The Mousetrap and Other Plays (37 page)

HENRIETTA
. (
Thoughtfully
) I wondered if you'd see it.

JOHN
. See it? Of course I see it.

HENRIETTA
. The face isn't Gerda's.

JOHN
. No, it's the neck—the shoulders—the whole attitude.

(
The daylight starts to fade and continues to do so steadily until the end of the Act.
)

HENRIETTA
. Yes, that's what I wanted.

JOHN
.
How could you do a thing like that?
It's indefensible.

HENRIETTA
. You don't understand. John. You don't know what it is to want something—to look at it day after day—that line of neck—the muscle—the angle of the head—that heaviness under the jaw. I've been looking at them, wanting them, every time I saw Gerda. In the end—I just had to have them.

JOHN
. Utterly unscrupulous.

HENRIETTA
. Yes—I suppose you could call it that.

JOHN
. (
Uneasily
) That's a terrifying thing you've made, Henrietta. What's she looking at—who is it there, in front of her?

HENRIETTA
. I don't know, John. I think—it might be
you.

(
EDWARD
enters Left. He now wears dinner clothes.
)

You remember Edward—John.

JOHN
. (
Tersely
) Of course.

EDWARD
. (
Moving below the armchair Left Centre
) Looking at Henrietta's latest masterpiece?

JOHN
. (
Without looking at
EDWARD
) Yes. (
He crosses to the fireplace.
) Yes, I was.

EDWARD
. What do you think of it?

JOHN
. (
With his back to
EDWARD
) I'm not really qualified to judge. (
He takes a cigarette from his case.
)

EDWARD
. Powerful!

JOHN
. 'M?

EDWARD
. I said it's powerful.

JOHN
. Yes.

HENRIETTA
. (
Switching off the light and closing the alcove curtain
) I must go and change.

EDWARD
. Still lots of time. (
He crosses to the drinks table.
) Can I get you a drink, Cristow?

JOHN
. No, thank you. (
He taps his cigarette on his case.
)

EDWARD
. (
Moving to the French window Right
) Quite a mild evening.

(
He glances at
HENRIETTA
and
JOHN
,
then exits Right.
)

HENRIETTA
. (
Moving Centre
) You were very rude, John.

JOHN
. (
Turning
) I've no time for that sort of person.

HENRIETTA
. Edward's a dear.

JOHN
. Possibly. (
He lights his cigarette.
) I don't like him. I think he is quite ineffectual.

HENRIETTA
. You know, sometimes, John, I'm afraid for you.

JOHN
. Afraid for me? What do you mean?

HENRIETTA
. It's dangerous to be as oblivious as you are.

JOHN
. Oblivious?

HENRIETTA
. You never see or know anything that people are feeling about you.

JOHN
. I should have said the opposite.

HENRIETTA
. You see what you're looking at—yes. You're like a searchlight. A powerful beam turned on to the one spot where your interest is, but behind it, and each side of it, darkness.

JOHN
. Henrietta, darling, what is all this?

HENRIETTA
. I tell you, it's
dangerous.
You assume everybody likes you—(
She moves in to Right of
JOHN
) Lucy and Gerda, Henry, Midge and Edward.

(
JOHN
puts his cigarette in the ashtray on the mantelpiece.
)

Do you know at all what they feel about you?

JOHN
. (
Smiling
) And Henrietta? What does the feel? At least—(
He catches her hand and draws her to him
) I'm sure of you.

HENRIETTA
. You can be sure of no one in this world, John.

(
JOHN
kisses her. As she gives in to him helplessly, he releases her, smiles, turns, picks up his cigarette and moves to the door Left.
EDWARD
enters Right.
JOHN
gives
EDWARD
a cynical look Left, then exits Left.
)

(
She turns to
EDWARD
.) Get me a drink, would you, Edward, before I go. (
She turns, looks in the mirror on the mantelpiece, and touches up her lipstick with her handkerchief.
)

EDWARD
. (
Moving to the drinks table
) Sherry?

HENRIETTA
. Please.

EDWARD
. (
Pouring out two sherries
) I wish you'd come to Ainswick more often, Henrietta. It's a long time now.

HENRIETTA
. I know. One gets tangled up in things.

EDWARD
. Is that the real reason?

HENRIETTA
. Not quite.

EDWARD
. You can tell me, Henrietta.

HENRIETTA
. (
Turning; feelingly
) You are a dear, Edward. I'm very fond of you.

EDWARD
. (
Crossing to Right of
HENRIETTA
with the drinks
) Why don't you come to Ainswick? (
He hands a drink to her.
)

HENRIETTA
. Because—one can't go back.

EDWARD
. You used to be happy there, in the old days.

HENRIETTA
. Yes, happy in the loveliest way of all—when one doesn't know one is happy.

EDWARD
. (
Raising his glass
) To Ainswick.

HENRIETTA
. (
Raising her glass
) Ainswick.

(
They both laugh, then sip their drinks.
)

Is it the same, Edward? Or has it changed? Things do change.

EDWARD
.
I
don't change.

HENRIETTA
. No, darling Edward. You're always the same.

EDWARD
. Same old stick-in-the-mud.

HENRIETTA
. (
Crossing below
EDWARD
to the sofa
) Don't say that. (
She sits on the sofa at the Left end.
)

EDWARD
. It's true. I've never been very good at—doing things.

HENRIETTA
. I think perhaps you're wise not to do things.

EDWARD
. That's an odd thing for you to say, Henrietta. You who've been so successful.

HENRIETTA
. Sculpture isn't a thing you set out to do and succeed in. It's something that gets
at
you—and haunts you—so that, in the end, you just have to make terms with it. And then—for a while—you get some peace.

EDWARD
. Do you want to be peaceful, Henrietta?

HENRIETTA
. Sometimes I think I want to be peaceful more than anything in the world.

EDWARD
. (
Crossing to Left of the sofa
) You could be peaceful at Ainswick. (
He puts his hand on
HENRIETTA
's shoulder.
) I think you could be happy there. Even—even if you had to put up with me. (
He crosses and sits on the sofa at the Right end of it.
) What about it, Henrietta? Won't you come to Ainswick and make it your home? It's always been there, you know, waiting for you.

HENRIETTA
. Edward, I wish I weren't so very fond of you. It makes it so much more difficult to go on saying no.

EDWARD
. It is no, then?

HENRIETTA
. (
Putting her glass on the coffee table
) I'm sorry.

EDWARD
. You've said no before, but this time—(
He rises
) well, I thought it might be different. When we walked in the woods your face was so young and happy, (
He moves to the window Right
) almost as it used to be. Talking about Ainswick, thinking about Ainswick. Don't you see what that means, Henrietta?

HENRIETTA
. Edward, we've been living this afternoon in the past.

EDWARD
. (
Moving to Right of the sofa
) The past is sometimes a very good place to live.

HENRIETTA
. One can't go back. That's the one thing you can't do—go back.

(
There is a pause.
EDWARD
moves above the sofa to Left of it and looks towards the door Left.
)

EDWARD
. (
Quietly
) What you really mean is that you won't marry me because of John Cristow. (
He pauses, then turns.
) That's it, isn't it? If there were no John Cristow in the world you would marry me.

HENRIETTA
. I can't imagine a world in which there was no John Cristow.

(
SIR
HENRY
enters Left. He now wears dinner clothes.
HENRIETTA
rises.
)

SIR
HENRY
. (
Switching on the wall bracket and mantelpiece lights by the switch below the fireplace
). Hurry up, Henrietta. It's nearly dinner time.

HENRIETTA
. (
Crossing to the door Left
) I'll be quick as a flash.

(
She exits hurriedly Left.
EDWARD
sits on the sofa at the Left end of it.
)

SIR
HENRY
. (
Crossing to the drinks table
) Have you got a drink, Edward?

(
He switches on the table lamp on the drinks table.
)

EDWARD
. Thank you, yes.

SIR
HENRY
. (
Mixing cocktails
) Haven't seen much of you since Lucy and I settled down at The Hollow.

EDWARD
. No. How does it affect you both—laying aside the cares of state?

SIR
HENRY
. I sometimes think, Edward, that you've been the wisest of the family.

EDWARD
. That's an original point of view. I always regard myself as a walking example of how to fail in life.

SIR
HENRY
. Oh no, it's a question of the right values. To look after one's estate and to read and care for one's books—

(
MIDGE
enters Left. She wears an evening frock.
EDWARD
rises.
)

—not to compete in the struggle for material achievement . . . (
He turns to
MIDGE
.) Hullo, there—that's a pretty frock.

MIDGE
. (
Moving Left Centre and turning completely around, showing off her frock
) One of my perks from the shop.

EDWARD
. You can't really like working in a shop, Midge.

MIDGE
. (
Crossing to the drinks table
) Who said I like it? (
She picks up the bowl of olives.
)

EDWARD
. (
Resuming his seat on the sofa
) Then why do it?

MIDGE
. What do you suggest I should live on? Beautiful thoughts?

EDWARD
. (
Shocked
) But, my dear girl, if I'd had any idea you were hard up . . .

SIR
HENRY
. Save your breath, Edward. She's obstinate. Refused an allowance and won't come and live with us, though we've begged her to. I can't think of anything nicer than having young Midge about the house.

EDWARD
. Why don't you, Midge?

MIDGE
. (
Moving Right of the sofa then below it
) I have ideas. (
She offers the olives to
EDWARD
.) Poor, proud and prejudiced—

(
EDWARD
shakes his head, refusing the olives.
)

—that's me.

(
LADY
ANGKATELL
enters Left. She wears an evening gown.
EDWARD
rises.
)

They're badgering me, Lucy.

LADY
ANGKATELL
. (
Crossing to the armchair Left Centre
) Are they, darling? (
She sits.
)

EDWARD
. I don't like the idea of her working in that dress shop.

MIDGE
. (
Crossing to
LADY
ANGKATELL
) Well, find me a better job. (
She offers the olives to her.
)

(
LADY
ANGKATELL
takes an olive.
MIDGE
moves to the fireplace and puts the dish on the mantelpiece.
)

EDWARD
. There surely must be something . . .

MIDGE
. I've no particular qualifications, remember. Just a pleasant manner and the ability to keep my temper when I'm shouted at.

EDWARD
. Do you mean to say the customers are rude to you?