A Woman of Importance
by
Rico Viejo
SMASHWORDS EDITION
~~~~~
PUBLISHED BY:
Rico Viejo on Smashwords
A Woman of Importance
Copyright © 2010 by Rico Viejo
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A Woman of Importance
Introduction
"A Woman of Importance," a one-act play by Rico Viejo, provides an alternate conclusion to "A Woman of No Importance" by Oscar Wilde. The Viejo play replaces the fourth, and last, act of the Wilde play. Those who are interested in the Wilde play, or who wish to read the complete play—Wilde-Viejo—can get the Wilde play from Project Gutenberg on the Web. If starting with the Wilde play, read through Act Three, then read the Viejo play. The Viejo ending creates a Social Comedy out of a Treatise on Morality.
For those disinclined to read the Wilde play, here are the first three acts in a cocoanut-shell—
At Hunstanton Chase, a magnificent estate in the country, near Wrockley—
Frank Harford, Lord Illingworth: Handsome bachelor, wit, ladies' man, man's man, early forties. Member of The House of Lords. To be ambassador to Vienna. Popular for the originality of his views.
Sir John Pontefract: A character of no importance. His function in the play is as a hen-pecked husband to Lady Caroline Pontefract. Very few lines, few appearances.
Lord Alfred Rufford: A character of no importance, with a few appearances and a few lines about a gentleman's fondness for debt.
Mr. Kelvil, M.P.: Forties, married with eight children, moralist, windbag. Function in play is to argue social issues and politics with Lord Illingworth.
The Ven. Archdeacon Daubeny, D.D.: Married, with permanently invalid wife, whom he must be always leaving parties to look in on. Mrs. Arbuthnot's "employer."
Gerald Arbuthnot: Handsome English boy, twenty-one, clerk in the local bank, lives with his mother. No father, no money, no prospects. Taken with his looks and demeanor, Lady Hunstanton invites him to her house parties to add some beauty to them and, perhaps, to divert some of her female guests from being overly attentive to their own or to one of the other ladies' husbands.
Lady Jane Hunstanton: Widow in her forties, hostess of house party at Hunstanton Chase that brings the pivotal characters together. Loves to entertain, loves to gossip, to be gossiped about.
Lady Caroline Pontefract: Plain, forties, wife to Sir John. Snob. Defender of the English Upper Classes and everything that is right and proper. Accepts Hester because she is American and presumed wealthy and "upper class." Marginally accepts Kelvil, because he is a parliamentarian, but consistently calls him Kettle. Dislikes Mrs. Allonby because, even though she is "upper class," she is forward and outspoken. Doesn't think either Arbuthnot should be of the party and questions Lady Hunstanton's affection for them.
Lady Stutfield: Apparently attractive, apparently married. Polite. Few original ideas. Quite, quite likes to duplicate adverbs. Foil for the wittier.
Mrs. Allonby: Married, witty, attractive, thirties. Much taken with Lord Illingworth. She despises Hester, who—coincidentally—dislikes her intensely. Mrs. Allonby despises Hester for her youth and beauty. Hester objects to Mrs. Allonby's flagrant flirtations with Lord Illingworth and for her pretenses of immorality.
Miss Hester Worsley: Beautiful American girl, orphan, eighteen (perhaps)—Rico doubts that a non-Hispanic girl can be "beautiful" at just eighteen—from Boston. Presumably exceeding everyone else at the party in morality and piety because she is a Puritan (the people who believed they were "The New Israelites" and determined that it was God's Will that they exterminate the Pequot Indians and who tried unpopular women as witches). Hester's guardian—mistakenly believed to be her father and recently deceased—liked to lavishly entertain visiting English nobility, and near-nobility, and did so for the son of Lady Hunstanton. Lady Hunstanton is now returning that hospitality to Hester.
Alice, Maid (At Wrockley): Minor character in the Wilde play. Major character in the Viejo play. Young, beautiful, slightly married, extremely intelligent. Companion and advisor to Hester. Likes men. Lots of them. Very much.
Mrs. Rachel Arbuthnot: No husband, beautiful, early forties, lives quietly with her son, Gerald, in town near Hunstanton Chase. Privately believes herself to be an unredeemable sinner but lives a chaste life, occupies herself with charity work and church activities, and is well-liked and well-respected by most.
The play is about Purity, which, presumably, in the English upper-class view, is reserved to "those beneath us" and consists of a recognition of the rightness of the class structure, reinforced by a life-long abstention from anything that an upper-class person would disapprove of.
We have the Good (also, the Pure)—Hester, Gerald, and his mother; the Bad (also, the clever)—Lord Illingworth and Mrs. Allonby; and the Incidental—the rest of the players. Gerald is in love with Hester. Mrs. Allonby and Lord Illingworth are openly flirting.
Mrs. Allonby asserts her badness by challenging Lord Illingworth to seduce Hester. Which he attempts. The result is that Hester flies to Gerald, Gerald threatens Lord Illingworth, Mrs. Arbuthnot reveals that Gerald is Lord Illingworth's Illegitimate son. The third act ends with Mrs. Arbuthnot and Gerald shorn of their Purity—and, most likely, their Puritan; Lord Illingworth in embarrassed dismay; and Hester fled—presumably to her room to escape association with these evil people.
Racy? Not the way Oscar ends it. So, here's a racy ending—
ACT FOUR
Scene 1
SCENE: Sitting-room at Mrs. Arbuthnot's in Wrockley. Large open French window at back, looking on to garden. Doors RC and LC.
TIME: The next morning
We find Gerald Arbuthnot writing at the table. The door RC opens silently and Alice steals into the room, comes over behind Gerald, and leans down and kisses Gerald on the cheek.
Gerald (smiling): I wish you wouldn't do that, mother. (his smile turns to a frown as he looks up and sees Alice) If it didn't mean you'd be forced to sell your body on the streets of London, I'd complain to Lady Hunstanton and have you dismissed!
Alice (putting her fingers through his hair): Thank you for not forcing me to sell something I would gladly give to you, Mr. Gerald.
Gerald (angrily pushing her hand away): What do you want?
Alice: There's a Miss Worsley to see you, Mr. Gerald.
Enter Hester RC as Gerald stands up from the table. Exit Alice LC.
Hester: Sit down, Mr. Arbuthnot. There are some very important things I need to discuss with you.
Hester sits down, primly, on the edge of a straight chair, winces, and stands up again.
Hester: This chair is very hard. Would you kindly get me a cushion?
Gerald: Would you prefer to sit on the sofa?
Hester: I did not sleep at all last night. Because of all the excitement with Lord Illingworth. I'm afraid if I sit on the sofa, I might fall asleep, and I cannot do that.
Gerald hunts around, finds a cushion, and puts it on the chair. Hester sits down again with another wince, but keeps her seat. Gerald sits again in his chair after turning it to face her.
Gerald: Are you not well?
Hester: I am quite well, thank you, just exhausted. But I did not come here to discuss my health, Mr. Arbuthnot. (collects herself) After the events of last night, I have come to several important decisions. First, that we cannot continue as friends.
Gerald (sadly): I'm very sorry to hear that.
Hester: I hope not. I must tell you that I am in love with you and that I intend to marry you.
Gerald (rising): Hester!
Hester: Please sit down, Mr. Arbuthnot. And don't call me by my Christian name. We are not married yet. We are in a very uncertain, if temporary, state. We must respect the proprieties.
Gerald sits.
Hester: First—no, second—I need to know if you are in love with me.
Gerald: Of course I am! I . . .
Hester: Let me finish, Mr. Arbuthnot. I ask because I was not sure. Last night you said I was the purest woman in the world, second only to your mother. Or something like that.
Gerald: I did. You are!
Hester: I wasn't sure if that was a compliment. I'm not sure a young woman wants to be thought to be pure. As her principal virtue. It takes a lot of denial, or practically no social contact at all, to be pure. I think I would have preferred it if you'd said I was wonderful.
Gerald: You are wonderful!
Hester: I'm glad you realize that, but you should have said so, so others would know. Now, I need to have your opinion on something: people—men, mostly—have told me that I am beautiful, perhaps exquisite. Do you consider me exquisite, Mr. Arbuthnot?
Gerald: You are! You're the most beautiful girl in the world!
Hester: I have your word on that?
Gerald: Yes. Of course.
Hester: Good. I think that is a proper attitude for a young man who's about to propose marriage.
Gerald: Hester!
Hester: Miss Worsley, please. You intend to propose to me?
Gerald: This minute! You are so pure . . .
Hester: Not so fast, Mr. Arbuthnot. I think we should consult with your mother first. Ring the bell.
Gerald: Yes we must. I'll go get her.
Hester: Ring the bell. I'm thirsty, with all this talk. I want some tea.
Gerald rings bell and rushes out LC, almost knocking over Alice, who has been—evidently—listening at the door.
Alice: You'll want some tea, Miss?
Hester: Yes, with lemon.
Alice: Will you have something with that, Miss? Some crumpets? Some cake?
Hester: No, thank you. A girl has to watch her figure.
Alice: I've observed, Miss, that . . .
Hester: If a girl isn't interested in her figure, no one else will be. My view exactly. You're very observant—um?
Alice: Yes, Miss. Alice, Miss. It's in my nature.
Hester: The tea, Alice.
Alice turns to leave.
Hester: Oh. Alice. Wait!
Alice: Yes, Miss?
Hester: I want to talk to a girl of my age. There seem to be very few about, as if there was some reproductive drought two decades ago. And hardly any pretty ones. You're pretty and about my age . . .
Alice: Yes, Miss. Eighteen. Same as you.
Hester: I'm curious. Who said I was eighteen?
Alice: You did, Miss. At The Chase.
Hester: I see. And you heard everything that was said just now between me and Mr. Arbuthnot?
Alice: Yes, Miss.
Hester: You have friends among the staff at Hunstanton Chase?
Alice: Yes, Miss. A sister. And a husband.
Enter Mrs. Arbuthnot and Gerald LC, interrupting. Mrs. Arbuthnot is very grave.
Alice: Tea, Mrs. Arbuthnot?
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Yes, Alice.
Exit Alice LC.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Gerald tells me you are talking of marriage.
Hester (shifting uncomfortably on her chair): Yes, Mrs. Arbuthnot.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: It may be inadvisable for you. You know that Gerald is illegitimate. That is a strong reason for a respectable woman not to marry a man. Perhaps he should stay unmarried, at home with his unforgivably wayward mother.
Hester (desperately): I don't object.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: It doesn't bother you that Gerald is illegitimate?
Hester: I think my uncle thinks a girl's only purpose is to be duped, but if he can be trusted to tell the truth about his sister, I am illegitimate, too.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Oh, dear! A young woman's indiscretion!
Hester: I think my uncle indiscrete in telling me. It was not something I wanted to know or needed to know. I think he has never forgiven mother for taking his boyfriend away from him. (pauses) No. An older woman's . . .
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Older?
Hester: Mother wasn't a young woman at the time. She was probably about your age. With grown children.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Indeed! You would have thought she would have known better. An indiscretion, nevertheless.
Hester: No. If my uncle can be believed, it was not an indiscretion, but many. And presumably very pleasant. He said she occupied herself with those indiscretions, day and night, for weeks. Like she was on a mission.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: How horrible for you!
Hester: For me? I wouldn't exist but for those indiscretions. And I like existing. Particularly since last night. And I'm in love with Mr. Arbuthnot, as a result.
Gerald: I wish you'd call me, or at least refer to me, as Gerald.
Hester: Once we have taken our vows.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Of course, since you have a great deal of money, it doesn't bother you that Gerald has no money and very limited prospects.
Hester: That remains to be seen.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Whether it will bother you?
Hester: Whether I have any money at all. I've recently been informed that a number of creditors have appeared against my guardian's estate.
Gerald: Your guardian? He wasn't your mother's husband?
Hester: Oh, no. Neither of them was interested in that. Mother couldn't marry. She hadn't a divorce. And he was mostly taken with young men, like my uncle and Lady Hunstanton's son. They were quite a threesome! He let me stay on after she ran off.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Well, then, I guess I must approve.
Gerald (happy, excited): Yes! We are engaged!
Hester (placidly, shaking her head): I wish I could say we were, but I can't think myself engaged until I've been proposed to.
Gerald (astonished): Didn't you propose to me?
Hester (determined): That doesn't count. The man has to propose to the woman. At least, that's how I think it's done.
Gerald (determined): Well, I'll propose to you right now.
Hester (astonished): In front of your mother? People never propose in front of their parents unless there's a shotgun involved. A kind of military engagement.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: I'll leave you two. Then you'll be alone and Gerald can propose.
Hester: No. Please stay. This is too planned. I think a proposal should be a spur-of-the-moment thing. The man should be overcome with the desire to have the woman for his wife and then he should propose—against his will, against his reason. That's what I expect of Mr. Arbuthnot. Maybe it will happen tomorrow.
Mrs. Arbuthnot (bitterly): Maybe it will never happen.
Hester: It might not happen, Mr. Arbuthnot? Did you lie when you said I was exquisite and you loved me and you wanted me for your wife?
Gerald: Oh, no! It's all true. I do. I do.
Hester: See, Mrs. Arbuthnot? It will happen. Not today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. I can hardly wait!
Mrs. Arbuthnot: It's a very bad idea to wait. I did. And it was my ruination!
Hester: Oh, that won't be a problem with Mr. Arbuthnot, will it, dear?
Mrs. Arbuthnot: You're forgetting who his father is. Gerald could turn out to be just like his father.
Hester: I'm very aware of who his father is and of what his father is like. Mr. Arbuthnot might look like his father—which is good, but I'm certain he's nothing like his father after being raised by you. Which might be bad.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: Lord Illingworth is a beast! I'm certain you're stlll shaken by his effrontery last night.
Hester: No. He came to me later and apologized very nicely. I think we are great friends now. It was a misunderstanding. Perhaps on my part.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: No. You must be careful. He is dangerous!
Hester: I think we should get the marriage business settled. What is the procedure? Don't Banns have to be published?
Gerald: Yes, to be sure there are no objections to the marriage. I'm sure there'll be none.
Hester: Well, Lady Caroline will object, I'm sure.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: To her friends, perhaps, but not to the Church.
Hester: But could the Church object? I'm a Puritan, you know. And the Puritans split from the Church of England hundreds of years ago.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: I'm sure that won't matter. And if it does, you can recant your religion and join the Church.
Hester: I'm not sure I could do that without a lot of thought. People don't recant every day. Joan of Arc didn't, even though they were going to burn her at the stake! And look at Mary, Queen of Scots. Off with her head! This recanting business is serious stuff.
Gerald: If Dr. Daubeny won't marry us because you're a Pilgrim, I'll become a Pilgrim and we'll find a Pilgrim minister to marry us.
Hester: That may not be possible. You're illegitimate and they might not accept you.
Gerald: You're illegitimate and they accepted you.
Hester: But I didn't know until after I was in. I was a proper Pilgrim before my uncle told me. They have a long history of not turning bastards out, once they're in. Why, some of the top Pilgrims are bastards, I'm sure. But can people who know they're illegitimate get married? Isn't that kind of going against a trend? And you know how religions hate going against trends.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: You seem to be able to come up with a lot of reasons why you may not be able to marry.
Hester: I like to consider possibilities. I know that's not a proper thing to do if you're a person of faith, but that's how I am. But, if it turns out that we can't marry—maybe there's a rule that there can only be one bastard among the marriage partners, I'll still consider Mr. Arbuthnot to have full marital privileges with me.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: You mean you'd?
Hester: Yes, like you must have done with Lord Illingworth.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: I won't have it! The idea!
Hester: Mr. Arbuthnot won't mind, will you, Mr. Arbuthnot?
Gerald: If mother objected . . .
Hester: Well, this is all speculation about possibilities, isn't it? I think Dr. Daubeny needs to be consulted.
Gerald: We'll go see him. We'll get this settled right now.
Hester: You and your mother go. I think I'll take a little nap. After all the excitement last night.
Hester, with some difficulty, moves from the chair to the sofa.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: You're not well?
Gerald: These are exciting times for her. The excitement has fatigued her, mother.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: You don't want to have a wife like Mrs. Daubeny, Gerald.
Gerald: No, mother.
Exit Gerald and Mrs. Arbuthnot RC. Alice looks in.
Alice: Mr. Gerald said I was to look after you, Miss.
Hester: Please do, Alice. Sit here with me. We've been talking about marriage. I have no experience of it.
Alice sits on the chair Hester vacated, after putting the cushion back on the sofa.
Alice: Experience is no help, Miss. People make the same mistakes over and over.
Hester: You mentioned a husband. You're married, Alice?
Alice: Yes, Miss. But only slightly.
Hester: Slightly married? How can people be slightly married?
Alice: We had the ceremony in church, and all. And even a honeymoon at Brighton, as a gift from Lady Hunstanton. So we're married.
Hester: And?
Alice: We goes our own ways.
Hester: He doesn't love you?
Alice: He never did.
Hester: Why did you marry him then? Were you expecting?
Alice: No, Miss. I was getting on in years—being thirteen—and the boys I was inclined to didn't want to play with me any more, for fear I'd want them to marry me. So my husband and I—who was having a problem of a similar nature—happened to talk about it. And we got married.
Hester: How would it help your husband?
Alice: If an unmarried man is interested in a girl, it's one thing. But a married man is also preferring the girl to his wife. And a girl likes thinking she's preferred.
Hester: And your young men?
Alice: Oh, yes. They like being preferred—particularly if the girl has a strong, handsome husband, like mine. And they like the idea that if there's a mistake—you know, Miss—there's the husband to catch it.
Hester: So I should get married?
Alice: Right away, Miss. Lord Illingworth will be so much more interested.
Hester: Where did you get that idea?
Alice: Well, Miss, when a man's bed hasn't been slept in and a woman's bed shows she was—ah—very restless in the night . . .
Hester: I think we are going to get along splendidly, Alice. Go now, Alice. I need to think.
Alice: Very good, Miss.
Hester lies down on the sofa a puts her hand over her eyes. Exit Alice LC.
scene drop
Scene 2
SCENE: Sitting-room at Mrs. Arbuthnot's House at Wrockley.
TIME: Twenty minutes later.
We find Hester sitting on the sofa, rubbing her eyes.
Enter Alice RC.
Alice: Excuse me, Miss, there was a note from Mr. Gerald. The Reverend is out, they have to wait.
Hester (recovering): You married at thirteen, Alice? And you were—um—with men before that.
Alice: Yes, Miss. With boys.
Hester: I'm afraid you're going to have to be a mother to me, Alice.
Alice: A mother, Miss?
Hester: Yes, to instruct me.
Alice: And don't you have a mother, Miss?
Hester: Not since I was twelve.
Alice: My mother threw me out when I was twelve, Miss. For carrying on.
Hester: My mother ran off with the Footman I was thinking of carrying on with when I was twelve.
Alice: He must have been very handsome, Miss.
Hester: Oh, yes. And it was all my fault, I think. I praised him to her.
Alice: If a woman praises a man to another woman, Miss, it means she wants him taken, Miss.
Hester: See? If you'd been my mother I would have known that!
Alice: Did the Footman—being American—have a good income?
Hester: No.
Alice: Then it was all for the best. You have Lord Illingworth, now.
Hester: Yes, mother.
Alice: Just call me Alice, Miss, since we're so close in age.
Hester: Yes, Alice.
Alice: So where shall we start? Shall I call you "Hester"?
Hester: I think "dear" will do.
Alice: Yes, dear?
Hester: Clothes.
Alice: You're clothes are very fine, dear. I can't advise you on them, dear.
Hester: I have modistes for that. Bloomers. When you plan to—um—not need them, do you just not wear them?
Alice: That depends on the man, dear. Some men are excited to take them off. Some are excited to find them off.
Hester: How can you tell which?
Alice: It's more a matter of timing, dear. It you expect to be with him for some time before the bloomers are—ah, wear them. If the bloomers need to be off just a short time after you join him, don't wear them. Then he won't know if you took them off or some other fellow did.
Hester: Oh, my!
Alice: Oh, and if a man—not your husband—is joining you in your bed, make sure the bed's all messed up before he gets there. Maybe even your husband, if he's been out for a while.
Hester: I shall do as you tell me, mother—um, Alice.
Alice: That's a good girl! Now tell mother: there was a lot of yelling and fainting at The Chase last night. But you made it up with Lord Illingworth?
Hester: Oh, yes. It was wonderful!
Alice: Yes, Miss?
Hester: I suppose you want to know.
Alice: It's us against them, Miss.
Hester: Knowledge is power?
Alice: Yes, Miss.
Hester: Good. I've been dying to talk about it. You'd better sit down. Here, next to me. And hold my hand. I get very excited when I think about it.
Alice arranges herself.
Hester: After the scene in the Picture Gallery, I rushed directly to my room. I was completely shocked, I was crying, I was totally distracted. Somehow I managed to get out of my clothes and into my nightgown . . .
Alice: The blue one with the white ribbons, Miss?
Hester: Yes.
Alice: I'm told it is very pretty, Miss.
Hester: You shall have it.
Alice: And what happened next, Miss?
Hester: I must have cried myself to sleep. I was awakened by someone stuffing a knotted scarf in my mouth and tying it behind my head.
Alice: Did he say: "Now I've got you, my pretty!"?
Hester: No. Worse. He said: "You're going to get what you deserve!"
Alice: And did you, Miss?
Hester: I'll let you be the judge of that. He pulled me from the bed, sat down on it, placed me across his legs, threw my nightgown over my head to expose my bottom, and spanked me.
Alice: Was my nightgown hurt, Miss?
Hester: I don't think so. Anyway, he was cursing me and spanking me. I was struggling with him to get free. And then . . .
Alice: Yes, Miss?
Hester: I got to liking it!
Alice: I know what you mean, Miss. If the right man . . . Did you know who it was, Miss?
Hester: I'm afraid of the dark . . . Anyway, I stopped struggling and grunting and used my arms to hug his hairy legs. And I got his slippers off him and caressed his feet.
Alice: My husband prefers to have his slippers on when he beats me. "Establishes the right tone," he says.
Hester: Maybe that's why Lord Illingworth stopped spanking me. Somehow, he stood us up, he pulled my nightgown off over my head—I didn't hear it tear or anything, picked me up—he's very strong—and laid me on my back on the bed. I watched him calmly remove his silk robe.
Alice: And is he?
Hester: Very much a man.
Alice: Pardon me, but how do you know . . .
Hester: My nasty uncle exposes himself to me every chance he gets.
Alice: And then?
Hester: We violated me.
Alice: "We," Miss?
Hester: We were both very eager to have me violated.
Alice. Ooh! And then?
Hester: He licked my wound—if you know what I mean.
Alice: That's what I call gentlemanly behavior, Miss. And did he ravish you again, Miss?
Hester: I was insatiable! I even had to wake him up a few times.
Alice: And I suppose you did nothing to keep from having a baby, Miss.
Hester: Oh, no. I want to have his baby, desperately. I am destined to have his baby!
Alice: He'll never marry you, Miss.
Hester: Mr. Arbuthnot will.
They laugh to the point of tears, and past it.
Hester: Alice, I'm worried. What if I was too, um, wearying last night? How do I get Lord Illingworth to, um, visit me again?
Alice: Praise Mr. Gerald to the skies, Miss. You might even suggest you've been having it on with him, too. Or deny it—very unconvincingly, Miss, if he asks.
Hester: Make him think he's being compared?
Alice: And preferred, Miss.
Hester: I'm so wanting to be "we" some more.
Alice: I wouldn't use the "we" with him, Miss. Women are more used to duplicity, Miss.
Hester: Oh?
Alice: You know: we're "we" when we have a baby inside us. Or when we're The Queen. Men get upset when we starts saying "we" to them.
Hester: Alice, I think you're my best friend in the world! And my favorite mother!
Alice: I'm happy to be them, Miss.
They hug each other. Enter Mrs. Arbuthnot LC. Noticing her, Hester and Alice start making sobbing sounds.
Alice (patting Hester's back): There, there, dear. It will be all right.
Mrs. Arbuthnot (irate): What's this?
Alice (continuing to hug Hester): She's been telling me of her experience with Lord Illingworth last night, Ma'am.
Mrs. Arbuthnot: If she wants sympathy, she should get it from me or from Mr. Gerald, Alice. Leave us.
Alice releases Hester and exits LC. Hester, continuing to sob, rushes to Mrs. Arbuthnot and hugs her, pressing her wet cheek against Mrs. Arbuthnot's neck.
Mrs. Arbuthnot (patting Hester's back): There, there, dear. It will be all right.
Enter Gerald RC.
Gerald: Mother, you told her! You promised . . .
Hester (recovered): Told me what?
Gerald: Dr. Daubeny says there are no impediments to our marriage. He believes your purity will remedy any fault, remove any doubts.
Hester frees herself from Mrs. Arbuthnot and yawns.
Hester (to Mrs. Arbuthnot): Perhaps you should leave us. You know . . .
Exit Mrs. Arbuthnot LC, reluctantly.
Hester: You can propose to me now, Gerald.
Gerald: You said I should be overcome . . .
Hester: I don't care what I said. (walks to him and stands very close in front of him) Of course, I always want you to care what I say. Down on your knee. (puts her hands on his shoulders and pushes down)
Gerald (earnestly): Miss Worsley. Ever since I first heard your views . . .
Hester: Get to the point, Mr. Arbuthnot.
Gerald: Would you, ahem, make me, ahem, the happiest man on earth by accepting my offer of marriage?
Hester: Yes, Mr. Arbuthnot.
Gerald: Gerald?
Hester: After we're married, Mr. Arbuthnot. Do you want to kiss me?
Gerald gives her a peck on the cheek.
Gerald: I must tell mother!
Gerald rushes out LC.
scene drop
Scene 3
SCENE: Sitting-room at Mrs. Arbuthnot's House at Wrockley.
TIME: A few minutes later.
We find Hester sitting quietly, on the sofa, humming to herself.
Enter Alice LC.
Alice: I knew you could do it! I sent for Lord Illingworth so he could be the first to know!
Enter Gerald LC.
Gerald: Mother has a severe headache.
Gerald sits. Exit Alice LC.