II. EUGENICALLY SPEAKING

By Edward Goodman

"Eugenically Speaking" was produced by the Washington Square Players, under the direction of Philip Moeller, as part of their first program at the Bandbox Theatre, New York City, beginning February 19, 1915.

In the cast, in the order of their appearance, were the following:

UNA BRAITHEWAITE. Florence EnrightGEORGE COXEY. Karl KarstenMR. BRAITHEWAITE. George C. SomnesJARVIS a manservant Ralph Roeder

The scene was designed by Engelbert Gminska and Miss Enright's costume by Mrs. Edward Flammer.

"Eugenically Speaking" was subsequently revived by the Washington Square Players at the Comedy Theatre, New York City, beginning August 30, 1916. In this production Arthur Hohl played the part of George Coxey; Robert Strange, Wm. Braithewaite; and Spalding Hall, Jarvis.

CHARACTERS

UNA. A girlGEORGE COXEY. A conductorMR. BRAITHEWAITE. A financierJARVIS. A butler

TIME: Between to-day and to-morrow.SCENE: A room in the Braithewaite mansion, richly but tastefully furnished. Among these furnishings it is necessary for the play to note, besides the door at the back, only the table that stands a little to the right of the centre of the room, with a statue on it, and three chairs which stand, one to the right, one to the left, and one in the middle. It is a winter afternoon, and the room is illuminated by invisible lights.Enter UNA, followed by GEORGE COXEY. UNA is a charming, fashionable girl of twenty with a suave blend of will and poise. GEORGE COXEY is a handsome, well-built, magnetic-looking youth of about twenty-five. He is dressed in the garb of a street-car conductor and carries the cap in his hand. Although somewhat inconvenienced and preoccupied with the novelty of his surroundings and his situation, he remains, in the main, in excellent self-possession, an occasional twinkle in his eye showing that he is even quietly alive to a certain humor in the adventure. Above all, his attitude is that rare one, which we like to feel typical of American youth, of facing an unusual situation firmly, and seeing and grasping its possibilities quickly.He stands near the door, waiting, examining the room and warming his hands, while UNA goes to the bell and rings it and then proceeds to the mirror to primp a little. When she is finished she turns and notices him.UNA. Why, my dear man, sit down. [She points to a chair at the right.]GEORGE. Thanks, after you.UNA [laughs]. Oh! Excuse me. I forgot. You're a car conductor. Naturally you're polite.GEORGE. Not naturally, Miss. But I've learned.UNA. An apt pupil, too. Let me teach you then that the ruder you are to a woman, the more she'll hate you—or love you. [She goes up to him and invites him with a gesture.] Sit down.[GEORGE remains immobile.] The polite are not only bourgeois, they're boring.GEORGE. When I know I'm right, I stick to it.UNA. But you must grow tired of standing.GEORGE. If I did, I'd lose my job.UNA. You have already. Sit down.GEORGE [firmly]. After you.UNA [taking the chair, centre, and sitting on it]. You're splendid. Now![GEORGE sits in the offered chair a little stiffly.]UNA. Isn't that better than ringing up fares?GEORGE [smiling at his attempt at a pun]. Fairly.UNA [rising, perturbed]. No! You mustn't do that. That's vulgar.GEORGE [rising in alarm]. What have I done?UNA [vexed again]. Sit down. You mustn't jump up when I do. [He remains standing. Vexed but smiling she sits.] Well, there! [He sits down.] You punned! You mustn't. We all like puns, but it's good form to call them bad taste.[Enter JARVIS the Butler.]JARVIS [starts slightly at perceiving the situation, but controls himself]. Did you ring for me, Miss?UNA. Yes. Please tell my father that I'd like to see him at once.[JARVIS goes out.]UNA. Do you know the reason that you are here?GEORGE. The hundred dollars you gave me.UNA. No——GEORGE. Yes. I wouldn't have left my job if you hadn't given me that.UNA. I suppose not. But I mean, do you know why I brought you here?GEORGE. I'm waiting to see.UNA [enthusiastically]. I wonder if you'll like it.GEORGE. Your father?UNA. No. Dad's a dear. That is, he is when he sees you mean business.[Enter MR. BRAITHEWAITE. He is a well-preserved man near sixty, almost always completely master of himself. On seeing COXEY he, too, gives a little start and then controls himself.]BRAITHEWAITE. Una, dear?UNA [jumping up in excitement]. Oh, Daddy! I'm so glad you were in. [To GEORGE who has risen, too.] Keep your seat. Draw up a chair, Dad—I've done it.BRAITHEWAITE. Done what?UNA [bringing up a chair and placing it to her right]. Do sit down, Dad. He's so delicious. He won't sit down till we do—and you know how much they have to stand.BRAITHEWAITE [looks at GEORGE and UNA and then sits in the chair allotted to him, whereupon UNA sits in hers and then GEORGE sits down]. Now, dear, what is it you have done?UNA. Selected a husband.[GEORGE moves a little uneasily. BRAITHEWAITE looks at GEORGE and then speaks to UNA.]BRAITHEWAITE. You mean?UNA [pointing to GEORGE]. Him! [GEORGE rises in discomfiture.] Do sit down. We're all sitting now, you see. [GEORGE brings himself to sit down again.]BRAITHEWAITE. But, my dear——UNA. Now don't say a word until you hear the whole story. You read that article by Shaw in the Metropolitan, didn't you? I did. You remember what he wrote? "The best eugenic guide is the sex attraction—the Voice of Nature." He thinks the trouble is at present that we dare not marry out of our own sphere. But I'll show you exactly what he says. [She fusses in her handbag and pulls out a sheet of a magazine which she unfolds as she says:] I always carry the article with me. It's so stimulating.BRAITHEWAITE [protesting]. You're not going to read me a whole Shaw article, are you? It's five o'clock now and we've a dinner date at eight, dear.UNA. It's a Shaw article, not a Shaw preface. However, I'll only read the passage I've marked. Listen. [She reads.] "I do not believe you will ever have any improvement in the human race until you greatly widen the area of possible sexual selection; until you make it as wide as the numbers of the community make it. Just consider what occurs at the present time. I walk down Oxford Street, let me say, as a young man." He might just as well have said, "young woman," you know.BRAITHEWAITE. And?UNA [continues reading], "I see a woman who takes my fancy." With me it would be a man, of course.BRAITHEWAITE. For your purpose, of course.UNA [continuing again]. "I fall in love with her. It would seem very sensible in an intelligent community that I should take off my hat and say to this lady: 'Will you excuse me; but you attract me strongly, and if you are not already engaged, would you mind taking my name and address and considering whether you would care to marry me?' [BRAITHEWAITE looks uncomfortably at GEORGE who looks uncomfortable, though amused, himself.] Now I have no such chance at present."BRAITHEWAITE. Exactly. You see, he admits it.UNA. Yes, but why shouldn't I have the chance? That set me thinking. I decided he was right. I am intelligent, am I not?BRAITHEWAITE. I refuse to commit myself, dear, until I hear all your story.UNA. Well, I decided I'd make the chance. You see, I—I've been led to think recently that I ought to be getting married.BRAITHEWAITE. May I ask why?UNA. Yes, dear, but I'd rather not answer.BRAITHEWAITE. I beg pardon.UNA. And when I looked about me for the possibilities in my own set, I—[she makes a face]—well, I wasn't attracted.BRAITHEWAITE. I admit, in society, as a rule, the women grow stronger and the men weaker.UNA. Exactly. And I knew you wanted to be a proud grandfather.BRAITHEWAITE. You're mistaken, dear. I hadn't given the subject any thought; so I had no desires.UNA. Well, I have... [BRAITHEWAITE slightly shows that he is perhaps shocked. UNA notices this and continues in explanation] given the subject a good deal of thought. I've spent days buying second-hand clothing to give away at the missions and lodging houses in order to have a look.BRAITHEWAITE. At least there was charity in that.UNA. Yes. You see I didn't want charity to have to begin at my home. Self-preservation is the first law of Nature.BRAITHEWAITE. And self-propagation, I suppose, the second.UNA. Well—the missions were no good. They were all so starved and pinched-looking there I couldn't tell what they'd be like if they got proper nourishment. And I didn't want to take a chance. So I went to some coal yards.BRAITHEWAITE. To find the devil not so black as painted?UNA [with a grimace]. Blacker! I couldn't see what they looked like. Of course if I could have asked them to wash their faces.BRAITHEWAITE [looking at GEORGE]. Considering what you have done, I don't see——UNA. I did ask one, but he made some vulgar remark about black dirt and red paint. So I left him.BRAITHEWAITE. And then?UNA. I spent all to-day riding up and down town in street cars. It's very fascinating, Dad. All you can see for a nickel! I never realized what a public benefactor you were.BRAITHEWAITE [modestly]. Oh, I am amply repaid.UNA [in explanation to GEORGE]. Dad's the president of your traction company, you know. [GEORGE rises in fright.] Oh, that's all right. I've lost you your job, but I'll get you a better one as I promised. Don't be afraid of Dad—in the parlor. Sit down.BRAITHEWAITE [to GEORGE]. You might as well make yourself physically comfortable, you know. There's no telling how my daughter may make us feel in other ways.[GEORGE sits down again, regaining his composure a little.]BRAITHEWAITE [to UNA]. And so to-day you investigated travelling in street cars?UNA. Yes. "Joy-riding," you know. Then I saw him—and decided. I knew he wouldn't dare to propose to me—under existing conditions.BRAITHEWAITE. So you asked him to marry you?UNA. Certainly not. I've too much consideration for you, dear.BRAITHEWAITE. But I thought you said——?UNA. I decided to bring him home to get your consent first. [BRAITHEWAITE starts to say something.] I knew you'd approve when you saw him. But I wanted to be sure I hadn't overlooked anything. And if I had, I didn't want to have raised his hopes for nothing. [To GEORGE.] Would you mind standing a moment, now, until Dad looks you over?[GEORGE fidgets a little in embarrassment.]BRAITHEWAITE. My dear, do you think the gentleman——?UNA. "Gentleman!" Oh, yes, I forgot. I needn't have been so clumsy. [She rises. GEORGE rises automatically. She continues to GEORGE.] I apologize.BRAITHEWAITE [also rising and moving his chair aside]. I fear you have been too rude.UNA. So do I. I've never even introduced you. Father, this is—this is—— [To GEORGE.] By the way—I forgot to ask—what is your name?GEORGE. Coxey, Miss.UNA [sounding it]. Coxey. What's the first name? I can't call my husband "Coxey," you know.GEORGE. George, Miss.UNA [triumphantly]. George! There's a fine virile name for you. George Coxey! How strong that sounds! One of those names that would go equally well in the blue book or the police blotter.GEORGE. I never——UNA. Don't disclaim. I know you've never been arrested. One can see your goodness in your face.BRAITHEWAITE [reprovingly]. Many of the best people go to jail now, dear.UNA. I know. But he's not rich and thank heaven he's not a fanatic. Isn't he good-looking? And I'm sure he's strong. See those hands of his—a little rough, of course, but I like that, and so firm and, for his job, wonderfully clean. Don't hide them, George. They attracted me from the start.BRAITHEWAITE. How did you come here with my daughter at all, sir?UNA [quickly]. I got off with him at the car barn when he finished his run and asked him.BRAITHEWAITE. Didn't you know you would lose your job by leaving that way?GEORGE [with a suppressed smile]. Yes, sir.BRAITHEWAITE. And you came at any rate?GEORGE. You see, sir, she gave me——UNA [interrupting hurriedly]. A beseeching look. Just one. I didn't use more than was necessary. [Pointedly to GEORGE.] You see, George, I have learnt economy from father. He hates me to be extravagant.BRAITHEWAITE. That, my dear, is the chief objection I have to this episode—it's extravagance.UNA. Please don't call it an "episode," father.BRAITHEWAITE. You must admit it's—rather unusual.UNA. In England, lords always marry chorus girls.BRAITHEWAITE. But he is a conductor.GEORGE [angry]. Yes. And conductors are——UNA. As hard working as chorus girls—only. Don't be snobbish, George. Of course a conductor is more unusual, I admit. I can't help that though—— [To her father.] You shouldn't have called me "Una," if you didn't want me to be unique.BRAITHEWAITE [reminiscently]. That was most unfortunate—most. It was your mother's idea. She believed in symbols—and in a small family.UNA. Oh! Was that why——? Well, no matter. I've always thought it meant individuality and I've done my best to live up to it. [She looks at the statue.] That statue ought to be on the other side of the room.BRAITHEWAITE. I'll have some of the men move it to-morrow.UNA. I'd like to see the effect now.BRAITHEWAITE [slightly annoyed at this seeming irrelevance]. I wish I could teach you concentration. I'm not strong enough to move it myself, dear, and——GEORGE. Can I?BRAITHEWAITE. Why—UNA. Oh! If you would![GEORGE goes over to it and then hesitates what to do with his cap which he has in his hand.]UNA. I'll take that.GEORGE [giving it to her]. Thanks. [He bends and lifts the statue without effort, while UNA watches him admiringly, fingering his cap. When he reaches the other side of the room he stops, waveringly, awaiting instructions.]UNA [talking as GEORGE waits]. Look at him. He's as fine as the statue, isn't he? And you know what you think of that. See the strength he has?BRAITHEWAITE. Well——UNA [to GEORGE]. Thank you so much. You may put it back again. That was all I wanted. [After GEORGE has.] I hope I didn't overtax you.GEORGE. Oh, it ain't very heavy.UNA [triumphantly to her father]. You see!BRAITHEWAITE. But he uses "ain't."UNA [imitating the reproof of her father]. Many of the best people use "ain't" now, dear.BRAITHEWAITE. Not with his enunciation.UNA. What was yours like when you were a railroad signalman?BRAITHEWAITE. Una! The past of a public man should be private.UNA. George has our children's future before him. All the others I know have only their parents' past behind. You could give him a job suitable for my husband. I'll make my husband suitable for the job.BRAITHEWAITE. But you don't know him, my dear.UNA. I don't know myself for that matter. If I don't like him, it's easy enough to go to Reno.BRAITHEWAITE. Then you insist?UNA. I'm tremendously eager. It's so unusual.BRAITHEWAITE. I suppose I could sue Shaw.UNA. Don't be silly. Sue an Englishman with German sympathies! Where's your neutrality?BRAITHEWAITE [sinking into a chair]. Very well.UNA [running up to GEORGE with delight]. Then it's settled, dear. We're going to marry.GEORGE. Excuse me, Miss, we ain't.BRAITHEWAITE [shocked]. "Ain't" again!UNA [correcting]. "Aren't," dear—I mean, we are.GEORGE. Not.UNA [backing away]. Why not?GEORGE. Because—I'm married already.BRAITHEWAITE [rising]. What?UNA. How annoying!GEORGE. Married three years, and expecting a baby, Miss.UNA [troubled]. Oh, please!BRAITHEWAITE. You see what plunging means. I told you I believed in eugenic examinations first.UNA [walking up and down, thinking]. Sh! Be quiet, father. Don't lose your head.BRAITHEWAITE. Better than losing your heart.UNA [laughing]. I have it. Of course. How stupid of me not to think. George.GEORGE. Yes, Miss.BRAITHEWAITE. Wouldn't you better call him "Mr. Coxey" now?UNA [paying no heed to her father's remark]. George, you must divorce your wife.GEORGE. Me? Why she's as good as gold and——UNA. That's unfortunate. [Thinking.] Then I'll have to run away with you and let her get the divorce.BRAITHEWAITE [now really shocked]. Una!UNA [innocently]. What, Dad? Have you something better to suggest?BRAITHEWAITE [fuming]. I can't permit it. I didn't mind the uncommon scandal of your marrying a car conductor, but I absolutely draw the line at common scandal.UNA [a little bored]. Father, dear, why will you sometimes talk to me as though I were the Public Service Commission? There's going to be no scandal. You can keep it out of the newspapers.GEORGE. Excuse me, but that don't make any difference. I don't want to get a divorce.UNA. You don't? Why?GEORGE [embarrassed]. Sounds like a song, I know, but—I love my wife.UNA [in despair]. And you're the unusual man I'm to marry.BRAITHEWAITE [with the contempt of a professional toward an amateur]. Stealing nickels doesn't develop the imagination.UNA [desperately]. How can you love your wife? Some simple, economizing, prosaic, hausfrau who——GEORGE [with spirit]. I don't know what you're saying, but you better be careful not to insult my wife. She's as good as you are and a rector's daughter.UNA [dumbfounded]. What?GEORGE. Yes. Daughter of one of the biggest sky-pilots in town. I met her at a settlement house. She put the question to me, too.UNA [angry and doubting]. She——?GEORGE. Sure. I've been through something like this before or I'd never been able to stand it so well.UNA [as before]. Your wife——?GEORGE. Had a good deal more pluck than you, though. Up and told her father she would marry me if he liked it or lumped it. He said he'd cut her. And he did. We never seen him since. But Naomi and I don't care. That's her name; so you can see she's a Bible-poacher's daughter. Naomi and I've been happier than any people on earth. [Sternly.] She's taught me to stand when a lady was standing. That's why I wouldn't obey you. She's teaching me how to speak, too, and if I do say "ain't" and a lot of other things I oughtn't to when I'm excited, that ai—isn't her fault.UNA. Then she—Naomi—has done everything unusual that I wanted to do, before I did?GEORGE. Sure. You can't be unusual to-day. Too much brains been in the world before.UNA. How is it I never heard this story, if her father's so well known?GEORGE. D'you think your father's the only one can keep things out of the papers?UNA [going over and weeping on her father's shoulder]. Oh! And I wanted to be unique.BRAITHEWAITE [patting her]. There, there, dear. [To GEORGE.] You'd better go, now, Coxey.GEORGE. And my job?BRAITHEWAITE. I'll see you still keep it.GEORGE. Thanks. I don't want to.BRAITHEWAITE. No?GEORGE. I want a better.BRAITHEWAITE [putting his daughter aside]. Indeed! Pray what?GEORGE [nonchalantly]. Superintendent or something. I leave it to you. You know more about what jobs there are than I do.BRAITHEWAITE [controlling his anger]. And on what basis do you ask for a better job?GEORGE. Naomi always said my chance would come and I could take it, if I had nerve and my eyes open. I think now's the time.BRAITHEWAITE. Why?GEORGE. Oh, this story about your daughter wouldn't look nice.UNA. Oh!BRAITHEWAITE. You forget the power your father-in-law and I have in the press.GEORGE. No, I don't. But I remember that you can't keep me from spreading the news among your men. And I don't think——BRAITHEWAITE [angry and advancing on him]. I could have you prosecuted for blackmail, sir. Have you no honor?GEORGE. Sure. My honor says provide for your family. I've got the makings of a big man in me, Mr. Braithewaite. You can't chain me down with a poor man's morals.BRAITHEWAITE. Well! I——GEORGE. I'll work in any job you give me, too. I'm not asking for a cinch, only a chance. If she— [pointing to UNA]—could teach me, Naomi can.BRAITHEWAITE [after a pause]. Well, call around at my office in the morning.GEORGE. Thanks. [He goes out.]UNA [sitting to weep]. And I thought I could be unusual.BRAITHEWAITE [patting her]. It's easy enough for Shaw, dear. He only writes it.UNA [jumping up]. That's it. I'll write it. I'll write a play showing it's useless trying to escape the usual. [Running up to her father, GEORGE'S cap in her hands.] That will be unusual, won't it, Dad?[Reenter GEORGE.]GEORGE. Excuse me. I left my cap.UNA [stretching it out to him without looking at him]. Here it is.GEORGE [taking it]. Thanks. [Approaching her.] Buck up, Miss! You meant well.UNA. I suppose I was too daring.GEORGE. If you ask me, I think the trouble was you and that Shaw fellow wasn't daring enough. Marriage is a very particular sort of business. Now if you'd come up to me in the street and just asked me to—— [UNA and BRAITHEWAITE look at GEORGE.] Well—I—I guess I'll go. But remember my tip next try, Miss.[He goes out quickly, leaving UNA gradually grasping the idea and appreciating it, while her father's shock at what GEORGE has said is increased only by noticing his daughter's reception of the words.]Curtain.

TIME: Between to-day and to-morrow.

SCENE: A room in the Braithewaite mansion, richly but tastefully furnished. Among these furnishings it is necessary for the play to note, besides the door at the back, only the table that stands a little to the right of the centre of the room, with a statue on it, and three chairs which stand, one to the right, one to the left, and one in the middle. It is a winter afternoon, and the room is illuminated by invisible lights.

Enter UNA, followed by GEORGE COXEY. UNA is a charming, fashionable girl of twenty with a suave blend of will and poise. GEORGE COXEY is a handsome, well-built, magnetic-looking youth of about twenty-five. He is dressed in the garb of a street-car conductor and carries the cap in his hand. Although somewhat inconvenienced and preoccupied with the novelty of his surroundings and his situation, he remains, in the main, in excellent self-possession, an occasional twinkle in his eye showing that he is even quietly alive to a certain humor in the adventure. Above all, his attitude is that rare one, which we like to feel typical of American youth, of facing an unusual situation firmly, and seeing and grasping its possibilities quickly.

He stands near the door, waiting, examining the room and warming his hands, while UNA goes to the bell and rings it and then proceeds to the mirror to primp a little. When she is finished she turns and notices him.

UNA. Why, my dear man, sit down. [She points to a chair at the right.]

GEORGE. Thanks, after you.

UNA [laughs]. Oh! Excuse me. I forgot. You're a car conductor. Naturally you're polite.

GEORGE. Not naturally, Miss. But I've learned.

UNA. An apt pupil, too. Let me teach you then that the ruder you are to a woman, the more she'll hate you—or love you. [She goes up to him and invites him with a gesture.] Sit down.

[GEORGE remains immobile.] The polite are not only bourgeois, they're boring.

GEORGE. When I know I'm right, I stick to it.

UNA. But you must grow tired of standing.

GEORGE. If I did, I'd lose my job.

UNA. You have already. Sit down.

GEORGE [firmly]. After you.

UNA [taking the chair, centre, and sitting on it]. You're splendid. Now!

[GEORGE sits in the offered chair a little stiffly.]

UNA. Isn't that better than ringing up fares?

GEORGE [smiling at his attempt at a pun]. Fairly.

UNA [rising, perturbed]. No! You mustn't do that. That's vulgar.

GEORGE [rising in alarm]. What have I done?

UNA [vexed again]. Sit down. You mustn't jump up when I do. [He remains standing. Vexed but smiling she sits.] Well, there! [He sits down.] You punned! You mustn't. We all like puns, but it's good form to call them bad taste.

[Enter JARVIS the Butler.]

JARVIS [starts slightly at perceiving the situation, but controls himself]. Did you ring for me, Miss?

UNA. Yes. Please tell my father that I'd like to see him at once.

[JARVIS goes out.]

UNA. Do you know the reason that you are here?

GEORGE. The hundred dollars you gave me.

UNA. No——

GEORGE. Yes. I wouldn't have left my job if you hadn't given me that.

UNA. I suppose not. But I mean, do you know why I brought you here?

GEORGE. I'm waiting to see.

UNA [enthusiastically]. I wonder if you'll like it.

GEORGE. Your father?

UNA. No. Dad's a dear. That is, he is when he sees you mean business.

[Enter MR. BRAITHEWAITE. He is a well-preserved man near sixty, almost always completely master of himself. On seeing COXEY he, too, gives a little start and then controls himself.]

BRAITHEWAITE. Una, dear?

UNA [jumping up in excitement]. Oh, Daddy! I'm so glad you were in. [To GEORGE who has risen, too.] Keep your seat. Draw up a chair, Dad—I've done it.

BRAITHEWAITE. Done what?

UNA [bringing up a chair and placing it to her right]. Do sit down, Dad. He's so delicious. He won't sit down till we do—and you know how much they have to stand.

BRAITHEWAITE [looks at GEORGE and UNA and then sits in the chair allotted to him, whereupon UNA sits in hers and then GEORGE sits down]. Now, dear, what is it you have done?

UNA. Selected a husband.

[GEORGE moves a little uneasily. BRAITHEWAITE looks at GEORGE and then speaks to UNA.]

BRAITHEWAITE. You mean?

UNA [pointing to GEORGE]. Him! [GEORGE rises in discomfiture.] Do sit down. We're all sitting now, you see. [GEORGE brings himself to sit down again.]

BRAITHEWAITE. But, my dear——

UNA. Now don't say a word until you hear the whole story. You read that article by Shaw in the Metropolitan, didn't you? I did. You remember what he wrote? "The best eugenic guide is the sex attraction—the Voice of Nature." He thinks the trouble is at present that we dare not marry out of our own sphere. But I'll show you exactly what he says. [She fusses in her handbag and pulls out a sheet of a magazine which she unfolds as she says:] I always carry the article with me. It's so stimulating.

BRAITHEWAITE [protesting]. You're not going to read me a whole Shaw article, are you? It's five o'clock now and we've a dinner date at eight, dear.

UNA. It's a Shaw article, not a Shaw preface. However, I'll only read the passage I've marked. Listen. [She reads.] "I do not believe you will ever have any improvement in the human race until you greatly widen the area of possible sexual selection; until you make it as wide as the numbers of the community make it. Just consider what occurs at the present time. I walk down Oxford Street, let me say, as a young man." He might just as well have said, "young woman," you know.

BRAITHEWAITE. And?

UNA [continues reading], "I see a woman who takes my fancy." With me it would be a man, of course.

BRAITHEWAITE. For your purpose, of course.

UNA [continuing again]. "I fall in love with her. It would seem very sensible in an intelligent community that I should take off my hat and say to this lady: 'Will you excuse me; but you attract me strongly, and if you are not already engaged, would you mind taking my name and address and considering whether you would care to marry me?' [BRAITHEWAITE looks uncomfortably at GEORGE who looks uncomfortable, though amused, himself.] Now I have no such chance at present."

BRAITHEWAITE. Exactly. You see, he admits it.

UNA. Yes, but why shouldn't I have the chance? That set me thinking. I decided he was right. I am intelligent, am I not?

BRAITHEWAITE. I refuse to commit myself, dear, until I hear all your story.

UNA. Well, I decided I'd make the chance. You see, I—I've been led to think recently that I ought to be getting married.

BRAITHEWAITE. May I ask why?

UNA. Yes, dear, but I'd rather not answer.

BRAITHEWAITE. I beg pardon.

UNA. And when I looked about me for the possibilities in my own set, I—[she makes a face]—well, I wasn't attracted.

BRAITHEWAITE. I admit, in society, as a rule, the women grow stronger and the men weaker.

UNA. Exactly. And I knew you wanted to be a proud grandfather.

BRAITHEWAITE. You're mistaken, dear. I hadn't given the subject any thought; so I had no desires.

UNA. Well, I have... [BRAITHEWAITE slightly shows that he is perhaps shocked. UNA notices this and continues in explanation] given the subject a good deal of thought. I've spent days buying second-hand clothing to give away at the missions and lodging houses in order to have a look.

BRAITHEWAITE. At least there was charity in that.

UNA. Yes. You see I didn't want charity to have to begin at my home. Self-preservation is the first law of Nature.

BRAITHEWAITE. And self-propagation, I suppose, the second.

UNA. Well—the missions were no good. They were all so starved and pinched-looking there I couldn't tell what they'd be like if they got proper nourishment. And I didn't want to take a chance. So I went to some coal yards.

BRAITHEWAITE. To find the devil not so black as painted?

UNA [with a grimace]. Blacker! I couldn't see what they looked like. Of course if I could have asked them to wash their faces.

BRAITHEWAITE [looking at GEORGE]. Considering what you have done, I don't see——

UNA. I did ask one, but he made some vulgar remark about black dirt and red paint. So I left him.

BRAITHEWAITE. And then?

UNA. I spent all to-day riding up and down town in street cars. It's very fascinating, Dad. All you can see for a nickel! I never realized what a public benefactor you were.

BRAITHEWAITE [modestly]. Oh, I am amply repaid.

UNA [in explanation to GEORGE]. Dad's the president of your traction company, you know. [GEORGE rises in fright.] Oh, that's all right. I've lost you your job, but I'll get you a better one as I promised. Don't be afraid of Dad—in the parlor. Sit down.

BRAITHEWAITE [to GEORGE]. You might as well make yourself physically comfortable, you know. There's no telling how my daughter may make us feel in other ways.

[GEORGE sits down again, regaining his composure a little.]

BRAITHEWAITE [to UNA]. And so to-day you investigated travelling in street cars?

UNA. Yes. "Joy-riding," you know. Then I saw him—and decided. I knew he wouldn't dare to propose to me—under existing conditions.

BRAITHEWAITE. So you asked him to marry you?

UNA. Certainly not. I've too much consideration for you, dear.

BRAITHEWAITE. But I thought you said——?

UNA. I decided to bring him home to get your consent first. [BRAITHEWAITE starts to say something.] I knew you'd approve when you saw him. But I wanted to be sure I hadn't overlooked anything. And if I had, I didn't want to have raised his hopes for nothing. [To GEORGE.] Would you mind standing a moment, now, until Dad looks you over?

[GEORGE fidgets a little in embarrassment.]

BRAITHEWAITE. My dear, do you think the gentleman——?

UNA. "Gentleman!" Oh, yes, I forgot. I needn't have been so clumsy. [She rises. GEORGE rises automatically. She continues to GEORGE.] I apologize.

BRAITHEWAITE [also rising and moving his chair aside]. I fear you have been too rude.

UNA. So do I. I've never even introduced you. Father, this is—this is—— [To GEORGE.] By the way—I forgot to ask—what is your name?

GEORGE. Coxey, Miss.

UNA [sounding it]. Coxey. What's the first name? I can't call my husband "Coxey," you know.

GEORGE. George, Miss.

UNA [triumphantly]. George! There's a fine virile name for you. George Coxey! How strong that sounds! One of those names that would go equally well in the blue book or the police blotter.

GEORGE. I never——

UNA. Don't disclaim. I know you've never been arrested. One can see your goodness in your face.

BRAITHEWAITE [reprovingly]. Many of the best people go to jail now, dear.

UNA. I know. But he's not rich and thank heaven he's not a fanatic. Isn't he good-looking? And I'm sure he's strong. See those hands of his—a little rough, of course, but I like that, and so firm and, for his job, wonderfully clean. Don't hide them, George. They attracted me from the start.

BRAITHEWAITE. How did you come here with my daughter at all, sir?

UNA [quickly]. I got off with him at the car barn when he finished his run and asked him.

BRAITHEWAITE. Didn't you know you would lose your job by leaving that way?

GEORGE [with a suppressed smile]. Yes, sir.

BRAITHEWAITE. And you came at any rate?

GEORGE. You see, sir, she gave me——

UNA [interrupting hurriedly]. A beseeching look. Just one. I didn't use more than was necessary. [Pointedly to GEORGE.] You see, George, I have learnt economy from father. He hates me to be extravagant.

BRAITHEWAITE. That, my dear, is the chief objection I have to this episode—it's extravagance.

UNA. Please don't call it an "episode," father.

BRAITHEWAITE. You must admit it's—rather unusual.

UNA. In England, lords always marry chorus girls.

BRAITHEWAITE. But he is a conductor.

GEORGE [angry]. Yes. And conductors are——

UNA. As hard working as chorus girls—only. Don't be snobbish, George. Of course a conductor is more unusual, I admit. I can't help that though—— [To her father.] You shouldn't have called me "Una," if you didn't want me to be unique.

BRAITHEWAITE [reminiscently]. That was most unfortunate—most. It was your mother's idea. She believed in symbols—and in a small family.

UNA. Oh! Was that why——? Well, no matter. I've always thought it meant individuality and I've done my best to live up to it. [She looks at the statue.] That statue ought to be on the other side of the room.

BRAITHEWAITE. I'll have some of the men move it to-morrow.

UNA. I'd like to see the effect now.

BRAITHEWAITE [slightly annoyed at this seeming irrelevance]. I wish I could teach you concentration. I'm not strong enough to move it myself, dear, and——

GEORGE. Can I?

BRAITHEWAITE. Why—

UNA. Oh! If you would!

[GEORGE goes over to it and then hesitates what to do with his cap which he has in his hand.]

UNA. I'll take that.

GEORGE [giving it to her]. Thanks. [He bends and lifts the statue without effort, while UNA watches him admiringly, fingering his cap. When he reaches the other side of the room he stops, waveringly, awaiting instructions.]

UNA [talking as GEORGE waits]. Look at him. He's as fine as the statue, isn't he? And you know what you think of that. See the strength he has?

BRAITHEWAITE. Well——

UNA [to GEORGE]. Thank you so much. You may put it back again. That was all I wanted. [After GEORGE has.] I hope I didn't overtax you.

GEORGE. Oh, it ain't very heavy.

UNA [triumphantly to her father]. You see!

BRAITHEWAITE. But he uses "ain't."

UNA [imitating the reproof of her father]. Many of the best people use "ain't" now, dear.

BRAITHEWAITE. Not with his enunciation.

UNA. What was yours like when you were a railroad signalman?

BRAITHEWAITE. Una! The past of a public man should be private.

UNA. George has our children's future before him. All the others I know have only their parents' past behind. You could give him a job suitable for my husband. I'll make my husband suitable for the job.

BRAITHEWAITE. But you don't know him, my dear.

UNA. I don't know myself for that matter. If I don't like him, it's easy enough to go to Reno.

BRAITHEWAITE. Then you insist?

UNA. I'm tremendously eager. It's so unusual.

BRAITHEWAITE. I suppose I could sue Shaw.

UNA. Don't be silly. Sue an Englishman with German sympathies! Where's your neutrality?

BRAITHEWAITE [sinking into a chair]. Very well.

UNA [running up to GEORGE with delight]. Then it's settled, dear. We're going to marry.

GEORGE. Excuse me, Miss, we ain't.

BRAITHEWAITE [shocked]. "Ain't" again!

UNA [correcting]. "Aren't," dear—I mean, we are.

GEORGE. Not.

UNA [backing away]. Why not?

GEORGE. Because—I'm married already.

BRAITHEWAITE [rising]. What?

UNA. How annoying!

GEORGE. Married three years, and expecting a baby, Miss.

UNA [troubled]. Oh, please!

BRAITHEWAITE. You see what plunging means. I told you I believed in eugenic examinations first.

UNA [walking up and down, thinking]. Sh! Be quiet, father. Don't lose your head.

BRAITHEWAITE. Better than losing your heart.

UNA [laughing]. I have it. Of course. How stupid of me not to think. George.

GEORGE. Yes, Miss.

BRAITHEWAITE. Wouldn't you better call him "Mr. Coxey" now?

UNA [paying no heed to her father's remark]. George, you must divorce your wife.

GEORGE. Me? Why she's as good as gold and——

UNA. That's unfortunate. [Thinking.] Then I'll have to run away with you and let her get the divorce.

BRAITHEWAITE [now really shocked]. Una!

UNA [innocently]. What, Dad? Have you something better to suggest?

BRAITHEWAITE [fuming]. I can't permit it. I didn't mind the uncommon scandal of your marrying a car conductor, but I absolutely draw the line at common scandal.

UNA [a little bored]. Father, dear, why will you sometimes talk to me as though I were the Public Service Commission? There's going to be no scandal. You can keep it out of the newspapers.

GEORGE. Excuse me, but that don't make any difference. I don't want to get a divorce.

UNA. You don't? Why?

GEORGE [embarrassed]. Sounds like a song, I know, but—I love my wife.

UNA [in despair]. And you're the unusual man I'm to marry.

BRAITHEWAITE [with the contempt of a professional toward an amateur]. Stealing nickels doesn't develop the imagination.

UNA [desperately]. How can you love your wife? Some simple, economizing, prosaic, hausfrau who——

GEORGE [with spirit]. I don't know what you're saying, but you better be careful not to insult my wife. She's as good as you are and a rector's daughter.

UNA [dumbfounded]. What?

GEORGE. Yes. Daughter of one of the biggest sky-pilots in town. I met her at a settlement house. She put the question to me, too.

UNA [angry and doubting]. She——?

GEORGE. Sure. I've been through something like this before or I'd never been able to stand it so well.

UNA [as before]. Your wife——?

GEORGE. Had a good deal more pluck than you, though. Up and told her father she would marry me if he liked it or lumped it. He said he'd cut her. And he did. We never seen him since. But Naomi and I don't care. That's her name; so you can see she's a Bible-poacher's daughter. Naomi and I've been happier than any people on earth. [Sternly.] She's taught me to stand when a lady was standing. That's why I wouldn't obey you. She's teaching me how to speak, too, and if I do say "ain't" and a lot of other things I oughtn't to when I'm excited, that ai—isn't her fault.

UNA. Then she—Naomi—has done everything unusual that I wanted to do, before I did?

GEORGE. Sure. You can't be unusual to-day. Too much brains been in the world before.

UNA. How is it I never heard this story, if her father's so well known?

GEORGE. D'you think your father's the only one can keep things out of the papers?

UNA [going over and weeping on her father's shoulder]. Oh! And I wanted to be unique.

BRAITHEWAITE [patting her]. There, there, dear. [To GEORGE.] You'd better go, now, Coxey.

GEORGE. And my job?

BRAITHEWAITE. I'll see you still keep it.

GEORGE. Thanks. I don't want to.

BRAITHEWAITE. No?

GEORGE. I want a better.

BRAITHEWAITE [putting his daughter aside]. Indeed! Pray what?

GEORGE [nonchalantly]. Superintendent or something. I leave it to you. You know more about what jobs there are than I do.

BRAITHEWAITE [controlling his anger]. And on what basis do you ask for a better job?

GEORGE. Naomi always said my chance would come and I could take it, if I had nerve and my eyes open. I think now's the time.

BRAITHEWAITE. Why?

GEORGE. Oh, this story about your daughter wouldn't look nice.

UNA. Oh!

BRAITHEWAITE. You forget the power your father-in-law and I have in the press.

GEORGE. No, I don't. But I remember that you can't keep me from spreading the news among your men. And I don't think——

BRAITHEWAITE [angry and advancing on him]. I could have you prosecuted for blackmail, sir. Have you no honor?

GEORGE. Sure. My honor says provide for your family. I've got the makings of a big man in me, Mr. Braithewaite. You can't chain me down with a poor man's morals.

BRAITHEWAITE. Well! I——

GEORGE. I'll work in any job you give me, too. I'm not asking for a cinch, only a chance. If she— [pointing to UNA]—could teach me, Naomi can.

BRAITHEWAITE [after a pause]. Well, call around at my office in the morning.

GEORGE. Thanks. [He goes out.]

UNA [sitting to weep]. And I thought I could be unusual.

BRAITHEWAITE [patting her]. It's easy enough for Shaw, dear. He only writes it.

UNA [jumping up]. That's it. I'll write it. I'll write a play showing it's useless trying to escape the usual. [Running up to her father, GEORGE'S cap in her hands.] That will be unusual, won't it, Dad?

[Reenter GEORGE.]

GEORGE. Excuse me. I left my cap.

UNA [stretching it out to him without looking at him]. Here it is.

GEORGE [taking it]. Thanks. [Approaching her.] Buck up, Miss! You meant well.

UNA. I suppose I was too daring.

GEORGE. If you ask me, I think the trouble was you and that Shaw fellow wasn't daring enough. Marriage is a very particular sort of business. Now if you'd come up to me in the street and just asked me to—— [UNA and BRAITHEWAITE look at GEORGE.] Well—I—I guess I'll go. But remember my tip next try, Miss.

[He goes out quickly, leaving UNA gradually grasping the idea and appreciating it, while her father's shock at what GEORGE has said is increased only by noticing his daughter's reception of the words.]

Curtain.

By Alice Gerstenberg

Author of "Unquenched Fire," "The Conscience of Sarah Platt," and Dramatization of "Alice in Wonderland," etc.

"Overtones" was produced by the Washington Square Players under the direction of Edward Goodman at the Bandbox Theatre, New York City, beginning November 8, 1915, to represent an American one-act play on a bill of four comparative comedies, "Literature" by Arthur Schnitzler of Austria, "The Honorable Lover" by Roberto Bracco of Italy, and "Whims" by Alfred de Musset of France. In the cast were the following:

HETTY. Josephine A. MeyerHARRIET, her overtone. Agnes McCarthyMAGGIE. Noel HaddonMARGARET, her overtone. Grace Griswold

The scene was designed by Lee Simonson and the costumes and draperies by Bertha Holley.

"Overtones" was subsequently presented in vaudeville by Martin Beck, beginning at the Palace Theatre, Chicago, February 28, 1916, with Helena Lackaye as star, with the following cast:

HARRIET, a cultured woman Helene LackayeHETTY, her primitive self. Ursula FaucettMARGARET, a cultured woman Francesca RotoliMAGGIE, her primitive self. Nellie Dent

The scene was designed by Jerome Blum.

CHARACTERS

HARRIET, a cultured womanHETTY, her primitive selfMARGARET, a cultured womanMAGGIE, her primitive self

TIME: The present.SCENE: HARRIET'S fashionable living-room. The door at the back leads to the hall. In the centre a tea table with a chair either side. At the back a cabinet.HARRIET'S gown is a light, "jealous" green. Her counterpart, HETTY, wears a gown of the same design but in a darker shade. MARGARET wears a gown of lavender chiffon while her counterpart, MAGGIE, wears a gown of the same design in purple, a purple scarf veiling her face. Chiffon is used to give a sheer effect, suggesting a possibility of primitive and cultured selves merging into one woman. The primitive and cultured selves never come into actual physical contact but try to sustain the impression of mental conflict. HARRIET never sees HETTY, never talks to her but rather thinks aloud looking into space. HETTY, however, looks at HARRIET, talks intently and shadows her continually. The same is true of MARGARET and MAGGIE. The voices of the cultured women are affected and lingering, the voices of the primitive impulsive and more or less staccato. When the curtain rises HARRIET is seated right of tea table, busying herself with the tea things.HETTY. Harriet. [There is no answer.] Harriet, my other self. [There is no answer.] My trained self.HARRIET [listens intently]. Yes? [From behind HARRIET'S chair HETTY rises slowly.]HETTY. I want to talk to you.HARRIET. Well?HETTY [looking at HARRIET admiringly]. Oh, Harriet, you are beautiful to-day.HARRIET. Am I presentable, Hetty?HETTY. Suits me.HARRIET. I've tried to make the best of the good points.HETTY. My passions are deeper than yours. I can't keep on the mask as you do. I'm crude and real, you are my appearance in the world.HARRIET. I am what you wish the world to believe you are.HETTY. You are the part of me that has been trained.HARRIET. I am your educated self.HETTY. I am the rushing river; you are the ice over the current.HARRIET. I am your subtle overtones.HETTY. But together we are one woman, the wife of Charles Goodrich.HARRIET. There I disagree with you, Hetty, I alone am his wife.HETTY [indignantly]. Harriet, how can you say such a thing!HARRIET. Certainly. I am the one who flatters him. I have to be the one who talks to him. If I gave you a chance you would tell him at once that you dislike him.HETTY [moving away], I don't love him, that's certain.HARRIET. You leave all the fibbing to me. He doesn't suspect that my calm, suave manner hides your hatred. Considering the amount of scheming it causes me it can safely be said that he is my husband.HETTY. Oh, if you love him——HARRIET. I? I haven't any feelings. It isn't my business to love anybody.HETTY. Then why need you object to calling him my husband?HARRIET. I resent your appropriation of a man who is managed only through the cleverness of my artifice.HETTY. You may be clever enough to deceive him, Harriet, but I am still the one who suffers. I can't forget he is my husband. I can't forget that I might have married John Caldwell.HARRIET. How foolish of you to remember John, just because we met his wife by chance.HETTY. That's what I want to talk to you about. She may be here at any moment. I want to advise you about what to say to her this afternoon.HARRIET. By all means tell me now and don't interrupt while she is here. You have a most annoying habit of talking to me when people are present. Sometimes it is all I can do to keep my poise and appear not to be listening to you.HETTY. Impress her.HARRIET. Hetty, dear, is it not my custom to impress people?HETTY. I hate her.HARRIET. I can't let her see that.HETTY. I hate her because she married John.HARRIET. Only after you had refused him.HETTY [turning on HARRIET]. Was it my fault that I refused him?HARRIET. That's right, blame me.HETTY. It was your fault. You told me he was too poor and never would be able to do anything in painting. Look at him now, known in Europe, just returned from eight years in Paris, famous.HARRIET. It was too poor a gamble at the time. It was much safer to accept Charles's money and position.HETTY. And then John married Margaret within the year.HARRIET. Out of spite.HETTY. Freckled, gawky-looking thing she was, too.HARRIET [a little sadly]. Europe improved her. She was stunning the other morning.HETTY. Make her jealous to-day.HARRIET. Shall I be haughty or cordial or caustic or——HETTY. Above all else you must let her know that we are rich.HARRIET. Oh, yes, I do that quite easily now.HETTY. You must put it on a bit.HARRIET. Never fear.HETTY. Tell her I love my husband.HARRIET. My husband——HETTY. Are you going to quarrel with me?HARRIET [moves away]. No, I have no desire to quarrel with you. It is quite too uncomfortable. I couldn't get away from you if I tried.HETTY [stamping her foot and following HARRIET]. You were a stupid fool to make me refuse John, I'll never forgive you—never——HARRIET [stopping and holding up her hand]. Don't get me all excited. I'll be in no condition to meet her properly this afternoon.HETTY [passionately]. I could choke you for robbing me of John.HARRIET [retreating]. Don't muss me!HETTY. You don't know how you have made me suffer.HARRIET [beginning to feel the strength of HETTY'S emotion surge through her and trying to conquer it]. It is not my business to have heartaches.HETTY. You're bloodless. Nothing but sham—sham—while I——HARRIET [emotionally]. Be quiet! I can't let her see that I have been fighting with my inner self.HETTY. And now after all my suffering you say it has cost you more than it has cost me to be married to Charles. But it's the pain here in my heart—I've paid the price—I've paid——Charles is not your husband!HARRIET [trying to conquer emotion]. He is.HETTY [follows HARRIET]. He isn't.HARRIET [weakly]. He is.HETTY [towering over HARRIET]. He isn't! I'll kill you!HARRIET [overpowered, sinks into a chair]. Don't—don't—you're stronger than I—you're——HETTY. Say he's mine.HARRIET. He's ours.HETTY [the telephone rings]. There she is now.[HETTY hurries to 'phone but HARRIET regains her supremacy.]HARRIET [authoritatively]. Wait! I can't let the telephone girl down there hear my real self. It isn't proper. [At 'phone.] Show Mrs. Caldwell up.HETTY. I'm so excited, my heart's in my mouth.HARRIET [at the mirror]. A nice state you've put my nerves into.HETTY. Don't let her see you're nervous.HARRIET. *Quick, put the veil on, or she'll see you shining through me. [HARRIET takes a scarf of chiffon that has been lying over the back of a chair and drapes it on HETTY, covering her face. The chiffon is the same color of their gowns but paler in shade so that it pales HETTY'S darker gown to match HARRIET'S lighter one. As HETTY moves in the following scene the chiffon falls away revealing now and then the gown of deeper dye underneath.]* (The vaudeville production did not use Harriet's lineabout the veil because at the rise of the curtain Hetty isalready veiled in chiffon the same dark green shade as hergown.)HETTY. Tell her Charles is rich and fascinating—boast of our friends, make her feel she needs us.HARRIET. I'll make her ask John to paint us.HETTY. That's just my thought—if John paints our portrait——HARRIET. We can wear an exquisite gown——HETTY. And make him fall in love again and——HARRIET [schemingly]. Yes.[MARGARET parts the portieres back centre and extends her hand. MARGARET is followed by her counterpart MAGGIE.] Oh, MARGARET, I'm so glad to see you!HETTY [to MAGGIE]. That's a lie.MARGARET [in superficial voice throughout]. It's enchanting to see you, Harriet.MAGGIE [in emotional voice throughout]. I'd bite you, if I dared.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Wasn't our meeting a stroke of luck?MARGARET [coming down left of table]. I've thought of you so often, HARRIET; and to come back and find you living in New York.HARRIET [coming down right of table]. Mr. Goodrich has many interests here.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Flatter her.MARGARET. I know, Mr. Goodrich is so successful.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Tell her we're rich.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Won't you sit down?MARGARET [takes a chair]. What a beautiful cabinet!** What beautiful lamps! (In vaudeville production.)HARRIET. Do you like it? I'm afraid Charles paid an extravagant price.MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I don't believe it.MARGARET [sitting down. To HARRIET]. I am sure he must have.HARRIET [sitting down]. How well you are looking, Margaret.HETTY. Yes, you are not. There are circles under your eyes.MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm hungry.MARGARET [to HARRIET]. How well you are looking, too.MAGGIE [to HETTY]. You have hard lines about your lips, are you happy?HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't let her know that I'm unhappy.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Why shouldn't I look well? My life is full, happy, complete——MAGGIE. I wonder.HETTY [in HARRIET'S ear]. Tell her we have an automobile.MARGARET [to HARRIET]. My life is complete, too.MAGGIE. My heart is torn with sorrow; my husband cannot make a living. He will kill himself if he does not get an order for a painting.MARGARET [laughs]. You must come and see us in our studio. John has been doing some excellent portraits. He cannot begin to fill his orders.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Tell her we have an automobile.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Do you take lemon in your tea?MAGGIE. Take cream. It's more filling.MARGARET [looking nonchalantly at tea things]. No, cream, if you please. How cozy!MAGGIE [glaring at tea things]. Only cakes! I could eat them all!HARRIET [to MARGARET]. How many lumps?MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Sugar is nourishing.MARGARET [to HARRIET], Three, please. I used to drink very sweet coffee in Turkey and ever since I've——HETTY. I don't believe you were ever in Turkey.MAGGIE. I wasn't, but it is none of your business.HARRIET [pouring tea]. Have you been in Turkey, do tell me about it.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Change the subject.MARGARET [to HARRIET]. You must go there. You have so much taste in dress you would enjoy seeing their costumes.MAGGIE. Isn't she going to pass the cake?MARGARET [to HARRIET]. John painted several portraits there.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Why don't you stop her bragging and tell her we have an automobile?HARRIET [offers cake across the table to MARGARET]. Cake?MAGGIE [stands back of MARGARET, shadowing her as HETTY shadows HARRIET. MAGGIE reaches claws out for the cake and groans with joy]. At last! [But her claws do not touch the cake.]MARGARET [with a graceful, nonchalant hand places cake upon her plate and bites at it slowly and delicately]. Thank you.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Automobile!MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Follow up the costumes with the suggestion that she would make a good model for John. It isn't too early to begin getting what you came for.MARGARET [ignoring MAGGIE]. What delicious cake.HETTY [excitedly to HARRIET]. There's your chance for the auto.HARRIET [nonchalantly to MARGARET]. Yes, it is good cake, isn't it? There are always a great many people buying it at Harper's. I sat in my automobile fifteen minutes this morning waiting for my chauffeur to get it.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Make her order a portrait.MARGARET [to HARRIET]. If you stopped at Harper's you must have noticed the new gowns at Henderson's. Aren't the shop windows alluring these days?HARRIET. Even my chauffeur notices them.MAGGIE. I know you have an automobile, I heard you the first time.MARGARET. I notice gowns now with an artist's eye as John does. The one you have on, my dear, is very paintable.HETTY. Don't let her see you're anxious to be painted.HARRIET [nonchalantly]. Oh, it's just a little model.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Don't seem anxious to get the order.MARGARET [nonchalantly]. Perhaps it isn't the gown itself but the way you wear it that pleases the eye. Some people can wear anything with grace.HETTY. Yes, I'm very graceful.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. You flatter me, my dear.MARGARET. On the contrary, Harriet, I have an intense admiration for you. I remember how beautiful you were—as a girl. In fact, I was quite jealous when John was paying you so much attention.HETTY. She is gloating because I lost him.HARRIET. Those were childhood days in a country town.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. She's trying to make you feel that John was only a country boy.MARGARET. Most great men have come from the country. There is a fair chance that John will be added to the list.HETTY. I know it and I am bitterly jealous of you.HARRIET. Undoubtedly he owes much of his success to you, Margaret, your experience in economy and your ability to endure hardship. Those first few years in Paris must have been a struggle.MAGGIE. She is sneering at your poverty.MARGARET. Yes, we did find life difficult at first, not the luxurious start a girl has who marries wealth.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Deny that you married Charles for his money. [HARRIET deems it wise to ignore HETTY'S advice.]MARGARET. But John and I are so congenial in our tastes, that we were impervious to hardship or unhappiness.HETTY [in anguish]. Do you love each other? Is it really true?HARRIET [sweetly]. Did you have all the romance of starving for his art?MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. She's taunting you. Get even with her.MARGARET. Not for long. Prince Rier soon discovered John's genius, and introduced him royally to wealthy Parisians who gave him many orders.HETTY [to MAGGIE]. Are you telling the truth or are you lying?HARRIET. If he had so many opportunities there, you must have had great inducements to come back to the States.MAGGIE [to HETTY]. We did, but not the kind you think.MARGARET. John became the rage among Americans travelling in France, too, and they simply insisted upon his coming here.HARRIET. Whom is he going to paint here?MAGGIE [frightened]. What names dare I make up?MARGARET [calmly]. Just at present Miss Dorothy Ainsworth of Oregon is posing. You may not know the name, but she is the daughter of a wealthy miner who found gold in Alaska.HARRIET. I dare say there are many Western people we have never heard of.MARGARET. You must have found social life in New York very interesting, Harriet, after the simplicity of our home town.HETTY [to MAGGIE]. There's no need to remind us that our beginnings were the same.HARRIET. Of course Charles's family made everything delightful for me. They are so well connected.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Flatter her.MARGARET. I heard it mentioned yesterday that you had made yourself very popular. Some one said you were very clever!HARRIET [pleased]. Who told you that?MAGGIE. Nobody!MARGARET [pleasantly]. Oh, confidences should be suspected—respected, I mean. They said, too, that you are gaining some reputation as a critic of art.HARRIET. I make no pretenses.MARGARET. Are you and Mr. Goodrich interested in the same things, too?HETTY. No!HARRIET. Yes, indeed, Charles and I are inseparable.MAGGIE. I wonder.HARRIET. Do have another cake.MAGGIE [in relief]. Oh, yes. [Again her claws extend but do not touch the cake.]MARGARET [takes cake delicately]. I really shouldn't—after my big luncheon. John took me to the Ritz and we are invited to the Bedfords' for dinner—they have such a magnificent house near the drive—I really shouldn't, but the cakes are so good.MAGGIE. Starving!HARRIET [to MARGARET]. More tea?MAGGIE. Yes!MARGARET. No, thank you. How wonderfully life has arranged itself for you. Wealth, position, a happy marriage, every opportunity to enjoy all pleasures; beauty, art—how happy you must be.HETTY [in anguish]. Don't call me happy. I've never been happy since I gave up John. All these years without him—a future without him—no—no—I shall win him back—away from you—away from you——HARRIET [does not see MAGGIE pointing to cream and MARGARET stealing some]. I sometimes think it is unfair for any one to be as happy as I am. Charles and I are just as much in love now as when we married. To me he is just the dearest man in the world.MAGGIE [passionately]. My John is. I love him so much I could die for him. I'm going through hunger and want to make him great and he loves me. He worships me!MARGARET [leisurely to HARRIET]. I should like to meet Mr. Goodrich. Bring him to our studio. John has some sketches to show. Not many, because all the portraits have been purchased by the subjects. He gets as much as four thousand dollars now.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't pay that much.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. As much as that?MARGARET. It is not really too much when one considers that John is in the foremost rank of artists to-day. A picture painted by him now will double and treble in value.MAGGIE. It's all a lie. He is growing weak with despair.HARRIET. Does he paint all day long?MAGGIE. No, he draws advertisements for our bread.MARGARET [to HARRIET]. When you and your husband come to see us, telephone first——MAGGIE. Yes, so he can get the advertisements out of the way.MARGARET. Otherwise you might arrive while he has a sitter, and John refuses to let me disturb him then.HETTY. Make her ask for an order.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Le Grange offered to paint me for a thousand.MARGARET. Louis Le Grange's reputation isn't worth more than that.HARRIET. Well, I've heard his work well mentioned.MAGGIE. Yes, he is doing splendid work.MARGARET. Oh, dear me, no. He is only praised by the masses. He is accepted not at all by artists themselves.HETTY [anxiously]. Must I really pay the full price?HARRIET. Le Grange thought I would make a good subject.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Let her fish for it.MARGARET. Of course you would. Why don't you let Le Grange paint you, if you trust him?HETTY. She doesn't seem anxious to have John do it.HARRIET. But if Le Grange isn't accepted by artists, it would be a waste of time to pose for him, wouldn't it?MARGARET. Yes, I think it would.MAGGIE [passionately to HETTY across back of table]. Give us the order. John is so despondent he can't endure much longer. Help us! Help me! Save us!HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't seem too eager.HARRIET. And yet if he charges only a thousand one might consider it.MARGARET. If you really wish to be painted, why don't you give a little more and have a portrait really worth while? John might be induced to do you for a little below his usual price considering that you used to be such good friends.HETTY [in glee]. Hurrah!HARRIET [quietly to MARGARET]. That's very nice of you to suggest—of course I don't know——MAGGIE [in fear]. For God's sake, say yes.MARGARET [quietly to HARRIET]. Of course, I don't know whether John would. He is very peculiar in these matters. He sets his value on his work and thinks it beneath him to discuss price.HETTY [to MAGGIE]. You needn't try to make us feel small.MARGARET. Still, I might quite delicately mention to him that inasmuch as you have many influential friends you would be very glad to—to——MAGGIE [to HETTY]. Finish what I don't want to say.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Help her out.HARRIET. Oh, yes, introductions will follow the exhibition of my portrait. No doubt I——HETTY [to HARRIET]. Be patronizing.HARRIET. No doubt I shall be able to introduce your husband to his advantage.MAGGIE [relieved]. Saved.MARGARET. If I find John in a propitious mood I shall take pleasure, for your sake, in telling him about your beauty. Just as you are sitting now would be a lovely pose.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. We can go now.HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't let her think she is doing us a favor.HARRIET. It will give me pleasure to add my name to your husband's list of patronesses.MAGGIE [excitedly to MARGARET]. Run home and tell John the good news.MARGARET [leisurely to HARRIET]. I little guessed when I came for a pleasant chat about old times that it would develop into business arrangements. I had no idea, Harriet, that you had any intention of being painted. By Le Grange, too. Well, I came just in time to rescue you.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Run home and tell John. Hurry, hurry!HETTY [to HARRIET]. You managed the order very neatly. She doesn't suspect that you wanted it.HARRIET. Now if I am not satisfied with my portrait I shall blame you, Margaret, dear. I am relying upon your opinion of John's talent.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. She doesn't suspect what you came for. Run home and tell John!HARRIET. You always had a brilliant mind, Margaret.MARGARET. Ah, it is you who flatter, now.MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. You don't have to stay so long. Hurry home!HARRIET. Ah, one does not flatter when one tells the truth.MARGARET [smiles]. I must be going or you will have me completely under your spell.HETTY [looks at clock]. Yes, do go. I have to dress for dinner.HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Oh, don't hurry.MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I hate you!MARGARET [to HARRIET]. No, really I must, but I hope we shall see each other often at the studio. I find you so stimulating.HETTY [to MAGGIE]. I hate you!HARRIET [to MARGARET]. It is indeed gratifying to find a kindred spirit.MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I came for your gold.MARGARET [to HARRIET]. How delightful it is to know you again.HETTY [to MAGGIE]. I am going to make you and your husband suffer.HARRIET. My kind regards to John.MAGGIE [to HETTY]. He has forgotten all about you.MARGARET [rises]. He will be so happy to receive them.HETTY [to MAGGIE]. I can hardly wait to talk to him again.HARRIET. I shall wait, then, until you send me word?MARGARET [offering her hand]. I'll speak to John about it as soon as I can and tell you when to come.[HARRIET takes MARGARET'S hand affectionately. HETTY and MAGGIE rush at each other, throw back their veils, and fling their speeches fiercely at each other.]HETTY. I love him—I love him——MAGGIE. He's starving—I'm starving——HETTY. I'm going to take him away from you——MAGGIE. I want your money—and your influence.HETTY and MAGGIE. I'm going to rob you—rob you.[There is a cymbal crash, the lights go out and come up again slowly, leaving only MARGARET and HARRIET visible.]MARGARET [quietly to HARRIET]. I've had such a delightful afternoon.HARRIET [offering her hand]. It has been a joy to see you.MARGARET [sweetly to HARRIET]. Good-bye.HARRIET [sweetly to MARGARET as she kisses her]. Good-bye, my dear.Curtain.

TIME: The present.

SCENE: HARRIET'S fashionable living-room. The door at the back leads to the hall. In the centre a tea table with a chair either side. At the back a cabinet.

HARRIET'S gown is a light, "jealous" green. Her counterpart, HETTY, wears a gown of the same design but in a darker shade. MARGARET wears a gown of lavender chiffon while her counterpart, MAGGIE, wears a gown of the same design in purple, a purple scarf veiling her face. Chiffon is used to give a sheer effect, suggesting a possibility of primitive and cultured selves merging into one woman. The primitive and cultured selves never come into actual physical contact but try to sustain the impression of mental conflict. HARRIET never sees HETTY, never talks to her but rather thinks aloud looking into space. HETTY, however, looks at HARRIET, talks intently and shadows her continually. The same is true of MARGARET and MAGGIE. The voices of the cultured women are affected and lingering, the voices of the primitive impulsive and more or less staccato. When the curtain rises HARRIET is seated right of tea table, busying herself with the tea things.

HETTY. Harriet. [There is no answer.] Harriet, my other self. [There is no answer.] My trained self.

HARRIET [listens intently]. Yes? [From behind HARRIET'S chair HETTY rises slowly.]

HETTY. I want to talk to you.

HARRIET. Well?

HETTY [looking at HARRIET admiringly]. Oh, Harriet, you are beautiful to-day.

HARRIET. Am I presentable, Hetty?

HETTY. Suits me.

HARRIET. I've tried to make the best of the good points.

HETTY. My passions are deeper than yours. I can't keep on the mask as you do. I'm crude and real, you are my appearance in the world.

HARRIET. I am what you wish the world to believe you are.

HETTY. You are the part of me that has been trained.

HARRIET. I am your educated self.

HETTY. I am the rushing river; you are the ice over the current.

HARRIET. I am your subtle overtones.

HETTY. But together we are one woman, the wife of Charles Goodrich.

HARRIET. There I disagree with you, Hetty, I alone am his wife.

HETTY [indignantly]. Harriet, how can you say such a thing!

HARRIET. Certainly. I am the one who flatters him. I have to be the one who talks to him. If I gave you a chance you would tell him at once that you dislike him.

HETTY [moving away], I don't love him, that's certain.

HARRIET. You leave all the fibbing to me. He doesn't suspect that my calm, suave manner hides your hatred. Considering the amount of scheming it causes me it can safely be said that he is my husband.

HETTY. Oh, if you love him——

HARRIET. I? I haven't any feelings. It isn't my business to love anybody.

HETTY. Then why need you object to calling him my husband?

HARRIET. I resent your appropriation of a man who is managed only through the cleverness of my artifice.

HETTY. You may be clever enough to deceive him, Harriet, but I am still the one who suffers. I can't forget he is my husband. I can't forget that I might have married John Caldwell.

HARRIET. How foolish of you to remember John, just because we met his wife by chance.

HETTY. That's what I want to talk to you about. She may be here at any moment. I want to advise you about what to say to her this afternoon.

HARRIET. By all means tell me now and don't interrupt while she is here. You have a most annoying habit of talking to me when people are present. Sometimes it is all I can do to keep my poise and appear not to be listening to you.

HETTY. Impress her.

HARRIET. Hetty, dear, is it not my custom to impress people?

HETTY. I hate her.

HARRIET. I can't let her see that.

HETTY. I hate her because she married John.

HARRIET. Only after you had refused him.

HETTY [turning on HARRIET]. Was it my fault that I refused him?

HARRIET. That's right, blame me.

HETTY. It was your fault. You told me he was too poor and never would be able to do anything in painting. Look at him now, known in Europe, just returned from eight years in Paris, famous.

HARRIET. It was too poor a gamble at the time. It was much safer to accept Charles's money and position.

HETTY. And then John married Margaret within the year.

HARRIET. Out of spite.

HETTY. Freckled, gawky-looking thing she was, too.

HARRIET [a little sadly]. Europe improved her. She was stunning the other morning.

HETTY. Make her jealous to-day.

HARRIET. Shall I be haughty or cordial or caustic or——

HETTY. Above all else you must let her know that we are rich.

HARRIET. Oh, yes, I do that quite easily now.

HETTY. You must put it on a bit.

HARRIET. Never fear.

HETTY. Tell her I love my husband.

HARRIET. My husband——

HETTY. Are you going to quarrel with me?

HARRIET [moves away]. No, I have no desire to quarrel with you. It is quite too uncomfortable. I couldn't get away from you if I tried.

HETTY [stamping her foot and following HARRIET]. You were a stupid fool to make me refuse John, I'll never forgive you—never——

HARRIET [stopping and holding up her hand]. Don't get me all excited. I'll be in no condition to meet her properly this afternoon.

HETTY [passionately]. I could choke you for robbing me of John.

HARRIET [retreating]. Don't muss me!

HETTY. You don't know how you have made me suffer.

HARRIET [beginning to feel the strength of HETTY'S emotion surge through her and trying to conquer it]. It is not my business to have heartaches.

HETTY. You're bloodless. Nothing but sham—sham—while I——

HARRIET [emotionally]. Be quiet! I can't let her see that I have been fighting with my inner self.

HETTY. And now after all my suffering you say it has cost you more than it has cost me to be married to Charles. But it's the pain here in my heart—I've paid the price—I've paid——Charles is not your husband!

HARRIET [trying to conquer emotion]. He is.

HETTY [follows HARRIET]. He isn't.

HARRIET [weakly]. He is.

HETTY [towering over HARRIET]. He isn't! I'll kill you!

HARRIET [overpowered, sinks into a chair]. Don't—don't—you're stronger than I—you're——

HETTY. Say he's mine.

HARRIET. He's ours.

HETTY [the telephone rings]. There she is now.

[HETTY hurries to 'phone but HARRIET regains her supremacy.]

HARRIET [authoritatively]. Wait! I can't let the telephone girl down there hear my real self. It isn't proper. [At 'phone.] Show Mrs. Caldwell up.

HETTY. I'm so excited, my heart's in my mouth.

HARRIET [at the mirror]. A nice state you've put my nerves into.

HETTY. Don't let her see you're nervous.

HARRIET. *Quick, put the veil on, or she'll see you shining through me. [HARRIET takes a scarf of chiffon that has been lying over the back of a chair and drapes it on HETTY, covering her face. The chiffon is the same color of their gowns but paler in shade so that it pales HETTY'S darker gown to match HARRIET'S lighter one. As HETTY moves in the following scene the chiffon falls away revealing now and then the gown of deeper dye underneath.]

* (The vaudeville production did not use Harriet's lineabout the veil because at the rise of the curtain Hetty isalready veiled in chiffon the same dark green shade as hergown.)

HETTY. Tell her Charles is rich and fascinating—boast of our friends, make her feel she needs us.

HARRIET. I'll make her ask John to paint us.

HETTY. That's just my thought—if John paints our portrait——

HARRIET. We can wear an exquisite gown——

HETTY. And make him fall in love again and——

HARRIET [schemingly]. Yes.

[MARGARET parts the portieres back centre and extends her hand. MARGARET is followed by her counterpart MAGGIE.] Oh, MARGARET, I'm so glad to see you!

HETTY [to MAGGIE]. That's a lie.

MARGARET [in superficial voice throughout]. It's enchanting to see you, Harriet.

MAGGIE [in emotional voice throughout]. I'd bite you, if I dared.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Wasn't our meeting a stroke of luck?

MARGARET [coming down left of table]. I've thought of you so often, HARRIET; and to come back and find you living in New York.

HARRIET [coming down right of table]. Mr. Goodrich has many interests here.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Flatter her.

MARGARET. I know, Mr. Goodrich is so successful.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Tell her we're rich.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Won't you sit down?

MARGARET [takes a chair]. What a beautiful cabinet!*

* What beautiful lamps! (In vaudeville production.)

HARRIET. Do you like it? I'm afraid Charles paid an extravagant price.

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I don't believe it.

MARGARET [sitting down. To HARRIET]. I am sure he must have.

HARRIET [sitting down]. How well you are looking, Margaret.

HETTY. Yes, you are not. There are circles under your eyes.

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm hungry.

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. How well you are looking, too.

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. You have hard lines about your lips, are you happy?

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't let her know that I'm unhappy.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Why shouldn't I look well? My life is full, happy, complete——

MAGGIE. I wonder.

HETTY [in HARRIET'S ear]. Tell her we have an automobile.

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. My life is complete, too.

MAGGIE. My heart is torn with sorrow; my husband cannot make a living. He will kill himself if he does not get an order for a painting.

MARGARET [laughs]. You must come and see us in our studio. John has been doing some excellent portraits. He cannot begin to fill his orders.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Tell her we have an automobile.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Do you take lemon in your tea?

MAGGIE. Take cream. It's more filling.

MARGARET [looking nonchalantly at tea things]. No, cream, if you please. How cozy!

MAGGIE [glaring at tea things]. Only cakes! I could eat them all!

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. How many lumps?

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Sugar is nourishing.

MARGARET [to HARRIET], Three, please. I used to drink very sweet coffee in Turkey and ever since I've——

HETTY. I don't believe you were ever in Turkey.

MAGGIE. I wasn't, but it is none of your business.

HARRIET [pouring tea]. Have you been in Turkey, do tell me about it.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Change the subject.

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. You must go there. You have so much taste in dress you would enjoy seeing their costumes.

MAGGIE. Isn't she going to pass the cake?

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. John painted several portraits there.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Why don't you stop her bragging and tell her we have an automobile?

HARRIET [offers cake across the table to MARGARET]. Cake?

MAGGIE [stands back of MARGARET, shadowing her as HETTY shadows HARRIET. MAGGIE reaches claws out for the cake and groans with joy]. At last! [But her claws do not touch the cake.]

MARGARET [with a graceful, nonchalant hand places cake upon her plate and bites at it slowly and delicately]. Thank you.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Automobile!

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Follow up the costumes with the suggestion that she would make a good model for John. It isn't too early to begin getting what you came for.

MARGARET [ignoring MAGGIE]. What delicious cake.

HETTY [excitedly to HARRIET]. There's your chance for the auto.

HARRIET [nonchalantly to MARGARET]. Yes, it is good cake, isn't it? There are always a great many people buying it at Harper's. I sat in my automobile fifteen minutes this morning waiting for my chauffeur to get it.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Make her order a portrait.

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. If you stopped at Harper's you must have noticed the new gowns at Henderson's. Aren't the shop windows alluring these days?

HARRIET. Even my chauffeur notices them.

MAGGIE. I know you have an automobile, I heard you the first time.

MARGARET. I notice gowns now with an artist's eye as John does. The one you have on, my dear, is very paintable.

HETTY. Don't let her see you're anxious to be painted.

HARRIET [nonchalantly]. Oh, it's just a little model.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Don't seem anxious to get the order.

MARGARET [nonchalantly]. Perhaps it isn't the gown itself but the way you wear it that pleases the eye. Some people can wear anything with grace.

HETTY. Yes, I'm very graceful.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. You flatter me, my dear.

MARGARET. On the contrary, Harriet, I have an intense admiration for you. I remember how beautiful you were—as a girl. In fact, I was quite jealous when John was paying you so much attention.

HETTY. She is gloating because I lost him.

HARRIET. Those were childhood days in a country town.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. She's trying to make you feel that John was only a country boy.

MARGARET. Most great men have come from the country. There is a fair chance that John will be added to the list.

HETTY. I know it and I am bitterly jealous of you.

HARRIET. Undoubtedly he owes much of his success to you, Margaret, your experience in economy and your ability to endure hardship. Those first few years in Paris must have been a struggle.

MAGGIE. She is sneering at your poverty.

MARGARET. Yes, we did find life difficult at first, not the luxurious start a girl has who marries wealth.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Deny that you married Charles for his money. [HARRIET deems it wise to ignore HETTY'S advice.]

MARGARET. But John and I are so congenial in our tastes, that we were impervious to hardship or unhappiness.

HETTY [in anguish]. Do you love each other? Is it really true?

HARRIET [sweetly]. Did you have all the romance of starving for his art?

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. She's taunting you. Get even with her.

MARGARET. Not for long. Prince Rier soon discovered John's genius, and introduced him royally to wealthy Parisians who gave him many orders.

HETTY [to MAGGIE]. Are you telling the truth or are you lying?

HARRIET. If he had so many opportunities there, you must have had great inducements to come back to the States.

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. We did, but not the kind you think.

MARGARET. John became the rage among Americans travelling in France, too, and they simply insisted upon his coming here.

HARRIET. Whom is he going to paint here?

MAGGIE [frightened]. What names dare I make up?

MARGARET [calmly]. Just at present Miss Dorothy Ainsworth of Oregon is posing. You may not know the name, but she is the daughter of a wealthy miner who found gold in Alaska.

HARRIET. I dare say there are many Western people we have never heard of.

MARGARET. You must have found social life in New York very interesting, Harriet, after the simplicity of our home town.

HETTY [to MAGGIE]. There's no need to remind us that our beginnings were the same.

HARRIET. Of course Charles's family made everything delightful for me. They are so well connected.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Flatter her.

MARGARET. I heard it mentioned yesterday that you had made yourself very popular. Some one said you were very clever!

HARRIET [pleased]. Who told you that?

MAGGIE. Nobody!

MARGARET [pleasantly]. Oh, confidences should be suspected—respected, I mean. They said, too, that you are gaining some reputation as a critic of art.

HARRIET. I make no pretenses.

MARGARET. Are you and Mr. Goodrich interested in the same things, too?

HETTY. No!

HARRIET. Yes, indeed, Charles and I are inseparable.

MAGGIE. I wonder.

HARRIET. Do have another cake.

MAGGIE [in relief]. Oh, yes. [Again her claws extend but do not touch the cake.]

MARGARET [takes cake delicately]. I really shouldn't—after my big luncheon. John took me to the Ritz and we are invited to the Bedfords' for dinner—they have such a magnificent house near the drive—I really shouldn't, but the cakes are so good.

MAGGIE. Starving!

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. More tea?

MAGGIE. Yes!

MARGARET. No, thank you. How wonderfully life has arranged itself for you. Wealth, position, a happy marriage, every opportunity to enjoy all pleasures; beauty, art—how happy you must be.

HETTY [in anguish]. Don't call me happy. I've never been happy since I gave up John. All these years without him—a future without him—no—no—I shall win him back—away from you—away from you——

HARRIET [does not see MAGGIE pointing to cream and MARGARET stealing some]. I sometimes think it is unfair for any one to be as happy as I am. Charles and I are just as much in love now as when we married. To me he is just the dearest man in the world.

MAGGIE [passionately]. My John is. I love him so much I could die for him. I'm going through hunger and want to make him great and he loves me. He worships me!

MARGARET [leisurely to HARRIET]. I should like to meet Mr. Goodrich. Bring him to our studio. John has some sketches to show. Not many, because all the portraits have been purchased by the subjects. He gets as much as four thousand dollars now.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't pay that much.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. As much as that?

MARGARET. It is not really too much when one considers that John is in the foremost rank of artists to-day. A picture painted by him now will double and treble in value.

MAGGIE. It's all a lie. He is growing weak with despair.

HARRIET. Does he paint all day long?

MAGGIE. No, he draws advertisements for our bread.

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. When you and your husband come to see us, telephone first——

MAGGIE. Yes, so he can get the advertisements out of the way.

MARGARET. Otherwise you might arrive while he has a sitter, and John refuses to let me disturb him then.

HETTY. Make her ask for an order.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Le Grange offered to paint me for a thousand.

MARGARET. Louis Le Grange's reputation isn't worth more than that.

HARRIET. Well, I've heard his work well mentioned.

MAGGIE. Yes, he is doing splendid work.

MARGARET. Oh, dear me, no. He is only praised by the masses. He is accepted not at all by artists themselves.

HETTY [anxiously]. Must I really pay the full price?

HARRIET. Le Grange thought I would make a good subject.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Let her fish for it.

MARGARET. Of course you would. Why don't you let Le Grange paint you, if you trust him?

HETTY. She doesn't seem anxious to have John do it.

HARRIET. But if Le Grange isn't accepted by artists, it would be a waste of time to pose for him, wouldn't it?

MARGARET. Yes, I think it would.

MAGGIE [passionately to HETTY across back of table]. Give us the order. John is so despondent he can't endure much longer. Help us! Help me! Save us!

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't seem too eager.

HARRIET. And yet if he charges only a thousand one might consider it.

MARGARET. If you really wish to be painted, why don't you give a little more and have a portrait really worth while? John might be induced to do you for a little below his usual price considering that you used to be such good friends.

HETTY [in glee]. Hurrah!

HARRIET [quietly to MARGARET]. That's very nice of you to suggest—of course I don't know——

MAGGIE [in fear]. For God's sake, say yes.

MARGARET [quietly to HARRIET]. Of course, I don't know whether John would. He is very peculiar in these matters. He sets his value on his work and thinks it beneath him to discuss price.

HETTY [to MAGGIE]. You needn't try to make us feel small.

MARGARET. Still, I might quite delicately mention to him that inasmuch as you have many influential friends you would be very glad to—to——

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. Finish what I don't want to say.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Help her out.

HARRIET. Oh, yes, introductions will follow the exhibition of my portrait. No doubt I——

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Be patronizing.

HARRIET. No doubt I shall be able to introduce your husband to his advantage.

MAGGIE [relieved]. Saved.

MARGARET. If I find John in a propitious mood I shall take pleasure, for your sake, in telling him about your beauty. Just as you are sitting now would be a lovely pose.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. We can go now.

HETTY [to HARRIET]. Don't let her think she is doing us a favor.

HARRIET. It will give me pleasure to add my name to your husband's list of patronesses.

MAGGIE [excitedly to MARGARET]. Run home and tell John the good news.

MARGARET [leisurely to HARRIET]. I little guessed when I came for a pleasant chat about old times that it would develop into business arrangements. I had no idea, Harriet, that you had any intention of being painted. By Le Grange, too. Well, I came just in time to rescue you.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. Run home and tell John. Hurry, hurry!

HETTY [to HARRIET]. You managed the order very neatly. She doesn't suspect that you wanted it.

HARRIET. Now if I am not satisfied with my portrait I shall blame you, Margaret, dear. I am relying upon your opinion of John's talent.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. She doesn't suspect what you came for. Run home and tell John!

HARRIET. You always had a brilliant mind, Margaret.

MARGARET. Ah, it is you who flatter, now.

MAGGIE [to MARGARET]. You don't have to stay so long. Hurry home!

HARRIET. Ah, one does not flatter when one tells the truth.

MARGARET [smiles]. I must be going or you will have me completely under your spell.

HETTY [looks at clock]. Yes, do go. I have to dress for dinner.

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. Oh, don't hurry.

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I hate you!

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. No, really I must, but I hope we shall see each other often at the studio. I find you so stimulating.

HETTY [to MAGGIE]. I hate you!

HARRIET [to MARGARET]. It is indeed gratifying to find a kindred spirit.

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. I came for your gold.

MARGARET [to HARRIET]. How delightful it is to know you again.

HETTY [to MAGGIE]. I am going to make you and your husband suffer.

HARRIET. My kind regards to John.

MAGGIE [to HETTY]. He has forgotten all about you.

MARGARET [rises]. He will be so happy to receive them.

HETTY [to MAGGIE]. I can hardly wait to talk to him again.

HARRIET. I shall wait, then, until you send me word?

MARGARET [offering her hand]. I'll speak to John about it as soon as I can and tell you when to come.

[HARRIET takes MARGARET'S hand affectionately. HETTY and MAGGIE rush at each other, throw back their veils, and fling their speeches fiercely at each other.]

HETTY. I love him—I love him——

MAGGIE. He's starving—I'm starving——

HETTY. I'm going to take him away from you——

MAGGIE. I want your money—and your influence.

HETTY and MAGGIE. I'm going to rob you—rob you.

[There is a cymbal crash, the lights go out and come up again slowly, leaving only MARGARET and HARRIET visible.]

MARGARET [quietly to HARRIET]. I've had such a delightful afternoon.

HARRIET [offering her hand]. It has been a joy to see you.

MARGARET [sweetly to HARRIET]. Good-bye.

HARRIET [sweetly to MARGARET as she kisses her]. Good-bye, my dear.

Curtain.

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