Synopsis

CROMWELL'S house at Ely, about the year 1639. An early summer evening. The window of the room opens on to a smooth lawn, used for bowling, and a garden full of flowers. OLIVER'S wife, ELIZABETH CROMWELL, is sitting at the table, sewing. In a chair by the open window MRS. CROMWELL, his mother, is reading. She is eighty years of age. Mrs. Cromwell: Oliver troubles me, persuading everywhere. Restless like this. Elizabeth: He says that the time is uneasy, and that we are part of it. Mrs. Cromwell: There's a man's house. It's enough surely.