SCENE:- Russell Square. The morning-room [on the ground floor]. Asmall, cheerful room, furnished in Chippendale, white panelled, with Adams fireplace in which a bright fire is burning. Two deep easy-chairs are before the fire. The window-curtains of red damask are drawn. An oval table occupies the centre of the room. The door at back opens upon the hall. Only one light burns, an electric lamp on a table just above the fire.
TIME:- Midnight.
[The door opens. GEOFFREY enters. He has left his out-door things in the hall. He crosses and rings the bell. A moment.]
[HAKE enters.]
GEOFFREY Oh, you, Hake! There wasn't any need for you to have stopped.
HAKE I was not sure of your arrangements. I thought perhaps Imight be wanted.
GEOFFREY Sorry. I ought to have told you.
HAKE It's been no inconvenience, sir. I told Mrs. Hake not to sit up.
GEOFFREY [He is opening and reading his letters left for him on the table.] Does she generally sit up for you?
HAKE As a rule, sir. We like a little chat before going to bed.
GEOFFREY [His eyes on a letter.] What do you find to chat about?
HAKE Oh, there is so much for a husband and wife to talk about.
The-- As a rule.
[A clock on the mantelpiece strikes one.]
GEOFFREY What's that?
HAKE Quarter past twelve, sir.
GEOFFREY Has your mistress come in?
HAKE Not yet, sir. Has the election gone all right, sir?
GEOFFREY For Mrs. Chilvers, yes. She is now member for East Poplar.
HAKE I am sorry. It has been a great surprise to me.
GEOFFREY The result?
HAKE The whole thing, sir. Such a sweet lady, we all thought her.
GEOFFREY Life, Hake, is a surprising affair.
[A ring is heard.]
I expect that's she. She has forgotten her key.
[HAKE goes out.]
[GEOFFREY continues his letters. A few moments pass; HAKE re-enters, closes the door.]
HAKE [He seems puzzled.] It's a lady, sir [GEOFFREY turns.]
HAKE At least--hardly a lady. A Mrs. Chinn.
GEOFFREY Mrs. Chinn! [He glances at his watch.] At twelve o'clock at night. Well, all right. I'll see her.
[HAKE opens the door, speaks to MRS. CHINN. She enters, in bonnet and shawl.]
HAKE Mrs. Chinn.
GEOFFREY Good evening, Mrs. Chinn.
MRS. CHINN Good evening, sir.
GEOFFREY You needn't stop, Hake. I shan't be wanting anything.
HAKE Thank you.
GEOFFREY Apologise for me to Mrs. Hake. Good-night.
HAKE Good-night, sir.
[HAKE goes out. A minute later the front door is heard to slam.]
GEOFFREY Won't you sit down? [He puts a chair for her left of the table.]
MRS. CHINN [Seating herself.] Thank you, sir.
GEOFFREY [He half sits on the arm of the easy-chair below the fire.] What's the trouble?
MRS. CHINN It's my boy, sir--my youngest. He's been taking money that didn't belong to him.
GEOFFREY Um. Has it been going on for long?
MRS. CHINN About six months, sir. I only heard of it to-night.
You see, his wife died a year ago. She was such a good manager.
And after she was gone he seems to have got into debt.
GEOFFREY What were his wages?
MRS. CHINN Nineteen shillings a week, sir. And that with the rent and three young children--well, it wants thinking out.
GEOFFREY From whom did he take the money--his employers?
MRS. CHINN Yes, sir. He was the carman. They had always trusted him to collect the accounts.
GEOFFREY How much, would you say, was the defalcation?
MRS. CHINN I beg pardon, sir.
GEOFFREY How much does it amount to, the sums that he has taken?
MRS. CHINN Six pounds, sir, Mr. Cohen says it comes to.
GEOFFREY Won't they accept repayment?
MRS. CHINN Yes, sir. Mr. Cohen has been very nice about it. He is going to let me pay it off by instalments.
GEOFFREY Well, then, that gets over most of the trouble.
MRS. CHINN Well, you see, sir, unfortunately, Mr. Cohen gave information to the police the moment he discovered it.
GEOFFREY Umph! Can't he say he made a mistake?
MRS. CHINN They say it must go for trial, sir. That he can only withdraw the charge in court.
GEOFFREY Um!
MRS. CHINN You see, sir--a thing like that--[She recovers herself.] It clings to a lad.
GEOFFREY What do you want me to do?
MRS. CHINN Well, sir, I thought that, perhaps--you see, sir, he has got a brother in Canada who would help him; and I thought that if I could ship him off -GEOFFREY You want me to tip the wink to the police to look the other way while you smuggle this young malefactor out of the clutches of the law?
MRS. CHINN [Quite indifferent to the moral aspect of the case.]
If you would be so kind, sir.
GEOFFREY Umph! I suppose you know what you're doing; appealing through your womanhood to man's weakness--employing "backstairs influence" to gain your private ends, indifferent to the higher issues of the public weal? All the things that are going to cease when woman has the vote.
MRS. CHINN You see, sir, he's the youngest.
[Gradually the decent but dingy figure of MRS. CHINN has taken to itself new shape. To GEOFFREY, it almost seems as though there were growing out of the shadows over against him the figure of great Artemis herself--Artemis of the Thousand Breasts. He had returned home angry, bitter against all women. As she unfolds her simple tale understanding comes to him. So long as there are "Mrs.
Chinns" in the world, Woman claims homage.]
GEOFFREY How many were there?
MRS. CHINN Ten altogether, six living.
GEOFFREY Been a bit of a struggle for you, hasn't it?
MRS. CHINN It has been a bit difficult, at times; especially after their poor father died.
GEOFFREY How many were you left with?
MRS. CHINN Eight, sir.
GEOFFREY How on earth did you manage to keep them?
MRS. CHINN Well, you see, sir, the two eldest, they were earning a little. I don't think I could have done it without that.