VAN ZORN
I told Lucas that Miss Vannevar wished very much to see him as soon as possible after eight o’clock.
FARNHAM
Was that all?
VAN ZORN
Substantially, yes.
FARNHAM
Mightn’t that leave a pretty wide margin for conjecture?
VAN ZORN
It might, but it doesn’t. Please remember that when I
told you of my interest in Lucas, I was not anticipating the developments that have transpired.
FARNHAM
[Unwilling to let the subject go]
But you are the cause of these developments, for all that. What did you say to Villa after Otto went away?
VAN ZORN
[With a slight weariness]
I didn’t find a great deal to say. I told her pretty much what I have told you, — that Lucas and I were going to be of service to each other, and that I had complete confidence in him. Please do not ask me to go any further into details — just now.
[With a friendly smile]
My dear Farnham, if you were to form at your time of life the fatal habit of clinging to ruins, and of refusing to accept what has irrevocably taken place, there is no knowing what might happen to you — and to your art.
FARNHAM
Do you remember that you used to call yourself a friend of mine?
[He speaks half-heartedly, and seems to regret having spoken]
VAN ZORN
[Distinctly]
I was never in my life more convinced of my complete loyalty to you, or of your complete faith in me. I was not expecting to say so this evening, unless to you alone, but never mind that now.
FARNHAM
[Rather ruefully]
I suppose that’s your fantastic, esoteric, oriental way of telling a fellow that he has said something foolish. I don’t say it’s a bad way, you understand —
[He stops, and has another look at Lucas, who smiles in approval VILLA
[Going to Farnham and putting her hands on his arms]
You needn’t try to be angry any longer, for I can see by the look in your eyes that you can’t.
[Shaking him a little and beginning to laugh]
You ought not to be angry, for you are so glad to get rid of me that you don’t know what to do with yourself. You may tell me that I ought not to say so, but you can’t put the words back into my mouth— ‘cause I’ve got my teeth together.
[She shows her teeth and laughs at him]
FARNHAM
[Taking her hands and smiling]
I don’t remember having said that I was angry.
[He pushes her away gently]
VILLA
[Putting her hands behind her and laughing]
There was no need of your saying it.
FARNHAM
[Drily]
Then that must have been the reason why I didn’t say it.
[Pause]
But don’t you think that I had just the slightest conceivable reason for being — for being a trifle annoyed, we’ll say?
VILLA
[With feline demureness]
Well, I rather suppose you did.
[Looking at him brightly]
But it’s all over now, isn’t it?
FARNHAM
[Trying not to laugh]
And so you And your escape from me a very simple matter.
[With mild sarcasm]
It seems to be one of the prerogatives of womankind to discover now and then that some problems are very simple.
VILLA
[She looks at LUCAS, then for a longer time at VAN ZORN, who still remains by the fire, and finally at FARNHAM again]
And that others are very difficult.
[FARNHAM glances at VAN ZORN, who stands looking at the burning coals. There is a pause, which is broken by the ringing of the bell. Farnham admits Otto, who stands for a time in meek bewilderment after looking from one to the other]
OTTO
I — I saw the light, and so I came over — from Pethrick’s.
FARNHAM
[Drily amused]
Of course you did, Otto. That was the right thing for you to do. We have all seen the light, even if we haven’t all come over from Pethrick’s.
[Patting his shoulder]
Now take a look around you, little friend, and tell us what you see besides the light.
OTTO
[Looking from Lucas to Villa]
Oh — good evening.
[He plays with his hat]
I saw the light, and so I came over.
[To Lucas]
Did you see the light, Phoebus, and did you come over?
LUCAS
[Avoiding over-confidence]
Yes, Otto, I may be said to have seen the light, and to have come over — though not from Pethrick’s.
OTTO
[With a long sigh]
That’s illuminating, and I thank you kindly.
[He looks at Van Zorn, who smiles and nods]
Good evening.
[To Villa]
Are you sure that I’m not in the way?
[He makes a puzzled grimace and looks at Farnham, who grins]
VILLA
[Laughing nervously]
We are sure of one thing, Otto, and that is that you are not very cordial with your old friends. Aren’t you going to congratulate me on my engagement to George Lucas?
We are going to be married — sometime.
OTTO
[After a stupefied pause]
Are you?
[He looks again from one to another, and finally addresses Van ZORN]
I knew this afternoon that something was going to happen.
Of course it was none of my business, but you — you understand me, I’m sure.
[He wipes his forehead with his handkerchief]
FARNHAM
[With lingering sarcasm]
We understand you, Otto. You saw the light and you came over. Everything has been explained, and we are all going to try to be happy.
OTTO
[Looking again from one to another, and beginning to beam]
Do you know, Farnham, that I — that I rather like this?
FARNHAM
I’m glad to hear you say so, Otto. We study to please.
OTTO
[To Van Zorn, who appears to be mildly amused]
Do you like this?
VAN ZORN
It has my unqualified approval. In addition, it was undoubtedly inevitable.
OTTO
[With an air of discovery]
Doesn’t that make it all the better?
VAN ZORN
I am sure that you have every reason to congratulate your friends on their mutual good fortune.
OTTO
[After shaking hands, rather suddenly, with Villa and Lucas]
Farnham, old man, the more I think of this, the better I like it. There’s a — there’s a kind of destiny about it.
FARNHAM
[Patting Otto’s shoulder]
Otto, we can always look to you for the right word.
[Wearily, with a mild trace of venom]
I’ve been trying to think of that word “destiny” all the evening.
VILLA
[Giving Farnham her hand]
And I have been trying to think of something more to say to you, Weldon, but somehow I can’t just now. So I
think George had better take me home. And then, I suppose I’ll have a talk with...
[She sighs]
FARNHAM
[With an unfeeling grin]
With Auntie?
VILLA
Yes, with Auntie.
[She breaks into childish laughter]
Poor Auntie!
[Pause]
Well, good night. I won’t say good-bye, for that would be too solemn.
FARNHAM
[Holding her hand]
Good night. And I hope you will be very happy.
[Shaking ha
nds with Lucas]
Good night, George, — and my congratulations. You will excuse me if I don’t make a speech.
VILLA
[To Van Zorn, who comes forward]
Good night.
[She gives him her hand and looks at him as if a little frightened]
VAN ZORN
[Holding her hand]
Goodnight.
[They look into each other’s eyes for some time. She leaves him slowly and moves towards the door. He returns to his former place by the fire, after speaking with Lucas]
VILLA
[While Lucas is shaking hands with Van Zorn]
Good night, Otto.
OTTO
[Still bewildered]
Good night. I don’t think I’ll make a speech either.
On the contrary I may as well go home to my mousy garret, light my guttering candle, and work away for a while at my popular song.
VILLA
[Laughing]
But you never told me that you were writing a popular song. How does it go, and what is it about?
OTTO
[Solemnly]
It’s a sad story, and it doesn’t go very fast.
[Doubtfully]
And it may not be altogether appropriate to the present auspicious occasion.
VILLA
[Laughing]
Oh, yes it is — perfectly. How does it go, Otto?
OTTO
[Scratching his ear thoughtfully]
I’ve only got four lines of it.
[He appears to be reading them from the inside of his hat]
VILLA
[Shaking him]
But how do they go?
OTTO
They go like this:
[He repeats the following lines with comical solemnity, punctuating them with sharp pauses]
Oh, long shall we remember the dark days that followed then,
And how our faith in truth and honor sank;
For we knew the dear old home would never be the same again,
When Father robbed the baby’s little bank.
LUCAS
[Laughing]
Can you keep it up to that level, Otto?
OTTO
[Scratching his ear]
I think so.
[With owlish innocence]
But of course you understand that there’s nothing prophetic about it — nothing personal. I wouldn’t have any words of mine cast a shadow on this propitious hour — no, not even if my friend Farnham were to give me a small potion of his Double X Rattlesnake Rye over yonder.
[He nods towards the bust of Shakespeare]
I’m delicate, and I may not be with you very long.
VILLA
[To Farnham, laughing]
Before you give it to him, I think it will be safer for me to go away. Good night again.
[Farnham goes with Villa and Lucas to the vestibule, dosing the door slowly and thoughtfully as he returns. Otto, in the meantime, has gone to the cabinet, from the depths of which he has produced a bottle of whiskey. Van Zorn, standing by the fire, watches Otto with a look of abstracted amusement.]
FARNHAM
[Returning]
Well, Otto, you seem to be in a romantic frame of mind this evening. You aren’t unhappy, are you?
OTTO
[Wiping his lips]
No, I don’t complain.
FARNHAM
[Patronizingly, to Van Zorn]
Otto never complains. He eats his crust at sunset, and he drains his cup of bitterness without so much as making a face. Don’t you, Otto?
OTTO
[Moving towards the door]
Don’t ask me to talk this evening. You have shaken me up, and I’m delicate. I may be on my way to eminence, or I may be merely another case of the gods seeing otherwise. In either event, it will be all right, for the universe will take care of us all. Throw on my grave a flower. Fare you well, gentlemen both, and peace be with you.
[Otto lays his hand on his heart, bows deferentially, and disappears slowly and silently]
VAN ZORN
[Smiling faintly]
You must not undervalue that youth, Farnham.
FARNHAM
[Opening the cigar-box]
I shall never again undervalue anything that has a destiny.
[Holding out the box]
Here — have a cigar. And for God’s sake have it this time or you’ll make me peevish.
VAN ZORN
Thank you.
[He takes a match from Farnham and lights his cigar]
FARNHAM
[Lighting his cigar]
I suppose Otto has a destiny, hasn’t he?
VAN ZORN
[Drily]
I suppose he has.
FARNHAM
[Giving him a queer look]
And what about Lucas — and his destiny?
[He sits down and invites VAN ZORN to take the large chair as before]
VAN ZORN
[Calmly]
I don’t know that I pretend to be a prophet,
[FARNHAM grins]
but I should venture to say that Lucas’s destiny will not be altogether a bad one. Being human and not a fool, he must in the nature of things have ambitions that he will never realize. On the other hand, he will have a great deal of happiness, I believe.
[Looking earnestly at FARNHAM]
But neither he nor I can have what you are going to have.
[FARNHAM begins to beam with approval and anticipation]
I won’t say that you have it already
[He glances toward the picture and scowls]
— for that might not be good for you... and it might not be true.
FARNHAM
[Affecting modesty]
You may be within a gunshot of being right, but this day’s work doesn’t seem to be very promising — that is, to the uninitiated.
[Clasping his knee]
I suppose, however, that you feel a great deal better.
VAN ZORN
Why do you say that?
FARNHAM
After what you have done?
VAN ZORN
[With a frown]
I have done nothing. I thought that was understood.
FARNHAM
[Laughing a little]
Oh yes, you have, in spite of your cosmic modesty.
Haven’t you cleared the air? Haven’t you raised the curtain?
VAN ZORN
[Apparently after some hesitation]
Would you talk like that, Farnham, if you knew me a little better... if you knew, as I know, what I have lost?
FARNHAM
[With a trace of his old manner]
We have things before we lose them. That’s old, I know;
but I believe it’s true.
VAN ZORN
[More earnestly]
Yes, Farnham, it is quite true. And it is most distinctly what I have had that I have now lost.
FARNHAM
[Puzzled]
Go on. You are talking; I’m only listening.
VAN ZORN
[Very distinctly]
What is your notion of the best thing for a man to do when he has lost his belief that he has something to live for?
FARNHAM
[Pretending not to understand]
Why, that’s easy. Find something new to live for.
VAN ZORN
[Getting up and speaking as if half to himself]
There may be a certain amount of wisdom in that. And yet you do not wholly understand me.
FARNHAM
[With unconscious emphasis]
And who the devil does?
VAN ZORN
[Looking steadily at Farnham]
Do you know what it is, Farnham, that I am facing?
FARNHAM
[With a forced laugh]
You are facing me, for the moment. I’m not much to be facing, I grant you; but you might have to face something worse.
[W
ith a glance at the picture]
The deadliest thing about me, at present, seems to be my ability to paint pictures like that one over there.
VAN ZORN
[Becoming more and more serious]
I seem to be facing you, Farnham, but the truth is that I am facing myself. Whichever way I look now, I look forward into a thousand mirrors; and I see myself — only myself — Van Zorn. If I had one talent, I should see that;
and I should thank God for it. But it isn’t there. There is nothing there but — Van Zorn.
[He smokes for a time in thought]
Farnham, do you wonder that there are people in this world who howl about property?... Yes; my property, if you like.
FARNHAM
[Laughing]
Good! That sounds as if the yeast were beginning to work. You needn’t worry; you’ll find something to live for.
[Getting up and stretching himself comfortably]
Why don’t you begin by tearing down a row of rotten tenements — just for the fun of it — and putting up some thing — oh, something sanitary and ornamental? Then the tired father could come home and cleanse his honest hide in a white enameled bath-tub — only of course he wouldn’t, — and after dinner the entire family could sit around a gilded radiator and sing songs by the most eminent composers, as Otto would say, of their native land.
[Laughing]
Hear me, Norma, but don’t excite yourself. You are still young, and there’s going to be no end of time.
VAN ZORN
[With a dutiful smile]
There is something in what you say.
FARNHAM
[With easy patronage]
You bet there is. And then there is always this “business” of yours: “Van Zorn and Lucas, the eminent comedians.” Don’t you see that, when you look forward into your thousand mirrors?
Works of Edwin Arlington Robinson Page 63
