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Cæsar's Wife: A Comedy in Three Acts
Ronny
And even if she does know, what does it matter? It does her no harm… And how could anyone help loving you?
Violet
[Quickly.] Take care what you say.
Ronny
No one can hear. To look at us anyone would think we were discussing the political situation.
Violet
You're cunning, Ronny.
Ronny
I love you. I love you. I love you.
Violet
For God's sake don't keep on saying it. I'm so ashamed.
Ronny
[Astonished.] What about?
Violet
Just now, this afternoon, I would never have said what I did only I thought you were going. I wasn't myself then, Ronny. I ought never to have…
Ronny
Thank God you did. You can't grudge me the happiness you gave me. You can't take it away from me now. I know you love me. I hold the sun and the moon in my hands and all the stars of heaven.
Violet
[Desperately.] What are we going to do? Oh, it's not fair to me.
Ronny
It's done now. You can't unsay it. Each time I look at you I shall remember. I've held you in my arms and kissed your lips. You can never take that away from me. And I needn't go. I shall see you constantly. Oh, I'm so happy.
[She walks up and down for a moment, trying to control herself, then she makes up her mind: she stops and faces him.]
Violet
I want you to go, Ronny. I want you to make some excuse and refuse the appointment here.
Ronny
No, I can't leave you now.
Violet
I beseech you to go.
Ronny
Do you want me to?
Violet
Yes.
Ronny
Give me your hand, then.
Violet
Why?
Ronny
Give me your hand. [She gives it him and he holds it.] Say you love me, Violet.
Violet
No.
Ronny
How cold your hand is!
Violet
Let me go.
Ronny
D'you really want me to go?
Violet
You know I don't. I adore you. It'll kill me if you go. [He bends down and passionately kisses her hand.] Ronny, Ronny, don't! What are you doing? [She tears her hand away. She is trembling with emotion. He is white and cold with passion. They sit opposite one another for a while in silence.] What a punishment! When you told me this afternoon that you loved me I thought I'd never been happy in my life before, and though it tore my heart to think that you must go I felt – oh, I don't know – as though my joy was so overwhelming, there was no room in my heart for anything else. And now I'm wretched, wretched.
Ronny
But why? Darling! My darling, we were going to be parted, and now we're going to be together. Can anything matter beside that?
Violet
It's all so hopeless.
Ronny
It needn't be.
Violet
How can it be anything else?
Ronny
I don't love you for a day or a week, Violet; I love you for always.
Violet
Whatever happens, I'm going to try to do my duty to Arthur.
Ronny
I'm not seeking to prevent you. What am I asking for? I only want to see you. I want to know that I'm close to you. I want to touch your hand. I want to think of you. What harm can that do you?
Violet
If I were my own mistress I could laugh and let you do as you choose. But I'm not. I'm bound to you hand and foot. It's torture to me. And the worst of it is I love my bonds. I can't wish to be without them. I'm at your mercy, Ronny. I love you.
Ronny
Oh, but that's enough for me. I swear to you I don't want you to do anything that you'll ever regret.
Violet
If it could only be taken out of our hands. If something would only happen.
Ronny
What can happen?
Violet
Perhaps the Khedive will change his mind. Perhaps the Foreign Office will say you must go to Paris.
Ronny
Would you be pleased? Violet, I want so little from you. How can it hurt you to give me that? Let us give ourselves a chance to be happy.
Violet
We shall never be happy. Never. The only thing we can do is to part, and I can't let you go. I can't. I can't. It's asking too much of me.
Ronny
I love you with all my heart and soul. I didn't know it was possible to love anyone as I love you.
[Arthur is heard gaily whistling to himself.]
Violet
There's Arthur!
Ronny
[Quickly.] Shall I go?
Violet
Yes. No. Have we got to hide ourselves? Has it come to that already? Oh, I hate myself.
[Arthur comes in.]
Violet
[Brightly.] You're very gay this afternoon, Arthur. One doesn't often hear you whistle.
Arthur
D'you think it's unbecoming to my years or to my dignity?
Violet
Shall I give you a cup of tea?
Arthur
To tell you the honest truth that is what I came here for.
Violet
And I was flattering myself it was for the pleasure of my company.
Arthur
Ronny, will you find out if it would be convenient for the Khedive to see me at eleven o'clock to-morrow?
Ronny
Very good, sir.
[He goes out.]
Violet
What have you to see the Khedive about – if it isn't a secret?
Arthur
Not at all. I'm merely going to place before him Ronny's name.
Violet
Then the matter's not definitely settled yet?
Arthur
Not formally. I've not had the reply yet to my telegram to the Foreign Office, and I've not had the Khedive's acceptance of my suggestion.
Violet
But supposing the Foreign Office say they think he'd better go to Paris after all?
Arthur
I think it's most unlikely. They know by now that the man on the spot is the best judge of the circumstances, and I've accustomed them to giving me a free hand.
Violet
And you think the Khedive will raise no objection?
Arthur
He knows Ronny a little and likes him. I think he'll be delighted with my choice.
[There is a pause. Arthur drinks his tea. There is no sign that he is conscious of Violet's agitation. She is tortured by indecision.]
Violet
Arthur, I'm sorry if I was cross just now about Abdul Said. It was stupid of me to interfere with something that wasn't my business.
Arthur
Oh, my dear, don't say that. I'm sorry I couldn't do what you wanted.
Violet
I made myself needlessly disagreeable. Will you forgive me?
Arthur
Darling, don't reproach yourself. That's more than I can bear. There's nothing to forgive.
Violet
I owe so much to you. I hate to think that I was horrid.
Arthur
You don't owe anything to me at all. And you're incapable of being horrid.
[He seizes her hands and is about to kiss them, when she draws them abruptly away.]
Violet
No, don't kiss my hands.
Arthur
Why not?
[He is surprised. For an instant she is taken aback. He looks at her hands and she withdraws them as though he could see on them the kisses which Ronny, a few minutes before, had pressed on them.]
Violet
[With the faintest laugh of embarrassment.] If you want to kiss me I prefer you to kiss my cheeks.
Arthur
That is evidently what they're made for.
[He does not attempt to kiss them. She gives him a quick glance and looks away.]
Violet
Arthur, I'm afraid Christina will be awfully disappointed at Henry's not getting that job.
Arthur
Let us hope she will bear her disappointment with as much fortitude as I do.
Violet
I don't think she's entirely given up hope that you will change your mind.
Arthur
[With a chuckle.] I'm sure of that. I don't expect to have much peace till the matter is officially settled. That is why I mean to settle it quickly.
Violet
What is your objection to Henry?
Arthur
None. He's not such a good man as Ronald Parry, that's all.
Violet
The last time there was a good job going Henry just missed getting it.
Arthur
Henry is one of those men who would do very well for a job if there weren't always somebody just a little bit better applying at the same time.
Violet
Christina thinks you're so anxious not to favour him because he's your nephew that you are positively biassed against him.
Arthur
Christina, like the majority of her sex, has an unerring eye for the discreditable motive.
Violet
She blames me because you won't help Henry. She thinks it's because I'm jealous of her.
Arthur
How exactly like her! The best mother and the most unreasonable woman I've ever known.
Violet
[Forcing the words out.] It would be a great pleasure to me if you could change your mind and let Henry have the post instead of Ronald Parry.
Arthur
Oh, my dear, don't ask me to do that. You know how I hate refusing to do anything you wish.
Violet
Anne is so anxious that Ronny should go to Paris. He's made all his preparations, don't you think you might just as well let him go?
Arthur
I'm afraid I don't. I want him here.
Violet
It would be such a joy to me if I could go and tell Christina that you'd consented. It would make such a difference to me, you see. I want her to be fond of me, and I know she'd never forget if I'd been able to do her a good turn like that. Oh, Arthur, won't you?
Arthur
Darling, I'm afraid I can't.
Violet
I promise I'll never ask you anything again as long as I live if you'll only do this for me. It means so much to me. You don't know how much.
Arthur
I can't, Violet.
Violet
Won't you talk it over with Anne?
Arthur
To tell you the truth I don't think it's any business of hers.
Violet
[Hesitatingly.] Is it due to her influence that Ronald was appointed to Paris?
Arthur
Why?
Violet
I want to know. If she's been pulling strings to get him moved I suppose it's for some reason. He was very comfortable here. It's not often you find a secretary who exactly suits you.
Arthur
Well, yes, it was her doing. She tells me she doesn't mean to come to Egypt so much as in the past and wants her brother nearer to her.
Violet
If she wants to see much of her brother she let him choose rather an unfortunate profession… I wonder she didn't tell you the truth.
Arthur
[Quickly.] I'm convinced she did. I thought her explanation very natural. I'm sorry it's necessary for me to interfere with her plans.
Violet
I'm sure she wouldn't mind my telling you why she's so anxious Ronny should leave Egypt. She thinks he's in love with a married woman and it seems desirable to get him away. Perhaps she didn't want to tell you. I fancy she's been very uneasy about it.
Arthur
I daresay it's only a momentary infatuation. Let us hope he will get over it quickly. I can't lose a useful public servant because he happens to have formed an unfortunate attachment.
Violet
I'm afraid I'm not explaining myself very well. Ronny is desperately in love. There's no other way of putting it. You must let him go. After all, you're very fond of him, you've known him since he was a small boy; it isn't as though he were a stray young man sent you by the Foreign Office. You can't be entirely indifferent to him. Perhaps his welfare is at stake. Don't you think it's wiser – it's only kind – to send him out of harm's way.
Arthur
My dear, you know that I – Arthur Little – would do anything to please you and that I care very much for the happiness of Anne and the welfare of Ronald Parry. But, you see, I'm an official too, and the official can't do all sorts of things that the man would be very glad to.
Violet
How can you separate the official and the man? The official can't do things that the man disapproves.
Arthur
Ah! that's a point that has been discussed ever since states came into being. Are the rules of private morality binding on the statesman? In theory most of us answer yes, but in practice very few act on that principle. In this case, darling, it hardly applies. I see no conflict between the man and the official.
Violet
You think it doesn't really concern you, Arthur?
Arthur
I've not said that. But I'm not going to let an appeal to my emotions interfere with my judgment. I think I understand the situation. I'm not proposing to change my mind. I shall present Ronny's name to the Khedive to-morrow.
Violet
D'you think me very stupid, Arthur?
Arthur
Not at all, darling. Only a clever woman could achieve your beauty.
Violet
Then doesn't it occur to you that if I've made such a point of Ronny's going it must be for some very good reason?
Arthur
[With a quick look at her.] Don't you think we'd better leave that subject alone, darling?
Violet
I'm afraid you'll think it silly and vain of me to say so, but I think you should know that – that Ronny's in love with me. That is why I want him to go.
Arthur
It's very natural that he should be in love with you. I'm always surprised that everybody else isn't. I don't see how I can prevent that except by taking you to live in the depths of the Sahara.
Violet
Don't make light of it, Arthur. It wasn't very easy for me to tell you.
Arthur
How do you wish me to take it? I can't blame Ronald. He's by way of being a gentleman. I've been good to him. He'll make the best of a bad job.
Violet
D'you mean to say that it makes no difference to you?
Arthur
This secretaryship is a stepping-stone to a very important position. You're not going to ask me to rob him of it because he's done something so very natural as to fall in love with the most charming woman in Egypt? I imagine that all my secretaries will fall in love with you. Poor devils, I don't see how they can be expected to help it.
Violet
You drive me mad. It's so serious, it's so tremendously serious, and you have the heart to make little jokes about it.
Arthur
[Gravely.] Has it ever struck you that flippancy is often the best way of dealing with a serious situation? Sometimes it's really too serious to be taken seriously.
Violet
What do you mean by that?
Arthur
Nothing very much. I was excusing myself for my ill-timed jests.
Violet
You're determined to keep Ronny here?
Arthur
Quite. [There is a pause. Arthur gets up and puts his hand on her shoulder.] I don't think there's anything more to say. If you will forgive me I will get back to the office.
Violet
No, don't go yet, Arthur. There's something more I want to say to you.
Arthur
Will you allow me to advise you not to? It's so easy to say too much; it's never unwise to say too little. I beseech you not to say anything that we should both of us regret.
Violet
You think it's unimportant if Ronny loves me, because you trust me implicitly.
Arthur
Implicitly.
Violet
Has it never occurred to you that I might be influenced by his love against my will? Do you think it's so very safe?
Arthur
If I allowed any doubt on that matter to enter my head I should surely be quite unworthy of your affection.
Violet
Arthur, I don't want to have any secrets from you.
Arthur
[Trying to stop her.] Don't, Violet. I don't want you to go on.
Violet
I must now.
Arthur
Oh, my dear, don't you see that things said can never be taken back. We may both know something…
Violet
[Interrupting.] What do you mean?
Arthur
But so long as we don't tell one another we can ignore it. If certain words pass our lips then the situation is entirely changed.
Violet
You're frightening me.
Arthur
I don't wish to do that. Only you can tell me nothing that I don't know. But if you tell me you may do irreparable harm.
Violet
D'you mean to say you know? Oh, it's impossible. Arthur, Arthur, I can't help it. I must tell you. It burns my heart. I love Ronny with all my body and soul.
[There is a pause while they look at one another.]
Arthur
Did you think I didn't know?
Violet
Then why did you offer him the job?
Arthur
I had to.
Violet
No one could have blamed you if you had suggested Henry.
Arthur
My dear, I'm paid a very considerable salary. It would surely be taking money under false pretences if I didn't do my work to the best of my ability.
Violet
It may mean happiness or misery to all three of us.
Arthur
I must take the risk of that. You see, Ronny is cut out for this particular position. It's only common honesty to give it him.
Violet
Don't you love me any more?
Arthur
Don't ask me that, Violet. You know I love you with all my heart.
Violet
Then I can't understand.
Arthur
You don't think I want him to stay, do you? When the telegram came from the Foreign Office ordering him to Paris my middle-aged heart simply leapt for joy. Do you think I didn't see all the advantages he had over me? He seemed to have so much to offer you and I so little.
Violet
Oh, Arthur!
Arthur
But if he went away I thought presently you'd forget him. I thought if I were very kind to you and tolerant, and if I asked nothing more from you than you were prepared to give I might in time make you feel towards me, not love perhaps, but tenderness and affection. That was all I could hope for, but that would have made me very happy. Then the Khedive asked for an English secretary, and I knew Ronny was the only man for it. You see, I've been at this work so long, the official in me makes decisions almost mechanically.
Violet
And supposing they break the heart of the man in you?
Arthur
[Smiling.] By a merciful interposition of Providence we all seem to have just enough strength to bear the burdens that are placed on us.
Violet
D'you think so?
Arthur
You like the rest of us, Violet.
Violet
How long have you known I loved him?
Arthur
Always. I think perhaps I knew before you did.
Violet
Why didn't you do something?
Arthur
Will you tell me what there was to do?
Violet
Aren't you angry with us?
Arthur
I should be a fool to be that. It seems to me so natural, so horribly natural. He's young and nice-looking and cheery. It seems to me now inevitable that you should have fallen in love with him. You might be made for one another.
Violet
Oh, do you see that?
Arthur
It had struck you too, had it? I suppose it's obvious to anyone who takes the trouble to think about it. [She does not answer.] Haven't you wished with all your heart that you'd met him first? Don't you hate me now because I married you? [She looks away.] My dear child, I'm so sorry for you. I've been very grateful for your kindness to me during the last month or two. I've seen you try to be loving to me and affectionate. I've been so anxious to tell you not to force yourself, because I understood and you mustn't be unhappy about me. But I didn't know how. I could only make myself as little troublesome as possible.
Violet
You've been immensely good to me, Arthur.
Arthur
That's the least you had a right to expect of me. I did you a great wrong in marrying you. I knew you didn't love me. You were dazzled by the circumstances. You didn't know what marriage was and how irksome it must be unless love makes its constraints sweeter than freedom. But I adored you. I thought love would come. With all my heart I ask you to forgive me.
Violet
Oh, Arthur, don't talk like that. You know I was so happy to marry you. I thought you wonderful, I was so excited and flattered – I thought that was love. I never knew that love would come like this. If I'd only known what to expect I could have fought against it. It took me unawares. I never had a chance. It wasn't my fault, Arthur.
Arthur
I'm not blaming you, darling.
Violet
It would be easier for me if you did.
Arthur
It's just bad luck. Bad luck? I might have expected it.
Violet
Still, I'm glad I've told you. I hated having a secret from you. It's better that we should be frank with one another.
Arthur
If I can help you in any way I'm glad too that you've told me.
Violet
What is to be done?
Arthur
There's nothing to be done.
Violet
Arthur, until to-day Ronny and I have never exchanged a word that anyone might not have heard. I was happy to be with him, I knew he liked me, I was quite satisfied with that. But when I heard that he was going away suddenly everything was changed. I felt I couldn't bear to let him go. Oh, I'm so ashamed, Arthur.
Arthur
Dear child!
Violet
I don't know how it happened. He told me he loved me. He didn't mean to. Don't think he's been disloyal to you, Arthur. We were both so upset. It was just as much my fault as his. I couldn't help letting him see how much he meant to me. We thought we were never going to see one another again. He took me in his arms and held me in them. I was so happy and so miserable. I never thought life could mean so much.
Arthur
And just now when you were alone he kissed your hands.
Violet
How do you know?
Arthur
When I wanted to kiss them you withdrew them. You couldn't bear that I should touch them. You felt on them still the pressure of his lips.
Violet
I couldn't help it. He was beside himself with joy because he needn't go. I don't want to love him, Arthur. I want to love you. I've tried so desperately hard.
Arthur
My dear, one either loves or one doesn't. I'm afraid trying doesn't do much good.
Violet
If he stays here I shall have to see him constantly. I shan't have a chance to get over it. Oh, I can't. I can't. It's intolerable. Have pity on me.
Arthur
I'm afraid you'll be very unhappy. But you see, something more than your happiness is at stake. A little while ago you said you wanted to do more for your country than you did. Does it strike you that you can do something for it now?
Violet
I?
Arthur
We all want to do great and heroic things, but generally we can only do very modest ones. D'you think we ought to shirk them?
Violet
I don't understand.
Arthur
Ronny can be of infinite value here. You can't help your feelings for him. I can't bring myself to blame you. But you are mistress of your words and your actions. What are we to do? You wouldn't wish me to resign when my work here is but half done. We must make the best of the position. Remember that all of us here, you more than most women, because you're my wife, work for the common cause by our lives and the example we set. At all costs we must seem honest, straightforward, and without reproach. And one finds by experience that it's much less trouble to be a thing than only to seem it. There's only one way in which we can avoid reproach and that is by being irreproachable.
Violet
You mean that it's necessary for the country that Ronny and you should stay here? And if my heart breaks it doesn't matter. I thought I was doing so much in asking you to send him away. Don't you know that with all my heart I wanted him to stay? D'you know what I feel, Arthur? I can't think of anything else. I'm obsessed by a hungry longing for him. Till to-day I could have borne it. But now… I feel his arms about me every moment, and his kisses on my lips. You can't know the rapture and the torture and the ecstasy that consume me.
Arthur
Oh, my dear, do you think I don't know what love is?
Violet
I want to do the right thing, Arthur, but you mustn't ask too much of me. If I've got to treat him as a casual friend, I can't go on seeing him. I can't, Arthur, I can't! If he must stay then let me go.
Arthur
Never! I think, even if it weren't necessary, I should make him stay now. You and I are not people to run away from danger. After all, we're not obliged to yield to our passions – we can control them if we want to. For your own sake you must stay, Violet.
Violet
And if I break, I break.
Arthur
It's only the worthless who are broken by unhappiness. If you have faith and courage and honesty unhappiness can only make you stronger.
Violet
Have you thought of yourself, Arthur? What will you feel when you see him with me? What will you suspect when you're working in your office and don't know where I am?
Arthur
I shall know that you are unhappy, and I shall feel the most tender compassion for you.
Violet
You're exposing me to a temptation that I want with all my heart to yield to. What is there to hold me back? Only the thought that I must do my duty to you. What is there to reward me? Only the idea that perhaps I'm doing a little something for the country.
Arthur
I put myself in your hands, Violet. I shall never suspect that you can do anything, not that I should reproach you for – I will never reproach you – but that you may reproach yourself for.
[A pause.]
Violet
Just now, when we were talking of Abdul Said, I asked if you could do your duty when it was a matter that affected you, if it meant misery or happiness to you, I said.
Arthur
My dear, duty is rather a forbidding word. Let us say that I – want to earn my screw.
Violet
You must have thought me very silly. I said I hoped you'd never be put to the test, and the test had come already, and you never hesitated.
Arthur
These things are very much a matter of habit, you know.
Violet
What you can do I can do too, Arthur – if you believe in me.
Arthur
Of course I believe in you.
Violet
Then let him stay. I'll do what I can.
[Ronny comes in.]
Ronny
The Khedive was engaged when I rang up. But I left the message and the answer has just come through. He will be pleased to see you, sir, at eleven o'clock.
Arthur
That will do admirably. Ronny must lunch with us to-morrow, Violet. We'll crack a bottle to celebrate his step!