Ulteriori informazioni
Excerpt from Black 'Ell: A War Play in One Act
About nine o'clock on an August morning in 1916, Mr. and Mrs. Gould are having breakfast. They have been happily married some twenty-five years. Their income is about a thousand a year, and there is nothing to differentiate their dining-room - or their whole house, for that matter - from other dining-rooms and houses of the same class.
Mr. Gould is reading a daily paper propped up against something on the table. Presently he drains his large coffee-cup and pushes it across to his wife. She re-fills it, carries it round to him, and returns to her place. The breakfast continues. He finishes the bacon and eggs on his plate. She has been watching, and asks him if he will have any more. She does that by a little noise - a little upward inflection of inquiry and affection. (The affection is unconscious and unobtrusive - the result of twenty-five years and about nine thousand breakfasts together.)
The little noise catches his attention from his paper. He eyes his own empty plate; he eyes the inviting egg on the dish in front of her, and grunts. A little downward inflection of assent. He gets his second helping and the breakfast continues in silence.
Then, quite suddenly, crashing into the silence, a loud double knock at the front door, followed by a violent ringing. It is as if they had both been hit unexpectedly.
Mrs. Gould. A telegram!
Mr. Gould. Sounds like it.
[Their eyes meet in anxiety. She rises in the grip of fear.]
Mrs. Gould. Oh, Fred, d'you think it's - can it be that, at last? Have you looked - the casualty page?
Mr. Gould. Yes, yes, of course I've looked. I always look first thing - you know that as well as I do.
Mrs. Gould. It wouldn't be there - not till to-morrow. They always send from the War Office first - by telegram.
Mr. Gould. [Trying to quiet her in a voice that trembles with anxiety.] Now, mother, mother, we go all through this every time a simple telegram comes to the house.
Mrs. Gould. [Back in her seat, too frightened to do anything but just sit there and wait.] It's about him, I feel - I know it's about him.
Mr. Gould. Don't be silly. [He goes up to the window.]
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
