EVELYN. I never had any.
CECIL. Poor little kid. You must have been rather lonely.
EVELYN [_matter-of-fact_]. There was always Reggie.
CECIL. Reggie?
EVELYN. My cousin, Reggie Townsend. He lived with us when we were
children. His parents were in India.
CECIL [_matter-of-fact_]. So he used to quarrel with you instead.
EVELYN [_shocked_]. Oh no! We _never_ quarreled. At least, Reggie never
did. _I_ did sometimes.
CECIL. How dull! There's no good in quarreling if people won't quarrel
back.
EVELYN. I don't think there's any good in quarreling at all.
CECIL. Oh, yes, there is. There's the making it up again.
EVELYN. Was that why you used to quarrel with your sister?
CECIL. I expect so, though I didn't know it, of course--then. I used to
tease her awfully, I remember, and pull her hair. She had awfully jolly
hair. Like yours--oh! I forgot, I mustn't say that. Used you to pull
Reggie's hair?
EVELYN [_laughing_]. I'm afraid I did sometimes.
CECIL. I was sure of it. How long was he with you?
EVELYN. Till he went to Winchester. And of course he used to be with us
in the holidays after that. And he comes to us now whenever he can get
away for a few days. He's in his uncle's office in the city. He'll be a
partner some day.
CECIL. Poor chap!
EVELYN. _Poor_ chap! Mother says he's very _fortunate_.
CECIL. She would. Parents always think it very fortunate when young men
have to go to an office every day. I know mine do.
EVELYN. _Do_ you go to an office every day?
CECIL. No.
EVELYN [_with dignity_]. Then I don't think you can know much about it,
can you?
CECIL [_carelessly_]. I know too much. That's why I don't go.
EVELYN. What _do_ you do?
CECIL. I don't do anything. I'm at the Bar.
EVELYN. If you're at the Bar, why are you down here instead of up in
London working?
CECIL. Because if I were in London I might possibly get a brief. It's
not likely, but it's possible. And if I got a brief I should have to be
mugging in chambers, or wrangling in a stuffy court, instead of sitting
under a tree in the shade with you.
EVELYN. But _ought_ you to waste your time like that?
CECIL [_genuinely shocked_]. _Waste_ my time! To sit under a tree--a
really nice tree like this--talking to you. You can call that _wasting
time_!
EVELYN. Isn't it?
CECIL. No! To sit in a frowsy office adding up figures when the sky's
blue and the weather's heavenly, _that's_ wasting time. The only real
way in which one can waste time is not to enjoy it, to spend one's day
blinking at a ledger and never notice how beautiful the world is, and
how good it is to be alive. To be only making money when one might be
making love, _that_ is wasting time!
EVELYN. How earnestly you say that!
[_Cecil leans forward--close to her._]
CECIL. Isn't it true?
EVELYN [_troubled_]. Perhaps it is. [_Looks away from him._]
CECIL. You know it is. Every one knows it. Only people won't admit it.
[_Leaning towards her and looking into her eyes._] You know it at this
moment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account