The Gioconda Smile by Aldous Huxley

Oldtuberadio

Henry feels anger and guilt as his first wife lies upstairs confined to her bed.  He finds solace in his relationship with Janet Spence and their shared love of art. He also finds pleasure in an affair with Doris.  Then, his wife Emily dies suddenly - but what, exactly, caused her heart failure?  Starring Peter Bowles.  Hell hath no fury drama from a story by Brave New World author, Aldous Huxley.  Based on his short story, the London West End play was a big success in the immediate post-war period.  Dramatised by Cynthia Pughe.  Henry Hutton .... Peter Bowles Janet Spence .... Judy Loe Doctor Libbard .... Philip Latham Nurse Braddock .... Eva Stuart Doris Mead .... Emily Richard General Spence/First Warder .... Nat Brenner Clara .... Maryon Ellor Second Warder .... John Samson  Director: Alec Reid  First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1989.     Do you enjoy the variety on Oldtuberadio? Like, Share and Subscribe to be notified of our new shows #radio #crime #thriller #drama To Support this channel please visit https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oldtuberadio https://ko-fi.com/oldtuberadio98 https://www.patreon.com/oldtuberadio https://locals.com/Oldtuberadio

Transcript

00:00:00afternoon theater we present noel johnson and nicolette bernard in the jaconda smile

00:00:15by aldous huxley adapted for radio by cynthia pew the jaconda smile

00:00:21a little more claret janet uh just a drop

00:00:30ah here's nurse well did she eat her chicken just a few mouthfuls that's all it's one of our bad days

00:00:40i'm afraid and the noise these workmen are making in the house doesn't help your wife my dear nurse

00:00:45braddock dry rot in houses as in people must be eradicated at the source incidentally janet the

00:00:50workmen are threatening to invade this part of the house next month so i shall probably have to

00:00:53entertain in the shrubbery i must come over to your house one evening and have a game of chess with

00:00:57your father he'll love it oh that reminds me we're in the most awful fix father's nurse has just told

00:01:03us she wants to leave to get married i thought she had more sense than that well you don't happen to

00:01:07know of anyone who could take her place do you not for a paralysis case we don't much care for paralysis

00:01:13cases as a rule but i tell you what i'll do miss spence i'm going out this afternoon i'll drop in

00:01:19and talk to the sister in charge that's really very kind of you not at all it's a real pleasure

00:01:24oh and by the way mr hutton i hope you don't mind if i'm not back till late mrs hutton said she

00:01:29didn't have any objection so why ask me janet i must show you my new picture after lunch another one

00:01:36but henry aren't you ashamed of yourself i simply couldn't resist it an early modigliani one of those

00:01:41extraordinary nudes i love disease you must help me to decide where to hang it you too nurse don't

00:01:46hang it anywhere that's my advice don't you like it nurse like it it makes me absolutely sick from

00:01:52which my dear janet you can infer that it must be pretty good only the very best modern paintings

00:01:57make nurse sick the second-rate things don't cause anything worse than a touch of heartburn mrs

00:02:01hutton didn't like it either in fact she thought it was positively disgusting i knew that without you

00:02:06telling me oh that knocking if you'll excuse me miss spence i'll go and take some dessert up to the

00:02:12poor individuals you're not going to give her those red currants are you why not well remember

00:02:18what dr libard said nothing with skins or pips i believe in letting her have what she fancies

00:02:24it does her more good than fussing around with diets and things all right have it your own way but

00:02:28don't blame me if it upsets her only somebody would marry this one instead of yours but that i fear is

00:02:35a lust cause poor thing and yet emily fairly don'ts on the woman so here she is for life poisoning every

00:02:43meal i eat there are two ways of being a martyr to ill health the first way is to suffer from it the

00:02:49second is to suffer from the sufferers i sometimes wish i could try the first way for a change why are you

00:02:54so cynical henry because i enjoy the pleasures of an easy conscience cynicism is simply confession

00:03:00without repentance you admit your sins and so you get rid of the unpleasant necessity of concealment

00:03:06and hypocrisy but having confessed you neither repent nor reform you advertise your shortcomings

00:03:13and you persist in them what nonsense you talk everybody knows how patient and kind you've always

00:03:19been in other words what a very adequate income i've always had you know how devoted i am to emily

00:03:25but even i have to admit well she doesn't make life too easy for the people around her or for

00:03:29herself if it comes to that yes she's her own worst enemy of course but then who isn't i wonder what

00:03:35i'd do if i were ill and lonely and felt that nobody really cared for me i think i'd commit suicide

00:03:41one doesn't commit suicide because one has a reason for killing oneself one does it because

00:03:46well i've known lots of people whose life was obviously not worth living and yet the idea of

00:03:52putting an end to it never even entered their heads but if you knew that because of your life

00:03:56other people's lives weren't worth living wouldn't that make a difference not a bit of it it'll probably

00:04:00make you hold on even tighter just to annoy your friends some people kill themselves out of spite

00:04:07and some refrain from killing themselves also out of spite on the surface the symptoms are slightly

00:04:12different but at the bottom it's always the same disease well i hope that if ever i felt i was in

00:04:18the way i'd have the courage to get rid of myself it isn't a question of courage it's just

00:04:22a matter of physiological reactions if i couldn't do it myself i'd ask someone else to do it for me

00:04:29ah here's the coffee over here please clara yes sir thank you sir black for you isn't a janitor

00:04:38well let me do that henry i'm very impatient to see the new picture you are enthusiastic all right

00:04:42you deal with the coffee i'll fetch it it's uh it's in the study emily takes sugar doesn't she yes

00:04:49give her a lot she likes something to take away the taste of her medicine i put an extra lump in the

00:04:55saucer here it is oh is this my cup no that's emily's it's too sweet for you here's yours oh that picture

00:05:05it's exquisite i thought you'd like it oh quite exquisite

00:05:14oh how's your patient nurse oh as well as you can expect all things considered i'll take up the

00:05:20coffee at once if you don't mind i want to catch the 2 45 bus don't you bother nurse i'll take it

00:05:25but there's her medicine too i'll give it to her drink your coffee you've just got time well that's

00:05:31very kind of you i'm sure and don't make yourself sick by looking at that picture

00:05:38oh that poor mrs hutton oh what did you say i feel so terribly sorry for her yes with a heart in

00:05:46that condition i suppose she might go at any moment it isn't her health i'm thinking about it's well you

00:05:53know miss spence i could tell you things that would make your hair stand on end what sort of

00:06:00things the sort of things you find out if you've been nursing for 23 years when i think of that

00:06:06poor angel upstairs when i first knew her she was a beauty had her pictures in the papers and all that

00:06:12sort of thing then came her illness suddenly there was nothing left to her no parties no theaters no

00:06:18admirers nobody to court her and fatter her nobody even to listen to her isn't that typical of men

00:06:25sex that's all they care about nothing but sex he wouldn't do that he's too loyal you mean he knows

00:06:31which side his bread is buttoned look at the money she's got that's got nothing to do with it he's a

00:06:37rich man himself the richer people are the more they value money that's what i've always found and in

00:06:42any case when a man's rich she can get all the women he wants no scandal no divorce money that's all

00:06:49does mrs hutton suspect i mean does she think there's another woman oh he's clever enough to

00:06:56keep things dark but i tell you we wouldn't be surprised at anything mrs hutton and you seem to

00:07:02have talked things over a great deal now dear you mustn't feel jealous there's nobody she cares for more

00:07:10than you she's told me that again and again but after all you're not a registered nurse you're not

00:07:16even married dear she'd feel embarrassed talking to you whereas i'm like the doctor you don't mind

00:07:23taking off your clothes for the doctor do you well that's how she feels about talking to me and then

00:07:29although i say it i shouldn't she likes me she feels i'm a friend i'll tell you something do you

00:07:36remember that brooch of hers that diamond dragonfly yes well she's going to leave me that in her will

00:07:44oh i'm i'm so glad that means she cares for you and poor emily has so few people to care for and so

00:07:51few few who care for her miss spence well i must fly if i'm going to catch my bus i'll go through the

00:07:58garden oh good gracious what's this tin doing on the vander weed killer poison contains arsenic

00:08:09oh imagine leaving this stuff where the dogs can get at it i'll take it down to the shed goodbye miss

00:08:15goodbye nurse well janet do you really like my picture it's perfectly lovely

00:08:25and to think he might still be alive and painting these things i have no patience with these people

00:08:31who die young all these kitsis and shelley's and schubert's it's just idiotic make a note of it janet

00:08:37you're invited to lunch on my 80th birthday you're sure you won't be a bit bored with me by then

00:08:42how do you mean well look at this figure perfectly flat and yet all the modeling's there it's the

00:08:50line if the line's good enough it implies the volume that's you my mysterious jaconda

00:08:59do you remember a young woman who came back from india a very charming and beautiful young woman oh

00:09:03that's neither here nor there the point is that you showed her your pictures you took the trouble to

00:09:09explain to her what they were all about ah i begin to remember but she never forgot that's the

00:09:14difference do you know what you did for me henry you opened a door and there were all the things i'd

00:09:21only heard about painting criticism music it was like a revelation like a conversion and you didn't feel

00:09:31anything of what i felt how could i after all i hadn't spent some of the best years of my life in an

00:09:36indian garrison town and to think that but for you and the grace of god i might be there now

00:09:42the colonel's lady that's what i'd be by this time and who knows perhaps you'd be very happy my dear

00:09:48perhaps you made a great mistake when you turned down your nice young captain henry how can you say

00:09:54that after all a man can have very bad taste in art and yet be a very good husband and vice versa i may

00:10:01add but the one doesn't necessarily exclude the other no i've known people who could make the best

00:10:07of both worlds such as a certain person who likes modigliani how strange that emily never learned to

00:10:13care for painting oh but she does she cares a great deal but her taste isn't very catholic she likes

00:10:19portraits and only portraits of herself and then only if they're flattering and by very expensive painters

00:10:25excuse me sir yeah what is it clara mrs hutton says would you please come upstairs a minute

00:10:33tell her i'll come later on she wants you to come now sir oh very well uh sorry janet i won't be

00:10:38long well i'll have to be going in a moment anyhow wait till i come back please of course

00:10:44clara is mrs hutton feeling worse not that i know of miss anyhow worse or better doesn't make much

00:10:50difference it must be hard work for you with an invalid in the house oh you get used to it miss you get

00:10:55used to anything until the moment comes when you say that's enough there's a lot of good that does

00:11:01you because when you come down to it one thing's just as bad as another you can change your job as

00:11:05much as you like there's always something wrong so stay where you are that's my advice i wonder how long

00:11:12he'll be who's that oh oh are you looking for somebody yes mr hutton was he expecting you well not

00:11:23exactly but but i mean he knows who i am why didn't you ring at the front door i came through the garden

00:11:29it was shorter i mean well it was nothing of course just fuss for buses oh

00:11:38miss mead what a pleasant surprise um i don't think you know miss spence miss mead is collecting

00:11:45subscriptions for the crippled children's homes i've got the check ready for you miss mead oh thank

00:11:50you the only thing is that i'd like to earmark the money for spare sticks i couldn't quite make out

00:11:55what form i had to fill up i'll say goodbye henry no no i won't be a moment but i've got to go

00:12:00thank emily for me and tell her how sorry i am i couldn't see her i will well don't bother to see

00:12:05me out goodbye miss mead goodbye i'll ring up tomorrow and see what we can settle about that

00:12:09game of chess with your father yes do that goodbye henry

00:12:13you little idiot doris oh no no no none of that i'm very angry with you you know quite well you've

00:12:23got no business to come here i know darling but i was passing the gate and i couldn't resist it and

00:12:29you see what happened it's lucky i had those papers lying there you were wonderful teddy bear crippled

00:12:35children well that's nothing to giggle about if you got the spanking you deserve you'd be in a

00:12:41convalescent home oh sit down before anything worse happens to you goodness what's that picture

00:12:48rather nice isn't it the teddy bear well girls aren't like that i mean you wouldn't like it if i

00:12:57no i certainly wouldn't but fortunately you are not a piece of canvas

00:13:02i could eat you darling do you love me like a cannibal

00:13:10i know you don't really love me but i don't care i can love enough for two what about having

00:13:14dinner with me tonight oh that would be wonderful good but now you've got to promise me something

00:13:20never come to this house again it's pointless it's idiotic and it's dangerous so you mustn't

00:13:26all right i promise tell me is she in the house who do you mean you know quite well who i mean

00:13:35is she still so ill let's talk about something else i know i'm not fit to mention her don't talk

00:13:40nonsense it's simply a question of tact of good taste in other words you're ashamed you don't want

00:13:46to be reminded of what you're doing you just want to do it and not think about it exactly that means you

00:13:50don't really care for me i'm not ashamed i wouldn't mind telling everybody because i love

00:13:56you because i feel this is the best thing i've ever done you certainly don't feel that no one

00:14:03doesn't feel too proud of well of being a seducer i like that do you remember the first time you

00:14:11kissed me well i'd made up my mind beforehand that i was going to make you kiss me and i did make

00:14:17you well i'm damned so you see you needn't feel so guilty i won't talk about her i know it makes

00:14:24you miserable besides i'm dreadfully sorry for her really and for you if it comes to that

00:14:31why for me because you can't be as happy as i am

00:14:36the one who was here just now was that janet spence yes oh i'd never imagined she was like that

00:14:42not from the way you've talked about her why she's as old as the hills

00:14:46well of course from your point of view she's practically got one foot in the grave to me

00:14:50she looks like a very attractive girl of 35. she used to be really lovely 10 years ago and i suppose

00:14:56you flirted with her naturally do you still flirt with her only in the most spiritual way we do a

00:15:02sort of dante and beatrice act you know soulmates now what's the matter sometimes i really hate you oh

00:15:08don't be silly can't you understand the joke it isn't a joke you do care for her i don't care for

00:15:14her i just care for the things she cares about she's the only person in this godforsaken neighborhood

00:15:20who isn't a barbarian or a philistine what about a little drive this afternoon that'll be lovely all

00:15:26right now go and get my things and tell them i shan't be in this evening what will you say you're doing

00:15:31oh i'll say i'll tell them i'm dining with old mr johnson to discuss the war memorial oh teddy bear

00:15:37present rate of progress it'll be ready just in time for the next little massacre to end all

00:15:40massacres or even the next but one that is if there's anything left of us by then

00:15:45meanwhile my pet the graves a fine and private place but none i think do their embrace from which

00:15:52i can draw only one conclusion what's that don't waste time talking run along and wait in the car i

00:15:58shan't be long all right teddy bear

00:16:09by dr lebar now what are you doing here is my wife ill hutton i've been waiting for you for four

00:16:16hours the servants tried to reach you at mr johnson's but they had no news if you're there

00:16:19no i was detained i um i had a breakdown your wife kept asking to see you i'll go up to her at once

00:16:25i'm afraid it's too late too late oh yes it is a quarter to twelve i suppose she's asleep hutton

00:16:32your wife had a heart attack about four hours ago

00:16:37dead yes unfortunately i was out when they called me i didn't get here until it was all over

00:16:44it was the nurses they are too the only person who was with her except for the maids was janet

00:16:48was janet and they sent for janet did they i think her presence must have been a great comfort to poor

00:16:54emily it's a great help to be able to hold somebody's hand to feel you're not completely

00:16:59abandoned it's strange she hadn't been complaining of her heart these last days it came on suddenly

00:17:06there was a violent attack of nausea in the afternoon and that was the thing that knocked out

00:17:10the heart i understand from the maid she'd eaten some red currants at lunch do you mean to say that

00:17:17that could have killed her indirectly yes when her heart's in the condition hers was in you can't risk

00:17:22the smallest indiscretion oh excuse me i saw a light in here and i wondered oh dr libar is anything wrong

00:17:31nothing except that you've managed to kill your patient what do you mean mrs hutton died of heart

00:17:36failure while you were out and it was because you let her have those currents do you remember is this

00:17:41true nurse oh but she liked them so you know how strongly i've always insisted on a bland diet i i

00:17:48didn't think that a few currents that's enough nurse you went against my instructions you were

00:17:54absolutely in the wrong admit it i warned you at the time but you insisted on taking them to her

00:18:00you wanted to have your own way didn't you admit it admit it please hutton this is a professional

00:18:06matter henry she looks so calm now so beautiful you feel she's come home at last come home and

00:18:15going to sleep i think i'll go up to her room i know it must have come as a terrible shock to you nurse

00:18:23you were so devoted to her dr libar says it was my fault her fault doctor i gave certain instructions

00:18:32nurse braddock chose to ignore them whether this was actually responsible for what happened tonight

00:18:37i can't say currents are the last thing i'd have allowed mrs hutton to eat you think it was the

00:18:42currents she didn't eat anything else that could have upset her like this you better go to bed nurse

00:18:48you can't do anything for anyone what are you going to do about this dr libar i suppose i ought to

00:18:59report her to her organization the odd thing is that she's really a first-rate nurse i don't understand it

00:19:06i think i know why she is i suppose she cared too much for her patient thought she was doing the poor

00:19:11woman of favor yes she really loved emily but that's only part of the explanation the other part

00:19:17is that she wanted to spite henry why she didn't like him that's all just because he belongs to the

00:19:22male six i suppose some of them get like that henry was always very keen on emily sticking to her diet

00:19:28that was enough to make nurse braddock ridicule the whole thing with the result that she kills the

00:19:32person she's most attached to ah oh dear she must be feeling the shock more than any of us

00:19:40i'd like to help her if it's possible you know my father's nurses leading us my poor janice i was

00:19:46thinking i'd ask nurse braddock to come and take her place that is well if you feel she'd be all right

00:19:51well as i've said she's an uncommonly good nurse and i don't think there'd be any psychological

00:19:57difficulties with them no i think she likes me quite well all right i won't say anything on

00:20:02condition she goes to you i'll still be in touch with her in that case i think you're very generous

00:20:07one tries to use a little discrimination that's all should i go and talk to her do you think

00:20:11do the poor woman was obviously in an awful state i'll wait here for hutton very well

00:20:18oh here he is i'm going up to see nurse henry very well janet

00:20:27well there's nothing to say of course just a lot of platitudes that don't signify anything

00:20:35have a drink libad no thanks one talks in one universe one dies and one suffers in another

00:20:42i found that out when margaret died you two were very close weren't you we've been married nearly 30 years

00:20:4930 years and yet it isn't the time that counts it's what you feel and what you are

00:20:58do you remember emily as she was in this photograph hmm margaret used to say she was

00:21:03uh like the princess in a fairy story to my darling wilt thou sail with me shelly yes

00:21:13he wrote it to an emily too we used to read it together

00:21:17shall i tell you where i was this evening i don't think you need it seems sufficiently obvious

00:21:28i suppose you think i'm pretty contemptible don't you i don't think i have any right to pass that kind

00:21:33of judgment well i do that's what i am that's what i've always been contemptible i've never thought so

00:21:39but i felt extremely sorry for you sometimes you're contemptible no goodness no order no sense or meaning

00:21:48the model equivalent of a slum that's what my life has been and in an obscure kind of way i've always

00:21:53known it but i wouldn't face the fact you had nothing to make you face the fact perhaps not

00:21:59but i was capable of being i won't say a better man because that's claiming too much but

00:22:06i was capable of achieving achieving something being born with a lot of money as you were

00:22:12it's no joke heaven knows it's really enough to earn one's own living at least it gives a certain

00:22:18purpose and direction to one's existence do you think i'm capable of changing of course if you want

00:22:24to i do want to at this moment yes but it's so easy to be heroic in time of crisis

00:22:31will you feel the same a month from now do you think i'm as weak as all that wouldn't surprise me

00:22:36if you were it wouldn't surprise me if you weren't at my age i've stopped being surprised at anything

00:22:43what are you doing i've got to write a note excuse me a moment

00:22:49the moon's almost full i see what i hated most when i worked in london was never seeing the sky

00:22:56only a lot of smoke with whiskey advertisements that's what makes modern man so idiotically

00:23:03bunches he lives in a horrible little homemade universe and thinks he's conquered the god made one

00:23:09he's industrialized himself to the point where he's in danger of exhausting all his natural resources

00:23:15oh well i must go i've got a heavy day in front of me tomorrow drop this note in the letterbox as you

00:23:20go by will you i try not to forget no dent it's important miss doris mead can't believe that anyone

00:23:29called doris can be as important as all that very important to say goodbye to oh i see well then i

00:23:35certainly shan't forget you're quite right one doesn't know what one will be thinking and feeling

00:23:40a month from now so let's do the irrevocable today then one can't change one's mind tomorrow you're

00:23:46growing wise in your old age oh well janet what news she's very grateful to you dr lebard and you'll

00:23:54have a new nurse i hope as soon as henry will let her go the sooner the better as far as i'm concerned

00:23:59well goodbye janet goodbye goodbye libad and thank you for all you've done for me goodbye i'll look in

00:24:06again tomorrow i'm so thankful you were with poor emily at the end did she did she suffer much oh janet

00:24:23don't let's talk about it anymore it's been too much for you it was terrible

00:24:29it was so terrible i i'd never seen anybody die before i i didn't realize try to think of her only

00:24:37as she is now she's at peace the agony is over you must think of that i just can't keep the memory

00:24:45away it's like an obsession i suddenly see her struggling for breath with with that awful look of

00:24:53pain and fear in her face yes but you must remember all those years of suffering and unhappiness now

00:25:00she's free yes free that is what we must remember

00:25:09hello now my london number thank you operator hello have you got a double room for tonight

00:25:29yes with a bath the name is hutton mr and mrs henry hutton

00:25:35now i don't expect to be in before 10 30. thank you

00:25:45who's there well janet come in what a pleasant surprise i'm the one to be surprised i thought you

00:25:53were in cornwall so did i until this morning i had to go to town unexpectedly so i thought i'd take

00:25:59the opportunity to do a little burglary on the way without telling us you'd be here my dear it was

00:26:04all decided in such a hurry besides i'm just driving through post haste how on earth did you

00:26:10know i was here oh we decided to walk down to the village after dinner and then suddenly i noticed a

00:26:14light in the house so i let father and nurse bradley go on and climbed over the fence more burglary

00:26:21well i'm delighted sit down won't you yeah i won't stay long only till the others get back from the

00:26:29village i hope they won't get caught in the rain it looked pretty menacing just now

00:26:35i'm glad you came janet it'll save me writing a letter and going to the post office

00:26:40this is for you oh well what is it well open it and see

00:26:49but but henry it's emily's bracelet and emily would want you to wear it me well i don't know

00:26:56anyone who has as much right to it as you do her best friend the person who did more for her than any

00:27:02other let me put it down for you there henry i i couldn't i i don't deserve it janet she loved you

00:27:13she'd want you to have something that would always remind you of her and you were very fond of her

00:27:18weren't you no no henry i can't take it off please janet i should be offended if you won't take it

00:27:22do you want me to have it of course i want you to have it i just felt it was too much too much

00:27:30not nearly enough oh it's really very beautiful do you mind if i finish packing up these papers

00:27:38while we talk of course not did you hear that look it's as black as pitch outside how much longer

00:27:47are you going to be away henry well i really can't say i suppose you'll be back in two or three

00:27:51weeks thereabouts perhaps a little longer various things have turned up recently i i may have to be

00:27:59in town for a bit what about your father and the nurse they're going to get awfully wet aren't they oh

00:28:05they'll take shelter somewhere i love thunderstorms don't you frankly i don't i once saw a man killed

00:28:13by lightning just a few feet away from him look at the trees writhing struggling as if they were

00:28:21trying to get free but they can't they're tied down the wind blows through them and all it can do is to

00:28:30torture them tear them to pieces destroy them here's the rain what a release release

00:28:43it's like somebody who's had to keep everything locked up inside herself and then suddenly she can

00:28:48let go you must know what that's like henry know what what's like having to hide the thing that's

00:28:55most important to you being forced to live a lie against your will against all your feelings

00:29:01this is getting too close for my liking you can't be happy if you're living a lie can't you

00:29:06all i don't know but how could you be under those conditions and after all well everyone's got a

00:29:12right to happiness a right now why should it be a right i don't claim anything but right i just take

00:29:18what happens to come my way and thank my lucky stars poor henry you haven't had much happiness in

00:29:23your life have you golly how i hate this you're quite right i'm far from happy at this moment you

00:29:31can make a joke of it but i know what you've been through henry the isolation the spiritual loneliness

00:29:38i've known what that can be there's nobody to understand or sympathize nobody you can talk to

00:29:44about your most precious thoughts and feelings yes your poor father it must have been pretty difficult

00:29:50sometimes yes so you see i realize what you've had to go through emily was so sweet and kind and with

00:29:57that touching childlike quality but she was no companion for a man like you she could never

00:30:03share in your tastes and interests oh it's right overhead it's wonderful it's like it's like passion now

00:30:16janet you've been reading too many novels passion passion but you know what i mean

00:30:20loving so much or hating so much that at last it breaks out in spite of yourself like lightning like

00:30:26a thunderbolt like the wind and the rain woe to the man who hasn't got an umbrella henry we're free now

00:30:34we needn't pretend any longer pretend what i tried to hide it but you must always have known henry

00:30:41just as i always knew about you about me yes of course i knew what you felt and i knew you'd never

00:30:51admit it out of a sense of honor and duty and now there's no need for acting it's been so long henry

00:30:58and i cared so much but janet listen to me it's impossible but henry you've forgotten we can do

00:31:06what we want now there's nothing to prevent it anymore we don't have to think of anyone but ourselves

00:31:10janet there's something you don't understand i'm i'm sorry henry oh my dear don't let's say anything

00:31:18more about it you're overwrought it's the thunder i ought to have known how you feel about it it's

00:31:23still too recent too painful poor emily emily that face i thought i'd put it out of my mind so frightened

00:31:33so horribly frightened and i talked about us no wonder it upset you the storm seems to be moving

00:31:43away it isn't raining quite so hard do you think we ought to take the car and see if we can rescue

00:31:48your father henry this won't make any difference later on will it in what way well when the pain

00:31:53is worn off when we can think of ourselves again oh i i see what you mean um listen janet i i think i

00:32:04ought to tell you when i was away in cornwall what happened while you were in cornwall well to cut a long

00:32:12story short i got married you got married it's someone you don't know as a matter of fact i've

00:32:19only known her for a few months i'm sure you'll like her when you meet her of course she is rather

00:32:23young only about 22 as a matter of fact quite a baby 22 so you see she has plenty of time to learn

00:32:28and she'll adapt herself soon enough young people seem to be so sensible nowadays so much on the spot

00:32:34very different from what we were at their age well what are you laughing at oh nothing in particular

00:32:42but we're still friends aren't we of course we are better than ever and how we shall chuckle over

00:32:48this we can look back on it the little joke you played on me and the little joke i played on you

00:32:53the joke why of course oh you didn't think i was serious did you no no naturally i didn't and when

00:33:01shall i have the pleasure of meeting your sweet little oh by the way what's her name doris oh

00:33:06your sweet little doris when are you going to inaugurate her what's that janet are you there

00:33:15oh it's father father are you soaked wheel him in nurse good evening general good evening well this is

00:33:24like campaigning in the monsoon you're right sir sorry to learn ourselves on you libar came by while we

00:33:30were sheltering and insisted on our coming here pushed me half the way in this hearse why didn't

00:33:34he come in went back for his car oh here he is oh do please excuse this intrusion oh don't mention

00:33:42it as a matter of fact we were just coming out to look for the general a lot of fuss don't call that

00:33:46a storm do you the same you've got rather wet general i suggest you get yourself rub down with a

00:33:51dry towel would you mind of course not nurse you know where the towels are kept take whatever you need

00:33:56thank you i will where the devil are you taking me i don't want to have a drink libard thank you

00:34:06guess what henry has brought back from cornwall dr libard well what does one bring back from cornwall

00:34:12i seem to remember um paperweights made of malachite oh no serpentine isn't that the stuff it isn't a

00:34:17paperweight it's alive alive thank you well one used to be able to get the most wonderful parrots

00:34:28that found uh brought back by those sailors and what a vocabulary is it one of those it's a mammal

00:34:34well isn't it a mammal well let's say a dog a pony a badger oh i give it up a siamese cat a wife

00:34:40i'd better go and see to father

00:34:47well i i suppose i ought to congratulate you hudden thank you and yet i posted that letter

00:34:53you gave me most faithfully it wasn't quite as irrevocable as you thought no it wasn't

00:35:03do you remember in the gospels all those people possessed by devils nobody believes in that sort

00:35:08of thing nowadays and yet isn't it the most plausible explanation of some of the things

00:35:11we do well that's one way of disclaiming responsibility but there's also such a thing

00:35:15as uh free will yes there's such a thing as free will and you can use your will to get rid of your

00:35:22will and you can use your will to invite the devils to take possession and the devils make you do things

00:35:28that are idiotic and suicidal in spite of which you go on in spite of which and also because of which

00:35:34after all idiocy is a way of getting out of oneself so suicide not that i'd care to blow my brains out

00:35:41but social suicide there's something very fascinating about the idea of being ostracized

00:35:47being cut off from the group you've always belonged to that's why you're married to be ostracized

00:35:55there were also other reasons too a child that's one of the reasons that's the best news you've ever

00:36:02given me we'll make a human being of you even yet better not mention this to janet not yet a while

00:36:07of course not though she'll find out soon enough of course not as soon as all that doris and i are

00:36:11going abroad in a couple of days i'd meant to do it without letting anyone know but then this happened

00:36:15and well i i felt i had to tell janet about our marriage otherwise i'd have kept it quiet for a few

00:36:21months it would have made things easier however everything doubtless is for the best and the best of all

00:36:27possible worlds excuse me hello oh it's you father's in need of a drink do you mind if i get him one

00:36:37uh no no help yourself janet you'll find glasses in the cupboard thank you no stay where you are

00:36:42i'll come and fetch you in the car

00:36:46yeah that was my wife she went to see some friends and now the roads are like rivers can i take you along

00:36:52live on no no thanks i've got my car outside take this to father will you nurse thank you i'll be

00:36:56back in a few minutes janet then i'll run you over to your house thank you henry meanwhile i'll have a

00:37:01chance of meeting your little daughter doris of course i uh i shan't be long well i must be off too

00:37:09i'll be looking in to see your father one day early next week all right good night good night

00:37:14how's father nurse he's tired he's going to have a nap i'm glad it's good for him to sleep

00:37:24it's not my place to say anything but if you ask me i think it's disgusting getting married six weeks

00:37:31after that poor angel breathed her last six weeks shameful that's what it is don't take it too

00:37:37serious a girl young enough to be his daughter makes me absolutely sick to think of it he told

00:37:42me he'd known her several months oh that means that even while emily was alive didn't i tell you

00:37:49so you wouldn't believe me but you see pigs that's what men are every one of them i don't know how they

00:37:56dare i'd be so nervous of being caught you would yes but men have no shame no decent feelings the same

00:38:04it must have come as a great relief to him you mean when she died well he wanted to marry the girl

00:38:09how do we know he didn't have to marry her you mean she was i'd be ready to bet on it he gets her in

00:38:16trouble and then he has to get her out again and if emily hadn't died just when she did well luckily

00:38:22for them she did die just at the right moment just at the right moment

00:38:30miss spence you don't suppose suppose what why wouldn't he let me take the medicine up to her he'd

00:38:39never done that before he knew you were in a hurry i thought it was very nice of him he never did

00:38:44anything nice for me no miss spence he took that medicine up to her because he'd got some reason for

00:38:50it you're not suggesting that well that he put something into it oh that's too absurd that tin of

00:38:59weed killer what don't you remember standing there in the veranda it was printed on the label poison

00:39:05contains arsenic what are you talking about arsenic arsenic brings on vomiting so that was why he made

00:39:11all the fuss about the red currents just to give himself an alibi you're mad it's absolutely

00:39:16ridiculous you thought it was ridiculous when i told you he was carrying on with a girl well who

00:39:20was right you or me and another thing why did it happen on the day i was out what difference did that

00:39:28make why if i'd been there he'd never been able to get away with it i'd have recognized the symptoms

00:39:33immediately so what does he do chooses a day when he knows i won't be back till late

00:39:37till it's all over in fact and when he gets home he turns on me and says i killed her with the red

00:39:44currents but after all dr libar thought it was the currents yes and why because the other one keeps

00:39:49harping on it and so i have to take the blame well i'm not going to put up with it any longer

00:39:56and it's not merely a question of my own interests it's a matter of principle i want to see justice done

00:40:03i want to have the whole world know the truth you talk as though you knew it yourself well i do

00:40:08i'm as certain about it now as i would be if they'd already had the autopsy the autopsy yes the autopsy

00:40:13do you mean to talk to dr libar dr libar no of course not he wouldn't want to admit he'd made a

00:40:19mistake could he he tried to talk me out of it no i've got my contacts i know who to go to and suppose

00:40:29they did find something in the body they'll ask who put it there and when they ask that they'll find

00:40:35there's only one possible answer only one answer come along in darling yes and here it is

00:40:43janet my dear this is doris as a matter of fact you've seen her before do you remember oh

00:40:48oh the crippled children that was a good joke wasn't it oh yes this is nurse braddock general

00:40:56spencer's nurse how do you do mrs hutton i'll uh i'll get the cases done do you mind if i call you

00:41:05doris you know it seems ridiculous for me to be calling you mrs hutton i'd love it and you must call

00:41:10me janet yes miss spence i mean janet my dear what a lovely brooch don't i recognize it yes it belonged

00:41:19to mrs hutton i mean you know of course emily's diamond dragonfly do you see nurse i'd noticed it

00:41:26already i remember how much you admired it nurse braddock used to be a great friend of poor emily's

00:41:31before she before she came to help me with my father she was really more of a friend than a nurse

00:41:38it isn't friendship that gets you diamond brooches but it gets you diamond bracelets all right look

00:41:44doris see what your husband has just given me he gave you that this afternoon wasn't that sweet of him

00:41:51aren't you a little jealous of course not you're a real flatterer aren't you tell me doris are you

00:41:59very very happy yes i i think so will you only think so oh no no i don't mean that yes yes where are you

00:42:07excuse me miss spence i'm coming general

00:42:12i'm sorry let's talk about something else if it upsets you oh but i am happy really and truly

00:42:18it's just well you know i'm not very clever and henry seems to know everything

00:42:24i'd like to have some lessons or something you know about art and things you sweet child then i'd know

00:42:29the difference between things i mean some pictures look funny but they aren't meant to be you have to know

00:42:34which is which don't you it's advisable you heard this janet about hutton getting married again yes

00:42:41father i knew more sensible fellow than i thought and here is mrs hutton oh isn't she enchanting doris

00:42:48dear my father general spence how do you do take that ridiculous hat off that's better

00:42:55here is the image of your mother when we were engaged same hair same eyes but i'd say the nose

00:43:03was a tiny bit more of trucey turn your head yes definitely do you remember janet that photograph

00:43:12of her and the riding habit yes i do that's the thing she was wearing when i saw her first dark green

00:43:19and she was riding a gray gilding don't you ever ride in anything but a habit my dear no britches

00:43:27women are the right shape for britches well as in a riding habit well a man could still have illusions

00:43:34and what's life without illusions nasty brutish and short and women's legs are shorter than life

00:43:40ah hutton do you hear that no britches if my wife had worn britches i'd never have married her and

00:43:47janet would have remained a twinkle in your eye yes but it's about time she became a twinkle in somebody

00:43:52else's eye would you agree hutton no no don't get so excited i will get excited if i choose it's about

00:43:59time she thought of herself for change time she stopped this damned self-sacrifice tell her to let me

00:44:06go to blazes and find herself a husband have you anyone in mind father or you henry have you any

00:44:10suggestions oh that's up to you my girl when a girl sets her cap at a man she usually gets what

00:44:16she wants in the long run we don't want you to end your days as one of those damn spinsters

00:44:22now this little filly knew what she was about you're a wise unlucky young woman yes i'm lucky are you

00:44:30what exactly do you mean by that nurse i'm going to get in touch with the authorities i've something to

00:44:36say of interest to the coroner hello yes this is mrs hutton who oh it's you aunt nelly what this is an

00:44:56awful line oh the inquest you thought i'd be there oh no henry didn't want me to go besides i've still

00:45:05got a bit of a cold he isn't back yet i don't think it'll be over for another hour or so but

00:45:12hardly there isn't any doubt about it of course it'll be all right why an inquest just out of spite

00:45:19nothing else they're angry because we didn't wait a year and then they're all a hundred years old so they

00:45:24simply hate me no she's all right she's been awfully nice really and her father likes me too

00:45:31he's sweet it's only me come in janet i shan't be a moment listen auntie i've got to ring off now jan

00:45:38has just come in for tea i'll call you back later goodbye well well sitting there with all her toys

00:45:46around her like a dear little girl janet you don't look well what's the matter i'm perfectly all right

00:45:50are you still sleeping so badly that's nothing and anyhow dr libard's promised to give me some

00:45:55kind of pill from now on i shall snore you've been worrying too much janet well is that surprising

00:46:01after all henry's a very old friend oh i wouldn't worry i know everything's going to be all right

00:46:08excuse me madam there's tea

00:46:10that'll be all thank you clara very good madam

00:46:20henry ought to be back pretty soon how was he when he went off this morning a bit worried i suppose no

00:46:27he was too angry to be worried it makes him so furious the way they're treating him as though he

00:46:32were a member of the unprivileged classes darling how dreadfully unkind of me i quite forgot to ask

00:46:38how you've been is everything going as it ought to go well i still feel sick in the morning if that's

00:46:44what you mean and dr libard's pleased with you is he he seems to be it must be a very strange and

00:46:51wonderful thing you mean to be going to have a baby yes oh i suppose it'll be all right when the

00:46:56baby's actually there but now i think i'd rather have the measles again at least it doesn't last

00:47:01so long yes clara nurse braddock would like to speak to you madam ask her to come in what can

00:47:08she want can't think good afternoon nurse good afternoon mrs hudden i hope you won't mind my

00:47:18bursting in like this i realize quite well what you must be thinking of me but in view of what's

00:47:22happened i feel i was fully justified in doing my duty what do you mean in view of what's happened

00:47:27i've just left dr libard he'd come straight from the inquest the man from the home office gave his

00:47:33evidence they found arsenic in the body but that's a poison it's got hardly any taste that's why so many

00:47:40murderers use it i think you better go nurse why does everyone turn on me i was only trying to help

00:47:47i thought i ought to warn this poor child of the danger she was running please go dr libard asked

00:47:54me to give you this miss spence it's your sleeping pills thank you well don't say i didn't warn you

00:48:04what will they know now janet well dear the coroner's jury will have to decide how the poison

00:48:08came to be where it was and then if somebody suspected it'd have to be a trial janet do you think

00:48:16i mean could they do something to him to henry but henry hasn't done anything no but suppose he

00:48:22had doris you mustn't say those things just suppose then they could do something couldn't they

00:48:26well you know what happens to people who who kill someone oh it's too awful darling don't cry

00:48:34it'll be all right no please take this i don't want anything it's what dr libard's given me for

00:48:42sleeping one tablet just enough to calm their nerves a little that's all thank you janet

00:48:49you've been an angel you'll feel quieter in a moment dear

00:48:54janet isn't there anything he can do well he's doing it he's answering their questions he's

00:48:59explaining why it couldn't be him but if he can't explain couldn't he go somewhere and hide i suppose he

00:49:05could if he went far enough i i must get back to my father he gets so impatient if i'm late for his

00:49:12game of chess bye darling and don't fret you'll see tomorrow it'll all be explained

00:49:20oh dear where could we go i wonder what's the number here it is

00:49:35hello i want roman way two three

00:49:39good afternoon i want to ask about booking seats on a plane yes i'll hold on oh hello if i wanted to

00:49:52book two seats on a plane could i do it at the last moment where to oh italy yes rome that's right

00:50:02and you think there might be a chance of getting seats even if i made up my mind by tonight

00:50:09what time does it leave thank you i'm much obliged hello darling are you feeling all right yes

00:50:18just heard what happened it's too terrible isn't it it's terrible because it's impossible

00:50:24and yet it's happened but how oh don't ask any questions darling don't let's talk about it

00:50:28it's not now it's all a confusion like a dust storm no worse than that like being in the middle of a

00:50:37swarm of insects i just can't think about it anymore kiss me darling and we know oh darling

00:50:49this is impossible too impossibly good for a change and yet it happens it's happening now

00:50:57how does a piece of matter set about falling in love or writing hamlet it's just out of the question

00:51:07and yet there hamlet is and there are you and here am i defying time outside this nightmare of perpetual

00:51:18perishing beyond evil beyond good darling i never knew you love me as much as that

00:51:29as much as what as much as this

00:51:34or as this

00:51:37or as this

00:51:38oh why did you do it henry why did you do it why did i do it you all seem to take it for granted

00:51:49that i murdered my wife first as the coroner did i put anything to emily's medicine then old johnson

00:51:54cuts me dead in the street outside the court and now you you i suppose you imagined i was so insanely

00:52:01in love that i'd do anything to get you anything anything it's about time women realize that men don't

00:52:05go insane about them or one asks for is a little amusement to the chance to forget oneself please

00:52:10henry don't i don't know why the devil i ever married you why any man in his right mind ever

00:52:13married any woman for that matter i've had enough henry he's gone he's left me oh i can't go on i can't

00:52:25i can't janet's sleeping pills i'll take the lot

00:52:47well that's that young woman a day in bed and you can do what you like and remember no more of this

00:52:52sort of nonsense swallowing half a bottle of sleeping tablets i'm sorry dr libbard

00:52:57i won't do it again good girl no i'm not good i've done dreadful things that's why all this is

00:53:04happening you heard what they said at the inquest do you think i i mean is it possible no i feel

00:53:13sure it wasn't henry if that's what you mean oh i'm so thankful but then who how did it happen

00:53:20it might very easily have been suicide do you really think so well you tried it didn't you

00:53:28i like henry but i confess i'm glad i'm not married to him that isn't fair dr libbard

00:53:34it was my fault not henry's after all why should he love me if he doesn't want to it's my business to

00:53:39love him tell me how i can help him well first of all you've got to believe in him in spite of

00:53:47everything and then whatever happens you've got to be strong and calm and finally remember you're

00:53:53going to have a baby that'll probably be about the best thing that ever happened to henry so for

00:53:58goodness sake don't let's make a mess of it here he is now remember is it all right if i come in now

00:54:05libad i've been waiting for hours is she all right flourishing hello darling hello i'm so thankful you

00:54:13got here in time libad if it's any comfort to you i don't draw the obvious conclusions from the medical

00:54:19evidence good night henry thank you good night i'm sorry darling oh i'm the one who's sorry i was just

00:54:32trying to spite you trying to get my own back i began it i'm afraid i ought to have known better

00:54:38at 22. this is something where it doesn't make any difference how old you are it's just a question of

00:54:44being a girl oh no i hate that word it's all wrong why can't women call themselves women why do they

00:54:51have to pretend they're like all those faces in the movies you know always looking at men out of the

00:54:56corner of their eyes i do it myself of course why i don't know but of course it isn't any different

00:55:04i love you just as much in that way only now there's something else do you know what i mean yes

00:55:12i know what you mean and to think i i tried to kill myself and everything's so beautiful so mysterious

00:55:21darling let's call him patrick well i'm not an Irishman but i don't have any objection to patrick

00:55:31and if it's a girl well what about belinda no there i draw the line all right then we'll call

00:55:38her something else oh it's going to be so wonderful they'll go to school and they'll grow up and they'll

00:55:45marry and they'll be grandchildren meanwhile there'll have been two or three more world wars and half

00:55:49a dozen slumps and revolutions but fortunately private life will still go on henry we've forgotten

00:55:56we're just shutting our eyes and pretending listen just before you came back from the court

00:56:01i rang up the airport they say that with luck you can get seats at the last moment i'm well enough

00:56:06i could get up now if i had to who put this idiotic idea into your head you don't think it's a good

00:56:12plan excellent if you want to get me tried for murder can't you see it'll be simply asking

00:56:17them to arrest me i hadn't thought of that of course not because you still believe i did it

00:56:21but i don't why do you suggest that i should run away oh i thought it would be safer in case you

00:56:26couldn't make them believe oh i've been a fool again i've made you angry it's only because i love

00:56:32you so much because i was so terribly anxious i said something very stupid this afternoon

00:56:38i said i didn't know why i'd married you well perhaps i didn't know then but i do now why

00:56:49because i love my love with an l because she's so logical so lamentable at the same time and so

00:56:58lacrimose not to mention so light so live so lovely and so ludicrous oh darling come in

00:57:11it's miss spencer she says she doesn't want to disturb you but she forgot something when she was

00:57:16here this afternoon is it all right darling yes ask her to come in tell her very good sir

00:57:22what did she forget her sleeping pills oh well in a certain sense i'm glad she left them

00:57:29aren't you hello janet darling i've just heard from clara oh it's two i'm quite all right janet really

00:57:37is that true libar got here almost immediately there's no harm done thank god i feel so guilty

00:57:43if i'd been less absent of course it was a pretty dangerous operation but it's turned out to be

00:57:48entirely successful hasn't it darling yes oh well i i better take what's left of my property and go

00:57:58two's company three is none goodbye doris i know you'll be glad to get rid of me no i won't janet you

00:58:05little fibber can i have a word with you henry certainly i think i want to tell you i met the vicar

00:58:14just now and then colonel brabison joined us they said the most terrible things about you well i suppose

00:58:21it's only to be expected i tell them they had no right even to think that way much less to talk

00:58:26after all it could have been an accident it could have been suicide well it certainly wasn't what they

00:58:31think poor emily she was always saying she was tired of life i keep wondering if she hadn't heard

00:58:42something about yes it's quite possible perhaps that was what drove her to it heavens what one can do to

00:58:51people yes what one can do to people well good night henry good night janet good night

00:59:03come in doctor come in i thought i'd just drop in to see how things are going father seems quite

00:59:14well he's just gone out for his walk and you hmm not much of a credit to your physician i'm afraid

00:59:22if i don't sleep tonight i shall go mad you've still got some of those pills i gave you haven't

00:59:27you they don't seem to work anymore i get the most awful dreams and wake up again couldn't you get me

00:59:31something that would really make me sleep i can't stand it any longer any fool can stop the symptoms

00:59:37of insomnia the difficulty is to find the cause to find it and then remove it well it's going to be

00:59:44removed next friday next friday oh i see do you hate him as much as all that after all it was proved

00:59:54wasn't it they proved that he killed emily how do you expect me not to hate him you used to be such good

00:59:59friends never i always felt there was something wrong somewhere yet emily thought that if she died

01:00:05you and he ought to get married married but that's monstrous how can you say such a thing only repeating

01:00:13what she said more than once as i remember talking about me as though i were one of those women of his

01:00:17as though i were a kind of slut that will tumble into bed with any man that comes along it's disgusting

01:00:22it's it's obscene i don't know what's so obscene about marriage i won't have it excuse me let me

01:00:29feel your pulse will you getting excited doesn't help you to sleep does it i'm sorry dr libyard

01:00:36don't apologize to me apologize to yourself after all you're the one who has insomnia

01:00:41and i'll tell you of another who hasn't been sleeping properly that's the one he actually did marry

01:00:46do you ever think of the child hutton's child yes it's no joke to be the child of a criminal no joke

01:00:53to be anybody's child no joke to be born but anyhow i just can't believe that hutton was responsible

01:01:00well then who was what about emily herself emily no emily wouldn't have committed suicide she wasn't

01:01:09that sort of person yes i must say i was a bit surprised when you said that at the trial

01:01:14she often talked to me about being tired of life wanting to put an end to it all i never heard her

01:01:19talk that way never nor did nurse braddock if i remember rightly i don't know what she said and

01:01:25i don't care i don't care all right it carried a lot of weight with the jury somebody who'd been

01:01:31with emily day and night for the best part of two years and she says she's never heard so much as a

01:01:36whisper of suicide and suicide was the main line of defense i'm not interested in lines of defense

01:01:42i'm interested in the truth i'm interested in justice if you're accusing me of telling lies

01:01:48just because i hated that beast why do you let me go on like this people don't like being stopped

01:01:54i don't really mean it it's just that i get worked up and then it seems to go on by itself

01:01:59do you know that awful feeling as though you were a violin and somebody was screwing up the strings

01:02:04tighter and tighter oh god i wish it were all over all over hutton's going to be hanged

01:02:17but don't imagine you're going to be free of him in one way or another this thing is going on

01:02:22all you can do is to decide whether it should go on in the worst possible way or in some other way what

01:02:28other way ask yourself all i know is that the way that's being followed now is the worst way

01:02:33you can't sleep and hutton's going to be hanged for something he never did but it was proved not

01:02:38to my satisfaction nonsense to say it was suicide nurse braddock never heard her say anything i i never

01:02:43heard her say anything how could it have been very well let's assume you're right i know i'm right

01:02:48you know it wasn't emily and i know it wasn't hutton well then it must have come through some other agency

01:02:54i don't know what you're driving at i'm driving at some way to make you sleep

01:03:04of course you know the basic reason why poor emily was so dreadfully unhappy what was that it was

01:03:09because she wouldn't accept the facts as she found them she was an invalid and she'd lost her looks

01:03:14but she wanted people to treat her as though she were young and pretty hence all the misery what has

01:03:19that got to do with me nothing i'm just pointing out that people can come to terms with

01:03:24even the most terrible facts i've known plenty of people who came to terms with death even with

01:03:30pain which is a good deal worse well we've had a very interesting talk dr lebard now what about

01:03:37those sleeping tablets weren't you going to give me something a little stronger than you did last time

01:03:43i'd like to try something else do you remember that young psychiatrist you met at my house last year

01:03:49dr farjan yes i've known him ever since he was a boy he can make you sleep if you want him to do you

01:03:58mean he'll hypnotize me send me to sleep and then make me say all sorts of things i don't want to say

01:04:05and i shan't know i've said them no no i won't i know what you're up to you and your hypnotist trying

01:04:10to drive me out of my mind so that you can have an excuse to lock me up listen janet be reasonable i'll

01:04:16kill you all right i'll write you out of prescription

01:04:24mrs hutton to see you miss all right share her in yes miss mrs hutton miss have you been all right

01:04:32mrs hutton yes thank you i i hope you don't mind my coming janet not a bit i'm delighted you went to

01:04:42see him today didn't you yes i went this morning oh dr lippard it was so terrible

01:04:50his hands were all bleeding bleeding from beating on the door he wants them to let him talk to the

01:04:56governor of the prison as if that would do any good how can they do it how can they kill a man

01:05:02who isn't guilty you don't believe he's guilty do you doctor no i don't janet i know you think

01:05:07he's guilty they proved it didn't they they proved it and yet i swear he didn't do it i know he didn't

01:05:14how do you expect me to go against the evidence that's just what i came to talk to you about janet

01:05:20you used to be his friend you could still help him me if you could just go and tell them it was

01:05:25a mistake a mistake what was a mistake about her never saying that she wanted to kill herself

01:05:30if you told them you hadn't really meant it i did mean it i never heard her talk that way never but

01:05:35if other people hurt her then it mean that it's true so it wouldn't be a lie you could go and tell

01:05:41them that after all she did talk about it sometimes they'd believe you janet they'd do something

01:05:49they might put it off even now oh janet please please don't kiss me pawing and slobbering like

01:05:57dogs like monkeys and then calling it love now he sends you to come and whine for mercy janet that's

01:06:04it stand up for her you'd like to do a little pawing and slobbering yourself wouldn't you and

01:06:08meanwhile i'm to go and say i told a lie so that you can go on with your filthy love making janet how

01:06:14can you you couldn't wait you never even gave yourself a chance to find out what real love was

01:06:20like pawing and slobbering that's all you cared about so that you can mother the child of a criminal

01:06:26the child of a man who's been hanged because that's what he's going to be hanged hanged by the

01:06:32neck until he's dead and now go go go get out in here sir please only five minutes i'm afraid i

01:06:48understand i'm late i know hutton it's me oh julie bard help me help me for god's sake i can only help you

01:06:58against yourself what do you mean i can prevent you from torturing yourself that's all but libard

01:07:03it's only two days now less than two days only a little more than 40 hours 40 hours well that's

01:07:10time enough to be reconciled time enough to come to terms with the facts that clock yes the hands move

01:07:19forward well is that any reason for turning the last two days of your life into a hell of fear and

01:07:26bitterness and resentment you've seen a lot of people die haven't you a great many

01:07:39is it is it very bad only for the people who won't accept what's happening to them

01:07:46it's a question of accepting what can't be avoided or escaped and not only accepting it actually willing it

01:07:53this is the inevitable this is my destiny and i will that it should be exactly as it is

01:08:01when you say that the inevitable comes the tolerable and even in a certain sense

01:08:06the reasonable reasonable libard i didn't do it do you believe me i believe you and you still think

01:08:13that's what's happened is reasonable not by our everyday standards but when the thing can be accepted and

01:08:19willed do you accept it and will it no of course not but a wrong that's inflicted on me an evil that i

01:08:26suffer those i can accept and if i do accept them if i go further and actually will them then the wrong

01:08:35the evil change their nature of course in a way all this isn't entirely unjust i i didn't kill emily

01:08:48but i certainly tortured her because i wasn't prepared to forgo my amusements oh it's terrible what

01:08:55monstrous things one's ready to do just to amuse oneself it all seemed so trivial and excusable at

01:09:02the time but no now i know better and it's too late it's never too late to recognize the truth

01:09:13do you think we all get what we deserve what else do we get god is not mocked as a man so so shall he

01:09:19reap and yet i don't believe i'm any worse than plenty of other men i know and what are they doing

01:09:24at this moment shooting peasants or telephoning to their stockbrokers or dozing in an armchair at the

01:09:29club shooting peasants and telephoning to one stockbroker aren't necessarily the rewards of

01:09:34virtue on the contrary they may be punishments after all a man who spends his time on that sort of thing

01:09:39isn't spending it on anything else which means that he's some sort of a spiritual abortion

01:09:45but to grow a fully developed human being is always much more rewarding however painful the

01:09:53process of growth may be and yet if you do accept the responsibilities there's an extraordinary

01:10:03satisfaction i was just discovering that with doris of course you know how it began in wantonness as a

01:10:10kind of joke thinking only of what i could get out of her which was simply a kind of intoxication

01:10:16it only changed after she tried to kill herself suddenly i saw her as a real person a real person

01:10:27whom i'd treated as as a thing and very nearly destroyed all through the trial i kept thinking

01:10:36of the time when one could go forward in that new relationship but now but if you accept the facts if

01:10:45you will them yes the pain doesn't seem to be quite so bad perhaps i could think of her for a change

01:10:57she's coming again tomorrow one human being saying goodbye to another human being

01:11:07it has a value it makes some kind of sense time's up sir very well

01:11:13so goodbye hudden goodbye libar

01:11:20your move general i said your move general

01:11:28it's a quarter to two miss spence don't you think you ought to toddle off to bed

01:11:40i've told you i'm not going to bed not until after eight o'clock in the morning

01:11:44when's dr lebar coming all he said was that it'd be very late he had an urgent case to attend to

01:11:51some miles away i don't know why you ever sent for him i don't need him well your father wanted it

01:11:57dear he's worried about you now miss spence let me help you to bed and then i'll bring you a nice

01:12:02glass of hot milk come along dear there's a good girl don't touch me sure you've done enough reading

01:12:08for tonight all these encyclopedias oh such small print you'll ruin your eyes what are you doing

01:12:16with that encyclopedia just improving my mind that's all give it to me you're trying to spy on me spy on

01:12:22you you'd better be careful i know your tricks you're working with dr lebar but miss spence go away

01:12:30what's that what is it it's all right general that's dr lebar i'll go and let him in

01:12:41janet what is it father i want you to promise me something oh it depends what it is no promise first

01:12:52well i suppose i can trust you take a rest take a holiday you haven't been away for months and months

01:12:59i don't need you i've got this damn woman here go away have a spree i'll have a spree and damn the

01:13:07expense none of your swiss pensions good hotels decent restaurants i'll give you the money free as

01:13:14a bird start tomorrow if you want to tomorrow and pick up her husband while you're about it if you don't

01:13:20mind i'll go on reading my book tell me doctor good evening janet good evening oughtn't you to be in

01:13:26bed by this time general oh i didn't want to leave the girl alone she's ill ought to have a complete

01:13:32change you're right i'll see what i can do nurse i i think you'd better take the general to his room

01:13:38very well doctor don't let it get you down my girl and afterwards remember a good spree good night doctor

01:13:46good night do you understand what does she understand i thought perhaps you might like

01:13:59something later on to make you sleep i've told nurse braddock what to do doctor's orders just a

01:14:04friendly suggestion why not i should only stay up for things of importance i'll just see that father's all

01:14:12right good now for it it's nearly two and move the hands on an hour

01:14:26yes two minutes to three

01:14:41and now my watch in case i forget

01:14:46yes that's it yes well we'll see

01:14:52oh here i hope to be gone i don't know what you ever came for well it's a pretty unpleasant occasion

01:15:03i thought perhaps uh five hours more

01:15:10do people ever die of fear i suppose it could happen of course the heart would have to be in pretty bad

01:15:15shape these idiotic encyclopedias they'd never tell one of the things one really wants to know

01:15:21such as when a man's hanged how long does it take before he's dead well it depends if you just put a

01:15:28noose around his neck and let him strangle under his own weight he mightn't die for five or ten minutes

01:15:33five or ten minutes nowadays of course they don't do it like that they let the man drop eight or ten feet

01:15:40before the rope tightens the shock breaks his neck do you think it deserves to die so easily i don't

01:15:46think it deserves to die at all i know why you said that just to get me angry it's part of your little

01:15:52scheme what scheme trying to make me lose my head then i'll say things i don't mean to say

01:15:58but this time i'm not going to oblige you could talk about him as much as you like i shan't say anything

01:16:04and i shan't go to sleep until i feel safe nearly five past three it would still be possible to do

01:16:13it to do what to have the execution postponed why should it be postponed if some entirely new fact

01:16:20were to turn up are you trying to get me to do what doris wanted i tell you emily didn't threaten to

01:16:27kill herself she did but i don't think she carried out the threat no of course not she was killed but

01:16:32not by hutton they proved it the jury thought that they proved it but do you think it over janet think

01:16:40it over mythical bird mythical bird what's your trouble mythical bird seven letters begins with p

01:16:54begins with a p what about phoenix p-h-o-e-n-i-x phoenix that's it incidentally it rose from the dead

01:17:07if that's of any interest to you i came across something in this book something extraordinary

01:17:16do you mind if i read it out to you no no no go ahead

01:17:19the difference between a good man and a bad man does not lie in this that the one wills

01:17:29that which is good and the other does not but solely in this that the one concurs with the living

01:17:36inspiring spirit of god within him and the other resists it and can be chargeable with evil only

01:17:43because he resists it you're too deep for me deep yes but clear crystal clear

01:17:55don't you see what a lot of things it explains okay how are your hands still a bit sore but there won't

01:18:03be any more hammering on doors not now and by the way i i'd like to thank you for being as gentle with

01:18:11me as you were i'm sorry if i ever had to be rough or anything it was all in the course of duty you

01:18:17understand well it was nothing to what i've done in the course of not doing my duty that's why i'm

01:18:23here i suppose for resisting the spirit of god within me life has to be lived forwards but it can only be

01:18:33understood backwards i suppose that's why we always make the important discoveries

01:18:40too late go right in men don't pay any attention to us just carry on as if we weren't here

01:18:47gave a card oh i don't mind daris my dear oh henry

01:18:54darling don't i'm sorry oh your poor hands yes i i treated them pretty badly didn't i sit down there

01:19:08darling must have been lovely in the country have the leaves begun to turn yet yes everything's brown and red

01:19:20and golden i remember when i was a little boy in the beach woods at arundel walking in the dry leaves

01:19:31i used to pretend to myself that it was money knee deep in gold like aladdin there's a theory nowadays

01:19:40that you oughtn't to bring up children on fairy stories don't let them talk you into any of that

01:19:44nonsense promise i promise if it's belinda she'll probably prefer hans anderson to anything else

01:19:54personally i always found him a bit too sad and sentimental if patrick's like me he'll like the

01:20:02arabian nights that and the rose and the ring how i loved the rose and the ring my father used to read

01:20:11it aloud to me about six times a year i'm afraid that'll be your job i wish i were dead which i've

01:20:19never been born what's the good of wishing we have been born and if one comes here one's got to be

01:20:26prepared to go away again oh darling you mustn't grieve you mustn't i tell you everything's all right

01:20:36even my being here even even our having to say goodbye to one another yes ultimately even that's

01:20:48all right i know it is and you can know it too i can't i thought i couldn't until two days ago

01:20:58did did libard tell you he'd been to see me yes he helped me he helped me a great deal all the same

01:21:11after he'd gone oh it was bad again it was like having a a terrible physical pain and it's so

01:21:19excruciating that you can't think of anything else it's the only reality and then all at once

01:21:27the pain stops and for the first time since it started you see that there's a sun in the sky

01:21:36you realize that those shadows out there are real people you discover that your own wretched body

01:21:44isn't the whole world there's all the rest of the universe

01:21:48and you believe that i love you i know you do i know you do

01:22:00i'm winning i'm winning look a king perhaps that's the end you've done for me

01:22:11i owe you 10 million pounds 11 million that one is it heaven help me

01:22:18it looks like rain i like rain i like it but it rains really hard and the thunder and lightning

01:22:30oh god that girl that girl oh it's too horrible like animals i hate him i hate him do you know

01:22:40what the time is it's two minutes to eight only two more minutes that's all two minutes then you'll

01:22:48be safe i'll be safe you must have got everything ready in the scaffold the rope the straps and there's

01:22:58the governor of the prison and the chaplain they're walking along the corridor it isn't far just a few

01:23:05steps they're at the door somebody puts a key in the lock and turns it the door opens and there he is

01:23:15just because she was 22 because of her mouth because of her skin

01:23:27oh god god god lie back in your chair it's all right you can go to sleep now

01:23:37you feel safe now don't you safe nurse nurse i'm here doctor i've got the injection ready good

01:23:53roll off her sleeve will you yes doctor

01:23:59a syringe please

01:24:00now hold your arm quite still janet this won't hurt

01:24:10there now lie back and relax

01:24:15feel all right yes thank you tell me janet how did you get her to take the poison

01:24:25i put it in her coffee you thought he'd ask you to marry him yes

01:24:33no you thought he loved you as much as you loved him it was too awful

01:24:43too humiliating

01:24:44she she's off now nurse get that number for me right doctor

01:24:59may i have that call for dr libard please the whitehall one yes i'll hold on oh by the way what is the

01:25:06right time the exact time i must put my watch back uh five past seven doctor oh thank you you're through

01:25:15now doctor thank you hello i want to speak to the home secretary yes it's dr james libbert speaking

01:25:25he's expecting me to call him before 7 30. yes that's right connected with the hutton case extremely urgent

01:25:39thank you i'll wait

01:25:42in the jaconda smile by aldous huxley adapted for radio by cynthia pew the part of henry hutton was

01:25:54played by noel johnson janet spence by nicolette bernard nurse braddock maddie head doris mead

01:26:01deborah dallas general spence austin trevor dr libard godfrey kenton clara the maid jane knowles and the

01:26:11warder sean arnold the play was produced by norman wright

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