Five Little Plays Part 22

HARVEY. I had given Alice one on her birthday.

MRS. WESTERN. Well?

HARVEY. And so I got _her_ one.

MRS. WESTERN. Why?

HARVEY. Because--[_He stops, very embarra.s.sed._]

MRS. WESTERN. Well?

HARVEY. Because--oh, because--well, she admired it--and _she_ liked pretty things too....

MRS. WESTERN. I don't think you need say anything more.

MRS. BANKET. No. He needn't. It's clear enough!

HARVEY. [_Eagerly._] Look here, on my honour--I _am_ fond of her, of course, in a way--but I'm old enough to be her father--and I swear to you all--I've seen her about, of course, a good deal--and I gave her that thing--but beyond that, nothing, nothing!

MRS. WESTERN. [_Sitting, and with a shrug of the shoulder._] A ridiculous fairy tale!

JUDGE. My dear Alice, take my advice, and believe your husband.

MRS. WESTERN. You too!

MRS. BANKET. All alike, when there's a pretty face!

JUDGE. Let her find another situation, by all means.... But to turn a girl out, at a moment's notice! You couldn't.

MRS. WESTERN. [_Turning to the_ JUDGE.] You are really suggesting that I should sleep under the same roof with--

JUDGE. [_Almost sternly._] You are condemning, without the slightest evidence. And condemning, remember, an utterly defenceless creature. This girl has a claim on you: were your suspicions justified, she-would _still_ have a claim.

MRS. WESTERN. Indeed!

MRS. BANKET. The nonsense he talks! It's really too silly!

JUDGE. You are extraordinary, you women! You exact such rigid morality from the governess and the housemaid! You're full of excuses when it's one of yourselves!

MRS. BANKET. [_Indignantly._] Tom!

JUDGE. Well, that's true--we all know it! And here--I believe every word Harvey has said.

MRS. WESTERN. [_Scarcely believing her ears._] You do!

JUDGE. Because he is a man of honour, and men of honour have their code.

Their children's governess ... is safe. You will do well to believe it, too. Now, f.a.n.n.y, we'll go. Be sensible, Alice--I tell you again, Harvey's right; the girl must not be--summarily dismissed: it would be an act of cruel injustice. Good-bye. [_He offers to kiss her--she turns away._] As you like. Good-bye, Harvey, old man.

HARVEY. Good-bye, Tom. [_They shake hands._] And thank you.

MRS. BANKET. [_Kissing_ MRS. WESTERN.] My poor, dear Alice!

MRS. WESTERN. Good-bye, f.a.n.n.y. I'm sorry that our party to-night--

MRS. BANKET. Oh, that doesn't matter! Poor thing! I promise you that Tom shall have a good talking to!

[_She is too angry with_ HARVEY _to say good-bye to him: she and the_ JUDGE _go. The moment the door closes,_ HARVEY _begins, feverishly and pa.s.sionately._

HARVEY. Now just listen. I'm going to speak to you--I'm going to say things--things that have been in my heart, in my life, for years. I'm not going to spare you, I'm going to tell you the truth, and the truth, and the truth!

MRS. WESTERN. [_Calmly, looking ironically at him._] If it's the same kind of truth you've been giving us to-night--

HARVEY. We've been married ten years. Oh, I know, we were neither of us very young. But anyhow the last five have been nothing but misery for me.

Misery--do you hear that? You sitting there, calm and collected--not caring one d.a.m.n for me--

MRS. WESTERN. [_Quietly._] That's not true.

HARVEY. It is, and you know it. The mother of my children! Satisfied with that. Never a word of kindness, or sympathy. And as for--affection!

MRS. WESTERN. We're not sweethearts--we're middle-aged people.

HARVEY. Well, I need something more. And, look here, I'll tell you. This girl has made life worth living. That's all. I'd come home at night dog-tired, all day in the City--sick of it, Stock Exchange, office, and the mud and the grime and the worry--there were you, with a nod, ah, Harvey, good evening--and you'd scarcely look up from your Committee Report or your Blue-book, or d.a.m.ned pamphlet or other--

MRS. WESTERN. [_Contemptuously._] You are one of the men who want their wife to be a mere sort of doll.

HARVEY. [_More and more vehemently._] I want my wife to care for me! I want her to smile when I come in, and be glad--I want her to love me! You don't! By the Lord, I've sneaked upstairs, gone in and had a peep at the children--well, they'd be asleep. I tell you I've been hungry, hungry, for a word, for a look! And there, in the schoolroom, was this girl. I've played it low down, I know--she's fond of me. But I couldn't help it--I was lonely--that's what it was. I've gone up there night after night.

_You_ didn't know where I was--and you didn't care. In my study, you thought--the cold, chilly box that you call my study--glad to have me out of the way. Well, there I was, with this girl. It was something to look forward to, in the cab, coming home. It was something to catch hold of, when things went wrong, in that dreary grind of money-making. Her eyes lit up when they saw me. She'd ask me about things--if I coughed, she'd fuss me--she had pretty ways, and was pleased, oh, pleased beyond words, if I brought her home something--

MRS. WESTERN. So this isn't the first time!

HARVEY. [_With a snarl._] No, of course not! She admired that bracelet of yours--by Jove, I said to myself, I'll get her one like it! Whatever I brought home to _you_ you'd scarcely say thank you--and usually it went into the drawer--I'd such shocking bad taste! _She'd_ beam! Well, as ill-luck would have it, you took a fancy to this one. I told her she mustn't wear hers--

MRS. WESTERN. [_Calmly and cuttingly._] Conspiring behind my back.

HARVEY. [_Raging._] Oh, if you knew what has gone on behind your back!

Not when I was with her--when I was alone! The things I've said about you--to myself! When I thought of this miserable life that had to be dragged on here, thought of your superior smile, your d.a.m.nable cruelty--

MRS. WESTERN. [_Genuinely surprised._] Cruelty! Why?

HARVEY. What else? I'd go up to you timidly--bah, why talk of it? To you I've been the machine that made money--money to pay for the house, and the car, and the dressmakers' bills--a machine that had to be fed--and when you'd done that, you'd done all. Well, there was this girl--

MRS. WESTERN. You had your children.

HARVEY. A boy of seven and a girl of five--in bed when I came home--and _your_ children much more than mine--I'm a stranger to them! And anyhow, I wanted something more--something human, alive--that only a woman can give.

And she gave it. Nothing between us, I swear--but just that. As Tom says, I've not been such a cur--and _you_ ought to know me well enough, after all these years!... But there is the truth--she's fond of me: she is, it's a fact. And I _needed_ that fondness--it has kept me going. And now--do you think I'll let her be thrust out into the street?

[_As he says these last words he drops into a chair, facing her, and looks fiercely and doggedly at her._

MRS. WESTERN. [_Calmly._] Stop now, and listen to me. I've let you rattle on. Will you hear me for one moment?