FLORA. Then …?
DR REID. It is just possible that Pearl is exhibiting early signs of a psychosomatic ailment.
FLORA…. How did she catch it?
DR REID. Dear Flora. There is every reason to hope that Pearl’s symptoms will disappear once she is wed, and at last free from the shadow of her well-intentioned father. [Taking her hand.] I’m sorry if I was hard on you, old friend. I must be cruel to be kind.
FLORA. Seamus, how do you aim to keep your promise?
DR REID. What promise?
FLORA. You said you’d show her where you got the ear.
DR REID. Pearl can be made to know what, without having to know who.
DR REID exits. FLORA peers at the painting. Sniffs the air. Exits. VICTOR rolls over. The scene changes around him. Walls dissolve. Sound of the sea, a woman singing “Au Claire de La Lune”. THE BRIDE appears. She is pregnant. They don’t speak, but we hear their voices as ambient sound.
THE BRIDE. Look what I found at the top of the Caucasian steps.
VICTOR. Aonaibh ri cheile.
THE BRIDE. I would, but it’s too blurry.
Sound of a woman crying. The full moon rises. THE BRIDE turns her head and lifts her veil to reveal a Jackal ear. PUPPY whimpers from off. The silhouette of THE JACKAL appears in the family portrait, accompanied by the drone of a bagpipe.
Scene 6 The Drawing Room
Next morning. PEARL lies, dishevelled on the couch, a cold cloth on her forehead. VICTOR enters, pristine and jaunty, in travelling clothes.
VICTOR. Well, I’m off. Goodbye, Pearl.
PEARL. Victor – [moving to sit up, but finding it advisable not to].
VICTOR. You look like you’re about to upthrow, shall I fetch a bucket?
PEARL. Don’t you dare go off down to the pub again, you’re terribly ill. Tell Wee Farleigh to bring me a basket of brioches. And a pickled egg.
VICTOR. Don’t worry, Pearl, I’m not off down the pub, I’m just off. I’m leaving. [calling off] Wee Far –
PEARL. Shush – wait – what? Why?
VICTOR. I’ve a good deal of work that needs avoiding. I may even begin not-writing my novel.
PEARL. You can do that here. We’ll make you a garret as drafty and uncomfortable as you like.
VICTOR. My mind’s made up.
PEARL. You’re not planning to leap into the sea, Victor, promise me –
VICTOR [jovial]. I’m not deep enough for despair, Pearl, the most I can muster is a cheerful self-loathing. I promise to kill myself very, very slowly.
PEARL. You’ll need money, if you wait a few weeks I’ll be able to –
VICTOR. Thanks, but I’m a boyishly handsome, shite-talking Scotsman with a well-endowed mythopoetical faculty. A mirror for the folly of others, a delightful extra man at table. There’s always men willing to stand me drinks, and women … well I’m no’ proud of it.
PEARL. What about your phobia? What if you run into a dog?
VICTOR. I’m not convinced it’s the dogs, Pearl. I think I’m allergic to this house. [Sniffs, will he sneeze?] So I’ll take me chances. Besides, all the best artists have fits. If I can’t have the talent, at least I’ll have the temperament.
PEARL. Where will you go?
VICTOR. Australia? Canada? A lot of worthless young men do quite well out there.
PEARL [fierce]. Victor, this is my house and I damn well give you half. Don’t go.
VICTOR. I love you, Pearl. [a beat] Good luck with the natural history. And the unnatural history. Thank you for the puppy. Sorry about the ear.
PEARL. So it was you.
VICTOR. It wasn’t, but I’m willing to sign a blank cheque of apology.
PEARL. Well if it wasn’t you, then who –?
DR REID enters, carrying a bouquet of red flowers.
DR REID. Good morning, Pearl, good morning Victor.
VICTOR [congenial]. Good morning, Dr Jekyll.
PEARL sits up, attempting to straighten her hair.
DR REID. Don’t get up, my dear.
PEARL. I must look a fright.
DR REID. You look lovely.
VICTOR. She looks like a dog’s breakfast.
DR REID. Did you take the powders this morning as I prescribed?
VICTOR. I sold them to an itinerant drug fiend.
DR REID. How’s the nausea?
PEARL. The nausea’s fine, excellent.
DR REID. Good. No … cravings?
PEARL. None.
VICTOR. Shall I fetch a haggis with the brioches?
DR REID [handing her the bouquet]. These are for you.
PEARL. Oh, Dr Reid, they’re lovely.
VICTOR. They’re poppies.
DR REID. From my own garden.
FLORA enters with a cup of herbal tea for PEARL.
FLORA. This brew always restored your mother when she was – [sees the others].
VICTOR. Auntie, farewell.
FLORA. You’re never leaving us?
VICTOR. Duty calls, I’ve taken a commission in the Queen’s Own Rifles.
DR REID. You have?
VICTOR. I’ve done no such thing.
PEARL fends off nausea.
FLORA. What is it, Pearl? Do you smell something? Is it the painting again?
VICTOR sniffs the painting.
PEARL. I’m perfectly well, if a tad forfochen; that woman kept me up half the nicht. Night.
FLORA. What woman?
PEARL. The woman weeping. I looked out my window but couldn’t get a glimpse of her. A woman from the estate, no doubt; drunk and disorderly.
FLORA. I didna hear a woman.
PEARL. You must have.
VICTOR. You heard my dream, Pearl.
FLORA. You heard the banshee.
PEARL. The banshee?
FLORA. The banshee only sings to a chosen one.
VICTOR. chosen for what?
FLORA. To receive a warnin’ of the great change.
A beat.
PEARL. Menopause?
FLORA. When the banshee wails, it means that someone will soon cross over to the other side.
VICTOR. I dreamt it was your dream, Pearl.
PEARL. Shutup, Victor.
FLORA. Your ancestors are tryin’ to tell you something.
VICTOR [to FLORA]. That’s ‘cause you never tell us anything.
DR REID. Pearl, a degree of correspondence in dreams is not unheard of. You are siblings, after all, and have recently shared the ordeal of your father’s death, and the aftershock of his will.
PEARL. Thank you, Seamus.
VICTOR. It’s “Seamus” now, is it? Since when?
PEARL. Victor. Doctor Reid has asked me to marry him.
A beat.
VICTOR [to DR REID]. I didn’t hear you ask my permission.
PEARL. Don’t be ridiculous, Victor.
VICTOR [alarmed]. Don’t marry him, Pearl.
PEARL. I’ll marry whom I please.
VICTOR. He’s tryin’ to creep into Father’s shoes and your bed besides.
PEARL. You’re disgusting.
VICTOR. He wants to wrap you in his formaldehyde embrace and put you in a jar on his laboratory shelf.
PEARL. If it wasn’t for Dr Reid, you’d be walking about dead right now, he’s your best friend in the world!
VICTOR. He’s a corp-liftin’ ghoul and he’s bullied Auntie Flora into league with him! Has he given you a ring? Or has he got a different gift tucked away for you in his bag of tricks? Perhaps one of his magic potions he’s been longing to prick you with! [Snatching DR REID’s medical bag.]
PEARL. Victor –!
VICTOR [rifling it]. Ha-ha! [Holding up a scalpel.] Performed any field surgery lately? As well to have it on hand in case you encounter a promising two-headed calf, eh?
DR REID. Victor, my boy, give me the scalpel.
VICTOR [dropping the bag, brandishing the scalpel, deadly earnest]. Tell me the truth.
DR REID. I don’t know what you –
VICTOR. The truth about my family! The “burden”, the “horror”! I heard you on the attic stairs, there’s not a corner of this house you’ve no’ pissed in and defiled, tell me or I’ll cut your throat!
PEARL [enraged]. I’ll tell you the secret, Victor! It was your precious mother. She was mad, and it’s coming out in you, and it would come out in my curs’ed progeny. Dr Reid wants to marry me to shield me from it; to be on hand when you spiral into the pit, so that you may rave within the confines of Belle Moral and not some forsaken madhouse!
VICTOR [stricken]. Is it true, Auntie?
DR REID. prepares a needle.
Was she mad? According to whom? To you, Doctor? And what did you do? Put her away in your asylum? Why? Did you want her for yourself? Did you have her? [grief-stricken] Did she die there?
DR REID [approaching with needle]. Victor, lad –
VICTOR slashes. DR REID jumps aside.
FLORA. Victor, sweetheart –
VICTOR [fending her off with the scalpel, furious]. No!
He backs away and exits out the window.
FLORA [running after him]. Victor –!
DR REID [alarmed]. Flora, no!
PEARL. Auntie!
FLORA. He’s like to drown himself in truth this time –!
DR REID. We’ll see that doesn’t happen [pulling the bell cord] we’ll send Wee Farleigh.
PEARL. Doctor … if I go mad –
DR REID. You won’t –
PEARL. If I go mad I want you to promise me –[covering her nose and mouth] – I know you can’t smell it. I know what’s happening to me.
DR REID. My dear, you’ve been under a terrible strain –
PEARL [controlling her terror]. It’s in me too – the flaw – and it will out. It’s begun already.
WEE FARLEIGH enters.
DR REID. Pearl –
She seizes DR REID’s hand and presses it against her belly.
PEARL. You know what it is. I can see it in your eyes. Why won’t you say?
FLORA. Pearl, you mustn’t –
PEARL [savage]. You’re not my mother! And you, Doctor, are not my father. While I am still lucid, in the time that remains to me, I intend to work. But I’ll not parade myself as an obscene and bloated curiosity – you see, Doctor, I am still in possession of my faculties, able to diagnose myself, even if you won’t. [fighting nausea] Promise me that when my condition becomes apparent, you will operate.
FLORA. Operate?
PEARL. You will perform a complete hysterectomy.
DR REID. Pearl –
PEARL [commanding]. Promise me!
DR REID. I promise.
PEARL. But neither Victor nor I, no matter how acute our condition, is ever to be committed to an asylum.
DR REID. I promise.
PEARL. We’re to live here at Belle Moral, and Auntie is to be provided for.
DR REID. I promise.
A beat.
PEARL. I’ll marry you, Seamus.
FLORA [repeating under her breath, as though praying]. Deanum dhuit eolas, gu casgadh beum sula. Air na naodha conair, air na naodha conachair, air na naodha coilechinn, air naodha ban senga sith. [pron. Jaynum hoed olas, g’càskar bayum sohluh. Air na nuh-ee conn-er, air na nuh-ee conna-hair, air na nuh-ee colla-hin, air nuhee banna sheng-ah shee] [trans: I make for thee a charm to check the evil eye. Against the nine paths, against the nine tumults, against the nine crafty wiles, against the nine slender women of the underworld]
PEARL sways on her feet, falls, WEE FARLEIGH catches her. FLORA puts the tea cup to PEARL’S lips. PEARL straightens, takes the cup and hurls the contents at the painting. Thunder. It begins to rain. PEARL exits. FLORA follows her. WEE FARLEIGH awaits instructions.
DR REID. Send for the Justice of the Peace.
ACT III
Scene 1 The Attic
That night. Rain throughout the the following scenes. Candle light. A single cot. A wash basin. A small crucifix on the wall. THE CREATURE huddles in the worn tartan shawl that obscures its face. DR REID. is formally dressed.
DR REID. Come. There’s a good girl.
THE CREATURE is motionless. DR REID takes something from his pocket, crouches, gently holds out his hand.
Have a sweet. Go ahead. [drawing closer, friendly] I’m not going to hurt you.
THE CREATURE lunges, taking a ferocious swipe at him with its bare hands, and swiftly retreats to a crouch. DR REID falls back, clutching his neck.
Damn you!
He is bleeding. He backs away cautiously, reaching for his medical bag.
Scene 2 Pearl’s Bedroom
PEARL, in travelling tweeds, brushes her hair back into a severe bun. FLORA enters with a wedding gown. PEARL stares.
FLORA. You’ll only be wed once. Please, pet.
PEARL. Has Victor come home yet?
FLORA shakes her head, no. Hides her face in the gown.
Scene 3 The Painting
Thunder. Lightening plays upon the canvas. The colours have begun to run at the centre, revealing a shadowy figure.
Scene 4 The Drawing Room
DR REID waits in his finery. His neck is bandaged. He stares at the painting. Approaches, about to touch it, when PEARL enters, wearing the wedding gown and veil. She lifts the veil. DR REID is overwhelmed at the sight: she is beautiful.
PEARL [all but paralyzed with grief]. My brother is dead, Seamus.
DR REID. No, my dear, we’ll find him, I promise you.
PEARL. The sea has him. She’s rocking him gently now.
DR REID. Hush.
PEARL [wiping tears]. She loves him. She loves us all.
DR REID. You are beautiful, Pearl. More beautiful, even, than your mother. [Holding out his hand.] Come. There’s a good girl.
He is about to take her hand when WEE FARLEIGH enters.
WEE FARLEIGH. The Justice of the Peace has arrived.
PEARL. What are you doing here? Why aren’t you out looking for my brother?
WEE FARLEIGH. Your brother –?
DR REID [to WEE FARLEIGH]. That will be all –
FLORA [from off]. Help!!
PEARL. Victor!
FLORA [entering]. She’s dead! Lord help us, Seamus, she’s –!
DR REID. Hush, Flora –!
FLORA. I canna wake her!
PEARL. Who? Who is dead?
FLORA. Och, I told ee, Seamus, I warned ee, the banshee niver lies –!
DR REID. She’s alive, I tell you!
PEARL. What is going on in this house?!
DR REID. Pearl –
PEARL. Tell me!
DR REID. Wait until we are wed, I beseech you.
PEARL. Why?
DR REID. Because …
PEARL. Because it is a horror.
DR REID. Because it is a gift. My gift to you.
FLORA. Seamus –!
PEARL. Show me this instant. Or leave my sight.
He holds out his hand. She takes it. Thunder. They exit. FLORA goes to follow but turns back.
FLORA. Why have you given up the search?
WEE FARLEIGH. What search, Miss?
FLORA. Did Dr Reid not ask you to find young Master MacIsaac?
WEE FARLEIGH. No, Miss. Miss, the Justice of Peace is waiting in the conservatory. Shall I offer him some refreshment?
Scene 5 The Attic
PEARL, DR REID at her side, gazes at THE CREATURE who lies, immobile on the cot, dressed in a white nightgown. THE CREATURE’S long hair is spread out around her, the tartan shawl lies discarded on the floor. PEARL goes to approach, but hesitates.
DR REID. Go ahead. It is quite safe.
PEARL. Who is she?
DR REID. Pearl, approach the subject. Closer examination may prompt you to revise your question.
PEARL goes closer. She sees something on one side of THE CREATURE’s head and is startled, then drawn in.
Ay. “What” is she? That is the question you and I shall dedicate our lives to answering. Oh, Pearl; I worship you.
&n
bsp; FLORA enters. THE CREATURE stirs.
You see, Flora? She is not dead. Merely sedated.
FLORA. Why?
DR REID. She’s my patient. I’m treating her.
PEARL, speechless, smooths the hair back from the other side of the woman’s face to reveal a scar in place of an ear. She looks to DR REID.
I’ll answer your questions, my darling, every one. Come away now, the Justice of the Peace is waiting –
FLORA. No he’s not. I sent him away.
DR REID. Have you taken leave of your senses?
FLORA. You never told Wee Farleigh to go out after Victor. You left the lad to wander all alone, weeping and raging, and on such a night, why? When you know what can happen?
DR REID. Pearl, your brother is more histrionic than hysterical, the best thing for it is to ignore him.
FLORA [to PEARL]. She’s your sister.
DR REID. Flora –!
FLORA. She is your sister, Pearl, your flesh and blood, I wanted to tell you, but Dr Reid –
DR REID [icy]. As I recall, Flora, we agreed –
FLORA [outraged, to DR REID]. Fiend!
DR REID [forced calm, to PEARL]. My dearest girl. There is no reason why this need alter, in the slightest degree, the course of your life. Look away now and we shall never mention this night again.
VICTOR and WEE FARLEIGH enter. VICTOR is soaked.
FLORA [seeing VICTOR safe]. Oh thank God.
VICTOR sees THE CREATURE. His breathing becomes slightly laboured.
PEARL. She’s our sister, Victor.
VICTOR draws near. He sees what PEARL saw. His breathing calms.
FLORA [gentle]. Victor, sweetheart, she’s your twin.
A beat.
PEARL. Am I to understand that … she has been here, under this roof –
FLORA. No, no –
DR REID. No, your father sent her away –
FLORA. For your sakes –