The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond Page #4

to raise my voice.

I have the use of my voice.

My heart and my lungs

and the other internal organs

that one can't control

remorselessly continue.

As for the rest of me,

it's stone dead, Fisher.

Are you in a hurry

to get back down to the party?

- No.

- We met only once before.

Your Aunt Cornelia and I

had had a brief

but memorable encounter

in Hong Kong.

Two years ago when I was here

for a short visit,

she brought you along

when she paid me a call at my-

- Of course, I remember.

You had a little-

- Yeah, cottage

on Sand Island.

- She said

you wrote travel books.

- My base was Hong Kong.

There's much tolerance there.

And here?

- I would say none at all.

- Yes.

So I elected to spend my life

in the tolerant Orient.

But things that one elects

are often circumvented

by others.

I think you know about that.

Yes.

I know about that.

- I had a stroke in China.

It was a slight one,

but I knew-I was told-

there'd be others.

And unfortunately...

Fisher?

- Oh, you're being called

back downstairs.

I have to get on

with this quickly.

I had to stay in China

because I'd become addicted

to something

that I could only have there.

- What to?

To what, Miss Addie?

- To a drug

that made it bearable

for me to live

when living

became unbearable for me.

You see,

I'd quit my travels

and settled down

in one place

and, needing something so badly

to make life bearable,

I found something:

the poppy,

the smoke

of the burning poppy.

And then early last summer,

the terrible thing

that was coming,

that the drug made me forget

was coming,

happened.

I had the strokes that caused

my present condition.

My brother Jack was told,

and I was brought back here

by force,

as I am kept living in agony

by force.

And then I was...

withdrawn from my...

my comfort.

- Miss Addie, why are you

telling me this story?

- Because I remember

the last time I saw you,

the impression you made on me.

There was something

hard and honest about you.

I thought you could

do something for me,

the only thing that can

be done for me now.

You see, I see nobody

but people that can't imagine.

You can.

You can imagine, Fisher.

Oh, they give me something,

but it's not enough.

You see that bottle

over there on the mantel?

You could get it for me,

and I could resume

my travels.

Do you know what I mean?

Have I made myself

perfectly clear?

Nobody could possibly guess

that you gave it to me.

They'd think I just had

my last stroke...

in my sleep.

- How many?

- All.

All.

Well, that's not all,

Fisher.

- Fisher, open this door.

- I'll come back later.

- You promise?

- Swear on my word of honor.

- Fisher.

- I'll come back up

for this other diamond earring

and my leopard-skin coat.

- Fisher, Jimmy was searched

to the skin before witnesses,

and all he had on him

was three sticks

of peppermint gum,

a few cigarettes,

$3.47,

and...

- "And"?

And what?

- And something

in a small unopened package

almost completely flat

and the keys

to your car.

- What is this all about?

- It's all about

Fisher Willow's attempt

to buy an escort for her

debut parties in Memphis,

provide him with clothes,

and now accuse him

of stealing a diamond from her.

Why?

Not easy to guess.

- Oh, have you guessed,

Miss McCorkle?

What have you guessed?

- He hasn't responded to your

courtship as you'd expected.

- I must be getting drowsy.

I don't understand

all of this.

Julie, take your

loud-voiced cousin out of here,

would you, please,

so I can finish my talk

with Fisher?

You know excitement

is not allowed in sickrooms.

- Fisher, you will say

that the earring

fell down your dress.

- I will say whatever I can

without lying.

I'm not a liar, Julie.

- Julie, will you

please take yourself

and this other girl

out of here?

Good night, Miss Addie.

- You know, I really did lose

the other one

of this pair

of teardrop diamonds.

- Well, I know you lost it,

Fisher,

but you have handled

the situation

in a terrible way.

You must have done it

in a way

that made that boy

feel like you

were accusing him

of stealing it.

- How could he think

such a thing?

He's been acting so peculiar

ever since we left

the levee tonight.

I asked him to drive me up

on the levee

to see the mist

rising off the river.

Because I love to see

the river mist rising,

because I like nothing better.

Nothing's more beautiful

to me.

Of course, that's peculiar

of me too, I suppose.

- What happened

on the levee?

- Nothing at all,

to speak of.

We stopped there awhile.

I laid my head

on his shoulder for a moment.

- He didn't kiss you

when you parked on the levee

to see the river mist rising?

- Now, Miss Addie.

Do you suppose I have

to beg for kisses?

- Of course you're attractive.

That's not the issue, is it?

- Hear that?

I've made up my mind

about something.

I won't go back to Memphis

to continue

this ridiculous pretense

of being interested

in the society of that city

when it bores me to blazes.

I'm gonna catch the very next

boat back to Europe.

And I think

that Aunt Cornelia

will be glad to see me set sail

from these shores.

I disgraced her in Memphis.

Oh, well.

I'm out of my element here.

Yes.

I'm gonna catch the very next

boat back to Europe

and take an apartment

on the Rive Gauche in Paris

and establish a salon...

Like Gertrude Stein's.

I'll commission Pablo Picasso

to do a portrait of me

all in blue.

I'm not gonna lose my mind,

not crack up again.

I'm going to develop

my interest in the arts.

I must be with people

who do things,

paint, write,

compose music,

and so forth.

- Well, you do have character.

Maybe even talent.

But I do shudder for you.

- Why do you shudder for me?

- Because you want somebody

to love you that you love,

and you don't know

how to arrange that.

And not all the teardrop

diamonds of this world,

lost or found,

can arrange that for you.

Now, you go on back downstairs

and make an announcement.

You say that the teardrop

diamond has been found.

- Why should I

discard my honesty,

all that I've got, really?

- Oh, nonsense.

Strong people with character

like you, Fisher Willow,

don't care about losing

a teardrop diamond.

They have

more important problems.

Now, go.

Just remember your promise

to come back.

- Yes.

Soon, Miss Addie.

- Are you gonna make

the announcement?

- You will make

the announcement.

I will not contradict it.

- Are your slippers dry now,

Fisher?

- Uh, yes,

uh, sufficiently, thank you.

- Hey, everybody.

Listen.

Isn't it wonderful?

Fisher found her diamond.

- Where'd you find it, Fisher?

- She found it

inside her dress.

It had just slipped

down the front of her dress.

- That dress?

- Must have been one those

tiny little chip diamonds.

Jimmy?

May I speak to you a minute?

Will you excuse him,

Miss McCorkle?

Did you really have yourself

searched in the kitchen, Jimmy?

Don't turn your back on me.

- Excuse me.

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