The Naturewoman Part 20

OCEANA. I came here because I wished to get acquainted with him. And what chance have a man and woman to get acquainted with each other in the conventional world?

LEt.i.tIA. [Stares at her; then, faintly.] But what...

OCEANA. I wished to try him out... in body, mind and soul. I wished to know if he was the man for me.

LEt.i.tIA. [Rushes to Henry.] Oh! Have you no decency left? Have you no mercy on me? What has come over you?

HENRY. Let.i.tia...

OCEANA. Let me attend to this, Hal.

LEt.i.tIA. Hal!

OCEANA. That a woman could be married to a man for six years and continue to call him Henry, speaks volumes for the romance of their relations.h.i.+p!

LEt.i.tIA. [To Henry.] Where's your sense of shame?

OCEANA. You are taking the wrong line, Let.i.tia. No such consideration has a moment's weight with us.

LEt.i.tIA. [Catches her breath.] Since it seems that I am here at your mercy, I ask to know your pleasure?

OCEANA. The reason that we have sent for you is that I might a.s.sure myself upon two points... first, as to whether your husband still loves you, and second, as to whether you still love him.

LEt.i.tIA. You doubt that I love him?

OCEANA. So far, Let.i.tia, your actions have proceeded, not from love of him, but from hatred of me.

LEt.i.tIA. Oh! And if I fail to measure up to your tests of love...

OCEANA. [Triumphantly.] Then he is mine!

LEt.i.tIA. And the fact that he is my husband...

OCEANA. Is nothing!

LEt.i.tIA. The fact that he vowed to keep faith with me...

OCEANA. Is nothing!

LEt.i.tIA. That I am dependent upon him for support...

OCEANA. You have money of your own, Let.i.tia.

LEt.i.tIA. Do you suppose I am thinking about money! I mean his protection.

OCEANA. A person who confesses to the need of protection has written himself down an inferior. [A pause.] You see, Let.i.tia, times have changed; our ideas of marriage have charged. In the beginning a woman was a man's economic dependent; now that the man has become ashamed of that, he is made the woman's spiritual dependent. You play upon his sense of chivalry, his sympathy, his pity; and you prey upon him, you devour him alive. But the time has come when that must cease, Let.i.tia ... man will not always be a domestic appendage! And you will simply have to face this new situation. Do you still possess your husband's love? Do you really love him? Nothing else will count... none of your "rights"... we are not afraid of man or devil.

LEt.i.tIA. [Gasps.] Oh! [Turns to HENRY.] Henry, will you tell me what all this means? Can it be that you a.s.sent to these outrageous ideas?

HENRY. I a.s.sent to them, Let.i.tia. It may be that you still love me, but you have given me few signs of it. You have been... you are.. . a selfish woman.

LEt.i.tIA. Henry!

HENRY. How often do you give a thought to me... to the needs of my nature? You think of your whims and your prejudices; you think of your social position... of your "world" and its conventions. You think of what your mother approves, of what your father approves, of what this person will say and what that person will say. And I follow you about... I play my part in the hollow show that you call life; but all the time my heart is crying out in me... I am starving... starving!

LEt.i.tIA. [Startled.] Henry!

OCEANA. Ah! She is beginning to see it!

LEt.i.tIA. [Stretches out her arms and totters towards him, weeping.] Henry! I love you! [Wildly.] Believe me! Believe me! I love you! Don't you remember when you were ill three years ago... how I nursed you and watched over you? You knew that I loved you then. Why, you said I'd worn myself to a shadow! You kissed me, and told me I'd saved your life! And when I was ill myself, and you thought I was dying... didn't you realize that you loved me? And the children? Have you never given a thought to them? Are they nothing to you? And you to them? You know that you love them, Henry... you dare not deny it. Are they to be without a father all their lives? [Falls into his arms.] My husband!

HENRY. [Catches her, deeply moved.] Let.i.tia!

OCEANA. [Has been watching them intently; now, startled and pained.] Ah I thought so! [She turns away; supports herself by the table; whispers.] That settles it!

LEt.i.tIA. Henry, if I have been selfish, I am sorry! I humble myself before you... I beg you for forgiveness! Henry, I do love you! Don't you believe me?

HENRY. [Faintly.] I believe you.

OCEANA. [Clenches her hands and turns resolutely.] You see, Hal, I knew it! [He bows his head.] You can't get away from her. [She pauses.] You understand it all now... what my instinct told me. You still love her, you still belong to her. You would have gone away with me, and you would still have been thinking about her-worrying about her. It would have been tearing your soul in half. [She waits; he does not look at her; she goes on, half to convince herself.] She is not big enough to give you up. She could not say, "Oceana is young and needs you; you love Oceana, and she will make you happy. Go with her." No, she would think of the world and its conventions... she would be jealous and bitter. She would eat her heart out... she would tear herself to pieces! And that would tear you to pieces... you could never forget it. And there are the children, Hal. It's true that you love them; you think about them all the time... I know, for you speak of them. And she could take them away from you, legally... how much chance would they ever have in life, if she and her mother had the bringing up of them? Don't you see, Hal? What can we do?

LEt.i.tIA. [Clinging to Henry's bosom.] Henry, I love you!

OCEANA. I want to play the game generously, Let.i.tia; but it is all I can do not to despise you... because he loves you, and it has meant so little to you, you have done so little in return. That is the curse of this thing you call marriage. You say to yourself that you've got him... the law and the conventions will keep him for you... and so you can treat him as you please. You'll take him off with you now, and you'll set to work to get right back where you were before... yes, she will, Hal. She'll try to wheedle you into backing down from this position. She will weep and she will scold. But you stand firm... stand firm! What we did was right... it was n.o.ble and true, and if more married people did such things, it would be better for them.

LEt.i.tIA. [Clinging to Henry.] Henry, come home with me!

HENRY. All right, I'll come.

[He does not lift his head.]

OCEANA. Look at me. It's all right, Hal... it's all right.

[She speaks with intensity; they gaze into each other's eyes.]

HENRY. [Stretches out his hand to her.] Oceana... I'm sorry...

OCEANA. [With sudden emotion.] No, Hal! Go... go quickly! Please!

[He goes out, right, with Let.i.tia; Oceana stands gazing straight ahead. Sound of sleigh-bells heard. Suddenly she sinks into a chair, bows her head upon the table, and bursts into tears.]

ETHEL. [Opens door, left, and stands gazing at Oceana in alarm, then runs to her and sinks upon her knees before her.] Oceana!

OCEANA. [Sobbing.] He's gone! Gone!

ETHEL. He left you?

OCEANA. I gave him up! I sent him away. Oh, Ethel, Ethel... what am I going to do?