第6章

CAPT。G。（Aside。）GoodoldJack！（Aloud。）Why，dear？

Mas。G。Hehadputhiscupdownonthegroundthen，andheliterallysteppedintoit。Someoftheteaspirtedovermydress-thegreyone。Imeanttotellyouaboutitbefore。

CAPT。G。（Aside。）TherearethemakingsofastrategistaboutJackthoughhismethodsarecoarse。（Aloud。）You"dbettergetanewdress，then。（Aside。）Letuspraythatthatwillturnher。

Mas。G。Oh，itisn"tstainedintheleast。IonlythoughtthatI"dtellyou。（Returningtoletter。）Whatanextraordinaryperson！（Reads。）

"ButneedIremindyouthatyouhavetakenuponyourselfachargeofwardship"-whatintheworldisachargeofwardship？-"whichasyouyourselfknow，mayendinConsequences"-

CAPT。G。（Aside。）It"ssafesttoletemseeeverythingastheycomeacrossit；but"seemstomethatthereareexceptionstotherule。

（Aloud。）Itoldyouthattherewasnothingtobegainedfromrearrangingmytable。

Mas。G。（Absently。）Whatdoesthewomanmean？ShegoesontalkingaboutConsequences-""almostinevitableConsequences"

withacapitalC-forhalfapage。（Flushingscarlet。）Oh，goodgracious！Howabominable！

CAPT。G。（Promptly。）Doyouthinkso？Doesn"titshowasortofmotherlyinterestinus？（Aside。）ThankHeaven。Harryalwayswrappedhermeaningupsafely！（Aloud。）Isitabsolutelynecessarytogoonwiththeletter，darling？

Mas。G。It"simpertinent-it"ssimplyhorrid。Whatrighthasthiswomantowriteinthiswaytoyou？Sheoughtn"tto。

CAPT。G。WhenyouwritetotheDeercourtgirl，Inoticethatyougenerallyfillthreeorfoursheets。Can"tyouletanoldwomanbabbleonpaperonceinaway？Shemeanswell。

MRS。G。Idon"tcare。Sheshouldn"twrite，andifshedid，yououghttohaveshownmeherletter。

CAPT。G。Can"tyouunderstandwhyIkeptittomyself，ormustI

explainatlength-asIexplainedthefarcybuds？

Mas。G。（Furiously。）PipIhateyou！Thisisasbadasthoseidioticsaddle-bagsonthefloor。Nevermindwhetheritwouldpleasemeornot，yououghttohavegivenittometoread。

CAPT。G。Itcomestothesamething。Youtookityourself。

MRS。G。Yes，butifIhadn"ttakenit，youwouldn"thavesaidaword。IthinkthisHarrietHerriott-it"slikeanameinabook-isaninterferingoldThing。

CAPT。G。（Aside。）Solongasyouthoroughlyunderstandthatsheisold，Idon"tmuchcarewhatyouthink。（Aloud。）Verygood，dear。

Wouldyouliketowriteandtellherso？She"sseventhousandmilesaway。

MRS。G。Idon"twanttohaveany-thingtodowithher，butyououghttohavetoldme。（Turningtolastpageofletter。）Andshepatronizesme，too。I"veneverseenher！（Reads。）"Idonotknowhowtheworldstandswithyou；inallhumanprobabilityIshallneverknow；butwhateverImayhavesaidbefore，Iprayforhersakemorethanforyoursthatallmaybewell。Ihavelearnedwhatmiserymeans，andIdarenotwishthatanyonedeartoyoushouldsharemyknowledge。"

CAPT。G。GoodGod！Can"tyouleavethatletteralone，or，atleast，can"tyourefrainfromreadingitaloud？I"vebeenthroughitonce。Putitbackon"hedesk。Doyouhearme？

Mas。G。（Irresolutely。）Ish-sha"n"t！（LooksatG。"seyes。）Oh，Pip，please！Ididn"tmeantomakeyouangry-"Deed，Ididn"t。Pip，I"msosorry。IknowI"vewastedyourtime-CAPT。G。（Grimly。）Youhave。Now，willyoubegoodenoughtogo-ifthereisnothingmoreinmyroomthatyouareanxioustopryinto？

Mas。G。（Puttingoutherhands。）Oh，Pip，don"tlookatmelikethat！I"veneverseenyoulooklikethatbeforeandithu-urtsme！

I"msorry。Ioughtn"ttohavebeenhereatall，and-and-and-

（sobbing。）Oh，begoodtome！Begoodtome！There"sonlyyou-anywhere！Breaksdowninlongchair，hidingfaceincushions。

CAPT。G。（Aside。）Shedoesn"tknowhowsheflickedmeontheraw。（Aloud，bendingoverchair。）Ididn"tmeantobeharsh，dear-I

didn"treally。Youcanstayhereaslongasyouplease，anddowhatyouplease。Don"tcrylikethat。You"llmakeyourselfsick。（Aside。）

Whatonearthhascomeoverher？（Aloud。）Darling，what"sthematterwithyou？

Mrs。G。（Herfacestillhidden。）Letmego-letmegotomyownroom。Only-onlysayyouaren"tangrywithme。

CAPT。G。Angrywithyou，love！Ofcoursenot。Iwasangrywithmyself。I"dlostmytemperoverthesaddlery-Don"thideyourface，Pussy。Iwanttokissit。

Bendslower，Mas。G。slidesrightarmroundhisneck。Severalinterludesandmuchsobbing。

Mas。G。（Inawhisper。）Ididn"tmeanaboutthejamwhenIcameintotellyou-

CAPT"。G。Botherthejamandtheequipment！（Interlude。）

Mas。G。（Stillmorefaintly。）Myfingerwasn"tscaldedatall。I-[

wantedtospeaktoyouabout-about-somethingelse，and-Ididn"tknowhow。

CAPT。G。Speakaway，then。（Lookingintohereyes。）Eb！

Wha-at？Minnie！Here，don"tgoaway！Youdon"tmean？

Mas。G。（Hysterically，backingtoportiereandhidingherfaceinitsfold"s。）The-theAlmostInevitableConsequences！（FlitsthroughportiereasG。attemptstocatchher，andboltsherselfinherownroom。）

CAPT。G。（Hisarmsfullofportiere。）Oh！（Sittingdownheavilyinchair。）I"mabruteapig-abully，andablackguard。Mypoor，poorlittledarling！"Madetobeamusedonly？"-

THEVALLEYOFTHESHADOW

KnowingGoodandEvil。

SCENE-TheGADSBYS"bungalowinthePlains，inJune。

Punkah-cooliesasleepinverandawhereCaptainGADBYiswalkingupanddown。DOCTOR"Strapinporch。JUNIOR

CHAPLAINdriftinggenerallyanduneasilythroughthehouse。

Time，3:4OA。M。Heat94degreesinveranda。

DOCTOR。（ComingintoverandaandtouchingG。ontheshoulder。）Youhadbettergoinandseehernow。

CAPT。G。（Thecolorofgoodcigar-ash。）Eb，wha-at？Oh，yes，ofcourse。Whatdidyousay？

DOCTOR。（Syllablebysyllable。）Go-in-to-the-room-and-see-

her。Shewantstospeaktoyou。（Aside，testily。）Ishallhavehimonmyhandsnext。

JUNIORCHAPLAIN。（Inhalf-lighteddiningroom。）Isn"tthereany？-

DOCTOR。（Savagely。）Hsb，youlittlefool！

JUNIORCHAPLAIN。Letmedomywork。Gadsby，stopaminuteI（EdgesafterG。）

DOCTOR。Waittillshesendsforyouatleast-atleast。Manalive，he"llkillyouifyougointhere！Whatareyoubotheringhimfor？

JUNIORCHAPLAIN。（Comingintoveranda。）I"vegivenhimastiffbrandy-peg。Hewantsit。You"veforgottenhimforthelasttenhoursand-forgottenyourselftoo。

CAPT。G。entersbedroom，whichislitbyonenight-lamp。Ayakonthefloorpretendingtobeasleep。

VOICE。（Fromthebed。）Alldownthestreet-suchbonfires！Ayah，goandputthemout！（Appealingly。）HowcanIsleepwithaninstallationoftheC。I。E。inmyroom？No-notC。I。E。Somethingelse。Whatwasit？

CAPT。G。（Tryingtocontrolhisvoice。）Minnie，I"mhere。

（Bendingoverbed。）Don"tyouknowme，Mmnie？It"sme-it"sPhil-it"syourhusband。

VOICE。（Mechanically。）It"sme-it"sPhil-it"syourhusband。

CAPT。G。Shedoesn"tknowmel-It"syourownhusband，darling。

VOICE。Yourownhusband，darling。AYAH。（Withaninspiration。）

MemsahibunderstandingallIsaying。

CAPT。G。Makeherunderstandmethen-quick！

AYAH。（HandonMas。G。"sfore-head。）Memsahib！CaptainSahibhere。

VOICE。Salaemdo。（Fretfully。）IknowI"mnotfittobeseen。

AYAH。（AsidetoG。）Say"marneen"sameasbreakfash。

CAPT。G。Good-morning，littlewoman。Howareweto-day？

VOICE。That"sPhil。PooroldPhil。（Viciously。）Phil，youfool，I

can"tseeyou。Comenearer。

CAPT。G。Minnie！Minnie！It"sme-youknowme？

VOICE。（Mockingly。）OfcourseIdo。Whodoesnotknowthemanwhowassocrueltohiswife-almosttheonlyoneheeverhad？

CAPT。G。Yes，dear。Yes-ofcourse，ofcourse。Butwon"tyouspeaktobim？Hewantstospeaktoyousomuch。

VOICE。They"dneverlethimin。TheDoctorwouldgivedarwazabundevenifhewereinthehouse。He"llnevercome。

（Despairingly。）OJudas！Judas！Judas！

CAPT。G。（Puttingouthisarms。）Theyhavelethimin，andhealwayswasinthehouseOh，mylove-don"tyouknowme？

VOrCE。（Inahalfchant。）"Anditcametopassattheeleventhhourthatthispoorsoulrepented。"Itknockedatthegates，buttheywereshut-tightasaplaster-agreat，burningplasterTheyhadpastedourmarriagecertificateallacrossthedoor，anditwasmadeofred-hotiron-peoplereallyoughttobemorecareful，youknow。

CAPT。G。WhatamItodo？（Takingherinhisarms。）Minnie！

speaktome-toPhil。

VOICE。WhatshallIsay？Oh，tellmewhattosaybeforeit"stoolate！TheyareallgoingawayandIcan"tsayanything。

CAPT。G。Sayyouknowme！Onlysayyouknowme！

DOCTOR。（Whohasenteredquietly。）Forpity"ssakedon"ttakeittoomuchtoheart，Gadsby。It"sthiswaysometimes。Theywon"trecognize。Theysayallsortsofqueerthings-don"tyousee？

CAPT。G。Allright！Allright！Goawaynow；she"llrecognizeme；

you"rebotheringher。Shemust-mustn"tshe？

DOCTOR。Shewillbefore-HaveIyourleavetotry？-

CAPT。G。Anythingyouplease，solongasshe"llknowme。It"sonlyaquestionof-hours，isn"tit？

DOCTOR。（Professionally。）Whilethere"slifethere"shopey"know。Butdon"tbuildonit。

CAPT。G。Idon"t。Pullhertogetherifit"spossible。（Aside。）WhathaveIdonetodeservethis？

DOCTOR。（Bendingoverbed。）Now，Mrs。Gadsby！Weshallbeallrighttomorrow。Youmusttakeit，orIsha"n"tletPhilseeyou。Itisn"tnasty，isit？

Voice。Medicines！Alwaysmoremedicines！Can"tyouleavemealone？

CAPT。G。Oh，leaveherinpeace，Doc！

DOCTOR。（Steppingback，-aside。）MayIbeforgivenifI"venonewrong。（Aloud。）Inafewminutessheoughttobesensible；butI

daren"ttellyoutolookforanything。It"sonly-

CAPT。G。What？Goon，man。

DOCTOR。（Inawhisper。）Forcingthelastrally。

CAPT。G。Thenleaveusalone。

DOCTOR。Don"tmindwhatshesaysatfirst，ifyoucan。They-they-theyturnagainstthosetheylovemostsometimesinthis-It"shard，but-

CAPT。G。AmIherhusbandorareyou？Leaveusaloneforwhattimewehavetogether。

VOICE。（Confidentially。）Andwewereengagedquitesuddenly，Emma。IassureyouthatIneverthoughtofitforamoment；but，oh，mylittleMe！-Idon"tknowwhatIshouldhavedoneifhehadn"tproposed。

CAPT。G。ShethinksofthatDeercourtgirlbeforeshethinksofme。（Aloud。）Minnie！

VOICE。Notfromtheshops，Mummydear。YoucangettherealleavesfromKaintu，and（laughingweakly）nevermindabouttheblossoms-Deadwhitesilkisonlyfitforwidows，andIwon"twearit。It"sasbadasawindingsheet。（Alongpause。）

CAPT。G。Ineveraskedafavoryet。Ifthereisanybodytolistentome，letherknowme-evenifIdietoo！

VOICE。（Veryfaintly。）Pip，Pipdear。

CAPT。G。I"mhere，darling。

VOICE。Whathashappened？They"vebeenbotheringmesowithmedicinesandthings，andtheywouldn"tletyoucomeandseeme。

Iwasneverillbefore。AmIillnow？

CAPT。G。You-youaren"tquitewell。

VOICE。Howfunny！HaveIbeenilllong？

CAPT。G。Someday；butyou"llbeallrightinalittletime。

VOICE。Doyouthinkso，Pip？Idon"tfeelwelland-Oh！whathavetheydonetomyhair？

CAPT。G。Id-d-on"tknow。

VOICE。They"vecutitoff。Whatashame！

CAPT。G。Itmusthavebeentomakeyourheadcooler。

VOICE。Justlikeaboy"swig。Don"tIlookhorrid？

CAPT。G。Neverlookedprettierinyourlife，dear。（Aside。）HowamItoaskhertosaygood-bye？

VOICE。Idon"tfeelpretty。Ifeelveryill。Myheartwon"twork。

It"snearlydeadinsideme，andthere"safunnyfeelinginmyeyes。

Everythingseemsthesamedistance-youandthealmirahandthetableinsidemyeyesormilesaway。Whatdoesitmean，Pip？

CAPT。G。You"realittlefeverish，Sweetheart-veryfeverish。

（Breakingdown。）Mylove！mylove！HowcanIletyougo？

VOICE。Ithoughtso。Whydidn"tyoutellmethatatfirst？

CAPT。G。What？

VOICE。ThatIamgoingto-die。

CAPT。G。Butyouaren"t！Yousha"n"t。

AYAHtopunkah-coolie。（Steppingintoverandaafteraglanceatthebed。）。Punkahchordo！（Stoppullingthepunkah。）

VOICE。It"shard，Pip。Sovery，veryhardafteroneyear-justoneyear。

（Wailing。）AndI"monlytwenty。Mostgirlsaren"tevenmarriedattwenty。Can"ttheydoanythingtohelpme？Idon"twanttodie。

CAPT。G。Hush，dear。Youwon"t。

VOICE。What"stheuseoftalking？Helpme！You"veneverfailedmeyet。Oh，Phil，helpmetokeepalive。（Feverishly。）Idon"tbelieveyouwishmetolive。Youweren"tabitsorrywhenthathorridBabythingdied。IwishI"dkilledit！

CAPT。G。（Drawinghishandacrosshisforehead。）It"smorethanaman"smeanttobear-it"snotright。（Aloud。）Minnie，love，I"ddieforyouifitwouldhelp。

VOICE。Nomoredeath。There"senoughalready。Pip，don"tyoudietoo。

CAPT。G。IwishIdared。

VOICE。Itsays:"TillDeathdouspart。"Nothingafterthat-andsoitwouldbenouse。Itstopsatthedying。Whydoesitstopthere？

Onlysuchaveryshortlife，too。Pip，I"msorrywemarried。

CAPT。G。No！Anythingbutthat，Mm！

VOICE。Becauseyou"llforgetandI"llforget。Oh，Pip，don"tforget！

Ialwayslovedyou，thoughIwascrosssometimes。IfIeverdidanythingthatyoudidn"tlike，sayyouforgivemenow。

CAPT。G。Youneverdid，darling。Onmysoulandhonoryouneverdid。Ihaven"tathingtoforgiveyou。

VOICE。Isulkedforawholeweekaboutthosepetunias。（Withalaugh。）WhatalittlewretchIwas，andhowgrievedyouwere！

Forgivemethat，Pp。

CAPT。G。There"snothingtoforgive。Itwasmyfault。Theyweretoonearthedrive。ForGod"ssakedon"ttalkso，Minnie！There"ssuchalottosayandsolittletimetosayitin。

VOICE。Saythatyou"llalwaysloveme-untiltheend。

CAPT。G。Untiltheend。（Carriedaway。）It"salie。Itmustbe，becausewe"velovedeachother。Thisisn"ttheend。

VOICE。（Relapsingintosemi-delirium。）MyChurch-servicehasanivory-crossontheback，anditsaysso，soitmustbetrue。"TillDeathdouspart。"-butthat"salie。（WithaparodyofG。"smanner。）

Adamnedlie！（Recklessly。）Yes，IcanswearaswellasaTrooper，Pip。Ican"tmakemyheadthink，though。That"sbecausetheycutoffmyhair。Howcanonethinkwithone"sheadallfuzzy？

（Pleadingly。）Holdme，Pip！Keepmewithyoualwaysandalways。

（Relapsing。）ButifyoumarrytheThornissgirlwhenI"mdead，I"llcomebackandhowlunderourbedroomwindowallnight。Oh，bother！You"llthinkI"majackall。Pip，whattimeisit？

CAPT。G。Alittlebeforethedawn，dear。

VOICE。IwonderwhereIshallbethistimeto-morrow？

CAPT。G。WouldyouliketoseethePadre？

VOICE。WhyshouldI？He"dtellmethatIamgoingtoheaven；

andthatwouldn"tbetrue，becauseyouarehere。Doyourecollectwhenheupsetthecream-icealloverhistrousersattheGassers"

tennis？

CAPT。G。Yes，dear。

VOICE。Ioftenwonderedwhetherhegotanotherpairoftrousers；

butthenhisaresoshinyalloverthatyoureallycouldn"ttellunlessyouweretold。Let"scallhiminandask。

CAPT。G。（Gravely。）No。Idon"tthinkhe"dlikethat。"Yourheadcomfy，Sweetheart？"

VOICE。（Faintlywithasighofcontentment。）Yeth！Gracious，Pip，whendidyoushavelast？Yourchin"sworsethanthebarrelofamusicalbox-No，don"tliftitup。Ilikeit。（Apause。）Yousaidyou"venevercriedatall。You"recryingallovermycheek。

CAPT。G。I-I-Ican"thelpit，dear。

VOICE。Howfunny！Icouldn"tcrynowtosavemylife。（G。

shivers。）Iwanttosing。

CAPT。G。Won"tittireyou？"Betternot，perhaps。

VOICE。Why？Iwon"tbebotheredabout。（Beginsinahoarsequaver）

"Minniebakesoatencake，Minniebrewsale，AllbecauseherJohnnie"scominghomefromthesea。（That"sparade，Pip。）Andshegrowsredasarose，whowassopale；And"Areyousurethechurch-clockgoes？"saysshe。"

（Pettishly。）IknewIcouldn"ttakethelastnote。Howdothebasschordsrun？（Putsoutherhandsandbeginsplayingpianoonthesheet。）

CAPT。G。（Catchinguphands。）Ahh！Don"tdothat，Pussy，ifyouloveme。

VOICE。Loveyou？OfcourseIdo。Whoelseshoulditbe？（A

pause。）

VOICE。（Veryclearly。）Pip，I"mgomgnow。Something"schokingmecruelly。（Indistinctly。）Intothedark-withoutyou，myheart-Butit"salie，dear-wemustn"tbelieveit-Foreverandever，livingordead。Don"tletmego，myhusband-holdmetight-Theycan"t-

whateverhappens。（Acough。）Pip-myPip！Notforalways-and-

so-soon！（Voiceceases。）

Pauseoftenminutes。G。burieshisfaceinthesideofthebedwhileAYAHbendsoverbedfromoppositesideandfeelsMas。G。"sbreastandforehead。

CAPT。G。（Rising。）DoctorSahibkosalaamdo。

AYAH。（Stillbybedside，withashriek。）AilAilTuta-phuta！MyMemsahib！Notgetting-nothavegot！-Pusseenaagyal（Thesweathascome。）（FiercelytoG。）TUMjaoDoctorSahibkojaldi！（Yougotothedoctor。）Oh，myMemsahib！

DOCTOR。（Enteringhastily。）Comeaway，Gadsby。（Bendsoverbed。）Eb！TheDev-Whatinspiredyoutostopthepunkab？Getout，man-goaway-waitoutside！Go！Here，Ayab！（OverhisshouldertoG。）MindIpromisenothing。

ThedawnbreaksasG。stumblesintothegarden。

CAPT。M。（Rehungupatthegateonhiswaytoparadeandverysoberly。）Oldman，howgoes？

CAPT。G。（Dazed。）Idon"tquiteknow。Stayabit。Haveadrinkorsomething。Don"trunaway。You"rejustgettingamusing。Ha！

ha！

CAPT。M。（Aside。）WhatamIletinfor？Gaddyhasagedtenyearsinthenight。