ACT 2, SCENE 6

IN THE SCRIPTORIUM

ESME is working with a whole lot of (her own) slips, collecting them, and sorting them.

GARETH: Hello.

ESME: Oh. Hello! (she starts; the slips are scattered on the floor) Oh, heavens!

GARETH: It’s all right. Here. We can gather them up.

ESME: (gathering) You’re here for …?

GARETH: I’m looking for Dr – sorry – Sir James – how could I forget the significant honour! – Sir James Murray. I need to give him these proofs.

ESME: He’s not here.

GARETH: No. I can see that.

ESME: Yes.

GARETH: So maybe I can leave the proofs with you, Miss Nicoll? There?

ESME: There’ll do. (he puts the proofs down) We’ve met before?

GARETH: Not formally.

ESME: Oh. Proofs. For the press. We met at the press. I remember. Slips. At the press. In the compositing room. I dropped them. Déjà vu.

GARETH: Déjà vu.

ESME: You were kind.

GARETH: I hope so.

ESME: Oh, you were. I was in such a state. It was the first time I’d been entrusted with slips and – anyway. Thank you.

GARETH: My pleasure. There. I think that’s the lot.

ESME: And now I can thank you again. Don’t worry about the order. I can sort them later. It’s just a … hobby.

GARETH: (looking at one of the slips) ‘Pillock’. (grins) Ah. Yes. I’ve heard that one. But not seen it in print!

ESME: No, I doubt if you will.

GARETH: ‘The man’s an utter pillock. No brains at all!’ Tilda Taylor, 1910. Seems about right. Who is Tilda Taylor?

ESME: She’s the woman who used the word.

GARETH: The words aren’t in the Dictionary, then?

ESME: No. None of them are.

GARETH: (shuffling through them) But some of them are quite common.

ESME: Among the people who use them, they are. But ‘common’ isn’t a prerequisite for the Dictionary. I see it as an editorial blind spot.

GARETH: Who uses them?

ESME: The poor. People who work at the Covered Market. Women. Which is why they’ve not been written down and why they’ve been excluded. Though sometimes they have been written down, but they’re still left out because they’re not used in ‘polite society’.

GARETH: Ah.

ESME: But they’re important!

GARETH: Well, you’d better keep them safe, then.

ESME: Oh, I will. Don’t worry. (beat) And then there are …

GARETH: Yes?

ESME: Well, there are also words that don’t exist. I heard a woman called a ‘scold’ earlier today and I thought – what would they call a man who gave an angry speech? And what is the male equivalent of ‘maiden’ or ‘whore’? Oh. You’re probably shocked.

GARETH: I’m not shocked.

ESME: But it’s interesting, isn’t it? There are all these words in existence – maiden, wife, mother – that define women in a way that men are not.

GARETH: There are words like father, and husband. And bachelor. Just not ‘maiden’. With that connotation of ‘virgin’. Or. The other one. ‘Whore’. About which I’m supposed to be shocked.

ESME: I do have a sense of humour.

GARETH: Phew!

ESME: Phew. They should be published, though.

GARETH: These words?

ESME: I know it’s impossible, but it seems to me – a different kind of dictionary would … give voice to these words, allow people to understand them, to respect them … Oh, my friend Lizzie would say I am on my hobby horse! And I am. And my da would say the great Dictionary we are collectively attempting is quite task enough. And it is. And here’s Sir James.

GARETH: Sir.

MURRAY: Gareth. What a relief to see you. I need some fancy footwork at the final hurdle for the upcoming fascicle.

GARETH: I’m sure it’s possible. I brought the proofs. From ‘sleep’ to ‘sniggle’.

MURRAY: The problem is with ‘sniggle’. We shall have to amend the quotation after the event. I am relying on you, Mr Owen. However, if there aren’t too many more such edits, we can go to print by Christmas, which is enormously cheering. Kindly do not roll your eyes, Miss Nicoll.

ESME: Sir James, I didn’t!

MURRAY: Blushing, Miss Nicoll! I know a supreme effort of control when I see it. Which I appreciate. How is your father, Esme?

ESME: Well enough.

MURRAY: An excellent answer, though I note that, as usual, the finer point is that you are quietly noncommittal. You will make sure he takes some rest?

ESME: I’ll do my best.

MURRAY: As you do always, Miss Nicoll. (quick glance at the younger two) Don’t be a stranger, Mr Owen. You’re welcome here.