Algernon Blackwood, V. A. Pearn
Karma
A Re-incarnation Play. In Prologue, Epilogue & Three Acts
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4064066247577
Table of Contents
ACT I THEIR FIRST LIFE TOGETHER. TIME—2000 B.C. EGYPT
ACT II THEIR SECOND LIFE TOGETHER. TIME—325 B.C. GREECE
ACT III THEIR THIRD LIFE TOGETHER. TIME—FIFTEENTH CENTURY ITALY
PROLOGUE
PRESENT DAY
CHARACTERS
Phillip Lattin (45), British Agent in Egypt.
Mrs. Lattin, his wife (40), mentally and physically ill; a woman of strong personality and exacting.
The Doctor, unpretentious, simple in bearing, gentle in manner.
Nurse.
PROLOGUE
Scene—Room in Lattin’s London house. Mrs. Lattin lies on sofa. A picture of Ancient Egypt, showing the Nile, palms and temples on wall easily visible to her.
Time—Present day, evening.
Mrs. Lattin
What time is it, nurse—now?
Nurse
Close on half-past five.
Mrs. Lattin
(With irritability of a sick woman.) Not later? Are you sure? It’s so dark.
Nurse
(Soothingly.) The dusk is closing in; I’ll light your lamp.
Mrs. Lattin
Half-past five, you said? My husband expected to be back before this. Hasn’t he come? The appointment was for half-past two.
Nurse
The Foreign Office takes its time. Mr. Lattin will come to you the moment he gets in.
Mrs. Lattin
You’re sure? I thought I heard his step.
Nurse
I’ll go and see the moment the lamp is lit. But he never forgets. He always comes in here first.
Mrs. Lattin
But he’s so long to-day, longer than usual. And he looked so grave, nurse, when he left. He looked worried, I thought. You noticed it?
Nurse
He is taken up with these politics just now. It’s only natural, considering the crisis in Egypt. But he’s always so in earnest, isn’t he? I noticed nothing unusual. The Government is lucky to have him at such a time. No one could fill his place. (Brings lamp.) There’s the lamp. Is the shading right?
Mrs. Lattin
Fill his place! No, indeed. Phillip understands the natives better than anybody in the world. And the country too (wistfully). If only I could bring myself to go back to Egypt with him. (Irritably.) The light catches my eye there. To the left a little. Now to the right. Thank you.
Nurse
The doctors all agree it’s best not, don’t they? The dry climate——
Mrs. Lattin
It’s not that, nurse. Dryness is what I need—warmth and dryness. It’s something else. Egypt frightens me. I can’t sleep there. Dreams come to me.
Nurse
The doctors said it was the effect of the climate on the nerves.
Mrs. Lattin
Oh, I know. I’d face it if I could—another winter. It means so much to Mr. Lattin, doesn’t it? Nurse! It’s curious—it’s strange, don’t you think—that Mr. Lattin feels nothing of that I feel there? I mean——
Nurse
Hark! I think that’s Mr. Lattin’s step. I’ll go and see.
Mrs. Lattin
It can’t be the new doctor, can it?
Nurse
Dr. Ogilvie? Not yet. Six o’clock he was to come. He won’t be here before his time. These great specialists are busy men.
Mrs. Lattin
(Wearily.) I’ve seen so many doctors. I hardly feel as if I had the strength for a new examination. Dr. Ogilvie will do me no good.
Nurse
Still you will see him. For your husband’s sake.
Mrs. Lattin
Ah, yes, for Phillip’s sake. I think my husband’s coming, nurse.
(Enter Phillip.)
Nurse
Good-evening, Mr. Lattin. Mrs. Lattin is a