Act II - Page 2

at.
There is no sign of stupidity or infirmity of will about him: on the
contrary, he would pass anywhere at sight as a man of more than average
professional capacity and responsibility. Just at present he is
enjoying the weather and the sea too much to be out of patience; but he
has exhausted all the news in his papers and is at present reduced to
the advertisements, which are not sufficiently succulent to induce him
to persevere with them.

THE GENTLEMAN (yawning and giving up the paper as a bad job).
Waiter!

WAITER. Sir? (coming down C.)

THE GENTLEMAN. Are you quite sure Mrs. Clandon is coming back before
lunch?

WAITER. Quite sure, sir. She expects you at a quarter to one, sir.
(The gentleman, soothed at once by the waiter's voice, looks at him with
a lazy smile. It is a quiet voice, with a gentle melody in it that
gives sympathetic interest to his most commonplace remark; and he speaks
with the sweetest propriety, neither dropping his aitches nor misplacing
them, nor committing any other vulgarism. He looks at his watch as he
continues) Not that yet, sir, is it? 12:43, sir. Only two minutes
more to wait, sir. Nice morning, sir?

THE GENTLEMAN. Yes: very fresh after London.

WAITER. Yes, sir: so all our visitors say, sir. Very nice family,
Mrs. Clandon's, sir.

THE GENTLEMAN. You like them, do you?

WAITER. Yes, sir. They have a free way with them that is very
taking, sir, very taking indeed, sir: especially the young lady and
gentleman.

THE GENTLEMAN. Miss Dorothea and Mr. Philip, I suppose.

WAITER. Yes, sir. The young lady, in giving an order, or the like
of that, will say, "Remember, William, we came to this hotel on your
account, having heard what a perfect waiter you are." The young
gentleman will tell me that I remind him strongly of his father (the
gentleman starts at this) and that he expects me to act by him as such.
(Soothing, sunny cadence.) Oh, very peasant, sir, very affable and
pleasant indeed!

THE GENTLEMAN. You like his father! (He laughs at the notion.)

WAITER. Oh, we must not take what they say too seriously, sir. Of
course, sir, if it were true, the young lady would have seen the
resemblance, too, sir.

THE GENTLEMAN. Did she?

WAITER. No, sir. She thought me like the bust of Shakespear in
Stratford Church, sir. That is why she calls me William, sir. My real
name is Walter, sir. (He turns to go back to the table, and sees Mrs.
Clandon coming up to the terrace from the beach by the steps.) Here is
Mrs. Clandon, sir. (To Mrs. Clandon, in an unobtrusively confidential
tone) Gentleman for you, ma'am.

MRS. CLANDON. We shall have two more gentlemen at lunch, William.