Harley Granville-Barker

“ Frances. What do you mean to do?
Trebell. There's to be no public scandal.
Frances. Why has Lord Horsham thrown you over then ... or hasn't that anything to do with it?
Trebell. It has to do with it.
Frances. [Lifting her voice; some tone returning to it.] Unconsciously ... I've known for years that this sort of thing might happen to you.
Trebell. Why?
Frances. Power over men and women and contempt for them! Do you think they don't take their revenge sooner or later?
Trebell. Much good may it do them!
Frances. Human nature turns against you ... by instinct ... in self-defence. ”

“ I'm fond of you all . . and I want you to be proud of me . . and I mean that the name of Voysey shall be carried high in the world by my children and grandchildren. Don't you be afraid, Edward. Ah, you lack experience, my boy . . you're not full grown yet . . your impulses are a bit chaotic. You emotionalise over your work, and you reason about your emotions. You must sort yourself. You must realise that money making is one thing, and religion another, and family-life a third . ”

“ Farrant. Your brains, Trebell.
Trebell. He should have enquired into my character first, shouldn't he, Cantelupe?
Cantelupe. [With crushing sincerity.] Yes.
Trebell. Oh, the old unnecessary choice ... Wisdom or Virtue. We all think we must make it ... and we all discover we can't. But if you've to choose between Cantelupe and me, Horsham, I quite see you've no choice.
Horsham now takes the field, using his own weapons.
Horsham. Charles, it seems to me that we are somewhat in the position of men who have overheard a private conversation. Do you feel justified in making public use of it? ”

“ It is possibly some German philosopher, whom she reads with a critical appreciation of his shortcomings. On the sofa near her lounges Mrs. O'Connell; a charming woman, if by charming you understand a woman who converts every quality she possesses into a means of attraction, and has no use for any others. On the sofa opposite sits Miss Trebell. In a few years, when her hair is quite grey, she will assume as by right the dignity of an old maid. Between these two in a low armchair is Lady Davenport. She has attained to many dignities. ”

“ But, my dear father—
mr. voysey. Well?
edward. [summing it all up very simply.] It's not right.
mr. voysey considers his son for a moment with a pitying shake of the head.
mr. voysey. Oh . . why is it so hard for a man to see clearly beyond the letter of the law! Will you consider a moment, Edward, the position in which I found myself? Was I to see my father ruined and disgraced without lifting a finger to help him? . . not to mention the interest of the clients. I paid back to the man who would have lost most by my father's mistakes every penny of his money. ”

“ You're not a party man, Trebell. You haven't the true party feeling. You are to be bought. Of course you take your price in measures, not in money. But you are preeminently a man of ideas ... an expert. And a man of ideas is often a grave embarrassment to a government.
Horsham. And vice-versa ... vice-versa!
Trebell. [Facing Blackborough across the room.] Do I understand that you for the good of the Tory party ... just as Cantelupe for the good of his soul ... will refuse to sit in a cabinet with me.
Blackborough. [Unembarrassed.] I don't commit myself to saying that. ”

“ Blackborough . . it would immortalize you. I'll stand up in my place in the House of Commons and tell everything that has befallen soberly and seriously. Why should I flinch?
farrant. My dear Trebell, if your name comes out at the inquest—
trebell. If it does! . . whose has been the real offence against Society . . hers or mine? It's I who am most offended . . if I choose to think so.
blackborough. You seem to forget the adultery.
trebell. Isn't Death divorce enough for her? And . . oh, wasn't I right? . . What do you start thinking of once the shock's over? ”

“ But how long do you think the spirit stays near the body ... how long? When people die gently of age or weakness.... But when the spirit and body are so strong and knit together and all alive as his....
Wedgecroft. [His hand on hers.] Hush ... hush.
Frances. His face is very eager ... as if it still could speak. I know that.
Mrs. Farrant comes through the open doorway. Frances hears her steps and turning falls into her outstretched arms to cry there.
Frances. Oh, Julia!
Mrs. Farrant. Oh my dear Fanny! I came with Cyril Horsham ... I don't think Simpson even saw me. ”

“ Peacey knows.
edward. Peacey!
mr. voysey. His father found out.
edward. Oh. Does he draw hush money?
mr. voysey. [curling a little at the word.] It is my custom to make a little present every Christmas. Not a cheque . . notes in an envelope. [He becomes benevolent.] I don't grudge the money . . Peacey's a devoted fellow.
edward. Naturally this would be a heavily taxed industry. [then he smiles at his vision of the mild old clerk.] Peacey! There's another thing I want to ask, sir. Have you ever under stress of circumstances done worse than just make use of a client's capital? ”

“ What are men to do when this is how women use the freedom we have given them? Is the curse of barrenness to be nothing to a man? And that's the death in life to which you gentlemen with your fine civilisation are bringing us. I think we are brothers in misfortune, Mr. Trebell.
Trebell. [Far from responding.] Not at all, sir. If you wanted children you did the next best thing when she left you. My own problem is neither so simple nor is it yet anyone's business but my own. I apologise for alluding to it.
Horsham takes advantage of the silence that follows.
Horsham. Shall we....
O'Connell. ”

“ Facing you at her piano by the window, from which she is protected by a little screen, sits mrs. farrant; a woman of the interesting age, clear-eyed and all her face serene, except for a little pucker of the brows which shows a puzzled mind upon some important matters. To become almost an ideal hostess has been her achievement; and in her own home, as now, this grace is written upon every movement. Her eyes pass over the head of a girl, sitting in a low chair by a little table, with the shaded lamplight falling on her face. This is lucy davenport ”

“ They are interrupted by the sudden appearance of mrs. hugh voysey, a brisk, bright little woman, in an evening gown, which she has bullied a cheap dressmaker into making look exceedingly smart. beatrice is as hard as nails and as clever as paint. But if she keeps her feelings buried pretty deep it is because they are precious to her; and if she is impatient with fools it is because her own brains have had to win her everything in the world, so perhaps she does overvalue them a little. She speaks always with great decision and little effort. ”

“ Good-night, Cantelupe.
Cantelupe. From what motives have we thrown Trebell over?
Blackborough. Never mind the motives if the move is the right one. [Then he nods at Horsham.] I shall be up again next week if you want me.
And he flourishes out of the room; a man who has done a good hour's work, Farrant, who has been mooning depressedly around, now backs towards the door.
Farrant. In one way, of course, Trebell won't care a damn. I mean, he knows as well as we do that office isn't worth having ... he has never been a place-hunter. ”

“ With his back to them, on a sofa with its back to them, is george farrant, planted with his knees apart, his hands clasped, his head bent; very glum. And sometimes horsham glances at the door, as if waiting for it to open. Then his gaze will travel back, up the long shiny black piano, with a volume of the Well Tempered Clavichord open on its desk, to where cantelupe is perched uncomfortably on the bench; paler than ever; more self-contained than ever, looking, to one who knows him as well as horsham does, a [Pg 280] little dangerous. ”

“ Cantelupe. [Suddenly congenial.] Shelton's translation of Don Quixote I hope ... the modern ones have no flavour. And you took all the adventures as seriously as the Don did?
Trebell. [Not expecting this.] I forget.
Cantelupe. It's the finer attitude ... the child's attitude. And it would enable you immediately to comprehend mine towards an education consisting merely of practical knowledge. The life of Faith is still the happy one. What is more crushingly finite than knowledge? Moral discipline is a nation's only safety. ”

“ Cantelupe. What about a messenger?
Horsham. Not at this time of night. I'll post it.
Cantelupe. I'll post it as I go.
He seeks comfort again in the piano and this time starts to play, with one finger and some hesitation, the first bars of a Bach fugue, Horsham's pen-nib is disappointing him and the letter is not easy to phrase.
Horsham. But I hate coming to immediate decisions. The administrative part of my brain always tires after half an hour. Does yours, Charles?
Cantelupe. What do you think Trebell will do now?
Horsham. [A little grimly.] Punish us all he can. ”

“ But she knows her own damn business . . or so she says, if you try to teach it her. And why should I trouble to fit myself for better work than she has given me to do . . nursing fools' money?
hugh. [responding at once to this vein.] Edward, we must turn this world upside down. It's her stupidity that drives me mad. We all want a lesson in values. We're never taught what is worth having and what isn't. Why should your real happiness be sacrificed to the sham happiness which people have invested in the firm?
edward. I suppose their money means such happiness to them as they understand. ”

“ Mother and grandmother, she has brought into the world and nourished not merely life but character. A wonderful face she has, full of proud memories and fearless of the future. Behind her, on a sofa between the windows, is Walter Kent. He is just what the average English father would like his son to be. ”

“ The self-respect of trenchard's appearance is immense, and he cultivates that air of concentration upon any trivial matter, or even upon nothing at all, which will some day make him an impressive figure upon the Bench. hugh is always vague, searching Heaven or the corners of the room for inspiration, and even on this occasion his tie is abominably crooked. ”

“ Well, one shouldn't hate people ... there's no room for it in this world.
Cantelupe. [Quietly as ever.] We have some authority for thinking that the punishment of a secret sin is awarded by God secretly.
O'Connell. We have very poor authority, sir, for using God's name merely to fill up the gaps in an argument, though we may thus have our way easily with men who fear God more than they know him. I am not one of those. Yes, Farrant, you and your like have left little room in this world except for the dusty roads on which I notice you beginning once more to travel. ”

“ Further . . as I see this matter, Edward . . when as a young man he was told this terrible secret and entrusted with such a frightful task . . did he turn his back on it like a coward? No. He went through it heroically to the end of his life. And as he died I imagine there was no more torturing thought than that he had left his work unfinished. [he is very satisfied with this peroration.] And now if all these clients can be kept receiving their natural income and if Father's plan could be carried out of gradually replacing the capital—
edward at this raises his head and stares with horror. ”

“ Farrant. Oh, I'm afraid my wife knows. [He adds hastily.] My fault ... my fault entirely.
Blackborough. I tell you Rumour's electric.
Horsham has turned to Farrant with a sweet smile and with the air of a man about to be relieved of all responsibility.
Horsham. What does she say?
Farrant. [As one speaks of a nice woman.] She was horrified.
Horsham. Of course. [Once more he finds refuge and comfort on the hearthrug, to say, after a moment, with fine resignation.] I suppose I must let him go.
Cantelupe. [On his feet again.] Cyril!
Horsham. Yes, Charles? ”