Is there anything you need?
JAN (hesitating) No, not at all. But …I would like to thank you for taking me in. For the welcome you have given me.
Scene seven
(The mother is left alone in the room. She sits down again, puts her hands on the table, and stares at them.)
MOTHER Now what was I doing, talking to him about my hands? Still, he might have understood Martha a little bit better if he’d bothered to look at them. And if he’d understood, he might well have left. But he didn’t. And that means he’s going to die. It’s his choice. But I wish he’d gone. If he stays, I get no sleep. It’s as simple as that. I’m too old, much too old. I know what’s in front of me. I’11 have to clasp my hands round his ankles and keep the body balanced as we stumble down the road. And when we reach the river, that last effort that tips him in the water. A swing of the arms, and then it’s all over. A splash from the body and the sound of someone who has to gasp for breath. A tired, old woman, whose muscles are burning, and who hasn’t got the strength to wipe away the water that drips from her face. And him? He’ll sink down slowly, sleeping like a baby. Oh, I’m much too old! Why must he be such a perfect victim? Why let him have the sleep that you want for yourself? There’s just no sense…
(Martha comes in suddenly.)
MARTHA Still sitting there dreaming? You know how much there is to do.
MOTHER I was thinking of that young man. Or, rather, I was thinking of myself.
MARTHA You’d do better to think of tomorrow. Be positive.
MOTHER That’s what your father used to say, Martha. How I remember it! Yes, positive. But this must be the last time. I must be sure of that. Positive! Strange. He used to say it when he wanted to shake off his fear of the police. And you? You make use of it at the very moment when I’m trying to find a reason to avoid another crime.
MARTHA But you wouldn’t want to avoid it if you didn’t want to sleep. And that can be postponed. When tomorrow comes, you can let yourself go.
MOTHER You’re right. Of course. But you must admit that he’s not like the others.
MARTHA No. He’s too self-conscious. He will put on that air of innocence. He almost makes it seem attractive. What would happen to the world if every condemned man insisted on confiding all his heartaches to the hangman? It’s not a very sound principle. I can’t stand the way he won’t keep to the rules. I’ve had enough of him. I want it over and done.
MOTHER That’s what’s wrong. It’s never been like that before. Anger or compassion never affected our work. We made sure we didn’t care. It was always impersonal. But today I’m tired and you’re annoyed. That much is obvious. So why bother, if things aren’t right? Why walk rough-shod over everything for just a little more money?
MARTHA We’re not doing it for the money. Not in itself. We’re doing it to put this country behind us once and for all. And if you’re tired of life then I’m sick to death of a land which closes in on you more and more all the time. I can’t live here another month. I feel that in my bones. We’ve both had quite enough of this boarding-house. You’re old. All you want to do is to close your eyes and forget. But I’m still young, and I know what I want. There’s enough life left in me to make me determined to leave this place for ever. But we still have work to do. A few steps more, and then we’ll be free of it. And that’s where I need you. You brought me into the world, and now you must help me. You gave your child a grey pall of cloud, and now she wants the sun.
MOTHER I don’t know, Martha. I think I’d rather be forgotten, as I have been by your brother, than hear you talk of me like that.
MARTHA I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please accept my apologies. (Pause. A note of anger and embarrassment enters her voice.) What would I do, after all, if you weren’t there? I could never forget you. Not like him. It’s just that the strain of living here is sometimes too much for me. I owe you a lot. But I can’t always show it.
MOTHER You’re a good girl, Martha. It must be very difficult to understand an old woman and her ways. But I’m going to take the chance you’ve offered me. I’ve been trying to say this ever since you came in. Let’s not go through with it, not tonight at any rate.
MARTHA Not tonight? But we can’t wait until tomorrow! We’ve never done that before. You know as well as I do that he mustn’t be allowed the time to meet anyone. Mother, we must go through with it, while he’s still in our hands.
MOTHER Yes. I know. But not tonight. Let’s have a breathing space~ Give him another day. You never know, he might be the means to our salvation.
MARTHA How can you talk like that? Our salvation lies in action, and that’s your only hope. The right to sleep comes after work. Tonight’s work.
MOTHER That’s all I meant by salvation. Sleep.
MARTHA Mother, I swear to you that what we both long for lies within our reach. We must make up our minds. It’s tonight, or never.
End of Act One
Act Two
(The bedroom. Jan is looking through the window. It is early evening, and darkness slowly fills the room.)
Scene one
JAN Maria was right. This is the difficult time. (Pause.) I wonder what she’s doing now? Sitting in her room? Huddled in a chair? Crying? No, not crying. Thinking, then? Feeling? Anything? Oh, these evenings! Where’s that promise of happiness that evening ought to bring? There’s no suggestion of it here. In fact…
(He looks round the room.) Come on, now what’s all this about? You’re where you want to be. So why worry? This room holds all the answers.
(There is a sharp tap at the door, and Martha comes in.)
MARTHA I hope I’m not disturbing you. I’ve brought you clean towels, and some fresh water.
JAN I thought someone had already done it.
MARTHA No. It’s the old man’s job, but on some occasions he has other things to do.
JAN It’s of no importance, anyway. But perhaps I shouldn’t say that you’re really not disturbing me.
MARTHA Why not?
JAN I’m not at all sure that it’s included in the terms of our agreement.
MARTHA There you are again. Never a straight answer.
JAN (smiling) I’ll pick up the habit. But it will take a little time.
MARTHA (still busy) You won’t have the time. You won’t be here that long.
(He turns away and looks out of the window. While he has his back to her, her eyes never leave him. As she talks, she carries on working.)
MARTHA I do hope you won’t mind if the standard of accommodation isn’t quite what you’re used to.
JAN By no means. It’s very clean, and that’s the most important thing. Am I right in thinking that it’s only recently been converted?
MARTHA How did you know?
JAN Oh, one or two little things.
MARTHA Yes, I’m afraid it’s not altogether satisfactory. For example, the lack of running water. Some guests object to that, and I
really can’t blame them. A light above the bed would be another thing. We’ve been meaning to have that done for a very long time. If you’re reading at night, it’s extremely annoying to have to get out of bed to switch off the light.
JAN (turning round) I hadn’t noticed that, to be quite honest. But it can’t rate as a major inconvenience.
MARTHA That’s very kind of you. I find your attitude encouraging. Our boarding-house suffers from a number of deficiencies, and I’m pleased to see they don’t worry you. They’ve been enough before now to make others look elsewhere.
JAN If I might risk putting our agreement on one side for a moment, I must say that your approach seems very odd. I’ve never thought of it as part of a landlady’s job to give a complete inventory of the short-comings of her own establishment. An impartial observer might be tempted to say that you were trying to get rid of me.
MARTHA That’s not what I had in mind. (Then, as if she has suddenly taken a decision) But it would be true to say that both of us, my mother and myself, did have second thoughts about taking you in.
JAN It had, in fact, come to my attention that you weren’t doing a great deal to keep me here. But I can’t see why. There’s no question of my ability to pay. That needn’t worry you. And I wouldn’t have thought that I give the impression of a man with a shady past, or anything like that.
MARTHA No, it’s not that. There’s nothing shady about you. But there is another consideration. We have to move out of here at some stage fairly soon, and for the past few months we’ve been thinking every day that we would close down to make our final preparations. There’s never been much to stop us. Guests here have always been few and far between. But it was only with your arrival that we realised just how far we had
