- 2 days ago
#marpletowardszero #poirotdeadmansmirror #enchantedapril
A vain and self-centred girl tries to hide the truth. Based on the short story "Glasses". Starring: Gayle Hunnicutt, Patricia Routledge, Anton Rodgers.
A vain and self-centred girl tries to hide the truth. Based on the short story "Glasses". Starring: Gayle Hunnicutt, Patricia Routledge, Anton Rodgers.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00To be continued...
00:30To be continued...
01:00...fresh Folkestone air into your lungs, James Mallory.
01:03Stuck up in London, breathing nothing but your paints and your canvas.
01:08I did not come to the air, Mrs Meldrum.
01:11I came to see you.
01:14That's talented.
01:15Extraordinary.
01:16Hmm, that's very plain.
01:22Who is she?
01:22Who the devil is she?
01:28Oh, Kitty!
01:31Flora, my dear!
01:33Oh, you've been missed.
01:35How nice.
01:36I've been over in Boulogne with the Floyd Taylors.
01:40Uh-huh.
01:41They've been so kind.
01:42Yes, I dare say.
01:44Yes.
01:45They took me about and showed me off and absolutely went to endless pains to be agreeable.
01:50Well, that is their forte, being agreeable.
01:58Oh, I'd like to present a friend of mine, Mr. James Mallory.
02:03James, this is Miss Flora Louisa Saundt.
02:06The portrait painter.
02:08James.
02:09How do you do?
02:11There were several artists in Boulogne, constantly dogging my footsteps.
02:16But had I sat for one, I should have had to sit for them.
02:21You would do me a great honour, Miss Saundt, if you would agree to sit for me,
02:25when we have both returned to London.
02:27I can't think of anything I would like more.
02:30Good.
02:32That's settled then.
02:34It's the face, you see.
02:36I must have it.
02:37I must set it down.
02:40Who is she?
02:41She's an orphan.
02:42She's 20 years of age and she's rapidly squandering, or being robbed of,
02:47the modest capital her parents left her.
02:49She's no taste in friends.
02:51The Floyd Taylors, who were her hosts in Boulogne, are horrid people.
02:54And the Hammond Sings, with whom she stays in London,
02:57have their hands in her pocket day and night.
02:59Have you spoken to her about it?
03:01Oh, she knows what I think about them.
03:02Indeed, she knows what I think about most things.
03:05She shares that with most of your friends.
03:09That may be, but possibly some of my friends listen to me.
03:13That girl doesn't care a button.
03:15She's too pleased with herself for anything else to matter.
03:17With that face, she has every right to be pleased.
03:19So everyone tells her.
03:20Her vanity is beyond all making or mending.
03:24Why not take her under your wing?
03:26Have her stay with you.
03:28At least you wouldn't please her.
03:30I've lain awake at night wondering how I could help her,
03:33but the fact is I can't at all.
03:36Why not?
03:38Well, you've seen what she does.
03:40She hugs me and runs away.
03:41She has an instinct about me.
03:43She feels I've got one about her.
03:47I sometimes think she can't bear the sight of me.
03:50Oh, it's all right.
03:52There's no obligation.
03:54Though most of the time,
03:55people generally can't take their eyes off me.
03:57Oh, I shouldn't worry.
03:58She'll marry early,
03:59marry dazzlingly,
04:00and be off your conscience.
04:01Whom will she marry?
04:04Anyone she likes.
04:06She's right.
04:07She has a masterpiece.
04:09She's so abnormally pretty,
04:10she can do anything.
04:12She'll fascinate some nabob or prince,
04:14marry him.
04:15That's what she thinks.
04:16It's my opinion she'll fascinate him first
04:19and bore him afterwards.
04:21Moreover,
04:22she's not as flawless as you make out.
04:25She has a scrappy little figure.
04:27And she has another drawback,
04:29which shall be nameless.
04:32Will you turn your head round to the window, please?
04:34I want an aspect of the profile.
04:38Now, right round the other way.
04:40I want to see the other one.
04:41They're both the same.
04:43Indeed they are.
04:44But how do you know a prey?
04:47People are so funny.
04:49No, no, please, stay away, ma.
04:51That's it.
04:52Well, I see beauty in others,
04:54in nature, in art.
04:56Why should I be blind to it in myself?
04:58Well, you turn your head a little this way, please.
05:01That's it.
05:02Besides, I am my own severest critic.
05:05When I look in the mirror,
05:07all I see are the defects.
05:09Which are?
05:11I wouldn't tell you for the world.
05:15Are you all right?
05:16I'm not tiring you, am I?
05:18Not at all.
05:19It's simply a headache.
05:21Oh.
05:21Anemia is very fashionable with the young ladies this season.
05:25Oh.
05:26I don't go in for it myself.
05:28I am happy to say
05:29that I am sound in every part of my body.
05:33I have good eyes, good teeth,
05:35good digestion,
05:36and a good temper.
05:38I'm sound and wind and limb.
05:41That's how Charles puts it.
05:43Charles?
05:44Lord Ifield.
05:46Well, you met him with me that day in Folkestone.
05:49Oh.
05:50He's Lord Considine's son, you know.
05:53They have vast estates in Wiltshire.
05:55Oh.
05:56I met him in Boulogne
05:58and he followed me to Folkestone.
06:01Did he now?
06:02And then he followed me from Folkestone to London.
06:05He's collecting me here in a few moments.
06:07I hope you don't mind.
06:09Not in the least.
06:11There.
06:12I'm finished for today.
06:14We start in earnest tomorrow.
06:16Shall I be hung in the summer exhibition at the Academy?
06:19If I could put a frame around you and submit you,
06:21there would be no doubt.
06:23As it is,
06:23we must wait to see if I can manage to do you justice.
06:26You can tidy up in there if you wish.
06:43Lord Ifield, sir.
06:44Calling by arrangement for Miss Saunt.
06:46Oh, of course.
06:47Share men, will you?
06:55Here we go.
06:57How do you do?
06:58James Mallory.
06:59Miss Saunt not here.
07:01She's tidying up.
07:03So this is what you painter chaps get up to, is it?
07:06Are they like amateur theatricals?
07:08Don't you think?
07:09I believe I can see why you might think so.
07:12Do you go in for another thing at all?
07:14Female form divine,
07:16undwrapped as to her?
07:19Sometimes.
07:20Set them out here on this chair.
07:22Or lie them down on the sofa there,
07:25stretched out.
07:26Gives the body a more sensuous line, you know.
07:29Some of the choicest haunches in the kingdom
07:31have adorned my humble Chesterfield.
07:34Welly.
07:35So you've
07:38you've taken the incomparable Miss Saunt
07:41under your protection, have you?
07:44She is incomparable.
07:46Don't you think?
07:47Yes, chap has her on his arm.
07:49He don't care what he may meet in the way of competition.
07:52Bit like being on a hunt.
07:53What?
07:53No one's on the unbeatable horse.
07:56I'm sure Miss Saunt would be charmed by the comparison.
07:59Yours are they? Mind if I take a look?
08:01I'm sorry.
08:02It's a bit like horses, really.
08:04Always wise to keep a little under one saddle, you do understand.
08:07Perfectly.
08:08Producer in the paddock on the day.
08:10What?
08:10Quite right.
08:12Ha!
08:13Ha!
08:14Amazing how much the world has in common with itself.
08:18Ha!
08:18I think that our city is going to be very interesting, Mr. Mallory.
08:25Charles!
08:26Oh, my dear.
08:27Oh!
08:28I hope I haven't kept you waiting.
08:30It's so kind of you to come.
08:31Not at all.
08:32Been having a fascinating chat with our painter friend here.
08:35Yes.
08:35Flora?
08:36I thought I'd drive in Hyde Park and then lunch.
08:39Oh, Charles.
08:41What a delightful programme.
08:42Flora, my dear.
08:51That was Tom Madston, Darby's cousin.
08:53You can't have forgotten him.
08:55Charles, if I were to remember every single one of your acquaintances,
09:00I should leave the mind of a mathematician which you know I haven't got.
09:04He was deuced but out.
09:05Oh, I dare say he'll survive.
09:10Ha!
09:12Ha!
09:20How goes it with the noble naughty field?
09:23I haven't heard of him for six weeks.
09:25That's because he's gone to India.
09:27Tiger shooting, if you please.
09:29Oh.
09:30Oh, it's all right.
09:32He's madly in love with me.
09:33But his family are leading him such a life.
09:38In what way?
09:39Oh, it's they who packed him off there.
09:41His mother, the Countess.
09:43She has been heard to say,
09:45I would rather my son be swallowed by a tiger.
09:47Merry a girl not absolutely one of ourselves.
09:50One of ourselves?
09:51Absolutely.
09:53Now, Mr. Mallory,
09:55I have never known you to be less than a cube.
09:58The orphan child of an army major
10:00with no resources
10:02and no connections.
10:04What does he feel himself say about it?
10:07Oh, Charles has given me
10:08unmistakable signs.
10:10He's simply laying low and gaining time.
10:12His father has it in his power
10:14to be very nasty to him.
10:16Particularly financially.
10:17The Lord Considine can't last forever.
10:22Charles knows that there are cleverer men,
10:24richer men,
10:24and greater personages
10:25who are banging on my door.
10:27Shh, please.
10:29Banging on my door.
10:31But I'm rather fond of my poor little Viscount.
10:34And he knows that bulletin persecuted,
10:36though he may be,
10:37and besieged by offers,
10:38though I may be,
10:39he may rely on me to be constant.
10:42He's a very fortunate man.
10:43I want to try something.
10:48Without moving your head,
10:51will you turn your eyes
10:52to look at the Cupid, please?
10:58The Cupid?
10:59It's just an idea.
11:04I'm sorry.
11:06I find Cupid's
11:07the most boring things
11:09in the world.
11:10I couldn't possibly sit here
11:11and goggle at one.
11:12Besides,
11:14I'm tired, Mr Mallory,
11:15and I would like to finish for today.
11:18As you please.
11:21To make it up to you,
11:22I shall be twice as cooperative tomorrow.
11:25My dear Miss Saunt,
11:27you could be twice as perverse
11:29and my brush would be as eager.
11:32You're a very kind man, Mr Mallory.
11:37Why are you so kind
11:39to such a vain and empty-headed girl?
11:42Yes, you are vain.
11:43But you have a great deal
11:44to be vain about.
11:46And somehow,
11:47forgive my frankness,
11:48but
11:48your vanity has made you soft
11:51rather than hard.
11:53You strike me as vulnerable.
11:55Are you?
11:55may I talk?
12:07may I talk?
12:08You may.
12:11Yesterday you said
12:12you thought that I was vulnerable.
12:16What makes you think that?
12:18Oh, I don't know.
12:20I suppose any young lady of 20
12:22without parents or guardians
12:24would seem vulnerable.
12:26Oh.
12:29No.
12:30I'm still trying for that
12:32little difference
12:33I was talking of yesterday.
12:34I want you this time
12:37to turn your eyes
12:38to look at my
12:40precious Cupid.
12:42No.
12:43On the contrary,
12:44I want you to turn
12:45those stunning eyes
12:46to look at my
12:47discreetly naked Apollo.
12:51Why should I do that?
12:53It's just an idea.
12:54It may not work.
12:55yesterday it was
13:01your Cupid
13:01that was going
13:02to give you
13:02your great effect.
13:04Today I find
13:05it is something else.
13:06I am beginning
13:07to think,
13:07Mr Mallory,
13:08you are going to
13:08turn me into
13:09a squint-eyed monstrosity.
13:10My dear Miss Sorg.
13:11Are you putting me
13:12to the question,
13:12Mr Mallory?
13:13Am I what?
13:14I'm sorry,
13:15I don't follow.
13:16I do apologise
13:17if I've taken
13:18too dominating an attitude,
13:19but...
13:20I'm sorry.
13:21It is I
13:26who must apologise.
13:27I'm sorry,
13:28I've been under
13:30a great deal
13:31of strain lately,
13:32some of which
13:33I'm sure you've
13:33guessed at
13:34and some of which
13:35you could not.
13:36You don't have
13:36to explain to me.
13:38I'm a recorder merely.
13:40I try to put down
13:41what I see.
13:42Well then,
13:43I beg you,
13:44if you are a recorder,
13:46would you record me
13:47from the front?
13:49Head on,
13:49as it were.
13:50I do so hate
13:51the sideways glance.
13:53She was distinctly odd.
13:55She asked me
13:56if I were putting her
13:57to the question.
13:59Now what do you
13:59suppose she meant
14:00by that?
14:00My dear James,
14:01I haven't the least idea.
14:03Oh yes,
14:03you have, Kitty.
14:05Now the last time
14:05I was here,
14:06you hinted that she had
14:07some mysterious drawback
14:09which was not apparent.
14:11And you said
14:12you'd rather die
14:13than let me tell you
14:14what it is.
14:14Yes, well I've
14:15changed my mind.
14:17Is it a question
14:18of the portrait?
14:19Does it not go well?
14:20Oh, portrait goes
14:21well enough.
14:22Well enough
14:22for the summer exhibition.
14:24It's been accepted.
14:24Congratulations,
14:26my dear.
14:27That's simply smitten.
14:27Kitty, that is hardly
14:28the point.
14:29Now I want to know
14:30what is wrong
14:31with the perfect
14:32Flora Louisa Sant.
14:33Oh dear.
14:34So now you're smitten
14:36like all the rest,
14:37are you?
14:37Come now.
14:38You know very well
14:39that an artist
14:40is the last person
14:41to fall captive
14:41to perfect beauty.
14:44But the girl
14:44needs help.
14:45She needs help
14:47all right.
14:49I can only hope
14:50she gets it in time.
14:57I said it would end
14:58sadly, James.
15:00I'm unpaintable.
15:02That is precisely
15:03the point.
15:04Hmm?
15:05Come on.
15:08I believe I resent
15:10being regarded
15:10as a challenge.
15:22A gentleman
15:23has called, sir.
15:26Mr Geoffrey Dawling.
15:27Oh!
15:28He says he would
15:28take it as a very
15:29great favour
15:30if you would see him, sir.
15:30See him?
15:31Do.
15:32Do.
15:32Do you know him?
15:33Oh!
15:34I've some acquaintance
15:35with him.
15:36Show him up,
15:36will you, please?
15:37And look.
15:38It's extremely
15:39important in his case
15:41that you do not
15:42judge the book
15:42by its cover.
15:44Is that because
15:44the book is so good
15:45or the cover's so bad?
15:47He has large estates
15:49in Hampshire.
15:50Four dear,
15:51ugly sisters there
15:52who adore him.
15:54A huge income
15:55and he got a double
15:55first at Oxford,
15:56none of which
15:57is in the least
15:58self-evident,
15:58which is why
15:59stupid people
15:59often take him
16:00for a fool.
16:01He seems to have
16:01one other priceless asset.
16:03Your good opinion of it.
16:04Oh, why don't you stay?
16:06No!
16:07No, and miss my train
16:08to Folkestone.
16:08No!
16:09Let's simply
16:11bounce off each other
16:13in the hall.
16:13Kitty, I do believe
16:14you've gone quite pink.
16:15Oh, rubbish.
16:17Goodbye.
16:21Oh, Jeffrey!
16:24Kitty!
16:25What on earth are you?
16:26It's my painter.
16:28The one I'm always
16:29telling you about.
16:30And if you're going
16:31to sit for him,
16:31brush your hair.
16:33But I'm...
16:34Goodbye, dear man!
16:35Excuse me, sir.
16:35Oh, excuse me, sir.
16:35Oh, excuse me, sir.
16:35Oh, excuse me, sir.
16:36Oh, excuse me, sir.
16:37Oh, excuse me.
16:39See if you would
16:43follow me, sir.
16:50Mr. Jeffrey
16:51Dawling, sir.
16:58Awfully good of you.
17:00How do you do?
17:02Strange
17:03request, really.
17:05Portrait painters are not
17:06unused to them.
17:09Why don't you sit down?
17:20It's about your splendid picture
17:23in the academy,
17:24entitled Miss Flora
17:26Louisa
17:27Sount.
17:29Quite
17:30Stunning.
17:32You're very kind.
17:32I've never
17:34seen such a lovely creature.
17:36I
17:36did so want to buy her.
17:39I'm afraid it went
17:40at the private view.
17:41Yes, they tell me.
17:41Bought by
17:42Lordyfield,
17:43they said.
17:43That is correct.
17:44He returned from a tiger
17:45shoot in India
17:46specifically for the purpose.
17:48You are acquainted with
17:49Miss Sount, are you?
17:50good gracious no i haven't had that inestimable pleasure
17:57what i wondered that is to say knowing little of these matters i
18:06wondered whether you might have some preliminary sketch or study that i might buy
18:12yes i think so yes i have several you may take your pick
18:17how to distinguish between excellences that one that's the one it's not the best it's
18:44the one i want um i mean one's not in an emporium i i don't know how these things are arranged
18:56as it were financially well it's not a study that i have any further use for in truth
19:01however i do have a market why not take it with you and send me say um
19:07oh i don't know 30 guineas at your convenience
19:10i'm most terribly obliged i can't tell you
19:17heaven she's lovely
19:20would you like to meet her
19:22what i'm expecting her for tea any moment why not
19:26stay and meet her no i couldn't do that why not
19:29why be content with an image when you can confront the reality
19:32look meet her here first and then call on her at the hammond sings she stays with them
19:38no no why not
19:39i couldn't place her
19:43i wouldn't know what to
19:46she'd think me a joke i'd better go
19:49can you manage
19:51yes thank you i have my carriage outside and thank you again
19:56good bye miss flora saunds then
20:12tea saunders please
20:15what the earth was that
20:17that my dear was your latest conquest
20:19i don't know him do i
20:22he fell in love with your picture at the academy
20:23and being unable to purchase it begging to be allowed to buy what i consider to be a rather inferior study
20:30who is he
20:32he is mr jeffrey dawling
20:34he's very rich
20:36very clever
20:37and he owns acres of hampshire
20:42and has he any expectations
20:45my dear child what more could he possibly be expecting
20:48i mean james does he have a title to come into
20:51well as to his family tree i haven't climbed it
20:54i don't think he's one of your beloved noblemen
20:58and he's probably twice the man for that
21:00very likely
21:01hmm
21:02in any case i wasn't aware that membership of the aristocracy was a prerequisite for falling in love with your picture
21:08how is the noble ifield
21:10well as you know he did return from india expressly for the purpose of purchasing my portrait
21:15and i think he has no plans to return there
21:17powerful token i agree
21:19moreover i myself am going to the continent next month
21:23and he is going to follow me
21:25and you go abroad for your health
21:27of course not
21:29why on earth should you ask me that
21:31no reason
21:33it's what the world says
21:35it's no longer fashionable to go abroad for pleasure
21:38one always goes for one's health
21:40well
21:41let the world do what it likes
21:43i go for my pleasure
21:45and for that of your admirers
21:47you mustn't forget that
21:48you mustn't forget that
21:49won't you sit down mr dawling
21:56i spent all last night looking at your picture
21:58i realised it wasn't enough
22:00Mallory was right
22:01i need the substance not the shadow
22:04the substance mr dawling
22:06i'm not a personable man miss saunt
22:08but i have qualities of fidelity and loyalty
22:11i hold fast miss saunt i stick
22:15mr dawling i am very sensible of the honour that you are doing me
22:19but i am afraid that i could never ever
22:21all i ask is friend friendship
22:23to be able to take you about from time to time
22:27i don't hope for anything more
22:29oh
22:31which is not the same thing as saying i won't try for anything more
22:38friendship is a quality not likely to be declined mr dawling
22:42i should be delighted to be your friend
22:48the platonic ideal
22:49dawling you begin to worry me
22:51you come here with your huge simplicity
22:54bumping up and down my stairs
22:56talking of platonic friendships with stunning young beauties
22:59it's the best i can do
23:01she can never regard me in any other light
23:04she told me so
23:05you must cut her from your life
23:07that's just what i can't do
23:10anyway
23:12you're a
23:13fine one
23:14after all it was you that started it all three weeks ago
23:17when you suggested i met her personally
23:20it was you that drove me to the mouth of the cannon
23:23that was to
23:24blow me to pieces
23:26in the confident belief
23:27that a man of your perception and intellectual training
23:29would prick the bubble of her beauty
23:31would see her for what she is
23:33an empty exquisite butterfly
23:35i know that
23:37slight
23:38vain
23:39i know that
23:42and yet
23:44with the strangest promise of tragedy about her
23:47i know that too
23:49and it's
23:50just because of that as well as her beauty that i
23:54irreversibly love her
23:56so you see your friend jeffrey dawling has joined the infinite list of flora's victims
24:00who said he was my friend
24:02oh come now kitty
24:03i saw the blush on your cheeks when we first discussed him
24:07i thought he had more sense
24:10when flora comes through the door
24:12sense flies out the window
24:14their own sense has certainly flown
24:16whatever little she ever had
24:17she's cutting such fat slices from what her parents left her
24:21that there's scarcely anything left
24:23can't you talk to her?
24:25she won't be talked to
24:27she believes she knows what she's doing
24:29her reasoning is
24:31that the money will last as long as it has to
24:34that a magnificent marriage will crown her charms before she's really pinched
24:39there's a certain fine boldness about it
24:41she's put by a sufficient sum for a really superb wedding outfit
24:46meanwhile she uses the rest to keep her afloat in the society in which she might most naturally find her match
24:52this little drawback that you were so mysterious about
24:57can you at least tell me whether it has anything to do with her health?
25:01why do you ask that?
25:03well she was distinctly odd when i mentioned health
25:06i'm sorry james but i've already made myself perfectly clear
25:09i do not feel free at this stage to say anything at all about the matter of what one can only call the girl's career
25:15she'll be back for christmas if your curiosity is so overpowering you must ask you yourself
25:26really james i don't know why you persevere with me
25:29the more accurately you get me the worse it is
25:32i dig for your soul jeffrey
25:34as i dig for kitty meldren's
25:36they have a great deal in common your souls
25:38come in
25:39miss florissant sir
25:44james such dedication always at your easel
25:50except you're not james are you
25:52no you're jeffrey and james is
25:56james is standing by his fireplace
25:58which isn't in the least bit being dedicated you know
26:01i hope you'll forgive my comical vain but
26:03well after all
26:04it is the season for it isn't it you know
26:06jokes
26:07mottos
26:08ghostly apparitions
26:10are you calling jeffrey and i ghostly apparitions?
26:12not in the least
26:14you are two gentlemen of whom i am
26:16exceedingly fond
26:18if you would care to stay still long enough
26:20perhaps you would like to join us for tea
26:22oh i'm terribly sorry james i can't do that
26:24i have charles waiting for me in a carriage
26:26you see we have an aunt of his with us
26:28actually i've come here to ask you for a favour
26:31name it and it should be done
26:32well charles would like one of the sketches you did of me for his study
26:35oh with pleasure
26:36which one?
26:37oh i think one of the ones with the vine leaves in the hair
26:41well there are two with vine leaves if i remember rightly
26:44yes
26:45choose whichever you think the better
26:48here we are
26:49oh would you?
26:51yes
26:52oh
26:54it's awfully difficult
26:56i'd like jeffrey to choose
27:00he has such good taste
27:02no i'm not choosing for him
27:05well then choose for me
27:07please jeffrey
27:09very well
27:11that
27:14yes
27:16you're absolutely right
27:17that's exactly the one i would have chosen
27:19how kind of you
27:20well i'm sorry to be in such rush
27:22but i really must go you see
27:24charles it's awfully impatient
27:26thank you james
27:28goodbye
27:29goodbye
27:30goodbye jeffrey
27:31so that's it
27:33what?
27:35that's the little mystery that kitty was so close about
27:38what on earth are you talking about?
27:40what did you make of flora just now?
27:42odd
27:43very odd
27:44i'm surprised it's never occurred to me before
27:48there's something wrong with her eyes
27:51never
27:52what do you suppose the point was of asking you to choose that sketch just now?
27:55it's because she couldn't distinguish one from another
27:58i don't see that that follows
28:00heavens has she been clever about it
28:02of course as soon as one knows
28:04one can interpret all kinds of little insults
28:06i think you're jumping to conclusions
28:08she has learned to recognize objects by their relationship to each other
28:11i am always to be found at my easel
28:13therefore she naturally assumed that the figure standing there was me
28:19there could be something in that james
28:22the thing that worries me is that the condition is evidently progressive
28:27can you see flora consenting to wear spectacles in public?
28:30does she wear them when she's alone?
28:33yes but how often is she alone?
28:36it's not a matter to be trifled with
28:42do you think there's a serious danger?
28:45she should follow to the letter her oculus prescription
28:49at whatever cost to her prettiness
28:53it's all right Saunders i don't require a loan
28:56flora my dear
28:58Charles Ifield and i are engaged
29:00oh my dear Saunders champagne
29:02buckets of it
29:03my heartiest felicitations
29:05it's going to be announced Monday in the morning post
29:08and i wanted you to be the first person to know
29:10oh he's a very lucky man
29:11i know you'll both be very happy
29:13well that rather depends on you doesn't it?
29:17on me?
29:19well you know don't you?
29:22know what?
29:24oh come james
29:26i've given myself away too many times in this room
29:30the other day with you and jeffrey was simply the confirmation wasn't it?
29:34i know your eyesight is bad yes
29:36bad
29:37oh well perhaps if i'd done what the doctors told me two years ago it might now just be bad but
29:45it accelerates?
29:47with every day
29:49have you taken advice?
29:51yes
29:52when you asked me if i were going to the continent for my health you were right
29:56i've been a specialist in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Zurich
30:01and they all say the same thing
30:03what do they say?
30:04that if i do not put on certain surgical spectacles they will not answer for my eyesight
30:10do you mean spectacles like Mrs Meldrum's?
30:13oh no
30:15no much worse than Mrs Meldrum's
30:19surgical spectacles with bars across each lens
30:26well if that's what they say
30:29that's what you must do
30:31i will
30:34i will after i'm married
30:36don't you see then i'll be safe
30:39but you will look at me if i make myself a fright now
30:42how would i have ever got engaged at all if i'd been a goggling fright from the first?
30:46come now you can never be that
30:51it's simply not true james
30:53you once said that i was vain
30:58well you're right i am
31:00but my vanity is much more practical than you imagine
31:04you see i am all alone in the world
31:07and my face is all i've got
31:10but such a face
31:12i've always known
31:14that i could get anything i wanted with it
31:17but i needed it all
31:20i need it still i need every exquisite inch of it
31:23i cannot afford to have it goggled and barred behind surgical spectacles
31:27since my parents died
31:45it's been a kind of nightmare race really
31:48between my money running out and my
31:51my eyesight failing completely
31:55well they've both been draining away at approximately the same speed
31:59i have gambled on beating them both
32:02and i have won
32:04if you will let me win
32:07my dear flora
32:08it is not within my power to prevent you winning
32:10oh but it is
32:14if charles were to discover about my eyesight
32:16he would break off the engagement immediately
32:18surely not
32:19james i am telling you that he would
32:23you see after we are married i know that i can make him so happy
32:28so happy that he will accept the treatment i have to undergo
32:32goggles and all
32:33if he discovers beforehand
32:36if he discovers beforehand
32:38then i am ruined
32:44you shan't find out from me
32:46promise me
32:50i promise
32:51i leave for america tomorrow
32:53i shan't have time to say anything anyway
32:55i want you to swear it
32:58i swear
32:59will you break the news of my engagement to jeffrey
33:13be gentle
33:16married
33:17to that
33:18block of wiltshire
33:20witlessness
33:21it doesn't matter what you may think of her choice old chap
33:23he's the one she wants
33:24therefore we must do everything in our power to see that she gets it
33:27ike
33:28therefore we or rather you
33:29must abandon any plans you may have to tackle the question of her eyesight
33:33for the plain fact is
33:35that if the gallant ifiel gets even a hint of the matter
33:38he'll jump onto his hunter and head for the shire
33:40an adduced good thing too
33:42yes for you maybe but not for her
33:45now i must have your word before i leave for new york
33:47my word on what
33:48that if you are asked
33:49you inform the world that to the best of your knowledge
33:52she has the eyes of a hawk
33:53ike
33:54you must drop it
33:55you must drop her
33:57you must drop her
33:58if that's what she wants
34:00it is what she wants
34:08very well
34:13kitty meldrum is very fond of you you know
34:15i know
34:16you could do far worse
34:20you'd be amazed how sought after she is
34:23oh james
34:25it's uncommonly kind of you to concern yourself
34:29but it won't serve
34:31what will you do?
34:33what else?
34:35take to the boats and the trains
34:39roll around the world a bit
34:42try to forget that place
34:44try to forget that place
34:48flora my dear
34:49charles
34:50i'd like to see how we announce it to the world
34:51oh yes indeed how exciting
34:53i won't stay
34:54what a word of mckeche
34:55not that
34:57oh i'll take those
34:59they're kind
35:02flora
35:03come on
35:07don't look so apprehensive lordyfield
35:10flora will not leave her room
35:12since she came down to me here in her distress
35:15she has not stopped weeping
35:18well i'm certainly sorry about that
35:21the reason i summoned you here is that as an orphan she has no one else
35:25i therefore take it upon myself to speak for her
35:29you have had two weeks now
35:32since your precipitate flight from your fiancee
35:35in which to state your intentions
35:38this you have signally failed to do
35:41i must ask you to do so now
35:44oh it's off dammit it's off how can it be otherwise
35:48the girl can hardly see a hand in front of her face
35:51i don't understand
35:53i don't understand how she took me in for so long
35:56nice fool she's made me look in front of me family and acquaintance
36:00that's your main concern is it how the affair makes you look
36:03i've been joking mrs meldrom i've been gullered damn it
36:06if someone had sold me a horse on those terms
36:10i'd have returned the animal as unsound and horse whipped the man who sold it to me
36:14and you return flora as unsound do you
36:16that's not what i meant as you well know
36:19look here mrs meldrom
36:21i'm perfectly willing to announce that it was she who broke it off with me
36:25i'll pay a handsome sum in compensation
36:28i'll do anything
36:29except keep your word and marry her
36:32except marry her
36:34yes
36:35being out of the c-c-c-country i've only just heard
36:51i got here as quickly as i could
36:53i must confess i didn't believe you would wittingly desert her
36:56now jeffrey jeffrey sit down
37:00sit down
37:02how is she
37:04she has been down into the abyss
37:06for the first two months she was here she stayed in her room and cried
37:10lately she's been much better
37:13she's been to the oculist
37:15and for the past four months has been following his instructions punctiliously
37:20which are
37:22to get as much fresh air as she can
37:25to walk up to five miles a day
37:29flora
37:32flora
37:34hello jeffrey
37:36all alone
37:37with whom should i be
37:39may i
37:40besides i like being alone
37:44for the present
37:50and for the future
37:52oh we shall have to see how i get on
37:55flora
37:56i want to speak with you about the future
37:58now that
37:59lord ifield is no longer in contention
38:02you see i was right to disguise my disability
38:05it is true that in the end i lost charles ifield
38:09wearing these
38:10i never would have got him in the first place
38:13they would make no difference to me
38:15flora
38:19i i understand that you've been traveling abroad
38:22that's right i was on a boat on the rhine when i heard i started back instantly
38:27and what do you intend to do with yourself now that you have returned
38:30oh i shall settle down in hampshire on the estate
38:33i have a study going forward into the figures for illiteracy among the rural population
38:39i've also been asked to stand for parliament but i shan't do that after all
38:45it would take me an hour to make a five-minute speech
38:51flora i have something to say to you
38:54i must hurry jeffrey
38:56or i shall be late
38:58no
39:00the more i walk the better i feel
39:02i have been ordered by my doctors to keep all the while in the fresh air
39:05and to go in for plenty of exercise
39:08you'll get plenty of that down in hampshire
39:10it keeps up my general health you know and
39:12if that continues to improve as it is lately done
39:16then soon everything will be all right again
39:19all that was the matter with me before was that i neglected my general health
39:25it acts directly on the state of the eye you know
39:28it's her old absolute belief in herself she thinks she's doing a cure
39:39and is she
39:41i simply don't know
39:43certainly she's dedicatedly doing what the doctors have prescribed
39:46she went into those goggles
39:49the way repentant magdalene's joined the church
39:52had she done it all five years ago
39:53then you don't think she'll be saved
39:56she thinks she will be
39:58and that's all that matters
40:00she believes she's on the mend
40:03and that in the course of time if she leads a tremendously healthy life
40:07she'll be able to take off her muscle and be as dangerous as ever
40:11it keeps her going
40:13i'd have her you know as she is now
40:15oh you
40:17you're too good to live
40:19what news of james mallory
40:25oh
40:27he expects to be back next month
40:29he's got another year's work waiting for him in america
40:31but he wants to tidy up here first
40:33will he come down to see you
40:35i should be very put out if he didn't
40:38i wonder what he with his eye will make of her goggles
40:42would you like to paint me now james?
40:46it would present a few problems of technique
40:51there's no need to be tactful
40:53i know they're hideous
40:55but they are doing me good
40:57i think you've been very sensible
40:59i'm so sorry i can't stay
41:01but i have to do these walks
41:03these great long walks
41:05they're very good for my general health you know
41:07and you'll be glad to be rid of me
41:10what a monstrous thing to say
41:13you have such an eye for perfection
41:14i know how difficult it is for you to look at me
41:18well
41:22goodbye james
41:24goodbye flora
41:28goodbye flora
41:37well
41:39i feel as if some
41:41great sapphire had split in my hand
41:45they destroy her
41:47those goggles annihilate her
41:48has jeffrey seen her in there?
41:52indeed he has
41:54and born it like a hero
41:56he's proposed to her yet again
41:58and she?
41:59won't hear of it
42:01what's he doing with himself?
42:03he's retired to his hampshire acres
42:05where he's surrounded by his four dear ugly sisters
42:08who make much of him because they sense his hurt
42:09i find it extraordinary that flora should feel herself in a position to turn down a man like jeffrey
42:14she doesn't deny he's good he's simply the last person she would ever dream of
42:18her taste was never her strong point
42:20indeed not
42:22i really must see the fellow before i leave for america
42:25perhaps you can give me his address in hampshire
42:27certainly james
42:28it really is up to one of his friends you know to shock him out of this destructive infatuation
42:33can bring only pain to him and embarrassment to her
42:37i'm surprised you haven't done it already kitty
42:39i'm taking her abroad with me next week
42:41i think a change will do her good
42:43we'll be a pretty pair
42:46we shan't be able to complain of not being looked at
42:49as for you kitty my dear
42:51it's your kindly soul that people stare at
42:54james
42:55not your goggles
42:56bless you
42:58goodbye
42:59oh won't you stay till flora gets back
43:01we could all have tea together and if you're to be in america for another year
43:04no i think not
43:05i really can't bear to look at her you know
43:07james
43:08she'd understand she's a realist
43:10not as hard a one as you james
43:13you forget
43:14i was never in love with her
43:16i studied her face for a particular beauty
43:19i lived with that beauty
43:20and i reproduced it
43:22i know my trade well enough to realize that it's gone forever
43:24gone forever
43:25gone
43:27forever
43:29i won't hear of it
43:31it's still there beneath the goggles
43:34any man with a trace of sensibility would know that
43:38i must admit those goggles do put a severe strain on anyone's sensibility
43:42i'm surprised you still want her
43:44i love her
43:46i want to be with her
43:47i want to protect her and minister to her
43:50and she needs someone to love her now more than she's ever needed anyone before
43:54but she doesn't want you old chap
43:56don't you find it rather humiliating
43:58running after a girl that no one wants anyway
44:00i've never realized what a cold brute you are before james
44:04yes mrs melden said something of the kind this morning
44:06what if the treatment fails
44:09supposing she does eventually accept you
44:11and her sight worsens
44:13you will be landed with a blind wife
44:15i've thought of that
44:18it would be my greatest opportunity
44:22i would do everything for her
44:25she would be seen and marveled at for her beauty alone
44:28i would report its effect on those who saw it
44:31it would be in my keeping
44:34above all
44:37for her her beauty will be fixed at its highest and most flawless point
44:41she could never grow old in her own mind because i would not allow her to
44:45my words would be her eyes
44:48and my words would see to it that she never changed
44:52for your sake jeffrey old chap
44:54i hope she goes on refusing you
44:57however i think there's very little danger
44:58i had a letter from mrs melden this morning
45:02it appears that our blinkered beauty
45:05has bucked up no end
45:07in the heady airs of the continent
45:09she's claiming her sight is improving by the minute
45:11she's had her goggles off once or twice
45:13oh and she's quite confident of bringing down
45:16an italian prince within the month
45:21if that would make her happy
45:24i'm content
45:25i now know why i've never managed to get your head quite right
45:31i kept missing out the halo
45:33extremely amusing
45:35it's extremely amusing
45:36it's extremely amusing
45:37for her
45:40that's right
45:41that's right
45:43that's right
45:45i've said
45:47that's right
45:51that's right
45:53that's right
45:55it's a great pleasure
45:57that's right
45:58just 15 if she's a day she's got a parrot mouth
46:15you're not the most scintillating company a poor old widow could have
46:24jeffrey
46:24yours is the last portrait i shall paint in america miss beaumont
46:36why surely not
46:3818 months is a long time miraculous saunders has already got me packed
46:44i shall be off the minute your lovely face has dried
46:48saunders saunders saunders where are my studs
47:00i performed the miracle of arriving back here in time for the first night of lone
47:03grin at the garden and no stud saunders no studs
47:06perhaps you can surpass yourself and get me a handsome sir
47:20oh there you are
47:38flora my dear
47:50james oh dear dear james
47:54you are lovely now than you've ever been before in your life
48:00you've been away so long i didn't recognize you jeffrey look who's here
48:06james has come back and you should have heard what he said about me
48:10james how beautiful she is old man how extraordinarily beautiful
48:20i didn't come within a hundred miles of you my dear
48:22you must sit for me again
48:24oh i shouldn't like that james i'd like to see your old studio again you've been away too long
48:32why don't you arrange it with jeffrey
48:46it shall be you know as i said that day
48:50her blindness is never mentioned
48:52it's
48:54irrelevant
49:20it's
49:22not
49:24it's
49:26I
49:28it's
49:30it's
49:32it's
49:35it's
49:36it's
49:37you
49:38it's
49:42it's
49:46Amen.
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