The Country Girl Page #6

When he hadn't come in,

why didn't you call me?

- Suppose he had been with a woman?

- You're being evasive.

Sit down, Frank.

Get me some water, Georgie.

What happened, Frank? Sit up!

Don't act as though I'm beating you.

- I'm sorry.

- What happened?

- I don't know.

- What happened after I left you?

- Georgie and I had a fight.

- I thought so.

- I don't know...

- She picked a fine time.

- It wasn't her fault.

- Stop protecting her!

- She's weak, she's so weak.

- She's driven you to drink!

You could be magnificent.

She goes back to New York.

- I don't know what she'd do.

- She goes back this morning.

- She's weak.

- I'll talk to her.

If we go on, you move in with me.

- Cook doesn't want me.

- I'm not sure I want you!

Whatever you say. You decide.

Frank...

Frank stays, you go. The management

will pay your expenses.

Frank may follow you, I'm not sure.

He's moving in with me.

Crisp as lettuce, aren't you?

Do you want me to go, Frank?

I'll go and pack.

Tell Frank he has nothing to worry

about. He thinks you may go drastic.

- It's happened before, I understand.

- What?

Phoney suicide attempts.

Mr Dodd, when I was a child,

the town idiot insisted that

elephant tusks came from piano keys,

but he had nothing on you.

Suicide attempts

are Frank's department.

Show me your wrists, Frank.

Show me your wrists!

- Did you set fire to a hotel suite?

- He told you that?

Was I a hopeless drunk?

Did I have fits of depression?

Was I possessive?

Did I have to have a nurse

watch me when he was on stage?

Didn't you recognise any of it?

That was his big speech in one of

the plays you admired him in

when you were a hat-check boy.

Larry... do you think the understudy

can play the matine?

Yeah, I think so.

Pay the fine. This is a receipt

for his coat, wallet and the rest.

Take him back to the hotel.

Wait. If they see him in the lobby,

it'll be all over the papers.

Take him to the theatre

and let him sleep it off there.

- Georgie...

- Go on, Frank.

I won't leave without seeing you.

Tell Cook I'll be along in a few minutes.

- May I smoke?

- May you smoke?

What is that supposed to be?

Homage to a lady?

Lt'll never make me forgive you

for what you've said and done.

I'm not asking for forgiveness.

I want information.

- What made Frank go to pieces?

- The responsibility became too much.

- Why the lying, why the cunning?

- He hates himself.

Consequently, he'll do or say

anything to be liked by others.

People like Frank ought to have

two votes.

Then they could vote

Democrat and Republican.

Everybody would love them.

- Was he always like that?

- No. No, he drank a little.

He wasn't too dependable,

but it was only a pathetic hint of

frailty in a wonderful, glowing man.

That appeals to a lot of us.

It did to me. I was so young.

His weaknesses seemed touching and

sweet. They made me love him more.

One day, he was walking with our son.

He let go of his hand.

There was traffic. He looked

the other way. The boy was killed.

Ever since then, Frank has acted

like a murderer.

Guilt and repentance

and all that goes with it.

But worse than that, he's shunned

any responsibility like the plague.

It covered a pretty wide range.

Everything from not wanting

any more children to...

It must sound ludicrous to anyone

who hasn't lived through it.

It got to the point that he wouldn't

pick out a coat or suit by himself.

I don't know where to begin

to apologise, Mrs Elgin.

You can begin

by not calling me Mrs Elgin.

- And you never left him?

- Twice left, twice returned.

He's a helpless child.

Anyone taking a cab to New York?

If he's as helpless as you say...

He's not helpless now.

He has you, Mr Dodd.

You're the only one that can

handle him. I didn't know it before.

- Then you've learned something.

- The man has to be watched.

You take the job with waving banners

and ten hours later hand it back!

He has to be watched? He has to be

nursed and guarded, but not by me!

I'm going back to New York,

to the comfort of a quiet room.

I won't have to wonder where he is.

He'll be in the strong hands

of Bernie Dodd!

Can you stand him on his feet?

That's where my prayers have gone.

To see that holy hour

when he can stand alone again.

I might forgive you, Mr Dodd,

if you can keep him up long enough

for me to get out from under.

All I want is my own name and

a job to buy sugar for my coffee.

You can't believe that a woman

is crazy-out-of-her-mind

to live alone in one room,

by herself!

- Listen to me!

- Why are you holding me?

How could you be so angry

at someone you didn't even know?

Maybe I really wasn't.

Maybe I screamed at you to keep

myself at an angry distance.

No one has looked at me

as a woman for years and years.

I never knew there was such a woman.

Loyal, steadfast.

And when I found her...

Now I need your answer.

Do you think Frank can make it?

I don't know.

But if he doesn't go through with

this show, he'll never work again.

- I'm sure of that.

- You'll be taking a big chance.

They're the only ones worth taking.

But I can't unless you stay.

Will you?

Yes.

You kissed me.

Don't let it give you

any ideas, Mr Dodd.

No, Mrs Elgin.

It's more thoughtful. He's trying

to figure out an approach...

- Did you see Cook?

- No.

He's talking to Watson.

I haven't got time now.

I've been with the understudy.

Do you want to listen?

Not now.

- How do you feel?

- OK. Larry got me some coffee.

I'll be out in a minute.

You don't have to get out.

All you have to do is get some sleep.

The understudy will want to get in.

I listened to him. He's no good.

You'll have to play the matine.

Oh, no. Don't stick your neck out.

I'm in no mood to cut my throat

in public. The understudy stinks.

It's not just the matine.

You've got to replace me.

When you took this job,

I promised you no pity.

I don't expect any.

I'm only warning you. Get rid of me.

Let me go back to New York.

So you can tell the boys you quit

because the part wasn't big enough?

Oh, no. If you leave this show,

it'll only be for one reason.

Because I fire you for being

an unreliable, slobbering drunk.

I know a lot of people who hire

actors. That's what I'll tell them.

It's not just this performance.

I can do a show for you. I've gone on

when I can hardly stand up.

It's not when I'm out there

that it's bad.

This is a matine in Boston. If I do

this in New York, where are you?

- Where are you?

- You talk as if I do it on purpose.

I can't help it, Bernie.

In between shows and at night,

when I start thinking about it...

You mean the accident?

Georgie told me about it.

- It hasn't been easy.

- Why didn't you tell me about it?

- I don't know.

- You knew I wouldn't buy it.

I don't buy it. A crazy wife.

Yes, you knew I had one.

- It was an accident.

- It was a crutch.

You were getting older, beginning

to slip. You looked for excuses.

The accident was an excuse.

Everybody expects a guy to take that

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