"
(The devil himself could not deny this. "Patience" hardly seems the
word. "Enthusiastically" she might almost have said). "Now"--with
rising inflection--"you listen to me."
The stage husband--always the gentleman--bows;--stiffly maybe, but
quite politely; and prepares in his turn to occupy the role of dumb
but dignified defendant. To emphasise the coming change in their
positions, the lady most probably crosses over to what has hitherto
been his side of the stage; while he, starting at the same moment,
and passing her about the centre, settles himself down in what must
be regarded as the listener's end of the room. We then have the
whole story over again from her point of view; and this time it is
the gentleman who would bite off his tongue rather than make a retort
calculated to put the lady off.
In the end it is the party who is in the right that conquers. Off
the stage this is more or less of a toss-up; on the stage, never. If
justice be with the husband, then it is his voice that, gradually
growing louder and louder, rings at last triumphant through the
house. The lady sees herself that she has been to blame, and wonders
why it did not occur to her before--is grateful for the revelation,
and asks to be forgiven. If, on the other hand, it was the husband
who was at fault, then it is the lady who will be found eventually
occupying the centre of the stage; the miserable husband who, morally
speaking, will be trying to get under the table.
Pages:
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258