SMITH:

(COLD) The Camel Screen Guild Theatre!

MUSIC:

FIRST PHRASE OF "HOW MILD"

SMITH:

Our stars tonight....Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten!

MUSIC:

SECOND PHRASE OF "HOW MILD"

SMITH:

Our play....."Love Letters"!

MUSIC:

COMPLETE "HOW MILD"

SMITH:

Our hosts.....the makers of Camel Cigarettes!

QUARTET:

How mild,
How mild,
How mild can a cigarette be?
Make the Camel thirty-day test
And you'll see!

SMITH:

In a coast-to-coast test of hundreds of people who smoked only Camels for thirty days, noted throat specialists reported not one single case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels!

BARCLAY:

Test Camels yourself, in your "T-Zone" -- T for taste, T for throat -- and see why more people smoke Camels than any other cigarette!

MUSIC:

FULL INTO PLAY AND FADE OUT INTO:

SMITH:

And now, while you discover the smoking enjoyment of Camel Cigarettes, for your listening enjoyment the Camel Screen Guild Theatre brings you a rare and beautiful story - A Deeply Moving Romance, set against a background of mystery and terror....Transcribed from Hollywood, the Camel Screen Guild Players present "Love Letters" -- starring Joseph Cotten and Joan Fontaine, with Paula Winslowe.

MUSIC:

PLAY THEME AND FADES UNDER:

ALAN:

It was a curious thing. Very curious. Yet I forgot it almost as soon as it happened...That night at Dilly Carson's party - (FADES WITH MUSIC) - when my brother Derek was introducing me around...

DEREK:

(THRU ABOVE) This is my brother, and I expect you girls to be properly impressed....Alan, this is Jane Foley....Janet Campbell....and this is Singleton.

ALAN:

Just - Singleton?

SINGLE:

Yes, just Singleton.

MUSIC:

PUNCTUATES....AND CONTINUES UNDER...

ALAN:

That's all. Just that. I might have been curious - but I was in a mood. I was leaving London that night - going up to the country. I'd been depressed, and dissatisfied for weeks. And so I had a drink... That drink...and a second drink...and a third drink... and after that I stopped counting. The next thing I know I was standing there in the middle of the room with a glass in my hand -- empty of course -- and Dilly was saying --

(MUSIC CUTS)

 

DILLY:

(SMILING) Go on, Captain. Don't stop now.

ALAN:

(BEFUDDLED) Huh?... Where's everyone?

DILLY:

(AMUSED) Gone. I promised I'd see you to the train. You've been rather....

ALAN:

Yes, I can imagine... Did I - do anything I shouldn't have?

DILLY:

No. Just talk.

ALAN:

About what?

DILLY:

The usual thing. A girl...(CASUAL) I gathered her name was Victoria..

ALAN:

Oh - I've been talking about her?

DILLY:

Only for the last half hour. Who is she, Captain?

ALAN:

I don't know. I've never seen her.

DILLY:

Then how did she come in?

ALAN:

I used to write to her. During the war...I wrote for a chap who was in love with her. Roger Morland.

DILLY:

(CONTROLLING HERSELF) Roger Morland?

ALAN:

Yes. He couldn't write for himself. He couldn't write the sort of thing he felt she wanted.

DILLY:

(LOW) What - sort of thing?

ALAN:

(QUOTING SOFTLY) "I think of you, my dearest, as a distant promise of beauty, untouched by the world...if I never see you again, my last thought will be that I had fought for you -- and lost...It was terrible waiting for you. But finding you was such a great miracle that anything I suffered seems only a small payment in return."

DILLY:

(SLOWLY) You wrote that for him?

ALAN:

(SIMPLY) He was in love with her...They were married when he came home on leave...Someone told me later he had died. Some sort of accident. It happened while I was still in the hospital.

DILLY:

(SLOWLY) And you? You'd fallen in love with Victoria? Without ever having seen her?

ALAN:

(SHARPLY) I didn't say that...(CURIOUS) Why are you so interested?

DILLY:

(EVASIVE) Oh - I just am, that's all.

ALAN:

But why are you ---

DILLY:

(CUTS HIM OFF) Please - no more questions now. You really aren't up to it... Just remember my name. You've still got that, haven't you?

ALAN:

Dilly Carson....(CHUCKLES) All this mysterious nonsense. One would think there'd been a murder.

DILLY:

(SLIGHT PAUSE, THEN CONTROLLED) Come along, I'd better get you to your train.

MUSIC:

PUNCTUATES...AND CONTINUES UNDER:

ALAN:

The country -- Stone House, my new home -- didn't help very much. For days I walked the dusty roads alone -- walked very fast -- as though to run from my thoughts. And in the end, each day, one thought went home with me. I knew now, why I'd come to live in this lonely spot. It was in Essex, you see. And Essex - that was the the country where she used to live... I could remember how I'd addressed the envelopes... Meadow Farm...Long Reach....Essex.... And something within me -- something kept asking "Why not? Why not?" ....And I had no answer. So one afternoon I hired a rig and drove the twenty odd miles to Meadow Farm...A dismal place. It badly needed care...So did the man who opened the door.

(MUSIC CUTS)

DODD:

(BRUSQUE) Well? What is it? What's your business?

ALAN:

I - I want to know if Mrs. Victoria Morland still lives here.

DODD:

Who?

ALAN:

Mrs. Victoria Morland.

DODD:

No, she's dead.

ALAN:

Dead? When?

DODD:

I don't know. Some time. 'Bout a year ago.

ALAN:

Well, could you--

DODD:

And don't be askin' so many questions! (DOOR SLAMS)

MUSIC:

ACCENTS AND CONTINUES UNDER:

ALAN:

A sudden shock like that - a slamming door - sometimes - jars loose a little fragment of the memory. It was strange, but as I stood there I could hear myself saying to Dilly Carson -- (MUSIC CUTS) 'One would think there'd been a murder' .....

MUSIC:

PUNCTUATES...AND CONTINUES UNDER:

ALAN:

It was just a hunch - the wildest sort of guess - but it took me to London that very afternoon - to the file room of the Daily Journal .... I don't know how many hours I was there. I didn't even know what I was looking for. 'Till finally I turned a page -- and there it was .... October 18, the year before...(MUSIC CUTS) 'Meadow Farm Murder Shocks Countryside'!

MUSIC:

ACCENTS...AND CONTINUES UNDER:

ALAN:

After a while, the words stopped dancing...I read the whole horrible story...Then, almost without being aware of it, I found myself ringing Dilly Carson's bell.

(MUSIC CUTS WITH)

 

SOUND:

(DOORBELL RINGS IMPERATIVELY...DOOR OPENS)

SINGLETON:

Yes?....Oh, hello, Alan. Come in. (DOOR CLOSES)

ALAN:

(UNCERTAINLY) Thank you...Uh - I should like to see Miss Carson, please.

SINGLETON:

Dilly's just stepped out to the store. She'll be right back.

ALAN:

(VAGUELY) Oh.....

SINGLETON:

(AMUSED) You don't flatter me by looking so blank. We've met, you know.

ALAN:

Have we? It doesn't seem possible.

SINGLETON:

Why?

ALAN:

I couldn't have forgotten you. You're too beautiful.

SINGLETON:

(LAUGHS) Oh, I like that! Now really, don't you remember me being here before?

ALAN:

(GROPING) Well....vaguely...I can't quite...

SINGLETON:

(SMILING) Oh, I won't torture you. It was a party. You'd been drinking.

ALAN:

Oh...(GLUM) You'll have to forgive me. At the moment everything seems so - so....(DOESN'T SAY IT)

SINGLETON:

What's the matter?....(A PAUSE) You're very unhappy.

ALAN:

Yes...

SINGLETON:

And frightened.

ALAN:

Yes, I've just learned something - something very terrible.

SINGLETON:

Could I help in any way?

ALAN:

Perhaps...I came here to ask Dilly...Do you know Victoria Morland?

SINGLETON:

Victoria Morland?...No, I've never heard of her.

ALAN:

I'm sure Dilly knew her.

SINGLETON:

But I know all of Dilly's friends. And I've never heard her speak of Victoria Morland.

ALAN:

(TIRED) Well...never mind...it doesn't matter now.

SINGLETON:

(GENTLY) But it does matter. You're in love with her.

ALAN:

(A PAUSE..THEN SIMPLY) Yes.

SINGLETON:

You've been in love with her - for a long time.

ALAN:

Yes...

SINGLETON:

And you've lost her.

ALAN:

(PUZZLED) Who are you - really? Where did I meet you?

SINGLETON:

(SMILING) Right in this room. At the party. I'm Singleton.

ALAN:

Of course...How stupid of me.

SINGLETON:

I wanted so much to talk to you, but Dilly kept me away from you.

ALAN:

(CURIOUS) Why?

SINGLETON:

I don't know. Every time I got close to you she'd say --

DILLY:

(SLIGHTLY OFF) Singleton!

SINGLETON:

Oh -- Dilly -- I didn't hear you come in...(DOOR CLOSES OFF) Look -- Alan's here.

DILLY:

(COMING IN, ALMOST GRIM) So I see...

ALAN:

I hope I'm welcome. You invited me, you know.

DILLY:

(DISTURBED) Yes, I remember I did, but --

SINGLETON:

Dilly, we've been having a wonderful talk! And Alan likes me. He thinks I'm beautiful --

DILLY:

Oh, bother! I forgot the porridge, and we haven't a thing for breakfast...Singleton, would you mind? It's just to the corner, and I'm so tired...

SINGLETON:

I'll go darling.

DILLY:

Pearson's Breakfast Oats. The large size.

SINGLETON:

I know...But don't let Alan get away before I get back. (FADES, LAUGHING) Next time he might not remember me at all. (DOOR OPENS CLOSES...OFF)

DILLY:

(A PAUSE...THEN QUIETLY) Well?

ALAN:

(QUIETLY) In that paper bag you're holding...isn't that a package of Pearson's Breakfast Oats?

DILLY:

(DRILY) You're very observant.

ALAN:

All right. You don't have to explain. I just came to ask you one thing...Where is Victoria Morland? (LONG PAUSE) I asked you -- Where is Victoria Morland?

DILLY:

(QUIETLY) She just went through that door.

ORCH:

SHOCK CHORD...FADE OUT INTO...

ALAN:

I don't believe it. The name Victoria Morland meant nothing to her. Nobody could put on an act like that.

DILLY:

It's not an act...(DULLY) I suppose you know about the murder?

ALAN:

Just what I read in the paper -- an old issue of the Journal...I read your statement. How the hired man had come running to your place that night. How you'd hurried over to Meadow Farm - and walked in and found her there --

DILLY:

(LOW, CONTROLLED - AS IF SEEING IT ALL AGAIN) She was sitting on the floor...in a white dress...a white dress all splotched with big red stains... Just sitting there... staring...holding the butcher knife in her hand... (BITTERLY) She didn't even know who I was... Me, her best friend...

ALAN:

(LOW) The account said that Roger was lying there by the fire...and the Aunt, Mrs. Remington..

DILLY:

Beatrice Remington was an old maid...The only person she'd ever loved was Victoria... She'd adopted her when she was twelve...a foundling...at the orphanage they'd given her the name of Victoria Singleton.

ALAN:

(SOFTLY) That's where the 'Singleton' comes from...

DILLY:

That's all that Victoria remembered after the murder. The shock had blanked her mind of everything else -- everything but what she knew as a child.

ALAN:

Then she didn't remember the murder, either?

DILLY:

No...she had no idea of how Roger was killed - how she happened to be sitting there in that stained dress -- with the knife in her hand.

ALAN:

And Mrs. Remington? What about her?

DILLY:

They found the old lady lying on the floor. The excitement had apparently brought on a stroke. And all she could manage to whisper was: 'He - struck - her... He - struck - her'... After that she couldn't talk at all. A complete paralysis. But I think those few words saved Victoria's life.

ALAN:

And her mind? -- What about that?

DILLY:

She's forgotten everything. Roger, Meadow Farm, her marriage -- even her own name. All she remembers is her childhood, the orphanage, the name they gave her there -- Singleton.

ALAN:

Has she seen Mrs. Remington?

DILLY:

No...the doctors won't let her visit her. They think it might be too great a shock. It might bring back too much too suddenly.

ALAN:

And that would be dangerous?

DILLY:

It might restore her memory...and destroy her mind.

ALAN:

(AFTER A PAUSE) Did you know Roger Morland?

DILLY:

Yes... I met him when Victoria did...I didn't like him.

ALAN:

Neither did I.... He was no good.

DILLY:

(QUIETLY) But Victoria thought she was in love with him... it was really the letters...

ALAN:

(BITTERLY) Yes, the letters...The letters I wrote..

DILLY:

(QUIETLY) You're the man she loved. You're the man she thought she'd married...and you can never tell her. (MUSIC SNEAKS IN SOFTLY UNDER)

ALAN:

(LOW) If she remembers my letters, she's still in love with me... And if she doesn't, and I tell her, she'd probably hate me.

DILLY:

(SADLY, WEARILY) It's hopeless, isn't it?

ALAN:

(LOW, TIRED) Yes... (A PAUSE) I'd better go along now.

DILLY:

But I promised to keep you here. What will I tell her?

ALAN:

Anything. It doesn't matter...(WITH A BITTER SMILE) Say I left because I'm in love with Victoria Morland.

MUSIC:

{UP FULL FOR CURTAIN)

(APPLAUSE)

 

COMMERCIAL

SMITH:

Now a brief intermission and time for a smoke. Are you enjoying a mild cigarette?

QUARTET:

How mild,
How mild,
How mild can a cigarette be?
Make the Camel thirty-day test
And you'll see!

SMITH:

Yes, make the sensible cigarette test! Smoke only Camels for thirty days and see why more people smoke Camels than any other cigarette!

BARCLAY:

A sniff of one cigarette or a puff of another can't tell you how much you'll enjoy a cigarette...or how it will agree with your throat! Only day-in, day-out smoking can give you the answers!

SMITH:

Make the sensible cigarette test! Smoke only Camels for thirty days! Your "T-Zone" -- T for taste and T for throat --- will tell you all you want to know: how mild, how flavorful Camels are! Camel's costly tobaccos are properly aged and expertly blended for your smoking enjoyment!

BARCLAY:

In a coast-to-coast test of hundreds of people who smoked only Camels for thirty days, noted throat specialists reported not one single case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels!

SMITH:

Make your own Camel thirty-day test -- the sensible test -- and see why more people smoke Camels than any other cigarette!

Camel Cigarettes now present the Screen Guild Players in Act II of "Love Letters" starring Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten, with Paula Winslowe.

MUSIC:

(FULL INTO PLAY THEME...AND DOWN, TO HOLD UNDER)

ALAN:

That next week I tramped the country roads again -- thinking, thinking, trying to find some answer...But the more I thought, the more hopeless it seemed. Until that afternoon, when I returned to Stone House tired and worried. And as I walked into the living room --

MUSIC:

CUTS

SINGLETON:

(SMILING) Hello, Alan.

ALAN:

(STARTLED) Singleton!

SINGLETON:

(MISCHIEVOUSLY) Um-hum.

ALAN:

But - but you shouldn't be here! (TRYING TO BE SEVERE) What am I going to do with you?

SINGLETON:

Try saying hello.

ALAN:

Hello! (REPRESSING SMILE) How long have you been here?

SINGLETON:

About an hour. I've been waiting for you.

ALAN:

Why?

SINGLETON:

Because you didn't come back to see me. I was afraid you'd decided never to see me again....(ALMOST PLEADING) Had you?

ALAN:

(SLIGHT PAUSE, THEN SOFTLY) No....

SINGLETON:

(HAPPILY) Then it's quite all right for me to be here. And you shouldn't be so shocked and embarrassed.

ALAN:

(AS TO A CHILD) Singleton, one doesn't do things like this.

SINGLETON:

(LAUGHING) This one does.... After all, it's quite proper. You're in love with someone else -- with a girl named Victoria Morland. You know, in a way, Victoria Morland is my chaperone.

ALAN:

(QUIETLY) Yes...I suppose she is...(SUDDENLY) But what about Dilly? She'll be worried sick about you. (FIRM) I'm going to call her and tell her I'm bringing you home. I'll take you back on the train myself.

SINGLETON:

Please -- anyway, not the train that goes in an hour?

ALAN:

(LAUGHS) All right. The one that goes in two hours. And no later!

MUSIC:

(ACCENTS...AND FADES OUT INTO)

SINGLETON:

(FADING IN) ... And you see, Mack had your supper all ready -- and he made me eat that --- and then there wasn't anything for you, so he had to trundle off to the village and - well - you see?

ALAN:

(CHUCKLING) I see.

SINGLETON:

(ENTHUSIASTIC) Oh, Alan, we can be such good friends. We're so safe.

ALAN:

Safe?

SINGLETON:

Well, you're in love with Victoria Morland. And I -- I can never be in love - so we don't have to be afraid of each other as men and women usually are.

ALAN:

(SLOWLY) Why can't you ever be in love?

SINGLETON:

Because...(DIRECT) Alan, has Dilly told you anything about me?

ALAN:

(LOW) Yes....

SINGLETON:

You needn't be afraid to speak of it. It's not a secret, you know...(SADLY) But there are so many things...if I could only remember them...(A PAUSE, THEN QUIETLY) Alan, tell me about Victoria.

ALAN:

(DISTURBED) I -- please --- I'd rather not talk about her.

SINGLETON:

(SOFTLY) You'll find her some day, and you'll be very happy with her... (TRIES TO SMILE) I really don't mind that, you see...because right now you're happy with me... Aren't you?

ALAN:

(LOW) Yes...

SINGLETON:

And right now is all I can ever have...(A PAUSE) Alan, you'll come to see me once in a while?

ALAN:

Of course. (A PAUSE, THEN QUIETLY) Well...it's almost time..We'd better go along.

SINGLETON:

(SADLY) Yes...(THEN SOFTLY) Alan...just this once...for goodbye...Could you kiss me goodbye? (PAUSE) (VERY SOFTLY) Thank you, Alan...

ALAN:

(TORTURED) Singleton, I ----

SINGLETON:

Alan, you mustn't be sad about it. You see. (SMILE) That's the difference between us. You're unhappy because you think you shouldn't have kissed me. And I'm happy because you did.

MUSIC:

(ACCENTS...AND DOWN, TO CONTINUE UNDER:)

ALAN:

She loved me -- I knew that now - she loved me, just as I loved her. Singleton loved me -- but what about Victoria? What would happen if her memory returned?...Night after night I asked myself that. And finally, I knew there could only be one way. Two lives or none -- and I had to chance it...It was summer by then. Late one afternoon. We'd been sitting on the river bank...

MUSIC:

OUT

SINGLETON:

Alan, you've been so quiet today....(A PAUSE) What is it, Alan? What are you thinking?

ALAN:

(GENTLY) You know, don't you?

SINGLETON:

Yes...I think so.

ALAN:

What do you know?

SINGLETON:

The difficulties ....about me.

ALAN:

Then there isn't any need for me to speak?

SINGLETON:

No....(A PAUSE, THEN SOFTLY) But -- Alan, Victoria Morland?

ALAN:

That's gone and finished. My past is as dead as yours. We'll make a new beginning together.

SINGLETON:

Alan - I know you love me. But you can't really know - until you find her again.

ALAN:

Singleton, trust me. I'm sure. If you love me, you'll never think of her again.

SINGLETON:

(SIMPLY) I love you, Alan. I do love you.

ALAN:

(GAILY) Well, then, I suppose I ought to make it formal. Will you marry me, Singleton?

SINGLETON:

(SUDDEN CHANGE, FRIGHTENED, TENSE) Alan....!

ALAN:

Singleton! .... Darling, what is it?

SINGLETON:

(WHISPER) I - I don't know....

ALAN:

What happened?

SINGLETON:

I don't understand it...I - I knew what you were going to say. I was so happy...And then - when you said, 'Will you marry me?' -- something happened. I don't know what....something frightening....

ALAN:

(SOOTHING) Darling - please - you mustn't be upset.

SINGLETON:

(SCARED, DESPERATE) Alan...Alan, there's something in my past -- something horrible...If I remember some day, it might hurt you -- and I couldn't bear to hurt you.

ALAN:

(GENTLY) Nothing could hurt me now, except to lose you... I love you. I love you no matter what's happened or is to happen. That's all that matters.

SINGLETON:

(RELAXING) Then - let's try it once more. Say it again.

ALAN:

What?

SINGLETON:

I want to see if it will frighten me again...Say it, Alan.

ALAN:

(SLOWLY) Will you marry me, Singleton?

SINGLETON:

(FRACTIONAL PAUSE, THEN HAPPILY) Yes. . .

MUSIC:

ACCENT CHORD....AND RESOLVE INTO ORGAN..TO HOLD UNDER:

SINGLETON:

(CLEAR, STEADY) I, Singleton, take thee, Roger -- (STOPS DISMAYED) No! Not Roger! I - I --- Oh, I'm sorry, I ----

VICAR:

(GENTLY) Don't be frightened, my child...Now repeat after me. I, Singleton, take thee, Alan....

SINGLETON:

I, Singleton, take thee, Alan...to be my wedded husband... to have and to hold...from this day forward...for better, for worse..

MUSIC:

(ORGAN FULL, TO COVER...AND FADE OUT INTO:)

SINGLETON:

(HAPPILY) My husband, my ring, my home! Oh, Alan, I'm so happy I could -- (STOPS, SUDDENLY, WORRIED) Alan... in church... Why did I suddenly say that name -- Roger?

ALAN:

(COVERING) You were nervous. Just a slip of the tongue.

SINGLETON:

Yes, but why Roger? I don't know anybody named Roger.

ALAN:

Well, darling, it's not an unusual name...

SINGLETON:

I don't know how I came to say it... I was sure of the words...and suddenly, when I started, it was just as though they spoke themselves -- as if another person spoke for me...(A PAUSE, THEN CHILDLIKE) Alan..do you think I'll ever remember?

ALAN:

(SLOWLY) I don't know, darling...I don't know...

MUSIC:

(ACCENTS...AND CONTINUES UNDER:)

SINGLETON:

(SMILING) Good morning, Alan. I was up so early, I thought I'd pick some berries for your breakfast.

ALAN:

(SMILING, AFFECTIONATE) How nice.

SINGLETON:

I think I've just about enough, so we can go inside and -- (SUDDEN SCREAM) Alan!

ALAN:

(QUICKLY) Darling, what is it?

SINGLETON:

(TERRIFIED) On my dress - blood!... Wipe it away! It's blood!

ALAN:

(DESPERATELY) Darling, darling, it's only fruit stains, that's all - from those berries you've been picking.

SINGLETON:

No, Alan. No -- it's blood! (SUDDENLY) Alan, I don't want to see Aunt Beatrice!

ALAN:

Aunt Beatrice?

SINGLETON:

(DAZED) No...this isn't the house...It was another house... It was night...(PITEOUSLY) Alan, what happened that night? (SOBBING) What did I do? What did I do?

MUSIC:

(ACCENTS...AND CONTINUES UNDER:)

ALAN:

I was frightened now. I knew I had to learn the truth -- I had to see Aunt Beatrice, Mrs. Remington... Next morning I took the train to London - hurried to the nursing home. But when I inquired for Mrs. Remington -- (MUSIC CUTS)

ATTENDANT:

She's so much improved, sir, she's been quite a problem. Fact is, she packed up and left us -- two days ago.

MUSIC:

(SHARP CHORD...AND FADE OUT INTO)

SOUND:

(DOOR SLAMS)

ALAN:

(CALLS) Singleton! Singleton!

MACK:

(COMING, AGITATED) Mr. Alan - she's gone!

ALAN:

Gone! Gone where, Mack?

MACK:

(MISERABLE) I don't know, sir. I've looked everywhere... I missed her just after the letter came.

ALAN:

What letter?

MACK:

Here it is, sir - this one. The mailman brought it just after you'd gone. And she opened it and read it, and the next time I looked for her I -- (STOPS SHORT) What is it, Mr. Alan? Not bad news, sir?

ALAN:

(QUIETLY) I know where she's gone, Mack. Now if I can only get there in time.

MUSIC:

(SHARP CHORD...AND FADE OUT INTO)

SINGLETON:

(HESITANT) You see, Mrs. Remington, I - I read your letter to my husband....You - you wrote you wanted to speak to him about Victoria, well ... that's really the reason I came. I'd give anything to find her.

BEATRICE:

(QUIETLY) Why?

SINGLETON:

(SIMPLY) Because my husband is in love with her.

BEATRICE:

You're jealous of her?

SINGLETON:

Oh, no! I want to give him up.

BEATRICE:

Because you don't love him?

SINGLETON:

Because I love him very much! Because I want him to find some happiness with her!....You see, I can't remain with him any longer...

BEATRICE:

Why not?

SINGLETON:

I - I don't know. I can't remember...But I know there was a knife...and a white dress....and a fire going, and --- Please! I don't want Alan to know! I don't want to hurt him! He could still have some happiness with Victoria!

BEATRICE:

(A PAUSE...THEN QUIETLY) You may be right, my dear. I'll help you to find her...(MUSIC SNEAKS IN UNDER...VERY FAINTLY, DISTANTLY) Victoria Morland was my ward .... I loved her more than anything in the world... and yet I couldn't save her from Roger Morland...

SINGLETON:

(REPEATING, SLOWLY, WONDERINGLY) Roger... Morland... (THEN, AS IF UNAWARE OF WHAT SHE IS SAYING) Roger Morland wrote letters...

BEATRICE:

Yes. And Victoria thought she loved him. I didn't want her to marry him, but I couldn't stop her. They eloped.

SINGLETON:

He -- he wasn't like his letters...

BEATRICE:

No...And I knew she was unhappy...She'd go for long walks - alone - for hours - and when she came back I could tell she'd been crying...Then, that night, they were sitting in this room. Roger was sitting ---

SINGLETON:

In that chair.....

BEATRICE:

By the fireplace...There was a lamp..

SINGLETON:

On that table ---

BEATRICE:

By the desk...The door was open, and I could hear their voices. I was ---

SINGLETON:

Out in the kitchen, fixing supper...And Roger was drinking...

BEATRICE:

He was always drinking......

SINGLETON:

I wore a white dress....sitting there at the desk...reading through his letters again.

BEATRICE:

Which made him very angry, of course...because he knew he'd never written those letters...

SINGLETON:

He told me so...He told me so that night....said he was sick of living with a ghost... snatched the letters from my hand and went to throw them in the fire...

BEATRICE:

You cried out..ran toward him, to save them.... You didn't see me...I'd come to the door...I don't think I even knew I still had the butcher knife in my hand....

SINGLETON:

I tried to get the letters...Roger struck me...and then --- (SCREAMS)

MUSIC:

(RISES TO SCREAM WITH HER....AND OUT)

SINGLETON:

(SOFTLY, COMPASSIONATELY) Aunt Beatrice...Aunt Beatrice...

BEATRICE:

Yes, Victoria, I killed him. I couldn't tell them the truth in time. And when I regained my voice, it was too late.

SINGLETON:

Aunt Beatrice, it was my fault. It was because I loved a man who didn't exist...Who was he? Who wrote those letters?

ALAN:

(SLIGHTLY OFF...QUIETLY) Victoria...

SINGLETON:

(STARTLED) Alan!....(THEN QUIETLY) Alan, you heard it? Everything?

ALAN:

(ON MIKE, QUIETLY) Yes....

SINGLETON:

(SMILING, GENTLY) Then you must know...Alan, I've found Victoria Morland for you.

ALAN:

(GRAVELY) And the man who wrote those letters?..... Would you hate him, do you think -- for what he'd done to you?

SINGLETON:

I don't know. It doesn't matter now.

ALAN:

But it does matter. It matters very much. (SLOWLY, DELIBERATELY) "I think of you, my dearest, as a distant promise of beauty, untouched by the world ---"

SINGLETON:

Alan ---!

ALAN:

---"if I never see you again, my last thought will be that I had fought for you -- and lost .... it was terrible waiting for you...." (MUSIC: SNEAKS IN...VERY SOFTLY)

SINGLETON:

(PICKING UP WITH HIM SOFTLY) It was terrible waiting for you. But finding you was such a great miracle that anything I suffered seems only a small payment in return!..............

ALAN:

(TENDERLY) Victoria!

SINGLETON:

Oh, Alan! Alan!

MUSIC:

(UP FULL FOR CURTAIN)

(APPLAUSE)

 

SMITH:

Our stars, Joseph Cotten and Joan Fontaine, will return to the microphone in just a moment.

BARCLAY:

What cigarette do you smoke, Doctor?

SMITH:

That question was asked of one hundred thirteen thousand, five hundred and ninety-seven doctors -- doctors all over the country and in every branch of medicine.

BARCLAY:

What cigarette do you smoke, Doctor?

SMITH:

The brand named most was Camel! Yes, according to this survey, more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!

BARCLAY:

The long Fourth of July week end is coming soon. Be sure you have plenty of Camels -- buy a carton or two; it's handy and thrifty, and you always have Camels when you want them!

MUSIC:

TAG

SMITH:

And now, a final word of appreciation to our stars, Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten...Our thanks to both of you for a beautiful and stirring half hour.

COTTEN:

Well, Verne, I've said it before and I'll say it again. All of us in Hollywood know how much this program does for the Motion Picture Relief Fund and its Country House and Hospital - and all of us are proud to share in that great work by appearing here...Isn't that right, Joan?

FONTAINE:

Quite right, Joe. But I'd like to add a postscript. It's about our sponsor...As a token of remembrance to the servicemen and veterans still hospitalized, the makers of Camels send free smokes each week to service hospitals around the country. This week the Camels go to:

Veterans' Hospitals, Atlanta, Georgia and Northampton, Massachusetts...

U.S. Air Force Hospital, Williams Air Force Base, Arizona...

U.S. Naval Hospital, Quantico, Virginia.

More than one hundred ninety-one million gift Camels have been sent to servicemen, servicewomen and veterans.

COTTEN:

Happy smoking, fellows...Your free cigarettes are on their way to you now with the compliments of Camels!

(APPLAUSE)

MUSIC:

THEME

SMITH:

Remember, every Thursday night - the Camel Screen Guild Theatre! Next week, one of the most delightful musicals of the year. Gay tunes and a heart-warming story with a magnificent cast --- Yes, it's "You're My Everything" starring Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter, Anne Revere and Shari Robinson! Be sure to listen!

BARCLAY:

And for fun and hilarity, don't miss Camel Cigarettes' other great show over these same stations. Tomorrow night the Jimmy Durante Show - with Don Ameche and Vera Vague.

SMITH:

The Camel Screen Guild Theatre is transcribed and directed in Hollywood by Bill Lawrence. The adaptations are by Harry Kronman. "Love Letters" was presented through the courtesy of the Author, Chris Massie, and Hal Wallis Productions, whose latest release is "My Friend Irma Goes West". Joseph Cotten appeared thru the courtesy of David O. Selznick whose current release is "The Third Man".

BARCLAY:

Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten will soon be seen in "September Affair", a Hal Wallis production for Paramount.

SMITH:

And remember, next Thursday night - the Camel Screen Guild Theatre presents - "You're My Everything" starring Anne Baxter, Dan Dailey, Anne Revere and Shari Robinson.

This is Verne Smith speaking.