ALL ABOUT EVE
		EVE
	I was wondering whether you'd come
	at all..

		KAREN
	Don't get up.
		(she smiles grimly)
	And don't act as if I were the
	queen mother.

		EVE
	I don't expect you to be pleasant.

		KAREN
	I don't intend to be.

		EVE
	Can't we sit down? Just for a
	minute...

She sits down. Karen remains standing.

		EVE
	I've got a lot to say. And none of
	it is easy.

		KAREN
	There can't be very much-

		EVE
	Oh, but there is-

		KAREN
	- and easy or not, I won't believe
	a word.

		EVE
	Why shouldn't you?
		(a pause)
	Please sit down.

Karen sits, reluctantly and rigidly.

		EVE
	You know, I've always considered
	myself a very clever girl. Smart.
	Good head on my shoulders, that
	sort of thing, never the wrong word
	at the wrong time... but then, I'd
	never met Addison deWitt.
		(another pause)
	I remember once I had a tooth
	pulled. They gave me some
	anaesthetic - I don't remember the
	name - and it affected me in a
	strange way. I heard myself saying
	things I wasn't even thinking... as
	if my mind were someplace outside
	of my body, and couldn't control
	what I did or said-

		KAREN
		(leading her on)
	- and you felt just like that
	talking to Addison.

		EVE
		(nods)
	In a way. You find yourself trying
	to say what you mean, but somehow
	the words change - and they become
	his words - and suddenly you're not
	saying what you mean, but what he
	means-

		KAREN
		(sharply)
	Do you expect me to believe that
	you didn't say any of those things -
	that they were all Addison?

		EVE
	No! I don't expect you to believe
	anything. Except that the
	responsibility is mine. And the
	disgrace.

		KAREN
	Let's not get over-dramatic.

		EVE
		(smiles grimly)
	You've really got a low opinion of
	me, haven't you? We'll I'll give
	you some pleasant news. I've been
	told off in no uncertain terms all
	over town. Miss Channing should be
	happy to hear that. To know how
	loyal her friends are - how much
	more loyal they are than she had a
	right to expect me to be...

She turns away from Karen. Karen's embarrassed.

		KAREN
	Eve... don't cry.

		EVE
		(turned away)
	I'm not crying.

		KAREN
	Tell me. How did your lunch turn
	out - with the man from Hollywood?

		EVE
	Some vague promises of a test,
	that's all - if a particular part
	should come along, one of those
	things-

		KAREN
	But the raves about your
	performance-

		EVE
	- an understudy's performance.

		KAREN
	Well. I think you're painting the
	picture a little darker than it is,
	really. If nothing else - and don't
	underestimate him - you have a
	powerful friend in Addison.

		EVE
	He's not my friend. You were my
	friends...

		KAREN
	He can help you.

		EVE
	I wish I'd never met him, I'd like
	him to be dead... I want my friends
	back.

This time she does cry. Softly, miserably. Karen looks about.
A pause. She puts an arm around Eve.

		KAREN
	Eve. I - I don't think you meant to
	cause unhappiness. But you did.
	More to yourself, perhaps - as it
	turned out - than to anyone else...

		EVE
	I'll never get over it.

		KAREN
		(smiles)
	Yes, you will. You Theater people
	always do. Nothing is forever in
	the Theater. Love or hate, success
	or failure - whatever it is, it's
	here, it flares up and burns hot -
	and then it's gone.

		EVE
	I wish I could believe that.

		KAREN
	Give yourself time. Don't worry too
	much about what people think,
	you're very young and very
	talented...
		(she gets up, her hand
		 still on Eve's shoulder)
	... and, believe it or not, if
	there's anything I can do-

Eve has reached up to take Karen's hand. She holds it now, as
she turns slowly to face her.

		EVE
	There is something.

Karen stares down at her. Eve's eyes burn into tears. Karen
is caught, fascinated by them.

		KAREN
	I think I know...

		EVE
	Something most important you can
	do.

		KAREN
	You want to play "Cora." You want
	me to tell Lloyd I think you should
	play it.

		EVE
	If you told him so, he'd give me
	the part. He said he would.

		KAREN
	After all you've said... don't you
	know the part was written for
	Margo?

		EVE
	It could have been - fifteen years
	ago. It's my part now.

		KAREN
	You talk just as Addison said you
	did.

		EVE
	"Cora" is my part. You've got to
	tell Lloyd it's for me.

		KAREN
	I don't think anything in the world
	could make me say that.

She turns away again, but Eve's grip is like a vise.

		EVE
	Addison wants me to play it.

		KAREN
	Over my dead body...

		EVE
		(cold, relentless)
	That won't be necessary. Addison
	knows how Margo happen to miss that
	performance - how I happened to
	know she'd miss it in time to call
	him and notify every paper in
	town...
		(Karen stops struggling)
	... it's quite a story.
	Addison could make quite a thing of
	it - imagine how snide and vicious
	he could get and still write
	nothing but the truth. I had a time
	persuading him...
		(she smiles, now)
	... you'd better sit down. You look
	a bit wobbly.
		(Karen sits)
	If I play "Cora," Addison will
	never tell what happened - in or
	out of print. A simple exchange of
	favors. And I'm so happy I can do
	something for you - at long last...
		(Karen covers her face
		 with her hands)
	Your friendship with Margo - your
	deep, close friendship - what would
	happen to it, do you think, if she
	knew the chap trick you'd played on
	her - for my benefit? And you and
	Lloyd - how long, even in the
	Theater, before people forgot what
	happened - and trusted you again?
		(now Eve gets up)
	No... it would be so much easier on
	everyone concerned, if I were to
	play "Cora." And so much better
	theater, too...

Karen looks up slowly.

		KAREN
	A part in a play. You'd do all that
	- just for a part in a play.

		EVE
		(smiles)
	I'd do much more - for a part that
	good.

She leaves. Karen is alone.