The Tyranny of Tears Part 26

[There is a constrained silence. Mrs. Parbury is particularly uneasy. After a moment Parbury rises, lights a cigarette, and stands at mantelpiece.

Mrs. Parbury.

Am I in the way, dear? Do you want to work?

Parbury.

No. [Rises, goes up R.] To-day must be a holiday.

Mrs. Parbury.

Holidays are meant to be happy days.

Parbury.

I suppose so.

Mrs. Parbury.

Our happy days have gone. I suppose they will never come back.

[Very sadly.

Parbury.

It would be wiser to look for new ones than to weep over the old ones.

Mrs. Parbury.

I'll not cry, dear; I promise you that. [Pause. Suddenly rises and turns to him.] Clement, can't we start again?

Parbury.

Perhaps. But we must consider first where we now are and the direction in which we should go.

Mrs. Parbury.

Perhaps in your heart you are blaming me more than I deserve-I mean about Miss Woodward.

Parbury.

You chose to keep the motives of your conduct a secret from me.

Mrs. Parbury.

I may have been wrong. I saw her kiss your photograph.

Parbury.

[Starts slightly.] Why didn't you tell me? [Pause.] Why didn't you tell me?

Mrs. Parbury.

I thought-I thought it would be wiser not to.

Parbury.

What have I ever done to earn so low an estimate of my character from you-that I am not to be trusted with the knowledge that a foolish girl had kissed my photograph.

Mrs. Parbury.

Nothing, dear; nothing. But I was jealous-furious. I am sorry. [She is half-turned from him. He smiles very kindly, and half makes a step forward as if to take her in his arms, then restrains himself.] [Drooping.] You are very, very angry with me?

Parbury.

I am very, very pained.

Mrs. Parbury.

Can't you forgive?

Parbury.

Yes, that is forgiven.

Mrs. Parbury.

You say you forgive, but you don't make me feel it. [Slight pause. He is obviously tempted to come to her, but does not.] Won't you forget too, and let us go back together?

Parbury.

No, we can never go back.

Mrs. Parbury.

Love counts for something, Clement.

Parbury.

[Comes to her.] Does love without respect count for very much? Would you like to go back to the old way-the way of petty tyranny-the way of the cowardly, unnecessary tear-the way of gaining your own ends at all costs-the way of being a spoilt child, instead of a thoughtful and considerate woman-the way of my own contemptible weakness?

Mrs. Parbury.

I never looked upon it in that light. I thought I was happy then.

Parbury.

Because you never dreamed that my love was beginning to wear badly.

Mrs. Parbury.

[Startled.] Clement! . . . Oh? [Goes to him.] Good G.o.d!

Parbury.

I don't want ever to think or speak of it again; but to-day I must, for if we are honest with each other, we may be able in time to save ourselves from that most pitiable and hideous of all states of existence-what is called "a cat and dog life." Have you never seen it-that domestic flower with the rotten heart? The thin outside petals of courtesy, of hollow words of endearment before others, mask the ugly truth from the casual and un.o.bservant; but the intimate friends know, and the prying eyes of the spiteful are undeceived. That man and woman who appear in public wearing the veneered ghost of a smile, are walking in h.e.l.l. Think of their private lives-the slow death of love; the hearts poisoned with bitterness; the ever-growing rancour; the bandied insolences; the swift thoughts, black as murder; the final dull monotony of aching hatred. Do you think such cases rare? Every rank of society has its examples. Do you think such a couple have deliberately sought their h.e.l.l? Oh no; they may have started as fairly as we did. Their love has not been slain by a blow, it has been pecked to a cupboard skeleton by littlenesses-little jealousies, little selfishnesses, little insults, little tyrannies, little intolerances.

Mrs. Parbury.

Clement, you terrify me. [C.R.] Oh, I am ashamed-ashamed. You have made me shudder at the old way. Dear, if I have lost a particle of your love, I'll win it back. You will show me the new way, won't you?

Parbury.

The new way for us is the old way for the wise. It is a pleasant way strewn with flowers, the flowers of self-abnegation-of sweet reasonableness-of patient tolerance-of enduring trustfulness. Walking in that way we seek diligently for the happiness, not of ourselves, but of each other. Rising in the morning we say, not, I will find happiness to-day, but I will give happiness to-day. In that way lie peace, the fulfilment of our better selves, the full golden harvest of love.

[As he speaks these words with deep sympathy, standing a little away from her, she gradually draws nearer to him.

Mrs. Parbury.

I will walk in that way with you, Clement. [She stoops, and taking one of his hands kisses it. Pause.]

[He stoops and raises her, and takes her in his arms.

Enter Miss Woodward and Gunning. Gunning wears a rose in his coat.

Gunning.

Really-I beg your pardon.

Mrs. Parbury.

Don't trouble about us any more. We're reconciled. [She remains in her husband's arms.]

[Gunning turns smilingly to Miss Woodward and takes her hand.

Miss Woodward.

[Smiling back upon Gunning.] Don't trouble about us any more. We're engaged.

Curtain.

Transcriber's Note

This transcription is based on scanned images posted by the Internet Archive from a copy in the University of California, Los Angeles Library: archive.org/details/tyrannyoftearsco00chamiala The following changes were noted: Throughout the text, the convention of long dashes at the end of lines has been made consistent.

p. iii: his charming ruler, worldly-wise Gunning-Changed comma to a semicolon.

p. 25: [Leans on back of sofa.-Added closing bracket.

p. 37: Mrs. Parbury stands C., rather confused].-Placed period within brackets for consistency.

p. 52: the trouble of doing it to-morrow-Added period to end of sentence.

p. 64: [Parbury rises; crosses to R. Mrs. Parbury follows him.]-In html version, changed "R." to plain text for consistency.

p. 79: Three o'clock-Added period to end of line.

p. 95: They all drink champagne-Added opening bracket.

p. 115: [He goes slowly over Gunning-Inserted "to" after "over".

p. 123: Don t speak like that-Inserted an apostrophe between "Don" and "t".

p. 124: [Slight pause. He takes her hand].-Placed period within brackets for consistency.

p. 139: Not the story of your life, surely-Added period to end of sentence.

p. 149: then restrains himself.][Drooping.]-In the printed text, there was a line break between these two directions. They have been placed on the same line for consistency.

The html version of this etext attempts to reproduce the layout of the printed text. However, some concessions have been made, partly to simplify coding. For example, stage directions printed flush right at the end of a line of dialogue without a closing bracket were placed on the next line, indented the same amount from the left margin, and coded as hanging paragraphs.

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