Michel What’s the matter with her?
Paul I don’t know.
Michel Did I say something?
Paul No, no, I don’t think so. She’s just gone to check the dinner, you know, the what-d’you-call-it, the rabbit.
Laurence I’ll go and see if she needs a hand.
Paul No! No, not you.
Laurence What?
Michel All right. I’ll go. I somehow think it’d be better if I go … Don’t you think?
Paul Yes. Maybe.
Michel Let me try and put things right … But d’you think it’s to do with what I just said?
Paul No. I don’t think so.
Michel Fine. I’ll go and see. I’ll be back.
He goes out.
Laurence What’s the matter with her?
Paul She’s a bit stressed because of her meeting tomorrow.
Laurence No, seriously … Is something going on?
Pause.
What’s going on?
Blackout.
Three
A little later in the evening. Alice is on the sofa, as Paul closes the door on the guests.
Paul Goodbye. Goodbye … And thanks again … Yes, yes. Safe trip. Safe trip.
The door closes. He turns towards Alice. Long pause. He moves back into the living room.
I expect you’re relieved.
Alice Very.
Paul Well, that’s something.
Alice I loathed that dinner party.
Paul Yes, I think you made that clear to everyone.
Pause. He pours himself another glass of wine.
Well, you realise what you’ve done?
Alice Me?
Paul Yes. You were unbearable from start to finish.
Alice I told you I didn’t feel like it.
Paul That’s no excuse.
Alice All you had to do was cancel it, like I asked you to.
Paul Yes, I remember you asked me to. Ten minutes before they arrived.
Pause.
You can’t behave like that, darling. These people are our friends. Or at any rate, they’re people I like very much. I don’t know if you realise how hateful you were to Michel.
Alice You’re exaggerating.
Paul Not in the least. You were aggressive, you kept making really double-edged remarks, you even walked out of the room for no reason.
Alice I went to check the rabbit because you were refusing to go.
Paul No, you left the room quite brutally, to demonstrate your opposition to what was being said. I was dreadfully embarrassed. Really, it’s not the way to behave.
Alice Well, did you see the way he was making up to Laurence?
Paul Who? Michel?
Alice Yes. What a bastard! Did you see him? He never stopped kissing her and being lovey-dovey and deferring to her and flattering her …
Paul Shocking.
Alice You don’t understand.
Paul What?
Brief pause.
What don’t I understand?
Alice I don’t know. That dinner party was one of the most abject occasions I’ve ever attended in my life.
Paul And I’m the one who’s exaggerating …
Alice It’s true.
Paul Still no reason to be so unpleasant.
Pause. As if she’s regretting her behaviour, she now tries to be nice to him.
Alice Any left?
Paul Any what?
Alice Wine … Could you pour me a glass?
He does so.
Thanks.
Pause. Alice tries to cheer him up.
It’s very good, anyway.
Paul (still a bit annoyed) It’s Château Lafite. So of course it is.
Pause. Her manner is softer. It’s clear she wants to be forgiven.
Alice You really think I behaved badly?
Paul Yes.
Alice I was that hateful?
Pause.
I don’t know why I take these things to heart so much. But I’ve always been like that. Since I was little. I can’t bear lying. It makes me go on the attack …
Pause.
Are you angry with me?
Pause. He remains inscrutable.
I’m sorry, Paul.
Pause.
I’ll phone Laurence in the morning to apologise, tell her I wasn’t feeling very well. That I was in a funny mood. I’ll think of something.
Paul Yes, that would be good.
Alice I’ll phone her in the morning. All right? But please don’t be angry with me.
Pause.
Come on … please …
A sense of calm returns. She makes a loving gesture.
Paul But you know, you’re probably being so hard on him because you don’t know the whole story … You mustn’t think it’s necessarily that easy for him.
Alice What are you talking about?
Paul This business. It just fell on top of him. He could have happily done without it. Believe me.
Alice You’re talking about what? This girl?
Paul Yes.
Alice What makes you say that?
Paul He told me.
Pause. He realises he shouldn’t have said this.
Alice What?
Paul Mm?
Alice What did you say?
Paul Me?
Alice Michel told you?
Paul Not really, he …
Alice So you knew about it?
Paul (on the defensive) Me?
Alice You knew about it.
Paul No.
Alice Yes. You just said. Did he talk to you about it? Obviously he talked to you about it! You’re his best friend. Did he talk to you about it, yes or no?
Paul Well, yes, he vaguely referred to it, yes, well …
Alice In other words, you knew.
Paul More or less. I didn’t know it was still going on.
Alice You mean it’s been going on for some time?
Paul Mm? Listen, Alice, we don’t have to go into detail.
Alice Why did you tell me you didn’t know about it?
Paul Alice, please. Let’s talk about something else. Shall we? Would you like another glass? Unless you’d rather go to bed? Might be a better idea, don’t you think, you have that meeting in the morning. What time is it? Yes, it’s late, look. I’m exhausted. Aren’t you?
Brief pause.
Alice (darkly) He told you.
Paul He made some vague reference to it once. Yes … Very vague.
Alice When?
Paul I don’t know, I can’t remember. What’s it matter? Alice …
She’s moving away.
Well, all right, it’s true, I did know about it. There we are. Happy? I’ve no idea who this girl is, but he’s talked to me about her several times. She’s done his head in. What can I tell you? I completely understand that you were uncomfortable this evening and I’m really sorry. But, you know, it’s nothing to do with me and it’s late and you’re tired. And you have your meeting tomorrow. And …
Alice Why do you say she’s done his head in?
Paul That’s what he told me.
Alice Has he known her long?
Paul I don’t know. All I know is the situation’s been very difficult for him …
Alice Poor thing …
Paul Why be sarcastic? What do you know about the details of this business?
Alice Much less than you do, apparently.
Paul Right, well, now you know. It’s been very hard for him. He’s been through the mill. It’s been like an infatuation. But Laurence is the woman in his life. He knows that. He loves her.
Alice He loves her and he lies to her.
Paul That’s right … It’s not necessarily a contradiction.
Alice Isn’t it?
Paul No. Sometimes it’s harder to lie, Alice. To keep all that inside. Believe me.
Alice How would you know?
Paul Mm?
Alice How would you know?
Paul Mm? Well, I … no. A
ll I’m saying is that sometimes lying is a sign of love. As opposed to what you’re saying. That’s all I’m saying.
Alice Lying is a sign of love?
Paul Yes. Sometimes.
Alice I thought it was a sign of friendship.
Paul It can also be a sign of love.
Alice Ah, it works for love as well? It’s versatile.
Paul (as if he’s uttering some deep thought) Not always, Alice. Not always.
Brief pause.
Alice Can I ask you a question? And I want a really sincere answer …
Paul What?
Alice Are you saying this to defend your friend or is that really what you think?
Paul (beseechingly) Alice … What is it you’re after? I can’t even understand why we’re arguing about this.
Alice We’re not arguing. We’re having a discussion.
Paul Then let’s discuss something else. This is starting to get really tiresome.
Pause. She moves away from him a bit.
What?
Alice Nothing. I’m trying to imagine you, that’s all.
Paul Who?
Alice The two of you. You and Michel. I’m trying to imagine your conversations. Your little man secrets … You disgust me.
Paul What’s this ‘you’? What does any of this have to do with me? I am in no way complicit with this sort of thing, Alice.
Alice You’re not?
Paul No. In no way.
Alice ‘I’m thunderstuck.’
Paul Sorry?
Alice ‘I’m thunderstuck.’ Isn’t that what you said to me just now, when I told you I’d seen Michel kissing another woman? You pretended you couldn’t get over it, you said you were ‘flabbergasted’, when you knew perfectly well all along.
Paul Yes, all right …
Alice You know very well you are complicit and I find that disgusting. For her sake as well as for mine.
Paul Darling …
Alice (almost to herself) Things would be so much simpler if everyone told the truth …
Paul It’d be a real nightmare, Alice. If everyone told the truth, there wouldn’t be a single couple left on earth.
Alice There wouldn’t be a single couple left on earth?
Paul (as if it were self-evident) No.
Brief pause. He corrects himself.
I mean, it’s just an expression.
Alice Can you expand? I’m interested.
Paul Oh, sweetheart … No, please … Don’t start. All I’m saying is that in certain situations, a lie is a way of sparing other people.
Alice Delighted to find out.
Paul You don’t believe me? You want an example? Is that it? All right. Let’s take the case of this evening. Suppose everyone had told the truth … Just suppose … Can you imagine the carnage? You’d have told Laurence her husband was cheating on her. Great! Wonderful! We would have achieved a small marital crisis; always, whatever anyone says, extremely entertaining! Then I’d have told Michel that he’s undoubtedly a very good editor but that his own novels are unreadable. It’s true, and he’s my friend, he deserves the truth! He’d definitely never speak to me again, but at least I would have been honest! My conscience would be clear! I imagine after your revelations, he’d never speak to you again either. So, if you agree, we could sum up the situation as follows: if we’d told each other the truth this evening, Alice, if we’d done that, Michel would never speak to me again, he’d never speak to you again and his wife would never speak to him again. Wonderful! What a friendly occasion! All I’m saying is it would have been pretty hard to find a topic of conversation at dinner.
He’s rather satisfied with his example.
Alice And what about us?
Paul Mm?
Alice What about us?
Paul What do you mean, us?
Alice I mean, us. What would happen if we told each other the truth?
Paul We do tell each other the truth, darling.
Alice I thought there wasn’t a ‘single couple on earth’ …
Paul Yes, well …
Alice That’s what you said.
Paul Clumsy expression.
Alice So you mean we do tell each other the truth?
Paul Of course, darling, of course we do. I mean, darling … of course. What can you be thinking? Alice. Really, darling. Of course … The very idea!
Pause. She pours herself another glass of wine. He realises she’s not going to let go of the subject.
Really, what? You pass one of my friends in the street with another woman. It’s nothing to do with me, is it? Why are you attacking me? There’s no sense to it! Alice! What does this mean? I love you. You know that. I’m deeply in love with you. So, please, darling, no more of this sort of conversation.
Alice You can understand it’s a bit unsettling for me.
Paul What is?
Alice To hear you say that in the end lying is a good thing …
Paul (trying to put things in perspective) A good thing, a good thing … That’s not exactly what I said.
Alice Isn’t it?
Paul No. Not exactly. You’re twisting my words!
Alice It’s as if you’re openly admitting to me that you don’t tell me the truth.
Paul Not at all!
Alice You’ve been explaining to me for ten minutes that a lie is a sign of love!
Paul Not for me. Not for us.
Alice For who then? Other people?
Paul Yes, yes.
Pause. She seems annoyed.
Alice I want some reassurance … I do, because you’re starting to make me doubt everything … You’re saying you don’t lie to me?
Paul Mm?
Alice You don’t lie to me?
Paul Me?
Alice Yes. You.
Paul But, darling …
Alice Answer the question.
Paul No, no. Of course not.
Alice Never?
Paul No, no. Never. Of course not. Never!
Pause.
Alice This is horrible.
Paul What is?
Alice I can’t manage to believe you.
Paul That’s it! That’s it! No, I just knew this discussion was going to lead us up shit creek … I knew it! Why can’t you believe me?
Alice Why do you think?
Paul But I always tell you the truth. I have nothing whatsoever to hide.
Alice ‘I’m thunderstuck.’
Paul Oh, do give up …
Alice It’s the proof that you don’t always tell me the truth.
Paul I was being discreet. I didn’t want to make a spectacle of Michel’s private life. I mean, put yourself in my place … He’s my friend. Shit. And you’re his wife’s friend.
Alice What about you?
Paul What?
Alice You’ve never cheated on me?
Paul Mm?
Alice No, I’d like to know.
Paul What are you talking about?
Alice Tell me.
Paul Have you gone completely off your head, dearest?
Alice I’m just asking you a question. You’ve never cheated on me?
Paul Of course not! Never! I mean, think about it!
Alice Not even once?
Paul Really, Alice! Can you hear yourself? Can you hear yourself?
Alice Why are you reacting like this?
Paul Why do you think?
Alice After everything you’ve said to me this evening, it seems to me a perfectly normal question to ask.
Paul You think that’s perfectly normal? Funny, because I find it quite insulting.
Alice Insulting?
Paul Absolutely. Insulting.
He pours himself another glass of wine, indignant. Tense silence. He turns his back to her.
Alice (conciliatory) Paul … Come on …
Paul What?
Alice Don’t close up like this.
Paul I’m not closed up.
Alice Yes, you are, you are closed up. I know you.
Paul I’m hurt. It’s different.
Alice Hurt?
Paul Yes. By your insinuations.
Alice (gently) I’m not insinuating anything. I just asked you a question.
Paul Yes. And I answered.
Pause.
Alice There’s no reason to react like this.
Pause.
You really are sensitive, Paul.
Paul Before we know where we are, this’ll be my fault.
Long pause.
Alice (back-pedalling) All right, fine, I’m sorry. Do you forgive me?
Pause.
Paul, I’m speaking to you …
Pause.
Do you forgive me?
Paul (almost grudgingly) Yes.
Alice I’m really sorry if I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to.
Paul I can’t understand how we’ve finished up arguing about this. Laurence and Michel may be having marital problems, but that’s no reason for us to be dragged along in their wake.
Alice You’re right.
She sits down, speaks calmly and confidently.
Bur I meant it just now, you know, when I said I found that dinner party horribly sad. I don’t know … It represented everything in life I’m most afraid of.
Pause.
Love ought to be something pure, oughtn’t it? I mean: to love somebody is to be true. It’s having nothing to hide. Don’t you think?
Paul Yes. Of course.
Alice That’s why.
Paul That’s why what?
Alice That’s why I want us to tell each other the truth.
Paul Us?
Alice Both of us.
Paul (anxious) But what about?
Alice What do you think?
Brief pause. She speaks gently to him. Nothing allows him to guess that a trap is being set. Right now, she’s not a manipulator. She simply wants the discussion to be as honest as possible.
You know, for some time now, I’ve had the impression you’ve been hiding things from me.
Paul Me? Not at all! What are you going to think of next?
Alice As you see, I’m speaking to you very calmly. I just want to get to a place where we can say things to one another …
The Lie Page 3