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ANNOUNCER:

Now, the makers of Phillips' Milk of Magnesia tablets present "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill," radio's drama of love and life in wartime in the romantic South. The story of a beautiful valley girl, Amanda Dyke, who married the son of the aristocratic family up on the hill, Edward Leighton.

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UP AND OUT

ANNOUNCER:

Today at the end of our show, a special appeal will be made to every woman in America who is eligible to join the WAVES. Hundreds of thousands of WAVES are needed urgently -- at once. Full details will be given at the end of the broadcast.

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ORGAN ... THEME ("Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes") ... THEN IN BG

ANNOUNCER:

And now for our drama, "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill." Amanda is troubled, deeply troubled. She is thinking--

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UP BRIEFLY ... THEN IN BG

AMANDA:

(NARRATES) Ever since Edward and I had to leave our lovely home in Virginia -- come here to Washington to live -- we've been plunged into such a different world. Of course we had to come when Edward was given such an important war job assisting Mr. Foster in his huge airplane factory. Of course I wanted to come with him when he said he needed me here, but-- Well, now we've had to move into Mr. Foster's home, Edward and I. Oh, it's a beautiful place here in Chevy Chase. We have our own little suite of rooms. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are both so good to us. I don't want to seem ungrateful, truly, but-- Oh, I do so wish Edward and I could be alone; that we didn't have to live with them -- and with Bettina.

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UP BRIEFLY ... THEN BEHIND ANNOUNCER--

ANNOUNCER:

If Amanda knew the full truth, she'd wish far more urgently that she didn't have to live in the same house with Bettina Foster. For Bettina -- the glamorous, unscrupulous daughter of Edward Leighton's employer -- is greatly attracted to Edward. Under a pretense of friendliness to Amanda, Bettina is bent on making trouble for her. And last night, Bettina did her best to stir up trouble between her young cousin Jeannette Lawrence and Jeannette's soldier husband who is away at camp. Now it's after dinner, and Edward and Amanda are talking in the sitting-room of their suite in the Foster home.

AMANDA:

Oh, that was Jeannette who just telephoned me, Edward. She asked me if I could meet her tonight or if she could come here to see me for a little while. Of course I told her to come here.

EDWARD:

I'm so glad you did, darling. In ten or fifteen minutes, I'll have to leave you and join Mr. Foster in the library.

AMANDA:

Oh?

EDWARD:

We have a lot of work to go over, but I do hate walking out on you when you've no other plans for tonight.

AMANDA:

Oh, darling, I have a million and one things I ought to be doing. Stockings to wash, buttons to sew on your shirts, and things like that. You don't have to worry ever, dear, about leaving me alone. Your work is the important thing.

EDWARD:

I know. But just the same, I do worry, Amanda darling. I'm so afraid that you'll get thinking of home and Robert Elijah and missing him too much.

AMANDA:

I do miss him, Edward. I wouldn't be a mother if I didn't miss my baby terribly. But tonight-- Well, leaving him and our home so I could be with you-- That's my war job, Edward. And we do have each other. Look at poor Jeannette; she's all alone.

EDWARD:

Yes, poor kid. It's tough on her and on all the young wives who have to carry on alone while their husbands are in the service. But she's a brave girl and--

AMANDA:

Yes, she has been brave, Edward, all along. So brave. But now Bettina is-- Oh, darling, I've been so upset all day remembering the things that Bettina said last night.

EDWARD:

Hmm? What things?

AMANDA:

To Jeannette, of course. She-- Oh, Edward, I forgot I hadn't told you about that; I haven't truly had a chance. I-- Well, you know, Bettina and I had dinner last night at Jeannette's apartment.

EDWARD:

Yes, and you did tell me what a charming little apartment it is -- and how much Jeannette loves it because it's her first real home.

AMANDA:

She almost had me crying, Edward, when she told me how she and Jack chose all the furnishings together before he went into the army, and how she's working so hard to keep the home for him till he comes back. She loves him so much. And she needs so terribly to believe in his love for her.

EDWARD:

Well, from all I've heard, he does love her, with all his heart. And from what Jeannette said, I'm sure they're a particularly devoted couple.

AMANDA:

I think so, too, Edward, but-- Well, for two whole weeks now, Jeannette hasn't had a letter from him -- not a single line -- though she writes him every day and she's nearly frantic, of course.

EDWARD:

Oh, I see. Yes, of course that's tough on her, but she's foolish to be so anxious. If her husband had been sent overseas, Jeannette would have received a notification of an A.P.O. address.

AMANDA:

Oh, well, that's not what's worrying her so terribly, Edward. She's not afraid Jack's been sent out of the country.

EDWARD:

Well, then what--?

AMANDA:

It's the things that Bettina keeps telling her. Bettina says that-- Well, that, with a man, new places mean new faces; that out of sight's out of mind.

EDWARD:

Oh, rot. Surely, Amanda, Jeannette doesn't believe that--

AMANDA:

She doesn't want to believe Jack could forget her, or deliberately neglect her, but she-- Well, Edward, you know how Jeannette's always lived in Bettina's shadow and is influenced by Bettina's opinions and every time that Bettina sees Jeannette, she keeps telling her--

EDWARD:

I can imagine. I can well imagine the poisonous doubts that Bettina would express. I suppose she has Jack spending his evenings with some other girl, having himself a heck of a good time, and forgetting his wife entirely.

AMANDA:

That's it exactly, Edward. It was just the very thing Bettina keeps saying.

EDWARD:

Then she ought to have her mouth washed out with soap. That's despicable. It's worse than that. It's almost a form of treason. Army officers have emphasized over and over how important it is to a soldier's morale for him to have complete faith in his wife and to know that she has complete faith in him. And for an outsider to destroy that faith-- Well, it's like destroying one of our soldiers. It's aiding the enemy.

AMANDA:

Edward, I wish Bettina could hear you saying that. Or that I'd been able to put it to her that way, so clearly and sternly. I did tell her she was wrong -- all wrong -- talking to Jeannette like that, but I wasn't able to stop her.

EDWARD:

And couldn't Jeannette stop her?

AMANDA:

No, she was too upset -- overwrought, crying. Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry for her -- because I know how she feels and-- It really isn't that Jeannette lacks faith in Jack. It's herself she doubts.

EDWARD:

Herself? Just what do you mean, Amanda?

AMANDA:

Well, it's sort of hard to express, but you know how it's been with Jeannette, growing up a poor relation in this house, always having to be grateful for hand-me-down clothes, and she never was as pretty as Bettina, nor as clever, and she never really expected much happiness for herself.

EDWARD:

But she did find happiness with Jack.

AMANDA:

Yes, but it was never happiness she could take for granted. Because, to Jeannette, it seemed like a miracle that Jack should love her and choose her to marry him. Edward, you know, darling, it's so easy to doubt a miracle. Especially with Bettina constantly telling her Jack's probably stepping out with some other girl.

EDWARD:

Well, if Jeannette believes that, then she deserves to be unhappy.

AMANDA:

Edward darling, you don't truly understand. I - I don't suppose any man could understand just how Jeannette feels. That's the way women are made. And Bettina's so clever! The way she can twist things. Why, last night she was advising Jeannette to write Jack a scorching letter--

EDWARD:

And will you tell me please just where Bettina gets off advising other women how to handle their husbands when she hasn't managed to get one of her own? Hasn't anyone ever told Bettina that she hasn't done so well for herself?

AMANDA:

No, I don't suppose anyone's ever dared to tell Bettina that. But, darling, if anyone tries, she has her answer all ready.

EDWARD:

Her answer?

AMANDA:

Yes. She'd say that-- Well, that she had loads and loads of chances to marry; that men have been trying to marry her since she was eighteen, but that she always gets tired of a man by the time he proposes, so she refuses him.

EDWARD:

Hmm. I think you have something there. Yes, that's just about what Bettina would say. You made a pretty shrewd guess, Amanda.

AMANDA:

(LIGHTLY) Oh, it's more than a guess. Well, only the other day, Bettina was telling me that the really popular girl -- the one who's sure of her beauty and charm for men -- she never marries very young. She says that the girl who's never had a sweetheart before, and is afraid she'll never get another, grabs at the very first man she can get and then marries him before he quite knows what's happening to him. (CHUCKLES)

EDWARD:

Well, I'll be darned. That beats anything I've ever heard. So marrying young is a proof of unattractiveness in a woman? And being unmarried at twenty-nine -- Bettina must be all of that -- is proof of her devastating charm.

AMANDA:

(AMUSED) Well, yes, that's the general idea.

EDWARD:

(CHUCKLES)

AMANDA:

Means that Bettina's so sure she can get a husband any time she wants that she doesn't have to hurry. Poor Jeannette and I-- Why, we just had to take what we could get while the going was good. (CHUCKLES)

EDWARD:

Take it and like it, I hope. You do still like being married to me, Mrs. Leighton?

AMANDA:

Well, I manage to stand it, Mr. Leighton.

EDWARD:

(CHUCKLES)

AMANDA:

(CHUCKLES) Edward? Darling, you're picking up your briefcase. Oh, and that means--

EDWARD:

Yes, I'm afraid it does. It means that I'm going to take time to kiss you just once and then I must hie me downstairs for that conference in the library with Mr. Foster. And it'll give you a good chance to talk to Jeannette and try to knock some sense into her head. She ought to be here soon.

AMANDA:

I'll do my best, darling. I only wish that you could talk to her yourself.

EDWARD:

I will sometime when I get a good chance.

SOUND:

DOOR OPENS

EDWARD:

Goodbye, darling.

AMANDA:

'Bye.

EDWARD:

(OFF) Don't wait up for me. I may be very late.

SOUND:

DOOR CLOSES

AMANDA:

(TO HERSELF) I must remember what Edward said -- every word of it -- so that I can tell Jeannette. "Army officers have told us over and over how important it is to a soldier's morale for him to have complete faith in his wife -- and to know that she has complete faith in him."

SOUND:

KNOCK ON DOOR

AMANDA:

(TO HERSELF) There she is now. (CALLS, CHEERFUL) Come on in!

SOUND:

DOOR OPENS

AMANDA:

Oh, Jeannette darling, I-- (STOPS SHORT) Oh. Bettina, it's you.

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DOOR CLOSES

BETTINA:

Yes. It's Bettina. Were you expecting Jeannette? I didn't know.

AMANDA:

Well, she just telephoned a little while ago that she was coming over.

BETTINA:

To see you? Well, then maybe you'd rather that-- I only came up because I thought you'd be alone.

AMANDA:

Now, don't be foolish, Bettina. She'll want to see you, of course. (EXHALES) Sit down, please. Make yourself comfortable.

BETTINA:

Well, it seems very queer that Jeannette didn't telephone me. After all, she's my cousin and--

SOUND:

KNOCK ON DOOR

AMANDA:

That must be Jeannette now.

SOUND:

DOOR OPENS

AMANDA:

(CHEERFUL) Jeannette! Jeannette dear, I was beginning to be afraid that you were lost. (SUDDENLY WORRIED) Why, Jeannette-- Jeannette, whatever's wrong?

JEANNETTE:

(QUIETLY TENSE) That's what I came to tell you, Amanda. I-- Oh, hello, Bettina.

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DOOR CLOSES

BETTINA:

Jeannette Lawrence, if you don't look like something the cat dragged in. You're as white as paper. Your eyes are like two burnt holes in a blanket. What have you been doing, crying yourself sick over Jack?

JEANNETTE:

No, Bettina. I'm through with crying. Through with being a trusting little fool. I've taken your advice. Last night after you left, I wrote Jack that letter and the things I said fairly scorched the paper.

AMANDA:

Oh, Jeannette, you didn't! Jeannette, you mustn't mail it.

JEANNETTE:

It's already mailed! I went right out to a post office the minute I'd finished and sent it air mail.

BETTINA:

Good! I only hope you told him plenty.

JEANNETTE:

Yes, I told him. Told him I wouldn't stand for it -- being treated this way, being neglected and tricked while he-- (SOBS)

AMANDA:

(SYMPATHETIC) Jeannette--

JEANNETTE:

(WEEPS HYSTERICALLY, CONTINUES IN BG)

AMANDA:

Oh, my dear. My poor dear.

BETTINA:

For heaven's sakes, let's not have a scene. Just when Jeannette's beginning to show some gumption. My dear, you were perfectly right to send that letter. I'm proud of you.

JEANNETTE:

(EXPLODES) Oh, leave me alone! Leave me alone! You made me write that letter, Bettina! And now I hope you're satisfied! (TEARFUL, QUIETLY) Because I - I'd give my right hand if only I'd never written it. If only I could take it back.

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ANNOUNCER:

But not all the wishing in the world can bring back a letter that's been written and mailed. These poison darts of words that Jeannette put on paper are winging their way to pierce the heart of her soldier husband. What will Jack Lawrence do when he receives that letter? And now that she has done her worst with Jeannette, what new trouble is Bettina to make for Amanda?

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ANNOUNCER:

Today we make an urgent appeal to the women of America to join the WAVES. As you know, our American Navy has now become the biggest in the world, in a growth so quick, so rapid, it is non-paralleled in history. This rapid growth of the Navy has made it necessary now -- today -- for the Navy to call upon the women of America for one of the most important jobs women have been asked to do in this war -- to enlist by the thousands as WAVES! You're needed to put on the glorious blue uniform of the Navy, to step in and free a sailor from a shore job so that he can take his place on one of the hundreds of new Navy ships and planes which must now go forward to fight in the fiercest battles of the war. As a WAVE, you may help direct the take-off and landing of Navy planes as a control tower operator, send and receive important code messages, help locate men and ships at sea, make up weather charts, and so forth. The only qualifications to become a WAVE are: You must be an American citizen, twenty to thirty-five years old, with at least two years of high school or business school training, and no children under eighteen. The age limit for officers is twenty to forty-nine years. For full details, go to your nearest Navy recruiting station today. Do this at once, today. Our American Navy needs you as a WAVE in order to use its mighty strength most effectively in the days just ahead.

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THEME ("Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes") ... THEN BEHIND ANNOUNCER--

ANNOUNCER:

"Amanda of Honeymoon Hill" is presented each day at this time by the makers of Phillips' Milk of Magnesia tablets. Don't miss our broadcast tomorrow, and please stay tuned for "Second Husband" which follows immediately.

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ANNOUNCER:

This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.