Read Complete Poems and Plays Online
Authors: T. S. Eliot
Tags: #Literature, #20th Century, #American Literature, #Poetry, #Drama, #v.5, #Amazon.com, #Retail
Because I’ve changed my mind. I mean, I’ve decided
That it’s all no use. I’m going to California.
C
ELIA
.
You’re going to California!
P
ETER.
Yes, I have a new job.
E
DWARD
.
And how did that happen, overnight?
P
ETER
.
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.
C
ELIA
.
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.
P
ETER
.
It’s nice of you to say so;
But you’ll find someone better, to go about with.
C
ELIA
.
I don’t think that I shall be going to concerts.
I am going away too.
[L
AVINIA
lets
herself
in
with
a
latch-key
]
P
ETER
.
You’re going abroad?
C
ELIA
.
I don’t know. Perhaps.
E
DWARD
.
You’re both going away!
[
Enter
L
AVINIA
]
L
AVINIA
.
Who’s going away? Well, Celia. Well, Peter.
I didn’t expect to find either of you here.
P
ETER
and
C
ELIA
.
But the telegram!
L
AVINIA
.
What telegram?
C
ELIA
.
The one you sent to Julia.
P
ETER
.
And the one you sent to Alex.
L
AVINIA
.
I don’t know what you mean.
Edward, have you been sending telegrams?
E
DWARD
.
Of course I haven’t sent any telegrams.
L
AVINIA
.
This is some of Julia’s mischief.
And is
she
coming?
P
ETER
.
Yes, and Alex.
L
AVINIA
.
Then I shall ask
them
for an explanation.
Meanwhile, I suppose we might as well sit down.
What shall we talk about?
E
DWARD
.
Peter’s going to America.
P
ETER
.
Yes, and I would have rung you up tomorrow
And come in to say good-bye before I left.
L
AVINIA
.
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?
P
ETER
.
We’re not going together.
Celia told us she was going away,
But I don’t know where.
L
AVINIA
.
You don’t know where?
And do you know where you are going, yourself?
P
ETER
.
Yes, of course, I’m going to California.
L
AVINIA
.
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.
C
ELIA
.
Lavinia, I think I understand about Peter …
L
AVINIA
.
I have no doubt you do.
C
ELIA
.
And why he is going …
L
AVINIA
.
I don’t doubt that either.
C
ELIA
.
And I believe he is right to go.
L
AVINIA
.
Oh, so you advised him?
P
ETER
.
She knew nothing about it.
C
ELIA
.
But now that I may be going away — somewhere —
I should like to say good-bye — as friends.
L
AVINIA
.
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.
C
ELIA
.
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.
L
AVINIA
.
You are very kind, but very mysterious.
I’m sure that we shall manage somehow, thank you,
As we have in the past.
C
ELIA
.
Oh, not as in the past!
[
The
doorbell
rings,
and
E
DWARD
goes
to
answer
it
]
Oh, I’m afraid that all this sounds rather silly!
But …
[E
DWARD
re-enters
with
J
ULIA
]
J
ULIA.
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?
L
AVINIA.
So far as I know, she is very well, thank you.
J
ULIA.
She must have made a marvellous recovery.
I said so to myself, when I got your telegram.
L
AVINIA.
But where, may I ask, was this telegram sent from?
J
ULIA.
Why, from Essex, of course.
L
AVINIA.
And why from Essex?
J
ULIA.
Because you’ve been in Essex.
L
AVINIA.
Because I’ve been in Essex!
J
ULIA.
Lavinia! Don’t say you’ve had a lapse of memory!
Then that accounts for the aunt — and the telegram.
L
AVINIA.
Well, perhaps I was in Essex. I really don’t know.
J
ULIA.
You don’t know where you were? Lavinia!
Don’t tell me you were abducted! Tell us
I’m thrilled …
[
The doorbell rings.
E
DWARD
goes to answer it.
Enter
A
LEX
]
A
LEX.
Has Lavinia arrived?
E
DWARD.
Yes.
A
LEX.
Welcome back, Lavinia!
When I got your telegram …
L
AVINIA.
Where from?
A
LEX.
Dedham.
L
AVINIA.
Dedham is in Essex. So it was from Dedham.
Edward, have
you
any friends in Dedham?
E
DWARD.
No,
I
have no connections in Dedham.
J
ULIA.
Well, it’s all delightfully mysterious.
A
LEX.
But what is the mystery?
J
ULIA.
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.
A
LEX.
Ah, in that case I know what I’ll do …
J
ULIA.
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
P
ETER
]
We’ll have a cocktail party at
my
house to-day.
C
ELIA
.
Well, I’ll go now. Good-bye, Lavinia.
Good-bye, Edward.
E
DWARD
.
Good-bye, Celia.
C
ELIA
.
Good-bye, Lavinia.
L
AVINIA
.
Good-bye, Celia.
[
Exit
C
ELIA
]
J
ULIA
.
And now, Alex, you and I should be going.
E
DWARD
.
Are you sure you haven’t left anything, Julia?
J
ULIA
.
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.