THE RETURN OF THE SOLDIER
Jenny : No, we didn’t want to remind him.
Margaret (stunned) : Has Chris a child?
Jenny : He had. A boy . . . he died five years ago.
Margaret : Five years ago?
Jenny : Yes. Why?
Margaret : He died five years ago, my Dick.
[A pause.
How old was he?
Jenny : Just two.
Margaret : My Dick was two. Oh . . . why did he die?
Jenny : We never knew. He was the loveliest boy, but delicate from his birth. At the end he just faded away with the merest cold.
Margaret : So did my Dick—a chill. Just an ordinary chill. We thought he would be up and about the next day, and he just . . .
[She makes a weak, piteous gesture.
How strange it is . . . it’s as if . . . they each had half a life! Oh, poor Chris, I never knew . . . and he’s got to remember that. He always wanted a boy. He always said if we . . .
Jenny : Sh . . . I think I hear them coming.
[Kitty and Dr. Gilbert Anderson come in R. He is a bluff, hearty little man in the fifties.
Doctor (talking as he enters) : Yes, Mrs. Baldry, a complete case of amnesia. . . .
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