Roger Asks Delia to Leave Frank and Marry Him
(May 1976)(Delia has come by Roger's to attempt to break off their affair. He not so subtly insinuated that he would not let her go, and made her so nervous that she spilled brandy on her dress. He convinced her that they could wash out the dress and she could take a bath, and no one would ever find out about the spill. After she is finished taking her bath, he is helping her put her dress back on.)
ROGER: Delia, we are so good for each other.
DELIA: (sighs) Yes.
ROGER: Then why do you want that to end?
DELIA: (takes his hand) I don't want it to end. It has to, you know that!
ROGER: No I don't. We've been threatened and frightened, but its just made me appreciate you more.
DELIA: Look, I'm as sad about this as you are, but there's just no way.
ROGER: We haven't even tried.
DELIA: You know, when I'm here with you, everything is just so right and so simple, but when I'm home with Frank and the baby, I know this is impossible.
ROGER: Maybe it's not.
DELIA: No, you see, you've given me so much. It's like, you make me feel like I want to belong.
ROGER: But you do, Dee!
DELIA: And like I deserve to drink from crystal glasses...uh...goblets.
ROGER: Just call them whatever you want.
DELIA: You see, that's what I mean: You give, and yet, you let me be myself.
ROGER: That's because I love you. I don't want you to change. I want you to stay exactly as you are! No matter what I may have given you, it's nothing compared to what you've given me.
DELIA: What I've given you has been mostly physical.
ROGER: No. No, at first, yes, but it's so much more now. You know, I don't think that I could have lasted these last few weeks without you. I would have been perfectly happy just to drink myself into oblivion. I think you saved my life, Dee.
DELIA: If that's true, then I'm very glad I was here.
ROGER: You're so beautiful, and you've let me share that with you. I think sensuality's a great gift.
DELIA: Most people don't think it's very beautiful. They see it as if it were a weapon.
ROGER: That's because they're jealous.
DELIA: To them, our sexuality is a sin.
ROGER: But to me, it was a miracle.
DELIA: (shakes her head) Don't call it that. No, a miracle is something else entirely.
ROGER: But that's what you were for me!
DELIA: Look, I'm not that wonderful, I'm really not! Roger, I just want you to be happy.
ROGER: I don't know how to be alone again.
DELIA: Oh, look, I'm sure you'll find somebody.
ROGER: Do you want me to?
DELIA: Don't ask me that!
ROGER: I'll never find anyone like you, ever.
DELIA: For both of our sakes, I want you to be happy and I want you to find somebody that you love.
ROGER: Damn Jill!
DELIA: No, look, it's not just Jill. This might have happened anyway. I'm just glad it's happening before we get to resent each other.
ROGER: That would never happen, Dee!
DELIA: No, it would! It always does.
ROGER: No matter what, in each other's arms...
DELIA: No, look, it was starting to. You know things were getting better between Frank and me. I knew you were hurt, and you were angry. I understand that. But you know I wanted my marriage to work! And it was working, little by little. I mean, I was so hopeless when Frank was cold to me...
ROGER: How can you forgive him for that?
DELIA: I forgive him because he's my husband!
ROGER: But he doesn't have any idea what he has!
DELIA: Look, in this time when no one else wanted me, you did, and I will never forget that.
ROGER: I want you now, and you want me now.
DELIA: Yeah, and that's what I'm afraid of. When Frank and I...
ROGER: Listen, I can't compete with your family!
DELIA: I don't want you to have compete with them! You shouldn't have to! See that's why maybe we have to say goodbye to each other. Look, it's not only that. (turns away) It's that, but when I came here this morning, I wanted to give you back that necklace. But I took one look at you, and I wanted you to take me in your arms. So it wasn't the bath and it wasn't that I spilled the brandy all over my dress. I wanted you.
ROGER: It isn't fair...
DELIA: There are many things in this world that aren't fair! But what's fair to me now is that I don't get myself into a situation where I can't control myself, where I lose my head!
ROGER: Well, even if that situation brings you extraordinary happiness?
DELIA: Well, especially if it does! Goodbye.
(She goes to get her purse.)
ROGER: Delia, please, wait. One last token gesture, shall we say?
DELIA: What?
ROGER: I want to put the necklace on you. As long as you're wearing this, Dee, I'll always feel that there's a bond between us.
(She reluctantly lets him put it around her neck.)
ROGER: I can't believe that I'm giving you up without a struggle.
DELIA: Roger, don't.
ROGER: I just want to cover you in beautiful things...
DELIA: You're not making this any easier for me.
ROGER: I asked you before, do you want me to find someone else?
DELIA: (pulling away) Look, I can't be alone with you until I can get some kind of control over myself.
ROGER: Just answer me Dee: Do you want me to fall in love...
DELIA: No! No, not right now, maybe in some time. (nods)
ROGER: Look, I have a solution.
DELIA: (shakes her head) There's no solution. I'm a married woman.
ROGER: I know you are, and I know how important marriage is to you, and I know the sacrifices you've been making for it. But why not make those sacrifices with someone who'll appreciate it, someone who'll love you and treasure you and give you the kind of love you deserve? Frank can never give you that! I love you Dee, and I don't want to let you go. Will you marry me?
DELIA: (shocked) You're serious!
ROGER: I'm more than serious. I told you before that I would give you anything. Is Frank willing to do that? Is he willing to change his whole life for you?
DELIA: It's not just Frank.
ROGER: Look, I could be a wonderful father for Little John and I could give him everything...
DELIA: Please, just stop! It's not just Frank, it's not just the Ryans, it's everyone! It's everyone that I know! It's everyone who makes me what I am! Bob and Frank grew up together! Pat Ryan has been one of my best friends for years!
ROGER: Frank and the Ryans! I was always on the outside of that. They excluded you, Dee. That's what brought us together, isn't it? We gave each other what Frank and the Ryans and your brother wouldn't give us.
DELIA: But I belong with them.
ROGER: Do you? Do you really? We're two of a kind, Dee. Look, remember one of the first nights we were together? We hadn't made love then, not yet. And you told me that you weren't a Ryan. And it frightened you at first. But you admitted to it. You told me how that was something you wanted all your life: to be a Ryan, to belong to them, But with me, you realized that you weren't a Ryan, and could never be.
DELIA: Then I've changed.
ROGER: Could you? That quickly?
DELIA: I have. Really, I've changed. I love this luxury! At home, I don't have fancy perfumes, I don't have beautiful bubble baths...
ROGER: But you should have them!
DELIA: It's not me. Look, it's wonderful lying in a bathtub being waited on by a rich, handsome man! It's wonderful and it's very romantic, but I don't know if it's me. I mean I always dreamed about those things, when I was young, and I guess you made those dreams come true for a while.
ROGER: They could stay true, Dee.
DELIA: It's one thing to dream it, it's another thing to live it.
ROGER: Look, you can make it anything you want. We can go anywhere, we can be anything. I told you before that I was willing to change anything for you. Now I can do that. I have the freedom to do that. My father gave me that freedom. I want to devote my life to making you happy. You don't have to live like this, Dee. It can be as simple and luxurious as you want. The main thing is, we'll have each other, always. Please, don't let that slip away!
(She turns away.)
DELIA: No.
ROGER: Dee, just think about it. Take as much time as you need to decide.
DELIA: You see, I wanted your world because I thought mine hated me. Nobody has ever loved me the way that you've loved me. When you kissed me, it was like I had a new life. So maybe I have to go back where I belong. Maybe I don't even belong here! And you know what I've been thinking? Maybe once you kissed me, you made me feel wonderful and beautiful and needed, and that's what Frank saw, and that's maybe why he wanted me after so long.
ROGER: (appalled at the thought) If I thought that were true...
DELIA: Well, maybe it is true. See, maybe I don't belong here. Maybe I belong with Frank and I belong with the baby. Alright, maybe what we did is wrong, but it was very beautiful. (takes off the necklace) I want you to give this to somebody else that you love.
ROGER: (pleading) No Delia, please...
(She hands it to him.)
ROGER: At least keep that.
DELIA: Thank you. (kisses his hand, picks up her purse, and opens the door to leave) Goodbye, Roger.
ROGER: Delia!
(She leaves, and he sits down on the couch and stares off into space.)