John Galsworthy

“ MAUD. No; you've got to hear things. You don't really love anybody but yourself, father. What's good for you has to be good for everybody. I've often heard you talk about independence, but it's a limited company and you've got all the shares.
BUILDER. Rot; only people who can support themselves have a right to independence.
MAUD. That's why you don't want me to support myself.
BUILDER. You can't! Film, indeed! You'd be in the gutter in a year.
Athene's got her pittance, but you—you've got nothing.
MAUD. Except my face.
BUILDER. It's the face that brings women to ruin, my girl. ”

“ DE LEVIS. Society! Do you think I don't know that I'm only tolerated for my money? Society can't add injury to insult and have my money as well, that's all. If the notes are restored I'll keep my mouth shut; if they're not, I shan't. I'm certain I'm right. I ask nothing better than to be confronted with Dancy; but, if you prefer it, deal with him in your own way—for the sake of your esprit de corps.
CANYNGE. 'Pon my soul, Mr De Levis, you go too far.
DE LEVIS. Not so far as I shall go, General Canynge, if those notes aren't given back. ”

“ CONSTABLE. A lady and gentleman, sir.
INSPECTOR. What lady and— Stand by, Grover!
DANCY'S VOICE. All right! You can come in now.
There is the noise of a lock being turned. And almost immediately the sound of a pistol shot in the bedroom. MABEL rushes to the door, tears it open, and disappears within, followed by the INSPECTOR, just as MARGARET ORME and COLFORD come in from the passage, pursued by the CONSTABLE. They, too, all hurry to the bedroom door and disappear for a moment; then COLFORD and MARGARET reappear, supporting MABEL, who faints as they lay her on the sofa. ”

“ MARY. [Contemptuously] Chivalry! Pouf! Chivalry was "off" even before the war, Johnny. Who wants chivalry?
JOHNNY. Of all shallow-pated humbug—that sneering at chivalry's the worst. Civilisation—such as we've got—is built on it.
MARY. [Airily] Then it's built on sand. [She sits beside him on the fender.]
JOHNNY. Sneering and smartness! Pah!
MARY. [Roused] I'll tell you what, Johnny, it's mucking about with chivalry that makes your poetry rotten. [JOHNNY seizes her arm and twists it] Shut up—that hurts. [JOHNNY twists it more] You brute! [JOHNNY lets her arm go.] ”

“ JOHNNY. Oh! I can trust myself.
FAITH. [Turning to the window, through which can be seen the darkening of a shower] It's raining. Father says windows never stay clean.
They stand dose together, unaware that COOK has thrown up the service shutter, to see why the clearing takes so long. Her astounded head and shoulders pass into view just as FAITH suddenly puts up her face. JOHNNY'S lips hesitate, then move towards her forehead. But her face shifts, and they find themselves upon her lips. Once there, the emphasis cannot help but be considerable. COOK'S mouth falls open. ”

“ Do you know what sort of people Athene associates with now—I suppose you see her?
MAUD. Sometimes.
BUILDER. Well?
MAUD. Nobody much. There isn't anybody here to associate with. It's all hopelessly behind the times.
BUILDER. Oh! you think so! That's the inflammatory fiction you pick up. I tell you what, young woman—the sooner you and your sister get rid of your silly notions about not living at home, and making your own way, the sooner you'll both get married and make it. Men don't like the new spirit in women—they may say they do, but they don't.
MAUD. You don't, father, I know. ”

“ In the sitting-room of this small abode MABEL DANCY and MARGARET ORME are sitting full face to the audience, on a couch in the centre of the room, in front of the imaginary window. There is a fireplace, Left, with fire burning; a door below it, Left; and a door on the Right, facing the audience, leads to a corridor and the outer door of the flat, which is visible. Their voices are heard in rapid exchange; then as the curtain rises, so does MABEL.
MABEL. But it's monstrous! ”

“ JOHNNY. Fellows like you—
MR MARCH. Johnny!
P. C. MAN. Your son, sir?
YOUNG M. Yes; and wants to be where I am. But my girl knows better; don't you?
He gives FAITH a look which has a certain magnetism.
P. C. MAN. If we could have the Court cleared of ladies, sir, we might speak a little plainer.
MR MARCH. Joan!
But MRS MARCH does not vary her smiling immobility; FAITH draws a
little nearer to the YOUNG MAN. MARY turns to the fire.
P. C. MAN. [With half a smile] I keep on forgettin' that women are men nowadays. Well! ”

“ Johnny
Builder! Johnny Builder! Johnny Builder!
BUILDER rises, turns and stares at them. The THREE HEADS disappear, and a Boy's voice cries shrilly: "Johnny Builder!" BUILDER moves towards the window; voices are now crying in various pitches and keys: "Johnny Builder!" "Beatey Builder!" "Beat 'is wife-er!" "Beatey Builder!"
BUILDER stands quite motionless, staring, with the street lamp lighting up a queer, rather pitiful defiance on his face. The voices swell. There comes a sudden swish and splash of water, and broken yells of dismay. ”

“ JOHNNY. Sorry! [He has a pipe in his hand and wears a Norfolk jacket]
Fond of flowers?
FAITH. Yes. [She puts back the flower] Ever so!
JOHNNY. Stick to it. Put it in your hair; it'll look jolly. How do you like it here?
FAITH. It's quiet.
JOHNNY. Ha! I wonder if you've got the feeling I have. We've both had hell, you know; I had three years of it, out there, and you've had three years of it here. The feeling that you can't catch up; can't live fast enough to get even.
FAITH nods.
Nothing's big enough; nothing's worth while enough—is it? ”

“ DE LEVIS. Well, I shall tell people that you and Lord St Erth backed me up for one Club, and asked me to resign from another.
CANYNGE. It's a matter of indifference to me, sir, what you tell people.
ST ERTH. [Drily] You seem a venomous young man.
DE LEVIS. I'll tell you what seems to me venomous, my lord—chasing a man like a pack of hounds because he isn't your breed.
CANYNGE. You appear to have your breed on the brain, sir. Nobody else does, so far as I know.
DE LEVIS. Suppose I had robbed Dancy, would you chase him out for complaining of it?
COLFORD. My God! ”

“ MRS MARCH. It's all your father. What can one expect when your father carries on like a lunatic over his paper every morning?
MARY. Father must have opinions of his own.
MRS MARCH. He has only one: Whatever is, is wrong.
MARY. He can't help being intellectual, Mother.
MRS MARCH. If he would only learn that the value of a sentiment is the amount of sacrifice you are prepared to make for it!
MARY. Yes: I read that in "The Times" yesterday. Father's much safer than Johnny. Johnny isn't safe at all; he might make a sacrifice any day. What were they doing?
MRS MARCH. Cook caught them kissing. ”

“ I'm going. You'll hardly try violence in the presence of your wife; and if you try it anywhere else—look out for yourself.
DANCY. Mabel, I want to speak to him alone.
MABEL. No, no!
DE LEVIS. Quite right, Mrs Dancy. Black and tan swashbuckling will only make things worse for him.
DANCY. So you shelter behind a woman, do you, you skulking cur!
DE LEVIS takes a step, with fists clenched and eyes blazing. DANCY, too, stands ready to spring—the moment is cut short by MABEL going quickly to her husband.
MABEL. Don't, Ronny. It's undignified! He isn't worth it. ”

“ MABEL. So easy, isn't it? I could kill anybody who believes such a thing.
MARGARET. You'll want a solicitor, Mabel, Go to old Mr Jacob Twisden.
LADY A. Yes; he's so comforting.
MARGARET. He got my pearls back once—without loss of life. A frightfully good fireside manner. Do get him here, Mabel, and have a heart-to-heart talk, all three of you!
MABEL. [Suddenly] Listen! There's Ronny!
DANCY comes in.
DANCY. [With a smile] Very good of you to have come.
MARGARET. Yes. We're just going. Oh! Ronny, this is quite too—
[But his face dries her up; and sidling past, she goes] . ”

“ Oh! It's you, General. Come in. Adela's told you?
GENERAL CANYNGE nods. He is a slim man of about sixty, very well preserved, intensely neat and self-contained, and still in evening dress. His eyelids droop slightly, but his eyes are keen and his expression astute.
WINSOR. Well, General, what's the first move?
CANYNGE. [Lifting his eyebrows] Mr De Levis presses the matter?
DE Levis. [Flicked again] Unless you think it's too plebeian of me,
General Canynge—a thousand pounds.
CANYNGE. [Drily] Just so! Then we must wait for the police, WINSOR. Lady Adela has got through to them. ”

“ JOHN BUILDER is sitting in his after-breakfast chair before the fire with The Times in his hands. He has breakfasted well, and is in that condition of first-pipe serenity in which the affairs of the nation seem almost bearable. He is a tallish, square, personable man of forty-seven, with a well-coloured, jowly, fullish face, marked under the eyes, which have very small pupils and a good deal of light in them. His bearing has force and importance, as of a man accustomed to rising and ownerships, sure in his opinions, and not lacking in geniality when things go his way. ”

“ LADY A. Lord St Erth and Ferdy De Levis.
WINSOR. That young man has too much luck—the young bounder won two races to-day; and he's as rich as Croesus.
LADY A. Oh! Charlie, he did look so exactly as if he'd sold me a carpet when I was paying him.
WINSOR. [Changing into slippers] His father did sell carpets, wholesale, in the City.
LADY A. Really? And you say I haven't intuition! [With a finger on her lips] Morison's in there.
WINSOR. [Motioning towards the door, which she shuts] Ronny Dancy took a tenner off him, anyway, before dinner. ”

“ There's nobody but Cook.
MR MARCH. [Lighting his pipe] Anywhere.
He slews the armchair towards the fire.
MARY. I'll get your things, then.
She goes out.
JOHNNY. [Still on the fender] What do you say, Dad? Is civilisation built on chivalry or on self-interest?
MR MARCH. The question is considerable, Johnny. I should say it was built on contract, and jerry-built at that.
JOHNNY. Yes; but why do we keep contracts when we can break them with advantage and impunity?
MR MARCH. But do we keep them?
JOHNNY. Well—say we do; otherwise you'll admit there isn't such a thing as civilisation at all. ”

“ LADY A. Well—No. [Looking at the bedroom door] That poor child! I quite agree. I shall tell every body it's ridiculous. You don't really think Ronald Dancy—?
MARGARET. I don't know, Adela. There are people who simply can't live without danger. I'm rather like that myself. They're all right when they're getting the D.S.O. or shooting man-eaters; but if there's no excitement going, they'll make it—out of sheer craving. I've seen Ronny Dancy do the maddest things for no mortal reason except the risk. ”

“ ATHENE. Shall I call Guy?
He drops his hands.
Confess that being a good husband and father has tried you terribly. It has us, you know.
BUILDER. [Taking refuge in sarcasm] When you've quite done being funny, perhaps you'll tell me why you've behaved like a common street flapper.
ATHENE. [Simply] I couldn't bear to think of Guy as a family man. That's all—absolutely. It's not his fault; he's been awfully anxious to be one. ”

“ DANCY. Because I didn't.
DE LEVIS. Then Kentman and Goole lied—for no reason?
DANCY. That's nothing to do with me.
DE LEVIS. If you were downstairs all the time, as you say, why was your door first open and then shut?
DANCY. Being downstairs, how should I know? The wind, probably.
DE LEVIS. I should like to hear what your wife says about it.
DANCY. Leave my wife alone, you damned Jew!
ST ERTH. Captain Dancy!
DE LEVIS. [White with rage] Thief!
DANCY. Will you fight?
DE LEVIS. You're very smart-dead men tell no tales. No! Bring your action, and we shall see. ”

“ BUILDER. Now, look here, Athene. It's always been my way to face accomplished facts. What's done can't be undone; but it can be remedied. You must marry this young——at once, before it gets out. He's behaved like a ruffian: but, by your own confession, you've behaved worse. You've been bitten by this modern disease, this—this, utter lack of common decency. There's an eternal order in certain things, and marriage is one of them; in fact, it's the chief. ”

“ He pours brandy into a liqueur glass from the decanter which stands between them. MRS MARCH puts the brandy to her lips and makes a little face, then swallows it down manfully. MARY gets up with the walnuts and goes. Silence. Gloom.
MRS MARCH. Horrid stuff!
MR MARCH. Haven't you begun to see that your policy's hopeless, Joan?
Come! Tell the girl she can stay. If we make Johnny feel victorious—we
can deal with him. It's just personal pride—the curse of this world.
Both you and Johnny are as stubborn as mules.
MRS MARCH. Human nature is stubborn, Geof. ”

“ WINSOR. They had Kentman, and Goole, the Inspector, the other bobby, my footman, Dancy's banker, and his tailor.
GRAVITER. Did we shake Kentman or Goole?
WINSOR. Very little. Oh! by the way, the numbers of those two notes were given, and I see they're published in the evening papers. I suppose the police wanted that. I tell you what I find, Graviter—a general feeling that there's something behind it all that doesn't come out.
GRAVITER. The public wants it's money's worth—always does in these
Society cases; they brew so long beforehand, you see.
WINSOR. They're looking for something lurid. ”

“ COLFORD. Wouldn't you have wanted a shot at the brute? A law court?
Pah!
WINSOR. Yes. What'll be his position even if he wins?
BORRING. Damages, and a stain on his c-character.
WINSOR. Quite so, unless they find the real thief. People always believe the worst.
COLFORD. [Glaring at BORRING] They do.
CANYNGE. There is no decent way out of a thing of this sort.
ST ERTH. No. [Rising] It leaves a bad taste. I'm sorry for young Mrs
Dancy—poor woman!
BORRING. Are you going to play any more?
ST ERTH. [Abruptly] No, sir. Good night to you. Canynge, can I give you a lift? ”