And another is this: it is a serious matter
To bring someone back from the dead.
EDWARD. From the dead?
That figure of speech is somewhat … dramatic,
As it was only yesterday that my wife left me.
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. Ah, but we die to each other daily.
What we know of other people
Is only our memory of the moments
During which we knew them. And they have changed since then.
To pretend that they and we are the same
Is a useful and convenient social convention
Which must sometimes be broken. We must also remember
That at every meeting we are meeting a stranger.
EDWARD. So you want me to greet my wife as a stranger?
That will not be easy.
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. It is very difficult.
But it is perhaps still more difficult
To keep up the pretence that you are not strangers.
The affectionate ghosts: the grandmother,
The lively bachelor uncle at the Christmas party,
The beloved nursemaid — those who enfolded
Your childhood years in comfort, mirth, security —
If they returned, would it not be embarrassing?
What would you say to them, or they to you
After the first ten minutes? You would find it difficult
To treat them as strangers, but still more difficult
To pretend that you were not strange to each other.
EDWARD. You can hardly expect me to obliterate
The last five years.
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. I ask you to forget nothing.
To try to forget is to try to conceal.
EDWARD. There are certainly things I should like to forget.
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. And persons also. But you must not forget them.
You must face them all, but meet them as strangers.
EDWARD. Then I myself must also be a stranger.
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. And to yourself as well. But remember,
When you see your wife, you must ask no questions
And give no explanations. I have said the same to her.
Don’t strangle each other with knotted memories.
Now I shall go.
EDWARD. Stop! Will you come back with her?
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. No, I shall not come with her.
EDWARD. I don’t know why,
But I think I should like you to bring her yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. Yes, I know you would. And for definite reasons
Which I am not prepared to explain to you
I must ask you not to speak of me to her;
And she will not mention me to you.
EDWARD. I promise.
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. And now you must await your visitors.
EDWARD. Visitors? What visitors?
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. Whoever comes. The strangers.
As for myself, I shall take the precaution
Of leaving by the service staircase.
EDWARD. May I ask one question?
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. You may ask it.
EDWARD. Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED GUEST. I also am a stranger.
[Exit. A pause. EDWARD moves about restlessly. The bell rings, and he goes to the front door.]
EDWARD. Celia!
CELIA. Has Lavinia arrived?
EDWARD. Celia! Why have you come?
I expect Lavinia at any moment.
You must not be here. Why have you come here?
CELIA. Because Lavinia asked me.
EDWARD. Because Lavinia asked you!
CELIA. Well, not directly. Julia had a telegram
Asking her to come, and to bring me with her.
Julia was delayed, and sent me on ahead.
EDWARD. It seems very odd. And not like Lavinia.
I suppose there is nothing to do but wait.
Won’t you sit down?
CELIA. Thank you.
[Pause]
EDWARD. Oh, my God, what shall we talk about?
We can’t sit here in silence.
CELIA. Oh, I could.
Just looking at you. Edward, forgive my laughing.
You look like a little boy who’s been sent for
To the headmaster’s study; and is not quite sure
What he’s been found out in. I never saw you so before.
This is really a ludicrous situation.
EDWARD. I’m afraid I can’t see the humorous side of it.
CELIA. I’m not really laughing at you, Edward.
I couldn’t have laughed at anything, yesterday;
But I’ve learnt a lot in twenty-four hours.
It wasn’t a very pleasant experience.
Oh, I’m glad I came!
I can see you at last as a human being.
Can’t you see me that way too, and laugh about it?
EDWARD. I wish I could. I wish I understood anything.
I’m completely in the dark.
CELIA. But it’s all so simple.
Can’t you see that …
[The doorbell rings]
EDWARD. There’s Lavinia.
[Goes to front door]
Peter!
[Enter PETER]
PETER. Where’s Lavinia?
EDWARD. Don’t tell me that Lavinia
Sent you a telegram …
PETER. No, not to me,
But to Alex. She told him to come here
And to bring me with him. He’ll be here in a minute.
Celia! Have you heard from Lavinia too?
Or am I interrupting?
CELIA. I’ve just explained to Edward —
I only got here this moment myself —
That she telegraphed to Julia to come and bring me with her.
EDWARD. I wonder whom else Lavinia has invited.
PETER. Why, I got the impression that Lavinia intended
To have yesterday’s cocktail party to-day.
So I don’t suppose her aunt can have died.
EDWARD. What aunt?
PETER. The aunt you told us about.
But Edward — you remember our conversation yesterday?
EDWARD. Of course.
PETER. I hope you’ve done nothing about it.
EDWARD. No, I’ve done nothing.
PETER. I’m so glad.
Because I’ve changed my mind. I mean, I’ve decided
That it’s all no use. I’m going to California.
CELIA. You’re going to California!
PETER. Yes, I have a new job.
EDWARD. And how did that happen, overnight?
PETER. Why, it’s a man Alex put me in touch with
And we settled everything this morning.
Alex is a wonderful person to know,
Because, you see, he knows everybody, everywhere.
So what I’ve really come for is to say good-bye.
CELIA. Well, Peter, I’m awfully glad, for your sake,
Though of course we … I shall miss you;
You know how I depended on you for concerts,
And picture exhibitions — more than you realised.
It was fun, wasn’t it! But now you’ll have a chance,
I hope, to realise your ambitions.
I shall miss you.
PETER. It’s nice of you to say so;
But you’ll find someone better, to go about with.
CELIA. I don’t think that I shall be going to concerts.
I am going away too.
[LAVINIA lets herself in with a latch-key]
PETER. You’re going abroad?
CELIA. I don’t know. Perhaps.
EDWARD. You’re both going away!
[Enter LAVINIA]
LAVINIA. Who’s going away? Well, Celia. Well, Peter.
I didn’t expect to find either of you here.
PETER and CELIA. But the telegram!
> LAVINIA. What telegram?
CELIA. The one you sent to Julia.
PETER. And the one you sent to Alex.
LAVINIA. I don’t know what you mean.
Edward, have you been sending telegrams?
EDWARD. Of course I haven’t sent any telegrams.
LAVINIA. This is some of Julia’s mischief.
And is she coming?
PETER. Yes, and Alex.
LAVINIA. Then I shall ask them for an explanation.
Meanwhile, I suppose we might as well sit down.
What shall we talk about?
EDWARD. Peter’s going to America.
PETER. Yes, and I would have rung you up tomorrow
And come in to say good-bye before I left.
LAVINIA. And Celia’s going too? Was that what I heard?
I congratulate you both. To Hollywood, of course?
How exciting for you, Celia! Now you’ll have a chance
At last, to realise your ambitions.
You’re going together?
PETER. We’re not going together.
Celia told us she was going away,
But I don’t know where.
LAVINIA. You don’t know where?
And do you know where you are going, yourself?
PETER. Yes, of course, I’m going to California.
LAVINIA. Well, Celia, why don’t you go to California?
Everyone says it’s a wonderful climate:
The people who go there never want to leave it.
CELIA. Lavinia, I think I understand about Peter …
LAVINIA. I have no doubt you do.
CELIA. And why he is going …
LAVINIA. I don’t doubt that either.
CELIA. And I believe he is right to go.
LAVINIA. Oh, so you advised him?
PETER. She knew nothing about it.
CELIA. But now that I may be going away — somewhere —
I should like to say good-bye — as friends.
LAVINIA. Why, Celia, but haven’t we always been friends?
I thought you were one of my dearest friends —
At least, in so far as a girl can be a friend
Of a woman so much older than herself.
CELIA. Lavinia,
Don’t put me off. I may not see you again.
What I want to say is this: I should like you to remember me
As someone who wants you and Edward to be happy.
LAVINIA. You are very kind, but very mysterious.
I’m sure that we shall manage somehow, thank you,
As we have in the past.
CELIA. Oh, not as in the past!
[The doorbell rings, and EDWARD goes to answer it]
Oh, I’m afraid that all this sounds rather silly!
But …
[EDWARD re-enters with JULIA]
JULIA. There you are, Lavinia! I’m sorry to be late.
But your telegram was a bit unexpected.
I dropped everything to come. And how is the dear aunt?
LAVINIA. So far as I know, she is very well, thank you.
JULIA. She must have made a marvellous recovery.
I said so to myself, when I got your telegram.
LAVINIA. But where, may I ask, was this telegram sent from?
JULIA. Why, from Essex, of course.
LAVINIA. And why from Essex?
JULIA. Because you’ve been in Essex.
LAVINIA. Because I’ve been in Essex!
JULIA. Lavinia! Don’t say you’ve had a lapse of memory!
Then that accounts for the aunt — and the telegram.
LAVINIA. Well, perhaps I was in Essex. I really don’t know.
JULIA. You don’t know where you were? Lavinia!
Don’t tell me you were abducted! Tell us
I’m thrilled …
[The doorbell rings. EDWARD goes to answer it. Enter ALEX]
ALEX. Has Lavinia arrived?
EDWARD. Yes.
ALEX. Welcome back, Lavinia!
When I got your telegram …
LAVINIA. Where from?
ALEX. Dedham.
LAVINIA. Dedham is in Essex. So it was from Dedham.
Edward, have you any friends in Dedham?
EDWARD. No, I have no connections in Dedham.
JULIA. Well, it’s all delightfully mysterious.
ALEX. But what is the mystery?
JULIA. Alex, don’t be inquisitive.
Lavinia has had a lapse of memory,
And so, of course, she sent us telegrams:
And now I don’t believe she really wants us.
I can see that she is quite worn out
After her anxiety about her aunt —
Who, you’ll be glad to hear, has quite recovered, Alex —
And after that long journey on the old Great Eastern,
Waiting at junctions. And I suppose she’s famished.
ALEX. Ah, in that case I know what I’ll do …
JULIA. No, Alex.
We must leave them alone, and let Lavinia rest.
Now we’ll all go back to my house. Peter, call a taxi.
[Exit PETER]
We’ll have a cocktail party at my house to-day.
CELIA. Well, I’ll go now. Good-bye, Lavinia.
Good-bye, Edward.
EDWARD. Good-bye, Celia.
CELIA. Good-bye, Lavinia.
LAVINIA. Good-bye, Celia.
[Exit CELIA]
JULIA. And now, Alex, you and I should be going.
EDWARD. Are you sure you haven’t left anything, Julia?
JULIA. Left anything? Oh, you mean my spectacles.
No, they’re here. Besides, they’re no use to me.
I’m not coming back again this evening.
LAVINIA. Stop! I want you to explain the telegram.
JULIA. Explain the telegram? What do you think, Alex?
ALEX. No, Julia, we can’t explain the telegram.
LAVINIA. I am sure that you could explain the telegram.
I don’t know why. But it seems to me that yesterday
I started some machine, that goes on working,
And I cannot stop it; no, it’s not like a machine —
Or if it’s a machine, someone else is running it.
But who? Somebody is always interfering …
I don’t feel free … and yet I started it …
JULIA. Alex, do you think we could explain anything?
ALEX. I think not, Julia. She must find out for herself:
That’s the only way.
JULIA. How right you are!
Well, my dears, I shall see you very soon.
EDWARD. When shall we see you?
JULIA. Did I say you’d see me?
Good-bye. I believe … I haven’t left anything.
[Enter PETER]
PETER. I’ve got a taxi, Julia.
JULIA. Splendid! Good-bye!
[Exeunt JULIA, ALEX and PETER]
LAVINIA. I must say, you don’t seem very pleased to see me.
EDWARD. I can’t say that I’ve had much opportunity
To seem anything. But of course I’m glad to see you.
LAVINIA. Yes, that was a silly thing to say.
Like a schoolgirl. Like Celia. I don’t know why I said it.
Well, here I am.
EDWARD. I am to ask no questions.
LAVINIA. And I know I am to give no explanations.
EDWARD. And I am to give no explanations.
LAVINIA. And I am to ask no questions. And yet … why not?
EDWARD. I don’t know why not. So what are we to talk about?
LAVINIA. There is one thing I ought to know, because of other people
And what to do about them. It’s about that party.
I suppose you won’t believe I forgot all about it!
I let you down badly. What did you do about it?
I only remembered after I had left.
EDWARD. I telephoned to everyon
e I knew was coming
But I couldn’t get everyone. And so a few came.
LAVINIA. Who came?
EDWARD. Just those who were here this evening …
LAVINIA. That’s odd.
EDWARD. … and one other. I don’t know who he was,
But you ought to know.
LAVINIA. Yes, I think I know.
But I’m puzzled by Julia. That woman is the devil.
She know’s by instinct when something’s going to happen.
Trust her not to miss any awkward situation!
And what did you tell them?
EDWARD. I invented an aunt
Who was ill in the country, and had sent for you.
LAVINIA. Really, Edward! You had better have told the truth:
Nothing less than the truth could deceive Julia.
But how did the aunt come to live in Essex?
EDWARD. Julia compelled me to make her live somewhere.
LAVINIA. I see. So Julia made her live in Essex;
And made the telegrams come from Essex.
Well, I shall have to tell Julia the truth.
I shall always tell the truth now.
We have wasted such a lot of time in lying.
EDWARD. I don’t quite know what you mean.
LAVINIA. Oh, Edward!
The point is, that since I’ve been away
I see that I’ve taken you much too seriously.
And now I can see how absurd you are.
EDWARD. That is a very serious conclusion
To have arrived at in … how many? … thirty-two hours.
LAVINIA. Yes, a very important discovery,
Finding that you’ve spent five years of your life
With a man who has no sense of humour;
And that the effect upon me was
That I lost all sense of humour myself.
That’s what came of always giving in to you.
EDWARD. I was unaware that you’d always given in to me.
It struck me very differently. As we’re on the subject,
I thought that it was I who had given in to you.
LAVINIA. I know what you mean by giving in to me:
You mean, leaving all the practical decisions
That you should have made yourself. I remember —
Oh, I ought to have realised what was coming —
When we were planning our honeymoon,
I couldn’t make you say where you wanted to go …
EDWARD. But I wanted you to make that decision.
LAVINIA. But how could I tell where I wanted to go
Unless you suggested some other place first?
And I remember that finally in desperation
I said: ‘I suppose you’d as soon go to Peacehaven’ —
And you said ‘I don’t mind’.
EDWARD. Of course I didn’t mind.
I meant it as a compliment.
LAVINIA. You meant it as a compliment!
And you were so considerate, people said;
The Complete Poems and Plays of T. S. Eliot Page 32