Part 12
DINA. Because he is as thick as pudding with the old lady; because they are always together, arm in arm, and as loving as can be. Mother-in-law and son-in-law, if you please! Whoever heard the like of that?
AMALIA. And he comes here every evening to see how the old lady is getting on!
DINA. And that is not the worst of it! Sometimes he comes during the daytime, once or twice!
LAUDISI. How scandalous! Do you think he is making love to the old woman?
DINA. Now don't be improper, uncle. No, we will acquit him of that. She is a poor old lady, quite on her last legs.
AMALIA. But he never, never, never brings his wife! A daughter kept from seeing her mother! The idea!
LAUDISI. Perhaps the young lady is not well; perhaps she isn't able to go out.
DINA. Nonsense! The old lady goes to see _her!_
AMALIA. Exactly! And she never gets in! She can see her only from a distance. Now will you explain to me why, in the name of common sense, that poor mother should be forbidden ever to enter her daughter's house?
DINA. And if she wants to talk to her she has to shout up from the courtyard!
AMALIA. Five stories, if you please!... And her daughter comes out and looks down from the balcony up there. The poor old woman goes into the courtyard and pulls a string that leads up to the balcony; a bell rings; the girl comes out and her mother talks up at her, her head thrown back, just as though she were shouting from out of a well....
(_There is a knock at the door and the butler enters_).
BUTLER. Callers, madam!
AMALIA. Who is it, please?
BUTLER. Signor Sirelli, and the Signora with another lady, madam.
AMALIA. Very well, show them in.
(_The butler bows and withdraws_).
_Sirelli, Signora Sirelli, Signora Cini appear in the doorway, rear._
SIRELLI, _also a man of about forty, is a bald, fat gentleman with some pretensions to stylish appearance that do not quite succeed: the overdressed provincial_.
SIGNORA SIRELLI, _his wife, plump, petite, a faded blonde, still young and girlishly pleasing. She, too, is somewhat overdressed with the provincial's fondness for display. She has the aggressive curiosity of the small-town gossip. She is chiefly occupied in keeping her husband in his place_.
SIGNORA CINI _is the old provincial lady of affected manners, who takes malicious delight in the failings of others, all the while affecting innocence and inexperience regarding the waywardness of mankind_.
AMALIA (_as the visitors enter, and taking Signora Sirelli's hands effusively_). Dearest! Dearest!
SIGNORA SIRELLI. I took the liberty of bringing my good friend, Signora Cini, along. She was so anxious to know you!
AMALIA. So good of you to come, Signora! Please make yourself at home! My daughter Dina, Signora Cini, and this is my brother, Lamberto Laudisi.
SIRELLI (_bowing to the ladies_). Signora, Signorina. (_He goes over and shakes hands with Laudisi._)
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Amalia dearest, we have come here as to the fountain of knowledge. We are two pilgrims athirst for the truth!
AMALIA. The truth? Truth about what?
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Why ... about this blessed Mr. Ponza of ours, the new secretary at the prefecture. He is the talk of the town, take my word for it, Amalia.
SIGNORA CINI. And we are all just dying to find out!
AMALIA. But we are as much in the dark as the rest of you, I assure you, madam.
SIRELLI (_to his wife_). What did I tell you? They know no more about it than I do. In fact, I think they know less about it than I do. Why is it this poor woman is not allowed to see her daughter? Do you know the reason, you people, the real reason?
AMALIA. Why, I was just discussing the matter with my brother.
LAUDISI. And my view of it is that you're all a pack of gossips!
DINA. The reason is, they say, that Ponza will not allow her to.
SIGNORA CINI. Not a sufficient reason, if I may say so, Signorina.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Quite insufficient! There's more to it than that!
SIRELLI. I have a new item for you, fresh, right off the ice: he keeps her locked up at home!
AMALIA. His mother-in-law?
SIRELLI. No, no, his wife!
SIGNORA CINI. Under lock and key!
DINA. There, Nunky, what have you to say to that? And you've been trying to defend him all along!
SIRELLI (_staring in astonishment at Laudisi_). Trying to defend that man? Really....
LAUDISI. Defending him? No! I am not defending anybody. All I'm saying, if you ladies will excuse me, is that all this gossip is not worthy of you. More than that, you are just wasting your breath; because, so far as I can see, you're not getting anywhere at all.
SIRELLI. I don't follow you, sir!
LAUDISI. You're getting nowhere, my charming ladies!
SIGNORA CINI. But we're trying to get somewhere--we are trying to find out!
LAUDISI. Excuse me, what can you find out? What can we really know about other people--who they are--what they are--what they are doing, and why they are doing it?
SIGNORA SIRELLI. How can we know? Why not? By asking, of course! You tell me what you know, and I tell you what I know.
LAUDISI. In that case, madam, you ought to be the best informed person in the world. Why, your husband knows more about what others are doing than any other man--or woman, for that matter--in this neighborhood.
SIRELLI (_deprecatingly but pleased_). Oh I say, I say....
SIGNORA SIRELLI (_to her husband_). No dear, he's right, he's right. (_Then turning to Amalia_): The real truth, Amalia, is this: for all my husband says he knows, I never manage to keep posted on anything!
SIRELLI. And no wonder! The trouble is--that woman never trusts me! The moment I tell her something she is convinced it is not _quite_ as I say. Then, sooner or later, she claims that it _can't_ be as I say. And at last she is certain it is the exact opposite of what I say!
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Well, you ought to hear all he tells me!
LAUDISI (_laughing aloud_). Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah! May I speak, madam? Let me answer your husband. My dear Sirelli, how do you expect your wife to be satisfied with things as you explain them to her, if you, as is natural, represent them as they seem to you?
SIGNORA SIRELLI. And that means--as they cannot possibly be!
LAUDISI. Why no, Signora, now you are wrong. From your husband's point of view things are, I assure you, exactly as he represents them.
SIRELLI. As they are in reality!
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Not at all! You are always wrong.
SIRELLI. No, not a bit of it! It is you who are always wrong. I am always right.
LAUDISI. The fact is that neither of you is wrong. May I explain? I will prove it to you. Now here you are, you, Sirelli, and Signora Sirelli, your wife, there; and here I am. You see me, don't you?
SIRELLI. Well ... er ... yes.
LAUDISI. Do you see me, or do you not?
SIRELLI. Oh, I'll bite! Of course I see you.
LAUDISI. So you see me! But that's not enough. Come here!
SIRELLI (_smiling, he obeys, but with a puzzled expression on his face as though he fails to understand what Laudisi is driving at_). Well, here I am!
LAUDISI. Yes! Now take a better look at me.... Touch me! That's it--that's it! Now you are touching me, are you not? And you see me! You're sure you see me?
SIRELLI. Why, I should say....
LAUDISI. Yes, but the point is, you're sure! Of course you're sure! Now if you please, Signora Sirelli, you come here--or rather ... no ... (_gallantly_) it is my place to come to you! (_He goes over to Signora Sirelli and kneels chivalrously on one knee_). You see me, do you not, madam? Now that hand of yours ... touch me! A pretty hand, on my word! (_He pats her hand_).
SIRELLI. Easy! Easy!
LAUDISI. Never mind your husband, madam! Now, you have touched me, have you not? And you see me? And you are absolutely sure about me, are you not? Well now, madam, I beg of you; do not tell your husband, nor my sister, nor my niece, nor Signora Cini here, what you think of me; because, if you were to do that, they would all tell you that you are completely wrong. But, you see, you are really right; because I am really what you take me to be; though, my dear madam, that does not prevent me from also being really what your husband, my sister, my niece, and Signora Cini take me to be--because they also are absolutely right!
SIGNORA SIRELLI. In other words you are a different person for each of us.
LAUDISI. Of course I'm a different person! And you, madam, pretty as you are, aren't you a different person, too?
SIGNORA SIRELLI (_hastily_). No siree! I assure you, as far as I'm concerned, I'm always the same always, yesterday, today, and forever!
LAUDISI. Ah, but so am I, from my point of view, believe me! And, I would say that you are all mistaken unless you see me as I see myself; but that would be an inexcusable presumption on my part--as it would be on yours, my dear madam!
SIRELLI. And what has all this rigmarole got to do with it, may I ask?
LAUDISI. What has it got to do with it? Why ... I find all you people here at your wits' ends trying to find out who and what other people are; just as though other people had to be this, or that, and nothing else.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. All you are saying is that we can never find out the truth! A dreadful idea!
SIGNORA CINI. I give up! I give up! If we can't believe even what we see with our eyes and feel with our fingers....
LAUDISI. But you must understand, madam! Of course you can believe what you see with _your_ eyes and feel with _your_ fingers. All I'm saying is that you should show some respect for what other people see with their eyes and feel with their fingers, even though it be the exact opposite of what you see and feel.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. The way to answer you is to refuse to talk with you. See, I turn my back on you! I am going to move my chair around and pretend you aren't in the room. Why, you're driving me crazy, crazy!
LAUDISI. Oh, I beg your pardon. Don't let me interfere with your party. Please go on! Pray continue your argument about Signora Frola and Signor Ponza--I promise not to interrupt again!
AMALIA. You're right for once, Lamberto; and I think it would be even better if you should go into the other room.
DINA. Serves you right, Nunky! Into the other room with you, into the other room!
LAUDISI. No, I refuse to budge! Fact is, I enjoy hearing you gossip; but I promise not to say anything more, don't fear! At the very most, with your permission, I shall indulge in a laugh or two.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. How funny ... and our idea in coming here was to find out.... But really, Amalia, I thought this Ponza man was your husband's secretary at the Provincial building.
AMALIA. He is his secretary--in the office. But here at home what authority has Agazzi over the fellow?
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Of course! I understand! But may I ask ... haven't you even tried to see Signora Frola, next door?
DINA. Tried? I should say we had! Twice, Signora!
SIGNORA CINI. Well ... so then ... you have probably talked to her....
DINA. We were not _received_, if you please!
SIGNORA SIRELLI, SIRELLI, SIGNORA CINI (_in chorus_). Not received? Why! Why! Why!
DINA. This very forenoon!
AMALIA. The first time we waited fully fifteen minutes at the door. We rang and rang and rang, and no one came. Why, we weren't even able to leave our cards! So we went back today....
DINA (_throwing up her hands in an expression of horror_). And _he_ came to the door.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Why yes, with that face of his ... you can tell by just looking at the man.... Such a face! Such a face! You can't blame people for talking! And then, with that black suit of his.... Why, they all dress in black. Did you ever notice? Even the old lady! And the man's eyes, too!...
SIRELLI (_with a glance of pitying disgust at his wife_). What do you know about his eyes? You never saw his eyes! And you never saw the woman. How do you know she dresses in black? _Probably_ she dresses in black.... By the way, they come from a little town in the next county. Had you heard that? A village called Marsica!
AMALIA. Yes, the village that was destroyed a short time ago.
SIRELLI. Exactly! By an earthquake! Not a house left standing in the place.
DINA. And all their relatives were lost, I have heard. Not one of them left in the world!
SIGNORA CINI (_impatient to get on with the story_). Very well, very well, so then ... he came to the door....
AMALIA. Yes.... And the moment I saw him in front of me with that weird face of his I had hardly enough gumption left to tell him that we had just come to call on his mother-in-law, and he ... well ... not a word, not a word ... not even a "thank you," if you please!
DINA. That is not quite fair, mama: ... he did bow!
AMALIA. Well, yes, a bow ... if you want to call it that. Something like this!...
DINA. And his eyes! You ought to see his eyes--the eyes of a devil, and then some! You never saw a man with eyes like that!
SIGNORA CINI. Very well, what did he say, finally?
DINA. He seemed quite taken aback.
AMALIA. He was all confused like; He hitched about for a time; and at last he said that Signora Frola was not feeling well, but that she would appreciate our kindness in having come; and then he just stood there, and stood there, apparently waiting for us to go away.
DINA. I never was more mortified in my life!
SIRELLI. A boor, a plain boor, I say! Oh, it's his fault, I am telling you. And ... who knows? Perhaps he has got the old lady also under lock and key.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Well, I think something should be done about it!... After all, you are the wife of a superior of his. You can _refuse_ to be treated like that.
AMALIA. As far as that goes, my husband did take it rather badly--as a lack of courtesy on the man's part; and he went straight to the prefect with the matter, insisting on an apology.
_Signor Agazzi, commendatore and provincial councillor, appears in the doorway rear._
DINA. Oh goody, here's papa now!
AGAZZI _is well on toward fifty. He has the harsh, authoritarian manner of the provincial of importance. Red hair and beard, rather unkempt; gold-rimmed eyeglasses_.
AGAZZI. Oh Sirelli, glad to see you! (_He steps forward and bows to the company_).
AGAZZI. Signora!... (_He shakes hands with Signora Sirelli_).
AMALIA (_introducing Signora Cini_). My husband, Signora Cini!
AGAZZI (_with a bow and taking her hand_). A great pleasure, madam! (_Then turning to his wife and daughter in a mysterious voice_): I have come back from the office to give you some real news! Signora Frola will be here shortly.
SIGNORA SIRELLI (_clapping her hands delightedly_). Oh, the mother-in-law! She is coming? Really? Coming here?
SIRELLI (_going over to Agazzi and pressing his hand warmly as an expression of admiration_). That's the talk, old man, that's the talk! What's needed here is some show of authority.
AGAZZI. Why I had to, you see, I had to!... I can't let a man treat my wife and daughter that way!...
SIRELLI. I should say not! I was just expressing myself to that effect right here.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. And it would have been entirely proper to inform the prefect also....
AGAZZI (_anticipating_). ... of all the talk that is going around on this fine gentleman's account? Oh, leave that to me! I didn't miss the opportunity.
SIRELLI. Fine! Fine!
SIGNORA CINI. And such talk!
AMALIA. For my part, I never heard of such a thing. Why, do you know, he has them both under lock and key!
DINA. No, mama, we are not _quite_ sure of that. We are not _quite_ sure about the old lady, yet.
AMALIA. Well, we know it about his wife, anyway.
SIRELLI. And what did the prefect have to say?
AGAZZI. Oh the prefect ... well, the prefect ... he was very much impressed, _very_ much impressed, with what I had to say.
SIRELLI. I should hope so!
AGAZZI. You see, some of the talk had reached his ears already. And he agrees that it is better, as a matter of his own official prestige, for all this mystery in connection with one of his assistants to be cleared up, so that once and for all we shall know the truth.
LAUDISI. Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!
AMALIA. That is Lamberto's usual contribution. He laughs!
AGAZZI. And what is there to laugh about?
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Why he says that no one can ever know the truth.
(_The butler appears at the door in back set_).
THE BUTLER. Excuse me, Signora Frola!
SIRELLI. Ah, here she is now!
AGAZZI. Now we'll see if we can settle it!
SIGNORA SIRELLI. Splendid! Oh, I am so glad I came.
AMALIA (_rising_). Shall we have her come in?
AGAZZI. Wait, you keep your seat, Amalia! Let's have her come right in here. (_Turning to the butler_). Show her in!
_Exit butler._
_A moment later all rise as Signora Frola enters, and Amalia steps forward, holding out her hand in greeting._
SIGNORA FROLA _is a slight, modestly but neatly dressed old lady, very eager to talk and apparently fond of people. There is a world of sadness in her eyes, tempered however, by a gentle smile that is constantly playing about her lips._
AMALIA. Come right in, Signora Frola! (_She takes the old lady's hand and begins the introductions_). Mrs. Sirelli, a good friend of mine; Signora Cini; my husband; Mr. Sirelli; and this is my daughter, Dina; my brother Lamberto Laudisi. Please take a chair, Signora!
SIGNORA FROLA. Oh, I am so very, very sorry! I have come to excuse myself for having been so negligent of my social duties. You, Signora Agazzi, were so kind, so very kind, to have honored me with a first call--when really it was my place to leave my card with you!
AMALIA. Oh, we are just neighbors, Signora Frola! Why stand on ceremony? I just thought that you, being new in town and all alone by yourself, would perhaps like to have a little company.
SIGNORA FROLA. Oh, how very kind of you it was!
SIGNORA SIRELLI. And you are quite alone, aren't you?
SIGNORA FROLA. Oh no! No! I have a daughter, married, though she hasn't been here very long, either.
SIRELLI. And your daughter's husband is the new secretary at the prefecture, Signor Ponza, I believe?
SIGNORA FROLA. Yes, yes, exactly! And I hope that Signor Agazzi, as his superior, will be good enough to excuse me--and him, too!
AGAZZI. I will be quite frank with you, madam! I was a bit put out.
SIGNORA FROLA (_interrupting_). And you were quite right! But I do hope you will forgive him. You see, we are still--what shall I say--still so upset by the terrible things that have happened to us....
AMALIA. You went through the earthquake, didn't you?
SIGNORA SIRELLI. And you lost all your relatives?
SIGNORA FROLA. Every one of them! All our family--yes, madam. And our village was left just a miserable ruin, a pile of bricks and stones and mortar.
SIRELLI. Yes, we heard about it.
SIGNORA FROLA. It wasn't so bad for me, I suppose. I had only one sister and her daughter, and my niece had no family. But my poor son-in-law had a much harder time of it. He lost his mother, two brothers, and their wives, a sister and her husband, and there were two little ones, his nephews.
SIRELLI. A massacre!
SIGNORA FROLA. Oh, one doesn't forget such things! You see, it sort of leaves you with your feet off the ground.
AMALIA. I can imagine.
SIGNORA SIRELLI. And all over-night with no warning at all! It's a wonder you didn't go mad.
SIGNORA FROLA. Well, you see, we haven't quite gotten our bearings yet; and we do things that may seem impolite, without in the least intending to. I hope you understand!
AGAZZI. Oh please, Signora Frola, of course!
AMALIA. In fact it was partly on account of your trouble that my daughter and I thought we ought to go to see you first.
SIGNORA SIRELLI (_literally writhing with curiosity_). Yes, of course, since they saw you all alone by yourself, and yet ... excuse me, Signora Frola ... if the question doesn't seem impertinent ... how is it that when you have a daughter here in town and after a disaster like the one you have been through ... I should think you people would all stand together, that you would need one another.
SIGNORA FROLA. Whereas I am left here all by myself?
SIRELLI. Yes, exactly. If does seem strange, to tell the honest truth.
SIGNORA FROLA. Oh, I understand--of course! But you know, I have a feeling that a young man and a young woman who have married should be left a good deal to themselves.
LAUDISI. Quite so, quite so! They should be left to themselves. They are beginning a life of their own, a life different from anything they have led before. One should not interfere in these relations between a husband and a wife!
SIGNORA SIRELLI. But there are limits to everything, Laudisi, if you will excuse me! And when it comes to shutting one's own mother out of one's life....
LAUDISI. Who is shutting her out of the girl's life? Here, if I have understood the lady, we see a mother who understands that her daughter cannot and must not remain so closely associated with her as she was before, for now the young woman must begin a new life on her own account.
SIGNORA FROLA (_with evidence of keen gratitude and relief_). You have hit the point exactly, sir. You have said what I would like to have said. You are exactly right! Thank you!
SIGNORA CINI. But your daughter, I imagine, often comes to see you....
SIGNORA FROLA (_hesitating, and manifestly ill at ease_). Why yes ... I ... I ... we do see each other, of course!
SIRELLI (_quickly pressing the advantage_). But your daughter never goes out of her house! At least no one in town has ever seen her.
SIGNORA CINI. Oh, she probably has her little ones to take care of.
SIGNORA FROLA (_speaking up quickly_). No, there are no children yet, and perhaps there won't be any, now. You see, she has been married seven years. Oh, of course, she has a lot to do about the house; but that is not the reason, really. You know, we women who come from the little towns in the country--we are used to staying indoors much of the time.