Original subtitles

Subtitling by Acorn Media (re-sync by moviesbyrizzo)

[Pounding in distance]

[Pounding continues]

[ inaudible ]

[Both chuckle]

[Pounding continues]

MISS ROBERTS: Oh, take it out of here.

VIOLET: It crossed the threshold, it did.

RUBY: Oh, something awful's going to happen.

Oh, stuff and nonsense.

- It's only a cat. -[ Bell rings]

Oh, that bell.

I'll hear it in my grave, I will.

Jingle-jangle.

[Pounding]

Out with the old, in with the new.

I beg your pardon?

These electric bells will soon get you on the hop, my lad.

This time next week, you lot won't know yourselves.

Old bells or new bells -- It's all work, isn't it?

Work, my lad?

You don't know the meaning of the word.

Oh.

[Pounding continues]

Telegram, Mr. Hudson.

Then take it to the master, Edward, without delay.

You're properly attired, are you not?

Yes.

Then what are you thinking of? At once, my lad!

- But, Mr. Hudson --

The essence of the telegram, Edward, is speed.

Shall the good ship of man's ingenuity to man

flounder on the rocks of his idleness?

At once, Edward, to the master, to the morning room.

- But it's not for the master.

- what?

A wrong delivery again?

The postal system is a disgrace.

It's for you.

Oh.

You may go, Edward.

- Uh, not bad news, I hope -- - Thank you, Edward.

[Pounding in distance]

Jerry-building, that's what it is.

I've never seen plaster like it.

Just touch it and it's gone.

Does the task of running a single wire behind a cornice

necessitate quite so much noise and destruction?

I would have thought so simple a task

could have been accomplished in comparative silence.

These aren't just wires. These are electricity wires.

A wire, I think, is a wire.

That is exactly Where you are mistaken, brother,

like many a layman before you.

These wires run straight to the very heart of the universe.

Now, don't meddle with what you don't understand.

Oh, please, go more --

Go more carefully, or you'll disturb the master.

-[ Pounding in distance] - Yes.

Uh, yes, Arthur. Yes, yes, of course.

N-No, I can't send the car to the station.

Marjorie's got Watkins with her at Southwold.

What?

Well, can you get a cab?

You'll walk?

All right. All right, if you must.

Yes, yes, of course.

Goodbye.

Hudson!

Hudson.

HUDSON: Sir?

The morning-room hell's not working.

It has been disconnected, sir.

We were given ample warning, if you remember.

All the bells are out of action this morning.

Yes, well, we have to suffer for progress, I see.

- well, come inside, will you? - Very good, sir.

This is not the most convenient time, I know,

but my brother, Arthur, will be staying for the weekend.

Very good, sir. I'm sure we will manage.

Yes. He's coming up for a medical conference of some kind.

He'll -- He'll be in and out mostly, I suppose.

I'll tell Violet to make up the bed in Captain James' room.

Will Mr. Arthur be arriving in time for luncheon, sir?

Uh, he's walking from the Royal Society.

How long will that take him?

I have no idea, sir.

No. What's ordered for lunch?

Isn't it gammon and parsley sauce on a Thursday, sir?

Well, don't ask me.

My brother's something of a food reformist.

There are certain things he does not permit himself to eat.

I shall inform Mrs. Bridges.

Yes. Does gammon and parsley sauce -- Does that, uh...

- I have no idea. - No.

But I'm sure Mrs. Bridges will.

Well, perhaps Edward better serve luncheon up here on trays.

No point in opening up the dining room.

It would appear suitably informal, sir.

And tell those damn workmen to make less noise.

I have already told them.

Well...

Well, tell them again.

[Pounding continues]

HUDSON: Less noise up there, if you please.

Progress is a very noisy business.

A convenient argument but a false one.

Try to use a little more skill and less brute force.

Oh, so, we've got time to sit down, have we?

Morning work's all done, Mr. Hudson.

Only the master at home and half the staff away.

That does not constitute a general holiday, Mrs. Bridges.

Violet, there is dust everywhere on the floors upstairs.

VIOLET: well, it's the workmen, Mr. Hudson.

I've dusted six times today already.

Then you will dust a seventh and an eighth

and a hundred times if necessary.

Upstairs, my girl.

And get the bed made up in Captain James' room.

- VIOLET: what for? - Don't argue with me.

Look sharp now.

And what, may I ask, is Ruby doing

chopping parsley in the servants' hall?

Well, she can't work in the kitchen.

Not without getting plaster from the ceiling in all the food.

I don't know.

Dratted workmen, black cats, electricity.

We'll all be struck dead in our beds, that we will.

[ Coughs ]

Edward, tobacco slows the nervous reflexes,

and yours are quite slow enough.

Put that abominable instrument away.

And lay up two trays.

EDWARD: Trays?

What's that for?

Ruby, you are not cutting suet.

That's parsley, that is!

Work at it, girl.

Elbow grease!

Yes, Mrs. Bridges.

I suppose you washed it first.

You didn't tell me to, Mrs. Bridges.

I don't know.

There's something wrong with that poor girl.

I don't think she's quite right at the head.

HUDSON: Edward, not the best silver on the trays.

Get the electroplated from canteen number three.

What is the matter? ls somebody ill?

Mr. Arthur, the master's brother,

is coming for the weekend.

He may arrive in time for luncheon,

depending on the length of his legs.

Luncheon? On a tray?

In the morning room. It's what the master wants.

Oh, and, Mrs. Bridges,

Mr. Arthur belongs to the food reform movement.

The what?

Ah, Miss Roberts,

I found this glove lying on the staircase just now.

Her ladyship's, I believe.

Oh, so that's where it was. I knew I'd dropped it.

You knew it was missing, but you didn't go at once to find it?

I'm not a young thing any longer, Mr. Hudson,

to go running up and down stairs after a missing glove.

Edward would have gone if you'd asked him.

Oh, it's only a glove. I don't even like it.

The blue has never quite matched,

and the buttons have always popped.

I'm sorry to see it again, if you really want to know.

Miss Roberts, if you're not young and strong enough

to look after her ladyship's property, perhaps you'd do well

to consider an honourable retirement.

I think the time is drawing very near.

Luncheon was 6 1/2 minutes late yesterday, Mrs. Bridges.

Just because her ladyship's away

and the master alone is in residence,

there is no call for idleness and disloyalty.

It is luncheon on a tray for Mr. Bellamy

in the morning room at his special request.

And to be prepared for Mr. Arthur,

Mr. Bellamy's brother,

in case he should have arrived and not have had his luncheon.

That is right, I think, Mr. Hudson?

Those are the instructions, yes.

Then I am prepared, Mr. Hudson, aren't I?

Quite prepared.

That tray cloth is soiled, Edward.

Well, the plate will cover the stain, Mr. Hudson.

I mean, it's not as if it's on her side of the family, is it?

It is for Mr. Arthur Bellamy, the master's brother.

Fetch a clean cloth at once.

For him? I mean, he's only a doctor.

Respect is not something we grade

according to title or to wealth, Edward.

It is a matter for us of what is owed by servant to master.

And a brother, in any walk of life,

is someone to whom much is owed,

the greatest consideration, the greatest formality,

no matter how the exigencies of fate have led each

into different paths, into different fortunes.

A clean cloth at once.

[Door knocker bangs]

[Door knocker bangs]

Edward, front door.

Uh, cloth -- Get rid of it.

Morning, sir.

My brother still in?

Mr. Richard is expecting you in the morning room, sir.

Ah.

May I take your coat?

If you insist.

I'm sorry you had to use the door knocker, sir.

An electric bell system is being installed.

You forget, I am not London-born.

I think my hand is not so pampered and weak

that it needs electricity to help it.

Excuse me, sir.

I will announce you.

Announce me to my own brother?

It is customary in this house, sir.

Mr. Arthur Bellamy, sir.

RICHARD: Arthur, my dear fellow.

You look splendid.

I wish I could say the same for you, Richard.

You're looking rather liverish.

A hundred flunkies won't preserve a man's good health.

You mean the servants?

God's good air was clean and bright outside.

Your front door was opened with a whiff of whiskey

that would have knocked a lesser man unconscious.

Edward? You imagine it.

Scots of any class drink whiskey, don't they?

Hudson?

Names? Do they have names?

I thought they rather chose to throw their own away

and live like parasites upon those of their betters.

Still, you have Waited in for me.

I imagine you'll be out most of the time.

The Royal Society's in session, I see.

I'm finished with the Royal Society, quite finished.

You weren't elected?

I was not.

- I thank the fates for it. - But I --

We will talk no further on the subject, Richard.

Electricians, I see.

Yes. A new bell system while Marjorie's away.

Of course.

Plaster dust is hard on sensitive nostrils like hers.

So is the existence of impecunious in-laws

who can't even achieve the doubtful honour

of a fellowship of the Royal Society.

Poor Marjorie.

So, your house is to echo

to the tintinnabulation of electric bells.

We could never afford them, I'm afraid,

small though the old house is.

Nothing to be ashamed of in that.

I never said there was.

It's where we were born, both of us, after all.

[ Chuckles ] Arthur, you don't change much.

Have a glass of sherry or a cigarette.

Are we lunching soon?

- Almost directly. - Then I won't, thank you.

I know you don't appreciate formality,

so we're eating in here.

The dining room's too good for me, you mean.

Arthur.

I'm in a bad mood. Nothing pleases me.

- Shall I serve luncheon, sir? RICHARD: Yes, please, Edward.

Come and sit down over here. You'll feel better after food.

Our Mrs. Bridges is a splendid cook.

You're a naive fellow, Richard.

I daresay you're the pleasanter for it.

MISS ROBERTS: Perhaps Mr. Hudson

should consider an honourable retirement.

He's quite lost his sense of time.

The first sign of senility, you know.

Mine is excellent.

Well, perhaps he's just

popped 'round the corner for a bottle of beer.

Butlers shouldn't pop. It lacks dignity.

MRS BRIDGES: I've never known him pop. Never.

He's just a little late for his dinner,

which is every man's right on occasion.

Perhaps he's gone to the post office to send off a cablegram.

Cablegram? Whatever for?

But in answer to the one he got.

Cable?

Who said Mr. Hudson had a cable?

Edward.

- You never said. - Oh, I thought I mentioned it.

Oh, he's put his earnings in a gold mine, and it's failed.

Well, perhaps his mother's been taken poorly.

Mr. Hudson's mother passed away a year ago come Easter, Ruby.

Oh.

And, Miss Roberts, Mr. Hudson is not the speculating kind.

Well, personally, I'm hungry.

I want my dinner.

ARTHUR: well, you'll hardly know the old village.

Ugly, new buildings on the outskirts,

motorcars filling the air with dust and fumes,

strangers everywhere.

'Course, you've never come down to witness it.

Too much of a backwater.

Oh, it's hard to find the time.

Oh, I do understand.

There's grit in the parsley sauce.

-Is there? - Don't you notice it?

Well, come to think of it, there is.

Yes, you can't eat it.

It must be sent back to the kitchen at once.

In your position, you must stand firm.

My position, Arthur?

Because you, like me, are the son of a country parson

is no reason to put up with the insolence of servants.

But, Arthur, lam hungry.

Oh, very well.

Hudson!

Unwashed vegetables are the cause of much disease,

both physical and mental.

At home, Anthea washes all such foods in chlorinated water.

It's a humble abode, but we do have our standards.

Humble abode?

Arthur, it has 15 rooms and two acres of land,

and you live in extreme comfort.

Two acres?

You have 20,000.

My wife's father has land, it's true.

When the old man goes, she will be richer still.

The gulf between you widens.

There is no gulf.

- Fetch Hudson, will you. -I-I'm sorry, sir.

Mr. Hudson is not available, sir.

Well, then ask Mrs. Bridges to provide us with something else.

The sauce is not edible.

EDWARD: Yes, sir. I'll tell her, sir.

[ Door closes]

Not available?

Doesn't surprise me.

A furtive-looking fellow with whiskey on his breath.

Hudson? Furtive?

Furtive.

- A beautiful fit, sir. - Mm.

Truly elegant.

What a pleasure to dress a real gentleman.

One guinea, did you say?

How long will you be wanting the use of the suit, sir?

Until the Monday morning.

25 shillings, sir.

I see.

Oh, very well.

The, um, address, sir?

165 Eaton Place.

Hudson's the name -- A. Hudson.

For the account to be sent off.

Oh, no, no, I'll pay by cash if you don't mind.

- As you wish, Mr. Hudson. - Thank you.

If I might make a suggestion.

If you would consider the purchase of perhaps, uh...

a cane.

A cane?

Yes.

Yes, why not?

And gloves, I think. Yes, gloves.

Indeed, sir, indeed.

They come a bit costly to some, but not, I'm sure, to you.

Ah, Hudson. Returned, I see.

Uh, yes, sir.

I regret any inconvenience I may have caused.

I had to slip out for a while on a personal matter.

Is that all you're going to say?

RICHARD: Of course.

Never happened before. I doubt it'll happen again.

That man's got a mistress.

A mistress?

Oh, oh, really, Arthur, your imagination runs away with you.

You can see it in his eyes,

the sly look of the confirmed lecher.

Hudson? A lecher?

He's bringing filth and moral pollution into this house,

and you do nothing -- nothing!

What's happening to you, Richard?

Do you not see that this -- this indulgence

has been the root cause of your trouble with your children?

Indeed, with your wife?

Scandal gets 'round, you know.

I'm sorry for you, Richard.

He came home at teatime with a brown, paper parcel.

Now, that is all I know.

Perhaps he's an anarchist, going to blow us all up.

[ Laughs ]

Well, if Sarah was here, she'd know what was what.

She knows everything.

Well, I wish they'd send me away

to learn how to become a nursemaid.

You? You'd drop Miss Elizabeth's baby

on its poor little head, you would.

Oh, no, Violet,

our Ruby would only do that by accident, wouldn't you?

Now, Sarah -- She would do that on purpose.

Well, you know what Edward says about Miss Elizabeth's baby?

- what? - why have I told you this?

Never say anything in front of Ruby.

You can't. She can't keep secrets.

You can't. She can't keep secrets.

You know that she can't be true--

Now, Ruby, what have I told you?

You can't be trusted to say anything at all.

Now, listen, the other...

[ Door closes]

Uh, put the valises in that corner

for the time being, my boy.

Come away, then.

Come on in, all of you. Make yourselves at home.

Oh, Angus, a whole suite to ourselves!

You shouldn't have done that.

What about this for luxury?

ALICE: Oh, look, the Thames. It's all lit up.

And there's a barge.

It would have been more homely at Eaton Place, of course,

but the workmen, you know.

Oh, what a brother! I told you, Maudie, didn't I?

- I always told you. - Always here.

I thought he'd look like God with a beard.

I don't know.

Nothing's what you think it's going to be, is it?

Maudie, my dear, come and sit down.

You're pale as a little ghost. It was a terrible crossing.

I'm a brute, Angus, the way I drag her about the world.

I had six hat boxes when I came, and now there are only five.

I think the Thames is positively narrow.

Alice, stop complaining and help your mother find her hat box.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all.

What does matter is that at last

I've met my dear, dear brother-in-law,

who was so good to my Donald when he was a little boy --

the good, kind brother

who's made my husband what he is today,

the goodest, kindest, cleverest man in all the world.

Mama, it's absolutely tiny. - Oh Alice, dear,

do stop complaining and go out and look in the corridor

to see if that horrid little page

hasn't left it outside on purpose.

He showed no respect whatsoever.

They do say the servant problem here today is quite terrible.

And I believe it. I really do.

At least out in Penang,

you could tell who was who by their colour.

It was you who sent the flowers, Angus?

Oh, of course, Donald.

It seemed the least I could do to welcome you all.

It's good to see you again, man.

Yourself but more so after all these years.

Well, you haven't wasted them, Donald.

I taught you well. Persistence and endeavour, eh?

Two bridges over the mighty Zambezi.

You know, you're one of Scotland's heroes.

I'm very proud of you.

Am I that famous?

There was a piece about you in The Illustrated London News.

But for that, I wouldn't have known of your achievements.

Oh, I'm a shocking letter writer.

I daresay the postmen are very few and far between

away out in these parts.

Oh, come, now. You're not much better.

HUDSON: Oh.

What are you doing with yourself?

Oh, I-l work for a Mr. Richard Bellamy.

- He's a member of parliament. - DONALD: Bellamy?

Wasn't he the undersecretary of state at the Admiralty?

Under the Tories, yes.

The one who married Lady Marjorie Talbot-Carey?

Yes. How did you know?

Oh, everyone who's anyone knows that.

I've seen her picture in the Sketch many times.

She never wears the same dress twice.

Well, Donald always told me you were quite a scholar,

but I had no idea how distinguished.

I would so love an introduction. One is so out off at home.

Oh, Donald thinks I'm a snob, but it means so much.

Well, a bridge builder, after all, is only an engineer.

Her Lady Marjorie is in the country at the moment.

Her father is very ill -- dying, they say.

Oh, dear. Still, we will see lots of you, dear Angus.

You will try, won't you?

Just this weekend, and then off we go on the Lusitania.

Think of that. Not the maiden voyage.

We missed that. So distressing.

Now, Alice -- Alice must be taken for theatre.

She's such a little colonial,

she's no idea what she really should appreciate.

Oh, Alice, perhaps that hat box

is on top of the wardrobe in the bedroom.

Get up on a chair and have a look.

There's a dear.

My Maudie, she's my joy, Angus.

She's like a little flower.

She's a thousand times more than I deserve.

She was the niece, you know, of the governor himself in Penang.

Oh, indeed.

How far we have come, you and I.

These are good times, are they not,

when a man can be what he makes himself

and not what he was born?

- MAUDIE: Donald! - DONALD: Maudie.

Maudie, don't distress yourself.

I'll buy you a new hat.

Oh, I'm sure it's been stolen.

You can't trust anyone now.

Oh, those people on that Channel boat -- so common and coarse.

We go first class, but they are everywhere now.

Well, as someone once said -- was it Jesus? --

"The poor are always with us".

Oh, Alice!

[ Gasps ] Gertie Millar.

Angus, you will take us to the Gertie.

We are dying to see Gertie Millar.

Well, I believe seats are very hard to come by.

- It is short notice. - But you will try?

A box. I've always wanted to sit in a box.

- I'll see what I can do. - Ohh!

- And luncheon at Spinelli's? Maudie.

I've read about Spinelli's.

You can show us who's who and perhaps introduce us.

Oh, I'm so excited!

Who would have dreamt that Donald's brother

would be so important in the fashionable world?

But your husband is known all over the world, Maudie.

Oh, yes, but not to anyone important.

[ Smooches ]

Oh, my poor head.

It's in quite a whirl.

I don't see enough daylight. That's the trouble.

Down here in the dark, and one can feel the damp.

The worst summer since 1894.

That dratted black cat.

Bad luck.

Nobody's ever sent a sauce of mine back.

Not since I was first in service,

when the cook fell dead over dinner

and I had to step right over her and carry on.

I was only the kitchen maid.

[ Scoffs ] They wasn't grateful.

They sent the hollandaise back.

Said it was curdled.

Well, the look on that poor, dead woman's face --

enough to curdle anything, it was.

As for poor Mr. Hudson, I don't know what the matter is.

I fear for his sanity.

I haven't been spoken to like that since my father...

...saw me walking out with a young man.

Only the once, of course.

They sent me into service after that, and I soon forgot him.

And I'm very happy as long as people speak nicely to me.

He was a pleasant young man, well set up but not well-spoken.

You see, it wouldn't have done.

I've always afterwards mixed

with a very nice class of people.

Well, abovestairs, at any rate.

Well, one lives as one can, doesn't one?

MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, so you're back, Mr. Hudson.

I am here, which is what is significant, Mrs. Bridges.

MISS ROBERTS: You seem to be coming and going

a great deal lately, Mr. Hudson.

I have certain personal matters to attend to outside,

Miss Roberts, with the master's permission.

Excuse me.

They'll be requiring the grog tray up in the morning room.

ARTHUR: And in the constituency, of course,

you have to mix with the plebeians.

I can understand your reluctance.

RICHARD: Reluctance? No.

Boredom is my worst enemy.

I'm sitting in the Commons losing division after division.

It scarcely seems like real life.

Well, there are compensations --

a comfortable house to come home to,

bells that work by electricity.

Reward, indeed.

Well, they are efficient.

Oh, you don't have to justify them to me.

They're amusing toys. What's wrong with that?

But please don't speak of efficiency

when what you are seeking is mere diversion.

-[ Clatters ] - Oh, I beg your pardon.

RICHARD: That's all right, Hudson.

You may go to bed now.

Thank you, sir.

Good night.

[ Door closes]

Sound advice.

Let him sleep it off.

There's nothing wrong with Hudson.

No? Man's as pale as the driven snow.

You can see from the pallor what the trouble is.

That man's got a mistress.

He's depleted by lust and passion.

His energies are drained.

His eyes are haggard, his face drawn.

I've seen time and time again in my patients

the growing debility, the laxness,

the languor that overtakes even the most robust

when the sexual, animal instincts are indulged.

Why do you surround yourself with such filth, Richard?

If you're still referring to my butler --

A son sent to the colonies, his doxy harboured under your roof,

a scarlet woman.

Little Sarah, scarlet?

A bit pink about the edges, it's true, but --

Poor child.

Her baby died, you know.

God's mercy on those that least deserved it.

A daughter separated from her husband

after only weeks of marriage.

In your circle, such things are a matter of course.

Hardly. And still painful.

And under your roof, your servants run riot.

Under your roof.

The thrashing limbs, the sweat,

the foul rankness of animal degradation.

Arthur, for God's sake.

Are you happy, Richard?

Are you?

I only have the £30, my life savings,

but you're welcome to it.

I should have had more, I know,

but I got that carried away by the tales in the Sunday papers.

Them poor little pagans,

destined to suffer the torments of the burning fires of hell.

I sent all of £20 to the missionary fund.

That was just after --

You remember that dreadful time, Mr. Hudson.

I don't like to think about it.

And to tell you the truth,

I think I was a little bit out of my mind.

Well, I don't see much daylight, you see, only on my day off.

I don't think that helps a woman's mind.

Only a loan, Kate,

until such time as I can realize my capital.

Take it, Angus.

I'm temporarily embarrassed, that's all.

I don't ask no questions.

The horses, was it?

Oh, Kate, you know me better than that.

I've never had a wager on a horse in my life.

Well, so long as I see the money back sometime,

before it's too late.

I would like to see a little bit of sunshine,

especially now with the winter coming on.

I keep it in my little teapot -- luster it is, my aunt's.

Nobody would think of looking for it there.

I don't ask no questions.

You've got to trust people, haven't you?

Yes, Kate.

Thank you.

I'm sorry you're feeling a bit low in spirit.

Oh, it was that parsley sauce as done it.

[ Gasps ]

Do you think they'll tell Lady Marjorie?

Oh, what a dreadful thing for her to come back to, poor soul,

and her father so ill.

Passing on, they say.

Well, it's a world to be out of.

[Clears throat] Uh, pardon me, sir.

Yes, Hudson?

Might I request an afternoon and an evening off, sir?

This evening and tomorrow afternoon.

- This is most unusual. - It is, sir.

You're not in any trouble, are you?

You would feel free to come to me?

Oh, indeed, sir.

- If I say no -- - It is your right, sir.

I had not finished speaking.

If I say no, you might simply take the time off in any case,

and I would not know, would I?

That is not the way things are, sir.

No? Perhaps we should thank God

he did not make us with eyes in the backs of our head.

No doubt he saved us all a good deal of distress.

- Sir? - That'll be all.

Take off as much time as you wish.

My brother will be staying another night.

See his room is comfortable.

There seems to be a great deal of dust about.

It is the electrician, sir.

The bells will be connected this evening.

We will then be back to normal.

Would you care for a fire to be lit, sir?

It does seem a wee bit chilly in here.

A fire makes things much more cheerful.

Leave it as it is.

Very good, sir.

ALICE: what does Uncle Angus do, Mother?

Do? I don't know.

Not very much, I don't suppose. Gentlemen don't work.

Only your father, building his silly bridges.

Well, I must look upon it as a hobby.

That's right, Alice.

Tell all your friends it's just a hobby.

There's something strange about Uncle Angus.

Strange? What can you mean?

The way he keeps stepping backwards and sort of bowing.

Backwards and bowing?

What can you mean?

Like a waiter.

The most distinguished people I've met in London

have been the waiters.

Oh, Alice. Waiters aren't people.

Oh, I sometimes wish we'd never left the east.

Ideas are so confusing when there are too many of them.

RICHARD: Well, I must confess, I shall miss the old bells.

EDWARD: The old jingle-jangle, sir?

That's right, Edward.

Well, sir, if you'd care to take this in your hand, sir,

and press the button when I tell you,

looking at the little window up there marked "study" --

ARTHUR: You'll hear a buzz, no doubt,

and see a red marker in the window concerned.

Devilish scientific.

Seems so simple to the layman, sir, as always.

But ignorance begets confidence,

and when it's a matter of electricity,

confidence kills even quicker than curiosity.

Do you know, sir, I've seen grown men shrivelled up --

Oh, come along, now. Come along.

ARTHUR: what about your inauguration address, Richard?

-[ Clapping ] - well, yes. Uh...

Well, here we are, then,

about to drag ourselves kicking and screaming

yet one step further into the new world.

A small step but significant.

Linked by wires through the miracles of science

to the very power source of the universe.

RICHARD: Yes, and at the mere touch of a button --

- where's Hudson? - He has the evening off.

- what for? - I have no idea.

As I was saying, at the mere touch of a button.

[All scream ]

[indistinct talking]

Edward, go and get some candles.

What's -- what happened?

MAN: Electricity is a very mysterious thing.

It keeps its secrets to itself.

ARTHUR: It's a fuse. It's a fuse, that's all.

Too heavy a load.

I'll mend it. Where's the fuse box?

You can mend it? All right. Well, show us quickly.

- we'll be back. -[ Indistinct talking]

Cost of all this wine

would support a normal family for a year or two.

Yes. Or a month or two.

At least you keep it locked. That's something.

Well, Hudson has a key.

Of course.

And he keeps the wines listed in a book.

How often do you check the book against your stocks?

Oh, Arthur, you're wrong.

I hope I am.

I'm sure you are.

Yes, wire's burnt out. Too thin.

Oh, Angus, a private supper!

I never thought to have a private supper.

How daring!

Oh, look, Alice. There's salmon!

- Oh! -[ Singing indistinctly]

That child is stage struck.

Where do you think her silliness comes from, Donald?

- Can it be me? - Oh, no, of course not, my love.

Where is the champagne? I ordered champagne.

Oh, I do apologize

for the slackness of the servants here, Maudie.

Champagne. Champagne and Gertie Millar.

London really is the very hub of the world, is it not?

Well, nothing appears to be missing.

Except this now. - what's that?

One bottle of Taylor's '87 vintage port wine.

- To comfort us. - what for?

Because we thought we were gentlemen

and discover we are common spies.

Now, where does he keep the corkscrew?

ARTHUR: Tell me something, Richard.

RICHARD: Yes?

Do you visit the theatre much these days?

RICHARD: Oh, hardly ever.

What was the last thing we saw? Oh, "The Man from Blankley's."

Hawtrey was marvellous.

But that was some time ago.

Musical comedies? - Never.

Marjorie can't bear them.

I thought not.

Well, let's take this upstairs, shall we?

Mm.

There you are, my dear.

Well, to my dear brother and to his family.

Welcome to London, and, uh, good health.

[ Chuckles ]

MAUDIE: Go on, Donald dear, reply.

And we wish to acknowledge our gratitude to my dear brother

for giving us such a good time --

the sightseeing, the shopping, and the theatre.

It's a long way from Penang, but it was worth it.

- Slangevar. - HUDSON: Slangevar.

Uncle Angus.

Oh.

Oh, I don't like champagne. It gets up my nose.

[ Laughter]

There, try that.

I don't doubt its quality. It's the gout I fear.

Well, don't drink it.

I'll risk it.

Mmm, very good, I must admit it.

No.

It does not soothe me as I hoped.

I'm all rough edges, Arthur.

T-There's something vulgar on checking on another human being,

whether he be servant or --

Damn it, Arthur, you could persuade an angel

that the harp he played was out of tune.

Yes, you're quite right.

I shall make amends.

I shall take you out to luncheon tomorrow

before my train departs for Norwich.

I suggest we go to Spinelli's.

Oh, that would be delightful.

Yes, I haven't been there for years.

[ Chuckles ] Should be interesting.

Come along. Sit down. Enjoy your port.

Another Brandy for my guests please,

and barley water for the wee girl.

I'm not a wee girl. Why can't I have a brandy?

Alice!

I must imprint this scene upon my mind.

It's all I'll have in the years to come.

And you, too, Alice.

Oh, to think, Angus, you can come here whenever you want.

- Poor little Maudie. - You think I'm silly?

Of course I don't, my love.

I think I'm a dull fellow.

I am moved by cantilevers and concrete

and not by names and faces.

Perhaps you should have married Angus here.

HUDSON: [ Laughs ]

Isn't that the actor we saw last night at the Gertie?

Alice, sit down!

Oh, yes.

Yes, that is Mr. George Grossmith.

Yes indeed.

Lunching with Granville-Barker, no less.

Cor, there, Alice, isn't that fascinating?

And if you care to glance at the table just beyond there,

the one under the mirror,

you will see in the flesh Sir Edward Carson,

one of our most distinguished advocates.

I find lawyers rather tedious, frankly.

Is that very naughty of me?

See how she sparkles, Angus.

Eat up, my precious. You've hardly touched your food.

MAUDIE: Oh, I know. I have the appetite of a little bird.

Oh, I do wish we could have been a month earlier.

Then we could have been on the maiden voyage.

Such a glittering assembly. Oh, Angus, such a swoony boat.

But now we'll have to travel with the nouveau riche.

It's so distressing.

DONALD: I did the best I could, my love.

It was the rains that held us up.

Well, they always do. You and your silly bridges.

Why can't you build them in more convenient places?

My pretty sweet, I build them in these places

to make them more convenient.

- Do you understand? - No, I don't.

I'm only a woman, and thinking gives me a headache.

Who's that man who looked at you when he went past, Uncle Angus?

Is he a friend?

I have a friend looked like that at me once.

I'd put honey in her hair.

She had very long hair. She could sit on it.

MAUDIE: Angus, are you all right?

You're as white as a sheet.

Are you feeling faint? I'll order you a glass of water.

Boy, boy!

- DONALD: Maudie: - ALICE Mother!

HUDSON: Please, please. I-I'm all right.

You see how he apes his betters?

RICHARD: You knew he'd be here, didn't you?

- I did. - How?

The careless fellow had noted the reservation of his table

on the telephone pad in his pantry.

Why was the deceit necessary?

If you'd known, you would not have come.

No, I would not.

Well, you can't deny the evidence of your eyes.

My eyes see a man lunching with what might well be a friend,

a friend's wife, and their daughter.

You see your butler got up as a gentleman,

mixing with people of superior social standing,

who, for one reason or another, he wishes to impress.

Can he afford to come here on what you pay him?

In what other heinous ways

does he gather lucre to his seamy bosom?

You've allowed him too much license for too long.

How else could I bring you to see, Richard,

that fatal flaw in your character,

that amiability which is no virtue, but the worst of vices?

I'm sorry they didn't elect you

as a fellow of the Royal Society, Arthur.

What?

Angus, what a pleasant surprise to meet you here.

Yes, indeed, sir, a-a surprise.

Won't you introduce me to your friends?

Oh, indeed, sir. Mr. Richard Bellamy.

Uh, Mrs. Hudson, my sister-in-law.

Miss Alice Hudson, my niece.

And Mr. Donald Hudson, my brother.

How do you do?

They are visiting London from the Malay States.

May I join you for a moment?

Oh, please. Yes, oh, please do.

Mr. Bellamy, I would have known you anywhere

from your photographs -- so distinguished and charming.

I was so thrilled when Angus told us he worked for you,

-and I never knew. - Sit down, Angus.

I have the honour of knowing a distant relative of yours,

a second cousin, I believe -- a Miss Juanita Pringle.

She is a little foreign, it's true, but --

Oh, I'm quite overcome.

London is so strongly drafty.

- Are you here for long? - MAUDIE: No.

We leave this very evening, alas, for the United States.

Oh, we've had a wonderful time. I've been so very happy.

Angus here knows everybody everywhere,

and he has spent so much money on us.

Money means nothing, I know, and now we've met you, Mr. Bellamy.

One is so cut off for most of one's life.

Oh, the feeling is mutual.

Are you not the Donald Hudson

who built that astounding bridge over the Zambezi?

Oh, a bridge, yes. Astounding, I hope not.

A bridge that astounded would fall down, I think.

This one merely stands, but it will stand forever, I hope.

And are you not on your way to the Grand Canyon itself?

We've heard about you, Mr. Hudson.

Angus here keeps his secrets very well.

He's a modest man.

You've heard about his bridges?

I'm honoured to have made

your husband's acquaintance, Mrs. Hudson.

You must be very proud of your brother, Angus.

Well, I must go.

I have a friend waiting for his lunch.

It's been a great, great, great pleasure.

Yes.

Sit down, man, sit down.

MAUDIE: Oh, what a delightful person.

Yes.

Uncle Angus, do you work with him?

Do you believe in plain speaking, Arthur?

I do.

I have something plain to say to you.

This has been a malicious

and quite unnecessary act on your part.

You can't speak to me like that

when I'm taking you out to luncheon and I'm your host.

I will speak to you as I wish.

You were a bullying,

self-righteous prig of a little boy,

and you made my childhood a living hell.

And if I hid behind my mother's skirts,

it was because you were stronger than me.

You were a physical coward then, as you are a moral coward now.

Because you were trying to wrench my arm from its socket,

which once you succeeded in doing.

- That was an accident. - It was not.

And on wet days, it still aches and reminds me of you, Arthur.

[ Laughter]

I am richer than you. I am happier.

I am freer in my mind and in my attitudes than you.

I make more effect upon the world,

and I spread less trouble about me.

This is not to be tolerated.

I shall take a cab to Liverpool Street

and sit in the hotel until my train departs for Norwich.

I'm indebted to you for putting me up.

I do not think we shall see each other again.

Neither do I.

[Snaps fingers]

Of course, I will have to resign.

Yes, I suppose so.

I can expect no reference.

After all these years.

Quite.

Luncheon at Spinelli's, eh?

That's a very posh place.

Yes.

What was it like?

Oh, the service was slow.

Our second waiter had a gravy splash on his front.

There was some trouble over a shortage of Yorkshire pudding.

And one waiter ran, Mrs. Bridges.

Ran, Mr. Hudson?

Oh, I never did.

I believe he was foreign.

And the food?

You do much better, Kate.

I know.

Oh, Angus, what a dreadful thing it is you have done.

What will Lady Marjorie say?

Oh, Kate, Kate, it seems like the end of my life.

I feel like a felon under sentence of death.

Mr. Bellamy has shown me nothing but kindness and consideration,

and how have I repaid him?

You had a right to see your brother and his family.

I had no right to ape my betters.

I didn't have to spend all my savings

and -- and most of yours doing it.

I should have had the courage

to speak the truth when there was time.

You didn't exactly tell a lie.

I lived one for a wee while, Kate.

And the worst of it was, I enjoyed it.

Now you'll be punished.

Yes.

That's life.

You have to pay for every bit of happiness you have.

I sometimes wonder what awful sin we all committed

in the beginning.

[Bell rings]

That'll be the morning room.

Yes.

We'll miss you, Angus.

All of us.

You rang, sir?

Uh, yes, Hudson.

Her ladyship will be back shortly.

Lord Southwold is a little better, it seems.

I am very thankful to hear that, sir.

I've asked Edward to tell Mrs. Bridges.

We'll have something light in here about 8:30.

Very good, sir.

So, you are brother to Donald Hudson,

the construction engineer.

You kept that very quiet.

Sir.

You keep many things quiet, I think.

Yes, sir.

I was very pleased to meet your brother,

though somewhat surprised at the circumstances.

You must keep me informed of his whereabouts, his successes.

Forgive me, sir, but this is not worthy of you.

What?

I am a servant, but I am also a man.

I'm humiliated enough, sir.

I brought disgrace upon you, upon -- upon myself.

I'm wounded, and you're twisting the knife in the wound.

Hudson?

I will pack my things and leave at once, sir.

You won't wish me to work out my notice.

What are you talking about? What is the matter with you?

In front of your family, sir, I must ask you --

Never in all my --

I-I-I can't even request a reference.

Well, families can be very trying, I agree.

They make us more emotional than they should.

My own brother's visit here has left me somewhat at a loss.

But, Hudson, if you wish to go to a theatre

or lunch at a fashionable restaurant,

your money is as good as the next man's,

your appearance better than most.

That is altogether too liberal of you, sir.

A servant is a servant and must know his place,

or the world would crumble about our ears.

That's more like Hudson.

Forget it now. Forget it.

You did me a favour, as it so happens.

I did, sir?

A man must have his own view of himself,

Whether he be master or servant, right or wrong.

There's dignity in that. You're quite right.

I take it you had your own reason for acting as you did.

It was for the sake of others, Mr. Bellamy.

You checked the cellars, I believe.

I did.

They were quite in order.

- Of course. - Of course.

My faith in my fellow man flagged for a while.

It has returned.

We must all of us learn to trust.

Our fellow men, perhaps, sir, but not all the women.

That new parlourmaid, for instance --

I wouldn't trust her as far as a flick of her feather duster.

You made a joke, Hudson.

Well, it was a wee attempt at one, sir.

- I'm sorry. - Not at all.

By and large, I enjoyed my brother's visit, sir.

I'm very proud of him.

And I enjoyed my brother's departure.

Alas, he is not proud of me.

[Bell rings]

That sounds like the doorbell.

Yes, sir.

Perhaps you'd like to go to the door

and open it for her ladyship?

Thank you, sir.

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