ELIZABETH: ‘I do not believe your story. Do you see the dark stain on the altar? It is the blood of previous sacrifices. Your blood will mingle with that blood to delight the goddess Artemis.’

WILLIAM: ‘I would not care to die if my sister were here to prepare me for my burial.’

ELIZABETH: ‘A hopeless wish for a lost soul. Your sister would never be in this savage country. I gather you were captured with another man.’

WILLIAM: ‘My friend Pylades. He is rich, his house is pure and untainted while I live nowhere and everywhere. I am an outcast, hated by the gods.’

ELIZABETH: ‘I too am far from home and live only to perform these dark rites which are so savage as not to be sung. Last night I dreamed my brother, whom I have not seen since we were children, was dead. Killed. His house in ruins. I now have nothing left to lose. Cruelty has overtaken me, possessed me. You are the first to sail here in a long time but you will never return home. You will die in pain and lie in an unmarked grave.’

SCENE TWO

The same place, next morning. A SERVANT sets up outdoor tables and chairs. Off, in the distance, FRANCIS and PETER play tennis. While the SERVANT sets up, MR TURNER enters. He is blind and confused. The SERVANT doesn’t see him and heads off, humming, to get another chair. MR TURNER hears.

MR TURNER: Am I in the garden?

The SERVANT doesn’t respond.

Excuse me, am I in the garden?

Silence. He goes a little further and finds himself on the steps of the temple. This confuses him further.

Hello, is anybody here?

He enters the temple and disappears.

[Off] Mrs Archer?

The SERVANT re-enters with another chair, followed by WILLIAM.

WILLIAM: I admire the boy’s stamina playing in this heat.

ELIZABETH: [entering behind him] His driver said he dropped him at the front door and now he’s disappeared. Vanished!

She exits again. The boys appear. PETER looks very English in his whites. FRANCIS wears tennis shoes with football socks, a T-shirt and black football shorts.

WILLIAM: Who won?

PETER: Francis, by a whisker.

FRANCIS: By a mile.

They laugh. PETER pours lemonade for his friend and himself.

WILLIAM: [to FRANCIS] You know what you two are about to do is quite dangerous.

PETER: Don’t nag, Father.

WILLIAM: Francis, didn’t Mary lay out some tennis whites for you?

FRANCIS is embarrassed.

PETER: She did, but Francis didn’t know they were for him.

ELIZABETH enters.

ELIZABETH: I can’t find him anywhere.

WILLIAM: He’ll turn up.

ELIZABETH: I want to personally give him his cheque. I think the School for the Blind should be quite pleased at how much was given last night. [Glancing at FRANCIS’ clothes] Francis, didn’t Mary—?

WILLIAM: [interrupting] We’ve been through that.