[_Everyone is talking and arguing._ [_The following scene should be played with great speed._ SIMON: Who’ll go out? SOREL: I don’t mind. SIMON: No; you always guess it too quickly. JACKIE: What do we have to do? JUDITH: Choose an adverb, and then—— SIMON: Someone goes out, you see, and comes in, and you’ve chosen a word among yourselves, and she or he or whoever it is asks you some sort of question and you have to—— SOREL: Not an ordinary question, Simon; they have to ask them to do something in the manner of the word, and then—— SIMON: Then, you see, you act whatever it is—— SOREL: The answer to the question, you see? RICHARD (_apprehensively_): What sort of thing is one expected to do? JUDITH: Quite usual things, like reciting “If,” or playing the piano—— RICHARD: I can’t play the piano. SIMON: Never mind; you can fake it, as long as it conveys an idea of the word. JACKIE: The word we’ve all thought of? SOREL (_impatient_): Yes, the word we’ve chosen when whoever it is is out of the room. JACKIE: I’m afraid I don’t quite understand yet. SIMON: Never mind; I’ll explain. You see, someone goes out.... SOREL: I’ll go out the first time, just to show her. JUDITH: It’s quite simple—all you have to do is just act in the manner of the word. SOREL: Look here, everybody, I’m going out. SIMON: All right; go on. MYRA: The History game’s awfully good—when two people go out, and come back as Queen Elizabeth and Crippen or somebody. SANDY (_despondently_): I’m no earthly good at this sort of thing. SOREL: I’ll show you, Sandy. You see.... JUDITH: There’s always “How, When and Where?” We haven’t played that for ages. SIMON: We will afterwards. We’ll do this one first.—Go on, Sorel. SOREL: Don’t be too long. (_She goes out._) SIMON: Now then. JUDITH: “Bitterly.” SIMON: No, we did that last week; she’ll know. DAVID: “Intensely.” JUDITH: Too difficult. RICHARD: There was an amusing game I played once at the Harringtons’ house. Everyone was blindfolded except—— SIMON: This room’s not big enough for that. What about “winsomely”? JACKIE: I wish I knew what we had to do. JUDITH: You’ll see when we start playing. MYRA: _If_ we start playing. SIMON: Mother’s brilliant at this. Do you remember when we played it at the Mackenzies’? JUDITH: Yes, and Blanche was so cross when I kissed Freddie’s ear in the manner of the word. RICHARD: What was the word? JUDITH: I can’t remember. MYRA: Perhaps it’s as well. DAVID: What about “drearily”? JUDITH: Not definite enough. SIMON: “Winsomely” is the best. JUDITH: She’s sure to guess it straight off. SIMON (_confidentially to JACKIE_): These games are much too brainy for me. DAVID: Young Norman Robertson used to be marvellous—do you remember? SIMON: Yes, wonderful sense of humour. MYRA: He’s lost it all since his marriage. JUDITH: I didn’t know you knew him. MYRA: Well, considering he married my cousin—— RICHARD: We don’t seem to be getting on with the game.