All language subtitles for love_in_a_cold_climate_2001_1

Where are they?

Come on!

- (Laughs)
- Got you at last. Hey.

(Woman) Linda Radlett was my age,

my favourite cousin and,
for many years, my favourite human being.

Though I lived with Aunt Emily,

I spent all my holiday at Alconleigh
with my cousins the Radletts.

- How's Emily?
- Father's going to hunt us tomorrow.

Well, enjoy yourselves, children,
because we have got other things to do.

Linda and I were coming out that summer.

What do you think?

And Aunt Sadie was giving us a ball.

Oh, I like this.

Heavenly Mrs Crab copied it
out of Vogue for me.

Look.

Oh.

Do you think he'll come?

Well, you never can tell in the country.

Somebody might bring him.

He might break down in his motor car
on the way to Badminton.

We were, of course, both in love
with people we had never met.

Who is that beautiful girl in pink?

Linda with the Prince of Wales.

It's Linda Radlett, Your Highness.

And I with a fat, red- faced farmer
I had seen in the village.

These loves were strong and painfully delicious.

They occupied all our thoughts,

but we hoped they would be superseded
by real people.

We still haven't got enough men.
We've got all the replies in now.

- We'll have to get Matt home from Eton.
- What about the curate?

Fanny, why don't we invite Lord Merlin?

Lord Merlin?

Ma and I have been for tea.
He dyes his doves pink.

- And dries them in the linen cupboard.
- Ha!

And the whippets with their necklaces.
They have grander jewels than I do.

He could bring a house party.

If you ask that brute Merlin to bring his friends,
we'll get a lot of aesthetes,

sewers from Oxford.

I wouldn't put it past him
to bring some foreigners.

Foreigners!

I hear he sometimes has frogs,
even wops to stay with him.

I will not have my house filled with wops.

- But Fa...
- It's all right, darling, leave it to me.

- What do you think you're doing?
- It's palsy practice.

In a few years when you're really old,
you'll probably have palsy.

I'm giving you a little practice now,
before you actually get it,

so you won't be dropping things all the time.

- (Rustling)
- (Gasps)

- Is that from The Bolter?
- Don't call her that, dear.

Dashed fine-looking woman.

Is she still married to that sewer
from Monte Carlo?

My mother, who was too beautiful and gay
to be burdened with a child,

had left when I was a month old,

and had since run away so often
and with so many different people

that she became known as The Bolter.

She doesn't realise I've grown.

- Bags me wear it.
- You'll have to pay her.

- Sixpence.
- A shilling.

Ninepence.

Ninepence all right?

Fanny?

And remember, you're paying us
two shillings each not to be embarrassing.

Yes, Victoria.

We spent the weeks before the ball
in an agony of waiting for our lives to begin.

If this comes out...

I'll marry the man I love.

If this comes out,

I'll marry at 18.

If this comes out...

Linda was soft- hearted
and horribly easy to tease.

A little houseless match

It has no roof, no thatch

It lies alone, makes no moan

The little houseless match

(Sobs)

(Laughs)

As the only boy, my cousin Matt
was the sole Radlett allowed to go to school.

All right, all right, all right.
I'll tell you how it happens.

The mother's stomach swells up and then...

it bursts open like a ripe pumpkin,

and the infant shoots out.

Oh, rot!

Don't be such an ass, Matt.

Now, listen. (Clears throat)

- What's that?
- Ducks And Duck Breeding.

The Hons was our secret society.

We met in the linen cupboard,
it was the only warm place at Alconleigh.

Anybody we hated was a counter- Hon.
We, of course, were Hons.

Ducks can only copulate in running water.

Tell us about sex, Fanny, you must know.

Oh, you are lucky, Fanny,
having a wicked mother.

- I know.
- She must be copulating all the time.

I wish I didn't have a mother.

When I'm 19, I'm going to run away,
just like yours.

- Well, you can't have my money.
- How much have you got?

My fare to London and a month and two days
in a bedsit in Clapham

with basin and breakfast.

I can't wait.

You see, we're still 20 men short.

How many is Lord Merlin bringing?

Ha!

Merlin.

Thin end of the wedge.

Only six.

Well, what are we going to do?

There's only five days left.

It's all right.

Leave it to me.

Where did he get them from?

The Lords.

Look at him.

His hair sort of slips off backwards, doesn't it?

Like an eiderdown in the night.

Poor old thing.

I must say, if he was one's dog,

one would have him put down.

Oh, no, bags it not be me.

May I have the honour?

- What's that thing hanging over your fireplace?
- That's my entrenching tool.

Used it in 1915.

Thrashed to death eight Germans one by one
as they crawled out of a dugout.

- Ooh, sorry.
- Perfectly all right.

I wish we'd been taught to dance.

You're doing splendidly.

I wish we'd been taught anything.

I hope my wife is all right.

I'm sorry you had to leave her at home.

It's the first time we've been separated
in 40 years.

So this was it.

This was what we had been waiting for
all our lives.

Lord Merlin's arrived!

Oh, thank God.

- Who?
- Merlin.

- Sadie, how lovely to see you.
- So happy to see you.

- I saw Nijinsky.
- Did you?

- Linda.
- Hello.

Fanny. I've heard so much about you.

Have you really got a folly
with an angel on top?

Every evening, to celebrate the hour of my birth,
it blows its trumpet.

The locals get annoyed because
it's at 20 past nine,

just too late to remind them
to switch on the news.

Might I have the pleasure of the next dance?

Oh, yes, please.

Isn't Linda remarkable?

I adore her.

She comes to tea sometimes
when she can get away from here.

I suspect with careful nurturing she shall
become one of the great beauties of the age.

You know Polly Hampton, don't you?

Yes.

Oh, she used to be my best friend in the world
apart from Linda.

Well, she's coming home from India next week.

How wonderful.

Oh, I have missed her.
It will be lovely to see her again.

Paddington.

Who's that sewer with Linda?

His name's Tony Kroesig.
His father runs the Bank of England.

Good God. I never expected to harbour a Hun
in this house. Who on earth asked him?

The Kroesigs aren't Huns, Matthew,
they've been over here for generations.

They're a highly respectable family
of English bankers.

Once a Hun, always a Hun.

- Matthew, dear, go and check the boilers.
- What?

The boilers for the hot water.

(Both laughing)

(Whispers)

Who do you hunt with?

The Heythrop.

Are you coming to the meet tomorrow?

No.

We've got a house full of guests.

They'll never let me.

(Dogs bark)

Oh, that poor hare.

Unfortunately, rescuing a hare was the one
romantic gesture of Tony Kroesig's life.

The next month,
having come home from ruling India...

the Montdores invited me to a house party.

Life with the Radletts was tempestuous,

but underneath it I felt loved.

The terror at Hampton, however,
was of a different kind,

and I would never have dared go there
if it wasn't for Polly.

(Chatter)

Miss Frances Logan.

You're not by any chance The Bolter's daughter?

Yes. Yes, I am.

The Bolter's girl.

Don't be funny. How could The Bolter
have a grown-up daughter?

Oh, Veronica, do come here a minute.
It's The Bolter's child.

Ah, Fanny. There you are.

Come and have some tea, dear.

But surely The Bolter can't be more than 36.

- That's right, bird-brain, just do the sums.
- What about the nine months?

Not nine, darling.
Don't you remember how bogus it all was

and how shamingly huge her bouquet had to be,
poor sweet?

Do you know, the first person
she ever bolted with was my Chad.

Lucky me got him next,

but only after she'd bolted from him again.

So, Fanny, how are the Radlett girls?

Do sit down, dear.

Go and fetch Polly.
She's in the billiards room with Boy.

Linda got engaged yet?

No. Not yet.

Sadie's a wonderful woman, of course,
and I'm devoted to her,

but she hasn't the very smallest idea
of how to bring up girls.

Tell me. Are you in love?

Oh, of course she is, poor sweet.

Just look at that blush.

Now, we're not going to worm,

but what we really want to know
to settle a bet is

have you always fancied somebody
ever since you can remember?

Oh, yes.

Lord Byron, Rudolph Valentino.

- Yeah, but there you are, you see.
- Oh.

From kiddy car to hearse, darling,
I couldn't know it better.

After all, what would there be to think about
when one's alone, otherwise?

The Duc de Sauveterre.

- He's still not married.
- He came to us in India.

Such fun.

He was very much taken up
with the little ranee of Rawalpur.

In fact they do say her last baby...

Shush.

Poor creatures, it's one baby after another.
One can't help feeling sorry for them.

Like little birds, you know.

Of course they simply worshipped me.
It was really touching.

Where is Boy?

Playing billiards with Polly. I've sent word once.

- Ah, here they are.
- (Boy laughs)

A-ha. Here at last, my lady wife.

- Polly.
- Oh, Fanny, I've missed you.

I'm dying to hear about everything.

Let's go upstairs and talk.

Hello.

That's Boy Dougdale, isn't it?

Yes, you remember him.
He's married to my Aunt Patricia.

Why is he called Boy?

- He's frightfully old.
- (Laughs)

He doesn't think he's old one bit.

Polly.

(Both laughing)

(Sighs)

Are you pleased to be back in this room?

It's the one you used to have.
Do you remember?

Oh, of course I do.

I used to think about us sometimes in India.

Those black velvet dresses with red sashes
we had for coming down after tea.

Oh. Oh, that seems so long ago now.

I suppose you came out in India.

Yes, I've been out two years, actually.

It was all very dull.

Do you enjoy it?

I like the dressing up.

So do I.

Do you think about dresses and hats
all the time, even in church?

I do too. (Laughs)

But what is coming out in England like?

Does everybody talk about love all the time?

Yes.

Yes, I suppose they do.

And all going on like the people downstairs.

Yes.

Yes.

Oh, bother.

I thought it would be different in a cold climate.

Have you fallen in love yet?

(Laughs) I could have.

Lots of times.

Some of the rajahs are awfully attractive.

Honestly, Fanny, I believe Mama would rather
I fell in love with an Indian than not at all.

But don't you want to fall in love?

Oh, I do.

Oh, Fanny.

What was the matter with Polly?

There was something I didn't understand,
not then,

about the atmosphere at Hampton.

I wondered if Lord Montdore felt it.

He never reacted to anything and he seemed
somehow to be made of cardboard.

- Then the Mohammedans...
- Is your uncle Lord Alconleigh?

- Yes.
- He's quite barmy.

Doesn't he hunt people with bloodhounds
by full moon?

- (Laughs)
- Oh, but we love it.

Oh, you can't imagine what fun it is.

I hear those Radlett girls are simply killing.
Rats in their pockets, God knows what.

But rats are very intelligent.

No, no, no, Veronica.

The whole point was,
he brought the microscope to look at his own...

Roly!

Dare you to use that word at dinner.

Even if you know how to pronounce it,
which I doubt. It's too shame-making.

- Not a dinner thing at all.
- (Roly laughs)

Dear Fanny.

I remember you when you were little.

Hm?

My, you have grown.

(Laughs)

Have I?

And hasn't Polly turned out to be a beauty?

Dear Sonya.

She's done absolutely everything for that girl.

Some man's going to be...

very lucky.

Don't you think?

I mean...

with her inheriting all of this...

she's probably the wealthiest young woman
in Britain.

Oh, yes.

We expect a splendid match.

I know people do say he's a daisy,
whatever that may be,

but half these rumours
are put about by anarchists.

I must go and powder my nose.

(Scoffs) I go in the morning and that's that.

I don't have to be let out like a dog at intervals,
thank goodness.

There's nothing so common, to my mind.

- I think the worst...
- Really, Polly, it's too bad.

Just chatter, can't you?

It's of no consequence what you say.

Better recite out of the A, B, C
than sit there like a deaf-mute.

What did they think of you?

Sit here, Fanny, and talk to us.

Dear.

What is the matter with my daughter?

She takes no notice of the young men
I provide for her and they take no notice of her.

They worship me, of course,
but what is the good of that?

She's bound to fall for some nice chap
in London, darling.

It's all very well, but she was out
for two years in India, you know.

Even poor Delia's girl fell in love with a rajah.

I don't blame her.
Rajahs must be perfect heaven.

All those diamonds.

Oh, no, my dear. Any English family
has better stones than they do.

I never saw anything to compare with mine
when I was there.

Oh, it's such a relief to have you here, Fanny.

She only asked that Frenchman
because she thinks no one can resist him.

Even me.

Oh.

I've been thinking of porridge for hours.

It's funny how a huge dinner
makes you even hungrier next morning.

Curious, isn't it?

We can't stay here. It's too sad.

Don't you think Polly is very beautiful?

Yeah.

But she is also a riddle to me.

Perhaps she is not having
a properly organised sex life.

Very few English girls of 19
have a... a properly organised sex life.

They go hunting instead.

She is a beauty despite those terrible clothes.

When she has had a little love,
she may blossom.

Or she may cram a hat on her head
and become a Lady Patricia Dougdale.

Everything depends on the lover.

I'm so confused in this house.

- Who is whose lover?
- (Scoffs)

It doesn't make a bit of difference.

Sooner or later,
everybody becomes the lover of everybody else.

When they change lovers, it's more like
a cabinet reshuffle than a new government.

Is it like that in France?

Oh, no. The ministers stay longer in their posts.

Why?

French women generally keep their lovers
if they want to

because they know
there is one infallible method of doing so.

No.

Oh, do tell.

It's very simple. They give into them.

In every respect.

These English femmes du monde, hm,

they play their little games,
out when you telephone.

All that.

No Frenchman would put up with it
for a moment.

- They're very nasty, aren't they?
- Not at all.

Poor things.

I love them.

So easy to get on with.

And I love la mere Montdore.

How amusing she is with her snobbishness.

I'm very fond of snobs.

They are always so charming to me.

And dear old Montdore.

He can't see what's going on under his nose.

What is going on under his nose?

And so, Fanny dear, are you going to be
a bolter like your mother?

Oh, no.

- A tremendous sticker.
- Hm. (Chuckles)

You've ruffled a few feathers here, mon cher.

Our hostess was hoping
you'd pay court to her daughter,

rather than bowling over the rabbits.

- (Cards being dealt)
- (Linda) If this comes out, he'll telephone.

What's the time, darling?

Guess.

A quarter to six.

- Better than that.
- Six.

Not quite so good.

Five to.

Yes.

If this comes out,

he's thinking about me.

A little houseless match.

Victoria!

Go away!

(Laughter)

(Sobs)

(Telephone)

(Dogs bark)

Hello.

Go away. Go away, go away.

Tony!

(# Hums)

That was Lavender Davies on the telephone.

She wants Fanny and me to lunch there
on Thursday.

Oh, you can't have my car, I'm afraid.

Oh, but, Mummy, please,
I do so terribly want to go.

- To Lavender's?
- Mm.

Last time you said you never wanted to go there
as long as you lived.

Great haunches of cod, you said.

But, erm...

her brother's got a baby badger.

When you go to London for the season,
you'll be far too busy to think about badgers.

Please, Mummy.

Oh, well. Perhaps Perkins
can take me in the Daimler.

We must get hold of some rouge.

I think you can use geranium juice.

But geraniums aren't out
at this time of year, silly.

We can blue our eyelids out of Jassy's paint box.

Oh, yes. I'll get the verbena soap
from Mummy's bathroom.

We can let it melt in the bath
and we shall smell delicious.

Nanny.

Nanny.

Where do you keep that powder
that you used to dust our bottoms with?

I thought you loathed Lavender Davies.

Oh, shut up.

You said she was the dullest girl ever and you'd
like to bash her in the face with a Hons mallet.

I didn't.

Why have you got that red stuff on your cheeks?

Oh, do go away.

Why are you starting already?
You'll be hours too early.

If you don't shut up,
I'll put your newt back in the pond.

(Beeps horn)

Why don't you bring Lavender Davies back
for a nice long visit?

Not very Honnish of them.

You don't think they'll tell Farve?

Oh.

We look like Dutch dolls.

Cigarette?

No, thank you.

No, thank you.

Been hunting lately?

Oh, yes. We were out yesterday.

Good day?

Yes, very. We found at once

- and had a five-mile point and...
- That's marvellous.

A five-mile point?

Well, I must come out with the Heythrop again,
they're doing awfully well this season, I hear.

We had a good day yesterday too.

Did you really?

Well, the going was a bit sticky
down in Bailiff's Meadow.

Damn fool farmer never drains it, you know.

Oh.

But once we got up on the ridge,
we had a splendid gallop.

(Knock at door)

Ah. Good.

Here are the others.

(Laughter)

- Did you hear that Freddy got sent down?
- No. Oh?

This was life, we felt, and we would have been
quite happy just looking on

had it not been for that ghastly feeling of guilt,

which was starting to give us a pain
rather like indigestion.

Linda and Fanny.

Fa wants you in the business room now.

Do you realise that if you were married women
your husbands could divorce you for this?

Your poor Aunt Emily.

All these years she's looked after you
and this is her reward.

It's not Fanny's fault.

You can go straight home.

Oh, you'll go the same way as your mother.
Sure as eggs is eggs.

As for you, miss...

You're damn lucky not to get a thrashing,
do you hear?

There'll be no question of a London season now.

Oh.

You'll have to be watched
every minute of the day.

And I don't want that Hun's name
ever mentioned in this house again.

I didn't tell, I promise.

Somebody left a scarf in his room.

(Screams) In Tony Kroesig's room
and he rang up to ask whether it was yours.

(# Opera)

It was Uncle Matthew's favourite superstition

that if you wrote somebody's name
on a piece of paper and put it in a drawer,

that person would die within a year.

The drawers were full of the names
of people he hated.

Bernard Shaw, Lloyd George, Gandhi.

Tony Kroesig.

As always, Uncle Matthew's bark
was worse than his bite.

Relaxation began,

the thin end of the wedge,

and gradually things returned to normal.

Plans for the London season went ahead,

though under conditions of strict vigilance.

However, not strict enough,

and what I knew would happen inevitably did.

At five in the morning in a beautiful house
on the east side of Berkeley Square...

That bloody Hun Kroesig's just telephoned.

Wanted to speak to you.

I told him to get the hell out of it.

I don't want you mixed up with any Germans.
Do you understand?

Well, I am mixed up.

As it happens.

I'm engaged to him.

Sadie!

Sadie!

I...

Sadie!

(Sobs)

Jassy.

Jassy, darling.

Lend me your running-away money.

I've saved and scraped for five years.

I simply can't begin all over again.

But I'll give it you back.

Tony will.

When we're married.

I know men.

(Telephone)

Yes?

Linda!

That hog Merlin's on the phone.

I'm in love.

What makes you think so?

Well, one doesn't think.

One knows.

Fiddlesticks.

Well, you evidently don't know about love,
so what's the use of talking to you?

Love...

is for grown-up people.

As you will one day discover. You will also
discover that it has nothing to do with marriage.

I'm all in favour of you marrying soon,
in a year or two.

Oh, but for God's sake, for all our sakes,

don't go and marry a boor like Tony Kroesig.

Well, if he's such a boor,

why did you ask him to stay?

I didn't ask him. Erm, Begbie bought him
because Cecil had flu and couldn't come.

Besides, I can't guess you'll marry
every stopgap I have in my house.

Well, you ought to be more careful.

Anyhow, I can't think why you say Tony's a boor.

He knows about everything.

Exactly.

(# Opera)

It was a terrible time.

(# Sings along)

The Kroesigs were as opposed to the marriage
as the Alconleighs.

Aunt Sadie tried to persuade Uncle Matthew
that the marriage,

though by no means ideal, was inevitable,

and that if he didn't want to alienate forever
his favourite child,

he'd better put a good face on it.

Well, at least the fellow's not a Roman Catholic.

(Tuts)

So Linda's marrying him, then.

What a silly girl.

Well, she always has been in my opinion.

He's rich, of course, but it's banker's money.

It comes and it goes, and however much of it
there may be, it's not like marrying all this.

So that's her accounted for.

Now you must be the next one, Fanny.

Oh, no.

No one will ever marry me.

Mm! Nonsense.

And don't you go marrying just anybody
for love.

Remember that love cannot last.

It never, never does.

But if you marry all this, it's for your life.

A-ha.

Where are you going?

- To see your mother.
- She's not dressed yet.

(Laughs)

(Dogs bark)

Lady Kroesig, this is my mother,
Lady Alconleigh.

- How do you do?
- My father, Lord Alconleigh.

- Good evening.
- Good evening.

- How do you do?
- How do you do?

- Good evening.
- Good evening.

Evening.

Let's go in, shall we? It's rather nippy out here.

We love the theatre.

- Don't we, dear?
- Yes.

Have you seen any of the new shows?

Well, we don't go up to London a great deal.

Well, you did see Romeo And Juliet once.

But your father got so upset.

All the fault of that damn padre.

That fellow Romeo might have known
a blasted papist would mess up the whole thing.

Damn fool of a nurse too. Bet she was an RC.

Dismal old bitch. Hmph.

I expect they keep you very busy at the bank.

Oh, yeah.

Don't know how you can stand it.

I was saying to the bank manager
only yesterday,

must be the hell of a life,

fussing about with other fellas' money all day.

Indoors.

I don't spend my whole life indoors.

I have my roses.

What a lot you London people
always know about gardens.

Well, I'm not really a London person.

I work in London,

but my home is in Surrey.

I count that as the same.

They're all so excited in the village,
Lady Kroesig.

- They've planned the flowers for the church.
- But...

we presumed that you'd have a London wedding,
my dear.

But we thought...

St Margaret's, of course.

Well, nobody will come down to Gloucestershire.

And Linda...

will have half the number of wedding presents.

Oh, Ma, do let's.

I am not going to lead my daughter
through a crowd of gaping strangers.

(# Wedding march)

Of course Linda married for love.

She was too much of a romantic
to marry for anything else.

But the odds were stacked against her
from the start.

The families were no longer on speaking terms.

The Kroesigs considered her
eccentric and extravagant,

and her family uncouth,

while the Radletts considered
the Kroesigs vulgar

and Tony a first-class bore.

Did you ever see anything so ghastly
as Lady Kroesig's hat?

(Boy) Bankers don't appear
to be much to look at.

It's extraordinarily unsuitable having to know
them at all, let alone marry them.

But these sort of people have got megalomania
nowadays, one can't get away from them.

Really, Alconleigh's not fit to have children
if this is the best he can do.

(Chuckling)

You'll never get all this into your coffin.

What do you mean?

Women are always buried
in their wedding dresses.

Don't be such a ghoul!

Come on, Jassy, let's not upset Linda today.

Did you see what mingy little things
they gave poor Linda?

A cheque.

I mean, it's all very well,
but for how much, I wonder.

No tiara, no necklace.
What will the poor child wear at court?

Hardly worth being called by
that nasty German name, I should say.

And a horrible house in one of those squares
near Marble Arch.

Oh, Lord Merlin.

- Oh, hello, Merlin.
- Boy.

Have you seen the Kroesig sister?

They'll have a job getting her off.

(Fanny) She's training to be a vet.

First sensible thing I've heard
about any of them.

No point in cluttering up the ballrooms
with girls who look like that.

- Simply not fair on anybody.
- (Laughter)

- How do you know Boy Dougdale?
- Erm...

He... wrote a history of my family.

He's an expert on ducal genealogy.

Oh, yes. He used to give talks
at the Women's Institute when I was little.

He did such stupid things to us.

Linda and I called him the Lecherous Lecturer.

He's certainly very fond of dukes and duchesses.

Is that why he trails around
after Lady Montdore everywhere?

They do say he's her lover.

- Her lover?
- But I think...

it's more complicated than that.

- What do you mean?
- Poor Patricia.

Suffering in silence.

May Day, I think.

Well, that's good.

It must either be the first,

or indeed the last ball of the season
if people are going to remember it.

Polly.

Honestly.

You'd think she'd be grateful, wouldn't you?

Not at all. (Sighs)

Sulky and disagreeable.
I can hardly get a word out of her.

She never meets anybody.

And if she never meets people,
how can she marry them?

Is there so much hurry for her to marry?

Well, you know she'll be 21 in May.

She can't go on like this forever.

Polly, my dear.

Come over here.

Well, marriage doesn't solve everything,
you know.

You don't want her to make
an unfortunate choice.

What could be the matter with her?

- So beautiful and no BA at all.
- Oh, no, no, no.

It's SA, my darling.

Sex appeal.

Or BO.

When we were young, none of that existed,
thank goodness.

Once was either a beauty or a jolie-laide
and that was that.

All the same,

now it's been invented, this sex appeal,

I suppose it's better if the girls have it,
their partners seem to like it.

And Polly hasn't a vestige, you can see that.

Ever since she was born,
I've worried and fussed over that child,

thought of the awful things
that might happen to her,

that Montdore might die before she was settled,
her looks would go,

she might have a terrible accident and spend
the rest of her days in a spinal chair.

All sorts of things.

But the one thing that never crossed my mind

was that she might end up an old maid.

Oh. Where's she gone?

After the honeymoon,
Tony started work in his father's old bank,

and prepared to step into
a safe Conservative seat.

Come back to bed.

An ambition which was soon realised.

What, dear?

Now, you haven't forgotten about tonight,
have you?

No.

Ah.

What's this?

Soup.

Ah.

But what sort?

I don't know.

Don't you discuss it with cook, dear?

Should I?

(Laughs)

Look what I bought with
your wonderful birthday present.

Did it cost all I sent to you?

I thought you would like me to buy one thing
with it and always remember you gave it to me.

No, that wasn't at all what I intended.

A thousand pounds is what you might call
a capital sum.

And that means something on which
you expect a return.

You shouldn't have spent it on a trinket
which you wear three or four times a year,

and which is most unlikely
to appreciate in value.

You should have asked me to invest it, darling.

Or...

you could have spent it
on entertaining important people

who would be of use to Tony in his career.

(Laughs)

Fascism is already tearing apart neighbourhoods,
homes and families.

(Hubbub)

Oh, the horror of important people.

You're lucky, Fanny, not to know any.

We've got such a ghastly evening ahead of us.

Some important Americans.

Seems Tony wants to do a deal with them.

And these Americans will only do the deal
if they take a fancy to me.

Well, can you explain that?

And I just know that I shall be sick
all over them and Tony will be so coarse.

Oh, why will you be sick?

Because I'm in pig.

Linda.

How wonderful.

Oh, what does Tony say?

Oh, I haven't told him yet.

Why not?

I know he'll be pleased.

It will give us something to talk about.

Hey, you two.

- Matt.
- Matt.

What on earth are you doing here?

Shouldn't you be in school?

Isn't he wonderful? It's Christian Talbot.

He was in my house at school
until he was expelled for printing leaflets.

- He's absolutely committed to the cause.
- Goodness sake. Matt.

- Stay and listen to him.
- We can't. Tony would have a fit.

You don't care, do you?
You'd rather be at one of your ghastly balls.

...all of our strength.

How different was Polly's ball
from our ramshackle affair.

Royalty had stepped out of
Lady Montdore's photo frames and come to life.

Dusty and less glamorous, poor dears,
but royalty all the same.

Awful tripe.

Fellow wouldn't be grinning.
He'd be dead with all those arrows in him.

That's a Van Dyck.

Well...

wouldn't give you seven and sixpence for it.

I saw a picture once.

At the Army and Navy.

Shire horses in the snow.

Nothing else.

Just a bit of broken-down fence.

Three horses.

It was dangerous good.

If I'd been a rich man, I'd have bought that.

I mean, you could see

how cold those poor brutes really felt.

All this rubbish that's supposed to be valuable.
That must be worth a fortune.

She's not enjoying herself, is she?

I wouldn't like one of my girls to look like that.

Do you think she has something on her mind?

Wonderful fellow, Montdore...

Putting up with all this foreign trash
in his house. I'm blowed if I would.

God knows why he married that hell hag.

I'd drown her if I were him.

So he had come after all.

The back of a head when seen at a ball

can have the most agitating effect
on a young girl.

There is the question, will he turn round?

Will he see her?

I must explain that the image of
the Duc de Sauveterre,

having reigned in my hopeless heart
for months,

had been replaced by something more serious,

with more reality and promise.

Who's that brute?

Why is he coming over here?

Good evening.

- May I have the pleasure of this dance?
- Of course.

Damn public-spirited Montdore.

I ask you.

Look at that sewer.

Come now, Matthew,
the Serbs were our allies, you know.

Oh. That's a Serb, is it?

Just what one would expect. Needs a shave.

Hogs. One and all.

The German ambassador is sitting on her own.

Serves her right. (Laughs)

My dear Matthew, just the very man.

Baroness von Ravensbruck,

may I introduce my neighbour, Lord Alconleigh.

Supper is served in the music room.
You know the way, Matthew.

So there's going to be trouble ahead, Sadie.

Oh, I'm sure he'll behave himself.

Storm clouds are gathering over Europe.

We must enjoy all this while we can.

Excuse me, gentlemen,
but I really must dance with my husband.

Excuse me.

Well, she's a beauty. I quite see that.

But she doesn't attract me.

That sulky expression.

I'm sure she's very dull.

Hello, my sweet.

What news of The Bolter?

Are you still in love?

What's all this?

Who is that woman?

Is it true that you're in love?

Mrs Chaddesley-Corbett.

And how about love?

Nothing.

Just a joke.

Good.

I should like you to be on the verge of love,
but...

not quite yet in it.

It's a very nice state of mind while it lasts.

Engaged?

Well, I suppose that's very nice.

Alfred... Wincham, did you say?

Who is he? What is that name?

He's a don at Oxford.

(Laughs) Oh, dear. How extraordinary.

- You don't want to live at Oxford, surely.
- Oh, I do.

In Spain it's quite different.

Dons are somebody there, I believe.

Oh, well, I suppose this Mr Thing
can always settle down and write books.

It always gives a man status if he writes a book.

I advise you to start him off on that
immediately.

- I'm afraid I haven't much influence with him.
- Well, develop it, dear. Quick.

No use marrying a man you can't influence.

Men are so lazy by nature.

Montdore, for example, forever trying to take a
little nap in the afternoon, but I won't hear of it.

"Once you start that," I tell him,
"you might as well be dead." Now...

what does your Aunt Emily think?

Oh, she's awfully pleased.

Oh, she's hopeless.

You really should ask my advice
about this sort of thing.

We'll have to get you out of it.
I believe it will the kindest in the long run.

Oh, no.

Why not, dear? It isn't in the paper yet.

It will be tomorrow.

- I'll telephone now and have it stopped.
- Please. No, please not.

She wants to marry him, Mummy.

She's in love.

Love?

Whoever invented love ought to be shot.

I'd have thought the example of
your mother would have taught you something.

Where has love landed her?

Mama.

As for you, young lady,

tell me, what exactly are you planning to do
with your life?

Not now, Mummy.

Do you intend to live at home
and go mooning on like this forever?

What else can I do? You haven't exactly
trained me for a career, have you?

I've trained you for marriage,

which in my opinion is by far the best career
open to any woman.

But how can I marry if nobody asks me?

You should give them some encouragement.

The number of young men who have said,
"Isn't she lovely?"

And then gone off with some chinless creature
from Cadogan Square.

Can't you be a little jollier,

nicer with them?

No man cares to make love to a dummy,
you know, it's too discouraging.

I don't want to be made love to.

Then what do you want?

To be hanging around forever, a sour, old maid?

And you'll be the sour kind,
that's too obvious already.

- Wizened up and sour.
- Shut up.

Polly.

(Sobs)

Polly.

Polly.

(Baby cries)

Linda was very ill indeed at her confinement.

The doctors told her
she must never have another child,

as it would almost certainly kill her if she did.

Isn't it hideous?

Like a howling orange in a black wig.

Really, it's kinder not to look.

- What are you going to call her?
- Moira, I believe.

Oh, not Moira, darling.

I've never heard such an awful name.
It's too unkind.

Well, if it will have to grow up a Moira
if the Kroesigs are going to like it.

And they might as well like it,
because frankly, I don't.

Linda, how can you be so naughty?

You can't possibly tell whether you like her
or not yet.

Oh, yes, I can.
I can always tell if I like people from the start.

And I don't like Moira.

She's a fearful counter-Hon.

(Baby cries)

Oh, do take it away, Nanny.

Poor thing must have caught sight of itself
in the glass.

Oh, don't pay any attention to her.

She pretends to be a wicked woman,

but it's all put on.

Oh.

Now you must tell me
all about you and Alfred.

When are you going to get married?

In the spring.

You really love him, don't you?

Yes.

How lucky you are.

Fancy being able to marry a man you love.

I hate the lower classes.

Ravening beasts, trying to get my money.

Just let them try, that's all.

I love them.

Anyway, I was brought up with them.

Nobody should be in Parliament
who hasn't lived in the country.

My old Fa knows more what he's talking about
in the House than you do.

Ha!

The last time your Fa made a speech,

his only argument for keeping
peeresses out of the Lords

was that they might use the peers' lavatory.

Isn't he a love? It's what they all thought,
but he was the only one who dared say it.

Well, that's the worst of the House of Lords.

These backwoodsmen bringing the whole place
into disrepute with a few dotty remarks

which give people the impression
we are governed by a lot of lunatics.

Tony.

(Man) Communism is the way forward.

Communism is the way of justice.

After a terrible war that caused
so much suffering...

The working classes are once again
being treated like dogs,

kicked and beaten by their masters.

(Crowd) Hear, hear.

The storm clouds are gathering across Europe.

The ruling classes are blind to the threat of war.

Appeasement is their watchword,

and by appeasing
they end all our hopes of peace.

It is the working classes who have most to lose
if the Spanish War spreads through Europe.

It is the working classes
who will be taken from their families

and made to fight like animals for their lives.

We can come together
as one great brotherhood of man

to forge a better life for all classes,
but we must act now.

Communism is the way forward.

Communism is the way of justice.

Communism is the only system that will save
the dispossessed throughout Europe

from once again being led
like cattle to the slaughter.

It is the working classes
who will be taken from their families

and treated like animals
in the service of their master.

We can fight back.

The working people of Europe need your help
if they are to unite and fight the oppressors.

Join the struggle now.

Accept responsibility!

Would you like one of these?

That was so interesting.

And so sad.

About the animals.

Oh, isn't everything absolutely awful?

I'm... I'm so glad somebody was listening.

We must...

all embrace the struggle, all the classes.

We must unite to make people's lives better.

I do so agree.

My brother Matt's in your old house at Eton.

- Matt?
- Radlett.

Of course.

He admires your work so much.

Would you like to come and have some tea?

Yes, please.

But Matt wasn't in school.

(# Singing)

For he had just run away to Spain
to fight against the Fascists.

# So comrades come rally

# And the last fight let us face

# The Internationale

# Unites the human race

# So comrades... #

Alfred and I had just returned
from our honeymoon.

Sir.

I'll get it.

(Telephone)

Wait. Don't answer it.

No, no, no.

Come on, Mrs Wincham.

- (Dogs bark)
- But she said she'd be back today.

I wish I could run away.

I've nearly enough money now.

He's only 17.

(Sobs)

Well, at least they've got the sense to bump off
a lot of idolatrous priests.

Still, seems a pity to fight a second-class war,

when there's soon to be
a first-class one available.

(Sobs)

Your family. Honestly.

Oh, shut up, Tony.

And he's not even fighting for the right side.

What people need is strong leadership.

You know, I have more and more faith
in this Herr Hitler.

- You know my father visited him in Germany?
- Yes, Tony.

Now, Linda, do try to behave yourself
with the Altringhams.

And don't, for God's sake, mention your brother.

He's perfect. Heaven.

I never knew politics could be so interesting.

But you hate politics.

Well, it's always so boring
when Tony talks about it.

You know, whether some infinitely old man
is going to get some infinitely dull job.

But Christian knows so much
about what people suffer

and how to make life better for them.

So are you a communist now?

Well, at least one knows they're doing good,
not harm,

and not living on people's slavery,
like Sir Leicester.

So what does Christian do all day?

He's writing a book about famine.

It's so sad.

And there's this dear little Chinese comrade
who comes and tells him what famine is like.

You never saw such a fat man in your life.

Linda was ready for a cause or a love affair,

and that a cause should be presented by
an attractive young man

made it and him irresistible.

Well, there's an anarchist too.

I thought that communists and anarchists
were the same, but they're not.

The communists hate the anarchists,
except for this one

because he threw a bomb at the King of Spain.

You must say it's romantic.

Lady Polly.

Lady Polly, you're wanted in the drawing room.

Why?

I'm not to say, miss.

Polly, dear, something terrible has happened.

Your Aunt Patricia is dead.

Oh. Aah!

It's the dropping off the perches,

I've always dreaded when that begins.

Soon we shall all be gone.

Oh, well, never mind.

(Crows cawing)

I don't understand why Polly isn't here.

Sonya says she's been ill for the past two days.
She took it terribly badly.

I had no idea she was particularly devoted
to Lady Patricia.

Linda.

Boy, dear, I've just been talking
to the stonemason.

I thought, "She shall not grow old
as we that are left grow old."

What do you think?

Mm-hm.

Polly, what are you doing? It's very late.
Go and get dressed, there's a good girl.

I've got something to tell you.

Boy and I are going to be married.

(Laughs)

What?