The Rocking Horse Winner - Coroner's Inquest

Authors Avatar

The Rocking Horse Winner

                                    (Coroner’s Inquest)

Act 2: Scene 1

[The Coroner’s Court room; Paul’s mother, father, Oscar Cresswell (Paul’s uncle) and Mrs Wilmot have all given evidence. It is now Bassett’s turn to be questioned by the Coroner. There is a great deal of noise until the Magistrate coughs loudly and there is complete silence. Then the Cornier announces who he wishes to call to the stand.]

Coroner                 Call Mr Bassett to the stand, please?

[Bassett is a short man with a brown moustache and sharp little brown eyes. He moves towards the stand to take the oath.]                

Clerk        (Sternly) Repeat after me. Do you swear to tell the whole true and nothing but the truth, so help me God.        

Bassett        I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. (Bassett genuflects and sits down.)         

Coroner         Mr Bassett, What is your relationship with the Darcy family?

Bassett        (Proudly) I am the gardener, for the Darcy’s.

Coroner         How did you come to get to know the Darcy Family and therefore gain the job?

Bassett        Well, Mrs Darcy’s brother Mr Cresswell got me the job. I can’t do much after being wounded in the leg during the war. What a trouble war it was too.

Coroner        (Sarcastically) Right I see. How long have you known the Darcy family?

Bassett        About two and half years, all in all.

Coroner        And what is your relationship like with the Darcy family?

Bassett        I don’t really know what you mean. I have worked for them for a while and I have been quite close to Master Paul over the past year before he became ill, I hope that answers your question, sir.

Coroner        Yes, Thank you, Mr Bassett. (with an air of superstition) When you say you were “close” with Paul what do you mean?  

Bassett         Well we both like horse racing, you see. (Taking a sip of water.) Paul’s father isn’t around much, so I suppose you could say I’m a kind of father figure for the boy. He would always come and visit me after he had seen his nanny and we would talk about horse racing.

Join now!

Coroner        (Scratching his head) Where was Mrs Darcy at this time? Surely Young Paul could have spoken to her, why do you think he didn’t?

Mrs Darcy        (Shouting hysterically from the stand) He did talk to me and I loved him. He was my son of course he could talk to me anytime.

        

        [There is a great deal of noise coming from the stands]

Coroner        Silence! Please Continue Mr Bassett.

Bassett        Well you see. (Cautiously) Mrs Darcy works in order to get money to maintain the family’s lifestyle. She has expensive tastes and Mr Darcy’s income is not enough to maintain their ...

This is a preview of the whole essay