WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
The Scarecrow; or The Glass of Truth: A Tragedy of the Ludicrous cover

The Scarecrow; or The Glass of Truth: A Tragedy of the Ludicrous

Chapter 4: ACT II
By Percy MacKaye
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

Plays/Films/Dramas

About This Book

The play stages a fantasy in which a scarecrow is animated by an old woman's art, clothed as a gentleman, and sent into society, where its hollow semblance exposes human absurdity. Departing from satire, the drama treats the scarecrow's condition with sympathy, portraying its awkwardness as pitiable and transformative; interactions with the maker and a skeptical companion probe the border between ridicule and compassion. Through scenes of self-recognition, failed courtship, and moral awakening, the work argues that human empathy can dignify even the most ludicrously constructed beings.

ACT II

The same morning. Justice Merton’s parlour, furnished and designed in the style of the early colonial period. On the right wall, hangs a portrait of the Justice as a young man; on the left wall, an old-fashioned looking-glass. At the right of the room stands the Glass of Truth, draped—as in the blacksmith shop—with the strange, embroidered curtain.
In front of it are discovered Rachel and Richard; Rachel is about to draw the curtain.
RACHEL Now! Are you willing?
RICHARD So you suspect me of dark, villainous practices?
RACHEL No, no, foolish Dick.
RICHARD Still, I am to be tested; is that it?
RACHEL That’s it.
RICHARD As your true lover.
RACHEL Well, yes.
RICHARD Why, of course, then, I consent. A true lover always consents to the follies of his lady-love.
RACHEL Thank you, Dick; I trust the glass will sustain your character. Now; when I draw the curtain—
RICHARD [Staying her hand.] What if I be false?
RACHEL Then, sir, the glass will reflect you as the subtle fox that you are.
RICHARD And you—as the goose?
RACHEL Very likely. Ah! but, Richard dear, we mustn’t laugh. It may prove very serious. You do not guess—you do not dream all the mysteries—
RICHARD [Shaking his head, with a grave smile.] You pluck at too many mysteries; sometime they may burn your fingers. Remember our first mother Eve!
RACHEL But this is the glass of truth; and Goody Rickby told me—
RICHARD Rickby, forsooth!
RACHEL Nay, come; let’s have it over.
[She draws the curtain, covers her eyes, steps back by Richard’s side, looks at the glass, and gives a joyous cry.]
Ah! there you are, dear! There we are, both of us—just as we have always seemed to each other, true. ’Tis proved. Isn’t it wonderful?
RICHARD Miraculous! That a mirror bought in a blacksmith shop, before sunrise, for twenty pounds, should prove to be actually—a mirror!
RACHEL Richard, I’m so happy.
[Enter Justice Merton and Mistress Merton.]
RICHARD [Embracing her.] Happy, art thou, sweet goose? Why, then, God bless Goody Rickby.
JUSTICE MERTON Strange words from you, Squire Talbot.
[Rachel and Richard part quickly; Rachel draws the curtain over the mirror; Richard stands stiffly.]
RICHARD Justice Merton! Why, sir, the old witch is more innocent, perhaps, than I represented her.
JUSTICE MERTON A witch, believe me, is never innocent. [Taking their hands, he brings them together and kisses Rachel on the forehead.] Permit me, young lovers. I was once young myself, young and amorous.
MISTRESS MERTON [In a low voice.] Verily!
JUSTICE MERTON My fair niece, my worthy young man, beware of witchcraft.
MISTRESS MERTON And Goody Rickby, too, brother?
JUSTICE MERTON That woman shall answer for her deeds. She is proscribed.
RACHEL Proscribed? What is that?
MISTRESS MERTON [Examining the mirror.] What is this?
JUSTICE MERTON She shall hang.
RACHEL Uncle, no! Not merely because of my purchase this morning.
JUSTICE MERTON Your purchase?
MISTRESS MERTON [Pointing to the mirror.] That, I suppose.
JUSTICE MERTON What! you purchased that mirror of her? You brought it here?
RACHEL No, the boy brought it; I found it here when I returned.
JUSTICE MERTON What! From her! You purchased it? From her shop? From her infamous den, into my parlour! [To Mistress Merton.] Call the servant. [Himself calling.] Micah! This instant, this instant—away with it! Micah!
RACHEL Uncle Gilead, I bought—
JUSTICE MERTON Micah, I say! Where is the man?
RACHEL Listen, Uncle. I bought it with my own money.
JUSTICE MERTON Thine own money! Wilt have the neighbours gossip? Wilt have me, thyself, my house, suspected of complicity with witches? [Enter Micah.] Micah, take this away.
MICAH Yes, sir; but, sir—
JUSTICE MERTON Out of my house!
MICAH There be visitors.
JUSTICE MERTON Away with—
MISTRESS MERTON [Touching his arm.] Gilead!
MICAH Visitors, sir; gentry.
JUSTICE MERTON Ah!
MICAH Shall I show them in, sir?
JUSTICE MERTON Visitors! In the morning? Who are they?
MICAH Strangers, sir. I should judge they be very high gentry; lords, sir.
ALL Lords!
MICAH At least, one on ’em, sir. The other—the dark gentleman—told me they left their horses at the inn, sir.
MISTRESS MERTON Hark! [The faces of all wear suddenly a startled expression.] Where is that unearthly sound?
JUSTICE MERTON [Listening.] Is it in the cellar?
MICAH ’Tis just the dog howling, madam. When he spied the gentry he turned tail and run below.
MISTRESS MERTON Oh, the dog!
JUSTICE MERTON Show the gentlemen here, Micah. Don’t keep them waiting. [Exit Micah.] A lord! [To Rachel.] We shall talk of this matter later.—A lord! [Turning to the small glass on the wall, he arranges his peruke and attire.]
RACHEL [To Richard.] What a fortunate interruption! But, dear Dick! I wish we needn’t meet these strangers now.
RICHARD Would you really rather we were alone together? [They chat aside, absorbed in each other.]
JUSTICE MERTON Think of it, Cynthia, a lord!
MISTRESS MERTON [Dusting the furniture hastily with her handkerchief.] And such dust!
RACHEL [To Richard.] You know, dear, we need only be introduced, and then we can steal away together. [Re-enter Micah.]
MICAH [Announcing.] Lord Ravensbane: Marquis of Oxford, Baron of Wittenberg, Elector of Worms, and Count of Cordova; Master Dickonson.
[Enter Ravensbane and Dickon.]
JUSTICE MERTON Gentlemen, permit me, you are excessively welcome. I am deeply gratified to meet—
DICKON Lord Ravensbane, of the Rookeries, Somersetshire.
JUSTICE MERTON Lord Ravensbane—his lordship’s most truly honoured.
RAVENSBANE Truly honoured.
JUSTICE MERTON [Turning to Dickon.] His lordship’s—?
DICKON Tutor.
JUSTICE MERTON [Checking his effusiveness.] Ah, so!
DICKON Justice Merton, I believe.
JUSTICE MERTON Of Merton House.—May I present—permit me, your lordship—my sister, Mistress Merton.
RAVENSBANE Mistress Merton.
JUSTICE MERTON And my—and my— [Under his breath.] Rachel! [Rachel remains with a bored expression behind Richard.] —my young neighbour, Squire Talbot, Squire Richard Talbot of—of—
RICHARD Of nowhere, sir.
RAVENSBANE [Nods.] Nowhere.
JUSTICE MERTON And permit me, Lord Ravensbane, my niece—Mistress Rachel Merton.
RAVENSBANE [Bows low.] Mistress Rachel Merton.
RACHEL [Courtesies.] Lord Ravensbane.
[As they raise their heads, their eyes meet and are fascinated. Dickon just then takes Ravensbane’s pipe and fills it.]
RAVENSBANE Mistress Rachel!
RACHEL Your lordship! [Dickon returns the pipe.]
MISTRESS MERTON A pipe! Gilead!—in the parlour! [Justice Merton frowns silence.]
JUSTICE MERTON Your lordship—ahem!—has just arrived in town?
DICKON From London, via New Amsterdam.
RICHARD [Aside.] Is he staring at you? Are you ill, Rachel?
RACHEL [Indifferently.] What?
JUSTICE MERTON Lord Ravensbane honours my humble roof.
DICKON [Touches Ravensbane’s arm.] Your lordship—“roof.”
RAVENSBANE [Starting, turns to Merton.] Nay, sir, the roof of my father’s oldest friend bestows generous hospitality upon his only son.
JUSTICE MERTON Only son—ah, yes! Your father—
RAVENSBANE My father, I trust, sir, has never forgotten the intimate companionship, the touching devotion, the unceasing solicitude for his happiness which you, sir, manifested to him in the days of his youth.
JUSTICE MERTON Really, your lordship, the—the slight favours which—hem! some years ago, I was privileged to show your illustrious father—
RAVENSBANE Permit me!—Because, however, of his present infirmities—for I regret to say that my father is suffering a temporary aberration of mind—
JUSTICE MERTON You distress me!
RAVENSBANE My lady mother has charged me with a double mission here in New England. On my quitting my home, sir, to explore the wideness and the mystery of this world, my mother bade me be sure to call upon his worship, the Justice Merton; and deliver to him, first, my father’s remembrances; and secondly, my mother’s epistle.
DICKON [Handing to Justice Merton a sealed document.] Her ladyship’s letter, sir.
JUSTICE MERTON [Examining the seal with awe, speaks aside to Mistress Merton.] Cynthia!—a crested seal!
DICKON His lordship’s crest, sir: rooks rampant.
JUSTICE MERTON [Embarrassed, breaks the seal.] Permit me.
RACHEL [Looking at Ravensbane.] Have you noticed his bearing, Richard: what personal distinction! what inbred nobility! Every inch a true lord!
RICHARD He may be a lord, my dear, but he walks like a broomstick.
RACHEL How dare you! [Turns abruptly away; as she does so, a fold of her gown catches in a chair.]
DICKON [To Justice Merton.] A word, sir.
JUSTICE MERTON [Glancing up from the letter.] I am astonished—overpowered!
RAVENSBANE Mistress Rachel—permit me. [Stooping, he extricates the fold of her gown.]
RACHEL Oh, thank you. [They go aside together.]
RICHARD [To Mistress Merton.] So Lord Ravensbane and his family are old friends of yours?
MISTRESS MERTON [Monosyllabically.] I never heard the name before, Richard.
RICHARD Why! but I thought that your brother, the Justice—
MISTRESS MERTON The Justice is reticent.
RICHARD Ah!
MISTRESS MERTON Especially concerning his youth.
RICHARD Ah!
RAVENSBANE [To Rachel, taking her hand after a whisper from Dickon.] Believe me, sweet lady, it will give me the deepest pleasure.
RACHEL Can you really tell fortunes?
RAVENSBANE More than that; I can bestow them.
JUSTICE MERTON [To Dickon.] But is her ladyship really serious? An offer of marriage!
DICKON Pray read it again, sir.
JUSTICE MERTON [Reads.] “To the Worshipful, the Justice Gilead Merton, “Merton House. “My Honourable Friend and Benefactor: “With these brief lines I commend to you our son”—our son!
DICKON She speaks likewise for his young lordship’s father, sir.
JUSTICE MERTON Ah! of course. [Reads.] “In a strange land, I intrust him to you as to a father.” Honoured, believe me! “I have only to add my earnest hope that the natural gifts, graces, and inherited fortune”—ah—!
DICKON Twenty thousand pounds—on his father’s demise.
JUSTICE MERTON Ah!—“fortune of this young scion of nobility will so propitiate the heart of your niece, Mistress Rachel Merton, as to cause her to accept his proffered hand in matrimony;” —but—but—but Squire Talbot is betrothed to—well, well, we shall see;—“in matrimony, and thus cement the early bonds of interest and affection between your honoured self and his lordship’s father; not to mention, dear sir, your worship’s ever grateful and obedient admirer, “Elizabeth, “Marchioness of R.”
Of R.! of R.! Will you believe me, my dear sir, so long is it since my travels in England—I visited at so many—hem! noble estates—permit me, it is so awkward, but—
DICKON [With his peculiar intonation of Act I.] Not at all.
JUSTICE MERTON [Starting.] I—I confess, sir, my youthful memory fails me. Will you be so very obliging; this—this Marchioness of R.—?
DICKON [Enjoying his discomfiture.] Yes?
JUSTICE MERTON The R, I presume, stands for—
DICKON Rickby.
RAVENSBANE [Calls.] Dickon, my pipe! [Dickon glides away to fill Ravensbane’s pipe.]
JUSTICE MERTON [Stands bewildered and horror-struck.] Great God!—Thou inexorable Judge!
RICHARD [To Mistress Merton, scowling at Ravensbane and Rachel.] Are these court manners, in London?
MISTRESS MERTON Don’t ask me, Richard.
RAVENSBANE [Dejectedly to Rachel, as Dickon is refilling his pipe.] Alas! Mistress Rachel is cruel.
RACHEL I?—cruel, your lordship?
RAVENSBANE Your own white hand has written it. [Lifting her palm.] See, these lines: Rejection! you will reject one who loves you dearly.
RACHEL Fie, your lordship! Be not cast down at fortune-telling. Let me tell yours, may I?
RAVENSBANE [Rapturously holding his palm for her to examine.] Ah! Permit me.
JUSTICE MERTON [Murmurs, in terrible agitation.] Dickon! Can it be Dickon?
RACHEL Why, Lord Ravensbane, your pulse. Really, if I am cruel, you are quite heartless. I declare I can’t feel your heart beat at all.
RAVENSBANE Ah! mistress, that is because I have just lost it.
RACHEL [Archly.] Where?
RAVENSBANE [Faintly.] Dickon, my pipe!
RACHEL Alas! my lord, are you ill?
DICKON [Restoring the lighted pipe to Ravensbane, speaks aside.] Pardon me, sweet young lady, I must confide to you that his lordship’s heart is peculiarly responsive to his emotions. When he feels very ardently, it quite stops. Hence the use of his pipe.
RACHEL Oh! Is smoking, then, necessary for his heart?
DICKON Absolutely—to equilibrate the valvular palpitations. Without his pipe—should his lordship experience, for instance, the emotion of love—he might die.
RACHEL You alarm me!
DICKON But this is for you only, Mistress Rachel. We may confide in you?
RACHEL Oh, utterly, sir.
DICKON His lordship, you know, is so sensitive.
RAVENSBANE [To Rachel.] You have given it back to me. Why did not you keep it?
RACHEL What, my lord?
RAVENSBANE My heart.
JUSTICE MERTON [To Dickon.] Permit me, one moment; I did not catch your name.
DICKON My name? Dickonson.
JUSTICE MERTON [With a gasp of relief.] Ah, Dickonson! Thank you. I mistook the word.
DICKON A compound, your worship. [With a malignant smile.] Dickon- [Then jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Ravensbane.] son! [Bowing.] Both at your service.
JUSTICE MERTON If—if you can show pity—speak low.
DICKON As hell, your worship?
JUSTICE MERTON Is he—he there?
DICKON Bessie’s brat; yes; it didn’t die, after all, poor suckling! Dickon weaned it. Saved it for balm of Gilead. Raised it for joyful home-coming. Prodigal’s return! Twenty-first birthday! Happy son! Happy father!
JUSTICE MERTON My—son!
DICKON Felicitations!
JUSTICE MERTON I will not believe it.
DICKON Truth is hard fare.
JUSTICE MERTON [Faintly.] What—what do you want?
DICKON Only the happiness of your dear ones. [Indicating Rachel and Ravensbane.] The union of these young hearts and hands.
JUSTICE MERTON What! he will dare—an illegitimate—
DICKON Fie, fie, Gilly! Why, the brat is a lord now.
JUSTICE MERTON Oh, the disgrace! Spare me that, Dickon.
RICHARD [In a low voice to Rachel, who is talking in a fascinated manner to Ravensbane.] Are you mad?
RACHEL [Indifferently.] What is the matter? [Laughing, to Ravensbane.] Oh, your lordship is too witty!
JUSTICE MERTON [To Dickon.] After all, I was young then.
DICKON Quite so.
JUSTICE MERTON And she is innocent; she is already betrothed.
DICKON Twiddle-twaddle! Look at her eyes now! [Rachel is still telling Ravensbane’s fortune; and they are manifestly absorbed in each other.] ’Tis a brilliant match; besides, her ladyship’s heart is set upon it.
JUSTICE MERTON Her ladyship—?
DICKON The Marchioness of Rickby.
JUSTICE MERTON [Glowering.] I had forgotten.
DICKON Her ladyship has never forgotten. So, you see, your worship’s alternatives are most simple. Alternative one: advance his lordship’s suit with your niece as speedily as possible, and save all scandal. Alternative two: impede his lordship’s suit, and—
JUSTICE MERTON Don’t, Dickon! don’t reveal the truth; not disgrace now!
DICKON Good; we are agreed, then?
JUSTICE MERTON I have no choice.
DICKON [Cheerfully.] Why, true; we ignored that, didn’t we?
MISTRESS MERTON [Approaching.] This young lord—Why, Gilead, are you ill?
JUSTICE MERTON [With a great effort, commands himself.] Not in the least.
MISTRESS MERTON Rachel’s deportment, my dear brother—
RACHEL I am really at a loss. Your lordship’s hand is so very peculiar.
RAVENSBANE Ah! Peculiar.
RACHEL This, now, is the line of life.
RAVENSBANE Of life, yes?
RACHEL But it begins so abruptly, and see! it breaks off and ends nowhere. And just so here with this line—the line of—of love.
RAVENSBANE Of love. So; it breaks?
RACHEL Yes.
RAVENSBANE Ah, then, that must be the heart line.
RACHEL I am afraid your lordship is very fickle.
MISTRESS MERTON [Horrified.] I tell you, Gilead, they are fortune-telling!
JUSTICE MERTON Tush! Tush!
MISTRESS MERTON Tush? “Tush” to me? Tush!
[Richard, who has been stifling his feelings at Rachel’s rebuff, and has stood fidgeting at a civil distance from her, now walks up to Justice Merton.]
RICHARD Intolerable! Do you approve of this, sir? Are Lord Ravensbane’s credentials satisfactory?
JUSTICE MERTON Eminently, eminently.
RICHARD Ah! So her ladyship’s letter is—
JUSTICE MERTON Charming; charming.
RICHARD To be sure; old friends, when they are lords, it makes such a difference.
DICKON True friends—old friends; New friends—cold friends. N’est ce pas, your worship?
JUSTICE MERTON Indeed, Master Dickonson; indeed! [To Richard, as Dickon goes toward Ravensbane and Rachel.] What happiness to encounter the manners of the nobility!
RICHARD If you approve them, sir, it is sufficient. This is your house. [He turns away.]
JUSTICE MERTON Your lordship will, I trust, make my house your home.
RAVENSBANE My home, sir.
RACHEL [To Dickon, who has spoken to her.] Really? [To Justice Merton.] Why, uncle, what is this Master Dickonson tells us?
JUSTICE MERTON What! What! he has revealed—
RACHEL Yes, indeed. Why did you never tell us?
JUSTICE MERTON Rachel! Rachel!
MISTRESS MERTON You are moved, brother.
RACHEL [Laughingly to Ravensbane.] My uncle is doubtless astonished to find you so grown.
RAVENSBANE [Laughingly to Justice Merton.] I am doubtless astonished, sir, to be so grown.
JUSTICE MERTON [To Dickon.] You have—
DICKON Remarked, sir, that your worship had often dandled his lordship—as an infant.
JUSTICE MERTON [Smiling lugubriously.] Quite so—as an infant merely.
RACHEL How interesting! Then you must have seen his lordship’s home in England.
JUSTICE MERTON As you say.
RACHEL [To Ravensbane.] Do describe it to us. We are so isolated here from the grand world. Do you know, I always imagine England to be an enchanted isle, like one of the old Hesperides, teeming with fruits of solid gold.
RAVENSBANE Ah, yes! my mother raises them.
RACHEL Fruits of gold?
RAVENSBANE Round like the rising sun. She calls them—ah! punkins.
MISTRESS MERTON “Punkins!”
JUSTICE MERTON [Aside, grinding his teeth.] Scoundrel! Scoundrel!
RACHEL [Laughing.] Your lordship pokes fun at us.
DICKON His lordship is an artist in words, mistress. I have noticed that in whatever country he is travelling, he tinges his vocabulary with the local idiom. His lordship means, of course, not pumpkins, but pomegranates.
RACHEL We forgive him. But, your lordship, please be serious and describe to us your hall.
RAVENSBANE Quite serious: the hall. Yes, yes; in the middle burns a great fire—on a black—ah!—black altar.
DICKON A Druidical heirloom. His lordship’s mother collects antiques.
RACHEL How fascinating!
RAVENSBANE Quite fascinating! On the walls hang pieces of iron.
DICKON Trophies of Saxon warfare.
RAVENSBANE And rusty horseshoes.
GENERAL MURMURS Horseshoes!
DICKON Presents from the German emperor. They were worn by the steeds of Charlemagne.
RAVENSBANE Quite so; and broken cart-wheels.
DICKON Reliques of British chariots.
RACHEL How mediæval it must be! [To Justice Merton.] And to think you never described it to us!
MISTRESS MERTON True, brother; you have been singularly reticent.
JUSTICE MERTON Permit me; it is impossible to report all one sees on one’s travels.
MISTRESS MERTON Evidently.
RACHEL But surely your lordship’s mother has other diversions besides collecting antiques. I have heard that in England ladies followed the hounds; and sometimes— [Looking at her aunt and lowering her voice.] they even dance.
RAVENSBANE Dance—ah, yes; my lady mother dances about the—the altar; she swings high a hammer.
DICKON Your lordship, your lordship! Pray, sir, check this vein of poetry. Lord Ravensbane symbolizes as a hammer and altar a golf-stick and tee—a Scottish game, which her ladyship plays on her Highland estates.
RICHARD [To Mistress Merton.] What do you think of this?
MISTRESS MERTON [With a scandalized look toward her brother.] He said to me “tush.”
RICHARD [To Justice Merton, indicating Dickon.] Who is this magpie?
JUSTICE MERTON [Hisses in fury.] Satan!
RICHARD I beg pardon!
JUSTICE MERTON Satan, sir—makes you jealous.
RICHARD [Bows stiffly.] Good morning. [Walking up to Ravensbane.] Lord Ravensbane, I have a rustic colonial question to ask. Is it the latest fashion to smoke incessantly in ladies’ parlours, or is it—mediæval?
DICKON His lordship’s health, sir, necessitates—
RICHARD I addressed his lordship.
RAVENSBANE In the matter of fashions, sir— [Hands his pipe to be refilled.] My pipe, Dickon!
[While Dickon holds his pipe—somewhat longer than usual—Ravensbane, with his mouth open as if about to speak, relapses into a vacant stare.]
DICKON [As he lights the pipe for Ravensbane, speaks suavely and low as if not to be overheard by him.] Pardon me. The fact is, my young pupil is sensitive; the wound from his latest duel is not quite healed; you observe a slight lameness, an occasional absence of mind.
RACHEL A wound—in a real duel?
RICHARD Necessitates his smoking! A valid reason!
DICKON [Aside.] You, mistress, know the true reason—his lordship’s heart.
RACHEL Believe me, sir—
RICHARD [To Ravensbane, who is still staring vacantly into space.] Well, well, your lordship. [Ravensbane pays no attention.] You were saying—? [Dickon returns the pipe.] in the matter of fashions, sir—?
RAVENSBANE [Regaining slowly a look of intelligence, draws himself up with affronted hauteur.] Permit me! [Puffs several wreaths of smoke into the air.] I am the fashions.
RICHARD [Going.] Insufferable! [He pauses at the door.]
MISTRESS MERTON [To Justice Merton.] Well—what do you think of that?
JUSTICE MERTON Spoken like King Charles himself.
MISTRESS MERTON Brother! brother! is there nothing wrong here?
JUSTICE MERTON Wrong, Cynthia! Manifestly you are quite ignorant of the manners of the great.
MISTRESS MERTON Oh, Gilead!
JUSTICE MERTON Where are you going?
MISTRESS MERTON To my room. [Murmurs, as she hurries out.] Dear! dear! if it should be that again!
[Dickon and Justice Merton withdraw to a corner of the room.]
RACHEL [To Ravensbane.] I—object to the smoke? Why, I think it is charming.
RICHARD [Who has returned from the door, speaks in a low, constrained voice.] Rachel!
RACHEL Oh!—you?
RICHARD You take quickly to European fashions.
RACHEL Yes? To what one in particular?
RICHARD Two; smoking and flirtation.
RACHEL Jealous?
RICHARD Of an idiot? I hope not. Manners differ, however. Your confidences to his lordship have evidently not included—your relation to me.
RACHEL Oh, our relations!
RICHARD Of course, since you wish him to continue in ignorance—
RACHEL Not at all. He shall know at once. Lord Ravensbane!
RAVENSBANE Fair mistress!
RICHARD Rachel, stop! I did not mean—
RACHEL [To Ravensbane.] My uncle did not introduce to you with sufficient elaboration this gentleman. Will you allow me to do so now?
RAVENSBANE I adore Mistress Rachel’s elaborations.
RACHEL Lord Ravensbane, I beg to present Squire Talbot, my betrothed.
RAVENSBANE Betrothed! Is it— [Noticing Richard’s frown.] is it pleasant?
RACHEL [To Richard.] Are you satisfied?
RICHARD [Trembling with feeling.] More than satisfied. [Exit.]
RAVENSBANE [Looking after him.] Ah! Betrothed is not pleasant.
RACHEL Not always.
RAVENSBANE [Anxiously.] Mistress Rachel is not pleased?
RACHEL [Biting her lip, looks after Richard.] With him.
RAVENSBANE Mistress Rachel will smile again?
RACHEL Soon.
RAVENSBANE [Ardent.] Ah! if she would only smile once more! What can Lord Ravensbane do to make her smile? See! will you puff my pipe? It is very pleasant. [Offering the pipe.]
RACHEL [Smiling.] Shall I try? [Takes hold of it mischievously.]
JUSTICE MERTON [In a great voice.] Rachel!
RACHEL Why, uncle!
JUSTICE MERTON [From where he has been conversing in a corner with Dickon, approaches now and speaks suavely to Ravensbane.] Permit me, your lordship—Rachel, you will kindly withdraw for a few moments; I desire to confer with Lord Ravensbane concerning his mother’s—her ladyship’s letter; [Obsequiously to Dickon.] —that is, if you think, sir, that your noble pupil is not too fatigued.
DICKON Not at all; I think his lordship will listen to you with much pleasure.
RAVENSBANE [Bowing to Justice Merton, but looking at Rachel.] With much pleasure.
DICKON And in the meantime, if Mistress Rachel will allow me, I will assist her in writing those invitations which your worship desires to send in her name.
JUSTICE MERTON Invitations—from my niece?
DICKON To his Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor; to your friends, the Reverend Masters at Harvard College, etc., etc.; in brief, to all your worship’s select social acquaintance in the vicinity—to meet his lordship. It was so thoughtful in you to suggest it, sir, and believe me, his lordship appreciates your courtesy in arranging the reception in his honour for this afternoon.
RACHEL [To Justice Merton.] This afternoon! Are we really to give his lordship a reception this afternoon?
DICKON Your uncle has already given me the list of guests; so considerate! Permit me to act as your scribe, Mistress Rachel.
RACHEL With pleasure. [To Justice Merton.] And will it be here, uncle?
DICKON [Looking at him narrowly.] Your worship said here, I believe?
JUSTICE MERTON Quite so, sir; quite so, quite so.
DICKON [Aside to Justice Merton.] I advise nothing rash, Gilly; the brat has a weak heart.
RACHEL This way, Master Dickonson, to the study.
DICKON [As he goes with Rachel.] I will write and you sign?
RACHEL Thank you.
DICKON [Aside, as he passes Ravensbane.] Remember, Jack! Puff, puff!
RACHEL [To Ravensbane, who stretches out his hand to her with a gesture of entreaty to stay.] Your lordship is to be my guest. [Courtesying.] Till we meet again!
DICKON [To Rachel.] May I sharpen your quill? [Exeunt.]
RAVENSBANE [Faintly, looking after her.] Till—we—meet—again!
JUSTICE MERTON [Low and vehement to Ravensbane.] Impostor!
RAVENSBANE [Still staring at the door.] She is gone.
JUSTICE MERTON You at least shall not play the lord and master to my face.
RAVENSBANE Quite—gone!
JUSTICE MERTON I know with whom I have to deal. If I be any judge of my own flesh and blood—permit me—you shall quail before me.
RAVENSBANE [Dejectedly.] She did not smile— [Joyously.] She smiled!
JUSTICE MERTON Affected rogue! I know thee. I know thy feigned pauses, thy assumed vagaries. Speak; how much do you want?
RAVENSBANE Betrothed,—he went away. That was good. And then—she did not smile: that was not good. But then—she smiled! Ah! that was good.
JUSTICE MERTON Come back, coward, and face me.
RAVENSBANE First, the great sun shone over the corn-fields, the grass was green; the black wings rose and flew before me; then the door opened—and she looked at me.
JUSTICE MERTON Speak, I say! What sum? What treasure do you hope to bleed from me?
RAVENSBANE [Ecstatically.] Ah! Mistress Rachel!
JUSTICE MERTON Her! Scoundrel, if thou dost name her again, my innocent—my sweet maid! If thou dost—thou godless spawn of temptation—mark you, I will put an end—
[Reaching for a pistol that rests in a rack on the wall,—the intervening form of Dickon suddenly appears, pockets the pistol, and exit.]
DICKON I beg pardon; I forgot something.
JUSTICE MERTON [Sinking into a chair.] God is just. [He holds his head in his hands and weeps.]
RAVENSBANE [For the first time, since Rachel’s departure, observes Merton.] Permit me, sir, are you ill?
JUSTICE MERTON [Recoiling.] What art thou?
RAVENSBANE [Monotonously.]
I am Lord Ravensbane: Marquis of Oxford, Baron of Wittenberg, Elector of Worms, and—
JUSTICE MERTON And my son! [Covers his face again.]
RAVENSBANE [Solicitously.] Shall I call Dickon?
JUSTICE MERTON Yea, for thou art my son. The deed once done is never done, the past is the present.
RAVENSBANE [Walking softly toward the door, calls.] Dickon!
JUSTICE MERTON [Starting up.] No, do not call him. Stay, and be merciful. Tell me: I hate thee not; thou wast innocent. Tell me!—I thought thou hadst died as a babe.—Where has Dickon, our tyrant, kept thee these twenty years?
RAVENSBANE [With gentle courtesy.] Master Dickonson is my tutor.
JUSTICE MERTON And why has thy mother— Ah, I know well; I deserve all. But yet, it must not be published now! I am a justice now, an honoured citizen—and my young niece— Thy mother will not demand so much; she will be considerate; she will ask some gold, of course, but she will show pity!
RAVENSBANE My mother is the Marchioness of Rickby.
JUSTICE MERTON Yes, yes; ’twas well planned, a clever trick. ’Twas skilful of her. But surely thy mother gave thee commands to—
RAVENSBANE My mother gave me her blessing.
JUSTICE MERTON Ah, ’tis well then. Young man, my son, I too will give thee my blessing, if thou wilt but go—go instantly—go with half my fortune, go away forever, and leave my reputation unstained.
RAVENSBANE Go away? [Starting for the study door.] Ah, sir, with much pleasure.
JUSTICE MERTON You will go? You will leave me my honour—and my Rachel?
RAVENSBANE Rachel? Rachel is yours? No, no, Mistress Rachel is mine. We are ours.
JUSTICE MERTON [Pleadingly.] Consider the disgrace.
RAVENSBANE No, no; I have seen her eyes, they are mine; I have seen her smiles, they are mine; she is mine!
JUSTICE MERTON Consider, one moment consider—you, an illegitimate—and she—oh, think what thou art!
RAVENSBANE [Monotonously, puffing smoke at the end.] I am Lord Ravensbane: Marquis of Oxford, Baron of Wittenberg, Elector of Worms, and Count—
JUSTICE MERTON [Wrenching the pipe from Ravensbane’s hand and lips.] Devil’s child! Boor! Buffoon! [Flinging the pipe away.] I will stand thy insults no longer. If thou hast no heart—
RAVENSBANE [Putting his hand to his side, staggers.] Ah! my heart!
JUSTICE MERTON Hypocrite! Thou canst not fool me. I am thy father.
RAVENSBANE [Faintly, stretching out his hand to him for support.] Father!
JUSTICE MERTON Stand away. Thou mayst break thy heart and mine and the devil’s, but thou shalt not break Rachel’s.
RAVENSBANE [Faintly.] Mistress Rachel is mine— [He staggers again, and falls, half reclining, upon a chair.]
JUSTICE MERTON Good God! Can it be—his heart?
RAVENSBANE [More faintly, beginning to change expression.] Her eyes are mine; her smiles are mine. [His eyes close.]
JUSTICE MERTON [With agitated swiftness, feels and listens at Ravensbane’s side.] Not a motion; not a sound! Yea, God, Thou art good! ’Tis his heart. He is—ah! he is my son. Judge Almighty, if he should die now; may I not be still a moment more and make sure. No, no, my son—he is changing. [Calls.] Help! Help! Rachel! Master Dickonson! Help! Richard! Cynthia! Come hither! [Enter Dickon and Rachel.]
RACHEL Uncle!
JUSTICE MERTON Bring wine. Lord Ravensbane has fainted.
RACHEL Oh! [Turning swiftly to go.] Micah, wine.
DICKON [Detaining her.] Stay! His pipe! Where is his lordship’s pipe?
RACHEL Oh, terrible!
[Enter, at different doors, Mistress Merton and Richard.]
MISTRESS MERTON What’s the matter?
JUSTICE MERTON [To Rachel.] He threw it away. He is worse. Bring the wine.
MISTRESS MERTON Look! How strange he appears
RACHEL [Searching distractedly.] The pipe! His lordship’s pipe! It is lost, Master Dickonson.
DICKON [Stooping, as if searching, with his back turned, having picked up the pipe, is filling and lighting it.] It must be found. This is a heart attack, my friends; his lordship’s life depends on the nicotine. [Deftly he places the pipe in Rachel’s way.]
RACHEL Thank God! Here it is.
[Carrying it to the prostrate form of Ravensbane, she lifts his head and is about to put the pipe in his mouth.]
Shall I—shall I put it in?
RICHARD No! not you.
RACHEL Sir!
RICHARD Let his tutor perform that office.
RACHEL [Lifting Lord Ravensbane’s head again.] Here, my lord.
RICHARD AND JUSTICE MERTON [Together.] Rachel!
RACHEL You, too, uncle?
DICKON Pardon me, Mistress Rachel; give the pipe at once. Only a token of true affection can revive his lordship now.
RICHARD [As Rachel puts the pipe to Ravensbane’s lips.] I forbid it, Rachel.
RACHEL [Watching only Ravensbane.] My lord—my lord!
MISTRESS MERTON Give him air; unbutton his coat. [Rachel unbuttons Ravensbane’s coat, revealing the embroidered waistcoat.] Ah, heavens! What do I see?
JUSTICE MERTON [Looks, blanches, and signs silence to Mistress Merton.] Cynthia!
DICKON See! He puffs—he revives. He is coming to himself.
MISTRESS MERTON [Aside to Justice Merton, with deep tensity.] That waistcoat! that waistcoat! Brother, hast thou never seen it before?
JUSTICE MERTON Never, my sister.
RACHEL [As Ravensbane rises to his feet.] At last!
DICKON Look! he is restored.
RACHEL God be thanked!
DICKON My lord, Mistress Rachel has saved your life.
RAVENSBANE [Taking Rachel’s hand.] Mistress Rachel is mine; we are ours.
RICHARD Dare to repeat that.
RAVENSBANE [Looking at Rachel.] Her eyes are mine.
RICHARD [Flinging his glove in his face.] And that, sir, is yours. I believe such is the proper fashion in England. If your lordship’s last duelling wound is sufficiently healed, perhaps you will deign a reply.
RACHEL Richard! Your lordship!
RAVENSBANE [Stoops, picks up the glove, pockets it, bows to Rachel, and steps close to Richard.] Permit me!
[He blows a puff of smoke full in Richard’s face.]