Dear Brutus | Page 7

James M. Barrie

his wood.
(All feel that thus alone can his tears be dried.)
JOANNA. Boots and cloaks, hats forward. Come on, Lady Caroline,
just to show you are not afraid of Matey.
(There is a general exodus, and LOB left alone emerges from his
temporary retirement. He ducks victoriously, but presently is on his
knees again distressfully regarding some flowers that have fallen from
their bowl.)
LOB. Poor bruised one, it was I who hurt you. Lob is so sorry. Lie
there! (To another.) Pretty, pretty, let me see where you have a pain?
You fell on your head; is this the place? Now I make it better. Oh, little
rascal, you are not hurt at all; you just pretend. Oh dear, oh dear!
Sweetheart, don't cry, you are now prettier than ever. You were too tall.
Oh, how beautifully you smell now that you are small. (He replaces the
wounded tenderly in their bowl.) rink, drink. Now, you are happy again.
The little rascal smiles. All smile, please--nod heads--aha! aha! You
love Lob--Lob loves you.
(JOANNA and MR. PURDIE stroll in by the window.)
JOANNA. What were you saying to them, Lob?
LOB. I was saying 'Two's company, three's none.'
(He departs with a final cluck.)

JOANNA. That man--he suspects!
(This is a very different JOANNA from the one who has so far flitted
across our scene. It is also a different PURDIE. In company they
seldom look at each other, though when the one does so the eyes of the
other magnetically respond. We have seen them trivial, almost cynical,
but now we are to greet them as they know they really are, the great
strong-hearted man and his natural mate, in the grip of the master
passion. For the moment LOB'S words have unnerved JOANNA and it
is JOHN PURDIE's dear privilege to soothe her.)
PURDIE. No one minds Lob. My dear, oh my dear.
JOANNA (faltering). Yes, but he saw you kiss my hand. Jack, if Mabel
were to suspect!
PURDIE (happily). There is nothing for her to suspect.
JOANNA (eagerly). No, there isn't, is there? (She is desirous ever to be
without a flaw.) Jack, I am not doing anything wrong, am I?
PURDIE. You!
(With an adorable gesture she gives him one of her hands, and manlike
he takes the other also.)
JOANNA. Mabel is your wife, Jack. I should so hate myself if I did
anything that was disloyal to her.
PURDIE (pressing her hand to her eyes as if counting them, in the
strange manner of lovers). Those eyes could never be disloyal--my lady
of the nut-brown eyes. (He holds her from him, surveying her, and is
scorched in the flame of her femininity.) Oh, the sveldtness of you.
(Almost with reproach.) Joanna, why are you so sveldt!
(For his sake she would be less sveldt if she could, but she can't. She
admits her failure with eyes grown still larger, and he envelops her so
that he may not see her. Thus men seek safety.)

JOANNA (while out of sight). All I want is to help her and you.
PURDIE. I know--how well I know--my dear brave love.
JOANNA. I am very fond of Mabel, Jack. I should like to be the best
friend she has in the world.
PURDIE. You are, dearest. No woman ever had a better friend.
JOANNA. And yet I don't think she really likes me. I wonder why?
PURDIE (who is the bigger brained of the two.) It is just that Mabel
doesn't understand. Nothing could make me say a word against my wife
JOANNA (sternly). I wouldn't listen to you if you did.
PURDIE. I love you all the more, dear, for saying that. But Mabel is a
cold nature and she doesn't understand.
JOANNA (thinking never of herself but only of him). She doesn't
appreciate your finer qualities.
PURDIE (ruminating). That's it. But of course I am difficult. I always
was a strange, strange creature. I often think, Joanna, that I am rather
like a flower that has never had the sun to shine on it nor the rain to
water it.
JOANNA. You break my heart.
PURDIE (with considerable enjoyment). I suppose there is no more
lonely man than I walking the earth to-day.
JOANNA (beating her wings). It is so mournful.
PURDIE. It is the thought of you that sustains me, elevates me. You
shine high above me like a star.
JOANNA. No, no. I wish I was wonderful, but I am not.

PURDIE. You have made me a better man, Joanna.
JOANNA. I am so proud to think that.
PURDIE. You have made me kinder to Mabel.
JOANNA. I am sure you are always kind to her.
PURDIE. Yes, I hope so. But I think now of special little ways of
giving her pleasure. That
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code

 / 28
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.