Page:The Return of the Soldier (Van Druten).djvu/85

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ACT III

Scene : The same.

Time : Early afternoon, a week later.

When the curtain rises, Chris is sitting on the Chesterfield, reading a bound volume of “Punch” and nursing a Pekinese dog.

Jenny comes in L.

Jenny : Hullo, Chris.

Chris : Hullo. I say, whose is this fellow? Yours?

Jenny : No, Kitty’s.

Chris : Kitty’s? Is she fond of dogs?

Jenny : No, I don’t think so . . . not really. She bought him about a year ago, when you first went out to France.

Chris : As a substitute for me?

Jenny : Just as a whim . . . petted him for a week and then forgot him. Never noticed him again; left him to the servants.

Chris : He’s a nice chap. What’s his name?

Jenny : Confucius.

Chris (fondling the dog) : Affectionate little beggar, too.

Jenny : Yes . . . he’s not much used to petting any more, I’m afraid.

Chris : Margaret was playing with him yesterday. She found him in the corridor, begging to be taken notice of. I hadn’t seen him before.

Jenny : What are you reading, Chris?

Chris : Punch. Back numbers . . . 1914. Trying to catch up with history. I spent all the morning

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