19 Nocturne Boulevard - THE CANTERVILLE GHOST - Reissue
Adapted by Julie Hoverson from the story "The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde
[Family friendly]
In the late 1800s, an American family moves into an old English castle, only to find that the fixtures include an ancestral ghost...
Cast List
Sir Simon de Canterville - Cole Hornaday
Lady Eleanor - Julie Hoverson
Mr. Otis - Michael Faigenblum
Mrs. Otis - Megan Lane
Mrs. Umney - Lyndsey Thomas
Washington - Jasper Loovis
Virginia - Beverly Poole
Cecil, Duke of Cheshire - Powers Chandler
The Twins - E. Vickrey, R. LeBoeuf
\xa0
Music:\xa0 Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com)
Editing and Sound: \xa0 Julie Hoverson
Cover Photo:\xa0 Peer Kamphuis (courtesy of Stock Xchange.com)
"What kind of a place is it?\xa0 Why it's an Olde English Castle
- where else would you find an ancestral spirit?"
***********************************************************
The Canterville Ghost
Who doesn't love the classic Oscar Wilde satire "The Canterville Ghost"?\xa0 It's a story about a traditional horrific British spirit haunting a traditional British Manor, who runs afoul of a very modern (for the late 1800s) American family who has no respect at all for tradition.\xa0 This has always been one of my two favorite classic comedic ghost stories, the other being "The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall", which I will probably get in here soon, just because of the season.
I had so much fun adapting this, playing with the practical, unflappable, and often gormless Americans.\xa0 I did make one major change in the cast, which was not entirely original to me.\xa0 I added the ghost of Lady Canterville to pester and haunt Sir Simon - and also give him someone to rant to, complain at, and plan with, since otherwise all his best bits would either be pages of soliloquies or just left out (like they usually end up being left out when this story gets made into films).\xa0
I really really tried to keep as much of the descriptions of Sir Simon's various semblances and costumes in the dialogue as I could.\xa0 They're so much fun, along with the descriptions of whom he terrified with them.\xa0 I crammed it as full as possible, without going completely off the deep end.
I recall when I was in grade school, I read a novelization someone had done based on The Canterville Ghost where they added Lady Canterville as a ghost, but I specifically didn't go back and find that book again before writing this, so I wouldn't accidentally usurp any other ideas from it - I have a good memory, but it has been decades since I read it (more then 2), so I should be pretty safe.\xa0 Including her is a logical step, anyway, since if HE haunts the house because he was murdered, why shouldn't SHE also haunt it because HE murdered HER?
When I set about to cast this, I was still pretty much working with friends and locals, and not yet to the point of recruiting or auditioning people on line.\xa0 And while I knew I wanted Cole as Sir Simon\xa0 - and of course myself as Lady Eleanor, since I wrote the role for me (a big advantage of being a writer/producer), I had no particular idea who else I wanted in there.\xa0 So I got Beverly Poole (who was at the time in high school) and said "Cast all the living characters from your high school drama class."\xa0 In response, she rubbed her hands together gleefully (and a bit evilly), grinned, and said "Ooh!\xa0 The Power!"
Of all the special effects in this story that were hard to make or find, considering it has rattling chains and moans and all the classic ghost noises, the most awkward turned out to be "knocking small bottle to floor" and "throwing pillow across room".
***********************************************************
THE CANTERVILLE GHOST
Cast:
OLIVIA
The English:
- Sir SIMON de Canterville, (300+) Ghost
- Lady ELEANOR de Canterville, (300+) his dead wife
- UMNEY, (60) housekeeper
- CECIL, (17) young Duke of Cheshire
- MOVER (any)
The Americans:
- HIRAM Otis, (40) American Minister
- Lucretia OTIS (36) his wife
- WASHINGTON Otis, (18) know-it-all
- VIRGINIA Otis, (15) sweet young thing
- GROVER and OSCAR Otis, (12) the twins
\xa0
NOTE:\xa0 The Americans are the classic annoying Americans of a previous century, very self-assured at all times and never bothered.
OLIVIA \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0Did you have any trouble finding it?\xa0 What do you mean, what kind of a place is it?\xa0 Why, it's an English Castle, can't you tell?\xa0 Where else would you find an ancestral ghost?\xa0
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 1.\xa0 MAIN HALL
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 HEAVY FOOTSTEPS, LOW MOAN OF EFFORT, HEAVY SOMETHING BEING DROPPED [play up as if a ghost, then]
MOVER\xa0\xa0\xa0 Ow!\xa0 Leave off!\xa0 Now, on two... one-- [grunt of effort]
SOUND \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0HEAVY FOOTSTEPS GO OFF.\xa0 THE OTIS FAMILY IS MOVING IN.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 [self satisfied]\xa0 Yes, that - that will do nicely.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 SHARP FOOTSTEPS AMONG THE HUBBUB
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [nervous] Mr. Otis, Sir?\xa0
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, my good woman?\xa0
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 Sir, where are the Canterville portraits?\xa0
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Those?\xa0 I'm returning them to his Lordship.\xa0 I'm quite sure he didn't mean them to go with the house.\xa0 They're rather ugly old gewgaws, to be perfectly frank.\xa0 Out with the old, in with the new.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [muttered] These are the ugly new gewgaws, then?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 [didn't hear her] Hm?
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [louder] This is your family, then, sir?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 What is your name, my good woman?
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 Mrs. Umney.\xa0 I've been housekeeper here at Canterville Hall for--
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, yes, we did take on all the fixtures.\xa0 Well, Madam, we Americans don't hold with all this "sir" nonsense.\xa0 You can call me Mister Otis, just like anyone else.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [servile] Of course, Mr. Otis.\xa0 Certainly Mr. Otis.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Stop with the curtseying, it's bad for your knees.\xa0 Ask my wife - she's campaigned against it, you know.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 That would be Lady - pardon - Mrs. Otis in the portrait with you?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes - lovely woman, though she does tend to look a bit cross-eyed when she's forced to sit staring into a lens for time on end.\xa0 Still it's a lovely shot.\xa0 This is the children. \xa0Washington, in back - he's even taller now.\xa0 Must remember to get another study taken.\xa0 They grow so fast, don't they?
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes sir.\xa0 Mr. Otis, sir.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 The twins, Oscar and Grover - like weeds, as well - are going to Eton.\xa0 They'll be home with us until the school year begins.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 And the young lady?\xa0
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 [with warmth] \xa0Virginia.\xa0 She is just the perfect doll - smart as a whip.\xa0 Takes right after her mother that way.\xa0 And the way she rides - she raced old Lord Bilton twice round the park and won by a length and a half.\xa0 That Cecil [he prnounces it incorrectly, as SEEsel] fellow, Duke of Cheshire[chehSHYER], proposed for her on the spot, but they're both much too young, and we Americans don't hold much with titles.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [muttered] \xa0Tell that to the Vanderbilts.\xa0 [out loud] \xa0And this must be... your father?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 [laughs uproariously] \xa0Ho-ho!\xa0 No, that's President Cleveland, our country's leader.\xa0 You know, a bit like your British Queen Victoria, except that we choose ours.\xa0 [pause]\xa0 And they don't carry on quite so long.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [disapproving] Ah.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 DOOR OPENS, FOOTSTEPS ENTER
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Dearest, can you do something with the twins, they've gone quite mad in the conservatory.\xa0
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Boys will be boys. \xa0
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 HIS FOOTSTEPS LEAVE, DOOR
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Mrs. Umney, why what's the matter?
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 Ma'am?\xa0 I'm ... just not used to your American ways, I expect.\xa0
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 I'm so sorry for you.\xa0 Well.\xa0
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 FOOTSTEPS START TO LEAVE, HESITATE
MRS. OTIS \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0[suddenly remembering] Oh, there is something you could help with - there's a terrible stain near the fireplace in the library.\xa0 Would you be a dear and see that it gets cleaned up?
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [ominously]\xa0 The bloodstain?
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 How horrid!\xa0 I don't at all care for blood-stains in a library.\xa0 It cannot possibly be hygienic.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [ghoulish, enjoying every minute] It is the blood of Lady Eleanor de Canterville, murdered on that very spot by her own husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575.\xa0 Sir Simon's guilty spirit still haunts the Chase, though HIS body has never been found.\xa0
[Umney clearly expects to scare her, but gets no response.]
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 It must be removed immediately--
MRS. UMNEY \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0The blood-stain has been much admired by tourists, and cannot be removed.
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Nonsense.\xa0 [calling] \xa0Washington!!
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [mood broken] What?\xa0 Ma'am?
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 THUNDERING FEET COMING DOWN STAIRCASE
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [entering] Yes, mother?
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Do you have some of that new cleaning solution in your kit?
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [eager] Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent?\xa0 I'll fetch it directly.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [trying to be spooky again] The blood stain cannot be cleaned, ma'am.\xa0 It is proven fact.\xa0 Many have tried. \xa0Many more have faced the ghost and were never the same again.
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Ah, but this is a patented formulation.\xa0
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 2.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 OUTSIDE.\xa0 TWO HORSES' HOOVES MOVING SLOWLY, AN OCCASIONAL WHINNY
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 I'm frightfully pleased you're so nearby, Miss Otis.\xa0 I mean, we can... go riding together... often.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [she pronounces it correctly - seh-sel] Cecil.\xa0 Or... I'm so sorry, I've forgotten, what does one call a Duke?
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 It's Your Grace, but you needn't--
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 But I should at least KNOW.\xa0 And an Earl?
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 [quietly]\xa0 I would rather you thought of me as more than merely a tutor.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [musing] How DO you keep them all straight?\xa0 [catching up] What?
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 [earnest]\xa0 You know how I feel.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 I also, which is why this is all particularly important.\xa0 Just in case... In case... [gasp]
BOTH\xa0\xa0\xa0 [Take a breath, as if about to speak, or possibly kiss, then check themselves]
[SLIGHT PAUSE AS THEY BOTH CALM DOWN A BIT, CLICK TO THE HORSES, ETC.]
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, Virginia, I hate the thought of you living in this blasted old pile.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [pleased] \xa0You called me Virginia.
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 My apologies, Miss Otis.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Silly.\xa0 Cecil, I've been trying for ages to get you to call me--\xa0 [by my first name]
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 It's the ghost!
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 The ghost's name is Virginia?
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 No.\xa0 Your father cannot have heard about it, or he'd never have put you in such danger.\xa0
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 While he's not actually against them, father generally avoids spirits.\xa0 [joke - "spirits" as in alcohol]
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 [ominously, admitting] \xa0My own grand-uncle once bet a hundred guineas that he would play dice with the ghost, and was found the next morning on the floor of the card-room in such a paralytic state that, though he lived to a great age, he was never able to say anything but "Double Sixes."
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Backgammon, was it?
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 It isn't important!\xa0 It's simply not safe!
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 3.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 BEDROOM, GETTING READY FOR SLEEP
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [exasperated] It's simply not safe, I tell you!\xa0 That housekeeper fainting all about the place - and all over cleaning up a silly bloodstain.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Hmm...
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 RATTLE OF A PAGE TURNING IN A BOOK
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 What if it happens again? \xa0What if she's holding crockery?\xa0 What do you do with a woman who faints?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, dear.
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [sweetly] Dearest, your nose has fallen off.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, has it?\xa0 Good.
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 You're not listening to me!
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Gracious!\xa0 Do you hear that?
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 What, over the sound of my own voice?\xa0 Heaven forbid!
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Shh.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 MUFFLED, AND SLOWLY GETTING CLOSER, HEAVY FOOTFALLS AND CHAINS RATTLING. THEY CONTINUE UNTIL NOTED
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Now that is just too much.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 BEDCLOTHES FLUNG ASIDE, SLIPPERED FOOTSTEPS.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 We'll see about--
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 DOOR IS FLUNG OPEN
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 HEAVY FOOTSTEPS AND CHAINS ARE NO LONGER MUFFLED.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [off - low moaning]
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Now see here!
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [moan interrupts]
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [unworried, off] Is it the twins?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 I don't think so.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [insistent ghostly moaning]
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 No, it's certainly not the twins.\xa0 Hold it right there.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [moan interrupts quizzically]
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 SLIPPERED FOOTSTEPS, DRAWER PULLED OUT, RUMMAGING
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Should I join you?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 No need.\xa0 Though he is quite a curiosity - looks like a scraggly old feller all done up in chains and ragged old-style clothes.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [off - moaning again, suppressed fury]
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Now where did I - Aha!
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 RUMMAGING STOPS, SLIPPERED FOOTSTEPS
HIRAM \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0My dear sir, I really must insist on your oiling those chains, and I have brought you for that purpose a small bottle of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [moaning stops, grumpy noises]
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 It is said to be completely efficacious upon one application, and there are several testimonials to that effect on the wrapper.\xa0 I shall leave it here for you, and will be happy to supply more, should you require it.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 SMALL BOTTLE SET DOWN, LIGHT FOOTSTEPS, DOOR CLOSES DECISIVELY
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [bellow of rage, then moaning until noted]
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 BOTTLE SLAPPED, ROLLS ACROSS TABLE, CLATTERS TO FLOOR.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 TWO HEAVY FOOTSTEPS, HEAVY THUD ON WALL ACCOMPANIED BY CHAIN RATTLING
OSCAR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Get em!
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 PILLOW FLIES THROUGH THE AIR, HITS THE WALL
GROVER\xa0\xa0\xa0 Did I score?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [one last shriek, and out]
OSCAR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Tsk. Nope.
MUSIC\xa0\xa0\xa0 SPOOKY
\xa0
SCENE 4.
AMB \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0GHOST'S GARRET
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 AGITATED PACING, ROCKING CHAIR
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [bellowing and outraged] A Pillow!\xa0 At my HEAD!
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [complacent but needling] \xa0I suppose it's a good thing you were wearing it, then.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Not if they'd hit me!\xa0 I'm not certain I fastened it on completely.\xa0 It's never been an issue!
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 You've gone without a challenge for far too long.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 A challenge!!\xa0 A challenge!\xa0 Who needs a bloody challenge when I have you to torment me?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Every time you get frustrated you turn the argument on me.\xa0 If you didn't want me haunting you, you should've never killed me.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Tcha!
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Ruined my favorite bodice, as well.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, your bloody bodice.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Precisely.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Hush!\xa0 These ... people... Have no respect for artistry.\xa0 When I think back on the Dowager Duchess, frightened into a fit; the four housemaids, who went into hysterics when I merely grinned at them through the curtains; old Madame de Tremouillac, who woke to find me, as a skeleton, seated by the fire reading her diary, and was confined to her bed for six weeks with brain fever--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [dry] Yes, yes, you're quite handy with the ladies.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Shut up, wife!\xa0 What about wicked Lord Canterville, whom I left choking on the knave of diamonds because he had cheated by means of that very card, so I made him swallow it.\xa0 That was justice!
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, yes, justice for men and torment for women.\xa0 So like a man.\xa0 What did poor Lady Stutfield, ever do to you?\xa0 You left her obliged to wear a black velvet band round her throat to hide the mark of five fingers burnt upon her white skin.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [pleased]\xa0 She drowned herself at last in the carp-pond at the end of the King's Walk.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Did she cheat at cards as well?\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [grudgingly]\xa0 No.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Admit it, you just like the attention.\xa0 Women are so much more --
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Biddable?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 I was going to say demonstrative.\xa0 I know how you adore an appreciative audience.\xa0 Women are allowed hysterics, while men are limited to "good god!", a little gibbering, and then shooting themselves in the pantry.\xa0 There's simply not much in between.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [sulky] \xa0Or offering you oil for your chains! \xa0Oh, what impertinence!!\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 What do you plan to do about it, my lord?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Aha!\xa0 I was thinking of reprising my costume as "Gaunt Gibeon, the Blood-sucker of Bexley Moor," and playing ninepins with my own bones upon the lawn-tennis ground.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Perhaps Americans do not play ninepins?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 No?\xa0 I think the point will not fail.\xa0 It is bones... \xa0[thinking]\xa0 Or perhaps ... Oh, yes! \xa0"Reckless Rupert, or the Headless Earl."
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, my lord.\xa0 You know that one takes hours to put on.\xa0 Do you even know where both horse pistols are?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Bah!\xa0 I am an artist.\xa0 I laugh at complex preparation.\xa0 [chuckling]\xa0 I haven't pulled out old Rupert for some fifty years--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Seventy.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Seventy?\xa0 Really?\xa0 Where does time go?\xa0 [warming up again]\xa0 Not since the night I frightened pretty Lady Barbara and she broke off her engagement with Lord Canterville's grandfather, and ran away with Jack Castleton, declaring that nothing would induce her to marry into a family that allowed such a horrible phantom to walk up and down the terrace at twilight.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [bored] \xa0...and then he was shot in a duel.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [running over her] \xa0Poor Jack was afterwards shot in a duel by Lord Canterville
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [bored] \xa0You sound like the social pages.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [trying to drown her out] --and Lady Barbara died of a broken heart, so, in every way, it was a great success.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, yes, yes.\xa0 You recall I was present.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 I am merely reiterating--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Reiterate away.\xa0 I shan't return until you are quite through.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, if I only could believe that, I would never stop.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Just as big fish eat little fish, my own good lord, ghosts are never truly alone.
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 5.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 GENTEEL BREAKFAST NOISES
MRS. UMNEY \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0[off, screams]
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh no!
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 What?
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Good gracious, she's at it again.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 I'll just go and see--
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 No, no.\xa0 You finish your breakfast, Hiram, dear.\xa0 I shall see to the household.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 WE FOLLOW HER AS SHE LEAVES THE ROOM, ENTERS THE LIBRARY
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [praying, slightly hysterical]\xa0 ...deliver us from evil for thine is the power and the glory--
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [coming on] \xa0What is the matter now?
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [spoooooky] \xa0Look!!!\xa0 The bloodstain!\xa0 I told you that it could never be removed!
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [mildly bemused] Oh.\xa0 How unusual.\xa0 I wonder if there is a leak somewhere.\xa0 [calling] Washington?
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 EAGER FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, Mother?
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 I thought you said you had dealt with this?
WASHINGTON \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0Well, now doesn't that just take the cake?
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Pray don't be vulgar.
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 [muffled snort]
VIRGINIA \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0[coming on]\xa0 What's going on?
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Mother, I give you my solemn oath - that stain was gone.\xa0 I guess I'll just have at it again.
MUSIC\xa0\xa0\xa0 TIME PASSES
\xa0
SCENE 6.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 GENTEEL BREAKFAST NOISES
[the blood stain keeps re-appearing, and they're finding it amusing]
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Shall we?\xa0 I made a particular point of locking the door last night, so there can be no chance of outside interference.
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, let's.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 DOOR OPENS
OSCAR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Me first!
GROVER\xa0\xa0\xa0 No, me!
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 SCUFFLE, RUNNING FOOTSTEPS
GROVER\xa0\xa0\xa0 It's back!
MUSIC\xa0\xa0\xa0 TIME PASSES
\xa0
SCENE 7.
SOUND \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0RAIN, GENTEEL BREAKFAST NOISES
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [listing the colors the bloodstain has come back in] ...that's crimson, rust, burnt sienna, and maroon.\xa0 So far.\xa0 Anyone?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Perhaps the color changes like leaves in the fall?\xa0 I think I shall lay odds on pumpkin.
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 I am more inclined to believe, father, that there is a scientific basis for the inconsistent pigmentation.\xa0 Some chemical interaction between the nature of ectoplasm and Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover.\xa0 All I need to do is find another, similar ghostly stain and compare the results.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Sound thinking, my boy.
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Well, I'm in the mood for a bright cherry red myself, on such a gray day.\xa0 Virginia?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [subdued, almost sulky] I have no opinion on the matter.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 DOOR SLAMS OPEN
GROVER\xa0\xa0\xa0 It's green!!
OSCAR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Emerald green!
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [very quiet wail, then going off] \xa0Oh, no! \xa0
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 8.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 GHOST'S GARRET
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 RUMMAGING THROUGH PILES OF CLOTHES
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [off, muffled] \xa0Have you seen my red slouch hat?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 It is no longer my responsibility to look after your garments, husband.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Hmph.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Which winding sheet do you think will be most effective, the ones with the ruffles at the cuffs, or the hideous brown stains?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 My lord - those aren't your brown stains.\xa0 I believe a mouse has littered in your sheet.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Eugh.\xa0
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 FABRIC FALLS TO FLOOR
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Well, aren't you even curious?\xa0 I mean about what I intend to do?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Not really. \xa0[sigh]\xa0 Pray enlighten me.\xa0 If you must.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 You'll be singing a different tune when you hear--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Begin, my lord - we haven't all day.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Very well.\xa0 [dramatic] See this rusty dagger?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yay, verily.\xa0 One rusty dagger.\xa0 Noted.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [dramatic] I will make my way quietly to Washington Otis's room, you know Washington - the interfering knave who repeatedly cleans my bloody--\xa0 well... bloodstain.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 My bloodstain.\xa0 Bright boy.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Shush.\xa0 Here, you be Washington.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 I haven't the height.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [angry] I mean, you stand in and I shall show you what I intend!\xa0 [back to glee] I will gibber at him from the foot of the bed, and stab myself - once, twice, thrice! - in the throat to the sound of low music.\xa0 Having reduced the reckless and foolhardy youth to a condition of abject terror... \xa0[prompting] Terror!
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [flat] \xa0Oh, terror!\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [sigh]\xa0 I will proceed to the bedroom of the parents.\xa0 Now, you are Mrs. Otis.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 To do that I shall have to secure some exceedingly plain underclothes.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [growl] \xa0Woman!\xa0 I will place a clammy hand on Mrs. Otis's forehead--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [flat] \xa0Oh, clammy.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 --while I hiss into her trembling husband's ear the awful secrets of the charnel-house.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 He'll probably tell you of some new patented method for charnelling.\xa0 I suppose that poor girl will get the worst of it, since she's the only one even a mite sympathetic?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 I... [almost sheepish] \xa0I ...don't think so.\xa0 She's done nothing at all to annoy me, even though she could easily... [he's been stealing her paints, as she mentions later - so she could unmask the bloodstain]\xa0 A few hollow groans from the wardrobe will suffice.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 You're becoming soft in your old age.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 I am merely saving my best efforts for [snarling] those wretched twins...
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Shall I be one of them?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 No need.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, prithee my lord.\xa0 I wish to realize the full impact of your cunning plan.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Truly?\xa0 Well, go ahead then.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 I shall be Grover.\xa0 He has the sweeter disposition.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Be whichever you wish to be, but be quiet!\xa0 [deep breath]\xa0 I will enter the room, in the form of a green, icy-cold corpse--
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 WHOOSH THUMP OF A PILLOW
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Ha-ha! [aping the twins' laughter]
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 WOMAN!!!!
MUSIC\xa0\xa0\xa0 STING
\xa0
SCENE 9.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 BALLROOM
MUSIC\xa0\xa0\xa0 WALTZ
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 You are so brave.\xa0 And so lovely tonight.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 You dance divinely, Cecil, but this must be our last waltz, or people will talk.\xa0
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 My cousin says your brother is an excellent partner as well.\xa0
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, yes.\xa0 He is well suited for diplomacy.
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 I wish we could dance all night and you never need return to that moldy old pile.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Fainting aside, Mrs. Umney is a fine woman.\xa0
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 Tomorrow is the anniversary of Lady Eleanor's death.\xa0 The ghost will certainly leap upon the propitious moment.
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 10.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 ECHOEY HALLWAY
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [soliloquizing]\xa0 Ah!\xa0 The propitious moment!\xa0 The clock strikes the quarter--
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 CLOCK STRIKES THE QUARTER
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 The moon hides her face behind a cloud.\xa0 All is in readiness, and the night holds its stygian breath.\xa0
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 STEALTHY THUMPING FOOTSTEPS
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 And now Washington, screw your courage to the sticking point you may, but I shall have you unstuck!\xa0 [begins a moan]
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 TWO MORE STEPS
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [moan become a shriek of fear]
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 11.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 PARENTS BEDROOM
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 [snoring]
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [waking up] Huh?\xa0 [matter of fact] Hiram!\xa0 Wake up!
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, dearest?
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Do you hear ...something?
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Is it that ghost fellow again?\xa0 [listens]\xa0 No, I cannot say I actually hear anything.
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [already falling back] Hmm.\xa0 Must be the twins.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 [snoring]
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 12.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 GHOST'S GARRET
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 AGITATED PACING, ROCKING CHAIR THROUGHOUT
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [flatly amused] \xa0A ghost?
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 CRUMPLING OF PAPER IN SIMON'S HAND
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [terrified]\xa0 YES!\xa0 A Ghost!\xa0 Its head was bald and burnished, its face round, and fat, and white.\xa0 From the eyes streamed rays of scarlet light, the mouth was a wide well of fire, and a hideous garment, much like mine own--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Lacking the mouse insults.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 --like to mine own, swathed its Titan form.\xa0 On its breast was a placard with strange writing in antique characters--
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 RATTLE OF HEAVY PAPER
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Doubtless some record of wild sins, some awful calendar of crime, some--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Why not read it and see?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [voice cracking] See?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 See what it says.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [hesitates]\xa0 No.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Why take it, then?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [mutters something]
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Speak up, my lord.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [through gritted teeth] I found I had just clutched it as I left.\xa0 I have no need to know--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Afraid?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 AFRAID!\xa0 [unconvincing] \xa0No.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Perhaps because he is the more terrifying ghost?\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Nonsense!\xa0 I have merely never chanced to SEE a ghost - except in a looking glass.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Give it me, ninny.\xa0 I shall read it.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 You dare--
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 I'll call you coward in an instant--
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 I WILL READ IT!\xa0 [muttering as he reads, then a sound of outrage!]
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 So very wicked, my lord?
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 PAPER BEING VICIOUSLY CRUMPLED
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [grim] Those damned children!\xa0 They made it!
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Made a ghost?\xa0 I should have thought murder was a bit outside their purview.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 AAArghh!!\xa0
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 PAPER BEING SNATCHED AWAY
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Argh, indeed.\xa0 [reading] \xa0YE OTIS GHOSTE, Ye Onlie True and Originale Spook, Beware of Ye Imitationes.\xa0 All others are counterfeits.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 No more games!\xa0 [bellowing] When Chanticleer [rooster] has sounded twice his merry horn, deeds of blood will be wrought, and murder shall walk abroad with silent feet!
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 That would be you?
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 ROOSTER CROWS - ONCE.
[PAUSE, WAITING]
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [muttered] \xa0Come on.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Perhaps you should go frighten it.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [muttered] \xa0Once more - for daddy.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 It's not going to happen.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Nonsense, it always happens.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [pause] \xa0Nay.\xa0 I hear nothing.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Perdition seize the naughty fowl, I have seen the day when, with my stout spear, I would have run him through the gorge, and made him crow for me an 'twere in death!\xa0 [a bit whiny] \xa0Every time, throughout all known history, that such an oath has been sworn, chanticleer has sounded his blasted horn twice.\xa0 Where is its respect for tradition?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Perhaps, dear husband, it is an American rooster.
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 13.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 OUTSIDE
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 TWO HORSES REINING IN FROM A GALLOP
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [laughing] \xa0I let you win!
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 [teasing] \xa0Nonsense.\xa0 Good breeding.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 So your blue blood makes you faster?
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 Not mine.\xa0 The horse.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [chuckles]
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 HORSES WALKING
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 Have you been well since I saw you last?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, very.\xa0 No ghost.
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 None?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 I warned everyone about the anniversary, but nothing - well - a turnip ghost was found in the upper hall, but I am quite certain that can be attributed to my brothers.\xa0
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 How ... remarkable.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Cecil, would you do me a tremendous favor?
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 Anything... Virginia.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Would you-- \xa0Could you take my horse to the stable?\xa0 I fear I've torn my habit and want to get upstairs before anyone spies me.\xa0
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 14.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 BACK HALLWAY
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 [OFF SLIGHTLY] LIGHT ECHOEY FOOTSTEPS
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [gusty sigh]
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 [COMING ON] FOOTSTEPS CONTINUE
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Hello? \xa0[gasp]\xa0 You!
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [gasp] You!
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [anticipating being scared]\xa0 Ahh! [pause, nothing happens, confused]\xa0 Oh!
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Pfft.\xa0 Don't fret yourself, girl.\xa0 I cannot seem to gather myself for the effort.\xa0 This is the one room where I can truly be alone.\xa0 My wife haunts me in every other chamber.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Should I leave you--?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Stay a moment. [overly casual]\xa0 If you wish.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 My brothers are going back to Eton tomorrow, and if you behave, no one will annoy you.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Behave myself?\xa0 Absurd.\xa0 I must rattle my chains and walk about at night.\xa0 It is my only reason for existing.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 That is no reason at all.\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Why else would I be here?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Mrs. Umney told us - you killed your wife.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 It was purely a family matter.\xa0 My wife was very plain, never had my ruffs properly starched, and knew nothing about cookery.\xa0
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [adamant] It is very wrong to kill anyone.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh? \xa0Her brothers starved me to death.\xa0
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, Mr. Ghost -- I mean Sir Simon - I have a sandwich in my case, would you like it?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 I never eat anything now; [beat, softening] but it was very kind of you.\xa0 You are much nicer than your horrid, rude, vulgar, dishonest family.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Stop it!\xa0 It is you who are rude, and horrid, and... and as for dishonesty! \xa0You stole my paints for your ridiculous bloodstain.\xa0 First you took all my reds and I couldn't do sunsets, then it just got ridiculous - who ever heard of emerald-green blood?\xa0
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [meek, sulky] \xa0What was I to do? \xa0It is very difficult to get real blood.\xa0 Your brother began it all with his Paragon Detergent, so I saw no reason why I should not have your paints.\xa0
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [annoyed, decisive]\xa0 Good evening! \xa0I will go and ask papa to get the twins an extra week's holiday.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Please!\xa0 Don't go, Miss Virginia.\xa0 I am so unhappy, and I really don't know what to do.\xa0 I want to sleep and I cannot.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 That's quite absurd!\xa0 It is very difficult sometimes to keep awake, especially at church, but even babies know how to sleep, and they are not very clever.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 I have not slept for three hundred years, and I am so tired.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Have you no place where you can sleep?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [wistful] \xa0Hmm.\xa0 Far away beyond the pine-woods, there is a little garden.\xa0 The grass grows long and deep, with great white stars of hemlock flower, and the nightingale sings all night long.\xa0 The cold crystal moon looks down, and the yew-tree spreads out its giant arms over the sleepers.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [awed] \xa0You mean the Garden of Death.
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, death.\xa0 Death must be so beautiful.\xa0 To lie in the soft brown earth, and listen... to silence.\xa0 To have no yesterday, no to-morrow, to be at peace.\xa0 [eager] You must help me.\xa0 You can open for me the portals of death's house, for love is always with you, and love is stronger than death.\xa0
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 How could I--?
SIMON\xa0\xa0\xa0 You must weep with me for my sins, because without remorse, I have no tears; and pray with me for my soul, because I have no faith.\xa0 Then, perhaps, the angel of death will have mercy on me.\xa0 [pauses, waiting, then sighs in despair]
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [deep breath, courageous but shaky]\xa0 I am not afraid, and I will ask the angel to have mercy on you.
MUSIC - LONGER
\xa0
SCENE 15.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 FRONT HALL
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Virginia is nowhere to be found.\xa0 Even the [rustics] are helping search for her.\xa0 Washington, my boy?\xa0 [confidential]\xa0 The fish-pond?
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 Nothing.
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Good.\xa0 Don't tell your mother we checked.\xa0 The poor woman is already nearly prostrate.
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 It is the ghost.\xa0 I know it!\xa0 He was jealous of our happiness and spirited her away!\xa0 If only you had allowed our engagement, sir, none of this would have--
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Balderdash, Cecil [mispronounced see-sul].\xa0 First thing in the morning, I will engage Scotland Yard--
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE - LOUD CRASH
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 VIRGINIA STEPS OUT OF A SECRET DOOR
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 Virginia!
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Goodness Gracious!
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 [excited] A secret door!
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Good heavens! child, where have you been?\xa0 Cecil and I have been riding all over the country looking for you, and your mother has been frightened to death.\xa0
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 I have been with the ghost.
CECIL\xa0\xa0\xa0 [rather melodramatic gasp]\xa0 How did you escape?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Oh, Cecil, he is at peace, now.\xa0 He had been very wicked, but he was really sorry for all that he had done, and now-- [almost a sob]
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 DOOR FLUNG OPEN, FOOTSTEPS
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 My own darling! \xa0Thank God you are found; you must never leave my side again!\xa0 [mmm - like a big hug, then] What is this?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Sir Simon gave me this box before he died.
WASHINGTON\xa0\xa0\xa0 But he's been dead for centuries.
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Only half dead, I think, would be more accurate.\xa0 Now he's entirely dead.\xa0 Finally able to sleep.
GROVER\xa0\xa0\xa0 What's in the box?
OSCAR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yeah!\xa0 Open it!
HIRAM\xa0\xa0\xa0 Your sister can open the box or not as she pleases.\xa0 She's not to be ordered around by monkeys like you two.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 SMALL WOODEN BOX OPENS
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 Goodness!\xa0
MRS. UMNEY\xa0\xa0\xa0 The long-lost Canterville jewels!\xa0 Aaah.
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 BODY DROP
MRS. OTIS\xa0\xa0\xa0 [exasperated sigh] She's fainted again.
MUSIC
\xa0
SCENE 16.
AMB\xa0\xa0\xa0 VIRGINIA'S BEDROOM
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 GENTLE GIRLISH SNORING
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [coming on, exasperated ghostly groans]
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 LADYLIKE CHAINS
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 [waking] Huh?\xa0 Sir Simon?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [somewhat annoyed] No.\xa0 You've seen to that, so now I have nothing better--
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Are you Lady Eleanor?
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [surprised] Yes.\xa0 He-- he told you--?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 He gave me something for you.\xa0
SOUND\xa0\xa0\xa0 DRAWER PULLS OUT
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 There.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 A handkerchief?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Open it.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 But there's nothing--
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Look closer.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 A spot?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 A tear.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [stunned]\xa0 He ... cried--?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 He said he was very sorry for having killed you.\xa0
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [skeptical] Oh?\xa0 He did, did he?
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 And for ruining your best bodice.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 [believing] Oh!
VIRGINIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 He hoped you could forgive him now and move on as well.\xa0 He wants you to join him, where the nightingales sing, and he can give you a bouquet of white flowers.
ELEANOR\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes.\xa0 [sigh]\xa0 I could do with some sleep.\xa0
MUSIC - rise and out
CLOSER
OLIVIA\xa0\xa0\xa0 Now that you know how to find us, don't be a stranger - we have enough of those already...
\xa0
\xa0