Scene 3

Inside the Casino Espangol. We see only a section of it with a few tables downstage left and a dance floor. CHICK and LINDA are seated at one of the tables. ADELINE enters preceded by MAITRE D. She has a gardenia in her hair and wears a very tacky fur coat. She looks ever so ridiculous. LINDA Miss Adams! You went to…

ADELINE

They didn't have mink. And the sable was much too dear.

LINDA

Oh. It's…lovely. Please join us, won't you?

ADELINE

Thank you so much. But I'm expecting someone.

                                                           (SHE follows MAITRE D. to another table.)

CHICK

She gets more peculiar every time I see her.

MAITRE D.

Your order, señora.

ADELINE

Señorita. Sherry. No…wait. Champagne. (ORCHESTRA plays a fanfare, then the lights dim and a follow spot illuminates the dance floor. CARLOS, the Master of Ceremonies, steps forward.) CARLOS And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Casino Espagnol takes great pleasure in presenting Armando y Inez. (Applause. Orchestra plays a sensual tango. ARMANDO and INEZ dance onstage. INEZ is as sultry and gorgeous as Armando. THEY dance with considerable passion and grace. As they do, THEY sing to each other under their breaths. The onlookers cannot hear what they are singing, but we can. During the number, WAITER brings Adeline champagne, which she proceeds to gulp nervously.) ARMANDO                     How did you spend the afternoon, my love?
                    How did you spend the afternoon?

INEZ

I had lunch with Hernando,
What a hideous bore!
But he gave me some earrings
That his grandmama wore.
He kept drinking Bacardi---
When he spoke, he spoke thickly---
Then ten minutes of panting,
Thank God, he cums quickly.
I left him ecstatic,
So delighted and dazed;
I couldn't wait to get out
To have the earrings appraised.
I went straight to Obispo
To an elegant store---
The jeweler, he liked them,
But he liked me even more.
I think I did well, my love,
It was most opportune
To get two pairs of earrings
In one afternoon.
  (Their first dance over, ONLOOKERS applaud. INEZ and ARMANDO bow, begin their second dance, a bolero.) INEZ                      And what of your day?
                     Do tell, my beloved---

ARMANDO

                     Mi dia
                     Is sitting over there---

INEZ

                     You mean the one with the gardenia
                     In her mousy little hair?
                     She looks so lost, my love,
                     She looks like she's in pain, dear---
                     Are her eyes crossed, my love?
                     What kind of fur is that? Reindeer?

ARMANDO

                     You are an ass, Inez,
                     You are a common little fool.
                     You should have seen the mink
                     She was wearing at the pool.
                     I don't know what fur that is,
                     I admit
                     It is a bit
                     Bizarre.
                     The English, they are a funny race,
                     The dowdier they look,
                     The wealthier they are.
                     I would be worried stiff
                     If she had any sort of chic---
                     It takes a lot of pounds
                     To come to Cuba for a week.
                     This one is loaded, my love,
                     She is loaded to the gill,
                     And though she may be over the hill,
                     Armando's going in for the kill!
                     It will be thrilling
                     To make a killing
                     And count each shilling
                     And every pound!
                     To know the true from the false,
                     You have had to have been around---
                     You have had to have been around! (Applause. THEY bow. Lights come up and ARMANDO goes immediately to Adeline and kisses her hand. SHE is getting tipsy from the champagne.) ARMANDO Señorita. I do not know your name, lovely lady.

ADELINE

Adeline. Adeline Adams.

CHICK

Linda, I think we'd better…

LINDA

                                                          (leaning back on her chair so she can eavesdrop)
Hush.

ARMANDO

Adeline. Que bonita nombre tienes!

ADELINE

Thank you…I think.

CHICK

What are you doing?

LINDA

Shy, retiring Miss Adams.

CHICK

That's terri…

LINDA

Hush up!

ARMANDO

Did I please you?

ADELINE

Oh, yes. You were splendid.

ARMANDO

And so are you.

ADELINE

I am?

ARMANDO

As splendid as a Cuban dawn.

ADELINE

Or an old fortress.

ARMANDO

What you talk…an old fortress? I still do not understand what such a lovely lady is doing traveling all alone from England to Havana.

ADELINE

What am I doing? What am I doing?

ARMANDO

Yes.

ADELINE

Pure whim. It's the only place I've never been.

ARMANDO

You have seen the world?

ADELINE

Every other year or so.

ARMANDO

You travel like that whenever you feel to travel?

ADELINE

My father's firm makes the reservations…and off I go.

ARMANDO

His firm?

ADELINE

You wouldn't have heard of them.

ARMANDO

Try me.

ADELINE

                                                       (gulping her drink)
Thomas Cook?

ARMANDO

Who has not heard of Thomas Cook and Son?

ADELINE

Father would be so happy.

ARMANDO

                                                      (to himself)
Wait till Inez hears this!
                                                     (to Adeline)
But your name is Adams.

ADELINE

So it is. But you see it's the "And Son". Thomas Cook's son isn't really a Cook. He's an Adams.

LINDA

I don't believe what I'm hearing.

ADELINE

Godson. Thomas Cook had no legitimate heirs.

ARMANDO

That I did not know.

ADELINE

Most people don't. Otherwise it would have been Thomas Cook and Thomas Cook, Jr. Or Thomas Cook and Benjamin Cook…or whatever.

ARMANDO

Most interesting.

LINDA

Chick, are you listening to this?

ADELINE

Grandpapa…I always called him that…although he's not really my grandpapa…he had a terrible time at the start. With the name, I mean. He couldn't very well say Thomas Cook and Ronald Lewis Adams, because he wanted the world to know Father was his son. At any rate, he thought of Father as his son. Besides, he was just ever on the stingy side, and he wanted a name as short as possible. He couldn't very well say Thomas Cook & Godson could he? So he settled for what he settled for.

LINDA

Your Miss Adams is some dame.

ARMANDO

And after being around the world…several times…what do you think of our city, lovely lady?

ADELINE

Oh, I find it fascinating.
                    There's something about Havana that's so exciting,
                    You feel any moment that your heart will explode!
                    You know that there's something fantastic
                    Waiting for you behind the next bend in the road.

ARMANDO

Ah, but you sing! And so lovely a voice. To match your soul.

ADELINE

My soul?

ARMANDO

A man with vision can always see a woman's soul. (HE takes her hand and draws very close to her. SHE finds all will power disappearing. HE places his lips next to hers, but at the very moment SHE closes her eyes in nervous but ecstatic anticipation, HE withdraws.) ARMANDO I must go.

ADELINE

Go?

ARMANDO

I am so sorry. A previous engagement.
                                                            (ADELINE is suddenly sober.)
Adieu, señorita…Adams. (He walks off. ADELINE sits there, bewildered and crushed. LINDA has been watching the entire thing and wants to reach out to her. The strains of "A World with Two Moons" swell.) LIGHTS SLOWLY DIM