Chapter 2
FALK. But what has this to do with Strawman, pray? Is he a poem, or a Christian play?
MISS JAY [with tears of emotion]. No, Falk,--a man, with heart as large as day. But when a--so to speak--mere lifeless thing Can put such venom into envy's sting, And stir up evil passions fierce and fell Of such a depth--
FALK [sympathetically]. And such a length as well--
MISS JAY. Why then, a man of your commanding brain Can't fail to see--
FALK. Oh, yes, that's very plain. But hitherto I haven't quite made out The nature, style, and plot of this romance. It's something quite delightful I've no doubt-- But just a little inkling in advance--
STIVER. I will abstract, in rapid _resume_, The leading points.
MISS JAY. No, I am more _au fait_, I know the ins and outs--
MRS. HALM. I know them too!
MISS JAY. Oh Mrs. Halm! now let me tell it, do! Well, Mr. Falk, you see--he passed at college For quite a miracle of wit and knowledge, Had admirable taste in books and dress--
MRS. HALM. And acted--privately--with great success.
MISS JAY. Yes, wait a bit--he painted, played and wrote--
MRS. HALM. And don't forget his gift of anecdote.
MISS JAY. Do give me time; I know the whole affair: He made some verses, set them to an air, Also his own,--and found a publisher. O heavens! with what romantic melancholy He played and sang his "Madrigals to Molly"!
MRS. HALM. He was a genius, the simple fact.
GULDSTAD [to himself]. Hm! Some were of opinion he was cracked.
FALK. A gray old stager,(2)whose sagacious head Was never upon mouldy parchments fed, Says "Love makes Petrarchs, just as many lambs And little occupation, Abrahams." But who was Molly?
MISS JAY. Molly? His elect, His lady-love, whom shortly we expect. Of a great firm her father was a member--
GULDSTAD. A timber house.
MISS JAY [curtly]. I'm really not aware.
GULDSTAD. Did a large trade in scantlings, I remember.
MISS JAY. That is the trivial side of the affair.
FALK. A firm?
MISS JAY [continuing]. Of vast resources, I'm informed. You can imagine how the suitors swarm'd; Gentlemen of the highest reputation.--
MRS. HALM. Even a baronet made application.
MISS JAY. But Molly was not to be made their catch. She had met Strawman upon private stages; To see him was to love him--
FALK. And despatch The wooing gentry home without their wages?
MRS. HALM. Was it not just a too romantic match?
MISS JAY. And then there was a terrible old father, Whose sport was thrusting happy souls apart; She had a guardian also, as I gather, To add fresh torment to her tortured heart. But each of them was loyal to his vow; A straw-hatched cottage and a snow-white ewe They dream'd of, just enough to nourish two--
MRS. HALM. Or at the very uttermost a cow,--
MISS JAY. In short, I've heard it from the lips of both,-- A beck, a byre, two bosoms, and one troth.
FALK. Ah yes! And then--?
MISS JAY. She broke with kin and class.
FALK. She broke--?
MRS. HALM. Broke with them.
FALK. There's a plucky lass!
MISS JAY. And fled to Strawman's garret--
FALK. How? Without-- Ahem, the priestly consecration?
MISS JAY. Shame!
MRS. HALM. Fy, fy! my late beloved husband's name Was on the list of sponsors--!
STIVER [to MISS JAY]. The one room Not housing sheep and cattle, I presume.
MISS JAY [to STIVER]. O, but you must consider this, my friend; There is no _Want_ where Love's the guiding star; All's right without if tender Troth's within. [To Falk. He loved her to the notes of the guitar, And she gave lessons on the violin--
MRS. HALM. Then all, of course, on credit they bespoke--
GULDSTAD. Till, in a year, the timber merchant broke.
MRS. HALM. Then Strawman had a call to north.
MISS JAY. And there Vowed, in a letter that I saw (as few did), He lived but for his duty, and for her.
FALK [as if completing her statement]. And with those words his Life's Romance concluded.
MRS. HALM [rising]. How if we should go out upon the lawn, And see if there's no prospect of them yet?
MISS JAY [drawing on her mantle]. It's cool already.
MRS. HALM. Svanhild, will you get My woollen shawl?--Come ladies, pray!
LIND [to ANNA, unobserved by the others]. Go on!
[SVANHILD goes into the house; the others, except FALK, go towards the back and out to the left. LIND, who has followed, stops and returns.
LIND. My friend!
FALK. Ah, ditto.
LIND. Falk, your hand! The tide Of joy's so vehement, it will perforce Break out--
FALK. Hullo there; you must first be tried; Sentence and hanging follow in due course. Now, what on earth's the matter? To conceal From me, your friend, this treasure of your finding; For you'll confess the inference is binding: You've come into a prize off Fortune's wheel!
LIND. I've snared and taken Fortune's blessed bird!
FALK. How? Living,--and undamaged by the steel?
LIND. Patience; I'll tell the matter in one word. I am engaged! Conceive--!
FALK [quickly]. Engaged!
LIND. It's true! To-day,--with unimagined courage swelling, I said,--ahem, it will not bear re-telling;-- But only think,--the sweet young maiden grew Quite rosy-red,--but not at all enraged! You see, Falk, what I ventured for a bride! She listened,--and I rather think she cried; That, sure, means "Yes"?
FALK. If precedents decide; Go on.
LIND. And so we really are--engaged?
FALK. I should conclude so; but the only way To be quite certain, is to ask Miss Jay.
LIND. O no, I feel so confident, so clear! So perfectly assured, and void of fear. [Radiantly, in a mysterious tone. Hark! I had leave her fingers to caress When from the coffee-board she drew the cover.
FALK [lifting and emptying his glass]. Well, flowers of spring your wedding garland dress!
LIND [doing the same]. And here I swear by heaven that I will love her Until I die, with love as infinite As now glows in me,--for she is so sweet!
FALK. Engaged! Aha, so that was why you flung The Holy Law and Prophets on the shelf!
LIND [laughing]. And you believed it was the song you sung--!
FALK. A poet believes all things of himself.
LIND [seriously]. Don't think, however, Falk, that I dismiss The theologian from my hour of bliss. Only, I find the Book will not suffice As Jacob's ladder unto Paradise. I must into God's world, and seek Him there. A boundless kindness in my heart upsprings, I love the straw, I love the creeping things; They also in my joy shall have a share.
FALK. Yes, only tell me this, though--
LIND. I have told it,-- My precious secret, and our three hearts hold it!
FALK. But have you thought about the future?
LIND. Thought? I?--thought about the future? No, from this Time forth I live but in the hour that is. In home shall all my happiness be sought; We hold Fate's reins, we drive her hither, thither, And neither friend nor mother shall have right To say unto my budding blossom: Wither! For I am earnest and her eyes are bright, And so it must unfold into the light!
FALK. Yes, Fortune likes you, you will serve her turn!
LIND. My spirits like wild music glow and burn; I feel myself a Titan: though a foss Opened before me--I would leap across!
FALK. Your love, you mean to say, in simple prose, Has made a reindeer of you.
LIND. Well, suppose; But in my wildest flight, I know the nest In which my heart's dove longs to be at rest!
FALK. Well then, to-morrow it may fly _con brio_, You're off into the hills with the quartette. I'll guarantee you against cold and wet--
LIND. Pooh, the quartette may go and climb in _trio_, The lowly dale has mountain air for me; Here I've the immeasurable fjord, the flowers, Here I have warbling birds and choral bowers, And lady fortune's self,--for here is she!
FALK. Ah, lady Fortune by our Northern water caught her! [With a glance towards the house. Hist--Svanhild--
LIND. Well; I go,--disclose to none The secret that we share alone with one. 'Twas good of you to listen; now enfold it Deep in your heart,--warm, glowing, as I told it.
[He goes out in the background to the others. FALK looks after him a moment, and paces up and down in the garden, visibly striving to master his agitation. Presently SVANHILD comes out with a shawl on her arm, and is going towards the back. FALK approaches and gazes at her fixedly. SVANHILD stops.
SVANHILD [after a short pause]. You gaze at me so!
FALK [half to himself]. Yes, 'tis there--the same; The shadow in her eyes' deep mirror sleeping, The roguish elf about her lips a-peeping, It is there.
SVANHILD. What? You frighten me.
FALK. Your name Is Svanhild?
SVANHILD. Yes, you know it very well.
FALK. But do you know the name is laughable? I beg you to discard it from to-night!
SVANHILD. That would be far beyond a daughter's right--
FALK [laughing]. Hm. "Svanhild! Svanhild!" [With sudden gravity. With your earliest breath How came you by this prophecy of death?
SVANHILD. Is it so grim?
FALK. No, lovely as a song, But for our age too great and stern and strong, How can a modern demoiselle fill out The ideal that heroic name expresses? No, no, discard it with your outworn dresses.
SVANHILD. You mean the mythical princess, no doubt--
FALK. Who, guiltless, died beneath the horse's feet.
SVANHILD. But now such acts are clearly obsolete. No, no, I'll mount his saddle! There's my place! How often have I dreamt, in pensive ease, He bore me, buoyant, through the world apace, His mane a flag of freedom in the breeze!
FALK. Yes, the old tale. In "pensive ease" no mortal Is stopped by thwarting bar or cullis'd portal; Fearless we cleave the ether without bound; In practice, tho', we shrewdly hug the ground; For all love life and, having choice, will choose it; And no man dares to leap where he may lose it.
SVANHILD. Yes! show me but the end, I'll spurn the shore; But let the end be worth the leaping for! A Ballarat beyond the desert sands-- Else each will stay exactly where he stands.
FALK [sarcastically]. I grasp the case;--the due conditions fail.
SVANHILD [eagerly]. Exactly: what's the use of spreading sail When there is not a breath of wind astir?
FALK [ironically]. Yes, what's the use of plying whip and spur When there is not a penny of reward For him who tears him from the festal board, And mounts, and dashes headlong to perdition? Such doing for the deed's sake asks a knight, And knighthood's now an idle superstition. That was your meaning, possibly?
SVANHILD. Quite right. Look at that fruit tree in the orchard close,-- No blossom on its barren branches blows. You should have seen last year with what brave airs It staggered underneath its world of pears.
FALK [uncertain]. No doubt, but what's the moral you impute?
SVANHILD [with finesse]. O, among other things, the bold unreason Of modern Zacharies who seek for fruit. If the tree blossom'd to excess last season, You must not crave the blossoms back in this.
FALK. I knew you'd find your footing in the ways Of old romance.
SVANHILD. Yes, modern virtue is Of quite another stamp. Who now arrays Himself to battle for the truth? Who'll stake His life and person fearless for truth's sake? Where is the hero?
FALK [looking keenly at her]. Where is the Valkyria?
SVANHILD [shaking her head]. Valkyrias find no market in this land! When the faith lately was assailed in Syria, Did you go out with the crusader-band? No, but on paper you were warm and willing,-- And sent the "Clerical Gazette" a shilling.
[Pause. FALK is about to retort, but checks himself, and goes into the garden.
SVANHILD [after watching him a moment, approaches him and asks gently: Falk, are you angry?
FALK. No, I only brood,--
SVANHILD [with thoughtful sympathy]. You seem to be two natures, still at feud,-- Unreconciled--
FALK. I know it well.
SVANHILD [impetuously]. But why?
FALK [losing self-control]. Why, why? Because I hate to go about With soul bared boldly to the vulgar eye, As Jock and Jennie hang their passions out; To wear my glowing heart upon my sleeve, Like women in low dresses. You, alone, Svanhild, you only,--you, I did believe,-- Well, it is past, that dream, for ever flown.--
[She goes to the summer-house and looks out; he follows.
You listen--?
SVANHILD. To another voice, that sings. Hark! every evening when the sun's at rest, A little bird floats hither on beating wings,-- See there--it darted from its leafy nest-- And, do you know, it is my faith, as oft As God makes any songless soul, He sends A little bird to be her friend of friends, And sing for ever in her garden-croft.
FALK [picking up a stone]. Then must the owner and the bird be near, Or its song's squandered on a stranger's ear.
SVANHILD. Yes, that is true; but I've discovered mine. Of speech and song I am denied the power, But when it warbles in its leafy bower, Poems flow in upon my brain like wine-- Ah, yes,--they fleet--they are not to be won--
[FALK throws the stone. SVANHILD screams.
O God, you've hit it! Ah, what have you done!
[She hurries out to the the right and then quickly returns.
O pity! pity!
FALK [in passionate agitation]. No,--but eye for eye, Svanhild, and tooth for tooth. Now you'll attend No further greetings from your garden-friend, No guerdon from the land of melody. That is my vengeance: as you slew I slay.
SVANHILD. I slew?
FALK. You slew. Until this very day, A clear-voiced song-bird warbled in my soul; See,--now one passing bell for both may toll-- You've killed it!
SVANHILD. Have I?
FALK. Yes, for you have slain My young, high-hearted, joyous exultation-- [Contemptuously. By your betrothal!
SVANHILD. How! But pray explain--!
FALK. O, it's in full accord with expectation; He gets his licence, enters orders, speeds to A post,--as missionary in the West--
SVANHILD [in the same tone]. A pretty penny, also, he succeeds to;-- For it is Lind you speak of--?
FALK. You know best Of whom I speak.
SVANHILD [with a subdued smile]. As the bride's sister, true, I cannot help--
FALK. Great God! It is not you--?
SVANHILD. Who win this overplus of bliss? Ah no!
FALK [with almost childish joy]. It is not you! O God be glorified! What love, what mercy does He not bestow! I shall not see you as another's bride;-- 'Twas but the fire of pain He bade me bear-- [Tries to seize her hand. O hear me, Svanhild, hear me then--
SVANHILD [pointing quickly to the background]. See there!
[She goes towards the house. At the same moment MRS. HALM, ANNA, MISS JAY, GULDSTAD, STIVER, and LIND emerge from the background. During the previous scene the sun has set; it is now dark.
MRS. HALM [to SVANHILD]. The Strawmans may be momently expected. Where have you been?
MISS JAY [after glancing at FALK]. Your colour's very high.
SVANHILD. A little face-ache; it will soon pass by.
MRS. HALM. And yet you walk at nightfall unprotected? Arrange the room, and see that tea is ready; Let everything be nice; I know the lady. [Svanhild goes in.
STIVER [to FALK]. What is the colour of this parson's coat?
FALK. I guess bread-taxers would not catch his vote.
STIVER. How if one made allusion to the store Of verses, yet unpublished, in my drawer?
FALK. It might do something.
STIVER. Would to heaven it might! Our wedding's imminent; our purses light. Courtship's a very serious affair.
FALK. Just so: "_Qu'allais-tu faire dans cette galere?_"
STIVER. Is courtship a "galere"?
FALK. No, married lives;-- All servitude, captivity, and gyves.
STIVER [seeing MISS JAY approach]. You little know what wealth a man obtains From woman's eloquence and woman's brains.
MISS JAY [aside to STIVER]. Will Guldstad give us credit, think you?
STIVER [peevishly]. I Am not quite certain of it yet: I'll try.
[They withdraw in conversation; LIND and ANNA approach.
LIND [aside to FALK]. I can't endure it longer; in post-haste I must present her--
FALK. You had best refrain, And not initiate the eye profane Into your mysteries--
LIND. That would be a jest!-- From you, my fellow-boarder, and my mate, To keep concealed my new-found happy state! Nay, now, my head with Fortune's oil anointed--
FALK. You think the occasion good to get it curled? Well, my good friend, you won't be disappointed; Go and announce your union to the world!
LIND. Other reflections also weigh with me, And one of more especial gravity; Say that there lurked among our motley band Some sneaking, sly pretender to her hand; Say, his attentions became undisguised,-- We should be disagreeably compromised.
FALK. Yes, it is true; it had escaped my mind, You for a higher office were designed, Love as his young licentiate has retained you; Shortly you'll get a permanent position; But it would be defying all tradition If at the present moment he ordained you.
LIND. Yes if the merchant does not--
FALK. What of him?
ANNA [troubled]. Oh, it is Lind's unreasonable whim.
LIND. Hush; I've a deep foreboding that the man Will rob me of my treasure, if he can. The fellow, as we know, comes daily down, Is rich, unmarried, takes you round the town; In short, my own, regard it as we will, There are a thousand things that bode us ill.
ANNA [sighing]. Oh, it's too bad; to-day was so delicious!
FALK [sympathetically to LIND]. Don't wreck your joy, unfoundedly suspicious, Don't hoist your flag till time the truth disclose--
ANNA. Great God! Miss Jay is looking; hush, be still!
[She and LIND withdraw in different directions.
FALK [looking after LIND]. So to the ruin of his youth he goes.
GULDSTAD. [Who has meantime been conversing on the steps with MRS. HALM and MISS JAY, approaches FALK and slaps him on the shoulder. Well, brooding on a poem?
FALK. No, a play.
GULDSTAD. The deuce;--I never heard it was your line.
FALK. O no, the author is a friend of mine, And your acquaintance also, I daresay. The knave's a dashing writer, never doubt. Only imagine, in a single day He's worked a perfect little Idyll out.
GULDSTAD [slily]. With happy ending, doubtless!
FALK. You're aware, No curtain falls but on a plighted pair. Thus with the Trilogy's First Part we've reckoned; But now the poet's labour-throes begin; The Comedy of Troth-plight, Part the Second, Thro' five insipid Acts he has to spin, And of that staple, finally, compose Part Third,--or Wedlock's Tragedy, in prose.
GULDSTAD [smiling]. The poet's vein is catching, it would seem.
FALK. Really? How so, pray?
GULDSTAD. Since I also pore And ponder over a poetic scheme,-- [Mysteriously. An actuality--and not a dream.
FALK. And pray, who is the hero of your theme?
GULDSTAD. I'll tell you that to-morrow--not before.
FALK. It is yourself!
GULDSTAD. You think me equal to it?
FALK. I'm sure no other mortal man could do it. But then the heroine? No city maid, I'll swear, but of the country, breathing balm?
GULDSTAD [lifting his finger]. Ah,--that's the point, and must not be betrayed!-- [Changing his tone. Pray tell me your opinion of Miss Halm.
FALK. O you're best able to pronounce upon her; My voice can neither credit nor dishonour,-- [Smiling. But just take care no mischief-maker blot This fine poetic scheme of which you talk. Suppose I were so shameless as to balk The meditated climax of the plot?
GULDSTAD [good-naturedly]. Well, I would cry "Amen," and change my plan.
FALK. What!
GULDSTAD. Why, you see, you are a letter'd man; How monstrous were it if your skill'd design Were ruined by a bungler's hand like mine! [Retires to the background.
FALK [in passing, to LIND]. Yes, you were right; the merchant's really scheming The ruin of your new-won happiness.
LIND [aside to ANNA]. Now then you see, my doubting was not dreaming; We'll go this very moment and confess.
[They approach MRS. HALM, who is standing with Miss Jay by the house.
GULDSTAD [conversing with STIVER]. 'Tis a fine evening.
STIVER. Very likely,--when A man's disposed--
GULDSTAD [facetiously]. What, all not running smooth In true love's course?
STIVER. Not that exactly--
FALK [coming up]. Then With your engagement?
STIVER. That's about the truth.
FALK. Hurrah! Your spendthrift pocket has a groat Or two still left, it seems, of poetry.
STIVER [stiffly]. I cannot see what poetry has got To do with my engagement, or with me.
FALK. You are not meant to see; when lovers prove What love is, all is over with their love.
GULDSTAD [to STIVER]. But if there's matter for adjustment, pray Let's hear it.
STIVER. I've been pondering all day Whether the thing is proper to disclose, But still the Ayes are balanced by the Noes.
FALK. I'll right you in one sentence. Ever since As plighted lover you were first installed, You've felt yourself, if I may say so, galled--
STIVER. And sometimes to the quick.
FALK. You've had to wince Beneath a crushing load of obligations That you'd send packing, if good form permitted. That's what's the matter.
STIVER. Monstrous accusations! My legal debts I've honestly acquitted; But other bonds next month are falling due; [To GULDSTAD. When a man weds, you see, he gets a wife--
FALK [triumphant]. Now your youth's heaven once again is blue; There rang an echo from your old song-life! That's how it is: I read you thro' and thro'; Wings, wings were all you wanted,--and a knife!
STIVER. A knife?
FALK. Yes, Resolution's knife, to sever Each captive bond, and set you free for ever, To soar--
STIVER [angrily]. Nay, now you're insolent beyond Endurance! Me to charge with violation Of law,--me, me with plotting to abscond! It's libellous, malicious defamation, Insult and calumny--
FALK. Are you insane? What is all this about? Explain! Explain!
GULDSTAD [laughingly to STIVER]. Yes, clear your mind of all this balderdash! What do you want?
STIVER [pulling himself together]. A trifling loan in cash.
FALK. A loan!
STIVER [hurriedly to GULDSTAD]. That is, I mean to say, you know, A voucher for a ten pound note, or so.
MISS JAY [to LIND and ANNA]. I wish you joy! How lovely, how delicious!
GULDSTAD [going up to the ladies]. Pray what has happened? [To himself.] This was unpropitious.