Read Belle Moral: A Natural History for Free Online Page B

with a work ethic, and the useless will inherit the earth.
    Pleased with himself
, V ICTOR
reaches for the flask but
Y OUNG F ARLEIGH
keeps it and recites Robbie Burns with passion and surprising vigour
.
    Y OUNG F ARLEIGH . “Wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie,
    O, what a panic’s in thy breastie.
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,

Wi’ bickering brattle.
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
Wi’ murd’ring pattle.

I’m truly sorry man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle

At me, thy poor earth-born companion
An’ fellow-mortal.
    Pause
.
    But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best laid schemes o’ mice and’ men
Gang aft a-gley.
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain
For promised joy.

Still thou art blest, compared wi’ me.
The present only toucheth thee.
But och! I backward cast my e’e
On prospects drear.
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear.”
    A beat
. V ICTOR
is awestruck
.
    V ICTOR . Are you my real father?
    Y OUNG F ARLEIGH . Are you askin’ me if you’re a real bastard?
    They laugh
. Y OUNG F ARLEIGH
gets up, crosses to
V ICTOR ,
hands him the flask, then punches him in the nose
. V ICTOR
cries out in pain
.
    That’s for insulting your mother.
    He goes to leave but
V ICTOR
stops him, and speaks from the heart:
    V ICTOR Young Farleigh. Who was she? She was beautiful. She was a painter. That’s all I have of her. I haven’t even got the old shawl she wrapped me in.
    A beat
.
    Y OUNG F ARLEIGH .
Aonaibh ri cheile. [pron. ehnev ree kaylee]
Scene 6 The Attic Stairs
    A closed door at the top of a narrow staircase. The door opens
. D R R EID .
emerges. He descends a few steps, then stops, sets down his medical bag and sits, devastated
. F LORA
emerges, pulls the door closed, then turns and sees
D R R EID.
    F LORA . Seamus … Come. I’ll make you cup of –
    D R R EID . Flora.
    A beat. She sits next to him, as he tries to collect his thoughts
.
    This is her haim.
    F LORA . Seamus. She canna byde here, not if –
    D R R EID. No, of course not, you’re right, it’s too too much to ask of you –
    F LORA . ’Tisn’t that. Ramsay said she was to be cared for – elsewhere – throughout the course of her natural life.
    D R R EID . To be sure, to be sure, but … what do we know of the place where she has been housed all these years?
    F LORA . It’s … decent.
    D R R EID . But you’ve ne’er seen it, ne’er –
    F LORA . Young Farleigh –
    D R R EID . And he is the only one who ever visited.
    F LORA ,
ashamed
.
    Now, now, that was Ramsay’s decision.
    F LORA . But I didna wish to visit, Seamus. I kept awa’. I promised Régine I would look after the children. But the truth is, all these years, I’ve wished her dead. And God forgive me, I wish it still
[weeping]
.
    D R R EID . You’re only human, Flora, you did your best.
[regretful]
And so did I. But we’ve a chance now to do a bit better, eh?
[a beat]
Flora, what if she were to come live with me? As my patient? She would have the best of care. My laboratory overlooks the sea. You could visit, or not, as you pleased. And you could rest easy in your mind.
    A beat
.
    F LORA . Victor would have to agree.
    D R R EID . That’s certain. I may need your help on that front. The lad has conceived a mistrustof me as a physician – not surprising, given his mental … 
[delicate for
F LORA’S
sake]
fragility.
    F LORA . Fragility? Surely he’s more headstrong than fragile.
    D R R EID . I’d have said so myself before the events of this morning.
[urgent]
Flora, he is so like his mother. Sensitive, passionate …
    F LORA . Niver say it, Seamus.
    D R R EID . I dread the morrow. For the lad will be master here and, as such, he’ll have to be told.
    F LORA . I dinna relish the telling.
    D R R EID . Nor do I, lest the shock precipitate another fit.
    F LORA . Why must he be told at all? Ach, I ought