At Rise monologue — The Fool: A Play in Four Acts

_It is just after eight o'clock, Christmas Eve, 1920._ DANIEL _is discovered, dreaming, in the armchair R., a pipe in his mouth and his face to the fire. He has not lighted the desk lamp, and, except for the glow of the embers, the room is in darkness. Hanging over the left arm of the chair_, DANIEL'S _hand holds a magazine, but he has not begun reading. After a pause long enough for the audience to take in his surroundings, there is a light tap at the door and, without waiting for a response_, MARY MARGARET _enters. She walks without crutches--quite briskly--but plainly is on some secret business. Daniel is lost in the darkness. A package in her hand_, MARY MARGARET _crosses quickly to the table, and turns on one and then the other of the two lights in the lamp. Instantly, of course, she sees the figure in the chair, and conceals the package beneath her apron._