Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays Part 50

HELEN. That man stood there to prevent me from seeing you!

GERARDO. Helen!

HELEN. You knew that I would come to see you.

VALET [_rubbing his cheek_]. I did all I could, sir, but this lady actually--

HELEN. Yes, I slapped his face.

GERARDO. Helen!

HELEN. Should I have let him insult me?

GERARDO [_to the Valet_]. Please leave us.

[_The Valet goes out._]

HELEN [_placing her m.u.f.f on a chair_]. I can no longer live without you. Either you take me with you or I will kill myself.

GERARDO. Helen!

HELEN. Yes, kill myself. A day like yesterday, without even seeing you--no, I could not live through that again. I am not strong enough. I beseech you, Oscar, take me with you.

GERARDO. I couldn't.

HELEN. You could if you wanted to. You can't leave me without killing me. These are not mere words. This isn't a threat. It is a fact: I will die if I can no longer have you. You must take me with you--it is your duty--if only for a short time.

GERARDO. I give you my word of honor, Helen, I can't--I give you my word.

HELEN. You must, Oscar. Whether you can or not, you must bear the consequences of your acts. I love life, but to me life and you are one and the same thing. Take me with you, Oscar, if you don't want to have my blood on your hands.

GERARDO. Do you remember what I said to you the first day we were together here?

HELEN. I remember, but what good does that do me?

GERARDO. I said that there couldn't be any question of love between us.

HELEN. I can't help that. I didn't know you then. I never knew what a man could be to me until I met you. You know very well that it would come to this, otherwise you wouldn't have obliged me to promise not to make you a parting scene.

GERARDO. I simply cannot take you with me.

HELEN. Oh, G.o.d! I knew you would say that! I knew it when I came here.

That's what you say to every woman. And I am just one of a hundred. I know it. But, Oscar, I am lovesick; I am dying of love. This is your work, and you can save me without any sacrifice on your part, without a.s.suming any burden. Why can't you do it?

GERARDO [_very slowly_]. Because my contract forbids me to marry or to travel in the company of a woman.

HELEN [_disturbed_]. What can prevent you?

GERARDO. My contract.

HELEN. You cannot....

GERARDO. I cannot marry until my contract expires.

HELEN. And you cannot....

GERARDO. I cannot travel in the company of a woman.

HELEN. That is incredible. And whom in the world should it concern?

GERARDO. My manager.

HELEN. Your manager! What business is it of his?

GERARDO. It is precisely his business.

HELEN. Is it perhaps because it might--affect your voice?

GERARDO. Yes.

HELEN. That is preposterous. Does it affect your voice?

[_Gerardo chuckles._]

HELEN. Does your manager believe that nonsense?

GERARDO. No, he doesn't.

HELEN. This is beyond me. I can't understand how a decent man could sign such a contract.

GERARDO. I am an artist first and a man next.

HELEN. Yes, that's what you are--a great artist--an eminent artist.

Can't you understand how much I must love you? You are the first man whose superiority I have felt and whom I desired to please, and you despise me for it. I have bitten my lips many a time not to let you suspect how much you meant to me; I was so afraid I might bore you.

Yesterday, however, put me in a state of mind which no woman can endure.

If I didn't love you so insanely, Oscar, you would think more of me.

That is the terrible thing about you--that you must scorn a woman who thinks the world of you.

GERARDO. Helen!

HELEN. Your contract! Don't use your contract as a weapon to murder me with. Let me go with you, Oscar. You will see if your manager ever mentions a breach of contract. He would not do such a thing. I know men.

And if he says a word, it will be time then for me to die.

GERARDO. We have no right to do that, Helen. You are just as little free to follow me, as I am to shoulder such a responsibility. I don't belong to myself; I belong to my art.

HELEN. Oh, leave your art alone. What do I care about your art? Has G.o.d created a man like you to make a puppet of himself every night? You should be ashamed of it instead of boasting of it. You see, I overlooked the fact that you were merely an artist. What wouldn't I overlook for a G.o.d like you? Even if you were a convict, Oscar, my feelings would be the same. I would lie in the dust at your feet and beg for your pity. I would face death as I am facing it now.

GERARDO [_laughing_]. Facing death, Helen! Women who are endowed with your gifts for enjoying life don't make away with themselves. You know even better than I do the value of life.