The Easiest Way - Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911 | Page 8

have had that idea before. Every woman's love is the real one when it comes. [Crosses up to LAURA.] Do you make a distinction in this case, young lady?
LAURA. Yes.
WILL. For instance, what?
LAURA. This man is poor--absolutely broke. He hasn't even got a [_Crosses to armchair, leans over and draws with parasol on ground_.] good job. You know, Will, all the rest, including yourself, generally had some material inducement.
WILL. What's his business? [Crosses to table and sits looking at magazine.
LAURA. He's a newspaper man.
WILL. H'm-m. Romance?
LAURA. Yes, if you want to call it that,--romance.
WILL. Do I know him?
LAURA. How could you? You only came from New York to-day, and he has never been there.
_He regards her with a rather amused, indulgent, almost paternal expression, in contrast to his big, bluff, physical personality, with his iron-gray hair and his bulldog expression_. LAURA _looks more girlish than ever. This is imperative in order to thoroughly understand the character_.
WILL. How old is he?
LAURA. Twenty-seven. You're forty-five.
WILL. No, forty-six.
LAURA. Shall I tell you about him? Huh?
[Crosses to WILL, placing parasol on seat.
WILL. That depends.
LAURA. On what?
WILL. Yourself.
LAURA. In what way?
WILL. If it will interfere in the least with the plans I have made for you and for me.
LAURA. And have you made any particular plans for me that have anything particularly to do with you?
WILL. Yes, I have given up the lease of our apartment on West End Avenue, and I've got a house on Riverside Drive. Everything will be quiet and decent, and it'll be more comfortable for you. There's a stable near by, and your horses and car can be kept over there. You'll be your own mistress, and besides I've fixed you up for a new part.
LAURA. A new part! What kind of a part?
WILL. One of Charlie Burgess's shows, translated from some French fellow. It's been running over in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, and all those places, for a year or more, and appears to be an awful hit. It's going to cost a lot of money. I told Charlie he could put me down for a half interest, and I'd give all the money providing you got an important role. Great part, I'm told. Kind of a cross between a musical comedy and an opera. Looks as if it might stay in New York all season. So that's the change of plan. How does it strike you?
[LAURA _crosses to door, meditating; pauses in thought_.
LAURA. I don't know.
WILL. Feel like quitting? [_Turns to her._
LAURA. I can't tell.
WILL. It's the newspaper man, eh?
LAURA. That would be the only reason.
WILL. You've been on the square with me this summer, haven't you? [Crosses to table.
LAURA. [_Turns, looks at_ WILL.] What do you mean by "on the square?"
WILL. Don't evade. There's only one meaning when I say that, and you know it. I'm pretty liberal. But you understand where I draw the line. You've not jumped that, have you, Laura?
LAURA. No, this has been such a wonderful summer, such a wonderfully different summer. Can you understand what I mean by that when I say "wonderfully different summer?"
[Crossing to WILL.
WILL. Well, he's twenty-seven and broke, and you're twenty-five and pretty; and he evidently, being a newspaper man, has that peculiar gift of gab that we call romantic expression. So I guess I'm not blind, and you both think you've fallen in love. That it?
LAURA. Yes, I think that's about it; only I don't agree to the "gift of gab" and the "romantic" end of it. [Crosses to table.] He's a man and I'm a woman, and we both have had our experiences. I don't think, Will, that there can be much of that element of what some folks call hallucination.
[_Sits on chair; takes candy-box on lap; selects candy_.
WILL. Then the Riverside Drive proposition and Burgess's show is off, eh?
LAURA. I didn't say that.
WILL. And if you go back on the Overland Limited day after to-morrow, you'd just as soon I'd go to-morrow of wait until the day after you leave? [LAURA _places candy-box back on table_.
LAURA. I didn't say that, either.
WILL. What's the game?
LAURA. I can't tell you now.
WILL. Waiting for him to come? [_Crosses, sits on seat_.
LAURA. Exactly.
WILL. Think he is going to make a proposition, eh?
LAURA. I know he is.
WILL. Marriage?
LAURA. Possibly.
WILL. You've tried that once, and taken the wrong end. Are you going to play the same game again?
LAURA. Yes, but with a different card.
[Picks up magazine off table.
WILL. What's his name?
LAURA. Madison--John Madison.
[Slowly turning pages of magazine.
WILL. And his job?
LAURA. Reporter.
WILL. What are you going to live on,--the extra editions?
LAURA. No, we're young, there's plenty of time. I can work in the meantime, and so can he; and then with his ability and my ability it will only be a matter of a year or two when things will shape themselves