)
MELISANDE. Which Melisande do you want? The one who talked to you this
morning in the wood, or the one who--(bitterly) does all the
housekeeping for her mother? (Violently) And badly, badly, badly!
GERVASE. The one who does all the housekeeping for her mother--and
badly, badly, badly, _bless_ her, because she has never realised what
a gloriously romantic thing housekeeping is.
MELISANDE (amazed). Romantic!
GERVASE (with enthusiasm). Most gloriously romantic. . . . Did you ever
long when you were young to be wrecked on a desert island?
MELISANDE (clasping her hands). Oh yes!
GERVASE. You imagined yourself there--alone or with a companion?
MELISANDE. Often!
GERVASE. And what were you doing? What is the romance of the desert
island which draws us all? Climbing the bread-fruit tree, following
the turtle to see where it deposits its eggs, discovering the spring
of water, building the hut--_housekeeping_, Melisande. . . . Or take
Robinson Crusoe. When Man Friday came along and left his footprint in
the sand, why did Robinson Crusoe stagger back in amazement? Because
he said to himself, like a good housekeeper, "By Jove, I'm on the
track of a servant at last." There's romance for you!
MELISANDE (smiling and shaking her head at him).
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