GEORGE (indignantly) Was it for this sort of thing, Olivia, that you
insisted on having Dinah and Mr. Strange in here? To insult me in my
own house?
LADY MARDEN. I can't think what young people are coming to nowadays.
OLIVIA. I think, dear, you and Brian had better go.
DINAH (getting up). We will go. But I'm just going to say one thing,
Uncle George. Brian and I _are_ going to marry each other, and when we
are married we'll stick to each other, _however_ many of our dead
husbands and wives turn up!
[She goes out indignantly, followed by BRIAN.
GEORGE. Upon my word, this is a pleasant discussion.
OLIVIA. I think the discussion is over, George. It is only a question
of where I shall go, while you are bringing your--what sort of suit
did you call it?
LADY MARDEN (to GEORGE). Nullity suit. I suppose that _is_ the best
thing?
GEORGE. It's horrible. The awful publicity. That it should be
happening to _us_, that's what I can't get over.
LADY MARDEN. I don't remember anything of the sort in the Marden
Family before, ever.
GEORGE (absently). Lady Fanny.
LADY MARDEN (recollecting). Yes, of course; but that was two hundred
years ago. The standards were different then. Besides, it wasn't quite
the same, anyhow.
GEORGE (absently). No, it wasn't quite the same.
LADY MARDEN. No. We shall all feel it. Terribly.
GEORGE (his apology). If there were any other way! Olivia, what _can_
I do? It _is_ the only way, isn't it? All that that fellow said--of
course, it sounds very well--but as things are. . . . _Is_ there anything
in marriage, or isn't there? You believe that there is, don't you? You
aren't one of these Socialists. Well, then, _can_ we go on living
together when you're another man's wife? It isn't only what people
will say, but it _is_ wrong, isn't it? . . . And supposing he doesn't
divorce you, are we to go on living together, unmarried, for _ever_?
Olivia, you seem to think that I'm just thinking of the
publicity--what people will say. I'm not. I'm not. That comes in any
way. But I want to do what's right, what's best. I don't mean what's
best for _us_, what makes us happiest, I mean what's really best,
what's rightest. What anybody else would do in my place. _I_ don't
know. It's so unfair. You're not my wife at all, but I want to do
what's right. . . . Oh, Olivia, Olivia, you do understand, don't you?
(They have both forgotten LADY MARDEN. OLIVIA has never taken her eyes
off him as he makes his last attempt to convince himself.)
OLIVIA (almost tenderly). So very very well, George. Oh, I understand
just what you are feeling. And oh, I do so wish that you could--(with
a little sigh)--but then it wouldn't be George, not the George I
married--(with a rueful little laugh)--or didn't quite marry.
LADY MARDEN. I must say, I think you are both talking a little wildly.
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