Complete Works, Volume IV (18 page)

JERRY
Is he the one who’s always been here or is it his son?

ROBERT
You mean has his son always been here?

JERRY
No, is
he
his son? I mean, is he the son of the one who’s always been here?

ROBERT
No, he’s his father.

JERRY
Ah. Is he?

ROBERT
He’s the one who speaks wonderful Italian.

JERRY
Yes. Your Italian’s pretty good, isn’t it?

ROBERT
No. Not at all.

JERRY
Yes it is.

ROBERT
No, it’s Emma’s Italian which is very good. Emma’s Italian is very good.

JERRY
Is it? I didn’t know that.

Waiter with bottle.

WAITER
Corvo Bianco, signore.

ROBERT
Thank you.

JERRY
How was it, anyway? Venice.

WAITER
Venice, signore? Beautiful. A most beautiful place of Italy. You see that painting on the wall? Is Venice.

ROBERT
So it is.

WAITER
You know what is none of in Venice?

JERRY
What?

WAITER
Traffico.

He goes, smiling.

ROBERT
Cheers.

JERRY
Cheers.

ROBERT
When were you last there?

JERRY
Oh, years.

ROBERT
How’s Judith?

JERRY
What? Oh, you know, okay. Busy.

ROBERT
And the kids?

JERRY
All right. Sam fell off—

ROBERT
What?

JERRY
No, no, nothing. So how was it?

ROBERT
You used to go there with Judith, didn’t you?

JERRY
Yes, but we haven’t been there for years.

Pause.

How about Charlotte? Did she enjoy it?

ROBERT
I think she did.

Pause.

I did.

JERRY
Good.

ROBERT
I went for a trip to Torcello.

JERRY
Oh, really? Lovely place.

ROBERT
Incredible day. I got up very early and—whoomp—right across the lagoon—to Torcello. Not a soul stirring.

JERRY
What’s the ‘whoomp’?

ROBERT
Speedboat.

JERRY
Ah. I thought—

ROBERT
What?

JERRY
It’s so long ago, I’m obviously wrong. I thought one went to Torcello by gondola.

ROBERT
It would take hours. No, no,—whoomp—across the lagoon in the dawn.

JERRY
Sounds good.

ROBERT
I was quite alone.

JERRY
Where was Emma?

ROBERT
I think asleep.

JERRY
Ah.

ROBERT
I was alone for hours, as a matter of fact, on the island. Highpoint, actually, of the whole trip.

JERRY
Was it? Well, it sounds marvellous.

ROBERT
Yes. I sat on the grass and read Yeats.

JERRY
Yeats on Torcello?

ROBERT
They went well together.

Waiter with food.

WAITER
One melone. One prosciutto e melone.

ROBERT
Prosciutto for me.

WAITER
Buon appetito.

ROBERT
Emma read that novel of that chum of yours—what’s his name?

JERRY
I don’t know. What?

ROBERT
Spinks.

JERRY
Oh Spinks. Yes. The one you didn’t like.

ROBERT
The one I wouldn’t publish.

JERRY
I remember. Did Emma like it?

ROBERT
She seemed to be madly in love with it.

JERRY
Good.

ROBERT
You like it yourself, do you?

JERRY
I do.

ROBERT
And it’s very successful?

JERRY
It is.

ROBERT
Tell me, do you think that makes me a publisher of unique critical judgement or a foolish publisher?

JERRY
A foolish publisher.

ROBERT
I agree with you. I am a very foolish publisher.

JERRY
No you’re not. What are you talking about? You’re a good publisher. What are you talking about?

ROBERT
I’m a bad publisher because I hate books. Or to be more precise, prose. Or to be even more precise, modern prose, I mean modern novels, first novels and second novels, all that promise and sensibility it falls upon me to judge, to put the firm’s money on, and then to push for the third novel, see it done, see the dust jacket done, see the dinner for the national literary editors done, see the signing in Hatchards done, see the lucky author cook himself to death, all in the name of literature. You know what you and Emma have in common? You love literature. I mean you love modern prose literature, I mean you love the new novel by the new Casey or Spinks. It gives you both a thrill.

JERRY
You must be pissed.

ROBERT
Really? You mean you don’t think it gives Emma a thrill?

JERRY
How do I know? She’s your wife.

Pause.

ROBERT
Yes. Yes. You’re quite right. I shouldn’t have to consult you. I shouldn’t have to consult anyone.

JERRY
I’d like some more wine.

ROBERT
Yes, yes. Waiter! Another bottle of Corvo Bianco. And where’s our lunch? This place is going to pot. Mind you, it’s worse in Venice. They really don’t give a fuck there. I’m not drunk. You can’t get drunk on Corvo Bianco. Mind you . . . last night . . . I was up late . . . I hate brandy . . . it stinks of modern literature. No, look, I’m sorry . . .

Waiter with bottle.

WAITER
Corvo Bianco.

ROBERT
Same glass. Where’s our lunch?

WAITER
It comes.

ROBERT
I’ll pour.

Waiter goes, with melon plates.

No, look, I’m sorry, have another drink. I’ll tell you what it is, it’s just that I can’t bear being back in London. I was happy, such a rare thing, not in Venice, I don’t mean that, I mean on Torcello, when I walked about Torcello in the early morning, alone, I was happy, I wanted to stay there for ever.

JERRY
We all . . .

ROBERT
Yes, we all . . . feel that sometimes. Oh you do yourself, do you?

Pause.

I mean there’s nothing really wrong, you see. I’ve got the family. Emma and I are very good together. I think the world of her. And I actually consider Casey to be a first-rate writer.

JERRY
Do you really?

ROBERT
First rate. I’m proud to publish him and you discovered him and that was very clever of you.

JERRY
Thanks.

ROBERT
You’ve got a good nose and you care and I respect that in you. So does Emma. We often talk about it.

JERRY
How is Emma?

ROBERT
Very well. You must come and have a drink sometime. She’d love to see you.

1971

SCENE EIGHT

Flat. 1971. Summer.

Flat empty. Kitchen door open. Table set; crockery, glasses, bottle of wine.

Jerry comes in through front door, with key.

JERRY
Hullo.

Emma’s voice from kitchen.

EMMA
Hullo.

Emma comes out of kitchen. She is wearing an apron.

EMMA
I’ve only just got here. I meant to be here ages ago. I’m making this stew. It’ll be hours.

He kisses her.

Are you starving?

JERRY
Yes.

He kisses her.

EMMA
No really. I’ll never do it. You sit down. I’ll get it on.

JERRY
What a lovely apron.

EMMA
Good.

She kisses him, goes into kitchen.

She calls. He pours wine.

EMMA
What have you been doing?

JERRY
Just walked through the park.

EMMA
What was it like?

JERRY
Beautiful. Empty. A slight mist.

Pause.

I sat down for a bit, under a tree. It was very quiet. I just looked at the Serpentine.

Pause.

EMMA
And then?

JERRY
Then I got a taxi to Wessex Grove. Number 31. And I climbed the steps and opened the front door and then climbed the stairs and opened this door and found you in a new apron cooking a stew.

Emma comes out of the kitchen.

EMMA
It’s on.

JERRY
Which is now on.

Emma pours herself a vodka.

JERRY
Vodka? At lunchtime?

EMMA
Just feel like one.

She drinks.

I ran into Judith yesterday. Did she tell you?

JERRY
No, she didn’t.

Pause.

Where?

EMMA
Lunch.

JERRY
Lunch?

EMMA
She didn’t tell you?

JERRY
No.

EMMA
That’s funny.

JERRY
What do you mean, lunch? Where?

EMMA
At Gino’s.

JERRY
Gino’s? What the hell was she doing at Gino’s?

EMMA
Having lunch. With a woman.

JERRY
A woman?

EMMA
Yes.

Pause.

JERRY
Gino’s is a long way from the hospital.

EMMA
Of course it isn’t.

JERRY
Well . . . I suppose not.

Pause.

And you?

EMMA
Me?

JERRY
What were you doing at Gino’s?

EMMA
Having lunch with my sister.

JERRY
Ah.

Pause.

EMMA
Judith . . . didn’t tell you?

JERRY
I haven’t really seen her. I was out late last night, with Casey. And she was out early this morning.

Pause.

EMMA
Do you think she knows?

JERRY
Knows?

EMMA
Does she know? About us?

JERRY
No.

EMMA
Are you sure?

JERRY
She’s too busy. At the hospital. And then the kids. She doesn’t go in for . . . speculation.

EMMA
But what about clues? Isn’t she interested . . . to follow clues?

JERRY
What clues?

EMMA
Well, there must be some . . . available to her . . . to pick up.

JERRY
There are none . . . available to her.

EMMA
Oh. Well . . . good.

JERRY
She has an admirer.

EMMA
Really?

JERRY
Another doctor. He takes her for drinks. It’s . . . irritating. I mean, she says that’s all there is to it. He likes her, she’s fond of him, et cetera, et cetera . . . perhaps that’s what I find irritating. I don’t know exactly what’s going on.

EMMA
Oh, why shouldn’t she have an admirer? I have an admirer.

JERRY
Who?

EMMA
Uuh . . . you, I think.

JERRY
Ah. Yes.

He takes her hand.

I’m more than that.

Pause.

EMMA
Tell me . . . Have you ever thought . . . of changing your life?

JERRY
Changing?