Golden Days
Act I: The Bud (The Simmonds sitting room, Farmdale, Connecticut. Afternoon in June 1917.) Mrs. Simmonds and Betsy clean, while Miss Slissy sits and gossips. When Mary Anne brings in flowers, Miss Slissy upsets her with talk about Billy and Elaine. Mrs. Kirkland and Felice arrive soon after with Dick Stanhope. He is introduced to Mrs. Simmonds and Mary Anne. Elaine and Trelle Webb arrive after Dick has left. They push uninvited into the house and ask for tea, ignoring that the tea shop is only the front porch. Mary Anne asks Betsy to serve them anyway. Elaine taunts Mary Anne, and insinuates Billy deceived her; he will be coming too, she adds. Mary Anne goes to the kitchen. Lloyd and Billy join the two girls. Billy wants to invite Mary Anne to the party, but Elaine protests. Mary Anne returns, having donned her best dress and hat. The two city girls slyly mock her country apparel, and twit Billy about her. After they go, Betsy tells Mrs. Kirkland what they said about Mary Anne. Mrs. Kirkland calls for Felice, and they discuss in French a quick makeover for Mary Anne. (Curtain) Act II: The Blossom (Parlor of the new Farmdale Hotel. Same evening.) Some soft dance music is heard in the background, as party goers spill out the hotel ballroom into the parlor. They are all young members of society in New York, friends who have come to Farmdale for the new hotel's opening. Between dances they discuss Billy and Elaine, who are arguing on a side porch, and tease Miss Slissy. Suddenly Dick Stanhope, the beau ideal of this social circle, appears escorting "Marion", who wears a chic new dress straight from Manhattan, and has a sophisticated new hairstyle. The young men are all captivated, the young women puzzled as to who is this new girl. Elaine and Trelle are shocked to learn she is the niece of the wealthy and influential Mrs. Kirkland. (Curtain) Act III: The Full Blown Rose (An upstairs sitting room in Mrs. Kirkland's home in New York City. Summer 1917.) Mrs. Kirkland presides over a soiree in her salon, with "Marion" as her protege. The young men present wear the uniform of privates in the US Army, save for Billy, who has declined to join up. They are soon to leave for France, and the occasion is a farewell party. Billy is overcome by the change in Mary Anne, and longs to renew the spurned courtship. But she is no longer interested in him. Instead, as the young soldiers depart, she realizes that Dick Stanhope is now the focus of her attention. (Curtain) Act IV: The Perfume of Romance (Same as Act I, June 1919.) The whole crowd has gathered at the Simmonds' home to celebrate Mary Anne's return from France, where she had volunteered as a Salvation Army canteen worker. The young men are now in civilian dress, with only Dick missing. Mary Anne fears he has been lost in the war, but a letter from him that went astray before she could read it is suddenly discovered. Dick reappears in timely fashion to join the party. Elaine makes her peace with Mary Anne; she is no longer insecure about Billy. Dick and Mary Anne confess their mutual attraction as the play ends. (Curtain)