Remember Caesar (Play)
Characters
Lord Weston–a judge
Roger Chetwynd–Weston’s assistant
Lady Weston–Weston’s wife
LORD WESTON is seated by the fireplace, a table of books and papers beside him, talking. Downright is seated MR ROGER CHETWYND, a thin, earnest, absent-minded, and conscientious young person. So conscientious is he that his mind, even when absent, is absent on his employer’s business. He has begun by listening to his master’s lecture, but the lure of his work has been gradually too much for him, and he is now blissfully copying from one paper on to another while the measured words flow over him, his lips forming the phrases while he writes.
WESTON: Roger, it is not alone a question of duty; there is your own success in the world to be considered. It is not your intention to be a secretary all your life, is it? No. Very well. Diligence, and a respect for detail should be your care. I did not become Lord Weston by twiddling my thumbs and hoping for favours. I won my honours by hard work and zealous service. Today, I am the best-known, and certainly the most impartial judge in England, and a favoured servant of his gracious majesty, Charles the Second. That, I submit, my good Roger, is an example to be studied. It is now only unbecoming in you to ask for a half-holiday, but it is greatly unlike you. I fear....(He has turned towards his secretary, and discovers his misplaced diligence. After a pause, coldly) Can it be, Mr. Chetwynd, that you have not been listening to my discourse?
ROGER (brought to the surface by the cessation of the word music): What, my lord? Oh, no. Yes, certainly, sir, I am listening.
WESTON: What was I talking of?
ROGER: Yourself, sir. (amending) I mean, of your rise to success, my lord. (It is apparent that it is an oft-heard tale.)
WESTON: We were talking of your extraordinary request for a half-holiday, when you had one only last month. Would it be straining courtesy too far if I were to inquire what prompts this new demand for heedless leisure?
ROGER: I thought perhaps if you did not need me this afternoon, my lord, I might personally interview the clerk of the Awards Committee, and find out why he
has not sent that document.
WESTON: (a little taken aback): Oh, Oh, indeed.
ROGER: The lack of it greatly hinders. It holds up my work, you see. And at this most interesting point.... (His glance goes longingly to his desk.)
WESTON: That, of course, is a different matter. I see no reason why you should not take a walk to Mr.Clay’s in the afternoon if the weather is fine. I am relieved that your
thoughts are on sober matters, as befits a rising young man. Diligence, courage, and
attention to detail: these are the three. Without an orderly mind no man can hope (ROGER has gone back to his work) to excel in any of the learned professions. (He has found a scrap of paper, rather crushed, in his pocket and smooths its out, uninterestedly, to make a rough spill). Detail, my good Roger, attention to detail. That is the beginning of greatness. That is the.....(reading automatically and with some difficulty what is written on the scrap
of paper) ‘Remember Caesar’. (Repeating, with vague interest. He turns the paper back and forth, at a loss. And then a new idea occurs to him, a rather horrible idea. To ROGER) What is the date to-day? (As ROGER, buried again in his work, does
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