Arcadia

by Tom Stoppard

So the Improved Newtonian Universe must cease and grow cold.

When we have found all the mysteries and lost all the meaning, we will be alone, on an empty shore.

SEPTIMUS When we have found all the mysteries and lost all the meaning, we will be alone, on an empty shore. THOMASINA Then we will dance. Is this a waltz?

Be careful with the flame.

‘Septimus holding Plautus’.

Gus comes forward, startling Hannah. HANNAH Oh!—you made me jump. Gus looks resplendent. He is carrying an old and somewhat tattered stiff-backed folio fastened with a tape tied in a bow. He comes to Hannah and thrusts this present at her. Oh . . . She lays the folio down on the table and starts to open it. It consists only of two boards hinged, containing Thomasina’s drawing. ‘Septimus holding Plautus’. (To Gus) I was looking for that. Thank you. Gus nods several times. Then, rather awkwardly, he bows to her. A Regency bow, an invitation to dance. Oh, dear, I don’t really . . . After a moment’s hesitation, she gets up and they hold each other, keeping a decorous distance between them, and start to dance, rather awkwardly. Septimus and Thomasina continue to dance, fluently, to the piano. END