All
he
has to offer is his pretty face and some flattering words. You canât feed a family on poncy hairdos and poems.â He appealed to Theseus. âIf my daughter persists in her refusal to marry Demetrius, I fear Iâll have no option but to do her in, or banish her from society. I hope youâll back me up, sir.â
Theseus looked at Hermia. âDo you understand your situation, girl? Defy your father, defy
me
, and youâll either die or be sent far away to live the life of a drudge. Such is the fate of a disobedient daughter.â
Hermia shook her head. âLysander is as good as Demetrius, sir.â
Theseus nodded. âI dare say he is, but your father approves of Demetrius, not Lysander.â
âWell then, let my
father
marry Demetrius and Iâll marry Lysander.â
Theseus frowned. âYou have until May Day to reflect, Hermia. Thatâs four days. On that day, Hippolyta and I will marry, and if you havenât consented by then to marry Demetrius, youâll suffer the consequences.â He turned to Egeus. âCome with me, Egeus. You, too, Demetrius. I need to speak to you in private.â
The three men left, followed by Hippolyta.
As soon as they were alone, Lysander turned to his love. âListen, Hermia,â he murmured, âwe donât have long. Iâve got an auntie who lives miles away from here. We can go to her, sheâll put us up, hide us. We can marry there, and thereâll be nothing anybody can do about it.â
Hermia nodded. âWhat dâyou want me to do?â
Lysander gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. âRemember the wood â Cottingley Wood â where I saw you once with Helena?â
âYes.â
âMeet me there tomorrow night.
Will
you?â
The girlâs eyes shone. âTry and stop me!â
âGood.â Lysander glanced towards the door. âSssh! Here comes Helena now.â
Hermia composed herself, and smiled as her friend walked in. âHi, gorgeous, where you off to?â
âGorgeous,
me
?â Helena scoffed. âI wish I
was
gorgeous: drop-dead gorgeous, then Demetrius might love me instead of you.â
Hermia shrugged. âI donât know what he sees in me, Helena, I really donât. I try to shake him off, but the more I diss him, the harder he chases me. The more I hate him, the more he loves me. âTisnât
my
fault heâs daft.â She smiled and whispered, âNever mind, listen. Demetrius wonât be seeing me any more. Weâre off tomorrow night, Helena. Me and Lysander. Weâll meet in Cottingley Wood, where you and I used to play. Then itâs away, where nobody will ever find us.â
Helena looked at Lysander, who nodded.
Hermia touched her friendâs arm. âWish us luck, Helena. I hope things work out for you with Demetrius.â
When the two conspirators had left, Helena sat thinking.
If I warn Demetrius that Hermiaâs eloping, she thought, perhaps heâll be grateful to me. Thatâs not much, but itâs better than being ignored. And who knows: when he sees how determined Hermia is to dump him, maybe heâll turn to me for consolation. How cool will that be
?
With six guys in it, Quinceâs bedsit was packed. Quince sat on the bed and looked at the five lads sitting crosslegged on his floor. They were all on the dole, doing a drama course at college to pass the time.
âAll here, are we?â
âYou could call the register, like at college,â suggested Bottom sarcastically.
Everybody groaned. College is an OKplace to hang out when youâre unemployed, but they do tend to treat you like kids.
Quince ignored the sarcasm. âIâve got all your names in this notebook. Iâll sing âem out, and you can say âPresent, sirâ.â
Bottom shook his head. âWhy donât you tell us about this gig youâve landed us â this play
Linda Westphal
Ruth Hamilton
Julie Gerstenblatt
Ian M. Dudley
Leslie Glass
Neneh J. Gordon
Keri Arthur
Ella Dominguez
April Henry
Dana Bate