breakinglight11 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
breakinglight11) wrote2014-08-29 12:43 pm
breakinglight11) wrote2014-08-29 12:43 pm
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31 Plays in 31 Days, #29 - "Being Married"
This is a silly scene from the future of Mrs. Hawking. I could see a conversation like this happening eventually, but the tone here is a little off. I was thinking of fandom and how shippers love to put together any two characters regardless of how they actually are in canon. I guess I kind of wrote this to both be shipper bait, and to put certain shippy ideas down. Probably means I can't use it, but I just need to finish out the month.
Being Married
by Phoebe Roberts
MARY STONE, housemaid and lady's society avenger
NATHANIEL HAWKING, Mrs. Hawking's nephew and assistant
~~~
NATHANIEL: Mary? What is it?
MARY: Arthur's asked me to marry him.
NATHANIEL: Truly? Oh, Mary, my girl! That's lovely! I'm so pleased for you.
(He pulls her into a hug. When he releases her, his smile falls at the sight of her worried face.)
NATHANIEL: What's the matter? Aren't you... glad?
MARY: It isn't that...
NATHANIEL: Do you love him?
MARY: I do.
NATHANIEL: Then what is it?
MARY: Well, it's a number of odd things, really.
NATHANIEL: Such as? You can tell me.
MARY: Well... I can’t say I ever thought it might be for me.
NATHANIEL: Why ever not?
MARY: To start with, Nathaniel, you see… it’s quite different for us that live below stairs.
NATHANIEL: I’m not so naïve as not to know that. But surely you’ve the right to marry like anyone else.
MARY: Certainly, but… it’s a life of another sort for a maid of all work. Busy from sunup to sundown, lonely all the while. There’s hardly time to think of such things.
NATHANIEL: Forgive me, Miss Stone, but it’s not been quite so since you came to Auntie’s employ.
MARY: Quite true. But even with her sort of work, we don’t live for ourselves.
(NATHANIEL smiles.)
NATHANIEL: So it’s never occurred to you to do something as self-centered as having a life of your own?
MARY: When you put it like that, you make it sound absurd.
NATHANIEL: I’m not sure it’s just me, Miss Stone.
MARY: Oh, aren't you a fine one, the grand gentleman, making mock!
NATHANIEL: I'm sorry, I only mean to tease. It’s only, well, that I recommend the institution.
MARY: So you like being married?
NATHANIEL: You know, I do. It’s become rather the fashion for men of my age to complain about the harridan at home, so to speak, but not me. Of course I fancy not everyone’s got a wife like Clara.
MARY: Perhaps you’ve just got lucky then.
NATHANIEL: That’s for certain. Clara, you see, she keeps me honest. Never let me be less than the best of myself. And you can't let her looks fool you; in her own way she's quite as fierce as Auntie.
MARY: You needn't convince me! I’m starting to think Hawking men must have a taste for that!
NATHANIEL: Much as it might shock my father to hear it, I think you may be right. But it’s done me good, I think. She rather makes me want to be better than I am.
(MARY grins.)
NATHANIEL: Here now, what are you laughing at me about?
MARY: Not laughing. That's a lovely thing to hear a man say about his wife.
NATHANIEL: I say if a man's got anything less to say, then he's either got the wrong view, or the wrong wife.
(Pause.)
NATHANIEL: I’d like to say it’s all her, but I think I’m suited to being married. It’s nice, you know. To have someone who loves you to come home to. Someone who cares to hear about my day, and cares for my own sake what becomes of me. I can’t fathom how I’d survive living as Justin does, leaving himself open to be eaten alive by any number of women.
MARY: My, sir!
NATHANIEL: Forgive me, I don’t mean to be vulgar. But you know my brother, how he tomcats about.
MARY: I suppose I do, now.
NATHANIEL: You’ve had a narrow escape with him.
MARY: Not that narrow! But still… perhaps it was silly of me, but I was rather flattered. Perhaps I oughtn’t have been, but I was.
NATHANIEL: He does seem to have that effect upon the ladies.
MARY: Well, he’s quite handsome.
NATHANIEL: Yes, well, he had all the luck that way.
MARY: Oh, I wouldn’t say that!
NATHANIEL: Well, that’s kind of you.
MARY: I mean it. You are a handsome family. And, well… he’s a gentleman.
NATHANIEL: What of that?
MARY: it’s not often a girl like me catches the eye of a gentleman except to stoke the fire or clear the tea tray. It was nice, to be noticed as… as a woman rather than as the maid.
NATHANIEL: Ah. Of course. Well, why wouldn’t he? You’re a lovely girl.
MARY: Really, sir, you needn’t.
NATHANIEL: Needn’t what?
MARY: I know you’re not given to thinking of maid girls that way.
NATHANIEL: Oh, that. Mary, you really must forgive me for--
MARY: Oh, don’t apologize. It's for the best, I imagine. It's certainly better than the alternative, a married man with an eye for the servants.
NATHANIEL: Perhaps. But it's real snobbery as well, and I'm sorry for that. But I would say… were I not spoken for… and yes, perhaps of a somewhat different experience… I should be proud to love a girl precisely like you.
(Pause.)
NATHANIEL: Oh, bother it all, that was dreadfully forward.
MARY: Perhaps. But I can't fault you for it. Because... it would be just as forward of me to say that perhaps, in that same world, I might think the same of you.
(They smile at each other, shyly. Then NATHANIEL laughs.)
NATHANIEL: Listen to the two of us, talking about all this. What sort of Englishmen are we?
(They laugh together.)
NATHANIEL: But as it is... I'm very glad to be your friend.
Being Married
by Phoebe Roberts
MARY STONE, housemaid and lady's society avenger
NATHANIEL HAWKING, Mrs. Hawking's nephew and assistant
~~~
NATHANIEL: Mary? What is it?
MARY: Arthur's asked me to marry him.
NATHANIEL: Truly? Oh, Mary, my girl! That's lovely! I'm so pleased for you.
(He pulls her into a hug. When he releases her, his smile falls at the sight of her worried face.)
NATHANIEL: What's the matter? Aren't you... glad?
MARY: It isn't that...
NATHANIEL: Do you love him?
MARY: I do.
NATHANIEL: Then what is it?
MARY: Well, it's a number of odd things, really.
NATHANIEL: Such as? You can tell me.
MARY: Well... I can’t say I ever thought it might be for me.
NATHANIEL: Why ever not?
MARY: To start with, Nathaniel, you see… it’s quite different for us that live below stairs.
NATHANIEL: I’m not so naïve as not to know that. But surely you’ve the right to marry like anyone else.
MARY: Certainly, but… it’s a life of another sort for a maid of all work. Busy from sunup to sundown, lonely all the while. There’s hardly time to think of such things.
NATHANIEL: Forgive me, Miss Stone, but it’s not been quite so since you came to Auntie’s employ.
MARY: Quite true. But even with her sort of work, we don’t live for ourselves.
(NATHANIEL smiles.)
NATHANIEL: So it’s never occurred to you to do something as self-centered as having a life of your own?
MARY: When you put it like that, you make it sound absurd.
NATHANIEL: I’m not sure it’s just me, Miss Stone.
MARY: Oh, aren't you a fine one, the grand gentleman, making mock!
NATHANIEL: I'm sorry, I only mean to tease. It’s only, well, that I recommend the institution.
MARY: So you like being married?
NATHANIEL: You know, I do. It’s become rather the fashion for men of my age to complain about the harridan at home, so to speak, but not me. Of course I fancy not everyone’s got a wife like Clara.
MARY: Perhaps you’ve just got lucky then.
NATHANIEL: That’s for certain. Clara, you see, she keeps me honest. Never let me be less than the best of myself. And you can't let her looks fool you; in her own way she's quite as fierce as Auntie.
MARY: You needn't convince me! I’m starting to think Hawking men must have a taste for that!
NATHANIEL: Much as it might shock my father to hear it, I think you may be right. But it’s done me good, I think. She rather makes me want to be better than I am.
(MARY grins.)
NATHANIEL: Here now, what are you laughing at me about?
MARY: Not laughing. That's a lovely thing to hear a man say about his wife.
NATHANIEL: I say if a man's got anything less to say, then he's either got the wrong view, or the wrong wife.
(Pause.)
NATHANIEL: I’d like to say it’s all her, but I think I’m suited to being married. It’s nice, you know. To have someone who loves you to come home to. Someone who cares to hear about my day, and cares for my own sake what becomes of me. I can’t fathom how I’d survive living as Justin does, leaving himself open to be eaten alive by any number of women.
MARY: My, sir!
NATHANIEL: Forgive me, I don’t mean to be vulgar. But you know my brother, how he tomcats about.
MARY: I suppose I do, now.
NATHANIEL: You’ve had a narrow escape with him.
MARY: Not that narrow! But still… perhaps it was silly of me, but I was rather flattered. Perhaps I oughtn’t have been, but I was.
NATHANIEL: He does seem to have that effect upon the ladies.
MARY: Well, he’s quite handsome.
NATHANIEL: Yes, well, he had all the luck that way.
MARY: Oh, I wouldn’t say that!
NATHANIEL: Well, that’s kind of you.
MARY: I mean it. You are a handsome family. And, well… he’s a gentleman.
NATHANIEL: What of that?
MARY: it’s not often a girl like me catches the eye of a gentleman except to stoke the fire or clear the tea tray. It was nice, to be noticed as… as a woman rather than as the maid.
NATHANIEL: Ah. Of course. Well, why wouldn’t he? You’re a lovely girl.
MARY: Really, sir, you needn’t.
NATHANIEL: Needn’t what?
MARY: I know you’re not given to thinking of maid girls that way.
NATHANIEL: Oh, that. Mary, you really must forgive me for--
MARY: Oh, don’t apologize. It's for the best, I imagine. It's certainly better than the alternative, a married man with an eye for the servants.
NATHANIEL: Perhaps. But it's real snobbery as well, and I'm sorry for that. But I would say… were I not spoken for… and yes, perhaps of a somewhat different experience… I should be proud to love a girl precisely like you.
(Pause.)
NATHANIEL: Oh, bother it all, that was dreadfully forward.
MARY: Perhaps. But I can't fault you for it. Because... it would be just as forward of me to say that perhaps, in that same world, I might think the same of you.
(They smile at each other, shyly. Then NATHANIEL laughs.)
NATHANIEL: Listen to the two of us, talking about all this. What sort of Englishmen are we?
(They laugh together.)
NATHANIEL: But as it is... I'm very glad to be your friend.