not the body.
STRANGER. Tell me--is he here--now?
DOCTOR. Yes. He's free to wander in the garden and arrange creation. But
if his presence disquiets you, we can shut him up.
STRANGER. Why aren't such poor devils put out of--their misery?
DOCTOR. It's hard to know whether they're ripe....
STRANGER. What for?
DOCTOR. For what's to come.
STRANGER. There _is_ nothing. (Pause.)
DOCTOR. Who knows!
STRANGER. I feel strangely uneasy. Have you medical material...
specimens... dead bodies?
DOCTOR. Oh yes. In the ice-box--for the authorities, you know. (He pulls
out an arm and leg.) Look here.
STRANGER. No. Too much like Bluebeard!
DOCTOR (sharply). What do you mean by that? (Looking at the LADY.) Do
you think I kill my wives?
STRANGER. Oh no. It's clear you don't. Is this house haunted, too?
DOCTOR. Oh yes. Ask my wife.(He disappears behind the wood pile where
neither the STRANGER nor the LADY can see him.)
LADY. You needn't whisper, my husband's deaf. Though he can lip read.
STRANGER. Then let me say that I've never known a more painful
half-hour. We exchange the merest commonplaces, because none of us has
the courage to say what he thinks. I suffered so that the idea came to
me of opening my veins to get relief. But now I'd like to tell him the
truth and have done with it. Shall we say to his face that we mean to go
away, and that you've had enough of his foolishness?
LADY. If you talk like that I'll begin to hate you. You must behave
under any circumstances.
STRANGER. How well brought up you are! (The DOCTOR now becomes visible
to the STRANGER and the LADY, who continue their conversation.) Come
away with me, before the sun goes down. (Pause.) Tell me, why did you
kiss me yesterday?
LADY. But....
STRANGER. Supposing he could hear what we say! I don't trust him.
DOCTOR. What shall we do to amuse our guest?
LADY. He doesn't care much for amusement. His life's not been happy.
(The DOCTOR blows a whistle. The MADMAN comes into the garden. He wears
a laurel wreath and his clothes are curious.)
DOCTOR. Come here, Caesar.
STRANGER (displeased). What? Is he called Caesar?
DOCTOR. No. It's a nickname I gave him, to remind me of a boy I was at
school with.
STRANGER (disturbed). Oh?
DOCTOR. He was involved in a strange incident, and I got all the blame.
LADY (to the STRANGER). You'd never believe a boy could have been so
corrupt.
(The STRANGER looks distressed. The MA
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