Act II Scene 1

(The hallway of the Bride’s house. The doorway is at the back. It is night. The Bride appears wearing a white petticoat heavy with lace and embroidery, and a white bodice. Her arms are bare. The Maid is similarly dressed.)

MAID:  I’ll finish doing your hair here.

BRIDE: I can’t stand it inside, it’s so hot.

MAID: In this place it’s not even cool at dawn.

(The Bride sits on a low chair and gazes at herself in a hand mirror. The Maid combs the Bride’s hair.)

BRIDE: My mother came from a place where there were many trees. Rich land.

MAID: She was so full of life!

BRIDE: But she wasted away here.

MAID: Her fate.

BRIDE: As we all waste away. Even the walls are on fire. Ay! Don’t tug so hard.

MAID: It’s so I can get this wave right. I want it to fall over your brow. (The Bride gazes at herself in the mirror.) You’re so beautiful! Ay! (She kisses her passionately.)

BRIDE: (Gravely) Finish my hair.

MAID: (Combing her hair) You’re fortunate. You’re going to embrace a man, and kiss him, and feel his weight!

BRIDE: Hush.

MAID: And the best is when you wake and feel him beside you, and his breath brushes your shoulders, like a nightingale’s feather.

BRIDE: (Sharply) Will you hush?

MAID: But, child! A marriage. What else is it? A marriage is such and nothing more. Is it sweetmeats? Is it sprays of flowers? No. It’s a shining bed and a man and a woman.

BRIDE: You shouldn’t say it.

MAID: Perhaps not. But that’s the true joy of it.

BRIDE: Or the true bitterness.

MAID: I’m going to place the orange-blossom here, so that the garland sets off your hair. (She tries out a spray of orange-blossom.)

BRIDE: (Gazing at herself in the mirror.) Give it me. (She takes the orange-blossom and looks at it and lowers her head disconsolately.)

MAID: What’s this?

BRIDE: Leave me alone.

MAID: This is no time for sadness. (Animatedly) Give me the blossom. (The Bride throws it to the floor.) Child! That’s tempting fate, throwing your garland on the ground. Raise your head! Don’t you want to be married? Speak. You can still say no. (She rises.)

BRIDE: It’s clouded. An ill wind at the heart of it: who does not feel it?

MAID: You love your man.

BRIDE: I love him.

MAID: Yes, yes, it’s true.

BRIDE: But it’s such a huge step.

MAID: You have to take it.

BRIDE: I’ve promised I would.

MAID: I’ll fix your garland for you.

BRIDE: (Sitting down) Make haste, because they’ll soon be here.

MAID: They’ve been on the road two hours already.

BRIDE: How far from here to the church?

MAID: Two miles by the river bank, double that if you go by the road.

(The Bride rises and the Maid gazes at her admiringly.)

MAID:                      Let the bride wake

                              on her wedding day.

                              Let the world’s rivers

                              carry her garland!

BRIDE: (Smiling) Let us go.

MAID:  (Kissing her warmly and dancing round her.)

                              Let her awake

                              beneath the green branch

                              of flowering laurel.

                              Let her wake

                              to the branch and spray

                              of the laurel flowers!

(A loud knocking is heard.)

BRIDE: Open the door! It must be the first guests.

(She goes inside. The Maid opens the door and expresses surprise.)

MAID: You?

LEONARDO: Yes. Good morning.

MAID: The first!

LEONARDO: Was I not invited?

MAID: Yes.

LEONARDO: So I came.

MAID: And your wife?

LEONARDO: I am on horseback. She’s coming by road.

MAID: And you didn’t meet up with anyone?

LEONARDO: I overtook them.

MAID: You’ll kill that beast, over-riding it.

LEONARDO: When it’s dead, it’s dead! (Pause)

MAID: Sit down. Nobody’s about yet.

LEONARDO: And the bride?

MAID: I’m going to dress her myself, now.

LEONARDO: The bride! She must be happy!

MAID: (Changing the subject) And the child?

LEONARDO: What child?

MAID: Your son.

LEONARDO: (Recalling himself as if from a trance) Ah!

MAID: Are they bringing him?

LEONARDO: No.

(A pause. The sound of singing far off.)

MAID:                      Let the bride wake

                              on her wedding day.

LEONARDO:             Let the bride wake

                              on her wedding day.

MAID: There they are. But they’ve still a way to come.

LEONARDO: (Rising) The bride will wear a large garland, no? It shouldn’t be too large. A little one would suit her much better. And has the bridegroom brought orange-blossom yet, for her corsage?

BRIDE: (Appearing in her petticoat and wearing the garland of orange-blossom) He has brought it.

MAID: (Sharply) You mustn’t show yourself like that.

BRIDE: Why not? (Gravely) Why did you ask if he’d brought the orange-blossom? Have you a reason?

LEONARDO: None. What reason should I have? (Approaching her) You, who know me, know I’ve no reason. Tell me, then. What did I mean to you? Try exercising your memory. Oh, a pair of oxen and a miserable shack weren’t enough for you. That’s the trouble.

BRIDE: Why are you here?

LEONARDO: To witness your marriage?

BRIDE: Just as I witnessed yours!

LEONARDO: Forced to it by you, tied by both hands. They may kill me, but now they daren’t show me contempt. Though with their silver, that shines so bright, they show contempt for everyone.

BRIDE: That’s a lie!

LEONARDO: I don’t want to discuss it, because I’m a hot-blooded man, and I don’t want the whole place to hear my voice.

BRIDE: I can shout louder.

LEONARDO: It’s pointless. You can’t have what’s gone. (The bride looks at the door, full of anxiety.)

BRIDE: You’re right. I shouldn’t even be speaking to you. But my spirit’s angered that you’ve come to spy on me at my wedding and deliberately ask about the orange-blossom. Go and wait for your wife, outside.

LEONARDO: Can’t you and I even speak to one another?

MAID: (Angrily) No you can’t.

LEONARDO: After my marriage I thought, day and night, about who was to blame, and every time I thought about it the guilty one altered; for there’s always a guilty party!

BRIDE: A man on horseback can go anywhere, and knows how to put pressure on a woman lost in a wasteland. But I have my pride. This is my wedding. And I’ll lock myself away with my husband, whom I must love above all other things.

LEONARDO: Pride won’t serve you. (He draws nearer.)

BRIDE: Don’t come near me!

LEONARDO: To be silent and consumed by fire is the worst punishment on earth, of those we inflict on ourselves. What use was pride to me, not seeing you, and you alone, lying there night after night? None at all! It served to stoke the flames higher! Because one thinks time is a cure, and the walls will shut things out, and it’s not true, it’s not true. When flames reach the heart, they can’t be quenched!

BRIDE: (Trembling) I must not listen to you. I must not hear your voice. It’s as though I drank a bottle of something sweet and lay on a carpet of roses. And I’m dragged down, and know I’m drowning, but I slip backwards.

MAID: (Seizing Leonardo by the lapels) You must leave, right now!

LEONARDO: This is the last time I’ll speak to her. Don’t you worry.

BRIDE: I know it’s madness, and I know it causes me pain deep in my heart, and here I am listening meekly, watching him throw his arms about.

LEONARDO: No peace until I’ve said the words. I married. Now you marry.

MAID: (To Leonardo) And she will be married!

VOICES: (Singing, drawing closer)

                              Let the bride wake

                              on her wedding day.

BRIDE: Let the bride wake! (She runs off to her room)

MAID: There they are now. (To Leonardo) Don’t you come near her again.

LEONARDO: Don’t worry. (He exits stage left.)

(It is daybreak.)

A GIRL:                   Let the bride wake

                              on her wedding day;

                              let the wheel turn,

                              our garlands display.

VOICES: Let the bride wake!

MAID: (Animated)   Let her awake

                              beneath the green branch

                              of love in flower.

                              Let her wake to the branch and the spray

                              of the laurel!

SECOND GIRL: (Entering) 

Let her awake

                              with floating hair,

                              a singlet of snow,

                              shoes gleaming with silver,

                              and on her brow jasmine.

MAID:                      Ay, the sweet girl

                              while the moon shines!

FIRST GIRL:                    Ay, now her lover

                              comes to the olive-grove!

A BOY: (Entering, with his sombrero held high)

                              Let the bride wake,

                              let her wedding spill

                              out over the fields,

                              with dishes of flowers,

                              and loaves of delight.

VOICES: Let the bride wake!

SECOND GIRL:          The bride

                              has put on her white garland,

                              the bridegroom

                              ties on her ribbons of gold.

MAID:                      For a lemon grove

                              the bride shall not sleep.

THIRD GIRL: (Entering)

                              For an orange grove

                              the bridegroom brings silver and cloth.

(Three guests enter)

FIRST BOY:              Let the dove wake!

                              Dawn clears

                              the fields of shadow.

FIRST GUEST:           The bride, the white bride,

                              a maiden today,

                              tomorrow a wife.

FIRST GIRL:             Come, dark-haired girl

                              with your silken train.

SECOND GUEST:        Come little dark one,

                              let the chill dawn rain dew.

FIRST BOY:              Awake, bride, awake

                              blossom fills the air.

MAID:                      A tree I’d embroider

                              with gems and ribbons

                              and love in each gem

                              with joy all around.

VOICES: Let the bride wake!

FIRST BOY:              The wedding is come!

THIRD GUEST:          The wedding is come,

                              when you will love,

                              come, flower of the mountains

                              the captain’s daughter.

FATHER: (Entering)

                              The captain’s daughter

                              I give to the bridegroom.

                              Here he comes with oxen as dowry!

THIRD GIRL:            The bridegroom seems

                              a flower of the sun.

                              Under his feet

                              carnations are springing.

MAID:                      Oh, my fortunate child!

SECOND BOY:           Let the bride awake.

MAID:                      Oh, and her lover!

FIRST GIRL:             The wedding bells ring

                              on the morning breeze.

SECOND GIRL:          Let the bride come forth.

FIRST GIRL:             Let her come, let her come!

MAID:                      Let the bells peal

                              Let the bells ring!

FIRST BOY:              Forth she comes! Now she is here!

MAID:                      Like a bull

                              the marriage is risen!

(The bride appears. She is wearing a black dress, of around 1900, tight at the hips, with a long train with gauzy pleats and stiff lace. On top of her hair rests a garland of orange-blossom. Guitars sound. The girls kiss the bride.)

THIRD GIRL:  What have you perfumed your hair with?

BRIDE: (Laughing) Nothing at all.

SECOND GIRL: (Gazing at the dress) That material is something special.

FIRST BOY: Here is the groom!

BRIDEGOOM: Good health to all!

FIRST GIRL: (Placing a flower behind his ear.)

                              The bridegroom seems

                              a flower of the sun.

SECOND GIRL:          Calm breezes

                              flow from his eyes.

(The groom goes to stand beside the bride.)

BRIDE: Why are you wearing those shoes?

BRIDEGOOM: They’re shinier than the black ones.

LEONARDO’S WIFE: (Entering and kissing the bride.)

Bless you both. (They talk together animatedly.)

LEONARDO: (Entering like someone performing a chore.)

                    This day of the wedding,

                    we garland your brow.

WIFE:            So the country is bright

                    with your river of hair.

MOTHER: (To the father.) Why are those two here?

FATHER: They’re family. Today is a day of forgiveness!

MOTHER:  I’ll tolerate it, but I don’t forgive.

BRIDEGOOM: How the garland brings a glow to you!

BRIDE: Let’s go quickly to the church!

BRIDEGOOM: You’re in a hurry?

BRIDE: Yes. I want to be your wife, and be alone with you, and hear no voice but yours.

BRIDEGOOM: I want that too!

BRIDE: And I only want to see your eyes. And for you to hold me so tight that even if my mother, my dead mother, called me, I could not break free of you.

BRIDEGOOM: My arms are strong. I’m going to hold you for the next forty years.

BRIDE: (Dramatically, taking his arm.) Forever!

FATHER: Quickly now! Bring the horses, and the carts! The sun’s already risen.

MOTHER: Take care! Let’s not bring ill on the day.

(The large door at the back opens. They begin to leave.)

MAID:                      Leaving your house,       

                              young girl so white

                              you seem to sail

                              like a star through the air.

FIRST GIRL:             Pure in body and soul,

                              leaving your house, to be wed.

(They prepare to leave.)

SECOND GIRL:          Now you leave your house

                              to pass to the church!

MAID:                      The breeze strews

                              flowers on the sand.

THIRD GIRL:            Ay! The white bride!

MAID:                      A dark breeze

                              the lace of her veil.

(They leave. The sound of guitars, wooden triangles and tambourines. Leonardo and his wife remain, alone.)

WIFE:  Let’s go.

LEONARDO: Where?

WIFE:  To the church. But don’t ride there. Come with me.

LEONARDO: In the cart?

WIFE:  How else?

LEONARDO: I’m not the man to go by cart.

WIFE:  And I’m not the woman to go to a wedding without my husband. I can’t take much more!

LEONARDO: Me neither!

WIFE:  Why do you look at me like that? With daggers in your eyes.

LEONARDO: Let’s go!

WIFE:  I don’t know what’s happening. But I think, and don’t wish to think. I know one thing. It’s over already. And I have a child. And another on the way. Let’s go you say. The same fate overtook my mother. But I’m not moving from here.

(There are voices.)

VOICES:                   Leaving your house,       

                              to go to the church

                              you seem to sail

                              like a star through the air!

WIFE:  (Weeping)    You seem to sail

                              like a star through the air!

I flew from my house too, just like that. With the whole world before me.

LEONARDO: (Rising.) Let’s go.

WIFE:  But together!

LEONARDO: Yes. (Pause.) Come on! (They leave.)

VOICES:                   Leaving your house,       

                              young girl so white

                              you seem to sail

                              like a star through the air.

The Curtain falls slowly

Act II Scene 2

(Exterior of the Bride’s house. An atmosphere of grey-whites and cold blues. Large cacti. Everything sombre and silvery. A panorama of brownish plateaux, hardened, as though they formed a country moulded in ceramics.)

MAID:  (Arranging glasses and trays on a table)

Turning,

the wheel, turning

and the water passing by,

as the wedding day arrives,

parting the branches,

and the moon gleaming

on the white verandah.

(In a loud voice) Lay out those tablecloths!

(In a voice full of pathos)

                              Singing,

                              the lovers, singing

                              and the water passing by,

as the wedding day arrives,

glowing with the frost

and coated with the honey

of the bitter almond-trees.

(In a loud voice) Get the wine ready!

(In a voice full of pathos)

                              Lover,

                              lover of the earth.

                              Watch the water passing

                              as your wedding-day arrives.

                              Gather up your skirts

                              beneath your husband’s wing,

                              and go from your house.

                              For the bridegroom is a dove

                              with his breast on fire

                              and the fields wait the news

                              of blood being shed.

Turning,

the wheel, turning

and the water passing by.

Now the wedding day arrives,

                              let the water glow!

MOTHER: (Entering) At last!

FATHER: Are we the first to return?

MOTHER: No. Leonardo arrived, a few minutes ago, with his wife. He drove like a demon. His wife nearly died of fright. He travelled the road as though he was galloping it on horseback.

FATHER: He’s looking for trouble. Only bad blood there.

MOTHER: What kind of blood do you expect? His whole family has it. It’s from his great-grandfather, who began their murderous ways, and the rest of the evil race inherited it, with their knives and their false smiles.

FATHER: Forget about all that!

MAID:  How can she forget about it?

MOTHER: I grieve to the depths of my being. When I’m confronted with them, I only see the hand that murdered my loved ones. Do you see me? Am I mad? Well, it is madness not to have screamed out all that my heart should utter. There’s a cry in my heart every moment, against the ones who should be punished, and wrapped in their shrouds. But they leave me with my dead and I have to be silent. Then people criticise. (She takes off her shawl.)

FATHER: This isn’t the day to raise such things.

MOTHER: When the conversation runs that way, I have to speak out. And today above all. Because now there’ll be no one left in the house but me.

FATHER: Hoping for fresh company.

MOTHER: That’s my dream. Grandchildren. (They sit down.)

FATHER: I hope they have plenty. This land needs unpaid labour. They must wage war on the weeds, the thistles, the stones that emerge from nowhere. And that labour must come from the owners, to punish and tame it, and sow the seed. They need a host of sons.

MOTHER: And daughters! Men are creatures who pass on the wind! They’re forced always to deal with weapons. Girls need never set foot in the street.

FATHER: (Cheerfully) I’m sure they’ll have both.

MOTHER: My son will do well by her. He’s from good stock. My father could have had many sons with me.

FATHER: What I wish is that the thing could be done in a day. That they could produce two or three full-grown men straight away.

MOTHER: But it’s not like that. It’s so slow. That’s why it’s so terrible to see the blood of a single one spilt on the ground. A fountain that spurts for a moment and has cost years of our life. When I reached my son, he was lying in the middle of the street. I moistened my hand with blood, and tasted it with my tongue. Because it was mine. You don’t know what that means. In a monstrance, of crystal and topaz, I would place that earth soaked with blood.

FATHER: Well, we must wait. My daughter is broad-hipped and your son is strong.

MOTHER: I trust so. (They rise.)

FATHER: Prepare the trays of food.

MAID: It’s done.

LEONARDO’S WIFE: (Entering) I hope all will go well!

MOTHER: Thank you.

LEONARDO: Are you having a feast?

FATHER: Not much of one. People can’t stay long.

MAID: Here they come, now!

(Guests enter in cheerful groups. The newly-weds enter arm in arm. Leonardo leaves.)

BRIDEGROOM: I’ve never seen so many people at a wedding.

BRIDE: (Sombrely) Never.

FATHER: It’s splendid.

MOTHER: Entire families have come.

BRIDEGROOM: People who never leave their homes.

MOTHER: Your father sowed, and you are reaping the harvest.

BRIDEGROOM: There are cousins of mine I’ve never met before.

MOTHER: All the ones from the coast.

BRIDEGROOM: (Smiling) They were nervous at handling the horses. (They talk.)

MOTHER: (To the bride) What are you thinking about?

BRIDE: I’m not thinking of anything.

MOTHER: So many blessings can weigh heavy. (Guitars are heard)

BRIDE: As lead.

MOTHER: (Forcefully) Ignore their weight. You should be light as a dove.

BRIDE: Will you stay here tonight?

MOTHER: No. My house is empty.

BRIDE: You should stay.

FATHER: (To the mother) Look at the dance they’re performing. A dance from the shores of the sea.

(Leonardo appears and sits down. His wife stands behind him, looking tense.)

MOTHER: They’re my husband’s cousins. Good for ever when there’s dancing.

FATHER: It’s good to see them. Something new for this house! (He goes out)

BRIDEGROOM: (To the bride) You liked the orange-blossoms?

BRIDE: (Gazing at him) Yes.

BRIDEGROOM: They’re real wax. They’ll last forever. I’d have liked to cover your whole dress with them.

BRIDE: There was no need.

(Leonardo exits silently stage right.)

FIRST GIRL: Let’s go and unpin your veil.

BRIDE: (To the bridegroom) I’ll be back soon.

WIFE: May you be happy with my cousin!

BRIDEGROOM: I’m sure I will.

WIFE: Just the two of you, here, not going far, creating a home. If only I too lived out here.

BRIDEGROOM: Why not buy some fields? Hill land is cheap, and it’s healthier for raising children.

WIFE: We’ve no money. And the way we’re going!

BRIDEGROOM: Your husband is a good worker.

WIFE: Yes, but he likes to chop and change too much. Flitting from one thing to another. He’s not steady.

MAID: You’re not eating? I’ll go and wrap some wine-cakes for your mother, she loves them.

BRIDEGROOM: Give her three dozen.

WIFE: No, no. A few will be enough.

BRIDEGROOM: It’s a special day.

WIFE: (To the maid) And Leonardo?

MAID: I’ve not seen him.

BRIDEGROOM: He must be with the rest, outside.

WIFE: I’ll go and see. (She leaves)

MAID: It’s all beautiful.

BRIDEGROOM: You’re not dancing?

MAID: No one has asked me.

(Two girls pass by behind them, during the whole scene there is a constant movement to and fro of characters.)

BRIDEGROOM: (Cheerfully) They don’t know any better. Lively elders dance better than the young.

MAID: So, you’re full of compliments, young man? What a family yours is! Men amongst men! When I was a little girl I was at your grandfather’s wedding. What a presence! It was as if a mountain was getting married!

BRIDEGROOM: I haven’t quite the same stature.

MAID: But you’ve the same gleam in your eye. Where’s the little one?

BRIDEGROOM: Taking off her veil.

MAID: Oh! Look. Since you won’t be asleep by midnight, I’ve prepared some ham and a couple of glasses of good wine. On the lower shelf of the larder. If you need them.

BRIDEGROOM: (Smiling) I never eat late at night.

MAID: (Maliciously) If not you, then the bride. (She leaves)

FIRST BOY: (Entering) Come and drink with us!

BRIDEGROOM: I’m waiting for the bride.

SECOND BOY: She’ll still be here at dawn.

FIRST BOY: Which is when it’s nicest.

SECOND BOY: Just one, now.

BRIDEGROOM: Let’s go.

(They leave. Sounds of merriment. The bride enters. Two girls run from the opposite side to greet her.)

FIRST GIRL: Who did you give the first pin to, me or her?

BRIDE: I’m not sure.

FIRST GIRL: You gave it to me, right here.

SECOND GIRL: No, to me in front of the altar.

BRIDE: (Troubled by some internal struggle) I don’t know.

FIRST GIRL: It’s just that I’d like you to…

BRIDE: It doesn’t concern me. I’ve too much to think of.

SECOND GIRL: Forgive us.

(Leonardo crosses the scene in the background)

BRIDE: (Seeing Leonardo) And I’m preoccupied right now.

FIRST GIRL: We didn’t know!

BRIDE: You will when your turn arrives. These things are serious.

FIRST GIRL: You’re unhappy?

BRIDE: No. Forgive me.

SECOND GIRL: For what? But either pin means one will be married doesn’t it?

BRIDE: Either.

FIRST GIRL: It’s just that one of us will marry before the other.

BRIDE: Do you wish to so much?

SECOND GIRL: (Shyly) Yes.

BRIDE: But why?

FIRST GIRL: Because… (Hugging her friend)

(Both run off. The bridegroom appears and slowly embraces the bride from behind.)

BRIDE: (Startled) Don’t do that!

BRIDEGROOM: Are you frightened of me?

BRIDE: Ay! It’s you.

BRIDEGROOM: Who else would it be? (Pause) Your father, or me.

BRIDE: That’s true!

BRIDEGROOM: Except that your father would have embraced you more gently.

BRIDE: (Gravely) That’s for certain!

BRIDEGROOM: Because he’s old. (He embraces her firmly and a little roughly)

BRIDE: (Curtly) Don’t!

BRIDEGROOM: Why not? (He releases her.)

BRIDE: Because…of all the guests. Someone might come in.

(The Maid crosses in the background without looking at them.)

BRIDEGROOM: Why not? It’s sanctioned.

BRIDE: Yes. But wait…later.

BRIDEGROOM: What’s wrong? You seem troubled!

BRIDE: It’s nothing. Don’t leave me.

(Leonardo’s wife appears)

WIFE: I didn’t mean to interrupt…

BRIDEGROOM: Yes?

WIFE: Has my husband been here?

BRIDEGROOM: No.

WIFE: It’s just that I can’t find him and his horse is not in the stable.

BRIDEGROOM: (Cheerfully) He’ll have taken it for a gallop.

(The Wife leaves, looking anxious. The Maid enters.)

MAID: Are you happy with it all?

BRIDEGROOM: I wish it was over. The Bride is a little tired.

MAID: What is it, child?

BRIDE: It’s like a throbbing in my head.

MAID: A bride from these hills needs to be tougher than that. (To the Bridegroom) You’re the one to cure it, now she’s yours. (She hurries out.)

BRIDEGROOM: (Embracing the Bride) Let’s go and dance. (He kisses her.)

BRIDE: (Distressed) No. I want to lie down for a while.

BRIDEGROOM: I’ll keep you company.

BRIDE: What! With all the guests still here? What would they say? Let me just be quiet for a while.

BRIDEGROOM: Whatever you wish! But don’t let it take all night!

BRIDE: (From the doorway) I’ll be fine later.

BRIDEGROOM: I hope so!

(The Mother enters)

MOTHER: My son.

BRIDEGROOM: Where have you been?

MOTHER: Wandering about here and there? Are you pleased?

BRIDEGROOM: Yes.

MOTHER: And your wife?

BRIDEGROOM: A bit upset. It’s a difficult day for brides!

MOTHER: A difficult day? It’s the best one of all. For me it was like coming into an inheritance. (The Maid enters and goes towards the bride’s room) It’s like ploughing the fresh earth, and planting new crops.

BRIDEGROOM: You are leaving?

MOTHER: Yes. I need to be home.

BRIDEGROOM: Alone?

MOTHER: Alone. No. My head is full of thoughts: of men and conflict.

BRIDEGROOM: Conflict that is no longer conflict, though.

(The Maid enters swiftly and disappears hastily in the background.)

MOTHER: That’s what life is, conflict.

BRIDEGROOM: Whatever you say!

MOTHER: Try to be affectionate towards your wife. But if she gets a bit above herself, or turns awkward, give her a caress that hurts a little, a bite, and then follow it with a gentle kiss. She won’t be upset, because she’ll know you’re a man, her master, who gives the orders. I learnt that from your father. And as he’s no longer here, I must teach you how to be firm with her.

BRIDEGROOM: I’ll do just as you say.

FATHER: (Entering) My daughter?

BRIDEGROOM: She went in.

FIRST GIRL: We want the newly-weds. We’re having a round dance!

FIRST BOY: (To the Bridegroom) You’re to lead off.

FATHER: (Re-appearing) She’s not there!

BRIDEGROOM: No?

FATHER: She must have gone up to the verandah.

BRIDEGROOM: I’ll go and see. (He exits.)

(The sound of guitars and merriment.)

FIRST GIRL: They’re off! (She leaves.)

BRIDEGROOM: (Returning) She’s not there.

MOTHER: (Anxiously) No?

FATHER: Where can she have gone?

MOTHER: (Anxiously) No?

MAID: (Entering) And the little one. Where is she?

MOTHER: (Gravely) We don’t know.

(The Bridegroom exits. Three guests enter.)

FATHER: (Dramatically) She’s not dancing?

MAID: There’s no sign of her, there.

FATHER: (Excitedly) There’s a crowd in there. Go and look hard!

MAID: I have looked hard!

FATHER: (Tragically) Where can she be?

BRIDEGROOM: (Returning) Nothing. She’s nowhere to be found.

MOTHER: (To the Father) What is all this? Where is your daughter?

(Leonardo’s wife enters.)

WIFE: They’ve fled! They’ve fled, she and and Leonardo. On his horse. She was holding him tight: they went past like the wind.

FATHER: That’s not true! No! Not my daughter!

MOTHER: Yes, your daughter! Child of a suspect mother, and he, he’s the same. Yet she’s my son’s wife!

BRIDEGROOM: We’ll hunt them down! Find me a horse!

MOTHER: A horse, quick, bring me a horse! I’d give what I have for one, my eyes my tongue even…

A VOICE: Here!

MOTHER: (To the Bridegroom) Go, go! (He starts to leave with two of the guests.) No. Wait. That family are so swift to kill, so certain…and yet…hurry, and I must follow!

FATHER: It can’t have been her. She’d rather drown herself in the well.

MOTHER: Someone honest, and pure, would run to drown themselves; but, no! Yet she’s my son’s wife now. There are two lots of kinfolk here. (Everyone enters.) My family, and yours. All of you…hunt them down! Shake the dust from your shoes. Go, help my son! (The crowd splits in two) For he has family, here; his cousins from the coast, and you who’ve come from miles around. Hunt them! Take every road. The hour of blood is here once more. Both lots of kinfolk. You and yours, I and mine. Go! Go!

Curtain