TOM Many a man before you has tried to deny paternity with a laugh. GRANT But you’re old enough to _be_ my father. Are you accusing me of improving on Nature? TOM All artists do. (_Picking up manuscript of_ THE LONELY WAY.) Here’s how you described me. (_Reading_) “... his eyes have a relentless coldness when they narrow ... mouth firm but cruel.... Not attractive but impressive.” There I am. Read it for yourself. GRANT Then you are--? TOM (_Sarcastically_) Your child. Your once dearly beloved brain baby. GRANT (_Awed_) Tom Robinson! TOM As you originally conceived him here in THE LONELY WAY. GRANT Well, I’m damned. TOM I suspect you are. _That’s_ what I’m here to see. (_Ominously_) And then if.... (_Suddenly casual_) But sit down and we’ll talk it over calmly first. (GRANT _sits down astonished_. TOM _sits also_.) Thanks. GRANT Go on. TOM Look at me. Here I am, as you drew me. Tom Robinson. Your greatest creation! GRANT I recognize the egotism. TOM (_Blurting_) I am what my egotism made me. Your egotism also made you dare to conceive me, here at this very desk, out of your brain, in the puffs of your cheap cigarettes. The taps on your typewriter were my first heart beats. Your birth pains were my own cries of life. GRANT You certainly gave me a lot of trouble. TOM But you never suffered in having me as I did last night when I went with you to THE SAND BAR and saw what you’d done to Tom Robinson! GRANT (_More and more amused at what seems to be the childish petulance of an admittedly great man_) You must have had quite a shock. TOM Shock? I was disgusted! Why, the actor who’s interpreting me isn’t even bad looking. GRANT No. He couldn’t be. He’s a star. TOM But _I_ was your original conception. Why did you alter me into a good-looking fashion plate with charm? There never was anything charming about me; _never_. GRANT (_Glancing towards his wife’s door_) Please not so loud. I made you unpleasant, I know; but don’t pile it on, Tom. TOM (_With dignity_) Robinson to you. GRANT (_Smiling_) I beg your pardon. TOM Why you authors feel you can take liberties with your characters is beyond me. I, for one, shall be treated with respect. (_His eyes narrow_.) Unless you have lost your capacity to respect a work of art like me. GRANT Come, come. I’m afraid it’s you who have lost your sense of humor. TOM (_Sarcastically_) Perhaps you didn’t give me as much humor as you thought. GRANT But can’t we talk over the object of your visit in a friendly spirit? (_With a smile_.) Say, as father to son? TOM You’ll take me seriously before I’m through. I’ll remind you that _I_ was a force in THE LONELY WAY though in THE SAND BAR Tom Robinson is merely a figure. One suit a year was good enough for me. You make him change his every act. GRANT (_More at ease_) I’m afraid you don’t understand the demands of the modern theater. TOM What have I--a great character--to do with the modern theater? GRANT