_The following morning; at the_ STERLINGS'; _the library; a warm,
livable, and lovable room, full of pictures, photographs, and books;
mistletoe and holly decorate everywhere. In the bow-window at back there
is a large bird-cage with half a dozen birds in it. The furniture is
comfortable and heavily upholstered. At Left there is a fireplace with
logs ready, but the fire is not lit. There a big table near the centre,
full of magazines, illustrated papers, and books. A big arm-chair is
beside the table, and other chairs conversationally close. There is a
table near the door at Right, piled with Christmas gifts, still wrapped
in white paper; they are tied with many colored ribbons and bunches of
holly. There are doors Right and Left. After the curtain rises on an
empty stage,_ RUTH _enters quickly; while she has her buoyant manner,
she is, of course, more serious than usual. She carries a bunch of fresh
violets in her hand. She looks about the room with a sort of curiosity.
She is waiting for some one to appear. She takes up a silver-framed
photograph of her brother which stands on a table and speaks aloud to
it._
RUTH. I'm glad you're spared this. [_With a long-drawn breath she places
the photograph back upon the table and turns to greet_ BLANCHE, _who
comes in Right._] Good morning, my dear.
[_She kisses her._
BLANCHE. Good morning. You've had my note? [RUTH _nods._] Thank you. I
wanted to see you before I saw any one else. You must help me decide,
only _you_ can.
RUTH. Have you seen your husband this morning?
BLANCHE. No. He sent word he was feeling ill, but would like to see me
when I was willing.
RUTH. And you?
[_They sit near each other._
BLANCHE. I don't want to talk with him till I see more clearly what I am
going to do.
RUTH. Mr. Warden told me last night all that happened at "The
Hermitage." But on your ride home with Dick?
BLANCHE. We never spoke. [_She rises._] Aunt Ruth, I am going to leave
him.
RUTH. [_Rising._] No!
BLANCHE. [_Walking up and down._] Why not? _Everybody_ does.
RUTH. [_Going to her._] That's just it. _Be somebody!_ Don't do the
easy, weak thing. Be strong; be an example to other women. Heaven knows
it's time they had one!
[MRS. HUNTER _enters Right._ BLANCHE _meets her._
MRS. HUNTER. Good morning, my poor dear.
[_Going to kiss_ BLANCHE.
BLANCHE. [_Taking_ MRS. HUNTER'S _hand and not kissing her._] Good
morning.
MRS. HUNTER. Clara's gone upstairs to see little Richard. Good morning,
Ruth.
[_She adds this with a manner of being on the defensive._
RUTH. [_Dryly._] Good morning.
MRS. HUNTER. [_Sitting by the table and looking at the picture papers._]
Isn't it awful! What are you going to do?
BLANCHE. I don't know yet, mother.
MRS. HUNTER. _Don't know?_ Absolute divorce--no legal separation! [_To_
RUTH.] We're staying at the Waldorf.
[BLANCHE _sits discouragedly on the sofa._
RUTH. [_Sitting beside her._] I shall advise against, and do everything
in my power to prevent, Blanche's getting a divorce!
MRS. HUNTER. You don't mean to say you'll carry those ridiculous notions
of yours into practice?--now that a scandal has come into our very
family?
RUTH. Oh, I know selfish, cynical, and worldly people won't agree with
me, and I pity and sympathize with Blanche from the bottom of my heart.
[_Taking and holding_ BLANCHE'S _hand._] But I want her not to decide
anything now; wait till the first blows over, and then--well, then I
feel sure she will do the strong, noble thing--the difficult thing--not
the easy.
BLANCHE. [_Withdraws her hand from_ RUTH'S.] _No_, you ask too much of
me, Aunt Ruth; I can't do it.
RUTH. I say don't decide now--wait.
BLANCHE. I don't want to wait. I want to decide now and to cut my life
free, entirely, from Dick's.
RUTH. You used to agree with me. I've heard you decry these snapshot,
rapid-transit, tunnel divorces many a time. I've heard you say when a
woman has made her bed, she must lie in it--make the best of her bad
bargain.
BLANCHE. I always sympathized with a woman who sought a divorce in this
state.
RUTH. Oh, yes, but _you can't_, can you?
BLANCHE. No, but I'm not strong enough to fight out an unhappy life for
the sake of setting an example to other women--women who _don't want_
the example set!
RUTH. Blanche, I counted on you to be strong, to be big--
BLANCHE. [_With a voice full of emotion._] But I love Ned Warden. He
loves me--life stretches out long before us. Dick has disgraced us all.
I don't love him--should I give _my_ happiness and Mr. Warden's
happiness for _him_?
MRS. HUNTER. Absurd! We all have a right to happiness if we can get it.
I have chosen; let Blanche follow my example.
BLANCHE. [_Disgusted._] _Yours?_ [_Rises._] Oh!
RUTH. [_Following up the advantage._] Yes, Blanche, do you want to
follow your mother's example?
BLANCHE. No! But the cases are not analogous!
MRS. HUNTER. Not what? You needn't fling any innuendoes at Mr. Trotter;
it's he who said it was my duty to stand by you, advise you, and all
that sort of thing. I'm not here to please myself! Goodness knows, a
divorce court isn't a very pleasant place to spend your honeymoon!
BLANCHE. Thank both you and Mr. Trotter, mother; but I ask you to allow
Aunt Ruth and me to decide this matter between us.
MRS. HUNTER. Trotter says _divorce_ was _made_ for woman!
RUTH. And what was made for man, please? Polygamy?
MRS. HUNTER. I don't know anything about politics! But I could count a
dozen women in a breath, all divorced, or trying to be, or _ought_ to
be!
RUTH. And each one of them getting a cold shoulder.
BLANCHE. What of it if their hearts are warm--poor climbers after
happiness!
RUTH. Believe me, dear, the chill spreads. You're going to be selfish?
MRS. HUNTER. She's going to be sensible.
[CLARA _enters Right._
CLARA. Hello, everybody! I just saw Dick coming out of his room and I
cut him dead.
BLANCHE. Clara!
RUTH. [_To_ BLANCHE.] You've taken a certain responsibility upon
yourself, and you can't shirk it.
BLANCHE. He isn't what I thought him!
RUTH. The day the sun shone on you as a bride, in God's presence, you
said you took him for better for worse--
CLARA. Dear me, is that in it? The marriage service ought to be
expurgated!
RUTH. [_To_ CLARA.] I'm ashamed of you.
CLARA. That's nothing new!
BLANCHE. Aunt Ruth, let us talk some other time.
MRS. HUNTER. Oh, if we are in the way, we'll go!
[_Rises._
CLARA. Yes, come on, let's go to Atlantic City.
MRS. HUNTER. No, I'd rather go to Lakewood.
CLARA. Oh, pshaw, Lakewood's no fun! I'm surprised you don't say go to
Aiken, North Carolina.
MRS. HUNTER. Mr. Trotter says we can't leave town anyway while Blanche
is in this trouble.
BLANCHE. Mother, please discuss your affairs somewhere else.
RUTH. And if I may be permitted to suggest, you will find Mr. Trotter's
advice always pretty good to follow. That young man has better qualities
than we have suspected. I have some thing to thank him for; will you be
good enough to ask him to come and see me?
MRS. HUNTER. He will not go to your house with my permission. I shall
tell him you have never asked me inside your door.
CLARA. Mother, if you ask _me_--[MRS. HUNTER _interjects_ "Which I
don't," _but_ CLARA _continues without paying any attention to the
interruption._]--I don't think Mr. Trotter is going to cry himself to
sleep for your permission about anything!
MRS. HUNTER. [_To_ BLANCHE.] Good-by, my dear; if you want me, let me
know; I'll be glad to do anything I can. I'm staying at the Waldorf.
CLARA. It's full of people from Kansas and Wyoming Territory come to
hear the Opera!
RUTH. A little western blood wouldn't hurt our New York life a bit!
CLARA. Ah! Got you there! The west is the place where the divorces come
from!
MRS. HUNTER. [_Laughs._] What's the matter with Providence? I think
Rhode Island tips the scales pretty even for the east!
BLANCHE. Please go, mother; please leave me for a little while.
MRS. HUNTER. Oh, very well, good-by! [LEONARD _enters Right with a
Christmas parcel, which he places on the table Right._] Dear me, have
you had all these Christmas presents and not opened them?
BLANCHE. It is only little Richard in this house who is celebrating
Christmas to-day.
MRS. HUNTER. It's a terrible affair; I only hope the newspapers won't
get hold of it. [_To_ LEONARD.] If any women come here asking for _me_
who look like ladies, don't let 'em in! They ain't my friends; they're
reporters.
[LEONARD _bows and goes out._
CLARA. I'm awfully sorry, Blanche, I honestly am; but I think you'll
have only yourself to blame if you don't strike out now and throw Dick
over. Good-by!
[MRS. HUNTER _and_ CLARA _go out Right._
BLANCHE. I wish _they_ wouldn't advise me to do what I _want_ to.
RUTH. Ah!
BLANCHE. But who do I harm by it? Surely, it wouldn't be for _his_ good
to be brought up under the influence of his father!
RUTH. If he saw you patiently bearing a cross for the sake of duty, can
you imagine a stronger force for good on the boy's character? What an
example _you_ will set him! What a chance for a mother!
BLANCHE. But my own life, my own happiness?
RUTH. Ah, my dear, that's just it! The watchword of our age is self! We
are all for ourselves; the twentieth century is to be a glorification of
selfishness, the Era of Egotism! Forget yourself, and what would you do?
The dignified thing. You would live quietly _beside_ your husband if not
_with_ him. And your son would be worthy of such a mother!
BLANCHE. And I?
RUTH. You would be _glad_ in the end.
BLANCHE. Perhaps--
RUTH. Surely! Blanche, for twenty years Mr. Mason and I have loved each
other.
[BLANCHE _is astonished. There is a pause._
[RUTH _smiles while she speaks, though her voice breaks._]
You never guessed! Ah, well, your father knew.
BLANCHE. But Mrs. Mason is hopelessly insane; surely--
RUTH. A principle is a principle; I took my stand against divorce. What
can you do for a principle if you don't give up everything for it?
Nothing! And that is what I mean. To-day I am not sorry--I am happy.
[_There is another slight pause._ RICHARD _is heard upstairs singing a
Christmas carol, "Once in Royal David's City," etc._
BLANCHE. [_With great emotion._] But if it breaks my heart--if it breaks
my heart?
RUTH. Hearts don't break from the pain that comes of doing right, but
from the sorrow of doing wrong! [_Neither woman speaks for a minute; in
the silence_ RUTH _hears_ RICHARD.] What's that?
BLANCHE. [_Hearing now for the first time._] Richard singing one of his
carols.
RUTH. I'd forgotten it _was_ Christmas.
[LEONARD _enters Left._
LEONARD. Doctor Steinhart is here to see Mr. Sterling. Where shall I
show him, madame?
BLANCHE. Here; we'll go--
[_Rising._
LEONARD. Yes, madame.
[_He goes out._
RUT. Well? What are you going to do?
BLANCHE. I'm _thinking_--
RUTH. May I come with you, or shall I--
BLANCHE. No, come.
[_The two women start to leave the room together Right, with their arms
around each other. They meet_ STERLING, _who enters; he starts, they
stop._
STERLING. I beg your pardon, I didn't know you were here.
BLANCHE. We are going to my room; I am sorry you are not well.
STERLING. Oh, it's nothing, thank you.
RUTH. If we can do anything, let us know.
STERLING. [_Overwhelmed with shame, bows his head._] Thank you.
[_The women go out Right. At the same moment_ DR. STEINHART _is shown in
by_ LEONARD _Left._
DR. STEINHART. Good morning, Sterling.
STERLING. Good morning, doctor; sit down.
DR. STEINHART. No, thanks, I'm very rushed this morning. What can I do
for you?
STERLING. I've been drinking too much for some time; I can't eat--my
nerves are all gone to pieces. I've some--some business troubles, and I
haven't slept for a week.
DR. STEINHART. Is that all! Brace up, help yourself a little, and we can
soon make a man of you.
STERLING. I'm afraid it would take more than a doctor to do that.
DR. STEINHART. Oh, come, we must get rid of melancholy. Come and drive
with me to 79th Street.
STERLING. No, I'm too worn out. Look at my hand! [_Holds out a trembling
hand._] I tell you literally I haven't slept for weeks--I thought you'd
give me some chloral or something.
DR. STEINHART. What? Now?
STERLING. Yes; I've tried sulphonal and all that rot; if doesn't have
any effect on me. Give me a hypodermic--
DR. STEINHART. Nonsense! Come out into the air!
STERLING. I've _been_ out.
DR. STEINHART. Good! Then try lying down again, and perhaps you'll go to
sleep _now_.
STERLING. Very well, but give me something to take to-night in case I
can't sleep then.
DR. STEINHART. [_Takes out a note-book and writes with a stylographic
pen._] Be careful what you eat to-day. How about this drinking--did your
business trouble come after it began, or did the whiskey come after the
business trouble?
STERLING. That's it.
DR. STEINHART. Um--[_Giving_ STERLING _the paper which he tears out of
his note-book._] Look here, I've a busy day before me; but I'll look in
to-morrow, and we'll have a good talk.
STERLING. Thank you. I say, what _is_ this?
DR. STEINHART. It's all right. Sulphate of morphia--one-quarter-grain
tablets.
STERLING. Isn't that very little?
DR. STEINHART. Oh, no; you try one, and repeat in an hour if it hasn't
done its work.
STERLING. But you've only given me two tablets, and I tell you I'm
awfully hard to influence!
DR. STEINHART. Two's enough; we don't give a lot of drugs to a man in a
nervous condition like yours. Don't let them wake you for luncheon if
you're asleep. Sleep's best for you. Good-by--pleasant dreams.
[_He goes out Left._
STERLING. [_Reads off the prescription._] "Two one-quarter-grain tablets
sulphate of morphia, Wm. B. Steinhart--" And in _ink!_ Why didn't he
write it with a lead-pencil? How can I make it more? Two--wait a minute!
Two! [_Taking out his own stylographic pen._] What's his ink? [_Makes a
mark with his pen on his cuff._] Good! the same! Why not make it twelve?
[_Marking a one before the two._] Just in case--I might as well be on
the safe side!
[_He rings an electric bell beside the mantel, and waves the paper in
the air to dry it._ BLANCHE _enters Right._
BLANCHE. I heard the doctor go. Is anything serious the matter?
STERLING. _If_ it were my _body_ only that had gone wrong, Blanche!
[LEONARD _enters Left._
[_To_ LEONARD.] Take this prescription round the corner and have it put
up.
LEONARD. Yes, sir.
STERLING. And bring it to me with a glass of water.
LEONARD. Yes, sir.
[_He goes out Left._
[BLANCHE _is still standing._ STERLING _sinks into a chair, and puts his
head in his hands, his elbows on the table. He lifts his head and looks
at her._
STERLING. I know what you're going to do; you don't have to tell me; of
course you're going to divorce me.
BLANCHE. No.
STERLING. What!
[_His hands drop to the table; he looks her straight in the face,
doubting what he hears._
BLANCHE. [_Looking back into his eyes._] No.
STERLING. [_Cries._] Blanche!
[_In a tone of amazement and joy._
BLANCHE. I give you one more chance, for your sake _only as my boy's
father_. But--_don't make it impossible for me_--do you understand?
STERLING. Yes! I must take the true advantage of this chance your
goodness gives me. I must right myself, so that people need not hesitate
to speak of his father in Richard's presence. _And this I will do._
[_With great conviction he rises._] I know I am at the cross-roads, and
I know the way; _but_ I don't choose it for _your_ reasons; I choose for
my own reason--which is that, unfit as _I am, I love you._
[_He speaks deliberately and with real feeling, bending over her._
BLANCHE. I tell you truly my love for you is gone for good.
STERLING. I'll win it back--you _did_ love me, you _did_, didn't you,
Blanche?
BLANCHE.. I loved the man I thought you were. Do you remember that day
in the mountains when we first really came to know each other, when we
walked many, many miles without dreaming of being tired?
STERLING. And found ourselves at sunset at the top instead of below, by
our hotel! Oh, yes, I remember! The world changed for me that day.
[_He sinks back into the arm-chair, overcome, in his weakened state, by
his memories and his realization of what he has made of the present._
BLANCHE. And for me! I knew then for the first time you loved me, and
that I loved you. Oh! how short life of a sudden seemed! Not half long
enough for the happiness it held for me! [_She turns upon him with a
vivid change of feeling._] Has it turned out so?
STERLING. How different! Oh, what a beast! what a fool!
BLANCHE. [_Speaking with pathetic emotion, tears in her throat and in
her eyes._] And that early summer's day you asked me to be your wife!
[_She gives a little exclamation, half a sob, half a laugh._] It was in
the corner of the garden; I can smell the lilacs now! And the raindrops
fell from the branches as my happy tears did on father's shoulder that
night, when I said, "Father, he will make me the happiest woman in the
world!"
STERLING. O God! to have your love back!
BLANCHE. You can't breathe life back into a dead thing; how different
the world would be if one could!
STERLING. You can bring back life to the drowned; perhaps your love is
only drowned in the sorrow I've caused.
BLANCHE. [_Smiles sadly and shakes her head; the smile dies away._] Life
to me then was like a glorious staircase, and I mounted happy step after
step led by your hand till everything _seemed_ to culminate on the day
of our wedding. You men don't, _can't_ realize, what that service means
to a girl. In those few moments she parts from all that have cherished
her, made her life, and gives her whole self, her love, her body, and
even her soul sometimes--for love often overwhelms us women--to _the_
man who, she believes, wants, _starves_, for her gifts. All that a woman
who marries for love feels at the altar I tell you a _man_ can't
understand! You treated this gift of mine, Dick, like a child does a
Santa Claus plaything--for a while you were never happy away from it,
then you grew accustomed to it, then you broke it, and now you have even
lost the broken pieces!
STERLING. [_Comes to her, growing more and more determined._] I will
_find_ them, and put them together again.
BLANCHE. [_Again smiles sadly and shakes her head._] First we made of
_every Tuesday_ a festival--our wedding anniversary. After a while we
kept the twenty-eighth of _every month_! The second year you were
satisfied with the twenty-eighth of April only, and last year you forgot
the day altogether. And yet what a happy first year it was!
STERLING. Ah, you see I _did_ make you happy once!
BLANCHE. Blessedly happy! Our long silences in those days were not
broken by an oath and a fling out of the room. Oh, the happiness it
means to a wife to see it is hard for her husband to leave her in the
morning, and to be taken so quickly--even roughly--into his arms at
night that she knows he has been longing to come back to her. Nothing
grew tame that first year. And at its end I climbed to the highest step
I had reached yet, when you leaned over my bed and cried big man's
tears, the first I'd ever seen you cry, and kissed me first, and then
little Richard lying on my warm arm, and said, "God bless you, little
mother." [_There is a pause._ BLANCHE _cries softly a moment._ STERLING
_is silent, ashamed. Again she turns upon him, rousing herself, but with
a voice broken with emotion._] And what a _bad_ father you've been to
that boy!
STERLING. I didn't mean to! That's done, that's past, but Richard's my
boy. I'll make him proud of me, somehow! I'll win your love back--you'll
see!
[BLANCHE _is about to speak in remonstrance, but stops because of the
entrance of_ LEONARD. _He brings a small chemist's box of tablets in an
envelope and a glass of water on a small silver tray._
LEONARD. Your medicine, sir.
[_He puts it on the table and goes out Right._
STERLING. Thank you, thank you!
[_He takes the box of tablets out of the envelope._
BLANCHE. [_Going to him._] _You don't realize_ why I've told you all
this!
STERLING. [_Counting out the tablets._] One, two. To give me hope! To
give me hope!
[_He empties the other ten tablets into the envelope, twists it up, and
throws it in the fireplace._
BLANCHE. No, no, just the opposite!
STERLING. Then you've defeated your end, dear; you will stay here with
me.
BLANCHE. [_Trying to make him realize the exact position._] Opposite you
at the table, receiving our friends, keeping up appearances, yes--but
nearer to you than that? No! Never!
STERLING. But you _will_ stay?
[LEONARD _enters from Left._
LEONARD. Miss Godesby, Mr. Warden.
[_They enter._
[_All greet each other._ WARDEN _nods stiffly to_ STERLING, _barely
acknowledging his greeting._
MISS GODESBY. [_To_ STERLING, _purposely speaking with good-humored
raillery to relieve the tension of the situation._] Well, you're a nice
lot, aren't you?
STERLING. I'm so ashamed! I'm so ashamed!
MISS GODESBY. Oh, never mind that now.
BLANCHE. I have no words to thank you with.
MISS GODESBY. Oh, that's all right. The truth is, I've made Warden bring
me here, Sterling, for a bit of business. I had an emotional moment
yesterday and went off my head a bit. I stand by what I said as to
keeping quiet, but--well, I'm like any other old maid who hates dust on
her mantelpiece--I'm fidgety not to make some sort of a bluff at putting
this thing on a business basis.
WARDEN. Excuse me, Miss Godesby, I think Sterling ought to know the
truth.
STERLING. _Now_ what?
MISS GODESBY. Well, the truth is, my fool of a brother has kicked up an
infernal row, and refuses to hold his tongue.
STERLING. Then I'm ruined after all!
MISS GODESBY. Wait, I've left him with Mr. Mason. I feel certain I can
assure his silence if I can only show him some sort of an agreement to
pay, an acknowledgment of the--the--affair, signed and sealed.
BLANCHE. Signed by whom?
MISS GODESBY. Your husband and yourself will do.
STERLING. But both names are worthless.
MISS GODESBY. Not as a point of honor.
STERLING. Ah! no, not my wife's.
MISS GODESBY. Nor yours to me. Come along!
[_She goes to the table with_ STERLING, _and unfolding a paper gives it
to him. He signs it._
WARDEN. [_Aside to_ BLANCHE, _apologizing for his presence._] She made
me come--she wouldn't come alone; otherwise I should have waited till
you sent for me.
BLANCHE. It's as well--I've decided. Oh, I wonder if I'm doing wrong.
[_Looking him straight in the face._
WARDEN. [_Looking back searchingly in hers to read the truth, but
believing that she will certainly leave her husband._] No, _you_ can't
do wrong! But I must warn you of one thing--I'm not any longer the
controlled man I was.
MISS GODESBY. Come along now, Mrs. Sterling, brace up and give me your
name, and Warden, witness, please. [_They do so._] Of course, my dears,
I know perfectly well that legally this isn't worth the paper it's
written on. [_Exchanging a serious and meaning look with_ WARDEN.] But
my idiot of a brother won't realize that, which is the point. One thing
more--will you both dine with me next week, Thursday? [_There is an
embarrassed pause, which, with quick intuition, she understands._] Yes,
you _will_--for _silence_ gives consent! [_Laughing._] Now, that's
settled!
STERLING. What an awfully good sort you are!
MISS GODESBY. Thanks, not always--I've been a mucker more than once in
my life! I must go [_Shaking hands with_ BLANCHE.] and relieve Mr. Mason
of my brother, or he'll be accusing me of inhuman treatment; more than
one consecutive hour of my brother ought to be prevented by the police.
BLANCHE. You are very, _very_ good.
MISS GODESBY. I think if you and I can get well over this, we'll be real
friends, and I haven't many, have you?
BLANCHE. [_Takes her hand._] You can count upon me and my boy so long as
we live.
[_She impulsively but tenderly kisses her._
[MISS GODESBY _is very much surprised, but moved._
MISS GODESBY. [_Half laughing, half crying, and pulling her veil down to
hide her emotion._] By George! I haven't been kissed by a woman for
years! Good-by.
[WARDEN _starts to go out with_ MISS GODESBY. BLANCHE _stops him._
BLANCHE. Wait one moment--I want to speak alone to Miss Godesby.
[MISS GODESBY _goes out Left._
BLANCHE. [_Aside to_ STERLING.] You tell him; I cannot. Tell him the
_truth_.
[_She goes out after_ MISS GODESBY.
WARDEN. Dick.
STERLING. Ned?
WARDEN. I have nothing to say to you, Sterling.
[WARDEN _looks away and whistles a tune to show his unwillingness to
listen._ STERLING _speaks clearly so_ WARDEN _shall hear._
STERLING. I have a message for you from my wife. [_There is a second's
pause._ WARDEN _stops whistling and turns and looks at_ STERLING.] She
asks me to explain--to tell--to tell you a decision she has come to.
[_There is another pause._
WARDEN. Yes?
[_Anxious, at a supreme tension, and now a little alarmed as to the
decision._
STERLING. She has decided not to leave my house.
WARDEN. [_Adds._] _Yet!_
STERLING. _Ever!_
WARDEN. [_Losing his control._] That's a lie!
STERLING. I couldn't believe it, either, when she told me. It was her
first word to me to-day. I said, "You are going to divorce me," and she
answered, "No."
WARDEN. She's sacrificing herself for some reason--her boy!
STERLING. Never mind, she won't leave me; I have her promise, and I'll
win back her love!
WARDEN. You fool! You can't win her back! She would never have loved me
if you hadn't disillusioned, _dishonored_ her! I'm not worthy of her,
but I'll never dishonor her, and, please God, never disappoint her, and
so I'll keep her love.
STERLING. Well, as to that, she decides to stay, leaving love out of the
question.
WARDEN. And you'll accept that sacrifice! You don't even _love_ her.
You're only thinking of _yourself_ now. Love, real love, forgets itself.
You, after having spoilt half her life, are willing to spoil the rest,
for _your own sake_!
STERLING. No, for the boy's sake, and her sake--to save a scandal--the
world--
[_Interrupted._
WARDEN. [_Beside himself._] Oh, damn the world! It's _heaven_ and _hell_
you'd better think of. _Scandal!_ It couldn't harm _her_, and the hurt
it would do you is a small price to pay. Those whom _God_ has
joined--yes! but it was the devil bound her to you!
STERLING. Here! I've had enough! Look out!
WARDEN. [_Moves toward him._] _You_ look out--you shan't rob her of her
happiness. You--a drunkard! A forger! A thief!
STERLING. _I'd keep her now if only to spite you!_
WARDEN. Hah! There spoke the true man in you! Would to heaven the old
days of duelling were back!
STERLING. A brave wish, as you know they're not!
WARDEN. They fight in other countries still for their love and honor,
and I'm ready here, now, if you are, with any weapons you choose!
[STERLING _sneers._]
Sneer! But will you fight? We'll find a place, and something to fight
with, or fists if you'd rather! You wouldn't kill me before I'd got you
out of her way for good. Will you fight?
[_Coming closer to him._
STERLING. No!
WARDEN. [_Getting more and more enraged._] If _you lose, you go away_,
and set her free of your own will!
STERLING. _No!_
WARDEN. [_Losing entirely his self-control._] What do you want to _make_
you fight--will that?
[_He gives him a stinging blow in the face._
STERLING. Yes!
[_He springs toward_ WARDEN _as_ RUTH _and_ MASON _enter Left. The two
men stand rigid_, WARDEN _breathing heavily._
RUTH. Blanche, may I bring in--where's Blanche?
STERLING. I don't know.
MASON. Good morning, gentlemen.
[_There is no response._ WARDEN _is with great difficulty restraining
himself. His lips are compressed lightly and his hands clenched._
RUTH. What's the trouble?
STERLING. I have just told Warden my wife's decision not to leave me.
RUTH. [_Showing her relief and satisfaction in her face, turns to_
WARDEN.] You won't try to shake that resolve?
WARDEN. [_Unable to control himself._] But I will! I _will_--I tell you
all! I hardly know what I say or do! But look out for me, I'm desperate!
I'm a torrent that's only let loose since yesterday, and now all of a
sudden you try to stop me! But it's too late; I've got my impetus; the
repressed passion of years is behind me; nothing can stop me--and God
keep me from doing the wrong thing! I am determined to clear him out of
the way of the happiness of the woman I love. [_To_ RUTH.] Do you mean
to say you approve of her decision? [RUTH _turns her head; he turns to_
MASON.] Do _you_?
RUTH. No.
STERLING. [_To_ RUTH, _holding out his hand._] You will stand by me,
Aunt Ruth, and together we--
RUTH. [_Interrupting and refusing his hand._] Oh, no.
STERLING. Don't you think I can win her love back?
RUTH. No.
STERLING. Won't you help me try?
RUTH. No. It would be useless.
WARDEN. Come with me to Blanche; I must speak with her.
[WARDEN _and_ RUTH _go out Right._
MASON. [_Alone with_ STERLING.] Go away and make your wife understand
you are never coming back.
STERLING. But the loneliness, the misery, away--alone.
MASON. Kill them with hard work; _you have other heavy debts_, you know.
I came to see you about this business of your acknowledgments to Miss
Godesby and Miss Hunter.
STERLING. Later, later. To-morrow I will decide--
[_He motions him away._ MASON _goes to him and puts his hand on his
shoulder._
MASON. Decide well--
[_He hesitates a moment and then goes out Right._
STERLING. [_Watching him go._] There's not one soul in this world who
cares for me, and it's my _own fault_. [RICHARD _is heard upstairs again
singing "Once in Royal David's City._" STERLING _lifts his head and
listens._] Yes, one little soul loves me, and it would be better for
him, too, if I went away. I'll go to sleep and see how I feel about it
when I wake up. [_He moves the glass of water and takes out the box of
tablets. He starts suddenly, but very slightly, and his muscles
tighten._]
After all, why not end it all _now_, at once, without any more bother?
[_He looks in the box, and glances up questioningly; then he remembers
the fireplace where he threw the other tablets and looks across the room
at the logs. He rises, goes over, and sees in the fireplace the twisted
envelope which holds the other tablets. He bends over to pick it up; he
stops short._] No! Why shouldn't I try it, anyway? She, herself, gives
me the chance! [_He rings the electric bell, and walking away from the
fireplace, takes up with a trembling hand the papers left by_ MASON; _he
wipes the damp from his forehead with his handkerchief. To_ JORDAN, _who
enters Left._] Light the fire quickly; I feel cold.
[_He sinks into the arm-chair, weak from the mental strain._
LEONARD. It's very warm in the house, sir.
STERLING. Do as I tell you--light the fire.
LEONARD. [_Looking for matches on the mantel, finds the box empty._]
There are no matches, sir; I must get one.
STERLING. No, don't go--here--here--
[_He gives him a match from his own box._ LEONARD _notices the trembling
hand and suppressed excitement of_ STERLING, _and involuntarily glances
up, but quickly looks back to his work and strikes a match. The match
goes out._
LEONARD. I shall need another match, please, sir.
STERLING. [_With one in his fingers taken from his match-box, he alters
his mind._] I have no more. [_He puts away his match-box._] Never mind
the fire; get me a pint bottle of champagne.
LEONARD. [_With a surreptitious side glance of curiosity._] Very well,
sir.
[_He goes out Left._
STERLING. That was funny; that was very funny! I wonder if it was
accident, or if there's such a thing as fatality. [_He goes to the
fireplace and picks up the twisted envelope._] If not now--perhaps some
other time--who knows? [_He thrusts the envelope in his vest pocket, and
takes up the papers again from the table to look over them._] I can't
read these things! [_Throwing them down._] The words mean nothing to me!
[_There is the sound outside of a cork being drawn._ LEONARD _enters
with the champagne and a glass and places them beside_ STERLING.
LEONARD. Shall I light the fire now, sir?
STERLING. No, never mind now.
LEONARD. Yes, sir.
[_He goes out Left._
[STERLING _half fills the glass with champagne. He takes out the box of
tablets and counts aloud._
STERLING. One, two, three, four--[_He puts all in the glass, dropping
them as he counts. He hesitates, then quickly drops in two more and
drinks quickly. The glass is empty. He sits by the table thinking a
moment, then lakes a piece of paper and makes ready his stylographic
pen._] Let me see; can I make it seem accidental; it would be so much
less bother and trouble for them! [_He thinks a second, then writes._]
"I have accidentally taken an overdose of my sleeping draught. I have
tried to call some one, but it's no use. I ask only one thing, that you
forget all my sins, wipe out their memory with my name. I want my boy to
change his name, too." [_He hesitates a moment, and then scratches that
sentence heavily out._] No, I won't say that. [_He waits a moment._] God
in heaven, what wouldn't I give for one friendly word just now! Some one
to sort of say _good-by_ to me--take my hand--even a _servant_!
[_He looks about him, showing signs of drowsiness. The door Right bursts
open._ STERLING _quickly hides the letter in his inside pocket as_
WARDEN _comes in._
WARDEN. My hat! Where's my hat!
[_He looks about for it._
STERLING. [_Quietly._] Ned?
WARDEN. My hat, I say! Where's my hat?
[_Looking._
STERLING. Ned!
[_Something in his voice arrests_ WARDEN'S _attention._
WARDEN. What? [_He looks at him._] What's the matter--
STERLING. Nothing--I'm half asleep, that's all--the reaction--I'm worn
out and I've changed my mind--
WARDEN. How do you mean?
STERLING. I'm going away for good--that's the best I can do; I want you
to forgive me--_could_ you? What do you say? Forgive me for everything!
For the sake of the old schoolboy days--
WARDEN. When are you going?
STERLING. To-day. Will you say good-by to me and wish me well on my
journey?
WARDEN. [_Speaks without sympathy._] You can count on me always to help
you in any way I can. You can still retrieve a good deal if you're
strong enough.
STERLING. I know what a beastly friend I've been, and yesterday was more
than any man would stand, but forgive that, too, will you? I've always
been a bad lot!
WARDEN. [_Goes to him and speaks, with the sympathy of a man for a child
coming into his voice._] No, a weak lot; that's been your ruin, Dickie.
I'll see you again before you go.
STERLING. No, I'm going to sleep as long as I can now, and I don't want
any one to wake me up; but when I do wake, I shall have other things to
do. This is good-by.
WARDEN. Well, good luck! [_He starts to go. The two men look at each
other, and finally_ STERLING _gets the courage to hold out his hand._
WARDEN _hesitates a moment, then shakes it._] Good luck!
[_He goes out Left._
[STERLING, _who has been growing more and more drowsy, as soon as he is
alone, goes with difficulty to the door and locks it. He is so drowsy
that he leans against the door for a moment; then he starts to go back
to the table, but is unable to get there and sinks on the sofa half way
between the table and the door. His eyes close, but suddenly he starts
violently and tries to rise, but cannot, crying out faintly._
STERLING. Good God--the money! I forgot the money--who'll pay my debts?
Ah, this is a fitting climax for my life--the weakest, dirtiest thing
I've done--[_He gets the letter from his pocket and holds it in his
hand; the light of the afternoon grows slowly dim, like his fading sight
and senses. He murmurs twice in a faint, drowsy voice._] Coward! Coward!
[BLANCHE, _in the hall outside Right, calls his name._
BLANCHE. Dick!
[STERLING'S _body relaxes and sets. The letter drops from his lifeless
hands._
[BLANCHE _enters with_ RUTH, _followed by_ RICHARD, _who rides a stick
with a horse's head and wears a soldier's cap._
RICHARD. Merry Christmas, father!
BLANCHE. [_Going toward the sofa._] Dick!
RICHARD. Merry Christmas, father!
BLANCHE. Sh! Father's asleep.
[_They steal back toward the other door when_ WARDEN _enters Right._
WARDEN. Oh, you are here! I went down into the drawing-room where I left
you.
BLANCHE. Sh!
[_She points to_ STERLING, _who lies apparently asleep. They speak in
lowered voices._
WARDEN. Yes, I have a message for you from him.
[_Looking at_ RICHARD _and_ RUTH.
RUTH. [_Who understands._] Come, Richard, I haven't seen your tree yet.
[_She goes out Right with_ RICHARD.
WARDEN. [_To_ BLANCHE.] Give me your hand.
[_She does so wonderingly._
WARDEN. [_Softly, with a man's tenderness in his voice._] He is going
away for good.
BLANCHE. Away?
WARDEN. For good.
BLANCHE. [_Slowly, withdrawing her hand._] For good? [_She looks over
toward_ STERLING, _and then back to_ WARDEN.] What does he mean?
WARDEN. We will know when he wakes.
THE CURTAIN STEALS SOFTLY DOWN