ACT II
Scene One
Twelve years later, 1851. Annie’s garden outside the
Darwin’s home in Downe. Charles,
42, stands over some flower pots on a worn work bench, extracting pollen from
one flower and inserting it in another. He makes notes in a small notebook.
Emma, 43, pregnant, holding a baby, and seated on another garden bench nearby,
a sewing bag beside her. A bow with an empty quiver leans against the bench.
ANNIE, 10, dances in holding a bunch of cut flowers, does a pirouette
and presents them to Charles.
CHARLES
Daffodils!
ANNIE
“Narcissus.”
Aren’t they perfectly
beautiful?
CHARLES
Perfectly.
Though now cut, we will
have
a shorter time to enjoy them.
ANNIE
No,
we will enjoy them longer, because they
will
be on your desk where we can see
them
more often.
CHARLES
(laughs)
Is
that your theory, Annie?
ANNIE
It
is my law!
She smiles, Charles hugs her, then returns to his work. She
watches.
ANNIE
Are
we mixing up the flowers again?
CHARLES
Cross-pollenating.
ANNIE
Cross-pollenating
the “Primula polyantha”.
CHARLES
(grins,
with a look to Emma)
The
primroses, yes.
ANNIE
Do
they like it?
CHARLES
Yes,
they seem to like it quite a bit.
They
produce more seeds and stronger seedlings.
ANNIE
Hmm,
interesting.
Charles tires, and sits. Annie attends him.
ANNIE
May
I be your assistant
when
I grow up?
CHARLES
What?
Not Joan of Arc?
ANNIE
Yes,
I do want to be her, but I’m
afraid
that I shall be burned to meat.
CHARLES
Burned
to meat. Well, I suppose it is possible.
Science
may be safer.
ANNIE
And
then I will be able to take care of you.
Annie presses and straightens Charles’ collar, petting his
shoulder gently.
CHARLES
As
my eldest daughter, you have no choice.
You
are required to comfort me in my old age.
EMMA
And
where will I be? Gone to my reward?
CHARLES
Dear
Emma! I will positively die before you do.
Something about this “jest” strikes Emma.
EMMA
Annie,
go down to the hedge and cut some
lilac
for us.
ANNIE
May
I hold Frances first?
EMMA
Not
at the moment. He’s fussy.
ANNIE
May
I hold him later?
EMMA
Yes,
you may hold him later.
ANNIE
Was
I fussy, Mother?
EMMA
Almost
never.
ANNIE
Was
baby Mary fussy?
EMMA
(beat)
I
don’t recall.
ANNIE
Frances
won’t die like baby Mary, will he?
EMMA
No,
of course not.
ANNIE
I’m
not sad. I’ll get to see baby Mary in Heaven,
just
as you’ll get to see Aunt Fanny.
EMMA/CHARLES
Yes,
Angel/We certainly shall.
EMMA
Go
on, darling.
ANNIE
Father,
do you need me to collect bugs for you
while
I’m cutting lilac?
CHARLES
By
all means, but be careful.
ANNIE
Dear
me, I know the stingers and biters
by
now.
CHARLES
Then
to it!
Annie runs off.
CHARLES
She
glows, Emma. Absolutely glows.
(writes
in notebook)
“Burned
to meat.”
EMMA
Charley...
I was reading scripture last night.
CHARLES
Oh,
yes? Anything new?
EMMA
(smiles,
then)
It
made me think of the question.
CHARLES
The
question?... Oh.
Charles rubs his forehead.
EMMA
You’re
in pain?
CHARLES
Only
a headache at the moment.
If
I continue to sit still, I should be fine.
EMMA
Will
you do me a favor, Charley? Yes, I’m sure
you
will. Would you read our Savior’s
farewell
discourse to
his
disciples? It begins--
CHARLES
John:
Chapter 13.
EMMA
It
is so full of love to them and devotion
and
every beautiful feeling.
CHARLES
Will
it help my headache?
EMMA
Don’t.
It is the part of the New Testament
that
I love best.
CHARLES
What
inspired this?
EMMA
A
whim of mine. It would give me great
pleasure
though I can hardly tell why.
CHARLES
I
know the verses. Jesus assures his disciples that
after
his death he will prepare a place in heaven
for
them. But doubting Thomas asks the way to the
place
being prepared. Jesus replies “I am the way,
the
truth and the life.”
EMMA
“I
am the vine, ye are the branches...
If
a man abide not in me, he is cast forth
as
a branch and is withered... and men
gather
them, and cast them into the fire, and
they
are burned.”
CHARLES
Ah,
yes. The burning. Father warned me that
the
Wedgewood women keenly feared for their
husband’s
eternal destiny.
EMMA
There
is nothing funny about this, Charley.
Not
to me.
CHARLES
Because
you’re pregnant again?
EMMA
You
know how difficult every birth
has
been. If I die, I must know that
you
will be with me in Heaven.
CHARLES
You’re
not dying, Emma! No one is dying!
EMMA
(the
baby cries for a moment,
Emma
touches his belly)
Shh.
Shh, Frances.
CHARLES
I
attend church with you as much as I can. Despite
our
family embarrassment when you turn away from
altar
during the creed.
EMMA
As
we have no Unitarian Church in Downe,
what
else can I do? I cannot abide all
the
Anglican rituals--
CHARLES
If
I can, you can.
EMMA
I’m
sorry I embarrass you.
CHARLES
You
don’t really. I like it actually,
that
independent, rebellious side.
EMMA
It
is not rebellion! I am trying to
be
true to my faith.
CHARLES
This
subject is making me feel worse.
EMMA
That
list grows longer each day.
CHARLES
What
list?
EMMA
Things
that make you ill. Traveling to London,
going
to meetings, having visitors--
CHARLES
You
cannot think I like it! My nights are awful!
My
days-- it’s a Godsend if I can manage a full
three
hours work on my book.
EMMA
What
book?
CHARLES
You
know the book.
EMMA
What
book?
CHARLES
You
know the book!
EMMA
I
want--
CHARLES
(holds
up notebook)
Barnacles!
The same book I have been
working
on, the same book I will be
working
on--
EMMA
You
said barnacles were fascinating!
CHARLES
I
am now encrusted in them up to
my
nostrils! 900 pages worth!
EMMA
Then
what is E?
CHARLES
E?
In relation to barnacles? As a
letter
in our alphabet?
EMMA
As
the letter on the cover of one of your
notebooks!
Emma retrieves a notebook from her sewing bag and displays
it to Charles. Charles snatches it from her hand.
CHARLES
Well,
if you’ve looked at the cover,
you
have likely looked inside and know
what
E stands for!
EMMA
Evolution!
You are writing a book on
evolution.
CHARLES
It
is not a book, it is an essay.
EMMA
It
is 189 pages long!
CHARLES
It
is an essay!
EMMA
After
all these years and everything
that
we said.
CHARLES
I
never said I would not write about it!
I
said I would not talk about it!
EMMA
You
said you would not publish--
CHARLES
I
am not publishing!
The baby cries.
CHARLES
Now,
see what we’ve done!
Emma sets down the note book and moves to Charles’ side.
Both she and Charles gently stroke the baby who quickly quiets.
EMMA
Shh..
Shh...
CHARLES
Frances,
dear boy.
(to
baby)
You
didn’t know that Mummy and Father
could
yell as they did... Well, we don’t
often...
not often.
EMMA
I
am sorry I looked at your things.
I
was tidying up.
CHARLES
I
don’t mind.
(pause)
Emma,
if I should die before you...
would
you consider publishing the book.
EMMA
The
“essay”?
CHARLES
By
then it will be a book, many times longer,
God
willing.
(a
look, he was not being cute)
If
I dare publish-- you’re right, Dear--
I
should be as certain as humanly possible.
The
book will be researched and documented
so
meticulously, that the Anglican Tories
shant
be able to dismiss it.
EMMA
It
will be dismissed anyway, Charley.
CHARLES
If
it is accepted by one competent judge,
it
will be a considerable step for science.
EMMA
And
who would dare edit this book?
CHARLES
Lyell...
No, it would compromise his own work--...
Owen!
EMMA
Mm.
CHARLES
I
know you don’t--.... But he is a
smart
collaborator and a close friend.
EMMA
The
closeness of his friendship seems to
have
matched the speed of your rise in science.
CHARLES
Hmm.
Well, perhaps the publishing could
wait
until after we are both gone.
EMMA
(looks
down at the baby)
Leave
that legacy to our children?
CHARLES
(pause,
he grimaces)
No.
You’re right.
(grimaces)
I
may require another trip to Malverne. I know
the
timing is dreadful, so close to your
confinement.
EMMA
The
water cure always seems to
soothe
your pain for a while. That makes being
apart
bearable.
CHARLES
(rises,
clutching his stomach)
Perhaps
a bath for now.
EMMA
I’m
sorry, Charles.
(he
nods)
I
still love you, of course.
Charles smiles, hugs her. They embrace and kiss as Owen, 47,
appears in a military uniform, holding a rifle and two books. He watches them a
moment.
OWEN
Ah,
domestic tranquility.
Emma is startled.
CHARLES
Owen!
OWEN
Darwin!
It’s no wonder there’s eight
little
ones running around.
CHARLES
Seven.
OWEN
Seven.
Oh, yes. My apologies, Mrs. Darwin.
EMMA
Mr.
Owen. What brings you to Downe?
Holds up books.
OWEN
I
am seeking the autograph of a famous
author.
CHARLES
You
needn’t have brought the rifle.
I’ll
sign cheerfully.
Charles sits on the bench.
EMMA
Yes,
Mr. Owen, what are you dressed in?
OWEN
The
uniform of the Honorable Artillery Company.
CHARLES
You’ve
changed professions?
OWEN
I
drill with them as a volunteer,
as
every able man should. Not to criticize,
of
course.
Owen suddenly launches into a rifle drill, slightly
startling the Darwins. Owen ends at attention with the rifle on his shoulder,
wearing a “military” face. Then he breaks into a chuckle.
CHARLES
Is
it loaded?
OWEN
Good
heavens, no!
EMMA
And
they issued you a uniform?
OWEN
I
purchased it. The communists and the
atheists
mean business and so do we.
EMMA
Woe
to the communists and atheists with
you
defending us, Mr. Owen.
No one seems certain how to take this remark. Owen hands the
first book to Charles to sign.
OWEN
“Yup-ta-tup-Geology
of South America”.
CHARLES
It’s
out? Emma!
(shows
her the cover)
OWEN
...and
then my favorite.
CHARLES
An
old chestnut. “Zoology of the Beagle:
Fossil
Mammalia.”
OWEN
Written
by?
CHARLES
“Written
by Richard Owen.”
OWEN
Ah-ha!
It’s for a nephew of mine.
CHARLES
Funny,
I can never find my name.
OWEN
Is
it not enough that it appears readily
throughout
the volume? It was MY research
of
your fossils, MY writing--
CHARLES
I
was joking, Owen.
OWEN
(beat)
As
was I, my friend. What will our next
collaboration
be, I wonder?
CHARLES
I
hadn’t thought about it.
OWEN
Of
course, I’m very busy...
(sees
bow, picks it up)
You
hunt?
CHARLES
It’s
for target shooting.
Owen looks offstage, sees something that impresses him.
OWEN
My
word, Darwin. Are all those bulls eyes yours?
CHARLES
Emma’s.
OWEN
Mrs.
Darwin?
CHARLES
She
is a Dragoness in archery.
OWEN
(staring
at Emma)
I
don’t doubt it for a moment.
She
was certainly able to strike your little heart.
(twangs
the empty bow at Charles)
Or
was it your back?
Owen laughs loudly. The baby cries out softly. Owen sets the
bow on the ground.
EMMA
Please
excuse me, gentlemen.
Emma picks up her bow and quiver while Owen watches. As she
moves past him:
OWEN
Going
to suckle the baby?
The question and the uncertainty of the intent makes it an
awkward moment.
EMMA
Excuse
me.
Charles grimaces, presses on his stomach.
CHARLES
I
may not be good company, Owen.
OWEN
Here,
try this.
Owen produced a lemon from his pocket.
CHARLES
Do
you often carry lemons in your pockets?
OWEN
Only
for you, Darwin.
CHARLES
What
am I to do with it?
OWEN
Suck
on it. They say it helps
with
stomach ailments.
Charles cuts the lemon with a pen knife and sucks on it.
OWEN
Well,
how are your barnacles?
Other
than tedious?
Charles slips the E notebook beneath his other one.
CHARLES
It’s
dogged that does it.
Owen laughs. Charles refers to his barnacle notebook.
CHARLES
Something
quite fascinating. Barnacles,
you
know, are hermaphrodites. However,
I
have been dissecting some of Cumming’s
Philippine
species, removing what
I
thought were tiny parasites only to realize they
are
males of the species. The instant they cease
being
locomotive larvae, they become parasitic.
Fixed
and embedded in the flesh of their wives,
never
to move again.
OWEN
They
remind me of some of my upward marrying
friends.
(laughs)
CHARLES
You
don’t find their design curious?
OWEN
In
light of what?
CHARLES
Being
created by the same force that designed
“Nature’s Noblest Offspring”.
OWEN
They
are without doubt the genesis of the
same
organizing energy.
CHARLES
Without
doubt? You concurred with my findings
tracing
the segments of barnacles to the segments
of
more evolved crustaceans.
OWEN
They
are all nonetheless archetypes of the
Divine
mind. I have demonstrated fossil evidence of
the
evolutionary sequence of horses that fully
supports
their ordained continuous becoming.
CHARLES
And
I highly respect that theory. God may have
created
the original archetypes of species.
OWEN
“May
have”?
CHARLES
I
know as a scientist you must wonder at it.
OWEN
(pause)
You
understand my position, Darwin.
CHARLES
You
abhor the idea of transmutation.
OWEN
My
position as conservator for the College of
Surgeons.
The position of the people charting
my
course.
(beat)
And,
yes, I abhor it. It’s subversive and
Anti-Christian.
CHARLES
I
know.
OWEN
Transmutation
would destroy man’s responsibility.
CHARLES
That’s
rather grand.
OWEN
No
judge? No consequences? No Divine plan?
Our
moral progress and social order would
disintegrate.
Tell the masses that they are
mere
animals, and they will behave as such.
In
time, the only guiding law would be to
kill
or be killed in some form or another.
CHARLES
Has
man ever strayed far from that?
OWEN
Yes!
God has inspired our highest thoughts
and
our greatest deeds.
CHARLES
But
your objection is philosophical, Owen,
not
religious.
OWEN
It
is also practical. Transmutation would destroy
your
career, Darwin... You are a highly revered
gentleman
with a family and a comfortable living.
How
quickly any one of us could become a traitor.
CHARLES
A
traitor to what?
OWEN
Mankind.
(beat)
The
rioters and industrialists are spewing forth
the
same godless science. And you see how we
are
dealing with them.
CHARLES
They
are not stopping.
OWEN
Be
careful not to share your beliefs with
the
wrong man. That’s all I’m suggesting.
CHARLES
(beat)
Thank
you.
OWEN
I
had hoped to discuss over tea what our next book
might
address.
(Charles
grimaces)
Clearly,
you are insufficiently robust. No matter,
I
must report for duty! Will I see you at the
museum
for the Geological Society meeting?
CHARLES
If
I am well enough. Who’s attending?
OWEN
(laughs)
Well
said, sir!
CHARLES
(uncertain
of his meaning)
Yes?
OWEN
The
British Museum. People you need to see, Darwin.
CHARLES
Ah. Don’t you want the books I signed?
OWEN
The
books? Yes, of course.
(taking
books)
They
might be worth something some day.
(a
friendly laugh)
Annie walks on with lilac cuttings. She has lost the spring
in her step.
ANNIE
Syringa,
Father. Or lilac, as some might
call
them.
OWEN
Which
Darwin is this?
ANNIE
Annie
Darwin, sir.
OWEN
Annie!
Your father always speaks highly of you.
ANNIE
Thank
you, sir.
OWEN
(smiles,
to Charles)
She
doesn’t remember me.
ANNIE
Yes,
Mr. Owen, I do.
OWEN
Ah.
Well, Darwin, back to London.
I’ll
leave you to your barnacles.
ANNIE
My
father is ever so famous. Scientists
send
him their barnacle collections from
all
over the world.
OWEN
I’m
certain they do. You are dear to
defend
your father’s reputation.
And
I know he will do the same for you.
Ta-ta!
Owen leaves. Charles looks at the E notebook. He grimaces,
sucks on a lemon. Annie caresses his arm. Emma re-enters with the baby.
EMMA
Are
you all right, Charley?
CHARLES
Yes,
dear.
EMMA
I’ll
draw your bath.
He puts his notebooks down, touches her hand, then her
belly.
CHARLES
No, I think I’ll just... stay still and
enjoy
the
quiet.
EMMA
Annie,
would you like to hold the baby now?
ANNIE
(smiles,
then stops)
I
think I oughtn’t.
CHARLES
What
of the bugs? They may be getting away.
ANNIE
I’m
sorry, Father, I can’t.
CHARLES
Why
not?
ANNIE
I’m
not feeling well.
CHARLES
(playfully
concerned)
You’re
not feeling well?
