THE MAIDS

A Play
by
JEAN GENET

translaud
from the French by
BERNARD FRECHTMAN

FABER A~ 0 Fl\BER
24 Russell Square
LONDON
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First puhlished III Fr~T'ce under the title LES BONNES.

Copvrlght J 953 by Bernard Frechtman All rights reserved.
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 THE CHARACTERS

SOLANGE {TWO housemaids, sisters, thiny to thiny-five

CLAIRB years old. Solange is the elder.
MADAME Their mistress. She is about twenty-five.
LES BONNES was first rroduced in this CO\IIltry bt FreDc:h
in 19S2 at the Mercury Theatre, Notting HiD Gate, UDder
the auspices of the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Cast
SOLANGE Selma Vaz Dill
CLAIRE Olive Gregg
MADAMI' Oriel Ross

Decor by Eduardo Paolozzi

Directed by Peter Zadek

This production was transferrec1 to the Boyal Ooart

Theatre for a short season.
Garr
SOLANGE Selma Vaz Dias
CLAIIlE Olive Greg
MADAME Betty Stockfie1d

D~rby na~ddeBdhd
Directed hy Peter Zadek

The first production in English rnok pl_ • chi· NIW

Lindsey Theatre Club on 5th JUM .tS'.
Garr
SOLANGE Selma Va Dla
CLAIIlE
MADAME

D~r by Nlpl Wbittabr

Directed hy Peter Zadek
 Madame's bedroom. Louis-Quinzefurniture.lAce. Rear, a
window opening on the from of the house opposite. Right,
a bed. Left, a door and a dressing table. Flowers in pro-
fusion. Tile time is evening.

(Claire, wearing a slip, is standing with her back to the

dressing table. Her gestures--arm extended-and tone are
exaggeratedly tragic.)

CLAIRE: Those gloves! Those eternal gloves! I've told you time
and again to leave them in the kitchen. You probably
hope to seduce the milkman with them. No, no, don't
lie; that won't get you anywhere! Hang them over the
sink. When will you understand that thh room is not to
be sullied. Everything, yes, everything that comes out
of the kitchen is spit! So stop it! (During this speech,
Solange has been playing with a pair of rubber gloves and
observing her gloved hands, which are altenlately spread
fanwise and folded in the form cf a bauq,uet.) Make
yourself quite at home. l:)reen like a peacpck. And above
ail; don't hurry, we'v~plenty ohime. Go!
(Solange's posture changes and slle lea~)es humbly, lidding
the rubber gloves with her fingertips. Clail'e sits down at
the dressing table. She miffs at the flowers, rllm her hand
ovar tile toilet articles, brl/shes her hair, palS her face.)
Get my dress ready. Quitk! Tim~rrl!sses. Ar~ you
there? (She turns round.) Claire' Claire'
(Soiange enters J
SOLANGE: I beg Madame's pardon, I was preparing her tea. (She
pronounces it "tay".)
CLAIRE: Layout my things. The white spangled dress. The fan.
'I'he emeralds.
SOLANGE: Very well, Madame. All Madame's jewels?
CLAIRE: Put them out and I shall choose. And, of course, my
patent~lcather slippers. The ones you've had YOt;I eye
7
 on for years. (Solange ,aks a /eTJJ jtfMl ho:ra /rDWI eM
closer, opens them, and lays thmr out 011 eM bid.) For
your wedding, no doubt. Admit he seduced youl Just
look at you! How big you arel Admit it! (Solant~ tquatl
on rhe rtIIh spits on tire parent-leather ,li~'. and
polj~her lMm.) I've told you, Claire, witb.mlf .pit. Let it
sleep in you, my child, let it stagMle. Ahl Ahl (S.
tip,gles ntTf)ou!~y.) May the I05t wayfaret drown in it.
Ah! Ah! You liTe hid("ous. Lean forward. and look at
yourself in my s hoes Do you think I fiJad. it pleasant to
know that my foot is shrouded by the veils of your
saliva? By the mists of your swamps?
SOLANGE: (on her knees, and 11ery humble.) I wish Madame to be
lovely.
ClIAIRl!: I shall be. (She primpr in front 0/ tM mirror.) You hate
me, don't you? You crush me with your .~oDS and
your humbleness; YOli smother me with gladioli'and
mimosa. (She srands up and, lowering Mr time) There
are too many flowers The room is needlessly cluttered.
It's impossible. (She looles at herself again in 1M glalt.) I
shall be lovely. Lovelier than you'll ever be. With. face
and body like that, you'll never seduce Mario.
(Dropping the tragic tone) A ridiculous yo..mg milktnm
despises us, and if we're going to have. kid by him-
SOLANGE: Oh! I've never--
CLAIR.!!: (resuming). Be quiet, you fool. My dress I
~OLANGE: (she looks in the closet, pushing tUitk a/ftJ drum). The
red dress. Madame will wear the red clress.
CLAIR!: I said the white dress, the one'with spangles,
SOLANGE: (firmly). I'm sorry. Madame will wear the scarlet velvet
dress this evening.
CLAIRE: (naively). Ah? Why?
SOLANGE: (coldly). It's impossible to forget Madame's bosom.
under the velvet folds. And the jet brooch, when
Madame was sighinl; and telling Monsieur of my
devotion! Your widowhood really requires that you be
entirdy in black
CLAIRE: Eh?
8
SOLANGE: Need I say more? A word to the wise--
Ct.uu: Ahl So you want to talk.••. Very well. Threaten me.
Insult your mistress, Solange. You want to talk about
Monsieur's misfortunes, don't you? Fool. It was hardly
the moment to allude to him, but I can turn this matter
to fine accountl You're 1Dliling? Do you doubt it?
S04-AHGl!: The time is not yet ripe to unearth--
CunuI: What a'wordl My infamy? My infamy! To unearthl
SOLANGB: MadamC!
Ct.uu: Am I to be at your mercy for having denounced
Monsieur to the police, for having sold him? And yet
I'd have done even worse, or better. You think I haven't
suffered? Claire, I forced my hand to pen the letter-
without mistakes in spelling or syntax, without crossing
anything out-the letter that sent my lover to prison.
And you, instead o"tsunding by me, you mock me.
You forte your colours on me t You speak of
widoyvhood! He isn't dead. Caire, Monsieur will be
led from prison to prison, perhaps even to Devil's
Island, 'Where I, his mistress, mad with grief, shall
follow him. I shall be in the convoy. I shall share his
glory. You speak of, widowhood and deny me the white
gown-tbe mourning of qutens. You're unaware of
that, Cliire--
SOLANGB: (coldly). Madame will wear the ted dress.
Ct.uu: (simply). Quite. (Smeb'.) Hand me the dress. Ohl
l'm so alone and friendless. I can see in your eyes that
you loathe me. You don't c:&re \1fhIt happens to me.
SOLANGB: I'll follow you evetyWhertJ. I love <you.
CLAIRE: No doubt. As one ld'les a .mistress. You love and
respect me. And you're hoping for a legacy, a codicil in
your favour-
SoLANGI1- I~d, doan in my powwcf!I!r_-
CLAIu: (ironically). I know. You'd go through fire for me.
(Solange MIps Claire put on her dress.) Fasten it. Don't
pull SO bJrd. Don't try to bind me. (Solallge kn4els at
Clair~s.Jut and arranges the folds of the dress.) Avoid
pawing IDe. You smell like an animal. You've brought
9
 those odours from some foul attic, where 'the lackeys
visit us at nigbt. The maid's room! The_garrc~
(Graciously) Claire, if I speak of the smell of garrets, it
is for memory'~, sake. And of the twin beds where two
sisters fall a'ilcep, dreaming of onc another. There,
(she points to (/ spot in the room) there, the two iron beds
with the night table between rhem. There, (she peints
to a spot apposite) the pip~wood dresser with the little
altar to the Holy Virgin! That's right, isn't it?
SOLANGr.. Wt:'rf' so unh3ppy. I could cry! If you go on---
CLAIRe: It is right, isn't it! Let's sbp the business of your
prayers and kneeling. I shan't even mention the paper
flowers .... (She laughs.) Paper flowers! And the branch
of holy boxwood! (She poims to the jlO'lJJer's in the room.)
Jmr look at these flowers open in my honour! Claire,
am I not a 10\'clier Virgin?
SOLANGr.. (as it in adoration). Be ql.liet--
('I AlliE' !\nd there, (she points to a very high spot at the windOflJ)
thal notorious skylight from which a half-naked
milkman jumps to your bed!
SOLANGr.. Mad:l1ne is fOlgctling herself, Madame-
Co! film. {\nr! ",h~lt <loont your hands? Don't you forget your
hands. How often have I (she hesitates) murmured: they
befOlil thl" sink
SOLANGL The fall !
CLAIRe: Eh?
SOLANGL (arranging the dress on Clair:e;s hip!). The ran otyour
dress. I'm arranging your fall from grace.
CLAIRe: Get away, you bungler! (She kicks So/ange in th4 temPle
with her Louis-Qunize h.:el. Soiange, who ;s kneeling,
staggers and draws back.)
SOLJI.NG£: Oh! Me a burglar?
CLAIRe:. I said bungler, and if you must whimper, do it in your
garret. Here, in my bedroom, I will have only noble
tears. A time will come when the hem of my gown
will be studded with them, but those will be precious
tears. Arrange my train, you clod.
SOLANG£: (in ecstasy). Madame's being carded away!
10
 CLAIRE: By the devil! He's carrying me away in his fragr&n.t
arms. He's lifting me up, I leave the ground, I'm
off•••• (She stamps with her heel.) And I stay behind,
Get my necklace! But hurry, we won't have time. If
the gown's too long, make a hem with some safety pins.
(Solange gets up and goes to take the necklace /rom a
jewel case, but Claire rushes ahead of her and seizes the
jewels. Her fingers graze those of Solange, and she recoils
in horror.) Keep your hands off mine! I can't stand
your touching me. Hurry up!
SOLANGE: There's no need to overdo it. Your eyes are ablaze.
CLAIRE:. (shocked astonishment). What's that you said?
SOLANGB: Limits, boundaries, Madame. Frontiers are not
conventions but laws. Here, my lands; there, your
shore--
CLAIRE: What language, my dear. Claire, do you mean that I've
already crossed the seas? Are you offering me the drelU-y
exile of your imagination? You're taking revenge, aren't
you? You feel the time coming when, no longer a
maid-
SOLANGE: You see straight through me. You divine my thoughts.
C!.AIRE: (increasr'ngly carried away)-the time coming when,:ilo
longer a maid, you become vengeance itself, but, Claire,
don't forget-Claire, are you listening?-don't forget;,
it was the maid who hatched schemes of vengeance,
and I-Claire, you're not listening.
SOLANGE; (absent-mindedly). I'm listening.
CLAIRE: A.J1d I contain within me both venKeance and the maid
and give them a chance for life, a chance for salvation.
Claire, it's a burden, it's terribly painful to be a
mistress, to contain alll.he springs of hatred, to be the
dunghill on which you grow. You want to see me naked
every day. I am beautiful, am I not? And the
desperation of my love makes me even more so, but
you have no idea what strength I need!
SOLANGB: (contemptuously). Your lover!
Cx.Anu!: My unhappy lover heightens my nobility. Yes. Yes.
my child. All that you'll ever know is your own bascnei;s.
II
SOLANGI!: That'll do! Now hurry! Are you ready?
CLADE: Are you?
SOLANGI!: (she sups hack to the wardrobe). rm ready.-Pm tited
of being :m object of disgust. I hate you, too. I despise
YOll. I hate your scented bosom. Your ••• i«Iry bosom!
Your .. g(llden thighs! Your ••• ambfrfectl I hate
you! (She rpirs or tire red dress.)
CLADE: (aghast). Oh! .. Oh! ..• But••••
SOLANGI!: (f.Dalkrn;; up to hcr1. Yes, my proUd beauty. You tbiDIt
you can always do ju~t as you like. You tbiDIt you can
deprive me forever of the beauty of the sky, that you
can choose your rx-rfumes and powders, your
nail-polish and silk and velvet and lace, and deprive me
of them? That you can steal the miIbn.n from me?
Admit it! Admit abollt the milkman. m.,.,uth and
vigour excite you, don't they? Admit about the
milkman. For Solange says: to hell with youl
CLAIRE: (panic-stricken). Claire! Claire!
SOUNGF: Eh?
CUIRE: (in a mllrmur). Clair('", Solange, Claire.
SOUNGE: Ah! Yes, Claire, Claire ~ays: to hell with youl CJaireis
here, more dazzling than ever. Radiantl (Sh6 slap,
ClIlire.)
CiAnu!: Ohl •.. Oh! Clair('" ..• You .••• Ohl
SOLANGE: .Madame thought she was protected by her buriCldc of
f1owen, saved by some special dcsany, by allCrifice.
But she reckoned without a maid's rebellion. Behold
her wrath, Madame. She turns your pretty speeches to
nought. She'll cut the ground from. under your fine
adventure. Your Monsieur was just a cheap thief, and
you-
0AIu: I forbid you I Confound your impudence I
SoUNGI!: Twaddle I She forbids me! It's Madame 'Who',
confounded. Her f."lce is all conwlsed. Would you like
a mirror? Here. (She hands Claire a mirror.)
CLADE: (regaTding herself wiTh satisfaction). I see the marb of
a slap, but now I'm more beautiful than everl
SOIAMGE: Yes, a slap!
12
 Ct.uu: Danger 'is Qly halo, Claire; and you, you dwell in
darkness••••
SoLANGB: But the datlmess is dangerous.-I know. I've heard all
that before.. I can tell by your face what I'm supposed
to answer. So I'll finish it up. Now, here are the ~
maids, the taithful servants 1 They're standing in front of
you. Despise them. Look more beautiful. We no longer
fear you. We're merged, enveloped in our fumes, in our
l'CI1ds, in our hatred of you. The mould is setting. We're
taking shape, Madame. Don't laugh-ahl above all, don't
laugh at my grandiloquence, •.•
Ct.uu: Get outl
SoLANGB: But only to be of further service to Madame 1 I'm going
back to my kitchen, back to my gloves and the smell of
my teeth., To my belching sink. You have your flowers,
I my sink. rm the mG•• You, at lcut, you can't defile
me. Butl Butl .•• (Sill adfJanul on Clair"
,hrlatmintly.) But before I go back, I'm going to finish
the job. (Suddenly an alarm clock goes off. Solange stops.
Till tfJ10 acmsses, i" a staU of agitation, run together.
Thly 1ruddk and listen.) Already?
Cl..uRE: Let's hurry! Madame'll be back. (SM starts to unfasten
her dress.) Help me. It's over already. And you didn't
get to the end.
SoLANG!: (helping • • 1" a sad tone of wia). The same thing
happens f:tIery time. And it's all your fault, you're
never ready... I can't finish .IOu off.
Cl.AutE: We waste too much time with the preliminaries. But
we've still. • • •
SoLANGB: (as sill lulp,.Claire qut of her drlSS). Watch at the
window.
CLAro: We've stilI got a little time left. I set the clod: so we'd
be able to put the things in order. (SM drops 'lJJl4riJy
into tM armdIair.)
SoLANGE: (gently). It's so close this evening. It's been close all
day.
Ct..uJtE: (gently). Yes.
SOLANGB: Is that what's killing us, Claire?
13
 CLAIRE: Yes.
SOLANGE: It's time now.
CLAIRE: Yes. (She gets up wearily.) I'm going to make the tea.
SOLANGE: Watch at the window.
CLAIRE: There's time. (She wipes her face.)
SOT_ANGE: Stiil leoking at yourself ... Oaire, dear•.••
CLAIRE: Let me alone, I'm exhausted.
SIlJ.ANGE: (sternly). Watch at the window. Thanks to you, the
whole place is in a mess again. And I've got to clean
Madame's gown. (She stares at her sister.) Well, what's
the matter with you? You can be lik~me now. Be
yourself ag;Jin. Come on, Claire, be my sister again.
CLAIRE: I'm finished. That light's killing me. Do you thin.~
the people opposite ....
Sm.ANGE: Who cares! You don't expect us to .. •(she hesitates)
organize things in the dark? Have a rest. Shut your
eyes. Shut your eyes, Claire.
CI.AIRE: (she puts (JtI her ShOTt black dress). Ohl When I say I'm
exh:lUsted, it's just a way of talking. Don't use it to
pity me. Stop trying to dominate me.
SOLANGE: I've never tried to dominate you. I only want you to
re~t. You'll help me more by resting.
CI.AIRE: I understand, d\)n't explain.
SOLANGIl: Yes, I will explain. It was you who started it. When
you menti(med the milkman. You th1nk I couldn't see
what you were driving at? If Mario--
CLAIRE: Ohl
SOLANGE: If the milkman says indecent things to me, he does to
you, too. But YOIl loved mingling••••
CLAIRE: (shrugging her sholllders). You'd better see whether
everything's in order. Look, the key oCthe secretary was
lIke this (she arrangl's the key) and, as Monsieur says-
SOLANGE: (violently). You luved mingling your insults-
CLAIRE: He's always finding the maids' hairs all over the pinks
and roses!
SO! ,\NGE: And things about our private life. with-
er AIRJ!: With? W/ith? With what? Say it! Go on, name it! The
ceremony? ne~icle~, we've no time to start a discussion
14
 now. She'll be back, back, back! But, Solange, this
time we've got her. I envy you; I wish I could have
seen the expression on her face when she heard about
her lover's arrest. For once in my life, I did a good job.
You've got to admit it. If it weren't for me, if it hadn't
been for,my anonymous letter, you'd have missed a
pretty sight: the lover handcuffed and Madame in tears.
It's enough to kill her. This morning she could hardly
stand up.
SOLANGE: Fine. She,can drop dead! And I'll inherit! Not to have
to set foot, again in that filthy garret, with those two
idiot5, that cook and that butler.
CLAIRE: I really liked our garret.
SOLANGE: Just to contradict me. Don't start getting sentimental
about it. I loathe it and I sec it as it really is, bare and
mean. And shabby. But what of it! We're just scum!
CLAIRE: Ah! No, don't start that again. Better watch at the
Window. t can't see a thing. It's too dark outside.
SOLANGE: Let me talk. Let me get it out of my system. I liked the
garret because it was plain and I didn't have to put on
?1 Jihow. No hangings to push aside, no rugs to shak<:,
no furniture to caress-with my eyes or with a rag, no
mirrors, no balcony. Nothing forced us to make pretty
gestures. Don't worry, you'll be able to go on playmg
queen) playing at Marie Antoinette, strolling abou" the
apartment at night.
CLAIRE: You're mad! I've never strolled about the apartment.
SOLANG.I!: (ironically). Oh, no. Mademoiselle has never gone
strolling! Wrapped in the curtains or the lace bedcovcr.
Oh no! tooking at herself in the mirrors, strutting on
the balcony at two in the morning, and greeting the
populace whichnas turned out to parade beneath her
windows. Never, oh no, never.
CLAlRE: But, SoIange--
SOLANGE: It's too dark at night for spying on Madame, ana you
thought you were invisible on your balcony. What do
you take me for? Don't try to tell me you walk in your
sleep. At the stage we've reached you can admit it.
15
 CLAIRE: But, Solange, you're shouting. Please, please lower
your voice. Madame may come in without making a
sound.•.. (She runs to the fIJindorD aNlli/u tM curtailt.)
SOLANGE: All right, I've had my say. Let go of the curtains. Oh.,
I can't stand the way you lift them. Let go of them. It
upsets me; that's how Monsieur did it when he was
spying on the police, the morning he was arrested,
CLAIRE: So you're scared now? The slightest gesture makes you
feel like a murderer trying to slip away by the acrvice
stairway.
SOLANGE: Go on, be sarcastic, work me upl Go on. be urcuticl
Nobody loves me! Nobody loves usl
CLAIRE: She does, sht loves us. She's kind. Madame is kindl
Madame adores us.
SolANGE: She loves us the way she loves her a:n2lc:hair. Not even
that much! Like her bidet, rathet. Lila: het pink enamel
lavatory seat. And we, we can't love one uother. Filth••••
CLAIRE: Ah! ...
Sm_ANGl!: ... doesn't love filth. D'yoo think I'm going to put up
with it, that I'm going to keep playing this game and
then at night go back to my folding-cot? The.Jl*l1e I
Will we even be able to go on with it? And if I have
to stop spitting on someone who calk me Claire, I'll
simply choke! My spurt ofsalivl is my spray of
diamonds!
Cr.AJRE: (she standI up and cries). Speak more softly, please,
plea~e. Speak--~rc!lk of Madame's kindneu.
SOf.ANGE: Her kindness, i~ it? It's easy to be kind, IIld smi1Ulg.
and sweet-ah I thM swertness of hen l--when you're
beautiful and rich. But what if you're only a maid?
The best you can do it to give yourself airs while
you're doing the c\eanirlg or washing up! You twirl a
feather duster like a fan. You make fancy gestures with
the dishcloth. Or like you, you treat younelf'to historical
parades in Madame's apartment.
CLAIRE: Solangel You're starting again! What are you trying to
do? We'll never calm down if you talk like thatl I could
say a thing or two about you.
16
SOtANGI: You? You?
CL.uu: Yes, me. If I wanted to. Because, after all••••
SOLANGI: All?After all? What are you insinuating? It was you
who started tallcing about that man. Claire, I hate you.
Q..uu: Same to you and lDOre! But if I wanted to provoke you
I wouldn't have to use the milkman as an excuse. rve
got something better on you and you know it.
SotANGS: Who's going to get the better of who? Eh? Well, say
something I
Cl.AuaJ: Go on, arart itl You hit first. It's you who're backing
out, Solange. You don't dare accuse me of the wont:
my letters. Pages and pages of them. The garret was
littered with them. I invented the most fantastic stories
and you used them for your own purposes. You
~ away my frenzy. Yesterday, when you were
Madame. I could se~ how delighted you were at the
chance they gave you to stowaway on the Lammtiniere,
to flee France in the company of your lover-
SOLANGB: CIaire-
Cl.ADuI: Your lover, to Devil's Island, to Guiana. You were
delighted that my letten allowed you to be the
prostitute kneeling at the feet of the thief. You were
happy to ncrifice yourself, to bear the cross of the
impeDite1tt thief, to wipe his face, to stand by him, to
take his place in the galleys so that he could rest. And
you felt yourself growing. Your brow rose higher than
mine, it rose above the palm trees.
SOtANGI: But what~bout you, just before, when you were talking
about following him.•••
Ct.AIu: Right. I don't deny it. I took up where you left off.
But with less violence than you. Even in the garret,
amidst aU the {etten, you started swaying back and
forth with the pitching of the boat.
SoLANGE: You didn't see yourself-
Cl.Anu!: I did. I'm more sensible than you. You're the one who
concocted. the story. Tum your head. Ha! If only you
could see yourself, Solangc. Your face is still lit up by
the sun setting through the virgin forest! You're
I7
 planning his escape I (She laughs nervously.) You
certainly do work yourself upl But don't let it worry
you; it would be cruel to disturb your blissful voyage.
r hate you for other reasons, and you know what they
are.
SOLANGE: (lowen',1C Iter 1JOice). I'm not afraid of you. I know you
hate me and that you're a sneak, but be careful now.
I'm older than you.
CLAIRE So 'what?-Older! And stwnger too? You're trying to
put me off by making me talk about that man. Hmph I
You think I haven't found you out? You tried to k!ll
her.
SOLANGE: Ale you accusing me?
CLAIRE: Don't deny it. I saw yOIl.
(A long siknce).
And I was frjghtC'ned. Frightened, Solange. Through
her, it was me you were aiming at. I'm the one who's
in danger. Whell we finish the ceremony, I'll protect
my neck.
(A long silence. Sola,zge shrugs her shoulders.)
SOLANGE: (Vi.llt decision). Is that all? Yes, I did try. I wanted to
free you. I couldn't bear it any longer. It made me
suffocate to sec you suffocating, to see you turning red
and green, rotting away in that woman's
biner-sweetne~s. Blame me for it, you're right, I loved
you too much. Had I hlled her, you'd have been the
first to denounce me You'd have turned me over to the
policf", ye'l, you.
CUIRIl: (she seizes hL'1' by rh1 wrists). Solange ..••
SOLANGE: (jrecmg herself). What are you afraid of? It's "tV concern.
C:.MRE: Solallge, my Little sister, she'll be back soon.
SOLANGE: I didn't k.ill anyone. I was a coward, you reali:te. I did
the best I could, but she turned over in her sleep.
(Ris;r:~ exalfalion ) She was breathing softly. She swelled
out tb(" f,hret3: it was Madame.
C! A.JItE: Slap it.
SOLANGE: Now you want to stop me. You wanted to know, didn't
YOll? \x/ell, wait, I've got some more to teU you. You'll
18
 sec what your sister's made of. What ~tu!I she's made
of. What a servant girl really is. I wanted to strangle
her-
CLAIRE: Let me alone. Think of what comes after.
SOLANGB: Nothing comes after. I'm sick and tired of kneeling in
pews. In church I'd have had the red velvet of abbesses
or the stone of the penitents, but my bearing at least
would have been noble. Look, just look at how she
suffers. How she suffers in beauty. Grief transfigures
her. dotsn't it? Beautifies her? When she learned that
; her lover was a thief, she stood up to the police. She
exulted. Now shl" is forlorn and splendid, supported
under each arm by two devoted servants whose hearts
bleed to see her grief. Did you see it? Her grief
sparkling with the glint of her jewels, with the satin of
her gowns, in the glow of the chandelier! Claire, I
wanted to make up for the poverty of my grief by the
splendo\J.r of my crime. Afterward, I'd have set fire to
the lot.
CLAIRE: Solange, calm down. The fire might not have caugh;:.
You'd have been found out. You know what happens
to incendiaries.
SOLANGE: I know everything. I kept my eye and ear to the
keyhole, No servant ever listened at doors as I did. I
know everything. Incendiary! It's a splendid title;
CLAIRE: Be quiet. I'm stifling. You're stifling me. (She wants to
open the window.) Oh! Let's have some air!
SOLANGf!: Get away from the window. Open the anteroom and
the kitchen doors. (Claire opens both doors.) Go and sec
whether the water's boiling.
CLAIRJl; All alone?
SOLANGE: Wait, all right, wait till she comes. She's bringing her
stars, her tears, her smiles, her sighs. She'll corrupt us
with her sweetness)
(The telephone rmgs. The two sisters listen.)
CLAIR!!: (a~ the telephone). Monsieur? It's Monsieur! ••• This
is Claire, Monsieur.•.. (So/ange warm 10 hear too, but
Claire pushes her away.) Very well. I'll inform Madame.
19
 Madame will be overjoyed to hear m.( Monsieur is
free. , •. Yes, Monsieur.••• Very welf•••• Good-bye,
Monsieur. (She wanES to Mng up, Intt 1uJf' hand tremblu,
and she lays the receiver on fh6 table.)
SOLANGJ!: Is he out?
CLAI1lJ!: The judge let him out on ball.
SOLANGI!: Wdl, you've done a fine job. My comp1imeDts. Your
denunciations, your letters, it, workhlg out beautifully.
And if they recognize your handwritiDg, itll be perfect.
CLAIRE: Please, please, don't overwhelm me. Since you're 10
dever, you should have maDlged your buIhlesI with
Madame. But you were afraid. The bed ... warm. The
air thick with perfume. It wu Madamel We've got to
carry on with the same kind of life. With the same old
game. But, you poor wretch, even the gaDIt it
dan~erous. I'm sure we've left: traces. We leave them
every time. I see a host of traces I'll never be able to
cover up. And she, she walks about in her tamed
menagerie. She unravels the clues. She points to our
tracc~ with the tip of her pink toe. She discovers us,
one by one. Madame jeers at us. And it', your fault.
All's lost became you lacked strength.
SOl ANG!!: I clln ~till find whatt"Vl'r strength I need.
CI AIR!!: Where? Where? You've been outstripped by"", You
don't live above the treetops. A milkmm puaiIIg
through your mind get~ you all flustered.
SOLANGE: It was because I couldn"t see her face, Claire. Because
I was so close to Madame, so close to her sleep. I lost.
my strength. I n order to get lit her throat, I'd have had
to lift the sheet from her heaving bosom.
CLAIRE: (ironically). And the sheet~ were warm. The Dight dArk.
That kind of thing has to be done in broad daylight.
You're incapahle of it. It'" too terrible a detd. But 1
can manage it.
SOLANGE: Claire!
CLAIRE: Where you botched it, 1'1/ succeed.
SOT..ANGE: (she runs a comb through her hair). Oairc, don't get
carried away, don't be rash--
)r)
 Cl.AntB: What ~ you think I'm Qc:ing rash? First of all,
don't milt your hairpins up with mine! You .•• Oh!
All right, mix your muck with mine. Mix it! Mix your
rags with my tatters! Mix it all up. It'll stink of the
maids. So Monsieur won't have any trouble discovering
us. And we'll die in a flood of shame. (Suddenly calm.)
I'm capable of anything, you know.
SOLANG!: The sleeping pills.
CI.Atu: Yes. Let's talk calmly. I'm strong. You tried to
dominate "me..••
SoLANG!: But, Claire--
CLAIRE: (calmly). I beg your pardon, but I know what I'm
saying. I've made up my mind. I'm ready. I'm tired of
it all. Tired of being the spider, the umbrella-case, the
shabby, godless nun~ without a family! I'm tired of
hlvillg .. stove for an altar. I'm that disagreeable,
sullen, smelly girl. To you, too.
SotANGB: Claire ••,. we're both nervous. (Anxiously). Where's
Madame? I can't stand it any more either. I can't stand
our being SO alike, I can't stand my hands, my black
stockings, my hair. I'm not reproaching you for
anything, my little sister. I understand that your strolls
'through the flat helped ease the strain.
CL.uu: (i"";tatetl). Ah! Stop it!
SOtANGE: I want to belp you. I want to comfort you, but I know
I disgust you. I'm repulsive to you. And I know it
because you disgust me. When slaves love one another,
it's not love.
CLAIRE: And me. I'm sick of seeing my image thrown back at
me by a mirror, like a bad smell You're my bad smell.
Well, I'm ready. Ready to bite. I'll have my crown and
I shall stroll about the apartment.
SoUNGI: That's not reason enough to kill her.
Ct.AIRE: Really? Why, please? For what other reason? Where
and when could we find a better excuse? Ah. so it's not
enough. not enough to be raped by a milkman who
goes blithely through our garrets? Tonight Madame
will witness our shame. Bursting with laughter, laughing
II
 until the tear5 roll down her face, with her flabby sighs.
No I ~hall hayc my crown. I shall be the poisoner that
you failed to be. It's my tum now to domirtate you!
SOLANGE: But I mver. ...
CLAIRE: Hand me the towrl! Hand me the clothes-pegs! Peel the
onions 1 Scrnpc the carrots! Scrub the tiles! It's over.
Over All I ! almost forgot I Turn off the tap! It's over.
(I.:.\()lrrd) I'll run the world!
S0LANOE: My little baby sIster
Ct A1RE: YOIl'1I help me.
S0LANOE: You won'l know what gestl1res to make. Things are
more serious, Claire, and simpler too.
C! AIR!;: texalted). We've read the story of Sister Holy Cross of
the Ble~sed Valley who poisoned twenty-seven Arabs.
~;he walked wuhout shoe~, with her feet all stiff. She
was lifted ur, car ried otT to the crime. We've read the
smr}' nf Princess Alban<lrez who laused the death of her
lover and her husband. She lInCOI ked the bottle and
made a big sign of tile cross over the goblet. As she
&tood beforf the corpses, she saw only death and, off in
tile di~tanc.:, the tleet image of hnself being carried by
the wind. She made all the gestures of earthly despair.
In the book about the Marquise de Venosa, the one
who poisoned her children, we're told that, as she
approached the bed, her arms were supponed by the
ghost of her lover.
SOJ.ANGP' Bahy sister, my angel!
CLAJRf, I'il be supported by the sturdy arms of the milkman.
T'!! lean my left hand on the back of his neck. He
won't flinch. You'll help me. And, far away, Solange,
if we have to go far away, if I have to leave for Devil's
Island, you'll come with me. You'll board the boat.
1he flight you were p!:mnjng for him can be used for
me. We shall be that eternal couple, Solange, the two
of U~, the eternal couple of the criminal and the saint.
W,,'l1 be ~aved, Solanr,e, saved, I swear to you! (SM
falls on Madame's bed.)
Sot ANGl:: Be calm. You're going to sleep. I'll carry you upstairs.
22
 CLAIRE: Let me alone. Tum out the light. Please turn out the
light. (Solange tUT71S out the light.)
SOLANGE: Rest. Rest, little sister. (She kneels, remuoes Claire's
shoes, kisses her feet.) Be calm, my darting. (She caresses
her.) Put your feet on my shoulders. There. Close your
eyes.
CLAIRE: (she sighs). I'm ashamed, Solange.
SOLANGE: (very gently). Don't talk. Leave things to me. I'm going
to put you to bed and, when you fail asleep, I'll carry
you upstairs, to the garret. I'll undress you and put you
into yout liJtle cot. Sleep. I'll be here.
CLAIRE: I'm ashamed, Solange.
SOLANGB: Sh! Let me tell you a story.
CLAIRE: (simply). Solange.
SOLANGE: My angel?
CLAIRE: Solange, listen••.•
SOLANGE: Sleep. (A long silence.)
CLAIRE: You nave lovely hair. You have such lovely hair.
Hcrs--
SOLANGE: Don't talk about her any more.
CLAIRE: Hers is false. (A long silence.) Do you remember?
Under the tree, just the two of us? Our feet in the sun?
Solange?
SULANGI!: I'm here. Sleep. I'm your big sister.
. (Silence. A moment later Claire gets up.)
CLAIRE: No! No weakness! Put the light on! Put it on! Quick!
It's too great a moment! (Solange puts tlte light on.)
Stand up. ·And let's eat. What's in the kitchen? Eh?
We've got to eat. To be strong. Come along, you'll
advise me. The phenobarbital.
SOLANGE: I'm too exhausted. Yes, the phenobarbital.
CU.IIU!: The phenobarbital! Don't make such a face. We must
be joyous. And sing. Let's sing! Sing, the way you'll
sing when you go begging in the courts and embassies!
Laugh! (They burst out laughing.) Otherwise, it'il be so
tragic that we'll go flying out of the window. Shut the
window. (Solange, laughing, shulS the window.) MW'der
is a thing that's .•. unspeakable!
13
SOI.ANG!: Let's ~jng! We'll carry her off to the woods, ed uJ1der
the fir trees we'll cut her to bits by the light oCthe
moon. And we'll sing. We'll bury her beneath the
flowers, in our flower beds, and at night-we'll water
her tocs with a little hose! (TMfront d~/l ringJ.)
CLAIRE: It's Madame!
SOl ANGE: It mmt be her! Straighten the bcd. (She sUlS hIr sUM'
hy the forim.) Claire, are you sure you am go through
with it)
CLAIRE: Ho\\. many do we need?
SOLANGE: Abo111 ten. I'ut ten pills into her tea. Will you do it?
CLAIRE: (she frees herself, goes to tidy the bed, sttwtS at it for a
momrml.) yc~ I've got the tube in my poc1tet.
(Ex;! Solange, left. Claire continues tidying rhe 1'O/mI and
leaves righI, A few seconds elapse. A bum of ",",ous
lallglaer backlTage. Madame, in a fur coat, enrl'fslautmng,
fI1irh So/ange behind her.)
MADAME: There's no end to it! Such horrible gladioU, s'uch asickly
pink, and rnimosa! They probably hunt through the
market before <.lawn to get them cheaper. (Solant' Tulps
her off ruilh her coat.)
SOLANG1!: Madame wasn't too cold?
MADAME: Yes, Solange, I was very cold. I've been trilling through
corridors all night long. I've been seeing frozen men
and stony faces, but I did manage to catch a glimpse of
Monsieur. From a distance. I waved to him. I've only
just left the wife of a magistrate. Clairel
SoUNGt: She's preparing Madame's tca.
MADAMr' I wish she'd hurry. I'm ashamed to ask for tea when
Monsieur is nil alone, without a thing, without food,
without cigarettes.
SOLANGE: But Monsieur won't ~tay there long. They'll see right
away that he's not guilty.
MADAME: Guilty or not, I shall never desert him, never. You see,
Solangc, it'~ at t.imc~ like this that you realize how
much you Jove someone. I don't think he's guilty
either. but if he were, I'd become his aCalmplice. I'd
follow him to Devil's Island, to Siberia.
24
SOLANO.!' There'" no need to get panicky. I've seen worse cues
*cquittcd. There was a triil in Bordeaux-
MADAME: Do you go to trials? You?
SoLANGE: I read the crime news. It was about a man who--
MADAME! You can't compare Monsieur's case. He's been accused
of the Jl\ost idiotic thefts. I know he'll get out of it. All
I mean is that, as a result of this preposterous affair,
I've come to realize how deeply attached I am to him.
or course, none of this is serious, but if it were,
Solan~it would be a joy for me to bear his cross'. I'd
follow him from place to place, from prison to prison,
on foot If need be, as far as the penal colony.
SO~GE: They wouldn't let you. Only bandits' wives, or their
sisters, or their mothers, are allowed to follow them.
MADAME: A condemned man is DO longer a bandit. And then I'd
force my way in, plSt the guards. (Suddenly
CDqutltish.) And, Solange, I'd be utterly fearlC'lS. I'd
use my weapons. What do you take me for?
SoLANGB: MadamC mustn't get such ideas into her head. You
mUst rest.
MADAME: I'm not tired. You treat me like an invalid. You're
always ready to coddle me and pamper me as if I were
dying. Thank God, I've got my wits about me, I'm
ready for the fight. (She /()()/u at Solonge and, feeling
tMt she has hurt her, adds, ruith a smile) Come, come,
don't make such a face. (With sudden f)iolence) All right,
it's trud There are times when you're so sweet that I
simply can't stand it. It crushes me, stifles me! And
those flowers which are there for the very opposite of
a celebration!
SoLANG!: If Madame means that we lade discretion .•.•
MADAME: But I didn't mean anything of the kind, my dear girl.
It's just that I'm so upset. You see what a state
I'm in.
SoLANGE: Would Madame like to sec the day's accounts?
MADAME: You certainly picked the right time. You must be mad.
Do you think I could look at figures now? Show them
to me tomorrow.
:zs
SOLAN(;n: (put ling moay the fur cape). The lining's tom. I'll take it
to the furrier tomorrow.
MAn·\;I\E: If you like. Though it's hardly worth while. I'm giving
up m~ wardrobe. Besides, I'm an old woman.
SOLA"1GE: There go those gloomy ideas again.
MAl'AM~: I'm thinking of going into mourning. Don't be surprised
if I do How can I lead a worldly life when Monsieur
is in pri~on? If you find the house too sad••••
SOUNGE: We'll neVf"T desert Maddme.
MAOAM1!: I know you won't. Solange. You've not been too
unhappy with me, IUIVe you?
SOLANGE: Oh!
MADAME: When you needed anything, I saw that you got it.
With myoId gowns alone you both could have dressed
like princesses. Besides ... (She goes to the closet and
looks at her dresres) of what use will they be to me? I'm
through with finery and all that goes with it.'
(Claire enters carrying thl! tea.)
CLAIRE: The tea is rearly. ,
""-ADAME' Farewell to parties and dances and the theatre. You'll
inherit all that.
CLAIRE: Madame is lo~ing her ~elf-control. She must pull
herse! f togetJ1Cl'
')OLANGE: The tea is ready.
MAllAMF: Put it down. I'm going to bed. It's allover. (She runs
her hand OT'er the red veh'ct dl'·c.!.~.) My lovely
"Fa):cin:llion", the loveliest of them all. (She talus it
dow>! and Tuns he.- hand over it.) It was designed for me
by Chane!. Specially. Here, you may have it. It's yours.
(She gives it to Claire and searcher ;n the closet.)
CLAIRE: For me?
MADAME: (smiling sad(v) Of course. I said so, didn't I?
SOLANGE: Madame is \>ery kind. (To Claire.) You might thank
Madame. You've been admiring it so long.
CUlRl!: It's so beautiful I'il never dare wear it.
MADAME: You can hav(' It altered There's enough velvet in the
train alone for the sleeves. And for you, Solange, I'm
going to give you...... What shall I give you? Here,
26
 this coat. (She hands Solange tiul magnificent jur
cape;)
CLAIRE: Oh! the fur capel
SOLANGE: (thrillei). Oh! Madame ... never ... Madame's too
kind.
MADAME: No, no, non't thank me. It's such a plt:asure to r.mke
people happy. Now I'm going to get undressed. (She
looks at The teleplume.) Who left the receiver off?
CUIRE: It was Monsieur .•.. (She stops suddenly.)
MADAME: (dumbfounded). Eh? Monsieur? (Claire is silent.) What
do you mean? Speak up!
SOLANGE: (slowly and as If in spite of herself). When Monsieur
rang up.
MADAME: What are you talking about? Monsieur phoned?
SOLANGE: We wanted to surprise Madame. Monsieur's out OLI
bail. He's waitingror Madame at the Hong-Kong ]8a•.
MADAME: (rising to her jeet). And you didn't say anything! Go 6et
a taxi! Solange, quick, quick, get me a taxi. And hurty
up. Go on, run. (She pushes Solange out oj ck room.)
My furs! Quick, quick! You're both mad. You let me
go on talking. You really are mad. Or am I going madi
(She puts on her fur coat. To Claire.) When did he
phone?
CLAIRE: (in a toneless voice). Five minutes before Madame cam,;
in.
MADAME: But you should have told me. And this cold tea! I'll
never ~ able to wait for Solange to get back! Ohl
What did he say?
CLAIRE: What I've just told you. He was very calm.
MADAME: Ah, him, he always is. He'd be utterly unconcerned if
he were condemned to death. The man's uruque! \V'hat
else did he say?
CLAIRE: Nothing. He said the judge was letting rum out.
MADAME: How can anyone leave police headquarters at midnight?
Do judges work as late as that?
CLAIRE: Sometimes much later.
MADAM!: Much later? How do you know that?
CLAIRE: I read T~e Detective. I know those things.
27
MADAME: (IUtonis1red). Oh you do? You ftI11y I1'e 1111 odd little
girl, Claire. She might hurry. (SlulDDlu tit "". wrUt
tNtch.) You won't forget to have the liDiDI of flt'/ c:oat
sewn?
Cr.Anu!: I'll take it to the furrier tomorrow. (if 11m, .u.a.)
MADAMII: What about the accounts? The clay", ICCOUDtI. Lee me
see them. I've got time I
CLAro: Solmge attends to that.
MADAM!: That', right. I'm nil in a dither. I'D look at them
tomorrow. (StarinK at elmr•. ) Come a little c101er1
Come herel Why ... you've got maJce..up 0Il1
(Lautlting). Why, Claire, you've becpputtiqmake-Uponl
CulRE: (tiny embarrassed) Madame••••
MADAME: Ah, don't lie I Be~ides, you've every right to. Uv~=r
chil~, live. In whose honour is it? Eb? Got. crusb'oD
someone? Own up!
CI.AntE: I put a little powder on .•.•
MADAME: That's not powder, it's make-up. But thete~t nothing
wrong in that, you're still young. Make yourself
attractive. Smarten up. (SM puts ajk;uJer in Claire's
Irair. Sir,. looks at Iu!r 'Wrist !Oatch.) What CIm llhe be
doing' It's midnight and she's not back!
CLAW: There aren't many taxis at this hour. She probably-had
to nm to the cab-stand.
MADAMI: You think so? I've lost track of time. I'm wild with
happines~. Momieur ringing up at I tmae like that! And
that he's free.
CI.AntE: Madame ought to sit down. I'll go and belt up the
tea. (She starts to It'ave.)
MAnAMII: Don't bother, I'm not thirsty. It"' champagne we"U
be drinking tonight. You can be sure we won't be
coming home.
CLAm: Really, just a little tea ...••
MADAME: (lauthing). I'm nervom enough U it is. I dml't.want
you and So1an~e to wait up for us. Go upstairs md get
to bed right away. (Suddenly 1M ~ 1M alarm dock.)
But.••. That alarm clock, what's that doing here?
Where does it come fmm?
28
 CLAla:. (""" ~sd). The alami cloc:t? It'!> the kitchen
clock.
MADAME: It is? :rve never seen it before..
a.m.: (w taka the alarm clock). It belongs'OD the shelf. It's
always 'been there.
MADAME: (mriling). It's true I'm something of. stranger in the
Jdtchen. You're at home there. It's your domain.
You're its sovereigns. But, I wonder why you brought
it in here?
Q.uu: It was So1ange, for the cleaning. She'd never dare trust
the big clock.
MAo.um: How odd.
(Clair, gfJU out carrying 1M alarm clock.)
How odd. (She looks at her rmist watch.) She's certainly
taking her time. You can find taxis at every
strect-comer. (She Sits dorJm at h6r dressing tabu. She
looks 4t hers,lf in 1M mJ'rrtJr and talks to herself.) And
what about you, you fool, will you be beautiful enough
to receive him? No wrinkles, eh? It's been. such a long
separation, it'll have been like a thousand years! Eh?
Let's see» now. Gay? Wistful? Idiot, you idiot, there I
go talking to myself. Happiness makes me giddy. And
Solange not back yet. All those flowers! Those girls do
worship me, but-(sM looks at the top of 1M drusing
fObIe and hlO'Ws at tM por;xJer) but they haven't dUsted
the dressing table. Their housekeeping is the most
e:Etraordinary combination of luxury and filth.
(As she utters tM last smrmee, Clair, mters 1M room 0"
liptDe. Sh6 stands silmt behind Madame fDM suddenly
notices her in the mirror.) Eh? I'm raving, Claire, my
mind's wandering. Forgive me. Today's been too
dreadfUl.
C!..AmJ: Isn't Madame satisfied with our work?
MAD.um: (mriling). But I am, Claire. Delighted. In seventh
heaven.
Cr.Ana!: Madame's making fun of us.
M.uwm: (kmglting). Oh, stop nagging me. After what I've been
t1uoUgb. today, I've got a right to be out of sorts. In
29
 the first place, there's that business of thc:l letterr to ·the
police.... I wonder who could have sentthcm. I
'\uppose you wouldn't have any idea?
CLAIRE: Docs Madame mean? . . .
MADAME: I don't mean anything. I'd like to mow.,that's all. I've
been groping around the whole day long is if I were
blind. I felt like the police hunting in the bushes for a
girl's corpse.
CLAIRE: That's all over wilh. Monsieur ia free.
MADAMl!: Thank heavens. Which still doesn't account for those
letters. What can she be doing? She', been gone an
hour. Why didn't you tell me at onct that Monsieur
had phoned? He'll be furious.
CLAIRE: We were terribly afraid of alarming Madame, of giving
her a shock.
MADAM!!: That wa" very bright. You're quietly killing me. with
flowers .md kindnc';s. One fine day I'll be found dead
beneath the roses. Claire, what do you think of this
coiffure! Do you like it?';
CLAIRE: If I might ventuf(.' ....
MADAME: Eh? If YOll might venture? Well. venture. I've full
confidence in yOU! opinion. Well? What do you think
of it-
CLAIRE: If I might he so bold as to make a suggestion,
Madame's hair wou lJ look fluffier wOrn o\'er the
fOl'eh,~ad.
MAOAME: Are you sure?
CUIRE: It would soften Madame's face.
MAOAME' LikC' that) You're right. You are a bright girl, Claire.
Yuu know, Claire, I've always thought you had a greaT
deal of taste and that you were meant for better things.
CLAIRE' I'm not complaining
MADAME: ~:o, no, I knOw. But after all, you are more sensitive
than the others. I realilc that it's not much fun living
with them. Fortunately you're with your sister. You're
a family. But with a bit of luck you-
CLAIRE' Oh! If I had wanted to!
MAOAME' I don't doubt it! (She lirtens). Listen I (She srands up).
30
 Listen! A car. It's her. Ah! (She looks at herself agaill
in the mirror.)
CLAl1U!~ Madame should have some tea because of the cold.
MADAME: (laughing). You're trying to kill me with your tea and
your flowers and your suggestions. You're too much
for me, Claire. No. I've never felt so alive. Oh! And
served in the best tea set, the fiery best set! Such pomp!
Such elegance! (She wants to letrlJe, but Claire stands
between her and the door.)
CL.wm: (imploringly). Madame must drink it. Otherwise.•••
(Solange dashes in. She pushes her sister aside and turns:o
Madame.)
MADAME: Welll
SOLANG!: (surprised). Ah! Madame's still here. I've looked
everywhere. No one wanted to come as late as this!
MADAME: Did you get a taxi?
SOLANGE: It's here, Madame. It's downstairs, Madame.
MADAME: Let's hurry. So it's understood, you're to go upstairs
and to bed. And tomorrow morning we'll just sleep
and sleep and sieep. Claire, come and close the door
behind me. And you're not to latch it.
(She letrlJl!s;joilOfJJed by Claire. So/ange is lelt alone.
Claire returns. The two sisters look at one another.)
SO~.ANGl!: (ironically). You certainly did a fine job. And you
sneered at me.
Cu.uu!: Don't. I tried so hard not to say it, but I just couldn't
help myself.
SOLANG!!: Didn't she dritik it? (Claire shakes her head "no.")
Obviously. It was to be expected.
Cl.Anu!: I'd have liked to see you in my place. (She remains
motionless for a moment and then starts walking tOfJJards
the kitchen.)
SOLANGI!: Where are you going?
CLAw: (without turning around and in a weary voice). To sleep!
(She leaver.)
SoLANGE: Claire! (Silence.) Claire! (Sile goes to the door and calls
her.) Oaire. I'm calling you.
CU.1RE: (off stage). Who cares?
31
SOLANGF: (facing the door at lhe right). Come here. Do you hear
me? Come here.
(Claire comes in fin/yin/{ her apron.)
CLAIRE: (very wearrly). What do you want? Is it my fault? The
"tay"-as ~he says-was ready. I put in the pills. She
wouldn't drink it!
SOLANGI!: And so you think we're just going to sit here and
shake? (Sire stares hard at her nulf'.) They'll both be
back tomorrow, drunk probably and vicious, like
conquerors. They'll know where the letters came from.
They-I hate her. (Claire shrugl hIT ,houldert.) Oh, I
hate her! I loathe her. And you, you just stand therel
Didn't you see how she sparkled? How disgustingly
happy she was? Her joy feeds on our shame. Her
carnation is the red of our shame. Her dress.••• (S".
kicks at the red velvet dress.) It's the red of our shame.
Ht'f furs .... Ah' She took back her furs I And you
just stand there! You don't scream. Are you dead?
1.1 AIRE: What do yon want me to do? She got away from us.
You came back too soon.
SOl ANGP.: She gets away and you just stand therel
CLAIRE: What do you want to do? Make a scene? Eh? (She
screamt in the face oj SoTtmf(l!. who rmuJim motionIm.)
You want to make a scene? Answer. Answer. WcII,
answer. We've got time. We've got all night.
SOT.ANGE: (in a ~)ery calm tone) Let's get on with it.
CLAIRE: What's the hurry? No, we'll take our time. Shall we?
(She unties her apron.)
SOLANGE: Keep your apron all. It's your turn.
CLAIR!!: No, that doesn't matter.
SOI.ANGE: It's my tum to be Madame.
CLAIRE: Take the apron.
SOLANGE: But, Claire ..... .
CLAIRE: (simply). I'm used to it. lIw" (She delicattly hands 1M
apron to Solllnge.) Do you think I've really got too
much rouge on?
SOLANGE: Rouge? Yes, there's some rouge left .••• But you're not
rouged. You"re all made-up
32
 Ct..uRE: That's what she said.
SOLANGB: That's all over. (She grabs the apron.) Forced to wear
that! But I want to be a real maid. (She ties the strings
behind her back.) Put out the light.
Cl.AmE: (timidly). You••.. You don't want us to ..• to
organize things ia the dark?
SoLANGB: Do as I say. (She puts out the light. The room is in semi-
darkness. The two sisters look at one another and speak,
fI1ithout tnDfJing.)
Cl.Anu!: Ohl Lees wait a little while, Solange. Suppose she
comes back? Madame might have forgotten something.
At times like that one alwa~ forgets ... one's bag, or
money, or•...
SOLANG!: Naive!
CI..uR.B: (muttering). She left in such a hurry. It's a trap.
Madame suspects something.
SOLANG!: (shrugging her shoulders). What? For instance?
CLAIRE: She's suspicious. We're being watched ...•
SoLANGE: WFat_ofit? We're beyond that I
Cl.Anm: (she 'WantS'lo gain time). You're not listening to me,
Solange. I'assure you, I feel something, I feel it.
Listen, w~re being spied on. I'm sure she'll come back
unexpectedly. She'll have forgotten her handkerchief.
Or her gloves. (Solange shrugs her shoulders.) Or her
compact, God knows what. But I feel there's something
here, Solange-something in this room-that can
record our gestures and play them back. Remember,
Madame told us not to latch the front door....
SoLANG!: You're raving.
CL.wt:s: I'm not I No! Please, wait, please, it's so serious.
Suppose she caree back.. ....
SoLANGE: Too bad for hetl
CuJu: You're growing terrible, Solange. You've got an answer
for everything. At least.•••
SoLANGB: What?
CLAIRE: (timidly). At least ... suppose we said a prayer?
SoLANGB: D~ you dare bring God...•
CL.wt:s: But to the Holy••.•
33
TN-C
SOLANGI!: Bring the Mother of God intO thtl cetemimy? Rea1ly,
you've got more nerve than I thought. You'\,c no
shame.
ClAIRE: More softly, Solange, the walls ~ thin.
Sm A%I!: (less loudly). You're going mad, Claire. It's God who's
li~tcning to us. We know that it's for Him that the last
act is to he pcrfonnr'd, but we mustn't forewarn Him.
We'll play it to the hilt.
CLAIRE' Not ~o loud I
SOLANGE: The 'I1:a1I~ are His ears.
CLAIRE: Then I'll put on the white dress.
SOT.ANGE: If you like. Ir makes no difference. But hurry up! Let's
drop the preliminaries and get on with it. We've long
~ince storred needing the twists and turns and the lia.
Let'~ get right into the transformatio~. Hurry upl.
Hurry up! I can't stand the shame and humiliation any
longer Who cares if the world listens to Us and smiles
and shrugs its shoulders and says I'm crazy and
em·jom! I'm quivering, I'm shuddering with pleasure.
Claire, I'm going to whinny with ;oyl
(During this speech. Claire has taken dMlM f1t4 tlJhiu
drl!!S and, hidden behind a srreen. l/(u put if on ()f)er Jut
black dress whose black sleeves shoal.) .
CJ ATRP.: (aPf'l!ari,,!:, all in white. with an i~ Mel).
Begin!
SOLANGP.: (ecrtatically). You're beautiful.
CLAIRE: Skip that. You said we're !'kipping the prelude. Start the
insults.
SOLANGE: I'll never he able to. You dazzle me.
CLAIRE: I said the insults' Let thcm come, let them unfurl, let
them drown me, for, as you well know, I loathe
~crvants. A vile and odious breed, I loathe them.
They're not of the human race. Servants ooze. They're
1I foul effluvium drifting through our rooms and

hallways, seeping into us, entering our mouths,

corrupting u~. I vomit youl
\OLANGE' Go on. (Silence. Claire couglu.) Go onl fm getting
there, I'm getting there I
34
 CL.wtE: I know they're necessary, just as gravediggers and
scavengers and policemen are necessary. Nevertheless.
they're a putrid lot.
SoLANG!: Go on, go on!
CI...uRE: Your frightened guilty faces. your puckered elbows.
your outmoded clothes. your wasted bodies, only fit for
our castoffs! You're our distorting mirrors, our
loathso~ vent. our shame, our drags!
SoLANG!: Go on, p onl
Q.Aum: ~~. Please! I can't go OD. You're ••. you're.
• '•• My God, I can't think of anything. My mind's a
blank. I've run out of insults. Claire, you exhaust me.
SOLANG!: 'Stop~' I've got there. It's my turn.-Madame had her
billing and cooing, her lovers, her milkman..•.
Cuuu: Solangc.., .•
SoLANGE:' Silence! Her morning milkman, her messenger of dawn,
her han~me clarion, her pale and charming lover.
That's over. (She talus doron a riding whip.) Take your
place for the ball
Cl..uRE: What are you doing?
SoLANGE: (solemnly). I'm checking the flow. Down on your knees!
CI..mu!: Solange•• '••
SOLANGE: Down on sour knees! (Claire hesitates and kneeu.) Ab!
Ahl You,were so beautiful, the way you wrung your
precious arms! Your tears, your petals oozed down your
lovely face. Ahl Ahl Down! (Claire does not move.)
Downl (Solangl1\Strilus her.) Get doom! (Claire IUs
down.) Ahl You amuse me, my dear! Crawl! Crawl, I
say, like a,worm 1 And you were going to follow in the
wake of the boats, to cross the sea to aid and comfort
your handsome exile I Look at younelf' again I That role
it only,for the fairest of the fair. The guards would
sDicker. People would point at you. Your lover would
hang his head in shamel And are you strong enough?
Strong enough to carry his bag? And spry enough,
Madame, spry enough on your feet? Don't worry. I'm
not jealous. I don't need that thief where I'm going.
NO. Madame. ! myself am both the thief ani his
35
 slavish shadow. I move nIone towards the brightest
shores.
('LA 1M. I'm losing him!
Seq ANG!!: Aren't I enough for you?
CLAIR1!: Solange, please. I'm sinking.
SOLANG!!: Sink! But rise again to the surface. I know what my
final destiny is to be. I've reached shelter. I can be
bountiful. (She takes a breath.) Stand uplI'll marry
you standing up! Ah I Ah! Grovelling on the tug at a
man's feet. What a sorry, facile gesture. The great
thing is to end in beauty. How are you going to get
up?
CLAIRE: (getting up slowly and clumsily), You're ki1Iing me.
SOLANGE: (ironically). Careful now, watch your movements.
Cl,.AIR!!: (on her feet). We're out of oUt depth. We must go to
bed. My throat's--
SOLANGIl: (striding up to her) Madame has a very lovely throat.
The throat of a queen. (Claire moves back to the kitchen
door.) Of a dove. Come, my turtle dove!
CLAIRE (she withdraws farthe:r back, putting her hands to her
neck as if to protect it). It's late.
SOLA-NGE: Never too late.
CLAIm:: Madame ....
SOLANGE: •••• is drinking champagne with Monsieur who has
returned from the dead.
CLAlRE: She'll be hack any moment. Let me go.
SOl ANGIl: Stop worrying. She's waltzing! She's waltzing I She's
guzzling fine wine! She's delirious.
CLAIRE: Let's get out of here-, Solange. I tell you we're in
danger.
SOLANGE: Go into the vestry. (She points to the kitcllm doot.) Go
on in. You've got to finish the linoleum.
CLAIR!!: (she screams in a hollow voice). Helpl
SOLANGE: Don't yell t It's usc1es~. Death is present, and is stalking
you. D()n't yell! I, who kept you the way they keep
kittens for drowning. I, yes I, who trimmed my belly
with pins to stab all the foetuses I threw into the
gutted III order to keep you, to have you alive I
,6
 Cl..uRE: (running .about the room). Solange, So!ange, come to
yourself!
SOtANGn: (ruMing after her). To yOln'Selfl
Cl.A.nm: (in a dull voice). Helpl
SOLANGE: Stop yelling! No one can hear you! We're ooth beyond
the pale.
CI..uRE: Solange••••
SOtANGE: Everyone's listening, but no one will hear.
CI...uR1!: I'm ill..•.
SOtANGS: You'U be taken care of there.
CtAnu!: I'm ill ... I ... I'm going to be sick•••• (She seems
to be gagging.)
SoLANGE: (she aPfYl'oaches her and says sympathetically). Really?
Are you really ill? Claire, are you really feeling ill?
Cr.Anw: I'm, I'm going t o - -
SOtANGS: Not here, Claire, hold it in. (She supports her.) Not
here, please, please. Come. Lean on me. There. wat.
gently. We'll be better off there, in our flowereG
domain. I have such sure ways of putting an end to ail
suffering.
(They leave by the kitchen door. The stage rB'mairu empty
for a few seconds. A gust of wind opens the unlocked
window. Enter Salange, right, wearing her short black
drBSs. Throughout the scene she wt11 seem to be addressi,.g
characters who are imaginary, tlwugh present.)
SOLANGE: Madame.... At last! Madame is dead! ... laid out on
the linoleum. ... strangled by the dish-gloves. What?
Oh, Madame may remain seated.•.• Mudrune may c.ill
me Mademoiselle Solange.•.. Exactly. It's because of
what I've done. Madame and Monsieur will c:all me
Mademoiselle Solange Lemercier..•• Madame should
have taken off that black dress. It's grotesque. (She
imitates Madame's voiu.) So I'm reduced to wearing
mourning for my maid. As I left the cemetery all the
servants of the neighbourhood marched past me as if I
were a member of the family. I've so often been pa.."1: of
the; family. Death will see the joke throug.'1 to the bitter
end .... What? Oh! Madame needn't feel sorry for me.
37
I'm Madame's equal and I hold my head high••••
Oh! And there are thinr,~ Monsieur doesn't realize. He
doesn't know that he used to obey our orders. (SIN
laughs.) Ah! ,-\h I Monsieur was a tiny little boy.
M()n~icur toed the line when we threatened. No,
Inspector, no ..... , I won't talk! I won't say. word. I
refuse to speak about our complicity in this murder•
. ...... The dresses? Oh, Madame could have kept them.
My si~ter and I had our own. Those we Uled to put on
at night, in secret. Now, I have my own dress. and I'm
your eq\l,'1. I wear the red garb of criminals.
Monsieur's laughing at me? He's smiling at me.
Monsieur thinks I'm mad. He's thinking maids should
have better taste than to make gestures reserved for
Madame! ,\\omicur really forgives me? Monsieur is the
~oul of kmdness. He'd like to vie with me in grandeur.
Rut I've ~caled the fiercest heights. Madame now sees
my loneliness-at last! Yes, I am alone. And fearsome.
I might say cruel thing~, but I can be kind.•••
Madame will get over her fright. She'll get over it well
enouhh. What with her flowers and perfumes and
gowns and jewds and lovers. As for me, I've my sister•
. . . Ye~. I dare sreak or these things. I do, Madame.
There's nothing I won't dare. And who oould silence
me, who? Who would he so bold as to say to me: "My
dear child!" I've heen a servant. Well and good. I've
made the gestures a servant must make. I've smiled at
Madame. I've hent down to make the bed, bent down
to scmb the tiles, bent down to peel vegetables, to
Ji~ten at doo~, to glue my eye to keyholes~ But now I
~tand upright. /\nd firm. I'm the strangler.
Mademoiselle Solange, the one who strangled her
sister I .•• Me be still? Madame is delicate, really. But
I pity Madame. I pity Madame's whiteness, her satiny
skin, and her little ears, and little wrists•••• Eh? I'm
the black crow .... Oh! Ohl I have my judges. I
belong to the police. Claire? She was really very fond
of Madame .... YOUR dresses again! And THAT
38
white dress, THAT one, which I forbade her to put
on, the one you wore the night of the Opera Ball, the
night you poked fun at her, because she was sitting in
the kitchen admiring a photo of Gary Cooper....
Madame will remember. Madame will remember her
gentle irony, the maternal grace with which she took
the magazine from us, and smiled. Nor will Madame
forget that she called her Clarinctte. Monsieur laughed
until the tears rolled down his cheeks•.•• Eh? Who
am I? The monstrous soul of servantdom! ... No,
Inspector, I'll explain nothing in thdr presence. That's
our business. It would be a fine thing if masters could
pierce the shadows where servants live.... That, my
child, is our darkness, ours. (SM lights a cigarette, and
smoMI clumsily. The smoJu makes her cough.) Neither
you nor anyone else \'rill be told anything. Just tell
yourselves that this time SoIange has gone through
with it•••• You see her dressed in red. She is going
out. (SM goes to the winilO'lD, opens it, and steps out 011
tM balcony. Facing the night, with her back to the
audienu, 1M delivers the folIl11Ding speech. A .slight
bretlB' makes the curtains stir.) Going out. Descending
the great stairway. Accompanied by the police. Out on
your .balconies to see her making her way among the
shadowy penitents! It's noon. She's carrying a nine-
pound torch. The hangman follows close behind. He's
whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Claire I The
hangman's by my sidel Now take your hand off my
waist. He's trying to kiss me! Let go of me! Ah! Ah!
(SM /tnlgM.) The hangman's trifling with me. She will
be led in procession by all the maids of the
neighbourhood; by all the servants who accompanied
Qaire to her final resting place. They'll all be wearing
aowns, flowers, streamers, banners. They'll toll the
bell. The funeral will unfold its pomp. It's beautiful,
isn't it? First come the butlers, in full livery, but
without silk lining. They're wearing their crowns. Then
come the footmen, the lackeys in knee bI\.'"eChes and
39
 white stockings. They're wearing their crowns. Then
come the valets, and then the chambermaids wearing
our colours. Then the porters. And then come the
delegations from ht"aven. And I'm leading them. The
hangman's lulJil1g me. I'm being acclaimed. I'm pale
and I'm about to die .... (She returns to the room.)
And what flowers! They gave her such a lovely funeral,
didn't they? Oll! Claire, poor little Claire! (She bursts
into tears and coltapses into an armchair.) What? (She
gels up.) It's no lISC, Madame, I'm obeying the police.
rhcy'rc the only ones who understand me. They too'
belong to the world of outcasts, the world you touch
only with tongs.
(VisiblE' only TO the audience, Claire, during the last jm
moments, has bl'm leoning with her elbows against the
jamb oj rhe kitchen door and listening to her sister.)
Now we are Mademoiselle Solange Lemercier, that
Lemercier woman. The famous criminal. And above
all, Monsieur need not be unea~y. I'm not a maid. I
have a noble souL ..... (.'.·he shrugs he,. shoulders.) No,
no, not another word, my dear fellow. Ab, Madame's
not forgetting what I've done for her •• , . No, no, she
must not forget my devotion .•
(Meanwhile Claire enters through the door at the left.
She is wearing the white dress.)
And in spite of my forbidding it, MadaDle continues to
stroll about the apartment. She will please sit down ...
and listen to me....... (To Claire.) Claire •.. we're
raving!
CLAIRE: (complaitlingly, Madame's voice). You're talking far too
much, my child. Far too much. Shut the window.
(Solange shuts the windoll~) Draw the cunains. Very
good, Claire!
SOJ_M~GE: It's late. Everyone's in bed ...... We're playing an
idiotic game.
CLAIRF (she signals with her hand/or Silence). Claire, pour me a
cup of tea.
SOLANGE But ...

40
 CLAIRE: ,!'said a cup of tea.
SOLANGE: We're dead-tired. We've got to stop. (She sits down in
an armchair.)
CLAIRE: Ah, by no means! Poor servant girl, you think you'll
. get out of it as easily as that? It would be roo simple
to conspire with the wind, to make the night one's
accomplice. Solange, you will contain me within you.
Now pay close attention.
SOLANGE: Claire••..
CLAIRs: Do as I tell you. I'm going to help you. I've decided
to take the lead. Your role is to keep me from backing
out, nothing more.
SoLANGI1: What more do you want? We're at the end.•••
CLAIRE: We're at the very beginning.
SoLANGE: They'll be coming.•••
C1.AllU!: Forget about them. We're alone in the world. Nothing
exists but the altar where one of the two maids is a:xr.:Jt
to immolate herself.--
SOLANGE: But-
CLAIRE: Be still. It will be your task, yours alone. to keep us
both alive. You must be very strong. In prison no one
will know that I'm with you, secretly. On the sly.
SOLANGE: I'll never be able ....
CLAIRE; Please, stand up straight. Up strlUght, Sollinge! Calre!
Darling, stand straight now. Up straight. Pull yo-.melf
together.
SOLANGE: You're overwhelming me.
CWRB: A staff! A standard! ClaIre, up straight! I call upon
you to represent me--
SOtANGS: I've been working too hard. I'm exhausted.
CLAIRB: To represent me in the world. (She tries to lift her
sistsr and keep her on her Jeet.) My darling, stand up
straight.
SOI.ANGE: Please, I beg of you.
CUIltIl: (domineeringly). I beg of you, stand up straight.
Solemnly, Claire! Pretty does it, pretty does itl Up
Claire! til' on your paws! (She holds her by the wrists
41
 and lifts he/' from her chair.) Up on your paws I Now
then! Up! Up!
SOLANGE: You don't realize the danger--
"I.~IRE: But. So)ange, you're immortal! Repeat after me-
SOLANGE: Tall,. But not so loud.
( I AIRE: (mechamcally). MlJdame must have her tell.
SCILANGE: (firmly). No, J won't.
o AIRE: (holding her by the wrists). You bitchl Repeat. Madame
must have her tea ....
Sal ANGr: I've )mt been through such :l lot•..•
Cl.AlRE: (more firmly) Madame will have her tea ••••
SOl ANGlO: Madame will have her tea ... .
CLAIRE: Becau~e she must sleep ... .
SOLANG!!: Became she must sleep .. .
CJ-AIRI!' And I must stay awake.
SOl.ANGE: And I must stay awake.
CLAIRF: (she lies down on Madame s bed). Don't interrupt again.
I repeat. Are you listenif1~? Arc you obeying? (So/ange
nods "yes.") I repeat: My teu!
SOLANGE: (hesirating). But.
CLAIRE' I say: my tea.
SOLANGE: But, Madame.
CLAIRE: Good. Continue.
!'OLANGE: But, Madame, it's cold.
CLAIRE' I'll drink it anyway. Let me have it. (Solange brings 1M
tray) And you've poured it into the best, the finest tea
set (She takes the cup and drinks, while Solange,jacing
thc al/dimec, delivers tht' end of her speech.)
SOLANGE: The orchestra is playmg brilliantly. The attendant is
raising the red velvet curtain. He bows. Madame is
descending the stairs. Her furs brush against the green
plants. Madame steps into the car. Monsieur is
whIspering sweet nothings in her ear. She would like
to smile, but she is dead. She rings the bell. The
porter yawns. He opens the door. Madame goes up the
stairs. She enters her flat-but, Madame is dead.
Her two maids are alive: they've just risen up. free,
from Madame's icy fonn. All the maids were present
12
at: he,' side-not they themselves, but rather the hellish
agony of their names. And all that remains of them to
float about Madame's airy corpse is the delicate
perfume of the holy maidens whicn the), were in sec.:ct.
We are beautiful, joyous, drunk, and free:

CURTAIN