Hall Caine

“ Sir Robert.
You should have thought of that before, my girl.
Margaret.
There's Freda, she's as innocent of this as a babe unborn. She didn't want me to come here in her place, but I persuaded her. And then there's Otto. He's a dear, good boy, but he's hot and headstrong, and I've had to mother him since mother died. Freda and Otto expect to be married after this cruel war is over. You should see how happy they are. They are like children in their happiness. And if I had to think that I had been the means——
Sir Robert. ”

“ Margaret.
Then we are all slaves!
Doctor.
Margaret!
Margaret.
Bound slaves of the powers above us!
Fritz.
Blasphemy! Blasphemy against our King and Kaiser!
Margaret.
[Pointing to the portrait of the Kaiser.] Yes, your King and Kaiser—that's it! That's the root of everything when I come to think of it—not what I thought it was two months ago. We must commit
any sin, cover ourselves with infamy, become the pariahs and lepers of the earth to uphold the throne of this tyrant, this criminal.
Doctor.
[Indignantly.] Margaret! ”

“ Margaret.
Yes.
Sir Robert.
Then where is your gratitude, your honesty, your honour? You have not only broken your pledge to me, but your oath before God. [The girl stands silent, with head bowed.] Why have you broken it? If you have anything to say, I ask you to say it. You are a woman—I have no wish to be hard on you. There may be circumstances which explain, if they do not excuse, your conduct. Are there? [Still the girl stands silent.] Has any constraint been put upon you—any compulsion? ”

“ It will be all over the world to-morrow morning—before midnight, perhaps.
Sir Robert.
[Rapturously.] To-night of all nights, too! What a Christmas greeting! Already I hear it crackling through the dark air all over Europe! Already I hear the Christmas bells ringing! Peace to men, after all the bloodshed and barbarity! We have a Cabinet at ten in the morning. You must be here, Burnley.
Lord Burnley.
I shall be.
Sir Robert.
[Carried away, enthusiastically, with exaltation.] Our work comes now. We must hold the ground the free peoples of the world have won. No more brute force! ”

“ Margaret.
Oh no, no! How can you believe it?
Sir Robert.
Believe it? Aren't your countrymen doing as much every day? Worse—far worse! And now you—while my little daughter who loves you lies asleep upstairs—on Christmas Eve, too . . . [He points to the Christmas tree. The girl covers her face and sobs.] I don't mind saying this is a blow to me. When I first permitted you to remain here perhaps I was thinking less of showing mercy and forgiveness than of safeguarding the country until the suspicions of the police could be substantiated or dispelled. ”

“ Freda.
Yes, she is dead.
Margaret,
Ah!
[Breathless silence among the company.
Freda.
But why do you ask, Margaret? I'm not afraid to go into a strange family. When a girl has to earn her living she can't afford to be afraid. Besides, Lady Dorothy must be a dear, and if you had heard what my lady used to say about her husband you would think he was a saint, an angel.
Margaret.
[Impulsively, excitedly.] Freda, would you do me—Otto, all of us—a great kindness?
Freda.
My dear, you know I would.
Margaret.
Then—then—let me go to Sir Robert Temple's house instead of you.
Freda. ”

“ Margaret.
Otto, I must confess——
Otto.
It is for us to do it, too—his children. Fate has put it into our power to avenge our father's death, and we must avenge it.
Margaret.
But, Otto, my dear Otto——
Otto.
You must let me into that house to-night, Margaret, and then I—I will do the rest.
Margaret.
[Getting close.] No, no! "What has been going on here has excited you—intoxicated you. You are not yourself to-night, Otto. You mustn't listen to what they say at the Club. This lust of crime is madness—insanity. It would overwhelm the world with darkness—Besides, it is all a mistake. ”

“ Do you mean that—that their lives are in danger? [Sir Robert nods without speaking. Margaret gasps.] Oh! [After a breathless moment, panting.] Sir Robert Temple, you are great and powerful. I am only a woman—let me go.
Sir Robert.
Go, if you wish to. [With a little cry of joy she is making for the door, when he raises his hand.] But, if you are wise, you'll stay where you are—for the present. This house is the only safe place for you to-night. While you are here, you are Freda Michel. The moment you pass my door you are Margaret Schiller, who has been found out and is making a bolt for it. ”

“ Margaret.
But that is assassination!
Doctor.
[Still more feverishly.] Even assassination is justifiable when it is necessary. Mercy, humanity, pity—we must wipe them all out now. War is war, and if a nation is to live——
Margaret.
Then war is of the devil, and the nation that cannot live without crime deserves only to be damned.
Doctor.
[Lifting both hands to her.] Ach, Gott! Is it your father's Fatherland you are speaking of?
Fritz.
[Intervening.] Leave her to me, father. I begin to understand. [Dr. Schiller goes up; Fritz turns to Margaret.] ”

“ O God, what a lesson to such of us as have been dreaming dreams of universal brotherhood—seeing visions of a liberated world—when the enemy rulers have been set aside and we can safely make peace with the people! Folly! Madness! Suicide! People and rulers are all alike. Only one peace can be made with either of them, and that is the peace of Victory.
Lady Dorothy.
But there are good and bad in all nations, Robert, and even among our enemies there must be loyal, faithful, unselfish souls——
Sir Robert. ”

“ Otto.
[Bitterly.] His mercy!
Margaret.
He will forgive you—I'm sure he will. He will see that compulsion has been put upon you, and if you are in danger from the law—Oh, he is so wise, so generous——
Otto.
Don't begin pleading for him again, Margaret. It drives me mad. I hate him! I hate him! To kill him will be God's own vengeance.
Margaret.
Otto, when it's over you must get away quickly.
Otto.
I shall.
Margaret.
Uncle, aunt, everybody—you should leave London to-morrow. ”

“ Do what you like with all of us. It can't be worse than what you did with my father when you said in Parliament he had eaten your bread—your country's bread—and you thought you had bought his soul with it. My miserable country! What about yours—that robs children of their fathers, and leaves them to beggary, though they are as innocent as your own child in her cot upstairs. Yes, do what you like. It will only be a quicker death. You killed my father—kill his daughter also. Do you think I shall be afraid?
Sir Robert.
I am not called upon to defend myself against your accusations, my girl. ”

“ You have taken advantage of an accidental circumstance to worm your way into a Minister's house, that by peeking and prying and poking your nose into every corner of his public life, you may betray the secrets of his Government to your miserable country, which condescends to any deceit and treachery, no matter how mean and despicable, to destroy the laws of God and man. ”

“ Nothing could be better for them, and perhaps nothing else so good. But there is another part of the public who live at home, and have to face bereavement and the strain of ever-renewed and increasing self-sacrifice if we are to endure to the end of this grim business. Is it too much to assume that this public (a very large one) asks in the theatre, as elsewhere, for the food that aims, however humbly, to strengthen the muscles of its soul, to lift up its heart, and exalt its hope that after so much suffering the world may win through to a joyful peace? ”

“ Sir Robert.
[With great feeling, taking her hand.] We are all children of one Father, Margaret. The boundaries of the human heart are wider than the widest empire. When this cruel war is over, and the suffering world is born again——
[The church bells begin to ring.
Margaret.
[With bright eyes, listening.] Hark! I hear the peace bells ringing!
Sir Robert.
They are the Christmas bells, Margaret. And this is Peggy's Christmas tree, and those [Listening to soft voices overhead] are the Christmas carol-singers who were to sing outside her door. ”

“ No, the time has come when that terror has to die if liberty is to live, and it is for us to kill it. Therefore we sent our Ultimatum this morning, and if as a consequence we are called upon to make the sacrifices of war for the things that are more to us than life, we must make them— every man, every woman, every child. [There is a moment of silence. Then from within comes the cry of a child. Sir Robert listens, then touches bell. Maidservant enters.] ”

“ Man has made his Frankenstein, and now God knows if it will not destroy him.
Sir Robert.
[Who has been listening in silence.] Gentlemen, let us not lose our strength in sentimentality. War is always terrible, and it may be even more terrible in the future than it has ever been in the past. But are we to buy the temporary ease and safety of our bodies at the lasting peril of our souls? ”

“ Margaret.
A nation that has lost all sense of right and wrong, all honour in peace and all chivalry in war.
Doctor.
Then you are a traitor.
Margaret.
No, no, I am no traitor. I was born here. My father was naturalized. I am an Englishwoman. This is my country. ”

“ Scene.—Sir Robert Temple's house, as before. It is the same night. A slow fire is burning. Otherwise the room is in darkness. The window at back is open, as if to air the room, showing searchlights pulsing in the sky. On R. a Christmas tree can be seen, covered with fairy lamps and toys.
The door on L. is ajar, and a streak of light comes out of it. There comes from within the sound of voices. As curtain rises these voices increase. ”

“ Sir Malcolm.
We must not, sir.
Sir Robert.
If it should ever come to your knowledge that enemy aliens of either sex are being harboured in the houses of public servants you must rout them out.
Sir Malcolm.
I shall.
Sir Robert.
We have five millions of men on the battlefields to think about. It is our duty to see that their lives are not further imperilled by secret communication with the enemy. ”

“ Margaret.
Oh, you can't frighten me with what will happen to myself. Perhaps I have other reasons than you know of for not wishing Sir Robert Temple to find out that I've deceived him, but since it is necessary that he should know, he shall know. You can't frighten me about Otto either. If the worst comes to the worst it is better that he should be punished for consenting to commit a crime than for committing it. But he will not be punished. The Minister will protect him. You think he won't, but he will. I know he will! ”

“ While Sir Robert has been reading, Margaret Schiller has been listening intently and going through an agony of astonishment and remorse. When he finishes she staggers forward and, after a great struggle, drops to her knees at his feet. ”

“ Margaret.
Yes, that too—for now I know that he is not the heartless monster I supposed him to be, but a tender father, an affectionate friend, a noble and generous——
Fritz.
[With a crack of bitter laughter.] As I thought! I warned you that a man like that might take advantage of a young girl, a beautiful girl—But is it possible that exactly the reverse has happened—that you have fallen into your own trap—become his worshipper, his slave, his plaything?
Margaret.
[Leaping up and lifting hands as if to strike him.] Fritz! [Recovering herself.] But no matter! I will not do it. ”

“ Tell her, father.
Doctor.
[Sitting L. of Margaret.] Listen, my child! The Council of our Club has just separated. You know why we met?
Margaret.
I know what Otto told me this morning.
Doctor.
About the English Minister?
Margaret.
Yes.
Doctor.
That's it. While you have been away this brutal war has been going from bad to worse. Whole towns, cities, provinces, continents swept utterly away. The world has never before seen the like of it. Destruction and desolation everywhere—in the land, in the air, on the sea, under the sea. It is too much. Flesh and blood cannot bear any more. ”

“ But you are all alike. It is the mad, bad blood in such as you that is deluging the world in crime. God forgive you! I cannot! [The girl is still sobbing. There is a short pause. Sir Robert goes up and returns.] Well, you know what I might do. I might hand you over to the police. I don't propose to do that. I propose to—let you off. [The girl utters a cry of joy.] Ah, don't suppose I'm thinking of you. I'm thinking of myself now. I have no wish that all the world should know that I've harboured a woman like you in my house. You must leave it to-night.
Margaret. ”

“ As the curtain rises their heads are raised and turned half aside, as if listening. There is a low rumble of guns without. Otto stands by one of the windows, holding a curtain slightly aside as if looking out through a narrow aperture. The tumbling dies away. ”