Mary: Sorry to have ruined your evening.
Mason: You didn't. I'll just spend it with you.
Nurse: Mary! Oh, I'm so sorry about this.
Mary: Iris, don't worry about it. I hope your mother is all right.
Nurse: Oh, thank you. Yes. I'll be going now.
Mason: Yes, you take care out there Iris. It's slippery.
Nurse: By the way, there's a great movie on TV later tonight. “From Here to Eternity”.
Mason: Thanks for the tip. Good night.
Nurse: Oh!!! I almost forgot! It wouldn't do to be without your beeper. (returns the beeper) Thank you again and good night.
Mason: Oh, take, take… take this. (gives her an umbrella)
Nurse: Oh, thank you very much. Oh, my goodness! (finally leaves)
Mary: Well, I'll… I'll go check on your father.
Mason: Good. It'll give me a chance to make things more cosy in the study. Not the yacht, but… a little candlelight and soft music should help.
Gina overhears them.
Gina:(to herself) Candlelight and soft music… oh, well… at least if he's be busy chasing Mary around the study, they can't ruin my plan.
Mary comes to the study.
Mason: Everything all right?
Mary: Fine.
Mason: Suppose we're trying to… recapture the mood of the evening. I believe that we were dancing… and I was whispering in your ear something about… how much I like to hold you… (kisses her ear, then her neck)
Mary:(trembling) Let's… let's not get carried away.
Mason: Just close your eyes. Concentrate. (hugs her, Mary puts her head on his shoulder) I love to hold you… (kisses her neck, then looks into her eyes) I love you. (They kiss.)
Mary: Enough, Mason…
Mason: God, you are beautiful… (tries to kiss her again, but she stops him) What?
Mary: Nothing… just…
Mason: Mary… (They carry on kissing.)
Mary: Oh, Mason! (moves away from him) I… I… I don't… I don't know what I'm doing… I can't think…
Mason:(touches her neck) You're trembling…
Mary: Don't be angry with me.
Mason: I'm not. (turns her around, so that she faces him) I love you.
They kiss again. Then all of a sudden Mary runs away.
Mason: Mary… (follows her)
* * *
Mason: Mary, where are you? Are you upstairs?
He finds Mary on the porch.
Mary: It's supposed to be a tried and true method.
Mason: What?
Mary: Cold shower.
Mason: Well… in that case I'd better join you.
Mary: I love storms.
Mason: You know, we're both probably gonna be struck by a lightning.
Mary: May be we deserve to be.
Mason: No, we don't.
Mary: Well, if we go, we go together.
Mason: You make it sound so appealing. (They both smile.) I'm… sorry. I pushed things too far.
Mary: No. It's just… that we are a little bit… different. Well, we're very different.
Mason: Of course we are. Look, I am… I'm not saying that… patience is easy. But where you are concerned, I feel like I could wait forever.
Mary: Does that mean I'm safe?
Mason: I can't promise you safety. I don't think there is such a thing where love is concerned. I think that's one reason I managed to avoid it for so many years. Until now. Do you have any idea how good it makes me feel to say that I love you? Does it make you feel good to hear it?
Mary: Oh, yes. It… it… it's just…
Mason: What? Tell me.
Mary: I keep wanting to look over my shoulder to see who you are talking to.
Mason: It's you.
Mary: You know it's not easy to erase all those years when… I wasn't… supposed to think about… this kind of thing. I mean, I think it's very common to imagine… a moment when… your eyes meet someone else's and… you hear them say “I love you”… for the first time. But I wasn't supposed to have those dreams so I…. pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on… on goals of service and… and self-sacrifice. And now that I'm allowed to dream and even see some of those dreams coming true… it feels like it's happening to somebody else.
Mason: What do you dream about us?
Mary: I don't think I can put it into words.
Mason: Have we made love?
Mary: Mason…
Mason: If you knew how much I wanted you right now, you'd probably run away again. Come inside again.
They go back inside.
Mason: You look like a painting in that light. “Woman Drying Hair”. By who? Degas may be.
Mary: Didn't he do dancers?
Mason: Well, yeah, he did. But his appreciation of the female form wasn't limited only to ballerinas. He liked to paint women doing everyday things as well.
Mary: Did you ever paint?
Mason: Me? No! No, not an artistic bone in my body.
Mary: Oh, I don't believe that. People who appreciate fine art usually are creative themselves. Well, now you are very creative with a spoken word. Did you ever try writing?
Mason: Ohhh… (gives a nervous laughter) I had some delusions of that nature when I was at Harvard. But I've since joined the ranks of countless others who have a Great American Novel staffed away back in the closet somewhere.
Mary: You wrote a novel?
Mason: Yeah.
Mary: Really? You… you still have it?
Mason: Oh… no. I'm sure… Ah, it's been so long since I saw it. I'm sure… I threw it out.
Mary: Mason! Common! You know whether you have it or not. You just don't wanna tell me ‘cause you think I'll wanna read it.
Mason: Well, in that case, no. I definitely don't have it.
Mary: I won't demand.
Mason: Good.
Mary: I beg. Mason, let me read your novel. Common. Please. Some day… some day…
Mason: Mary… Mary, no, no, no. No, Mary… It's drivel. Believe me, it's self-indulgent and hopelessly naпve drivel.
Mary: And a perfect glimpse of who you were at that time.
Mason: Exactly. Two paragraphs and you'd decide you couldn't stand me.
Mary: Impossible.
Mason: Trust me.
Mary: I wonder what it would've been like if I met you before I went into the convent. I bet it would've changed my life.
Mason: And mine.
Mary: But I'm enjoying my life now.
Mason:(kisses her fingers) I don't think I had a life before now. (starts to kiss Mary but she pulls away) What is it?
Mary: I… I should go change and check on your father. I… I won't be long.
Mason: If you're not back in five minutes I'm coming after you.
The phone rings. Mason doesn't want to let Mary go.
Mary: Ah… Answer the phone.
Mason picks up the phone. It's Cruz calling re. Eden.
Mary checks on CC and then joins Mason in the study again.
Mason: May I have this dance?
Mary: I'm not dressed for it.
Mason: Neither am I. With this music I feel like I ought to be in a uniform. Home on leaves.
Mary: Yeah, it is a little bit before our time. Where did you find it?
Mason: It's my father's study. Remember? He has all sorts of things scrolled away in here including a thrilling nostalgic record collection.
Mary: Mm… I like it. Ahm… May be we'd better turn it down.
Mason: Why?
Mary: Well. I wanna be able to hear what's happening upstairs.
Mason:(points at her beeper) Well, I thought that's what this was for.
Mary: Yeah… I… I just don't wanna be distracted.
Mason: By the music? Or by me?
Mary: Either one.
Mason: I wonder how many people plighted their troth with music just like this in USO's during the war. Thousands I bet. Men going off to fight, not knowing if they'd ever come back, feelings running high. May be that would do it.
Mary: What?
Mason: I don't remember if I told you that I was going off to… do battle risking my life. Would that convince you to… finally spend a night together?
Mary: Well… ahm… we're not at war.
Mason: Curses… foiled again. (kisses her forehead) Let me turn the record on.
Mary: Listen, Mason, have a heart. Dancing with you is not the way for me to keep a clear head.
Mason: All right. You win. Nothing to do but to settle in for a rousing hand of canasta.
Mary: I hate canasta.
Mason: So do I.
Mary:(massaging his shoulders) You're wonderful.
Mason: So wonderful you wouldn't even dance with me.
Mary: No, I mean it. I feel bad. Tonight was supposed to be such a romantic evening. And instead… (sighs)
Mason:(turns around) I love you Mary. I really would never want you to feel bad about anything.
Mary:(strokes his head) Oh, Mason…
Mason: Ahm… Mary… If you want me to keep a clear head you'd better stop that. (Mary kisses him.)
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