Complete Poems and Plays (100 page)

So he became a forger. And so he served his term.

Was I responsible for that weakness in him?

Yes, I was.

How easily we ignore the fact that those who admire us

Will imitate our vices as well as our virtues —

Or whatever the qualities for which they did admire us!

And that again may nourish the faults that they were born with.

And Maisie loved me, with whatever capacity

For loving she had — self-centred and foolish —

But we should respect love always when we meet it;

Even when it’s vain and selfish, we must not abuse it.

That is where I failed. And the memory frets me.

C
HARLES
.
But all the same, these two people mustn’t persecute you.

We can’t allow that. What hold have they upon you?

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
Only the hold of those who know

Something discreditable, dishonourable …

M
ONICA
.
Then, Father, you should tell
us
what they already know.

Why should you wish to conceal from those who love you

What is known so well to those who hate you?

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
                                                  I will tell you very briefly

And simply. As for Frederick Culverwell,

He re-enters my life to make himself a reminder

Of one occasion the memory of which

He knows very well, has always haunted me.

I was driving back to Oxford. We had two girls with us.

It was late at night. A secondary road.

I ran over an old man lying in the road

And I did not stop. Then another man ran over him.

A lorry driver. He stopped and was arrested,

But was later discharged. It was definitely shown

That the old man had died a natural death

And had been run over after he was dead.

It was only a corpse that we had run over

So neither of us killed him. But
I
didn’t stop.

And all my life I have heard, from time to time,

When I least expected, between waking and sleeping,

A voice that whispered, ‘you didn’t stop!’

I knew the voice: it was Fred Culverwell’s.

M
ONICA
.
Poor Father! All your life! And no one to share it with;

I never knew how lonely you were

Or why you were lonely.

C
HARLES.
                             And Mrs. Carghill:

What has she against you?

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
                  I was her first lover.

I would have married her — but my father prevented that:

Made it worth while for her not to marry me —

That was his way of putting it — and of course

Made it worth while for me not to marry her.

In fact, we were wholly unsuited to each other.

Yet she had a peculiar physical attraction

Which no other woman has had. And she knows it.

And she knows that the ghost of the man I was

Still clings to the ghost of the woman who was Maisie.

We should have been poor, we should certainly have quarrelled,

We should have been unhappy, might have come to divorce;

But she hasn’t forgotten or forgiven me.

C
HARLES
.
This man, and this woman, who are so vindictive:

Don’t you see that they were as much at fault as you

And that they know it? That’s why they are inspired

With revenge — it’s their means of self-justification.

Let them tell their versions of their miserable stories.

Confide them in whispers. They cannot harm you.

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
Your reasoning’s sound enough. But it’s irrelevant.

Each of them remembers an occasion

On which I ran away. Very well.

I shan’t run away now — run away from
them.

It is through this meeting that I shall at last escape them.

— I’ve made my confession to you, Monica:

That is the first step taken towards my freedom,

And perhaps the most important. I know what you think.

You think that I suffer from a morbid conscience,

From brooding over faults I might well have forgotten.

You think that I’m sickening, when I’m just recovering!

It’s hard to make other people realise

The magnitude of things that appear to them petty;

It’s harder to confess the sin that no one believes in

Than the crime that everyone can appreciate.

For the crime is in relation to the law

And the sin is in relation to the sinner.

What has made the difference in the last five minutes

Is not the heinousness of my misdeeds

But the fact of my confession. And to you, Monica,

To you, of all people.

C
HARLES.
                         I grant you all that.

But what do you propose? How long. Lord Claverton,

Will you stay here and endure this persecution?

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
To the end. The place and time of liberation

Are, I think, determined. Let us say no more about it.

Meanwhile, I feel sure they are conspiring against me.

I see Mrs. Carghill coming.

M
ONICA
.
                                    Let us go.

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
We will stay here. Let her join us.

[
Enter
M
RS
. C
ARGHILL
]

M
RS.
C
ARGHILL
.
I’ve been hunting high and low for you, Richard!

I’ve some very exciting news for you!

But I suspect … Dare I? Yes, I’m sure of it, Monica!

I can tell by the change in your expression to-day;

This must be your fiancé. Do introduce him.

M
ONICA
.
Mr. Charles Hemington. Mrs. Carghill.

C
HARLES
.
How do you do.

M
RS.
C
ARGHILL
.
                  What a charming name!

C
HARLES
.
I’m glad my name meets with your approval, Mrs. Carghill.

M
RS.
C
ARGHILL
.
And let me congratulate
you‚
Mr. Hemington.

You’re a very lucky man, to get a girl like Monica.

I take a great interest in her future.

Fancy! I’ve only known her two days!

But I feel like a mother to her already.

You may say that I just missed being her mother!

I’ve known her father for a very long time,

And there was a moment when I almost married him,

Oh so long ago. So you see, Mr. Hemington,

I’ve come to regard her as my adopted daughter.

So much so, that it seems odd to call you Mr. Hemington:

I’m going to call you Charles!

C
HARLES
.
                                      As you please, Mrs. Carghill.

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
You said you had some exciting news for us.

Would you care to impart it?

M
RS.
C
ARGHILL
.
                         It’s about dear Michael.

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
Oh? What about Michael?

M
RS.
C
ARGHILL
.
                                                 He’s told me all his story.

You’ve cruelly misunderstood him, Richard.

How he must have suffered! So I put on my thinking cap.

I know you’ve always thought me utterly brainless,

But I have an idea or two, now and then.

And in the end I discovered what Michael really wanted

For making a new start. He wants to go abroad!

And find his own way in the world. That’s very natural.

So I thought, why not appeal to Señor Gomez?

He’s a wealthy man, and very important

In his own country. And a friend of Michael’s father!

And I found him only too ready to help.

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
And what was Señor Gomez able to suggest?

M
RS.
C
ARGHILL
.
Ah! That’s the surprise for which I’ve come to prepare you.

Dear Michael is so happy — all his problems are solved;

And he was so perplexed, poor lamb. Let’s all rejoice together.

[
Enter
G
OMEZ
and
M
ICHAEL
]

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
Well, Michael, you know I expected you this morning,

But you never came.

M
ICHAEL
.
                       No, Father. I’ll explain why.

L
ORD
C
LAVERTON
.
And I learn that you have discussed your problems

With Mrs. Carghill and then with Señor Gomez.

M
ICHAEL
.
When I spoke, Father, of my wish to get abroad.

You couldn’t see my point of view. What’s the use of chasing

Half round the world, for the same sort of job

You got me here in London? With another Sir Alfred

Who’d constitute himself custodian of my morals

And send you back reports. Some sort of place

Where everyone would sneer at the fellow from London,

The limey remittance man for whom a job was made.

No! I want to go where I can make my own way,

Not merely be your son. That’s what Señor Gomez sees.

He
understands my point of view, if
you
don’t.