All language subtitles for Lark Rise to Candleford s04e03.eng

LAURA: It was said of Reverend Marley,

that he'd once given a local woman
his own shoes,

so that she might go to church.

(REVEREND CHATTERING)

The locals had a saying
about our curate,

which strange as it may sound,
they truly meant.

They said that Benedict Marley
was too good for this world.

This might've always remained so.

But when a strange menacing spirit

found its way
into our little corner of the world,

it was as though a shadow
fell on a garden.

(THOMAS SINGING)

A curse coloured the minds of people
who lived for good cheer.

Good day.

Here we are. There's not much.

Alfie! Are you well?

Uh, I have a coat for your Lizzie,

for those winter days
when she has to walk to school.

And I've spoken to Mrs Mostyn
up at Hilltop House,

and she's willing to take on Sally
in her kitchen.

Sally ain't ready, Reverend.

She might have the years,
but she don't have the age.

Well, I'll ask Mrs Mostyn
to hold the place if she can.

Mrs Timmins.

Reverend.

I pray that all is well
with your children and yourself...

And your husband.

Robert will be in Oxford
for another month or more.

That must put a load onto you, Emma.

Games, your Reverend!

(PANTING) Here We Go Round
the Mulberry Bush, Musical Chairs,

I shall volunteer to provide them
for the church bazaar.

It's the same every year.

Will he leave the children alone
with his games and dances?

A man too old for Postman's Knock,
is a man too old for this world.

Mr Turrill, your games would, of course,
be most welcome.

(TWISTER SIGHING)

Oh, tell him, Reverend, he must at least
let me help him this time.

Last year,
he frightened all the little 'uns away

and there was none but him
and two cowmen

chasing each other
round the church gardens.

Twister, will you allow your wife
to assist you?

If that is a holy command, sir,
then I must obey.

- Is it?
- It is.

(CHILDREN GIGGLING)

(THOMAS SINGING)

Thomas Brown!

I didn't expect
to hear you singing this morning.

Ah, why would a man not be
in high spirits?

So I have been given
the honour and accolade

of organising the church bazaar,
the crown of all my efforts and hopes

and, uh, well,
Margaret's too, of course.

Uh, the whole community
gathered together

to advance the charitable cause.

(CLICKING TONGUE)
With the rector being so ill.

- The rector? Ill?
- You haven't heard?

What? That means...

Why do we come to church?

Some of us may come to gossip
about our neighbours.

Some of us may come
to parade in our Sunday best.

Some of us might even be here
to worship. (CHUCKLES)

When I was a boy of 14, I did not
want to be considered a child any more.

I was impatient to be known a man.

My family owned a pony.

And I wanted to ride her out
into the woods,

but I was forbidden from doing so.

I could not accept...
I could not bear this denial.

So I took the pony
and I rode her with such a wildness,

that it drove her to her knees.

The pony was crippled... beyond saving.

My shame,
for the hurt that I had caused,

brought me to my senses.

My selfishness run riot had taken
the life of this poor creature.

I knew what I was made of.

And I knew that I must change.

The fall scarred me for life.

But my own wildness

taught me the very thing
that my father's words could not.

When I think of my own failings,

it allows me to look at others
with tolerance and with acceptance.

And forgiveness.

(BANGS ON PULPIT)

It is not for me to tell you
who or what God is.

Each of us has a God
of our own understanding.

(SIGHS WITH DISGUST)

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

(DOOR CLOSING)

It is an abomination.
"A God of our own understanding"?

The man is a scandal.

The Book of Common Prayer says,
"I believe in God, the Father, Almighty,

"maker of heaven and earth."
And that is what we must live by.

But he... He is a wonderful preacher.

No listener ever dropped off
during one of his sermons.

I have never lost his thread.

His thread, Miss Pratt,
seems to be entirely his own creed.

One does wonder how such a preacher
came to be only a curate

in a remote country parish,
when his elegance and eloquence

and fervour could fill any city church.

That mystery, Miss Pearl,
is what hangs over the man like...

Like a... mystery.

I do hope the rector will be recovered
in time for the church bazaar.

Well, he must!

Uh, I mean, he...
We must pray that he will.

Laura, these books,
I understand you paid a penny for them.

I shall give them back to you.

Oh! Thank you.

I found them lying in the kitchen.

Oh, I wondered what had become of them.

How did you get along
with Scott's poetry?

I've seen you with your books, Laura.
How you devour them instantly.

I have so many books.

I will enjoy these now.

You did not read them?
Not even a glance beneath their covers?

I find that a little surprising.

- I gave them to Miss Lane.
- I see.

Thank you.

(FOOTSTEPS RETREATING)

Reverend Marley! May I enquire
how the rector is recovering.

I'm afraid he will be bedridden
for some time.

Ah, I see, with the church bazaar,
how shall we...

Well, I will say a prayer
of thanks and welcome.

Oh, I see. I see.

Reverend Marley, may I ask, uh,

people round here prefer their service
as they like their food,

plain and simple.

According to
The Book of Common Prayer...

Faith is not a fixed thing, Thomas.

It is a seeking.

Faith, sir, is a rock.

It is a mast.

It is a tower of strength.

For me, it's an adventure.

I do not see it as permanent.

(LAUGHING) It vanishes
and I must find it again daily.

Vanish? Faith?

Doubt is a gift, Thomas.
If we can dare to admit...

Doubt, sir, is the same as disbelief.

What I'm trying to say, Thomas,
is that I see your struggle.

- And if I can help...
- There is no struggle, sir.

There is rock. There is mast.

There is tower.

(LOUD HISSING)

Help!

The postman,
dances round to the front door.

- (ACCORDION PLAYING)
- (CHILDREN GIGGLING)

That is why it is called
Postman's Knock.

We were taught this game
when we were children.

We used to dance it
at every church social.

Are we dancing or recollecting?

Now, the dancers must select
who is to answer the door.

Now, come, you be the door.

Now, you must pay the postman
for your letter with a kiss.

(ALL LAUGHING)

For them who's never been kissed,

this is the most exciting game
ever there was.

- Ma, did you kiss boys?
- As many as I could. I loved this game.

Frank, you help your ma
with them buckets.

And Ethel,
a broom is a simple enough thing.

It has a brush and a handle.
You take it to the floor.

Alfie, there ain't no need
for you to instruct my children.

Just trying to ease your burden, Emma,
while Robert's away.

I shall manage. 'Cause I must.

ALL: # Every morning
as true as the clock

# Somebody hears the postman's knock

(ACCORDION PLAYING)

# Every morning as true as the clock

# Somebody hears the postman's knock #

- THOMAS: A snake!
- Oh!

A snake?

Perhaps it was no more
than a grass snake.

They can be quite disturbing
if they catch you unawares.

It was long, big...

- Strange.
- Oh, heavens.

What is such a creature
doing amongst us?

- It was...
- Perhaps a sailor brought it home.

Walter Arless was always telling tales
of wonderful things

like monkeys and crocodiles.

- THOMAS: It was...
- Thomas, you must drink this.

It was... evil

I... I sensed the thing before I saw it.

Which means, does it not,
that the creature

was more than a creature?

I had the distinct feeling
that it was waiting for me.

Oh, I have never, Miss Lane,
you are my witness,

never have I unhanded a letter.

It flew to the very spot
where the monster lurked,

waiting for me.

Oh, I knew that it was about to pounce.

I could see the diabolical glint
in its eye... Eyes.

I thought that I might die there
in the... In the...

Bushes!

And I knew that I must gather
every grain of God-given courage

and I must... defy the beast.

I stared into those evil eyes...

- Oh, Thomas!
- And I cried out,

"Get thee hence!"

Oh, was it the devil, Thomas, was it?

Oh, really! Let us not allow
our imaginations to turn

a snake in the grass
into a serpent from Hell.

If you had seen those eyes, Miss Lane,
you would not be so indifferent.

It serves no good
to indulge such primitive fears.

There will be
a perfectly logical explanation

for the arrival of this creature,
and doubtless

it will be apprehended
by the most stout-hearted man. Hmm?

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

A football, Emma, given to me
by the eldest Henderson boy, for Frank.

We're eating. I'll give it to him.

I cannot invite you in.

Oh, no, I did not
expect you too. I understand.

But you will say if you need anything.

Your perpetual curate is ever here
to cure souls,

or better still, to fetch coals.

It isn't so simple as that, Benedict.
And we both know it.

Do you fear
your neighbours' tongues, Emma?

Benedict, as you know,
you are forbidden from calling here.

I must ask you not to return.

Did it hiss?
Snakes are such fascinating creatures.

PEARL: Not all snakes are poisonous.

Some simply crush
the life out of their prey

by wrapping themselves around it.

MARGARET: Why has it appeared? Now.

Why did it choose Thomas?

What I mean is, what does it mean?

Before I set out
on that fateful bicycle ride,

I had an altercation
with Reverend Marley.

He tried to make me doubt my faith.

Oh, Thomas, are you really suggesting
that some spat with the curate

has conjured up some demon viper
from Hell?

A snake can be just a snake
and also a sign.

- Oh!
- But to question a man's faith.

A devout shepherd.
A follower such as Thomas.

You must admit, Pearl.
It is all rather bizarre.

Bazaar.

Now I see it. The church bazaar.

I have worked so hard.

This will be the day of days
for our cause and affirmation

of all that I believe,

and this man will use it
to spread his ungodly message.

Perhaps if you were to speak
with the rector,

tell him about the sermon, the snake.

Yes. Marley must be stopped.

That is certainly the ugliest
and nastiest thing

that ever walked the earth.

LAURA: I think it's beautiful.

So exotic and beyond compare.

I wouldn't be afraid if I saw one.

That thing is out there,

slithering around our fields
and our woods and our gardens.

It might be coming this way, Minnie.

Slither, slither,
slipping under the door.

It must turn up somewhere.

I wonder who'll be the next one
to see it.

(MINNIE EXCLAIMING)

(HENS CLUCKING)

(GASPS)

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(EMMA SCREAMING)

- What have you there, my pet?
- It's almost finished.

What do you want with a net on a stick?

It is to catch the snake in.

Oh! I see. The snake.

Sydney, you don't suppose you can go
in search of the thing.

I shall catch it and present it
at the church bazaar.

Well, that will certainly make
quite a spectacle

for such a seemly
Sunday afternoon gathering. Hmm?

It's gone.

- (TWISTER SIGHING)
- Gone where?

It could be anywhere.
It might be under my bed.

It might be in my bed.

A fine thing to put
in the children's minds.

Come on, children, indoors.
Nothing to fear, come on.

Nothing to fear. It'll be gone by now.

There's all manner of remedies
that call for snakes.

They have a rare healing medicine
about them.

One old book reckons that a man
who eats half a snake will age no more,

while a man who eats it all,
will grow younger.

(EXCLAIMS)

May I refill your cup, Gabriel?

Your concentration is admirable.

Whenever I have paperwork to do,
before I am on the second page,

I find that somehow I am making a cake.

I'm grateful for the use
of your kitchen, Miss Lane.

Gabriel, Sydney has no father.

What I mean is, his pa is not here
and I have a dilemma.

He is intent on going out
to look for the snake.

I fear that if he goes,
he will be hurt by the thing.

I am at a loss to know
what is the right thing to do.

What would your father have done?

We would have taken the net
and set out together to catch the snake.

He would have known
it was a hopeless endeavour, but...

(SIGHING) He would have given me
the thrill of the adventure.

Oh, I see.

Well...

As rational as I am about such things,

I cannot face the prospect
of going out...

I can.

Sydney would love it
if you were willing to do that for him.

And I would be most appreciative.

Just so long as we don't
catch the thing, eh?

Oh!

- Frank, is that a rash on your neck?
- That's always been there, Ma.

- (SIGHING) Why are you fussing so, Ma?
- Oh, I ain't fussing. I ain't... Am I?

Ma'am, did Mr Cochrane speak to you
about the books?

The books? Why would he
want to speak with me about them?

He confronted me. I was in such a panic.

He pressed me to know why I had not
looked inside of the books.

He wanted to know
how they came to be left in the kitchen.

I did not know what I might say, so I...

I told him I'd given the books to you.

He knows I read the letter.

Yet I spoke with him last night
and he gave me no sign.

I'm so sorry, ma'am.

I felt I had to tell him the truth.

Snake! Snake!

(PANTING) Oh, it weren't a snake.
It were a mistake.

I fear it is going to be a long day.

Where are you off to, Emma?

I want to see that the children
get to school unharmed.

Is that so?

I ain't never known you to accompany
them down the lane before.

We ain't never had a snake before.

Then I bid you a safe journey.

There, you go to Queenie. That's it.

- (BABY WHINING)
- Have you thought,

when you leave the children
in their classroom,

the creature might be there
or may arrive there.

Perhaps you should stay with them
the day long.

I must do what I can.

Mr Cochrane! May I join you?

It promises to be quite a tale
if you catch the snake.

And quite a tale if you don't.

I once met an old snake-hunter

and he taught me
how to follow a snake trail.

Then it certainly will be
a day of adventures.

Oh, my dear,
how did you fare with the rector?

He was too ill to receive me.

Perhaps he will recover in time to...

There's no time. The bazaar is imminent.

Perhaps if you wrote to him.

Oh, Margaret,
not only will I compose a letter,

but I will deliver it
to the rectory post-haste.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

Emma?

Emma?

I took the children to the school
and I can't seem to find my way home.

I have such a sick feeling
like the earth might open up.

I daren't take another step.

Come with me.

There you are.
Sit in the shade for a while.

(ALL CHEERING)

(MEN CHATTERING)

It's this way. I saw the trail.

- So there really are snake trails?
- It seems so.

Oh.

Laura, your pa...

When he forbade Reverend Marley
from coming to your cottage,

what happened between them?

I expect they had some row
about politics or religion.

My pa is never far from an argument
where those things are concerned.

But I ain't never known him to forbid
someone from his door before.

Something must've disturbed him.

I was a child at the time.

My parents never talk about it.

Why do you ask?

There's something about that man,
troubles me.

Alfie, Reverend Marley has been nothing
but kind to your family.

Miss Lane, may I enquire,

has there been,
or is there now a letter,

a note or perhaps a message for me?

For you, Thomas?

I am expecting an urgent communication,
ma'am. Urgent.

I have seen nothing.

(BELL TINKLING)

Do you think it's gone to Candleford?

I don't know, Sydney, we'll have to see.

- (GASPING) Oh!
- (GABRIEL LAUGHING)

Did you catch it?

No, but we caught two frogs
and almost a rabbit.

Almost a rabbit?
You are the intrepid hunters, hmm?

I'm sorry it has taken all day,
Miss Lane,

but when we boys
set out on an adventure,

we must pursue it to its very end.

MINNIE: (SCREAMING) Snake! Snake!

(GRUNTING) It will be a dish rag
or a broom handle.

It has been like this all day.

I feel I would have been safer
out in the wilds with you.

Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps there will be
a message waiting for you.

Perhaps the rector
will make a providential recovery.

We cannot rely on fortune, Margaret.
We cannot stand back and hope.

- We are compelled to intervene.
- But what more can we do?

Margaret, what is it that steers us,
holds us afloat,

sustains us and, my dear, delivers us?

One another?

Faith. We shall be delivered.

We have a means.

Thomas, what is it we are praying for?

The word from the rector.

That our message has been heard,
that we are not to be abandoned.

That our faith is justified.

Everything that we believe in
will prevail.

(EXCLAIMS SOFTLY)

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

(SIGHS)

(SNIFFING)

Emma!

Oh, come here, let me...
Let me help to wash your hand.

(EMMA SOBBING)

What is happening to me?

Since I saw that thing, it's haunted me.

I can't bear to be still.

Perhaps this is a good thing.

You would not say such a thing
if you felt the bottomless fear...

I have my own torments, Emma.
You know that.

Emma, suppose you saw this as a message,

a sort of guidance from your own soul.
The fear was already there in you,

and the snake
only served to bring it out

to give you permission to be terrified.

What good could there possibly be
in such feelings?

How do they help me to feed my children,

- tend my baby?
- Write to Robert

and tell him that you're struggling.

Are you saying that a woman
doesn't have the strength?

That she needs a man?

I am saying that you need
your husband's comfort, that is all.

I am saying that strength,

that willpower,
is not the foundation we think it is.

I have always been strong.

When we admit our defects,
we look at our darkness,

then we come to realise that we cannot
rely upon ourselves entirely.

I cannot afford to be afraid.

But the more you deny it,

it becomes a greater monster
and you're at its mercy.

You talk to me about fear.

Have you ever held a child,
your own child,

held them close, wiped away their tears

and told them it will all be all right,

promised them,
when you know that it's not true?

When life is nothing but

hunger and worry

and toil and loss.

(SOBBING)

I can't do it.

I cannot be strong enough
for my children.

It will all be all right.

I promise you. I promise you.

(SIGHING) No message. Nothing.

Not even a choir boy
to pass on some word from the rector.

Thomas, you've been through
that stack of letters three times.

I was certain
that I would hear something.

(BELL TINKLING)

(DOOR CLOSING)

RUBY: Miss Lane, we have news.

We have heard, on good authority...

- The milkman.
- Mmm.

That our curate was seen
leaving a Lark Rise cottage...

After dark.

RUBY: The Timmins cottage.

PEARL: Yes, and the man of the house
is away from home.

RUBY: Away from home.

Of course,
it may all be entirely innocent.

PEARL: But, there is something
about that man.

(DOOR OPENING)

Emma?

- What are you doing?
- I ain't feeling too well.

I shall go back inside.

Why are they all looking at me that way?

Huh?

Em...

Reverend Marley was seen coming
from your door after dark last night.

What were you doing, letting him in?

My own neighbours would think
such a thing of a man of the cloth?

Why did your Robert deny him
from ever coming into your cottage?

I don't know.

They rowed.

Well, what was it
that they quarrelled about?

What's it to you, Alf Arless?

What's it to any of you?

- ALF: Emma, I'm only...
- Let me be.

Let me have some peace, won't you?

(DOOR CLOSING)

Reverend Marley!

Surely you will now have the decency
to stand down from the church bazaar?

Thomas, what can I have done to you
to have stirred such bad feeling?

To me, sir?

To the whole town.

Any Christian man would leave our parish
without delay.

Now we know why
you are the perpetual curate.

- What do you mean?
- (SCOFFS)

We all know your scandalous deeds,
Benedict Marley.

After dark. Huh? Slithering!

It is my duty to inform the rector
of all of it.

Indeed, I will write to the bishop.

I will expose you
for the snake that you are.

Thomas. So much fury.

Are you sure it is me who you doubt?

I know that if you go to my ma's house
at night it must be for good reasons.

Your ma saw the snake.

It disturbed her greatly.

Then why did you not explain that
to Thomas?

Why did you not defend yourself?

Because if I stood up to him...

Thomas Brown would find himself
in danger.

This place, Laura,

it is a house of truth,
or it is nothing.

When I spoke about the incident
with the pony,

I did not tell all of it. I dare not.

I stole that pony.

That was long ago, Reverend Marley.

The life you have lived since then...

That was not all of it, Laura.

The same day,
the reason I took flight...

I had a row with my father.

He took hold of my arm.

He wanted to reason with me.
He wanted to make me listen to him,

to force me to obey him.

I felt constrained.

I was consumed by such a rage,

that something in me snapped
and I struck him in the face.

My own father.

It knocked him to the ground
and I stood over him.

But it was not enough.
I wanted to go on.

He was a great ox of a man,
but he saw in me something...

A force far more powerful
than anything he could summon.

My own father was afraid of me.
Do you understand?

I see.

Why did my pa prevent you
from ever coming into our cottage?

It's not what people think.

We rowed. Fiercely.

He took hold of me by the arm.

I pushed him to the floor.

He saw in me the same thing
that my own father recognised,

and he did not want me near his family.

And he is right.

It is what I am.

There is only one thing in this world
that I'm afraid of.

Benedict Marley.

You've done such good in this world.

- You gave away your own shoes.
- I have to. I have to.

It is a reprieve.

It is a daily reprieve
from my own nature.

(BELL TINKLING)

(DOOR BANGS SHUT)

MARGARET: Thomas.

We happened to hear

you had an altercation with our curate
in the street.

Thomas, what is the matter?

What if...

There is no Holy Spirit?

The Bible...

The Church...

Hundreds of years of worship...

Every prayer that I have ever uttered.

Supposing...

It's all an illusion and a folly?

Heavens.

Thomas, what a thing to say.

What if my whole life

has been...

wrong?

RUBY: What has brought this on?

It is the snake. It must be.
The thing has cursed him.

If we pause to consider...

In an all-knowing, all-seeing,
all-conquering being

who has the time

to be ever-present in my little life.

He follows me from door to door
with every letter I deliver.

Looking down on every

piffling step of my backwoods life.

(SCOFFS) He is there when I dress,

and I undress.

(STUTTERING) When I...

- (SCOFFS)
- RUBY: Thomas.

It's... It's truly bizarre.

It is possible that we must all
at some time face doubt.

In ourselves, in our faith...

If there is an Almighty,
let him strike me down now!

Ha!

Whatever it is you are making, Gabriel,

it seems to fill you with contentment.

It fills me with purpose.

I told you I was making a machine,
Miss Lane,

but it is more than that.

I am attempting to invent
my own creation.

To imagine and build something
that does not exist until I cause it to.

From what I can see,
it will be quite fantastical.

Hmm.

Let me offer you sincere encouragement

and perhaps some mint cake
to keep you going? Hmm?

Miss Lane.

You have taken me on here.

I have found an unexpected friend.

Oh. I am glad you think of me so.

I know you saw the letter.

Yes, I did.

And you placed it into my possession
in the gentlest of ways.

I still do not know
if I did the correct thing.

You did.

This machine...

Without it, I would have to look at,
well, the letter and what it means.

I have no one I can speak to
about these things.

I thought, if I worked,
if I drove myself on...

But...

But it gets lonely.

And in the end,
we always need another human being.

I have thrown away my inheritance
on an infatuation.

On a woman who was not
what she appeared to be.

A woman who pretended that she loved me.

I'm sure it was not quite as stark
or as cold as that.

Some part of your wife must have...

She married me,
but was she ever truly mine?

What I see now is...

I did not know her when we married.
I doubt I ever knew her.

Somehow, it seems to be only lovers
who ever say such things.

As if we should,

as if we are entitled to know
all of one another.

Gabriel, there are days
when I do not know myself.

Not so long ago, you adored this woman

and held her to be a lodestar of wonder.

Now you consider her to be all shadows
and deceit.

Perhaps you might find some peace
if you accept she was neither.

She was human.

And so are you.

You may not be ready to forgive her yet,

but perhaps you could have
a little mercy on yourself.

Just for today.

Twister Turrill called you
the fount of wisdom hereabouts.

Oh.

Only hereabouts?

Perhaps hereabouts
will have to be enough.

Just for today.

May I ask,

what have you done with the letter?

If you hold onto it,
it will keep its hold on you.

You will return to it every night,

let it torment you.

You could...

Thank you for your kindness, Miss Lane.

That snake might never be found.

He might be gone for good.

Where would he be hiding now?

Perhaps in the church gardens.

Perhaps under my pillow.

Perhaps sitting in the bar
at the Wagon and Horses.

That snake isn't
in your washing basket no more.

It's in your mind.

The fear is only in your thinking.

And you can't cure your thinking
by your thinking.

The only cure for your thinking
is living.

And that means taking your children
to the bazaar.

The creature isn't the true reason
you want me to go to the bazaar,

is it, Queenie?

Even good Christian neighbours
like to wag their tongues.

They're saying I won't go to the bazaar
'cause I've got something to hide,

'cause I am ashamed.

I don't know why folks like to think
the worst of other folks, but they do.

Reverend Marley's only wish
was to comfort me.

And don't comfort feel good
when it is a man holding us up?

(SOBBING) He wiped away my tears.

I hadn't realised how much I needed it.

I find myself hoping he will return.

There ain't nothing wrong with fear.

And there ain't nothing wrong
with comfort.

But too much fear

and too much comfort...

Do you see, Emma?

I cannot face the bazaar.

(SIGHS)

And, Dear Lord, if it is in any way
my failing, or of my causing,

then show me how
I might correct my shortcomings.

My dear, what you see
before you is a man

freed from delusion.

What I see before me
is breaking my heart.

It hurts like nothing else
to doubt the one you love.

But it will pass.
I have been here before.

- You have doubted me?
- Of course.

Doubt is God's gift.
You always renew my faith in you.

Thomas, doubt is only fear.

"Fear knocked at the door.
Faith answered.

"And there was nobody there."

My dear, your church needs you.

The bazaar needs you.
Think of the heathens in foreign parts.

Reverend Marley, sir.

Alf. Are Patience's teeth
troubling her still?

It isn't the babe
keeping me from my bed, sir,

it is you.

I must speak to you, sir,
concerning a... a difficult...

Mrs Timmins.

You shouldn't be going to her cottage
this kind of time at night.

I'm your curate.

I have a pastoral duty of care
to every parishioner in Lark Rise...

Her husband is away!

Robert Timmins
will take a tramp from the lane

and welcome him into his home.

His door is open to anyone.

But not to you.

There has to be a reason for that.

Hmm.

Even as a boy,
you had immense courage, Alfie.

Willing to take on anything or anyone
you had to.

Did you hear what I said to you, sir?

Mr Timmins may have forbidden me
from entering his house,

but God has told me that I must.

Our conscience will always tell us
what is right.

You know that, Alfie. You live by that.

There may be consequences,
of that I have no doubt.

But I am willing to accept them.

The cloth don't make a man respectable.

But perhaps there is a reason
you ain't never been more than a curate

in a left-behind place.

I hold you in great regard, Alf.

I would appreciate it
if you respected me.

But I do not need you to.

I am asking you to stay away. Stay away!

(ALF GRUNTING)

(DOGS BARKING)

(STUTTERING)

I don't want to.

I don't want to.

I was afraid I was going to strike you,
but I don't want to.

I told you, Benedict.
Your time here has changed you.

Your husband told me once,

"God is other people."

I didn't know what he meant.

I didn't, but... I do now.

Thank you, Emma.

I will write to Robert, tonight,

and tell him
how I miss the comfort he gives.

And tell him...

how I am to take my children
to the church bazaar.

(DOOR CLOSING)

(DISHES CLANKING)

You're about early this morning, Sydney.

Sydney likes an early breakfast
before we all have our late breakfast.

I like an early breakfast
and so does Laura.

And Miss Lane likes her early breakfast
in bed. Jams, mostly.

I'm rather fond
of an early breakfast myself.

Can I sit with you?

I have bacon, sir, and sausages,
and eggs, and bread

and as many cups of tea
as a man can bear.

SYDNEY: Can we go snake hunting
again today?

MINNIE: Oh, it's the church bazaar
today, Sydney.

- My ma loves you.
- MINNIE: Sydney!

It's true.
She looks at you as she looks at me.

Well, then I'd better have two sausages
with my early breakfast.

(ACCORDION PLAYING)

(CHILDREN LAUGHING)

MINNIE: Snake! Snake!

- (MUSIC STOPS)
- Snake! Snake!

ALL: Snake! Snake!

I think the poor thing is afraid.

It's so beautiful.

THOMAS: It looks...

No more than one of God's creatures,
same as you or I.

I never thought I'd hear Thomas Brown
compare himself to a snake.

We were here, Sydney. We found it.

What we going to do with it?

You put the thing in the sack, Alfie,

and I shall step forward
and be rid of it.

(MUSIC RESUMES)

ALL: # Every morning
as true as the clock

# Somebody hears the postman's knock

QUEENIE: # The best of folk
our postgirl be

# She hurries from door to door

# Will she bring glad news for me?

# That's what I been yearning for

ALL: # Every morning
as true as the clock

# Somebody hears the postman's knock

THOMAS: # To see
the joyful face of a child

# With my ratatatat at the door

# Hope in the eyes of a lonely wife

# That's what I been yearning for

ALL: # Every morning
as true as the clock

# Somebody hears the postman's knock

EMMA: # Up at dawn I look to see

# Don't look for letters no more

# The postie will bring sweet love to me

# That's what I've been yearning for

ALL: # Every morning
as true as the clock

# Somebody hears the postman's knock

# Every morning as true as the clock

# Somebody hears the postman's knock #

(ALL LAUGHING AND CHEERING)

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Is this the, uh, thing?

You're certain what the books say?

A man who eats this will grow younger.

(GAGGING)

Growing old is a gift, not a curse.

Otherwise we'd all be babies
wailing to be fed.

- Oh!
- (CHILDREN GASPING)

Hmm.

Now, I say so myself,

there are marvellous things
I can do with turnips.

- (CHILDREN LAUGHING)
- (TWISTER SIGHING)

LAURA: An old sailor
had lost his snake, passing through.

Though he did return to claim it.

Reverend Marley made a point
of always telling us

that no man is too good for this world.

And neither is any man
too damned for this world.

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