Emlyn Williams

“ She rushes back into the kitchen as OLIVIA comes back from the sun-room.
OLIVIA: Did Mrs. Bramson call me, do you know?
A pause. He surveys her from under drooping lids, rolling his cigarette on his lower lip.
DAN: I'm sorry, I don't know your name.
OLIVIA: Oh....
She senses his insolence, goes self-consciously to the desk and takes out the wool.
DAN: Not much doin' round here for a girl, is there?
No answer.
It is not a very entertaining quarter of the world for a young lady, is it?
He gives it up as a bad job. DORA comes in from the kitchen. ”

“ Danny!
_She waits; there is complete silence. She rises, walks over to the kitchen door, and flings it wide open.
(Shouting_) Danny! (No reply.) He's gone ... They've all gone ... They've left me ... (Losing control, beating her hands wildly on her Bible) Oh, Lord, help a poor old woman ... They've left me! (Tottering to the sun-room) Danny ... where are you?... Danny ... I'm going to be murdered ... I'm going to be murdered!... Danny ... (Her voice rising, until she is shrieking hysterically) Danny! Danny! Danny! ”

“ MRS. BRAMSON: Lonely? All these lovely woods? What are you talking about? Don't you like nature?
NURSE: Will that be all for to-day?
MRS. BRAMSON: I suppose it'll have to be.
NURSE (rising and taking her bag from the sofa) : Well, I've that confined lady still waiting in Shepperley. (Going into the hall) Toodle-oo! ”

“ It is DAN, a cigarette between his lips. He stands motionless, his feet planted apart, holding the curtains. There is murder in his face. She is afraid to look, but is forced to at last.
Danny ... Oh ... Oh ...
DAN (smiling, suddenly normal and reassuring) : That's all right
... It's only Danny ...
MRS. BRAMSON: Thank God ... (Going off into laughing hysterics)
Ah ... ah ... ah ...
DAN throws his cigarette away, lays his hat on the occasional table, throws his mackintosh on the left window-seat, and sits beside her, patting her, looking round to see no one has heard her cries. ”

“ Good afternoon. Shall I wait for you in your bedroom?
MRS. BRAMSON: Yes. I feel absolutely dead.
NURSE (turning at the bedroom, eagerly) : Anything new re the murder?
HUBERT: I believe her head was cut off at one stroke.
NURSE (brightly) : Oh, poor thing....
She goes into the bedroom. DAN returns from the kitchen, carrying a tray of tea and cakes.
DAN: There you are, fresh as a daisy.—Three lumps, as per usual, and some of the cakes you like——
MRS. BRAMSON (as he pours out her tea) : Thank you, dear.... Let me smell your breath. (After smelling it) Clean as a whistle. Smells of peppermints. ”

“ With an amused look at OLIVIA, DAN holds out his hands. Without warning, BELSIZE claps a pair of handcuffs over his wrists, DAN stares at them a moment, then sits on the sofa and starts to pull at them furiously over his knee. He beats at them wildly, moaning and crying like an animal. He subsides gradually, looks at the others and rises.
DAN (muttering, holding his knee) : Hurt meself....
BELSIZE: That's better.... Better come along quietly....
He goes up towards the hall. DAN _follows him, and takes his hat from the occasional table. As puts it on he catches sight of his face in the mirror. ”

“ DAN (looking towards the desk) : What'll you have, then?
MRS. BRAMSON: I think I'd like the Bible.
A pause. He looks at her.
DAN: O.K. MRS. BRAMSON (as he goes smartly to the sofa, fetches the Bible, pulls up a chair to the right of her, sits, and looks for the place) : That piece you were reading.... It's Sunday.... Isn't that nice ... all the aches and pains quiet for once ... pretty peaceful....
DAN (reading) : "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful...." ”

“ DORA brings in an oil lamp from the kitchen; she is wearing her outdoor clothes. She crosses to the table, strikes a match with her back to the audience and lights the lamp, then the wall lamp. The twilight is dispelled.
NURSE (shutting her bag, rising) : You'll be all right; a bit light-headed after the fall, I expect. (Going to the hall) Well, got an abscess the other side of Turneyfield, and a slow puncture. So long, lovey.
DAN (sitting up) : So long!
NURSE: Be good, all!
She bustles out of the front door. A pause. DAN sits looking before him, drumming his fingers on the sofa. ”

“ It's very silly of you, trying to scare an old woman with a weak heart. What have you got to be frightened of?
OLIVIA: There's been a murder, you know.
MRS. BRAMSON: Nobody's going to murder you! Besides, we've got Danny to look after us. He's as strong as an ox, and no silly nerves about him.... What is it you're afraid of? ”

“ You do say some jolly rum things, Olivia, upon my soul.
OLIVIA: I'll tell you why, then, if it makes you feel any better. You're cautious; and you want to marry me because I'm quiet. I'd make you a steady wife, and run a home for you.
HUBERT: There's nothing to be ashamed of in being steady. I'm steady myself. ”

“ DAN: I'm passing Shepperley post office on the bike before post time to-morrow morning. With pleasure!
MRS. BRAMSON: Have you got to go back?
DAN: Now? Well, no, not really ... I've finished on duty now I done that errand, and this is my half day.
MRS. BRAMSON (imperiously) : Stay to lunch.
DAN (apparently taken aback, after a look at OLIVIA) : Well—I don't like to impose myself—
MRS. BRAMSON: In the kitchen, of course.
DAN: Oh, I know—
MRS. BRAMSON: There's plenty of food! Stay to lunch! ”

“ Set yourself on fire! Absent-minded!... I woke up all of a cold shiver.
Had a terrible dream.
DAN (mechanically) : What about?
MRS. BRAMSON: Horrors.... I'm freezing. Get me my shawl off my bed, will you, dear?... (As he does not move) My shawl, dear! DAN starts, collects himself and smiles his most ingratiating smile.
DAN: I am sorry, mum. In the Land of Nod, I was! Let me see, what was it your highness was after? A shawl? No sooner said than done.... You watch me! One, two, three!
He runs into the bedroom.
MRS. BRAMSON: Silly boy ... silly boy....
OLIVIA comes in quickly from the kitchen. ”

“ In the kitchen somewhere.
DAN: Through here?
He tosses the books on the sofa and hurries into the kitchen. MRS. BRAMSON holds out her hands and studies them with a new interest.
MRS. BRAMSON: That boy's got understanding.
OLIVIA: Enough to marry Dora?
MRS. BRAMSON: You ought to learn to be a little less bitter, my dear. Never hook a man if you don't. With him and that Dora, I'm not so sure it wasn't six of one and half a dozen of the other. I know human nature, and, mark my word, that boy's going to do big things. ”

“ OLIVIA crosses to the desk. A knock at the kitchen door: DORA appears, cautiously.
DORA: Was it about me?
OLIVIA: Of course it wasn't.
DORA (relieved) : Oh.... Please, mum, 'e's 'ere.
MRS. BRAMSON: Who?
DORA: My boy fr—my gentleman friend, ma'am, from the Tallboys.
MRS. BRAMSON: I'm ready for him. (Waving aside the wool which OLIVIA brings to her) The sooner he's made to realise what his duty is, the better. I'll give him baby-face!
DORA: Thank you, ma'am. ”

“ What's this? (Reading ponderously) A sonnet. "The flame of passion is not red but white, not quick but slow—"
OLIVIA (going to her and snatching it from her with a cry) :
Don't!
MRS. BRAMSON: Writing poetry! That's a hobby and a half, I must say!
"Flame of passion ..." well!
OLIVIA (crossing to the fireplace) : It's only a silly poem I amused myself with at college. It's not meant for anybody but me.
MRS. BRAMSON: You're a dark horse, you are.
MRS. TERENCE enters from the kitchen. She is the cook, middle-aged,
Cockney, and fearless. She carries a bunch of roses. ”

“ He is about to take the books into the kitchen, when he sees her. He crosses to her.
DAN: Excuse me ... (Taking the hat from her, cheerfully) I think
I'll hang it in the hall, same as if I was a visitor ...
He does so, then takes up the book, sits on the sofa, and begins to unravel the string. A pause.
You don't mind me stayin' and havin' a bit o' lunch ... in the kitchen, do you?
OLIVIA: It's not for me to say. As I told you before, I'm really a servant here.
DAN (after a pause) : You're not a very ordinary servant, though, are you? ”

“ MRS. TERENCE (taking up her tray and starting for the kitchen) : Then you come out and pick the ones you want, and you'll only 'ave yourself to blame.
MRS. BRAMSON: That's a nice way to talk to an invalid.
MRS. TERENCE: If you're an invalid, I'm the Prince of Wales.
She goes back into the kitchen.
OLIVIA: Would you like me to read some more?
BRAMSON: No. I'm upset for the day now. I'd better see she does pick the right roses. (Wheeling herself, muttering) That woman's a menace. Good mind to bring an action against her. She ought to be put away.... (Shouting) Wait for me, wait for me! ”

“ Thick plush curtains can be drawn across the entrance to the hall; they are open at the moment. Windows, one on each side of the hall, with window-seats and net curtains beyond which can be glimpsed the pine-trees of the forest. In the left wall, upstage, a door leading to the kitchen. In the left wall, downstage, the fireplace; above it, a cretonne-covered sofa, next to a very solid cupboard built into the wall; below it a cane armchair. In the right wall, upstage, a door leading to _MRS. BRAMSON'S _bedroom. In the right wall, downstage, wide-open paned doors leading to the sun-room. ”

“ DAN (turning to him casually) : Bar a murderer, o' course!
OLIVIA steps forward. MRS. TERENCE steps back from the chair on which the hat-box has been placed.
OLIVIA (incisively) : Talking of murder, do you know anything about Mrs. Chalfont's whereabouts at the moment?
DAN turns to her, and for the first time sees the hat-box. He stands motionless. A pause.
DAN: Mrs. Who? OLIVIA: You can't pretend you've never heard of her.
DAN (turning to HUBERT, recovering himself) : Oh, Mrs. Chalfont's whereabouts! I thought she said her name was Mrs. Chalfontswear. (Profusely) Silly.... ”

“ And people isn't able to think of holy things so much no more, only of the terrible things that's goin' on outside, that everybody's readin' about in the papers! (Looking at OLIVIA) Because they know that though it's still daylight, and everythin's or'nary and quiet ... to-day will be the same as all the other days, and come to an end, and it'll be night.... (After a pause, coming to earth again with a laugh at the others, throwing the newspaper on the sofa) I forgot it was Sunday!
MRS. BRAMSON (overawed) Good gracious ... what's come over you,
Danny? ”

“ MRS. TERENCE: The paper-boy's at the back gate, and says there's a placard in Shepperley, and it's got "News of the World—Shepperley Mystery" on it!
MRS. BRAMSON: What!
OLIVIA: They've got it in the papers!
MRS. TERENCE: They've got it in the papers! D'ye want any? (Beside herself.)
MRS. BRAMSON: Catch him quick!
MRS. TERENCE: First time I ever 'eard of Shepperley being in print before—hi!
She races out of the front door.
MRS. BRAMSON: Running around the house shouting like a lunatic!
Sensation mad! Silly woman!
DORA runs in from kitchen. ”

“ DORA comes in from the kitchen with a duster and crosses towards the bedroom. She is a pretty, stupid, and rather sluttish country girl of twenty, wearing a maid's uniform. She looks depressed.
Who are those men, Dora?
DORA: What men, miss?
OLIVIA: Over there, behind the clearing.
DORA: Oh.... (Peering past her) Oh. 'Adn't seen them. What are they doing poking about in that bush?
OLIVIA (absently) : I don't know. I saw them yesterday too, farther down the woods.
DORA (lamely) : I expect they're looking for something.
She goes into the bedroom. ”

“ Mechanically DAN takes a box of matches and a cigarette from his pocket.
MRS. TERENCE: I'll give you lurk, my girl, look at the egg on my toby! Why don't you learn to wash up, instead of walkin' about talking like three-halfpennyworth of trash?
DORA: I can't wash up properly in that kitchen, with that light. Them little oil lamps isn't any good except to set the place on fire.
She goes into the kitchen. DAN drums his fingers on the sofa. MRS. BRAMSON wheels herself from the bedroom. ”

“ BEFORE THE PLAY The orchestra plays light tunes until the house lights are turned down; the curtain rises in darkness, accompanied by solemn music. A small light grows in the middle of the stage, and shows the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE sitting in judgment, wearing wig and red robes of office, in the Court of Criminal Appeal. ”

“ Behind them trees.
(Clutching the invalid chair) Hundreds back of each tree.... Thousands of eyes. The whole damn world's on my track!... (Sitting on the edge of the sofa, and listening) What's that?... Like a big wall fallin' over into the sea.... (Closing his hands over his ears convulsively.)
OLIVIA (coming down to him) : They mustn't come in....
DAN (turning to her) : Yes, but ... (Staring) you're lookin' at me as if you never see'd me before....
OLIVIA: I never have. Nobody has. You've stopped acting at last. You're real. Frightened. Like a child. ”

“ MRS. BRAMSON: Every day for two weeks. Just before lunch.
HUBERT: Well—
OLIVIA (sitting on the sofa) : Perhaps I'd better introduce myself. I'm Olivia Grayne, Mrs. Bramson's niece. I work for her.
BELSIZE: Oh, I see. Thanks. Well now ...
HUBERT (sitting at the table, effusively) : I know a chap on the Stock Exchange who was taken last year and shown over the Black Museum at Scotland Yard. ”