The Girl with the Green Eyes | Page 6

tact!--and I hate to interrupt you, but I must say good-by. [Calls.] Peter!
PETER. Yes'm.
[Entering with a glass of water and a powder. He sits in the arm-chair at right, and constantly looks at his watch.
AUSTIN. I'm much obliged to you, Mrs. Cullingham, for the interruption, as I was sent long ago to make myself ready for the train, if you'll excuse me!
MRS. CULLINGHAM. Certainly!
JINNY. Good-by!
[Taking his hand as he passes her.
AUSTIN. Good-by!
[He goes out Right.
MRS. CULLINGHAM. If it's time for him, it's certainly time for you. I won't keep you a minute!
JINNY. No, really we've plenty of time,-- [both sit on sofa.] Wasn't it a lovely wedding!
MRS. CULLINGHAM. I never saw a sweeter, my dear! And it was perfectly elegant! Simply great!
JINNY. And isn't Jack--
MRS. CULLINGHAM. He is! And so are you! In fact I've been telling your mother I don't know how to thank you both. You've asked me to-day to meet the swellest crowd I've ever been in where I was invited, and didn't have to buy tickets, and felt I had a right to say something besides "excuse me," and "I beg your pardon." Of course, I've sat next to them all before in restaurants and at concerts, but this time I felt like the real thing myself, and I shall never forget it! If you or your husband ever want any mining tips, come to me; what my husband don't know about mines isn't worth knowing!
JINNY. I'm as glad as I can be if you've had a good time, and you mustn't feel indebted to us. Ever since we met in Egypt that winter, mamma and I have always felt you were one of our best friends.
MRS. CULLINGHAM. Of course you know it isn't for my own sake I'm doing these stunts to get into Society. It's all for my boy. He's got to have the best--or the worst, however you look at it! [Laughing.] Anyway, I want him to have a chance at it, and it belongs to him through his father, for my first husband was a real swell!
[Looking at PETER lovingly.
[At this moment, PETER, having again looked at his watch, tips up the powder on his tongue, and swallows it down with the water.
MRS. CULLINGHAM. Poor darling! He suffers terribly from indigestion. That's an alkali powder he takes twenty minutes after eating. Peter, we must say good-by now.
PETER. [Coming up.] Good-by, Miss Jinny.
MRS. CULLINGHAM. Mrs. Austin!
JINNY. Oh, I'll always be "Miss Jinny" to Peter!
PETER. Thank you! We've had a great time at your wedding! Bully food! But I'm feeling it! [He turns aside.] Excuse me!
MRS. CULLINGHAM. I was just telling Mrs. Austin--
[Interrupted.
JINNY. "Jinny"--don't change.
MRS. CULLINGHAM. Thank you-- [Rises to go.] I was just saying we won't forget in our social life, will we, Peter, that Miss Jinny gave us the biggest boost up we've had yet?
[JINNY also rises.
PETER. Well, you know, mother, I don't think the game's worth the candle. It's begun to pall on me already.
MRS. CULLINGHAM. I really think he's going to be superior to it!
PETER. I only go now for your sake.
[MRS. TILLMAN, coming from Right, speaks off stage.
MRS. TILLMAN. Jinny! Jinny!
JINNY. Mother!
[MRS. TILLMAN enters.
JINNY. I ought to dress?
MRS. TILLMAN. [To MRS. CULLINGHAM.] She'll be late if she isn't careful.
JINNY. I'm going to. Is Maggie there?
MRS. TILLMAN. Yes, waiting!
JINNY. Good-by. [Kisses MRS. CULLINGHAM.] Good-by. [Shakes PETER'S hand.]
PETER. Many happy returns!
[JINNY goes out Right.
MRS. TILLMAN. Come, I want to give you some of Jinny's flowers to take home with you. Would you like some?
MRS. CULLINGHAM. I should love them!
[They go out through the doors at back.
[PETER is suffering with indigestion. He takes a charcoal tablet, and SUSIE cautiously enters Right.
SUSIE. There you are! Have you got 'em?
PETER. No, I gave them back to you.
SUSIE. Then they're in there on the table--get 'em quick, the trunks are coming down now!
[PETER goes out quickly at back, as the BUTLER and MAN SERVANT enter Right, carrying a large new trunk with a portmanteau on top of it.
SUSIE. Put them right over there for a minute! [They put them down in the centre of the room, and the FOOTMAN goes out Right.] And mind, you don't split on us, Thomas. Auntie Tillman knows all about it--it's just to be a nice little surprise for Cousin Jinny and my new uncle.
BUTLER. Very well, miss.
[He also goes out Right.
[At the same time PETER re?nters at back with a roll of papers and some broad white satin ribbon. The papers are about half a foot broad and two feet long, and on them is printed, "We are on our honeymoon."
PETER. [With gay excitement.] I've got 'em.
SUSIE. Get some water--there's sticky stuff on the back!
[PETER gives her the papers and ribbons and goes out again at back.
SUSIE. Quick! [Ties a big white bow on the portmanteau and on a