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1
00:02:19,084 --> 00:02:21,751
- Evening, Mr Elliott.
- Good evening.
2
00:02:25,084 --> 00:02:26,751
Brr.
3
00:02:26,792 --> 00:02:29,167
- Just sign the book, if you will?
- Yes.
4
00:02:29,917 --> 00:02:32,751
- Been keeping you busy, Mr Elliott?
- Oh, just nicely.
5
00:02:32,834 --> 00:02:35,417
Went up to Manchester on Monday,
a poisoner.
6
00:02:35,501 --> 00:02:39,084
Baby-farmer at Holloway this morning.
Very ordinary crimes, both of them.
7
00:02:39,126 --> 00:02:41,501
This one we've got for you tomorrow
is something special.
8
00:02:41,584 --> 00:02:43,334
Yes, very much so.
9
00:02:43,417 --> 00:02:45,626
Even after all my years
in the profession,
10
00:02:45,751 --> 00:02:47,834
I'm quite looking forward to him.
11
00:02:47,917 --> 00:02:49,959
- Well, I must be getting along.
- Good night, Mr Elliott.
12
00:02:50,084 --> 00:02:51,792
- Good night.
- Usual cup of tea at 7:00?
13
00:02:51,917 --> 00:02:52,917
Oh, please.
14
00:02:54,084 --> 00:02:57,834
Even my lamented master,
the great Mr Barry himself
15
00:02:57,917 --> 00:03:00,334
never had the privilege
of hanging a duke.
16
00:03:00,417 --> 00:03:01,626
Yes.
17
00:03:01,751 --> 00:03:05,084
What a finale to a lifetime
in the public service.
18
00:03:05,126 --> 00:03:07,959
- "Finale"?
- Yes, I intend to retire.
19
00:03:08,084 --> 00:03:10,584
After using the silken rope,
20
00:03:10,667 --> 00:03:13,834
never again be content with hemp.
21
00:03:13,917 --> 00:03:16,417
- Quite. Well, here we are.
- Oh, thank you.
22
00:03:33,126 --> 00:03:34,876
How will he approach it?
23
00:03:34,917 --> 00:03:37,542
I should think
as the calmest you've ever known.
24
00:03:37,584 --> 00:03:40,417
Noblesse oblige, doubtless.
25
00:03:40,542 --> 00:03:45,042
A difficult client can make things
most distressing.
26
00:03:45,084 --> 00:03:47,917
Some of them tend
to be very hysterical.
27
00:03:47,959 --> 00:03:49,876
So inconsiderate.
28
00:03:49,959 --> 00:03:53,917
Well, Colonel, considering
the importance of the occasion,
29
00:03:53,959 --> 00:03:56,084
I shall retire early.
30
00:03:56,209 --> 00:04:00,709
The last execution of a duke in
this country was very badly bungled.
31
00:04:00,751 --> 00:04:03,376
That was in the old days of the axe,
of course.
32
00:04:03,417 --> 00:04:04,751
Yes.
33
00:04:05,584 --> 00:04:08,251
Oh, I... I almost forgot.
34
00:04:08,376 --> 00:04:11,376
Um, you must forgive my ignorance
35
00:04:11,417 --> 00:04:14,417
but when we meet in the morning,
36
00:04:14,459 --> 00:04:16,959
what is the correct form of address?
37
00:04:17,084 --> 00:04:19,459
- Your Lordship?
- Your Grace.
38
00:04:19,584 --> 00:04:22,917
"Your Grace"? Oh.
39
00:04:22,959 --> 00:04:24,584
Thank you.
40
00:04:26,251 --> 00:04:27,959
Good morning, Your Grace.
41
00:04:29,084 --> 00:04:30,751
Good morning, Your Grace.
42
00:04:43,876 --> 00:04:46,751
- All right. Sit down.
- Ah, good evening, Colonel. Glass of wine?
43
00:04:46,876 --> 00:04:49,459
Good evening, Your Grace.
Uh, thank you, no.
44
00:04:49,584 --> 00:04:53,626
I, uh, I called to inquire whether
you had any special wishes for breakfast.
45
00:04:53,751 --> 00:04:56,751
Just coffee and a slice of
toast, thank you.
46
00:04:56,876 --> 00:04:58,751
Oh, and perhaps a few grapes.
47
00:04:58,876 --> 00:05:00,751
I hate to disappoint
the newspaper-reading public
48
00:05:00,876 --> 00:05:03,792
but it'll be too early
for the conventional hearty breakfast.
49
00:05:03,917 --> 00:05:05,917
The appointment is at 8:00,
is it not?
50
00:05:05,959 --> 00:05:07,959
At 8:00, uh, yes.
51
00:05:08,084 --> 00:05:11,584
If I may venture to say so,
I am amazed at your calmness.
52
00:05:13,584 --> 00:05:16,209
Dr Johnson was, as always, right,
53
00:05:16,251 --> 00:05:18,251
when he observed,
"Depend upon it, sir.
54
00:05:18,292 --> 00:05:20,792
"When a man knows that he's going
to be hanged in a few hours,
55
00:05:20,917 --> 00:05:23,292
"it concentrates his mind wonderfully."
56
00:05:23,792 --> 00:05:27,417
Yes. Well, if there is nothing further
I can do for you...
57
00:05:27,542 --> 00:05:28,917
Nothing, thank you, Colonel.
58
00:05:28,959 --> 00:05:32,876
We shall have the opportunity of making
our adieus in the morning, I presume.
59
00:05:32,917 --> 00:05:34,917
I regret to say, yes.
60
00:05:36,584 --> 00:05:39,084
- Good night, Your Grace.
- Good night, Colonel.
61
00:05:48,126 --> 00:05:51,917
A brief history of the
events leading thereto
62
00:05:52,042 --> 00:05:54,417
written on the eve of his execution
63
00:05:54,542 --> 00:05:58,417
by Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini,
10th Duke of Chalfont
64
00:05:59,417 --> 00:06:01,959
who ventures to hope
that it may prove not uninteresting
65
00:06:02,084 --> 00:06:04,917
to those who remain to read it.
66
00:06:10,917 --> 00:06:15,084
My good man, it is not by my choice
that you keep me company.
67
00:06:15,126 --> 00:06:18,917
If you wish to sleep, pray do me
the courtesy of sleeping quietly.
68
00:06:22,251 --> 00:06:25,459
With so little time
remaining to complete my story,
69
00:06:25,584 --> 00:06:28,209
it is difficult to choose
where to begin it.
70
00:06:28,251 --> 00:06:29,792
Perhaps I should begin
at the beginning.
71
00:06:31,084 --> 00:06:36,292
I was a healthy baby, born of an
English mother and Italian father...
72
00:06:37,792 --> 00:06:41,751
...who succumbed to a heart attack
at the moment of first setting eyes on me.
73
00:06:41,792 --> 00:06:45,959
In the circumstances, it will be understood
that I have but slight memory of him.
74
00:06:46,084 --> 00:06:48,542
The little I know comes
from what Mama told me.
75
00:07:10,042 --> 00:07:12,376
Your father was a very handsome man.
76
00:08:05,917 --> 00:08:09,084
Mama was the daughter
of the seventh duke of Chalfont
77
00:08:09,209 --> 00:08:11,084
of Chalfont Castle.
78
00:08:12,126 --> 00:08:14,417
She eloped with her handsome singer
79
00:08:14,542 --> 00:08:18,251
and exchanged the medieval splendours
of Chalfont Castle
80
00:08:18,376 --> 00:08:19,751
for the modern conveniences
81
00:08:19,792 --> 00:08:22,417
of No 73, Balaclava Avenue, SW.
82
00:08:31,417 --> 00:08:35,542
They were poor, but they had
five happy and harmonious years
83
00:08:35,584 --> 00:08:39,251
before my arrival sent Papa off
to join the heavenly choir.
84
00:08:45,126 --> 00:08:48,042
Reduced to even deeper poverty
by my father's death,
85
00:08:48,084 --> 00:08:49,959
Mama swallowed her pride
86
00:08:50,084 --> 00:08:53,709
and made an effort at reconciliation
with her family.
87
00:08:53,751 --> 00:08:56,417
They did not even reply to her letter.
88
00:08:57,584 --> 00:08:59,792
In order to keep us both alive,
she was reduced
89
00:08:59,917 --> 00:09:02,209
to the horrible expedient
of taking in a lodger.
90
00:09:04,334 --> 00:09:07,917
For him, she had to perform
the most menial tasks.
91
00:09:08,042 --> 00:09:12,376
She felt that her family had conspired
to cheat me of my birthright,
92
00:09:12,417 --> 00:09:14,584
and I passed
from infancy to childhood
93
00:09:14,709 --> 00:09:18,001
in an atmosphere
of family history and genealogies.
94
00:09:19,209 --> 00:09:20,917
The dukedom had been bestowed
95
00:09:21,042 --> 00:09:24,501
by Charles II
on Colonel Henry D'Ascoyne
96
00:09:25,376 --> 00:09:28,667
for services rendered to His Majesty
during his exile.
97
00:09:29,751 --> 00:09:32,584
Later, for services rendered
to His Majesty
98
00:09:32,709 --> 00:09:35,667
after his restoration by the Duchess,
99
00:09:36,167 --> 00:09:38,084
the title was granted
the unique privilege
100
00:09:38,167 --> 00:09:40,667
of descending by the female
as well as the male line.
101
00:09:42,042 --> 00:09:43,084
Louis.
102
00:09:43,209 --> 00:09:45,584
It was therefore theoretically possible
103
00:09:45,709 --> 00:09:48,751
that via Mama I might inherit the dukedom.
104
00:09:51,417 --> 00:09:53,417
Mama scraped and saved
105
00:09:53,501 --> 00:09:56,667
and sent me to the best school
she could afford.
106
00:09:56,751 --> 00:09:59,709
One little incident of my school days
occurs to me as amusing
107
00:09:59,751 --> 00:10:01,542
in relation to my present situation.
108
00:10:01,584 --> 00:10:03,251
Lionel Holland.
109
00:10:04,417 --> 00:10:06,209
What is the Sixth Commandment?
110
00:10:07,417 --> 00:10:09,417
Come, come now.
111
00:10:10,542 --> 00:10:11,667
Someone else then.
112
00:10:11,751 --> 00:10:13,917
I know, please, Miss Waterman.
113
00:10:14,042 --> 00:10:16,334
Louis Mazzini. Tell him.
114
00:10:18,167 --> 00:10:20,751
- Thou shalt not kill.
- Quite right, Louis.
115
00:10:20,834 --> 00:10:23,417
The Sixth Commandment is,
"Thou shalt not kill."
116
00:10:23,542 --> 00:10:25,209
No, in those days,
117
00:10:25,251 --> 00:10:28,376
I never had any trouble
with the Sixth Commandment.
118
00:10:28,417 --> 00:10:32,834
As to the Seventh, I was hardly of an age
to concern myself with it.
119
00:10:32,917 --> 00:10:36,042
Although I was old enough
to be in love.
120
00:10:36,084 --> 00:10:39,001
So Sibella enters my story.
121
00:10:39,084 --> 00:10:41,584
Sibella and her brother, Graham,
were my only close friends
122
00:10:41,709 --> 00:10:43,834
and we grew up together.
123
00:10:43,917 --> 00:10:48,417
In their case, Mama relaxed her objection
to my associating with the local children.
124
00:10:49,084 --> 00:10:53,084
At least their father, Dr Halworth,
was a professional man.
125
00:10:54,209 --> 00:10:58,209
Louis, we must think very carefully
about your future.
126
00:10:58,751 --> 00:11:00,584
Well, it should be quite easy
to get a job.
127
00:11:00,709 --> 00:11:03,417
Not a job, dear. A career.
128
00:11:05,376 --> 00:11:08,001
I had hoped for Cambridge for you.
129
00:11:08,084 --> 00:11:10,417
The D'Ascoynes always go to Trinity.
130
00:11:10,501 --> 00:11:13,584
And then, perhaps, the diplomatic.
131
00:11:13,709 --> 00:11:16,834
But I'm afraid it's no use
looking as high as that.
132
00:11:17,834 --> 00:11:20,251
However, when you've
passed your examination
133
00:11:20,334 --> 00:11:23,251
that should equip you for a start
in one of the professions.
134
00:11:23,334 --> 00:11:27,584
People of quite good family go into
the professions nowadays, I understand.
135
00:11:28,751 --> 00:11:31,417
Now, who do we know
who could help us?
136
00:11:32,417 --> 00:11:36,667
We don't really know anyone,
except the family, and they don't know us.
137
00:11:36,751 --> 00:11:39,417
The least we can do
is try once more.
138
00:11:41,917 --> 00:11:44,584
I shall write
to Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne.
139
00:11:44,709 --> 00:11:47,417
He can surely do something
in that bank of his.
140
00:11:47,542 --> 00:11:50,584
Bank, Mama? Is that a profession?
141
00:11:50,709 --> 00:11:53,417
This is a private bank, Louis, dear.
142
00:11:53,542 --> 00:11:56,001
They don't pass money over the counter.
143
00:11:56,084 --> 00:11:57,917
The letter was duly dispatched
144
00:11:58,001 --> 00:12:00,251
and this time we did get an answer.
145
00:12:00,376 --> 00:12:03,584
"Madam, I am instructed
by Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne
146
00:12:03,709 --> 00:12:06,917
"to inform you that he is not aware
of your son's existence
147
00:12:07,001 --> 00:12:10,084
"as a member
of the D'Ascoyne family."
148
00:12:10,209 --> 00:12:12,584
Signed by his secretary.
149
00:12:12,709 --> 00:12:16,251
It's very stupid of him, of them all,
not to admit your existence
150
00:12:16,376 --> 00:12:19,209
when one day you might be
duke of Chalfont.
151
00:12:19,251 --> 00:12:21,251
It's a very big "might", Mama.
152
00:12:21,334 --> 00:12:23,751
There must be at least 12 people
before me
153
00:12:23,876 --> 00:12:26,209
to say nothing of the ones
who haven't been born yet.
154
00:12:26,251 --> 00:12:28,834
Stranger things have happened.
155
00:12:28,917 --> 00:12:31,917
I don't wish to be unchristian,
but in view of their attitude,
156
00:12:32,042 --> 00:12:35,501
I could almost wish those 12 people
should all die tomorrow.
157
00:12:36,917 --> 00:12:38,751
All except one, Mama.
158
00:12:38,876 --> 00:12:42,376
Because you must be duchess
of Chalfont before I'm duke.
159
00:12:45,167 --> 00:12:49,251
It will have to be a job, not a career,
after all, Mama.
160
00:12:49,334 --> 00:12:51,667
I'm afraid so, Louis.
161
00:12:51,751 --> 00:12:54,167
A D'Ascoyne in trade.
162
00:12:54,251 --> 00:12:56,709
Did poor Mama's silly dreaming
163
00:12:56,751 --> 00:13:00,251
plant in my brain some seed
which was afterwards to grow
164
00:13:00,376 --> 00:13:03,834
into the most sensational
criminal endeavour of the century?
165
00:13:03,917 --> 00:13:06,251
If so, I was not conscious of it
at the time
166
00:13:06,376 --> 00:13:08,667
for there were things
of more immediate concern.
167
00:13:08,751 --> 00:13:11,334
Even potential dukes have to eat.
168
00:13:11,417 --> 00:13:14,834
Mr Perkins,
our lodger for nearly 15 years,
169
00:13:14,917 --> 00:13:16,542
did his best to be helpful.
170
00:13:16,584 --> 00:13:19,209
He was employed as shop walker
in a local drapery store
171
00:13:19,251 --> 00:13:21,209
and found employment for me there.
172
00:13:21,251 --> 00:13:23,501
The possible future duke of Chalfont
173
00:13:23,584 --> 00:13:27,834
became what was known
as a general assistant at the drapery.
174
00:13:27,917 --> 00:13:32,042
This humiliation continued
for two dispiriting years.
175
00:13:33,167 --> 00:13:36,167
And then one day, Mama,
who had broken her glasses
176
00:13:36,251 --> 00:13:38,584
and could not afford
to have them mended,
177
00:13:38,667 --> 00:13:41,584
was knocked down by a tram
near Clapham Junction
178
00:13:41,709 --> 00:13:43,584
and fatally injured.
179
00:13:45,584 --> 00:13:48,251
- Louis.
- Yes, Mama.
180
00:13:49,709 --> 00:13:52,834
I should like to be buried
at Chalfont,
181
00:13:53,542 --> 00:13:55,542
in the family vault.
182
00:13:57,251 --> 00:13:58,709
Yes, Mama.
183
00:14:07,917 --> 00:14:12,417
I wrote to the Duke
informing him of Mama's dying wish.
184
00:14:12,501 --> 00:14:15,584
His reply
was the curtest possible refusal.
185
00:14:15,709 --> 00:14:20,167
Standing by Mama's poor little grave
in that hideous suburban cemetery,
186
00:14:20,251 --> 00:14:24,709
I made an oath that I would revenge
the wrongs her family had done her.
187
00:14:26,084 --> 00:14:29,376
It was no more than
a piece of youthful bravado
188
00:14:29,417 --> 00:14:34,167
but it was one of those acorns
from which great oaks are destined to grow.
189
00:14:34,251 --> 00:14:36,876
Even then I went so far
as to examine the family tree
190
00:14:36,917 --> 00:14:39,709
and prune it
to just the living members.
191
00:14:39,751 --> 00:14:42,417
But what could I do to hurt them?
192
00:14:42,501 --> 00:14:44,792
What could I take from them,
193
00:14:44,876 --> 00:14:48,417
except, perhaps, their lives?
194
00:14:48,501 --> 00:14:51,209
I indulged for a moment
in a fantasy of all 12 of them
195
00:14:51,292 --> 00:14:54,042
being wiped out simultaneously
at a family reunion
196
00:14:54,126 --> 00:14:55,834
by my unseen hand.
197
00:14:55,917 --> 00:15:00,709
Of the penniless boy from Clapham being
miraculously transplanted to his birthright.
198
00:15:00,792 --> 00:15:03,542
I even speculated
as to how I might contrive it.
199
00:15:05,126 --> 00:15:07,084
But there were
other more urgent problems.
200
00:15:07,167 --> 00:15:10,917
Mama's tiny income came from an annuity
and had died with her.
201
00:15:12,417 --> 00:15:16,751
The problem of how to live
on 25 shillings a week was solved for me
202
00:15:16,834 --> 00:15:20,001
by an invitation from Dr Halworth
to lodge with them.
203
00:15:20,084 --> 00:15:23,834
It was galling to accept the status
of a poor relation
204
00:15:23,917 --> 00:15:27,959
but the certainty of seeing Sibella
every day was too tempting to be refused.
205
00:15:28,792 --> 00:15:32,292
Louis, I'm so glad you accepted.
206
00:15:32,376 --> 00:15:34,334
It was my idea, you know.
207
00:15:35,417 --> 00:15:37,917
- I've brought you something.
- Oh, Louis, you shouldn't have.
208
00:15:38,001 --> 00:15:40,376
You can't possibly afford it.
209
00:15:43,001 --> 00:15:45,376
Oh, what a bother. There's Lionel.
210
00:15:45,792 --> 00:15:47,751
See you at supper.
211
00:15:58,251 --> 00:16:01,834
The next few years
brought many such heartbreaks,
212
00:16:01,917 --> 00:16:03,834
but they also brought promotion.
213
00:16:03,917 --> 00:16:06,626
Laces and ribbons
at 30 shillings a week,
214
00:16:06,709 --> 00:16:09,251
fabrics at 32 and six.
215
00:16:09,334 --> 00:16:12,251
Finally, ladies' underwear at 35.
216
00:16:23,417 --> 00:16:25,876
I decided that
if I was to be a draper,
217
00:16:25,959 --> 00:16:29,292
at least I would not be
a suburban draper.
218
00:16:29,376 --> 00:16:33,376
So I migrated to a large modern store which
had just been opened in the West End,
219
00:16:33,459 --> 00:16:36,584
at the gigantic salary of £2 a week.
220
00:16:38,542 --> 00:16:41,917
Every lunchtime I went to see
how my inheritance was proceeding.
221
00:16:42,001 --> 00:16:44,959
Sometimes the deaths column
brought good news.
222
00:16:53,751 --> 00:16:56,917
Sometimes,
the births column brought bad.
223
00:16:58,626 --> 00:17:02,251
The advent of twin sons to the Duke
was a terrible blow.
224
00:17:04,917 --> 00:17:07,209
Fortunately, an epidemic of diphtheria
225
00:17:07,292 --> 00:17:10,292
restored the status quo almost immediately
226
00:17:10,376 --> 00:17:13,667
and even brought me a bonus
in the shape of the Duchess.
227
00:17:14,876 --> 00:17:17,542
That summer, the Halworths gave a party.
228
00:17:25,334 --> 00:17:27,917
- Good evening, Sibella.
- Hello, Louis.
229
00:17:29,001 --> 00:17:31,834
- You do look nice.
- So do you.
230
00:17:31,917 --> 00:17:34,417
- Doesn't he, Lionel?
- Very.
231
00:17:43,334 --> 00:17:45,209
Emboldened by her kindness to me,
232
00:17:45,292 --> 00:17:48,292
I made a decision
I'd been toying with for some time.
233
00:17:49,751 --> 00:17:52,667
Well, that's the last of them,
thank heaven.
234
00:17:53,626 --> 00:17:56,042
- What an evening.
- I thought it was a very nice evening.
235
00:17:56,126 --> 00:17:58,167
It may have been for you. Oh!
236
00:17:58,251 --> 00:18:02,751
It's awful being a woman,
having to dance with a lot of dull men,
237
00:18:02,834 --> 00:18:05,834
laugh at their jokes
while they're treading on your feet.
238
00:18:05,917 --> 00:18:08,834
- I didn't tread on your feet.
- You're not dull.
239
00:18:08,917 --> 00:18:11,501
- And your jokes are funny.
- Thank you.
240
00:18:12,709 --> 00:18:14,959
- Sibella?
- Mmm-hmm?
241
00:18:15,042 --> 00:18:17,792
Sibella, will you marry me?
242
00:18:20,001 --> 00:18:22,709
Louis, of course not. Do get up.
243
00:18:22,792 --> 00:18:24,792
You may be half Italian,
but even so,
244
00:18:24,876 --> 00:18:27,417
you do look silly
playing the stage lover like that.
245
00:18:27,501 --> 00:18:29,959
- Oh, I look silly, do I?
- Yes. Very.
246
00:18:37,126 --> 00:18:39,084
Do I still look silly?
247
00:18:45,751 --> 00:18:47,834
Now, will you marry me?
248
00:18:48,667 --> 00:18:50,209
No.
249
00:18:50,876 --> 00:18:53,917
- Why not?
- Because I just said I'd marry Lionel.
250
00:18:56,292 --> 00:18:58,834
- You can't.
- Why not?
251
00:18:58,917 --> 00:19:01,334
Well, he's a clod.
He's not a gentleman.
252
00:19:01,417 --> 00:19:03,417
Listen to who's talking.
253
00:19:03,501 --> 00:19:06,751
Whoever heard of a gentleman
blacking the lodger's boots?
254
00:19:07,167 --> 00:19:10,042
That's a wicked thing to say.
Just because Mama was poor.
255
00:19:10,292 --> 00:19:12,334
Lionel will be very rich one day.
256
00:19:12,626 --> 00:19:16,376
- I might be a duke one day.
- Pigs might fly.
257
00:19:16,459 --> 00:19:19,834
No, I might. Really, I might.
You see, Mama was the daughter...
258
00:19:19,917 --> 00:19:21,709
Oh, yes. I know.
259
00:19:21,792 --> 00:19:23,417
Well, when you are a duke,
260
00:19:23,501 --> 00:19:26,292
you just come and show me your crown,
or whatever it's called
261
00:19:26,376 --> 00:19:28,667
and then I'll feel awfully silly,
won't I?
262
00:19:28,751 --> 00:19:29,792
Yes, you will.
263
00:19:29,876 --> 00:19:33,376
Anyhow, I'm going to marry Lionel
and now I'm going to bed.
264
00:19:37,292 --> 00:19:40,167
You will.
265
00:19:42,876 --> 00:19:44,459
If there was a precise moment
266
00:19:44,542 --> 00:19:47,626
at which my insubstantial dreaming
took on solid purpose
267
00:19:47,709 --> 00:19:49,584
that was it.
268
00:19:49,667 --> 00:19:52,584
The D'Ascoynes had not only
wronged my mother,
269
00:19:52,667 --> 00:19:56,167
they were the obstacle between me
and all that I wanted.
270
00:19:57,334 --> 00:20:01,042
The more I thought of them,
these people whom I had studied
271
00:20:01,126 --> 00:20:04,751
until I knew their names and histories
as well as I knew my own,
272
00:20:04,834 --> 00:20:07,959
the more they became monsters
of arrogance and cruelty
273
00:20:08,042 --> 00:20:12,126
whose only function in the world
was to deprive me of my birthright.
274
00:20:14,876 --> 00:20:18,251
I had seen Chalfont
only as Mama had painted it.
275
00:20:22,876 --> 00:20:25,709
To pass in through
that magnificent gateway,
276
00:20:25,792 --> 00:20:30,501
on Visitors Day at a cost of sixpence
was a humiliating experience,
277
00:20:30,584 --> 00:20:33,042
but I forced myself to undergo it.
278
00:20:33,126 --> 00:20:37,209
I wanted a closer view of the target
at which I had determined to aim.
279
00:20:40,834 --> 00:20:44,126
I little expected to catch
a glimpse of the bull's-eye.
280
00:20:48,501 --> 00:20:49,917
Excuse me, sir.
281
00:20:50,626 --> 00:20:53,792
There were then some eight people
between me and the dukedom
282
00:20:53,876 --> 00:20:56,292
all seemingly equally out of reach.
283
00:20:56,376 --> 00:20:58,834
It is so difficult to make a neat job
of killing people
284
00:20:58,917 --> 00:21:01,751
with whom one is not
on friendly terms.
285
00:21:02,167 --> 00:21:05,292
I was almost resigned
to its being an impossibility
286
00:21:05,376 --> 00:21:09,167
when one afternoon, at a moment when
my thoughts were furthest from the subject,
287
00:21:09,251 --> 00:21:11,292
fate took a hand.
288
00:21:11,376 --> 00:21:14,334
If you've nothing better,
those will have to do.
289
00:21:14,792 --> 00:21:17,209
These London shops
are so far behind Paris.
290
00:21:17,292 --> 00:21:19,584
Parcel them up quickly,
and we'll take them with us.
291
00:21:19,667 --> 00:21:22,501
- Charge them to my account.
- Yes, sir. What is the name?
292
00:21:23,292 --> 00:21:25,334
Mr Ascoyne D'Ascoyne.
293
00:21:27,084 --> 00:21:30,251
At last, I was face to
face with one of them.
294
00:21:30,334 --> 00:21:33,626
This was the son
of Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, the banker,
295
00:21:33,709 --> 00:21:36,667
whose refusal to help me
towards a more dignified career
296
00:21:36,751 --> 00:21:39,459
had led to my present
ignominious occupation.
297
00:21:40,376 --> 00:21:42,167
What right had this arrogant puppy
298
00:21:42,251 --> 00:21:45,959
to be standing on the other side
of the counter ordering me about?
299
00:21:46,042 --> 00:21:49,167
In my excitement and anger,
I listened openly to their conversation.
300
00:21:49,251 --> 00:21:52,042
I've booked rooms
at Cruickshanks' at Maidenhead.
301
00:21:52,126 --> 00:21:53,917
We'll go down late
on Friday afternoon.
302
00:21:54,001 --> 00:21:55,667
Are you sure it's safe?
303
00:21:55,751 --> 00:21:59,126
It's the most discreet place.
In fact, anonymous.
304
00:22:00,376 --> 00:22:03,834
Hey, you. Get on with that parcel,
and never mind what we're talking about.
305
00:22:03,917 --> 00:22:06,292
Don't you dare touch me like that!
306
00:22:06,376 --> 00:22:09,251
I'm not interested
in your idiotic conversation.
307
00:22:09,334 --> 00:22:12,792
If you want to add impertinence
to your eavesdropping,
308
00:22:13,542 --> 00:22:15,709
we'll soon see about that.
309
00:22:17,459 --> 00:22:20,834
The upshot was
that I was dismissed on the spot.
310
00:22:20,917 --> 00:22:23,459
I decided to repay him in kind
311
00:22:23,542 --> 00:22:27,459
by dismissing him with equal
suddenness from this world.
312
00:22:27,542 --> 00:22:31,709
His conversation had told me where I could
probably find the opportunity to kill him.
313
00:22:31,792 --> 00:22:35,334
Dr Halworth's dispensary
had provided me with a means.
314
00:22:37,626 --> 00:22:40,501
With the week's wages
I had received in lieu of notice,
315
00:22:40,584 --> 00:22:43,959
I invested in suitable apparel
for a weekend at Maidenhead.
316
00:22:53,751 --> 00:22:56,417
It was possible
they might remember me
317
00:22:56,501 --> 00:22:58,126
but I thought it unlikely,
318
00:22:58,209 --> 00:23:01,459
shop assistants being commonly
regarded as an inferior race
319
00:23:01,542 --> 00:23:04,667
who never emerge
from the other side of the counter.
320
00:23:07,834 --> 00:23:10,751
I decided
to take the bull by the horns.
321
00:23:12,209 --> 00:23:14,876
Forgive me. I wonder if you could
oblige me with a match.
322
00:23:14,959 --> 00:23:16,792
- Certainly.
- Thank you.
323
00:23:17,751 --> 00:23:21,417
- Haven't we met before somewhere?
- I don't think so.
324
00:23:22,084 --> 00:23:25,126
Funny, 'cause I could have sworn
I knew your face.
325
00:23:25,209 --> 00:23:27,417
- Were you at Monte last year?
- The year before.
326
00:23:27,501 --> 00:23:30,209
Ah, that must be it.
Won't you join me?
327
00:23:30,292 --> 00:23:32,459
Thank you. Not this evening.
328
00:23:32,542 --> 00:23:34,459
We are rather tired.
329
00:23:40,792 --> 00:23:43,959
I deprecated their retiring so early,
330
00:23:44,042 --> 00:23:45,959
but it was hard to blame them,
331
00:23:46,042 --> 00:23:48,626
for weekends, like life, are short.
332
00:23:49,792 --> 00:23:52,709
The next morning,
I waited for them to come down
333
00:23:52,792 --> 00:23:54,751
and the next afternoon.
334
00:23:57,542 --> 00:24:00,001
They didn't appear the whole day.
335
00:24:05,376 --> 00:24:06,667
Nor the morning after.
336
00:24:23,042 --> 00:24:24,959
I no longer felt sentimental.
337
00:24:25,042 --> 00:24:27,376
The weekend was nearly over,
and I could hardly expect providence
338
00:24:27,459 --> 00:24:30,917
to offer me
so promising a chance again.
339
00:24:31,001 --> 00:24:32,959
I was in a state of desperation
340
00:24:33,042 --> 00:24:36,251
and I followed them,
hoping for I knew not what.
341
00:24:37,376 --> 00:24:41,417
I had the poison with me, but they
hadn't even taken a picnic basket.
342
00:24:41,501 --> 00:24:45,167
It was possible, however, that they might
stop somewhere for refreshment.
343
00:24:48,001 --> 00:24:50,959
They did stop shortly afterwards,
344
00:24:51,042 --> 00:24:53,001
but not for that.
345
00:24:54,209 --> 00:24:57,667
Judging by past experience,
they would be there for hours.
346
00:25:17,959 --> 00:25:19,792
The rest followed automatically.
347
00:25:19,876 --> 00:25:23,251
I had fortunately learned to swim
at the Clapham Municipal Baths,
348
00:25:23,334 --> 00:25:26,292
though I never had occasion
to try it underwater.
349
00:25:27,459 --> 00:25:30,251
I had no wish to surface
under their noses,
350
00:25:30,334 --> 00:25:33,542
though I doubt if they would have
noticed me even if I had.
351
00:25:38,959 --> 00:25:40,917
It was beautifully timed.
352
00:26:15,417 --> 00:26:17,292
I was sorry about the girl,
353
00:26:17,417 --> 00:26:20,251
but found some relief in the reflection
that she had presumably,
354
00:26:20,334 --> 00:26:23,959
during the weekend, already undergone
a fate worse than death.
355
00:26:33,417 --> 00:26:37,292
I decided to defer consideration
of where and how I should next strike
356
00:26:37,417 --> 00:26:40,251
until my nerves
were thoroughly restored.
357
00:26:40,834 --> 00:26:42,917
It must be remembered
that I was very young
358
00:26:43,001 --> 00:26:46,334
and, furthermore,
I am not naturally callous.
359
00:26:48,417 --> 00:26:50,751
I suddenly conceived a brilliant idea.
360
00:26:52,459 --> 00:26:57,501
I would write a carefully phrased letter
of condolence to old Ascoyne D'Ascoyne.
361
00:26:57,584 --> 00:27:01,751
It would be an agreeable feeling of revenge
for his cruelty to Mama.
362
00:27:01,834 --> 00:27:04,834
And, further, it had not failed to occur
to me that there was, at the moment,
363
00:27:04,917 --> 00:27:07,001
a vacancy in the banking house.
364
00:27:08,084 --> 00:27:10,626
Ascoyne D'Ascoyne duly rose to the bait.
365
00:27:12,626 --> 00:27:15,084
Please be seated, Mr Mazzini.
366
00:27:19,417 --> 00:27:21,417
How do you do?
367
00:27:27,084 --> 00:27:29,001
My late son.
368
00:27:33,417 --> 00:27:34,751
A great loss.
369
00:27:35,251 --> 00:27:36,959
He was young and foolish
370
00:27:37,084 --> 00:27:40,626
but I believe had he been spared
until his maturity...
371
00:27:40,751 --> 00:27:44,417
It was my consciousness of that which led
me to presume to tender you my sympathy.
372
00:27:44,459 --> 00:27:46,584
I am glad that you did so.
373
00:27:46,626 --> 00:27:50,917
A loss so tragic serves to put lesser
matters in their proper perspective.
374
00:27:51,959 --> 00:27:54,459
If I remember rightly, Mr Mazzini,
375
00:27:54,584 --> 00:27:58,917
some years ago
I received a communication
376
00:27:58,959 --> 00:28:00,917
from your mother.
377
00:28:01,417 --> 00:28:02,792
My late mother.
378
00:28:10,501 --> 00:28:13,084
Hello, Louis.
You look very pleased with yourself.
379
00:28:13,167 --> 00:28:15,334
- So do you.
- I have news.
380
00:28:15,417 --> 00:28:16,917
- So have I.
- What is it?
381
00:28:16,959 --> 00:28:18,001
No, yours first.
382
00:28:18,084 --> 00:28:22,084
Lionel and I have fixed a date
for our wedding, in two months' time.
383
00:28:22,167 --> 00:28:23,751
My congratulations.
384
00:28:23,834 --> 00:28:27,001
No, I should congratulate him.
I compliment you.
385
00:28:27,084 --> 00:28:29,917
- Now yours.
- Nothing as exciting as yours.
386
00:28:30,917 --> 00:28:33,501
I went today to see Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne,
my cousin, you know.
387
00:28:34,167 --> 00:28:36,251
He has a private banking house
in the city.
388
00:28:36,292 --> 00:28:38,917
He offered me employment at once
at £5 a week
389
00:28:39,001 --> 00:28:41,334
with excellent prospects
for promotion.
390
00:28:42,584 --> 00:28:46,334
Louis, I'm so glad for you.
391
00:28:47,959 --> 00:28:51,584
- Louis, do you remember?
- What?
392
00:28:52,084 --> 00:28:54,501
Once, in this room,
393
00:28:55,751 --> 00:28:57,834
after my party...
394
00:28:58,417 --> 00:29:00,834
- I kissed you.
- Yes.
395
00:29:00,917 --> 00:29:02,792
And you were horrible to me.
396
00:29:02,917 --> 00:29:04,167
Yes.
397
00:29:05,084 --> 00:29:08,667
I made fun about you
being related to the D'Ascoynes.
398
00:29:09,917 --> 00:29:11,834
I'm sorry.
399
00:29:11,917 --> 00:29:13,501
You'll take it more seriously now?
400
00:29:13,584 --> 00:29:15,084
Yes.
401
00:29:16,126 --> 00:29:18,167
Louis, kiss me,
402
00:29:19,417 --> 00:29:21,751
to show you forgive me.
403
00:29:25,251 --> 00:29:28,834
No, it would be wrong.
You're pledged to Lionel.
404
00:29:28,917 --> 00:29:31,751
I behaved like a cad that night.
405
00:29:31,792 --> 00:29:34,751
I like you when you behave
like a cad.
406
00:29:41,626 --> 00:29:44,834
You're a person who must dance
through life, Sibella,
407
00:29:44,917 --> 00:29:47,626
and I hope Lionel won't tread
on your feet too often.
408
00:29:52,251 --> 00:29:54,584
My new employment
was humble enough
409
00:29:54,626 --> 00:29:58,251
but I had to test the rungs of the ladder
before I could climb it.
410
00:30:04,667 --> 00:30:07,626
That's very nice.
411
00:30:08,084 --> 00:30:12,126
The next candidate for removal
seemed to be young Henry D'Ascoyne,
412
00:30:12,251 --> 00:30:14,834
24 years old, recently married,
413
00:30:14,917 --> 00:30:17,084
as yet, without issue.
414
00:30:17,167 --> 00:30:20,126
I had quite an accumulation by now
of D'Ascoyne data
415
00:30:20,251 --> 00:30:22,959
culled from newspapers and periodicals,
416
00:30:23,084 --> 00:30:25,959
and I looked through it
for a possible approach to Henry.
417
00:30:26,084 --> 00:30:27,917
I found one.
418
00:30:28,001 --> 00:30:31,084
I bought the necessary equipment,
second hand,
419
00:30:31,126 --> 00:30:34,001
and bicycled down
the following weekend.
420
00:30:34,084 --> 00:30:37,417
I had studied a couple of photographic
manuals during the week,
421
00:30:37,459 --> 00:30:40,167
and found that, in practice,
the mysteries of the camera
422
00:30:40,251 --> 00:30:42,959
demand a little more
than ordinary intelligence,
423
00:30:43,084 --> 00:30:46,834
plus the ability to judge
a subject upside-down.
424
00:30:46,917 --> 00:30:50,251
It was thus, indeed,
that I first saw Henry D'Ascoyne.
425
00:31:05,334 --> 00:31:08,834
My method of approach proved
an instantaneous success.
426
00:31:08,917 --> 00:31:12,334
Excuse me.
Isn't that a Thornton Pickard?
427
00:31:12,417 --> 00:31:14,626
Yes. Are you a photographer?
428
00:31:14,751 --> 00:31:17,001
Dabble in it. Got a Sanger Shepherd.
429
00:31:17,084 --> 00:31:18,917
- A Sanger Shepherd?
- Nice little camera.
430
00:31:19,001 --> 00:31:21,667
Focal plane shutter,
rapid rectilinear and all that.
431
00:31:21,751 --> 00:31:24,501
Look here. Why not come up
to my house and I'll show it to you?
432
00:31:24,584 --> 00:31:26,751
Well, I'd be most interested.
433
00:31:28,126 --> 00:31:31,417
- My name's D'Ascoyne, by the way.
- Mine is Mazzini.
434
00:31:32,167 --> 00:31:34,626
He seemed a very pleasant fellow
435
00:31:34,751 --> 00:31:37,292
and I regretted that our acquaintanceship
must be so short.
436
00:31:38,459 --> 00:31:41,126
Had one of the potting sheds
fixed up as a darkroom.
437
00:31:41,251 --> 00:31:43,417
Couldn't have suited better
if it had been built for it.
438
00:31:43,459 --> 00:31:45,251
Had the equipment
sent down from town.
439
00:31:45,751 --> 00:31:49,084
And I must say the results
have been absolutely top-hole.
440
00:31:49,126 --> 00:31:53,209
I'll show you some quarter-plates
I've taken about the village.
441
00:31:55,084 --> 00:31:58,417
There we are.
Absolutely lightproof, except for this.
442
00:31:58,542 --> 00:32:03,251
Everything to hand, developing dishes here,
toning bath here, whole-plate enlarger.
443
00:32:03,376 --> 00:32:05,751
- Perfect.
- Not too bad, is it?
444
00:32:06,792 --> 00:32:09,292
Talking of the village, by the by,
I don't know if you're thinking
445
00:32:09,417 --> 00:32:12,209
of sending any of your efforts here
to some periodical,
446
00:32:12,251 --> 00:32:14,251
but there's just one thing.
447
00:32:15,709 --> 00:32:18,209
I'm sure you're a good fellow,
or I wouldn't like to ask.
448
00:32:18,251 --> 00:32:20,251
Ask what?
449
00:32:20,292 --> 00:32:23,917
I'd be most grateful if you'd keep back
that last plate you exposed.
450
00:32:24,584 --> 00:32:27,251
- The inn? But it was delightful.
- Yes.
451
00:32:27,876 --> 00:32:30,917
The fact is, my wife has views
about such places,
452
00:32:30,959 --> 00:32:33,084
so I never go in them,
you understand?
453
00:32:33,126 --> 00:32:35,209
Naturally, I wouldn't dream
of embarrassing you.
454
00:32:35,251 --> 00:32:38,792
I knew you were a good fellow.
Suppose we drink on it?
455
00:32:41,084 --> 00:32:44,251
Unless you have views yourself,
of course.
456
00:32:44,292 --> 00:32:45,917
- None.
- Splendid.
457
00:32:46,417 --> 00:32:49,251
What shall it be?
Sherry? Whisky?
458
00:32:52,417 --> 00:32:54,542
I think a small developer.
459
00:32:55,876 --> 00:32:59,251
The mental picture of his wife
that I had formed from Henry's words
460
00:32:59,292 --> 00:33:03,084
left me unprepared for the charm
of the woman I was to meet.
461
00:33:03,126 --> 00:33:06,584
She was as tall and slender as a lily
and as beautiful.
462
00:33:06,626 --> 00:33:09,459
My dear, this is Mr Mazzini.
He has a Thornton Pickard.
463
00:33:09,584 --> 00:33:11,751
Mr Mazzini, my wife.
464
00:33:12,459 --> 00:33:14,917
I'm no photographer myself,
Mr Mazzini,
465
00:33:15,042 --> 00:33:18,209
but I share my husband's pleasure
in welcoming a fellow enthusiast.
466
00:33:18,251 --> 00:33:21,126
- You'll take some sherry?
- Well, thank you, I...
467
00:33:26,751 --> 00:33:30,292
My husband and I never touch alcohol,
but we see no reason, on that account,
468
00:33:30,417 --> 00:33:32,584
to enforce our views on our guests.
469
00:33:32,709 --> 00:33:34,042
Glass of sherry, Harwood.
470
00:33:34,084 --> 00:33:36,709
I have some printing frames
out in the sun.
471
00:33:36,751 --> 00:33:39,042
If you don't mind,
I'll just run out and see to them.
472
00:33:40,751 --> 00:33:43,251
Have you been in the neighbourhood long,
Mr Mazzini?
473
00:33:43,376 --> 00:33:45,084
A few hours only.
474
00:33:45,209 --> 00:33:47,251
I was cycling through the village
475
00:33:47,292 --> 00:33:49,917
and felt compelled to stop
and make a study or two of the inn.
476
00:33:50,042 --> 00:33:52,917
- It looked so charming.
- It does look charming.
477
00:33:53,709 --> 00:33:55,209
But I'm afraid it's, by no means,
478
00:33:55,251 --> 00:33:57,792
an influence for good
in the lives of our people here.
479
00:33:57,917 --> 00:33:59,584
The landlord
is a former coachman of ours.
480
00:33:59,709 --> 00:34:02,876
I have spoken to him several times about
the amount of drinking that goes on there
481
00:34:02,917 --> 00:34:04,959
but he continues to allow it.
482
00:34:05,084 --> 00:34:07,251
It is, after all, I suppose,
his livelihood.
483
00:34:07,292 --> 00:34:09,417
I do not consider he has the right
to make a livelihood
484
00:34:09,542 --> 00:34:11,876
by exploiting the weaknesses
of his fellow men.
485
00:34:13,126 --> 00:34:15,417
Put as you put it,
it does sound deplorable.
486
00:34:15,542 --> 00:34:18,209
It is deplorable.
Will you excuse me a moment?
487
00:34:19,126 --> 00:34:20,251
Harwood.
488
00:34:21,209 --> 00:34:23,626
I could well understand
Henry's visits to the village inn
489
00:34:23,751 --> 00:34:26,251
and his stock of refreshments
in the darkroom.
490
00:34:26,292 --> 00:34:29,542
Mrs D'Ascoyne was beautiful,
but what a prig she was.
491
00:34:30,251 --> 00:34:33,459
I wondered how
to ingratiate myself with her,
492
00:34:33,584 --> 00:34:36,917
and decided to attack on her own ground
and with her own weapons.
493
00:34:36,959 --> 00:34:40,417
I'm afraid we can offer you
only a simple luncheon, Mr Mazzini.
494
00:34:40,459 --> 00:34:43,792
You are most kind,
but I feel I should not intrude.
495
00:34:43,917 --> 00:34:46,959
- It is no intrusion.
- I'm afraid it is.
496
00:34:48,417 --> 00:34:51,251
- May I explain?
- Please do.
497
00:34:54,876 --> 00:34:57,251
It was only when your husband
told me his name
498
00:34:57,376 --> 00:35:02,417
that I realised that I'd come by chance
into the most embarrassing situation.
499
00:35:02,542 --> 00:35:05,751
My mother was a member
of the D'Ascoyne family.
500
00:35:05,876 --> 00:35:08,751
She married,
as they thought, beneath her.
501
00:35:08,792 --> 00:35:11,376
And from that day,
they refused to recognise her
502
00:35:11,417 --> 00:35:13,584
or my existence.
503
00:35:14,251 --> 00:35:18,959
I feel that, although in the circumstances
you might hesitate to say so to my face,
504
00:35:19,084 --> 00:35:22,917
you and your husband would prefer
not to receive me at your table.
505
00:35:23,042 --> 00:35:26,584
Perhaps you would be good enough
to explain matters to your husband for me.
506
00:35:26,626 --> 00:35:29,417
I shall, naturally,
leave the neighbourhood at once.
507
00:35:29,459 --> 00:35:31,917
Mr Mazzini, please sit down.
508
00:35:33,084 --> 00:35:34,209
Oh.
509
00:35:36,459 --> 00:35:39,251
You have exhibited
the most delicate feelings.
510
00:35:39,792 --> 00:35:42,709
I know nothing of the history
to which you refer,
511
00:35:42,751 --> 00:35:45,584
but I have often felt that the attitude
of my husband's family
512
00:35:45,626 --> 00:35:47,709
has failed to move with the times,
513
00:35:47,751 --> 00:35:50,209
that they think too much
of the rights of nobility
514
00:35:50,251 --> 00:35:52,542
and too little of its duties.
515
00:35:52,584 --> 00:35:57,084
The very honesty of your behaviour
would appear to me to prove them wrong.
516
00:35:57,126 --> 00:36:00,292
Was Lord Tennyson far from the mark
when he wrote,
517
00:36:00,417 --> 00:36:02,751
"Kind hearts are more than coronets
518
00:36:02,792 --> 00:36:05,042
"and simple faith than Norman blood"?
519
00:36:06,084 --> 00:36:07,626
I hope you will stay to luncheon.
520
00:36:08,501 --> 00:36:12,417
Oh, in that case,
I shall be delighted and honoured.
521
00:36:12,626 --> 00:36:15,751
My impersonation of a
man of sterling character
522
00:36:15,876 --> 00:36:17,584
was such a resounding success
523
00:36:17,709 --> 00:36:22,084
that Mrs D'Ascoyne invited me to spend
the following Saturday-to-Monday with them.
524
00:36:24,084 --> 00:36:27,917
When I returned to the somewhat
contrasting atmosphere of Clapham,
525
00:36:27,959 --> 00:36:31,584
I found the house in a whirl with
preparation for Sibella's wedding to Lionel
526
00:36:31,709 --> 00:36:34,042
which was to take place next day.
527
00:36:34,084 --> 00:36:37,126
Before going to bed that evening,
I wandered into the old nursery
528
00:36:37,251 --> 00:36:39,209
to fetch a book I'd left there.
529
00:36:48,376 --> 00:36:50,126
Penny for them.
530
00:36:50,251 --> 00:36:52,417
Oh, hello, Louis.
531
00:36:55,459 --> 00:36:58,251
You're not looking as radiantly happy
as young females in your situation
532
00:36:58,376 --> 00:36:59,417
are supposed to look.
533
00:36:59,542 --> 00:37:02,917
I was just thinking of all the fun
we've had in this room.
534
00:37:03,042 --> 00:37:05,959
- You and I and Graham.
- And Lionel.
535
00:37:06,751 --> 00:37:08,917
Yes, and Lionel.
536
00:37:11,584 --> 00:37:15,417
Oh, Louis,
I don't want to marry Lionel!
537
00:37:15,459 --> 00:37:17,792
- Why not?
- He's so dull!
538
00:37:19,376 --> 00:37:22,376
I must admit he exhibits the most
extraordinary capacity for middle age
539
00:37:22,417 --> 00:37:25,959
that I've ever encountered
in a young man of 24.
540
00:37:26,084 --> 00:37:29,709
However, it's a bit late in the
day to think of that, isn't it?
541
00:37:29,751 --> 00:37:33,084
I know. That only makes it worse.
542
00:37:33,126 --> 00:37:36,084
- I always told you, you should marry me.
- I know.
543
00:37:37,459 --> 00:37:39,917
That makes it worse too.
544
00:37:54,417 --> 00:37:57,584
You look more lovely
today than I've ever seen you.
545
00:38:01,042 --> 00:38:04,251
You're a lucky man, Lionel.
Take my word for it.
546
00:38:09,126 --> 00:38:12,084
I could not help feeling that
even Sibella's capacity for lying
547
00:38:12,209 --> 00:38:14,751
was going to be taxed to the utmost.
548
00:38:14,876 --> 00:38:17,584
Time had brought me revenge on Lionel.
549
00:38:18,251 --> 00:38:20,209
And as the Italian proverb says,
550
00:38:20,251 --> 00:38:24,417
"Revenge is a dish which people of taste
prefer to eat cold."
551
00:38:27,584 --> 00:38:30,251
The following Saturday I left London
in the middle of the night
552
00:38:30,376 --> 00:38:32,417
and reached Henry's house just before dawn.
553
00:38:36,959 --> 00:38:39,376
It took a mere three minutes
to substitute petrol
554
00:38:39,417 --> 00:38:42,209
for the paraffin in the darkroom lamp.
555
00:38:42,584 --> 00:38:45,292
And I then repaired to a meadow
and took a few hours' sleep
556
00:38:45,417 --> 00:38:48,209
while awaiting the hour at which
I could reasonably arrive at the house.
557
00:38:50,542 --> 00:38:53,209
The day dragged by
in an agony of suspense for me.
558
00:38:53,626 --> 00:38:56,584
Henry took photograph
after photograph,
559
00:38:56,709 --> 00:39:00,626
but seemed to have no urge whatever
to follow it up with a visit to the darkroom.
560
00:39:04,417 --> 00:39:05,626
Bravo, Edith!
561
00:39:06,042 --> 00:39:09,959
I began to fear that he had
suddenly taken the pledge.
562
00:39:10,959 --> 00:39:14,584
I think I'll just go and develop these
before tea. Care to come?
563
00:39:14,709 --> 00:39:17,417
I would, indeed, but I have a slight headache.
The sun, I think.
564
00:39:17,542 --> 00:39:19,959
And I'm afraid the chemicals
wouldn't improve it.
565
00:39:20,084 --> 00:39:22,542
Mr Mazzini and I will have tea
under the tulip tree.
566
00:39:22,584 --> 00:39:24,751
I've always found that
most beneficial for a headache.
567
00:39:25,251 --> 00:39:27,792
I'm afraid Henry
will think me a poor enthusiast.
568
00:39:27,917 --> 00:39:31,251
I sometimes think that
he is too great a one.
569
00:39:31,292 --> 00:39:33,209
In a way, I am to blame for it.
570
00:39:33,626 --> 00:39:36,126
Before we were married,
he had few interests.
571
00:39:36,251 --> 00:39:38,209
He used to spend the greater part
of each day at his club.
572
00:39:39,917 --> 00:39:41,251
I felt that such a life was unhealthy
573
00:39:41,292 --> 00:39:44,084
and persuaded him to come
and live here in the country.
574
00:39:45,251 --> 00:39:46,917
I hoped
that perhaps he would interest himself
575
00:39:46,959 --> 00:39:49,917
in the welfare of our tenantry, as I do.
576
00:39:50,209 --> 00:39:52,251
But he became interested in photography
on our honeymoon
577
00:39:52,876 --> 00:39:57,042
and since then it has become
the major preoccupation of his life.
578
00:39:58,042 --> 00:40:00,292
- Mr Mazzini...
- Yes?
579
00:40:00,417 --> 00:40:02,959
I hope you will forgive my speaking to you
on a personal matter,
580
00:40:03,626 --> 00:40:06,209
but it worries me that Henry
should spend so much time on his hobby
581
00:40:06,251 --> 00:40:08,417
that he has little left
for any more useful activity.
582
00:40:09,251 --> 00:40:11,376
Am I right to let him go on like this?
583
00:40:11,417 --> 00:40:14,251
I could hardly point out that
Henry now had no time left
584
00:40:14,292 --> 00:40:16,084
for any kind of activity,
585
00:40:16,126 --> 00:40:18,751
so I continued to discuss his future.
586
00:40:18,876 --> 00:40:20,917
He has never shown any wish
for a career in politics?
587
00:40:21,751 --> 00:40:24,376
- None.
- Nor any other ambitions?
588
00:40:24,417 --> 00:40:27,917
One only. To win a prize
at the Salon Photography in Brussels.
589
00:40:29,292 --> 00:40:30,792
What is it?
590
00:40:30,917 --> 00:40:34,751
Oh, they're just burning some leaves
at the bottom of the garden.
591
00:40:34,876 --> 00:40:37,626
But they can't be at this time of year.
592
00:40:39,751 --> 00:40:41,917
- Henry!
- No. You stay here.
593
00:40:42,584 --> 00:40:44,292
Needless to say, I was too late.
594
00:40:46,084 --> 00:40:49,251
The funeral service was held
in the village church at Chalfont,
595
00:40:49,376 --> 00:40:52,209
prior to interment in the family vault.
596
00:40:53,584 --> 00:40:56,126
Mrs D'Ascoyne, who had discerned in me
597
00:40:56,251 --> 00:40:59,459
a man of delicate sensibility
and high purpose
598
00:40:59,584 --> 00:41:02,417
asked me to accompany her
on the cross-country journey.
599
00:41:03,251 --> 00:41:05,251
"To everything there is a season
600
00:41:05,292 --> 00:41:09,251
"and a time to every purpose
under the heaven.
601
00:41:10,126 --> 00:41:13,751
"A time to be born, and a time to die."
602
00:41:14,126 --> 00:41:16,542
The occasion was interesting,
in that it provided me
603
00:41:16,584 --> 00:41:19,751
with my first sight
of the D'Ascoynes en masse.
604
00:41:20,584 --> 00:41:23,126
Interesting and somewhat depressing,
605
00:41:23,251 --> 00:41:26,417
for it emphasised how
far I had yet to travel.
606
00:41:26,876 --> 00:41:28,709
There was the Duke.
607
00:41:32,417 --> 00:41:35,376
There was my employer,
Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne.
608
00:41:37,376 --> 00:41:40,251
There was Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne.
609
00:41:42,751 --> 00:41:45,917
There was General Lord
Rufus D'Ascoyne.
610
00:41:48,917 --> 00:41:51,792
There was Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne.
611
00:41:55,876 --> 00:41:59,417
And in the pulpit,
talking interminable nonsense
612
00:41:59,542 --> 00:42:01,626
the Reverend Lord Henry D'Ascoyne.
613
00:42:01,751 --> 00:42:03,542
The life cut short
614
00:42:04,292 --> 00:42:09,084
was one rich in achievement and promise
615
00:42:09,542 --> 00:42:11,959
of service to humanity.
616
00:42:12,084 --> 00:42:14,542
The D'Ascoynes certainly
appeared to have accorded
617
00:42:14,584 --> 00:42:16,751
with the tradition of the landed gentry
618
00:42:16,792 --> 00:42:20,084
and sent the fool of the family
into the church.
619
00:42:21,584 --> 00:42:24,084
Well, goodbye, my dear.
620
00:42:24,959 --> 00:42:27,251
- Goodbye.
- No fretting now.
621
00:42:27,292 --> 00:42:30,417
After all, one thing to be said,
we all have to come to it.
622
00:42:31,417 --> 00:42:35,751
Great thing, you know, family vault like ours.
Constant reminder of one's heritage.
623
00:42:35,792 --> 00:42:37,959
Now, take this new cremation nonsense.
624
00:42:38,084 --> 00:42:41,376
Who wants to see his nearest and dearest
put in an incinerator?
625
00:42:41,417 --> 00:42:44,417
I think, sir, Mrs D'Ascoyne should leave.
The wind is turning cold.
626
00:42:44,542 --> 00:42:46,876
As Mrs D'Ascoyne thinks best.
627
00:42:48,459 --> 00:42:51,126
Glad we had Cousin Henry
to take the service.
628
00:42:51,251 --> 00:42:54,751
Boring old ass,
but it keeps the thing in the family.
629
00:42:55,251 --> 00:42:57,251
People getting strange ideas these days.
630
00:42:57,376 --> 00:42:59,417
Had a fellow write to me not so long ago,
631
00:42:59,542 --> 00:43:02,709
wanted to bury his mother here
from Tooting or somewhere.
632
00:43:02,751 --> 00:43:05,584
Start letting strangers in,
the place will be full up.
633
00:43:05,709 --> 00:43:07,459
No room for us, eh?
634
00:43:08,417 --> 00:43:11,084
I privately promised him that
I would make it my business
635
00:43:11,126 --> 00:43:13,459
to see there was room for him.
636
00:43:18,542 --> 00:43:21,542
Uncle Ethelred is not
the most tactful of men.
637
00:43:21,584 --> 00:43:23,792
I could gladly have struck him.
638
00:43:23,917 --> 00:43:26,709
Thank you for intervening when you did.
639
00:43:29,251 --> 00:43:31,417
The house will be so empty
640
00:43:31,917 --> 00:43:34,584
and yet he will be in it everywhere.
641
00:43:35,876 --> 00:43:38,917
I find the thought of
life there hard to face.
642
00:43:38,959 --> 00:43:41,251
Must you stay there? A new environment...
643
00:43:41,917 --> 00:43:43,459
I must,
644
00:43:43,584 --> 00:43:45,417
for one reason if no other.
645
00:43:45,542 --> 00:43:49,251
They would say I was running away,
that there was truth in all these rumours.
646
00:43:49,376 --> 00:43:52,084
- Rumours?
- In the village.
647
00:43:52,876 --> 00:43:54,709
There's been gossip.
648
00:43:55,251 --> 00:43:58,251
They say that Henry drank in secret.
649
00:43:59,917 --> 00:44:01,876
They even say that
that was the cause of the accident.
650
00:44:02,751 --> 00:44:06,292
I'm sure that Henry would never have
professed one thing and practised another.
651
00:44:07,917 --> 00:44:09,584
I, too, am sure.
652
00:44:11,376 --> 00:44:13,376
Otherwise, I think I could not survive.
653
00:44:13,917 --> 00:44:17,209
We have a long way to go.
Try to sleep a little.
654
00:44:18,417 --> 00:44:19,876
Sleep does not come easily.
655
00:44:20,417 --> 00:44:21,792
Please try.
656
00:44:23,042 --> 00:44:24,376
Allow me.
657
00:44:28,251 --> 00:44:30,042
I was conscious that a new obsession
658
00:44:30,084 --> 00:44:34,251
was about to join the one that I should
wear the coronet of the duke of Chalfont,
659
00:44:34,917 --> 00:44:38,417
that Edith D'Ascoyne should wear that
of the duchess beside me.
660
00:44:39,376 --> 00:44:42,459
Her dignity of bearing
at the worst moments of her grief
661
00:44:42,584 --> 00:44:44,751
had impressed me with the feeling
that here was a woman
662
00:44:44,792 --> 00:44:47,292
whose quality matched her beauty.
663
00:44:47,917 --> 00:44:50,126
I resolved to embark upon her courtship
664
00:44:50,251 --> 00:44:53,917
as soon as a decent period of mourning
should have elapsed.
665
00:44:54,251 --> 00:44:58,584
Sibella? Yes, Sibella was pretty enough
in her suburban way.
666
00:44:59,251 --> 00:45:01,209
And, indeed, there was no reason
why we shouldn't continue
667
00:45:01,251 --> 00:45:03,292
to meet on friendly terms.
668
00:45:03,417 --> 00:45:06,792
But her face would have looked
rather out of place under a coronet.
669
00:45:09,751 --> 00:45:12,751
That, sir, is a list of bills
due for redemption this week.
670
00:45:12,876 --> 00:45:15,209
I've marked in red those
asking for renewal.
671
00:45:15,251 --> 00:45:19,376
Aitcheson, yes.
Pole and Carter, I suppose so.
672
00:45:19,417 --> 00:45:21,709
Knollis Limited, oh, no.
673
00:45:21,751 --> 00:45:23,751
Redbank and Holland...
674
00:45:23,792 --> 00:45:25,917
You have a friend there, have you not?
675
00:45:26,042 --> 00:45:28,626
An acquaintance. I know Lionel Holland.
676
00:45:28,751 --> 00:45:31,084
Would you say that he's sound?
677
00:45:31,584 --> 00:45:32,959
I wouldn't say not, sir.
678
00:45:33,084 --> 00:45:34,709
Hmm. Thank you.
679
00:45:40,251 --> 00:45:42,626
- Mazzini.
- Yes, sir?
680
00:45:43,417 --> 00:45:46,542
I've watched your progress here
with great care
681
00:45:46,584 --> 00:45:49,917
and have been gratified to note
that it has fully justified my judgement
682
00:45:49,959 --> 00:45:52,251
in inviting you into the firm.
683
00:45:52,376 --> 00:45:56,792
In view of that, and in order that
you may be able to adopt a style of living
684
00:45:56,917 --> 00:45:59,751
befitting a member of the D'Ascoyne family,
685
00:45:59,876 --> 00:46:03,209
I have decided
to appoint you my private secretary
686
00:46:03,251 --> 00:46:06,251
at a salary of £500 per annum.
687
00:46:07,084 --> 00:46:10,376
- Sir, I cannot begin to...
- Oh, please do not try.
688
00:46:10,417 --> 00:46:14,084
I had intended
that my son should occupy the position.
689
00:46:14,917 --> 00:46:18,876
I can only say that I will try
to make my occupancy of it
690
00:46:18,917 --> 00:46:20,792
worthy of his memory.
691
00:46:24,709 --> 00:46:26,417
I left the Halworths' house
692
00:46:26,542 --> 00:46:29,292
and took a bachelor
apartment in St James's.
693
00:46:29,417 --> 00:46:32,084
Clapham no longer held Sibella's presence
to compensate me
694
00:46:32,126 --> 00:46:34,792
for the tedious journey
between the suburbs and the city.
695
00:46:37,084 --> 00:46:41,459
Anyhow, it would be vastly more convenient
for her to visit me here.
696
00:46:54,417 --> 00:46:57,959
Now, let me have a look
at the beautiful Mrs Holland.
697
00:46:58,084 --> 00:47:01,251
- No, I think I prefer Miss Halworth.
- So do I.
698
00:47:02,417 --> 00:47:05,751
Louis, it's very wrong
of me to visit you here.
699
00:47:05,876 --> 00:47:08,959
- Why?
- A married woman calling on a bachelor?
700
00:47:10,292 --> 00:47:12,126
A dangerous bachelor
701
00:47:13,084 --> 00:47:14,751
in his apartment.
702
00:47:14,876 --> 00:47:16,376
I? Dangerous?
703
00:47:19,084 --> 00:47:21,792
These things only become wrong
when people know about them.
704
00:47:21,917 --> 00:47:24,792
This is a very discreet apartment.
That's why I chose it.
705
00:47:24,917 --> 00:47:28,126
So that young women
could call on you in safety?
706
00:47:29,417 --> 00:47:31,917
So that one young woman could.
707
00:47:32,959 --> 00:47:35,251
How did you know she'd want to?
708
00:47:35,376 --> 00:47:36,626
I hoped.
709
00:47:40,542 --> 00:47:43,542
- How did you enjoy your honeymoon?
- Not at all.
710
00:47:45,251 --> 00:47:46,626
Not at all?
711
00:47:47,626 --> 00:47:49,084
Not at all.
712
00:47:51,376 --> 00:47:53,626
- And how was Italy?
- Oh, impossible!
713
00:47:54,126 --> 00:47:57,376
Every time I wanted to go shopping,
Lionel dragged me off to a church
714
00:47:57,417 --> 00:47:59,209
or picture gallery.
715
00:47:59,251 --> 00:48:02,751
- Said he wanted to improve his mind.
- He has room to do so.
716
00:48:03,417 --> 00:48:07,042
I should reprove you
for saying unkind things about him
717
00:48:07,084 --> 00:48:08,584
but I can't.
718
00:48:10,209 --> 00:48:14,709
Louis, I think I've married
the most boring man in London.
719
00:48:14,751 --> 00:48:16,876
- In England.
- In Europe!
720
00:48:20,584 --> 00:48:24,209
Oh, the Italian men are so handsome,
721
00:48:24,751 --> 00:48:28,251
but I could never get away
from Lionel for a moment.
722
00:48:29,542 --> 00:48:32,251
But I was forgetting, you're Italian.
723
00:48:32,709 --> 00:48:33,876
Half.
724
00:48:39,542 --> 00:48:40,876
Louis...
725
00:48:42,126 --> 00:48:44,917
I can speak frankly to you?
726
00:48:46,709 --> 00:48:48,917
Well, if not to me, to whom?
727
00:48:49,751 --> 00:48:51,376
I shall go mad.
728
00:48:51,876 --> 00:48:54,917
Already when he touches me,
I want to scream.
729
00:49:09,751 --> 00:49:11,417
What am I doing?
730
00:49:13,251 --> 00:49:14,917
You know very well.
731
00:49:14,959 --> 00:49:17,084
You're playing with fire.
732
00:49:17,584 --> 00:49:19,459
At least it warms me.
733
00:49:20,959 --> 00:49:22,376
I must go.
734
00:49:24,584 --> 00:49:26,751
Lionel's dining at home tonight.
735
00:49:26,792 --> 00:49:28,626
Where is Lionel dining tomorrow night?
736
00:49:28,751 --> 00:49:31,251
With some business acquaintances.
737
00:49:31,959 --> 00:49:34,626
And where are you dining tomorrow night?
738
00:49:34,751 --> 00:49:36,251
Here?
739
00:49:36,376 --> 00:49:37,542
Here.
740
00:49:44,376 --> 00:49:46,376
Poor little imprisoned bird.
741
00:49:46,417 --> 00:49:50,417
Well, she was welcome to come
and flutter her wings with me.
742
00:49:50,459 --> 00:49:53,084
I could think of many more
disagreeable ways of killing time
743
00:49:53,126 --> 00:49:55,042
pending the arrival of the moment
744
00:49:55,084 --> 00:49:57,126
when the conventional decencies
would permit me
745
00:49:57,251 --> 00:49:59,626
to make my declaration to Edith.
746
00:50:00,626 --> 00:50:04,251
As to the other undertaking,
I had not forgotten or forgiven
747
00:50:04,292 --> 00:50:06,917
the boredom of the sermon
at young Henry's funeral
748
00:50:07,292 --> 00:50:10,376
and I decided to promote
the Reverend Lord Henry D'Ascoyne
749
00:50:10,417 --> 00:50:11,959
to next place on the list.
750
00:50:12,542 --> 00:50:16,709
I therefore assumed the garb and character
of a colonial bishop
751
00:50:16,751 --> 00:50:21,917
spending his vacation making a collection
of brass rubbings from country churches.
752
00:50:24,084 --> 00:50:26,042
Good evening, my lord.
753
00:50:27,251 --> 00:50:28,751
It was, for a moment,
a shock to be addressed
754
00:50:28,792 --> 00:50:31,917
by my ecclesiastical title,
but I recovered quickly.
755
00:50:31,959 --> 00:50:36,459
Good evening. I was just taking a rubbing
of this most interesting brass.
756
00:50:36,751 --> 00:50:39,792
An ancestress of my dear late wife.
757
00:50:40,584 --> 00:50:43,084
Allow me to introduce myself.
758
00:50:43,126 --> 00:50:47,084
Henry D'Ascoyne, rector of this parish.
759
00:50:47,126 --> 00:50:50,542
Septimus Wilkinson, bishop of Matabeleland.
760
00:50:51,959 --> 00:50:56,542
I was spending my vacation taking a cycling
tour around your beautiful country churches.
761
00:50:56,584 --> 00:51:00,876
- Ah! Have you noticed our clerestory?
- Cle...
762
00:51:03,251 --> 00:51:05,084
Ah, exquisite!
763
00:51:05,209 --> 00:51:07,751
- The corbels are very fine.
- Hmm.
764
00:51:08,584 --> 00:51:12,709
Perhaps Your Lordship would permit me
to show you one or two other things
765
00:51:12,751 --> 00:51:14,417
in which we take a pride.
766
00:51:14,459 --> 00:51:16,584
I should be most interested.
767
00:51:16,709 --> 00:51:19,376
Our most notable features, of course,
768
00:51:19,751 --> 00:51:22,417
are the D'Ascoyne memorials.
769
00:51:23,084 --> 00:51:25,584
Every member of the family
770
00:51:26,042 --> 00:51:29,751
to a cadet branch
of which I have the honour to belong
771
00:51:29,876 --> 00:51:33,584
is buried here in the family vault.
772
00:51:35,126 --> 00:51:39,959
Here you will see
the first duke and his duchess.
773
00:51:40,709 --> 00:51:44,876
The dead watching, as it were,
over the living.
774
00:51:46,292 --> 00:51:49,542
The church is exceptionally endowed also
775
00:51:49,584 --> 00:51:52,959
with items of architectural interest.
776
00:51:54,376 --> 00:51:57,584
You will note that our chantry
777
00:51:57,709 --> 00:52:01,626
displays the crocketed and finialed ogee
778
00:52:01,751 --> 00:52:06,084
which marks it as very early Perpendicular.
779
00:52:07,917 --> 00:52:10,751
The bosses to the pendant are typical.
780
00:52:12,626 --> 00:52:14,584
And I always say
781
00:52:15,459 --> 00:52:18,292
that my west window
782
00:52:18,417 --> 00:52:21,792
has all the exuberance of Chaucer
783
00:52:22,751 --> 00:52:28,251
without, happily, any of
the concomitant crudities of his period.
784
00:52:28,292 --> 00:52:29,584
Hmm.
785
00:52:30,084 --> 00:52:32,251
Now we approach the font.
786
00:52:33,251 --> 00:52:36,376
At last he did as I had hoped
and invited me to dinner.
787
00:52:36,417 --> 00:52:39,959
The Reverend Lord Henry was not
one of those newfangled parsons
788
00:52:40,084 --> 00:52:43,751
who carry the principles of their vocation
uncomfortably into private life.
789
00:52:43,792 --> 00:52:46,376
However, he exhibited a polite interest
790
00:52:46,417 --> 00:52:48,917
in the progress of the Christian faith
in Matabeleland
791
00:52:49,042 --> 00:52:50,917
which I was at some difficulty to satisfy.
792
00:52:51,042 --> 00:52:53,709
The SPCK have provided us
793
00:52:53,751 --> 00:52:56,459
with a large number of copies
of the Good Book
794
00:52:56,584 --> 00:52:58,792
translated into Matabele.
795
00:52:58,917 --> 00:53:02,251
But as none of the natives can read
even their own language...
796
00:53:02,292 --> 00:53:06,251
- You speak Matabele yourself?
- Not as a native.
797
00:53:07,251 --> 00:53:09,626
It would be most interesting
798
00:53:09,751 --> 00:53:12,751
to hear a sample of the language.
799
00:53:13,584 --> 00:53:15,626
I'm afraid my Matabele is a little rusty.
800
00:53:15,876 --> 00:53:18,251
Oh, come, my lord.
801
00:53:20,209 --> 00:53:25,084
Daniel cast into the lions'
den, for example.
802
00:53:36,917 --> 00:53:39,751
It is a colloquial rendering, of course.
803
00:53:40,251 --> 00:53:41,959
Most interesting.
804
00:53:44,126 --> 00:53:46,209
My lord, the port is with you.
805
00:53:46,542 --> 00:53:47,584
Oh.
806
00:53:50,917 --> 00:53:53,917
- How do you find the wine?
- Admirable.
807
00:53:54,584 --> 00:53:57,126
- Courban '69.
- Oh.
808
00:53:57,251 --> 00:53:59,584
No finer year, in my view.
809
00:54:02,376 --> 00:54:06,042
My doctor, though,
is of a different opinion.
810
00:54:06,584 --> 00:54:08,584
And what does he favour?
811
00:54:10,251 --> 00:54:11,792
Abstinence.
812
00:54:14,626 --> 00:54:16,917
Would you care for a cigar?
813
00:54:18,126 --> 00:54:19,584
Thank you.
814
00:54:47,084 --> 00:54:48,251
Yes.
815
00:54:50,292 --> 00:54:55,251
He's continually warning me
about the state of my arteries.
816
00:55:00,751 --> 00:55:02,459
But I say to him,
817
00:55:03,417 --> 00:55:06,584
"What possible harm can there be
818
00:55:06,626 --> 00:55:09,042
"in one glass of an evening
819
00:55:11,292 --> 00:55:12,792
"or even two?"
820
00:55:13,251 --> 00:55:14,959
What harm, indeed.
821
00:55:16,917 --> 00:55:20,251
- You do not condemn me then?
- Not in the least.
822
00:55:21,751 --> 00:55:23,376
If I may say so,
823
00:55:24,209 --> 00:55:27,751
without disrespect to my superiors,
824
00:55:28,751 --> 00:55:32,126
your visit has brought me something
825
00:55:32,751 --> 00:55:37,584
which I could not expect
from any churchman in this country.
826
00:56:11,042 --> 00:56:13,584
I surmised, correctly, as it proved,
827
00:56:13,709 --> 00:56:17,584
that Lord Henry's doctor would assume
that he had succumbed to a surfeit of port
828
00:56:17,626 --> 00:56:20,084
and would politely ascribe death
to a heart attack.
829
00:56:20,917 --> 00:56:23,959
On my return to London,
I decided to proceed methodically
830
00:56:24,084 --> 00:56:27,209
with the elimination of
the remaining minor obstacles.
831
00:56:27,251 --> 00:56:32,084
Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne was a pioneer
in the campaign for women's suffrage.
832
00:56:38,417 --> 00:56:40,917
With the inconvenient consequence
that her public appearances
833
00:56:41,042 --> 00:56:44,917
were invariably made under the watchful
eyes of the metropolitan police.
834
00:56:45,042 --> 00:56:47,292
When she was not making
public appearances,
835
00:56:47,417 --> 00:56:50,584
she was in prison
and still more inaccessible.
836
00:56:50,709 --> 00:56:54,084
In fact, before I could learn
of a favourable opportunity,
837
00:56:54,126 --> 00:56:56,626
I had to join the movement myself.
838
00:56:57,126 --> 00:56:59,376
Secret plans had been made for Lady Agatha
839
00:56:59,417 --> 00:57:01,376
to celebrate her latest
release from Holloway
840
00:57:01,417 --> 00:57:04,459
by a shower of leaflets over Whitehall
and the West End.
841
00:57:38,376 --> 00:57:40,042
I shot an arrow in the air,
842
00:57:41,584 --> 00:57:44,292
she fell to Earth in Berkeley Square.
843
00:57:45,459 --> 00:57:49,209
Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne
presented a more difficult problem.
844
00:57:50,459 --> 00:57:52,917
He scarcely ever set foot ashore
845
00:57:54,126 --> 00:57:58,626
and I was beginning to feel that this task
was beyond even my ingenuity.
846
00:58:01,251 --> 00:58:04,209
When he was conveniently
involved in a naval disaster
847
00:58:04,251 --> 00:58:07,376
which arose from a combination
of natural obstinacy
848
00:58:07,417 --> 00:58:09,542
and a certain confusion of mind.
849
00:58:09,584 --> 00:58:11,417
Unfortunate in one of his rank.
850
00:58:12,709 --> 00:58:14,417
Bring her to port.
851
00:58:17,084 --> 00:58:20,084
- Surely you mean starboard, sir.
- Port!
852
00:58:29,209 --> 00:58:31,917
Both ships sank almost immediately.
853
00:58:31,959 --> 00:58:35,459
Though, fortunately,
all hands were saved, save one.
854
00:58:37,417 --> 00:58:40,417
Admiral Lord Horatio,
obstinate to the last,
855
00:58:40,459 --> 00:58:43,209
insisted on going down with his ship.
856
00:58:46,917 --> 00:58:50,251
General Lord Rufus D'Ascoyne,
on the other hand,
857
00:58:50,292 --> 00:58:52,626
who never tired of demonstrating
how he had fought
858
00:58:52,751 --> 00:58:55,709
the most calamitous campaign
of the South African War,
859
00:58:55,751 --> 00:58:57,209
was a fairly easy proposition.
860
00:58:57,251 --> 00:59:03,459
At that moment, the concealed enemy
emerged from behind the kopje.
861
00:59:04,084 --> 00:59:08,917
I held our guns' fire until
we could see the whites of their eyes.
862
00:59:09,042 --> 00:59:12,417
Then I gave the order. "Fire!"
863
00:59:13,792 --> 00:59:15,209
Boom, boom, boom.
864
00:59:16,459 --> 00:59:19,417
It seemed appropriate that
he who had lived amidst the cannon's roar
865
00:59:19,542 --> 00:59:21,542
should die explosively.
866
00:59:21,917 --> 00:59:26,917
I therefore concealed in a pot of caviar
a simple but powerful homemade bomb
867
00:59:27,626 --> 00:59:31,376
and through the post,
I sent the caviar to the general.
868
00:59:31,626 --> 00:59:34,292
I pretended to be
deceived by the feint
869
00:59:34,417 --> 00:59:36,626
and sent our horse to meet it.
870
00:59:36,751 --> 00:59:41,709
At that moment, the concealed enemy
emerged from behind the kopje.
871
00:59:42,292 --> 00:59:44,417
I held our guns' fire
872
00:59:44,542 --> 00:59:47,459
till we could see the whites of their eyes.
873
00:59:52,959 --> 00:59:56,292
Used to get a lot of
this stuff in the Crimea.
874
00:59:56,417 --> 00:59:59,251
One thing the Russkies do really well.
875
01:00:03,292 --> 01:00:05,459
Not an atom of him was left.
876
01:00:08,792 --> 01:00:13,876
One could almost believe there was a curse
on our unfortunate family, Mazzini.
877
01:00:13,917 --> 01:00:15,251
Indeed, sir, one could.
878
01:00:15,376 --> 01:00:18,751
I don't know if you realise
how close this series of tragedies
879
01:00:18,792 --> 01:00:20,959
has brought you to the succession.
880
01:00:21,084 --> 01:00:22,792
I had not actually given the matter
any thought, sir.
881
01:00:22,917 --> 01:00:24,751
Then it's time that you did.
882
01:00:24,792 --> 01:00:28,626
Do you not realise that you are
heir presumptive to the dukedom?
883
01:00:28,751 --> 01:00:31,251
That is to say, in the event of
the present duke dying without issue,
884
01:00:31,376 --> 01:00:34,417
I alone intervene between
you and the title.
885
01:00:34,876 --> 01:00:36,709
And I am an old man.
886
01:00:37,459 --> 01:00:40,417
I've never really recovered
from the first of these calamities.
887
01:00:41,209 --> 01:00:43,251
You mean I might become Duke of Chalfont?
888
01:00:43,376 --> 01:00:45,292
I mean that you almost certainly will.
889
01:00:46,751 --> 01:00:48,917
In view of that,
I feel it would be more fitting
890
01:00:49,042 --> 01:00:52,209
that you should cease to be
an employee here.
891
01:00:52,251 --> 01:00:55,459
- Oh.
- And become instead my partner.
892
01:00:56,876 --> 01:00:58,959
I am most deeply grateful and honoured.
893
01:00:59,084 --> 01:01:03,417
If you'll come round here,
I will make everything very clear to you.
894
01:01:12,626 --> 01:01:17,626
Uh, had she lived, your mother, of course,
would have succeeded before you.
895
01:01:18,167 --> 01:01:20,084
One of my first tasks as partner
896
01:01:20,126 --> 01:01:22,417
was to interview Lionel, who came cap...
897
01:01:22,959 --> 01:01:25,251
or rather, silk hat in hand.
898
01:01:26,417 --> 01:01:29,834
To save time, I presume you have called
to ask for renewal of your bill?
899
01:01:30,917 --> 01:01:33,251
The fact is, old boy, we sold short
900
01:01:33,334 --> 01:01:36,417
and the market hasn't
dropped as we expected.
901
01:01:36,501 --> 01:01:40,167
I feel entitled to point out
that we here regard our function
902
01:01:40,251 --> 01:01:43,251
as the encouragement
of constructive investment
903
01:01:43,334 --> 01:01:46,251
and not the financing
of mere gambling transactions.
904
01:01:46,334 --> 01:01:47,584
Now...
905
01:01:48,626 --> 01:01:50,917
It would have delighted
me to refuse him.
906
01:01:51,001 --> 01:01:53,667
However, a bankrupt Lionel
could hardly have continued
907
01:01:53,751 --> 01:01:56,292
to support Sibella in her extravagances
908
01:01:56,417 --> 01:01:58,751
and I had no wish to do so myself.
909
01:01:58,792 --> 01:02:03,084
Very well. We will renew
at three and a half percent.
910
01:02:03,501 --> 01:02:06,167
I judged that the time was now ripe
to make a move
911
01:02:06,251 --> 01:02:07,917
in the matter of Edith D'Ascoyne.
912
01:02:07,959 --> 01:02:10,084
It's becoming cold. Shall we go in?
913
01:02:11,084 --> 01:02:13,584
I know why you shivered just now.
914
01:02:13,667 --> 01:02:15,917
It was not because you were cold.
915
01:02:15,959 --> 01:02:17,084
No.
916
01:02:18,459 --> 01:02:20,501
I couldn't help remembering.
917
01:02:20,584 --> 01:02:23,459
I know. But do you try to forget?
918
01:02:24,501 --> 01:02:27,667
- I may sound harsh, but believe me...
- Please.
919
01:02:28,292 --> 01:02:29,667
Not there.
920
01:02:32,001 --> 01:02:34,501
Because it was Henry's chair.
921
01:02:34,584 --> 01:02:37,167
It hasn't been used since that day.
922
01:02:37,667 --> 01:02:39,501
Nothing of his.
923
01:02:39,584 --> 01:02:43,751
Everything is just as he left it,
his writing desk, his clothes.
924
01:02:44,459 --> 01:02:47,417
I cannot bear that it should be otherwise.
925
01:02:49,251 --> 01:02:51,834
You want this house to be a shrine.
926
01:02:51,917 --> 01:02:55,959
You're wrong.
Shrines are not meant to house the living.
927
01:02:57,167 --> 01:03:01,667
I have always respected you,
your principles, your courage,
928
01:03:01,751 --> 01:03:04,167
above any woman I've ever met.
929
01:03:04,251 --> 01:03:07,584
It is your duty to yourself and to others,
930
01:03:07,626 --> 01:03:09,459
to Henry even,
931
01:03:09,584 --> 01:03:12,667
to live again in the
present, in the future.
932
01:03:13,751 --> 01:03:15,167
What future is there for me?
933
01:03:22,167 --> 01:03:25,459
I am now going to say
something presumptuous.
934
01:03:25,584 --> 01:03:28,251
You must order me
from your house if you wish.
935
01:03:28,334 --> 01:03:29,917
It is this...
936
01:03:30,626 --> 01:03:34,917
If you should ever feel that
the constant support of a devoted admirer
937
01:03:34,959 --> 01:03:37,334
would be of assistance to you,
938
01:03:37,417 --> 01:03:40,584
I should be most honoured
if you would permit me
939
01:03:40,626 --> 01:03:43,126
to offer you my hand in marriage.
940
01:03:44,959 --> 01:03:46,417
Mr Mazzini...
941
01:03:53,626 --> 01:03:55,292
This is a shock.
942
01:03:57,292 --> 01:03:59,001
I'm most touched.
943
01:03:59,959 --> 01:04:02,251
Most grateful,
944
01:04:02,334 --> 01:04:06,251
but I could not consider
even the possibility of remarrying.
945
01:04:07,292 --> 01:04:10,626
I have spoken too boldly and too soon.
946
01:04:12,334 --> 01:04:16,292
Please regard what I have said merely
as something to draw upon
947
01:04:16,417 --> 01:04:18,084
should you ever feel so inclined.
948
01:04:18,792 --> 01:04:21,417
Sibella was waiting
for me when I got back.
949
01:04:21,459 --> 01:04:24,417
I was pleased to see her,
for while I never admired Edith
950
01:04:24,501 --> 01:04:26,584
as much as when I was with Sibella,
951
01:04:26,626 --> 01:04:29,584
I never longed for Sibella
as much as when I was with Edith.
952
01:04:31,959 --> 01:04:34,751
I'm afraid I'm late. Have you been bored?
953
01:04:34,834 --> 01:04:36,001
No.
954
01:04:36,501 --> 01:04:39,417
I've been looking into
the fire and thinking.
955
01:04:39,459 --> 01:04:41,501
- What about?
- Oh.
956
01:04:41,584 --> 01:04:44,959
How we used to roast chestnuts
round the other fire
957
01:04:45,084 --> 01:04:47,584
and what a lot has happened since.
958
01:04:47,667 --> 01:04:49,084
Such as?
959
01:04:49,126 --> 01:04:53,251
How you told me not to marry Lionel
because you might be a duke one day
960
01:04:53,292 --> 01:04:55,417
and how I laughed at you.
961
01:04:56,126 --> 01:04:58,251
And how I married Lionel
962
01:04:58,751 --> 01:05:01,417
and now you very nearly are a duke.
963
01:05:02,834 --> 01:05:04,667
We're much better off as we are, you and I.
964
01:05:04,751 --> 01:05:09,417
It's all very well for you to say that.
You're not married to Lionel.
965
01:05:09,459 --> 01:05:12,167
We see each other when we want to.
966
01:05:12,251 --> 01:05:14,251
We're not obliged to see each other
when we don't want to.
967
01:05:14,292 --> 01:05:17,459
We don't see each other
as often as I'd like to.
968
01:05:17,584 --> 01:05:20,417
- You've been away the whole weekend.
- I had to go.
969
01:05:20,459 --> 01:05:22,834
- Where?
- To see Mrs D'Ascoyne,
970
01:05:22,917 --> 01:05:25,667
the widow of that cousin of mine
who was killed.
971
01:05:25,751 --> 01:05:28,584
All your cousins seem to get killed.
972
01:05:28,626 --> 01:05:32,792
I really wouldn't be in the least surprised
if you'd murdered them all.
973
01:05:32,917 --> 01:05:35,126
- Oh.
- How clumsy of me.
974
01:05:47,251 --> 01:05:50,667
- Whatever made you say that?
- Just silliness.
975
01:05:51,501 --> 01:05:54,834
Well, if you promise not to tell anyone,
I'll let you in to my guilty secret.
976
01:05:54,917 --> 01:05:56,251
I did murder them all.
977
01:05:57,751 --> 01:06:00,292
I've suspected it for a long time.
978
01:06:01,417 --> 01:06:03,584
- What's she like?
- Who?
979
01:06:03,626 --> 01:06:07,792
- Mrs D'Ascoyne.
- Oh, she's tall, slender...
980
01:06:08,334 --> 01:06:09,667
Beautiful?
981
01:06:09,751 --> 01:06:11,667
Yes, I suppose some people
would call her beautiful.
982
01:06:11,751 --> 01:06:13,251
Would you?
983
01:06:13,292 --> 01:06:16,626
I suppose so.
I never really thought about that.
984
01:06:16,751 --> 01:06:19,834
What would you say
if she asked you about me?
985
01:06:28,501 --> 01:06:32,292
I'd say that you were
a perfect combination of imperfections.
986
01:06:32,417 --> 01:06:36,001
I'd say that your nose
was just a little too short,
987
01:06:36,084 --> 01:06:38,584
your mouth just a little too wide,
988
01:06:39,251 --> 01:06:41,751
but that yours was a face
that a man could see in his dreams
989
01:06:41,834 --> 01:06:43,959
for the whole of his life.
990
01:06:44,626 --> 01:06:47,459
I'd say that you were vain, selfish,
991
01:06:48,334 --> 01:06:50,917
cruel, deceitful.
992
01:06:52,751 --> 01:06:55,126
I'd say that you were adorable.
993
01:06:55,917 --> 01:06:58,751
I'd say that you were Sibella.
994
01:07:00,084 --> 01:07:02,167
What a pretty speech.
995
01:07:02,251 --> 01:07:03,626
I mean it.
996
01:07:04,751 --> 01:07:07,001
Come and say it to me again.
997
01:07:12,126 --> 01:07:14,751
I'd say your nose was
just a little too short,
998
01:07:14,834 --> 01:07:19,292
and your mouth, yes,
your mouth just a little too wide.
999
01:07:26,876 --> 01:07:29,917
Shortly afterwards,
my employer had a stroke.
1000
01:07:30,417 --> 01:07:32,126
There was little that could be done
1001
01:07:32,251 --> 01:07:35,417
and the doctor gave him a month,
at the most, to live.
1002
01:07:35,459 --> 01:07:38,084
I was glad, after all his kindness to me,
1003
01:07:38,167 --> 01:07:40,626
that I should not have to kill the old man.
1004
01:07:40,751 --> 01:07:44,084
Soon the only obstacle
between me and my inheritance
1005
01:07:44,126 --> 01:07:45,917
would be the Duke himself.
1006
01:07:46,292 --> 01:07:48,584
I could lay no plan for disposing of him
1007
01:07:48,667 --> 01:07:52,584
as the life he led within those great
stone walls was a closed book to me.
1008
01:07:52,626 --> 01:07:55,834
I was gloomily examining the problem
for the hundredth time
1009
01:07:55,917 --> 01:07:59,459
as I awaited one day the expected arrival
of Sibella at my apartments.
1010
01:08:06,917 --> 01:08:10,084
- Good afternoon, Mr Mazzini.
- Mrs D'Ascoyne.
1011
01:08:10,584 --> 01:08:12,001
I was passing through St James's
1012
01:08:12,084 --> 01:08:15,751
and thought I would take the opportunity
to call on you.
1013
01:08:19,084 --> 01:08:20,917
Was that wise? Discreet, I mean?
1014
01:08:21,334 --> 01:08:24,751
There are some conventions which must be
governed by individual circumstance.
1015
01:08:24,792 --> 01:08:27,792
Surely it is safe for a woman
to visit a man of your reputation.
1016
01:08:27,917 --> 01:08:29,751
It is of your reputation that I'm thinking.
1017
01:08:29,834 --> 01:08:33,334
Without being inhospitable, I would be
happier if your visit were not a long one.
1018
01:08:33,417 --> 01:08:36,292
I appreciate the scrupulousness
of your motives.
1019
01:08:36,417 --> 01:08:39,084
I have, anyhow,
only one important matter to speak of.
1020
01:08:39,126 --> 01:08:40,292
That is?
1021
01:08:40,417 --> 01:08:44,084
I have thought a great deal about
what you said at our last meeting
1022
01:08:44,167 --> 01:08:47,792
and I have tried to think
what Henry's wishes would be.
1023
01:08:48,084 --> 01:08:50,417
I remember he said to me once,
1024
01:08:51,126 --> 01:08:54,167
"You have too much good in you, Edith,
for one man.
1025
01:08:54,251 --> 01:08:56,251
"I sometimes wish
that others could have a share of it."
1026
01:08:59,459 --> 01:09:01,667
I have reconsidered the
offer you made to me.
1027
01:09:01,751 --> 01:09:04,417
Thank you again for it,
and accept it gladly.
1028
01:09:05,584 --> 01:09:07,417
You rob me of words.
1029
01:09:08,084 --> 01:09:11,667
I think, however, we should make
no announcement for three months, at least.
1030
01:09:12,126 --> 01:09:13,751
As you think best.
1031
01:09:13,834 --> 01:09:15,751
In these new circumstances
1032
01:09:15,792 --> 01:09:18,584
I think it more than ever desirable
that your unconventional,
1033
01:09:18,667 --> 01:09:21,251
though in its purpose delightful visit
should be cut short.
1034
01:09:21,751 --> 01:09:26,626
If your attention as a husband is equal
of your consideration as a friend,
1035
01:09:26,751 --> 01:09:29,751
I shall have made a
most fortunate decision.
1036
01:09:36,917 --> 01:09:39,167
Do you not think, though,
that perhaps Uncle Ethelred,
1037
01:09:39,251 --> 01:09:42,417
as head of the family,
should be told at once?
1038
01:09:42,917 --> 01:09:45,792
Perhaps so. Yes, I'll write to him.
1039
01:09:45,917 --> 01:09:47,917
Goodbye, Louis.
1040
01:09:48,001 --> 01:09:49,917
Goodbye, Edith.
1041
01:09:51,584 --> 01:09:54,834
You leave behind you
the happiest man in London.
1042
01:10:02,917 --> 01:10:04,292
This was not a piece of news
1043
01:10:04,417 --> 01:10:07,792
which I was looking forward
to breaking to Sibella.
1044
01:10:07,917 --> 01:10:09,751
She had no rights in the matter,
1045
01:10:09,792 --> 01:10:13,417
but women have a disconcerting ability
to make scenes out of nothing
1046
01:10:13,459 --> 01:10:17,417
and to prove themselves injured
when they themselves are at fault.
1047
01:10:19,126 --> 01:10:23,251
Anyhow, I had three months' grace
before I need face that storm.
1048
01:10:34,251 --> 01:10:37,167
Have you taken to using attar of roses?
1049
01:10:37,251 --> 01:10:40,292
- No. Why?
- Thought I could smell it.
1050
01:10:41,501 --> 01:10:45,001
I met such a beautiful woman
on the stairs just now.
1051
01:10:45,917 --> 01:10:47,417
I expect that would be Mrs D'Ascoyne.
1052
01:10:47,501 --> 01:10:49,626
- What was she doing here?
- She called in to see me.
1053
01:10:49,751 --> 01:10:52,626
- What about?
- Business. Family business.
1054
01:10:52,751 --> 01:10:55,251
Let me get you a glass of sherry.
1055
01:10:58,917 --> 01:11:01,917
A day or so later,
I received a letter from Lionel.
1056
01:11:01,959 --> 01:11:06,084
He requested an interview with me
at his house on a matter of some delicacy.
1057
01:11:06,167 --> 01:11:09,292
I was somewhat perturbed,
for nine times out of 10
1058
01:11:09,417 --> 01:11:12,042
what is referred to
as a matter of some delicacy
1059
01:11:12,126 --> 01:11:15,376
is, in point of fact,
one of extreme indelicacy.
1060
01:11:15,667 --> 01:11:19,334
Two days later,
I made the tedious journey to Bayswater.
1061
01:11:20,126 --> 01:11:23,334
It was typical of Lionel that he should
live on the wrong side of the park.
1062
01:11:23,417 --> 01:11:25,709
Hello, old boy. Have a drink.
1063
01:11:26,584 --> 01:11:29,376
No, thank you. Never during the day.
1064
01:11:29,459 --> 01:11:32,709
You don't mind if I do? Keep out the cold.
1065
01:11:33,251 --> 01:11:35,584
I was about to remark
on the warmth of the day.
1066
01:11:35,667 --> 01:11:38,292
- Just a joke, old boy.
- Ah, yes.
1067
01:11:38,876 --> 01:11:42,626
- Sit down, old boy.
- No, thank you. I would rather stand.
1068
01:11:45,001 --> 01:11:48,626
A warm day, isn't it?
For the time of the year, I mean.
1069
01:11:48,709 --> 01:11:52,292
Distinctly. It's also a very busy day.
1070
01:11:52,376 --> 01:11:54,667
May we proceed to the matter
about which you wished to see me?
1071
01:11:54,751 --> 01:11:58,209
Right. A matter of some delicacy,
actually, old boy.
1072
01:12:00,001 --> 01:12:03,251
But I said to myself,
"Louis is a sport and a man of the world.
1073
01:12:03,792 --> 01:12:06,501
- "Always been a sport."
- Thank you.
1074
01:12:06,584 --> 01:12:11,584
Always admired the sporting way in which you
took to Sibella marrying me and not you.
1075
01:12:11,667 --> 01:12:13,709
Some fellows would have
taken it very differently.
1076
01:12:14,584 --> 01:12:16,709
But "May the best man win," you said.
1077
01:12:17,209 --> 01:12:19,667
And when I won,
you behaved like a gentleman.
1078
01:12:19,751 --> 01:12:24,167
So I thought as you being keen on Sibella
at one time
1079
01:12:24,626 --> 01:12:29,084
and you and I are old friends,
I... I'd ask you to help us.
1080
01:12:29,167 --> 01:12:30,334
Help you?
1081
01:12:30,417 --> 01:12:33,167
I told you some time back
business hasn't been going so well.
1082
01:12:34,167 --> 01:12:37,292
Since then, it's gone worse. I'm bankrupt.
1083
01:12:37,959 --> 01:12:42,167
So I say to myself,
"Why not talk to my old pal, Louis Mazzini
1084
01:12:42,959 --> 01:12:47,667
"who we used to have such jolly times with
round the old nursery fire
1085
01:12:48,209 --> 01:12:49,834
"roasting chestnuts."
1086
01:12:49,917 --> 01:12:52,001
I'm afraid your memory is deceiving you.
1087
01:12:52,084 --> 01:12:56,667
By no stretch of imagination could you and
I be described as ever having been "pals".
1088
01:12:56,751 --> 01:12:59,292
If I remember correctly,
we detested each other cordially
1089
01:12:59,376 --> 01:13:00,542
from the first day we met,
1090
01:13:00,626 --> 01:13:03,126
with a detestation
which increased with our years.
1091
01:13:03,209 --> 01:13:06,834
Always thought of you as a pal.
Always have done.
1092
01:13:07,626 --> 01:13:08,917
That's why I said to myself...
1093
01:13:09,001 --> 01:13:11,459
It's only fair to warn you
that any further expense of breath
1094
01:13:11,542 --> 01:13:13,459
on this subject would be a waste.
1095
01:13:14,626 --> 01:13:16,626
You know what you're doing?
1096
01:13:16,709 --> 01:13:19,667
- Condemning me to death.
- What do you mean?
1097
01:13:19,751 --> 01:13:23,292
Only one way out for me,
do away with myself.
1098
01:13:23,792 --> 01:13:26,209
If you knew how absurd
these histrionics sounded...
1099
01:13:26,292 --> 01:13:29,751
I'm insured. At least the little woman
will be provided for.
1100
01:13:29,834 --> 01:13:33,167
- Oh, don't be ridiculous.
- Louis, I appeal to you.
1101
01:13:33,542 --> 01:13:37,459
Not for my sake,
but for the sake of the little woman.
1102
01:13:37,542 --> 01:13:39,876
Please rise from that absurd position.
1103
01:13:55,126 --> 01:13:58,334
All I can say is
I think you're a cad.
1104
01:13:58,876 --> 01:14:00,417
A selfish cad.
1105
01:14:02,667 --> 01:14:05,001
Let me remind you
of a little not-so-ancient history.
1106
01:14:05,751 --> 01:14:08,584
When I was a draper's assistant and you
a rich father's son,
1107
01:14:08,667 --> 01:14:10,251
you showed me no kindness.
1108
01:14:10,334 --> 01:14:14,001
Now our positions are reversed,
and you come whining to me for favours.
1109
01:14:14,084 --> 01:14:16,917
Draper's assistant. That's right.
1110
01:14:17,001 --> 01:14:19,459
Rotten little counterjumper.
That's all you are.
1111
01:14:20,417 --> 01:14:22,792
Very high and mighty now
1112
01:14:22,876 --> 01:14:26,084
but your mother married
an Italian organ-grinder.
1113
01:14:29,042 --> 01:14:30,417
- Stand up.
- Huh?
1114
01:14:30,501 --> 01:14:32,459
I said stand up.
1115
01:14:33,834 --> 01:14:37,292
I will not tolerate hearing
my mother's name on your coarse tongue.
1116
01:14:45,459 --> 01:14:49,042
If you take my advice, you'll go
and put your head under a cold tap.
1117
01:14:49,126 --> 01:14:52,792
I refuse to demean myself
by fighting with a drunken oaf.
1118
01:15:04,876 --> 01:15:07,959
There seemed no point
in prolonging this vulgar brawl
1119
01:15:08,042 --> 01:15:10,167
so I returned to my apartment.
1120
01:15:17,334 --> 01:15:19,751
I took a bath and decided to relax
for half an hour
1121
01:15:19,834 --> 01:15:22,126
and efface this disagreeable scene
from my memory.
1122
01:15:24,542 --> 01:15:26,501
I was not allowed to relax for long.
1123
01:15:32,167 --> 01:15:33,584
Sibella.
1124
01:15:36,751 --> 01:15:40,251
Louis, I'm sorry to worry you
when you must be so busy
1125
01:15:40,334 --> 01:15:42,459
but I have a piece
of important news.
1126
01:15:43,042 --> 01:15:44,167
Bad news.
1127
01:15:44,751 --> 01:15:46,751
I thought you ought
to know it at once.
1128
01:15:54,376 --> 01:15:56,167
Lionel has found out about us.
1129
01:15:57,584 --> 01:15:59,751
About me coming here.
1130
01:15:59,834 --> 01:16:01,542
- Really?
- Yes.
1131
01:16:01,626 --> 01:16:02,667
Oh.
1132
01:16:04,001 --> 01:16:07,626
I had the most dreadful scene
with him last night.
1133
01:16:08,709 --> 01:16:12,376
Well, I suppose even Lionel isn't
stupid enough to be deceived forever.
1134
01:16:12,459 --> 01:16:14,792
You won't take it so calmly
when you hear.
1135
01:16:16,084 --> 01:16:18,334
He's going to start
divorce proceedings.
1136
01:16:18,417 --> 01:16:20,459
How very unsophisticated of him.
1137
01:16:22,209 --> 01:16:26,542
There's only one possible
way out that I can see.
1138
01:16:28,042 --> 01:16:31,542
- And that is?
- Lionel is still in love with me.
1139
01:16:32,376 --> 01:16:34,751
My happiness
is all he cares about.
1140
01:16:35,459 --> 01:16:38,542
He might do the gentlemanly thing
and let me divorce him.
1141
01:16:39,542 --> 01:16:40,626
If?
1142
01:16:42,167 --> 01:16:44,709
If I were in a position to explain to him
1143
01:16:44,792 --> 01:16:47,751
that otherwise he will be jeopardizing
the social position
1144
01:16:47,834 --> 01:16:50,167
not only of the future duke,
1145
01:16:50,251 --> 01:16:52,917
but also the future duchess of Chalfont.
1146
01:16:55,084 --> 01:16:56,292
I see.
1147
01:17:02,917 --> 01:17:06,167
You're a clever little thing, Sibella,
but not quite clever enough.
1148
01:17:06,251 --> 01:17:07,584
What do you mean?
1149
01:17:07,667 --> 01:17:10,209
I mean that not only do I know
that you're blackmailing me,
1150
01:17:10,292 --> 01:17:12,501
an ugly word,
but the only appropriate one,
1151
01:17:12,584 --> 01:17:15,167
but I also know
that you're bluffing me.
1152
01:17:15,251 --> 01:17:17,292
Call my bluff and see.
1153
01:17:17,376 --> 01:17:18,709
I will.
1154
01:17:22,792 --> 01:17:24,501
Let me explain.
1155
01:17:24,584 --> 01:17:27,126
It must have seemed to you
that you hold a very strong hand.
1156
01:17:27,209 --> 01:17:29,584
But... A very important "but",
1157
01:17:29,667 --> 01:17:34,001
it so happens that I hold a card which
you did not even know to be in the pack.
1158
01:17:34,084 --> 01:17:35,376
Who's bluffing now?
1159
01:17:35,459 --> 01:17:38,626
It so happens that I was with Lionel
less than an hour ago.
1160
01:17:38,709 --> 01:17:42,126
And it was transparently clear
from his demeanour and conversation
1161
01:17:42,209 --> 01:17:45,667
that he had not the faintest suspicion
that you and I had any relationship
1162
01:17:45,751 --> 01:17:48,501
other than that of,
as he would probably put it,
1163
01:17:48,959 --> 01:17:53,084
old pals who used to roast chestnuts
together round the jolly old nursery fire.
1164
01:17:55,084 --> 01:17:58,292
So, while thanking you
for the honour that you've done me,
1165
01:17:58,376 --> 01:18:01,209
I must decline your offer
because I have other arrangements
1166
01:18:01,292 --> 01:18:03,084
which make it impossible for me
to accept it.
1167
01:18:03,167 --> 01:18:04,626
Namely?
1168
01:18:04,709 --> 01:18:08,084
I'm shortly going to announce
my engagement to Mrs D'Ascoyne.
1169
01:18:17,001 --> 01:18:20,042
May I say that I think
you've behaved despicably?
1170
01:18:22,584 --> 01:18:27,042
Has it ever occurred to you, Sibella,
that we serve each other right, you and I?
1171
01:18:32,167 --> 01:18:35,959
Would it be asking too much of your manners
to escort me to the door?
1172
01:18:43,376 --> 01:18:46,209
I had suspected that to
confide our secret to the Duke
1173
01:18:46,292 --> 01:18:49,459
might be an adroit manoeuvre,
and I was proved correct,
1174
01:18:49,542 --> 01:18:54,167
for it produced an invitation for Edith
and me to spend a few days at the castle.
1175
01:18:55,251 --> 01:18:59,084
I must confess that I could not suppress
an agreeable sensation of triumph
1176
01:18:59,167 --> 01:19:01,334
as I approached
the castle gateway
1177
01:19:01,417 --> 01:19:04,792
in circumstances so different
from those in which I had last done so.
1178
01:19:05,751 --> 01:19:08,209
It was just an informal
little house party.
1179
01:19:09,209 --> 01:19:13,167
Our fellow guests were Lady Redpole
and her daughter Maud,
1180
01:19:13,251 --> 01:19:16,542
who most suitably resembled
nothing so much as a red poll cow
1181
01:19:16,626 --> 01:19:18,584
and had little more
conversational ability.
1182
01:19:18,667 --> 01:19:21,667
- Did you go to the opera this season?
- No.
1183
01:19:24,917 --> 01:19:28,334
In the afternoon,
Ethelred invited me to inspect the castle.
1184
01:19:28,417 --> 01:19:30,626
It was pleasant to stand
on the battlements
1185
01:19:30,709 --> 01:19:34,001
and know that the acres
which stretched as far as the eye could see
1186
01:19:34,084 --> 01:19:35,917
would soon be mine.
1187
01:19:36,334 --> 01:19:40,376
And it amused me to cover much the same
ground as that of my sixpenny tour.
1188
01:19:41,501 --> 01:19:43,959
I had never been in a building
so lavishly equipped
1189
01:19:44,042 --> 01:19:46,376
with the instruments
of violent death.
1190
01:19:46,459 --> 01:19:48,376
Feel the weight of that.
1191
01:19:48,459 --> 01:19:51,001
Our ancestors must have
been fine men, Louis.
1192
01:19:54,042 --> 01:19:55,959
They seemed, however, ill-adapted
1193
01:19:56,042 --> 01:19:58,959
to the discreet requirements
of 20th-century homicide.
1194
01:20:00,042 --> 01:20:05,167
And the end of the day found my host
still intact and myself still without a plan.
1195
01:20:12,126 --> 01:20:14,417
Beautiful woman, Edith.
1196
01:20:14,501 --> 01:20:16,209
You're a lucky fellow, Louis.
1197
01:20:16,292 --> 01:20:18,501
I never cease to be conscious of that.
1198
01:20:18,876 --> 01:20:20,917
- Thank you.
- What do you think of Maud?
1199
01:20:21,417 --> 01:20:22,876
A charming girl,
1200
01:20:22,959 --> 01:20:26,251
though perhaps at times her conversation
is a little lacking in sparkle.
1201
01:20:26,334 --> 01:20:28,709
Dullest woman I ever met in my life.
1202
01:20:31,167 --> 01:20:32,959
Plain too.
1203
01:20:33,584 --> 01:20:35,709
But good breeding stock.
1204
01:20:38,292 --> 01:20:40,584
Good breeding stock, the Redpoles.
1205
01:20:41,292 --> 01:20:43,501
And they litter a very
high proportion of boys.
1206
01:20:45,876 --> 01:20:47,751
Do I gather you to mean...
1207
01:20:47,834 --> 01:20:52,876
Spoke to old Lady Redpole this afternoon.
Only too glad to get the girl off her hands.
1208
01:20:53,459 --> 01:20:54,834
My congratulations.
1209
01:20:56,834 --> 01:20:58,917
Duty to the family, really.
1210
01:20:59,542 --> 01:21:01,792
And when does the union take place?
1211
01:21:01,876 --> 01:21:04,501
Very soon.
I'm not growing any younger.
1212
01:21:04,584 --> 01:21:08,459
Mightn't get a son the first time.
Quiet wedding, I thought.
1213
01:21:08,542 --> 01:21:10,626
Maud's hardly the type for St Margaret's.
1214
01:21:11,792 --> 01:21:15,792
We shall honeymoon on the Riviera
and then go on to Italy afterwards.
1215
01:21:15,876 --> 01:21:18,501
No sense inflicting her on one's friends.
1216
01:21:20,292 --> 01:21:23,334
When she's got a family,
that'll keep her out of the way.
1217
01:21:25,251 --> 01:21:28,209
This news threw me into
such distress of mind
1218
01:21:28,292 --> 01:21:30,084
that had I had poison
in my possession
1219
01:21:30,167 --> 01:21:33,334
I would probably have administered it
to Ethelred there and then
1220
01:21:33,417 --> 01:21:35,792
and chanced the consequent inquiries.
1221
01:21:37,376 --> 01:21:41,126
One thing was clear,
if I did not succeed in disposing of him
1222
01:21:41,209 --> 01:21:43,626
during this present visit
to the castle,
1223
01:21:43,709 --> 01:21:46,667
I was likely to see the ruin
of my whole campaign.
1224
01:21:49,876 --> 01:21:52,709
My best wishes
for a successful outcome.
1225
01:21:54,751 --> 01:21:57,001
The next morning
I went out shooting with Ethelred
1226
01:21:57,084 --> 01:21:59,001
or rather,
to watch Ethelred shooting
1227
01:21:59,084 --> 01:22:02,876
for my principles will not allow me
to take a direct part in blood sports.
1228
01:22:02,959 --> 01:22:05,667
- Been round the traps this morning, Hoskins?
- Not yet, Your Grace.
1229
01:22:05,751 --> 01:22:08,376
Sounds as if we've bagged one there.
1230
01:22:08,459 --> 01:22:13,584
Ah. Been losing so much game lately,
we've started setting the mantraps again.
1231
01:22:22,334 --> 01:22:26,667
Hoskins is now going to thrash you.
Then he'll let you go.
1232
01:22:26,751 --> 01:22:29,917
Let this be a lesson to you
not to poach on my land.
1233
01:22:40,792 --> 01:22:42,209
That'll do.
1234
01:22:51,292 --> 01:22:54,501
Keep moving them around, Hoskins,
or they'll tell each other where they are.
1235
01:22:54,584 --> 01:22:56,209
Yes, Your Grace.
1236
01:22:58,001 --> 01:23:00,292
- I thought mantraps were illegal.
- They are.
1237
01:23:01,001 --> 01:23:02,292
What happens if he tells the police?
1238
01:23:02,376 --> 01:23:05,959
He comes up before the bench for poaching,
gets six months in jail.
1239
01:23:06,042 --> 01:23:09,834
If he keeps his mouth shut,
he just gets a few days in bed.
1240
01:23:10,417 --> 01:23:12,167
Which would you choose?
1241
01:23:17,417 --> 01:23:20,876
Only way to deal with these ruffians,
I assure you.
1242
01:23:20,959 --> 01:23:25,167
Oh. I must have dropped my cigarette case
back there. I'll catch you up.
1243
01:23:42,709 --> 01:23:44,376
- Find it?
- Yes, thanks.
1244
01:23:44,459 --> 01:23:48,042
Might have another walk round this afternoon,
if you feel like it.
1245
01:23:49,001 --> 01:23:50,626
That would be most pleasant.
1246
01:23:50,709 --> 01:23:55,209
After luncheon we went out to
massacre a few more unfortunate birds.
1247
01:23:56,209 --> 01:23:58,209
- Listen.
- What is it?
1248
01:23:58,292 --> 01:24:01,084
I thought I heard something,
like someone running through the bracken.
1249
01:24:01,167 --> 01:24:03,459
Another poaching ruffian! Come on!
1250
01:24:08,292 --> 01:24:10,584
There was someone here. Look.
1251
01:24:12,292 --> 01:24:13,917
Blast!
1252
01:24:14,001 --> 01:24:16,876
Louis, get me out of this. Hurry up, man.
1253
01:24:21,084 --> 01:24:23,584
- Have you gone mad?
- Be quiet, Ethelred.
1254
01:24:24,209 --> 01:24:26,376
I want to talk to you for a minute.
1255
01:24:26,459 --> 01:24:29,542
If you make a noise,
I shall blow your head off at once.
1256
01:24:31,417 --> 01:24:33,459
By the time anyone has heard the shot,
1257
01:24:33,542 --> 01:24:37,001
I shall be running back toward the castle,
shouting for help.
1258
01:24:38,042 --> 01:24:40,417
I shall say that you stepped on the trap
1259
01:24:41,042 --> 01:24:43,959
and that your gun went off
accidentally as it fell.
1260
01:24:44,042 --> 01:24:45,167
So be quiet.
1261
01:24:46,626 --> 01:24:49,126
To spare you as much pain as possible,
1262
01:24:49,584 --> 01:24:50,667
I'll be brief.
1263
01:24:55,459 --> 01:24:57,917
When I've finished, I shall kill you.
1264
01:24:59,626 --> 01:25:02,001
You'll be the sixth
D'Ascoyne that I've killed.
1265
01:25:02,084 --> 01:25:03,459
You want to know why?
1266
01:25:04,917 --> 01:25:07,792
In return for what
the D'Ascoynes did to my mother.
1267
01:25:08,709 --> 01:25:13,959
Because she married for love
instead of for rank or money or land,
1268
01:25:14,834 --> 01:25:18,167
they condemned her to a life
of poverty and slavery
1269
01:25:18,251 --> 01:25:20,584
in a world with which
they had not equipped her to deal.
1270
01:25:20,667 --> 01:25:23,709
You yourself refused to grant
her dying wish,
1271
01:25:23,792 --> 01:25:25,876
which was to be buried here at Chalfont.
1272
01:25:26,376 --> 01:25:29,834
When I saw her poor little coffin
slide underground,
1273
01:25:30,417 --> 01:25:33,251
saw her exiled in death
as she'd been in life,
1274
01:25:34,417 --> 01:25:38,084
I swore to have my revenge
on your intolerable pride.
1275
01:25:40,251 --> 01:25:44,917
That revenge
I am just about to complete.
1276
01:25:47,876 --> 01:25:50,001
It's clear that you are insane.
1277
01:25:50,751 --> 01:25:52,001
Give me that gun at once.
1278
01:25:52,626 --> 01:25:53,917
No.
1279
01:25:56,251 --> 01:26:01,209
From here, I think, the wound should look
consistent with the story that I shall tell.
1280
01:26:10,584 --> 01:26:11,709
Help!
1281
01:26:12,792 --> 01:26:13,917
Help!
1282
01:26:14,501 --> 01:26:15,667
Help!
1283
01:26:17,126 --> 01:26:20,292
And so Ethelred,
Eighth Duke of Chalfont,
1284
01:26:20,584 --> 01:26:23,376
duly came to his place in the family vault.
1285
01:26:28,042 --> 01:26:30,501
There were few D'Ascoynes
left to mourn him.
1286
01:26:30,584 --> 01:26:34,626
My employer, who was Ninth Duke of Chalfont
for the shortest possible period,
1287
01:26:34,709 --> 01:26:38,209
having expired of shock on hearing
that he had succeeded to the title.
1288
01:26:40,501 --> 01:26:45,001
And so, I became
the 10th Duke of Chalfont.
1289
01:26:48,584 --> 01:26:52,001
Fortunately, the Ninth Duke
had found time before he expired
1290
01:26:52,084 --> 01:26:55,459
to make a will bequeathing to me
his interests in the business.
1291
01:26:58,292 --> 01:26:59,876
You may remove that.
1292
01:27:08,209 --> 01:27:11,626
A day or two later,
an affecting little feudal ceremony took place
1293
01:27:11,709 --> 01:27:13,459
to welcome me into residence at the castle.
1294
01:27:13,542 --> 01:27:16,876
And I promise you
that my first consideration,
1295
01:27:16,959 --> 01:27:21,542
and that of Mrs D'Ascoyne, who has done me
the honour to consent to be my bride,
1296
01:27:22,126 --> 01:27:26,917
will be the welfare of the estate
and of the people who live on it.
1297
01:27:27,001 --> 01:27:29,251
God bless you all.
1298
01:27:36,584 --> 01:27:38,292
Long live His Grace!
1299
01:27:38,376 --> 01:27:40,001
Long live His Grace.
1300
01:27:47,001 --> 01:27:49,626
Pennyman, Your Grace,
from Sprockett's Farm.
1301
01:27:49,709 --> 01:27:51,334
Mrs Pennyman.
1302
01:27:51,417 --> 01:27:53,334
My son, Tom, from Sprockett's Farm.
1303
01:27:54,001 --> 01:27:56,459
Mr Wyvold, from Sprockett's Farm.
1304
01:27:57,917 --> 01:27:59,501
Sprockett's Farm?
1305
01:28:00,959 --> 01:28:03,292
No, Your Grace. From Scotland Yard.
1306
01:28:05,959 --> 01:28:07,501
Scotland Yard?
1307
01:28:08,251 --> 01:28:10,126
A matter of some delicacy.
1308
01:28:15,959 --> 01:28:17,459
Follow me, please.
1309
01:28:17,959 --> 01:28:21,459
The blow was so sudden that I
found it hard to collect my thoughts.
1310
01:28:23,167 --> 01:28:25,042
Which of them could it be?
1311
01:28:25,834 --> 01:28:29,376
Young Ascoyne? Henry? Ethelred?
1312
01:28:30,251 --> 01:28:33,584
The parson? The general?
1313
01:28:33,667 --> 01:28:35,251
Lady Agatha?
1314
01:28:35,334 --> 01:28:37,459
Or could it be all of them?
1315
01:28:42,626 --> 01:28:43,959
Now.
1316
01:28:44,042 --> 01:28:46,876
You are, I take it,
His Grace, the Duke of Chalfont?
1317
01:28:46,959 --> 01:28:48,084
I am.
1318
01:28:48,167 --> 01:28:52,667
I am Detective Inspector Burgoyne
of the Criminal Investigation Department.
1319
01:28:52,751 --> 01:28:55,084
And I hold a warrant for your arrest
on a charge of murder.
1320
01:28:55,501 --> 01:28:56,667
Murder?
1321
01:28:57,376 --> 01:28:59,001
Of murdering Mr Lionel Holland at...
1322
01:28:59,084 --> 01:29:00,251
Murdering whom?
1323
01:29:00,334 --> 01:29:01,876
Mr Lionel Holland
1324
01:29:01,959 --> 01:29:05,376
at number 242 Connaught Square,
Bayswater,
1325
01:29:05,459 --> 01:29:07,626
on the 17th of October last.
1326
01:29:18,292 --> 01:29:21,584
Utterly bewildered,
I tried to fathom what series of events
1327
01:29:21,667 --> 01:29:24,834
could conceivably have led
to this not-very-amusing irony.
1328
01:29:25,292 --> 01:29:27,626
I could only suppose that Lionel
had actually carried out
1329
01:29:27,709 --> 01:29:29,459
that drunken threat of suicide.
1330
01:29:30,667 --> 01:29:32,876
But how then had the blame fallen on me?
1331
01:29:33,542 --> 01:29:36,876
Time alone, and the trial,
would reveal the answer.
1332
01:29:36,959 --> 01:29:40,834
Seeing no reason to forego any of
the available privileges of my rank...
1333
01:29:45,584 --> 01:29:48,501
I exercised my right to be tried
before the House of Lords.
1334
01:29:48,584 --> 01:29:53,167
Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, Duke of Chalfont,
1335
01:29:53,251 --> 01:29:56,126
you, as a peer of England,
are indicted for murder.
1336
01:29:57,001 --> 01:29:58,709
How say you, Your Grace?
1337
01:29:58,792 --> 01:30:02,667
Are you guilty of the felony with which
you are charged or not guilty?
1338
01:30:03,209 --> 01:30:05,542
- Not guilty.
- How will you be tried?
1339
01:30:07,209 --> 01:30:12,042
- By God and my peers.
- God send Your Grace a good deliverance.
1340
01:30:12,459 --> 01:30:17,084
It shall be the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth,
1341
01:30:17,167 --> 01:30:18,751
so help me God.
1342
01:30:19,417 --> 01:30:23,084
Mrs Holland, will you tell
Their Lordships in your own words
1343
01:30:23,167 --> 01:30:25,417
the substance of the conversation
you had with your husband
1344
01:30:25,542 --> 01:30:27,417
the evening before his death?
1345
01:30:29,251 --> 01:30:32,417
He told me that Louis...the prisoner,
1346
01:30:33,209 --> 01:30:36,334
was coming to see him the next day
on a rather delicate matter.
1347
01:30:36,417 --> 01:30:38,417
Did he indicate what that matter was?
1348
01:30:40,584 --> 01:30:43,667
He had discovered that
the prisoner and I had been...
1349
01:30:45,209 --> 01:30:47,167
Had been on terms of intimacy?
1350
01:30:48,584 --> 01:30:51,251
- Yes.
- And what was his attitude?
1351
01:30:52,417 --> 01:30:55,209
He felt that the correct thing to do
was to tell him to his face
1352
01:30:55,251 --> 01:30:58,084
that he intended to start
proceedings for divorce.
1353
01:30:58,751 --> 01:31:00,209
From your knowledge of the prisoner
1354
01:31:00,251 --> 01:31:02,667
how would you expect him
to receive that news?
1355
01:31:04,251 --> 01:31:06,584
I should expect him to be very angry.
1356
01:31:07,501 --> 01:31:10,917
Now he was heir to a dukedom,
he had no more use for me.
1357
01:31:11,251 --> 01:31:14,167
I see. He was trying to discard you.
1358
01:31:14,834 --> 01:31:15,917
Yes.
1359
01:31:16,042 --> 01:31:19,376
Mrs Holland, I apologise for submitting you
to this ordeal
1360
01:31:20,042 --> 01:31:23,876
but will you tell Their Lordships
how you found your husband's body?
1361
01:31:26,251 --> 01:31:29,001
I came back about 4:30.
1362
01:31:31,584 --> 01:31:35,167
Their Lordships have no objection
to the witness being seated.
1363
01:31:39,584 --> 01:31:41,167
Yes, Mrs Holland?
1364
01:31:43,042 --> 01:31:45,251
I came back about 4:30.
1365
01:31:45,917 --> 01:31:48,251
I went into my husband's study.
1366
01:31:49,001 --> 01:31:51,501
He was lying on the floor
1367
01:31:52,501 --> 01:31:54,667
with a dagger stuck in his chest.
1368
01:31:55,376 --> 01:31:56,917
One last question, Mrs Holland.
1369
01:31:57,584 --> 01:32:01,084
Had your husband ever, at any time,
threatened suicide?
1370
01:32:02,084 --> 01:32:04,709
- Never.
- Thank you, Mrs Holland.
1371
01:32:07,876 --> 01:32:10,251
My client craves
Their Lordships' permission
1372
01:32:10,334 --> 01:32:12,251
to cross-examine the witness himself.
1373
01:32:12,917 --> 01:32:14,917
Their Lordships grant their permission.
1374
01:32:18,584 --> 01:32:22,584
Mrs Holland, you understand
the meaning of being on oath?
1375
01:32:22,667 --> 01:32:24,542
Of course.
1376
01:32:26,251 --> 01:32:29,876
You realise that a life may depend upon
the truthfulness of your evidence?
1377
01:32:32,001 --> 01:32:33,251
Yes.
1378
01:32:35,251 --> 01:32:37,751
I put it to you that your story
of your conversation with your husband
1379
01:32:37,876 --> 01:32:40,501
on the night before his death
is a complete fabrication.
1380
01:32:40,584 --> 01:32:42,042
It is not.
1381
01:32:43,251 --> 01:32:45,501
I put it to you
that your husband committed suicide.
1382
01:32:45,917 --> 01:32:48,751
He would never have done that
without leaving a message for me.
1383
01:32:48,876 --> 01:32:50,751
Can you swear that he did not?
1384
01:32:52,084 --> 01:32:54,084
The police searched the room
very thoroughly.
1385
01:32:55,667 --> 01:32:57,417
They didn't find anything.
1386
01:32:58,917 --> 01:33:03,501
I suggest that your evidence is a tissue
of lies dictated by motives of revenge.
1387
01:33:08,542 --> 01:33:10,334
It is not.
1388
01:33:10,917 --> 01:33:12,417
It is not.
1389
01:33:12,501 --> 01:33:16,417
I presume that the prisoner has some
purpose in these submissions
1390
01:33:16,501 --> 01:33:18,376
other than that of distressing the witness.
1391
01:33:19,042 --> 01:33:21,209
My purpose, my lord,
is to determine the truth.
1392
01:33:22,167 --> 01:33:25,417
That, Your Grace,
is the whole purpose of this assembly.
1393
01:33:27,751 --> 01:33:31,667
...the whole truth and nothing but the truth,
so help me God.
1394
01:33:35,209 --> 01:33:38,667
You're Edith D'Ascoyne Mazzini,
Duchess of Chalfont?
1395
01:33:38,751 --> 01:33:40,001
I am.
1396
01:33:40,084 --> 01:33:42,917
When and where did you become
the wife of the accused?
1397
01:33:43,584 --> 01:33:46,251
Yesterday morning, in Pentonville Prison.
1398
01:33:47,751 --> 01:33:50,751
I wanted to publish irrevocably
before the whole world
1399
01:33:51,501 --> 01:33:52,917
my faith in his innocence.
1400
01:33:54,876 --> 01:33:57,001
I wanted to show by my marriage
1401
01:33:57,917 --> 01:34:00,334
that though he was led astray,
as I believe
1402
01:34:00,417 --> 01:34:03,334
by that innate kindliness
and courtesy of his
1403
01:34:03,417 --> 01:34:06,376
which made it so hard for him to rebuff
the advances of a woman,
1404
01:34:07,084 --> 01:34:08,667
I nevertheless regard him as a man
1405
01:34:08,751 --> 01:34:11,167
to whom I can happily entrust
the remainder of my life.
1406
01:34:11,751 --> 01:34:14,084
I am not alone
in these opinions of him.
1407
01:34:14,709 --> 01:34:16,542
My late husband, Henry,
1408
01:34:16,584 --> 01:34:18,709
and his late Uncle Ethelred,
the Eighth Duke,
1409
01:34:19,751 --> 01:34:22,751
both unfortunately
unable to testify today...
1410
01:34:23,751 --> 01:34:27,709
These and other members of the
D'Ascoyne family, had they been alive,
1411
01:34:27,751 --> 01:34:30,542
would, I know, have echoed
every word that I have said.
1412
01:34:31,251 --> 01:34:33,084
Thank you, Your Grace.
1413
01:34:34,417 --> 01:34:36,251
The deceased was a client
of the banking house
1414
01:34:36,376 --> 01:34:38,417
of which you are chairman
and managing director.
1415
01:34:38,542 --> 01:34:39,667
He was.
1416
01:34:39,751 --> 01:34:44,042
In the normal course of business transactions
he would have come to see you at your office.
1417
01:34:44,084 --> 01:34:45,209
Yes.
1418
01:34:45,251 --> 01:34:47,542
Instead of which,
he asked you to go to his house.
1419
01:34:47,584 --> 01:34:48,667
Yes.
1420
01:34:48,751 --> 01:34:51,251
He invited you to his house
to discuss business.
1421
01:34:51,334 --> 01:34:52,417
Yes.
1422
01:34:52,501 --> 01:34:54,584
And you ask Their Lordships
to believe that?
1423
01:34:55,167 --> 01:34:56,334
Yes.
1424
01:34:56,917 --> 01:34:59,084
In the course of this, business discussion
1425
01:34:59,167 --> 01:35:02,584
he burst into tears, fell on his knees
and threatened suicide.
1426
01:35:02,709 --> 01:35:05,584
- Yes.
- Is that usual in business discussions?
1427
01:35:06,084 --> 01:35:08,709
- Not usual. No.
- But it happened on this occasion.
1428
01:35:08,792 --> 01:35:12,042
- Yes.
- And you ask Their Lordships to believe that?
1429
01:35:12,542 --> 01:35:14,126
Yes.
1430
01:35:14,209 --> 01:35:16,959
Then this, business discussion
became so heated
1431
01:35:17,042 --> 01:35:20,251
that blows were exchanged
and he made a murderous attack on you.
1432
01:35:20,334 --> 01:35:21,501
Yes.
1433
01:35:21,584 --> 01:35:24,376
- Is that usual in business discussion?
- No.
1434
01:35:24,459 --> 01:35:27,792
- But it happened on this occasion.
- Yes.
1435
01:35:27,876 --> 01:35:32,042
- And you ask Their Lordships to believe that?
- Yes.
1436
01:35:32,792 --> 01:35:33,917
Very well.
1437
01:35:34,751 --> 01:35:38,209
You've heard of cases of a jealous husband
and his wife's lover coming to blows?
1438
01:35:38,709 --> 01:35:40,626
- Yes.
- Frequently?
1439
01:35:41,251 --> 01:35:44,001
It is one of the clichés
of the cheaper kind of fiction.
1440
01:35:47,792 --> 01:35:51,209
I put it to you that, in this case,
it happened not in fiction,
1441
01:35:51,292 --> 01:35:52,501
but in fact.
1442
01:35:52,584 --> 01:35:55,792
- I put it to you that it did not.
- I put it to you further
1443
01:35:55,876 --> 01:35:59,751
that being unaware at that time
of your future wife's forgiving nature
1444
01:35:59,834 --> 01:36:02,709
you assumed that if you were cited
in a divorce suit
1445
01:36:02,792 --> 01:36:06,376
it would ruin your chances
of making this advantageous match
1446
01:36:06,459 --> 01:36:08,917
with a wealthy and beautiful woman.
1447
01:36:10,042 --> 01:36:11,709
No. Not at all.
1448
01:36:11,792 --> 01:36:15,959
Still, you were proposing
to discard Mrs Holland.
1449
01:36:16,042 --> 01:36:17,501
No.
1450
01:36:17,584 --> 01:36:20,959
Even though you were
about to be married to the other lady?
1451
01:36:28,209 --> 01:36:31,667
I must confess to feeling
quite intrigued as to their decision.
1452
01:36:40,917 --> 01:36:45,959
My lords, the question
for Your Lordships is this...
1453
01:36:47,167 --> 01:36:49,209
Is the prisoner guilty
1454
01:36:49,292 --> 01:36:52,917
of the felony whereof
he stands indicted
1455
01:36:53,001 --> 01:36:55,001
or not guilty?
1456
01:36:58,376 --> 01:36:59,917
Guilty, upon mine honour.
1457
01:37:01,042 --> 01:37:03,209
Guilty, upon mine honour.
1458
01:37:04,001 --> 01:37:06,542
Guilty, upon mine honour.
1459
01:37:14,542 --> 01:37:18,626
I considered it both seemly and touching
that my dear wife should visit me
1460
01:37:18,709 --> 01:37:21,542
as she did this morning,
to make her farewells.
1461
01:37:22,834 --> 01:37:26,084
Your arrival, on the other hand,
appears to me unseemly
1462
01:37:26,167 --> 01:37:28,126
and tasteless in the extreme.
1463
01:37:28,876 --> 01:37:32,709
I couldn't bear my last sight of you
to be that look of hatred you gave me
1464
01:37:32,834 --> 01:37:34,584
as you went out from the trial.
1465
01:37:35,542 --> 01:37:39,709
In view of the fact that your evidence
had put the rope round my neck
1466
01:37:39,792 --> 01:37:42,667
you could hardly expect
a glance of warm affection.
1467
01:37:42,751 --> 01:37:46,001
- Isn't there any hope?
- What hope could there be?
1468
01:37:47,334 --> 01:37:49,542
I was only thinking.
1469
01:37:49,626 --> 01:37:51,959
That question you asked at the trial
1470
01:37:52,834 --> 01:37:55,417
about Lionel leaving a suicide note...
1471
01:37:56,667 --> 01:38:00,084
Suppose he did?
Suppose that one were found
1472
01:38:00,167 --> 01:38:03,084
even now, this last evening?
1473
01:38:03,959 --> 01:38:07,459
- It would savour of a miracle.
- Miracles can happen.
1474
01:38:08,626 --> 01:38:10,459
Miracles could happen.
1475
01:38:15,167 --> 01:38:16,417
I see.
1476
01:38:17,917 --> 01:38:20,792
Oh, strange, isn't it, how things turn out?
1477
01:38:20,876 --> 01:38:23,501
Now, if you had married me,
instead of Edith...
1478
01:38:24,334 --> 01:38:26,959
Or you had married me,
instead of Lionel.
1479
01:38:27,709 --> 01:38:29,167
He would still be alive,
1480
01:38:29,251 --> 01:38:32,209
and you wouldn't be going
to be hanged tomorrow morning.
1481
01:38:33,209 --> 01:38:36,126
Unless, of course,
you've murdered somebody else.
1482
01:38:40,376 --> 01:38:42,376
All of which is rather beside the point,
isn't it?
1483
01:38:42,459 --> 01:38:43,542
Is it?
1484
01:38:46,167 --> 01:38:48,501
Do you remember in the old days
1485
01:38:48,584 --> 01:38:51,834
how we used to play
Eeny, meeny, miny, mo?
1486
01:38:51,917 --> 01:38:56,876
- Catch a nigger by his toe.
- If he hollers, let him go. Out goes he.
1487
01:38:58,292 --> 01:39:01,834
Quite a lot of little niggers have gone out,
haven't they, one way or another?
1488
01:39:02,834 --> 01:39:05,792
And every one of them a D'Ascoyne.
1489
01:39:09,792 --> 01:39:12,501
We do seem to be
a very short-lived family.
1490
01:39:13,459 --> 01:39:17,042
Of course, Edith is only
a D'Ascoyne by marriage
1491
01:39:17,126 --> 01:39:19,501
so I suppose
her prospects are better.
1492
01:39:22,709 --> 01:39:24,209
Except for a miracle.
1493
01:39:24,876 --> 01:39:27,209
Like the other one
we were talking about.
1494
01:39:27,292 --> 01:39:31,126
So there it was.
She would find the suicide note
1495
01:39:31,209 --> 01:39:33,792
if I, in return, would murder Edith.
1496
01:39:34,876 --> 01:39:37,334
So we now have two miracles in mind, do we?
1497
01:39:38,042 --> 01:39:39,167
Yes.
1498
01:39:39,251 --> 01:39:42,709
I wonder if they are, in any way,
dependent on each other?
1499
01:39:44,376 --> 01:39:46,542
I suppose perhaps they might be.
1500
01:39:48,542 --> 01:39:50,334
What do you think?
1501
01:39:52,126 --> 01:39:53,501
Time's up.
1502
01:39:58,376 --> 01:40:00,084
What do you think?
1503
01:40:01,501 --> 01:40:05,584
Poor Edith. I'm afraid all this is going
to take years off her life.
1504
01:40:09,251 --> 01:40:12,667
- Au revoir, Louis.
- Au revoir.
1505
01:40:13,876 --> 01:40:15,792
What could I do but accept?
1506
01:40:15,876 --> 01:40:19,001
After all, I could always decide afterwards
1507
01:40:19,084 --> 01:40:22,126
which of these two little niggers
would finally have to go.
1508
01:40:22,209 --> 01:40:23,709
Dear Edith.
1509
01:40:24,417 --> 01:40:26,542
Captivating Sibella.
1510
01:40:26,626 --> 01:40:30,251
How different they were,
and how well I knew each of them.
1511
01:40:31,126 --> 01:40:32,501
Or so I thought.
1512
01:40:33,334 --> 01:40:36,167
But the night has gone by
and nothing has happened.
1513
01:40:36,751 --> 01:40:39,001
It is now but a few minutes to 8:00.
1514
01:40:39,084 --> 01:40:43,167
And I realise that Sibella
came yesterday merely to tantalise,
1515
01:40:43,251 --> 01:40:46,251
to raise my hopes
in order to dash them again.
1516
01:40:46,334 --> 01:40:48,792
How unlike me not to have guessed.
1517
01:40:49,626 --> 01:40:53,459
But, after all, how very like Sibella.
1518
01:41:17,834 --> 01:41:19,167
Already?
1519
01:41:20,667 --> 01:41:22,876
I'll tell you who time gallops withal.
1520
01:41:22,959 --> 01:41:24,584
"With a thief to the gallows,
1521
01:41:24,667 --> 01:41:29,834
"for though he tread as softly as foot can fall,
he thinks himself too soon there."
1522
01:41:30,959 --> 01:41:32,501
If you have any last instructions...
1523
01:41:32,584 --> 01:41:36,376
I think, Colonel, it only remains
to thank you for your many kindnesses.
1524
01:41:37,084 --> 01:41:38,751
Won't you introduce our friend?
1525
01:41:40,709 --> 01:41:44,084
Mr Elliott, His Grace,
the Duke of Chalfont.
1526
01:41:46,084 --> 01:41:47,584
Good morning, Your Grace.
1527
01:41:48,501 --> 01:41:50,126
This won't take a moment.
1528
01:41:50,834 --> 01:41:54,584
First, if Your Grace
will pardon the liberty
1529
01:41:54,667 --> 01:41:57,334
I should like to read some verses
1530
01:41:57,417 --> 01:42:01,209
composed by myself for use
on these melancholy occasions.
1531
01:42:02,584 --> 01:42:05,042
- Your Grace permits?
- With pleasure.
1532
01:42:10,417 --> 01:42:13,042
"My friend, reflect."
1533
01:42:13,626 --> 01:42:16,209
Oh. Pardon.
1534
01:42:17,042 --> 01:42:19,251
"Your Grace, reflect.
1535
01:42:19,834 --> 01:42:25,084
"While yet of mortal breath,
some span however short, is left to thee
1536
01:42:25,792 --> 01:42:30,209
"how brief the total span
twixt birth and death
1537
01:42:30,292 --> 01:42:35,167
"how long thy coming tenure of eternity.
1538
01:42:37,417 --> 01:42:40,167
"Your Grace, prepare..."
1539
01:42:44,334 --> 01:42:46,209
Colonel.
1540
01:42:51,209 --> 01:42:52,459
Your Grace,
1541
01:42:52,542 --> 01:42:54,292
I am happy to inform you
that a telephone communication
1542
01:42:54,376 --> 01:42:56,417
has just been received
from the Home Office.
1543
01:42:56,501 --> 01:42:59,501
A note has been found,
undoubtedly in Mr Holland's handwriting
1544
01:42:59,584 --> 01:43:02,376
expressing his intention to commit suicide.
1545
01:43:02,459 --> 01:43:03,584
It is a miracle.
1546
01:43:04,626 --> 01:43:07,292
Yes. It is like a miracle.
1547
01:43:08,667 --> 01:43:10,209
Pending receipt of further instructions,
1548
01:43:10,292 --> 01:43:13,626
I will try to make you reasonably
comfortable in my quarters.
1549
01:43:14,876 --> 01:43:17,417
- Good morning.
- Good morning, Your Grace, sir.
1550
01:43:25,501 --> 01:43:29,376
I assure you I have never been more
happy to be relieved of an official duty.
1551
01:43:30,501 --> 01:43:31,876
Poor Elliott.
1552
01:43:32,417 --> 01:43:34,751
If he had not insisted
on reading that abominable poem,
1553
01:43:34,834 --> 01:43:38,042
he would have had me neatly dangling at the
end of his rope before the news arrived.
1554
01:43:39,417 --> 01:43:41,292
He was so looking forward to it.
1555
01:43:41,376 --> 01:43:43,459
I understand, Your Grace,
from the men on duty outside
1556
01:43:43,542 --> 01:43:45,834
that a large crowd awaits your leaving.
1557
01:43:45,917 --> 01:43:47,709
Having robbed them
of the pleasure of my death
1558
01:43:47,792 --> 01:43:49,667
the least I can do is to
let them see me alive.
1559
01:43:50,459 --> 01:43:53,667
Including, by the way,
not only Her Grace, the Duchess,
1560
01:43:53,751 --> 01:43:55,501
but also Mrs Holland.
1561
01:43:55,584 --> 01:43:56,959
Oh.
1562
01:43:57,626 --> 01:43:59,209
How does the song go?
1563
01:43:59,292 --> 01:44:03,542
"How happy could I be with either
were t'other dear charmer away."
1564
01:44:03,626 --> 01:44:04,667
Well, good-bye.
1565
01:44:04,751 --> 01:44:06,709
Good-bye, Your Grace.
1566
01:44:39,417 --> 01:44:41,834
"How happy could I be with either
1567
01:44:41,917 --> 01:44:44,126
"were t'other dear charmer away."
1568
01:44:46,292 --> 01:44:48,542
- Your Grace.
- Yes?
1569
01:44:49,251 --> 01:44:51,667
I represent the magazine Titbits
1570
01:44:51,751 --> 01:44:53,626
by whom I'm commissioned
to approach you
1571
01:44:53,709 --> 01:44:56,001
for the publication rights
of your memoirs.
1572
01:44:56,459 --> 01:44:57,959
My memoirs?
1573
01:44:59,084 --> 01:45:00,501
My memoirs.
1574
01:45:03,376 --> 01:45:05,292
My memoirs.
127620
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