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Mason comes back home. Cruz is talking on the phone in the atrium. Mason interrupts him.
Mason: Cruz, I have to make an urgent call. Would you mind?
In the meantime Mary is talking to Mark at the clinic.
Mary: Sit. How sober are you?
Mark: Oh, en... enough to yell at, all right? So, let's hear it. I'm unprofessional, I'm immature, right?
Mary: Just... fill in a few blanks for me, OK? You show up out of the blue. You wanna work at the clinic in exchange for this room. Fine. Great. I love having you here. But Mark... something is eating you up. And I'm not gonna be polite and stand back and not ask why. So why are you here?
Mark: I took a leave. I needed a break, all right?
Mary: Break? From what? From your wife? From your work?
Mark: Mary... Mary... You're very good to me. You always were. But not everybody can be as open as you.
Mary: But you used to be.
Mark: Listen, I gotta move. I don't know where I'm gonna go, but I'm gonna get out of here.
Mary:(grabs him by his arms) Fine! I'll come with you. (takes his car keys away from him) And don't think that you are driving.
Mark: Mary!
Mary: I can be as stubborn as you. Common.
They leave the room.
Mary: Oh, hold on. I'll get my keys... Mother Isabel?
Mother Isabel: Oh, hello, Mary.
Mary: I thought you'd gone!
Mother Isabel: I'm almost finished. Is Dr McCormick all right? He looked pale...
Mary: He's not in great shape. He's waiting for me at the back. I think what I'm gonna do is take him over to the Capwell Estate and walk him around the grounds. It's really pretty there.
Mother Isabel: It's a good idea. I'll lock up when I go.
Mary: Thank you. This is such a big help.
Mother Isabel: I'd still like to find a chance when we can sit down together and really talk.
Mary: Oh, I would like that too. I have s much to tell you. I'll see you.
As soon as Mary leaves, the phone rings.
Mother Isabel: Figueroa Street Clinic. I'm sorry, but we are closed right now.
Mason: I know. I was just there and tried to get in. May I speak to Mary Duval please?
Mother Isabel: Oh... She has just left. May I ask who's calling?
Mason: It's... it's Mason Capwell. But I don't wanna leave a message. I wanna find her. Is she all right? She had someone else take her shift at the regular job this afternoon.
Mother Isabel: Oh, no, she's fine. I think she was just needed here at the clinic.
Mason: Well, do you know where she is? It's important.
Mother Isabel: Well, as a matter of fact I think she is headed toward your house.
Mason: OK. Thank you very much. Good bye. (to Cruz) All yours.
* * *
Mary and Mark walk around the Capwells Estate.
Mary: And this is the gazebo.
Mark: You know, I wonder how many miles we'd travelled together if we added up all these walks.
Mary: I bet it's a lot.
Mark You know, if I had any sense I'd proposed to you when I was twenty.
Mary: Oh, my mother would've loved that.
Mark: Yeah...
Mary: Are you feeling any calmer?
Mark: Mgh-mm... No. We've both come quite a distance, haven't we, Mary?
Mary: Well, you know about my trip. What was yours like?
Mark: Something happened. I woke up one morning... high and dry on this mountain that they call 25... as in 'years old'. I built a place for myself. Nice, comfortable. I never thought I'd do anything like that for me. Alone. And now it hit me. I... I... I made this big space in my life... I built a big house, full of furniture, that needed somebody to come along and fill it. And then I met Wendy.
Mary: Your wife?
Mark: A month later she was.
Mary: A month? Boy, she must've been... very...
Mark: Oh! Very... everything. Very... very beautiful. She was very... bright! Very funny. She came to work for me as a temporary secretary. I know... I mean... you think about that, it's kind of... Anyway... I... I fell... I was ready. So was she, I guess. I mean, but... She was exactly what I needed. I never once... had any doubt in my mind. And for a year... for a whole year I was the happiest man in the world, Mary. I guess I still have that aura.
Mary: What happened?
Mark: I don't know.
Mary: Where is Wendy now?
Mark: I don't know, Mary. We were living in the Caribbean. I was teaching there. I was coming home late. I... I was bringing flowers to her because I was late... and she just wasn't there. I'm... I found a note on the wall that did... that just said:"I'm sorry". Two words, no reason! What is... what is "I'm sorry"? What is that? My parents got a couple of post cards. They said... ahm... "Don't worry. I'm fine." Thanks a lot! The last one was postmarked Santa Barbara. When I got here, I hired a private detective. He called me this afternoon and told me that there was a woman matching Wendy's description in the county morgue.
Mary: Oh, my God.
Mark: Mary, I'm... I'm a doctor. I know about death. I know about illness. And I still... It wasn't her. May be she fell in love with somebody else. Ah... I don't know. I used to think that would... that was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. I don't anymore.
Mary hugs Mark. Mason sees it and misinterprets everything thinking that something romantic is going on between the two of them.
* * *
Mary is talking to Barbara Lohman, the agency nurse.
Mary: Barbara, thank you so much for covering for me. Is... Eden with Mr Capwell?
Barbara: Yes. And Mr Cranston's with her.
Mary: Thanks. Bye-bye.
Barbara: Bye-bye.
Mason:(to the leaving nurse) Hello again.
Barbara: Hello.
Mary:(happy to see him) Mason.
Mason: Nice of you to make time for us in your busy schedule.
Mary: Oh! I'm sorry about this afternoon. I was...
Mason: Did you get ahm... company? (shows her a bottle of wine)
Mary: What? Oh, no. That... must be for Kirk and Eden.
Mason:(pours himself some wine) Mgh... Eden's got her name on it. How obnoxious. (tastes the wine) Not bad though. Who do you think is more obnoxious Kirk Cranston or me?
Mary:(baffled) Neither one of you. Have you been drinking?
Mason: You think it's a tie, hah? We'll see about that. How's your soul, Mary?
Mary: Fine. Mason... are... are you mad at me? Look, I'm sorry about this afternoon. I... The things were so hectic at the clinic that I... I called the agency and they sent Miss Lohman over to cover for me here.
Mason: You know, I... I stopped by the clinic... earlier... before five, and it was shut up tighter than a drum.
Mary: Oh, yeah... I did close up a little early. The crunch ended about four and I... I wanted to spend some time with a friend of mine.
Mason: I see.
Mary: My friend really needed some comfort.
Mason: You know... one of the lasting good things about feminism is that it's made boors like me realise that women have needs. Even good Catholic girls. (Mary can't believe her ears.) Emotional needs. Physical needs. And if they are not being met at home, they go somewhere else.
Mary: Am I being insulted?
Mason: You know if you're not happy here, you could always get thee to a nunnery.
Mason leaves. Mary can't get her head around what she's just heard.
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