



Produced by David Widger





GALSWORTHY PLAYS

SECOND SERIES--NO. 1



THE ELDEST SON

By John Galsworthy



PERSONS OF THE PLAY
   
   SIR WILLIAM CHESHIRE, a baronet
   LADY CHESHIRE, his wife
   BILL, their eldest son
   HAROLD, their second son
   RONALD KEITH(in the Lancers), their son-in-law
   CHRISTINE (his wife), their eldest daughter
   DOT, their second daughter
   JOAN, their third daughter
   MABEL LANFARNE, their guest
   THE REVEREND JOHN LATTER, engaged to Joan
   OLD STUDDENHAM, the head-keeper
   FREDA STUDDENHAM, the lady's-maid
   YOUNG DUNNING, the under-keeper
   ROSE TAYLOR, a village girl
   JACKSON, the butler
   CHARLES, a footman


   TIME: The present.  The action passes on December 7 and 8 at the
   Cheshires' country house, in one of the shires.

   ACT I SCENE I. The hall; before dinner.
         SCENE II. The hall; after dinner.

   ACT II. Lady Cheshire's morning room; after breakfast.

   ACT III. The smoking-room; tea-time.

             A night elapses between Acts I. and II.




ACT I

SCENE I

     The scene is a well-lighted, and large, oak-panelled hall, with
     an air of being lived in, and a broad, oak staircase.  The
     dining-room, drawing-room, billiard-room, all open into it; and
     under the staircase a door leads to the servants' quarters.  In
     a huge fireplace a log fire is burning.  There are tiger-skins
     on the floor, horns on the walls; and a writing-table against
     the wall opposite the fireplace.  FREDA STUDDENHAM, a pretty,
     pale girl with dark eyes, in the black dress of a lady's-maid,
     is standing at the foot of the staircase with a bunch of white
     roses in one hand, and a bunch of yellow roses in the other.  A
     door closes above, and SIR WILLIAM CHESHIRE, in evening dress,
     comes downstairs.  He is perhaps fifty-eight, of strong build,
     rather bull-necked, with grey eyes, and a well-<DW52> face,
     whose choleric autocracy is veiled by a thin urbanity.  He
     speaks before he reaches the bottom.

SIR WILLIAM.  Well, Freda!  Nice roses.  Who are they for?

FREDA.  My lady told me to give the yellow to Mrs. Keith, Sir
William, and the white to Miss Lanfarne, for their first evening.

SIR WILLIAM.  Capital.  [Passing on towards the drawing-room] Your
father coming up to-night?

FREDA.  Yes.

SIR WILLIAM.  Be good enough to tell him I specially want to see him
here after dinner, will you?

FREDA.  Yes, Sir William.

SIR WILLIAM.  By the way, just ask him to bring the game-book in, if
he's got it.

     He goes out into the drawing-room; and FREDA stands restlessly
     tapping her foot against the bottom stair.  With a flutter of
     skirts CHRISTINE KEITH comes rapidly down.  She is a
     nice-looking, fresh- young woman in a low-necked dress.

CHRISTINE.  Hullo, Freda!  How are YOU?

FREDA.  Quite well, thank you, Miss Christine--Mrs. Keith, I mean.
My lady told me to give you these.

CHRISTINE.  [Taking the roses] Oh! Thanks!  How sweet of mother!

FREDA. [In a quick, toneless voice] The others are for Miss Lanfarne.
My lady thought white would suit her better.

CHRISTINE.  They suit you in that black dress.

     [FREDA lowers the roses quickly.]

What do you think of Joan's engagement?

FREDA.  It's very nice for her.

CHRISTINE.  I say, Freda, have they been going hard at rehearsals?

FREDA.  Every day.  Miss Dot gets very cross, stage-managing.

CHRISTINE.  I do hate learning a part.  Thanks awfully for unpacking.
Any news?

FREDA.  [In the same quick, dull voice]  The under-keeper, Dunning,
won't marry Rose Taylor, after all.

CHRISTINE.  What a shame!  But I say that's serious.  I thought there
was--she was--I mean----

FREDA.  He's taken up with another girl, they say.

CHRISTINE.  Too bad!  [Pinning the roses]  D'you know if Mr. Bill's
come?

FREDA.  [With a swift upward look] Yes, by the six-forty.

     RONALD KEITH comes slowly down, a weathered firm-lipped man, in
     evening dress, with eyelids half drawn over his keen eyes, and
     the air of a horseman.

KEITH.  Hallo!  Roses in December.  I say, Freda, your father missed
a wigging this morning when they drew blank at Warnham's spinney.
Where's that litter of little foxes?

FREDA.  [Smiling faintly]  I expect father knows, Captain Keith.

KEITH.  You bet he does.  Emigration? Or thin air?  What?

CHRISTINE.  Studdenham'd never shoot a fox, Ronny.  He's been here
since the flood.

KEITH.  There's more ways of killing a cat--eh, Freda?

CHRISTINE.  [Moving with her husband towards the drawing-room] Young
Dunning won't marry that girl, Ronny.

KEITH.  Phew!  Wouldn't be in his shoes, then!  Sir William'll never
keep a servant who's made a scandal in the village, old girl.  Bill
come?

     As they disappear from the hall, JOHN LATTER in a clergyman's
     evening dress, comes sedately downstairs, a tall, rather pale
     young man, with something in him, as it were, both of heaven,
     and a drawing-room.  He passes FREDA with a formal little nod.
     HAROLD, a fresh-cheeked, cheery-looking youth, comes down, three
     steps at a time.

HAROLD.  Hallo, Freda!  Patience on the monument.  Let's have a
sniff!  For Miss Lanfarne? Bill come down yet?

FREDA.  No, Mr. Harold.

     HAROLD crosses the hall, whistling, and follows LATTER into the
     drawing-room.  There is the sound of a scuffle above, and a
     voice crying: "Shut up, Dot!" And JOAN comes down screwing her
     head back.  She is pretty and small, with large clinging eyes.

JOAN.  Am I all right behind, Freda?  That beast, Dot!

FREDA.  Quite, Miss Joan.

     DOT's face, like a full moon, appears over the upper banisters.
     She too comes running down, a frank figure, with the face of a
     rebel.

DOT.  You little being!

JOAN.  [Flying towards the drawing-roam, is overtaken at the door]
Oh!  Dot!  You're pinching!

     As they disappear into the drawing-room, MABEL LANFARNE, a tall
     girl with a rather charming Irish face, comes slowly down.  And
     at sight of her FREDA's whole figure becomes set and meaningfull.

FREDA.  For you, Miss Lanfarne, from my lady.

MABEL.  [In whose speech is a touch of wilful Irishry] How sweet!
[Fastening the roses]  And how are you, Freda?

FREDA.  Very well, thank you.

MABEL.  And your father?  Hope he's going to let me come out with the
guns again.

FREDA.  [Stolidly] He'll be delighted, I'm sure.

MABEL.  Ye-es!  I haven't forgotten his face-last time.

FREDA.  You stood with Mr. Bill.  He's better to stand with than Mr.
Harold, or Captain Keith?

MABEL.  He didn't touch a feather, that day.

FREDA.  People don't when they're anxious to do their best.

     A gong sounds.  And MABEL LANFARNE, giving FREDA a rather
     inquisitive stare, moves on to the drawing-room.  Left alone
     without the roses, FREDA still lingers.  At the slamming of a
     door above, and hasty footsteps, she shrinks back against the
     stairs.  BILL runs down, and comes on her suddenly.  He is a
     tall, good-looking edition of his father, with the same stubborn
     look of veiled choler.

BILL.  Freda! [And as she shrinks still further back] what's the
matter?  [Then at some sound he looks round uneasily and draws away
from her]  Aren't you glad to see me?

FREDA.  I've something to say to you, Mr. Bill.  After dinner.

BILL.  Mister----?

     She passes him, and rushes away upstairs.  And BILL, who stands
     frowning and looking after her, recovers himself sharply as the
     drawing-room door is opened, and SIR WILLIAM and MISS LANFARNE
     come forth, followed by KEITH, DOT, HAROLD, CHRISTINE, LATTER,
     and JOAN, all leaning across each other, and talking.  By
     herself, behind them, comes LADY CHESHIRE, a refined-looking
     woman of fifty, with silvery dark hair, and an expression at
     once gentle, and ironic.  They move across the hall towards the
     dining-room.

SIR WILLIAM.  Ah!  Bill.

MABEL.  How do you do?

KEITH.  How are you, old chap?

DOT. [gloomily] Do you know your part?

HAROLD.  Hallo, old man!

CHRISTINE gives her brother a flying kiss.  JOAN and LATTER pause and
look at him shyly without speech.

BILL.  [Putting his hand on JOAN's shoulder] Good luck, you two!
Well mother?

LADY CHESHIRE.  Well, my dear boy!  Nice to see you at last.  What a
long time!

     She draws his arm through hers, and they move towards the
     dining-room.

     The curtain falls.

     The curtain rises again at once.



SCENE II

     CHRISTINE, LADY CHESHIRE, DOT, MABEL LANFARNE,
     and JOAN, are returning to the hall after dinner.

CHRISTINE.  [in a low voice] Mother, is it true about young Dunning
and Rose Taylor?

LADY CHESHIRE.  I'm afraid so, dear.

CHRISTINE.  But can't they be----

DOT.  Ah! ah-h!  [CHRISTINE and her mother are silent.] My child, I'm
not the young person.

CHRISTINE.  No, of course not--only--[nodding towards JOAN and
Mable].

DOT.  Look here!  This is just an instance of what I hate.

LADY CHESHIRE.  My dear? Another one?

DOT.  Yes, mother, and don't you pretend you don't understand,
because you know you do.

CHRISTINE.  Instance?  Of what?

JOAN and MABEL have ceased talking, and listen, still at the fire.

DOT.  Humbug, of course.  Why should you want them to marry, if he's
tired of her?

CHRISTINE.  [Ironically] Well!  If your imagination doesn't carry you
as far as that!

DOT.  When people marry, do you believe they ought to be in love with
each other?

CHRISTINE.  [With a shrug] That's not the point.

DOT.  Oh?  Were you in love with Ronny?

CHRISTINE.  Don't be idiotic!

DOT.  Would you have married him if you hadn't been?

CHRISTINE.  Of course not!

JOAN.  Dot!  You are!----

DOT.  Hallo!  my little snipe!

LADY CHESHIRE.  Dot, dear!

DOT.  Don't shut me up, mother!  [To JOAN.]  Are you in love with
John?  [JOAN turns hurriedly to the fire.]  Would you be going to
marry him if you were not?

CHRISTINE.  You are a brute, Dot.

DOT.  Is Mabel in love with--whoever she is in love with?

MABEL.  And I wonder who that is.

DOT.  Well, would you marry him if you weren't?

MABEL.  No, I would not.

DOT.  Now, mother; did you love father?

CHRISTINE.  Dot, you really are awful.

DOT.  [Rueful and detached]  Well, it is a bit too thick, perhaps.

JOAN.  Dot!

DOT.  Well, mother, did you--I mean quite calmly?

LADY CHESHIRE.  Yes, dear, quite calmly.

DOT.  Would you have married him if you hadn't? [LADY CHESHIRE shakes
her head]  Then we're all agreed!

MABEL.  Except yourself.

DOT.  [Grimly] Even if I loved him, he might think himself lucky if I
married him.

MABEL.  Indeed, and I'm not so sure.

DOT.  [Making a face at her] What I was going to----

LADY CHESHIRE.  But don't you think, dear, you'd better not?

DOT.  Well, I won't say what I was going to say, but what I do say
is--Why the devil----

LADY CHESHIRE.  Quite so, Dot!

DOT.  [A little disconcerted.]  If they're tired of each other, they
ought not to marry, and if father's going to make them----

CHRISTINE.  You don't understand in the least.  It's for the sake of
the----

DOT.  Out with it, Old Sweetness!  The approaching infant!  God bless
it!

     There is a sudden silence, for KEITH and LATTER are seen coming
     from the dining-room.

LATTER.  That must be so, Ronny.

KEITH.  No, John; not a bit of it!

LATTER.  You don't think!

KEITH.  Good Gad, who wants to think after dinner!

DOT.  Come on!  Let's play pool.  [She turns at the billiard-room
door.]  Look here!  Rehearsal to-morrow is directly after breakfast;
from "Eccles enters breathless" to the end.

MABEL.  Whatever made you choose "Caste," DOT? You know it's awfully
difficult.

DOT.  Because it's the only play that's not too advanced.  [The girls
all go into the billiard-room.]

LADY CHESHIRE.  Where's Bill, Ronny?

KEITH.  [With a grimace]  I rather think Sir William and he are in
Committee of Supply--Mem-Sahib.

LADY CHESHIRE.  Oh!

     She looks uneasily at the dining-room; then follows the girls
     out.

LATTER.  [In the tone of one resuming an argument]  There can't be
two opinions about it, Ronny.  Young Dunning's refusal is simply
indefensible.

KEITH.  I don't agree a bit, John.

LATTER.  Of course, if you won't listen.

KEITH.  [Clipping a cigar]  Draw it mild, my dear chap.  We've had
the whole thing over twice at least.

LATTER.  My point is this----

KEITH.  [Regarding LATTER quizzically with his halfclosed eyes]
I know--I know--but the point is, how far your point is simply
professional.

LATTER.  If a man wrongs a woman, he ought to right her again.
There's no answer to that.

KEITH.  It all depends.

LATTER.  That's rank opportunism.

KEITH.  Rats!  Look here--Oh! hang it, John, one can't argue this out
with a parson.

LATTER.  [Frigidly]  Why not?

HAROLD.  [Who has entered from the dining-room]  Pull devil, pull
baker!

KEITH.  Shut up, Harold!

LATTER.  "To play the game" is the religion even of the Army.

KEITH.  Exactly, but what is the game?

LATTER.  What else can it be in this case?

KEITH.  You're too puritanical, young John.  You can't help it--line
of country laid down for you.  All drag-huntin'!  What!

LATTER.  [With concentration]  Look here!

HAROLD.  [Imitating the action of a man pulling at a horse's head]
'Come hup, I say, you hugly beast!'

KEITH.  [To LATTER]  You're not going to draw me, old chap.  You
don't see where you'd land us all.  [He smokes calmly]

LATTER.  How do you imagine vice takes its rise?  From precisely this
sort of thing of young Dunning's.

KEITH.  From human nature, I should have thought, John.  I admit that
I don't like a fellow's leavin' a girl in the lurch; but I don't see
the use in drawin' hard and fast rules.  You only have to break 'em.
Sir William and you would just tie Dunning and the girl up together,
willy-nilly, to save appearances, and ten to one but there'll be the
deuce to pay in a year's time.  You can take a horse to the water,
you can't make him drink.

LATTER.  I entirely and absolutely disagree with you.

HAROLD.  Good old John!

LATTER.  At all events we know where your principles take you.

KEITH.  [Rather dangerously]  Where, please?  [HAROLD turns up his
eyes, and points downwards]  Dry up, Harold!

LATTER.  Did you ever hear the story of Faust?

KEITH.  Now look here, John; with all due respect to your cloth, and
all the politeness in the world, you may go to-blazes.

LATTER.  Well, I must say, Ronny--of all the rude boors----[He turns
towards the billiard-room.]

KEITH.  Sorry I smashed the glass, old chap.

     LATTER passes out.  There comes a mingled sound through the
     opened door, of female voices, laughter, and the click of
     billiard balls, dipped of by the sudden closing of the door.

KEITH.  [Impersonally]  Deuced odd, the way a parson puts one's back
up!  Because you know I agree with him really; young Dunning ought to
play the game; and I hope Sir William'll make him.

     The butler JACKSON has entered from the door under the stairs
     followed by the keeper STUDDENHAM, a man between fifty and
     sixty, in a full-skirted coat with big pockets, cord breeches,
     and gaiters; he has a steady self respecting weathered face,
     with blue eyes and a short grey beard, which has obviously once
     been red.

KEITH.  Hullo!  Studdenham!

STUDDENHAM. [Touching his forehead] Evenin', Captain Keith.

JACKSON.  Sir William