ESSIE TWOMEY: Praise the Lord! I’m a harbinger of good news. Yes, indeed. I got a corker for you.
HIX: I shall point out that we have never had any matters of common interest.
ESSIE TWOMEY: Verily, Brother Hix. You smacked the nail right on the head. That’s why you’ll be overjoyed at the proposition. [
Settling herself comfortably down on a bench
] It’s like this, brother: there’s no room in this neighborhood for you and me both.
HIX: Sister Twomey, these are the first words of truth I have ever heard emerging from your mouth.
ESSIE TWOMEY: The poor dear souls in these parts are heavily laden, indeed. They cannot support two temples. Why, the mangy bums haven’t got enough to feed the fleas on a dog!
HIX: Dare I believe, sister, that your conscience has spoken at last, and you are prepared to leave this neighborhood?
ESSIE TWOMEY: Who?
Me
leave this neighborhood? [
Solemnly
] Why, Brother Hix, you have no idea of the blessed work my temple is doing. The lost souls milling at its portals—praise the Lord! . . . [
Sharply
] No, brother, keep your shirt on. I’m going to buy you out.
HIX: What?!
ESSIE TWOMEY: Not that I really have to. You’re no competition. But I thought I might as well clear it up once and for all. I want this territory.
HIX: [
Beside himself
] You had the infernal presumption to suppose that the Temple of Eternal Truth was for sale?
ESSIE TWOMEY: Now, now, Brother Hix, let’s be modern. That’s no way to talk business. Just look at the facts. You’re washed up here, brother.
HIX: I will have you understand . . .
ESSIE TWOMEY: What kind of a draw do you get? Thirty or fifty heads on a big night. Look at me. Two thousand souls every evening, seeking the glory of God!
Two thousand
noses, actual count! I’m putting on a Midnight Service tonight—“The Night Life of the Angels”—and I’m expecting three thousand.
HIX: [
Drawing himself up
] There come moments in a man’s life when he is sorely pressed to remember the lesson of charity to all. I have no wish to insult you. But I have always considered you a tool of the Devil. My temple has stood in this neighborhood for . . .
ESSIE TWOMEY: I know. For twenty years. But times change, brother. You haven’t got what it takes anymore. You’re still in the horse-and-buggy age—praise the Lord!
HIX: The faith of my fathers is good enough for me.
ESSIE TWOMEY: Maybe so, brother, maybe so. But not for the customers. Now, for instance, take the name of your place: “Temple of Eternal Truth.” Folks don’t go for that nowadays. What have I got? “The Little Church of the Cheery Corner.” That draws ’em, brother. Like flies.
HIX: I do not wish to discuss it.
ESSIE TWOMEY: Look at what you were just rehearsing here. That’ll put ’em to sleep. Verily. You can’t hand out that line anymore. Now take my last sermon—“The Service Station of the Spirit.” There’s a lesson for you, brother! I had a whole service station built—[
Rises, walks to pulpit
]—right there, behind my pulpit. Tall pumps, glass and gold, labeled “Purity,” “Prayer,” “Prayer with Faith Super-Mixture.” And young boys in white uniforms—good-lookers, every one of ’em!—with gold wings, and caps inscribed “Creed Oil, Inc.” Clever, eh?
HIX: It’s a sacrilege!
ESSIE TWOMEY: [
Stepping up on the pulpit
] And the pulpit here was—[
Looks at her fingers
]—hm, dust, Brother Hix. Bad business! . . . And the pulpit was made up like a gold automobile. [
Greatly inspired
] Then I preached to my flock that when you travel the hard road of life, you must be sure that your tank is filled with the best gas of Faith, that your tires are inflated with the air of Charity, that your radiator is cooled with the sweet water of Temperance, that your battery is charged with the power of Righteousness, and that you beware of treacherous Detours which lead to perdition! [
In her normal voice
] Boy, did that wow ’em! Praise the Lord! It brought the house down! And we had no trouble at all when we passed the collection box made up in the shape of a gasoline can!
HIX: [
With controlled fury
] Sister Twomey, you will please step down from my pulpit!
ESSIE TWOMEY: [
Coming down
] Well, brother, to make a long story short, I’ll give you five hundred bucks and you can move your junk out.
HIX:
Five hundred dollars for the Temple of Eternal Truth?
ESSIE TWOMEY: Well, what’s the matter with five hundred dollars? It’s a lot of money. You can buy a good secondhand car for five hundred dollars.
HIX: Never, in twenty years, have I shown the door to anyone in this temple. But I am doing it now. [
He points to the door
]
ESSIE TWOMEY: [
Shrugging
] Well, have it your own way, brother. They have eyes, but they see not! . . . I should worry, by Jesus! [
Raising her arm
] Praise the Lord! [
Exits
]
[
The minute she is out,
EZRY
’s head comes peering cautiously from behind the door.
EZRY
is a lanky, gangling youth, far from bright
]
EZRY: [
Calls in a whisper
] Oh, Brother Hix!
HIX: [
Startled
] Ezry! What are you doing there? Come in.
EZRY: [
Enters, awed
] Gee, it was better’n a movie show!
HIX: Have you been listening?
EZRY: Gee! Was that Sister Essie Twomey?
HIX: Yes, Ezry, it was Sister Essie Twomey. Now you mustn’t tell anyone about what you heard here.
EZRY: No, sir. Cross my heart, Brother Hix. [
Looking at the door with admiration
] My, but Sister Twomey talks pretty!
HIX: You mustn’t say that. Sister Twomey is an evil woman.
EZRY: Yes, sir. . . . Gee, but she’s got such pretty curls!
HIX: Ezry, do you believe in me? Do you like to come here for the services?
EZRY: Yes, sir. . . . The Crump twins, they said Sister Twomey had a airyplane in her temple, honest to goodness!
HIX: [
Desperately
] My boy, listen to me, for the sake of your immortal soul . . . [
He stops short.
KAY GONDA
enters
]
KAY GONDA: Mr. Hix?
HIX: [
Without taking his eyes from her, in a choked voice
] Ezry. Run along.
EZRY: [
Frightened
] Yes, sir. [
Exits hurriedly
]
HIX: You’re not . . .
KAY GONDA: Yes. I am.
HIX: To what do I owe the great honor of . . .
KAY GONDA: To a murder.
HIX: Do you mean that those rumors are true?
KAY GONDA: You can throw me out, if you wish. You can call the police, if you prefer. Only do so now.
HIX: You are seeking shelter?
KAY GONDA: For one night.
HIX: [
Walks to the open door, closes it, and locks it
] This door has not been closed for twenty years. It shall be closed tonight. [
He returns to her and silently hands her the key
]
KAY GONDA: [
Astonished
] Why are you giving it to me?
HIX: The door will not be opened, until you wish to open it.
KAY GONDA: [
She smiles, takes the key and slips it into her bag. Then:
] Thank you.
HIX: [
Sternly
] No. Do not thank me. I do not want you to stay here.
KAY GONDA: [
Without understanding
] You—don’t?
HIX: But you are safe—if this is the safety you want. I have turned the place over to you. You may stay here as long as you like. The decision will be yours.
KAY GONDA: You do not want me to hide here?
HIX: I do not want you to hide.
KAY GONDA: [
She looks at him thoughtfully, then walks to a bench and sits down, watching him. She asks slowly:
] What would you have me do?
HIX: [
He stands before her, austerely erect and solemn
] You have taken a heavy burden upon your shoulders.
KAY GONDA: Yes. A heavy burden. And I wonder how much longer I will be able to carry it.
HIX: You may hide from the men who threaten you. But of what importance is that?
KAY GONDA: Then you do not want to save me?
HIX: Oh, yes. I want to save you. But not from the police.
KAY GONDA: From whom?
HIX: From yourself. [
She looks at him for a long moment, a fixed, steady glance, and does not answer
] You have committed a mortal sin. You have killed a human being. [
Points to the room
] Can this place—or any place—give you protection from that?
KAY GONDA: No.
HIX: You cannot escape from your crime. Then do not try to run from it. Give up. Surrender. Confess.
KAY GONDA: [
Slowly
] If I confess, they will take my life.
HIX: If you don’t, you will lose your life—the eternal life of your soul.
KAY GONDA: Is it a choice, then? Must it be one or the other?
HIX: It has always been a choice. For all of us.
KAY GONDA: Why?
HIX: Because the joys of this earth are paid for by damnation in the Kingdom of Heaven. But if we choose to suffer, we are rewarded with eternal happiness.
KAY GONDA: Then we are on earth only in order to suffer?
HIX: And the greater the suffering, the greater our virtue. [
Her head drops slowly
] You have a sublime chance before you. Accept, of your own will, the worst that can be done to you. The infamy, the degradation, the prison cell, the scaffold. Then your punishment will become your glory.
KAY GONDA: How?
HIX: It will let you enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
KAY GONDA: Why should I want to enter it?
HIX: If you know that a life of supreme beauty is possible—how can you help but want to enter it?
KAY GONDA: How can I help but want it here, on earth?
HIX: Ours is a dark, imperfect world.
KAY GONDA: Why is it not perfect? Because it cannot be? Or because we do not want it to be?
HIX: This world is of no consequence. Whatever beauty it offers us is here only that we may sacrifice it—for the greater beauty beyond. [
She is not looking at him. He stands watching her for a moment; then, his voice low with emotion:
] You don’t know how lovely you are at this moment. [
She raises her head
] You don’t know the hours I’ve spent watching you across the infinite distance of a screen. I would give my life to keep you here in safety. I would let myself be torn to shreds, rather than see you hurt. Yet I am asking you to open this door and walk out to martyrdom. That is my chance of sacrifice. I am giving up the greatest thing that ever came to me.
KAY GONDA: [
Her voice soft and low
] And after you and I have made our sacrifice, what will be left on this earth?
HIX: Our example. It will light the way for all the miserable souls who flounder in helpless depravity. They, too, will learn to renounce. Your fame is great. The story of your conversion will be heard the world over. You will redeem the scrubby wretches who come to this temple and all the wretches in all the slums.
KAY GONDA: Such as that boy who was here?
HIX: Such as that boy. Let him be the symbol, not a nobler figure. That, too, is part of the sacrifice.
KAY GONDA: [
Slowly
] What do you want me to do?
HIX: Confess your crime. Confess it publicly, to a crowd, to the hearing of all!
KAY GONDA: Tonight?
HIX: Tonight!
KAY GONDA: But there is no crowd anywhere at this hour.
HIX: At this hour . . . [
With sudden inspiration
] Listen. At this hour, a large crowd is gathered in a temple of error, six blocks away. It is a dreadful place, run by the most contemptible woman I’ve ever known. I’ll take you there. I’ll let you offer that woman the greatest gift—the kind of sensation she’s never dared to imagine for her audience. You will confess to her crowd. Let her take the credit and the praise for your conversion. Let her take the fame. She is the one least worthy of it.
KAY GONDA: That, too, is part of the sacrifice?
HIX: Yes.
[KAY GONDA
rises. She walks to the door, unlocks it, and flings it open. Then she turns to
HIX
and throws the key in his face. It strikes him as she goes out. He stands motionless, only his head dropping and his shoulders sagging
]
CURTAIN
SCENE 2
The letter projected on the screen is written in a sharp, precise, cultured handwriting:
Dear Miss Gonda,
I have had everything men ask of life. I have seen it all, and I feel as if I were leaving a third-rate show on a disreputable side street. If I do not bother to die, it is only because my life has all the emptiness of the grave and my death would have no change to offer me. It may happen, any day now, and nobody—not even the one writing these lines—will know the difference.
But before it happens, I want to raise what is left of my soul in a last salute to you, you who are that which the world should have been. Morituri te salutamus.
Dietrich von Esterhazy
Beverly-Sunset Hotel
Beverly Hills, California
Lights go out, screen disappears, and stage reveals drawing room in the hotel suite of
DIETRICH von ESTERHAZY
. It is a large, luxurious room, modern, exquisitely simple. Wide entrance door in center wall Left. Smaller door to bedroom in wall Right, upstage. Large window in wall Left, showing the dark view of a park far below. Downstage Right a fireplace. One single lamp burning.
As the curtain rises the entrance door opens to admit
DIETRICH VON ESTERHAZY
and
LALO JANS
.
DIETRICH von ESTERHAZY
is a tall, slender man in his early forties, whose air of patrician distinction seems created for the trim elegance of his full dress suit.
LALO JANS
is an exquisite female, hidden in the soft folds of an ermine wrap over a magnificent evening gown. She walks in first and falls, exhausted, on a sofa downstage, stretching out her legs with a gesture of charming lassitude.
DIETRICH VON ESTERHAZY
follows her silently. She makes a little gesture, expecting him to take her wrap. But he does not approach her or look at her, and she shrugs, throwing her wrap back, letting it slide halfway down her bare arms.