comes in._ - -KENT. Does it work? - -TREBELL. [_Slamming down the receiver._] You and your new toy! What is it? - -KENT. I'm not sure about the plugs of it ... I thought I'd got them wrong. -Mrs. O'Connell has come to see Miss Trebell, who is out, and she says will -we ask you if any message has been left for her. - -TREBELL. No. Oh, about dinner? Well, she's round at Mrs. Farrant's. - -KENT. I'll ring them up. - - _He goes back into his room to do so leaving_ TREBELL'S _door open. - The two continue their talk._ - -TREBELL. My difficulties will be with Percival. - -WEDGECROFT. Not over the Church. - -TREBELL. You see I must discover how keen he'd be on settling the Education -quarrel, once and for all ... what there is left of it. - -WEDGECROFT. He's not sectarian. - -TREBELL. It'll cost him his surplus. When'll he be up and about? - -WEDGECROFT. Not for a week or more. - -TREBELL. [_Knitting his brow._] And I've to deal with Cantelupe. Curious -beggar, Gilbert. - -WEDGECROFT. Not my sort. He'll want some dealing with over your bill as -introduced to me. - -TREBELL. I've not cross-examined company promoters for ten years without -learning how to do business with a professional high churchman. - -WEDGECROFT. Providence limited ... eh? - - _They are interrupted by_ MRS. O'CONNELL'S _appearance in the doorway. - She is rather pale, very calm; but there is pain in her eyes and her - voice is unnaturally steady._ - -AMY. Your maid told me to come up and I'm interrupting business.... I -thought she was wrong. - -TREBELL. [_With no trace of self-consciousness._] Well ... how are you, -after this long time? - -AMY. How do you do? [_Then she sees_ WEDGECROFT _and has to control a -shrinking from him._] Oh! - -WEDGECROFT. How are you, Mrs. O'Connell? - -TREBELL. Kent is telephoning to Frances. He knows where she is. - -AMY. How are you, Dr. Wedgecroft? [_then to_ TREBELL.] Did you have a good -holiday? London pulls one to pieces wretchedly. I shall give up living here -at all. - -WEDGECROFT. You look very well. - -AMY. Do I! - -TREBELL. A very good holiday. Sit down ... he won't be a minute. - - _She sits on the nearest chair._ - -AMY. You're not ill ... interviewing a doctor? - -TREBELL. The one thing Wedgecroft's no good at is doctoring. He keeps me -well by sheer moral suasion. - - KENT _comes out of his room and is off downstairs._ - - TREBELL _calls to him._ - -TREBELL. Mrs. O'Connell's here. - -KENT. Oh! [_He comes back and into the room._] Miss Trebell hasn't got there -yet. - - WEDGECROFT _has suddenly looked at his watch._ - -WEDGECROFT. I must fly. Good bye, Mrs. O'Connell. - -AMY. [_Putting her hand, constrained by its glove, into his open hand._] I -am always a little afraid of you. - -WEDGECROFT. That isn't the feeling a doctor wants to inspire. - -KENT. [_To_ TREBELL.] David Evans-- - -TREBELL. Evans? - -KENT. The reverend one ... is downstairs and wants to see you. - -WEDGECROFT. [_As he comes to them._] Hampstead Road Tabernacle ... Oh, the -mammon of righteousness! - -TREBELL. Shut up! How long have I before Lord Charles--? - -KENT. Only ten minutes. - - MRS. O'CONNELL _goes to sit at the big table, and apparently idly - takes a sheet of paper to scribble on._ - -TREBELL. [_Half thinking, half questioning._] He's a man I can say nothing -to politely. - -WEDGECROFT. I'm off to Percival's now. Then I've another case and I'm due -back at twelve. If there's anything helpful to say I'll look in again for -two minutes ... not more. - -TREBELL. You're a good man. - -WEDGECROFT. [_As he goes._] Congratulations, Kent. - -KENT. [_Taking him to the stairs._] Thank you very much. - -AMY. [_Beckoning with her eyes._] What's this, Mr. Trebell? - -TREBELL. Eh? I beg your pardon. - - _He goes behind her and reads over her shoulder what she has written._ - KENT _comes back._ - -KENT. Shall I bring him up here? - - TREBELL _looks up and for a moment stares at his secretary rather - sharply, then speaks in a matter-of-fact voice._ - -TREBELL. See him yourself, downstairs. Talk to him for five minutes ... find -out what he wants. Tell him it will be as well for the next week or two if -he can say he hasn't seen me. - -KENT. Yes. - - _He goes._ TREBELL _follows him to the door which he shuts. Then he - turns to face_ AMY, _who is tearing up the paper she wrote on._ - -TREBELL. What is it? - -AMY. [_Her steady voice breaking, her carefully calculated control giving -way._] Oh Henry ... Henry! - -TREBELL. Are you in trouble? - -AMY. You'll hate me, but ... oh, it's brutal of you to have been away so -long. - -TREBELL. Is it with your husband? - -AMY. Perhaps. Oh, come nearer to me ... do. - -TREBELL. [_Coming nearer without haste or excitement._] Well? [_Her eyes are -closed._] My dear girl, I'm too busy for love-making now. If there are any -facts to be faced, let me have them ... quite quickly. - - _She looks up at him for a moment; then speaks swiftly and sharply as - one speaks of disaster._ - -AMY. There's a danger of my having a child ... your child ... some time in -April. That's all. - -TREBELL. [_A sceptic who has seen a vision._] Oh ... it's impossible. - -AMY. [_Flashing at him, revengefully._] Why? - -TREBELL. [_Brought to his mundane self_] Well ... are you sure? - -AMY. [_In sudden agony._] D'you think I want it to be true? D'you think I--? -You don't know what it is to have a thing happening in spite of you. - -TREBELL. [_His face set in thought._] Where have you been since we met? - -AMY. Not to Ireland ... I haven't seen Justin for a year. - -TREBELL. All the easier for you not to see him for another year. - -AMY. That wasn't what you meant. - -TREBELL. It wasn't ... but never mind. - - _They are silent for a moment ... miles apart ... Then she speaks - dully._ - -AMY. We do hate each other ... don't we! - -TREBELL. Nonsense. Let's think of what matters. - -AMY. [_Aimlessly._] I went to a man at Dover ... picked him out of the -directory ... didn't give my own name ... pretended I was off abroad. He was -a kind old thing ... said it was all most satisfactory. Oh, my God! - -TREBELL. [_He goes to bend over her kindly._] Yes, you've had a torturing -month or two. That's been wrong, I'm sorry. - -AMY. Even now I have to keep telling myself that it's so ... otherwise I -couldn't understand it. Any more than one really believes one will ever die -... one doesn't believe that, you know. - -TREBELL. [_On the edge of a sensation that is new to him._] I am told that a -man begins to feel unimportant from this moment forward. Perhaps it's true. - -AMY. What has it to do with you anyhow? We don't belong to each other. How -long were we together that night? Half an hour! You didn't seem to care a -bit until after you'd kissed me and ... this is an absurd consequence. - -TREBELL. Nature's a tyrant. - -AMY. Oh, it's my punishment ... I see that well enough ... for thinking -myself so clever ... forgetting my duty and religion ... not going to -confession, I mean. [_Then hysterically._] God can make you believe in Him -when he likes, can't he? - -TREBELL. [_With comfortable strength._] My dear girl, this needs your pluck. -[_And he sits by her._] All we have to do is to prevent it being found out. - -AMY. Yes ... the scandal would smash you, wouldn't it? - -TREBELL. There isn't going to be any scandal. - -AMY. No ... if we're careful. You'll tell me what to do, won't you? Oh, it's -a relief to be able to talk about it. - -TREBELL. For one thing, you must take care of yourself and stop worrying. - - _It soothes her to feel that he is concerned; but it is not enough to - be soothed._ - -AMY. Yes, I wouldn't like to have been the means of smashing you, Henry ... -especially as you don't care for me. - -TREBELL. I intend to care for you. - -AMY. Love me, I mean. I wish you did ... a little; then perhaps I shouldn't -feel so degraded. - -TREBELL. [_A shade impatiently, a shade contemptuously_] I can say I love -you if that'll make things easier. - -AMY. [_More helpless than ever._] If you'd said it at first I should be -taking it for granted ... though it wouldn't be any more true, I daresay, -than now ... when I should know you weren't telling the truth. - -TREBELL. Then I'd do without so much confusion. - -AMY. Don't be so heartless. - -TREBELL. [_As he leaves her._] We seem to be attaching importance to such -different things. - -AMY. [_Shrill even at a momentary desertion._] What do you mean? I want -affection now just as I want food. I can't do without it ... I can't reason -things out as you can. D'you think I haven't tried? [_Then in sudden -rebellion._] Oh, the physical curse of being a woman ... no better than any -savage in this condition ... worse off than an animal. It's unfair. - -TREBELL. Never mind ... you're here now to hand me half the responsibility, -aren't you? - -AMY. As if I could! If I have to lie through the night simply shaking with -bodily fear much longer ... I believe I shall go mad. - - _This aspect of the matter is meaningless to him. He returns to the - practical issue._ - -TREBELL. There's nobody that need be suspecting, is there? - -AMY. My maid sees I'm ill and worried and makes remarks ... only to me so -far. Don't I look a wreck? I nearly ran away when I saw Dr. Wedgecroft ... -some of these men are so clever. - -TREBELL. [_Calculating._] Someone will have to be trusted. - -AMY. [_Burrowing into her little tortured self again._] And I ought to feel -as if I had done Justin a great wrong ... but I don't. I hate you now; now -and then. I was being myself. You've brought me down. I feel worthless. - - _The last word strikes him. He stares at her._ - -TREBELL. Do you? - -AMY. [_Pleadingly._] There's only one thing I'd like you to tell me, Henry -... it isn't much. That night we were together ... it was for a moment -different to everything that has ever been in your life before, wasn't it? - -TREBELL. [_Collecting himself as if to explain to a child._] I must make you -understand ... I must get you to realise that for a little time to come -you're above the law ... above even the shortcomings and contradictions of a -man's affection. - -AMY. But let us have one beautiful memory to share. - -TREBELL. [_Determined she shall face the cold logic of her position._] -Listen. I look back on that night as one looks back on a fit of drunkenness. - -AMY. [_Neither understanding nor wishing to; only shocked and hurt._] You -beast. - -TREBELL. [_With bitter sarcasm._] No, don't say that. Won't it comfort you -to think of drunkenness as a beautiful thing? There are precedents enough -... classic ones. - -AMY. You mean I might have been any other woman. - -TREBELL. [_Quite inexorable._] Wouldn't any other woman have served the -purpose ... and is it less of a purpose because we didn't know we had it? -Does my unworthiness then ... if you like to call it so ... make you -unworthy now? I must make you see that it doesn't. - -AMY. [_Petulantly hammering at her idée fixe._] But you didn't love me ... -and you don't love me. - -TREBELL. [_Keeping his patience._] No ... only within the last five minutes -have I really taken the smallest interest in you. And now I believe I'm half -jealous. Can you understand that? You've been talking a lot of nonsense -about your emotions and your immortal soul. Don't you see it's only now that -you've become a person of some importance to the world ... and why? - -AMY. [_Losing her patience, childishly._] What do you mean by the World? You -don't seem to have any personal feelings at all. It's horrible you should -have thought of me like that. There has been no other man than you that I -would have let come anywhere near me ... not for more than a year. - - _He realises that she will never understand._ - -TREBELL. My dear girl, I'm sorry to be brutal. Does it matter so much to you -that I should have wished to be the father of your child? - -AMY. [_Ungracious but pacified by his change of tone._] It doesn't matter -now. - -TREBELL. [_Friendly still._] On principle I don't make promises. But I think -I can promise you that if you keep your head and will keep your health, this -shall all be made as easy for you as if everyone could know. And let's -think what the child may mean to you ... just the fact of his birth. Nothing -to me, of course! Perhaps that accounts for the touch of jealousy. I've -forfeited my rights because I hadn't honourable intentions. You can't -forfeit yours. Even if you never see him and he has to grow up among -strangers ... just to have had a child must make a difference to you. Of -course, it may be a girl. I wonder. - - _As he wanders on so optimistically she stares at him and her face - changes. She realises...._ - -AMY. Do you expect me to go through with this? Henry! ... I'd sooner kill -myself. - - _There is silence between them. He looks at her as one looks at some - unnatural thing. Then after a moment he speaks, very coldly._ - -TREBELL. Oh ... indeed. Don't get foolish ideas into your head. You've no -choice now ... no reasonable choice. - -AMY. [_Driven to bay; her last friend an enemy._] I won't go through with -it. - -TREBELL. It hasn't been so much the fear of scandal then-- - -AMY. That wouldn't break my heart. You'd marry me, wouldn't you? We could go -away somewhere. I could be very fond of you, Henry. - -TREBELL. [_Marvelling at these tangents._] Marry you! I should murder you in -a week. - - _This sounds only brutal to her; she lets herself be shamed._ - -AMY. You've no more use for me than the use you've made of me. - -TREBELL. [_Logical again._] Won't you realise that there's a third party to -our discussion ... that I'm of no importance beside him and you of very -little. Think of the child. - - AMY _blazes into desperate rebellion._ - -AMY. There's no child because I haven't chosen there shall be and there -shan't be because I don't choose. You'd have me first your plaything and -then Nature's, would you? - -TREBELL. [_A little abashed._] Come now, you knew what you were about. - -AMY. [_Thinking of those moments._] Did I? I found myself wanting you, -belonging to you suddenly. I didn't stop to think and explain. But are we -never to be happy and irresponsible ... never for a moment? - -TREBELL. Well ... one can't pick and choose consequences. - -AMY. Your choices in life have made you what you want to be, haven't they? -Leave me mine. - -TREBELL. But it's too late to argue like that. - -AMY. If it is, I'd better jump into the Thames. I've thought of it. - - _He considers how best to make a last effort to bring her to her - senses. He sits by her._ - -TREBELL. Amy ... if you were my wife-- - -AMY. [_Unresponsive to him now._] I was Justin's wife, and I went away from -him sooner than bear him children. Had I the right to choose or had I not? - -TREBELL. [_Taking another path._] Shall I tell you something I believe? If -we were left to choose, we should stand for ever deciding whether to start -with the right foot or the left. We blunder into the best things in life. -Then comes the test ... have we faith enough to go on ... to go through with -the unknown thing? - -AMY. [_So bored by these metaphysics._] Faith in what? - -TREBELL. Our vitality. I don't give a fig for beauty, happiness, or brains. -All I ask of myself is ... can I pay Fate on demand? - -AMY. Yes ... in imagination. But I've got physical facts to face. - - _But he has her attention now and pursues the advantage._ - -TREBELL. Very well then ... let the meaning of them go. Look forward simply -to a troublesome illness. In a little while you can go abroad quietly and -wait patiently. We're not fools and we needn't find fools to trust in. Then -come back to England.... - -AMY. And forget. That seems simple enough, doesn't it? - -TREBELL. If you don't want the child let it be mine ... not yours. - -AMY. [_Wondering suddenly at this bond between them._] Yours! What would you -do with it? - -TREBELL. [_Matter-of-fact._] Provide for it, of course. - -AMY. Never see it, perhaps. - -TREBELL. Perhaps not. If there were anything to be gained ... for the child. -I'll see that he has his chance as a human being. - -AMY. How hopeful! [_Now her voice drops. She is looking back, perhaps at a -past self._] If you loved me ... perhaps I might learn to love the thought -of your child. - -TREBELL. [_As if half his life depended on her answer._] Is that true? - -AMY. [_Irritably._] Why are you picking me to pieces? I think that is true. -If you had been loving me for a long, long time--[_The agony rushes back on -her._] But now I'm only afraid. You might have some pity for me ... I'm so -afraid. - -TREBELL. [_Touched._] Indeed ... indeed, I'll take what share of this I can. - - _She shrinks from him unforgivingly._ - -AMY. No, let me alone. I'm nothing to you. I'm a sick beast in danger of my -life, that's all ... cancerous! - - _He is roused for the first time, roused to horror and protest._ - -TREBELL. Oh, you unhappy woman! ... if life is like death to you.... - -AMY. [_Turning on him._] Don't lecture me! If you're so clever put a stop -to this horror. Or you might at least say you're sorry. - -TREBELL. Sorry! [_The bell on the table rings jarringly._] Cantelupe! - - _He goes to the telephone. She gets up cold and collected, steadied - merely by the unexpected sound._ - -AMY. I mustn't keep you from governing the country. I'm sure you'll do it -very well. - -TREBELL. [_At the telephone._] Yes, bring him up, of course ... isn't Mr. -Kent there? [_then to her._] I may be ten minutes with him or half an hour. -Wait and we'll come to a conclusion. - -KENT _comes in, an open letter in his hand._ - -KENT. This note, sir. Had I better go round myself and see him? - -TREBELL. [_As he takes the note._] Cantelupe's come. - -KENT. [_Glancing at the telephone._] Oh, has he! - -TREBELL. [_As he reads._] Yes I think you had. - -KENT. Evans was very serious. - - _He goes back into his room._ AMY _moves swiftly to where_ TREBELL _is - standing and whispers._ - -AMY. Won't you tell me whom to go to? - -TREBELL. No. - -AMY. Oh, really ... what unpractical sentimental children you men are! You -and your consciences ... you and your laws. You drive us to distraction and -sometimes to death by your stupidities. Poor women--! - - _The Maid comes in to announce_ LORD CHARLES CANTELUPE, _who follows - her._ CANTELUPE _is forty, unathletic, and a gentleman in the best and - worst sense of the word. He moves always with a caution which may - betray his belief in the personality of the Devil. He speaks - cautiously too, and as if not he but something inside him were - speaking. One feels that before strangers he would not if he could - help it move or speak at all. A pale face: the mouth would be - hardened by fanaticism were it not for the elements of Christianity in - his religion: and he has the limpid eye of the enthusiast._ - -TREBELL. Glad to see you. You know Mrs O'Connell. - - CANTELUPE _bows in silence._ - -AMY. We have met. - - _She offers her hand. He silently takes it and drops it._ - -TREBELL. Then you'll wait for Frances. - -AMY. Is it worth while? - - KENT _with his hat on leaves his room and goes downstairs._ - -TREBELL. Have you anything better to do? - -AMY. There's somewhere I can go. But I mustn't keep you chatting of my -affairs. Lord Charles is impatient to disestablish the Church. - -CANTELUPE. [_Unable to escape a remark._] Forgive me, since that is also -your affair. - -AMY. Oh ... but I was received at the Oratory when I was married. - -CANTELUPE. [_With contrition._] I beg your pardon. - - _Then he makes for the other side of the room_, TREBELL _and_ MRS. - O'CONNELL _stroll to the door, their eyes full of meaning._ - -AMY. I think I'll go on to this place that I've heard of. If I wait ... for -your sister ... she may disappoint me again. - -TREBELL. Wait. - - KENT'S _room is vacant._ - -AMY. Well ... in here? - -TREBELL. If you like law-books. - -AMY. I haven't been much of an interruption now, have I? - -TREBELL. Please wait. - -AMY. Thank you. - - TREBELL _shuts her in, for a moment seems inclined to lock her in, - but he comes back into his own room and faces_ CANTELUPE, _who having - primed and trained himself on his subject like a gun, fires off a - speech, without haste, but also apparently without taking breath._ - -CANTELUPE. I was extremely thankful, Mr. Trebell, to hear last week from -Horsham that you will see your way to join his cabinet and undertake the -disestablishment bill in the House of Commons. Any measure of mine, I have -always been convinced, would be too much under the suspicion of blindly -favouring Church interests to command the allegiance of that heterogeneous -mass of thought ... in some cases, alas, of free thought ... which -now-a-days composes the Conservative party. I am more than content to -exercise what influence I may from a seat in the cabinet which will -authorise the bill. - -TREBELL. Yes. That chair's comfortable. - - CANTELUPE _takes another._ - -CANTELUPE. Horsham forwarded to me your memorandum upon the conditions you -held necessary and I incline to think I may accept them in principle on -behalf of those who honour me with their confidences. - - _He fishes some papers from his pocket._ TREBELL _sits squarely at his - table to grapple with the matter._ - -TREBELL. Horsham told me you did accept them ... it's on that I'm joining. - -CANTELUPE. Yes ... in principle. - -TREBELL. Well ... we couldn't carry a bill you disapproved of, could we? - -CANTELUPE. [_With finesse._] I hope not. - -TREBELL. [_A little dangerously._] And I have no intention of being made the -scapegoat of a wrecked Tory compromise with the Nonconformists. - -CANTELUPE. [_Calmly ignoring the suggestion._] So far as I am concerned I -meet the Nonconformists on their own ground ... that Religion had better be -free from all compromise with the State. - -TREBELL. Quite so ... if you're set free you'll look after yourselves. My -discovery must be what to do with the men who think more of the state than -their Church ... the majority of parsons, don't you think? ... if the -question's really put and they can be made to understand it. - -CANTELUPE. [_With sincere disdain._] There are more profitable professions. - -TREBELL. And less. Will you allow me that it is statecraft to make a -profession profitable? - - CANTELUPE _picks up his papers, avoiding theoretical discussion._ - -CANTELUPE. Well now ... will you explain to me this project for endowing -Education with your surplus? - -TREBELL. Putting Appropriation, the Buildings and the Representation -question on one side for the moment? - -CANTELUPE. Candidly, I have yet to master your figures.... - -TREBELL. The roughest figures so far. - -CANTELUPE. Still I have yet to master them on the first two points. - -TREBELL. [_Firmly premising._] We agree that this is not diverting church -money to actually secular uses. - -CANTELUPE. [_As he peeps from under his eyelids._] I can conceive that it -might not be. You know that we hold Education to be a Church function. -But.... - -TREBELL. Can you accept thoroughly now the secular solution for all Primary -Schools? - -CANTELUPE. Haven't we always preferred it to the undenominational? Are there -to be facilities for _any_ of the teachers giving dogmatic instruction? - -TREBELL. I note your emphasis on any. I think we can put the burden of that -decision on local authorities. Let us come to the question of Training -Colleges for your teachers. It's on that I want to make my bargain. - -CANTELUPE. [_Alert and cautious._] You want to endow colleges? - -TREBELL. Heavily. - -CANTELUPE. Under public control? - -TREBELL. Church colleges under Church control. - -CANTELUPE. There'd be others? - -TREBELL. To preserve the necessary balance in the schools. - -CANTELUPE. Not founded with church money? - -TREBELL. Think of the grants in aid that will be released. I must ask the -Treasury for a further lump sum and with that there may be sufficient for -secular colleges ... if you can agree with me upon the statutes of those -over which you'd otherwise have free control. - - TREBELL _is weighing his words._ - -CANTELUPE. "You" meaning, for instance ... what authorities in the Church? - -TREBELL. Bishops, I suppose ... and others, [CANTELUPE _permits himself to -smile._] On that point I shall be weakness itself and ... may I suggest ... -your seat in the cabinet will give you some control. - -CANTELUPE. Statutes? - -TREBELL. To be framed in the best interests of educational efficiency. - -CANTELUPE. [_Finding an opening._] I doubt if we agree upon the meaning to -be attached to that term. - -TREBELL. [_Forcing the issue._] What meaning do you attach to it? - -CANTELUPE. [_Smiling again._] I have hardly a sympathetic listener. - -TREBELL. You have an unprejudiced one ... the best you can hope for. I was -not educated myself. I learnt certain things that I desired to know ... from -reading my first book--Don Quixote it was--to mastering Company Law. You -see, as a man without formulas either for education or religion, I am -perhaps peculiarly fitted to settle the double question. I have no grudges -... no revenge to take. - -CANTELUPE. [_Suddenly congenial._] Shelton's translation of Don Quixote I -hope ... the modern ones have no flavour. And you took all the adventures as -seriously as the Don did? - -TREBELL. [_Not expecting this._] I forget. - -CANTELUPE. It's the finer attitude ... the child's attitude. And it would -enable you immediately to comprehend mine towards an education consisting -merely of practical knowledge. The life of Faith is still the happy one. -What is more crushingly finite than knowledge? Moral discipline is a -nation's only safety. How much of your science tends in support of the great -spiritual doctrine of sacrifice! - - TREBELL _returns to his subject as forceful as ever._ - -TREBELL. The Church has assimilated much in her time. Do you think it wise -to leave agnostic science at the side of the plate? I think, you know, that -this craving for common knowledge is a new birth in the mind of man; and if -your church won't recognise that soon, by so much will she be losing her -grip for ever over men's minds. What's the test of godliness, but your power -to receive the new idea in whatever form it comes and give it life? It is -blasphemy to pick and choose your good. [_For a moment his thoughts seem to -be elsewhere._] That's an unhappy man or woman or nation ... I know it if it -has only come to me this minute ... and I don't care what their brains or -their riches or their beauty or any of their triumph may be ... they're -unhappy and useless if they can't tell life from death. - -CANTELUPE. [_Interested in the digression_] Remember that the Church's claim -has ever been to know that difference. - -TREBELL. [_Fastening to his subject again._] My point is this: A man's -demand to know the exact structure of a fly's wing, and his assertion that -it degrades any child in the street not to know such a thing, is a religious -revival ... a token of spiritual hunger. What else can it be? And we -commercialise our teaching! - -CANTELUPE. I wouldn't have it so. - -TREBELL. Then I'm offering you the foundation of a new Order of men and -women who'll serve God by teaching his children. Now shall we finish the -conversation in prose? - -CANTELUPE. [_Not to be put down._] What is the prose for God? - -TREBELL. [_Not to be put down either._] That's what we irreligious people -are giving our lives to discover. [_He plunges into detail._] I'm proposing -to found about seventy-two new colleges, and of course, to bring the ones -there are up to the new standard. Then we must gradually revise all teaching -salaries in government schools ... to a scale I have in mind. Then the -course must be compulsory and the training time doubled-- - -CANTELUPE. Doubled! Four years? - -TREBELL. Well, a minimum of three ... a university course. Remember we're -turning a trade into a calling. - -CANTELUPE. There's more to that than taking a degree. - -TREBELL. I think so. You've fought for years for your tests and your -atmosphere with plain business men not able to understand such lunacy. Quite -right ... atmosphere's all that matters. If one and one don't make two by -God's grace.... - -CANTELUPE. Poetry again! - -TREBELL. I beg your pardon. Well ... you've no further proof. If you can't -plant your thumb on the earth and your little finger on the pole star you -know nothing of distances. We must do away with text-book teachers. - - CANTELUPE _is opening out a little in spite of himself._ - -CANTELUPE. I'm waiting for our opinions to differ. - -TREBELL. [_Businesslike again._] I'll send you a draft of the statutes I -propose within a week. Meanwhile shall I put the offer this way. If I accept -your tests will you accept mine? - -CANTELUPE. What are yours? - -TREBELL. I believe if one provides for efficiency one provides for the best -part of truth ... honesty of statement. I shall hope for a little more -elasticity in your dogmas than Becket or Cranmer or Laud would have allowed. -When you've a chance to re-formulate the reasons of your faith for the -benefit of men teaching mathematics and science and history and political -economy, you won't neglect to answer or allow for criticisms and doubts. I -don't see why ... in spite of all the evidence to the contrary ... such a -thing as progress in a definite religious faith is impossible. - -CANTELUPE. Progress is a soiled word. [_And now he weighs his words._] I -shall be very glad to accept on the Church's behalf control of the teaching -of teachers in these colleges. - -TREBELL. Good. I want the best men. - -CANTELUPE. You are surprisingly inexperienced if you think that creeds can -ever become mere forms except to those who have none. - -TREBELL. But teaching--true teaching--is learning, and the wish to know is -going to prevail against any creed ... so I think. I wish you cared as -little for the form in which a truth is told as I do. On the whole, you see, -I think I shall manage to plant your theology in such soil this spring that -the garden will be fruitful. On the whole I'm a believer in Churches of all -sorts and their usefulness to the State. Your present use is out-worn. Have -I found you in this the beginnings of a new one? - -CANTELUPE. The Church says: Thank you, it is a very old one. - -TREBELL. [_Winding up the interview._] To be sure, for practical politics -our talk can be whittled down to your accepting the secular solution for -Primary Schools, if you're given these colleges under such statutes as you -and I shall agree upon. - -CANTELUPE. And the country will accept. - -TREBELL. The country will accept any measure if there's enough money in it -to bribe all parties fairly. - -CANTELUPE. You expect very little of the constancy of my Church to her -Faith, Mr. Trebell. - -TREBELL. I have only one belief myself. That is in human progress--yes, -progress--over many obstacles and by many means. I have no ideals. I believe -it is statesmanlike to use all the energy you find ... turning it into the -nearest channel that points forward. - -CANTELUPE. Forward to what? - -TREBELL. I don't know ... and my caring doesn't matter. We do know ... and -if we deny it it's only to be encouraged by contradiction ... that the -movement is forward and with some gathering purpose. I'm friends with any -fellow traveller. - - CANTELUPE _has been considering him very curiously. Now he gets up to - go._ - -CANTELUPE. I should like to continue our talk when I've studied your draft -of the statutes. Of course the political position is favourable to a far -more comprehensive bill than we had ever looked for ... and you've the -advantage now of having held yourself very free from party ties. In fact not -only will you give us the bill we shall most care to accept, but I don't -know what other man would give us a bill we and the other side could accept -at all. - -TREBELL. I can let you have more Appropriation figures by Friday. The -details of the Fabrics scheme will take a little longer. - -CANTELUPE. In a way there's no such hurry. We're not in office yet. - -TREBELL. When I'm building with figures I like to give the foundations time -to settle. Otherwise they are the inexactest things. - -CANTELUPE. [_Smiling to him for the first time._] We shall have you finding -Faith the only solvent of all problems some day. - -TREBELL. I hope my mind is not afraid ... even of the Christian religion. - -CANTELUPE. I am sure that the needs of the human soul ... be it dressed up -in whatever knowledge ... do not alter from age to age.... - - _He opens the door to find_ WEDGECROFT _standing outside, watch in - hand._ - -TREBELL. Hullo ... waiting? - -WEDGECROFT. I was giving you two minutes by my watch. How are you, -Cantelupe? - - CANTELUPE, _with a gesture which might be mistaken for a bow, folds - himself up._ - -TREBELL. Shall I bring you the figures on Friday ... that might save time. - - CANTELUPE, _by taking a deeper fold in himself seems to assent._ - -TREBELL. Will the afternoon do? Kent shall fix the hour. - -CANTELUPE. [_With an effort._] Kent? - -TREBELL. My secretary. - -CANTELUPE. Friday. Any hour before five. I know my way. - - _The three phrases having meant three separate efforts,_ CANTELUPE - _escapes._ WEDGECROFT _has walked to the table, his brows a little - puckered. Now_ TREBELL _notices that_ KENT'S _door is open; he goes - quickly into the room and finds it empty. Then he stands for a moment - irritable and undecided before returning._ - -TREBELL. Been here long? - -WEDGECROFT. Five minutes ... more, I suppose. - -TREBELL. Mrs. O'Connell gone? - -WEDGECROFT. To her dressmaker's. - -TREBELL. Frances forgot she was coming and went out. - -WEDGECROFT. Pretty little fool of a woman! D'you know her husband? - -TREBELL. No. - -WEDGECROFT. Says she's been in Ireland with him since we met at Shapters. He -has trouble with his tenantry. - -TREBELL. Won't he sell or won't they purchase? - -WEDGECROFT. Curious chap. A Don at Balliol when I first knew him. Warped of -late years ... perhaps by his marriage. - -TREBELL. [_Dismissing that subject._] Well ... how's Percival? - -WEDGECROFT. Better this morning. I told him I'd seen you ... and in a little -calculated burst of confidence what I'd reason to think you were after. He -said you and he could get on though you differed on every point; but he -didn't see how you'd pull with such a blasted weak-kneed lot as the rest of -the Horsham's cabinet would be. He'll be up in a week or ten days. - -TREBELL. Can I see him? - -WEDGECROFT. You might. I admire the old man ... the way he sticks to his -party, though they misrepresent now most things he believes in! - -TREBELL. What a damnable state to arrive at ... doubly damned by the fact -you admire it. - -WEDGECROFT. And to think that at this time of day you should need -instructing in the ethics of party government. But I'll have to do it. - -TREBELL. Not now. I've been at ethics with Cantelupe. - -WEDGECROFT. Certainly not now. What about my man with the stomach-ache at -twelve o'clock sharp! Good-bye. - - _He is gone,_ TREBELL _battles with uneasiness and at last mutters._ - "Oh ... why didn't she wait?" _Then the telephone bell rings. He goes - quickly as if it were an answer to his anxiety._ "Yes?" _Of course, it - isn't.._ "Yes." _He paces the room, impatient, wondering what to do. - The Maid comes in to announce_ MISS DAVENPORT. LUCY _follows her. She - has gained lately perhaps a little of the joy which was lacking and at - least she brings now into this room a breath of very wholesome - womanhood._ - -LUCY. It's very good of you to let me come; I'm not going to keep you more -than three minutes. - -TREBELL. Sit down. - - _Only women unused to busy men would call him rude._ - -LUCY. What I want to say is ... don't mind my being engaged to Walter. It -shan't interfere with his work for you. If you want a proof that it shan't -... it was I got Aunt Julia to ask you to take him.... Though he didn't know -... so don't tell him that. - -TREBELL. You weren't engaged then. - -LUCY. I ... thought that we might be. - -TREBELL. [_With cynical humour._] Which I'm not to tell him either? - -LUCY. Oh, that wouldn't matter. - -TREBELL. [_With decision._] I'll make sure you don't interfere. - -LUCY. [_Deliberately ... not to be treated as a child._] You couldn't, you -know, if I wanted to. - -TREBELL. Why, is Walter a fool? - -LUCY. He's very fond of me, if that's what you mean? - - TREBELL _looks at her for the first time and changes his tone a - little._ - -TREBELL. If it was what I meant ... I'm disposed to withdraw the suggestion. - -LUCY. And, because I'm fond of his work as well, I shan't therefore ask him -to tell me things ... secrets. - -TREBELL. [_Reverting to his humour._] It'll be when you're a year or two -married that danger may occur ... in his desperate effort to make -conversation. - - LUCY _considers this and him quite seriously._ - -LUCY. You're rather hard on women, aren't you ... just because they don't -have the chances men do. - -TREBELL. Do you want the chances? - -LUCY. I think I'm as clever as most men I meet, though I know less, of -course. - -TREBELL. Perhaps I should have offered you the secretaryship instead. - -LUCY. [_Readily._] Don't you think I'm taking it in a way ... by marrying -Walter? That's fanciful of course. But marriage is a very general and -complete sort of partnership, isn't it? At least, I'd like to make mine so. - -TREBELL. He'll be more under your thumb in some things if you leave him free -in others. - - _She receives the sarcasm in all seriousness and then speaks to him as - she would to a child._ - -LUCY. Oh ... I'm not explaining what I mean quite well perhaps. Walter has -been everywhere and done everything. He speaks three languages ... which all -makes him an ideal private secretary. - -TREBELL. Quite. - -LUCY. Do you think he'd develop into anything else ... but for me? - -TREBELL. So I have provided just a first step, have I? - -LUCY. [_With real enthusiasm._] Oh, Mr. Trebell, it's a great thing for us. -There isn't anyone worth working under but you. You'll make him think and -give him ideas instead of expecting them from him. But just for that reason -he'd get so attached to you and be quite content to grow old in your shadow -... if it wasn't for me. - -TREBELL. True ... I should encourage him in nothingness. What's more, I want -extra brains and hands. It's not altogether a pleasant thing, is it ... the -selfishness of the hard worked man? - -LUCY. If you don't grudge your own strength, why should you be tender of -other people's? - - _He looks at her curiously._ - -TREBELL. Your ambition is making for only second-hand satisfaction though. - -LUCY. What's a woman to do? She must work through men, mustn't she? - -TREBELL. I'm told that's degrading ... the influencing of husbands and -brothers and sons. - -LUCY. [_Only half humorously._] But what else is one to do with them? Of -course, I've enough money to live on ... so I could take up some woman's -profession ... What are you smiling at? - -TREBELL. [_Who has smiled very broadly._] As you don't mean to ... don't -stop while I tell you. - -LUCY. But I'd sooner get married. I want to have children. [_The words catch -him and hold him. He looks at her reverently this time. She remembers she -has transgressed convention; then, remembering that it is only convention, -proceeds quite simply._] I hope we shall have children. - -TREBELL. I hope so. - -LUCY. Thank you. That's the first kind thing you've said. - -TREBELL. Oh ... you can do without compliments, can't you? - - _She considers for a moment._ - -LUCY. Why have you been talking to me as if I were someone else? - -TREBELL. [_Startled._] Who else? - -LUCY. No one particular. But you've shaken a moral fist so to speak. I don't -think I provoked it. - -TREBELL. It's a bad parliamentary habit. I apologise. - - _She gets up to go._ - -LUCY. Now I shan't keep you longer ... you're always busy. You've been so -easy to talk to. Thank you very much. - -TREBELL. Why ... I wonder? - -LUCY. I knew you would be or I shouldn't have come. You think Life's an -important thing, don't you? That's priggish, isn't it? Good-bye. We're -coming to dinner ... Aunt Julia and I. Miss Trebell arrived to ask us just -as I left. - -TREBELL. I'll see you down. - -LUCY. What waste of time for you. I know how the door opens. - - _As she goes out_ WALTER KENT _is on the way to his room. The two nod - to each other like old friends._ TREBELL _turns away with something of - a sigh._ - -KENT. Just come? - -LUCY. Just going. - -KENT. I'll see you at dinner. - -LUCY. Oh, are you to be here? ... that's nice. - - LUCY _departs as purposefully as she came._ KENT _hurries to_ TREBELL, - _whose thoughts are away again by now._ - -KENT. I haven't been long there and back, have I? The Bishop gave me these -letters for you. He hasn't answered the last ... but I've his notes of what -he means to say. He'd like them back to-night. He was just going out. I've -one or two notes of what Evans said. Bit of a charlatan, don't you think? - -TREBELL. Evans? - -KENT. Well, he talked of his Flock. There are quite fifteen letters you'll -have to deal with yourself, I'm afraid. - - TREBELL _stares at him: then, apparently, making up his mind...._ - -TREBELL. Ring up a messenger, will you ... I must write a note and send it. - -KENT. Will you dictate? - -TREBELL. I shall have done it while you're ringing ... it's only a personal -matter. Then we'll start work. - - KENT _goes into his room and tackles the telephone there._ TREBELL - _sits down to write the note, his face very set and anxious._ - - - - -THE THIRD ACT - - -At LORD HORSHAM'S house in Queen Anne's Gate, in the evening, a week later. - -_If rooms express their owners' character, the grey and black of_ LORD -HORSHAM'S _drawing room, the faded brocade of its furniture, reveal him as a -man of delicate taste and somewhat thin intellectuality. He stands now -before a noiseless fire, contemplating with a troubled eye either the -pattern of the Old French carpet, or the black double doors of the library -opposite, or the moulding on the Adams ceiling, which the flicker of all the -candles casts into deeper relief. His grey hair and black clothes would melt -into the decoration of his room, were the figure not rescued from such -oblivion by the British white glaze of his shirt front and--to a sympathetic -eye--by the loveable perceptive face of the man. Sometimes he looks at the -sofa in front of him, on which sits_ WEDGECROFT, _still in the frock coat of -a busy day, depressed and irritable. With his back to them, on a sofa with -its back to them, is_ GEORGE FARRANT, _planted with his knees apart, his -hands clasped, his head bent; very glum. And sometimes_ HORSHAM _glances at -the door, as if waiting for it to open. Then his gaze will travel back, up -the long shiny black piano, with a volume of the Well Tempered Clavichord -open on its desk, to where_ CANTELUPE _is perched uncomfortably on the -bench; paler than ever; more self-contained than ever, looking, to one who -knows him as well as Horsham does, a little dangerous. So he returns to -contemplation of the ceiling or the carpet. They wait there as men wait who -have said all they want to say upon an unpleasant subject and yet cannot -dismiss it. At last_ FARRANT _breaks the silence._ - -FARRANT. What time did you ask him to come, Horsham? - -HORSHAM. Eh ... O'Connell? I didn't ask him directly. What time did you say, -Wedgecroft? - -WEDGECROFT. Any time after half past ten, I told him. - -FARRANT. [_Grumbling._] It's a quarter to eleven. Doesn't Blackborough mean -to turn up at all? - -HORSHAM. He was out of town ... my note had to be sent after him. I couldn't -wire, you see. - -FARRANT. No. - -CANTELUPE. It was by the merest chance your man caught me, Cyril. I was -taking the ten fifteen to Tonbridge and happened to go to James Street first -for some papers. - - _The conversation flags again._ - -CANTELUPE. But since Mrs. O'Connell is dead what is the excuse for a -scandal? - - _At this unpleasant dig into the subject of their thoughts the three - other men stir uncomfortably._ - -HORSHAM. Because the inquest is unavoidable ... apparently. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Suddenly letting fly._] I declare I'd I'd have risked penal -servitude and given a certificate, but just before the end O'Connell would -call in old Fielding Andrews, who has moral scruples about everything--it's -his trademark--and of course about this...! - -FARRANT. Was he told of the whole business? - -WEDGECROFT. No ... O'Connell kept things up before him. Well ... the woman -was dying. - -HORSHAM. Couldn't you have kept the true state of the case from Sir -Fielding? - -WEDGECROFT. And been suspected of the malpractice myself if he'd found it -out? ... which he would have done ... he's no fool. Well ... I thought of -trying that.... - -FARRANT. My dear Wedgecroft ... how grossly quixotic! You have a duty to -yourself. - -HORSHAM. [_Rescuing the conversation from unpleasantness._] I'm afraid I -feel that our position to-night is most irregular, Wedgecroft. - -WEDGECROFT. Still if you can make O'Connell see reason. And if you all -can't.... [_He frowns at the alternative._] - -CANTELUPE. Didn't you say she came to you first of all? - -WEDGECROFT. I met her one morning at Trebell's. - -FARRANT. Actually _at_ Trebell's! - -WEDGECROFT. The day he came back from abroad. - -FARRANT. Oh! No one seems to have noticed them together much at any time. My -wife ... No matter! - -WEDGECROFT. She tackled me as a doctor with one part of her trouble ... -added she'd been with O'Connell in Ireland, which of course it turns out -wasn't true ... asked me to help her. I had to say I couldn't. - -HORSHAM. [_Echoing rather than querying._] You couldn't. - -FARRANT. [_Shocked._] My dear Horsham! - -WEDGECROFT. Well, if she'd told me the truth!... No, anyhow I couldn't. I'm -sure there was no excuse. One can't run these risks. - -FARRANT. Quite right, quite right. - -WEDGECROFT. There are men who do on one pretext or another. - -FARRANT. [_Not too shocked to be curious._] Are there really? - -WEDGECROFT. Oh yes, men well known ... in other directions. I could give you -four addresses ... but of course I wasn't going to give her one. Though -there again ... if she'd told me the whole truth!... My God, women are such -fools! And they prefer quackery ... look at the decent doctors they simply -turn into charlatans. Though, there again, that all comes of letting a trade -work mysteriously under the thumb of a benighted oligarchy ... which is -beside the question. But one day I'll make you sit up on the subject of the -Medical Council, Horsham. - - HORSHAM _assumes an impenetrable air of statesmanship._ - -HORSHAM. I know. Very interesting ... very important ... very difficult to -alter the status quo. - -WEDGECROFT. Then the poor little liar said she'd go off to an appointment -with her dressmaker; and I heard nothing more till she sent for me a week -later, and I found her almost too ill to speak. Even then she didn't tell me -the truth! So, when O'Connell arrived, of course I spoke to him quite openly -and all he told me in reply was that it wouldn't have been his child. - -FARRANT. Poor devil! - -WEDGECROFT. O'Connell? - -FARRANT. Yes, of course. - -WEDGECROFT. I wonder. Perhaps she didn't realize he'd been sent for ... or -felt then she was dying and didn't care ... or lost her head. I don't know. - -FARRANT. Such a pretty little woman! - -WEDGECROFT. If I could have made him out and dealt with him, of course, I -shouldn't have come to you. Farrant's known him even longer than I have. - -FARRANT. I was with him at Harrow. - -WEDGECROFT. So I went to Farrant first. - - _That part of the subject drops._ CANTELUPE, _who has not moved, - strikes in again._ - -CANTELUPE. How was Trebell's guilt discovered? - -FARRANT. He wrote her one letter which she didn't destroy. O'Connell found -it. - -WEDGECROFT. Picked it up from her desk ... it wasn't even locked up. - -FARRANT. Not twenty words in it ... quite enough though. - -HORSHAM. His habit of being explicit ... of writing things down ... I know! - - _He shakes his head, deprecating all rashness. There is another - pause._ FARRANT, _getting up to pace about, breaks it._ - -FARRANT. Look here, Wedgecroft, one thing is worrying me. Had Trebell any -foreknowledge of what she did and the risk she was running and could he have -stopped it? - -WEDGECROFT. [_Almost ill-temperedly._] How could he have stopped it? - -FARRANT. Because ... well, I'm not a casuist ... but I know by instinct when -I'm up against the wrong thing to do; and if he can't be cleared on that -point I won't lift a finger to save him. - -HORSHAM. [_With nice judgment._] In using the term Any Foreknowledge, -Farrant, you may be more severe on him than you wish to be. - - FARRANT, _unappreciative, continues._ - -FARRANT. Otherwise ... well, we must admit, Cantelupe, that if it hadn't -been for the particular consequence of this it wouldn't be anything to be so -mightily shocked about. - -CANTELUPE. I disagree. - -FARRANT. My dear fellow, it's our business to make laws and we know the -difference of saying in one of 'em you may or you must. Who ever proposed to -insist on pillorying every case of spasmodic adultery? One would never have -done! Some of these attachments do more harm ... to the third party, I mean -... some less. But it's only when a menage becomes socially impossible that -a sensible man will interfere. [_He adds quite unnecessarily._] I'm speaking -quite impersonally, of course. - -CANTELUPE. [_As coldly as ever._] Trebell is morally responsible for every -consequence of the original sin. - -WEDGECROFT. That is a hard saying. - -FARRANT. [_Continuing his own remarks quite independently._] And I put aside -the possibility that he deliberately helped her to her death to save a -scandal because I don't believe it is a possibility. But if that were so I'd -lift my finger to help him to his. I'd see him hanged with pleasure. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Settling this part of the matter._] Well, Farrant, to all -intents and purposes he didn't know and he'd have stopped it if he could. - -FARRANT. Yes, I believe that. But what makes you so sure? - -WEDGECROFT. I asked him and he told me. - -FARRANT. That's no proof. - -WEDGECROFT. You read the letter that he sent her ... unless you think it was -written as a blind. - -FARRANT. Oh ... to be sure ... yes. I might have thought of that. - - _He settles down again. Again no one has anything to say._ - -CANTELUPE. What is to be said to Mr. O'Connell when he comes? - -HORSHAM. Yes ... what exactly do you propose we shall say to O'Connell, -Wedgecroft? - -WEDGECROFT. Get him to open his oyster of a mind and.... - -FARRANT. So it is and his face like a stone wall yesterday. Absolutely -refused to discuss the matter with me! - -CANTELUPE. May I ask, Cyril, why are we concerning ourselves with this -wickedness at all? - -HORSHAM. Just at this moment when we have official weight without official -responsibility, Charles.... - -WEDGECROFT. I wish I could have let Percival out of bed, but these first -touches of autumn are dangerous to a convalescent of his age. - -HORSHAM. But you saw him, Farrant ... and he gave you his opinion, didn't -he? - -FARRANT. Last night ... yes. - -HORSHAM. I suppose it's a pity Blackborough hasn't turned up. - -FARRANT. Never mind him. - -HORSHAM. He gets people to agree with him. That's a gift. - -FARRANT. Wedgecroft, what is the utmost O'Connell will be called upon to do -for us ... for Trebell? - -WEDGECROFT. Probably only to hold his tongue at the inquest to-morrow. As -far as I know there's no one but her maid to prove that Mrs. O'Connell -didn't meet her husband some time in the summer. He'll be called upon to -tell a lie or two by implication. - -FARRANT. Cantelupe ... what does perjury to that extent mean to a Roman -Catholic? - - CANTELUPE'S _face melts into an expression of mild amazement._ - -CANTELUPE. Your asking such a question shows that you would not understand -my answer to it. - -FARRANT. [_Leaving the fellow to his subtleties._] Well, what about the -maid? - -WEDGECROFT. She may suspect facts but not names, I think. Why should they -question her on such a point if O'Connell says nothing? - -HORSHAM. He's really very late. I told ... [_He stops._] Charles, I've -forgotten that man's name again. - -CANTELUPE. Edmunds, you said it was. - -HORSHAM. Edmunds. Everybody's down at Lympne ... I've been left with a new -man here and I don't know his name. [_He is very pathetic._] I told him to -put O'Connell in the library there. I thought that either Farrant or I might -perhaps see him first and-- - - _At this moment_ EDMUNDS _comes in, and, with that air of discreet - tact which he considers befits the establishment of a Prime Minister, - announces_, "Mr. O'Connell, my lord." _As_ O'CONNELL _follows him_, - HORSHAM _can only try not to look too disconcerted._ O'CONNELL, _in - his tightly buttoned frock coat, with his shaven face and - close-cropped iron grey hair, might be mistaken for a Catholic priest; - except that he has not also acquired the easy cheerfulness which - professional familiarity with the mysteries of that religion seems to - give. For the moment, at least, his features are so impassive that - they may tell either of the deepest grief or the purest indifference; - or it may be, merely of reticence on entering a stranger's room. He - only bows towards_ HORSHAM'S _half-proffered hand. With instinctive - respect for the situation of this tragically made widower the men have - risen and stand in various uneasy attitudes._ - -HORSHAM. Oh ... how do you do? Let me see ... do you know my cousin Charles -Cantelupe? Yes ... we were expecting Russell Blackborough. Sir Henry -Percival is ill. Do sit down. - - O'CONNELL _takes the nearest chair and gradually the others settle - themselves_; FARRANT _seeking an obscure corner. But there follows an - uncomfortable silence, which_ O'CONNELL _at last breaks._ - - -O'CONNELL. You have sent for me, Lord Horsham? - -HORSHAM. I hope that by my message I conveyed no impression of sending for -you. - -O'CONNELL. I am always in some doubt as to by what person or persons in or -out of power this country is governed. But from all I hear you are at the -present moment approximately entitled to send for me. - - _The level music of his Irish tongue seems to give finer edge to his - sarcasm._ - -HORSHAM. Well, Mr. O'Connell ... you know our request before we make it. - -O'CONNELL. Yes, I understand that if the fact of Mr. Trebell's adultery with -my wife were made as public as its consequences to her must be to-morrow, -public opinion would make it difficult for you to include him in your -cabinet. - -HORSHAM. Therefore we ask you ... though we have no right to ask you ... to -consider the particular circumstances and forget the man in the statesman, -Mr. O'Connell. - -O'CONNELL. My wife is dead. What have I to do at all with Mr. Trebell as a -man? As a statesman I am in any case uninterested in him. - - _Upon this throwing of cold water_, EDMUNDS _returns to mention even - more discreetly...._ - -EDMUNDS. Mr. Blackborough is in the library, my lord. - -HORSHAM. [_Patiently impatient._] No, no ... here. - -WEDGECROFT. Let me go. - -HORSHAM. [_To the injured_ EDMUNDS.] Wait ... wait. - -WEDGECROFT. I'll put him _au fait._ I shan't come back. - -HORSHAM. [_Gratefully._] Yes, yes. [_Then to_ EDMUNDS _who is waiting with -perfect dignity._] Yes ... yes ... yes. - - EDMUNDS _departs and_ WEDGECROFT _makes for the library door, glad to - escape._ - -O'CONNELL. If you are not busy at this hour, Wedgecroft, I should be -grateful if you'd wait for me. I shall keep you, I think, but a very few -minutes. - -WEDGECROFT. [_In his most matter-of-fact tone._] All right, O'Connell. - - _He goes into the library._ - -CANTELUPE. Don't you think, Cyril, it would be wiser to prevent your man -coming into the room at all while we're discussing this? - -HORSHAM. [_Collecting his scattered tact._] Yes, I thought I had arranged -that he shouldn't. I'm very sorry. He's a fool. However, there's no one else -to come. Once more, Mr. O'Connell.... [_He frames no sentence._] - -O'CONNELL. I am all attention, Lord Horsham. - - CANTELUPE _with a self-denying effort has risen to his feet._ - -CANTELUPE. Mr. O'Connell I remain here almost against my will. I cannot -think quite calmly about this double and doubly heinous sin. Don't listen to -us while we make light of it. If we think of it as a political bother and -ask you to smooth it away ... I am ashamed. But I believe I may not be wrong -if I put it to you that, looking to the future and for the sake of your own -Christian dignity, it may become you to be merciful. And I pray too ... I -think we may believe ... that Mr. Trebell is feeling need of your -forgiveness. I have no more to say. [_He sits down again._] - -O'CONNELL. It may be. I have never met Mr. Trebell. - -HORSHAM. I tell you, Mr. O'Connell, putting aside Party, that your country -has need of this man just at this time. - - _They hang upon_ O'CONNELL'S _reply. It comes with deliberation._ - -O'CONNELL. I suppose my point of view must be an unusual one. I notice, at -least, that twenty four hours and more has not enabled Farrant to grasp it. - -FARRANT. For God's sake, O'Connell, don't be so cold-blooded. You have the -life or death of a man's reputation to decide on. - -O'CONNELL. [_With a cold flash of contempt._] That's a petty enough thing -now-a-days it seems to me. There are so many clever men ... and they are all -so alike ... surely one will not be missed. - -CANTELUPE. Don't you think that is only sarcasm, Mr. O'Connell? - - _The voice is so gently reproving that_ O'CONNELL _must turn to him._ - -O'CONNELL. Will you please to make allowance, Lord Charles, for a mediaeval -scholar's contempt of modern government? You at least will partly understand -his horror as a Catholic at the modern superstitions in favour of popular -opinion and control which it encourages. You see, Lord Horsham, I am not a -party man, only a little less enthusiastic for the opposite cries than for -his own. You appealed very strangely to my feelings of patriotism for this -country; but you see even my own is--in the twentieth century--foreign to -me. From my point of view neither Mr. Trebell, nor you, nor the men you have -just defeated, nor any discoverable man or body of men will make laws which -matter ... or differ in the slightest. You are all part of your age and you -all voice--though in separate keys, or even tunes they may be--only the -greed and follies of your age. That you should do this and nothing more is, -of course, the democratic ideal. You will forgive my thinking tenderly of -the statesmanship of the first Edward. - - _The library door opens and_ RUSSELL BLACKBOROUGH _comes in. He has on - evening clothes, complicated by a long silk comforter and the motoring - cap which he carries._ - -HORSHAM. You know Russell Blackborough. - -O'CONNELL. I think not. - -BLACKBOROUGH. How d'you do? - - O'CONNELL _having bowed_, BLACKBOROUGH _having nodded, the two men sit - down_, BLACKBOROUGH _with an air of great attention_, O'CONNELL _to - continue his interrupted speech._ - -O'CONNELL. And you are as far from me in your code of personal morals as in -your politics. In neither do you seem to realise that such a thing as -passion can exist. No doubt you use the words Love and Hatred; but do you -know that love and hatred for principles or persons should come from beyond -a man? I notice you speak of forgiveness as if it were a penny in my pocket. -You have been endeavouring for these two days to rouse me from my -indifference towards Mr. Trebell. Perhaps you are on the point of succeeding -... but I do not know what you may rouse. - -HORSHAM. I understand. We are much in agreement, Mr. O'Connell. What can a -man be--who has any pretensions to philosophy--but helplessly indifferent to -the thousands of his fellow creatures whose fates are intertwined with his? - -O'CONNELL. I am glad that you understand. But, again ... have I been wrong -to shrink from personal relations with Mr. Trebell? Hatred is as sacred a -responsibility as love. And you will not agree with me when I say that -punishment can be the salvation of a man's soul. - -FARRANT. [_With aggressive common sense._] Look here. O'Connell, if you're -indifferent it doesn't hurt you to let him off. And if you hate him...! -Well, one shouldn't hate people ... there's no room for it in this world. - -CANTELUPE. [_Quietly as ever._] We have some authority for thinking that the -punishment of a secret sin is awarded by God secretly. - -O'CONNELL. We have very poor authority, sir, for using God's name merely to -fill up the gaps in an argument, though we may thus have our way easily with -men who fear God more than they know him. I am not one of those. Yes, -Farrant, you and your like have left little room in this world except for -the dusty roads on which I notice you beginning once more to travel. The -rule of them is the same for all, is it not ... from the tramp and the -labourer to the plutocrat in his car? This is the age of equality; and it's -a fine practical equality ... the equality of the road. But you've fenced -the fields of human joy and turned the very hillsides into hoardings, -Commercial opportunity is painted on them, I think. - -FARRANT. [_Not to be impressed._] Perhaps it is O'Connell. My father made -his money out of newspapers and I ride in a motor car and you came from -Holyhead by train. What has all that to do with it? Why can't you make up -your mind? You know in this sort of case one talks a lot ... and then does -the usual thing. You must let Trebell off and that's all about it. - -O'CONNELL. Indeed. And do they still think it worth while to administer an -oath to your witnesses? - - _He is interrupted by the flinging open of the door and the triumphant - right-this-time-anyhow voice in which_ EDMUNDS _announces_ "Mr. - Trebell, my lord." _The general consternation expresses itself - through_ HORSHAM, _who complains aloud and unreservedly._ - -HORSHAM. Good God.... No! Charles, I must give him notice at once ... he'll -have to go. [_He apologises to the company._] I beg your pardon. - - _By this time_ TREBELL _is in the room and has discovered the - stranger, who stands to face him without emotion or anger_, - BLACKBOROUGH'S _face wears the grimmest of smiles_, CANTELUPE _is - sorry_, FARRANT _recovers from the fit of choking which seemed - imminent and_ EDMUNDS, _dimly perceiving by now some fly in the - perfect amber of his conduct, departs. The two men still face each - other_, FARRANT _is prepared to separate them should they come to - blows, and indeed is advancing in that anticipation when_ O'CONNELL - _speaks._ - -O'CONNELL. I am Justin O'Connell. - -TREBELL. I guess that. - -O'CONNELL. There's a dead woman between us, Mr. Trebell. - - _A tremor sweeps over_ TREBELL; _then he speaks simply._ - -TREBELL. I wish she had not died. - -O'CONNELL. I am called upon by your friends to save you from the -consequences of her death. What have you to say about that? - -TREBELL. I have been wondering what sort of expression the last of your care -for her would find ... but not much. My wonder is at the power over me that -has been given to something I despised. - - _Only_ O'CONNELL _grasps his meaning. But he, stirred for the first - time and to his very depths, drives it home._ - -O'CONNELL. Yes.... If I wanted revenge I have it. She was a worthless woman. -First my life and now yours! Dead because she was afraid to bear your child, -isn't she? - -TREBELL. [_In agony._] I'd have helped that if I could. - -O'CONNELL. Not the shame ... not the wrong she had done me ... but just -fear--fear of the burden of her woman-hood. And because of her my children -are bastards and cannot inherit my name. And I must live in sin against my -church, as--God help me--I can't against my nature. What are men to do when -this is how women use the freedom we have given them? Is the curse of -barrenness to be nothing to a man? And that's the death in life to which you -gentlemen with your fine civilisation are bringing us. I think we are -brothers in misfortune, Mr. Trebell. - -TREBELL. [_Far from responding._] Not at all, sir. If you wanted children -you did the next best thing when she left you. My own problem is neither so -simple nor is it yet anyone's business but my own. I apologise for alluding -to it. - - HORSHAM _takes advantage of the silence that follows._ - -HORSHAM. Shall we.... - -O'CONNELL. [_Measuring_ TREBELL _with his eyes._] And by which shall I help -you to a solution ... telling lies or the truth to-morrow? - -TREBELL. [_Roughly, almost insolently._] If you want my advice ... I should -do the thing that comes more easily to you, or that will content you most. -If you haven't yet made up your mind as to the relative importance of my -work and your conscience, it's too late to begin now. Nothing you may do can -affect me. - -HORSHAM. _[fluttering fearfully into this strange dispute._] O'Connell ... -if you and I were to join Wedgecroft.... - -O'CONNELL. You value your work more than anything else in the world? - -TREBELL. Have I anything else in the world? - -O'CONNELL. Have you not? [_With grim ambiguity._] Then I am sorry for you, -Mr. Trebell. [_Having said all he had to say, he notices_ HORSHAM.] Yes, -Lord Horsham, by all means.... - - _Then_ HORSHAM _opens the library door and sees him safely through. He - passes_ TREBELL _without any salutation, nor does_ TREBELL _turn after - him; but when_ HORSHAM _also is in the library and the door is closed, - comments viciously._ - -TREBELL. The man's a sentimentalist ... like all men who live alone or shut -away. [_Then surveying his three glum companions, bursts out._] Well...? We -can stop thinking of this dead woman, can't we? It's a waste of time. - -FARRANT. Trebell, what did you want to come here for? - -TREBELL. Because you thought I wouldn't. I knew you'd be sitting round, -incompetent with distress, calculating to a nicety the force of a -scandal.... - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_With the firmest of touches._] Horsham has called some of us -here to discuss the situation. I am considering my opinion. - -TREBELL. You are not, Blackborough. You haven't recovered yet from the shock -of your manly feelings. Oh, cheer up. You know we're an adulterous and -sterile generation. Why should you cry out at a proof now and then of what's -always in the hearts of most of us? - -FARRANT. [_Plaintively._] Now, for God's sake, Trebell ... O'Connell has -been going on like that. - -TREBELL. Well then ... think of what matters. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Of you and your reputation in fact. - -FARRANT. [_Kindly._] Why do you pretend to be callous? - - _He strokes_ TREBELL'S _shoulder, who shakes him off impatiently._ - -TREBELL. Do you all mean to out-face the British Lion with me after -to-morrow ... dare to be Daniels? - -BLACKBOROUGH. Bravado won't carry this off. - -TREBELL. Blackborough ... it would immortalize you. I'll stand up in my -place in the House of Commons and tell everything that has befallen soberly -and seriously. Why should I flinch? - -FARRANT. My dear Trebell, if your name comes out at the inquest-- - -TREBELL. If it does!... whose has been the real offence against Society ... -hers or mine? It's I who am most offended ... if I choose to think so. - -BLACKBOROUGH. You seem to forget the adultery. - -TREBELL. Isn't Death divorce enough for her? And ... oh, wasn't I right?... -What do you start thinking of once the shock's over? Punishment ... revenge -... uselessness ... waste of me. - -FARRANT. [_With finality._] If your name comes out at the inquest, to talk -of anything but retirement from public life is perfect lunacy ... and you -know it. - - HORSHAM _comes back from the passage. He is a little distracted; then - the more so at finding himself again in a highly-charged atmosphere._ - -HORSHAM. He's gone off with Wedgecroft. - -TREBELL. [_Including_ HORSHAM _now in his appeal._] Does anyone think he -knows me now to be a worse man ... less fit, less able ... than he did a -week ago? - - _From the piano-stool comes_ CANTELUPE'S _quiet voice._ - -CANTELUPE. Yes, Trebell ... I do. - - TREBELL _wheels round at this and ceases all bluster._ - -TREBELL. On what grounds? - -CANTELUPE. Unarguable ones. - -HORSHAM. [_Finding refuge again in his mantelpiece._] You know, he has gone -off without giving me his promise. - -FARRANT. That's your own fault, Trebell. - -HORSHAM. The fool says I didn't give him explicit instructions. - -FARRANT. What fool? - -HORSHAM. That man ... [_The name fails him._] ... my new man. One of those -touches of Fate's little finger, really. - - _He begins to consult the ceiling and the carpet once more._ TREBELL - _tackles_ CANTELUPE _with gravity._ - -TREBELL. I have only a logical mind, Cantelupe. I know that to make myself a -capable man I've purged myself of all the sins ... I never was idle enough -to commit. I know that if your God didn't make use of men, sins and all ... -what would ever be done in the world? That one natural action, which the -slight shifting of a social law could have made as negligible as eating a -meal, can make me incapable ... takes the linch-pin out of one's brain, -doesn't it? - -HORSHAM. Trebell, we've been doing our best to get you out of this mess. -Your remarks to O'Connell weren't of any assistance, and.... - -CANTELUPE _stands up, so momentously that_ HORSHAM'S _gentle flow of speech -dries up._ - -CANTELUPE. Perhaps I had better say at once that, whatever hushing up you -may succeed in, it will be impossible for me to sit in a cabinet with Mr. -Trebell. - - _It takes even_ FARRANT _a good half minute to recover his power of - speech on this new issue._ - -FARRANT. What perfect nonsense, Cantelupe! I hope you don't mean that. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Complication number one, Horsham. - -FARRANT. [_Working up his protest._] Why on earth not? You really mustn't -drag your personal feelings and prejudices into important matters like this -... matters of state. - -CANTELUPE. I think I have no choice, when Trebell stands convicted of a -mortal sin, of which he has not even repented. - -TREBELL. [_With bitterest cynicism._] Dictate any form of repentance you -like ... my signature is yours. - -CANTELUPE. Is this a matter for intellectual jugglery? - -TREBELL. [_His defence failing at last._] I offered to face the scandal from -my place in the House. That was mad, wasn't it.... - - BLACKBOROUGH--_his course mapped out--changes the tone of the - discussion._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. Horsham, I hope Trebell will believe I have no personal -feelings in this matter, but we may as well face the fact even now that -O'Connell holding his tongue to-morrow won't stop gossip in the House, club -gossip, gossip in drawing rooms. What do the Radicals really care so long as -a scandal doesn't get into the papers! There's an inner circle with its eye -on us. - -FARRANT. Well, what does that care as long as scandal's its own copyright? -Do you know, my dear father refused a peerage because he felt it meant -putting blinkers on his best newspaper. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_A little subtly._] Still ... now you and Horsham are -cousins, aren't you? - -FARRANT. [_Off the track and explanatory._] No, no ... my wife's mother.... - -BLACKBOROUGH. I'm inaccurate, for I'm not one of the family circle myself. -My money gets me here and any skill I've used in making it. It wouldn't keep -me at a pinch. And Trebell ... [_He speaks through his teeth._] ... do you -think your accession to power in the party is popular at the best? Who is -going to put out a finger to make it less awkward for Horsham to stick to -you if there's a chance of your going under? - - TREBELL _smiles at some mental picture he is making._ - -TREBELL. Can your cousins and aunts make it so awkward for you, Horsham? - -HORSHAM. [_Repaying humour with humour._] I bear up against their -affectionate attentions. - -TREBELL. But I quite understand how uncongenial I may be. What made you take -up with me at all? - -FARRANT. Your brains, Trebell. - -TREBELL. He should have enquired into my character first, shouldn't he, -Cantelupe? - -CANTELUPE. [_With crushing sincerity._] Yes. - -TREBELL. Oh, the old unnecessary choice ... Wisdom or Virtue. We all think -we must make it ... and we all discover we can't. But if you've to choose -between Cantelupe and me, Horsham, I quite see you've no choice. - - HORSHAM _now takes the field, using his own weapons._ - -HORSHAM. Charles, it seems to me that we are somewhat in the position of men -who have overheard a private conversation. Do you feel justified in making -public use of it? - -CANTELUPE. It is not I who am judge. God knows I would not sit in judgment -upon anyone. - -TREBELL. Cantelupe, I'll take your personal judgment if you can give it me. - -FARRANT. Good Lord, Cantelupe, didn't you sit in a cabinet with ... Well, -we're not here to rake up old scandals. - -BLACKBOROUGH. I am concerned with the practical issue. - -HORSHAM. We know, Blackborough. [_Having quelled the interruption he -proceeds._] Charles, you spoke, I think, of a mortal sin. - -CANTELUPE. In spite of your lifted eyebrows at the childishness of the word. - -HORSHAM. Theoretically, we must all wish to guide ourselves by eternal -truths. But you would admit, wouldn't you, that we can only deal with -temporal things? - -CANTELUPE. [_Writhing slightly under the sceptical cross-examination._] -There are divine laws laid down for our guidance ... I admit no disbelief in -them. - -HORSHAM. Do they place any time-limit to the effect of a mortal sin? If this -affair were twenty years old would you do as you are doing? Can you forecast -the opinion you will have of it six months hence? - -CANTELUPE. [_Positively._] Yes. - -HORSHAM. Can you? Nevertheless I wish you had postponed your decision even -till to-morrow. - - _Having made his point he looks round almost for approval._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. What had Percival to say on the subject, Farrant? - -FARRANT. I was only to make use of his opinion under certain circumstances. - -BLACKBOROUGH. So it isn't favourable to your remaining with us, Mr. Trebell. - -FARRANT. [_Indignantly emerging from the trap._] I never said that. - - _Now_ TREBELL _gives the matter another turn, very forcefully._ - -TREBELL. Horsham ... I don't bow politely and stand aside at this juncture -as a gentleman should, because I want to know how the work's to be done if I -leave you what I was to do. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Are we so incompetent? - -TREBELL. I daresay not. I want to know ... that's all. - -CANTELUPE. Please understand, Mr. Trebell, that I have in no way altered my -good opinion of your proposals. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Well, I beg to remind you, Horsham, that from the first I've -reserved myself liberty to criticise fundamental points in the scheme. - -HORSHAM. [_Pacifically._] Quite so ... quite so. - -BLACKBOROUGH. That nonsensical new standard of teachers' salaries for one -thing ... you'd never pass it. - -HORSHAM. Quite easily. It's an administrative point, so leave the -legislation vague. Then, as the appropriation money falls in, the -qualifications rise and the salaries rise. No one will object because no one -will appreciate it but administrators past or future ... and they never -cavil at money. [_He remains lost in the beauty of this prospect._] - -TREBELL. Will you take charge of the bill, Blackborough? - -BLACKBOROUGH. Are you serious? - -HORSHAM. [_Brought to earth._] Oh no! [_He corrects himself smiling._] I -mean, my dear Blackborough, why not stick to the Colonies? - -BLACKBOROUGH. You see, Trebell, there's still the possibility that O'Connell -may finally spike your gun to-morrow. You realise that, don't you? - -TREBELL. Thank you. I quite realise that. - -CANTELUPE. Can nothing further be done? - -BLACKBOROUGH. Weren't we doing our best? - -HORSHAM. Yes ... if we were bending our thoughts to that difficulty now.... - -TREBELL. [_Hardly._] May I ask you to interfere on my behalf no further? - -FARRANT. My dear Trebell! - -TREBELL. I assure you that I am interested in the Disestablishment Bill. - - _So they turn readily enough from the more uncomfortable part of their - subject._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. Well ... here's Farrant. - -FARRANT. I'm no good. Give me Agriculture. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Pity you're in the Lords, Horsham. - -TREBELL. Horsham, I'll devil for any man you choose to name ... feed him -sentence by sentence.... - -HORSHAM. That's impossible. - -TREBELL. Well, what's to become of my bill? I want to know. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Casting his care on Providence._] We shall manage somehow. -Why, if you had died suddenly ... or let us say, never been born.... - -TREBELL. Then, Blackborough ... speaking as a dying man ... if you go back -on the integrity of this scheme, I'll haunt you. [_Having said this with -some finality, he turns his back._] - -CANTELUPE. Cyril, I agree with what Trebell is saying. Whatever happens -there must be no tampering with the comprehensiveness of the scheme. -Remember you are in the hands of the extremists ... on both sides. I won't -support a compromise on one ... nor will they on the other. - -HORSHAM. Well, I'll confess to you candidly, Trebell, that I don't know of -any man available for this piece of work but you. - -TREBELL. Then I should say it would be almost a relief to you if O'Connell -tells on me to-morrow. - -FARRANT. We seem to have got off that subject altogether. [_There comes a -portentous tap at the door._] Good Lord!... I'm getting jumpy. - -HORSHAM. Excuse me. - - _A note is handed to him through the half opened door; and obviously - it is at_ EDMUNDS _whom he frowns. Then he returns fidgetting for his - glasses._ - -Oh, it turns out ... I'm so sorry you were blundered in here, Trebell ... -this man ... what's his name ... Edwards ... had been reading the papers and -thought it was a cabinet council ... seemed proud of himself. This is from -Wedgecroft ... scribbled in a messenger office. I never can read his writing -... it's like prescriptions. Can you? - - _It has gradually dawned on the three men and then on_ TREBELL _what - this note may have in it._ FARRANT _hand even trembles a little as he - takes it. He gathers the meaning himself and looks at the others with - a smile before he reads the few words aloud._ - -FARRANT. "All right. He has promised." - -BLACKBOROUGH. O'Connell? - -FARRANT. Thank God. [_He turns enthusiastically to_ TREBELL _who stands -rigid._] My dear fellow ... I hope you know how glad I am. - -CANTELUPE. I am very glad. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Of course we're all very glad indeed, Trebell ... very glad we -persuaded him. - -FARRANT. That's dead and buried now, isn't it? - - TREBELL _moves away from them all and leaves them wondering. When he - turns round his face is as hard as ever; his voice, if possible, - harder._ - -TREBELL. But, Horsham, returning to the more important question ... you've -taken trouble, and O'Connell's to perjure himself for nothing if you still -can't get me into your child's puzzle ... to make the pretty picture that a -Cabinet should be. - - HORSHAM _looks at_ BLACKBOROUGH _and scents danger._ - -HORSHAM. We shall all be glad, I am sure, to postpone any further -discussion.... - -TREBELL. I shall not. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Encouragingly._] Quite so, Trebell. We're on the subject, -and it won't discount our pleasure that you're out of this mess, to continue -it. This habit of putting off the hour of disagreement is ... well, Horsham, -it's contrary to my business instincts. - -TREBELL. If one time's as good as another for you ... this moment is better -than most for me. - -HORSHAM. [_A little irritated at the wantonness of this dispute._] There is -nothing before us on which we are capable of coming to any decision ... in a -technical sense. - -BLACKBOROUGH. That's a quibble. [_Poor_ HORSHAM _gasps._] I'm not going to -pretend either now or in a month's time that I think Trebell anything but a -most dangerous acquisition to the party. I pay you a compliment in that, -Trebell. Now, Horsham proposes that we should go to the country when -Disestablishment's through. - -HORSHAM. It's the condition of Nonconformist support. - -BLACKBOROUGH. One condition. Then you'd leave us, Trebell? - -HORSHAM. I hope not. - -BLACKBOROUGH. And carry with you the credit of our one big measure. Consider -the effect upon our reputation with the Country. - -FARRANT. [_Waking to_ BLACKBOROUGH'S _line of action._] Why on earth should -you leave us, Trebell? You've hardly been a Liberal, even in name. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Vigorously making his point._] Then what would be the -conditions of your remaining? You're not a party man, Trebell. You haven't -the true party feeling. You are to be bought. Of course you take your price -in measures, not in money. But you are preeminently a man of ideas ... an -expert. And a man of ideas is often a grave embarrassment to a government. - -HORSHAM. And vice-versa ... vice-versa! - -TREBELL. [_Facing_ BLACKBOROUGH _across the room._] Do I understand that you -for the good of the Tory party ... just as Cantelupe for the good of his -soul ... will refuse to sit in a cabinet with me. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Unembarrassed._] I don't commit myself to saying that. - -CANTELUPE. No, Trebell ... it's that I must believe your work could not -prosper ... in God's way. - - TREBELL _softens to his sincerity._ - -TREBELL. Cantelupe, I quite understand. You may be right ... it's a very -interesting question. Blackborough, I take it that you object first of all -to the scheme that I'm bringing you. - -BLACKBOROUGH. I object to those parts of it which I don't think you'll get -through the House. - -FARRANT. [_Feeling that he must take part._] For instance? - -BLACKBOROUGH. I've given you one already. - -CANTELUPE. [_His eye on_ BLACKBOROUGH.] Understand there are things in that -scheme we must stand or fall by. - - _Suddenly_ TREBELL _makes for the door_, HORSHAM _gets up - concernedly._ - -TREBELL. Horsham, make up your mind to-night whether you can do with me or -not. I have to see Percival again to-morrow ... we cut short our argument at -the important point. Good-bye ... don't come down. Will you decide to-night? - -HORSHAM. I have made up my own mind. - -TREBELL. Is that sufficient? - -HORSHAM. A collective decision is a matter of development. - -TREBELL. Well, I shall expect to hear. - -HORSHAM. By hurrying one only reaches a rash conclusion. - -TREBELL. Then be rash for once and take the consequences. Good-night. - - _He is gone before_ HORSHAM _can compose another epigram._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Deprecating such conduct._] Lost his temper! - -FARRANT. [_Ruffling considerably._] Horsham, if Trebell is to be hounded out -of your cabinet ... he won't go alone. - -HORSHAM. [_Bitter-sweet._] My dear Farrant ... I have yet to form my -cabinet. - -CANTELUPE. You are forming it to carry disestablishment, are you not, Cyril? -Therefore you will form it in the best interests of the best scheme -possible. - -HORSHAM. Trebell was and is the best man I know of for the purpose. I'm a -little weary of saying that. - - _He folds his arms and awaits further developments. After a moment_ - CANTELUPE _gets up as if to address a meeting._ - -CANTELUPE. Then if you would prefer not to include me ... I shall feel -justified in giving independent support to a scheme I have great faith in. -[_And he sits down again._] - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Impatiently._] My dear Cantelupe, if you think Horsham can -form a disestablishment cabinet to include Trebell and exclude you, you're -vastly mistaken. I for one.... - -FARRANT. But do both of you consider how valuable, how vital Trebell is to -us just at this moment? The Radicals trust him.... - -BLACKBOROUGH. They hate him. - -HORSHAM. [_Elucidating._] Their front bench hates him because he turned them -out. The rest of them hate their front bench. After six years of office, who -wouldn't? - -BLACKBOROUGH. That's true. - -FARRANT. Oh, of course, we must stick to Trebell, Blackborough. - - BLACKBOROUGH _is silent; so_ HORSHAM _turns his attention to his - cousin._ - -HORSHAM. Well, Charles, I won't ask you for a decision now. I know how hard -it is to accept the dictates of other men's consciences ... but a necessary -condition of all political work; believe me. - -CANTELUPE. [_Uneasily._] You can form your cabinet without me, Cyril. - - _At this_ BLACKBOROUGH _charges down on them, so to speak._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. No, I tell you, I'm damned if he can. Leaving the whole high -church party to blackmail all they can out of us and vote how they like! -Here ... I've got my Yorkshire people to think of. I can bargain for them -with you in a cabinet ... not if you've the pull of being out of it. - -HORSHAM. [_With charming insinuation._] And have you calculated, -Blackborough, what may become of us if Trebell has the pull of being out of -it? - - BLACKBOROUGH _makes a face._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. Yes ... I suppose he might turn nasty. - -FARRANT. I should hope he would. - -BLACKBOROUGH.[_Tackling_ FARRANT _with great ease._] I should hope he would -consider the matter not from the personal, but from the political point of -view ... as I am trying to do. - -HORSHAM. [_Tasting his epigram with enjoyment._] Introspection is the only -bar to such an honourable endeavour, [BLACKBOROUGH _gapes._] You don't -suffer from that as--for instance--Charles here, does. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Pugnaciously._] D'you mean I'm just pretending not to attack -him personally? - -HORSHAM. [_Safe on his own ground._] It's only a curious metaphysical point. -Have you never noticed your distaste for the colour of a man's hair -translate itself ultimately into an objection to his religious opinions ... -or what not? I am sure--for instance--I could trace Charles's scruples about -sitting in a cabinet with Trebell back to a sort of academic reverence for -women generally which he possesses. I am sure I could ... if he were not -probably now doing it himself. But this does not make the scruples less -real, less religious, or less political. We must be humanly biased in -expression ... or not express ourselves. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Whose thoughts have wandered._] The man's less of a danger -than he was ... I mean he'll be alone. The Liberals won't have him back. He -smashed his following there to come over to us. - -FARRANT. [_Giving a further meaning to this._] Yes, Blackborough, he did. - -BLACKBOROUGH. To gain his own ends! Oh, my dear Horsham, can't you see that -if O'Connell had blabbed to-morrow it really would have been a blessing in -disguise? I don't pretend to Cantelupe's standard ... but there must be -something radically wrong with a man who could get himself into such a mess -as that ... now mustn't there? Ah! ... you have a fatal partiality for -clever people. I tell you ... though this might be patched up ... Trebell -would fail us in some other way before we were six months older. - - _This speech has its effect; but_ HORSHAM _looks at him a little - sternly._ - -HORSHAM. And am I to conclude that you don't want Charles to change his -mind? - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_On another tack._] Farrant has not yet allowed us to hear -Percival's opinion. - -FARRANT _looks rather alarmed._ - -FARRANT. It has very little reference to the scandal. - -BLACKBOROUGH. As that is at an end ... all the more reason we should hear -it. - -HORSHAM. [_Ranging himself with_ FARRANT.] I called this quite informal -meeting, Blackborough, only to dispose of the scandal, if possible. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Well, of course, if Farrant chooses to insult Percival so -gratuitously by burking his message to us.... - - _There is an unspoken threat in this_, HORSHAM _sees it and without - disguising his irritation...._ - -HORSHAM. Let us have it, Farrant. - -FARRANT. [_With a sort of puzzled discontent._] Well ... I never got to -telling him of the O'Connell affair at all. He started talking to me ... -saying that he couldn't for a moment agree to Trebell's proposals for the -finance of his bill ... I couldn't get a word in edgeways. Then his wife -came up.... - - HORSHAM _takes something in this so seriously that he actually - interrupts._ - -HORSHAM. Does he definitely disagree? What is his point? - -FARRANT. He says Disestablishment's a bad enough speculation for the party -as it is. - -BLACKBOROUGH. It is inevitable. - -FARRANT. He sees that. But then he says ... to go to the country again -having bolstered up Education and quarrelled with everybody will be bad -enough ... to go having spent fifty millions on it will dish us all for our -lifetimes. - -HORSHAM. What does he propose? - -FARRANT. He'll offer to draft another bill and take it through himself. He -says ... do as many good turns as we can with the money ... don't put it all -on one horse. - -BLACKBOROUGH. He's your man, Horsham. That's one difficulty settled. - - HORSHAM'S _thoughts are evidently beyond_ BLACKBOROUGH, _beyond the - absent_ PERCIVAL _even._ - -HORSHAM. Oh ... any of us could carry that sort of a bill. - - CANTELUPE _has heard this last passage with nothing less than horror - and pale anger, which he contains no longer._ - -CANTELUPE. I won't have this. I won't have this opportunity frittered away -for party purposes. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Expostulating reasonably._] My dear Cantelupe ... you'll get -whatever you think it right for the Church to have. You carry a solid thirty -eight votes with you. - - HORSHAM'S _smooth voice intervenes. He speaks with finesse._ - -HORSHAM. Percival, as an old campaigner, expresses himself very roughly. The -point is, that we are after all only the trustees of the party. If we know -that a certain step will decimate it ... clearly we have no right to take -the step. - -CANTELUPE. [_Glowing to white heat._] Is this a time to count the -consequences to ourselves? - -HORSHAM. [_Unkindly._] By your action this evening, Charles, you evidently -think not. [_He salves the wound._] No matter, I agree with you ... the -bill should be a comprehensive one, whoever brings it in. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Not without enjoyment of the situation._] Whoever brings it -in will have to knuckle under to Percival over its finance. - -FARRANT. Trebell won't do that. I warned Percival. - -HORSHAM. Then what did he say? - -FARRANT. He only swore. - - HORSHAM _suddenly becomes peevish._ - -HORSHAM. I think, Farrant, you should have given me this message before. - -FARRANT. My dear Horsham, what had it to do with our request to O'Connell? - -HORSHAM. [_Scolding the company generally._] Well then, I wish he hadn't -sent it. I wish we were not discussing these points at all. The proper time -for them is at a cabinet meeting. And when we have actually assumed the -responsibilities of government ... then threats of resignation are not -things to be played about with. - -FARRANT. Did you expect Percival's objection to the finance of the scheme? - -HORSHAM. Perhaps ... perhaps. I knew Trebell was to see him last Tuesday. I -expect everybody's objections to any parts of every scheme to come at a time -when I am in a proper position to reconcile them ... not now. - - _Having vented his grievances he sits down to recover._ BLACKBOROUGH - _takes advantage of the ensuing pause._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. It isn't so easy for me to speak against Trebell, since he -evidently dislikes me personally as much as I dislike him ... but I'm sure -I'm doing my duty. Horsham ... here you have Cantelupe who won't stand in -with the man, and Percival who won't stand in with his measure, while I -would sooner stand in with neither. Isn't it better to face the situation -now than take trouble to form the most makeshift of Cabinets, and if that -doesn't go to pieces, be voted down in the House by your own party? - - _There is an oppressive silence,_ HORSHAM _is sulky. The matter is - beyond_ FARRANT. CANTELUPE _whose agonies have expressed themselves in - slight writhings, at last, with an effort, writhes himself to his - feet._ - -CANTELUPE. I think I am prepared to reconsider my decision. - -FARRANT. That's all right then! - - _He looks round wonderingly for the rest of the chorus to find that - neither_ BLACKBOROUGH _nor_ HORSHAM _have stirred._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Stealthily._] Is it, Horsham? - -HORSHAM. [_Sotto voce._] Why did you ever make it? - - BLACKBOROUGH _leaves him for_ CANTELUPE. - -BLACKBOROUGH. You're afraid for the integrity of the bill. - -CANTELUPE. It must be comprehensive ... that's vital. BLACKBOROUGH. [_Very -forcefully._] I give you my word to support its integrity, if you'll keep -with me in persuading Horsham that the inclusion of Trebell in his cabinet -will be a blow to the whole Conservative Cause. Horsham, I implore you not -to pursue this short-sighted policy. All parties have made up their minds to -Disestablishment ... surely nothing should be easier than to frame a bill -which will please all parties. - -FARRANT. [_At last perceiving the drift of all this._] But good Lord, -Blackborough ... now Cantelupe has come round and will stand in ... - -BLACKBOROUGH. That's no longer the point. And what's all this nonsense about -going to the country again next year? - -HORSHAM. [_Mildly._] After consulting me Percival said at Bristol.... - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Quite unchecked._] I know. But if we pursue a thoroughly -safe policy and the bye-elections go right ... there need be no vote of -censure carried for three or four years. The Radicals want a rest with the -country and they know it. And one has no right, what's more, to go wantonly -plunging the country into the expenses of these constant general elections. -It ruins trade. - -FARRANT. [_Forlornly sticking to his point._] What has all this to do with -Trebell? - -HORSHAM. [_Thoughtfully._] Farrant, beyond what you've told us, Percival -didn't recommend me to throw him over. - -FARRANT. No, he didn't ... that is, he didn't exactly. - -HORSHAM. Well ... he didn't? - -FARRANT. I'm trying to be accurate! [_Obviously their nerves are now on -edge._] He said we should find him tough to assimilate--as he warned you. - - HORSHAM _with knit brows, loses himself in thought again,_ - BLACKBOROUGH _quietly turns his attention to_ FARRANT. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Farrant, you don't seriously think that ... outside his -undoubted capabilities ... Trebell is an acquisition to the party? - -FARRANT. [_Unwillingly._] Perhaps not. But if you're going to chuck a man -... don't chuck him when he's down. - -BLACKBOROUGH. He's no longer down. We've got him O'Connell's promise and -jolly grateful he ought to be. I think the least we can do is to keep our -minds clear between Trebell's advantage and the party's. - -CANTELUPE. [_From the distant music-stool._] And the party's and the -Country's. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Countering quite deftly._] Cantelupe, either we think it -best for the country to have our party in power or we don't. - -FARRANT. [_In judicious temper._] Certainly, I don't feel our responsibility -towards him is what it was ten minutes ago. The man has other careers -besides his political one. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Ready to praise._] Clever as paint at the Bar--best Company -lawyer we've got. - -CANTELUPE. It is not what he loses, I think ... but what we lose in losing -him. - - _He says this so earnestly that_ HORSHAM _pays attention._ - -HORSHAM. No, my dear Charles, let us be practical. If his position with us -is to be made impossible it is better that he shouldn't assume it. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Soft and friendly._] How far are you actually pledged to -him? - - HORSHAM _looks up with the most ingenuous of smiles._ - -HORSHAM. That's always such a difficult sort of point to determine, isn't -it? He thinks he is to join us. But I've not yet been commanded to form a -cabinet. If neither you--nor Percival--nor perhaps others will work with him -... what am I to do? [_He appeals to them generally to justify this -attitude._] - -BLACKBOROUGH. He no longer thinks he's to join us ... it's the question he -left us to decide. - - _He leaves_ HORSHAM, _whose perplexity is diminishing._ FARRANT _makes - an effort._ - -FARRANT. But the scandal won't weaken his position with us now. There won't -be any scandal ... there won't, Blackborough. - -HORSHAM. There may be. Though, I take it we're all guiltless of having -mentioned the matter. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_Very detached._] I've only known of it since I came into -this house ... but I shall not mention it. - -FARRANT. Oh, I'm afraid my wife knows. [_He adds hastily._] My fault ... my -fault entirely. - -BLACKBOROUGH. I tell you Rumour's electric. - - HORSHAM _has turned to_ FARRANT _with a sweet smile and with the air - of a man about to be relieved of all responsibility._ - -HORSHAM. What does she say? - -FARRANT. [_As one speaks of a nice woman._] She was horrified. - -HORSHAM. Of course. [_Once more he finds refuge and comfort on the -hearthrug, to say, after a moment, with fine resignation._] I suppose I must -let him go. - -CANTELUPE. [_On his feet again._] Cyril! - -HORSHAM. Yes, Charles? - - _With this query he turns an accusing eye on_ CANTELUPE, _who is - silenced._ - -BLACKBOROUGH. Have you made up your mind to that? - -FARRANT. [_In great distress._] You're wrong, Horsham. [_Then in greater._] -That is ... I think you're wrong. - -HORSHAM. I'd sooner not let him know to-night. - -BLACKBOROUGH. But he asked you to. - -HORSHAM. [_All show of resistance gone._] Did he? Then I suppose I must. -[_He sighs deeply._] - -BLACKBOROUGH. Then I'll get back to Aylesbury. - - _He picks up his motor-cap from the table and settles it on his head - with immense aplomb._ - -HORSHAM. So late? - -BLACKBOROUGH. Really one can get along quicker at night if one knows the -road. You're in town, aren't you, Farrant? Shall I drop you at Grosvenor -Square? - -FARRANT. [_Ungraciously._] Thank you. - -BLACKBOROUGH. [_With a conqueror's geniality._] I don't mind telling you -now, Horsham, that ever since we met at Shapters I've been wondering how -you'd escape from this association with Trebell. Thought he was being very -clever when he crossed the House to us! It's needed a special providence. -You'd never have got a cabinet together to include him. - -HORSHAM. [_With much intention._] No. - -FARRANT. [_Miserably.]_ Yes, I suppose that intrigue was a mistake from the -beginning. - -BLACKBOROUGH. Well, good-night. [_As he turns to go he finds_ CANTELUPE -_upright, staring very sternly at him._] Good-night, Cantelupe. - -CANTELUPE. From what motives have we thrown Trebell over? - -BLACKBOROUGH. Never mind the motives if the move is the right one. [_Then he -nods at_ HORSHAM.] I shall be up again next week if you want me. - - _And he flourishes out of the room; a man who has done a good hour's - work_, FARRANT, _who has been mooning depressedly around, now backs - towards the door._ - -FARRANT. In one way, of course, Trebell won't care a damn. I mean, he knows -as well as we do that office isn't worth having ... he has never been a -place-hunter. On the other hand ... what with one thing and the other ... -Blackborough is a sensible fellow. I suppose it can't be helped. - -HORSHAM. Blackborough will tell you so. Good-night. - - _So_ FARRANT _departs, leaving the two cousins together._ CANTELUPE - _has not moved and now faces_ HORSHAM _just as accusingly._ - -CANTELUPE. Cyril, this is tragic. - -HORSHAM. [_More to himself than in answer._] Yes ... most annoying. - -CANTELUPE. Lucifer, son of the morning! Why is it always the highest who -fall? - - HORSHAM _shies fastidiously at this touch of poetry._ - -HORSHAM. No, my dear Charles, let us above all things keep our mental -balance. Trebell is a most capable fellow. I'd set my heart on having him -with me ... he'll be most awkward to deal with in opposition. But we shall -survive his loss and so would the country. - -CANTELUPE. [_Desperately._] Cyril, promise me there shall be no compromise -over this measure. - -HORSHAM. [_Charmingly candid._] No ... no unnecessary compromise, I promise -you. - -CANTELUPE. [_With a sigh._] If we had done what we have done to-night in -the right spirit! Blackborough was almost vindictive. - -HORSHAM. [_Smiling without amusement._] Didn't you keep thinking ... I did -... of that affair of his with Mrs. Parkington ... years ago? - -CANTELUPE. There was never any proof of it. - -HORSHAM. No ... he bought off the husband. - -CANTELUPE. [_Uneasily._] His objections to Trebell were--political. - -HORSHAM. Yours weren't. - -CANTELUPE. [_More uneasily still._] I withdrew mine. - -HORSHAM. [_With elderly reproof._] I don't think, Charles, you have the -least conception of what a nicely balanced machine a cabinet is. - -CANTELUPE. [_Imploring comfort._] But should we have held together through -Trebell's bill? - -HORSHAM. [_A little impatient._] Perhaps not. But once I had them all round -a table ... Trebell is very keen on office for all his independent airs ... -he and Percival could have argued the thing out. However, it's too late now. - -CANTELUPE. Is it? - - _For a moment_ HORSHAM _is tempted to indulge in the luxury of - changing his mind; but he puts Satan behind him with a shake of the - head._ - -HORSHAM. Well, you see ... Percival I can't do without. Now that -Blackborough knows of his objections to the finance he'd go to him and take -Chisholm and offer to back them up. I know he would ... he didn't take -Farrant away with him for nothing. [_Then he flashes out rather shrilly._] -It's Trebell's own fault. He ought not to have committed himself definitely -to any scheme until he was safely in office. I warned him about Percival ... -I warned him not to be explicit. One cannot work with men who will make up -their minds prematurely. No, I shall not change my mind. I shall write to -him. - - _He goes firmly to his writing desk leaving_ CANTELUPE _forlorn._ - -CANTELUPE. What about a messenger? - -HORSHAM. Not at this time of night. I'll post it. - -CANTELUPE. I'll post it as I go. - - _He seeks comfort again in the piano and this time starts to play, - with one finger and some hesitation, the first bars of a Bach fugue_, - HORSHAM'S _pen-nib is disappointing him and the letter is not easy to - phrase._ - -HORSHAM. But I hate coming to immediate decisions. The administrative part -of my brain always tires after half an hour. Does yours, Charles? - -CANTELUPE. What do you think Trebell will do now? - -HORSHAM. [_A little grimly._] Punish us all he can. - - _On reaching the second voice in the fugue_ CANTELUPE'S _virtuosity - breaks down._ - -CANTELUPE. All that ability turned to destructiveness ... what a pity! -That's the paradox of human activities.... - - _Suddenly_ HORSHAM _looks up and his face is lighted with a seraphic - smile._ - -HORSHAM. Charles ... I wish we could do without Blackborough. - -CANTELUPE. [_Struck with the idea._] Well ... why not? - -HORSHAM. Yes ... I must think about it. [_They both get up, cheered -considerably._] You won't forget this, will you? - -CANTELUPE. [_The letter in_ HORSHAM'S _hand accusing him._] No ... no. I -don't think I have been the cause of your dropping Trebell, have I? - - HORSHAM, _rid of the letter, is rid of responsibility and his charming - equable self again. He comforts his cousin paternally._ - -HORSHAM. I don't think so. The split would have come when Blackborough -checkmated my forming a cabinet. It would have pleased him to do that ... -and he could have, over Trebell. But now that question's out of the way ... -you won't get such a bad measure with Trebell in opposition. He'll frighten -us into keeping it up to the mark, so to speak. - -CANTELUPE. [_A little comforted._] But I shall miss one or two of those -ideas ... - -HORSHAM. [_So pleasantly sceptical._] Do you think they'd have outlasted the -second reading? Dullness in the country one expects. Dullness in the House -one can cope with. But do you know, I have never sat in a cabinet yet that -didn't greet anything like a new idea in chilling silence. - -CANTELUPE. Well, I should regret to have caused you trouble, Cyril. - -HORSHAM. [_His hand on the other's shoulder._] Oh ... we don't take politics -so much to heart as that, I hope. - -CANTELUPE. [_With sweet gravity._] I take politics very much to heart. Yes, -I know what you mean ... but that's the sort of remark that makes people -call you cynical. [HORSHAM _smiles as if at a compliment and starts with_ -CANTELUPE _towards the door._ CANTELUPE, _who would not hurt his feelings, -changes the subject._] By the bye, I'm glad we met this evening! Do you hear -Aunt Mary wants to sell the Burford Holbein? Can she? - -HORSHAM. [_Taking as keen, but no keener, an interest in this than in the -difficulty he has just surmounted._] Yes, by the will she can, but she -mustn't. Dear me, I thought I'd put a stop to that foolishness. Well now, we -must take that matter up very seriously ... - - _They go out talking arm in arm._ - - - - -THE FOURTH ACT - - -At TREBELL'S again; later, the same evening. - -_His room is in darkness but for the flicker the fire makes and the streaks -of moonlight between the curtains. The door is open, though, and you see the -light of the lamp on the stairs. You hear his footstep too. On his way he -stops to draw back the the curtains of the passage-way window; the moonlight -makes his face look very pale. Then he serves the curtains of his own window -the same; flings it open, moreover, and stands looking out. Something below -draws his attention. After leaning over the balcony with a short_ "Hullo" -_he goes quickly downstairs again. In a minute_ WEDGECROFT _comes up._ -TREBELL _follows, pausing by the door a moment to light up the room._ -WEDGECROFT _is radiant._ - -TREBELL. [_With a twist of his mouth._] Promised, has he? - -WEDGECROFT. Suddenly broke out as we walked along, that he liked the look of -you and that men must stand by one another nowadays against these women. -Then he said good-night and walked away. - -TREBELL. Back to Ireland and the thirteenth century. - -WEDGECROFT. After to-morrow. - -TREBELL. [_Taking all the meaning of to-morrow._] Yes. Are you in for -perjury, too? - -WEDGECROFT. [_His thankfulness checked a little._] No ... not exactly. - - TREBELL _walks away from him._ - -TREBELL. It's a pity the truth isn't to be told, I think. I suppose the -verdict will be murder. - -WEDGECROFT. They won't catch the man. - -TREBELL. You don't mean ... me. - -WEDGECROFT. No, no ... my dear fellow. - -TREBELL. You might, you know. But nobody seems to see this thing as I see -it. If I were on that jury I'd say murder too and accuse ... so many -circumstances, Gilbert, that we should go home ... and look in the -cupboards. What a lumber of opinions we inherit and keep! - -WEDGECROFT. [_Humouring him._] Ought we to burn the house down? - -TREBELL. Rules and regulations for the preservation of rubbish are the laws -of England ... and I was adding to their number. - -WEDGECROFT. And so you shall ... to the applause of a grateful country. - -TREBELL. [_Studying his friend's kindly encouraging face._] Gilbert, it is -not so much that you're an incorrigible optimist ... but why do you subdue -your mind to flatter people into cheerfulness? - -WEDGECROFT. I'm a doctor, my friend. - -TREBELL. You're a part of our tendency to keep things alive by hook or by -crook ... not a spark but must be carefully blown upon. The world's old and -tired; it dreads extinction. I think I disapprove ... I think I've more -faith. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Scolding him._] Nonsense ... you've the instinct to preserve -your life as everyone else has ... and I'm here to show you how. - -TREBELL. [_Beyond the reach of his kindness._] I assure you that these two -days while you've been fussing around O'Connell--bless your kind heart--I've -been waiting events, indifferent enough to understand his indifference. - -WEDGECROFT. Not indifferent. - -TREBELL. Lifeless enough already, then. [_Suddenly a thought strikes him._] -D'you think it was Horsham and his little committee persuaded O'Connell? - -WEDGECROFT. On the contrary. - -TREBELL. So you need not have let them into the secret? - -WEDGECROFT. No. - -TREBELL. Think of that. - - _He almost laughs; but_ WEDGECROFT _goes on quite innocently._ - -WEDGECROFT. Yes ... I'm sorry. - -TREBELL. Upsetting their moral digestion for nothing. - -WEDGECROFT. But when O'Connell wouldn't listen to us we had to rope in the -important people. - -TREBELL. With their united wisdom. [_Then he breaks away again into great -bitterness._] No ... what do they make of this woman's death? I saw them in -that room, Gilbert, like men seen through the wrong end of a telescope. -D'you think if the little affair with Nature ... her offence and mine -against the conveniences of civilization ... had ended in my death too ... -then they'd have stopped to wonder at the misuse and waste of the only force -there is in the world ... come to think of it, there is no other ... than -this desire for expression ... in words ... or through children. Would they -have thought of that and stopped whispering about the scandal? - - _Through this_ WEDGECROFT _has watched him very gravely._ - -WEDGECROFT. Trebell ... if the inquest to-morrow had put you out of action -... - -TREBELL. Should I have grown a beard and travelled abroad and after ten -years timidly tried to climb my way back into politics? When public opinion -takes its heel from your face it keeps it for your finger-tips. After twenty -years to be forgiven by your more broad-minded friends and tolerated as a -dotard by a new generation.... - -WEDGECROFT. Nonsense. What age are you now ... forty-six ... forty-seven? - -TREBELL. Well ... let's instance a good man. Gladstone had done his best -work by sixty-five. Then he began to be popular. Think of his last years of -oratory. - - _He has gone to his table and now very methodically starts to tidy his - papers,_ WEDGECROFT _still watching him._ - -WEDGECROFT. You'd have had to thank Heaven for a little that there were more -lives than one to lead. - -TREBELL. That's another of your faults, Gilbert ... it's a comfort just now -to enumerate them. You're an anarchist ... a kingdom to yourself. You make -little treaties with Truth and with Beauty, and what can disturb you? I'm a -part of the machine I believe in. If my life as I've made it is to be cut -short ... the rest of me shall walk out of the world and slam the door ... -with the noise of a pistol shot. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Concealing some uneasiness._] Then I'm glad it's not to be cut -short. You and your cabinet rank and your disestablishment bill! - - TREBELL _starts to enjoy his secret._ - -TREBELL. Yes ... our minds have been much relieved within the last half -hour, haven't they? - -WEDGECROFT. I scribbled Horsham a note in a messenger office and sent it as -soon as O'Connell had left me. - -TREBELL. He'd be glad to get that. - -WEDGECROFT. He has been most kind about the whole thing. - -TREBELL. Oh, he means well. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Following up his fancied advantage._] But, my friend ... -suicide whilst of unsound mind would never have done.... The hackneyed -verdict hits the truth, you know. - -TREBELL. You think so? - -WEDGECROFT. I don't say there aren't excuses enough in this miserable -world, but fundamentally ... no sane person will destroy life. - -TREBELL. [_His thoughts shifting their plane._] Was she so very mad? I'm not -thinking of her own death. - -WEDGECROFT. Don't brood, Trebell. Your mind isn't healthy yet about her -and-- - -TREBELL. And my child. - - _Even_ WEDGECROFT'S _kindness is at fault before the solemnity of - this._ - -WEDGECROFT. Is that how you're thinking of it? - -TREBELL. How else? It's very inexplicable ... this sense of fatherhood. -[_The eyes of his mind travel down--what vista of possibilities. Then he -shakes himself free._] Let's drop the subject. To finish the list of -shortcomings, you're a bit of an artist too ... therefore I don't think -you'll understand. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Successfully decoyed into argument._] Surely an artist is a -man who understands. - -TREBELL. Everything about life, but not life itself. That's where art fails -a man. - -WEDGECROFT. That's where everything but living fails a man. [_Drifting into -introspection himself._] Yes, it's true. I can talk cleverly and I've -written a book ... but I'm barren. [_Then the healthy mind re-asserts -itself._] No, it's not true. Our thoughts are children ... and marry and -intermarry. And we're peopling the world ... not badly. - -TREBELL. Well ... either life is too little a thing to matter or it's so big -that such specks of it as we may be are of no account. These are two points -of view. And then one has to consider if death can't be sometimes the last -use made of life. - - _There is a tone of menace in this which recalls_ WEDGECROFT _to the - present trouble._ - -WEDGECROFT. I doubt the virtue of sacrifice ... or the use of it. - -TREBELL. How else could I tell Horsham that my work matters? Does he think -so now?... not he. - -WEDGECROFT. You mean if they'd had to throw you over? - - _Once again_ TREBELL _looks up with that secretive smile._ - -TREBELL. Yes ... if they'd had to. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Unreasonably nervous, so he thinks._] My dear fellow, Horsham -would have thought it was the shame and disgrace if you'd shot yourself -after the inquest. That's the proper sentimental thing for you so-called -strong men to do on like occasions. Why, if your name were to come out -to-morrow, your best meaning friends would be sending you pistols by post, -requesting you to use them like a gentleman. Horsham would grieve over ten -dinner-tables in succession and then return to his philosophy. One really -mustn't waste a life trying to shock polite politicians. There'd even be a -suspicion of swagger in it. - -TREBELL. Quite so ... the bomb that's thrown at their feet must be something -otherwise worthless. - - FRANCES _comes in quickly, evidently in search of her brother. Though - she has not been crying, her eyes are wide with grief._ - -FRANCES. Oh, Henry ... I'm so glad you're still up. [_She notices_ -WEDGECROFT.] How d'you do, Doctor? - -TREBELL. [_Doubling his mask of indifference._] Meistersinger's over early. - -FRANCES. Is it? - -TREBELL. Not much past twelve yet. - -FRANCES. [_The little gibe lost on her._] It was Tristan to-night. I'm quite -upset. I heard just as I was coming away ... Amy O'Connell's dead. [_Both -men hold their breath._ TREBELL _is the first to find control of his and -give the cue._] - -TREBELL. Yes ... Wedgecroft has just told me. - -FRANCES. She was only taken ill last week ... it's so extraordinary. [_She -remembers the doctor._] Oh ... have you been attending her? - -WEDGECROFT. Yes. - -FRANCES. I hear there's to be an inquest. - -WEDGECROFT. Yes. - -FRANCES. But what has been the matter? - -TREBELL. [_Sharply forestalling any answer._] You'll know to-morrow. - -FRANCES. [_The little snub almost bewildering her._] Anything private? I -mean.... - -TREBELL. No ... I'll tell you. Don't make Gilbert repeat a story twice.... -He's tired with a good day's work. - -WEDGECROFT. Yes ... I'll be getting away. - - FRANCES _never heeds this flash of a further meaning between the two - men._ - -FRANCES. And I meant to have gone to see her to-day. Was the end very -sudden? Did her husband arrive in time? - -WEDGECROFT. Yes. - -FRANCES. They didn't get on ... he'll be frightfully upset. - - TREBELL _resists a hideous temptation to laugh._ - -WEDGECROFT. Good night, Trebell. - -TREBELL. Good night, Gilbert. Many thanks. - - _There is enough of a caress in_ TREBELL'S _tone to turn_ FRANCES - _towards their friend, a little remorseful for treating him so - casually, now as always._ - -FRANCES. He's always thanking you. You're always doing things for him. - -WEDGECROFT. Good night. [_Seeing the tears in her eyes._] Oh, don't grieve. - -FRANCES. One shouldn't be sorry when people die, I know. But she liked me -more than I liked her ... [_This time_ TREBELL _does laugh, silently._] ... -so I somehow feel in her debt and unable to pay now. - -TREBELL. [_An edge on his voice._] Yes ... people keep on dying at all -sorts of ages, in all sorts of ways. But we seem never to get used to it ... -narrow-minded as we are. - -WEDGECROFT. Don't you talk nonsense. - -TREBELL. [_One note sharper yet._] One should occasionally test one's sanity -by doing so. If we lived in the logical world we like to believe in, I could -also prove that black was white. As it is ... there are more ways of killing -a cat than hanging it. - -WEDGECROFT. Had I better give you a sleeping draught? - -FRANCES. Are you doctoring him for once? Henry, have you at last managed to -overwork yourself? - -TREBELL. No ... I started the evening by a charming little dinner at the Van -Meyer's ... sat next to Miss Grace Cutler, who is writing a _vie intime_ of -Louis Quinze and engaged me with anecdotes of the same. - -FRANCES. A champion of her sex, whom I do not like. - -WEDGECROFT. She's writing such a book to prove that women are equal to -anything. - - _He goes towards the door and_ FRANCES _goes with him._ TREBELL _never - turns his head._ - -TREBELL. I shall not come and open the door for you ... but mind you shut -it. - - FRANCES _comes back._ - -FRANCES. Henry ... this is dreadful about that poor little woman. - -TREBELL. An unwelcome baby was arriving. She got some quack to kill her. - - _These exact words are like a blow in the face to her, from which, - being a woman of brave common sense, she does not shrink._ - -TREBELL. What do you say to that? - - _She walks away from him, thinking painfully._ - -FRANCES. She had never had a child. There's the common-place thing to -say.... Ungrateful little fool! But.... - -TREBELL. If you had been in her place? - -FRANCES. [_Subtly._] I have never made the mistake of marrying. She grew -frightened, I suppose. Not just physically frightened. How can a man -understand? - -TREBELL. The fear of life ... do you think it was ... which is the beginning -of all evil? - -FRANCES. A woman must choose what her interpretation of life is to be ... as -a man must too in his way ... as you and I have chosen, Henry. - -TREBELL. [_Asking from real interest in her._] Was yours a deliberate choice -and do you never regret it? - -FRANCES. [_Very simply and clearly._] Perhaps one does nothing quite -deliberately and for a definite reason. My state has its compensations ... -if one doesn't value them too highly. I've travelled in thought over all -this question. You mustn't blame a woman for wishing not to bear children. -But ... well, if one doesn't like the fruit one mustn't cultivate the -flower. And I suppose that saying condemns poor Amy ... condemned her to -death ... [_Then her face hardens as she concentrates her meaning._] and -brands most men as ... let's unsentimentally call it illogical, doesn't it? - - _He takes the thrust in silence._ - -TREBELL. Did you notice the light in my window as you came in? - -FRANCES. Yes ... in both as I got out of the cab. Do you want the curtains -drawn back? - -TREBELL. Yes ... don't touch them. - - _He has thrown himself into his chair by the fire. She lapses into - thought again._ - -FRANCES. Poor little woman. - -TREBELL. [_In deep anger._] Well, if women will be little and poor.... - - _She goes to him and slips an arm over his shoulder._ - -FRANCES. What is it you're worried about ... if a mere sister may ask? - -TREBELL. [_Into the fire._] I want to think. I haven't thought for years. - -FRANCES. Why, you have done nothing else. - -TREBELL. I've been working out problems in legal and political algebra. - -FRANCES. You want to think of yourself. - -TREBELL. Yes. - -FRANCES. [_Gentle and ironic._] Have you ever, for one moment, thought in -that sense of anyone else? - -TREBELL. Is that a complaint? - -FRANCES. The first in ten years' housekeeping. - -TREBELL. No, I never have ... but I've never thought selfishly either. - -FRANCES. That's a paradox I don't quite understand. - -TREBELL. Until women do they'll remain where they are ... and what they are. - -FRANCES. Oh, I know you hate us. - -TREBELL. Yes, dear sister, I'm afraid I do. And I hate your influence on men -... compromise, tenderness, pity, lack of purpose. Women don't know the -values of things, not even their own value. - - _For a moment she studies him, wonderingly._ - -FRANCES. I'll take up the counter-accusation to-morrow. Now I'm tired and -I'm going to bed. If I may insult you by mothering you, so should you. You -look tired and I've seldom seen you. - -TREBELL. I'm waiting up for a message. - -FRANCES. So late? - -TREBELL. It's a matter of life and death. - -FRANCES. Are you joking? - -TREBELL. Yes. If you want to spoil me find me a book to read. - -FRANCES. What will you have? - -TREBELL. Huckleberry Finn. It's on a top shelf towards the end somewhere ... -or should be. - - _She finds the book. On her way back with it she stops and shivers._ - -FRANCES. I don't think I shall sleep to-night. Poor Amy O'Connell! - -TREBELL. [_Curiously._] Are you afraid of death? - -FRANCES. [_With humorous stoicism._] It will be the end of me, perhaps. - - _She gives him the book, with its red cover; the '86 edition, a boy's - friend evidently. He fingers it familiarly._ - -TREBELL. Thank you. Mark Twain's a jolly fellow. He has courage ... comic -courage. That's what's wanted. Nothing stands against it. You be-little -yourself by laughing ... then all this world and the last and the next grow -little too ... and so you grow great again. Switch off some light, will you? - -FRANCES. [_Clicking off all but his reading lamp._] So? - -TREBELL. Thanks. Good night, Frankie. - - _She turns at the door, with a glad smile._ - -FRANCES. Good night. When did you last use that nursery name? - - _Then she goes, leaving him still fingering the book, but looking into - the fire and far beyond. Behind him through the open window one sees - how cold and clear the night is._ - - * * * * * - - _At eight in the morning he is still here. His lamp is out, the fire - is out and the book laid aside. The white morning light penetrates - every crevice of the room and shows every line on_ TREBELL'S _face. - The spirit of the man is strained past all reason. The door opens - suddenly and_ FRANCES _comes in, troubled, nervous. Interrupted in her - dressing, she has put on some wrap or other._ - -FRANCES. Henry ... Simpson says you've not been to bed all night. - - _He turns his head and says with inappropriate politeness_-- - -TREBELL. No. Good morning. - -FRANCES. Oh, my dear ... what is wrong? - -TREBELL. The message hasn't come ... and I've been thinking. - -FRANCES. Why don't you tell me? [_He turns his head away._] I think you -haven't the right to torture me. - -TREBELL. Your sympathy would only blind me towards the facts I want to face. - - SIMPSON, _the maid, undisturbed in her routine, brings in the - morning's letters._ FRANCES _rounds on her irritably._ - -FRANCES. What is it, Simpson? - -MAID. The letters, Ma'am. - -TREBELL _is on his feet at that._ - -TREBELL. Ah ... I want them. - -FRANCES. [_Taking the letters composedly enough._] Thank you. - - SIMPSON _departs and_ TREBELL _comes to her for his letters. She looks - at him with baffled affection._ - -FRANCES. Can I do nothing? Oh, Henry! - -TREBELL. Help me to open my letters. - -FRANCES. Don't you leave them to Mr. Kent? - -TREBELL. Not this morning. - -FRANCES. But there are so many. - -TREBELL. [_For the first time lifting his voice from its dull monotony._] -What a busy man I was. - -FRANCES. Henry ... you're a little mad. - -TREBELL. Do you find me so? That's interesting. - -FRANCES. [_With the ghost of a smile._] Well ... maddening. - - _By this time he is sitting at his table; she near him watching - closely. They halve the considerable post and start to open it._ - -TREBELL. We arrange them in three piles ... personal ... political ... and -preposterous. - -FRANCES. This is an invitation ... the Anglican League. - -TREBELL. I can't go. - - _She looks sideways at him, as he goes on mechanically tearing the - envelopes._ - -FRANCES. I heard you come upstairs about two o'clock. - -TREBELL. That was to dip my head in water. Then I made an instinctive -attempt to go to bed ... got my tie off even. - -FRANCES. [_Her anxiety breaking out._] If you'd tell me that you're only -ill.... - -TREBELL. [_Forbiddingly commonplace._] What's that letter? Don't fuss ... -and remember that abnormal conduct is sometimes quite rational. - - FRANCES _returns to her task with misty eyes._ - -FRANCES. It's from somebody whose son can't get into something. - -TREBELL. The third heap ... Kent's ... the preposterous. [_Talking on with -steady monotony._] But I saw it would not do to interrupt that logical train -of thought which reached definition about half past six. I had then been -gleaning until you came in. - -FRANCES. [_Turning the neat little note in her hand._] This is from Lord -Horsham. He writes his name small at the bottom of the envelope. - -TREBELL. [_Without a tremor._] Ah ... give it me. - - _He opens this as he has opened the others, carefully putting the - envelope to one side._ FRANCES _has ceased for the moment to watch - him._ - -FRANCES. That's Cousin Robert's handwriting. [_She puts a square envelope at -his hand._] Is a letter marked private from the Education Office political -or personal? - - _By this he has read_ HORSHAM'S _letter twice. So he tears it up and - speaks very coldly._ - -TREBELL. Either. It doesn't matter. - - _In the silence her fears return._ - -FRANCES. Henry, it's a foolish idea ... I suppose I have it because I hardly -slept for thinking of her. Your trouble is nothing to do with Amy O'Connell, -is it? - -TREBELL. [_His voice strangled in his throat._] Her child should have been -my child too. - -FRANCES. [_Her eyes open, the whole landscape of her mind suddenly clear._] -Oh, I ... no, I didn't think so ... but.... - -TREBELL. [_Dealing his second blow as remorselessly as dealt to him._] Also -I'm not joining the new Cabinet, my dear sister. - -FRANCES. [_Her thoughts rushing now to the present--the future._] Not! -Because of...? Do people know? Will they...? You didn't...? - - _As mechanically as ever he has taken up_ COUSIN ROBERT'S _letter and, - in some sense, read it. Now he recapitulates, meaninglessly, that his - voice may just deaden her pain and his own._ - -TREBELL. Robert says ... that we've not been to see them for some time ... -but that now I'm a greater man than ever I must be very busy. The vicarage -has been painted and papered throughout and looks much fresher. Mary sends -you her love and hopes you have no return of the rheumatism. And he would -like to send me the proof sheets of his critical commentary on First Timothy -... for my alien eye might possibly detect some logical lapses. Need he -repeat to me his thankfulness at my new attitude upon Disestablishment ... -or assure me again that I have his prayers. Could we not go and stay there -only for a few days? Possibly his opinion-- - - _She has borne this cruel kindness as long as she can and she breaks - out...._ - -FRANCES. Oh ... don't ... don't! - - _He falls from his seeming callousness to the very blankness of - despair._ - -TREBELL. No, we'll leave that ... and the rest ... and everything. - - _Her agony passes._ - -FRANCES. What do you mean to do? - -TREBELL. There's to be no public scandal. - -FRANCES. Why has Lord Horsham thrown you over then ... or hasn't that -anything to do with it? - -TREBELL. It has to do with it. - -FRANCES. [_Lifting her voice; some tone returning to it._] Unconsciously ... -I've known for years that this sort of thing might happen to you. - -TREBELL. Why? - -FRANCES. Power over men and women and contempt for them! Do you think they -don't take their revenge sooner or later? - -TREBELL. Much good may it do them! - -FRANCES. Human nature turns against you ... by instinct ... in self-defence. - -TREBELL. And my own human-nature! - -FRANCES. [_Shocked into great pity, by his half articulate pain._] Yes ... -you must have loved her, Henry ... in some odd way. I'm sorry for you both. - -TREBELL. I'm hating her now ... as a man can only hate his own silliest -vices. - -FRANCES. [_Flashing into defence._] That's wrong of you. If you thought of -her only as a pretty little fool.... Bearing your child ... all her womanly -life belonged to you ... and for that time there was no other sort of life -in her. So she became what you thought her. - -TREBELL. That's not true. - -FRANCES. It's true enough ... it's true of men towards women. You can't -think of them through generations as one thing and then suddenly find them -another. - -TREBELL. [_Hammering at his fixed idea._] She should have brought that child -into the world. - -FRANCES. You didn't love her enough! - -TREBELL. I didn't love her at all. - -FRANCES. Then why should she value your gift? - -TREBELL. For its own sake. - -FRANCES. [_Turning away._] It's hopeless ... you don't understand. - -TREBELL. [_Helpless; almost like a deserted child._] I've been trying to ... -all through the night. - -FRANCES. [_Turning back enlightened a little._] That's more the trouble then -than the Cabinet question? - - _He shakes himself to his feet and begins to pace the room; his - keenness coming back to him, his brow knitting again with the delight - of thought._ - -TREBELL. Oh ... as to me against the world ... I'm fortified with comic -courage. [_Then turning on her like any examining professor._] Now which do -you believe ... that Man is the reformer, or that the Time brings forth such -men as it needs and lobster-like can grow another claw? - -FRANCES. [_Watching this new mood carefully._] I believe that you'll be -missed from Lord Horsham's Cabinet. - -TREBELL. The hand-made statesman and his hand-made measure! They were out of -place in that pretty Tory garden. Those men are the natural growth of the -time. Am I? - -FRANCES. Just as much. And wasn't your bill going to be such a good piece of -work? That can't be thrown away ... wasted. - -TREBELL. Can one impose a clever idea upon men and women? I wonder. - -FRANCES. That rather begs the question of your very existence, doesn't it? - - _He comes to a standstill._ - -TREBELL. I know. - - _His voice shows her that meaning in her words and beyond it a threat. - She goes to him, suddenly shaking with fear._ - -FRANCES. Henry, I didn't mean that. - -TREBELL. You think I've a mind to put an end to that same? - -FRANCES. [_Belittling her fright._] No ... for how unreasonable.... - -TREBELL. In view of my promising past. I've stood for success, Fanny; I -still stand for success. I could still do more outside the Cabinet than the -rest of them, inside, will do. But suddenly I've a feeling the work would be -barren. [_His eyes shift beyond her; beyond the room._] What is it in your -thoughts and actions which makes them bear fruit? Something that the -roughest peasant may have in common with the best of us intellectual men ... -something that a dog might have. It isn't successful cleverness. - - _She stands ... his trouble beyond her reach._ - -FRANCES. Come now ... you've done very well with your life. - -TREBELL. Do you know how empty I feel of all virtue at this moment? - - _He leaves her. She must bring him back to the plane on which she can - help him._ - -FRANCES. We must think what's best to be done ... now ... and for the -future. - -TREBELL. Why, I could go on earning useless money at the Bar ... think how -nice that would be. I could blackmail the next judgeship out of Horsham. I -think I could even smash his Disestablishment Bill ... and perhaps get into -the next Liberal Cabinet and start my own all over again, with necessary -modifications. I shan't do any such things. - -FRANCES. No one knows about you and poor Amy? - -TREBELL. Half a dozen friends. Shall I offer to give evidence at the inquest -this morning? - -FRANCES. [_With a little shiver._] They'll say bad enough things about her -without your blackening her good name. - - _Without warning, his anger and anguish break out again._ - -TREBELL. All she had ... all there is left of her! She was a nothingness ... -silly ... vain. And I gave her this power over me! - - _He is beaten, exhausted. Now she goes to him, motherlike._ - -FRANCES. My dear, listen to me for a little. Consider that as a sorrow and -put it behind you. And think now ... whatever love there may be between us -has neither hatred nor jealousy in it, has it, Henry? Since I'm not a -mistress or a friend but just the likest fellow-creature to you ... perhaps. - -TREBELL. [_Putting out his hand for hers._] Yes, my sister. What I've wanted -to feel for vague humanity has been what I should have felt for you ... if -you'd ever made a single demand on me. - - _She puts her arms round him; able to speak._ - -FRANCES. Let's go away somewhere ... I'll make demands. I need refreshing as -much as you. My joy of life has been withered in me ... oh, for a long time -now. We must kiss the earth again ... take interest in common things, common -people. There's so much of the world we don't know. There's air to breathe -everywhere. Think of the flowers in a Tyrol valley in the early spring. One -can walk for days, not hurrying, as soon as the passes are open. And the -people are kind. There's Italy ... there's Russia full of simple folk. When -we've learned to be friends with them we shall both feel so much better. - -TREBELL. [_Shaking his head, unmoved._] My dear sister ... I should be bored -to death. The life contemplative and peripatetic would literally bore me -into a living death. - -FRANCES. [_Letting it be a fairy tale._] Is your mother the Wide World -nothing to you? Can't you open your heart like a child again? - -TREBELL. No, neither to the beauty of Nature nor the particular human -animals that are always called a part of it. I don't even see them with your -eyes. I'm a son of the anger of Man at men's foolishness, and unless I've -that to feed upon...! [_Now he looks at her, as if for the first time -wanting to explain himself, and his voice changes._] Don't you know that -when a man cuts himself shaving, he swears? When he loses a seat in the -Cabinet he turns inward for comfort ... and if he only finds there a spirit -which should have been born, but is dead ... what's to be done then? - -FRANCES. [_In a whisper._] You mustn't think of that woman.... - -TREBELL. I've reasoned my way through life.... - -FRANCES. I see how awful it is to have the double blow fall. - -TREBELL. [_The wave of his agony rising again._] But here's something in me -which no knowledge touches ... some feeling ... some power which should be -the beginning of new strength. But it has been killed in me unborn before I -had learnt to understand ... and that's killing me. - -FRANCES. [_Crying out._] Why ... why did no woman teach you to be gentle? -Why did you never believe in any woman? Perhaps even I am to blame.... - -TREBELL. The little fool, the little fool ... why did she kill my child? -What did it matter what I thought her? We were committed together to that -one thing. Do you think I didn't know that I was heartless and that she was -socially in the wrong? But what did Nature care for that? And Nature has -broken us. - -FRANCES. [_Clinging to him as he beats the air._] Not you. She's dead, poor -girl ... but not you. - -TREBELL. Yes ... that's the mystery no one need believe till he has dipped -in it. The man bears the child in his soul as the woman carries it in her -body. - - _There is silence between them, till she speaks low and tonelessly, - never loosing his hand._ - -FRANCES. Henry, I want your promise that you'll go on living till ... -till.... - -TREBELL. Don't cry, Fanny, that's very foolish. - -FRANCES. Till you've learnt to look at all this calmly. Then I can trust -you. - -TREBELL _smiles, not at all grimly._ - -TREBELL. But, you see, it would give Horsham and Blackborough such a shock -if I shot myself ... it would make them think about things. - -FRANCES. [_With one catch of wretched laughter._] Oh, my dear, if shooting's -wanted ... shoot them. Or I'll do it for you. - - _He sits in his chair just from weariness. She stands by him, her hand - still grasping his._ - -TREBELL. You see, Fanny, as I said to Gilbert last night ... our lives are -our own and yet not our own. We understand living for others and dying for -others. The first is easy ... it's a way out of boredom. To make the second -popular we had to invent a belief in personal resurrection. Do you think we -shall ever understand dying in the sure and certain hope that it really -doesn't matter ... that God is infinitely economical and wastes perhaps less -of the power in us after our death than men do while we live? - -FRANCES. I want your promise, Henry. - -TREBELL. You know I never make promises ... it's taking oneself too -seriously. Unless indeed one has the comic courage to break them too. I've -upset you very much with my troubles. Don't you think you'd better go and -finish dressing? [_She doesn't move._] My dear ... you don't propose to hold -my right hand so safely for years to come. Even so, I still could jump out -of a window. - -FRANCES. I'll trust you, Henry. - - _She looks into his eyes and he does not flinch. Then, with a final - grip she leaves him. When she is at the door he speaks more gently - than ever._ - -TREBELL. Your own life is sufficient unto itself, isn't it? - -FRANCES. Oh yes. I can be pleasant to talk to and give good advice through -the years that remain. [_Instinctively she rectifies some little untidiness -in the room._] What fools they are to think they can run that government -without you! - -TREBELL. Horsham will do his best. [_Then, as for the second time she -reaches the door._] Don't take away my razors, will you? I only use them for -shaving. - -FRANCES. [_Almost blushing._] I half meant to ... I'm sorry. After all, -Henry, just because they are forgetting in personal feelings what's best for -the country ... it's your duty not to. You'll stand by and do what you can, -won't you? - -TREBELL. [_His queer smile returning, in contrast to her seriousness._] -Disestablishment. It's a very interesting problem. I must think it out. - -FRANCES. [_Really puzzled._] What do you mean? - - _He gets up with a quick movement of strange strength, and faces her. - His smile changes into a graver gladness._ - -TREBELL. Something has happened ... in spite of me. My heart's clean again. -I'm ready for fresh adventures. - -FRANCES. [_With a nod and answering gladness._] That's right. - - _So she leaves him, her mind at rest. For a minute he does not move. - When his gaze narrows it falls on the heaps of letters. He carries - them carefully into_ WALTER KENT'S _room and arranges them as - carefully on his table. On his way out he stops for a moment; then - with a sudden movement bangs the door._ - - * * * * * - - _Two hours later the room has been put in order. It is even more full - of light and the shadows are harder than usual. The doors are open, - showing you_ KENT'S _door still closed. At the big writing table in_ - TREBELL'S _chair sits_ WEDGECROFT, _pale and grave, intent on - finishing a letter._ FRANCES _comes to find him. For a moment she - leans on the table silently, her eyes half closed. You would say a - broken woman. When she speaks it is swiftly, but tonelessly._ - -FRANCES. Lord Horsham is in the drawing room ... and I can't see him, I -really can't. He has come to say he is sorry ... and I should tell him that -it is his fault, partly. I know I should ... and I don't want to. Won't you -go in? What are you writing? - - WEDGECROFT, _with his physicianly pre-occupation, can attend, - understand, sympathise, without looking up at her._ - -WEDGECROFT. Never mind. A necessary note ... to the Coroner's office. Yes, -I'll see Horsham. - -FRANCES. I've managed to get the pistol out of his hand. Was that wrong ... -oughtn't I to have touched it? - -WEDGECROFT. Of course you oughtn't. You must stay away from the room. I'd -better have locked the door. - -FRANCES. [_Pitifully._] I'm sorry ... but I couldn't bear to see the pistol -in his hand. I won't go back. After all he's not there in the room, is he? -But how long do you think the spirit stays near the body ... how long? When -people die gently of age or weakness.... But when the spirit and body are -so strong and knit together and all alive as his.... - -WEDGECROFT. [_His hand on hers._] Hush ... hush. - -FRANCES. His face is very eager ... as if it still could speak. I know that. - - MRS. FARRANT _comes through the open doorway._ FRANCES _hears her - steps and turning falls into her outstretched arms to cry there._ - -FRANCES. Oh, Julia! - -MRS. FARRANT. Oh my dear Fanny! I came with Cyril Horsham ... I don't think -Simpson even saw me. - -FRANCES. I can't go in and talk to him. - -MRS. FARRANT. He'll understand. But I heard you come in here.... - -WEDGECROFT. I'll tell Horsham. - - _He has finished and addressed his letter, so he goes out with it._ - FRANCES _lifts her head. These two are in accord and can speak their - feelings without disguise or preparation._ - -FRANCES. Julia, Julia ... isn't it unbelievable? - -MRS. FARRANT. I'd give ... oh, what wouldn't I give to have it undone! - -FRANCES. I knew he meant to ... and yet I thought I had his promise. If he -really meant to ... I couldn't have stopped it, could I? - -MRS. FARRANT. Walter sent to tell me and I sent round to.... - -FRANCES. Walter came soon after, I think. Julia, I was in my room ... it was -nearly breakfast time ... when I heard the shot. Oh ... don't you think it -was cruel of him? - -MRS. FARRANT. He had a right to. We must remember that. - -FRANCES. You say that easily of my brother ... you wouldn't say it of your -husband. - - _They are apart by this_, JULIA FARRANT _goes to her gently._ - -MRS. FARRANT. Fanny ... will it leave you so very lonely? - -FRANCES. Yes ... lonelier than you can ever be. You have children. I'm just -beginning to realise.... - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Leading her from the mere selfishness of sorrow._] There's -loneliness of the spirit, too. - -FRANCES. Ah, but once you've tasted the common joys of life ... once you've -proved all your rights as a man or a woman.... - -MRS. FARRANT. Then there are subtler things to miss. As well be alone like -you, or dead like him, without them ... I sometimes think. - -FRANCES. [_Responsive, lifted from egoism, reading her friend's mind._] You -demand much. - -MRS. FARRANT. I wish that he had demanded much of any woman. - -FRANCES. You know how this misery began? That poor little wretch ... she's -lying dead too. They're both dead together now. Do you think they've met...? - - JULIA _grips both her hands and speaks very steadily to help her - friend back to self control._ - -MRS. FARRANT. George told me as soon as he was told. I tried to make him -understand my opinion, but he thought I was only shocked. - -FRANCES. I was sorry for her. Now I can't forgive her either. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_Angry, remorseful, rebellious._] When will men learn to know -one woman from another? - -FRANCES. [_With answering bitterness._] When will all women care to be one -thing rather than the other? - - _They are stopped by the sound of the opening of_ KENT'S _door._ - WALTER _comes from his room, some papers from his table held - listlessly in one hand. He is crying, undisguisedly, with a child's - grief._ - -KENT. Oh ... am I in your way...? - -FRANCES. I didn't know you were still here, Walter. - -KENT. I've been going through the letters as usual. I don't know why, I'm -sure. They won't have to be answered now ... will they? - - WEDGECROFT _comes back, grave and tense._ - -WEDGECROFT. Horsham has gone. He thought perhaps you'd be staying with Miss -Trebell for a bit. - -MRS. FARRANT. Yes, I shall be. - -WEDGECROFT. I must go too ... it's nearly eleven. - -FRANCES. To the other inquest? - - _This stirs her two listeners to something of a shudder._ - -WEDGECROFT. Yes. - -MRS. FARRANT. [_In a low voice._] It will make no difference now ... I mean -... still nothing need come out? We needn't know why he ... why he did it. - -WEDGECROFT. When he talked to me last night, and I didn't know what he was -talking of.... - -FRANCES. He was waiting this morning for Lord Horsham's note.... - -MRS. FARRANT. [_In real alarm._] Oh, it wasn't because of the Cabinet -trouble ... you must persuade Cyril Horsham of that. You haven't told him -... he's so dreadfully upset as it is. I've been swearing it had nothing to -do with that. - -WEDGECROFT. [_Cutting her short, bitingly._] Has a time ever come to you -when it was easier to die than to go on living? Oh ... I told Lord Horsham -just what I thought. - - _He leaves them, his men grief unexpressed._ - -FRANCES. [_Listlessly._] Does it matter why? - -MRS. FARRANT. Need there be more suffering and reproaches? It's not as if -even grief would do any good. [_Suddenly with nervous caution._] Walter, you -don't know, do you? - - WALTER _throws up his tear-marked face and a man's anger banishes the - boyish grief._ - -WALTER. No, I don't know why he did it ... and I don't care. And grief is -no use. I'm angry ... just angry at the waste of a good man. Look at the -work undone ... think of it! Who is to do it! Oh ... the waste...! - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Waste, by Granville Barker - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASTE *** - -***** This file should be named 15788.txt or 15788.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/7/8/15788/ - -Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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