The Noble Lord | Page 2

. (She looks at them.) Those aren't my shoes!
HE. (Politely) No?
SHE. They're wet.
HE. (Nodding) They would be.
SHE. But they're not mine.
HE. (Shrugging his shoulders) I found them on your feet.
SHE. (Confused) On my feet?
HE. Yes. . . . (An afterthought) One on each.
SHE. Oh! . . . (She tries to put them on.) I can't get them on.
HE. No?
SHE. Will you help me? (He assists her; she feels her clothes and exclaims): Oh!
HE. Did I hurt you?
SHE. (Astonished) My clothes are wet!
HE. (Thoughtfully) Yes.
SHE. How funny! (Noticing him.) And you--you're wet also!
HE. (Nodding) Soaked.
SHE. What a coincidence! How curious! How did it happen? (She pauses.) Oh, if I could only think! Think! (He rises, and waits politely.) Tell me: you must know.
HE. Well, I was strolling through the woods. I heard a splash
SHE. (Interrupting) A splash! Oh, don't say any more: I remember! That horrible lake! Horrible! It was so warm at the hotel: I had gone off to the woods. I was sitting at the edge of the lake--on a rock--reading. I must have been sleepy. I fell in.
HE. Then you screamed.
SHE. Yes: I was drowning! Drowning! I called for help!
HE. I heard you.
SHE. I sank--I sank, oh, miles and miles! It felt as if hands were trying to pull me down to the bottom! I screamed again--and then--then--I felt a strong arm around my waist--I was dizzy-- there was a roaring in my ears--I knew no more.
HE. (Sympathetically) Too bad, too bad.
SHE. And you--(rising to her feet enthusiastically)--you were the man who jumped in!
HE. (Apologetically) I was passing by.
SHE. You saved my life! Oh, how can I ever thank you? My hero! (She throws her arms about his neck.)
HE. That's all right. . . .
SHE. But it's not all right. I can never repay you! Never! Never! Not if I live to be a thousand years old! (She kisses him.)
HE. (Calmly) That's the second time.
SHE. The second time?
HE. (Nodding) I kissed you before.
SHE. Oh! (Releasing him quickly.) You didn't!
HE. Yes, I did.
SHE. While I was unconscious?
HE. Precisely.
SHE. Oh, how could you do such a thing? How could you?
HE. (Taking up his coat) It was by request. (Takes cigarette case from pocket.)
SHE. (Incredulously) I asked you?
HE. You said, "Mother! Mother! Kiss me!" (Takes cigarette from case. Pleased to see that it is dry. Puts it between his lips.)
SHE. I said that?
HE. They were your first words. (Produces match-safe from trouser pocket.)
SHE. But you didn't have to kiss me.
HE. No? (Trying to strike a match. It is wet. So are the others.)
SHE. You didn't have to!
HE. I tried to explain that I was not your mother, but you seemed to know better. (He throws the cigarette away.) You insisted. I couldn't help it.
SHE. (After a pause, coquettishly) What do you mean: you couldn't "help it"?
HE. (Perfectly willing to flirt) You know--(He hesitates.)
SHE. (Encouragingly) Yes?
HE. You're a pretty girl--a deucedly pretty girl.
SHE. Oh, no!
HE. But you are; honor bright!
SHE. You really think so?
HE. (Nods) There was no one around. It was the kind of an opportunity which does not present itself every day: life is so-- monotonous. And you didn't seem to object.
SHE. (Coyly) I couldn't very well--not while I was unconscious.
HE. That's so. I am a man, with a man's tastes. And you begged me so hard--it was so inviting--well, I kissed you.
SHE. (After a pause) On the lips?
HE. Yes. On the lips.
SHE. (After a pause) How often?
HE. Eh?
SHE. How often did you kiss me?
HE. Only once.
SHE. Was that all?
HE. (With a smile) Why, it's hardly worth mentioning.
SHE. (Going to him and taking his hands magnanimously) Well, I forgive you.
HE. Thank you.
SHE. (Invitingly) Two kisses is not a great deal for saving my life.
HE. No?
SHE. I owe you much more than that!
HE. (Standing motionless) Really?
SHE. (With her lips half an inch from his) Really! (A pause.) Really! (He does not kiss her. She gives it up. Sits on the log, drawing him to her side.) You must tell me all about yourself. Just think: if it hadn't been for you, I would be at the bottom of the lake now. What a horrible tragedy that would have been: to die in such a way! . . . (She pauses.) It's natural that I should want to know something about the man who saved me from that. . . .
HE. (With embarrassment) I don't like to talk about myself----
SHE. (Interrupting encouragingly) You're still a young man, aren't you?
HE. Thirty-one.
SHE. (Laying her hand on his) Are you?
HE. (Nodding) Last November.
SHE. (Lying with the insouciance of expertness) I'm just twenty. (He nods his head, without showing the least sign of disbelief.) Eleven years between us.
HE. Just the right ages, aren't we?
SHE. (Leaving her hand where it is) Do you think so?
HE. Eleven years difference--ideal!
SHE. Ten and a half.
HE. Eh?
SHE. I was born in