Brief Encounter -HD (1945)

Windy Channel

Transcript

00:00:00 [bells ringing]

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00:01:48 Evening Mr. Convy. Hello, hello, hello.

00:01:52 Quite a stranger aren't you? I couldn't get in yesterday. I wondered what had happened to you.

00:01:56 I had a bit of a dust up. What about? Saw a chap getting out of a first class compartment.

00:02:00 When he came to give up his ticket it was only third class. I told him he had to pay the excess and then he turned

00:02:04 nasty and I had to send for Mr. Saunders. That's not a good evening. He ticked him off.

00:02:08 Seeing's believing. I tell you he ticked him off proper. You pay the balance

00:02:12 at once he says or I'll hand you over to the police. You ought to have seen the look on the chap's face at the mention of the word

00:02:16 police. Changed his tune then he did, paid up like lightning.

00:02:20 That's just what I mean. He didn't have the courage to handle it himself. He had to call in the police.

00:02:24 He's not a bad lot Mr. Saunders. After all you can't expect much spirit from a man with

00:02:28 only one lung and a wife with diabetes. I thought something must be wrong when you didn't

00:02:32 come. I'd have popped in to explain but I had a date and had to run for it the moment I went off.

00:02:36 Oh indeed. The chap I know is getting married. Very interesting I'm sure.

00:02:40 What's up with you anyway? I'm sure I don't know

00:02:44 to what you're referring. You're a bit unfriendly all of a sudden. Barry,

00:02:48 hurry up. Put some more coal in the stove while you're at it. Yes Mrs. Baggett. I'm afraid I really

00:02:52 can't stand here wasting my time in idle gossip Mr. Godby. Aren't you going to offer me another

00:02:56 cup? You can have another cup and welcome when you've finished that one. Barry will give it to you.

00:03:00 I've got me a glance to do. I say I'd rather you gave it to me.

00:03:04 Time and tide wait for no man Mr. Godby.

00:03:08 Laura! What a lovely surprise.

00:03:12 My dear I've been shopping till I'm dropping. My feet are nearly off, my throat's parched.

00:03:16 I thought of having tea at Spindle's but I was terrified of losing the train.

00:03:20 Oh dear. This is Dr. Harvey. How do you do? Would you be a

00:03:24 perfect day and get me my cup of tea? I really don't think I could drag my poor old bones over to the counter.

00:03:28 No please.

00:03:32 My dear what a nice looking man. You're quite a dark horse.

00:03:36 This will telephone Fred in the morning and make mischief. This is a bit of luck.

00:03:40 I haven't seen you for ages. I've been meaning to pop in but Tony's had measles

00:03:44 and then I had all that awful fuss over Phyllis. But of course you don't know.

00:03:48 My dear she left me. I never really cared for her much but still Tony did.

00:03:52 Tony adored her. I'll tell you all about that later in the train.

00:03:56 Thank you so very much. There's certainly enough milk in it.

00:04:00 But still it'll be refreshing.

00:04:04 Oh dear no sugar. It's in the spoon. Oh of course.

00:04:08 What a fool I am. Laura you're looking frightfully well.

00:04:12 I wish I'd known you were coming in today. We could have come together and lunch and had a good gossip.

00:04:16 I loathe shopping by myself anyway. [doorbell rings]

00:04:20 There's your train. Yes I know. Oh aren't you coming with us?

00:04:24 No I go in the opposite direction. My practice is in Churley. Oh I see. I'm a general practitioner at the moment.

00:04:28 Dr. Harvey's going out to Africa next week. Oh has really.

00:04:32 [announcement on train]

00:04:36 I must go. Yes you must. Goodbye. Goodbye.

00:04:40 [doorbell rings]

00:04:44 [doorbell rings]

00:04:48 He'll have to run or he'll miss it.

00:04:52 He's got to get right over to the other platform.

00:04:56 Talking of missing trains reminds me of that awful bridge at Broadham Junction.

00:05:00 You've got to go traipsing all up one side along the top and down the other.

00:05:04 Well the other day I'd been over to see Bob Solister's about renewing the lease of the house.

00:05:08 I had exactly half a minute to spare. My dear I flew.

00:05:12 I got Tony with me and like a fool I just bought a new shade for the lamp in the drawing room.

00:05:16 I could have got it just as easily here in Milford. Well it's the most enormous thing.

00:05:20 I could hardly see over it. I've never been in Chiffreys in all my life.

00:05:24 I nearly knocked a woman down. Of course by the time I got home it was battered to bits.

00:05:28 [doorbell rings] Oh is that our train? Can you tell me?

00:05:32 Is that the Ketchworth train? No it's the Express. The boat train.

00:05:36 That doesn't stop does it? I want some chocolate please. Milk or plain?

00:05:40 Plain I think. No perhaps milk would be nicer. Have you any McNuts in it?

00:05:44 Nessl's not milk. Shelling on sixpence. I'll take one please.

00:05:48 Large or small? Large.

00:06:01 Where is she? I never noticed her go.

00:06:07 Oh I couldn't think where you disappeared to.

00:06:11 I just wanted to see the Express go through.

00:06:15 What on earth's the matter? Are you feeling ill? I feel a little sick.

00:06:19 Come and sit down. [doorbell rings]

00:06:23 There's our train. That's all right. Have you any brandy?

00:06:27 I'm afraid it's out of hours. Surely if somebody's feeling ill. I'm all right really.

00:06:31 Just a sip of brandy buck you up. Please. Very well.

00:06:35 How much? Tenpence please.

00:06:39 The train for Ketchworth is now arriving at platform three.

00:06:55 Oh well this is a bit of luck. This train's generally packed.

00:06:59 I really am very worried about you dear. You look terribly peaky.

00:07:03 I'm all right really I am. I just felt faint for a minute that's all.

00:07:07 It often happens to me. I did it once in the middle of Bobby's school concert. I don't think he's ever forgiven me.

00:07:11 [laughs] Well he certainly was very good looking.

00:07:15 Who? Your friend Doctor whatever his name was.

00:07:19 Yes he's a nice creature. Have you known him long? No not very long.

00:07:23 I hardly know him at all really.

00:07:27 Well my dear I've always had a passion for doctors. I can well understand how it is that women get neurotic.

00:07:31 [music]

00:07:35 I wish I could trust you. I wish you were a wise kind friend.

00:07:39 Instead of a gossiping acquaintance I've known casually for years and never particularly cared for.

00:07:43 I wish.

00:07:47 I wish. Fancy him going all the way to Africa. Is he married?

00:07:51 Yes. Any children? Yes two boys. He's very proud of them.

00:07:55 Is he taking them with him? His wife and children I mean? Yes yes he is.

00:07:59 I suppose it's sensible in a way rushing off to start life anew in the wide open spaces and all that sort of thing.

00:08:03 But wild horses wouldn't drag me away from England and home and all the things I'm used to.

00:08:07 I mean one has one's roots after all hasn't one?

00:08:11 Yes one has one's roots. I knew a girl years ago who went to Africa.

00:08:15 You know her husband was something to do with engineering or something.

00:08:19 She was having a dreadful time. She got some awful kind of jam through going out on a picnic and she was ill for months and months.

00:08:23 I wish you'd stop talking.

00:08:27 I wish you'd stop prying and trying to find things out.

00:08:31 I wish you were dead. No I don't mean that. That was silly and unkind.

00:08:35 But I wish you'd stop talking.

00:08:39 All her hair came out and she said the social life was quite quite horrid. Provincial you know and very nouveau riche.

00:08:43 Oh Dolly. What's the matter dear? Are you feeling ill again? No not really ill. I feel a bit dizzy.

00:08:47 I think I'll just close my eyes for a little. Oh you poor darling and here am I chattering away nineteen to the dozen.

00:08:51 I won't say another word. Oh and if you drop off I'll wake you up when we get to the level crossing.

00:08:55 That'll give you a chance to pull yourself together and pout your nose before we get out.

00:08:59 Thanks Dolly.

00:09:03 This can't last.

00:09:11 This misery can't last. I must remember that and try to control myself.

00:09:15 Nothing lasts really.

00:09:19 Neither happiness nor despair. Not even life lasts very long.

00:09:23 There'll come a time in the future when I shan't mind about this anymore.

00:09:27 When I can look back and say quite peacefully and cheerfully how silly I was.

00:09:31 No no I don't want that time to come ever.

00:09:35 I want to remember every minute.

00:09:39 Always.

00:09:43 Always to the end of my days.

00:09:47 Get to work.

00:09:51 Wake up Laura. We're here.

00:09:55 I can easily come to the house with you dear. It isn't very much out of my way.

00:09:59 All I have to do is to walk down Elmore Lane past the grammar school and I shall be home in two minutes.

00:10:03 Oh it's sweet of you Dolly but I'm perfectly all right now. Really I am. Now you're quite sure?

00:10:07 Absolutely positive. Thank you for being so kind. Oh nonsense dear.

00:10:11 I'll call you in the morning and see if you've had a relapse. I shall disappoint you. Good night.

00:10:15 Good night. Oh give my love to Fred and the children.

00:10:19 Is that you Laura? Yes dear.

00:10:33 Thank goodness you've come back. The place has been in an uproar. Why what's the matter?

00:10:37 They've been fighting again. They won't get asleep until you go in and talk to them about it.

00:10:41 Mummy. Is that you Mummy? Yes Margaret. Come upstairs at once Mummy.

00:10:45 I want to talk to you.

00:10:49 You're both very naughty. You should have been asleep hours ago.

00:10:57 Now what is it you two? Well Mummy tomorrow's my birthday and I want to go to the circus.

00:11:01 And tomorrow's not Margaret's birthday and she wants to go to the pantomime.

00:11:05 My birthday's in June and there aren't any pantomimes in June.

00:11:09 It's far too late to discuss it tonight and if you don't go to sleep at once I shall tell Daddy not to let you go to either.

00:11:13 Oh Mummy.

00:11:17 Why not take them to both? One in the afternoon and one in the evening. You know that's impossible.

00:11:21 We shouldn't get them to bed till all hours and they'd be tired and fractious.

00:11:25 Well then one on one day and the other on the other. You're always accusing me of spoiling the children.

00:11:29 Their characters would be ruined in a fall tide if I left them to your over tender mercies.

00:11:33 All right have it your own way.

00:11:37 Circus or pantomime? Neither. We'll thrash them both soundly, lock them up in the attic and go to the pictures by ourselves.

00:11:41 Oh Fred. What on earth's the matter?

00:11:53 Nothing really it's nothing. Darling what's wrong?

00:11:57 Tell me please. Really and truly it's nothing.

00:12:01 Just a little run down that's all. I had a sort of fainting spell at the refreshment room at Milford.

00:12:05 Wasn't it idiotic?

00:12:09 Darling Messiter was with me and she talked and talked and talked till I wanted to strangle her.

00:12:13 Still she meant to be kind. Isn't it awful about people meaning to be kind?

00:12:17 Would you like to go to bed? No Fred really.

00:12:21 Come and sit by the fire in the library and relax. You can help me with the Times Crossword.

00:12:25 You have the most peculiar ideas of relaxation.

00:12:29 That's better. There you are darling.

00:12:33 But why a fainting spell? I can't understand it.

00:12:37 Don't be silly darling. I've often had fainting spells and you know it.

00:12:41 Don't you remember Bobby's school concert and Eileen's wedding?

00:12:45 And that time you insisted on taking me to that symphony concert at the town hall.

00:12:49 Go on that was a nosebleed. I suppose I must be that type of woman. It's very humiliating.

00:12:53 I still maintain there'd be no harm in you seeing Dr. Graves. It'd be a waste of time.

00:12:57 - Listen. - Oh but do shut up about it darling. You're making a fuss about nothing.

00:13:01 I've been shopping and I was tired and the refreshment room was very hot and I suddenly felt sick.

00:13:05 - Nothing more than that. - All right.

00:13:09 Really nothing more than that. Now you get on with your old puzzle and leave me in peace.

00:13:13 Have it your own way.

00:13:17 You're a poetry addict. See if you can help me over this. It's Keats.

00:13:21 When I behold upon the night starred face huge cloudy symbols of a high something in seven letters.

00:13:25 Romance I think.

00:13:29 I'm almost sure it is. Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance.

00:13:33 It'll be in the Oxford book of English first.

00:13:37 No it's right I'm sure because it fits in with the Lydian in Baluchistan.

00:13:41 Would some music throw you off your stride?

00:13:45 No dear I like it.

00:13:49 [music]

00:13:53 [speaking French]

00:13:57 [music]

00:14:01 (gentle music)

00:14:03 (gentle music continues)

00:14:07 (gentle music continues)

00:14:10 (gentle music continues)

00:14:13 (gentle music continues)

00:14:17 (gentle music continues)

00:14:20 (gentle music continues)

00:14:24 (gentle music continues)

00:14:27 - Fred.

00:14:50 Fred.

00:14:52 (gentle music continues)

00:14:54 Dear Fred,

00:14:55 there's so much that I want to say to you.

00:14:58 You're the only one in the world

00:15:01 with enough wisdom and gentleness to understand.

00:15:03 If only it were somebody else's story and not mine.

00:15:07 As it is, you're the only one in the world

00:15:11 that I can never tell.

00:15:12 Never, never.

00:15:14 Because even if I waited until we were old, old people

00:15:18 and told you then,

00:15:20 you'd be bound to look back over the years and be hurt.

00:15:23 And don't worry, I don't want you to be hurt.

00:15:26 You see, we're a happily married couple

00:15:31 and must never forget that.

00:15:33 This is my home.

00:15:36 You're my husband

00:15:39 and my children are upstairs in bed.

00:15:42 I'm a happily married woman.

00:15:44 Or rather I was until a few weeks ago.

00:15:50 This is my whole world and it's enough.

00:15:54 Or rather it was until a few weeks ago.

00:15:57 But oh, Fred, I've been so foolish.

00:16:01 I've fallen in love.

00:16:04 I'm an ordinary woman.

00:16:07 I didn't think such violent things

00:16:10 could happen to ordinary people.

00:16:11 It all started on an ordinary day

00:16:15 in the most ordinary place in the world.

00:16:20 The refreshment room at Milford Junction.

00:16:22 I was having a cup of tea

00:16:25 and reading a book that I'd got that morning from Boots.

00:16:28 My train wasn't due for 10 minutes.

00:16:30 I looked up and saw a man come in from the platform.

00:16:34 He had on an ordinary mac.

00:16:37 His hat was turned down and I didn't even see his face.

00:16:40 He got his tea at the counter and turned.

00:16:42 Then I did see his face.

00:16:44 It was rather a nice face.

00:16:45 - Any sugar? - A little.

00:16:47 He passed my table on the way to his.

00:16:49 You're neglecting your duty.

00:16:51 The woman at the counter was going on as usual.

00:16:53 You know, I told her about her the other day.

00:16:55 The one with the refined voice.

00:16:57 Minnie hasn't touched her milk.

00:16:59 Did you put it down for her?

00:17:00 Yes, but she never came for it.

00:17:02 - Fond of animals? - In their place.

00:17:05 My landlady's got a positive mania for animals.

00:17:07 She's got two cats, one minx, one ordinary,

00:17:10 three rabbits and huts in the kitchen.

00:17:12 They belong to a little boy by rights.

00:17:13 And one of those daft looking dogs

00:17:15 with hair over its eyes.

00:17:16 I don't know to what breed you refer.

00:17:18 I don't think it knows itself.

00:17:21 Go and clean off number three, Beryl.

00:17:24 I can see the crumbs on it from here.

00:17:25 What about my other cup?

00:17:27 I'll have to move him.

00:17:28 The 5.40 will be in in a minute.

00:17:30 - Who's on the gate? - Young William.

00:17:32 (train rumbling)

00:17:58 Oh please, could you give me a glass of water?

00:18:00 I've got something in my eye and I want to bathe it.

00:18:02 Would you like me to have a look?

00:18:06 Oh no, don't trouble. I expect the water will do.

00:18:07 Thank you.

00:18:08 Bit of coal dust, I expect.

00:18:10 A man I knew lost the sight of one eye

00:18:12 through getting a bit of grit in it.

00:18:13 Nasty, very nasty.

00:18:15 Better?

00:18:15 I'm afraid not. Ooh.

00:18:17 Can I help you?

00:18:19 Oh no, please, it's only something in my eye.

00:18:20 Try pulling your eyelid down as far as it'll go.

00:18:23 And then blowing your nose.

00:18:25 Please let me look, I happen to be a doctor.

00:18:26 That's very kind of you.

00:18:27 Look, turn round to that, please.

00:18:30 Now look up.

00:18:31 Now look down.

00:18:34 Keep still.

00:18:38 That's it.

00:18:39 There.

00:18:43 Oh, what a relief.

00:18:44 It was agonizing.

00:18:45 Looks like a bit of grit.

00:18:46 It was when the express went through.

00:18:47 Thank you very much indeed.

00:18:48 There we go, on this run.

00:18:49 How lucky for me you happened to be here.

00:18:51 Anybody could have done it.

00:18:52 Never mind, you did and I'm most grateful.

00:18:53 There's my train, I must go.

00:18:54 Goodbye.

00:18:55 Goodbye.

00:18:56 (man speaking in foreign language)

00:19:01 That's how it all began.

00:19:02 Just through me getting a little piece of grit in my eye.

00:19:06 I completely forgot the whole incident.

00:19:09 It didn't mean anything to me at all.

00:19:10 At least I didn't think it did.

00:19:14 (train clattering)

00:19:17 The next Thursday, I went into Milford again as usual.

00:19:22 (gentle music)

00:19:26 (train clattering)

00:19:29 I changed my book at Boots.

00:19:35 Miss Lewis had at last managed

00:19:36 to get the new Kate O'Brien for me.

00:19:38 I believe she'd kept it hidden

00:19:39 under the counter for two days.

00:19:41 On the way out, I bought two new toothbrushes

00:19:43 for the children.

00:19:44 I like the smell of a chemist better than any other shop.

00:19:47 It's such a mixture of nice things,

00:19:49 herbs and scent and soap.

00:19:50 That awful Mrs. Leftwich was at the other end

00:19:53 of the counter wearing one of the silliest hats

00:19:55 I've ever seen.

00:19:57 Fortunately, she didn't look up,

00:19:58 so I got out without her button-holing me.

00:20:00 Just as I stepped out onto the pavement-

00:20:03 - Good morning.

00:20:04 - Oh, good morning.

00:20:05 - How's the eye? - Perfectly all right.

00:20:07 How kind it was of you to take so much trouble.

00:20:08 - It was nothing at all.

00:20:10 It's clearing up, I think.

00:20:11 - Yes, going to be nice.

00:20:12 (bell ringing)

00:20:13 - Well, I must be getting along to the hospital.

00:20:14 - No, I must be getting along to the grocers.

00:20:16 - What exciting lives we lead, don't we?

00:20:18 Goodbye. - Bye.

00:20:19 - That evening, I had to run nearly

00:20:22 all the way to the station.

00:20:24 I'd been to the Palladium as usual,

00:20:25 but it was a terribly long film

00:20:27 and I was afraid I'd be late.

00:20:28 As I came up onto the platform,

00:20:31 the charity train was just puffing out.

00:20:34 I looked up idly as the windows of the carriages went by,

00:20:37 wondering if he was there.

00:20:39 I remember this crossing my mind,

00:20:40 but it was quite unimportant.

00:20:42 I was really thinking of other things.

00:20:44 The present for your birthday was worrying me rather.

00:20:47 It was terribly expensive, but I knew you wanted it.

00:20:50 And I'd sort of half taken the plunge

00:20:52 and left a deposit on it at Spink and Robson's

00:20:54 until the next Thursday.

00:20:55 The next Thursday.

00:20:58 Well, I squared my conscience by thinking

00:21:02 how pleased you'd be and bought it.

00:21:03 Yes, I'll have it.

00:21:04 - Thank you, madam.

00:21:05 - It was wildly extravagant, I know,

00:21:07 but having committed the crime,

00:21:08 I suddenly felt reckless and gay.

00:21:10 The sun was out and everybody in the street

00:21:14 looked more cheerful than usual.

00:21:15 And there was a barrel organ at the corner by Harris's,

00:21:18 and you know how I love barrel organs.

00:21:20 It was playing "Let the Great Big World Keep Turning,"

00:21:23 and I gave the man sixpence

00:21:25 and went to the Cardoma for lunch.

00:21:27 It was very full, but two people had got up from the table

00:21:30 just as I'd come in.

00:21:32 That was a bit of luck, wasn't it?

00:21:34 Oh, was it?

00:21:35 Just after I'd given my order, I saw him come in.

00:21:38 He looked a little tired, I thought,

00:21:40 and there was nowhere for him to sit.

00:21:42 So I smiled and said, "Good morning."

00:21:45 - Oh, good morning.

00:21:46 Are you all alone?

00:21:47 - Yes, I am.

00:21:48 - Would you mind if I shared your table?

00:21:49 It's very full.

00:21:50 There doesn't seem to be anyone else.

00:21:51 - No, of course not.

00:21:53 - I'm afraid we haven't been introduced properly.

00:21:58 My name's Alec Harvey.

00:21:59 - How do you do?

00:22:01 Mine's Laura Jessen.

00:22:02 - Mrs. or Miss?

00:22:03 - Mrs.

00:22:04 You're a doctor, aren't you?

00:22:05 I remember you said so that day in the refreshment room.

00:22:07 - Yes.

00:22:07 Not a very interesting one, just an ordinary GP.

00:22:10 I practice as in Shirley.

00:22:11 - Yes, sir?

00:22:13 - What did you plump for?

00:22:13 - Excuse me, sir.

00:22:15 - The soup and fried soup.

00:22:16 - Yes, I'll have the same.

00:22:19 Anything to drink?

00:22:20 - No, thank you.

00:22:21 That is, would you like anything to drink?

00:22:22 - No, thank you.

00:22:23 Just plain water, please.

00:22:24 - Plain water, please.

00:22:25 (upbeat music)

00:22:28 - Will you just look at the chest?

00:22:37 Oh, dear.

00:22:45 It really is dreadful, isn't it?

00:22:46 But we oughtn't to laugh.

00:22:47 They might see.

00:22:48 - There should be a society for the prevention of cruelty

00:22:50 to musical instruments.

00:22:52 You don't play the piano, I hope?

00:22:53 - I was forced to as a child.

00:22:54 - You haven't kept it up?

00:22:55 - No.

00:22:56 My husband isn't musical at all.

00:22:57 - Good for him.

00:22:58 - After all, you know, I might have

00:22:59 a tremendous burning professional talent.

00:23:01 - Oh, dear, no.

00:23:02 - Why are you so sure?

00:23:04 - You're too sane and uncomplicated.

00:23:06 - I suppose it's a good thing to be uncomplicated,

00:23:09 but it does sound a little dull.

00:23:10 - You can never be dull.

00:23:12 - Do you come here every Thursday?

00:23:15 - Yes, to spend a day at the hospital.

00:23:17 Stephen Lynn, the chief physician here, graduated with me.

00:23:20 I take over from him once a week.

00:23:22 Gives him a chance to go up to London.

00:23:23 Gives me a chance to study the hospital patients.

00:23:25 - I see.

00:23:26 - Do you?

00:23:28 - Do I what?

00:23:29 - Come here every Thursday.

00:23:30 - Oh, yes, I do the week shopping, thank you.

00:23:33 Change my library book, have lunch,

00:23:35 and generally go to the pictures.

00:23:37 Not a very exciting routine, but it makes a change.

00:23:40 - Are you going to pictures this afternoon?

00:23:43 - Yes.

00:23:44 - Hmm.

00:23:45 Extraordinary, so am I.

00:23:47 - I thought you had to spend all day at the hospital.

00:23:50 - Well, between ourselves,

00:23:51 I killed two patients by accident this morning.

00:23:53 The matron was very displeased with me.

00:23:55 I simply dared go back.

00:23:58 - Can you be so silly?

00:23:59 - But seriously, I really did get through

00:24:00 most of my work this morning.

00:24:01 Wouldn't matter at all if I played truant.

00:24:03 Would you mind very much if I came to pictures with you?

00:24:05 - Well, I...

00:24:07 - I could sit downstairs, you could sit upstairs.

00:24:09 - Upstairs is too expensive.

00:24:11 The orchestra stopped as abruptly as it had started,

00:24:16 and we began to laugh again.

00:24:18 I had no premonitions, though I suppose I should have had.

00:24:21 It all seemed so natural and so innocent.

00:24:23 We finished lunch, and that idiot of a waitress

00:24:26 had put the bill all on one.

00:24:28 - I really must insist.

00:24:29 - I couldn't possibly.

00:24:30 - Having forced my company on you,

00:24:31 it's only fair that I should pay through the nose for it.

00:24:33 - Oh, please don't insist.

00:24:34 I should so much rather we halved it.

00:24:35 I would really, please.

00:24:37 - I shall give in gracefully.

00:24:39 - We halved it meticulously.

00:24:40 We even halved the tip.

00:24:43 (coins clinking)

00:24:46 (upbeat music)

00:24:50 - Thank you.

00:24:55 - We have two choices.

00:24:58 The loves of Cardinal Rieschle at the palace,

00:25:00 or love in the midst of the Palladium.

00:25:01 - You're very knowledgeable.

00:25:02 - And there must be no argument about buying the tickets.

00:25:04 We each pay for ourselves.

00:25:05 - You must think me a very poor doctor

00:25:07 if I can't afford a couple of one-and-nine pennies.

00:25:08 - I insist.

00:25:09 - I had hoped you were going to treat me.

00:25:10 - Which is it to be, palace or Palladium?

00:25:12 - Palladium.

00:25:13 I was once very sick on a channel steamer

00:25:14 called Cardinal Rieschle.

00:25:15 (both laughing)

00:25:17 (dramatic music)

00:25:20 (whistle blowing)

00:25:41 (tires screeching)

00:25:44 (dramatic music)

00:25:46 (gentle music)

00:25:55 - Excuse me.

00:25:58 I feel awfully grand perched up here.

00:26:02 I was very extravagant of you.

00:26:03 - It was a famous victory.

00:26:05 - Do you feel guilty at all?

00:26:06 I do.

00:26:06 - Guilty.

00:26:07 - You ought to more than me, really.

00:26:08 You neglected your work this afternoon.

00:26:09 I work this morning.

00:26:11 A little relaxation never did harm to anyone.

00:26:13 Why should either of us feel guilty?

00:26:15 - I don't know.

00:26:17 - How awfully nice you are.

00:26:18 - Yeah.

00:26:19 (dramatic music)

00:26:22 - It can't be.

00:26:34 - It is.

00:26:36 (both laughing)

00:26:40 - We walked back to the station together.

00:26:42 Just as we reached the gates,

00:26:44 he put his hand under my arm.

00:26:45 I didn't notice it then, but I remember it now.

00:26:50 - What's she like, your wife?

00:26:51 - Madeline?

00:26:53 Small, dark, rather delicate.

00:26:56 - How funny.

00:26:56 I should have thought she would have been fair.

00:26:58 - And your husband, what's he like?

00:27:00 - Medium height, brown hair,

00:27:02 kindly, unemotional, and not delicate at all.

00:27:04 - You said that proudly.

00:27:06 - Did I?

00:27:07 - Even.

00:27:08 - Even.

00:27:09 - We've just got time for a cup of tea

00:27:10 before our trains go.

00:27:12 - And for the third time in one week,

00:27:14 he brought that common man and his wife to the house

00:27:16 without so much as a bye or leave.

00:27:18 - Two teas, please.

00:27:19 - Cake or pastry?

00:27:21 - Cake or pastry?

00:27:22 - No, thank you.

00:27:23 - Are those bath buns, Ferris?

00:27:24 - Certainly, they are made this morning.

00:27:26 - Two, please.

00:27:27 - That'll be seven, please.

00:27:31 Take the tea to the table, Berio.

00:27:34 - I'll carry the buns.

00:27:35 (dishes clatter)

00:27:38 - You must eat one of these, fresh this morning.

00:27:43 - Very fattening.

00:27:43 - I don't hold to such foolishness.

00:27:45 - They do look good, I must say.

00:27:47 - One of my earliest passions in life.

00:27:48 I've never outgrown it.

00:27:49 - What happened then, Mrs. Becket?

00:27:51 - Well, well, it's all very fine, I said,

00:27:54 expecting me to do this, that, and the other,

00:27:56 but what do I get out of it?

00:27:58 You can't expect me to be a cook, housekeeper,

00:27:59 and char-rolled into one during the day,

00:28:02 and a loving wife in the evening

00:28:03 just because you feel like it.

00:28:04 - Oh, dear me, no.

00:28:06 There are just as good fish in the sea, I said,

00:28:08 as ever came out of it.

00:28:09 And I packed my boxes then and there and left him.

00:28:12 - Didn't you never go back?

00:28:14 - Never.

00:28:15 Went to my sister's place at Folkestone for a bit,

00:28:17 then I went in with a friend of mine,

00:28:19 and we opened a tea shop in Hathe.

00:28:21 - What happened to him?

00:28:22 - Dead as a doornail inside three years.

00:28:25 - Well, I never.

00:28:26 - Is tea bad for one?

00:28:29 - Worse than coffee, I mean.

00:28:31 - If this is a professional interview, my fees are guinea.

00:28:34 - Why did you become a doctor?

00:28:35 - Oh, that's a long story.

00:28:37 Perhaps because I'm a bit of an idealist.

00:28:39 - I think all doctors ought to have ideals, really.

00:28:42 Otherwise their work would be unbearable.

00:28:43 - Surely you're not encouraging me to talk shop.

00:28:45 - Why shouldn't you talk shop?

00:28:46 It's what interests you most, isn't it?

00:28:47 - Yes, it is.

00:28:49 I'm terribly ambitious, really.

00:28:51 Not ambitious for myself, so much as for my special pigeon.

00:28:54 - What is your special pigeon?

00:28:55 - Preventive medicine.

00:28:57 - I see.

00:28:58 - I'm afraid you don't.

00:29:00 - I was trying to be intelligent.

00:29:02 - Most good doctors, especially when they're young,

00:29:04 have private dreams.

00:29:05 That's the best part of them.

00:29:07 Sometimes, though, those get over-professionalized

00:29:08 and strangulated.

00:29:09 Am I boring you?

00:29:10 - No.

00:29:11 I don't quite understand, but you're not boring.

00:29:13 - What I mean is this.

00:29:14 All good doctors must primarily be enthusiasts.

00:29:18 They must, like writers and painters and priests,

00:29:21 they must have a sense of vocation,

00:29:23 a deep-rooted, unsentimental desire to do good.

00:29:26 - Yes, I see that.

00:29:27 - Well, obviously, one way of preventing disease

00:29:29 is worth 50 ways of curing it.

00:29:30 That's where my ideal comes in.

00:29:32 Preventive medicine isn't anything to do with medicine

00:29:34 at all, really.

00:29:34 It's concerned with conditions,

00:29:36 living conditions and hygiene and common sense.

00:29:39 For instance, my speciality is pneumoconiosis.

00:29:42 - Oh, dear.

00:29:43 - Don't be alarmed.

00:29:44 It's simpler than it sounds.

00:29:46 It's nothing but a slow process of fibrosis of the lung

00:29:49 due to the inhalation of particles of dust.

00:29:51 In the hospital here, there are splendid opportunities

00:29:53 for observing cures and making notes

00:29:54 because of the coal mines.

00:29:55 - You suddenly look much younger.

00:29:58 - Do I?

00:29:59 - Almost like a little boy.

00:30:02 - What made you say that?

00:30:03 - I don't know.

00:30:05 Yes, I do.

00:30:07 - Tell me.

00:30:09 - No, I couldn't really.

00:30:12 You were saying about the coal mines.

00:30:14 - Oh, yes.

00:30:16 The inhalation of coal dust.

00:30:18 That's one specific form of the diseases.

00:30:22 It's called anthracosis.

00:30:23 - What are the others?

00:30:26 - Chalicosis.

00:30:30 That comes from metal dust.

00:30:32 Steelworks, you know.

00:30:33 - Yes, of course, steelworks.

00:30:35 - And silicosis.

00:30:38 That's stone dust.

00:30:41 Gold mines.

00:30:43 - I see.

00:30:45 (bell ringing)

00:30:48 There's your train.

00:30:49 - Yes.

00:30:50 - You mustn't miss it.

00:30:51 - No.

00:30:53 - What's the matter?

00:30:54 - Nothing, nothing at all, really.

00:30:56 - It's been so very nice.

00:30:58 I've enjoyed my afternoon enormously.

00:31:00 - I'm so glad.

00:31:01 So have I.

00:31:01 I apologize for boring you with long medical words.

00:31:03 - I feel dull and stupid not to be able to understand more.

00:31:06 - Shall I see you again?

00:31:08 - It's the other platform, isn't it?

00:31:10 You have to run.

00:31:11 Don't bother about me.

00:31:12 Mine's not due for a few minutes.

00:31:13 - Can I see you again?

00:31:15 - Yes, of course.

00:31:16 Perhaps we'll come out to Ketchworth one Sunday.

00:31:17 It's rather far, I know, but we should be delighted.

00:31:19 - Please, please.

00:31:21 - What is it?

00:31:22 - Next Thursday, the same time.

00:31:23 - I couldn't possibly.

00:31:26 - Please.

00:31:27 - I ask you most humbly.

00:31:29 - You'll miss your train.

00:31:31 - All right.

00:31:33 - Run.

00:31:35 - Goodbye.

00:31:36 - I'll be there.

00:31:37 - Thank you, my dear.

00:31:38 (gentle music)

00:31:41 (train whistle blowing)

00:31:44 - I stood there and watched his train

00:32:09 draw out of the station.

00:32:11 I stared after it until its taillight

00:32:15 had vanished into the darkness.

00:32:17 I imagined him getting out at Churley,

00:32:22 giving up his ticket,

00:32:24 walking back through the streets,

00:32:27 letting himself into his house with his latch key.

00:32:31 His wife, Madeline,

00:32:34 would probably be in the hall to meet him.

00:32:39 Or perhaps upstairs in her room,

00:32:41 not feeling very well.

00:32:42 Small, dark, and rather delicate.

00:32:45 I wondered if he'd say,

00:32:49 "I met such a nice woman at the Cardoma.

00:32:53 "We had lunch and went to the pictures."

00:32:55 And then suddenly I knew that he wouldn't.

00:32:59 I knew beyond a shadow of doubt

00:33:01 that he wouldn't say a word.

00:33:02 And at that moment, the first awful feeling

00:33:04 of danger swept over me.

00:33:05 (train whistle blowing)

00:33:09 I got into the first compartment I saw.

00:33:16 I wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

00:33:18 I looked hurriedly around the carriage

00:33:21 to see if anyone was looking at me,

00:33:23 as if they could read my secret thoughts.

00:33:26 No one was, except a clergyman in the opposite corner.

00:33:30 I felt myself blushing,

00:33:31 and opened my library book and pretended to read.

00:33:35 By the time I'd got to Ketchworth,

00:33:37 I'd made up my mind definitely

00:33:38 that I wasn't going to see Alec anymore.

00:33:39 - Good evening, Mrs. Jessup.

00:33:40 - The silly and undignified flirting like that

00:33:42 was a complete stranger.

00:33:43 - Oh, good evening.

00:33:46 - I walked up to the house quite briskly and cheerfully.

00:33:49 I'd been behaving like an idiot, admittedly,

00:33:51 but after all, no harm had been done.

00:33:53 You met me in the hall.

00:33:57 Your face was strained and worried, and my heart sank.

00:33:59 - Red, what's the matter?

00:34:01 - It's all right, I'm fine.

00:34:03 - What's the matter?

00:34:04 - It's all right, old girl,

00:34:05 but you must keep calm and not be upset.

00:34:07 - What is it, what's wrong?

00:34:07 - It's Bobby.

00:34:08 He was knocked down by a car on the way home from school.

00:34:10 Now, it's not serious.

00:34:11 He was just grazed by the mudguard,

00:34:13 but it knocked him against the curb,

00:34:14 and he's got slight concussion.

00:34:15 The doctor's upstairs with him now.

00:34:17 - It's all right, Mrs. Jessup, nothing to worry about.

00:34:26 He'll be as right as rain in a few hours.

00:34:28 - You're sure?

00:34:31 You're sure it's not serious?

00:34:33 - Quite sure, but it was certainly a very lucky escape.

00:34:36 I've given him a little sedative,

00:34:38 and I shall advise keeping him at home for a couple of days.

00:34:41 It must have been a bit of a shock.

00:34:43 - I felt so dreadful, Fred, looking at him lying there

00:34:45 with that bandage around his head.

00:34:47 I tried not to show it, but I was quite hysterical inside,

00:34:50 as though the whole thing were my fault,

00:34:53 a sort of punishment, an awful, sinister warning.

00:34:56 An hour or two later, of course,

00:34:59 everything became quite normal again.

00:35:01 He began to enjoy the whole thing thoroughly,

00:35:03 and reveled in the fact that he was the center of attraction.

00:35:06 - Oh, God.

00:35:07 - Do you remember how he spent the whole evening

00:35:10 planning his future?

00:35:11 - But he's much too young to decide, really.

00:35:15 - Good life.

00:35:16 Boy has a feeling for it.

00:35:17 - Well, how can we possibly really know

00:35:18 if he has a feeling for it?

00:35:20 He'll probably want to be an engine driver next week.

00:35:22 - No, it was last week he wanted to be an engine driver.

00:35:25 - Seems so final, somehow,

00:35:26 entering a child of that age for the Navy.

00:35:29 - A healthy life.

00:35:30 - Well, I know it's a good life,

00:35:31 and I know it's a healthy life,

00:35:33 and I know he'll be able to see the world

00:35:34 and have a wife in every port

00:35:36 and keep on calling everybody sir,

00:35:37 but what about us?

00:35:39 - What do you mean, what about us?

00:35:40 - Well, you'll hardly ever see him.

00:35:42 - Oh, nonsense.

00:35:43 - It isn't nonsense.

00:35:44 He'll be sent away to sea as a smooth-faced boy,

00:35:47 and the next thing we know,

00:35:48 he'll come walking in with a long beard and a parrot.

00:35:51 - I think you take rather a Victorian view

00:35:53 of the Navy, my dear.

00:35:55 - He's our only son,

00:35:56 and I should like to be there while he's growing up.

00:35:58 - All right, old girl.

00:35:59 Then we'll put him into an office,

00:36:00 and you can see him off on the 850 every morning.

00:36:04 - You really are very annoying.

00:36:05 You know perfectly well I should hate them.

00:36:06 - All right, have it your own way.

00:36:08 - Fred?

00:36:13 - Hmm?

00:36:14 - I had lunch with a strange man today,

00:36:18 and he took me to the movies.

00:36:19 - Good for you.

00:36:19 - He's awfully nice.

00:36:22 He's a doctor.

00:36:23 - A very noble profession.

00:36:26 - Oh, dear.

00:36:30 - It was Richard III who said,

00:36:32 "My kingdom for a horse," wasn't it?

00:36:34 - Yes, darling.

00:36:34 - Well, I wish to goodness he hadn't,

00:36:37 'cause it spoils everything.

00:36:38 - I thought perhaps we might ask him to dinner one night.

00:36:42 - By all means.

00:36:43 Who?

00:36:46 - Dr. Harvey, the one I was telling you about.

00:36:50 - Must it be dinner?

00:36:52 - Well, you're never at home for lunch.

00:36:53 - Exactly.

00:36:54 - Oh, Fred. (laughs)

00:36:59 - Now, what on earth's the matter?

00:37:01 (Ruth laughs)

00:37:03 - It's nothing, it's only...

00:37:04 Oh, Fred.

00:37:05 - Well, I really don't see what's so frightfully funny.

00:37:09 - Oh, I do.

00:37:10 It's all right, darling.

00:37:11 I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at me.

00:37:13 I'm the one that's funny.

00:37:14 I'm an absolute idiot.

00:37:16 Worrying myself about things that don't exist,

00:37:19 and making mountains out of molehills.

00:37:21 - I told you when you came in that it was nothing serious.

00:37:24 There was nothing to get into such a state about.

00:37:26 - I do see that, I really do.

00:37:28 (Ruth laughs)

00:37:30 - When Thursday came, I went to meet Alec

00:37:40 more as a matter of politeness than for any other reason.

00:37:43 It didn't seem of any importance,

00:37:45 but after all, I had promised.

00:37:46 I managed to get the same table.

00:37:50 I waited a bit, but he didn't come.

00:37:53 The ladies' orchestra was playing away as usual.

00:37:58 I looked at the cellist.

00:37:59 She'd seemed to be so funny last week.

00:38:01 Today, she didn't seem funny anymore.

00:38:04 She looked pathetic, poor thing.

00:38:05 After lunch, I happened to pass by the hospital.

00:38:11 I remember looking up at the windows

00:38:13 and wondering if he were there,

00:38:15 or whether something awful had happened

00:38:16 to prevent him turning up.

00:38:17 I got to the station earlier than usual.

00:38:20 I hadn't enjoyed the pictures much.

00:38:22 It was one of those noisy musical things,

00:38:24 and I'm so sick of them.

00:38:25 I'd come out before it was over.

00:38:28 As I took my tea to the table,

00:38:30 I suddenly wondered if I'd made a mistake,

00:38:32 and he'd meant me to meet him there.

00:38:34 (footsteps clattering)

00:38:37 (chair clatters)

00:38:50 Oh, but God, me!

00:38:51 How dare you?

00:38:52 - I couldn't resist it.

00:38:52 - Oh, trouble you to keep your own still, sir.

00:38:54 - Oh, you're blushing.

00:38:56 Oh, you look wonderful when you're angry,

00:38:57 just like an avenging angel.

00:38:59 - I'll give you a venging angel!

00:39:00 Coming in here taking liberties.

00:39:02 - I thought after what you said last Monday,

00:39:03 you wouldn't object to a friendly little slap.

00:39:05 - Have you a mind about last Monday?

00:39:07 I'm on duty now.

00:39:08 Nice thing if Mr. Saunders had happened

00:39:10 to be looking through the window.

00:39:11 - Well, if Mr. Saunders is in the habit

00:39:13 of looking through windows,

00:39:13 it's about time he saw something worth looking at.

00:39:15 - You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

00:39:17 - Oh, it's high spirits.

00:39:18 Don't be mad at me.

00:39:19 - High spirits, indeed.

00:39:21 Take your tea and be quiet.

00:39:22 - It's all your fault, really.

00:39:24 You don't know to what you're referring.

00:39:26 - I was thinking of, um, tonight.

00:39:28 - If you don't learn to behave yourself,

00:39:30 there won't be a tonight, or any other night either.

00:39:32 - Give us a kiss.

00:39:33 - Oh, do no such thing.

00:39:34 The lady might see us.

00:39:35 - Come on, a quick one across the bar.

00:39:36 - Albert, stop it!

00:39:37 - Come, let her love.

00:39:38 - Let go of me this minute!

00:39:39 - Let her love. - Albert!

00:39:40 Now look at me banderers all over the floor.

00:39:43 - Just in time, all ball in the vestry.

00:39:47 - You shut your mouth,

00:39:48 and help Mr. Godby pick up them cakes.

00:39:50 Come along now.

00:39:52 - What you standing there gaping at?

00:39:54 (doorbell rings)

00:39:59 (suspenseful music)

00:40:02 - As I left the refreshment room,

00:40:15 I saw a train coming in.

00:40:16 His train.

00:40:17 He wasn't on the platform,

00:40:20 and I suddenly felt panic-stricken

00:40:21 at the thought of not seeing him again.

00:40:23 (suspenseful music)

00:40:26 - I'm so sorry, it's so disturbing, sir.

00:40:32 I had no way of letting you know.

00:40:33 - It's your train, you'll miss it.

00:40:34 - The house surgeon had to operate,

00:40:35 so I couldn't talk to him.

00:40:37 - I'm sorry, I can't help it,

00:40:45 but I thought they might shout your name out the bell.

00:40:47 - Please don't say anything.

00:40:50 (suspenseful music)

00:40:53 - Quickly, quickly, the whistle's gone.

00:40:58 - I'm so glad I had a chance to explain.

00:41:02 I didn't think I'd see you again.

00:41:03 - I'm so happy, quickly, quickly.

00:41:06 - Next Thursday?

00:41:08 - Yes, next Thursday.

00:41:09 - Goodbye.

00:41:10 - Goodbye.

00:41:11 - Thursday.

00:41:12 - Goodbye.

00:41:12 - The train for Ketchworth

00:41:16 is about to leave from platform three.

00:41:19 (audience laughing)

00:41:22 - The stars can change in their courses.

00:41:32 The universe can go up in flames

00:41:34 and the world crash around us,

00:41:35 but there'll always be Donald Duck.

00:41:36 - I do love him, sir.

00:41:37 His dreadful energy and his blind, frustrated rage.

00:41:41 - It's the big picture now.

00:41:43 Here we go.

00:41:43 No more laughter, prepare for tears.

00:41:46 (dramatic music)

00:41:49 - It was a terribly bad picture.

00:41:52 We crept out before the end,

00:41:55 rather furtively, as though we were committing a crime.

00:41:58 The usherette at the door looked at us

00:42:00 with stony contempt.

00:42:01 It was a lovely afternoon

00:42:04 and it was a relief to be in the fresh air.

00:42:06 We decided we'd go to the botanical gardens.

00:42:09 Do you know, I believe we should all behave

00:42:11 quite differently if we lived in a warm,

00:42:12 sunny climate all the time.

00:42:14 We shouldn't be so withdrawn and shy and difficult.

00:42:19 Oh, Fred, it really was a lovely afternoon.

00:42:21 There were some little boys sailing their boats.

00:42:23 One of them looked awfully like Bobby.

00:42:25 That should have given me a pang of conscience,

00:42:26 I know, but it didn't.

00:42:28 I was enjoying myself, enjoying every single minute.

00:42:32 Alex suddenly said that he was sick of staring at the water

00:42:34 and that he wanted to be on it.

00:42:37 All the boats were covered up,

00:42:39 but we managed to persuade the old man to let us have one.

00:42:42 He thought we were a raving mad.

00:42:45 Perhaps he was right.

00:42:47 Alec Rode offered a great rate

00:42:49 and I trailed my hand in the water.

00:42:51 It was very cold, but a lovely feeling.

00:42:55 You don't row very well, do you?

00:43:02 I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.

00:43:03 I don't row at all.

00:43:05 And unless you want to go round and round

00:43:07 in ever-narrowing circles, you'd better start steering.

00:43:12 We had such fun, Fred.

00:43:14 I felt gay and happy and sort of released.

00:43:17 That's what's so shameful about it all.

00:43:20 That's what would hurt you so much if you knew

00:43:23 that I could feel as intensely as that,

00:43:25 away from you, with a stranger.

00:43:28 Oh, look out! We can't get through.

00:43:33 Pull on your left.

00:43:39 Oh, dear, I never could tell left from right.

00:43:43 I'm most awfully sorry.

00:44:08 You know, the British have always been nice to mad people.

00:44:11 That boatman thinks we're quite dotty.

00:44:13 Look how sweet he's been.

00:44:15 Tea, milk, even sugar.

00:44:18 Thank you.

00:44:26 (clinking)

00:44:29 You know what's happened, don't you?

00:44:42 Yes.

00:44:45 Yes, I do.

00:44:48 I've fallen in love with you.

00:44:51 Yes, I know.

00:44:57 Tell me honestly.

00:44:59 Please tell me honestly if what I believe is true.

00:45:02 What do you believe?

00:45:05 That it's the same with you.

00:45:07 That you've fallen in love, too.

00:45:10 - It sounds so silly. - Why?

00:45:13 I know you so little.

00:45:15 It is true, though, isn't it?

00:45:18 - Yes, it's true. - Laura...

00:45:20 No, please. We must be sensible.

00:45:22 Please help me to be sensible.

00:45:24 We mustn't behave like this.

00:45:26 We must forget that we've said what we've said.

00:45:28 - Not yet. Not quite yet. - But we must, don't you see?

00:45:31 Listen.

00:45:34 It's too late now to be sensible as all that.

00:45:37 It's too late to forget what we've said.

00:45:39 And anyway, whether we'd said it or not couldn't have mattered.

00:45:42 We know. We've both of us known for a long time.

00:45:45 How can you say that?

00:45:48 I've only known you for four weeks.

00:45:50 We only talked for the first time last Thursday week.

00:45:53 Last Thursday week.

00:45:55 Has it been a long time for you since then?

00:45:58 Answer me truly.

00:46:00 Yes.

00:46:02 How often did you decide that you were never going to see me again?

00:46:05 - Several times a day. - So did I.

00:46:07 - No, I didn't. - I love you.

00:46:09 I love your wide eyes.

00:46:11 The way you smile.

00:46:13 And your shyness.

00:46:16 - And the way you laugh at my jokes. - Please don't.

00:46:19 I love you. I love you.

00:46:21 You love me too.

00:46:23 It's no use pretending it hasn't happened, because it has.

00:46:26 Yes, it has.

00:46:28 I don't want to pretend anything either to you or to anyone else.

00:46:31 But from now on I shall have to.

00:46:33 That's what's wrong, don't you see?

00:46:35 That's what spoils everything.

00:46:37 That's why we must stop here and now talking like this.

00:46:40 When neither of us free to love each other, there's too much in the way.

00:46:44 There's still time.

00:46:47 If we control ourselves and behave like sensible human beings...

00:46:51 ... there's still time.

00:46:54 There's no time at all.

00:46:58 - There's your train. - Yes.

00:47:04 I'll come over to the platform with you.

00:47:07 Thank you.

00:47:09 Oh, no, Alec. Not here. Someone will see.

00:47:32 I love you so.

00:47:35 I love you too.

00:47:37 Do you think we might have that down a bit, darling?

00:47:49 Hi, Laura.

00:47:51 - Yes, dear? - You were miles away.

00:47:56 Was I? Yes, I suppose I was.

00:47:59 Do you mind if we turn that down a little? It really is dead.

00:48:02 No, of course not.

00:48:04 It shan't be long, darling. Then we'll go up to bed.

00:48:15 You look a bit tired, you know.

00:48:18 Don't hurry. I'm perfectly happy.

00:48:20 How can I possibly say that?

00:48:32 "Don't hurry. I'm perfectly happy."

00:48:34 If only it were true.

00:48:37 Not, I suppose, that anybody's ever perfectly happy, really.

00:48:41 But just to be ordinarily contented.

00:48:43 To be at peace.

00:48:46 It's such a little while ago, really, but it seems an eternity...

00:48:50 ... since that train went out of the station...

00:48:52 ... taking him away into the darkness.

00:48:55 I was happy then.

00:48:58 As I went back through the subway to my own platform, I was walking on air.

00:49:02 And when I got under the train, I didn't even pretend to read.

00:49:06 I didn't care whether people were looking at me or not. I had to think.

00:49:10 I should have been utterly wretched and ashamed. I know I should, but I wasn't.

00:49:14 I felt suddenly quite wildly happy.

00:49:17 Like a romantic schoolgirl. Like a romantic fool.

00:49:21 You see, he'd said he loved me.

00:49:25 And I'd said I loved him.

00:49:27 And it was true. It was true.

00:49:30 I imagined him holding me in his arms.

00:49:34 I imagined being with him in all sorts of glamorous circumstances.

00:49:37 It was one of those absurd fantasies, just like one has when one is a girl...

00:49:40 ... being wooed and married by the ideal of one's dreams.

00:49:44 I stared out of that railway carriage window into the dark...

00:49:52 ... and watched the dim trees and the telegraph posts slipping by.

00:49:56 And through them I saw Alec and me.

00:49:59 Alec and me.

00:50:03 Perhaps a little younger than we are now, but just as much in love...

00:50:07 ... and with nothing in the way.

00:50:10 I saw us in Paris, in a box at the opera.

00:50:17 The orchestra was tuning up.

00:50:24 Then we were in Venice, drifting along the Grand Canal in a gondola...

00:50:28 ... with the sound of mandolins coming to us over the water.

00:50:31 I saw us traveling far away together.

00:50:34 All the places I've always longed to go.

00:50:37 I saw us leaning on the rail of a ship, looking at the sea and the stars.

00:50:43 Standing on a tropical beach in the moonlight with the palm trees sighing above us.

00:50:50 Then the palm trees changed into those pollarded willows by the canal...

00:50:54 ... just before the level crossing.

00:50:57 And all the silly dreams disappeared.

00:51:00 Then I got out at Ketchworth and gave up my ticket...

00:51:04 ... and walked home as usual, quite soberly and without wings.

00:51:08 Without any wings at all.

00:51:11 When I changed for dinner and was doing my face a bit, do you remember?

00:51:14 I don't suppose you do, but I do.

00:51:17 You see, you didn't know that that was the first time in our life together that I'd ever lied to you.

00:51:22 It started then.

00:51:24 The shame of the whole thing.

00:51:26 The guiltiness.

00:51:28 The fear.

00:51:30 - Good evening, Mrs. Jesson. - Hello, dear.

00:51:33 - Had a good day? - Yes, lovely.

00:51:37 What did you do?

00:51:39 Well, I shopped and had lunch and went to the pictures.

00:51:42 - All by yourself? - Yes.

00:51:44 - No, not exactly. - What do you mean, not exactly?

00:51:48 Well, I went to the pictures by myself, but I had lunch with Mary Norton.

00:51:52 She couldn't come to the pictures with me because she had to go and see her in-laws.

00:51:55 They lived just outside Milford, you know.

00:51:57 So I walked with her to the bus and then came home on my own.

00:52:00 Haven't seen Mary Norton for ages. How's she looking?

00:52:03 Very well, really. A little fatter, I thought.

00:52:05 Hurry up with all this beautifying. I want my dinner.

00:52:08 You go on down. I won't be five minutes.

00:52:12 ( music playing )

00:52:15 - Number, please? - Ketua 37, please.

00:52:36 Ketua 37.

00:52:39 ( music playing )

00:52:42 - Hello? - Hello. Is Mrs. Norton there, please?

00:52:47 - Yes. Will you hold on? - Yes, I'll hold on.

00:52:50 - Hello? - Hello. Is that you, Mary?

00:52:54 Oh, Laura! Fancy hearing from you. I thought you were dead.

00:52:58 ( chuckles ) No, I haven't seen you for ages.

00:53:01 Listen, my dear.

00:53:03 Will you be a saint and back me up in the most appalling domestic lie?

00:53:06 - As bad as all that. - My life depends on it.

00:53:09 Well, today I went into Milford as usual to do my shopping.

00:53:13 With the special intention of buying a far too expensive present for Fred's birthday.

00:53:17 Well, Bink and Robson's hadn't got what I wanted,

00:53:20 which was one of those clocks with barometers and everything in one.

00:53:23 But they rang up their branch at Bordemont and said there was one there.

00:53:26 So I hopped on the one-serch train and went to get it.

00:53:29 Well, this is where the black lie comes in.

00:53:33 Fred asked me if I'd had a good day, and I said yes.

00:53:37 And that you and I had lunch together,

00:53:39 and that you'd gone to see your in-laws and I'd gone to the pictures.

00:53:42 So if you run into him, don't let me down, will you?

00:53:44 - But darling, of course not. - ( chuckles )

00:53:47 - I'll do as much for you, I promise. - Well, let's really lunch one day.

00:53:50 - Yes, that'd be lovely. - What about next Thursday?

00:53:53 No, I can't on Thursday. That's my Milford day.

00:53:56 - What about Friday? - Fine. Better make it here.

00:53:59 All right, perfect.

00:54:01 - You know what my cook's like. - ( chuckles )

00:54:03 - It'll have to be early. - Yes. All right.

00:54:06 - Goodbye. - Goodbye.

00:54:08 That week was misery.

00:54:24 I went through it in a sort of trance.

00:54:29 How odd of you not to have noticed

00:54:31 that you were living with a stranger in the house.

00:54:33 Thursday came at last.

00:54:38 I'd arranged to meet Alec outside the hospital at 12.30.

00:54:41 - Hello. - Hello.

00:54:51 I thought you wouldn't come.

00:54:53 I'd been thinking all the week that you wouldn't come.

00:54:55 I didn't mean to, really, but here I am.

00:54:58 Do you know I hadn't been inside the Royal since Violet's wedding reception?

00:55:08 It all seemed very grand.

00:55:10 He actually ordered a bottle of champagne.

00:55:12 And when I protested, he said that we were only middle-aged once.

00:55:15 We were very gay during lunch and talked about quite ordinary things.

00:55:18 Oh, Freddie really was charming.

00:55:20 I know you'd have liked him if only things had been different.

00:55:23 As we were going out, he said that he had a surprise for me

00:55:26 and that if I would wait in the lounge for five minutes, he'd show me what it was.

00:55:30 He went out and down the steps at a run,

00:55:32 more like an excited schoolboy than a respectable doctor.

00:55:35 Suddenly, out of the dining room came Mary Norton

00:55:39 and that rich, over-made-up cousin of hers.

00:55:41 They must have been in the dining room all the time

00:55:43 and seen Alec and me and the champagne and everything.

00:55:46 Laura! So it was you, after all.

00:55:49 - Come on, you said it was. - How are you?

00:55:51 Do you know how short-sighted I am?

00:55:53 I peered and peered and still couldn't be sure.

00:55:55 I never saw you at all. How awful of me.

00:55:57 I expected it was the champagne. I'm not used to champagne for lunch.

00:56:00 Or for dinner, either, for that matter, but Alec insisted.

00:56:03 Alec? Alec who, dear?

00:56:05 Alec Harvey, of course. Sure you remember the Harveys.

00:56:08 - I've known them for years. - No, I don't think I...

00:56:10 He'll be back in a minute. You'll probably recognize him when you peer very closely.

00:56:14 He looks very charming and very attentive.

00:56:16 Oh, he's a dear. One of the nicest people in the world and a wonderful doctor.

00:56:20 Oh, Alec, you remember Mrs Norton, don't you?

00:56:25 - I'm afraid I don't. - It's no use, Laura.

00:56:28 We've never seen each other before in our lives. I'm quite sure we haven't.

00:56:31 How sad. I made certain he and Madeline were there when you dined with us

00:56:34 just before Christmas last year. Alec, this is Mrs Robinson.

00:56:37 - How do you do? - How do you do? Horrid weather, isn't it?

00:56:40 - Yes. - Of course, one can't really expect spring at this time of the year, can one?

00:56:43 No.

00:56:47 Well, we must be going.

00:56:49 I'm taking Hermione with me to see the in-laws as moral support.

00:56:52 - Goodbye, Dr Harvey. - Goodbye.

00:56:54 Goodbye, my dear. I do so envy you, your champagne.

00:56:58 - Goodbye. - Goodbye.

00:57:00 - It was awful. - Never mind.

00:57:08 They've been watching us all through lunch. Oh, dear.

00:57:10 Forget it. Come out and look at the surprise.

00:57:14 There at the foot of the steps was a little two-seater car.

00:57:17 Alec had borrowed it from Stephen Lynn for the afternoon.

00:57:20 I tried so hard to look pleased, but it wasn't any good.

00:57:24 I kept thinking of those two, laughing and talking.

00:57:28 Laughing and talking about us, and I couldn't get them out of my mind.

00:57:32 When we were out in the real country, I think it was a few miles beyond Brayfield,

00:57:37 we stopped the car just outside a village and got out.

00:57:40 There was a little bridge and a stream, and the sun was making an effort to come out,

00:57:44 but really not succeeding very well.

00:57:46 We leaned down the parapet of the bridge and looked down into the water.

00:57:50 I shivered, and Alec put his arm round me.

00:57:53 - Cold? - No, not really.

00:57:55 Happy?

00:57:57 No, not really.

00:58:02 I know exactly what you're going to say.

00:58:06 That it isn't worth it.

00:58:09 That the furtiveness and lying outweigh the happiness we might have together.

00:58:14 Isn't that it?

00:58:16 Something like that.

00:58:18 I want to ask you something, just to reassure myself.

00:58:25 What is it?

00:58:27 It is true for you, isn't it?

00:58:30 This overwhelming feeling we have for each other, it's as true for you as it is for me, isn't it?

00:58:35 Yes, it's true.

00:58:39 (car engine)

00:58:41 We must have stayed on that bridge for a long time,

00:58:47 because when we got back to Stephen Lynn's garage, it was getting dark.

00:58:52 I remember feeling as if I was on the edge of a precipice.

00:58:56 I think Alec felt that too.

00:58:58 You see, we both knew how desperately we loved each other.

00:59:04 Alec said that he had to leave the keys of the car in Stephen Lynn's flat,

00:59:08 and suggested that I came up with him.

00:59:10 I refused rather too vehemently.

00:59:12 Alec reminded me that Stephen wasn't coming back till late, but I still refused.

00:59:17 I'm going back. I'm going to miss my train.

00:59:29 - Back where? - To Stephen's flat.

00:59:33 Oh, Alec.

00:59:34 Alec, I must go home now. I really must go home.

00:59:53 (car engine)

00:59:55 A cup of tea, please.

01:00:17 (lid clicks)

01:00:19 - Good afternoon. - Afternoon, lady.

01:00:27 - Afternoon. - A couple of whiskies, please.

01:00:29 - Very sorry, it's out of hours. - Well, just sneak 'em to us

01:00:32 under the cupboard of them poor old sandwiches.

01:00:34 Them sandwiches were fresh this morning, and I shall do no such thing.

01:00:37 - Come on, be a sport. - You can have as much as you want to after 6 o'clock.

01:00:41 My throat's like a parrot's cage. Listen.

01:00:43 (slurps)

01:00:45 I'm sorry, my license does not permit me to serve alcohol out of hours.

01:00:48 That's final. You wouldn't want to get me into trouble, would you?

01:00:51 Just give us the chance, lady. That's all we ask. Just give us the chance.

01:00:54 (laughing)

01:00:56 Devil!

01:00:58 - Ask Mr. Goldberry to come here for a moment, will you? - Yes, Mrs. Bacons.

01:01:04 - How does he when he's at home? - You'll soon see.

01:01:06 - Coming in here and cheeking me. - Shut up about that beer, pal.

01:01:09 I'll give you mother, you saucy upstart!

01:01:11 - Oh, you're you. You callin' an upstart. - You!

01:01:13 And I'll trouble you to get out of here double quick.

01:01:15 Disturbing the customers and making a nuisance of yourselves.

01:01:18 - Here, where's the fire? Where's the fire? - What's going on in here?

01:01:21 - Mr. Goldberry, these gentlemen are annoying me. - What?

01:01:24 We haven't done nothing, have we, Johnny?

01:01:26 - We did just ask a couple of drinks, that's all. - They insulted me, Mr. Goldberry.

01:01:30 We never did anything of the kind. Just having a little joke, that's all.

01:01:33 - Op it, both of you. - We've got a right to stay here as long as we like.

01:01:36 - You heard what I said. Op it. - Now look here, what is this?

01:01:39 A free country or a blooming Sunday school?

01:01:41 I checked your wallets at the gate. Your train's due in one minute.

01:01:44 - Number two platform. Op it. - Now look here.

01:01:46 Ah, come on, Johnny, come on. Don't argue with the poor basket.

01:01:50 Op it.

01:01:52 Cheerio, mother.

01:01:57 And if them sandwiches were made this morning, you're surely trouble.

01:02:02 - Thank you, Albert. - What a nerve, talking to you like that, Mrs. Bagot.

01:02:08 - Cheerio. - Pour me out a nip of three star. I'm feeling quite upset.

01:02:11 - Let's get back to the gate. - I'll be seeing you later, Albert.

01:02:15 Okay.

01:02:17 The train now arriving at platform three is the 543 from Ketchworth.

01:02:28 - I really must go home. - I'm going back to the flat.

01:02:36 I must go home. I really must go home.

01:02:39 I'm going back to the flat.

01:02:41 I'm going home.

01:02:45 (train whistle)

01:02:47 (whistle)

01:03:07 Excuse me, I've forgotten something.

01:03:12 (train whistle)

01:03:15 (train whistle)

01:03:18 (train whistle)

01:03:20 (train whistle)

01:03:22 (train whistle)

01:03:24 (train whistle)

01:03:26 (train whistle)

01:03:29 (train whistle)

01:03:31 (train whistle)

01:03:33 (train whistle)

01:03:35 (train whistle)

01:03:37 (train whistle)

01:03:39 (train whistle)

01:03:41 (train whistle)

01:04:10 (doorbell rings)

01:04:12 Darling.

01:04:19 It's raining.

01:04:27 It started just as I turned out of the high street.

01:04:30 You had no umbrella and your coat's wet.

01:04:33 You mustn't catch cold. That would never do.

01:04:37 (footsteps)

01:04:39 I've got an absolute fright.

01:04:41 - Let me put that down for you. - Thank you.

01:04:44 I hope the fire will perk up in a few minutes.

01:04:50 I expect the wood was damp.

01:04:52 Yes, I expect it was.

01:04:54 Do sit down, darling.

01:05:05 I got right into the train, then got out again.

01:05:07 Wasn't it idiotic?

01:05:09 We're both very, very foolish.

01:05:11 Eric, I can't stay, you know. Really, I can't.

01:05:18 Just a little while. Just a little while.

01:05:21 Quickly, quickly. I must go.

01:05:26 Here, through the kitchen. There's a train's new staircase.

01:05:29 (footsteps)

01:05:31 - Is that you, Eric? - Yes.

01:05:42 - You're back early. - Yes, I found a cold coming on,

01:05:49 so I denied myself the always questionable pleasure

01:05:51 of dining with that arch-arguer Roger Hinchley.

01:05:53 Decided to come back to bed.

01:05:55 The same membranes of unsympathetic to dialectic.

01:05:58 What do you do about food?

01:06:00 I can always ring down to the restaurant if I want any later on.

01:06:03 We live in a modern age, and this is a service fair.

01:06:05 - Yes, yes. - Of course.

01:06:07 It caters for all tastes.

01:06:09 You know, my dear Alec, you have hidden depths which I never even suspected.

01:06:18 - Look here, Stephen, I really... - For heaven's sake, Alec.

01:06:20 No explanations or apologies.

01:06:22 I'm the one who should apologize for returning so inopportunely.

01:06:25 It's quite obvious to me that you were interviewing a patient privately.

01:06:29 Women are frequently rather neurotic creatures,

01:06:31 and the hospital atmosphere is upsetting to them.

01:06:34 By the rather undignified scuffling which I heard when I came into the hall,

01:06:38 I gather that she beat a hasty retreat down the back stairs.

01:06:41 I'm surprised at this farcical streak in your nature, Alec.

01:06:45 Such carryings aren't quite unnecessary.

01:06:47 After all, we've been friends for years, and I am the most broad-minded of men.

01:06:51 I'm really very sorry, Stephen.

01:06:54 I'm sure that the whole situation must seem inexpressibly vulgar to you.

01:06:58 Actually, it isn't in the least.

01:07:00 However, you're perfectly right.

01:07:02 Explanations are unnecessary, particularly between old friends.

01:07:05 - I must go now. - Very well.

01:07:06 I'll collect my hat and coat. Goodbye.

01:07:08 Perhaps you'll let me have my latchkey back.

01:07:10 I only have two, and I'm so afraid of losing them.

01:07:12 You'll know how absent-minded I am.

01:07:14 - You're very angry, aren't you? - No, Alec.

01:07:18 Not angry, just disappointed.

01:07:20 (Bell jingles)

01:07:22 I ran until I couldn't run any longer.

01:07:48 I leaned against a lamppost to try and get my breath.

01:07:50 I was in one of those side roads that lead out of the high street.

01:07:53 I know it was stupid to run, but I couldn't help myself.

01:07:56 I felt so utterly humiliated and defeated

01:07:59 and so dreadfully, dreadfully ashamed.

01:08:02 After a moment or two, I pulled myself together...

01:08:07 and walked on in the direction of the station.

01:08:10 It was still raining, but not very much.

01:08:13 I suddenly realized that I couldn't go home,

01:08:16 and I ran until I got myself more under control

01:08:18 and had a little time to think.

01:08:20 Then I thought of you waiting at home and the dinner being spoiled,

01:08:23 so I went into the high street and found a tobacconist

01:08:25 and telephoned to you.

01:08:27 Do you remember?

01:08:29 (Piano music)

01:08:31 Hello, Fred, is that you?

01:08:54 Yes, dear, it's me, Laura.

01:08:56 Yes, everything's perfectly all right, but I shan't be home to dinner.

01:09:00 I'm with Miss Lewis.

01:09:02 Miss Lewis, dear, you know, the librarian I told you about at Boots.

01:09:06 Yes, I can't explain in any detail because she's outside the box now.

01:09:10 Well, I met her in the high street a little while ago in a terrible state.

01:09:14 Her mother's been taken ill, and I've promised to stay with her

01:09:17 until the doctor comes.

01:09:19 Yes, I know, but she's always been awfully kind to me,

01:09:22 and I feel so sorry for her.

01:09:24 Now, I'll get a sandwich,

01:09:26 but ask Ethel to leave me some soup and a saucepan in the kitchen.

01:09:30 Yes, of course, as soon as I can.

01:09:33 All right, good-bye.

01:09:35 (Door opens)

01:09:37 It's awfully easy to lie when you know that you're trusted implicitly.

01:09:41 So very easy, and so very degrading.

01:09:44 I started walking without much purpose.

01:09:47 I turned out of the high street almost immediately.

01:09:50 I was terrified that I might run into Eric.

01:09:53 I was pretty certain that he'd come after me to the station.

01:09:57 I walked for a long while.

01:09:59 Finally, I found myself at the War Memorial.

01:10:01 You know, it's right at the other side of the town.

01:10:04 It had stopped raining altogether, and I felt stiflingly hot.

01:10:08 So I sat down on one of the seats.

01:10:11 There was nobody about, and I lit a cigarette.

01:10:13 I know how you disapprove of women smoking in the street.

01:10:16 I do, too, really, but I can't help it.

01:10:19 I was feeling a bit unwell, really, but I wanted to calm my nerves,

01:10:23 and I thought it might help.

01:10:25 I sat there for ages.

01:10:27 I don't know how long.

01:10:29 Then I noticed a policeman walking up and down a little way off.

01:10:33 He was looking at me rather suspiciously.

01:10:36 Presently, he came up to me.

01:10:39 Feeling all right, miss?

01:10:41 Yes, thank you.

01:10:43 Waiting for someone?

01:10:45 No. No, I'm not waiting for anybody.

01:10:47 It's cold now. It's a damp night to sit about on seats.

01:10:50 I'm going now. Anyhow, I've got to catch a train.

01:10:53 Are you sure you feel quite all right?

01:10:55 Quite, thank you.

01:10:57 Good night.

01:10:58 Good night, miss.

01:11:00 I walked away, trying to look casual,

01:11:03 knowing that he was watching me.

01:11:05 I felt like a criminal.

01:11:07 I walked rather quickly back in the direction of the High Street.

01:11:11 I got to the station 15 minutes before the last train to Ketchworth,

01:11:15 and then I realised that I'd been wandering about for over three hours.

01:11:19 But it didn't seem to be any time at all.

01:11:22 Stan, you are awful.

01:11:24 See you in the yard.

01:11:26 All right.

01:11:28 A light glass of brandy, please.

01:11:32 We're just closing.

01:11:33 Yes, I see you are, but you're not quite closed yet, are you?

01:11:36 Three star.

01:11:37 That'll do.

01:11:42 Oh, and have you got a piece of paper in your envelope?

01:11:45 I'm afraid you'll have to get that at the bookstall.

01:11:47 Well, the bookstall is closed.

01:11:49 Please, it's very important. I should be so much obliged.

01:11:52 All right, just a minute.

01:12:11 Thank you very much.

01:12:12 We're closing in a few minutes, you know.

01:12:14 Yes, I know.

01:12:15 [footsteps]

01:12:17 [door closes]

01:12:20 [door closes]

01:12:47 Darling, I've been looking for you everywhere.

01:12:49 Please go away. Please don't send me.

01:12:50 I've watched every train.

01:12:51 Please go away.

01:12:52 I can't leave you like this.

01:12:53 You must. It'll be better. Really, it will.

01:12:55 You're being dreadfully cruel.

01:12:57 It was just an accident that he came back early.

01:12:59 He doesn't know who you are. He never even saw you.

01:13:01 I suppose he laughed, didn't he?

01:13:02 I suppose you spoke of me together as men of the world.

01:13:04 We didn't speak of you.

01:13:05 We spoke of some nameless creature who has no reality at all.

01:13:07 Why didn't you tell him who I was?

01:13:08 Why didn't you say we were cheap and low and without courage?

01:13:10 Stop it, Laura. Pull yourself together.

01:13:12 But it's true, isn't it? It's true.

01:13:13 It's nothing of the sort.

01:13:14 We know we really love each other. That's true.

01:13:16 That's all that really matters.

01:13:17 It isn't all that really matters. Other things matter, too.

01:13:20 Self-respect matters and decency. I can't go on any longer.

01:13:23 Could you really say goodbye?

01:13:27 Never see me again?

01:13:29 Yes, if you'd help me.

01:13:43 I love you, Laura.

01:13:45 I shall love you always, until the end of my life.

01:13:47 I can't look at you now because I know something.

01:13:52 I know that this is the beginning of the end.

01:13:55 Not the end of my loving you, but the end of our being together.

01:13:59 But not quite yet, darling. Please, not quite yet.

01:14:02 Very well, not quite yet.

01:14:06 I know what you feel about this evening.

01:14:09 I mean about the sordidness of it.

01:14:12 I know about the strain of our different lives.

01:14:14 Our lives apart from each other.

01:14:16 The feeling of guilt, of doing wrong, is too strong, isn't it?

01:14:20 Too great a price to pay for the happiness we have together.

01:14:24 I know all this because it's the same for me, too.

01:14:29 You can look at me now. I'm all right.

01:14:41 Let's be very careful.

01:14:43 Let's prepare ourselves.

01:14:45 A sudden break now, however brave and admirable, will be too cruel.

01:14:49 We can't do such violence to our hearts and minds.

01:14:52 Very well.

01:14:55 I'm going away.

01:15:00 - I see. - But not quite yet.

01:15:02 Please, not quite yet.

01:15:04 That's the ten-ten. It's after closing time.

01:15:09 - No, is it? - I'd like to lock up.

01:15:11 All right.

01:15:12 I want you to promise me something.

01:15:26 What is it?

01:15:27 Promise me that however unhappy you are,

01:15:30 and however much you think things over,

01:15:32 that you'll meet me again next Thursday.

01:15:34 - Where? - Outside the hospital, at 12.30.

01:15:38 - All right, I promise. - I've got to talk to you. I've got to explain.

01:15:41 - About going away? - Yes.

01:15:43 Where will you go? Where can you go if you can't give up your practice?

01:15:46 I've had a job offered me. I wasn't going to tell you.

01:15:50 I wasn't going to take it.

01:15:52 But I know now it's the only way out.

01:15:54 Where?

01:15:55 A long way away. Johannesburg.

01:15:58 Oh, Alec.

01:16:00 My brother's out there. They're opening a new hospital. They want me in it.

01:16:06 It's a fine opportunity, really.

01:16:08 I'll take Madeline and the boys.

01:16:10 It's been torturing me, the necessity of making a decision one way or the other.

01:16:14 I haven't told anybody, not even Madeline.

01:16:17 I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you.

01:16:20 But now I see it's got to happen soon anyway.

01:16:24 It's almost happening already.

01:16:28 Stanley!

01:16:32 Stanley!

01:16:33 When will you go?

01:16:39 Almost immediately. In about two weeks' time.

01:16:44 Quite near, isn't it?

01:16:47 Do you want me to stay? Do you want me to turn down the offer?

01:16:51 Oh, don't be foolish, Alec.

01:16:52 I'll do whatever you say.

01:16:55 That's unkind of you, my darling.

01:16:58 The train for Ketchworth is now arriving at platform three.

01:17:02 You're not angry with me, are you?

01:17:21 No, I'm not angry.

01:17:23 I don't think I'm anything, really. I just feel tired.

01:17:26 Forgive me.

01:17:28 Forgive you for what?

01:17:29 For everything.

01:17:31 For meeting you in the first place.

01:17:33 For taking the piece of grit out of your eye.

01:17:36 For loving you.

01:17:38 For bringing you so much misery.

01:17:40 I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me.

01:17:45 Thursday.

01:17:56 All that was a week ago.

01:17:58 It's hardly credible that it should be so short a time.

01:18:01 Today was our last day together.

01:18:05 Our very last together in all our lives.

01:18:08 I met him outside the hospital, as I had promised, at 12.30.

01:18:12 At 12.30 this morning.

01:18:14 That was only this morning.

01:18:17 We drove into the country again, but this time he hired a car.

01:18:21 I lit cigarettes for him every now and then as we went along.

01:18:24 We didn't talk much.

01:18:25 I felt numbed and hardly alive at all.

01:18:28 We had lunch in a village pub.

01:18:31 Afterwards we went to the same bridge over the stream.

01:18:36 The bridge that we'd been to before.

01:18:39 Those last few hours went by so quickly.

01:18:44 As we walked through the station, I remember thinking...

01:18:46 "This is the last time with Alec.

01:18:50 "I shall see all this again, but without Alec."

01:18:54 I tried not to think of it.

01:18:57 Not to let it spoil our last moments together.

01:19:00 I tried to forget it.

01:19:02 I tried to forget it.

01:19:04 I tried to forget it.

01:19:06 I tried to forget it.

01:19:08 I tried to forget it.

01:19:11 Not to let it spoil our last moments together.

01:19:39 Are you all right, darling?

01:19:41 Yes, I'm all right.

01:19:43 I wish I could think of something to say.

01:19:46 It doesn't matter. Not saying anything, I mean.

01:19:50 I'll miss my train and wait to see you in New York.

01:19:52 No, please don't. I'll come over with you to your platform, I'd rather.

01:19:54 I will.

01:19:55 Do you think we shall ever see each other again?

01:20:00 I don't know. Not for years, anyway.

01:20:04 Children will all be grown up.

01:20:09 I wonder if they'll ever meet and know each other.

01:20:11 Couldn't I write to you just once in a while?

01:20:14 No, Alec, please. You know we promised.

01:20:16 Oh, Laura, dear.

01:20:18 I do love you so very much.

01:20:21 I'll love you with all my heart and soul.

01:20:24 I want to die.

01:20:28 If only I could die.

01:20:32 If you died, you'd forget me.

01:20:34 I want to be remembered.

01:20:37 Yes, I know. I do, too.

01:20:39 We've still got a few minutes.

01:20:45 Laura! What a lovely surprise!

01:20:47 My dear, I've been shopping till I am dropping.

01:20:50 My feet are nearly falling off, my throat's parched.

01:20:52 I thought of having tea at Spindle's, but I was terrified of losing the train.

01:20:55 Oh, dear.

01:20:57 Oh, this is Dr. Harvey.

01:20:58 How do you do?

01:21:00 Oh, how do you do? Would you be a perfect day and get me a cup of tea?

01:21:02 I really don't think I could drag my poor old bones over to the counter.

01:21:05 No, please.

01:21:06 It was cruel of fate to be against us right up to the very last minute.

01:21:09 Dolly Messitter.

01:21:11 Poor, well-meaning, irritating Dolly Messitter.

01:21:14 Crashing into those last few precious minutes we had together.

01:21:17 She chattered and fussed, but I didn't hear what she said.

01:21:21 I felt dazed and bewildered.

01:21:23 Oh, dear, no sugar.

01:21:24 It's in the spoon.

01:21:26 Alec behaved so beautifully.

01:21:27 With such perfect politeness.

01:21:29 No one could have guessed what he was really feeling.

01:21:31 And then...

01:21:35 There's your train.

01:21:36 Yes, I know.

01:21:37 Oh, aren't you coming with us?

01:21:39 No, I go in the opposite direction.

01:21:40 My practice is in Shirley.

01:21:42 Oh, I see.

01:21:43 I'm a general practitioner at the moment.

01:21:44 Dr. Harvey's going out to Africa next week.

01:21:46 Oh, how thrilling.

01:21:47 The train now arriving at Platform 4 is the 540 for Shirley, Lee Green and Langford.

01:21:55 I must go.

01:21:57 Yes, you must.

01:21:58 Goodbye.

01:21:59 Goodbye.

01:22:01 I felt the touch of his hand on my shoulder for a moment.

01:22:03 And then he walked away.

01:22:05 Away, out of my life forever.

01:22:09 He's got to get right up to the other platform.

01:22:12 Talking of missing trains reminds me of that awful bridge at Broadham Junction.

01:22:16 Dolly still went on talking, but I wasn't listening to her.

01:22:18 I was listening for the sound of his train starting.

01:22:22 Then it did.

01:22:27 Then it did.

01:22:28 I said to myself, he didn't go.

01:22:31 The last minute his courage failed him, he couldn't have gone.

01:22:34 Any minute now he'll come back into the refreshment room pretending he's forgotten something.

01:22:38 I prayed for him to do that.

01:22:40 Just so that I could see him again for an instant.

01:22:43 But the minutes went by.

01:22:48 Is that the train?

01:22:51 Oh, it's the train.

01:22:53 Oh, I'm afraid it's the train.

01:22:56 Oh, can you tell me, is that the Ketchworth train?

01:22:58 No, it's the express.

01:23:00 The boat train.

01:23:01 Of course, that doesn't stop, does it?

01:23:02 I want some chocolate, please.

01:23:04 No, complain.

01:23:07 (TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)

01:23:35 I meant to do it, Fred.

01:23:36 I really meant to do it.

01:23:38 I stood there trembling right on the edge.

01:23:41 But I couldn't.

01:23:45 I wasn't brave enough.

01:23:47 I should like to be able to say that it was the thought of you and the children that prevented me, but it wasn't.

01:23:53 I had no thoughts at all.

01:23:57 Only an overwhelming desire not to feel anything ever again.

01:24:04 Not to be unhappy anymore.

01:24:05 I turned...

01:24:07 and went back into the refreshment room.

01:24:12 That's when I nearly fainted.

01:24:21 (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

01:24:24 (SIREN WAILING)

01:24:27 (SIREN WAILING)

01:24:29 (SIREN WAILING)

01:24:32 (SIREN WAILING)

01:24:33 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:01 Laura.

01:25:02 Yes, Jim.

01:25:06 Whatever your dream was,

01:25:08 it wasn't a very happy one, was it?

01:25:11 No.

01:25:15 Is there anything I can do to help?

01:25:18 Yes, Fred, you always help.

01:25:23 You've been a long way away.

01:25:30 Thank you for coming back to me.

01:25:32 (SOBS)

01:25:37 (SOBS)

01:25:38 (SOBS)

01:25:39 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:40 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:41 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:43 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:45 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:47 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:49 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:51 (SIREN WAILING)

01:25:52 (upbeat music)

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