Fanny and the Servant Problem | Page 5

all, clever. That's our sheet-anchor. The woman's clever.
She will know how to adapt herself to her new position.

THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL [turning to her sister]. Yes, she
must be clever to have obtained the position that she has. [To the
Doctor] Vernon says that she was quite the chief attraction all this
winter, in Paris.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. And the French public is so
critical.
DR. FREEMANTLE [drily]. Um! I was thinking rather of her
cleverness in "landing" poor Vernon. The lad's not a fool.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. We must do her justice. I think she
was really in love with him.
DR. FREEMANTLE [still more drily]. Very possibly. Most cafe-
chantant singers, I take it, would be--with an English lord. [He laughs.]
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. You see, she didn't know he was a
lord.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Didn't know--?
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. No. She married him, thinking
him to be a plain Mr. Wetherell, an artist.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Where d'ye get all that from?
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. From Vernon himself. You've got
his last letter, dear. [She has opened her chatelaine bag.] Oh, no, I've
got it myself.
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. He's not going to break it to
her till they reach here this evening.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL [she reads]. Yes. "I shall not break
it to her before we reach home. We were married quietly at the Hotel de
Ville, and she has no idea I am anything else than plain Vernon James
Wetherell, a fellow-countryman of her own, and a fellow-artist. The
dear creature has never even inquired whether I am rich or poor." I like
her for that.
DR. FREEMANTLE. You mean to tell me--[He jumps up. With his
hands in his jacket pockets, he walks to and fro.] I suppose it's possible.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. You see, she isn't the ordinary
class of music-hall singer.
DR. FREEMANTLE. I should say not.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. She comes of quite a good family.
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. Her uncle was a bishop.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Bishop? Of where?

THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL [with the letter]. He says he can't
spell it. It's somewhere in New Zealand.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Do they have bishops over there?
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. Well, evidently.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. Then her cousin is a judge.
DR. FREEMANTLE. In New Zealand?
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL [again referring to the letter].
No--in Ohio.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Seems to have been a somewhat scattered
family.
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. People go about so much
nowadays.
Mrs. Bennet has entered. She is the housekeeper.
MRS. BENNET [she is about to speak to the Misses Wetherell; sees
the Doctor]. Good afternoon, doctor.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Afternoon, Mrs. Bennet.
MRS. BENNET [she turns to the Misses Wetherell, her watch in her
hand]. I was thinking of having the fire lighted in her ladyship's
bedroom. It is half past six.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. You are always so thoughtful. She
may be tired.
MRS. BENNET. If so, everything will be quite ready. [She goes out,
closing door.]
DR. FREEMANTLE. What do they think about it all--the Bennets?
You have told them?
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. We thought it better. You see,
one hardly regards them as servants. They have been in the family so
long. Three generations of them.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. Really, since our poor dear
brother's death, Bennet has been more like the head of the house than
the butler.
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. Of course, he doesn't say
much.
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. It is her having been on the stage
that they feel so.
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. You see, they have always
been a religious family.

THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. Do you know, I really think they
feel it more than we do. I found Peggy crying about it yesterday, in the
scullery.
DR. FREEMANTLE [he has been listening with a touch of amusement.]
Peggy Bennet?
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. Yes. CHARLES Bennet's
daughter.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Happen to have a servant about the place who
isn't a Bennet?
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. No, no, I don't really think we
have. Oh, yes--that new girl Mrs. Bennet engaged last week for the
dairy. What is her name?
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. Arnold.
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. Ah, yes, Arnold.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Ah!
THE ELDER MISS WETHERELL. I think she's a cousin, dear.
THE YOUNGER MISS WETHERELL. Only a second cousin.
DR. FREEMANTLE. Um! Well I should tell the whole family to buck
up. Seems to me, from what you tell me, that their master is bringing
them home a treasure. [He shakes hands briskly with the ladies.] May
look in again to-morrow. Don't forget--one page Marcus Aurelius
before breakfast--in case of need. [He goes out.]
The sun has sunk. The