Arcadia (14 page)

Thomasina: I will wait for you to come.

Septimus: I cannot.

Thomasina: You may.

Septimus: I may not.

Thomasina: You must.

Septimus: I will not.

(Sheputs the candlestick and the essay on the table.)

Thomasina: Then I will not go. Once more, for my birthday. (Septimus
and
Thomasina
start to waltz together.

GUS
comes forward, startling
Hannah.) Hannah: Oh!—you
made me jump.

(GUS
looks resplendent. He is carrying an old and somewhat
tattered stiff-backed folio fastened with a tape tied in a bow. He comes to
Hannah
and thrusts this present at her.)

Oh ...

(She lays the folio down on the table and starts to open
it. It consists only of two boards hinged, containing Thomasina’s drawing.)

‘Septimus holding Plautus’.
(To
Gus) I was looking
for that.

Thank you.

(Gus
nods several times. Then, rather awkwardly, he bows
to her. A Regency bow, an invitation to dance.)

Oh, dear, I don’t really ...

(After a moments hesitation, she gets up and they hold
each other, keeping a decorous distance between them, and start to dance,
rather awkwardly.

Septimus
and
Thomasina
continue to dance, fluently,
to the piano.)