The Young Woman and Byron in Lord Byron's Love Letter

In this one act play the old woman and her spinster granddaughter earn their living with the help of so called love letter of Lord Byron, a famous and handsome poet. They read and show the letter to the visitors and ask for some money as a charge of having a look at the so precious letter. She tells every visitor that they met on the stairs of the Acropolis.

When the old woman was young, she went to Europe to visit and visited the Acropolis. Near the end of the tour, her grandmother and her aunt went to Greece to study the classic remains of the oldest European civilization. It was an early morning in April of the year 1827 and they set out to inspect the ruins of the Acropolis. The morning was pure, new and fresh. The sky was clear. The sun was barely up. A breeze disturbed her scarf and the plumes of her hat reflected wonderfully. The papers that morning had spoken of possible war, but it seemed unreal to her. Nothing was real except the beauty and mystery of the ancient city.

The carriage stopped at the foot of the hill and her aunt was not too well. She had a sore throat that morning. Therefore, she preferred to remain with the driver, but her grandmother started to climb the steep flight of stone steps. Above her there was a man walking lamely. He turned now and then to observe behind him the lovely scenery. Actually, he was watching the girl behind him. Her grandmother was very much impressed by the greatness and grace of his body. He was Lord Byron, the handsomest man that ever walked the earth. When he had reached the very top of the Acropolis, he spread his arms like a young god. It seemed to her that he was Apollo who had come to earth in modern dress. She walked slowly not to disturb his poetic imagination. But when she was close to him, he pretended not to see she was coming. Then finally she faced him. Their eyes came together. He told her that she had dropped her glove and indeed she had. As he returned it to her, his fingers, lightly pressed her palm. Then, she became quite faint and breathless. She did not know if she should keep on walking. She moved unsteadily and leaned against the side of a column. The sun was very bright and hurt her eyes. Close behind her, she heard that voice again. She could feel his breath.

In this way, her diary explains her meeting with the handsome and dashing young poet in the Acropolis.