ACT II
Scene:The Divorce Court.
Scene:The Divorce Court.
Mr. Whassit(Agatha’s Counsel):—a temptation which, please God, I shall never encounter myself. And further——
The Judge(testily): Mr. Whassit, is it necessary to prolong this?
Mr. Whassit(firmly): My Lord, I have a duty to my client, and——
The Judge: Yes, yes, I know, Mr. Whassit. Your conduct of the case has been very proper; and, of course, if you wish to proceed, I shall say no more. But you’ve not traversed a single fact——
Mr. Whassit(sitting down at last): I will leave the matter in your Lordship’s hands.
The Judge: That is well.... This is an application to make absolute a decree nisi pronounced in October last. The King’s Proctor has intervened, alleging misconduct on the part of petitioner, such as would have invalidated her plea; and he has amply and abundantly proved his case. The application therefore fails, and the petitioner will pay the costs of the intervention.
But that is not all. In the course of the proceedings, which were defended, the cross-examination of the petitioner was directed towards establishing these very adulteries, which have now been proved. She denied them with vehemence, and went so far as to comment, from the witness-box, upon the propriety of counsel raising issues of the kind. Now this is a serious matter. It isone thing to make what I might call a formal denial of adultery, in an undefended case, though technically it might be perjury, and I myself should view even that with gravity; it is quite another thing in a defended case, where the matter has definitely been put in issue, to make a denial of the kind; and I cannot see how the situation differs from that of a plaintiff who comes before the court seeking relief, let us say, on a Bill of Exchange, and falsely denies an allegation of fraud, or some other invalidating factor. In both cases there may result a serious miscarriage of justice, which at least cannot be so in an undefended divorce suit, where it is to be imagined that the respondent is indifferent to the consequences.
(Addressing Agatha at the solicitor’s table): It has been urged most eloquently by your counsel that you had much to endure, and many temptations to the course upon which you ultimately embarked with so much recklessness. That may be so; or, again, it may not. It might be taken into account by another court, as a mitigating circumstance. But the Law, which I am here to administer, gives me, as I see it, no choice. Public morality must be vindicated; and a flagrant perjury of a kind that has becomeall too prevalent of late, is more than I can pass unchallenged. The papers in this case will therefore be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Agatha(hysterically): My Lord. We—I—Oh God——
The Usher(sternly): Silence.
Diggers(patting her hand): There, there, Miss Agatha. Don’t take on.
Heavyweight(on the other side): My dear—don’t let’s have a scene.
Her Solicitor(kindly): Hush! You mustn’t interrupt his Lordship, you know.
Agatha(wildly): But if I don’t, they’ll prosecute me!
The Usher(to the Serjeant of Police): Get ’er solicitor to take ’er quietly outside. (The Serjeant complies.)
Diggers(following and moaning as he goes): Why did you go an’ do it, Mr. ’Eavyweight, Sir? (Wringing his hands more than ever): Oh, Miss Agatha, Miss Agatha.
Heavyweight(trying hard to be brave): Hush, Diggers, be a man. Bear up. Courage.
Diggers(bursting into tears): Oh, Mr. ’Eavyweight, Sir, ’ow could you?
Heavyweight(who has only done his duty): You don’t understand, my poor fellow....Morality demands——(His voice breaks. They vanish in the wake of the Serjeant.)
The Registrar(calling the next case): Boggs versus Boggs and Boggs, Boggs intervening. (He hands up a bundle of papers to the judge.)
A Counsel(rising): This is an application for administrationde bonis non, my Lord. I understand——
The Curtain Falls.