Original subtitles

Try not to fret, Silver.

There's nothing we can do about it.

Mother said it was just some kind of a chill.

Please, God, make her all right

When I left her for London, it was just a simple cold.

So she thought, and so did I,

a simple cold which she could not shake off.

Which has now turned to pneumonia?

Well, what is 10 be done?

We're trying to get her to take broth, milk, jelly...

anything which she can get down and keep down,

and from which she may gain strength.

Please give her three drops of this soporific in a glass of water.

That should ensure that she sleeps till tomorrow morning, when I shall call again.

Now, Doctor, with respect, should we send to London for a second opinion?

If your Grace will permit me, I shall answer that question tomorrow.

What did the doctor say of me?

That you must eat and then you must sleep.

- I'm not hungry. - Well, Cora, you must try. Please.

- Please, Glencora. - Planty...

Planty... Planty, there is something I've wanted to ask you for some time now.

Have proper arrangements been made about money for Mary?

Oh, my dear, now, don't you worry about that

- Try some of this jelly. - I must worry.

I know that everything has been settled for the boys, but what is to be done for our girl?

I propose to set aside a fund, from which she'll be paid a regular income,

and, later on, when she marries, a suitable settlement will be made.

Could she not have something that is truly her own now?

Her income will be ample.

Will she be able to control her own capital?

- I know that I was never able to control mine. - But the girl is...

She's...

Here. I think you should have your draught now, my dear.

Here, quickly.

Planty, will she be able to control her own capital?

My dear, the girl is barely 19.

We can't place the fund in her own hands until she's more mature.

I want to be sure of one thing,

that should Mary's happiness depend upon her marrying a poor man,

want of money need not prevent it.

Mary's future will be cared for in every respect.

- You promise me? - Yes.

Yes, I promise you.

Now, you...you must rest.

Good night, my dearest.

Don't go, Marie.

- My dear boy! - Father!

- How is she, Father? - Well, Gerald, it's uncertain.

It's...it's very uncertain.

She can't take nourishment to fight this infection.

Doctor Baines is very correct, very competent,

but if there is no improvement this morning, I'm going to send to London.

- Can we see her? - No. She's sleeping at the moment, but she...

If we tidy ourselves up a little

perhaps we could see her later.

The doctor is very well pleased with you,

and is now quietening the Duke, who still wants to send to London.

For that old as, Omicron Pie, I suppose.

He's killed more lords and ladies than Robespierre.

Oh, well then, we certainly won't have him in here.

Now, can you fancy a little of this?

- Yes. Yes, I rather think I might. - Good.

Marie, Planty did promise last night that Mary could have her own money?

In effect, yes.

You see, when I was her age,

I suffered a great sorrow because I was not allowed to choose for myself.

From what I've heard, it was just as well you couldn't.

Well, certainly Planty has been...

"everything that he could be to me.

- Nevertheless. - Glencora...

How far have you encouraged Lady Mary and Mr Tregear?

Well, I have...smiled on them.

Glencora!

Marie, Mary really loves Frank and he loves her,

and I shall tell Planty that if they want to be together, he must not stop them.

- Glencora! - I shall tell him this very day!

Oh, hello, sir.

lsn't 'it splendid about Mother being better?

Yes. Yes, I was... l was just going up to see her.

Right. Before I do that, I've got some good news for you, Gerald.

- Oh, really, sir? - About something else.

Now, sir, despite your lamentable behaviour at Cambridge,

I've persuaded them to accept you at Corpus Christi, Oxford.

You go into residence next autumn.

I promise, Father, that I shall work away like a real grind.

That will begin at once, sir.

Corpus Christi's a very exacting college.

I've arranged for you to have a tutor throughout the entire summer.

Now, you may work with him where you wish, except in London.

Well, naturally, sir, I shall stay at Matching until Mother is recovered.

On, good.

- But after that, you might like to travel. - Yes, sir. As a matter of fact...

Sir... Would you please come at once, sir?

It's Mother. She's...

The doctor says you must come now, sir.

It's almost like a family party,

except for Marie.

Marie is one of the family.

She was nearly the Duchess of Omnium.

And except you too, Doctor.

Glencora, my dear...

You must be quiet. Rest.

I shall have plenty of time for that, I think.

I remember when you gave me that

See how strong I am?

Am I dying, Plenty?

l am...dying, Planty...

You've never lied to me, Plantagenet

Yes, Cora, you are dying,

but you're dying among those that love you.

The children will look after you.

I don't want to die.

There is something that must be done. Marie, what is it?

Marie, is it Silver?

Mama?

You're a dear, kind boy. I need say nothing to you.

Gerald, then.

My little Gerald.

Yes, Mary. Listen, Planty.

Please stay, Mama.

- Mary must have... - I'll take care of Mary, my darling.

Listen, Planty,

Mary...

must...

Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live,

and is full of misery.

He cometh up and is cut down like a flower.

he fleeth also as a shadow,

and never confinue in one stay.

In the midst of life, we are in death.

of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord,

who for our sins art justly displeased?

Yet, O Lord God most holy,

O Lord most mighty

O holy and most merciful saviour,

deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;

shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer;

but spare us, Lord most holy,

O God most mighty,

O holy and merciful Saviour;

thou most worthy Judge eternal,

suffer us not, at our last hour,

for any pains of death, to fall from thee.

Oh, Mary, my dear child.

- Welcome home. - Papa.

I've missed you these past months.

Oh, Papa

Mrs Finn, I am most heartily pleased to see you again.

And I to see you, Duke.

Well, did you enjoy your travels on the Continent?

- Yes, Papa. - You look pale. Are you not very well?

Oh, I think I am a little tired after the journey.

Well, you go and lie down.

We'll talk later, when you've rested.

Thank you, Papa.

She seems listless, Mrs Finn.

Still grieving at her mother's death, I suppose.

It is partly that, but there is more, I fear.

Thank you.

I feel I should tell you at once, Duke.

- I have failed you. - Failed me, Mrs Finn?

I am not what your daughter needs.

She is pining for something that I cannot give her,

and so I must beg to resign her back into your charge.

But l...l can be of no comfort to her now.

Besides, I have to be in London very soon.

Could I not persuade you to stay with her?

Duke, would it not be better that from now onward

she has someone with her of her own kindred,

or at least...of her own kind?

But there is no-one.

And there is no-one whom her mother loved as she loved you.

Thank you, Duke.

But as to Lady Mary, I have tried to rouse her, but without success.

Cora would have wished you to continue to try.

Mrs Finn...

despite what you say about your failure to rouse her,

my best hopes, they must lie in you.

Your husband will be absent for some months yet.

Will you not stay with my Mary?

As Your Grace so wishes.

Well, Mary,

your father is to return to London for the next session of Parliament,

and you and I are to remain here together.

I'm so glad that you're staying with me. With you, I can be quiet.

Sometimes, Mary, I wish you were not quite so quiet.

- Why do you say that, Mrs Finn? - Well, you pretend to like my company.

Oh, I do like it.

There is something, Mary,

which is making you less than yourself,

something you have been keeping from me.

- I did not wish to embarrass you. - Oh, my dear!

I am not so easily embarassed.

Look, Mary, I know, because your mother told me

that you have formed an attachment with Francis Tregear.

Oh... I would have mentioned it before, but I wanted you to tell me of your own accord.

But now, Mary...

Mary, if I am to continue being your friend, I must know new,

how do you stand with Mr Tregear?

I have given him my heart, and I've told him so.

Well, Mary, your father ought to know of this.

No, not yet.

Mama knew it all and we had her blessing, so it can't be wrong.

No, dear, no, not wrong,

but your mother knew that your father must be told.

She was going to tell him. She was trying to tell him as she was dying.

Now, Mary, it is you that must speak.

I'm not sure that Mr Tregear would wish me to.

But why not, Mary? He must be told by someone.

Of course he must be, but not now, Mrs Finn.

He's still broken-hearted about dear Mama,

and I'm so afraid he may take against the engagement,

especially since Mr Tregear...

Since Mr Tregear what, Mary?

Since Mr Tregear is so poor.

Well, we can hardly wait to tell the Duke till Mr Tregear is rich.

Mary, your father must know of this now.

I feel I have betrayed him every second I have left him in ignorance.

You don't mean that you will tell him?

Every moment he is left in the dark is an injury to you and to him.

Now, if I cannot convince you to tell him, then I must tell him mysetf.

No. Neither of us shall do that

I think it is Mr Tregear that should speak to him first.

Well, perhaps you are right.

But, Mary, he must speak soon.

Lord Silverbridge, does not the House of Commons meet this afternoon?

Well, it's not the fashion to be there promptly.

We do like our politics to go on rather slowly.

- Miss Boncassen... - I thought this was an emergency session?

Well, we like those to go on slower than ever,

so we may forget that it is even an emergency.

So, since I have not seen you for ever so long...

Since the day before yesterday.

I am come to enquire...

how you all are.

Well, I am tolerably well, My Lord,

and, as for my father and mother,

they will be back shortly to answer for themselves.

Well, not too shortly, I hope.

- Lord Silverbridge... - Miss Boncassen.

Miss Isabel.

- Isabel, I have something I... - No, you haven't, Lord Silverbridge.

Yes, I have.

And it's very important

Well, you should keep it until my father and mother get back.

Well, it's not the kind of thing one says to people's mothers and fathers.

Isabel...

I love you.

There, I've said it.

And now you must withdraw it.

It will not do, Lord Silverbridge.

I know who you are and who I am.

And what's the odds about that?

Does your father know of this declaration, that you intended it?

No, l...l perceive not

For you to speak to me as you have, sir, is to mock me and to insult me.

No.

I love you so dearly, Isabel.

- So dearly. - Oh, Lord Silverbridge...

l do. l do.

Can you not say that you will love me in return?

I have never dreamt of such a thing.

I still hardly believe that you are in earnest.

How can I make you believe?

I will believe you, My Lord,

when you come to me and swear

that you have told your father this same tale of love that you've told me.

But until then,

do not come to me.

Papa, dear Papa...

- Hello, Mary, my dear. - A pleasant surprise, Duke.

Yes. Yes, I trust it may prove so.

- Silverbridge has not come down with you? - No.

I suppose he's too busy at the House of Commons.

I'm not concerned with your brother at the moment, Mary.

- I'm more concerned with you. - Perhaps, Duke, you would prefer me...?

No. I'd particularly like you to remain, Mrs Finn.

Now, Mary, you come here. You sit down by me.

Now, Mary, do you know a Mr Tregear?

Of course I know him, Papa.

He was with us all down here at Matching only a few months ago.

Yes. I understood he was invited here as a friend of Silverbridge.

- As a friend to us all, Papa. - A friend, perhaps.

Now, Mary, he came to me a day or two ago in London, and he told me that...

Oh, Mary... ls this true?

Yes,papa.

Do you mean to say you engaged yourself to this man without my knowledge or approval?

- Of course you were to have been asked, Papa. - Yes, so I have been,

with a casual self-confidence

as though it were a matter of course that I would agree to such a trivial request.

Well, I'll tell you this as a matter of course.

No, it's impossible.

Now, you understand that, do you not?

No, Papa, I do not understand it.

Then you will begin to understand it from this instant

This engagement is out of the question,

and I will not have it thought of.

But, Papa, I should not have allowed Mr Tregear to go to you unless I loved him.

Then you conquer your love! It's disgraceful!

- Disgraceful, Duke? - Yes, Mrs Finn.

I am sorry to use such a phrase to my own daughter, but it is so.

However, if you will undertake to be guided by me,

if you promise never to see him again,

then I will, if not forget it, then at least pardon it and be silent.

I will excuse it because... because you're very young,

and because you were thrown imprudently in his way.

- Well, Mary? - What am I to say, Papa?

Well, you say that you will obey me.

How can I,

when of all the people in the world, I love him the best?

Oh, Mary...

Do you not know he's not fit to be your husband?

No, Papa-

Then I don't think you have thought about his position or mine.

- He is a gentleman, Papa. - So is my private secretary!

There is not a clerk in one of our public offices does not consider himself to be a gentleman.

The curate of the parish is a gentleman,

the apothecary who mixes a draught for you.

Now, this Mr Tregear, oh, he may write esquire after his name with the rest of them,

but he is no more than a pennies loafer!

- He has a good degree from Oxford. - And he has nothing else!

Papa!

As you well know, Mr Tregear is a gentleman in the same sense as yourself or Silverbridge,

so there can be no objection as to his rank,

and as for money, there would be no difficulty, because I've got enough for us both.

My dear, you will have only what your father chooses to give you.

He can give it without trouble.

Nevertheless,

it is mine to give or mine to withhold.

I understood that much of it was Mama's.

And you will allow me to understand all about that.

Now, Mary, you will promise me.

There shall now be an end of this Mr Tregear.

I love him, and I've told him so,

and I will, I must be true.

I cannot bear to give you pain,

but in this matter I mean to have my way.

You mean to have your way?

Certainly I do.

Papa, I shall never marry while you forbid it,

but you can never make me say I do not love Mr Tregear,

and if you do not yield at last, I shall think you very cruel.

Why should you wish to make me unhappy for the rest of my life?

For months now, even for years,

this decrepit Liberal administration has been tottering towards its end.

The trouble is, it refuses to recognise that end and give way.

- Still it batters on. - Good evening, sir.

Good evening, sir.

- Your leader, a very good heart. - Our leader is a beast, sir.

I beg your pardon?

I can't talk about it in here, sir. I need some fresh air first.

Perhaps I could speak to you at home.

Oh, very well.

Sir Orlando Drought, sir, has asked me to speak second for our side in the big debate next week.

Well, calm yourself, sir. Why, he honours you.

No, he don't sir. He knows I'm nowhere near competent as yet.

Everybody does.

No, he has asked me simply to embarrass and annoy you,

and to make it clear to the world that you and I are in different boats.

I would have thought that was clear already, sir.

It's some time since you chose your boat.

Yes, but in this way, he seeks to shackle me into it for good.

He thinks I may want to get out of it again,

and I hate the skipper that much, I'm not so sure I shan't.

Silverbridge, you mustn't let your own likes and dislikes colour your political judgement.

Are you... Are you really thinking of giving them up?

Sir, they're trying to use me to make a fool out of you.

Now, that I will not have.

Such expedience is not unknown in my own party.

Your party contains you, sir.

Any party that's good enough for you, never mind its politics,

is going to be good enough for me.

Well, that's personal feeling again, sir.

Now, what's happened to your reasoning, those ideas you were developing earlier on?

Well, they were merely selfish, sir, as you said.

You see, what it comes down to, Father, is this,

a fellow must learn to share.

Sir Orlando Drought is a brute because he's never understood that and never can.

Well, I want to be different from him.

Well...

So, personalities have brought you to stronger conclusions than your reason ever did, hm?

Now, don't you be too precipitate.

Now, you must warn those electors down in Silverbridge,

and you give Sir Orlando ample notice if you're thinking of giving him up.

I won't rush it, sir.

Well, sir, now there is something in which I wish you would make haste.

That's Lady Mabel Grex. You remember?

I remember, sir. I did tell you there was nothing yet settled.

I wish that something were.

In fact, I've taken it upon myself to invite Lady Mabel down to Matching during the next recess

in order that something may be.

- Father... - Yes, my boy?

- When do you yourself go to Matching, sir? - On Thursday.

This session will not yet be over, but I'm anxious to see your sister and Mrs Finn.

Very well, sir. By the time I join you at Matching, it will all have been decided,

and I will let you know how it is to be.

Does she often walk there?

For hours every day.

Sometimes I walk with her,

but can be of no comfort.

Oh, she's very good and very quiet,

but all the time, I know that she is pining for Francis Tregear.

She is still obstinate, then?

She will do nothing without Your Grace's permission,

but she will marry nobody.

Nobody, unless she be allowed to marry Mr Tregear.

It is beginning to make her ill, Duke.

She suffers frequently and terribly from sick headaches.

Young people suffer often from such maladies.

Yes, and one tries to find out the cause.

In this case, it is misery.

And time, they say, cures all such ills as this.

Your Grace, you surely would not wish that Mary should break her heart?

Hearts do not break, Mrs Finn.

I am acting entirely in her own interest,

and I am not especially wedded to rank.

It is my political creed that one should curb its privileges,

but I do desire, for her own sake, that she marry one of her own class.

Now, am I not right?

Duke,

there is something you must know.

It will pain you terribly, which is why you have not been told before,

but now you must know.

Your wife, and my friend,

had hoped that Mary would marry this man.

She would have told you so, had she lived.

My Cora encouraged them in this connection?

More than that, Your Grace.

She had given it her blessing.

I say, Silverbridge, it's all come out about Tipto and the Derby.

Apparently, he did take the layers' money to lame the Prime Minister,

so you need never have paid up, nor me either.

- Well, which of the layers got Tipto? - Oh, some gang in the East End.

- None of those came here, then? - Oh, one of them knew him.

And the rest were square!

Oh, well, the money was lost and owed and paid, and let that be an end of it.

Well, that's easier for some to say than others. I need my cash, Silverbridge.

I'm thinking of getting engaged.

- You, Dolly? Engaged? - Mm.

Well, who's the lucky lady?

A pert little American poppet called Miss Isabel Boncassen.

She's a grand girl,

I've been seeing rather a lot of her lately.

The devil, you have. And what might you have to say to Miss Isabel Boncassen?

That I'm very fond of her. You know the kind of thing.

That I've got three properties, including Pickering Park. What else should a fellow say?

- Oh, bother! - No, I didn't say that

I said that when the old governor finally goes off, I shall have a clear £15,000 a year

and that there was nothing in the world that I wouldn't do for her,

except give up the dear old club.

Look here, Dolly, if you go around behaving like this, your friends will have to put you away.

Well, I don't see that. I can give her a position that's A-1, outside the peerage.

Why shouldn't I marry the little minx?

Because...

Because, Dolly...she's going to be my wife.

Your wife, Silverbridge?

You've asked her?

No, but it will be so.

Yes, I suppose it will,

if you say so.

Well, there's no point in my running against you.

I'm not an earl. I'm not even young any more.

What would a girl like that care about £15,000 a year?

I'm past it, Silverbridge, past anything worth caring about.

Do you know what? I think I shall hook it.

- No, Dolly, not you. - Yes, I shall.

I'm so deuced disappointed about all this

that if l stay in London, I shall only go in for hard drinking.

I think I shall take the great Asiatic tour, Silverbridge,

and, with any luck, I shan't come back.

Oh, Dolly...

I'm very obliged to you for telling me how things stand.

If I'd known that you were in it, I might never have meddled in the first place.

By Jove, just to think...

that pert little American poppet,

to be, one day, Duchess of Omnium.

What did you have to say to Dolly Longstaffe?

That's my business, Lord Silverbridge.

What did you have to say to him?

Isabel?

Nothing, sir.

I told him to take himself off.

Well, that's what I thought.

And so, now, Miss Isabel Boncassen,

will you be my wife?

This from you, sir?

Yes, Isabel, this from me.

Does your father know of this?

He's gone on down to Matching. I shall tell him when I join him there.

What I tell him depends on your answer now.

So, once again,

my darling Isabel,

oh, lovely Isabel,

will you be my wife?

If the Duke will send for me, and if he will take me by the hand as a daughter,

then I will be your wife.

Mabel.

After what has been between us, Mabel, there is something you should hear from me.

- From me, and no-one else. - Yes, My Lord?

I have asked Isabel Boncassen to be my wife, and she's consented.

Does the Duke know?

He will know, just as soon as I reach Matching.

- He has bidden me come there. - Yes, I know.

You'll not come now, I think.

I do not know.

The Duke will forbid this marriage.

His Grace will refuse even to set eyes on her.

- Maybe so. - It will be so.

He came to me last week

and said he would be proud to take me and love me as his son's wife.

You surely know it is I whom he wants for you. I, Mabel Grex

I think he does, but it cannot be.

Oh, do not say that to me, Silverbridge. Do not kill me at once.

Mabel...

What right have you to treat me like this when you know you have my whole heart?

Your whole heart?

- You laughed at me. - No.

How could I laugh at you when you are all the world to me?

Mabel, it was you that said it was only a game.

But you must have known I loved you.

Silverbridge?

After all that has been between us over the years,

do you not feel what you owe me?

I owe you many happy memories

of childhood and of youth,

but nothing more.

Neither you nor Miss Cassewary will ever want while I still live,

but do not come to Matching for this year.

There.

And now, goodbye.

Father?

- Father? - Hm?

Oh, Silverbridge.

How did the session end?

Oh, quietly enough for what was supposed to be an emergency session.

Of course, the Government will have problems when Parliament returns.

There's this for you from the Duke of St Bungay, in which, I gather, he tells you all about that, sir.

Oh, I'd much rather hear all about you.

I think perhaps you should attend to His Grace before you attend to me, sir.

They want me to return to office, sir.

The Privy Seal.

They say here they need me to give weight to the Government

now that they're so hard-pressed.

- Father, I am glad for you. - Thank you, Silverbridge. Thank you very much.

Ah. Upon my soul!

Well, now, sir, you know what I want to hear from you.

- It's not to be Mabel Grex, sir. - Not to be Mabel Grex?

I have met and fallen in love with someone else. Miss Isabel Boncassen.

Miss Isabel Boncassen?

You've met her, Father.

She came to tea with her parents, just before...before Mother died.

I remember you liked her father and lent him some books.

Yes, I remember, sir. She's very personable, very quick in mind.

An American, sir.

You've fallen in love with an American, eh?

Fallen in love with her, sir, and proposed marriage to her.

What?

She will accept me if, she says, you will accept her.

And in the meantime, sir, what has become of Lady Mabel Grex?

- She refused me at first, sir, as I remember telling you. - You said you'd ask again.

Well, then I met and loved Isabel and so I could not ask Mabel again,

and so I have told her as kindly as I could.

Well, you know, sir,

this marriage would be distasteful to me, or worse.

Oh, surely...

The choice is wide enough, isn't it, without you seeking across the Atlantic?

This is for her who is to bear your children.

There are plenty of your own kind.

If you receive her, sir, she will be of our own kind.

Oh, I like her, sir.

Of course I like her,

but she is not such as I want as flesh of my flesh,

bone of my bone!

The young man out there, sweeping the walks, he may marry whom he pleases,

but do you think that you have the same freedom?

And yet, sir, you've always said that men are equal.

Equal? Yes, under the eyes of God,

but not under the necessary institutions of man.

- Well, then, man's institutions defy God. - No, sir. No, not so.

God made and blessed these institutions that there may be government.

The men who govern, Silverbridge,

well, they must be bred,

under a higher, a nobler, a more privileged tradition.

You believe that, sir?

You've often said we are here merely to serve our fellow men.

All must serve, Silverbridge,

but some must command to serve, and others must obey.

Now, we must command.

Perhaps.

But only that there may be a better world for the others,

that people may be prosperous, as you once said,

and, above all, that they be free.

Well, free, then equal in that freedom.

One day, sir, that may be so,

but not yet.

Now, you speak to me about honor.

And duty.

Nobility.

Now, you tell me what they require of you.

Your Grace, I love this lady better than my life,

and I've asked her to be mine.

I cannot go back now.

And so, my opinion,

or my wish.

Well, they go for nothing?

She will only be mine, sir, if you will smile upon her and take her by the hand.

If you refuse, there'll be an end of it on her own part

But, Father,

will you not smile upon my Isabel

and give your hand to the girl whom I love?

You'd better leave now.

If it... If it can be of any comfort to you, Duke,

the Duchess would never have wanted Silverbridge to marry Mabel Grex.

She said so often before she died.

I am determined in this, Mrs Finn.

And would Cora have wanted him to marry Miss Isabel Boncassen?

She wanted her fine son to be free to choose whom he should love,

and, Duke, she wanted the same freedom for her daughter too.

Why?

Why didn't Cora tell me sooner?

- Why did she deceive me, Mrs Finn? - She did not deceive you, Duke.

Have I not made myself clear? She was trying to tell you the moment she died.

Duke,

of late, I have been with Mary daily, almost hourly.

I will not say that this will kill her now, while she is young,

but a broken heart may bring the sufferer to the grave after a lapse of many years.

How will it be with you, Duke,

if you should see your daughter live beside you like a ghost for the next 20 years,

if you should see her die, faded and withered before her time,

all her life gone without a joy

because she loved a man whose position in life was displeasing to you?

In doing your duty to your position, Duke,

can you be satisfied that you are doing your duty to your child?

Shall I leave you now?

Perhaps it would be better.

Mrs Finn, a moment

Whether I agree or disagree,

I will not try to tell you now,

but this, at least, must be said.

I owe you a debt of gratitude which I cannot express in words.

Your Grace, I...

All that you have troubled yourself to think and feel in this matter,

all that true friendship has compelled you to say to me,

I shall not easily forget.

My children are indeed fortunate in securing the love of such a friend as you.

And now,

you will go to Mary, if you please,

and you tell her thait Mr Tregear may come here as soon as he may wish.

Your Grace...

And Silverbridge?

What of him?

Madam,

Silverbridge is my heir,

the next Duke of Omnium.

I shall decide that for myself alone.

Ahem.

Here we are, sir.

It was good of you to come to me.

- Shall I leave her, sir? - Yes, just for a few minutes.

You are to be my child.

If you will have me.

Now, you come over here. You sit down by me.

I'm going to say a few words to you.

Let there be no bitterness in your young heart.

When I say that you are to be my child, you may be sure that I mean it thoroughly.

You'll be as near and as dear to me as though...as though you were all English.

Oh, shall I, My Lord?

Oh, yes.

My boy's wife shall be my daughter in very deed.

Yet...

I had not wished it to be so.

Oh, there were little prejudices.

Now, can you understand that?

Yes-

That you are lovely is perhaps no merit,

although I'm glad that my son should have found so much beauty,

and, more important than that,

I see that you're true and good.

Now, there's just one thing else.

Now, that must never leave you.

It never shall, having come from you.

It's the first present that I ever gave to my wife,

and it's the first one that I give to you.

Until now, it's been worn on no other hand but hers.

And from now,

it shall always be worn

where you have set it on mine.

Mustn't keep you longer.

Silverbridge, he'll be thundering about, wondering where you are.

- Good heavens! - Well, actually...

"And so, my old friend, you will be joining us in government once more.

I need not tell you how happy I am that you have consented to do so.

We all feel a deal more confident than we did,

and thank God for the return of Palliser

to a rightful place in the councils of his sovereign."