[_Tom leads Sir William up the stage._]
_Tom._
[_To O'Dwyer._] Begin rehearsal. Begin rehearsal! Call Miss Trelawny!
[_Tom and Sir William disappear._]
_O'Dwyer._
Miss Trelawny! Miss Trelawny! [_Rushing to the left._] Miss Trelawny!
how long am I to stand here shoutin' myself hoarse--? [_Rose appears._]
_Rose._
[_Gently._] Am I called?
_O'Dwyer._
[_Instantly calm._] You are, darlin'. [_O'Dwyer takes his place at
the prompt-table, book in hand. Imogen and Rose stand together in the
center. The other members of the company come from the Greenroom and
stand in the wings, watching the rehearsal._] Now then! [_Reading
from the manuscript._] "At the opening of the play Peggy and Dora are
discovered----" Who's Peggy? [_Excitedly._]
Where's Peggy? Am I to----?
_Imogen._
Here I am! here I am! I am Peggy.
_O'Dwyer._
[_Calm._] Of course ye are, lovey--ma'am, I should say----
_Imogen._
Yes, you should.
_O'Dwyer._
"Peggy is seated upon the Right, Dora on the Left---" [_Rose and Imogen
seat themselves accordingly. In a difficulty._] No--Peggy on the Left,
Dora on the Right. [_Violently._] This is the worst written scrip I've
ever held in my hand[_Rose and Imogen change places._] So horribly
scrawled over, and interlined, and--no--I was quite correct. Peggy is
on the Right, and Dora is on the Left. [_Imogen and Rose again change
seats. O'Dwyer reads from the manuscript._] "Peggy is engaged in--in" I
can't decipher it. A scrip like this is a disgrace to any well-conducted
theatre. [_ To Imogen._] I don't know what you're doin'. "Dora
is--is----"
[_To Rose._] You are also doin' something or another. Now then! When
the curtain rises, you are discovered, both of ye, employed in the
way described----[_Tom returns._] Ah, here ye are! [_Resigning the
manuscript to Tom, and pointing out a passage._] I've got it smooth as
far as there.
_Tom._
Thank you.
_O'Dwyer._
[_Seating himself._] You're welcome.
_Tom._
[_To Rose and Imogen._] Ah, you're not in your right positions. Change
places, please.
[_Imogen and Rose change seats once more._]
O'Dwyer rises and goes away.
_O'Dwyer._
[_Out of sight, violently._] A scrip like that's a scandal! If there's
a livin' soul that can read bad handwriting, I am that man! But of all
the----!
_Tom._
Hush, hush! Mr. O'Dwyer!
_O'Dwyer._
[_Returning to his chair._] Here.
_Tom._
[_Taking the hook from the prompt-table and handing it to Imogen._] You
are reading.
_O'Dwyer._
[_ Sotto voce._] I thought so.
_Tom._
[_To Rose._] You are working.
_O'Dwyer._
Working.
_Tom._
[_Pointing to the basket on the table._] There are your needles and
wool. [_Rose takes the wool and the needles out of the basket. Tom takes
the ball of wool from her and places it in the center of the stage._]
You have allowed the ball of wool to roll from your lap on to the grass.
You will see the reason for that presently.
_Rose._