Short Stories by PJ

Georgina Hogarth's London sitting room. Two chairs are pulled up to a lamp table on which rests a lighted lamp, a book, and a pair of spectacles. Entrance to the room is stage right. To stage left is the unseen kitchen.

(Enter HENRIETTA STACKPOLE and GEORGINA HOGARTH hurrying after her. HENRIETTA carries a large umbrella which she points at GEORGINA.)

Georgina: Oh, please! I've not invited you in.
Henrietta: I've told you my name, Miss Hogarth.
Geo: Tell me your name again. It's a long name. I didn't invite you. I don't know you.
Hen: I'm Henrietta Stackpole.
Geo: Henrietta Stackpole? It is a strangely familiar name. I've heard of Henrietta Stackpole. But what do you want of me?
Hen: The story. You're the only one who can tell me the whole story.
Geo: I have no stories to tell. You must have me confused with my brother-in-law, the writer Charles Dickens. He's been dead almost thirty years. The story?
Hen: It's Dickens I've come about. That's for sure.
Geo: You're a reporter, aren't you? And you're an American! Oh, you must leave at once.
Hen: Not without my story. You'll have to throw me out. I'll make a terrible scene. (She waves umbrella.) I'm not so lady-like as all you Hogarths.
Geo: We Hogarths are of good Scottish blood. My father was a journalist. But he was a gentleman. Always a gentleman. He wrote a wonderful history of music. And my mother and my sister Catherine, who married Mr. Dickens, were ladies. Indeed. And they've passed away. I can't talk to you, Miss Stackpole.
Hen: You must. I want to know about the Dickenses' marriage. I want the real story. All the world knows the writer Charles Dickens, but what do we know of his wife who was your sister Catherine? What do we know of Catherine Hogarth Dickens who bore Charles Dickens's ten children before their separation?
Geo: All that ever will be known. Their children, some of them, still live. We keep our privacy. My niece Katey has warned me...

KATEY breaks in.

Katey: Aunt Georgy, don't talk to anybody. Aunt Georgy, don't talk to those dreadful newspaper people! Aunt Georgy, don't talk to anybody! Aunt Georgy, please.
Hen: This is almost the twentieth century! Women will soon be voting. Don't look so shocked....
Geo: Katey will...
Hen: Katey will never know. Now ask me to sit down. I had some trouble finding you. I have friends in London. But this isn't a neighborhood they choose to live in.
Geo: Sit down if you must. Let me take that umbrella. I'll put it in my kitchen for now.

(Georgina exits with umbrella while Henrietta examines the book on the lamp table and smiles. Georgina returns.)

Geo: I'll tell you what I choose to tell. I've limited means. I'd live in a fine neighborhood if I could. Do you know how little I must manage on? For years I lived at Gad's Hill in Higham. It's as lovely a place as ever was. I stayed on there to look after the children after my sister moved to London to live apart from her husband. Gad's Hill... After his father's death, Mr. Charley kept it in the family for a while, but...

MRS. HOGARTH calls on her daughter CATHERINE DICKENS.

Mrs. H: Kate, I never dreamed a daughter of mine would live at Gad's Hill. It's one of the finest estates in Kent. How fortunate you are.
Cath: Mother, the home where we live can never in itself prove my marriage is a success.
Mrs. H: What a thing to say... You and Charles have been married twenty years. I know your marriage has not always been easy, but... You are married to a man who has written more of the joys of hearth and home than any other English writer. You are married to the editor of Household Words.
Cath: (Ironically) Now I will have fine homes in both London and Higham. My husband has fulfilled his boyhood dream of someday owning Gad's Hill. His success is for the world to see.
Mrs. H: You brood on something, Kate. It's one of your moods, is it not?
Cath: I'm sorry. I'll try to be happy at Gad's Hill, Mother. Our first visitor will be Hans Christian Andersen. He is a delightful man. Mother, I'll try to be the wife and mother and hostess you have given me such a fine example of being.
Mrs. H: There's my Kate. And Georgy. Is she pleased about the new home?

Hen: Gad's Hill? That's where you lived with Dickens after he and his wife separated. You stayed on, and your sister left.
Geo: I stayed on.
Hen: What a story! Yes, Gad's Hill is perfectly splendid. And you cared for the children, the ones not yet grown. He had the custody, of course. In those days the men had all the rights. You must know, Miss Hogarth, the world is changing. From what I know about the problems in that marriage, your sister would have the children if the decision were made today. Wouldn't she?
Geo: I...I don't know. Catherine made secret visits to see her children. She saw as much of them as she could. They all loved their mother dearly. Plorn made such a fuss whenever she said good-bye. Poor little guy.
Hen: I've heard you and Catherine didn't speak to each other after the breakup. Now you seem to take her part.
Geo: You don't have to believe everything you hear. We had our disagreement. But Catherine and I were eventually reconciled. Katey saw to that. She's the lively one. She's the one that had the courage to stand up to her father, the only one of us.
Hen: So you do have a story! Tell me as much as you can, Miss Hogarth. From the beginning.
Geo: The beginning? I was but a child. Not quite ten the first time I saw Charles Dickens. He worked on the Morning Chronicle with my father. My father was his editor when the Evening Chronicle was begun. Mr. Dickens came to the house. I can't remember the first time. My parents and the older children went to his birthday party when he turned twenty-four. He wanted a nice party for himself. His parents had so little money, you know.
Hen: So he gave himself a party?
Geo: I always heard them tell of that party when Catherine and he first took to each other. How often they talked about his birthday party...my mother and Catherine and my sister Mary, an angel if there ever were an angel on this earth. How can I remember the beginning?

(Enter MRS. HOGARTH.)

Mrs. Hogarth: Catherine! Mary! Girls!

(Mrs. H. knocks at a door behind which we hear muffled giggles.)

Mrs. H: Catherine?
Catherine: Come in, Mother.

(Mrs. H enters room where her two daughters work at Kate's hair.)

Mrs. H: Kate, I thought I'd find you playing your guitar or reading a book. Aren't you ready to go?
Cath: Almost ready, Mums.
Mrs. H: What have you been doing all this time? I've never known you to spend so long primping. And your hair, Catherine! What have you done with your hair?

(In front CATHERINE'S hair is combed in side curls, but the back is coiled about her crown.)

Cath: Do you like it, Mother?
Mrs. H: I'm not really sure. You look so different with your hair pinned up like that. Don't you think so, Mary?
Mary: I think Kate looks as pretty as ever, more grown up perhaps. We've tried all sorts of styles, but we like this one the best.
Cath: I'll not wear it this way if you don't like it, Mother. I asked Mary to help me put it up this way.
Mrs. H: Mary, you've done Catherine's hair beautifully.
Mary: And Catherine will be twenty years old in May, Mother.
Mrs. H: Dear Kate, you look lovely. But all of a sudden I see a young lady. I tell myself...Mrs. Hogarth, this is your eldest daughter all grown up....
Cath: Say I may wear my hair like this tonight. Say I may!
Mrs. H: Of course, you may. But your father is impatient, Girls. It's past time for the carriage, and, Kate, you don't even have your shoes on.
Cath: I'll put them on instantly.

(Catherine sits down. Her shoes are beside her chair, and she puts on the left one and then lifts her skirt to put on the other.)

Mrs. H: I'll tell your father the two of you will be downstairs momentarily. You know how he feels about promptness.
Cath: We'll be down right away.

(Mrs. Hogarth leaves and pulls the door shut behind her.)

Mary: (Joking and gleeful) Do you think Mr. Dickens will notice your small, lovely feet?
Cath: Oh, hush...

(Both giggle.)

Mary: Oh, Kate, Mr. Dickens will be completely taken with you.
Cath: Shhh...Don't let Mother hear you!

(GEORGINA and HENRIETTA pull their chairs closer together.)

Hen: So Catherine knew she'd caught Dickens's eye after that night, did she?
Geo: She was lovely. She had other admirers, you know. But I remember so little. My sister loved music. She played the guitar. She sang. There was still a bit of Scottish accent. She was born in Edinburgh before my parents moved to London.
Hen: All right. Your sister was talented and good looking. Go on.

(HENRIETTA has taken a notebook from her big purse and opens it.)

Geo: Well educated. Put that down. Elocution. French. She wrote well, you know. Her husband destroyed all her letters to him. She kept all his letters to her. Katey's put them in the British Museum. Put down that my sister wrote well too. She even gathered her menus and some recipes in a little book that made a rather successful publication, you know. She made a most gracious hostess. Have you ever seen her little book?
Hen: A book by Catherine Dickens?
Geo: No. Mr. Dickens had her use another name. It was the name of a character she played when she was acting in one of the farces he liked to put on. He was forever doing plays. All of us had to be in them no matter how much else we had to do. Mr. Dickens had Kate put the name Lady Maria Clutterbuck beside the title "What Shall We Have for Dinner?" But it's Catherine's book, all the same.
Hen: I've not read it. Tell me more about the two of them together. After the party?
Geo: After the party?
Hen: By all means!
Geo: We all got acquainted with Mr. Dickens. He was about the house. He spent hours with my brother Robert, trying to teach him shorthand. He was very patient with Robert. I think Catherine wanted more of his time for herself. I don't remember. So long ago.
Hen: You're doing beautifully. And they got along well enough then?
Geo: They spent as much time together as they could manage. Mary and Catherine would go to his place and fix his breakfast. The three of them together.... But...there were problems.
Hen: Ah...
Geo: A few problems. Catherine talked about his fine friends. He often rode a horse when he came calling. Kate never liked horses. And she thought he should spend more time with her.
Hen: You remember that and you were only a child?
Geo: I know he was always a very busy man. He had so many things to take an interest in. He was so active. Compared with Catherine especially. She wasn't one to keep up with his long walks, let alone ride a horse. She liked to go to musical affairs. She hoped he'd take her more often than he did.
Hen: He didn't like music?
Geo: Oh, he liked music very much. I remember when we were in Italy, he did enjoy the operas. It was his busy-ness. And at first, she'd tell him what she thought if he kept her waiting.
Hen: I'm glad to hear she showed some spunk!
Geo: At first she did. She was really very pretty. Other men noticed her. Dickens could be jealous. He accused her of coldness. They almost broke it off.
Hen: What saved it?
Geo: (Thoughtfully) I think she changed to please him. She was terribly in love, I suppose. Oh, I know she was...always. I think Mother wouldn't have been sorry to see it broken off. Mr. Dickens pleased Father more than he did Mother, I've always thought. One day he jumped in the parlor window all dressed in a sailor suit and sang and danced a hornpipe and then jumped out the window. A few minutes later he was knocking at the door as if nothing had happened, all dressed up for Sunday tea. Dear Papa...
Hen: He took offense?
Geo: He said we'd never understand Mr. Dickens. And he was right. I was with Mr. Dickens the longest, and I never understood him. Mother was alarmed by his constant motion. Charles Dickens was a man who never rested. He died when he was fifty-eight. From overwork most people agreed.
Hen: Oh well, important men are like that. Forever up and doing. And he wanted success so much. Was that all?
Geo: I remember something that kept us awake one night. The whole house. The older ones had been at Mr. Dickens's new apartment. The one at Furnival's Inn where he and Catherine first set up housekeeping. And Catherine came home from there so upset....

(Enter Mary, Catherine, and Mrs. Hogarth. Catherine's face is distorted with crying.)

Mary: Please, Sister. Please!
Mrs. H: Once again, Catherine. There now. Do try to modulate this grief. We must be rational.
Cath: Rational? Reason has deserted me. Mama. Sister. How sorry I am. I don't want to impose my pain on you. But composure? Tonight?

(Catherine sobs.)

Mrs. H: Catherine, say again what it was you heard at the party. Charles and the Beadnell girl? What was her name?
Cath: M-M-Maria. Maria Beadnell.
Mrs. H: And you were told that some time ago Charles was very much in love with her?
Cath: He wanted so much to m-m-marry her, and, and...
Mrs. H: Dear Kate, I'm sure after you and Charles are married, this whole matter...
Cath: But her papa wouldn't have it. Her papa didn't like Charles.
Mrs. H: I still can't see, Kate, what any of this has to do with you. Your father has said he'll be proud to have Charles Dickens as his son-in-law. Your papa thinks...
Cath: But Charles was in love with her. Sh-she broke his heart.
Mrs. H: He doesn't appear to be a man with a broken heart at the present time.
Mary: Charles now looks at nobody but you.
Mrs. H: Mary is right, Kate.
Cath: Oh, I have been so happy. This past year... So happy.
Mrs. H: Catherine, if learning about Maria Beadnell makes any difference about your feelings for Charles...
Cath: Oh, Mama, nothing could change my feelings for Charles.

HENRIETTA'S pen works busily.

Hen: Now let me guess. Maria came back to cause trouble, did she not?
Geo: Oh, no. You've guessed wrong. Maria didn't appear on the scene again until she was in her forties. She outweighed Catherine -- Kate became very stout --, and we all met her when she came to dinner with her husband. She was Maria Winter then, such a talker. We had a good laugh at her after she said good-bye. She was the kind of guest that takes ten minutes to get out the door.
Hen: I can make it even better the way I'll write it up. So that was all of Maria?
Geo: No. No, my brother-in-law wrote long letters to her long after he'd stopped communicating with my sister. (She sighs.) We never understood him. He had some bitterness about a boyhood problem. His father in debtor's prison... His dismal job pasting on labels at a blacking factory... He felt his mother would have sent him back to the blacking factory for the few pennies he made there even after the family's fortunes changed for the better.
Hen: (Writing) An uncaring mother...
Geo: Not at all. She wasn't...deep. He thought she dressed too young or danced too much when she was young. She danced the night before he was born, you know. She loved to dance. And after his father's death, he thought her too maudlin, all in black. She never could please him.
Hen: My mother always said you could judge a man by the way he treats his mother.
Geo: Perhaps. But Catherine and Elizabeth Dickens always got along. Before the wedding and long after it.

CATHERINE and ELIZABETH examine a tablecloth.

Eliz: It will do nicely for your teatimes and entertainments, my dear.
Cath: What beautiful work.
Eliz: I grew up with nice things you know. I'm a Barrow. The Barrows may not take kindly to an in-law who has had his share of troubles... But pay no attention to me, Catherine! We'll look at these linens I've put together for your trousseau and then we'll have our teatime.
Cath: It's Irish linen.
Eliz: Yes, and had so cheaply. I hate to think what small wages those Irish girls receive. But this is England!
Cath: We'll let the men take on the troubles of the world.
Eliz: Miss Hogarth, you must know my people do not welcome my husband in their homes. It has been a special grief to me. My good husband...
Cath: He is the kindest of men.
Eliz: Things will be better for us. We've turned the corner now. How could we be more pleased with Charles's choice of a bride? Already you have brought us happiness.
Cath: How wonderful all of you have been to me!
Eliz: Charles will make a capital husband. He's been such a dependable sort since he was a little boy.
Cath: My father thinks so highly of him.
Eliz: Your future is assured. You'll have your own carriage!
Cath: What do I care? I have no need for wealth and fine things.
Eliz: But Charles is ambitious.
Cath: Oh, I hope he will not always work so hard.
Eliz: He loves his work. When he was only a little boy... When we had our troubles... We kept him out of school. He worked and gave his little sums to his father and me.
Cath: He's told me nothing of such times...
Eliz: Say nothing of this. Not ever. He hates the memory. He hated his little job. I never understood how much he hated it. He said it made him feel common.
Cath: Whatever did he do?
Eliz: I can't talk about it. Don't ask.
Cath: Poor Charles. Oh, I am sorry for all of you.

GEORGINA and HENRIETTA seem to have taken to each other.

Hen: And so the handsome couple were married. Though I can't say they lived happily ever after. My readers wouldn't be interested in that.
Geo: Oh, they had wonderful times. Theater and parties and teatimes. Charley was born almost nine months to the day after they were married. He was such a healthy baby. Though again there was a little problem. Mother had to find a wet nurse for Charley. Catherine had some sort of problem with her milk. And... She didn't always do well after having the children. We had trouble understanding why. She had so many beautiful children. Only baby Dora Annie died in infancy. Nine beautiful children. Why was she invariably so sad after each was born?
Hen: Merciful heavens! Don't ask me.
Geo: But the sorriest time came later. When Charley was still in his cradle...my sister Mary died. I'll never forget Mary's death.
Hen: Is it true that Dickens at her death put on her ring and wore it to his grave? Is that story true?
Geo: Indeed it is. He worshipped Mary. An angel. Mother collapsed when she saw how bad things were. So sudden...some heart trouble we knew nothing of. They'd been to the theater and after they came home, Mary cried out. She died the next afternoon. In Dickens's arms. It was terrible.
Hen: I'm so sorry.
Geo: My mother was never the same. It was months before she could be up and about. Catherine gave us special strength. I do remember that.

CATHERINE and MRS. HOGARTH are at tea.

Cath: I've had the strangest letter from my husband.
Mrs.H: Strange?
Cath: Mother, he is troubled. You know we will always hold Mary in our hearts. May I speak of her to you?
Mrs. H: It is hard. Catherine, how strong you have been. I thought Charles was doing better.
Cath: In his letter he describes the dreams he has of Mary. He dreams of her every night. He gets no rest. Mother, I fear for his mind.
Mrs. H: You have kept us all together. Charles and I have much to thank you for.

ANNE appears.

Anne: Excuse me. There's a lady, a very rich lady's come to call.
Mrs. H: What is her name?
Anne: Miss Coutts, Ma'am.
Cath: Miss Coutts? Show her in immediately.

HENRIETTA sits up at that name.

Hen: The heiress.
Geo: She and Dickens were fast friends for years. But she took my sister's side after the break-up. She was Baroness Burdett-Coutts in later years. And after Dickens's death, it was Catherine she called on. Everybody else came to console those of us left without him at Gad's Hill. But Miss Coutts was ever the punctilious one.

MISS COUTTS, CATHERINE, and MRS. HOGARTH take tea.

Miss C: And so I hope you'll both forgive me for not having called sooner. I know how upset Mr. Dickens was by your younger daughter's death, Mrs. Hogarth. Such a tragedy. And, Mrs. Dickens, I have long wanted to meet you.
Cath: I'm so glad you called.
Miss C: But how our lives have all changed this past year! We have our charming new queen.
Cath: Oh, my husband declares he is in love with Queen Victoria. But I remind him he is no longer free.
Miss C: Indeed? You are a merry wife for Mr. Dickens. But Victoria, I am sure, reads his stories and with all England rejoiced when he came round and started writing again after your loss.
Cath: We do appreciate your visit. My mother is with me during my husband's absence. He has business in Yorkshire but will return soon. He's at work on a new novel and wants another look at Yorkshire.
Miss C: Ah, another novel. Such genius. I have hopes that he will help me.
Cath: I am sure he will always be glad to help you, Miss Coutts.
Miss C: I need his assistance as an almoner. It is not easy to be charitable.
Cath: An almoner?
Miss C: I have been placed most fortunately in life. It is my wish to leave the world a better place. Do you understand?
Cath: My husband has always had great concern for the less fortunate.
Miss C: He will become a wealthy man in his own right. Mark my words.

HENRIETTA nods in appreciation.

Geo: The years rolled by. Dickens was honored far and wide. He made a bigger stir in Edinburgh than Earl Gray did. And I came to live with the family. There were four children when I came--Charley, Mamey, whose real name was Mary Hogarth, Katey, and Walter. I was fourteen years old.

MRS. HOGARTH appears briefly.

Mrs. H: Georgey has always been a mother's best little helper. She is only fourteen, but both Charley and Mamie mind her every word. Look at them.

GEORGINA pays no attention.

Geo: They weren't sure I'd work out. I came just before that first trip he made to America. You should have heard the fuss.

The servants ANNE and SARAH speak up.

Sarah: Annie, you are the brave one, you are.
Anne: Sarah, I want to go with them. I want to see something of the world for myself.
Sar: Oh, I'd rather stay here and dust every book in the big library. I'd never go to sea. To get all tossed around. Oh, you are a brave one.
Anne: We'll leave in January.
Sar: It will be cold in the States.
Anne: It will be cold, but I'm a strong country girl.

HENRIETTA assures GEORGINA.

Hen: I've made more than one crossing myself. I don't look forward to the next one.
Geo: I doubt that Catherine would have ventured to America if Annie hadn't agreed to go. She was scared to death to go, scared to death to leave the children, scared to death to stay in London without her husband. And he declared he wouldn't leave without her.
Hen: He wanted to show her off!
Geo: He was so proud of her then. Four children and still fresh looking. I wanted her blue eyes and her black hair. She was plump. Not stout then. A lovely full bosom. Nowhere was there a more beautiful young matron.
Hen: They must have been happy together.
Geo: Daniel Maclise presented her with a small painting of the children to take with her. Dickens said she clutched it all the way.
Hen: So the American trip was a success?
Geo: Yes and no. She had trouble getting in an out of all those carriages and coaches. And trembled when those nasty American men spat on the streets. They do, you know.
Hen: Not in my circles, I assure you.
Geo: They were jostled about. Men smoked in the carriages. Finally one night in a place called Pittsburgh Catherine became wildly hysterical.
Hen: I hope she received good medical attention. Some of our finest doctors have been educated in Philadelphia.
Geo: Dickens had no faith in American doctors. He'd been studying mesmerism. He decided to try to quiet Catherine with mesmerism. And it worked. She got the best night's sleep of the trip. She said it was because of the complete commitment and understanding between her husband and herself. For a long time she spoke of it, but then something happened to change her mind.
Hen: He practiced mesmerism on Catherine? I'd always heard that he worked his arts on some woman from Switzerland. And Catherine wasn't too happy about it.
Geo: Well, you haven't the full story, of course. We were all in Genoa. I was with them and the older children. Catherine said she'd never leave them again though the baby Frank stayed with my parents in London. Somehow Dickens took up with the DeLaRues. He was Swiss, but Mme. DeLaRue had been born in England.
Hen: An English woman married to a Swiss.
Geo: She had some sort of nervous affliction. Dickens took a great interest in her case. You'd have thought Mme. DeLaRue was the sole reason for his Italian visit. He had her constantly on his mind. Yes, Catherine soon tired of the whole thing. By the time we left Italy she was as cranky as I've ever seen her. I knew later, of course, that she was in the first months of pregnancy again. That was Sydney.
Hen: I'm putting down all those names. I'd never remember. Sydney--Number 6? That's correct?
Geo: Wait! I've made a mistake. I am getting along in years, you know. That wasn't Sydney's place. It was Alfred Tennyson. He was number six. Sydney was number seven.

HENRIETTA tries to suppress her amusement.

Hen: And each and every one received an Anglican baptism though Mr. Dickens professed Unitarianism?

GEORGINA shakes her head. The servants ANNE and SARAH reappear, ANNE with hands on hips.

Anne: They christened the baby in the Church of England?
Sar: Indeed. I went along.
Anne: It's all very well. You're high church yourself. I'm a Methodist. And I know Mr. Dickens is much struck by the Unitarians.
Sar: Unitarians? Is there such a church?
Anne: Mr. Dickens's best friend Mr. Forster is one of them. And Mr. Dickens has often taken the family to the church at Portland Place.
Sar: And what do Unitarians believe?
Anne: That there's some question about the virgin birth.
Sarah: (Shocked) Oh, my!

GEORGINA and HENRIETTA have drawn their chairs closer in Georgina's sitting room.

Geo: I don't know how many miscarriages Catherine had. I know she was very sick with one after she and my brother-in-law visited Scotland early in 1848. She was ...oh, in her early thirties then, a little stout. Sick for some time. Then pregnant once again. I was about the age she'd been when she married.
Hen: You never married.
Geo: No. But I was so much a part of that marriage. In a way, I had the best of it to my thinking. Catherine...was pregnant when she had her accident going from Broadstairs to Margate to meet the train her husband took from London.
Hen: Pregnant and so soon after a miscarriage.
Geo: She seemed well enough as I remember. And loved being with the children at Broadstairs. Very often we summered at Broadstairs. Dickens worked best in London and joined us at the end of the week. The accident...

CATHERINE and ANGELA COUTTS take tea. CATHERINE'S hand shakes as she pours.

Miss C: But your accident, Mrs. Dickens? I've heard so little of what really happened. My dear, you have been badly shaken.
Cath: It has been over a month now. Do you think I make too much of it, Miss Coutts? An accident with a pony chaise?
Miss C: I can think nothing at all until I hear what happened. Do tell me.
Cath: That nasty pony bolted. And I've always had such a fear of horses. To think a pony would cause me such a fright.
Miss C: And you were thrown from the chaise?
Cath: No, no. I stayed right there behind that dreadful creature. At first I couldn't understand what was happening. It was the pony. His utter madness. That was all my mind could dwell on.
Miss C: I am so sorry. He must have been as bad as a wild horse as far as you were concerned.
Cath: Oh, yes. Such fierce and determined incorrigibility. And my confusion. It all happened so fast.
Miss C: But the driver stayed between you and the pony, did he not?
Cath: I'm afraid he did not. He was very young. He must have dropped the reins.
Miss C: Did you see the boy drop the reins?
Cath: Not really. He was there and then he wasn't. I thought at first he'd fallen. But then I thought... No, he's simply abandoned me. He's jumped to save himself.
Miss C: Now I understand your terror.
Cath: Yes, I felt terror. But, Miss Coutts, it was not all that. I felt the hurt. First, I felt the hurt, do you understand? He had left me there. And I had depended on him.
Miss C: He must have been only a boy.
Cath: I could have been killed. He didn't care.
Miss C: What did you do?
Cath: I prayed. The chaise was swaying from one side of that narrow road to the other. Have you seen the way from Broadstairs to Margate? It is little more than a path. I prayed to God to be spared, left to mother my children, my dearest babes, to give birth to this one that stirs inside me and to see the little one christened at the font, and to care for my dear husband.
Miss C: You are quite pale. Say no more if it is too painful.
Cath: Oh, it will always be there. I am compelled to speak of it. I dream of that maniacal pony. I dream I am wildly riding in that chaise once again toward my destruction. Twice I've awakened my husband with my screams.
Miss C: A nightmare you must be glad to wake from.
Cath: Afterwards... After the terrible crash and my shock and knowing it was over and somehow I was alive... Afterwards I thanked God and when I saw my husband, I told him how thankful I was God had spared me. I told him how happy my life with him and my blessed family had been, and I wept and told him how very dear he was to me but...(She wipes tears from her eyes.)
Miss C: Mr. Dickens must have been beside himself. What did he say to you?
Cath: Actually he said...very little. He said he would speak to the boy.
Miss C: That's all? Perhaps you don't remember correctly. You were hardly yourself at such a time.
Cath: Why...yes. You must be right. Perhaps I can never remember what truly happened. You have been so kind to listen to me, Miss Coutts. Please, will you have more tea?

HENRIETTA and GEORGINA shake their heads with concern.

Geo: Catherine carried her baby full term. Dickens demanded that the doctors try chloroform to ease her pain when she went into labor. She suffered terribly when she gave birth. I think it's why I never married myself. Augustus Egg wanted me to marry him. He was a nice man. Dickens approved. But...
Hen: You were afraid to marry?
Geo: He was a nice man. But I couldn't marry him.
Hen: And your sister needed you, I'm sure. We're at Number Eight, if I'm not mistaken.
Geo: Sir Henry. The Barrister. He entered Trinity Hall on a fellowship. He was the only one of the boys who really pleased his father. The others weren't bad. I don't want you to think that.
Hen: They just didn't make it to Cambridge?
Geo: Nor did they wish to, I'm afraid. The girls were luckier in their way. There was no possibility of a university education for women in their day. Katey would have gone on the stage had it not been for her father. He thought it suitable for a young woman of her social status to be seen only in private entertainments.
Hen: How fortunate I was to have a father who encouraged me to enter professional life.
Geo: Your father did that? It was not Mr. Dickens's way. He thought nothing of inspecting Katey and Mamey's dresser drawers. I think Mamey never outgrew the notion that he'd run her life for her. It's just that fathers don't live forever, do they?
Hen: I am glad that my own father took such pride in my work before he died. I'm sorry Dickens did not enjoy all his handsome sons. The baby that died was a third girl, I believe.

GEORGINA puts her head in her hands briefly.

Geo: That precious baby we lost was little Dora Annie.
Hen: I'm surprised they named a baby Dora.
Geo: She was born in 1850, in August. Dickens came from Broadstairs for the delivery, and everything was fine. He went back to work out the ending for David Copperfield.
Hen: Then Dora did get her name from the Copperfield Dora?
Geo: I'm afraid so. Catherine thought the world of Dora Spenlow Copperfield. She delighted in her silliness.
Hen: And Dickens killed Dora Copperfield so that David could have a sensible second wife.
Geo: We all wept when Dora had to die. I suppose he was justified in killing her, but Catherine was always so depressed after her babies were born. Dora's death didn't help.
Hen: I'm not sure whether you mean the Copperfield Dora or the Dickens Dora.
Geo: Oh, at first the Dickens Dora did well. But when she was about six months old...she had some sort of brain fever. Catherine was beside herself. She arranged a private christening. She made herself very sick with worry but...
Hen: She had cause for worry.
Geo: It became a turning point for all of us. Those days. Dickens insisted the whole matter was Kate's nerves. She'd always had her moods, I'll admit. But she loved the children. Entertained. Had many friends, always. Not a quarrelsome sort. She didn't want to leave her children.
Hen: I didn't know there was a question of her leaving the children.
Geo: Dickens had heard about the water cure at Malvern. He said it would be good for Catherine's nerves. He took her to Malvern and, dear man, visited as frequently as possible. Annie was good enough to go with her. I went briefly, but I had charge of the house and the children, what control I could wrest from John Forster.
Hen: Catherine had a nervous breakdown?
Geo: Her husband called it that, or words to that effect. He told everybody Kate's nerves had always been bad. Whatever it was, the effect was that we pushed Kate out of her special place in the world. The family was never the same.
Hen: How long did Dickens require her to stay at Malvern?
Geo: He sent for her after the baby we'd all told her not to worry about was dead. She got to come home to see little Dora Annie at rest in her crib. And she bore up like the fine Christian lady she always was.
Hen: That's a cold water cure indeed.
Geo: In spite of all that happened, I've thought there was something to that cure. Catherine tried so hard to get well at Malvern. Let herself be wrapped in a cold, wet sheet. Took the long walks which she hated and lost a little weight. She honestly learned to take better care of herself and to have some thought of her own needs.
Hen: I hope she learned something.
Geo: She began seeing more of her old friends. Dressed up and went out to the musical affairs she'd loved and given up. I think she changed. She got her little book of menus together that year after she came back. I guess some people knew that Maria Clutterbuck was Catherine Dickens and gave her credit. She needed praise. Things got worse and worse between her husband and herself. I think Malvern was where she found the courage to do what she did after she found out about Ellen Ternan.
Hen: At last we come to the actress.
Geo: Not so fast. There was Number Ten, Edward Bulwer-Lytton whom we all called Plorn, God bless his soul. All the visitors. Hans Christian Andersen. He fell in love with Catherine. Dickens was rude to him. Rude to Catherine, gentle soul. Rude to my parents when they came to call. And...
Hen: Tell me.
Geo: He had carpenters come and board up his dressing room at Tavistock House so that he and Catherine slept in separate rooms for the first time of their marriage. Catherine had nothing to do with that project, I can tell you.
Hen: I hope the family saw to it that the bed the Dickenses slept in was given to the Victoria and Albert.

GEORGINA stiffens.

Hen: I'm sorry. I've offended you with my lightness. Your mother must have taken Catherine's troubles to heart.

MRS. HOGARTH questions CATHERINE.

Mrs. H: Kate, don't feel you have to hide your feelings from me. I'm your mother. I don't blame you. I blame Charles. Do you think I didn't see your pain when he boarded up your bedroom? Do you think there's no talk of the harshness with which he speaks to you?
Cath: I must think the best of it all. I...I am not in good health. We know all that. My nerves are not the best. I'm terribly stout. I must look much older than my years. I've never had Charles's energy.
Mrs. H: Charles is the worst bundle of nerves I've ever met. As for his energy, he drives himself beyond all endurance. His foot gives him trouble. His chest. His pain in the side. He's not a young man any more. He needn't pretend he is. A night beside the fire might do him some good.
Cath: Mother...
Mrs. H: This room is too cold.
Cath: I'll have Donald bring more coals for the fire.
Mrs. H: I'm sorry I've spoken this way. I am worried about you, that's all. I want things to be better.
Cath: Oh, they will be better. I must stand by my husband. He is not well. It must be his work on "Little Dorrit." How happy we were when he read me the pages of "Nicholas Nickleby."
Mrs. H: Your father is very concerned.
Cath: Don't worry. I feel that my health has improved ever since my stay at Malvern.
Mrs. H: Your husband's manner...
Cath: Unlike my father's dear consideration of all of us...

SARAH enters the room.

Sarah: Ma'am, the jeweler's boy left this package.
Cath: Thank you, Sarah.

CATHERINE looks at the box, turning it before opening it.

Mrs. H: Charles has sent you jewels? Then he tries to make amends. How happy I am for you, Kate!
Cath: Now things will be better.

CATHERINE opens the box. She reads the card and cries out.

Cath: It has Ellen's name upon it.

HENRIETTA looks amazed.

Hen: You knew all this was going on?
Geo: I was at Tavistock, the London home, at the time. The younger boys were there and Katey and Mamey. We couldn't help but hear.
Hen: Dickens was out while your mother visited?
Geo: And she was gone by the time he returned. Catherine waited for him in the sitting room. Donald had made the fire brighter. She waited for him in front of the fireplace.
Hen: And had it out with him.
Geo: At last. Oh, he said they'd promised each other when they were first married that if one of them loved somebody else, the other should be told. She asked him whether he loved Ellen. She didn't leave anything out. He finally was carrying on about how she must stay and be a good wife in the eyes of the world and entertain and be there for the children. Then he got mean and said the law gave her nothing. She was a nobody without him. The children would be with him. She let him know he'd be sorry if she didn't see the children as much as she had a mind to. And he backed down. He kept saying, "You'll ruin me." And she assured him she'd do nothing to threaten the livelihood of her children but she wouldn't live under his roof. Again and again, she told him, "I will live separately."

CATHERINE steps on stage. She looks well and determined.

Cath: I will live separately.

Oblivious to CATHERINE, GEORGINA talks to HENRIETTA.

Geo: Dickens kept saying, "Ellen and I are innocent."

CATHERINE speaks louder.

Cath: I will live separately.

GEORGINA continues.

Geo: Dickens at last could only complain about how warm the fireplace made the room. The last thing I remember his saying was, "What is the world to think?"

CATHERINE has a fine, firm voice.

Cath: I will live separately.

GEORGINA puts out a hand to CATHERINE and then lets it fall.

Geo: I kept my silence through it all. There in the eye of the storm. Dependable Aunt Georgy.
Hen: Don't blame yourself.
Geo: Dickens wanted Catherine to take the jeweler's box to Ellen, to make it look right. Katey got into it then. She found Catherine crying in her room, trying to put her best shoes on her poor swollen feet. Annie helped her to pack a few things. Katey kept saying...

Katey: You don't have to do what he asks, Mother. Don't go.
Cath: It's the last thing I'll do for him. It's my last duty as a wife.

Geo: Katey pleaded with her. I could hear Catherine very plainly.

Cath: Respect me for this, Katey. You'll understand some day. It's because of you and your sister Mamey that I must be responsible for myself. It comes to that. It comes to a woman having to live with what decisions she makes herself. I have a commitment, and I'll keep it. And afterwards, I am for all purposes no longer your father's wife. Pray for me. I will never separate from you and your sisters and brothers.

GEORGINA rises as if to go to her sister's side, but then she sits down beside HENRIETTA.

Geo: I stayed on. Dickens was like a madman in the weeks that followed. It was the saddest household.
Hen: Do you think Catherine actually went to see Ellen Ternan?
Geo: Catherine was a brave woman.

ELLEN shows surprise when she finds CATHERINE at her door.

Ellen: Mrs. Dickens?
Cath: Yes, I am Mrs. Dickens. We have met before, Miss Ternan.
Ellen: Of course. But...it has been a while. I ...I didn't expect you.
Cath: I have something for you. May I come in?
Ellen: Forgive me, Mrs. Dickens. Oh, do come in. My mother is not here just now. She lives with me, you understand.
Cath (meaningfully): I understand.

ELLEN ushers CATHERINE to the sitting room. CATHERINE arranges her skirt after seating herself, and ELLEN draws up a straight chair.

Ellen: You say you have something for me?
Cath: It is from my husband Mr. Dickens. It is a jeweled bracelet. The jeweler's boy delivered it to me by mistake.
Ellen: I...I don't understand.
Cath: Nor do I. I questioned my husband about his intentions, I must assure you.

CATHERINE takes the jeweler's box from her purse and presents it to ELLEN. Slowly the young woman opens the box and looks inside, taking evident pleasure with the contents.

Ellen: What a lovely piece of jewelry. I've never before had such a treasure in my hands. Why, never. It's much too kind of Mr. Dickens. And of you.
Cath: I have had little to do in making the decision that you should have this bracelet, Miss Ternan. Mr. Dickens feels that my bringing it to you will make it right.
Ellen: Make it right?
Cath: That before the world I may be seen as viewing this gift, which I reluctantly bear, as appropriate.
Ellen: And do you find this bracelet right? Do you find it appropriate?
Cath: I find it neither right nor appropriate. Nor do I find it as innocent as my husband would have me find it. I find it wrong, inappropriate, and guilty, if you will. I see it as the guiltiest of tokens of a relationship I will not countenance.
Ellen: Do you accuse Mr. Dickens and me of wrongful behavior?
Cath: I do.
Ellen: You are very unfair. I have done nothing to encourage the attentions of your husband. My mother...my mother has been defense against him... Oh, I don't mean that!
Cath: It is Mr. Dickens I hold responsible for this affair, Miss Ternan. You are no older than our daughter Katey. Mr. Dickens is in love with you, don't deny that. He is an impetuous man, don't deny that.
Ellen: He is the kindest of men.
Cath: Impetuosity is not always kind, I must assure you. I am not moralizing about Mr. Dickens's behavior. I am simply describing it. I've known him since before you were born. He's a determined man, Miss Ternan. One way or another, he'll have you.
Ellen: You must not talk that way. It is not fair.
Cath: My dear, life is not fair. A woman's aging is not fair. A husband's straying is not fair. The contour of your youth is not fair.
Ellen: Do you intend to ruin me?
Cath: Ruin you? Have you some audience that awaits your appearance on stage?
Ellen: I'm presently engaged in a small part.
Cath: A small part? I wonder that your life will offer you the larger part. Did you wish to be like Fanny Kemble?
Ellen: Fanny Kemble? Oh my no. I've done some Shakespeare with my mother and sister. My mother might have rivaled Fanny Kemble. Or my sister. But...
Cath: Between the two of us, Miss Ternan, had you been Miss Kemble, had you her talent and following, would you have made a place in your life for Mr. Dickens?
Ellen: I...I can't answer a question like that.
Cath: It is only for the two of us to know, Miss Ternan. Had you great dramatic talent and a brilliant career, would you find time for Mr. Dickens, who is a famous man, we both know, but also a man old enough to be your father?
Ellen: Mr. Dickens is the cleverest of men.
Cath: But if you had great talent?
Ellen: Mr. Dickens has always been so kind....
Cath: Between the two of us, Miss Ternan, I knew Mr. Dickens when he was a young man. He was fiery and handsome. He had such wonderful chestnut hair. I do not argue that his cleverness has remained. If you had the promise of being all of London's darling on the stage.... If you had that, would you reserve your private moments for Mr. Dickens?
Ellen: I don't know. I can't say. It is not right to torment me so...
Cath: Miss Ternan, I'm asking only truth, not art. Only the truth.
Ellen: I've done my best on stage. I...I've always tried.
Cath: (Kindly) Forgive me, Miss Ternan. You have tried. And I have tried. Against all odds, we've both tried.
Ellen: And is that all you have to say to me?
Cath: No. I'll say one other thing. I've loved my husband dearly. It mattered little. The last few years he's had no love for me. So I reach out and hope against all hope.
Ellen: (Weakly) I am sure you were once happy.
Cath: Happy? Miss Ternan, I've been as hugely happy as sorry. My life has been all my dreams. Wife. And helpmeet. Ah, could you have seen us reading together the pages of those early books...Pickwick, Nicholas Nickleby, the Christmas Carol.

CATHERINE raptly envisions the past.

Ellen: (More weakly) I am sure you were once happy.
Cath: And I became Mother. My babies. Ten children. Beautiful babies. Each one a special blessing. My dear parents. My brothers and sisters. So many friends. Hostess.
Ellen (somewhat dryly): Yes.
Cath (recovering her composure): Life gave both Mr. Dickens and me what we thought we wanted.
Ellen (shivering): But...isn't that everything?
Cath: Is it? Oh, life isn't like some play. I appeared often in the farces Mr. Dickens would play out on the stage. But I've shown little talent for the stage. I've given you the jewels as I promised Mr. Dickens I would. It is time for me to leave. You will not see me again, I think.

As if awaking from a disquieting dream, ELLEN looks at CATHERINE, who is standing to leave.

Ellen: I'm sorry. I..I haven't been paying attention. I haven't offered you tea.
Cath: I've had my tea, thank you, Miss Ternan. I have a carriage waiting and a long way to go. I'll not be returning to Tavistock House in London. Nor will I live again at Gad's Hill in Kent. I'm leaving Mr. Dickens. Good-bye, Miss Ternan.

Hen: Is that the whole story?
Geo: (Not seeming to be aware of Henrietta) Catherine, aren't you coming home tonight? Aren't you coming back to Tavistock House? Kate, aren't you ever coming home again?

Short Stories by PJ