[IC] Act One: Savannah

"Oh, you won't find him here, I'm afraid," she says with a soft southern drawl. "He's having a brief stay in the hospital, dear."

"Yes ma'am. We spoke with him at the hospital, he actually encouraged us to come visit his home and meet his family," Samuel says, offering a smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

She smiles at Samuel as he speaks, showing yellowing teeth, and pets her cat some more. "He was always off traipsing around with your Mr Walter Winston, but what he saw in California was too much for him. Too much for him to tell his poor mother, at any rate. It done drove him to that hospital. When them hedonists and folk of loose morals attacked him, he simply defended himself, is what I hear occurred, but it broke him, him not being a violent man."

"It is always regrettable when good folks are put in a position where they don't have any other choice," Sam replies solemnly. "Self preservation is a powerful force though."

For the moment, Lillian lets the conversation run, being perhaps an agent of hedonism herself.

"May I ask, Mrs Henslowe, what was the nature of Douglas' friendship with Winston? Why they spent so much time together?"

Mrs Henslowe appears not to hear the question, but a frown does appear on her face as she pets the cat some more.

"Doc, don't interrogate the poor woman! We're here for pleasantries, not case studies," Samuel says, cutting Dr. Walker off before he can continue. The Marine's tone shifts from the sharp one he took with Gabriel to a much softer, kinder one when he addresses the matriarch of the Henslowe family.

"Our apologies, ma'am. Shakespeare may have said all the world is a stage, but Dr. Walker thinks all the world is a clinical setting. The man is all smarts, no manners," shaking his head with disapproval before continuing. "When we visited with Mr. Henslowe, he told us to get the book he was writing. We wanted to meet you, as it would be the height of rudeness to wander your home without introductions."

Gabriel is taken aback by Sam's interruption. Baffled at first, he then decides to play along, to see if the ex-soldier's approach would get the old woman more at ease.

Maybe he is right, the woman seemed to clam up at my questioning...

He observes Mother Henslowe's reaction, keeping silent.

"Is there anything we can arrange for you, as we are here, Ma'am? " Lillian says, as she tries to soften the tone in the room further.

"Thank you, young man," Mrs Henslowe replies to Samuel. "It's good to see some people still have good manners."

She puts the book on her bed on the nightstand - a book of poetry, you notice, a collection of 19th C American verse by the look of it. The cat takes the opportunity to escape her grasp too, and makes its way over to the edge of the bed, in reach of petting, should you wish to do so.

"When he returned home to us in '32 briefly, I remember he spent a lot of time in his study writing and sketching, and eventually, hollerin' and yellin'. I'm not sure what he did with the book though. The last straw was when he kept wandering around the estate at night with his flashlight, shovel, camera and a ball of twine. That and the wounds, he was cut up and bruised something bad on his hands mostly. That's when he had to go back to the hospital. I got afraid of him, and for him."

"Poor man! Did he develop the photographs, Ma'am? Perhaps someone trained might find them useful for his treatment."

Samuel will reach down to pet the cat.

Gabriel steps back, letting his companions deal more tactfully with the old woman.
They're doing well... she's opening up to them.

"Oh, I have no idea I'm afraid," Mrs Henslowe replies to Lillian. "I didn't really take too much notice of what he was doing. It was all a little off."

Samuel reaches for the cat, which brushes against his hand and purrs a little, enjoying being petted, before suddenly turning and biting Samuel's hand, drawing blood with its sharp fangs and retreating back to the old woman's clutches.

"Virgil!" she exclaims. Where are your manners!"

Samuel uses his thumb to apply pressure, and just chuckles.

Lillian tries to catch a peek at the book title, on the off chance she knows any of the poems in it.

She does worry about the cat being hydrophobic, though.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind we're going to take some time and see if we can't find that book Mr. Henslowe told us to find. Or one Mr. Frank Hickering, whom he told us to speak with," Samuel says, offering a smile. "We'll be around for a bit, so if you need anything please don't hesitate to call on us. We'll help as we're able. For now, though, I think we've taken enough of your time. Thank you, it was lovely to meet you Ma'am."