RAMSAY enters. She startles, then glares at him for a moment. She goes back to scrubbing.

RAMSAY. What are you doing?

DAISY. I’m poisoning her dress.

RAMSAY. Whose?

DAISY. Hers! He wants to leave it for the bitch. A birthday present. Congratulate the old crone on still being alive. Well, I’ll fix it.

He comes to watch what she’s doing. She’s scrubbing harder.

RAMSAY. What are you using?

DAISY. Wormwood and copper salt.

RAMSAY. Copper salt?

DAISY. It kills rats, it should see her off.

RAMSAY. Won’t she smell it?

DAISY thrusts the dress at him. He sniffs.

Hmmm, maybe not.

It won’t kill her, you know.

DAISY. It kills rats.

RAMSAY. You said that.

You’re an idiot.

DAISY. Away and eat yourself.

RAMSAY. Poisoned dresses are something out of children’s stories.

DAISY. It kills rats.

RAMSAY. If you want to kill her, kill her! Put a knife in her.

DAISY (still working). I can’t.

RAMSAY. Why not?

DAISY. I couldn’t stab anyone.

RAMSAY. So pay someone to do it.

DAISY. They’d catch me. They’d hang me.

RAMSAY. Then learn to live with the bitch because that will not work!

He grabs the dress off her roughly and holds it against her skin. She screams and struggles. He pins her for a moment then lets her go.

She looks at the place he touched with the dress, hyper-breathing in panic.

DAISY. You’ve killed me!

RAMSAY. No.

DAISY. Look! Look! It’s all coming up red! You’ve killed me!

RAMSAY. I’ve given you a skin rash.

DAISY. You’ve killed me!

RAMSAY. Then why aren’t you dead!?

DAISY. I’ll die. I’ll die tonight!

RAMSAY. You won’t. Because poisoned dresses only kill people in children’s stories. You’re a child. You’re an idiot.

Why does he love you!

Why!?

Pause.

DAISY. Why does he love her?

RAMSAY. That’s duty. That’s all that is. Duty.

DAISY. He still loves her.

RAMSAY. He hasn’t slept with her in years.

DAISY. Oh, do you think? Is that what he tells you?

RAMSAY. He doesn’t even like her.

DAISY. I don’t like her.

RAMSAY. Well, you can’t kill her with that.

He snatches it from her. DAISY is examining her injured arm.

DAISY. And I don’t like you.

He thinks you’re ugly now.

He only keeps you out of pity.

RAMSAY. There’s no pity in him.

He keeps me because I love him. More than my life. More than anything in my life. I love him best of all. I’m the only person who does.

DAISY. I’m not going back to Edinburgh with him. I’m done with the lot of you. I’m going to Paris.

I’m going to be rich.

You can do what you like.

DAISY exits. RAMSAY shakes out the dress. Looking at it.

JAMES enters.