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Karma Series (3rd Shot)
From a Collection of Crowley's Plays and Scenarios
Aurora Blake, 22, lovely, is sole offspring of General Blake, 56, widower and runs his house. She loves Charlemagne Delavigne, a French attaché in Washington, D.C. They are engaged. A tennis party: Eunice Fox and George Helmer also engaged. Tea served; the butler, Ivan Jacobs, knocks the tray against Eunice as she rises suddenly, pointing to the road and crying “Your double, Aurora!”, and there is a smash. Aurora is furious and dismisses the man on the spot. Eunice says “My fault”; but Aurora is firm. Charlemagne rebukes her. He lifts his racquet and says: “No power in the world can prevent this going back to earth sooner or later. So with your tea set; it was raised against gravitation; it must pay back the loan. So you too must pay back that injustice of yours.” “Mystical rubbish” says she; they quarrel. He does a sum in his pocket book for her. 901 (the 1 might be a 7). He cubes it; first as one, then as the other. “The small error has got big.” “Correct your mistakes now: you may have to pay bug interest later.” The general interrupts the scene; he cuts his finger on a piece of cup; gets septicaemia; dies.
Scene 2. Two years later: Charlemagne Delavigne and Aurora Blake are married; a boy is born; it is her whole life. She takes it from nurse Kate Lyell, trips on a loose carpet cover and falls. The doctor says the boy is crippled for life. This is a family doctor, an old fool. Charlemagne takes this as Karma for the tea-cups. Kate is a cold-blooded type, but is very much upset. But why should he (Charlemagne) get hit? He suffers terribly, gets gloomy, his health goes; he asks transfer to army work and is made Intelligence Officer in a French frontier town.
Scene 3. The fortress. Many rumours of war; great activity: much worry with spies. Ivan Jacobs is caught under very suspicious circumstances. A court martial. Charlemagne recognizes him. Ivan appeals, can prove good faith story.
Scene 4. (Back Flash to Old Days) Ivan in Charlemagne's library at back. Open doors to garden. Key left in despatch box. Ivan opens it and reads draft of secret treaty in cipher. Back at trial. Ivan quotes a passage. “I locked it up and put the key in your clothes: did that treaty ever leak out?”
Scene 5. Court-martial. Charlemagne “Yes, it did!” Ivan's horror and despair. “No,” says Charlemagne, “guilt could not have dared tell the tale. You were unjustly dismissed from my house. I'll repay you and vote Not Guilty.” Ivan released but expelled from France.
Scene 6. Washington, D.C. Charlemagne's house again. He finds the child dying of fits, the old doctor obviously despairing. His wife half crazy and a nurse unnaturally anguished. Dr. goes, child quieted a little, later next a.m. new attacks. It dies; the nurse Kate breaks down, not sorrow so much as fear or bad conscience. In a scene she confesses the child is her sister's. They think her mad, showing the profile which proves the identity. The nurse returns with Ivan and Mrs. Jacob and another baby with Blake profile, very happy and healthy. Mrs. Jacob is a dark edition of the blonde Aurora. Ivan owns up. His wife had a baby same day as Mrs. Delavigne. Kate Lyell, Mrs. Jacob's sister, changed 'em two nights later as revenge for unjust dismissal. How was it possible? Mrs. Jacob was a natural daughter of General Blake, with profile complete. His original; injustice made the new injustice possible, but the fraud only led to the rich child dying and the poor child flourishing. Now Charlemagne has repaired his wife's injustice to Ivan, so Ivan will also restore her child to Aurora. Aurora repairs the first fault by taking Mrs. Jacob to her heart as her sister. Blake has already paid with his life for the likeness that startled Eunice. The Dr. brings in the “dead” child crowing and kicking — the last item is balanced.
Meanwhile. The child has had fits and its doctor been summoned. The old doctor shown earlier is away, and his young partner comes instead. The parents have left the “dead” child alone as the nurse stumbles out. They are in the hall, and Charlemagne merely shews the Dr. up to the room and returns. This Dr. stops the fits; all the trouble is due to a slight dislocation pressing on a nerve. He reduces this and cures the crippled limbs as well as the fits.
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