Original subtitles

# There must be some kind of way out of here

# Said the joker to the thief

# There's too much confusion

# I can't get no relief

# All along the watchtower

# All along the watchtower

# Princes kept the view. #

NARRATOR: The story so far,

'Miss Sharp made a friend of everyone in her

'new family, well almost everyone.'

Be sure I have my eye always on you.

'With the help of a dear friend,

'Miss Sedley won back her sweetheart.'

George!

'For now.'

I don't like the look of Sedley's affairs.

I'm sorry!

'Back in darkest Hampshire, menfolk

'young and old fought for the chance to partner Miss Sharp,

'who preferred an offer from the lady with the money.'

Beware old London town,

Miss Sharp is on her way.

Tonight, Becky's fortunes go up, and then down.

Is she downhearted?

No! This is Vanity Fair,

a world where everyone is striving

for what is not worth having.

# All along the watchtower

SHE WHOOPS

# Princes kept the view

# There must be some kind of way out of here. #

Oh, I so love to see her in pretty clothes!

She's worth every penny.

She's an angel.

The only one in the whole world I can really trust.

I wonder what on earth we did without her in days gone by.

Ow! Ow!

Ow! SHE WHIMPERS

For heaven's sake, Briggs, everyday new snivel.

We don't have much time.

BELLS CHIME

Napoleon's escaped!

Who?

HE SIGHS

Napoleon on the loose, our old enemy gathering his forces!

Duke of Wellington recalled to command!

Bless you, sir.

Enemy forces...

You haven't told her?

Nothing to tell yet.

Napoleon's escaped from Elba, the Duke of Wellington's already

in Belgium and there's nothing for a soldier to tell his fiancee?

You're not the one who has to deal with her weeping and wailing.

I'll put it off as long as possible,

I'll tell her when we get our marching orders.

BECKY SINGS LULLABY IN FRENCH

I'm cold.

I'm hot.

I'm so scared.

So scared.

Don't leave me.

I'm here. I'm here, I'm always here, there's nothing to fear.

Death, t'will come for me,

and I shall face him alone,

for I have done no good in my life.

None.

I will be one of those pathetic women who die...

..unmourned.

Oh, Becky.

SHE SOBS

Ow! Misery guts!

God damn your eyes!

All gone wrong, it has, boy.

All gone wrong.

It's just here, that's the one. Driver!

Odd sort of place to live.

It's a perfectly respectable neighbourhood, Aunt.

I know they'll be pleased to see us.

Amelia!

We were passing and I couldn't resist

and Matilda didn't object, and so...

The middling sort, are they?

Stockbrokers, Aunt. SHE SCOFFS

But you hate that kind of snobbery.

Oh, Becky!

What a lovely surprise! SHE LAUGHS

Oh, Becky! THEY CHUCKLE

Oh, George, look who's here!

Miss Sharp.

Won't you come in, Miss Crawley?

Without a proper invitation?

Well, perhaps it's the modern way.

Quite.

APPLAUSE

Tea, Madam?

Wine, I think, Sam.

Of course, wine, thank you.

But Miss...

In the garden?

No, fresh air is fatal to ladies of distinction.

My dear Mrs Sedley,

I do wonder at your judgement

in letting him loose on the porcelain.

Sam, Sam, I'm so sorry.

It's not me you should be worrying about.

How can they have wine, Miss?

The master's sold the cellar.

What?

This is none of your concern, Amelia.

A gentleman is entitled to sell his wine,

it's an investment just like any other.

Did the sale raise enough, Mama?

Enough to repay Mr Osborne?

I'm not privy to the gentlemen's business, now hush.

I'm in a gentleman's family now, Mr Osborne,

good old English country stock,

noble and serious,

going back generations.

So may I take it your new situation

has not proved to be the ordeal you feared, Miss Sharp?

The wages are tolerable, thank you for reminding me

that I'm of the class of person which needs to earn them.

I only make a polite enquiry.

Just think, Mr Osborne,

had you not stood in Mr Joss's way

you could have had a Montmorency for a sister-in-law.

Which, considering your own

unimpressive pedigree, would have been quite a coup.

Who was your grandfather, exactly?

He was a butcher.

Voila.

I'm not ashamed of my family.

Nor I of mine, sire.

Miss Sharp...

..the carriage is ready, and my aunt is tiring.

Lord, she is that.

He likes you.

Hush, nonsense.

He's rich, or he soon will be.

He's so handsome.

He is very handsome.

Sharp by name,

and sharp I fear by nature.

Our Miss Sharp?

Wild, proud, a desperate flirt,

I only warn you as a friend, Crawley.

Well...

Goodbye.

..sage advice, thank you, my boy.

HE GRUNTS

SHE GASPS

Blast!

Oh! Oh! Oh!

RUMBLING SOUND

SCREAMING

She tripped over her dress.

Horrocks, take the girls.

Come along, girls.

Is Mama dead?

Let's get you upstairs.

Mum's dead!

Geddup!

Geddup, I say, geddup!

Geddup! Up! Get it up!

Geddup!

HE LAUGHS

Oh, good morning Miss, er...

Miss Sharp joins us from Queen's Crawley.

Oh, I was born on that estate, Miss!

The son of a humble under-gardener, married the cook,

rose to be a butler. Now look at me.

I can see you've done very well for yourself, Mr Raggles.

Not just a shopkeeper, not any more.

Mrs Raggles and I plan to buy a house to let.

You shall be landlords!

You climbed the very heights, Mr Raggles.

Some jam for your tea? Oh!

Mr Raggles bought it for you specially.

Is there not a single little sweetmeat in this house?

Oh...

The poor soul, how I long to smooth her fevered brow.

SHE CRIES

It's no pleasure to me to sit up all night with her,

and I wish she would let you do it instead.

Oh, my dear friend...

..may I call you Arabella?

Have another glass of wine.

Oh, yes.

You are still her companion,

whereas I am but a poor little girl without jot of harm in me.

To friendship?

To friendship.

Yes, dear Becky,

let no rivalry come between us.

Becky!

Becky! SHE BREATHES HEAVILY

Have I not tended that dear couch for 23 years?

Oh! SHE SOBS

Have I not attended that dear couch 23 years?

THEY LAUGH

Enter.

What is it, Briggs?

Your brother is here.

With his hand out, no doubt? Get rid of him, Becky.

He is wearing black crepe. Oh!

SHE CRIES QUIETLY

Miss Crawley offers her condolences on your sad news, sir.

Unfortunately, she is not well enough to descend.

It's not her I want, Miss.

I want you Becky.

Back at Queen's Crawley, directly.

I hope to come soon, Sir, once Miss Crawley's better.

Her'll cast you off like an old shoe

when she's worn you out,

but me, Becky,

I can't get on without you.

The house all goes wrong.

The girls run wild,

all my accounts have got muddled again.

But Sir, I cannot leave your sister.

Then come as Lady Crawley.

Oh! Get out!

Marry me, Becky.

There, will that satisfy you?

Come back with me and be my wife.

Her ladyship not even buried,

and Sir Pitt is on his knee,

proposing to Miss Sharp!

Get out my way!

Shawl!

You shall do what you like and spend what you like,

have it all your own way,

I'll make you happy, you see if I don't, Becky.

Forgive me.

You shall be the mistress of Queen's Crawley.

£4,000 a year.

And when I'm gone,

you can have the lot.

I'll leave it all to you.

Oh, I cannot marry you!

If there's another suitor with a better offer,

I'd like to see the whites of his eyes.

There is no suitor.

Then marry me, be my queen.

Oh, sir, I'm married already.

Uh?

And who'd take you to be a wife without a shilling to your fortune?

Some street sweeper?

Oh...

If the proposal is respectable

is not the gentleman

supposed to kneel before the lady.

Please God don't tell her.

I have thanked Sir Pitt Crawley, ma'am,

but have told him that I never can become his Lady.

Pray, Miss Sharp, are you waiting for the Prince Regent's divorce?

If you think our family is not good enough for you?

You leave her alone, Matilda.

Whether she marries me or not, she's a good little girl.

And I'm her friend.

Don't be ridiculous, Pitt.

Your room at Queen's Crawley is waiting whenever you're ready.

Off with you!

Woof!

Oh!

Why on earth would the child say no to him?

And don't say old and ugly.

Well, there must be some obstacle

in the form of an existing romantic attachment.

Very astute, Briggs.

Some apothecary perhaps?

Or a house painter,

or maybe a young curate has touched your heart?

He is young, certainly.

More than that...

..forgive me, I cannot say.

My silly, lovestruck darling.

I'll set the young fellow up in a shop.

You'll have to tell me his name then,

or I won't be able to get him a sign.

Oh, Miss Crawley, love me always, promise you will love me always.

Don't go sentimental on me, Rebecca,

it doesn't suit you.

But for her sudden coldness, I would have confessed all,

right there and then.

It was only when she'd said she would set you up in a shop...

HE LAUGHS

You're not regretting it, are you?

Lying here with you?

Right now?

How shall I regret marrying you?

Because you could have married the Lord of the Manor instead.

I did regret that, for one long moment.

You booby, I'm joking.

Hmm.

I do keep wondering

if we should have tried for Matilda's blessing in advance.

So much more romantic, just running away though, wasn't it?

If we tried, and she'd said no, you might not have married me at all.

Oh, yes I would.

My Aunt adores us both.

She will come round.

I do have a plan.

A letter,

for Miss Briggs. Oh!

Miss Briggs never gets letters.

It is from Miss Sharp!

Miss Sharp?

Yes, dear Becky.

Is she not upstairs in her room?

Oh!

Well, come on!

"Dear friend of my heart...

"..break the news as your delicate sympathy

"will know how, to our dear, our beloved benefactress.

"Beg her to receive her children.

Children? I don't understand what you're talking about,

can I see that?

"For I am wedded

"to the best and most generous of men.

"Miss Crawley's Rawdon...

"..is my Rawdon.

Married?

To Rawdon?

Monster!

Wretch!

Traitor! "Your affectionate and grateful, Rebecca Crawley.

Treasure hunter, revolutionary...

"Tremble for the answer which to seal her happiness."

Tremble, vixen.

Tremble in vain.

HE GRUNTS

Damn you!

Anyone but him!

Get out!

HE YELLS

HE CONTINUES YELLING

I might have guessed.

Someone has to clear up after you.

You are stopping our letters from getting to her.

Dear Aunt Matilda is prostrate with grief and affliction,

such that the reading of begging letters is medically prohibited.

Yes, in other words.

Mrs Crawley, lovely to see you.

What if she never comes round, Becks?

What if she cuts me off without a penny?

Then I'll make your fortune.

Gad, I really think you could.

Oh, look.

A sale!

"Due to the bankruptcy of John Sedley, stockbroker."

Gad! Sam!

Hello! Where are the family, where's Amelia?

Search me.

Mr Sedley went bust and I moved on.

The Three Tuns in Blackfriars,

if you ever find yourself in need of a pint.

Plenty more stuff in there.

Vultures.

Let's see if we can afford some of the silver.

Lot 11, for this fine landscape painting,

gilded frame, artist unknown.

Who wants to start, who wants to start the bidding.

Oh, Rawdon, I must have this.

You want a fat fellow on an elephant?

Amelia's brother was a great pet of mine.

HE CHUCKLES

Lot 12 for this beautiful piano,

fine instrument, walnut casing, well used,

but well looked after, who's gonna start the bidding then,

ladies and gentlemen?

14 guineas, 14 guineas,

thank you Madam. Becky.

Amelia knows I never had a piano in my life, she'd want me to have it.

15, thank you. 16.

That's twice what it's worth. Shh.

Looking for 17, 20, thank you, sir.

25! 25 guineas then, ladies and gentlemen,

25 guineas for this fine piano...

I don't know who my rival is, but he has long pockets.

It's going once, twice. HE BANGS GAVEL

Well bid, sir. OK, lot 13,

ladies and gentlemen, this high vase has...

Captain Dobbin!

What a terrible fate.

To lose everything you have.

My piano!

Whoa! Just give me a hand there?

Right you are.

Amelia, what's the meaning of this?

It means that George has not forgotten me

in spite of everything that keeps us apart.

You will send that piano back,

you will also send back his letters,

and any trinkets he has given you.

You will make it clear to Captain George Osborne

that his engagement to you... No!

..his engagement to you is ended.

Mama?

For pity's sake, Mr Sedley,

she shall at least keep her piano.

Is the honour of our family completely worthless to you?

That the man has made us bankrupt!

Our name can never be united with that of Osborne, never!

Never!

SHE CRIES

So what if old Sedley owes your father a bit of money?

It's more than a bit, Crawley.

I mean, the old man went down owing father thousands.

Well, your father's got thousands.

And if they were old friends...

What difference does that make?

Gentlemen, any grown man that loved a woman,

would run off and marry her, and say damn to all the old rogues,

or am I wrong?

MURMURS OF AGREEMENT

It's not as easy as that.

Young George, here, called her a wild and desperate flirt,

but the new Mrs Crawley

is making me very happy man.

You got married? To Rebecca?

I did.

Captain Osborne, sir.

'My dearest George,

'my Papa has ordered me to return to you these presents,

'and I am to write to you for the last time.

'I release you from an engagement

'that is impossible in our present misery.

'Goodbye my love.

'I pray to God to bless you always.

'Amelia.'

Make way!

All these years it never occurred to me I might not marry Amelia.

Yes?

Sir, marching orders.

It was never a decision I made,

nor a decision I ever thought would be unmade.

It's not all about you, George.

You know her, she'll be...

..fine, won't she?

Captain!

But this is wonderful news!

What, that I'm marching away to war?

This is wonderful news for our campaign,

which is not against Napoleon, but against your Aunt Matilda. So...

Right...

My dearest Aunt,

I married a painter's daughter and I'm not ashamed of the union.

Run me through the body if I am! Dear old booby.

Before quitting these shores

and commencing a battle which may prove fatal...

Steady on, Becks!

.. I beseech you, before I depart...

..perhaps never to return.

Am I too fast for you? No, it's just...

.. well, it doesn't really sound much like me.

You want your letter to sound like you?

Dear Aunt, jolly warm here, thanks for the cake(!)

HE CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY

Perhaps I am a fool Becky...

..you shouldn't say so.

HE CHUCKLES

Oh, you darling, 'beseech' is spelt with two E's.

I ask nothing from you as the battle begins,

but that we part not in anger.

Believe that I love you for...

"..yourself and not for money's sake.

"Let me, let me see you before I go."

That's not Rawdon!

He never wrote me a letter in his life without asking for money.

But poor Captain Crawley goes to war! And may perish.

I still think it's romantic.

Star-crossed lovers, and so on. Briggs!

Oh, Miss Crawley, do forgive the dear creatures.

Briggs!

Sunlight is bad for invalids.

Let us return to the Lord for guidance.

"It is not enough to come forth with a demonstration,

"however pathetic,

"of the evanescent character of all this..."

Never a clever sort of boy, Rawdon,

but a very, very, affectionate one.

Affectionate enough to marry the offspring of an opera girl,

which term, though we ladies may blush to admit we know,

really means...

No! Stop.

Don't be cruel.

..harlot. BRIGGS GASPS

Never knows when to stop, does she, Briggs?

I'll do all the talking, you just stand there,

and look romantic, and suffering and tall.

Right.

She's here. Ugh.

Oh.

Oh, Arabella!

Please forgive me, it was not my idea to drag you

into our tale of heartbreak and woe.

I can't stay long,

Martha is banished to Queen's Crawley,

and I am back in favour, and wish to stay that way.

I wrote to you, for I only do as my Rawdon bids.

My heart is his forever,

yet soon he marches to war.

Oh! Oh, Arabella, imagine!

Oh, I do! I do!

I believe my proud friend begins to regret her breach with you,

Captain Crawley.

Oh, let us make the plan.

SHE GASPS Oh! Yes, let's!

My point is a man who can get 10,000 a year by staying at home

is a fool to risk his life abroad.

I am a soldier, father.

Honour demands I must obey my country's call.

Honour demands you should not marry that swindling, bankrupt's daughter.

Mr Sedley is not a swindler.

In any case, Miss Sedley has broken off our engagement.

Oh, then shall all my dreams come true this night(!) Come.

Yes, I hope you're comfortable where you're staying...

£200,000.

Diamonds, as big as pigeons' eggs.

Marry her, boy.

Miss Rhoda, pleasure.

Mr Osborne.

So...

You won't find in our humble mansion that splendour of fare,

to which you are accustomed, my dear Miss Swartz,

for I am a plain, humble, British merchant.

We are all creatures of modern Britain, are we not, Miss Swartz?

We take the places we deserve,

not those to which we were born.

I was born in Barbados.

And do you miss it?

The sun shines more often over there,

but the education is superior here.

I hope to leave Miss Pinkerton's very much an English lady.

Miss Pinkerton's in Chiswick?

Mmm, the very same, do you know it?

I wonder if you were ever friendly with Miss Amelia Sedley?

I was!

The dearest girl, so kind and generous.

Such friends we were...

What lovely weather we've had this week.

Almost West Indian.

Choose your course, boy.

Miss Swartz, I love Amelia,

and we've been engaged almost all our lives.

FORK CLATTERS

How dare you, sir?

Dare is not a word to be used on the eve of war

to a gentleman and an officer of the British Army.

I shall say what I like to my own son!

I can cut him off without a shilling if I like.

I know very well that you give me plenty of money, sir,

you tell me so often there is no fear of my forgetting.

I'll have no beggar marriages!

Who told me to love her?

You.

I might indeed have chosen elsewhere,

and looked higher, perhaps, in your society, but I obeyed you.

And now that her heart is mine, you order me to fling it away,

to punish her. To kill her perhaps.

It is a shame, by heavens.

Will you do as I tell you!

Once and for all, sir!

Or will you take your pack and walk out of this house forever?

I will do as my honour demands.

Perhaps I should have worn the grey.

It's not like you to get nervous.

Perhaps we mistook the place or the time.

Oh, Miss Briggs is a friend indeed!

Wait, wait for my signal. Right.

Now!

Gad!

Quick!

Come on, Rawdon, hurry!

It's our one chance!

Let's march on Paris!

Lovely day.

You wish to speak to me? Speak!

Ah. Yes, well, um, just, um, er,

I am sorry, that we've had a, er,

disagreement.

She's a great girl, Aunt,

and I, er,

I couldn't be happier, and all that.

She will betray you, as she betrayed me.

You must know, Aunt.

I truly married for love.

Ha!

Then you are worse than a fool.

She will drag you down into the mire.

You're a lost soul, Rawdon.

I'm not without pity.

Attend my lawyer tomorrow.

Driver!

Why did you get down?

Because she told me to.

You could have ridden with her back to the house,

squired her indoors, pushed your advantage.

Well, no I couldn't leave you to get home on your own.

Rawdon, how can you not have realised I'm perfectly

capable of being left to do anything by myself?

Unlike me, you mean?

She bade me go to her lawyers in the morning...

..where there will be something for me.

Clever old booby.

George.

I've been walking all night.

You are a true friend

and a true gentleman, Dobbin,

and I'm ashamed of how far I lag behind you.

I beg to impose on your friendship

on a matter of the greatest importance.

A sight I never thought to see.

Dobbin, I will do the right thing.

Dearest Emmy...

..dearest wife.

What's this? Stop! Stop!

Emmy, please come inside, please!

Stand back, sir, for pity's sake.

It seems to me that for all the happiest moments of my life,

you have been there.

Did you have a friend to show you the same

kindness on the eve of your wedding?

I was that fool who rushes in alone

where battalions of angels fear to tread.

But you are happy, Becky?

Financially, there's room for improvement.

But you really love him?

Of course!

Though, we are still honeymooning,

there's plenty of time for the scales to fall from our eyes.

I can't remember a time before I loved George.

He's always been there. He's so good. As you are.

I could be good, I could be very good on £5000 a year.

All will be well, Becky. In the end.

What can prevent it?

Morning!

You shall be the prettiest bride in the whole world.

I only wish my family were here.

I have always managed that one of those.

Now, we have husbands instead.

And so I ask again, when war will soon break over our heads,

who are you to play with two young people's affections,

and break their hearts?

I helped that villain's father

when he had not a shilling to his name,

I'd rather see my daughter dead at my feet

than married to the son of an ungrateful enemy.

If you do not give her your consent, sir, it would be her

loving duty before God to marry without it.

Together, you and I, we can stop this marriage,

she listens to you.

You cannot stand in the way of your daughter's happiness!

Am I to have power over nothing in this world, Captain Dobbin?

None of us has power over love, sir.

HE SIGHS

Mistaken?

No. Certainly.

I see.

Your aunt was quite clear.

Clear. Yes. Always.

Please convey my thanks to her.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God,

and in the face of this congregation,

to join together this man, and this woman, in holy matrimony.

And is commended of St Paul to be honourable among all men.

Therefore, if any man can show any just cause why

they may not lawfully be joined together,

let him now speak,

or else here after,

forever hold his peace.

Wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife?

I will.

Wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband?

I will.

I pronounce that they be man and wife together.

May I kiss the bride too?

Once!

And now it's your turn, William.

Thank you,

for everything you have done to bring us to this happy day.

£20?

And the letter from her lawyer saying please leave us alone now.

My entire legacy from Aunt Matilda.

Becks, it's not even enough to cover the rent!

Oh, we don't want be paying that! We don't need the place anyway.

No, we don't? Why not?

Becky, how will we manage now that we are both married women

but for an instant, before the war carries our menfolk away?

Nonsense, we'll go with them.

Oh? No, no, I don't think that's a good idea.

Why not? Plenty of officers take their wives.

Oh, George, don't let us be parted.

Ah, new adventure, in which Amelia invades the low countries.

Capital!

Ah! Driver!

We happen to have a spare umbrella.

And so, Captain Dobbin, you've laboured long

and hard to achieve something I cannot believe you really want.

I'm, I'm very happy for them both.

Becky?

Shall we? Thank you, my love.

# Don't ask me

# What you know is true

# Don't have to tell you

#I love your precious heart

# I, I was standing

# You were there

# Two worlds colliding

# And they can never tear us apart.

# We could live

# For a thousand years

# But if I hurt you... #