BRODIE, MARY
MARY (_tapping without_). Can I come in, Will?
BRODIE. O yes, come in, come in! (MARY _enters_.) I wanted to be
quiet, but it doesn’t matter, I see. You women are all the same.
MARY. O no, Will, they’re not all so happy, and they’re not all Brodies.
But I’ll be a woman in one thing. For I’ve come to claim your promise,
dear; and I’m going to be petted and comforted and made much of, altho’ I
don’t need it, and . . . Why, Will, what’s wrong with you? You look . . .
I don’t know what you look like.
BRODIE. O nothing! A splitting head and an aching heart. Well! you’ve
come to speak to me. Speak up. What is it? Come, girl! What is it?
Can’t you speak?
MARY. Why, Will, what is the matter?
BRODIE. I thought you had come to tell me something. Here I am. For
God’s sake out with it, and don’t stand beating about the bush.
MARY. O be kind, be kind to me.
BRODIE. Kind? I am kind. I’m only ill and worried, can’t you see?
Whimpering? I knew it! Sit down, you goose! Where do you women get
your tears?
MARY. Why are you so cross with me? Oh, Will, you have forgot your
sister! Remember, dear, that I have nobody but you. It’s your own
fault, Will, if you’ve taught me to come to you for kindness, for I
always found it. And I mean you shall be kind to me again. I know you
will, for this is my great need, and the day I’ve missed my mother
sorest. Just a nice look, dear, and a soft tone in your voice, to give
me courage, for I can tell you nothing till I know that you’re my own
brother once again.
BRODIE. If you’d take a hint, you’d put it off till to-morrow. But I
suppose you won’t. On, then, I’m listening. I’m listening!
MARY. Mr. Leslie has asked me to be his wife.
BRODIE. He has, has he?
MARY. And I have consented.
BRODIE. And . . . ?
MARY. You can say that to me? And that is all you have to say?
BRODIE. O no, not all.
MARY. Speak out, sir. I am not afraid.
BRODIE. I suppose you want my consent?
MARY. Can you ask?
BRODIE. I didn’t know. You seem to have got on pretty well without it
so far.
MARY. O shame on you! shame on you!
BRODIE. Perhaps you may be able to do without it altogether. I hope so.
For you’ll never have it. . . . Mary! . . . I hate to see you look like
that. If I could say anything else, believe me, I would say it. But I
have said all; every word is spoken; there’s the end.
MARY. It shall not be the end. You owe me explanation; and I’ll have
it.
BRODIE. Isn’t my ‘No’ enough, Mary?
MARY. It might be enough for me; but it is not, and it cannot be, enough
for him. He has asked me to be his wife; he tells me his happiness is in
my hands—poor hands, but they shall not fail him, if my poor heart should
break! If he has chosen and set his hopes upon me, of all women in the
world, I shall find courage somewhere to be worthy of the choice. And I
dare you to leave this room until you tell me all your thoughts—until you
prove that this is good and right.
BRODIE. Good and right? They are strange words, Mary. I mind the time
when it was good and right to be your father’s daughter and your
brother’s sister . . . Now! . . .
MARY. Have I changed? Not even in thought. My father, Walter says,
shall live and die with us. He shall only have gained another son. And
you—you know what he thinks of you; you know what I would do for you.
BRODIE. Give him up.
MARY. I have told you: not without a reason.
BRODIE. You must.
MARY. I will not.
BRODIE. What if I told you that you could only compass your happiness
and his at the price of my ruin?
MARY. Your ruin?
BRODIE. Even so.
MARY. Ruin!
BRODIE. It has an ugly sound, has it not?
MARY. O Willie, what have you done? What have you done? What have you
done?
BRODIE. I cannot tell you, Mary. But you may trust me. You must give
up this Leslie . . . and at once. It is to save me.
MARY. I would die for you, dear, you know that. But I cannot be false
to him. Even for you, I cannot be false to him.
BRODIE. We shall see. Let me take you to your room. Come. And,
remember, it is for your brother’s sake. It is to save me.
MARY. I am true Brodie. Give me time, and you shall not find me
wanting. But it is all so sudden . . . so strange and dreadful! You
will give me time, will you not? I am only a woman, and . . . O my poor
Walter! It will break his heart! It will break his heart! (_A knock_.)
BRODIE. You hear!
MARY. Yes, yes. Forgive me. I am going. I will go. It is to save
you, is it not? To save you. Walter . . . Mr. Leslie . . . O Deacon,
Deacon, God forgive you! (_She goes out_.)
BRODIE. Amen. But will He?