But no really nice woman—
Dwightie—what did you say in the letter?
What did I say? I said, I said: “Dear Brother, I take it that the first wife story was devised to relieve you of a distasteful situation. Kindly confirm. Family well as usual. Business fair.” Covers it, don’t it?
Oh, Dwightie—how complete that is.
I’m pretty good at writing brief concise letters—that say the whole thing, eh?
I’ve often noticed that….
My precious pussy…. Oh, how unlike Lulu you are!
[Right. Di and Bobby appear, walking very slowly and very near.]
[Dwight rises, holds out his arms.]
Poor dear foolish Lulu! oh, Dwight—what if it was Di in Lulu’s place?
Such a thing couldn’t happen to Di. Di was born with ladylike feelings.
[They enter the house. Ina extinguishes a lamp. Dwight turns down the hall gas. Pause. Di and Bobby come to the veranda.]
Bobby dear! You don’t kiss me as if you really wanted to kiss me to-night….
The same. Evening, a week later. Stage flooded with moonlight, house lighted. At the piano, just inside the window, Lulu and Cornish are finishing a song together, Lulu accompanying.
[As they sing, Di slips into the house, unseen.]
Why, Miss Lulu, you’re quite a musician.
Oh, no. I’ve never played in front of anybody—
[They come to the porch.]
I don’t know what Ina and Dwight would say if they heard me.
What a pretty dress that is, Miss Lulu!
I made this from one of Ina’s old ones since she’s been gone. I don’t know what Ina and Dwight are going to say about this dress, made like this, when they get home.
When are they coming back?
Any time now. They’ve been gone most a week. Do you know I never had but one compliment before that wasn’t for my cooking.
You haven’t!
He told me I done up my hair nice. That was after I took notice how the ladies in Savannah, Georgia, done up theirs.
I guess you can do most anything you set your hand to, Miss Lulu: Look after Miss Di and sing and play and cook—
Yes, cook. But I can’t earn anything. I’d like to earn something.
You would! Why, you have it fine here, I thought.
Oh, fine, yes. Dwight gives me what I have. And I do their work.
I see. I never thought of that….
[Pause.]
You’re wondering why I didn’t stay with him!
Oh, no.
Yes you are! The whole town’s wondering. They’re all talking about me.
Well, Miss Lulu, you know it don’t make any difference to your friends what people say.
But they don’t know the truth. You see, he had another wife.
Lord sakes!
Dwight thinks it isn’t true. He thinks—he didn’t have another wife…. You see, Dwight thinks he didn’t want me.
But—your husband—I mean, why doesn’t he write to Mr. Deacon and tell him the truth—
He has written. The letter’s in there on the piano.
What’d he say?
Dwight doesn’t like me to touch his mail. I’ll have to wait till he comes back.
Lord sakes! … You—you—you’re too nice a girl to get a deal like this. Darned if you aren’t.
Oh, no.
Yes you are, too! And there ain’t a thing I can do.
It’s a good deal to have somebody to talk to….
Sure it is.
… Cora Waters. Cora Waters, of San Diego, California. And she never heard of me.
No. She never did, did she? Ain’t life the darn—
[Enter Mrs. Bett.]
I got Monona into bed. And it’s no fool of a job neither.
Did you, mother? Come and sit down.
Yes. She went to bed with a full set of doll dishes…. Ain’t it nice with the folks all gone? … I don’t hear any more playin’ and singin’. It sounded real good.
We sung all I knew how to play, mama.
I use’ to play on the melodeon.
Well, well, well.
That was when I was first married. We had a little log house in a clearing in York State. I was seventeen—and he was nineteen. While he was chopping I use’ to sit on a log with my sewing. Jenny was born in that house. I was alone at the time. I was alone with her when she died, too. She was sixteen—little bits of hands she had—
[Yawns. Rises, wanders toward door.]
Can’t we have some more playin’ and singin’?
After a little while, mama—dear.
It went kind of nice—that last tune you sung.
[Hums the air. Enters house.]
I must be going along too, Miss Lulu.
I can’t think why Di doesn’t come. She ought not to be out like this without telling me—
[Mrs. Bett appears beside the piano, lifts and examines the letters lying there.]
Well, don’t you mind on my account. I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve been here.
Mother! Those are Dwight’s letters—don’t you touch them.
I ain’t hurting them or him neither.
[Disappears, the letters in her hand.]
Good-night, Miss Lulu. If there was anything I could do at any time you’d let me know, wouldn’t you?
Oh, thank you.
I’ve had an awful nice time, singing, and listening to you talk—well of course—I mean the supper was just fine! And so was the music.
Oh, no.
[Mrs. Bett appears at the door with a letter.]
Lulie. I guess you didn’t notice. This one’s from Ninian.
Mother—
I opened it—why of course I did. It’s from Ninian.
[Holds out unfolded letter and an old newspaper clipping.]
The paper’s awful old—years back, looks like. See. Says “Corie Waters, music hall singer—married last night to Ninian Deacon”—Say, Lulie, that must be her.
Yes, that’s her. That’s her—Cora Waters…. Oh, then he was married to her just like he said!
Oh, Miss Lulu! I’m so sorry!
No, no. Because he wanted me! He didn’t say that just to get rid of me!
Oh, that way…. I see….
I’m so thankful it wasn’t that.
Then everything’s all right onct more. Ain’t that nice!
I’m so thankful it wasn’t that.
Yes, I can understand that. Well, I—I guess I ought to be going now, Miss Lulu…. Why, it is Miss Lulu Bett, isn’t it?
[Abstractedly, with the paper.]
Yes—yes—good-night, Mr. Cornish. Good-night.
Good-night, Miss Lulu…. I wonder if you would let me tell you something.
Why—
I guess I don’t amount to much. I’ll never be a lawyer. I’m no good at business and everything I say sounds wrong to me. And yet I do believe I do know enough not to bully a woman—not to make her unhappy, maybe even—I could make her a little happy. Miss Lulu, I hate to see you looking and talking so sad. Do you think we could possibly arrange—
Oh!
I guess maybe you’ve heard something about a little something I’m supposed to inherit. Well, I got it. Of course, it’s only five hundred dollars. We could get that little Warden house and furnish up the parlor with pianos—that is, if you could ever think of marrying me.
Don’t say that—don’t say that!
Better take him, Lulie. A girl ought to take any young man that will propose in front of her mother!
Of course if you loved him very much then I’d ought not to be talking this way to you.
You see Ninian was the first person who was ever kind to me. Nobody ever wanted me, nobody ever even thought of me. Then he came. It might have been somebody else. It might have been you. But it happened to be Ninian and I do love him.
I see. I guess you’ll forgive me for what I said.
Of course.
Miss Lulu, if that five hundred could be of any use to you, I wish you’d take it.
Oh, thank you, thank you, I couldn’t.
Well, I guess I’ll be stepping along. If you should want me, I’m always there. I guess you know that.
[Exit.]
Better burn that up. I wouldn’t have it round.
But mother! Mother dear, try to understand. This means that Ninian told the truth. He wasn’t just trying to get rid of me.
Did he want you to stay with him?
I don’t know. But I think he did. Anyway, now I know the truth about him.
Well, I wouldn’t want anybody else to know. Here, let me have it and burn it up.
Mama, mama! Aren’t you glad for me that now I can prove Ninian wasn’t just making up a story so I’d go away?
[Clearly and beautifully.]
Oh, Lulu! My little girl! Is that what they said about you? Mother knows it wasn’t like that. Mother knows he loved you…. How still it is here! Where’s Inie?
They’ve gone away, you know….
Well, I guess I’ll step over to Grandma Gates’s a spell. See how her rheumatism is. I’ll be back before long—I’ll be back….
[Exit. For a moment Lulu breaks down and sobs. Rises to lay Dwight’s letter through the window on piano. Slight sound. She listens. Enter Di from house. She is carrying a traveling bag.]
Di! Why Di! What does this mean? Where were you going? Why, mama won’t like your carrying her nice new satchel….
Aunt Lulu—the idea. What right have you to interfere with me like this?
Di, you must explain to me what this means…. Di, where can you be going with a satchel this time of the night? Di Deacon, are you running away with somebody?
You have no right to ask me questions, Aunt Lulu.
Di, you’re going off with Bobby Larkin. Aren’t you? Aren’t you?
If I am it’s entirely our own affair.
Why, Di. If you and Bobby want to be married why not let us get you up a nice wedding here at home—
Aunt Lulu, you’re a funny person to be telling me what to do.
I love you just as much as if I was married happy, in a home.
Well, you aren’t. And I’m going to do just as I think best. Bobby and I are the ones most concerned in this, Aunt Lulu.
But—but getting married is for your whole life!
Yours wasn’t.
Di, my dear little girl, you must wait at least till mama and papa get home.
That’s likely. They say I’m not to be married till I’m twenty-one.
Well, but how young that is.
It is to you. It isn’t young to me, remember, Aunt Lulu.
But this is wrong—it is wrong!
There’s nothing wrong about getting married if you stay married.
Well, then it can’t be wrong to let your mother and father know.
It isn’t. But they’d treat me wrong. Mama’d cry and say I was disgracing her. And papa—first he’d scold me and then he’d joke me about it. He’d joke me about it every day for weeks, every morning at breakfast, every night here on the porch—he’d joke me.
Why, Di! Do you feel that way, too?
You don’t know what it is to be laughed at or paid no attention to, everything you say.
Don’t I? Don’t I? Is that why you’re going?
Well, it’s one reason.
But Di, do you love Bobby Larkin?
Well…. I could love almost anybody real nice that was nice to me.
Di … Di….
It’s true.
[Bobby enters.]
You ought to know that…. You did it. Mama said so.
Don’t you think that I don’t know….
Oh, Bobby, she’s trying to stop us! But she can’t do it—I’ve told her so—
She don’t have to stop us. We’re stopped.
What do you mean?
We’re minors.
Well, gracious—you didn’t have to tell them that.
No. They knew I was.
But, silly. Why didn’t you tell them you’re not.