Mrs Drainger’s Veil
by Howard Mumford JonesGenre: Drama
Setting:
Format of Original Source: Short Story
Recommended Adaptation Length:
Candidate for Adaptation? Not Reviewed
EXCERPT:
“I have come about the will,” I began, and was immediately conscious of Miss Emily’s voracious interest. The opening was, as I recognized too late, scarcely diplomatic.
“Will?” said the daughter in a harsh voice. “You are making a will? You–you—-“
She looked enormously tall and unpleasant as she spoke.
“Yes, my dear,” responded Mrs. Drainger dryly.
“You? You?” continued the daughter rapidly. “After all these years? It is incredible. It is incredible.” She laughed unpleasantly with closed eyes.
Then, conscious that she was betraying emotions not meant for me, she turned to my chair. “You will understand that the information is something of a shock for a daughter. My mother’s condition—-“
“Mrs. Drainger,” I ventured to interrupt, “wishes merely to make certain changes in an instrument already drawn up.” I was conscious of a stir, whether of gratitude or of resentment, from the darkened corner.
Emily seemed momentarily bewildered.
“You frightened me,” she said at length with a frankness palpably false.
“I quite understand,” I retorted, the sham being, I thought, tolerably obvious. “And now if your mother and I—-“
She took the hint.
“I will leave you,” she said.
It was evident I had not won her gratitude.
VIEW SOURCE DOCUMENT
BACK TO LISTINGS