Complete Poems and Plays (84 page)

Anyway, I
knew
there had been some mistake.

You don’t know at all what I’m talking about!

But if he knew that he was your son

He must have been staggered when I said I was your daughter!

I came to thank him for the shock he’d given me.

He made me see what I really wanted.

B. makes me feel safe. And that’s what I want.

And somehow or other, I’ve something to give him —

Something that he needs. Colby doesn’t need me,

He doesn’t need anyone. He’s fascinating,

But he’s undependable. He has his own world,

And he might vanish into it at any moment —

At just the moment when you needed him most!

And he doesn’t depend upon other people, either.

B. needs me. He’s been hurt by life, just as I have,

And we can help each other. Oh, I know you think of him

Simply as a business man. As you thought of me

Simply as a nuisance. We’re suited to each other:

You thought so too, Claude, but for the wrong reasons,

And that put me off. So I’m grateful to Colby.

S
IR
C
LAUDE.
I don’t know what’s happened, but nevertheless

I’m sure that you have made the right decision.

L
UCASTA.
But the reasons why you think so are the wrong ones.

L
ADY
E
LIZABETH.
And I’m sure too, Lucasta, you have made a wise decision.

L
UCASTA.
And I know very well
why
you
think so:

You
think we’re suited because we’re both common.

B. knows you think him common. And so he pretends

To be very common, because he knows you think so.

You
gave us our parts. And we’ve shown that we can play them.

L
ADY
E
LIZABETH.
I don’t think you ought to say that, Lucasta;

I have always been a person of liberal views —

That’s why I never got on with my family.

L
UCASTA.
Well, I’m not a person of liberal views.

I’m very conventional. And I’m not ashamed of it.

S
IR
C
LAUDE.
Perhaps you are right. I’m not sure of anything.

Perhaps, as you say, I’ve misunderstood B.,

And I’ve never thought that I understood
you
;

And I certainly fail to understand Colby.

L
ADY
E
LIZABETH.
But you and I, Claude, can understand each other,

No matter how late. And perhaps that will help us

To understand other people. I hope so.

Lucasta, I regard you as a … step-daughter;

And shall be happy to accept Mr. Kaghan as a son-in-law.

L
UCASTA.
Thank you. I’m sure he’ll appreciate
that.

But that reminds me. He’s waiting downstairs.

I don’t suppose you want
us
at your meeting.

E
GGERSON.
Allow me. May I make a suggestion?

Though first of all I must take the occasion

To wish Miss Angel every happiness.

And I’m sure she will be happy. Mr. Kaghan

Is one of the most promising young men in the City,

And he has a heart of gold. So have you, Miss Angel.

We have this very important interview,

But I’m sure that we want to greet the happy pair.

It’s all in the family. Why not let them wait downstairs

And come back after Mrs. Guzzard has left?

S
IR
C
LAUDE.
That’s not a bad idea. If Colby agrees.

L
UCASTA.
I trust you, Eggy. And I want to make my peace with him.

S
IR
C
LAUDE.
We’ll get him now.

[
Reaches
for
the
telephone
]

[
A
knock.
Enter
C
OLBY
]

C
OLBY
.
                                    Have I come too soon?

I’m afraid I got impatient of waiting.

L
UCASTA
.
Colby! I’ve not come to interrupt your meeting.

I’ve been told what it’s about. But I did come to see you.

I came to apologise for my behaviour

The other afternoon.

C
OLBY
.
                         Apologise?

S
IR
C
LAUDE
.
                                     I’ve told her.

C
OLBY
.
But why should you apologise?

L
UCASTA
.
                                                  Oh, because I knew

That I must have misunderstood your reaction.

It wouldn’t have been like you — the way I thought it was.

You’re much too … detached, ever to be shocked

In the way I thought you were. I was ashamed

Of what I was telling you, and so I was expecting

What I thought I got. But I couldn’t believe it!

It isn’t like you, to despise people:

You don’t care enough.

C
OLBY
.
                               I don’t care enough?

L
UCASTA
.
No. You’re either above caring,

Or else you’re insensible — I don’t mean insensitive!

But you’re terribly cold. Or else you’ve some fire

To warm you, that isn’t the same kind of fire

That warms other people. You’re either an egotist

Or something so different from the rest of us

That we can’t judge you. That’s you, Colby.

C
OLBY
.
That’s me, is it? I simply don’t know.

Perhaps you know me better than I know myself.

But now that you know what I am …

L
UCASTA
.
                                              
Who
you are,

In the sense I’ve been told that you’re my brother;

Which makes it more difficult to know
what
you are.

It may be there’s no one so hard to understand

As one’s brother …

C
OLBY
.
                        Or sister …

L
UCASTA
.
                                        What’s so difficult

Is to recognise the limits of one’s understanding.

It may be that understanding, as a brother and a sister,

Will come, in time. Perhaps, one day

We may understand each other. And accept the fact

That we’re not necessary to each other

In the way we might have been. But a different way

That reveals itself in time. And perhaps — who knows? —

We might become more necessary to each other,

As a brother and a sister, than we could have been

In any other form of relationship.

C
OLBY
.
I want you to be happy.

L
UCASTA
.
                                      I shall be happy,

If you will accept me as a sister

For the happiness that relationship may bring us

In twenty or thirty or forty years’ time.

I shall be happy. I’m going to marry B.

I know you like B.

C
OLBY
.
                      I’m very fond of him;

And I’m glad to think he’ll be my brother-in-law.

I shall need you, both of you, Lucasta!

L
UCASTA
.
We’ll mean something to you. But you don’t
need
anybody.

E
GGERSON
.
And now may I interrupt, Miss Angel?

Why shouldn’t you and Mr. Kaghan wait downstairs

And rejoin us when this interview is over?

I’m sure Mr. Simpkins will concur in this proposal.

C
OLBY
.
Of course I’d like them … Can’t B. come up now?

E
GGERSON
.
Better wait till afterwards.

S
IR
C
LAUDE
.
                                                 Quite right, Eggerson.

L
UCASTA
.
Good-bye, Colby.

C
OLBY
.
                                  Why do you say good-bye?

L
UCASTA
.
Good-bye to Colby as Lucasta knew him,

And good-bye to the Lucasta whom Colby knew.

We’ve changed since then: as you said, we’re always changing.

When I come back, we’ll be brother and sister —

Or so I hope. Yes, in any event,

Good-bye, Colby.

[
Exit
L
UCASTA
]

C
OLBY
.
                    Good-bye then, Lucasta.

E
GGERSON
.
And now, how soon are we expecting Mrs. Guzzard?

S
IR
C
LAUDE
[
looking
at
his
watch
]
.
She ought to be here now! It’s surprising,

I hadn’t been aware how the time was passing,

What with Lucasta’s unexpected visit.

She ought to be here. It wouldn’t be like her

To be late for an appointment. She always mentioned it

If
I
was late when I went to see her.

[
Enter
L
UCASTA
]

L
UCASTA
.
I’m sorry to come back. It’s an anti-climax.

But there seems to be nobody to answer the door.

I’ve just let someone in. It’s the Mrs. Guzzard

Whom you are expecting. She looks rather formidable.

S
IR
C
LAUDE
.
It’s Parkman’s day off. But where’s the parlourmaid?

L
UCASTA
.
I thought I heard someone singing in the pantry.