ACT I
Scene: The drawing-room at Baldry Court, Harrow Weald. It is a large and lovely room. The back wall consists of French windows, leading on to a garden. Two steps lead down from the back wall to the rest of the room. The fireplace is in the centre of the L. wall and has a bench before it. Down stage L., a door. There are other windows in the R. wall, with a window-seat below them, and another door down stage R., leading to the hall. A large grand piano stands in the corner up stage R., so that the player has his back to the French windows and faces the audience. A large Chesterfield. There is an armchair facing the fire and another above it, facing the audience. The room is furnished with taste and beauty. It is about 2.30 on a spring afternoon in 1916.
When the curtain rises, Jenny comes in L. She is a tall, good-looking, dark young woman of thirty-five. She goes over to the door R., opens it, goes out into the hall, returns disappointed, closes the door, comes back, and rings a bell by the fireplace. Ellen, a tidy, trim parlourmaid, comes in R.
Ellen : You rang, miss?
Jenny : Yes. Has the afternoon post come yet, Ellen?
Ellen : Not yet, miss.
Jenny : It’s terribly late, surely?
Ellen : Yes, miss.
Jenny : Has he gone by, do you suppose?
Ellen : No, miss. I’ve been watching for him, ever since lunch.
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