Van Zorn : A comedy in three acts

By Edwin Arlington Robinson

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Title: Van Zorn
A comedy in three acts

Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson

Release date: May 27, 2026 [eBook #78762]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: The Macmillian Company, 1914

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78762

Credits: Terry Jeffress and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VAN ZORN ***

VAN ZORN

[Illustration: Macmillan Company Colophon]

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO

VAN ZORN

A COMEDY IN THREE ACTS

BY
EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON

New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1914

_All rights reserved_

TO
HERMANN HAGEDORN

VAN ZORN

CHARACTERS

VAN ZORN
GEORGE LUCAS
WELDON FARNHAM
OTTO MINK
MRS. LOVETT
VILLA VANNEVAR
JENNY

ACT I

WELDON FARNHAM’S _studio in Macdougal Alley, New York. In the rear is
a long window, beneath which is a wide cushioned seat, extending
from the left wall to a vestibule on the right, from which a
door, front, opens into the studio. The door is hidden by a tall
screen. Further down on the right is another door, and still
further down is an antique cabinet, upon which rests a bust of
Shakespeare. To the left of the cabinet, well into the room, is
a table, upon which are a few books and, among other objects, an
ornamental cigar box of polished mahogany. Half way down the left
wall, which is built diagonally into the stage, cutting off about
one-third of the rear wall, is an open grate with a mantel. Well
to the front, on the left, is an upright wheeling easel, upon
which a framed portrait faces the rear. There are several chairs,
for the most part plain and small; but one of them, near the
table, to the left, is large and comfortable._

_The curtain rises, revealing_ WELDON FARNHAM _and_ OTTO MINK.
FARNHAM _is a well-conditioned and well-satisfied man of thirty,
or a little more, with a certain complacent hardness about his
face, which suggests an aggressiveness that does not really
exist. He stands surveying_ OTTO, _a younger man--short, plump,
pink and loquacious--who in turn stands surveying the picture on
the easel. His hands are in his trousers pockets, and he stands
from time to time on the tips of his toes during the process of
his scrutiny._

FARNHAM

[_As if amused_]

Well, Otto, aren’t you going to say something?

OTTO

[_Slowly, with a frown_]

So this is Villa Vannevar.[1]

[1] Pronounced Vannee´-vr.

FARNHAM

Not exactly. It’s a picture of her.

[_Smiling_]

You don’t care for it, I see--Lucas and Petherick think it’s rotten.

OTTO

Did Lucas say that?

FARNHAM

[_Still amused_]

No, but he smoked it. He might as well have said it.

OTTO

[_Leaving the picture and lighting a cigarette_]

You can’t always tell what Old Hundred means--when he doesn’t say
anything. Or when he does, for that matter.

FARNHAM

[_Smiling_]

I’m sorry, Otto, that you don’t like the picture.

OTTO

[_Showing his teeth_]

There’s genius in it. Is that what you wanted me to say?

FARNHAM

But a poor likeness--eh?

OTTO

Likeness?--Farnham, you make me sick.

[FARNHAM _scowls quickly and laughs_]

I beg your pardon, but you do,--just now, I mean.

[_With a sniff_]

You and your pictures!

FARNHAM

[_Laughing_]

Are they all so bad as that, Otto?

OTTO

[_Irritated_]

I suppose it’s _you_ that I’m talking about, not your pictures.

FARNHAM

[_With patronage_]

You don’t seem to be improving matters very much. What have _I_ done?

OTTO

[_With affectionate disgust_]

You? You haven’t done anything. Destiny, or something or other, has
done it for you.

FARNHAM

[_Laughing_]

But I don’t believe much in destiny. I believe in work.

OTTO

You didn’t work very hard to get the best girl in New York.

FARNHAM

If I didn’t know you, Otto, I might be offended.

[_Laughing_]

What’s the matter with you today, anyhow?

OTTO

[_With all sincerity_]

I understand. You think I’m jealous, but I’m not. I’m not such a dam
fool.

FARNHAM

Otto, don’t be so impulsive.

[_He laughs_]

OTTO

Impulsive? You don’t know what the word means.

[_With a grimace_]

You might at least look glad, or say something foolish once in a
while,--just to let a fellow know that you’re human.

FARNHAM

[_Seriously_]

I’ll take back a part of what I said, Otto. There may be a large
element of destiny in my--we’ll say my very great good fortune.

[_Laughing_]

But I wouldn’t say as much as that to Van Zorn.

OTTO

Van Zorn? He’s a fatalist, isn’t he?

FARNHAM

[_Laughing_]

I don’t know just what he is. He’s the best man living, and he’s my
best friend.

OTTO

[_Cheerfully_]

And he’s worth about how many millions?

FARNHAM

[_With animation_]

I don’t know. Twenty or twenty-five. I don’t care much about that part
of it.

OTTO

You know, Farnham, I believe you when you say that.

[_Moving to the Right_]

If I didn’t, I shouldn’t hang around your place any more. You think you
wouldn’t miss me if I didn’t, but you would. I’m a tender shoot, and
I’m delicate, and you’ll be dam sorry when I’m dead.

[OTTO _pauses before the bust of Shakespeare, looks at it
thoughtfully, places his hat upon it carefully, and surveys the
result with satisfaction_. FARNHAM _watches him with patronizing
amusement. Presently, when the two men stand looking at each
other, the bell rings_]

FARNHAM

[_Looking at his watch_]

That sounds like Lucas. It can’t be Mrs. Lovett--yet.

OTTO

It’s Old Hundred, I’ll bet a sequin. Let him in.

[FARNHAM _admits_ GEORGE LUCAS, _who is a square-jawed and somewhat
cadaverous looking man of thirty, with a melancholy and highly
intellectual face. His clothes are well kept, but unmistakably
the worse for wear, and there is a whimsical weariness in his
manner that might be suggestive of latent tragedy. He looks at_
FARNHAM _and_ OTTO _as if he expected them to say something_]

OTTO

Good morning, Phœbus-Apollo.

LUCAS

[_With a benignant smile_]

Good morning.

[_To_ FARNHAM, _half quizzically_]

Good morning.

[_He looks at the decorated bust of Shakespeare, and then at_ OTTO.
_He smiles once more and removes his hat, which_ FARNHAM _takes
and tosses on to window seat_]

OTTO

Have you come to join the celebration?

LUCAS

Celebration of what?

OTTO

Oh, I don’t know. You take your choice. You might celebrate the
publication of my new book, or you might celebrate the rotation of the
planet Neptune--on his axis. Or, you might celebrate the engagement of
our friend Farnham to the radiant Miss Villa Vannevar.

[_Motioning towards the picture_]

There she is--or, I should say, a picture of her.

LUCAS

[_With gathering surprise and difficulty_]

I have seen the picture, but I had not heard of the engagement.

[_Giving his hand to_ FARNHAM, _but as if with unconscious
reluctance_]

Farnham, let me congratulate you.

FARNHAM

[_Taking his hand_]

Thank you, Lucas.

[_As_ LUCAS _goes towards the picture_]

I fear that some of us get rather more than we deserve in this life.

LUCAS

[_Affecting indifference_]

Oh, I don’t know about that.

[_Studying the picture_]

So this is Villa Vannevar.

OTTO

[_Promptly, with his hands in his pockets_]

That’s what _I_ said.

FARNHAM

[_Comfortably_]

Your congratulations are quite enough, Lucas. You needn’t feel obliged
to praise the picture.

LUCAS

[_Solemnly_]

I wasn’t going to praise the picture.

OTTO

[_Standing on his toes and grinning at_ FARNHAM _with satisfaction_]

“Heaven is not reached with a single bound.” You can’t have everything
at once, Farnham, even if you are a genius. But you might give Lucas a
drink, and you might give me a bottle of cold beer.

FARNHAM

[_Amused_]

In the morning, Otto? Isn’t this something new?

OTTO

[_Nodding at the bust_]

Shakespeare did it, and I wish to do everything that Shakespeare
did--so far as in me lies.

FARNHAM

[_Laughing, as if_ OTTO _were a child_]

Well, all right, if I’ve got it.

[_He goes out at the right_, LUCAS _leaves the picture, frowning
to himself, and returns to_ OTTO, _who is standing near the
corner of the vestibule_. OTTO _turns_ LUCAS _gently and assists
him towards the cabinet, from which_ LUCAS _takes out a bottle
of whiskey and a glass, going with them to the table nearby._
FARNHAM _returns with a bottle of beer and a glass_]

FARNHAM

[_After a look at_ LUCAS]

Here you are, Stratford.

[OTTO _goes to the window seat_]

Don’t you want some water, Lucas?

LUCAS

No, thank you. It won’t be necessary.

FARNHAM

[_With mild insistence_]

Better for the heart.

OTTO

[_Prying the cap from the bottle_]

Lucas hasn’t got any heart.

[_He pours out a glass of beer with care_]

Well, Farnham, you man of iron, _morituri salutamus_. I’m a tender
shoot, and I shan’t be with you very long. Neither will Lucas, if he
doesn’t drink some water one of these days.

[_There is a sinister note in his last words, and it is evidently
caught by the other men_]

LUCAS

[_With a dry flourish_]

Farnham, you are a man of parts, and once more I congratulate you. I’m
a man of parts myself, as a matter of fact, but some of my parts don’t
exactly fit, and as a consequence

[_With a hard, insincere laugh_]

as a consequence, I--I rattle. Your health and happiness.

[_He drinks, and shivers a little_]

And now,

[_Exploring the table_]

If you will give me a small cigar

[_He takes a large one from the box_]

I’ll tell you what a great man you are going to be.

[_He puts back the bottle and moves again towards the picture_]

FARNHAM

[_Who has been watching_ LUCAS _with a patronizing smile_]

And now if you two fellows will kindly make yourselves at home, I’ll
be back in a little while. I’m going over to Petherick’s to get some
photographs of his comical bust of Poe for Mrs Lovett; and if anyone
comes in while I’m gone, I’ll trust you two to be agreeable.

LUCAS

[_Nervously_]

But what does this mean, Farnham? If you expected visitors, why didn’t
you say so?

FARNHAM

[_Soothingly_]

They are coming to see the picture in its new frame.

[_Hesitating_]

Of course you remember Mrs. Lovett--and Villa Vannevar?

LUCAS

[_In a dry voice_]

Yes, I remember them. Villa Vannevar and I used to be rather good
friends.

[_Indifferently_]

But I doubt if Mrs Lovett remembers me.

FARNHAM

[_At the door_]

She must.

LUCAS

[_Sitting down_]

Why do you say that?

FARNHAM

She must,--for you are not the kind that women forget.

[_He laughs and goes out, and_ LUCAS _follows him with his eyes. He
remains for a time as if in retrospection_]

OTTO

[_From the window seat, after a pause_]

It seems to me that Farnham might have done a little better than that.

[LUCAS _gives him a quick look_]

But I don’t know,

[_In half soliloquy_]

perhaps he couldn’t, after all.

[OTTO _studies the beer-bottle as if it were a rare vase, and_
LUCAS, _leaning forward on his chair, rubs his fingers together
thoughtfully_.]

OTTO

Phœbus,

[LUCAS _looks at him_]

wake up.

LUCAS

I am awake.

OTTO

The devil you are.

[_Getting up and stretching himself_]

Let’s have another look at Farnham’s picture. Petherick thinks it’s
rotten.

[_Mercifully_]

But then, Petherick’s a sculptor.

LUCAS

[_Drily_]

Can’t sculptors tell when things are rotten?

OTTO

[_Briskly_]

Apparently not--if we are to judge them by what they have done for our
fair city.

LUCAS

[_Rising and smiling_]

You are severe this morning, Otto.

[_In a fatherly way_]

I hope you aren’t going to be severe with _me_.

OTTO

[_Looking at him sharply_]

I _was_ going to be--but I won’t now.

[_Frowning before the picture_]

So this is Villa Vannevar.

LUCAS

[_Smiling_]

That’s what _I_ said.

OTTO

[_Still frowning_]

Mrs. Weldon Farnham.

[_Throwing up his hands_]

Lucas, I can’t make it sound right.

LUCAS

[_Drily_]

What’s wrong about the sound of it? Farnham is a good fellow, isn’t he?

OTTO

[_With emphasis_]

He’s a fine fellow; and he’s one of his own best friends.

LUCAS

[_Smiling grimly_]

Well, that makes for prudence--and for longevity.

OTTO

[_Drily_]

Very good indeed. What do you think of this picture, Phœbus, anyhow?

LUCAS

It’s a pretty good picture. All things are relative.

OTTO

[_Promptly_]

Then you agree with Petherick.

LUCAS

Not necessarily.

[_He looks around him uncomfortably_]

But I don’t believe, Otto, that I’ll stay here any longer.

[OTTO _moves toward him_]

You can entertain these women without me.

OTTO

[_Backing_ LUCAS _into his chair_]

There! You try that for a while. Farnham said you were to stay here
till he came back.

[_He takes another chair and sits facing_ LUCAS]

Phœbus, you may kick me if you like, but I’m sorry for you. I’m dam
sorry.

LUCAS

[_With a doubtful scowl_]

What do you think you are talking about, Otto?

OTTO

[_Plunging_]

Phœbus, I like you. I like you a lot. I’ve liked you for ten
years--ever since I met you.

[_Pause_]

So far as I count for anything, I suppose I’m as good a friend as you
have in the world.

LUCAS

[_Pleased and embarrassed_]

I’m glad to hear you say that, Otto.

OTTO

[_With more confidence_]

You’d better wait till I’m done with you.

LUCAS

[_Smiling_]

Go on. I’m at your service.

OTTO

[_Clasping his knee and becoming very serious_]

Very well. Tell me when to stop.

[_Pause_]

Phœbus, how much does Farnham know about you? Did he know anything
about you before he came to New York? Let me see, that was four years
ago.

LUCAS

[_Surprised_]

Probably not.

OTTO

Well, then, did Farnham know Villa Vannevar before he came to New York?

LUCAS

[_Surprised_]

Not to my knowledge.

OTTO

Am I getting too personal?

LUCAS

[_Fighting with his curiosity_]

You haven’t said anything injurious.

OTTO

Good. Now does Farnham.... Oh, the devil! I suppose I ought not to ask
you this, but I’m going to, all the same. Does Farnham know that Villa
Vannevar cared more for you at one time than she cares now for any
other man living?

LUCAS

[_Rubbing his hands slowly_]

I rather think, Otto, that you may as well stop.

OTTO

Are you going to kick me?

LUCAS

No. Your motive is good, and I try to judge a fellow by his motive.

[_Taking a cheap watch from his pocket, he looks at it and shakes it
at his ear_]

What time is it?

OTTO

[_With much vigor_]

Phœbus, you can’t put me off. I’ve got you now, and I’m going to tell
you what I think of you.

LUCAS

[_Shaking his watch at his ear_]

What do you think of me?

OTTO

[_Nettled_]

Well, I think you are going to the devil, for one thing.

LUCAS

[_Grinning_]

Only going? I was told the other day that I had arrived--with banners.

OTTO

Did Farnham tell you that?

LUCAS

That was Farnham’s hidden meaning.

OTTO

[_After a pause_]

Well, Phœbus, I can’t speak for Farnham. But there was a time when the
rest of us would have said that you had empires up your sleeve.

[_Impressively_]

LUCAS

[_Looking at his sleeve_]

Then they must be there yet. I’ve never shaken them out.

OTTO

[_With more fervor_]

They may be there, but all the devils in hell, with microscopes,
couldn’t find them there this morning. As you are fond of reading, you
may have gathered, from various authorities, that empires don’t run
themselves, exactly. When they do, they run down.

LUCAS

Like my watch.

[_He shakes it, and returns it to his pocket_]

OTTO

[_Getting up with a sigh_]

Phœbus, why don’t you try to find out where you are, and stop pickling
your brain with rum, and quit bewildering your inferiors, and go back
to school? If you don’t, there will be a funeral one of these days, and
you won’t have to walk. And what I say is all as true as God made great
whales and little squirrels.

LUCAS

[_Rubbing his knees and grinning_]

Good. Say on.

[OTTO _gives a snort of disgust and moves towards the bust of
Shakespeare, his hands in his trousers’ pockets and his face
puckered with a scowl_]

LUCAS

[_Watching_ OTTO _with weary amusement_]

Otto, tell me something more about this much-travelled Odysseus of many
devices, whom Farnham calls Van Zorn.

[OTTO _removes his hat from the bust_]

I thought you would do that, Otto.

[OTTO _puts his hat on his head and gives_ LUCAS _a look of
discouragement_]

Tell me about Van Zorn, Otto, and take off your hat.

[OTTO _spins his hat at_ LUCAS, _who catches it deftly and throws it
over to the window seat_]

I understand that he’s a fatalist--or something or other. Where does he
live?

OTTO

[_Piqued_]

He doesn’t live anywhere. He doesn’t have to. He’s worth about
twenty-five millions.

LUCAS

That isn’t very much. Is he in town?

OTTO

[_Impatiently_]

Yes, he’s in town.

LUCAS

How long is he going to stay?

OTTO

[_Wearily_]

How the devil do I know? I suppose he’ll stay as long as he likes the
place. That’s what I should do, if I had twenty-five millions.

[_Becoming more rancid_]

And then, if the fancy seized me, I should pack my suitcase and go in
for the irrigation of Mesopotamia.

LUCAS

[_Still leaning forward and rubbing his hands slowly_]

When is Farnham to be married?

OTTO

I don’t know. Didn’t you hear about the engagement?

LUCAS

[_Getting up and speaking without apparent interest_]

No.... I don’t hear about things any more.

[_The bell rings and_ LUCAS _turns with a start_]

I wonder who that is.

[_He takes his watch from his pocket nervously and pretends to look
at it_]

OTTO

[_Smiling as he looks at his own watch_]

If you wish to know what time it is, it’s five minutes to twelve.

[OTTO _opens the door and admits_ MRS. LOVETT _and_ MISS VILLA
VANNEVAR. MRS. LOVETT _is a short lady of fifty, with a manner
that is slightly affected, but not comically so. She is dressed
in black, and in a manner calculated to suggest rather than
to express mourning._ VILLA VANNEVAR _is rather tall and very
handsome, inclined to be unconventional and at times careless,
naturally vivacious, but evidently not satisfied with her
existence. She wears a walking suit of bright gray, with a smart
hat_]

OTTO

[_With familiar mock-ceremony_]

You are to come in--both of you--and you are to make yourselves
entirely at home.

[_To Mrs Lovett_]

The genius of the place has gone to get some photographs of your friend
Petherick’s bust of Edgar A. Poe, the eminent literary man.

[_Turning to_ LUCAS, _who has found something interesting on the
table_]

Both of you remember Mr. Lucas, I suppose.

VILLA

[_In a voice of friendly surprise_]

Why it’s George!

[_She goes to him and gives him her hand, which he takes slowly, and
holds a little longer than he means to_]

Why, Auntie, it’s George!

[_To_ LUCAS]

You remember my aunt, don’t you, George?

LUCAS

I remember Mrs. Lovett very well.

MRS. LOVETT

[_without warmth_]

Of course I remember Mr. Lucas.

[_To_ OTTO]

And now, Otto, you bad child

[_Holding up her finger_]

oh, yes! I have read your wicked books, and I know just how bad you are

[_Laughing_]

--Villa and I are perishing to see the picture in its new frame.

[_To_ VILLA]

Shall we wait for dear Weldon to come back? Artists are so queer, you
know, and

[_To_ OTTO, _with a smile_]

So very sensitive.

OTTO

[_Beaming_]

Very sensitive indeed. Have you read my last one--_Au Cinquième_? It
came out day before yesterday.

VILLA

[_Amused_]

I’m sorry, Otto, but we haven’t even seen it.

OTTO

[_Briskly_]

In that case,

[_To_ MRS. LOVETT]

you cannot possibly know how bad I am.--As for the frame,

[_Moving towards the picture_]

the frame is a beautiful piece of work. In point of fact, I don’t quite
see how you are going to get along without it.

[MRS. LOVETT _follows him and they stand together before the
picture_. LUCAS _and_ VILLA _remain near the table, she becoming
very serious and he pretending, not very well, to take a humorous
view of the situation_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_After a silence_]

Aren’t you coming to see yourself, Villa?

VILLA

I’ll watch you and Otto--and talk with George. I know just how the
picture looks, and I haven’t seen George for a thousand years.

[MRS. LOVETT _frowns a little and_ OTTO _smiles to himself
significantly_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_Looking at the picture_]

Oh--dear!

[_She sighs and looks at_ OTTO, _who stands on his toes for a moment
and then shakes his head_]

VILLA

[_Turning from_ LUCAS _to_ MRS. LOVETT, _and laughing_]

What’s the matter, Auntie?

MRS. LOVETT

[_With ample resignation_]

I don’t know what to say about it.

[_She looks at_ LUCAS, _who does not see her, and then looks at_ OTTO]

_You_ say something, Otto. I simply don’t know how.

OTTO

I would gladly be of assistance, my dear Madam, but I don’t know how to
say anything about it either.

[_Looking at_ LUCAS]

But there’s Lucas; he knows how to say something about it.

MRS. LOVETT

[_After a quick frown_]

Tell me the truth, Otto.

[_She sighs again_]

VILLA

[_Turning and laughing_]

If you do, Otto, I’ll tell Weldon everything you say.

OTTO

[_Looking from_ VILLA _to_ MRS. LOVETT, _with a grimace_]

You seem to know the truth already. If you don’t, I cannot tell a lie.

[_Very distinctly_]

In the last analysis, then, the thing is worse than--than office-hours.

VILLA

[_With determination_]

_I’m_ going to say something now. I’m going to ask Otto to turn that
picture to the wall until Weldon comes back. I won’t have it abused.

[_To_ LUCAS, _with sorry laugh_]

The only trouble with that picture is that it isn’t _me_.

LUCAS

[_Drily_]

Yes, that is one trouble with it.

[VILLA _looks at him strangely, and laughs again as before_. MRS.
LOVETT _looks at her with mild disapproval_. OTTO _grins,
and begins to sing the swan-song in Lohengrin with subdued
satisfaction as he turns the easel. As_ OTTO _comes back to
the center of the stage, the bell rings, and all appear to be
suddenly disturbed_]

MRS. LOVETT

Now who in the world is that? We don’t want people.

LUCAS

You might find out, Otto.

OTTO

Aye, aye, sir.

_[Becoming more exuberant, he propels himself towards the door with
a series of quasi-nautical hitches, trumpeting with his lips
the opening chorus in “Pinafore.”_ LUCAS _watches him with a
weary smile_, VILLA VANNEVAR _laughs, and_ MRS. LOVETT _looks
bewildered_. OTTO _opens the door and stands back, in whimsical
obeisance_]

OTTO

You may come in, for I know your name. Your name is Van Zorn, and I’ve
seen you before.

[VAN ZORN ENTERS. _He is rather tall, well built, bronzed, and has
powerful, penetrating eyes. His manner, though courteous and
possibly a bit too dignified, is also a little heavy. He seems to
be in constant fear of being taken too seriously; and yet he is a
very serious person, inclined to a certain intangible melancholy
that is easy to recognize but difficult to describe. His voice
is rich, deep, and musical, his laugh is rare but pleasing, but
his smile is frequent and engaging. There is at times something
childlike in his acceptance of unusual situations and events, and
there is something almost unreal in his easy persistence along
lines that few men would ever think of pursuing. While he is for
the most part self explanatory, there remains a fringe of mystery
about him to the end_]

VAN ZORN

[_Taking_ OTTO’S _hand and smiling_]

And I should remember _your_ name. Your name is ...

OTTO

[_Distinctly_]

Mink.

VAN ZORN

[_With another smile_]

Indeed? Then you must have two names.

OTTO

[_As the two move into the room_]

I have. The grand total is Otto Mink.

VAN ZORN

I remember now that Farnham called you Otto. I am very glad to see you
again.

OTTO

[_With expansion_]

And now it devolves upon me to present a few of Farnham’s friends.
Here, for example, is Mrs. Lovett.

[_She smiles at Otto, and receives Van Zorn with unqualified
approval_]

And here is Miss Villa Vannevar. She’s another friend of Farnham’s, and
you’ve met her before.

[VILLA _gives_ VAN ZORN _her hand, and he looks at her, in spite of
his efforts, as if he were fascinated. The two appear to be very
serious, until_ OTTO _presents_ LUCAS, _when she laughs--but with
no great amount of spirit_]

And here is Mr. Lucas. Sometimes we call him Phœbus--on account of his
sunny disposition.

[VAN ZORN _shakes hands with_ LUCAS _with great cordiality and looks
at him as long as he looked at_ VILLA VANNEVAR, _but with an
entirely different expression. There is a kindness and a certain
satisfaction in his eyes that surprises_ LUCAS _and embarrasses
him_]

That object over there is a portrait of Miss Vannevar, but we are not
to see it again until Farnham comes back. You won’t like Farnham any
better after you see it.

VAN ZORN

[_Amused_]

That doesn’t sound altogether complimentary to Farnham.

OTTO

[_Cheerfully_]

It isn’t.

VAN ZORN

Perhaps I don’t quite understand you.

OTTO

You will.

VAN ZORN

[_With a look of amused inquiry at_ LUCAS]

You surprise me. I have come to think of Farnham as one of the best of
living painters.

OTTO

[_With his hands in his trousers’ pockets_]

He is. That’s partly what ails him.

MRS. LOVETT

Why, Otto,--you ridiculous child!

OTTO

If you don’t believe me, ask Phœbus--I mean Lucas.

VAN ZORN

[_To_ VILLA, _smiling_]

I think I’ll wait and ask Farnham himself.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

He may bite you.

VAN ZORN

I know Farnham’s bite. It isn’t very dangerous.

VILLA

He thinks it is.

VAN ZORN

[_Moving nearer to her, as if drawn_]

How soon do you expect him back?

VILLA

[_Suddenly serious_]

At any moment.

[LUCAS _begins a silent investigation of the studio, while_ MRS.
LOVETT _and_ OTTO _talk together_, MRS. LOVETT _apparently amused
and perhaps a little scandalized by his childlike narrations. She
looks frequently and almost eagerly at_ VAN ZORN _and_ VILLA,
_who stand near the table. They seem to be laboring under a
mysterious constraint, which_ VILLA _tries to put off with an
assumed light humor_]

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

You talk as if you thought me a doubtful character. I trust that
Farnham hasn’t given me one.

VILLA

[_Nervously_]

Weldon has praised you so much that we are all a little afraid of you.

VAN ZORN

I shall have to stop that.

[_Pause_]

Do you remember the day when you and Mr.--

[_Glancing at_ OTTO]

Mr. Mink--went over my boat with Farnham and me?

VILLA

Of course I do. That was the day before you sailed away to the other
side of the world.

VAN ZORN

[_Earnestly_]

Thank you for remembering that day.

VILLA

[_Still nervous_]

I remember the day--and I remember that you frightened me somehow.

[_Laughing_]

You made me think of Captain Kidd and the Flying Dutchman--both
together.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

I don’t know about Captain Kidd, but I suppose I _am_ a sort of
Dutchman.

VILLA

[_With a little shiver_]

Not the Flying Dutchman--I hope?

VAN ZORN

[_With a quaint seriousness_]

No--not exactly. As a matter of fact, I have undertaken to be a doctor.

VILLA

[_Bewildered_]

Medicine, Philosophy or Divinity?

VAN ZORN

[_With a melancholy laugh._]

All three, in a measure--and I shall be my own patient.

[_Quite seriously_]

I must have a place in the scheme of existence, and I have had a
presentiment that I am soon to find it.

VILLA

[_Drawing back a little and laughing_]

You?... A place in the scheme of existence?... I’m beginning to be
positively creepy. I thought you had everything.

VAN ZORN

[_Shaking his head_]

Then you are greatly mistaken. I have nothing--yet.

VILLA

[_Impulsively_]

What a very unfortunate person! I beg your pardon a thousand times, but
you make me laugh.

VAN ZORN

You needn’t be apologetic, and you needn’t laugh.

VILLA

[_Bewildered_]

What--are you going to do--first?

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling faintly_]

I have thought of several plans to make my existence worth while, but I
am not yet sure of any of them.

VILLA

[_With a sigh and a laugh_]

Well, I don’t know what you expect me to say. You don’t speak a
language that a poor girl can understand.

[_She looks over her shoulder and meets the eyes of_ LUCAS, _who by
this time has made a circuit of the studio and taken a casual
inventory of its contents. She looks at him, smiling, and then
at_ VAN ZORN, _who is looking at_ LUCAS _with a slight frown that
is both friendly and inquiring_]

VILLA

I wonder if George--Mr. Lucas--could be of any service to you. He isn’t
a doctor, but he knows almost everything.

VAN ZORN

[_Pleasantly, after a slow nod at_ LUCAS]

Does he know himself?

LUCAS

[_With a shrug_]

I regret to say that he does.

VAN ZORN

[_To_ LUCAS, _distinctly_]

Then Miss Vannevar is right. The man who knows himself does know almost
everything.

[_There has been a brief pause in_ OTTO’S _animated conversation
with_ MRS. LOVETT, _and now_ OTTO _looks keenly at_ VILLA, VAN
ZORN, _and_ LUCAS]

VILLA

[_Laughing at_ OTTO]

The man who knows himself must be inspired.

[_To_ VAN ZORN]

Otto couldn’t keep from being inspired if he tried. Otto is a poet.

OTTO

[_Grinning_]

Do I look like one?

VILLA

You look like a rose of Sharon, Otto.

[_Glancing towards the door_]

I thought I heard something.

OTTO

[_Holding up his finger_]

Hist! There it is again!

[_Going to the door mysteriously_]

It’s the Thing itself.

[FARNHAM _is heard in the vestibule, singing carelessly to himself
the air of the Conspirators from “La Fille de Madame Angot.”_
OTTO _opens the door with a flourish, and_ FARNHAM _soon enters_]

OTTO

You are late, and the show is half over.

[_Putting his hands into his trousers’ pockets_]

The next thing on the programme will be the eminent comedians, Van Zorn
and Lucas, in “The Old Oaken Bucket.” Song and dance.

MRS. LOVETT

[_With languid primness_]

Otto, you might take your hat and go home.

FARNHAM

[_Taking_ MRS. LOVETT’S _hand_]

No, don’t send him home. He can’t help it. The trouble is in his brain.

[HE _shakes hands with_ VILLA _and smiles_]

But _you_

[_Shaking hands with_ VAN ZORN _and looking at him with eager
satisfaction_]

--you might have let a fellow know that you were coming.

[_looking around_]

I suppose there is no need of introductions.

OTTO

[_Beaming_]

None whatever. We are all happily acquainted.

FARNHAM

[_After giving_ OTTO _a patronizing scrutiny_]

There are the photographs, Mrs. Lovett, and if you don’t find them
sufficiently bad, it won’t be Petherick’s fault. Poor Poe!

[_Nodding to_ VAN ZORN]

_He_ could tell you something about Destiny, if he were alive.

[_He nods at the envelope_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_Looking at one of the photographs_]

Poe was a wonderful creature.

FARNHAM

There are no records to prove that he ever denied it.

[_To_ VILLA, _with his most confident smile_]

Have you seen the picture, and the frame?

[_He gazes at the easel, frowns for a moment, and then laughs drily_]

Who turned it to the wall? Did you do that, Lucas?

VILLA

[_Quickly_]

Otto did it. I told him to.

FARNHAM

[_Rather drily_]

That was very considerate of you.

[HE _moves the easel back to its former position_]

Well, there it is.

[_Confidently_]

And now you may all do your worst. Otto and Lucas needn’t say anything,
for I know what they think already.

OTTO

[_Cheerfully_]

You may not. We’ve never told you.

FARNHAM

[_With a short laugh_]

Well, if you haven’t, you needn’t.

[VAN ZORN _stands before the picture and studies it ominously_]

FARNHAM

Well, which is it--life, or death?

VAN ZORN

[_With annihilating deliberation_]

I should say that it was neither. I am not satisfied with it.

FARNHAM

[_With a dry laugh_]

Were you ever entirely satisfied with anything?

VAN ZORN

[_Gently_]

We are not here on earth to be entirely satisfied, are we?

FARNHAM

Oh, I don’t know about that.

VAN ZORN

I hope most sincerely that you are not satisfied with this picture.

FARNHAM

I thought it had a kind of merit.

VAN ZORN

[_Frowning_]

It has. It’s a work of genius, if you like.

OTTO

[_Promptly_]

That’s what _I_ said.

FARNHAM

[_Patiently_]

I know it Otto--And now I should like to hear what Mrs. Lovett has to
say.

MRS. LOVETT

But, dear Weldon, you can’t possibly care what I think--a poor old
thing like me.

[_Looking through her glasses_]

Of course you have flattered the poor child almost to death.

FARNHAM

[_Genially_]

I don’t see how you can say so.

VILLA

[_To_ VAN ZORN _and_ LUCAS]

Help! help!

MRS. LOVETT

But you are a wonderful creature, all the same, and I shall have to
forgive you. Two very intelligent men

[_Beaming on_ OTTO]

have called you a genius, and surely that should be enough for one
morning.

OTTO

Three, Mrs. Lovett, Phœbus--I mean George--called him one before you
came in.

MRS. LOVETT

[_After a look at_ LUCAS]

I am very glad to hear it.

OTTO

[_Briskly_]

I knew you would be.

[_Going to_ LUCAS]

And now, Phœbus--I mean George--it’s time for you and me to go out and
have something to eat. I have a premonition that you and I are in a way
to become superfluous.

MRS. LOVETT

[_With motherly tolerance_]

Otto, are you going to talk nonsense all the rest of your life?

OTTO

[_Spinning his hat on the end of his stick_]

If youth but knew.

VILLA

[_With animation_]

Why can’t we all go out and lunch somewhere together? I’ve got some
money.

MRS. LOVETT

You forget, my child, that we are to have luncheon with Mrs. Dyce.

OTTO

Give my love to Mrs. Dyce, and to the Pomeranian twins. And now Phœbus
and I are going over to the Brevoort House and have something with a
squeezed lime in it. After that we shall have a morsel of bread, and
Phœbus will tell me what he thinks of my new book--_Au Cinquième_, I
call it.

[_To_ VILLA]

You haven’t seen it. Are you going to be at home this afternoon?

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

Yes, Otto,--to _you_.

OTTO

All right. I’ll bring around a copy of _Au Cinquième_. [_cheerfully_] I
wrote it with my heart’s blood.

[_To_ LUCAS, _briskly_]

Come along, Phœbus.

VILLA

[_Going to_ LUCAS _and holding out her hand_]

Good-bye, George.

LUCAS

[_Taking her hand and speaking strangely_]

Good-bye.

VAN ZORN

[_Giving_ LUCAS _his hand_]

I am very glad to have met you, Mr. Lucas--very glad indeed.

[HE _speaks with a peculiar earnestness that causes_ MRS. LOVETT
_and_ FARNHAM _to look at each other. But_ LUCAS _appears to be
abstracted and indifferent_]

OTTO

[_At the door, declaiming solemnly_]

“So now for a season we leave you, taking with us our various musical
instruments. Presently we shall return, bringing with us nothing but
our accordeons.” _Auf wiedersehen._

[OTTO _and_ LUCAS _go out_. MRS. LOVETT _and_ FARNHAM _look after_
OTTO _and laugh_. VAN ZORN _looks at_ VILLA VANNEVAR, _who stands
gazing at the floor. Her face is troubled and she bites her under
lip as if to keep it under control_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_To_ FARNHAM]

Otto should be ashamed of himself.

FARNHAM

He will be--sometime.

MRS. LOVETT

He is going to take that poor unfortunate Mr. Lucas over to the
Brevoort House and give him liquor.

FARNHAM

[_With an unfeeling grin_]

I don’t see any way out of it now. As for poor Mr. Lucas, this man

[_Looking at_ VAN ZORN]

will tell you that he is in the hands of Destiny--gin-rickeys and all.

[_With a laugh_]

We can do nothing for him.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Rising with a sigh_]

It may be so, poor fellow. If he were not so thoroughly impossible, he
would be rather interesting.

[VILLA _looks at her almost angrily_]

VAN ZORN

May I venture to ask, Mrs. Lovett, if you are final in your judgment?

MRS. LOVETT

[_With apologetic vivacity_]

Dear me, no! I don’t judge anything--not even a fly.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling, as if with effort_]

I am very glad, for I have begun to believe that Mr. Lucas and I may be
of service to each other.

[VILLA _looks at him eagerly_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_Puzzled and not wholly pleased_]

I don’t understand what you mean, and I’m not going to try.

VAN ZORN

I am not always sure that I understand myself.

VILLA

[_With a nervous laugh_]

I’m glad to know it, for I’m not either.

[_To_ MRS. LOVETT]

Come along, Auntie, or Mrs. Dyce’s little dogs will eat up all the
luncheon.

[_Laughing_]

Pomeranian twins!

[_Giving her hand to_ VAN ZORN]

Good-bye.... I’m glad you aren’t the Flying Dutchman.

VAN ZORN

[_Holding her hand_]

Nothing half so distinguished, I assure you.

VILLA

[_Not wholly at ease_]

Or so unfortunate.

VAN ZORN

[_Letting her hand go, slowly_]

I am not so sure about that.

VILLA

Weldon thinks you are the greatest man in the world

[_To_ FARNHAM, _laughing_]

--except himself.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Beaming_]

And the most wonderful creature.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

Weldon has made a mistake.

VILLA

You are too modest.

VAN ZORN

Do you think so?

VILLA

[_With the same constrained laugh_]

Perhaps I don’t know you well enough to say.

VAN ZORN

We may come to know each other better in the future.

VILLA

I feel sure of that. I should like to know you better.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

You may be disappointed in me.

VILLA

[_As before_]

If I am, I’ll tell you so.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Who has been watching the two with bewildered approval_]

She means that she will say, on all occasions, the first thing that
comes into her silly little head.--But we must go now. Good-bye.

[THEY _shake hands_. VAN ZORN _and_ VILLA VANNEVAR _look at each
other with a smile of half-fascinated intensity. The two women
go_]

FARNHAM

[_Coming from the door and touching_ VAN ZORN _on the shoulder,
laughing curiously_]

Well, Childe Harold, for a sedate and rather melancholy Ancient
Mariner, you seem to be getting on.

VAN ZORN

[_Standing in thought_]

Yes, I am getting on in years.

FARNHAM

Oh, cheer up. We are only thirty two. “We are children still,” and we
“grope in the dark for what the day will bring.”

[_Going to the table and reaching for the cigars_]

That’s what we do: we “grope in the dark for what the day will
bring”.... Here--have a cigar.

VAN ZORN

[_Absently_]

No, thank you.

FARNHAM

[_Holding out the box_]

It’s a Pedro.

VAN ZORN

No, thank you.

FARNHAM

[_Coaxingly_]

Colorado.

VAN ZORN

Not now.

FARNHAM

[_Taking a cigar and putting back the box_]

Well, is there anything that your serene excellency _would_ like, that
I can give you--this fine October morning? You’ll have a drink, perhaps.

VAN ZORN

[_Shaking his head_]

No, Farnham. But I may--I may ask you for your advice.

FARNHAM

[_Lighting his cigar_]

And you couldn’t possibly do better. What seems to be weighing most
heavily on your noble mind?

[_Pointing to a chair_]

Sit down.

[VAN ZORN _takes the large chair mechanically and remains for a time
in silence_. FARNHAM _sits expectantly in a small chair not far
from the table_]

VAN ZORN

[_Slowly_]

Farnham, I wish you would tell me something about this man Lucas....
About his life, and his death, and his possibilities.

FARNHAM

[_Laughing_]

His death, did you say?

VAN ZORN

[_Simply_]

Yes. He seems to have died.

FARNHAM

[_Carelessly_]

I don’t know but you are right. And if you refer to his possibilities
in the way of drink, I can recommend him without qualifications. There
is nothing else in town that is quite like him.

VAN ZORN

I am not joking, I assure you.

FARNHAM

Neither am I. Old Hundred is no joke.

VAN ZORN

Then you might tell me something about him. Who is he? What is he? And
why is he where he is?

FARNHAM

[_Laughing_]

Where _is_ he?

VAN ZORN

He appears just now to be at what we might call the crossways. Whether
he takes one way or the other, will depend upon events.

FARNHAM

[_With a short laugh_]

Why don’t you say Destiny, and be done with it?

VAN ZORN

Very well--we’ll call it Destiny. How old is Lucas?

FARNHAM

About twenty-nine. Abundantly old enough to know better.

VAN ZORN

[_With a smile_]

You might say that of _me_. It is possible that Lucas and I may have a
great deal in common.

[_He taps the arms of his chair with his fingers and looks into the
distance_]

FARNHAM

[_Laughing impatiently_]

I thought of that when I saw you together.

[_Crossing his legs_]

Well, you ask me to tell you about Lucas, and I find that I haven’t
much to tell. I haven’t known him very long, when it comes to that;
but from what I have gathered and inferred, it would seem that his
father was a good deal of a metropolitan rounder--before the days of
the Great White Way. Whether that made any difference or not, I don’t
know. All I can say for certain is that Lucas’s father didn’t spend all
his evenings holding his little one on his knee, or teaching him the
binomial theorem.

[_With a tired sigh_]

Little Georgie was undoubtedly neglected. But what of it?

[_Looking at the bust_]

So was Shakespeare, I fancy.

VAN ZORN

[_Frowning_]

And Lucas’s mother?

FARNHAM

She had the good fortune to die. You needn’t look at me like that, for
the old man was a bad egg.

VAN ZORN

[_Disappointed_]

Is that the best you can do for me?

FARNHAM

[_Impatiently_]

What more do you want? It’s for Lucas to do the rest. He has ability
enough to fit out a dozen ordinary men, but he can’t use it--or he
won’t. He isn’t peculiar to New York. You’ll find him over all the
world.

VAN ZORN

[_Thoughtfully_]

And Lucas has run down--like a watch.

FARNHAM

Yes, or rather like the Old Clock on the Stairs. And I’m afraid he’s
past winding up.

VAN ZORN

[_Tapping with his fingers_]

And what will be the outcome of all this?

FARNHAM

[_Weary of the subject_]

Oh, I don’t know. I shouldn’t wonder if I were to take up a newspaper
some morning and read that one George Lucas had blown the top of his
head off in one of our public parks--probably in Washington Square,
not far from the statue of Garibaldi. That statue beats anything of
Petherick’s.

VAN ZORN

[_Slowly_]

I wonder if I have made a mistake. I don’t often make mistakes in my
judgment of men.

FARNHAM

That’s interesting. How about women?

VAN ZORN

We are not talking about women--

[_With emphasis_]

at present.

FARNHAM

[_Laughing_]

All right; excuse me. But what if you _do_ make mistakes? You can
charge them all up to Destiny, and go on about your business. The rest
of us poor devils, who think we are burdened with free will, have to
pay for our mistakes--with complex interest.

VAN ZORN

No matter about that. But what if _I_ were to run down--after the
manner of Lucas?

FARNHAM

But Lucas’s case hasn’t anything to do with yours.

VAN ZORN

How do you know?

FARNHAM

You couldn’t let yourself run down.

VAN ZORN

How do you know?

FARNHAM

[_Getting up, with a laugh of protest_]

Because that isn’t the way we do things nowadays--if we have any sense.
If you say “How do you know” again, I’ll....

VAN ZORN

Farnham, has it occurred to you that Lucas’s problem may not be half so
simple as you have made it out to be?

FARNHAM

You can’t expect me to tell you what I don’t know.

VAN ZORN

[_Significantly_]

Or all that you do know--possibly.

[FARNHAM _says nothing, but smokes_]

In the light of what you say, I wonder that you should trouble yourself
to have this man Lucas around.

FARNHAM

More Destiny I suppose. We can’t beat Destiny.

VAN ZORN

Certainly not. But Destiny can beat _us_, and it can make us do better
than we have done in the past.

FARNHAM

[_With a sharp look_]

So Lucas is going to have greatness thrust upon him, is he?

[_Laughing_]

“Van Zorn and Lucas, the eminent comedians.”

VAN ZORN

[_Laughing a little and looking at the bust_]

I wonder what Shakespeare would do if he were in my place.

FARNHAM

He might kill Polonius, or he might mix himself a drink. That would
depend entirely upon Destiny.

VAN ZORN

[_Drily_]

Undoubtedly ... and we might say more about Destiny.... But whether or
not we ought to say it....

FARNHAM

According to your convenient doctrine, I don’t see that there is
any “ought” or “ought not” about it--unless you think you ought to
congratulate me on my engagement to Villa Vannevar. Do you?

VAN ZORN

[_Distinctly, after a pause_]

Most assuredly _not_.

[VAN ZORN _drums with his fingers on the arms of his chair and looks
straight before him_. FARNHAM _watches him with a gathering
hardness in his look and at length breaks the strained silence
with a flat laugh, to which_ VAN ZORN _pays no attention_]

FARNHAM

[_Uncomfortably_]

Is this a new kind of joke that you have brought with you from India?
If it is, I don’t seem to care much for it.

VAN ZORN

[_Looking at him_]

I wish, Farnham, that you would wait a little before you talk like that.

FARNHAM

[_With a short laugh_]

All right--I’ll wait. There’s nothing else for me to do. It’s going to
be Destiny anyhow, and I can’t help myself.

VAN ZORN

[_After getting up and looking at the picture_]

Farnham, there is something wrong here.

[HE _moves slowly towards him_]

There is something in the air. I can feel it. I have felt it ever since
I came in.

FARNHAM

[_Unpleasantly_]

Shall I open a window and let it out?

VAN ZORN

I think it would be quite sufficient if we were to--lift a curtain.

FARNHAM

[_Drily_]

On your past life?

VAN ZORN

On mine--and yours. Past, present, and future.

FARNHAM

You are sure that you are quite well?

VAN ZORN

[_Nods slowly_]

I am sure.

FARNHAM

[_With mock relief_]

That’s good. Now a man in your condition ought to have a cheerful, not
to say optimistic, outlook on life.

[HE _shrugs his shoulders and forces another laugh_]

VAN ZORN

[_Distinctly_]

I may not see life as it is, but I see it as I see it. And I am
confident that I see one rather important aspect of it as it is going
to be if you have your way. I mean, rather, if your vanity and your
obstinacy have _their_ way.

FARNHAM

[_With a sign of resignation_]

Go on.

[_Drily_]

You are the best thing we have had since Samson and the foxes. Well,
with my Vanity and your Destiny working together, we ought to arrive
somewhere, as I have no doubt we shall.

VAN ZORN

And where do you think we shall arrive?

FARNHAM

If you’ll be good enough to raise that magic curtain of yours, we may
find out.

VAN ZORN

[_Frowning_]

If I raise it--yes.

FARNHAM

[_Nervously_]

Then why the devil don’t you?

[_Laughing as before_]

I can stand it--Destiny and all.

[_With assumed lightness_]

I am enjoying what you say, thus far; and I have no doubt

[_Sitting down_]

that I shall be interested in what may follow.

VAN ZORN

[_After watching_ FARNHAM]

Then I may as well come to my subject. Do you know that I have been
coming to it for a long time--for more than four years, in fact?

FARNHAM

I don’t know what you are talking about, but go ahead, all the same.

VAN ZORN

I will. And I’ll begin by asking you one or two direct questions. If
they seem too direct, you must try to pardon me.

[_Pause_]

Farnham, does the approaching unhappiness of three people, who might as
well be happy, commend itself to you as an attractive picture, or as a
desirable state of affairs? Have you said to yourself that your Vanity
and my Destiny, to use your own words, might as easily work together
for joy and for good, as for misery and for evil?

FARNHAM

[_Squirming_]

What name does your doctor give to this?

VAN ZORN

Don’t you think we are beyond that now?

FARNHAM

[_Nervously_]

Beyond recovery? I hope not.

VAN ZORN

Haven’t I raised the curtain?

FARNHAM

[_Getting up_]

You have raised the devil. That’s about what you have done.

[_With another dry laugh_]

What have you been doing since you went away?

VAN ZORN

[_Quietly_]

You give me a leverage when you ask that.

FARNHAM

[_Impulsively_]

Then for God’s sake use it, and send this curtain of yours up a little
higher.

[_With irony_]

If I can be of any assistance....

VAN ZORN

[_Distinctly_]

Farnham, my career, during the past four years, has consisted for the
most part in _seeking_ ... seeking for guidance.

FARNHAM

[_With another laugh_]

You might have done worse. “He that seeketh”.... You know about that
fellow.

VAN ZORN

[_Slowly, but with finality_]

“Findeth.”

FARNHAM

[_With strained humor_]

Good. Are you sure you won’t have a cigar?

VAN ZORN

[_Solemnly_]

Do you remember what the text goes on to say of him that knocketh? I
wonder what you think would be likely to happen if I were to--knock.

[FARNHAM _moves to the fireplace and stands gazing into the grate_.
VAN ZORN _looks at him and waits for him to speak_]

FARNHAM

[_Slowly and incredulously_]

What are you driving at, anyhow? Are you in love with Villa
Vannevar?... You have never told me about this.

VAN ZORN

You have not been exactly available.

FARNHAM

You might have come back before.

VAN ZORN

And I might have made a mistake in doing so. I waited for what seemed
to be the appointed time, and then I came.

FARNHAM

And here you are.

[_With more spirit_]

Now I don’t know much about the appointed time, as you call it, but I
suppose I do know what you mean by knocking at doors.

[_He looks at the picture and scowls_]

May I ask

[_Unpleasantly_]

how many times you intend to knock? And when you intend to begin?

VAN ZORN

[_In a level, musical voice_]

My intention was to knock once, this afternoon, if it could be arranged.

FARNHAM

[_Incredulously_]

You and your boat must have made a record, if that’s the way you feel.

[_As if led along reluctantly by the humor of the situation_]

Well, I dare say it can be arranged--and I infer that you count on me
to do the arranging.

VAN ZORN

I shall never knock under other conditions.

FARNHAM

[_As before_]

And what do you intend to do after you get in? Something in the
Lochinvar line? Carry the young lady away on a horse--or in a limousine?

VAN ZORN

[_Seriously_]

If I were to be admitted, and if I were to satisfy myself that my
convictions are correct, that three people are on their way to
unhappiness and disaster.... What should I do then? What ought I to do
then?

FARNHAM

You look at me as if you thought I was afraid of something. I wish you
would tell me what _I_ ought to be beginning to think of _you_.

VAN ZORN

[_Quietly_]

You should think of me at all times as the best friend you have in the
world.

[FARNHAM _lights a match on the box that he has taken from the mantel
and watches the flame until it burns down to his fingers. Then he
puts his hands into his pockets and looks at_ VAN ZORN _intently_]

FARNHAM

[_Distinctly_]

How long has this been going on? How long have you been planning to
marry Villa Vannevar?

VAN ZORN

[_Distinctly_]

I said something about four years. But time, in your sense of the word,
doesn’t mean very much to me.

FARNHAM

[_Almost with a sneer_]

It may come to mean more--eventually.

VAN ZORN

[_Nods slowly_]

That remains to be seen.

FARNHAM

[_As before_]

As you see it?

[VAN ZORN _nods again_]

My fatalistic friend, you may not care much to know what I have been
doing during the past four or five years, but what I have been doing
during the past four or five minutes may be of interest to you. If so,
I have been asking myself why it is, in spite of my agreement, that I
have been taking the trouble to listen to you. You must be aware that
I would not have listened to the same talk from any other man living.

VAN ZORN

[_With a strange innocence_]

What possible fear can you have, if you have no doubts--or misgivings?

FARNHAM

[_Scowling_]

Fear? Doubts? Misgivings?--what the devil are you driving at now?

VAN ZORN

[_As before_]

You might lead me to believe that you think me capable of treachery.

FARNHAM

Treachery?

[_With a nasal laugh_]

By treachery, I suppose you mean

[_Letting his words out half-angrily, in detached phrases_]

the repeated visitations--of an irresistible personality--on the
unschooled emotions--of a young lady who is about to do me the honor of
becoming my wife.... Am I about right?

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

You speak now as if you thought me capable of almost
anything--beginning with murder.

FARNHAM

[_Trying to laugh_]

No, I don’t think that. For I know now that even you have your
limitations.

VAN ZORN

[_With tightening lips_]

Yes; and I am limited, for the present, at any rate, to one
interview--subject to your consent and arrangement. If by any chance
you should choose to change your mind....

FARNHAM

[_Half-angry_]

What do you mean by that? Why should I change my mind? Just because
you have elected to be plain crazy--with your appointed time, and
your--your Destiny--do you think I’m going to be such an ass as to take
you seriously? I don’t care much for this sort of thing, and I don’t
mind telling you so; but if you insist upon making a show of yourself,
I don’t know that I am bound by courtesy to interfere, or by law to be
responsible--under the circumstances.

VAN ZORN

That will be first rate--especially under the circumstances. Now let me
be sure that we both understand. If I call to see Miss Vannevar this
afternoon at four o’clock, by special appointment,--or, if not then, at
the earliest opportunity....

FARNHAM

[_With an incredulous laugh_]

Oh, you’ll get in. You needn’t worry about that.

[_He smiles to himself and shakes his head, with a long sigh_]

Shall we go out now and have something to eat?

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

Don’t you think, Farnham, that we had better give each other a short
leave of absence?

FARNHAM

[_Drily_]

As you say.

[_With a sorry laugh_]

As you see it.

VAN ZORN

Will you dine with me this evening?

FARNHAM

I’m sorry, but I can’t. But I’ll be here at ten, if that will do you
any good.

VAN ZORN

[_Laughing a little_]

Then I shall see you at ten. And you will telephone me at my
hotel--we’ll say at three-thirty?

FARNHAM

[_With an easy snarl_]

Yes, I’ll telephone.

VAN ZORN

The Knickerbocker.

FARNHAM

[_Wearily_]

I know it.

VAN ZORN

Then I’ll say good-bye until--ten.

FARNHAM

[_More wearily_]

I understood what you said. You said ten.

[_After a pause_ VAN ZORN _goes out_. FARNHAM _returns from the
vestibule with his hat and stick. After turning the picture to
the wall, he stands for a while near the window seat, shakes
his head slowly, puts his hat on slowly, sits down, and smiles
incredulously to himself. He draws figures on the floor with his
stick as the curtain falls_]

CURTAIN

ACT II

_A diagonal view of a room in_ MRS. LOVETT’S _house. The right
corner is revealed, with half of the right wall. In the corner
is a small grand piano, and to the right is a window. To the
left, half way down, is the entrance, a wide arched doorway with
curtains. Well down in front, somewhat to the right, is a table,
before which are two comfortable chairs that partly face each
other. Against the wall, to the left and below the entrance, is
a couch. There are several pictures on the walls, and over the
piano is a portrait of_ MRS. LOVETT’S _late husband, showing
the beardless face of a man of fifty, melancholy and rather
glowering. The room has the unmistakable appearance of a place
where people live and make themselves at home._

_As the curtain rises_, VILLA VANNEVAR _is at the piano, playing in
a listless, abstracted manner the cantabile part of Chopin’s
Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 2_. MRS. LOVETT, _sitting in the chair at
the right of the table, listens, frowns, stamps her foot, and
finally speaks out with evident impatience_.

MRS. LOVETT

Villa Vannevar, do for heaven’s sake keep still, or play something that
has a little life in it. You play that thing as if you were crying
through the ends of your fingers.

VILLA

[_Turning about and facing_ MRS. LOVETT]

Would you have me always laughing, Auntie--like this?

[_She makes a ridiculous face and laughs_]

MRS. LOVETT

No, you silly child. But you needn’t look forever as if life were
nothing but one long funeral. I don’t like funerals.

VILLA

[_With a shrug_]

I don’t know about that. It seems to me sometimes that funerals
are better than weddings. When we go to funerals, we know what has
happened; but when we go to weddings, we don’t even pretend to know
what is _going_ to happen.

[_Looking at her foot_]

I think I like funerals best.

MRS. LOVETT

You crazy child, you are positively wicked.

VILLA

Oh no, I’m not, Auntie. I’m good.

[_Getting up with a sigh_]

I’m good enough to be a fool.

MRS. LOVETT

[_As if scared_]

Villa Vannevar!

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

Yes, Auntie, that’s what’s the matter with me.

[_Wearily_]

Otto Mink and George Lucas believe already that I _am_ one.

MRS. LOVETT

Child! Do you know what you are saying?

VILLA

[_Moving about with her hands behind her_]

I know perfectly well what I’m saying. They think I’m a fool for
marrying Weldon Farnham--when he doesn’t more than half want me.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Significantly, after a pause_]

You haven’t married him yet.

VILLA

[_Trying to laugh_]

No, I have not.

[_Pause_]

I wonder if the other man--Mr. What-you-call-him--thinks I’m a fool.

MRS. LOVETT

[_With excited sarcasm_]

Don’t you know what _he_ thinks?

VILLA

How should I know what he thinks? I don’t even know that he thinks at
all.

[_With a pleasant nervousness_]

Do _you_ know what he thinks?

MRS. LOVETT

I know that he considers you a very charming person, for one thing.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

How nice of him! He didn’t tell me so.

MRS. LOVETT

He may not have told _you_, but he did tell _me_. I am too old to be
deceived.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

Then you must be the oldest woman in the world.

MRS. LOVETT

[_With decayed archness_]

Possibly I am. In any case, I am old enough to see that he considers
you not only very charming, but exceedingly impertinent.

VILLA

Then he must be a beast.

[_She laughs_]

MRS. LOVETT

He isn’t a beast. He’s a wonderful creature. And I am surprised out of
my senses that he should be coming here to see you again this afternoon.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

If you don’t go away with your wonderful creatures, I shall throw
things out of the window and shriek. For Mr. Van Zorn isn’t a wonderful
creature in the least. He’s just a big overgrown man with a heap of
money that he doesn’t know what to do with, and he’s coming to get you
and carry you off in a taxicab.

[SHE _sits at_ MRS. LOVETT’S _feet and looks up into her face_]

And I’ll never see my Auntie any more. And then I suppose there’ll
be nothing left for me to do but to go melancholy mad. I shall prowl
around all by myself like a shut-up cat, and I’ll sit down in all sorts
of corners and cry like anything.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Pleased_]

So you have found his name at last, have you?

VILLA

I like his name. It sounds like a bassoon. But I don’t like his eyes as
well as I do the other man’s.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Disturbed_]

Do you mean Weldon Farnham’s?

VILLA

[_Calmly_]

No, I was thinking for the moment of George Lucas’s eyes. Mr.
What’s-his-name’s are too much like blue search-lights.

MRS. LOVETT

You needn’t call him Mr. What’s-his-name--and you needn’t mention
George Lucas. I am sorry that he has come to be what he is, but I don’t
care to have his name mentioned in my house.

VILLA

But you used to like him once, Auntie,--and this wonderful creature
of yours liked him at first sight. As a matter of fact, he likes him
better than he likes any of the rest of us.

MRS. LOVETT

Don’t talk such nonsense.

VILLA

I’m not talking nonsense.

[_Laughing_]

Anyhow, Auntie, your wonderful creature has taken a wonderful fancy to
George--I beg your pardon--and I don’t know how you are going to change
the course of events, even if you tell me that I have a head like an
Edam cheese--which I haven’t, in the least. My head makes Otto think of
a very nice horse. He said so.

MRS. LOVETT

Otto may have said so because you act so much like a donkey.

VILLA

I don’t act in any respect like a donkey, and I don’t think you
ought to say such things. For I am an extremely well-behaved young
lady--except at times.

[_Pause_]

If you look at me like that much longer, Auntie, I’ll say bow-bow; and
then I’ll put both my paws on your shoulders, and then I’ll bite you.

[_She snaps her teeth and laughs_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_Reluctantly_]

My dear Villa, why did you bring up George Lucas’s name again?

VILLA

[_With a kind of triumph_]

Why do _you_ bring it up again, Auntie?

[_Pause_]

At any rate, he never injured anybody.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Sharply_]

But he disappointed everybody--and that’s as bad as injuring them. I’m
not sure that it isn’t worse.

VILLA

But something may have happened.

MRS. LOVETT

Something always happens. What would be the use of living if things
didn’t happen?

VILLA

[_Slowly_]

I know. But if they happen at the wrong time, and under the wrong
conditions....

MRS. LOVETT

[_With a sniff_]

Well, what do you mean? Do you mean that when a boy with more than
ordinary brains chooses to make an utter fool of himself, and
continues to do so until he grows up and everybody loses all patience
with him....

[_She stops and looks angrily at her fingers_]

VILLA

[_Getting up and speaking thoughtfully_]

No, I don’t mean just that ... George’s father must have been a very
strange man.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Rapidly_]

It doesn’t make any difference what you mean. Besides

[_Slowly, with significant vagueness_]

if you consider yourself engaged to Weldon Farnham, you ought not to
think of other men at all. And you are not supposed to know anything
about men like George Lucas’s father.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

You did that very badly, Auntie.

[_With mock-deliberation_]

And so you want this new man with the queer name--this wonderful
creature--all to yourself!

[_Going behind_ MRS. LOVETT _and putting her hands on her cheeks_]

And you’re a dear, and you’re a pig, and you want him all to yourself,
and it’s nearly time for him to come.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Shaking her head free and looking over her shoulder_]

Do you know that you grow sillier and sillier every day of your life?

VILLA

[_Drawing_ MRS. LOVETT _back and looking down into her eyes_]

Well, would you have me stay forever and ever the same?... If you will
roll your eyes back just a little farther, Auntie, I shall see myself
in them--as I did when I was a little girl.

[_Pause_]

THE MAID

[_In the doorway_]

There is a gentleman to see Miss Villa. He gave me this card.

VILLA

[_Taking the card and examining it_]

But there’s nothing on it.

[_She gives the card to_ MRS. LOVETT _and laughs nervously_]

MRS. LOVETT

Dear me! I hope he isn’t going to be eccentric.

VILLA

He may be an anarchist or something.

[_Shrugs and laughs_]

Go downstairs, Jenny, and find out the creature’s name, and what he
wants. If he asks for fish, give him a serpent.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Reprovingly_]

Villa!

MAID

His name is Mr. Lucas.

MRS. LOVETT

Then why didn’t you say so?

VILLA

Tell him to come upstairs, Jenny.

[_The_ MAID _goes out_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_Bewildered_]

What in the world does this mean? And what in the world do _you_ mean
by asking him to come upstairs?

VILLA

Heaven only knows, Auntie. I don’t seem to know what anything means
today.

[MRS. LOVETT _sits and frowns, and looks at her hands_. VILLA
VANNEVAR _goes to the window and stands with her hands behind her
back. Presently_ MRS. LOVETT _turns and gazes at her, evidently
much disturbed, and remains gazing at her until_ LUCAS _enters_.
HE _is pale, and his manner shows a constraint that he cannot
wholly conceal. His clothes have been through some process of
hasty renovation since his appearance in Act I_]

LUCAS

[_With a certain huskiness_]

I hope, Mrs. Lovett, that you will pardon this--I’ll say this last
intrusion on my part.

[VILLA _comes to him and takes his hand cordially, looking at him as
if disturbed and anxious_]

MRS. LOVETT

[_Without warmth_]

Are you leaving New York, Mr. Lucas?

LUCAS

[_With assumed lightness_]

Yes; and it might have been better for me if I had gone long before
this.

MRS. LOVETT

Indeed?

LUCAS

[_With impulsive directness_]

I came in the hope of seeing Miss Villa for a few moments before going
away.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Rising slowly_]

Oh, I understand.

[_Reluctantly_]

In that case, I will leave you two to yourselves.

[LUCAS _and_ VILLA _look at each other as she goes out. The faces of
both are very serious and in hers there seems to be an expression
of fear_]

VILLA

[_After a pause_]

Why did you send me a blank card?

LUCAS

[_With a thin laugh_]

Oh, I don’t know. Because I drew it, I suppose. It wasn’t a very
brilliant performance on my part.

VILLA

[_With feeling_]

I don’t think it was at all brilliant--or at all kind. You ought not to
do such things, or say such things--to me.

LUCAS

[_With weak humor_]

I knew it wasn’t brilliant as soon as I had done it.

[_At a venture_]

Your aunt was very good to leave us here together.

VILLA

Auntie is always good--

[_Hesitating_]

or means to be.

LUCAS

[_With a vague smile_]

I am glad to know that, for I should be sorry to leave you with an aunt
who was not good. But I came only to say good-bye,--not to talk of
family history, or of old times.

VILLA

Would any harm come of it if we did talk of old times?

[_She sits down on the chair at the right of the table_]

Please sit down.

LUCAS

No harm, I suppose, and not much good.

[_With a forced smile_]

No great good seems to have come of anything that I have done.

VILLA

[_Frowning anxiously_]

But I don’t know what you have done.

[_Trying to laugh_]

You speak as mysteriously as Mr.--Mr. Van Zorn did this morning when he
talked about his business.

LUCAS

[_Sitting down_]

Yes, Van Zorn and I have a great deal in common.

[_He speaks and smiles with mild bitterness_]

VILLA

[_Quickly_]

You may have. I couldn’t keep from seeing that he took a great interest
in you this morning.

LUCAS

[_As if tired, but still interested_]

If you could see that, you ought to be able to see almost anything. You
ought even to be able to see what I have done.

VILLA

[_Angry with herself_]

But I didn’t mean to say that. You know I didn’t.

LUCAS

You might as well have meant to say it, for you must see that I have
done nothing. Even Van Zorn took the trouble--did me the honor, if you
insist--to see as much as that.

VILLA

[_Lamely_]

He saw that you were not--well, not quite satisfied. Isn’t that what
you mean?

LUCAS

Do you know anyone who is quite satisfied?

[_Pause_]

I know two or three who seem to be, but they are in asylums.

VILLA

[_With a forced laugh and a shiver_]

Oh! So that’s where they are. I thought there must be something wrong.

LUCAS

[_Standing up and speaking earnestly_]

You are quite right. There _is_ something wrong. We see it in the
streets, we live it in our lives, we feel it in our hearts. And there
you have my reason for coming to say good-bye to you.

VILLA

[_Frightened_]

You mustn’t speak like that--as if we were never to see you again.

LUCAS

[_As before_]

And there you have my reason for wanting to go away into--what shall I
call it?--into another kind of life, and to make a new beginning. It
seems to be absolutely necessary, for many reasons, that I should make
a new beginning. Yes, I want to get away from all this dust and deceit
and disillusion; I want to get away from all this noise and poison; I
want a place where I can be quiet for a while, away from streets and
faces; I want a place where there are no roofs between me and the sky;
I want a place where the sun shines down on a fellow, and where the
stars are.... Oh yes, I know well enough what I want, and I know that
I’ve waited too long. I might as well have gone away years ago....

VILLA

[_Looking down_]

Yes, it might perhaps have been as well.

LUCAS

It would have been better--far better.

VILLA

[_Looking up and hesitating_]

Won’t you tell me where you are going?

LUCAS

[_After a pause_]

I am going--west.

VILLA

You are not very confidential.

LUCAS

I would be more so if I could.

VILLA

Mightn’t it be better if you were to go in the other direction--towards
the sunrise?... Was that a silly thing for me to say?

LUCAS

It will come to the same thing, for I shall follow the sun.

[_Trying to laugh_]

Some people do that all their lives--in order to keep warm.

VILLA

[_Also trying to laugh_]

Is that why you are going away? But you told me why you were going. I
forgot.

LUCAS

I don’t want you to forget that. What I want you to forget are some
things that happened a long time ago.

VILLA

[_As before_]

Do be careful. You speak as if I were a hundred years old.

LUCAS

[_With strange earnestness_]

I’ll be very careful, or at least I’ll try to be. And will you be good
enough to pardon me for not knowing at one time as much as I know
now?--which God knows is little enough. I thought I knew myself then,
but I’ve seen since that I was wrong. It was you who knew me. Yes, you
knew me, then, and you know me still. And I am glad for that.

VILLA

[_Doubtfully_]

You don’t speak as if you were glad.... And I wonder if it is really
worth while for us to be so serious over a matter that is--past--and--

LUCAS

Forgotten?

VILLA

[_Slowly_]

No, there is nothing that I wish to forget. We all make mistakes, don’t
we? How can we help ourselves?

[_She smiles sorrowfully_]

LUCAS

We were younger then than we are now.

VILLA

[_Forcing another laugh_]

I don’t know what I shall do if you keep on telling me how old I am.
Do you know that I pulled three gray hairs out of my poor scalp this
morning?

[_He looks at her solemnly, and her face becomes suddenly serious_]

How long do you intend to stay in--the west?

[_Her question is obviously a makeshift to break the silence_]

LUCAS

There seems to be no answer to that question--for the present.

VILLA

But you are coming back sometime?

LUCAS

Who can tell? I may become so deeply attached to the region where I am
going that I shall not wish to come back. Besides one has to consider
the wisdom of his ways in this life--or he _should_ consider them.

[_He speaks with a rather disastrous attempt at lightness that serves
only to make_ VILLA _more dissatisfied and unhappy than before_]

VILLA

[_Troubled_]

I don’t understand what you mean.

LUCAS

[_With an effort_]

I don’t mean very much.

[_Smiling faintly_]

But I came to say good-bye before going away--not to talk about wisdom.

VILLA

[_Looking at him as she rises_]

It was good of you to come.

LUCAS

[_Drearily_]

It was magnanimous of me.

[_With deep feeling_]

I wonder if you know how good you have been to me today?

VILLA

[_Trying again to laugh_]

My aunt has just been telling me that I am wicked.

LUCAS

[_After looking about the room_]

Well, good-bye.

[_He holds out his hand_]

VILLA

[_Holding his hand and speaking as if unwillingly_]

Good-bye ... and I wish you every kind of good fortune.

[_Pause_]

And I shall remember you--always--if you care.

LUCAS

[_With difficulty_]

Always?... Thank you.... Good-bye....

[_As they stand looking into each other’s eyes, the_ MAID _appears in
the doorway and announces_ “MR. VAN ZORN”]

VILLA

[_Dropping_ LUCAS’S _hand_]

Very well, Jenny. Tell him to come upstairs.

[_The_ MAID _disappears_, VILLA _and_ LUCAS _continue to look at each
other, and both appear now to be embarrassed. She speaks again,
after a pause_]

Please don’t go--quite yet.

LUCAS

Why should I stay longer?

VILLA

[_Trying to laugh_]

I suppose I ought to keep him waiting, but I won’t.

[_Seriously_]

For you are going away, and I feel sure that he would like to see you
before you go.... Isn’t it odd that you two should be here together
this afternoon?

LUCAS

[_Drily_]

It may be odd.

VILLA

[_Nervously_]

Or it may be fate. Anyhow, I shan’t let you go until you see him.

LUCAS

[_With tightened lips_]

Apparently not, unless I run.

VILLA

You aren’t angry with me, are you?

LUCAS

I’m never angry, except with myself.

[_There is another pause, and_ VAN ZORN _enters. He looks at_ VILLA
VANNEVAR _and at_ LUCAS, _but shows no surprise. He smiles
pleasantly and shakes hands with_ VILLA]

VAN ZORN

Ah! I’m very glad to see you again.

[_Shaking hands with_ LUCAS]

And I’m very glad to see Mr. Lucas again.

VILLA

[_Quickly_]

I thought you would be glad to see him--for he is going away.

VAN ZORN

[_With a slight frown_]

May I ask when he is going?

[_He turns to_ LUCAS _inquiringly_]

LUCAS

[_Rather thickly_]

I was on the point of going when you came.

VAN ZORN

[_Seriously_]

May I ask how long you intend to stay away?

LUCAS

I expect to be gone indefinitely.

VAN ZORN

[_With a friendly smile_]

You may shake down one of my best castles if you do that.

LUCAS

I should be sorry to shake down any man’s castle.

VAN ZORN

I’m sure of that.

[_Stroking his chin thoughtfully_]

I wonder, Miss Vannevar, if you would pardon me if I were to make a
somewhat surprising request. You may think it even eccentric.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Who enters while he speaks_]

We like eccentric people.

[_Beaming and holding out her hand_]

I’m so glad to see you.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

But what is this awful request of yours?

VAN ZORN

I was going to ask

[_Smiling at_ MRS. LOVETT, _who smiles in return_]

if you would be kind enough to leave Mr. Lucas alone here with me for a
few minutes. I fear that he is plotting against me, and I should like
to know, before he leaves this house, that his plot has been abandoned.

[_With another smile_]

I am quite well aware that this request is unusual.

VILLA

[_Taking_ MRS. LOVETT _by the arm and laughing_]

Oh, that’s nothing! Everything is unusual today, and it’s all the fault
of Weldon’s picture. Come along, Auntie, and we two will wait for what
happens.

MRS. LOVETT

[_Beaming, but bewildered_]

I’m sure I don’t know what any of you are talking about, but of course
I’ll do as I’m told.

VILLA

[_Drawing her towards the door_]

Of course you will. What else can you do when two conspirators drive
you out of your own room?

VAN ZORN

[_Pleased_]

Thank you. And when we have conspired sufficiently, I will play on the
piano. Then you may come back.

[_The two women go out_, VILLA VANNEVAR _singing “Quand on Conspire”
and laughing at the same time_]

VAN ZORN

[_Still smiling_]

Do you object to being corralled in this unconventional manner, Mr.
Lucas?

LUCAS

[_Puzzled_]

I am entirely at your service.

VAN ZORN

[_In a very friendly voice_]

Well, to begin, it may possibly make you feel better to know that your
friends have been talking about you behind your back.

[_He sits down on the piano stool, with his back to the keyboard_]

I refer to Farnham and myself.

[LUCAS _looks more puzzled_]

I’ll be quite honest with you and tell you that I began it; and I may
as well come to the point at once and tell you that I shall probably
need you in my business,--assuming, you understand, that you are
available. I have had three or four schemes in my head for some time,
and I’m sure that you will find at least one of them congenial. Are you
interested?

LUCAS

[_Taking an ivory paper cutter from the table_]

Yes, I am interested, but I don’t want you to make a mistake.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

I shall make mistakes, whether you want me to or not. And as for what
Farnham said--to go back for a little....

LUCAS

[_Drily_]

Let us go back, by all means. What Farnham said about me ought to make
rather good copy.

[_Curiously_]

What sort of stuff has he been telling you?

VAN ZORN

He didn’t tell me much. In fact, far less than I hoped for.

[_Laughing a little_]

So you needn’t worry about Farnham.

LUCAS

[_Looking at something on the wall and breaking the ivory paper
cutter in his abstraction_]

I wasn’t worrying about Farnham.

[_Fitting the pieces together_]

I was wondering about you.

[_Pause_]

Do you know what you are doing?... Do you know that you are taking me
seriously?

VAN ZORN

[_With a friendly smile_]

If I were not taking you seriously, I should hardly have resorted, in a
strange house, to this method of getting hold of you.

[_Half laughing_]

Don’t you care to be taken seriously? Or do you prefer to be taken as a
joke?

LUCAS

[_Hesitating_]

Why do you ask me if I care?

VAN ZORN

[_Pleasantly_]

Partly for the sake of saying something, and partly because I should
like to know.

LUCAS

[_With tightened lips_]

Why don’t you ask me the other question--and have it off your mind?

VAN ZORN

[_Indulgently_]

At your own suggestion, I will. I will ask if you care enough to begin
the game all over again, and let the past sink.

LUCAS

[_Cynically_]

The past ought to be pretty well drowned by this time.

VAN ZORN

[_Kindly, but very distinctly_]

On the contrary, I have been led to infer that you have put yourself to
a great deal of trouble and expense to keep it floating, so to speak.
As a rule, I don’t mean to meddle with other people’s affairs, but in
your case....

[_With a laugh_]

I’m sure you understand me. You have a head of your own.

LUCAS

[_Nodding it slowly_]

Yes; and only one.

VAN ZORN

Do you think it worth saving?

LUCAS

[_Embarrassed_]

If you insist, I--well, I suppose I do. It’s a fairly good head, in
some respects. But why should we talk about it now?

[_He looks about him uneasily_]

VAN ZORN

[_Standing up and gazing at Lucas_]

Because you told me you were going away. Now I will be as frank as
possible with you and tell you that I didn’t like your way of saying
it, or your way of looking when you said it.

LUCAS

[_Wetting his lips_]

You are not very clear.

VAN ZORN

[_Seriously_]

I am as clear as I can be, without having more specific information.

[_More seriously_]

I knew another fellow once who--went away; and you made me think of him.

LUCAS

[_Drily_]

How far did he go?

VAN ZORN

[_Firmly_]

How far did you intend to go?

LUCAS

[_Nervously_]

You seem to have it settled that I am not going.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling again_]

You are not going if I can keep you in New York.

LUCAS

[_Throwing the broken paper cutter down on the table and putting his
hands in his pockets_]

I thought I was going.

VAN ZORN

[_Frowning as he watches him_]

You speak as if you had made some final preparations. Sometimes they
are very final indeed--preparations.

[_Pause_]

Will you give me an answer to my question if I ask you just what
preparations you have made?

LUCAS

[_Slowly_]

Yes, and I will give you more than that.

VAN ZORN

[_Relieved_]

Good. But I’m not going to be satisfied even then. I am going to ask
you, in addition, to dine with me this evening at the Knickerbocker,
and I am going

[_He returns to the piano stool_]

to ask you to take a small advance.

[_Taking a check book and a pen from his pocket_]

If you don’t happen to need this

[_He writes as he speaks_]

you needn’t use it, but I want you to take it, all the same.

[_Handing him the check_]

Will you?

LUCAS

[_Slowly_]

Yes, I will take it. And I will see you at--seven o’clock?

VAN ZORN

Thank you.

[_He toys with his pen as if he were waiting_]

LUCAS

And you may do whatever you like with this.

[_He takes a small vial from his waistcoat and gives it to_ VAN ZORN,
_who takes it slowly_]

VAN ZORN

[_Looking at the vial and scowling_]

Cyanide of potassium?

[_He smiles grimly and shakes his head as he looks up_]

That isn’t what you need.

[_He looks again at the vial_]

K C N ... do you know what that makes me think of?

[_He looks up again and laughs drily_]

LUCAS

[_Uncomfortably_]

Yes, I suppose I know.

VAN ZORN

[_Putting the vial in his pocket_]

No, I don’t believe you do.

[_Smiling_]

It makes me think of Sir Joseph Porter, K. C. B.--in _Pinafore_. The
last letter is different, however. How does that thing go?

LUCAS

[_With sardonic distinctness_]

“When I was a lad, I served a term.” You may not believe it, but I did.

VAN ZORN

Yes, I believe it. But I was thinking of the tune.

[_He turns on the stool and begins to drum with his right forefinger
on the piano_]

Is that the way it goes?

LUCAS

[_With grateful impatience to get away_]

Yes--and this is the way I go.

[_Grasping_ VAN ZORN’S _hand quickly_]

You will say something.

[_As if he had made a discovery_]

and _I_ will say something.

[_Trying to hide his emotion in his voice_]

I’ll make some sort of explanation.

[LUCAS _disappears quickly into the hall and_ VAN ZORN _begins to
drum “When I was a lad” once more on the piano_. VILLA VANNEVAR
_appears in the doorway and watches him unseen. Finally she
laughs and begins to clap her hands_]

VAN ZORN

[_Getting up_]

Mr. Lucas has gone.

[_Distinctly_]

But not so far as he thought he was going.

VILLA

[_Looking about_]

Did he go through the roof?

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

No, he went by the way of the stairs--and rather suddenly.

VILLA

[_Puzzled_]

Did he leave any word behind him?

VAN ZORN

Well, yes. He told me to say something.

VILLA

What did he tell you to say?

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

That was all--something.

VILLA

Please don’t laugh at me.

VAN ZORN

Should I be likely to do that? Especially on so slight an acquaintance?

[_He laughs a little as he speaks, but_ VILLA _remains serious_]

VILLA

[_Slowly_]

It doesn’t seem to be slight--somehow.

VAN ZORN

[_With a touch of mystery_]

Perhaps it isn’t, really. We mortals know very little of ourselves, and
far less of each other. As a consequence, we make mistakes.

VILLA

[_Still puzzled_]

Do _you_ make mistakes?

VAN ZORN

Frequently.

VILLA

[_With a nervous laugh_]

I’m so glad.

VAN ZORN

Do you know that many of us waste large fractions of our short lives in
being sorry for our mistakes--and oftentimes when we should be glad for
them?

VILLA

[_Puzzled_]

You said that as if you meant something.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

It is possible that I did mean something.

VILLA

Now you are laughing at me again.

VAN ZORN

[_Easily_]

Why should I laugh at you when I know that you are not happy?

VILLA

[_Puzzled_]

Do I look as if I were not happy?

VAN ZORN

Something has troubled you for a long time.

VILLA

Why do you say that?

VAN ZORN

If I had not known it, I should not have come to this house.

VILLA

[_Trying to laugh again_]

Did I look so utterly miserable this morning that you took pity on me?
Was it the picture? Or did you think I took too much trouble to see
that Weldon laughed at Mr. Lucas?

VAN ZORN

[_Frowning strangely_]

No, it was not that.

VILLA

You seem to know something about him.

VAN ZORN

About Lucas?

VILLA

Yes. You have kept him from going away. I am sure that he wished to go.

VAN ZORN

And I am sure that he intended to go. But I ventured to put the matter
in a different light, and he has agreed to give New York another
chance. New York, as I told him, is not in all respects the worst place
in the world.

VILLA

[_Laughing as before_]

Weldon thinks it is. But I forgot to offer you a chair.

[_Takes the chair at the left of the table_]

I don’t wonder that Auntie calls me all sorts of things.

VAN ZORN

Thank you.

[_He puts his hands on the back of the chair at the left and looks at
her as if waiting for her to say more_]

VILLA

[_Looking up at him_]

Yes, he thinks New York is the very worst. And that, I suppose, is one
of the reasons why we are going to Damascus.

[_She laughs again, nervously_]

VAN ZORN

[_Slowly_]

Damascus?... Why Damascus?

VILLA

Heaven only knows. And I am stupid enough to like New York. I like even
the ferry whistles.

VAN ZORN

Should you care to stay here forever?

VILLA

No, I don’t say that. I want to go to Egypt sometime and see the
Sphynx. There are no sphynxes in New York.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

Are you sure of that?

[_She laughs_]

There are no ferry whistles in Damascus.

VILLA

Why do you object to my going?

VAN ZORN

Why should I?

VILLA

Why do you object to George Lucas’s going--west?

VAN ZORN

Because I have taken a particular interest in him.

VILLA

[_Quickly_]

I’m glad of that.

[_With a slight constraint_]

For I have known him all my life--and I like him.

[VAN ZORN, _who has been looking from time to time at the portrait
over the piano, is now gazing at it with apparently unconscious
intentness_]

VILLA

[_Glancing over her shoulder_]

Did you know _him_--my uncle?

VAN ZORN

[_Looking at her and shaking his head_]

I did not.

VILLA

My poor uncle Lovett was unfortunate, and I am glad for his sake that
he is dead. Does that sound hard?

VAN ZORN

Far from it. I have known such cases.

VILLA

He died in this room.

VAN ZORN

I am not superstitious.

VILLA

He drank himself to death.

VAN ZORN

I am not uncharitable.

VILLA

He was a good man.

VAN ZORN

I have no doubt of it.

[_Pause_]

Lucas is a good man.

VILLA

[_Earnestly_]

He _is_ good. And I hope his meeting with you may prove to be fortunate.

VAN ZORN

[_Steadily_]

Lucas may prove to be the most fortunate of us all. Don’t you think
it would be well for at least one of us to be fortunate, even if the
others are not?

VILLA

[_Half-frightened_]

The others? You say such unexpected things.

VAN ZORN

[_Still with his hands on the back of the chair_]

Yes, the others. The others who are not going to be fortunate.

VILLA

[_With a shrug_]

You speak like a wizard. If you are trying to cast a spell over me, you
might as well let me know beforehand.

[_Laughing thinly_]

All good wizards should do that, I think.

VAN ZORN

[_Firmly but rather sadly_]

I should say that the spell had already been cast.

VILLA

But what manner of spell do you mean?

[_Nervously_]

There are spells and spells, I suppose. Aren’t there?

VAN ZORN

I might say the spell that compels you to take so much apparent
satisfaction in being insincere.

VILLA

[_Looking at him_]

Insincere?

VAN ZORN

[_Nods slowly_]

To yourself and to the others. To the others who are not going to be
fortunate.

VILLA

[_Biting her lip_]

Did you come to tell me this?

VAN ZORN

I came because I was called. You may be surprised, but there is no
reason why you should be offended.

VILLA

[_With a cold but artificial laugh_]

Amused, you mean.

VAN ZORN

[_Calmly and distinctly_]

No, that is not what I mean. For you cannot possibly find it amusing
to know that you have the happiness of at least three lives at your
disposal.... Yes, in your power.... Do you believe, really, that
it would be amusing to make three new contributions to the world’s
unhappiness--much of which, from any finite point of view, is already
unnecessary?

VILLA

[_Her lips tightening_]

I don’t believe you realize what you are saying.

[_She rises_]

No, I don’t mean that you are to go.

VILLA

[_She goes to the table and looks aimlessly at some objects that are
on it_]

Will you tell me something?

VAN ZORN

[_Now at the right of the table, near the chair_]

Willingly, if I can.

VILLA

[_Toying with the broken paper cutter_]

What did you say to Weldon Farnham about--about this? And what did he
say to you?

VAN ZORN

I asked him for one interview.

VILLA

And where do you intend to go at the end of this--one interview?

VAN ZORN

My own way, wherever that may lie.

[_Very distinctly_]

You may never see me again, but you will kindly believe me when I
assure you that the situation before you is not--amusing.

VILLA

[_With half-hearted authority_]

Under ordinary conditions, you must see that I could not listen any
longer to what you are saying.

VAN ZORN

I understand you perfectly.

[_Slowly, with a strange confidence_]

I understand at the same time that these are not ordinary conditions,
and that you and I are not ordinary people.

VILLA

[_With a shrug_]

I am beginning to think that we are not.

[_With a reluctant smile_]

Do you think we are so very important?

VAN ZORN

[_With his hands on the back of the chair_]

Is anything important?

VILLA

[_Slowly_]

I wonder--sometimes. And I thought

[_Rather feebly_]

that you were a friend of Weldon Farnham’s.

VAN ZORN

His best friend, so far as I know.

VILLA

Does a man’s best friend try to....

[_She stops as if frightened_]

VAN ZORN

Yes.... If it is written so, yes.

VILLA

[_As if compelled_]

Do you mean--“destiny?”

VAN ZORN

You may give it whatever name you choose. May I ask you another
question?

VILLA

I suppose so.

[_With another shrug_]

But you needn’t scare me.

VAN ZORN

[_With a melancholy smile_]

That is the last thing that I could possibly wish to do. What I have
now to ask is this: Is it your unalterable will to deprive three
people, including yourself, of the happiness that might as well be
theirs?

VILLA

[_Trying to laugh_]

Why do you speak of my “will” and of your “destiny?” Mayn’t I have a
destiny as well as you?

VAN ZORN

[_Looking at the portrait_]

You have one undoubtedly. And I have one interview.

[_He stands as before with his hands on the back of the chair and
watches her while she examines various objects on the table_]

Are you sure that you know what it would mean if you were to make a
mistake now?

[_She gives him a bewildered look that is meant to be resentful, but
he does not seem to notice it_]

Are you sure that you are thinking of the years, and the darkness, and
the long roads that lie in the darkness--and end there? Are such things
important, or are they still--amusing?

[VILLA _stands looking vacantly at a picture post-card that is in her
hand and finally turns the card towards_ VAN ZORN, _speaking with
a trace of injured and half-frightened humor in her voice and
eyes_]

VILLA

[_Irrelevantly_]

Did you ever see the Lion of Lucerne?

VAN ZORN

[_Suddenly inclined to laugh_]

No.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

I thought you had seen everything.

VAN ZORN

[_Shaking his head slowly_]

I haven’t. I have never seen you but once, until today.

VILLA

[_Laughing nervously_]

I don’t see what the Lion of Lucerne has to do with your seeing me.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling_]

I don’t see what the Lion of Lucerne has to do with any of us.

[_He looks at the card and then at her, with the same melancholy and
inquiring smile_]

I dare say that he has his good points.

VILLA

[_Throwing down the card and putting her hands behind her_]

I still think that I ought to be angry with you.

[_Ruefully_]

Every nerve and fibre tells me so.

VAN ZORN

You are too healthy to have nerves and fibres. And if you knew yourself
better, you could not even think of being angry with _me_.

VILLA

[_With humor and self-assertion_]

You are not an absolute mystery, and I know a great deal about you, and
about myself--that is, for a girl who has never seen the Sphynx.

[_Taking up the card again and looking at it_]

I’ll tell you something else that I know--something that I’ve known for
a long time.

[_He nods slowly_]

I have known for a long time that our ways,

[_Quickly_]

Weldon’s way and mine, I mean,--have been leading us just where you
have said they are leading us--into the dark.

[_Looking down_]

And I have always been afraid of the dark.

[_With a shrug and a laugh_]

I wonder whether your coming to make me tell you this may not be
“destiny” after all.

VAN ZORN

[_Looking at her fixedly_]

There can be no doubt about that.

[_They stand looking at each other, she with her hands behind her,
and he with his hands on the back of the chair. After a pause she
turns quietly toward the door, where the maid is seen standing_]

THE MAID

Mr. Mink would like to see you, Miss Villa.

VILLA

[_Biting her lip to keep from laughing at_ VAN ZORN’S _augmented
solemnity_]

Tell him to come up, Jenny.

[_To_ VAN ZORN]

You don’t look as if you were going to be glad to see Otto. You ought
to be, for he is a very nice boy.

VAN ZORN

[_Forcing a smile_]

So I have been told.

[OTTO _enters briskly, with a book in his hand. Being a child
of nature he does not attempt to conceal his surprise at
discovering_ VAN ZORN _in the room_]

OTTO

[_Blankly_]

Oh! How do you do?... I’m afraid I’m in the way.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

Of what, Otto? You foolish child, you are never in the way.

OTTO

[_Doubtfully_]

I don’t know about that. But I have come, anyhow, as I said I would.
And here, my adorable young lady, is a copy of my latest abhorred
twitterings. Does it look wicked?

VILLA

[_Taking the book and laughing at_ OTTO]

It looks lovely. But why do you call it _Au Cinquième_? You don’t live
on the fifth floor.

OTTO

[_Briskly_]

That isn’t necessary. All you have to do is to shut yourself up
in almost any kind of place, have in a barrel of mangoes, and let
imagination do the rest.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

Mangoes?

OTTO

[_Cheerfully_]

Mangoes. The mango has the flavor of all the fruits. If you eat a
barrel of ’em, you will have the wisdom of all the ages.

[_With a grimace_]

Unhappily, I didn’t eat my barrel quite fast enough, and so I lost some
of it.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

That was too bad.

[_Looking at the book_]

But I hope the critics will be good to _Au Cinquième_.

OTTO

[_Shaking his head sorrowfully_]

They won’t.

[_Brightening_]

Do you remember my last book--_Huîtres et Chablis_?

[_She nods and laughs_]

Thank you for remembering it. Well,

[_Putting his hands into his trousers pockets_]

one inky-fingered imbecile advised me to write one more book
as an antidote and to call it _Huile de Foie de Morue_, or
Cod-liver-oil,--that being his private idea of humor. No, my dear young
lady, Posterity is the only judge. Sometime, therefore, when I am
gone--sometime when you are old and full of wrinkles--and rheumatism,
if God wills it so--some far-off winter evening, for example, when
you sit by the fire, with your cat in your lap,--say to yourself that
Mink, who was always delicate, once took you out canoeing and contrived
somehow to spill you into the beautiful Hudson, and that you swam
ashore.

VILLA

And nearly died laughing.

OTTO

Oh, very well. But I can assure you both

[_Looking at_ VAN ZORN, _who has been listening rather wearily_]

that my neglected afflatus is of no manner of importance when compared
with a bit of history that occurred about half an hour ago on Broadway,
not far from Forty-second Street. It will do no good for me to tell it,
for neither of you will believe it,--unless you believe in Noah’s Ark,
and such like.

VILLA

[_Quickly_]

We do believe in Noah’s Ark, and you will please go on. Sit down and
tell us about it.

[_She sits on the piano stool_]

OTTO

I’d better not. I might not be able to get up again. Well then, it’s
about Phœbus--Old Hundred--Lucas.... O Lord!

VAN ZORN

[_With a quick frown of inquiry_]

Has anything happened to Lucas?

OTTO

[_Looking from one to the other_]

It isn’t easy to talk about.

VILLA

[_Impatiently_]

But tell me what you mean, Otto.

OTTO

I mean

[_Folding his arms_]

that Old Hundred has refused a gin-rickey.

VILLA

[_Forgetting herself_]

Oh!... But after all, was that so very wonderful?

[_Her manner reveals her suppressed excitement_]

OTTO

[_Innocently_]

You speak as if you thought so.

VILLA

[_More naturally_]

I spoke because I was glad. It was the only thing for him to do, and I
was afraid that he could never do it.

[_Eagerly again_]

Are you sure that he has done it, Otto,--or is this only once?

OTTO

[_With a queer smile of reminiscence_]

He has done it fast enough, if I know anything about him.

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _with sudden expansion_]

You see, this friend of ours fills himself with fluid extract of early
death for certain years, and then, all of a sudden, on Broadway, not
far from Forty-second Street, he slaps a fellow kindly on the shoulder
and tells a fellow that he, Phœbus, has been born again. That was
it,--“born again.”

[_To_ VILLA, _who has risen to her feet in her excitement_]

The man is illuminated, I tell you. There is something in his eyes.

VAN ZORN

[_With tightening lips_]

Let us hope it is not dust.

OTTO

[_Standing on his toes_]

No, the dust is in _our_ eyes, if anywhere. Or it was.

VILLA

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _gratefully_]

Not in _yours_, at any rate.... And you have been the cause of it all!

[OTTO _looks at_ VAN ZORN _in amazement_]

VAN ZORN

[_As before_]

On the contrary, I don’t know that I have ever been the cause of
anything. But I agree with you in saying that this was the only course
for him to take, although I have never shared your fear that he would
not take it.

VILLA

[_Still wondering_]

But how did you know anything about him?

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling faintly_]

Oh, there are signs. Moreover, I permitted Farnham to tell me as much
as he would about Lucas’s early life.

VILLA

But he cannot possibly know much about it.

VAN ZORN

[_Thoughtfully_]

He spoke, I think, of an eccentric father.

[_He glances at the portrait of_ LOVETT]

VILLA

Weldon was not here in those days and perhaps it was as well that he
was not,--for he might not have understood.

[_As if to correct herself_]

I mean that men like Weldon find it hard to measure the importance of
things that happen in other people’s lives. They can’t do otherwise, I
suppose.

VAN ZORN

All of which being granted, there still remains no room for doubt as to
Farnham’s friendliness towards Lucas.

VILLA

[_Vexed_]

I didn’t mean that. I don’t see how I came to speak as I did.

OTTO

[_Going to_ VILLA]

I’m very much afraid that you must put _me_ down as the tender and
innocent cause. Pardon my interruption, and--beware the book.

[_After a somewhat bewildered pause_]

Good afternoon.

VILLA

[_As he is going_]

Is there very much about Nineveh in it?

[_She laughs rather thinly_]

OTTO

[_With a grimace_]

Nineveh occurs but twice, and Babylon has disappeared entirely.

[_He bows with exaggerated deference and disappears_]

[_After_ OTTO’S _departure there is a pause_. VILLA _sits down in the
large chair at the left of the table, while_ VAN ZORN _stands
looking at the portrait. Both have become very serious, and_
VILLA’S _voice and manner reveal more and more constraint and
emotion during the following scene_]

VILLA

[_Trying to smile_]

What do you think of Otto, now?

[_Pause_]

Wasn’t it strange--what he told us about George?

VAN ZORN

[_Standing near his chair_]

Was it any stranger than my coming to this house?

VILLA

[_Embarrassed_]

But your coming was different, and I knew just when to expect you.

VAN ZORN

Did you know just _why_ you were to expect me?

VILLA

Well, no,--not quite.

VAN ZORN

Were you a little offended at my request to see you?

VILLA

[_Slowly_]

No.

VAN ZORN

You must at least have thought it very unusual.

VILLA

Possibly.

[_With a faint smile_]

But one looks for unusual things from you, somehow.... But I shouldn’t
have said that. I beg your pardon.

VAN ZORN

I am asking myself whether or not I should beg _your_ pardon.

VILLA

[_Her voice trembling_]

For telling me the truth?

VAN ZORN

No; but for remaining here when you must be wishing that I would go
away.

[_She pauses, rises quickly from her chair, and stands before him.
She can hardly control herself. He looks into her eyes and then
turns away_]

VILLA

[_Almost beseeching him_]

No, you must not do that! You must not go yet!... I can’t let you go
until I tell you something.

[_She moves back to her chair and sits down slowly_]

VAN ZORN

[_Unhappily, but with dignity_]

I don’t wish you to tell me anything unless you are sure that I should
hear it; and I don’t wish to take advantage of your perplexity--or of
your unhappiness. You will understand that, I am sure; and you will
agree with me, no doubt, when I say that my position has already become
rather--well, say strange, to use your own word.

[_With unconscious bitterness_]

It will serve as well as another.

VILLA

[_Impulsively_]

I don’t care how strange it is, or how strange you are, so long as I
know that I can trust you. If you were not strange, I might not have
the courage to ask you to help me.... I wonder if I ought to wait until
I know you better.

VAN ZORN

[_With deep feeling_]

You will never know me better, and I shall be always at your service.

[_With a bitter smile_]

“They also serve who only stand and wait.”

[_Pause_]

Even the blind can serve, in their limited way.

VILLA

[_Choking_]

You must not say that again. You must not....

[_Her voice breaks completely. She throws herself forward, laying her
head and arms upon the table. Her whole body shakes, as if the
prisoned emotion of years were finally asserting itself._ VAN
ZORN _stands with his hands on the back of his chair and looks
down at her with a great sorrow in his eyes. Finally he turns
from her to the part of the table that is near him and absently
picks up the pieces of ivory that_ LUCAS _has broken_]

VAN ZORN

[_Fitting the pieces together, and speaking with difficulty_]

Then you are not going to Damascus, after all.

[VILLA’S _body still shakes with her emotion, and she makes no sign
to show that she has heard him. He looks down at her as the
curtain falls_]

CURTAIN

ACT III

FARNHAM’S _studio, a little after ten in the evening. When the
curtain rises the room is dark, save for the light of the fire
which is now burning in the grate._

FARNHAM _is lying stretched on the window seat. Presently he gets
up rather lazily, turns on the light, looks at his watch and
stands in the middle of the room with his hands thrust deep into
the pockets of a black velvet house coat. Apart from this coat
he is in evening dress. He moves about aimlessly, yawns, and
takes a cigar from the box on the table. As he is lighting it,
the bell rings. He remains motionless for a little while, and a
strange hard smile comes over his face. Finally, with a shrug of
his shoulders he goes to the door and admits_ VAN ZORN, _who is
dressed in ordinary business clothes. His face wears a serious
expression and he greets_ FARNHAM _with a kindly but somewhat
uncanny smile. Then he looks towards the portrait on the easel,
which has been moved back to its original place in Act I._

FARNHAM

[_Still smiling drily_]

For such a demon of punctuality, it seems to me that you are a bit late.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling as before_]

Am I so insufferably punctual that I cannot have five minutes’ grace?

[_He takes off his overcoat_]

FARNHAM

[_Taking his coat and hat and putting them on the window seat_]

Oh, no offence. You have made your own reputation.

[VAN ZORN _goes to the fire_]

Are you cold?

VAN ZORN

It’s rather cool outside.

FARNHAM

[_With a grin_]

I noticed that when I came out of the subway. Aren’t you going to sit
down?

VAN ZORN

Presently.

FARNHAM

Take your time about it. Have a cigar.

[_He holds out the box and smiles_]

VAN ZORN

I’ll take one later, if you don’t mind.

FARNHAM

It’s a Pedro.

VAN ZORN

Not now.

FARNHAM

[_Coaxingly_]

Colorado.

[VAN ZORN _shakes his head and smiles patiently_]

Very well. Pardon me if I appear to urge you.

VAN ZORN

I can think of no one who should ask me to pardon him.

FARNHAM

You remind me of the noble Spaniard who had no enemies because he had
killed them all.

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling faintly_]

I have never killed anybody, to my knowledge. I may once have had
something to do with bringing a man back to life again.

FARNHAM

That was good. Did he thank you for it?

VAN ZORN

He didn’t say very much.

FARNHAM

They don’t as a rule, I believe. By the way,

[_Grinning_]

when do you intend to tackle Old Hundred?

VAN ZORN

[_Frowning slightly_]

I dined with Lucas this evening--if you mean Lucas.

FARNHAM

[_Surprised_]

Oho! You did?--Did he get drunk?

VAN ZORN

He did not.

FARNHAM

[_Not too pleasantly_]

Oh well, you needn’t be discouraged over that. There’ll be time enough
between now and midnight.

VAN ZORN

[_Distinctly_]

There will be time enough between now and midnight for more things than
you may have considered.

FARNHAM

[_Puzzled_]

I have no doubt of it. But no matter about Lucas. Tell me something
more about your destiny.

[_Drily_]

How _is_ your destiny this evening, anyway?

VAN ZORN

[_Still standing by the fire_]

My destiny is a very good destiny, but unfortunately it has encountered
one that is better.--Unfortunately for myself I mean,--not in any sense
for others.

FARNHAM

[_Patronizingly_]

You are a good fellow--altogether too good to be put at a disadvantage.
But this once--only this once, upon my word--I can’t help repeating
that I didn’t think much of it. One interview, and all that sort of
thing. You see, it wasn’t quite in your line.

[_Pause_]

Well, how much am I to know?--and how soon am I to know it?

[_Drily_]

Suppose you sit down in that chair.

[_Indicating the large chair_]

The consequent relaxation may be a good thing for you.

VAN ZORN

Thank you, I will.

[_He sits down and begins to drum with his fingers on the arms of the
chair_]

FARNHAM

[_Sitting down_]

Now you look more comfortable.

VAN ZORN

[_Abruptly_]

I told you, Farnham, that I thought Lucas and I might possibly be of
service to each other.

FARNHAM

[_Wearily_]

Can’t you forget Lucas for the rest of this evening? Granting all his
noble qualities--including his indefatigable industry--I don’t yet
understand that you came here to talk about him.

VAN ZORN

[_Earnestly_]

Farnham, if you had known what you were asking, you would never have
asked me to forget Lucas this evening. I may forget my name, and my
age, and my way to Forty-second Street, but I shall not be likely to
forget Lucas this evening.

[_Pause_]

You told me this morning, I believe, that you had had enough of him for
one day.

FARNHAM

[_Puzzled and irritated_]

Most assuredly I did, and I meant what I said. I’ll be as glad as
anybody if you can straighten him out, but what the devil sense is
there in harping on him from morn till dewy eve? Why not let Lucas go
for the present?

[_Becoming more incisive_]

You started out this afternoon, I believe, to acquire some very special
information that doesn’t seem to be forthcoming.

VAN ZORN

[_Slowly_]

It will come.... And as for letting Lucas go--

FARNHAM

[_Throwing up his hands_]

Good God!

VAN ZORN

[_Calmly_]

--letting Lucas go will be very difficult. In fact, it will be out
of the question. Instead of letting Lucas go, I fear that we shall be
under the necessity of letting Lucas come.

FARNHAM

[_Unpleasantly_]

What are you talking about? I didn’t ask him to come, did I?

VAN ZORN

[_As before_]

You did not, and _I_ did not.

[_Drumming with his fingers_]

But he is coming all the same. I have no doubt that he has been
coming--through the ages.

FARNHAM

[_Laughing drily_]

So that’s it. More of your infernal Destiny, I suppose.

VAN ZORN

[_Earnestly_]

Whatever you do, Farnham, you had better wait a while before you begin
to find fault with Destiny. For I should be inclined to say that you
are going to be far more fortunate than I am, or am ever likely to be.

[_He looks thoughtfully about the studio_]

FARNHAM

Oh, you needn’t try to smooth it over like that. I only meant that I
was looking forward to this evening for a different kind of talk from
this.

VAN ZORN

[_Quietly_]

You will have it yet.

FARNHAM

[_Wearily_]

With Lucas?

VAN ZORN

[_With deliberation_]

Farnham, if I don’t give you certain information that you have every
reason to expect, it is because I don’t feel that I am in a position to
give it. But I will say,

[_Smiling_]

at the risk of my life, that Lucas has been straightened out. I don’t
know just how I know it, but I know it.

[_With another smile_]

Your engaging friend Otto brought the news this afternoon--

[_Casually_]

not long after Lucas left Mrs. Lovett’s house.

FARNHAM

[_Rising and speaking sharply_]

Lucas at Mrs Lovett’s house?... You are keeping something back from me,
and I should like very much to know what it is.

VAN ZORN

[_Reluctantly_]

Yes, I am keeping something back. And I have something else that I was
requested, and finally persuaded, to give to you this evening. I would
rather not do it, but it may be as well that I should.

FARNHAM

[_With dry fervor_]

I hope it will be something more tangible than what you have been
giving me.

VAN ZORN

[_Giving him a small object_]

There it is.

FARNHAM

[_After a stupefied pause_]

Man alive, are you out of your senses? This is Villa Vannevar’s ring.
What the devil has been going on?

[_Sharply_]

Why don’t you tell me?

VAN ZORN

Miss Vannevar will do that.

[FARNHAM _scowls incredulously_]

She and Lucas have been together, at her special request, since eight
o’clock. Until she comes, please remember that I am acting only as a
messenger.

FARNHAM

[_Looking from the ring to_ VAN ZORN]

Are you all trying to make a fool of me? Are you the friend that I
have been trusting and praising all these years?

[_With a falling inflection_]

I’d better build a cabin in the woods.... What does all this insanity
mean, anyhow? You can answer that question, if you have a mind to, and
you know it damned well.

VAN ZORN

[_Quietly_]

Farnham.

[_Pause_]

You are going to have two more visitors this evening, and they are
nearly due. They are not going to stay, in all probability, more than
fifteen minutes. When they are gone, you and I may have something more
to say to each other.

FARNHAM

That is altogether possible.

VAN ZORN

[_Rising_]

And if I have been the indirect means of this sudden change in the
course of events, I wish you to know that I believe, as I stand here,
that events would have taken the same course, though not quite so
suddenly, if I had never gone to Mrs. Lovett’s house this afternoon. I
mean, you understand, so far as events concern you personally. So be a
good fellow and try to keep a little of your old faith in me.

[_Pause_]

Do you hear a motor coming?

[_He takes out his watch and smiles wearily at_ FARNHAM]

They are on time, if I was not.

[_The bell rings._ FARNHAM _admits_ LUCAS _and_ VILLA VANNEVAR. LUCAS
_has more color in his face, and his eyes are brighter than in
the morning. He carries himself through the following scene with
far more dignity and ease than might be expected, with now and
then a facial suggestion of appreciative humor. Of the two_ VILLA
_is the more excited, but hers is the excitement of determination
rather than of embarrassment or fear_]

FARNHAM

[_To the three, after rather formal greetings to_ LUCAS _and_ VILLA]

Well, I have the honor to report that I am still in the dark.

[_With a hard smile_]

Won’t you all sit down?

[_They remain standing_]

VILLA

[_Going to_ FARNHAM _and speaking with suppressed excitement_]

Oh, but I am glad to hear you say that--that you are in the dark.

[_He nods with condescension and she steps back a little_]

I was afraid you didn’t know it.

[_Pause_]

Weldon, do you know what it was doing to me? But you don’t, because you
can’t. I shall have to tell you what it was doing. It was driving me
mad.

FARNHAM

[_Drily, with a glance at_ LUCAS]

Kindly go on.

VILLA

It was killing me.

[FARNHAM _nods again_]

I know you are going to think some dreadful things about me,--and say
them too, I suppose.

[_Rapidly_]

But whatever you do or say, don’t ever forget that I am the cause
of all that’s happened this evening. I took the matter into my own
hands--just because I couldn’t wait. And when my mind was once made up
that I couldn’t wait,--well, I couldn’t wait.

[_He nods again_]

And I couldn’t see much need of spending days and nights in talking
about it.

FARNHAM

[_With a shrug, and another look at_ LUCAS]

Naturally not.

VILLA

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _who is standing near the fire_]

And you

[_Gratefully but rapidly_]

--you remember what I told you when I got over that foolish fit of
crying. I told you that nothing could ever make me change, and I asked
you to help me. You told me first that you would rather not, and you
said something that I didn’t hear about circumstances; but finally you
did agree to do a little--just because you could see that I was so much
in earnest--and that nothing could ever make me change--and that I
couldn’t wait.

[VAN ZORN _replies with a slow nod, and_ FARNHAM _grins at_ LUCAS
_with sardonic incredulity_]

FARNHAM

[_To_ VILLA, _with a dry laugh_]

Will you be so kind as to let me know what this thing is or was,--you
haven’t yet given it a name--that was driving you mad, and killing you,
and whatever else it may have been doing? You don’t look to me like a
dying person, as you stand there now.

VILLA

[_Impatiently_]

Oh, you know what it was. It was our horribly false
position--pretending to care for each other when we didn’t--I mean when
we didn’t care enough.

FARNHAM

[_Unpleasantly_]

In that case, perhaps you will be good enough to tell me what sort of
position you would call this that we are in now.

[_He looks at_ LUCAS _and_ VAN ZORN]

Lucas, why do you stand there like that? Why don’t you say
something--if you have anything to say?

VILLA

[_Quickly, looking from_ LUCAS _to_ FARNHAM]

He can’t speak yet, for I shan’t let him. I shan’t let anybody speak
until I have said what I have to say. No, not one of you three can say
a word until I tell you that I have asked George Lucas to marry me.

[FARNHAM _and_ VAN ZORN _are almost equally surprised at this
announcement, though the latter quickly regains his usual
composure_. LUCAS _looks at first as if he would like to get
away, but endures his unlooked-for prominence with an Indian-like
resignation_]

There!

[_With her hands behind her back_]

Now you may all speak at once, if you care to.

FARNHAM

[_Going to_ VILLA, _after a pause, and taking one of her hands_]

Villa, what is the matter with you this evening? Has the moon driven
you insane?

[_To_ LUCAS, _sharply_]

Lucas, why don’t you say something?

LUCAS

[_With a dry cough_]

You are quite right. The time has come for me to speak.

FARNHAM

Well, if the time has come for you to speak, why the devil don’t you?

LUCAS

[_Calmly, but uncomfortably and with several oratorical pauses_]

I am going to say something--and I don’t see how it is going to take me
very long to say it.

[_With another cough_]

Knowing--as I need hardly tell you now--that I could not, in view of
my past and present circumstances--presume to ask of this lady the
kind of question that she has taken upon herself to ask of me--and
this time without wholly anticipating its immediate effect upon one’s
nervous organization,--well, I can only say that she has acted in
accordance with her own convictions in regard to the solution of a
rather difficult problem, and has thereby placed me under excessive
obligations--that she cannot expect ever to be entirely fulfilled.

[_To_ FARNHAM, _with a faint smile_]

Whatever else you may wish me to say will be related, with your
permission, at another time.

FARNHAM

[_With cold humor_]

“She has acted in accordance with her own convictions in regard to the
solution of a rather difficult problem.”

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _drily_]

As she sees it, I suppose.

VAN ZORN

Is there more than one way to see it?

FARNHAM

I see it as a bit of impetuous farce.

VILLA

[_Protesting violently_]

No, don’t say impetuous. Say anything but that. Say
determined--ordained--premeditated--desperate--anything but impetuous.
I’ll not have anybody--not even George--tell me that I was impetuous
when I was only sensible. You might as well call me--I don’t know what.
You might as well call me a fool.

FARNHAM

[_With reluctant humor_]

Do you know, my dear young lady, that you are using some rather
positive language?

VILLA

[_Still excited_]

I don’t care. I must use it, in order to make myself understood.

[_To_ LUCAS]

Tell him, George, about the ring.

FARNHAM

[_Satirically_]

Yes, George, let us hear about the ring.

LUCAS

She means that the ring would have been returned to you in any case.

FARNHAM

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _with fine irony_]

And this is your work.

VAN ZORN

[_Distinctly_]

No, my friend, you are mistaken. It is not the work of any human
being--in this room, or out of it.

FARNHAM

[_Wearily_]

Oh, the devil! I’ve heard all that before.

[VAN ZORN _shrugs his shoulders and looks at the fire_]

VILLA

[_Earnestly_]

Weldon, let me tell you again what I told you when I came in.

[_With intensity_]

It was killing me. It was driving me mad.

FARNHAM

[_Throwing up his hands_]

For heaven’s sake, are you going to drag that nonsense in again?

VILLA

It meant the torture of our two lives.... The ruin of them, for all we
know.

FARNHAM

[_With a careless absence of emotion_]

Lives are not so easily ruined as all that. If they were, some of us
would be ruined before we were born.

VAN ZORN

[_With a faint smile_]

Some of us are, Farnham.

FARNHAM

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _with hesitation_]

Don’t you think that you have contributed about enough to the needless
absurdity and injustice of all this....

VILLA

[_Quickly_]

No, you must not say that to him. It was I who did this, and it was I
who insisted that it should be done tonight. If your best friend had
not helped me, I should have done it sooner or later without him....
Now will you let me go on from where I was when you interrupted me?

FARNHAM

[_With evident admiration_]

Yes, if you remember where that was.

VILLA

[_With animation_]

It was where I was going to say something more about George.

[FARNHAM _looks at_ LUCAS, _who is looking at the bust of
Shakespeare_]

Weldon, there are certain people in this world who are made for
each other. You may laugh at me for saying so--I know it isn’t very
original--but I believe it to be true, and that makes it just the same
as if it _were_ true. Well then, I believe that George Lucas and I have
belonged to each other since the beginning of our lives, and I have
known it ever since I can remember. I knew him long before I knew you,
and I know more about him than you have ever known or ever can know;

[FARNHAM _looks again at_ LUCAS]

and once, when I was so scared and happy that I didn’t know what to
do--this was ages ago--I told Auntie all about it.

[_With comical directness_]

Auntie didn’t like--his father.

FARNHAM

[_With venomous humor_]

And what did Auntie say?

VILLA

[_With a shrug and a rueful laugh_]

Oh dear! If I were to try to tell you what she said, I shouldn’t know
how to begin or where to end. It doesn’t make so much difference what
Auntie said, so long as she said--what she said.

[_With unconscious humor, looking down_]

She didn’t like George’s father.

FARNHAM

[_Grinning at_ LUCAS]

Did she like George?

[_Pause_]

George doesn’t seem to have anything more to say.

LUCAS

[_With dry emphasis_]

Yes, George has one thing more to say. He has to say that he has not
yet accepted the lady’s offer.

FARNHAM

[_Scowling_]

Then why are you here?

LUCAS

To do so in your presence--now that you understand the situation.

FARNHAM

But I don’t understand the situation--except in the vaguest kind of
way.... I knew about it in that way before.

VAN ZORN

[_Still standing by the fire_]

Farnham, I don’t like to interrupt you.

FARNHAM

Oh--you don’t....

VAN ZORN

But why debate the inevitable? It will do no manner of good, and it
will be likely, as Miss Vannevar has already implied, to take up a
great deal of time.

FARNHAM

[_Drily_]

Have you been coaching them?

[VAN ZORN _makes a gesture of resigned protest, but says nothing_]

Well, you haven’t told me what you said to Lucas during dinner.

VAN ZORN

I told Lucas that Miss Vannevar wished very much to see him as soon as
possible after eight o’clock.

FARNHAM

Was that all?

VAN ZORN

Substantially, yes.

FARNHAM

Mightn’t that leave a pretty wide margin for conjecture?

VAN ZORN

It might, but it doesn’t. Please remember that when I told you of my
interest in Lucas, I was not anticipating the developments that have
transpired.

FARNHAM

[_Unwilling to let the subject go_]

But you are the cause of these developments, for all that. What did you
say to Villa after Otto went away?

VAN ZORN

[_With a slight weariness_]

I didn’t find a great deal to say. I told her pretty much what I have
told you,--that Lucas and I were going to be of service to each other,
and that I had complete confidence in him. Please do not ask me to go
any further into details--just now.

[_With a friendly smile_]

My dear Farnham, if you were to form at your time of life the fatal
habit of clinging to ruins, and of refusing to accept what has
irrevocably taken place, there is no knowing what might happen to
you--and to your art.

FARNHAM

Do you remember that you used to call yourself a friend of mine?

[_He speaks half-heartedly, and seems to regret having spoken_]

VAN ZORN

[_Distinctly_]

I was never in my life more convinced of my complete loyalty to you,
or of your complete faith in me. I was not expecting to say so this
evening, unless to you alone, but never mind that now.

FARNHAM

[_Rather ruefully_]

I suppose that’s your fantastic, esoteric, oriental way of telling a
fellow that he has said something foolish. I don’t say it’s a bad way,
you understand--

[_He stops, and has another look at_ LUCAS, _who smiles in approval_]

VILLA

[_Going to_ FARNHAM _and putting her hands on his arms_]

You needn’t try to be angry any longer, for I can see by the look in
your eyes that you can’t.

[_Shaking him a little and beginning to laugh_]

You ought not to be angry, for you are so glad to get rid of me that
you don’t know what to do with yourself. You may tell me that I ought
not to say so, but you can’t put the words back into my mouth--’cause
I’ve got my teeth together.

[_She shows her teeth and laughs at him_]

FARNHAM

[_Taking her hands and smiling_]

I don’t remember having said that I was angry.

[_He pushes her away gently_]

VILLA

[_Putting her hands behind her and laughing_]

There was no need of your _saying_ it.

FARNHAM

[_Drily_]

Then that must have been the reason why I didn’t say it.

[_Pause_]

But don’t you think that I had just the slightest conceivable reason
for being--for being a trifle annoyed, we’ll say?

VILLA

[_With feline demureness_]

Well, I rather suppose you did.

[_Looking at him brightly_]

But it’s all over now, _isn’t_ it?

FARNHAM

[_Trying not to laugh_]

And so you find your escape from me a very simple matter.

[_With mild sarcasm_]

It seems to be one of the prerogatives of womankind to discover now and
then that some problems _are_ very simple.

VILLA

[_She looks at_ LUCAS, _then for a longer time at_ VAN ZORN, _who
still remains by the fire, and finally at_ FARNHAM _again_]

And that others are very difficult.

[FARNHAM _glances at_ VAN ZORN, _who stands looking at the burning
coals. There is a pause, which is broken by the ringing of the
bell._ FARNHAM _admits_ OTTO, _who stands for a time in meek
bewilderment after looking from one to the other_]

OTTO

I--I saw the light, and so I came over--from Petherick’s.

FARNHAM

[_Drily amused_]

Of course you did, Otto. That was the right thing for you to do.
We have all seen the light, even if we haven’t all come over from
Petherick’s.

[_Patting his shoulder_]

Now take a look around you, little friend, and tell us what you see
besides the light.

OTTO

[_Looking from_ LUCAS _to_ VILLA]

Oh--good evening.

[_He plays with his hat_]

I saw the light, and so I came over.

[_To_ LUCAS]

Did you see the light, Phœbus, and did you come over?

LUCAS

[_Avoiding over-confidence_]

Yes, Otto, I may be said to have seen the light, and to have come
over--though not from Petherick’s.

OTTO

[_With a long sigh_]

That’s illuminating, and I thank you kindly.

[_He looks at_ VAN ZORN, _who smiles and nods_]

Good evening.

[_To_ VILLA]

Are you sure that I’m not in the way?

[_He makes a puzzled grimace and looks at_ FARNHAM, _who grins_]

VILLA

[_Laughing nervously_]

We are sure of one thing, Otto, and that is that you are not very
cordial with your old friends. Aren’t you going to congratulate me on
my engagement to George Lucas? We are going to be married--sometime.

OTTO

[_After a stupefied pause_]

Are you?

[_He looks again from one to another, and finally addresses_ VAN ZORN]

I knew this afternoon that something was going to happen. Of course it
was none of my business, but you--you understand me, I’m sure.

[_He wipes his forehead with his handkerchief_]

FARNHAM

[_With lingering sarcasm_]

We understand you, Otto. You saw the light and you came over.
Everything has been explained, and we are all going to try to be happy.

OTTO

[_Looking again from one to another, and beginning to beam_]

Do you know, Farnham, that I--that I rather like this?

FARNHAM

I’m glad to hear you say so, Otto. We study to please.

OTTO

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _who appears to be mildly amused_]

Do _you_ like this?

VAN ZORN

It has my unqualified approval. In addition, it was undoubtedly
inevitable.

OTTO

[_With an air of discovery_]

Doesn’t that make it all the better?

VAN ZORN

I am sure that you have every reason to congratulate your friends on
their mutual good fortune.

OTTO

[_After shaking hands, rather suddenly, with_ VILLA _and_ LUCAS]

Farnham, old man, the more I think of this, the better I like it.
There’s a--there’s a kind of destiny about it.

FARNHAM

[_Patting Otto’s shoulder_]

Otto, we can always look to you for the right word.

[_Wearily, with a mild trace of venom_]

I’ve been trying to think of that word “destiny” all the evening.

VILLA

[_Giving_ FARNHAM _her hand_]

And I have been trying to think of something more to say to _you_,
Weldon, but somehow I can’t just now. So I think George had better take
me home. And then, I suppose I’ll have a talk with....

[_She sighs_]

FARNHAM

[_With an unfeeling grin_]

With Auntie?

VILLA

Yes, with Auntie.

[_She breaks into childish laughter_]

Poor Auntie!

[_Pause_]

Well, good night. I won’t say good-bye, for that would be too solemn.

FARNHAM

[_Holding her hand_]

Good night. And I hope you will be very happy.

[_Shaking hands with_ LUCAS]

Good night, George,--and my congratulations. You will excuse me if I
don’t make a speech.

VILLA

[_To_ VAN ZORN, _who comes forward_]

Good night.

[_She gives him her hand and looks at him as if a little frightened_]

VAN ZORN

[_Holding her hand_]

Good night.

[_They look into each other’s eyes for some time. She leaves him
slowly and moves towards the door. He returns to his former place
by the fire, after speaking with_ LUCAS]

VILLA

[_While_ LUCAS _is shaking hands with_ VAN ZORN]

Good night, Otto.

OTTO

[_Still bewildered_]

Good night. I don’t think I’ll make a speech either. On the contrary I
may as well go home to my mousy garret, light my guttering candle, and
work away for a while at my popular song.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

But you never told me that you were writing a popular song. How does it
go, and what is it about?

OTTO

[_Solemnly_]

It’s a sad story, and it doesn’t go very fast.

[_Doubtfully_]

And it may not be altogether appropriate to the present auspicious
occasion.

VILLA

[_Laughing_]

Oh, yes it is--perfectly. How does it go, Otto?

OTTO

[_Scratching his ear thoughtfully_]

I’ve only got four lines of it.

[_He appears to be reading them from the inside of his hat_]

VILLA

[_Shaking him_]

But how do they go?

OTTO

They go like this:

[_He repeats the following lines with comical solemnity, punctuating
them with sharp pauses_]

Oh, long shall we remember the dark days that followed then,
And how our faith in truth and honor sank;
For we knew the dear old home would never be the same again,
When Father robbed the baby’s little bank.

LUCAS

[_Laughing_]

Can you keep it up to that level, Otto?

OTTO

[_Scratching his ear_]

I think so.

[_With owlish innocence_]

But of course you understand that there’s nothing prophetic about
it--nothing personal. I wouldn’t have any words of mine cast a shadow
on this propitious hour--no, not even if my friend Farnham were to
give me a small potion of his Double X Rattlesnake Rye over yonder.

[_He nods towards the bust of Shakespeare_]

I’m delicate, and I may not be with you very long.

VILLA

[_To_ FARNHAM, _laughing_]

Before you give it to him, I think it will be safer for me to go away.
Good night again.

[FARNHAM _goes with_ VILLA _and_ LUCAS _to the vestibule, closing
the door slowly and thoughtfully as he returns_. OTTO, _in the
meantime, has gone to the cabinet, from the depths of which he
has produced a bottle of whiskey_. VAN ZORN, _standing by the
fire, watches_ OTTO _with a look of abstracted amusement_.]

FARNHAM

[_Returning_]

Well, Otto, you seem to be in a romantic frame of mind this evening.
You aren’t unhappy, are you?

OTTO

[_Wiping his lips_]

No, I don’t complain.

FARNHAM

[_Patronizingly, to_ VAN ZORN]

Otto never complains. He eats his crust at sunset, and he drains his
cup of bitterness without so much as making a face. Don’t you, Otto?

OTTO

[_Moving towards the door_]

Don’t ask me to talk this evening. You have shaken me up, and I’m
delicate. I may be on my way to eminence, or I may be merely another
case of the gods seeing otherwise. In either event, it will be all
right, for the universe will take care of us all. Throw on my grave a
flower. Fare you well, gentlemen both, and peace be with you.

[OTTO _lays his hand on his heart, bows deferentially, and disappears
slowly and silently_]

VAN ZORN

[_Smiling faintly_]

You must not undervalue that youth, Farnham.

FARNHAM

[_Opening the cigar box_]

I shall never again undervalue anything that has a destiny.

[_Holding out the box_]

Here--have a cigar. And for God’s sake have it this time or you’ll make
me peevish.

VAN ZORN

Thank you.

[_He takes a match from Farnham and lights his cigar_]

FARNHAM

[_Lighting his cigar_]

I suppose Otto has a destiny, hasn’t he?

VAN ZORN

[_Drily_]

I suppose he has.

FARNHAM

[_Giving him a queer look_]

And what about Lucas--and _his_ destiny?

[_He sits down and invites_ VAN ZORN _to take the large chair as
before_]

VAN ZORN

[_Calmly_]

I don’t know that I pretend to be a prophet,

[FARNHAM _grins_]

but I should venture to say that Lucas’s destiny will not be altogether
a bad one. Being human and not a fool, he must in the nature of things
have ambitions that he will never realize. On the other hand, he will
have a great deal of happiness, I believe.

[_Looking earnestly at_ FARNHAM]

But neither he nor I can have what _you_ are going to have.

[FARNHAM _begins to beam with approval and anticipation_]

I won’t say that you have it already

[_He glances toward the picture and scowls_]

--for that might not be good for you ... and it might not be true.

FARNHAM

[_Affecting modesty_]

You may be within a gunshot of being right, but this day’s work doesn’t
seem to be very promising--that is, to the uninitiated.

[_Clasping his knee_]

I suppose, however, that _you_ feel a great deal better.

VAN ZORN

Why do you say that?

FARNHAM

After what you have done?

VAN ZORN

[_With a frown_]

I have done nothing. I thought that was understood.

FARNHAM

[_Laughing a little_]

Oh yes, you have, in spite of your cosmic modesty. Haven’t you cleared
the air? Haven’t you raised the curtain?

VAN ZORN

[_Apparently after some hesitation_]

Would you talk like that, Farnham, if you knew me a little better ...
if you knew, as I know, what I have lost?

FARNHAM

[_With a trace of his old manner_]

We have things before we lose them. That’s old, I know; but I believe
it’s true.

VAN ZORN

[_More earnestly_]

Yes, Farnham, it is quite true. And it is most distinctly what I have
had that I have now lost.

FARNHAM

[_Puzzled_]

Go on. You are talking; I’m only listening.

VAN ZORN

[_Very distinctly_]

What is your notion of the best thing for a man to do when he has lost
his belief that he has something to live for?

FARNHAM

[_Pretending not to understand_]

Why, that’s easy. Find something new to live for.

VAN ZORN

[_Getting up and speaking as if half to himself_]

There may be a certain amount of wisdom in that. And yet you do not
wholly understand me.

FARNHAM

[_With unconscious emphasis_]

And who the devil does?

VAN ZORN

[_Looking steadily at_ FARNHAM]

Do you know what it is, Farnham, that I am facing?

FARNHAM

[_With a forced laugh_]

You are facing _me_, for the moment. I’m not much to be facing, I grant
you; but you might have to face something worse.

[_With a glance at the picture_]

The deadliest thing about me, at present, seems to be my ability to
paint pictures like that one over there.

VAN ZORN

[_Becoming more and more serious_]

I seem to be facing you, Farnham, but the truth is that I am facing
myself. Whichever way I look now, I look forward into a thousand
mirrors; and I see myself--only myself--Van Zorn. If I had one talent,
I should see that; and I should thank God for it. But it isn’t there.
There is nothing there but--Van Zorn.

[_He smokes for a time in thought_]

Farnham, do you wonder that there are people in this world who howl
about property?... Yes; my property, if you like.

FARNHAM

[_Laughing_]

Good! That sounds as if the yeast were beginning to work. You needn’t
worry; you’ll find something to live for.

[_Getting up and stretching himself comfortably_]

Why don’t you begin by tearing down a row of rotten tenements--just
for the fun of it--and putting up some thing--oh, something sanitary
and ornamental? Then the tired father could come home and cleanse
his honest hide in a white enameled bath-tub--only of course he
wouldn’t,--and after dinner the entire family could sit around a gilded
radiator and sing songs by the most eminent composers, as Otto would
say, of their native land.

[_Laughing_]

Hear me, Norma, but don’t excite yourself. You are still young, and
there’s going to be no end of time.

VAN ZORN

[_With a dutiful smile_]

There is something in what you say.

FARNHAM

[_With easy patronage_]

You bet there is. And then there is always this “business” of yours:
“Van Zorn and Lucas, the eminent comedians.” Don’t you see _that_, when
you look forward into your thousand mirrors?

VAN ZORN

[_Looking down_]

Yes, I see it. The business will succeed.

FARNHAM

To be sure.

[_Becoming over-confident_]

Van Zorn, from whom all blessings flow, do you realize that we are
beaten by Old Hundred?

VAN ZORN

[_Gravely_]

I don’t like your word--beaten.

FARNHAM

[_Piqued but persistent_]

Neither do I,--but I didn’t invent it, and I won’t say it again. But I
should like to ask you one question. When you came in this evening, you
said something about your destiny being a very good destiny; and you
said, also, that it had encountered--I think that was your word--one
that was better. Now, if I have a right to ask the question, I wish you
would be good enough to tell me what the devil Lucas was doing this
afternoon at Mrs. Lovett’s.

VAN ZORN

He came to tell Miss Vannevar that he was going west, and to say
good-bye.

FARNHAM

Going west--eh?

[_Excited but satirical_]

And if you hadn’t kept Lucas from going west--whatever that means--I
suppose you would have been contented for all time with your--your one
interview.

VAN ZORN

[_After some deliberation_]

If Lucas had gone--west,--you would still have recovered your ring.

[_They look at each other until Farnham shrugs his shoulders and
looks at the floor_]

When Lucas changed his mind about going, he was not in any manner
influenced by the ring or by the person who wore it.

[_Pause_]

But why say more about that?

[_His last words come rather thickly; he moves away and finally
remains standing before the picture_]

By the way, Farnham, what are you going to do with this picture?

FARNHAM

[_Drily_]

You speak as if you wanted it yourself.

VAN ZORN

Will you give it to me?

[_He is evidently in earnest_]

FARNHAM

[_Cynically_]

Yes, take it. Take everything in sight.

VAN ZORN

[_Thoughtfully_]

I could almost believe that this picture was painted for me--without
your knowledge.

FARNHAM

[_Drily_]

More destiny?

VAN ZORN

[_Taking a small knife from his pocket_]

I don’t know what else to call it.

[_He begins to cut the head and shoulders from the canvas_]

FARNHAM

[_Going quickly towards him_]

Here! What do you think you are doing?

VAN ZORN

[_Cutting diligently_]

I am getting rid of one of the most insincere

[_Cuts_]

and exasperating

[_Cuts_]

bits of charlatanry

[_Cuts_]

that man’s eyes have ever looked on. I am doing it partly for the good
of your artistic conscience, and partly for reasons of my own.

FARNHAM

[_Unable to protest_]

All right, the thing is yours.

[_With cynical observation_]

But I suppose you know that you are disintegrating twenty-five hundred
dollars worth of high art?

VAN ZORN

[_Throwing the piece of canvas into the fire_]

Is that your figure?

FARNHAM

For the present, yes. And therefore it seems to me that your eccentric
little ingle-flame over there is just a bit extravagant.

VAN ZORN

[_Punching the burning canvas with the poker_]

I shouldn’t worry about that if I were you. We are living in an
extravagant age.

[_He puts away the poker and stands watching the fire. At length he
turns to_ FARNHAM _and speaks with a subdued intensity and a new
emphasis_]

It is your age, Farnham, and you had better not play with it.

[_Slowly_]

If I were you, I should try to meet it half way.

[VAN ZORN _throws his cigar into the fire and stands looking at the
smouldering canvas, holding his hands behind him_. FARNHAM _goes
toward him slowly, holds out his hand and looks for a moment
into_ VAN ZORN’S _eyes_. VAN ZORN _takes his hand, lets it go,
and continues to look down into the fire_]

FARNHAM

[_Embarrassed and with evident regret_]

I’m sorry, old fellow, but I didn’t quite ... I didn’t realize that you
were quite so much in earnest.

[VAN ZORN _makes no reply, but remains looking at the fire_. FARNHAM
_sits down on the edge of the window seat and looks thoughtfully
at the floor before him. Finally he looks again at Van Zorn, and
a slow incredulous smile comes over his face. Then he shrugs his
shoulders, as if he was still in doubt about something, and the
curtain falls slowly._]

THE END

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Transcriber’s Notes

‣ Italics represented with _underscores_.

‣ Small Caps converted to ALL CAPS.

‣ Duplicate chapter headers omitted.

‣ Obvious typographic errors silently corrected.

‣ On p. 148, three misspellings of "Pethrick" changed to "Petherick".

‣ Footnote numbered and moved to follow the citing paragraph.

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