It’s so silly to get cross at criticism—it indicates a small mind.
David
Small mind my foot!
Judith
That was very rude. I shall go to my room in a minute.
David
I wish you would.
Judith
Outraged. David!
Sorel
Look here, Father, Mother’s right—here’s the Place de la Concorde—
Simon
Oh, shut up, Sorel.
Sorel
Shut up yourself, you pompous little beast.
Simon
You think you know such a lot about everything, and you’re as ignorant as a frog.
Sorel
Why a frog?
Judith
I give you my solemn promise, David, that you’re wrong.
David
I don’t want your solemn promise, because I know I’m right.
Simon
It’s no use arguing with Father, Mother.
Sorel
Why isn’t it any use arguing with Father?
Simon
Because you’re both so pigheaded!
David
Are you content to sit here, Judith, and let your son insult me?
Judith
He’s your son as well as mine.
David
I begin to doubt it.
Judith
Bursting into tears of rage. David!
Simon
Consoling her. Father, how can you!
David
Rising. I’ll never attempt to read any of you anything again as long as I live. You’re not a bit interested in my work, and you don’t give a damn whether I’m a success or a failure.
Judith
You’re dead certain to be a failure if you cram your books with inaccuracies.
David
Hammering the table with his fist.I am not inaccurate!
Judith
Yes, you are; and you’re foul-tempered and spoilt.
David
Spoilt! I like that! Nobody here spoils me—you’re the most insufferable family to live with—
Judith
Well, why in Heaven’s name don’t you go and live somewhere else?
David
There’s gratitude!
Judith
Gratitude for what, I’d like to know?
Sorel
Mother, keep calm.
Judith
Calm! I’m furious.
David
What have you got to be furious about? Everyone rushing round adoring you and saying how wonderful you are—
Judith
I am wonderful, Heaven knows, to have stood you for all these years.
Sorel
Mother, do sit down and be quiet.
Simon
How dare you speak to Mother like that!
During this scene Myra, Jackie, Richard and Sandy creep downstairs, with their bags, unperceived by the family. They make for the front door.
Judith
Wailing. Oh, oh! To think that my daughter should turn against me!
David
Don’t be theatrical.
Judith
I’m not theatrical—I’m wounded to the heart.
David
Rubbish—rubbish—rubbish!
Judith
Don’t you say Rubbish to me!
David
I will say Rubbish!
Sorel
Ssshhh, Father!
Simon
That’s right! Be the dutiful daughter and encourage your father—
David
Listen to me, Judith—
Judith
Oh, this is dreadful—dreadful!
Sorel
The whole thing doesn’t really matter in the least—
Simon
—to insult your mother—
David
The Place de la Concorde—
Judith
I never realised how small you were, David. You’re tiny—
The universal pandemonium is suddenly broken by the front door slamming. There is dead silence for a moment, then the noise of a car is heard. Sorel runs and looks out of the window.
Simon
There now!
Sorel
They’ve all gone!
Judith
Sitting down. How very rude!
David
Also sitting down. People really do behave in the most extraordinary manner these days—
Judith
Come back and finish your breakfast, Sorel.
Sorel
All right. She sits down.
Simon
Toast, please, Sorel.
Sorel
Passing it to him. Here.
Judith
Go on, David; I’m dying to hear the end—
David
Reading. “Jane Sefton, in her scarlet Hispano, swept out of the Rue Boissy d’Anglas into the Place Vêndome—”
Judith
I meant to tell you before, David—I’ve made a great decision.
The cover page is adapted from Halloween,
a painting completed in by Howard Chandler Christy.
The cover and title pages feature the League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in and by The League of Moveable Type.
The volunteer-driven Standard Ebooks project relies on readers like you to submit typos, corrections, and other improvements. Anyone can contribute at standardebooks.org.
Uncopyright
May you do good and not evil. May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others. May you share freely, never taking more than you give.
Copyright pages exist to tell you that you can’t do something. Unlike them, this Uncopyright page exists to tell you that the writing and artwork in this ebook are believed to be in the United States public domain; that is, they are believed to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The United States public domain represents our collective cultural heritage, and items in it are free for anyone in the United States to do almost anything at all with, without having to get permission.
Copyright laws are different all over the world, and the source text or artwork in this ebook may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you’re not located in the United States, you must check your local laws before using this ebook. Standard Ebooks makes no representations regarding the copyright status of the source text or artwork in this ebook in any country other than the United States.
Non-authorship activities performed on items that are in the public domain—so-called “sweat of the brow” work—don’t create a new copyright. That means that nobody can claim a new copyright on an item that is in the public domain for, among other things, work like digitization, markup, or typography. Regardless, the contributors to this ebook release their contributions under the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, thus dedicating to the worldwide public domain all of the work they’ve done on this ebook, including but not limited to metadata, the titlepage, imprint, colophon, this Uncopyright, and
