ANNABELLE. About love. . . .
JIMMY. Well . . . (_He lights a cigarette_)--it's a subject that can
stand a good deal of wondering about. I've wondered about it myself.
ANNABELLE. That's just it--you speak so cynically about it. I don't
believe you're in love with me at all!
JIMMY. Nonsense! Of course I'm in love with you.
ANNABELLE. (_sadly_) No you're not.
JIMMY. (_angrily_) But I tell you I am!
ANNABELLE. No. . . .
JIMMY. Foolish child!
ANNABELLE. Well, let's not quarrel about it. We'll talk about something
else.
JIMMY. (_vehemently_) What do you suppose this insanity is if it
is not love? What do you imagine leads me to this preposterous
escapade, if not that preposterous passion?
ANNABELLE. That isn't the way _I_ love you.
JIMMY. Then why do you come with me?
ANNABELLE. Perhaps I'm not coming.
JIMMY. Yes you are. It's foolish--mad--wicked--but you're coming.
(_She begins to cry softly_.) If not--ten minutes away is safety
and peace and comfort. Shall I call a taxi for you? (_She shakes her
head_.) No, I thought not. Oh, it's love all right. . . . Antony and
Cleopatra defying the Mann Act! Romance! Beauty! Adventure! How can
you doubt it?
ANNABELLE. I hate you!
JIMMY. (_cheerfully_) I don't mind. (_Smiling_) I rather hate
you myself. And that's the final proof that this is love.
ANNABELLE. (_sobbing_) I thought love was something quite--different!
JIMMY. You thought it was beautiful. It isn't. It's just blithering,
blathering folly. We'll both regret it tomorrow.
ANNABELLE. _I_ Won't!
JIMMY. Yes you will. It's human nature. Face the facts.
ANNABELLE. (_tearfully_) Facing the facts is one thing and being
in love is another,
JIMMY. Quite so. Well, how long do you think your love for me will
last?
ANNABELLE. For ever!
JIMMY. H'm! I predict that you will fall in love with the next man you
meet.
ANNABELLE. I think you're perfectly horrid.
JIMMY. So do I. I disapprove of myself violently. I'm a doddering
lunatic, incapable of thinking of anything but you. I can't work. I
can't eat, I can't sleep. I'm no use to the world. I'm not a man, I'm a
mess. I'm about to do something silly because I can't do anything else.
ANNABELLE. (_pouting_) You've no respect for me.
JIMMY. None whatever. I love you. And I'm going to carry you off.
ANNABELLE. You're a brute.
JIMMY. Absolutely. I'd advise you to go straight home.
ANNABELLE. (_defiantly_) Perhaps I shall!
JIMMY. Then go quick. (_He takes out his watch_.) In one minute,
if you are still here, I shall pick you up and carry you off to South
America.--Quick! there's the door!
ANNABELLE. (_faintly_) I--I want to go. . . .
JIMMY. Well, why don't you? . . . Thirty seconds!
ANNABELLE. I--I can't!
JIMMY. (_shutting his watch_) Time's up. The die is cast! (_He lifts
her from the chair. She clings to him helplessly_.) My darling! My
treasure! My beloved!--Idiot that I am!
_He kisses her fiercely_.
ANNABELLE. (_struggling in his arms_) No! No! No! Stop!
JIMMY. Never!
ANNABELLE. Stop! Please! Please! Oh! . . .
_The light suddenly goes out, and an instant later blazes out again,
revealing the Angel, who has suddenly arrived in the middle of the
room. The two of them stare at the apparition_.
THE ANGEL. (_politely_) I hope I am not intruding?
JIMMY. Why--why--not exactly!
ANNABELLE. (_in his arms, indignantly_) Jimmy! who is that man?
JIMMY. (_becoming aware of her and putting her down carefully_)
I--why--the fact is, I don't--
THE ANGEL. The fact is, madam, I am his Guardian Angel.
ANNABELLE. An Angel! Oh!
THE ANGEL. Tell me, _have_ I intruded?
ANNABELLE. No, not at all!
THE ANGEL. Thank you for reassuring me. I feared for a moment that I
had made an inopportune entrance. I was about to suggest that I
withdraw until you had finished the--er--ceremony--which I seem to have
interrupted.
JIMMY. (_surprised_) But wasn't that what you came for--to interrupt?
THE ANGEL. I beg your pardon!
JIMMY. (_bewilderedly_) I mean--if you are my Guardian Angel, and
all that sort of thing, you _must_ have come to--to interfere!
THE ANGEL. I hope you will not think I would be capable of such
presumption.
JIMMY. (_puzzled_) You don't want to--so to speak--reform me?
THE ANGEL. Not at all. Why, I scarcely know you!
JIMMY. But you're my--my Guardian Angel, you say?
THE ANGEL. Ah, yes, to be sure. But the relation of angelic
guardianship has for some hundreds of years been a purely nominal one.
We have come to feel that it is best to allow mortals to attend to
their own affairs.
JIMMY. (_abruptly_) Then what did you come for?
THE ANGEL. For a change. One becomes tired of familiar scenes. And I
thought that perhaps my relationship to you might serve in lieu of an
introduction. I wanted to be among friends.
JIMMY. Oh--I see.
ANNABELLE. Of course. We're delighted to have you with us. Won't you
sit down? (_She leads the way to the fire_.)
THE ANGEL. (_perching on back of one of the big chairs_) If you don't
mind! My wings, you know.
JIMMY. (_hesitantly_) Have a cigarette?
THE ANGEL. Thank you. (_He takes one_.) I am most anxious to learn
the more important of your earthly arts and sciences. Please correct me
if I go wrong. This is my first attempt, remember. He blows out a puff
of smoke.
ANNABELLE. (_from the settle_) You're doing it very nicely.
THE ANGEL. It is incense to the mind.
ANNABELLE. (_laughing, blowing a series of smoke rings_) You must learn
to do it like this!
THE ANGEL. (_in awe_) That is too wonderful an art. I fear I can never
learn it!
ANNABELLE. I will teach you.
THE ANGEL. (_earnestly_) If you were my teacher, I think I could learn
anything.
ANNABELLE. (_giggles charmingly_).
JIMMY. (_embarrassed_) Really, Annabelle...!
ANNABELLE. What's the matter?
JIMMY. Ordinarily I wouldn't mind your flirting with strangers, but...
ANNABELLE. (_indignantly_) Jimmy! How can you?
THE ANGEL. It was my fault, I'm sure--if fault there was. But what is
it--to flirt? You see, I wish to learn everything.
ANNABELLE. I hope you never learn that.
THE ANGEL. I put myself in your hands.
JIMMY. Er--would you like a--drink?
THE ANGEL. Thank you. I am very thirsty. (_Taking the glass_.) This is
very different from what we have in Heaven. (_He tastes it. A look of
gratified surprise appears on his face_.) And much better! (_He drains
the glass and hands it back_.) May I have some more?
ANNABELLE. Be careful!
THE ANGEL. What should I be careful of?
ANNABELLE. Don't drink too much of that--if it's the first time.
THE ANGEL. Why not? It is an excellent drink.
JIMMY. (_laughing_) The maternal instinct! She is afraid you may
make yourself--ridiculous.
THE ANGEL. Angels do not care for appearances. (_He stands up
magnificently in the chair, towering above them_.) Besides . . .
(_refilling his glass_) I feel that you do an injustice to this
drink. Already it has made a new being of me. (_He looks at
Annabelle_.) I feel an emotion that I have never known before. If I
were in heaven, I should sing.
ANNABELLE. Oh! Won't you sing?
THE ANGEL. The fact is, I know nothing but hymns. And I'm tired of
them. That was one reason why I left heaven. And this robe. . . .
(_He descends to the floor, viewing his garment with disapproval_.)
Have you an extra suit of clothes you could lend me?
JIMMY. (_reflectively_) Yes, I think I have some things that might
fit. (_The Angel waits_.) Do you want them now? I'll look.
_He goes into the bedroom. . . . The Angel looks at Annabelle until
his gaze becomes insupportable, and she covers her eyes. Then he comes
over to her side_.
THE ANGEL. (_gravely_) I am very much afraid of you. (_He takes her
hands in his_.)
ANNABELLE. (_smiling_) One would never guess it!
THE ANGEL. I am more afraid of you than I was of God. But even though I
fear you, I must come close to you, and touch you. I feel a strange,
new emotion like fire in my veins. This world has become beautiful to
me because you are in it. I want to stay here so that I may be with
you. . . .
ANNABELLE. (_shaken, but doubting_) For how long?
THE ANGEL. For ever. . . .
ANNABELLE. (_in his arms_) Darling!
THE ANGEL. I am so ignorant! There is something I want to do right now,
only I do not know how to go about it properly.
_He bends shyly toward her lips_.
ANNABELLE. I will teach you.
_She kisses him_.
THE ANGEL. Heaven was nothing to this. They kiss again. . . . _Enter
Jimmy, with an old suit of clothes over his arm. He pauses in
dumbfounderment. At last he regains his voice_.
JIMMY. Well! _They look up. Neither of them is perturbed_.
THE ANGEL. (_blandly_) Has something happened to annoy you?
(_Jimmy shakes the clothes at him in an outraged gesture_.) Oh, my
new costume. Thank you so much!
_He takes the clothes from Jimmy, and examines them with interest_.
JIMMY. (_bitterly, to Annabelle_) I suppose I've no right to
complain. You can make love to anybody you like. In fact, now that I
come to think of it, I predicted this very thing. I said you'd fall in
love with the next man you met. So it's off with the old love, and--
ANNABELLE. (_calmly_) I have never been in love before.
JIMMY. The fickleness of women is notorious. It is exceeded only by
their mendacity. But Angels have up to this time stood in good repute.
Your conduct, sir, is scandalous. I am amazed at you.
THE ANGEL. It may be scandalous, but it should not amaze you. It has
happened too often before. I could quote you many texts from learned
theological works. "And the sons of God looked at the daughters of men
and saw that they were fair." But even if it were as unusual as you
imagine, that would not deter me.
JIMMY. You are an unscrupulous wretch. If these are the manners of
Heaven, I am glad it is so far away, and means of communication so
difficult. A few more of you would corrupt the morals of five
continents. You are utterly depraved--Here! what are you doing?
THE ANGEL. I am taking off my robes, so as to put on my new clothes.
JIMMY. Spare the common decencies at least. Go in the other room.
THE ANGEL. Certainly, if that is the custom here. With the clothes over
his arm, he goes into the bedroom.
JIMMY. (_sternly, to Annabelle_) And now tell me, what do you mean
by this?
ANNABELLE. (_simply_)--We are in love.
JIMMY. Do you mean to say you would throw me over for that fellow?
ANNABELLE. Why not?
JIMMY. What good is he? All he can do is sing hymns. In three months
he'll be a tramp.
ANNABELLE. I don't care. And he won't be a tramp. I'll look after him.
JIMMY. (_sneeringly_) The maternal instinct! Well, take care of
him if you like. But of course you know that in six weeks he'll fall in
love with somebody else?
ANNABELLE. No he won't. I'm sure that I am the only girl in the world
to him.
JIMMY. Of course you're the only girl in the world to him--now. You're
the only one he's ever seen. But wait till he sees the others! Six
weeks? On second thought I make it three days. Immortal love! (_He
laughs_.)
ANNABELLE. What difference does it make? You don't understand. Whether
it lasts a day or a year, while it lasts it will be immortal.
_The Angel enters, dressed in Jimmy's old clothes, and carrying his
wings in his hands. He seems exhilarated_.
THE ANGEL. How do I look?
JIMMY. It is customary to wear one's tie tucked inside the vest.
THE ANGEL. (_flinging the ends of the gorgeous necktie over his
shoulder_) No! Though I have become a man, I do not without some
regret put on the dull garb of mortality. I would not have my form lose
all its original brightness. Even so it is the excess of glory
obscured.
ANNABELLE. (_coming over to him_) You are quite right, darling.
_She tucks the tie inside his vest_.
THE ANGEL. Thank you, beloved.--And now these wings! Take them, and
burn them with your own sweet hands, so that I can never leave you,
even if I would.
ANNABELLE. No! I would rather put them away for you in a closet, so
that you can go and look at them any time you want to, and see that you
have the means to freedom ready to your hand. I shall never hold you
against your will. I do not want to burn your wings. I really don't!
But if you insist--!
_She takes the wings, and approaches the grate_.
JIMMY. (_to the Angel_) Don't let her do it! Fool! You don't know
what you are doing. Listen to me! You think that she is wonderful--
superior--divine. It is only natural. There are moments when I have
thought so myself. But I know why I thought so, and you have yet to
learn. Keep your wings, my friend, against the day of your awakening--
the day when the glamour of sex has vanished, and you see in her, as
you will see, an inferior being, with a weak body, a stunted mind,
devoid of creative power, almost devoid of imagination, utterly lacking
in critical capacity--a being who does not know how to work, nor how to
talk, nor even how to play!
_Annabelle, dropping the wings on the hearth, stares at him, in
speechless anger_.
THE ANGEL. Sir! Do you refer in these vulgar and insulting terms to the
companion of my soul, the desire of my heart, the perfect lover whose
lips have kindled my dull senses to ecstasy?
JIMMY. I do. Remember that I know her better than you do, young man.
Take my advice and leave her alone. Even now it is not too late! Save
yourself from this folly while there is still time!
THE ANGEL. Never!
JIMMY. Then take these tickets--and I hope that I never see either of
you again! _He holds out the tickets. Annabelle, after a pause, steps
forward and takes them_.
ANNABELLE. That is really sweet of you, Jimmy! The blast of an
auto-horn is heard outside.
JIMMY. (_bitterly_) And there's my taxi. Take that, too.
THE ANGEL. Farewell!
_He opens the door. Annabelle, at his side, turns and blows Jimmy a
kiss. Stonily, Jimmy watches them go out. Then he picks up his suitcase
and goes, with an air of complete finality, into the other room_.
_There is a moment's silence, and then the door opens softly, and the
Angel looks in, enters surreptitiously, seizes up the wings, and with
them safely clasped to his bosom, vanishes again through the door_.