MAIRE It will be a long time, I suppose. Both of us might be in a different house and have different cares.
ANNE That would be terrible. I"ll never leave him, Maire. MAIRE You can"t say the like now.
ANNE Why?
MAIRE How could you take such things upon you and life stretching out before you? You"re not young enough, Anne. Besides, it"s not what we say; it"s what we feel. No, it"s not what we feel either; it"s what grows up in us.
ANNE He might never do the like again.
MAIRE Many"s the time mother said that, and she and me lying together.
ANNE Will we ever get out of it, Maire?
_James enters_.
MAIRE You have only a while to stay with us.
ANNE O James, what will your father say if he hears of you giving us another day?
JAMES My father took a stick in his hand this morning, and went off with himself.
MAIRE You"re welcome, James. It was a pleasant time we had in your house last evening.
JAMES I hope you liked the company, Maire. I"m afraid there was very little to be called refined or scholarly, and the conversation at times was homely enough. But we did our best, and we were proud to see you.
MAIRE Sit down, James.
_James sits on chair, near table. Maire is seated at fire, left of James. Anne leans against table, right of him_.
JAMES Your father is outside, maybe?
MAIRE No. He"s above in the room.
JAMES Yes. Practising, I suppose. Them that have the gift have to mind the gift. In this country there isn"t much thought for poetry, or music, or scholarship. Still, a few of us know that a while must be spared from the world if we are to lay up riches in the mind.
ANNE I hope there"s nothing wrong at home?
JAMES _(turning to Anne)_ To tell you the truth, Anne, and to keep nothing back, there is.
MAIRE And what is it, James?
JAMES _(turning to Maire)_ Anne was talking to my father last night.
ANNE Indeed I was, and I thought him very friendly to me.
JAMES Ay, he liked you well enough, I can tell you that, Anne. This morning when he took a stick in his hand, I knew he was making ready for a journey, for the horse is laid up. "Walk down a bit with me,"
said he, "and we"ll go over a few things that are in my mind." Well, I walked down with him, and indeed we had a serious conversation.
ANNE Well?
JAMES "Anne Hourican is too young," said my father; "she"s a nice girl, and a good girl, but she"s too young."
MAIRE Sure in a while Anne will be twenty.
JAMES _(turning to Maire)_ Ten years from this father would still think Anne too young. And late marriages, as everybody knows, is the real weakness of the country.
ANNE I thought your father liked me.
JAMES He likes you well enough, but, as he says, "what would she be doing here and your sisters years older than herself?" There"s truth in that, mind you. I always give in to the truth.
MAIRE James?
JAMES _(turning to Maire)_ Well, Maire?
MAIRE Is Anne a girl to be waiting twenty years for a man, like Sally Ca.s.sidy?
JAMES G.o.d forbid, Maire Hourican, that I"d ask your sister to wait that length. MAIRE She hasn"t got a fortune. We were brought up different to farmers, and maybe we never gave thought to the like.
JAMES She has what"s better than a fortune.
MAIRE Why aren"t your sisters married off?
JAMES Big fortunes are expected with them.
MAIRE And they look to your wife to bring a big fortune into the house?
JAMES Ay, they do that.
MAIRE You, James, ought to have some control in the house. You"re the only son. Your father is well off. Get him to fortune off your sisters, and then bring Anne to the house.
JAMES But how could I get father to fortune off the girls?
MAIRE How? By wakening up. You have the right. When we have the right, we ought to be able to do anything we like with the people around us.
JAMES I give in to the truth of that, Maire.
MAIRE What will come of you giving in to the truth of it? But sure you ought to remember, Anne.
ANNE _(taking James"s hand)_ James has the good way with people.
MAIRE Well, I suppose it will come out right for you in the end. You are both very deserving. _(She rises)_ But some time or another we have to take things into our own hands.
JAMES Indeed that"s true, Maire.
_Maire goes to back_.
ANNE _(holding James"s hand)_ Did you make any more songs, James?