Maid of Salem Page #3

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Indeed.

The Elders have been

speaking of you and me

as a proper couple,

and my mother

is of a mind

that we should

be married soon.

Miles,

you sweep me

off my feet!

So, you make sport

of the Elders" suggestion?

Sport of me?

Well, l"ll not

be laughed at

through supper.

Oh, no, Miles!

Miles, I did not mean

to flout you.

Besides,

we have chicken

for supper.

You cannot induce me.

Susy Abbot"s

a right-thinking girl,

and the Abbots

always have chicken.

Miles.

(GROANS)

Oh, chicken.

Don"t touch.

Where"s Miles?

Aunt Ellen,

please forgive me,

but I made a jest.

And l"m afraid

he understood it.

Barbara!

And weighing

his pride against

your good chicken,

he decided

not to come.

Oh, Barbara!

You cannot refuse

every young swain

in the village.

It is your duty to marry

and have children,

to the glory of God

and the colony.

But would you

have me marry a man

who boasts only of

his fine bottom lands,

his three horses,

six cows, 10 pigs,

and treats me like

one of his livestock?

Oh, faith!

The man is a blockhead.

I cannot abide him

or his pigs!

But the chicken,

enough for a family of six.

Oh, yes, the chicken.

ROGER:
Chicken. Ambrosia!

Food for the gods!

Mistress,

you"ve saved my life.

Sure I wouldn"t

be discourteous

to the lobsters

of Massachusetts,

but to have them

for breakfast,

dinner and supper.

Why, the very expression

of a lobster"s eye

brings to my mind

our red-faced Governor

of Virginia.

Hail to the colony, I say,

but confound the governor.

You"ll be confounded

yourself

if you don"t stay away

from the village.

As I nearly was today,

it was in the shadows

of the forest.

I came suddenly

upon a people-minded

villager,

and he held up

his finger so.

Whereupon,

I threw my cloak

over my head,

Ieaped behind a tree

and bellowed like a demon.

And how that villager ran.

He ran so fast,

his legs couldn"t

keep up with him,

so that he fell

and rose howling

and ran some more.

Isn"t it good to hear

a man laugh so freely?

Aye, we seldom

hear it in this place.

That"s your penance

for living among

these Puritans, Uncle.

Not meaning yourself,

mistress.

It"s true they"re not much

given to laughter, Roger.

And they"ve little cause.

"Tis a stern heritage

that has come down to them

through generations.

Yet, in spite of all that,

they conquered this land.

It took courage

to do that, my lad.

Listen to him,

a sermon in

everything he says.

But believe me, mistress,

he"s a rebel, too.

For in Virginia,

when they would

not let him

teach his ideas

of a kindly God,

he turned rebellious,

and now traps lobsters.

Your tongue"s

too loose, nephew.

And you burn

too many candles.

You"ll excuse me.

There, l"ve done it.

What?

Recalled the old days

to his mind.

He loved Virginia.

(SlGHlNG)

I don"t wonder.

From what you"ve told me,

it must be very gay.

We make it gay.

We"ve a saying there,

""When danger lurks

around the corner,

""you must dance

the safe moments away.""

Dance?

That"s not

a Puritan custom,

I warrant.

Oh, no.

Have you never danced?

The cotillion,

the gavotte?

The very names

sounds frivolous.

The Gavotte"s my favorite.

I"ll teach it to you.

No, no, no, no,

it would not be

fitting for me.

It"s the most

proper dance,

I assure you.

This is the manner of it.

(HUMMlNG)

Ah, faith, but you must

smile when you dance.

One, two,

slowly curtsy.

ELLEN:
Now, the first one.

TlMOTHY:
I was. You was.

You were.

Were.

He was.

You was.

Were.

Were.

I say.

You says.

ELLEN:
Timothy,

I fear you will

never be a scholar.

TlMOTHY:
May I go to bed,

Mother?

Yes.

What are you doing?

Dancing.

Dancing?

What are you bowing for?

That"s a curtsy

to my partner,

a very handsome

young man.

I don"t see any man.

You"re not supposed to.

Mother!

She said

she"s dancing with

a handsome young man.

Get along to bed

with you. Go on.

Aw...

Barbara, you do say

the most foolish things.

Dancing?

And you supposedly

a God-fearing girl.

I"m sorry, Aunt Ellen.

Does no good to be

sorry after the deed.

Besides, tomorrow

is the house-raising.

You"d better get your sleep.

There"ll be plenty to do.

Yes, Aunt Ellen.

(SLURRlNG) Here, doggy.

Nice, doggy.

Here, here, here.

Here, doggy. Doggy!

(DOG YELPlNG)

All safe. Jump.

(BOTH LAUGHlNG)

This way.

(BARBARA EXCLAlMlNG)

ROGER:
Here we go.

(BOTH LAUGHlNG)

"Tis an avalanche we are.

Did you hurt yourself?

I"m shaken to pieces.

What did you expect?

How was I to

know the ground

would give way

and upset

your Puritan dignity?

Oh.

Well, l"m fast learning

how it feels to be

a fugitive.

Hiding in trees,

tumbling down hills.

Like a very mountebank.

Before long,

l"ll have you as

cunning as a fox,

swift as a deer,

leaping from hill to hill.

Oh, Roger!

Methinks the whole

pattern of my life

has changed

since l"ve known you.

Aye, and I can"t say

l"m proud of it.

"Tis a sneaking

feeling I get,

dodging and hiding

about like a badger

in his hole.

Must it always be

like that for you?

Well, I suppose

I could send a petition

to Their Majesties.

Could you?

To King William

and Queen Mary?

What would you say?

Well, now, that takes

a bit of thinking.

I fancy l"d try to

appeal to the human side.

Now, if I were

talking to the King,

man to man,

I"d say, ""William,

can"t you and I come

""to a fair and square

understanding?

""You see, there"s

a young lady in the case.

""l"d like to see her

in proper fashion,

to meet her family.

""But how in conscience

can I do it

""with your governors

chasing me all over

the colonies?""

""Now, just put yourself

in my place, William.

""Supposing you were

chased out of London

""and had to hide at Dover,

by the sea.

""You"d miss your Mary,

wouldn"t you?

Of course you would.

""Well, it"s the same

with me, but worse.

""For, mind you,

though l"m not saying

a word against your Mary.

""The young lady

I have in my mind

is the most fascinating,

""twinkling, dark-eyed maid

that ever took an honest

man"s breath away.""

Now, whisper,

what would you say to that?

I"d say...

I"d say I had to

gather herbs and

get to the house-raising.

But that"s not

what l"ve been asking.

I must hasten.

Now, men, get ready.

Take hold!

One, two, three!

"Tis the best raising

we"ve had, Rebecca.

Well, I want to know.

Barbara and Doctor John.

The whole village working,

and we"re the only idlers.

A choice bit of gossip

for Mrs. Cheeves.

Her day would be spoiled

if she did not have

something to babble of.

John.

Don"t say you found me

on the shore road.

Why not?

Because...

ELLEN:
Barbara!

I"m sorry l"m late,

Aunt Ellen,

but the herbs

were scarce

and hard to find.

"Tis a poor excuse,

Barbara.

You must have been

daydreaming again.

Of a certain tall,

well-favored man,

I warrant.

ELLEN:
Why,

what do you mean?

That was Tituba"s

prophecy for her.

A dark,

handsome young man.

SUSY:
A dark young man?

Well, it certainly

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