SCENE IV
Belgravia Cottage. To the left, there is an elegant residence with a double flight of stone steps. To the right, mid-stage, a rustic pavilion of modest appearance. There is a grilled gate at the back, with a large door in the middle. Next to the door, on the left, there is a bench. There are two large trees to the right and left of the gate, and some garden furniture.
AT RISE, James Plack, William Huxell, and Ellen Plack are seated at a table on the left taking tea.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: No news yet from Inspector Lestrade?
SIR JAMES PLACK (holding a paper which he’s been perusing): No, and that makes me uneasy. Inspector Lestrade promised to inform me as soon as he was on a trail having some credibility. Here we are, three days later, and still nothing!
ELLEN PLACK: A little patience, father. London is huge.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Yes. (reading his paper) Yet another murder committed last night in Whitechapel.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: A new murder?
ELLEN PLACK: Another poor woman?
SIR JAMES PLACK: Yes! This makes three! Who is the monster that goes after these poor wretches so furiously?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: A madman, doubtless.
SIR JAMES PLACK: This time, again, as in the last three days the killer has warned the Police and signed his letter “Jack the Ripper.”
ELLEN PLACK: Father, don’t read that.
SIR JAMES PLACK: You’re right. (after a pause) You asked, Sir William, why I’ve chosen this neighborhood of London to purchase this home?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: I confess to seeing in this decision only a millionaire’s caprice.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Leave my millions out of it. By installing myself in this house I wanted, if God lets me find the child I’m weeping for, to help her memory.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: So it was here that you lived when you decided to tempt fortune in Africa?
SIR JAMES PLACK: Yes. (pointing to the pavilion) Over there! Since then, they’ve built this house. (pointing to the elegant house). Everything has been furnished with the greatest luxury, but I’ve insisted that they respect the pavilion, this garden, these huge trees, in the end, everything that is still capable of striking the imagination of my poor little Clary, when, as a baby, she ran and played in these beautiful walks.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: I understand. If, as must be hoped, we find her, they may awaken her memories.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Yes! (to Ellen) Ellen, what are you thinking of, my darling?
ELLEN PLACK (rising): About Clary! About my poor sister. I was very young when she was taken from us. I was hardly a year older than she was and yet it seems to me that I can still see her with her beautiful curly hair and her big blue eyes. Ah, Father, I want to see her again!
SIR JAMES PLACK: Dear child!
ELLEN PLACK: What’s become of her? Maybe she’s ill? She’s weeping! She’s calling us! She asks for me, too, and I loved her so much. Ah, Clary, Clary! Come back to us! Come back to us!
SIR JAMES PLACK: Let’s hope, at least, that she is still alive!
ELLEN PLACK: Ah, father, don’t talk like that! No, my intuition tells me my sisters still lives! I can feel it. If she were dead, that would be too frightful. God would not allow it.
(A Butler appears on the steps.)
BUTLER: Inspector Lestrade!
ALL: Ah!
SIR JAMES PLACK: Show him in as fast as you can!
(The Butler disappears.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: For him to put himself out like this, he must have big news to tell you.
(The Butler returns with Inspector Lestrade.)
SIR JAMES PLACK (going to him): Inspector! Are you bringing joy to this sad home?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Perhaps.
ELLEN PLACK: My God!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Ellen…
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: I need some information that you alone can give me which may speed things up.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Is it possible?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Oh, don’t delude yourself with too much hope, because disappointment, if disappointment comes, would be too cruel.
SIR JAMES PLACK (indicating the bench at the right and sitting beside him): Question me, Inspector. I am ready to answer.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: I believe I’ve found the nurse.
SIR JAMES PLACK: What are you telling me?
ELLEN PLACK: In that case, we are going to find out the truth!
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Don’t rush to hope too soon. You must understand that this woman has every interest in concealing the crime she committed. I am speaking only of the child confided to her care. For the moment, I do not wish to entertain the hypothesis of the child’s death, but this woman is capable of anything.
ELLEN PLACK: My God!
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: In the last dragnet that I ordered…
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: “Dragnet?”
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: It’s an American term for which we have no equivalent and which reproduces quite exactly the action of sweeping everything in. But I digress. As I was saying, in our latest dragnet, we found a certain Betty Blackthorn, a monster, physically and morally, a combination of vulture and viper. Well, I’m of the opinion, I believe that Betty Blackthorn and the nurse—her name then was Victoria Trevor—are one and the same person.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Victoria Trevor… Yes, that rings a bell…
INSPECTOR LESTRADE (rising): Sir James, I need an exact description of the child that was stolen from you. Pardon for awakening such memories.
SIR JAMES PLACK (sorrowfully): My poor little Clary was a brunette.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Brunette.
ELLEN PLACK: With big blue eyes.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Blue eyes. What else? Did she have any particular marking that could specifically identify her, supposing we had someone in mind? That’s what I must know.
SIR JAMES PLACK: I’m trying…
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Think carefully, think hard.
ELLEN PLACK (suddenly): Ah! Hold on! Yes! Yes! I remember something! One day, in the garden, she fell and her face hit the root of a tree.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Yes, yes, I remember that too. It was just before I left.
ELLEN PLACK: She had a scar, here. (she points to her face) Right about here.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE (shaking): Ah!
SIR JAMES PLACK: What’s wrong?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE (controlling himself): Nothing! (aside) Oh, that would be horrible.
ELLEN PLACK (observing him): My sister is still alive, right? And you know who she is?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE (embarrassed): Please, excuse me…
ELLEN PLACK: You’re trembling! Pardon me if I insist on the truth—the truth rather than this dreadful doubt which is killing my poor father.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Control yourself, Miss Plack. As of yet, I am sure of nothing. I am still searching.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Won’t the word “hope” escape your mouth before you leave?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: No. Hope is too strong a word at the moment.
ELLEN PLACK (trying to read his thoughts): Please!
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Can we go into your office, Sir James? I have some questions that I want to put to you in privacy.
ELLEN PLACK (with a scream of horror): Ah! My sister is dead! And you don’t want to tell me!
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: No, no! That’s not the case at all. (aside) Better if she were, perhaps.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Come, Inspector.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Take courage, Miss, and trust in divine mercy.
(He leaves with Sir James.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL (gently): Ellen…
ELLEN PLACK (collapsing onto the bench): I am very unhappy, my friend.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Ellen! You‘re tearing my heart apart.
ELLEN PLACK: Forgive me, my love! But knowing that I have a sister in this huge city, probably living in squalor… It chokes me like an iron collar, torturing me. And I am surprised I haven’t gone mad yet!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Ellen, calm down! Your feelings for Clary mustn’t make you forget your love for your father.
ELLEN PLACK: My father!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Think about him. Without you, he would die. You’re everything to him; you are all he’s got. Don’t allow yourself to fall into despair. Give him courage and hope.
ELLEN PLACK: Yes, yes! You’re right.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: You don’t have the right to die, because your father needs you.
ELLEN PLACK: You are right, my friend. (she grasps his hand tenderly) I owe it to my father.
(Kitty, barely able to stand, appears at the gate and crouches by the bars)
KITTY: Help me! Help me!
(She falls on the bench at the back. Sir William runs to her.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: A beggar girl!
(Ellen runs to the table and pours some tea.)
ELLEN PLACK: Why, she’s dying!
(She goes to Kitty, as William supports her)
ELLEN PLACK: Here! here!
KITTY (weakly, after having gulped down some tea): I’m hungry.
ELLEN PLACK: Oh, the unfortunate woman! Help me, my friend, to get her to the table.
(They support Kitty and lead her to the table.)
KITTY: Thank you!
ELLEN PLACK: Here! Eat something!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: The poor child!
ELLEN PLACK: She’s fainting from starvation.
VOICE OF A NEWSPAPER BOY: Another hideous murder in Whitechapel!
KITTY (stops eating): My God!
NEWSBOY: Horrible murder of two wimmin committed by (screaming) JACK THE RIPPER!!!
(Kitty stands bolt upright.)
ELLEN PLACK: What’s the matter?
KITTY: Nothing! Nothing!
NEWSBOY (appearing by the gate): Bloodcurdling details! Description of the murderer! One pence.
KITTY: Ah! (running to the boy) Here, take it. Let me have it, let me have it!
NEWSBOY (gives her the newspaper and goes away): Hideous double murder in Whitechapel! (his voice trails off to the left)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL (watching Kitty): All this excitement…
KITTY (trying to read): His description! Let’s see, let’s see! Ah, my eyes are clouded. I cannot see.
ELLEN PLACK: What’s wrong with you, girl? What is it you want to know?
KITTY: The… the description of the murderer. There, there. I want to read it but I can’t. Read it to me, please!
ELLEN (reading): “Jack the Ripper is a man of about fifty, built like a colossus, tall, broad-shouldered. His head and his beard are red. A reward of 500 pounds is promised to whoever gives him up.”
KITTY (breathing more easily): Ah! (she slowly takes back her paper and nods her thanks to Ellen) (aside) They won’t catch him! He’s not the one they suspect. I still love him, but this is monstrous, infamous... What to do? What to do? (she collapses on the bench.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: What can be wrong with her?
ELLEN PLACK: I don’t know.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: So much emotion! Perhaps she knows the murderer?
ELLEN PLACK: What are you talking about? No, no! She’s ill! She’s weeping! (going to Kitty) Come to yourself, Miss. And takes some nourishment.
KITTY: You are kind, thank you!.
(Supported by William, she comes to the table. Toby enters, dressed as a groom.)
TOBY: A fine house. This is the place. It’s a question of inspecting it by order of the Boss. (coming forward) Excuse me, milord and milady, I’m looking for the residence of a gentleman whose service I am to enter and I’ve lost his address. Lord Maxwell.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL (busy with Kitty): He’s not here, my lad.
TOBY: Sorry, milord. (looking at the house, quickly and expertly) The house door opens on the garden. Fine! (bowing) Milord, Milady. (seeing Kitty, aside) Her!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Go, lad, go!
TOBY (aside): The Little Virgin! My Goodness! (aloud) Don’t disturb yourselves, Sir, Madam. (aside) The Little Virgin here. What does it mean? Let’s go find the boss.
(He leaves.)
ELLEN PLACK (to William): How beautiful she is!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Yes! But what mystery hovers over this child?
KITTY (rising, quietly): You’ve helped me. Thanks you I’ll never forget it! I’ll be on my way now.
ELLEN PLACK: You are very weak.
KITTY: God will give me the strength.
ELLEN PLACK: Where are you going?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: You are without resources. You can’t risk yourself like this on the road.
ELLEN PLACK: Let me come to your aid.
(Ellen approaches Kitty and offers her money. Kitty takes it and suddenly breaks into sobs.)
ELLEN PLACK: What’s wrong with me suddenly? (she shivers)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL (supporting her): Ellen!
KITTY (to herself, slowly raising her head): Ellen?
ELLEN PLACK (to William): It’s nothing! It will pass off.
KITTY (getting up and looking around for the first time): My God! This place…
ELLEN PLACK (to William): See how moved she is!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Yes… yes…
KITTY (placing her hand over her face): Oh, no, no! Am I am going mad? (aloud) Goodbye, Miss! Goodbye, Sir. Goodbye. (she starts to leave, but staggers) I can’t! I can’t!
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL (supporting her, to Ellen): It would be cruel to let her leave. (pointing to the pavilion) Miss, let’s go there!
ELLEN PLACK (to William): Yes, you’re right. She needs to rest a bit, a lot. (to Kitty) Come into the pavilion. No one will bother you, and when you feel stronger, you can go on your way.
KITTY: Ah, Miss, what have I done to deserve your kindness?
ELLEN PLACK: You are ill!
(They lead her into the pavilion. Ellen and Kitty go in.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: What misery. And how many of these poor girls can one find on the streets of London?
(Tom Brown enters, very elegantly dressed, followed by Toby, still dressed as a groom.)
TOM BROWN: Sir James Plack, if you please.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: This is where he lives. He’ll be with you any moment.
TOM BROWN: Thank you!
TOBY (low): Let’s hurry. I’m getting cold feet as they say in America.
TOM BROWN (to Toby, in a loud voice): Mr. Bob?
TOBY: Milord?
TOM BROWN: Keep yourself at a respectful distance.
TOBY: Yes, milord. (he goes toward the gate.)
TOM BROWN (aside): I don’t see her. (to William) Are you part of Sir James Plack’s family?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Almost, milord.
TOM BROWN: I understand! I understand! Sir James Plack, I am told, has a daughter, a charming person and she is promised to you, no doubt? (William nods) Allow me to present myself, Lord Maxwell of Liverpool.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: I know your name, milord, through your servant who barely an hour ago came looking for you.
TOM BROWN: For me? (to Toby) You were looking for me, Mr. Bob?
TOBY: I was looking for your lordship’s residence.
TOM BROWN: You are very stupid, Mr. Bob.
TOBY (feigning shame):Yes, milord.
TOM BROWN (to William): To whom have I the favor of speaking?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: I am Sir William Huxell.
(Sir James returns with Inspector Lestrade.)
SIR JAMES PLACK: You have all the information that I could possibly provide you with, Inspector.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Thank you, Sir James!
TOM BROWN (aside, seeing Lestrade): Aie!
TOBY (aside): It stinks like cops here.
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Sir James, here’s a gentleman who wishes to have a short conversation with you.
(Sir James and Tom Brown bow to each other. Ellen comes out of the pavilion.)
ELLEN (to William): She’s resting now.
(Both go to the door of the pavilion and look inside.)
SIR JAMES PLACK (to Tom Brown): Sir?
TOM BROWN: Pardon me, Sir James, for coming to importune you. (presenting himself) I’m Lord Maxwell of Liverpool. I’m proposing to undertake an expedition into central Africa. I was informed that you had lived a long while there, and I came—forgive me again—to ask you for information which might be of the greatest use to me.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Excuse me, Milord, but I’m in the company of Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, concerning a matter of the greatest personal importance.
TOM BROWN: Ah, this Gentleman is Inspector Lestrade?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: I have that honor, sir.
TOM BROWN: Well, sir, I do not congratulate you with respect to the accomplishment of your duties.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Sir!
TOM BROWN: Never have so many crimes been committed, whose author you haven’t even begun to discover. It’s deplorable.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Sir!
TOM BROWN: Three unfortunate women were murdered in less than 48 hours in Whitechapel, without you and your men succeeding in arresting the wretch who revels in such atrocities, openly, in the heart of London. Go on, sir, admit that your police force utterly lack flair.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE (furious): Sir, I protest…
TOM BROWN: Pardon me!. We pay you and your men dearly enough to have the right to be discontent.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: I will not allow you to speak to me in such a manner.
TOM BROWN: So be it! But in that case, protect me. Defend me. Defend my purse and my life. That is your job.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: There are some circumstances, sir, before which all the resources available to the police are powerless.
TOM BROWN: These circumstances present themselves too often.
SIR JAMES PLACK (to Tom Brown): I beg you, Milord, to end a conversation that is too painful to me, seeing the great esteem that I have for Inspector Lestrade.
TOM BROWN: I obey you. I was wrong. I allowed myself to get carried away. I beg Inspector Lestrade to accept my humble apologies.
TOBY (aside): He pasted him with a solid right hand.
TOM BROWN: Still, all in all, we’d do better to employ Sherlock Holmes…
SIR JAMES PLACK: Please, Lord Maxwell.
(Suddenly, Mr. Robinson rushes in from the rear, hat in one hand, kerchief in the other.)
ROBINSON: Inspector Lestrade. Where is Inspector Lestrade? (seeing them) Pardon me. Apologies!
(He collapses in a chair near the table.)
TOM BROWN (aside): Robinson!
SIR JAMES PLACK: Who is this person?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: A friend of the police. Will you allow me...?
SIR JAMES PLACK: Of course.
TOBY (to Tom Brown, low) You’ve gone very far, Boss. Let’s get out of here.
TOM BROWN (loudly, with confidence): Mr. Bob?
TOBY: Milord?
TOM BROWN: Keep yourself at a respectful distance.
TOBY:(aside): Near the gate, yes. I much prefer that. (aloud) I’ll wait outside, Milord.
TOM BROWN (low): No, keep looking for Kitty!
TOBY (aside): He’s going to get us all nabbed.
(Toby goes to the pavilion while Sir James confers with Tom Brown. Sir William and Ellen go to sit on the bench at the right.)
INSPECTOR LESTRADE (to Robinson): What happened to you?
ROBINSON (wiping his face dry with his kerchief): Ah, Inspector, you are looking at a man who’s been robbed!
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Robbed? How?
ROBINSON: Yes, sir and it’s my sleep that caused it. Damn sleep! If only I were not a somnambulist! But I don’t want to be anymore. It’s too costly!
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Get to the point!
ROBINSON: Pardon me, pardon me. Allow me to catch my breath.
TOBY (after looking inside the pavilion): Ah!
(He returns to Tom Brown.)
ROBINSON: Thanks, now that I’ve caught my breath, I’ll begin…
TOBY (to Tom Brown, pointing discreetly to the pavilion): She’s in there.
TOM BROWN: Fine. What is she doing?
TOBY: She appears to be asleep.
ROBINSON: Here’s the lamentable story. While I was locked in the dark in a tavern near Bishop’s gate, on the mission on which you sent me, my house was ransacked.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: A mission on which I sent you? Your house was ransacked.?
ROBINSON: Yes. As soon as I was released, I went home, with the intention of taking a nap in my nice feather bed. It’s a luxury I indulge in, and my means permit it, or at least they used to. But now, I’m ruined.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Ruined?
ROBINSON: My houses remain, but all my cash, my valuables, the jewels of my five wives, all that was mine, has been stolen.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: How much did they get?
ROBINSON: Around 20,000 pounds.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Now that’s quite a sum!
ROBINSON: You can say that again! I’ll say, it’s a sum—an enormous sum.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: And are you certain…?
ROBINSON: Am I certain? Unfortunately, yes, I am quite certain. I ran to your office, but they told me you were here. I walked. I no longer have a penny to my name to afford a cab. Ah, Inspector Lestrade, I beg you, please, get my money back.
TOBY (aside): I wouldn’t count on that, old boy!
TOM BROWN (to Lestrade): Well, sir, what was I saying to you only a few minutes ago? (to Robinson) Allow me to shake your hand, sir. And to pity you with all my heart.
ROBINSON: Ah, you can’t pity me more than I pity myself.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE We will consider the matter. You must return with me to Scotland Yard to make your complaint.
ROBINSON: But I just did; I made it to you.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: That’s insufficient and not according to procedure.
ROBINSON: You want tears?
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: There are certain formalities…
ROBINSON: Oh! Formalities! When will England be rid of them? (he collapses into a chair)
TOM BROWN: Decidedly, London is becoming uninhabitable. Sir James, I will have the honor of presenting myself to you another time. I’m in haste to leave this country. I shall feel safer among the savage populations of Africa. Please receive my greetings and my gratitude. (bowing to Ellen) Miss! (to Lestrade) Inspector, please recall the words of the great French philosopher: “A well constituted police force is the masterpiece of civilization.” I had the honor of meeting you. (to Toby) Mr. Bob?
TOBY: Milord?
TOM BROWN: Follow me!
(They leave )
INSPECTOR LESTRADE (frostily, to himself): Lord Maxwell of Liverpool. I will remember that name. (to Sir James) Whatever impertinent, ill-informed people may say, you may trust that we will spare nothing to protect the peace and tranquility of the subjects of Her Gracious Majesty.
SIR JAMES PLACK: I have no doubt of it, Inspector Lestrade.
INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Scotland Yard are the best police in the entire world. ’Till later, and you can count on me!
(He shakes the hand of Sir James, who accompanies him to the gate. Then, Lestrade leaves.)
ROBINSON: Pardon, I’m not leaving yet. I… (stumbling) I feel… faint. I ran hard. I have bad legs.
SIR JAMES PLACK: Control yourself, man, control yourself!
ROBINSON: Thank you! You’re very nice. Ah, by Jove! It’s my cursed somnambulism. Now, it would be bad for me to simply doze off.
SIR JAMES PLACK: If you need to sleep, don’t stand on ceremony, sir.
ROBINSON: You are really too kind! I am infinitely grateful to you. (looking at the bench) Ah, I notice a bench over there. May I stretch out?
SIR JAMES PLACK: Go ahead, sir, go ahead.
ROBINSON: Thank you again. The more emotional I am, the more sleepy I become. At the moment, I am asleep on my feet.
(He goes to the bench and lies down.)
ELLEN PLACK: Father?
SIR JAMES PLACK: What, darling?
ELLEN PLACK: Sir William and I have found a poor young girl.
SIR JAMES PLACK: A young girl?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Who was dying of starvation and collapsed at our gate.
SIR JAMES PLACK: You did the right thing.
ELLEN PLACK: She couldn’t continue on her way because of her weak condition, We put her in the pavilion where she’s been resting.
SIR JAMES PLACK: We will see to it that she receives all necessary care.
ELLEN PLACK: Oh, father. How good you are!
SIR JAMES PLACK: Is merely coming to the assistance of those who are ill being good?
ELLEN PLACK: Father, my kind father. (kissing and hugging him)
SIR JAMES PLACK: Come, child, come Sir William. I am going to tell you what Inspector Lestrade told me, and what hope he has based on the descriptions that I gave him.
(They go into the residence. Then, Kitty emerges from the pavilion.)
KITTY (gripped by a strong emotion): At last! They’re gone! I can look at this garden again, because I’m certain of it now. This is not the first time I’ve been here. Where did I see these huge trees before? Where did I see this house? (pointing to the pavilion) Ah, there, that path. I was running down there once, I remember... Yes, I remember. But, but… (weeping) I don’t know any more than that. (she collapses on the bench)
(Tom Brown and Toby return.)
TOM BROWN (seeing Kitty): Ah! (to Toby) Keep a lookout.
TOBY: Right.
(Toby walks away.)
TOM BROWN (going to Kitty): Kitty?
KITTY (rising and staying put): Ah!
TOM BROWN: Don’t you recognize me?
KITTY (distracted): Yes? (then recoiling) Yes!
TOM BROWN: What’s wrong with you?
KITTY: Go away! Go away!
TOM BROWN: Go away from here? With you! Yes, let’s leave.
KITTY (recoiling): Ah, don’t come near me! Stay away!
TOM BROWN: Look, Kitty, you do recognize me, right? It’s me, Tom Brown.
KITTY (still distracted): Tom Brown?
TOM BROWN: Yes!
KITTY (repeating): Tom Brown! (after a pause) Hold on! Listen to me.
TOM BROWN (close to her): What have you to tell me?
KITTY: You’re going to know! You must know, right? Well, I fled the wretched hovel that was sheltering me. After two days of walking without knowing where I was going, sleeping in doorways, in parks, in thickets, I don’t know how, but I got here. I was really hungry, and fell senseless before the gate where charitable people harbored me! All I had left was a penny. A single penny. I could have bread with that, right? But no, I used it to think of you, one more time. One last time. (reaction by Tom Brown) I didn’t buy bread; instead, I bought this. (she takes the newspaper and presents it to him) Here, read that!
TOM BROWN: But…
KITTY: Read it, will you! Are you going to read it, since it speaks of you?
TOM BROWN: Kitty!
KITTY (tossing away the newspaper): You understand now, don’t you? And you understand why I fled my hovel—Jack?
TOM BROWN (recoiling): Kitty!
KITTY (striding toward him): You’re Jack the Ripper!
TOM BROWN: You know? Who told you?
KITTY: I saw you!
TOM BROWN: You! You saw me!
KITTY: Yes! Over your victim, striking her with your knife. I saw you do it, savage and hideous! I heard the monstrous words you uttered! I saw you, at last, fleeing, leaving the body of the wretched woman you had just slain.
TOM BROWN: Kitty, hear me!
KITTY: Ah! You have nothing more to say to me! I have nothing more to listen to!
TOM BROWN: All the same, you’re going to listen to me! It’s true! I struck her! But she was informing for Lestrade. And I took an oath, an oath I’ll keep whatever happens, whatever it may cost me! An oath to strike down mercilessly all those who betray me!
KITTY: All?
TOM BROWN: All! That woman was spying on you too! Following you! Because of her, we were going to be arrested, separated forever! I didn’t want that!
KITTY: And now?
TOM BROWN: And now? Now you’re going to follow me.
KITTY (resolutely): Never!
TOM BROWN: Kitty!
KITTY (moving away): Never, I tell you! Get out of here! Get out of my sight!
TOM BROWN: You refuse to follow me?
KITTY: How can you ask that!
TOM BROWN: I could force you!
KITTY (grabbing a knife from the table): One more step and I’ll kill myself right before your eyes.
TOM BROWN: Ah! (terrified, recoiling) No! A thousand times no!
KITTY (after a pause): Listen! There’s still a way for us to remain together.
TOM BROWN: Speak! Tell me what must be done!
KITTY: You have on you the knife you used to commit your crimes? As for me, I’ve got this one here. Let’s strike ourselves at the same time, as we look into each other’s eyes, lips to lips. We’ll be joined forever in eternity.
TOM BROWN: Die, at your age?
KITTY: It’s not a question of me! I’m sacrificing my life to shield you from the punishment that awaits you—the scaffold that clamors for you. By dying with you, I am buying you a pardon. (a pause) Do you want it?
TOM BROWN: Kitty...
KITTY: Ah! He’s afraid! He’s afraid!
TOM BROWN: Well, yes, I’m afraid! The scaffold, you say? Right now, I’m able to protect myself from that! I love you! You belong to me! You’re mine! I want you! But, I want you living.
(Toby returns.)
KITTY: You will only have me dead!
(She raises the knife to kill herself. Toby rushes to her and snatches the knife away.)
TOBY: Mustn’t play with that, Miss, it’s very sharp.
KITTY: Ah!
TOM BROWN (rushing her): Mine, Kitty! You are mine! Come!
(He drags her away.)
KITTY (screaming): Help! Help!
(Sir William appears and rushes between her and Tom Brown.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: You are using violence with a woman? You are a coward, sir!
TOM BROWN (roaring): Ah! You! You’ll pay for everything.
(He grabs the knife from Toby’s hand and attacks Sir William. Suddenly, Mr. Robinson enters from the left, revolver in hand, and leaps into the melee.)
ROBINSON: One more step and you’re dead!
KITTY: Goodbye, Tom Brown! I am going to wait for you.
(She leaves, in tears.)
ROBINSON (to Tom Brown who had made a gesture of following her): Don’t budge. (jestingly) Milord, or should I say Tom Brown, I have the honor of informing you that I’ve caught you and I’m arresting you!
TOM BROWN (taking a revolver from his pocket): Get out of the way!
(He fires at Robinson, who stumbles.)
ROBINSON: Ah, the brigand!
(He falls on the bench at the right.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: Wretch!
(He starts to rush Tom Brown, who leaps over the gate, followed by Toby.)
TOM BROWN (to Robinson): Not today! (threatening Sir William with his revolver) As for you, we’ll meet again!
(He vanishes with Toby.)
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL (returning to Robinson): Are you wounded?
ROBINSON: In the shoulder. A scratch! It’s really emotion!
(Ellen returns, followed by her father.)
ELLEN PLACK: Those shots! What’s going on?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: That man, who introduced himself under the name of Lord Maxwell…
SIR JAMES PLACK: Yes?
SIR WILLIAM HUXELL: He’s a bandit! He’s…
ROBINSON (rising): He is—Jack the Ripper!
(Nick Carter appears at the gate and rushes after Tom Brown and Toby.)
C U R T A I N