The Triple Marriage | Page 2

needs to get her health back.

Matthews Oh, I see where you're coming from. You mean she needs a
husband!
Anna Without a doubt. A husband is a sort of prescription medicine for
a languishing daughter.
Matthews I know my daughter: she's very virtuous.
Anna Does it mean you can't want a husband because you're virtuous?
On the contrary, it's her virtue which makes an honest girl want a
husband. Those who are not so scrupulous have an easier time of it. I
am going to prove that to you.
Matthews I don't need your proofs.
Anna Suppose, for example, you had walked a long, hot road in the
summer heat.
Matthews Well?
Anna And that you were expressly forbidden to drink until you arrived
at a resting place where they were waiting for you with agreeable
refreshments.
Matthews What an idea!
Anna If you weren't forbidden, wouldn't you stop at an inn on the way?
You wouldn't be in such a hurry to get there if you hadn't scrupulously
observed the rule against drinking.
Matthews I'll agree to that.
Anna That's the exact picture of a young, emancipated woman.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, is a traveler who observes the rules with
such a scrupulous exactitude that she's reduced to the last extremity. Sir,
remember, one cannot always withstand thirst, so it's unwise to put a
young girl in the need of refreshing herself along the way by extending
the journey.
Matthews You're wasting your breath, I don't believe that eagerness to
get it has caused Elizabeth's sickness.
Anna Now, the doctors have lost their Latin for it, or rather, it's a
miracle that despite their remedies she's still alive in such a perilous
state.-- I am not going to stop! She sighs night and day; she cries often;
she falls in a languor--in a prostration which makes one fear for her life.
Damn, sir, I know what I'm talking about. These are symptoms of an
illness caused by love.
Matthews You think she has some inclination in her heart?
Anna I have not a doubt of it.

Matthews Come on, come on, that cannot be. I am sure she herself
doesn't know what an inclination is.
Anna Ignorant at twenty-five in an age when girls are so precocious!
Really, you cannot be so blind.
Matthews I forbid you to say a word of this to her. You'll make her
have ideas she doesn't have.
Anna Oh, I wager she has an imagination more vivid than mine.
Matthews I am going to plan this evening's party.
(Exit Matthews.)
Anna Useless for him to dissemble; my speech exposed him, but I dare
not yet hope--
(Enter Elizabeth.)
Elizabeth Has my father gone? What did you tell him?
Anna We spoke about your illness. We both rejoiced over your
improvement.
Elizabeth That was all?
Anna You want to know if he spoke about your getting married?
Elizabeth Shouldn't I think of it?
Anna True, you're still a girl--and when one remains a virgin so long,
one runs the risk of remaining one forever. I've offered your father
some pretty thoughts on the matter.
Elizabeth Did he seem to you more favorably disposed to my wishes?
Anna Not at all. He believes you're still a child, and that you can no
more think of marriage than your sister Belinda.
Elizabeth My mother warned me that if she died first, I would run the
risk of not being married for a long time.
Anna We indeed see the fulfillment of her prophecy. Death--miss! We
must make an effort.
Elizabeth What do you think I should do?
Anna Tell your father how you feel. Tell him outright that he is
stupidly deceived in the opinion he has of you--and that you're too
much of a woman to remain a virgin much longer.
Elizabeth I would never have the courage to tell him such a thing.
Anna Then you must have the courage NOT to marry, and to wait
patiently for the old man to die.
Elizabeth I've made up my mind about that.
Anna You could do something to help yourself, but you will never have

the courage to do it.
Elizabeth What could I do?
Anna Cast your spell over some honest man, agree together, and marry
secretly.
Elizabeth You give me advice like that?
Anna My word, Miss, one has to help save your life. When a father
pays no attention to your needs--it is permitted to take care of oneself,
if one can do it honorably. Don't waste your time pretending, I am sure
you love Manly.
Elizabeth I would have a lot to tell you if I were sure of your discretion.
Anna I'm a woman, but I can keep a secret. And, if you doubt it, I don't
want to know anything.