The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham. BBC RADIO DRAMA
The Painted Veil - first published in 1925 to a storm of protest, this is a haunting, poignant tale of one woman’s spiritual awakening. Starring Sarah Smart and Nicholas Farrell.
"Set in China in the mid-1920s, Lizzie Nunnery approached The Painted Veil as a coming-of-age melodrama, in which Kitty Fane (Sarah Smart), gradually acquired responsibility and self-reliance, while learning something about her husband Walter's (Nicholas Farrell's) true nature.
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"Set in China in the mid-1920s, Lizzie Nunnery approached The Painted Veil as a coming-of-age melodrama, in which Kitty Fane (Sarah Smart), gradually acquired responsibility and self-reliance, while learning something about her husband Walter's (Nicholas Farrell's) true nature.
Do you enjoy the variety on Oldtuberadio?
Like, Share and Subscribe to be notified of our new shows
#radio #crime #thriller #drama
To Support this channel please visit
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oldtuberadio
https://ko-fi.com/oldtuberadio98
https://www.patreon.com/oldtuberadio
https://locals.com/Oldtuberadio
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FunTranscript
00:00:00What's the matter?
00:00:11Someone just tried the door.
00:00:12Well perhaps it was the armour, one of the boys.
00:00:17They're never coming this time.
00:00:19Well who else could it be?
00:00:20Who?
00:00:21Get dressed.
00:00:22Where are your shoes?
00:00:25They can't possibly be Walter.
00:00:29Quickly Charlie.
00:00:30How shall I get out?
00:00:34Is it the veranda?
00:00:36He's there.
00:00:38He's trying to get in.
00:00:39Shh.
00:00:47They've gone.
00:00:49Whoever it is, they've gone.
00:00:52For God's sake, don't do that.
00:00:54If we're in for it, we're in for it.
00:00:55We shall just have to brazen it out.
00:00:58Where's your hat?
00:00:59I left it downstairs.
00:01:00Oh my God.
00:01:01I say, you really must pull yourself together.
00:01:04It's a hundred to one it wasn't Walter.
00:01:06He never does come home in the middle of the day, does he?
00:01:08Never.
00:01:10I'll bet you anything you like it was the armour.
00:01:13Do you feel up to going out on the veranda, having a look?
00:01:17Suppose he is waiting out there.
00:01:19A little plot kitty, hmm?
00:01:21How can it have been him?
00:01:24If he'd come in and seen a strange hat in the hall,
00:01:26and come upstairs and found the room locked,
00:01:28surely he would have made some sort of row.
00:01:31Look, it must have been one of the servants.
00:01:33It's not very pleasant even if it was only the armour.
00:01:35She can be squared.
00:01:36And if necessary, I'll put the fear of God into her.
00:01:39There aren't many advantages in being a government official,
00:01:41but you may as well get what you can out of it.
00:01:44I'll go and have a look.
00:01:53There's not a soul.
00:01:55Nobody.
00:01:57I believe the whole thing was an optical delusion.
00:02:02You look frightfully beautiful when you're stricken, you know.
00:02:05Don't you dare smile.
00:02:07I was terrified.
00:02:09It was my fault.
00:02:10I shouldn't have come.
00:02:12I couldn't resist it.
00:02:14I hate him.
00:02:16I hate Walter, I hate him.
00:02:17Listen here.
00:02:18If there's any trouble, I guarantee to get you out of it.
00:02:22You know you can count on me.
00:02:26You know what I must do now?
00:02:28Bolt.
00:02:30Tell me you're not frightened anymore.
00:02:33I'm not.
00:02:37Look at him.
00:02:39Of course it was stupid to behave like that,
00:02:42but when he wants me...
00:02:45Six foot two and always the best dressed man in the room.
00:02:49The best dancer I've ever known.
00:02:51He's the most popular man in the colony.
00:02:53He plays tennis and polo and golf and he's good at them all.
00:02:58And what's Walter good at?
00:03:00Bridge.
00:03:02Who cares about bridge?
00:03:04Of course, Walter's clever.
00:03:07Everyone seems to think so.
00:03:09He's polite and kind.
00:03:11He stands up when I enter a room.
00:03:15If we happen to meet in the street, he takes off his hat.
00:03:19He loves me so, obviously, but dull.
00:03:23So dull.
00:03:25And I knew it from the very first moment.
00:03:27From before I married him.
00:03:29Why did I ever marry him?
00:03:34I wanted to say something to you.
00:03:37I'm away to Hong Kong in three weeks.
00:03:39Are you?
00:03:41You'll be missed at the Baddeley's party.
00:03:43There's barely a single man left to dance with these days.
00:03:46The times we've spent together have meant more to me than I can say.
00:03:50Really?
00:03:51Kitty, I want to ask you if you'll marry me.
00:03:56What?
00:03:57I wanted to ask you before, but I'm very awkward and clumsy.
00:04:03Didn't you know that I was awfully in love with you?
00:04:06No.
00:04:07I'm so stupid.
00:04:08I want to tell you that I love you more than anything in the world,
00:04:11but I find it so awfully difficult to say.
00:04:14It's very kind of you, but...
00:04:15Don't answer me now.
00:04:17You must think about it.
00:04:19I never thought of you that way.
00:04:21I fell in love with you the first time I saw you.
00:04:24But I barely know you.
00:04:27I believe I improve on acquaintance.
00:04:37You're back late.
00:04:39I think it's about the usual time.
00:04:42I was just going to dress for dinner.
00:04:44Are you hungry?
00:04:46I don't believe so.
00:04:53I can't see the print before my eyes.
00:04:56My head throbs violently.
00:04:59We sit in silence for what might be an hour.
00:05:01Is that a new issue of Sketch?
00:05:04I don't know. I don't think I've seen it.
00:05:08He sits, staring at a magazine he's read a dozen times over.
00:05:12Now, say it.
00:05:14Do what you will, but now.
00:05:17Kitty?
00:05:18Yes?
00:05:22I have some work to do.
00:05:24If you don't mind, I'll go to my study.
00:05:28I dare say you'll have gone to bed by the time I've finished.
00:05:32Good night, then.
00:05:34Good night.
00:05:36He turns in the doorway.
00:05:39For an instant I see a look in his eyes of such mortal sadness
00:05:45that it turns my whole body cold.
00:05:55Mr Townsend, upstairs. You go up, yes?
00:05:58I'll find my own way. Thank you.
00:06:01It's so degrading to meet this way
00:06:04in a stuffy, frowzy little room above a curio shop.
00:06:08But it's what we do, and it's worth it.
00:06:12Darling.
00:06:14No, no, he knows.
00:06:16I don't think I could lose my eyes all night.
00:06:18What did he say?
00:06:20He hasn't said anything. It's the way he looks, the way he talks.
00:06:23For the first time since we married, he didn't kiss me good night.
00:06:27Why do you imagine he didn't say anything?
00:06:29Heaven knows.
00:06:31I don't want to say anything disagreeable about him,
00:06:34but when you come down to brass tacks, a bacteriologist is no great shakes.
00:06:38Chances are that I shall be Colonial Secretary when Simmons goes home
00:06:42and it's to Walter's interest to keep on the right side of me.
00:06:45Has it occurred to you that he's madly in love with me?
00:06:48What?
00:06:50Women are often under the impression
00:06:52that men are much more madly in love with them than they really are.
00:06:56What a monstrous thing to say.
00:06:59At all events, I shall never delude myself that you are madly in love with me.
00:07:03Well, that's where you're wrong.
00:07:07Why wouldn't you go and have your tiffin?
00:07:10Damn my tiffin.
00:07:13If he's in love with you, perhaps he doesn't want to lose you altogether.
00:07:17But I swear I'd accept anything rather than that if you were my wife.
00:07:21Oh, Charlie, you must never let me go.
00:07:24Never?
00:07:31Later, alone in the house,
00:07:34I try to rest but my head's full of Walter.
00:07:38Maybe he won't speak.
00:07:41Charlie's right, the fear of a scene might be too much altogether.
00:07:45If he can't bear to lose me, perhaps he can bear it in silence.
00:07:50Who is it?
00:07:54Will you come into the next room? I want to have a little talk with you.
00:07:58Yes, of course.
00:08:05Won't you sit down?
00:08:08I don't usually see you in the afternoon.
00:08:12How did you manage to get away from the laboratory?
00:08:15Have you heard of May Tafu?
00:08:18There's a good deal about it in the papers lately.
00:08:21Dr Arbuthnot was talking about it last week at dinner.
00:08:25Isn't that the place where there's cholera?
00:08:27There's an epidemic, the worst they've had for years.
00:08:30There was a medical missionary there. He died three days ago.
00:08:34There's a French convent and, of course, there's the customs man.
00:08:38Everyone else has got out.
00:08:41The nuns are doing what they can but the people are dying like flies.
00:08:46I've offered to go and take charge.
00:08:48You? Is that necessary?
00:08:52There's not a foreign doctor in the place and it'll be an admirable chance for research.
00:08:56But won't it be awfully dangerous?
00:08:58Awfully. May Tafu's on the tributary of the Western River.
00:09:03We should travel up the river and then by chair.
00:09:07We'll leave the day after tomorrow.
00:09:09Who is we?
00:09:10You and I.
00:09:13You're expecting me to come too?
00:09:15I thought you'd like to.
00:09:17Surely it's no place for a woman.
00:09:20I should never stand the heat up there and cholera.
00:09:23It's absurd. I hate illness.
00:09:26I don't pretend to be very brave and I don't mind telling you that I haven't the pluck for that.
00:09:30I should die. I shall stay here.
00:09:33I should have thought you'd want to accompany me on such a dangerous expedition.
00:09:37You could cheer and comfort me.
00:09:40I'm not going, Walter. It's monstrous to ask me.
00:09:44Then I shan't go either.
00:09:47I shall immediately file my petition for divorce and you'll be publicly disgraced.
00:09:51I have all the necessary proof.
00:09:54I don't know what you're talking about.
00:09:57I'm afraid you think me a bigger fool than I am.
00:10:00You're not going to do much by crying, you know.
00:10:04I don't care.
00:10:07Do as you wish. Divorce me.
00:10:10You believe Townsend will marry you.
00:10:13Townsend will marry you only if the case is so shameless that his wife is forced to divorce him.
00:10:18You don't know what you're talking about.
00:10:20You stupid fool.
00:10:22If you want the truth, you can have it.
00:10:25He's only too anxious to marry me.
00:10:27Dorothy Townsend is perfectly willing to divorce him and we shall be married the moment we're free.
00:10:31Did he tell you that in so many words or is that the impression you gained from his manner?
00:10:34He said it over and over and over again.
00:10:37That's a lie and you know it's a lie.
00:10:39He loves me with all his heart and soul.
00:10:42He loves me as passionately as I love him.
00:10:45I'm glad you know at last.
00:10:47We've been lovers for a year and he means everything in the world to me.
00:10:51I was a fool to have ever married you.
00:10:53I never cared for you.
00:10:55We never had anything in common. Do you know why I married you?
00:10:58Because you wanted to be married before your sister Doris.
00:11:00Because you wanted to get away from your mother.
00:11:02I had no illusions about you.
00:11:04I knew you were vulgar and commonplace but I loved you.
00:11:07I knew that you were second-rate but I loved you.
00:11:10I knew how frightened you were of intelligence and I did everything I could to make you think me as big a fool as the rest of the men you knew.
00:11:18I never expected you to love me.
00:11:21If a man hasn't what's necessary to make a woman love him, it's his fault, not hers.
00:11:27Evidently.
00:11:29I'm just a perfectly ordinary young woman, Walter.
00:11:32I'm not very well educated and I'm not very clever.
00:11:35I like the things that the people like amongst whom I've lived all my life.
00:11:38I like dancing and tennis and theatres and I like the men who play games.
00:11:43I'm sorry if I haven't been all you've expected me to be.
00:11:47Unfortunately, I've always found you physically repulsive.
00:11:51You can hardly blame me for that.
00:11:53I don't.
00:11:55You can hardly blame me for that.
00:11:57I don't.
00:11:58Why didn't you break into the room when you knew Charlie was there?
00:12:01You might at least have tried to thrash him.
00:12:04It may be that, like a historical character, I'm too proud to fight.
00:12:14I've said all I need to say.
00:12:17Come with me to Metafu or I shall file my petition.
00:12:21Why won't you let me divorce you?
00:12:24After all, it means nothing to a man.
00:12:27If Mrs. Townsend will give me her assurance that she will divorce her husband
00:12:32and if he will give me his written promise to marry you
00:12:35within a week of the decrees being made absolute, I will do that.
00:12:40That's very generous of you, Walter.
00:12:45What are you laughing at?
00:12:47I beg your pardon.
00:12:50I dare say my sense of humour is peculiar.
00:12:54You'd better look sharp if you want to catch Townsend at his office.
00:12:58Do you want me to tell him today?
00:13:00They say there's no time like the present.
00:13:05I don't think you know what love is.
00:13:08You have no conception how desperately in love Charlie and I are.
00:13:12It really is the only thing that matters
00:13:14and every sacrifice that our love calls for will be as easy as falling off a log.
00:13:21I hope for your sake that your faith is well placed.
00:13:32Mr. Townsend will see you now, miss.
00:13:34Thank you.
00:13:40Mrs. Fane, sir.
00:13:42Pleased to see you, Mrs. Fane. Do take a seat.
00:13:45That'll be all. Thank you.
00:13:47Sir.
00:13:50I say, my dear, you really mustn't come here in working hours.
00:13:54We don't want to give people a chance to gossip.
00:13:56I wouldn't have come unless it was necessary.
00:13:59Well, it's the only thing that matters, right?
00:14:02Oh, my dear, don't cry.
00:14:06Tell me all about it.
00:14:09Walter wants a divorce.
00:14:13What exactly do you mean?
00:14:15I've come straight from the house now.
00:14:18He says he has all the proof he wants.
00:14:21You didn't commit yourself, did you?
00:14:23You didn't acknowledge anything?
00:14:25No.
00:14:26Are you quite sure?
00:14:27Quite sure.
00:14:32This is a bloody mess we've got into.
00:14:36No use losing our heads.
00:14:40The thing to do now is to see how we're going to get out of it.
00:14:44I don't suppose you want to be divorced any more than I do.
00:14:48I don't know how he can actually prove that we were together in that room.
00:14:52Our line is to deny everything.
00:14:55Why need we deny it?
00:14:57If the worst comes to the worst, I shall have to tell the Governor.
00:15:00He'll curse me like hell, but he's a good fellow and a man of the world.
00:15:03He can bring pressure to bear on Walter.
00:15:05If he can't get at him through his ambition, he'll get at him through his sense of duty.
00:15:09You don't know Walter. You don't realise how angry he is.
00:15:13I know that every man has his price.
00:15:16Is it his idea to name me in the case?
00:15:18It was.
00:15:19Eventually I managed to get him to consent to let me divorce him quietly.
00:15:23Oh, well, that seems to me a very good way out.
00:15:27After all, it's the least am I can do.
00:15:29He makes a condition, Charlie.
00:15:31Well, of course. I'm not a very rich man, but I'll do anything in my power.
00:15:34Charlie, he agrees to my divorcing him only if your wife will give him the assurance that she will divorce you.
00:15:41And...
00:15:43It's awfully hard to say, Charlie. It sounds dreadful.
00:15:46If you'll promise to marry me immediately.
00:15:52You know, darling, whatever happens, we must keep Dorothy out of this.
00:15:56How can we do that?
00:15:57Nothing would induce her to divorce me. It's quite out of the question.
00:16:00I...
00:16:01Try not to upset yourself, darling. We must keep our heads.
00:16:05Don't you love me?
00:16:07Of course I love you, but we can't only think of ourselves in this world.
00:16:12If it came to it, I could make a clean breast of it, Dorothy.
00:16:16She'd be dreadfully hurt and wretched, but she'd forgive me.
00:16:19You told me she meant nothing to you.
00:16:21I never did.
00:16:22I said I wasn't in love with her.
00:16:25We've always been excellent friends.
00:16:27But...
00:16:28My dear, you must be reasonable.
00:16:32I don't want to hurt your feelings, but really, I must tell you the truth.
00:16:38I'm rather keen on my career.
00:16:42There's no reason why I shouldn't be governor one of these days,
00:16:45and it's a damn soft job to be a colonial governor.
00:16:48Without Dorothy sticking by me, I don't think I stand a dog's chance.
00:16:53Was it necessary to tell me that you wanted nothing in the world but me?
00:17:00Oh, my dear, it's rather hard to take quite literally the things a man says when he's in love with you.
00:17:05You really must be reasonable.
00:17:08How can I be reasonable?
00:17:10To me, our love was everything.
00:17:13It's not very pleasant to find out to you it was only an episode.
00:17:17Of course it wasn't an episode.
00:17:19One can be very much in love with a woman without wishing to spend the rest of one's life with her.
00:17:25You don't know how I love you.
00:17:30I can't live without you.
00:17:33If you desert me, I shall die.
00:17:37There's really no use in being melodramatic.
00:17:43Walter wants me to go to Métamphou.
00:17:47Where the cholera is. Nobody can't possibly go there.
00:17:50Well, if you let me down, I shall have to.
00:17:52What do you mean?
00:17:53Walter is taking the place of a missionary doctor who died.
00:17:56He's given me a choice.
00:17:58I must either go to Métamphou with him now at once,
00:18:01or else he'll bring an action to divorce me.
00:18:05Well, it's a damn sporting thing of him to go there.
00:18:07I wouldn't fancy it.
00:18:09It means death.
00:18:10Absolutely certain death.
00:18:12Damn it all. It's rather an exaggeration.
00:18:15There's no more of a risk for you than for him.
00:18:17I've been here when this cholera and I haven't turned a hair.
00:18:20The great thing is not to eat anything uncooked.
00:18:22No raw fruit or salads.
00:18:24And see that your drinking water is boiled.
00:18:26After all, it's his job, isn't it?
00:18:28It's rather a choice for him, if you come to think of it.
00:18:32But don't you see it'll kill me?
00:18:35Do you know that he's taking me there because he knows it'll kill me?
00:18:38Oh, my dear, don't talk like that.
00:18:41When you look at it calmly, you'll be all right.
00:18:45Do you want me to go?
00:18:47It's only fair to tell you that
00:18:49if your husband brought an action for divorce and won it,
00:18:52I should not be in a position to marry you.
00:18:58I don't think my husband ever thought of bringing an action.
00:19:03He made the threat only because he knew
00:19:05that you'd crumple up at it, Charlie.
00:19:07He knew that you were vain, cowardly and self-seeking.
00:19:12He wanted me to see it with my own eyes.
00:19:14If it really gives you any satisfaction to say beastly things to me,
00:19:17I suppose I've got no right to complain.
00:19:19No, I know all that he knew.
00:19:22I know that you're callous and heartless,
00:19:25that you're selfish, selfish beyond words.
00:19:28I know you're a liar and a humbug.
00:19:31And the tragic part is...
00:19:34The tragic part is that in spite of all that,
00:19:37I love you with all my heart.
00:19:40Kitty.
00:19:41I love you with all my heart.
00:19:43Kitty.
00:19:44Oh, no, don't touch me.
00:19:47What are you going to do?
00:19:50Don't be afraid.
00:19:51You'll come to no harm. You'll be quite safe.
00:19:55You fool.
00:19:58You contemptible fool.
00:20:06Pack nothing but the necessities. Everything will have to be carried.
00:20:09Yes, Dr Vane.
00:20:11I'm coming with you to that place.
00:20:14Oh, good.
00:20:15I suppose I needn't take more than a few summer things and a shroud, need I?
00:20:20I've already told your armour what you'll want.
00:20:23I trust you've said your goodbyes?
00:20:26Do you take joy in this?
00:20:29Believe me, Kitty, I'm very far from joy.
00:20:33CHANTING
00:20:38Carried in chairs along a narrow causeway.
00:20:41Day after day.
00:20:43Gazing through the netting at the interminable vista of rice fields.
00:20:48Behind us a line of servants struggling under our belongings.
00:20:53Setting out at dawn and then travelling into the heat of the day.
00:20:58Taking shelter awhile and then on again.
00:21:01On again.
00:21:02Into the long, hot night.
00:21:06Biting my hand so as not to scream.
00:21:11Jolly.
00:21:12Jolly.
00:21:22Walter?
00:21:23What's wrong with the bearers?
00:21:25Why have we stopped?
00:21:27We've almost arrived.
00:21:28The town's just beyond the hill.
00:21:30What are they so upset about?
00:21:32This is the graveyard for Meitafu.
00:21:35For miles and miles.
00:21:37Little green mounds.
00:21:39Close.
00:21:40Close to one another.
00:21:42Ripped like sea sand when the tide has gone out.
00:21:46And further out.
00:21:47Soil mounds.
00:21:49Where no grass grows.
00:21:51Row upon endless row of freshly buried dead.
00:21:57Four peasants appear suddenly.
00:21:59Quick and silent, bearing a coffin.
00:22:02Its fresh wood gleaming white in the coming darkness.
00:22:09I feel Walter's eyes on me.
00:22:12A look on his face.
00:22:15Could it be...
00:22:17hatred?
00:22:18Disgust?
00:22:21I wonder...
00:22:23Is it possible that Walter is not quite sane?
00:22:31Carry those straight through to the bedroom.
00:22:34May I come in?
00:22:36My name's Waddington. I'm the Deputy Commissioner.
00:22:39The customs, of course. We heard that you were here.
00:22:42Yeah, I live at the bottom of the hill.
00:22:44I thought you'd be too fag to come and dine with me,
00:22:46so I've ordered your dinner here and I've invited myself.
00:22:49Well, I'm delighted to hear it.
00:22:51It's fine, the cook's not bad.
00:22:53He's whipping up something for you right now.
00:22:55I kept on Watson's boys for you.
00:22:57Watson was the missionary who was here.
00:22:59Yes, very nice fellow.
00:23:01I'll show you his grave tomorrow, if you like.
00:23:03How kind of you.
00:23:05I say, I couldn't trouble you for a whiskey and soda, could I?
00:23:08Of course.
00:23:09No, no, no, don't move. I'll fix it.
00:23:12Have you brought any gramophone records?
00:23:15No, I don't think so.
00:23:17I'm sorry for that.
00:23:19I still won't.
00:23:21I see you've met my wife.
00:23:23Ah, well, I've just been breaking it to your missus
00:23:25that I'm dining with you. Since Watson died,
00:23:27I haven't had anybody much to talk to but the nuns
00:23:30and I never can do myself justice in French.
00:23:33Yeah, here's luck.
00:23:36Well, you've got your work cut out for you here.
00:23:39The people are dying like flies about a hundred a day last count.
00:23:42The magistrate's lost his head and
00:23:44Colonel Yu, the officer commanding the troops,
00:23:46is having the devil of a job to prevent them from looting.
00:23:48If something doesn't happen soon, we shall be all murdered in our beds.
00:23:51Why haven't you gone?
00:23:53I've lost half my staff.
00:23:55The other half are about to lie down and die at any minute.
00:23:57Somebody's got to keep things together.
00:23:59Have you been inoculated?
00:24:00Yes, Watson did me.
00:24:02But he did himself too, and I didn't do him much good.
00:24:05Poor Blighter.
00:24:07Shall we go through?
00:24:09I must be out early tomorrow.
00:24:12I hope you don't mind me not dressing for dinner.
00:24:15My boy died last week,
00:24:17and the boy I have now is a fool,
00:24:19so I've given up on the whole formality.
00:24:23Won't you sit for dinner, Kitty?
00:24:29So, how's Hong Kong?
00:24:33It's been a while since I was there.
00:24:35I'm sure it's just as you left it.
00:24:37You don't know Dr Arbuthnot?
00:24:41We dined with him just last month.
00:24:43Fabulous fellow.
00:24:44Terrific tennis player.
00:24:46And what about Charles Townsend?
00:24:48Is he going to become Colonial Secretary?
00:24:51I shouldn't wonder.
00:24:52Yeah, we travelled out from home together once.
00:24:55Do you know him well?
00:24:56Hardly at all.
00:25:00Good God, you're not going to eat that.
00:25:02What?
00:25:03The boy's crazy to serve him.
00:25:05Why?
00:25:06Touch nothing uncooked.
00:25:08A green salad here will work as well as a dose of arsenic.
00:25:11Surely the danger's exaggerated.
00:25:13Kitty, put it down. Don't be absurd.
00:25:15Thank you for your concern, Walter.
00:25:17It's always dangerous.
00:25:19It's madness now.
00:25:20You'll kill yourself.
00:25:25Get out of your mind.
00:25:26It's very good.
00:25:27Won't you try some, Walter?
00:25:30Well, yes. Why not?
00:25:33You're both completely out of your minds.
00:25:38Darling.
00:25:40How could you?
00:25:42How could you?
00:25:43I'm sorry, darling. I'm so sorry.
00:25:46I'll die here. I'll die.
00:25:48Shh.
00:25:49If there's any trouble, I guarantee to get you out of it.
00:25:53You know you can count on me.
00:25:55You must never let me go.
00:25:57Never.
00:25:58Never.
00:25:59You know you can count on me.
00:26:01Charlie, I can't.
00:26:03Where are you?
00:26:04Darling.
00:26:05No.
00:26:06Charlie.
00:26:07You know you can count on me.
00:26:13I can't bear it.
00:26:16Oh.
00:26:18Oh.
00:26:20I can't bear it.
00:26:34The dawn sun lights a cluster of green and yellow roofs,
00:26:38like the magic palace of an emperor where no human could enter.
00:26:43Beautiful and mocking.
00:26:48If I touched it,
00:26:51would it disappear?
00:26:58God.
00:27:00Someone help me.
00:27:04Please.
00:27:06There aren't many walks, I'm afraid, but we'll go to the top of the hill.
00:27:11It's good to be out of that house.
00:27:13The Mother Superior asked me to bear a message.
00:27:17I shouldn't have thought she was aware of my existence.
00:27:20She says though you may not wish to adventure into the centre of the epidemic,
00:27:24it will give her great pleasure to show you the convent.
00:27:28It's not nearly as risky as you might think.
00:27:31I go there two or three times a week.
00:27:33I go there two or three times a week.
00:27:35Well, if you're not frightened, there's no reason why I should be.
00:27:39They live in the middle of the city in the poorest district.
00:27:42There are six of them there now.
00:27:45What's the matter?
00:27:47Look.
00:27:48He looks as if he were dead.
00:27:51He is dead.
00:27:52Come along.
00:27:54You'd better look the other way.
00:27:56I'll have him moved when we come back.
00:27:59I've never seen anyone dead before.
00:28:01You'll see a good many more before you're done with this cheerful sport.
00:28:06Come.
00:28:08Did he die of cholera?
00:28:10I suppose so.
00:28:12How can you talk and laugh and drink whiskey when people are dying all around you?
00:28:19You know this is no place for a woman.
00:28:21Why don't you go?
00:28:24I should have thought my place is at my husband's side.
00:28:28When they telegraphed me that you were coming with Fain, I was astonished.
00:28:32Well, I came to the conclusion that you and your husband were madly in love with each other.
00:28:36I knew that you hadn't been married very long.
00:28:38I couldn't believe that he had wished you to come,
00:28:40but I thought perhaps you'd absolutely refuse to stay behind.
00:28:45It's a reasonable explanation.
00:28:47But it isn't the right one.
00:28:50I don't think for a moment that you're in love with your husband.
00:28:53I think you dislike him.
00:28:55I wouldn't be surprised if you hated him, but I'm quite sure you're afraid of him.
00:28:59I have a suspicion that you don't very much like my husband.
00:29:03I respect him.
00:29:05If any man single-handed can put a stop to this frightful epidemic, he's going to do it.
00:29:10He's doctoring the sick, cleaning the city up, trying to get the drinking water pure,
00:29:14risking his life twenty times a day.
00:29:17He's got Colonel Yew in his pocket.
00:29:19And the nuns at the conference swear by him.
00:29:21They think he is a hero.
00:29:24Don't you?
00:29:26Your husband isn't here because he cares a damn if a hundred thousand Chinese die of cholera.
00:29:31He isn't here either in the interests of science.
00:29:34So why is he here?
00:29:36You'd better ask him.
00:29:38Well, you're a very pretty woman.
00:29:41It's funny that your husband should never look at you.
00:29:43Do you think he doesn't love me?
00:29:45I don't know.
00:29:47I've asked myself if you're both here to commit suicide.
00:29:52Shall we go home?
00:29:54I'm sure you want a whiskey and soda.
00:29:58Are you sure you don't want to go away?
00:30:02I'll help you.
00:30:04Must you stay?
00:30:08Yes.
00:30:10It's dreadful, isn't it?
00:30:12What?
00:30:13Death.
00:30:16That man hardly looked human.
00:30:20It's hard to think that not so very many years ago he was just a little boy,
00:30:25tearing down a hill and flying a kite.
00:30:31We shouldn't be too long now.
00:30:33The bearers will carry us right to the convent door.
00:30:36It's stench.
00:30:38It's horrible.
00:30:40The sanitation here isn't what you're used to in Hong Kong.
00:30:43Missy.
00:30:45Missy.
00:30:47Some money, please.
00:30:49Please.
00:30:51Please leave me alone.
00:30:53Please, Missy.
00:30:55Missy.
00:30:57I wouldn't have done you any harm, you know.
00:31:00Here we are.
00:31:03Thank you. That's for your trouble.
00:31:06Ring the bell, Mrs Fane.
00:31:08Don't be shy.
00:31:11You mustn't expect anything very grand, you know.
00:31:14They're miserably poor.
00:31:17Monsieur Waddington, bonjour.
00:31:19Bonjour.
00:31:20C'est la dame du docteur?
00:31:22Yes, oui, bonjour.
00:31:24Come in, come in.
00:31:28Tu es très belle comme toujours, Sir St Joseph.
00:31:34Mrs Fane.
00:31:36This is our mother superior.
00:31:38It is a great pleasure to me to make the acquaintance of the wife of our good and brave doctor.
00:31:43Thank you. It's very kind of you to invite me.
00:31:46A pleasure to see you, Mr Waddington.
00:31:48We see you sober, I hope.
00:31:50Oh, come, my mare, you speak as though I were a confirmed drunkard.
00:31:53I wish you could say you never drink, Mr Waddington.
00:31:57I never drink, except to excess.
00:32:03We must make allowances for Mr Waddington, Mrs Fane.
00:32:07Because two or three times when we had no money at all
00:32:11and did not know how we were to feed the orphans,
00:32:14Mr Waddington came to our rescue.
00:32:18If you'd like to see the convent, I'd be glad to show you.
00:32:21Thank you. Merci.
00:32:25I am sorry you should see it just now when everything is in disorder.
00:32:30We have much work and not enough sisters to do it.
00:32:34This is where the older girls work at their embroidery.
00:32:37We go on with it in spite of the epidemic because it takes their minds off the danger.
00:32:42Here we have the little mites, as you English say.
00:32:49Don't shy away, my dear, they don't bite.
00:32:52Bonjour, mes petites.
00:32:56They are beautiful, are they not?
00:32:59Yes.
00:33:01Is it normal that they are so small?
00:33:03I should say so. They're children.
00:33:08You know, of course, that they are only orphans
00:33:11in the sense that their parents have wished to be rid of them.
00:33:15We give them a few cash for every child that is brought in.
00:33:19Otherwise they will not take the trouble, but do away with them.
00:33:23How many come today, Sir Saint-Joseph?
00:33:25Quatre, ma mère.
00:33:27Now with the cholera, they are more than ever anxious not to be burdened with useless girls.
00:33:34Come along.
00:33:39I will not show you the infirmary.
00:33:42It is not a sight that one would wish to see.
00:33:45Your husband is here, Mrs Fane, but his duties are many.
00:33:48We shouldn't disturb him.
00:33:50Ma mère, un autre soldat est décédé.
00:33:53Another of the soldiers has died.
00:33:56We lose one almost every hour.
00:33:59How terrible.
00:34:01Your husband fought bravely for him.
00:34:05Would you like to see the babies that came in this morning before you go?
00:34:09Very much so.
00:34:13They seem very lively.
00:34:16Sometimes they are brought in only to die.
00:34:19Of course, we baptize them the moment they come.
00:34:22Your husband will be pleased with them.
00:34:24I think he could play by the hour with the babies.
00:34:27When they cry, he has only to take them up and they laugh with delight.
00:34:32You do not know how kind and helpful your husband has been to us.
00:34:37He has been sent to us by heaven.
00:34:40I am glad that you came here with him.
00:34:42When he goes home, it must be a great comfort to him to have you there with your love.
00:34:47You must not let him work too hard.
00:34:50You must take care of him, for all our sakes.
00:34:55The temple above the river just beginning to show.
00:34:59Its green roofs dull now in the early evening light.
00:35:03Just a building.
00:35:05Just wood and stone.
00:35:07Nothing airy or magical.
00:35:10Nothing like it appeared in that first dawn.
00:35:14What a fool I have been.
00:35:17It is plain what Charlie is.
00:35:19I love a worthless creature and I am as worthless as he.
00:35:23If I could tear him from my heart,
00:35:26if I could tear my heart from my body.
00:35:29And Walter, brave, clever, tender.
00:35:37Don't you want a lamp?
00:35:39They'll bring it when dinner's ready.
00:35:41Walter, what do you suppose we should do if we get through the epidemic?
00:35:47I haven't thought.
00:35:49May I ask you a question?
00:35:50Of course.
00:35:52Did you really want me to die when you brought me here?
00:35:55If I were you, I'd leave well alone, Kitty.
00:36:00Much better to forget.
00:36:02But you don't forget.
00:36:04Neither do I.
00:36:05I've been thinking a great deal since I came here.
00:36:08I don't ask you to forgive me or to love me as you used to.
00:36:13But couldn't we be friends?
00:36:15With all these people dying in thousands around us
00:36:18and with those nuns in their convent.
00:36:20What have they got to do with it?
00:36:22I can't quite explain.
00:36:24I had such a singular feeling when I went there today.
00:36:27It's all so terrible and their sacrifice is so wonderful.
00:36:32I can't help feeling.
00:36:34It's absurd to distress yourself over a foolish, insignificant woman like me.
00:36:41Mr. Waddington and the nuns have told me such wonderful things about you.
00:36:46I'm very proud of you, Walter.
00:36:49You used not to be. You used to feel contempt for me.
00:36:53Don't you still?
00:36:57I only want you to be a little less unhappy.
00:37:02You're mistaken in thinking I'm unhappy.
00:37:05I have a great deal too much to do to think of you very often.
00:37:10I've wondered if the nuns would allow me to go and work at the convent.
00:37:14If I could be of any help to them, I should be grateful.
00:37:17I doubt that that sort of thing would amuse you for long.
00:37:19Do you absolutely despise me, Walter?
00:37:22No, I despise myself.
00:37:25Why?
00:37:27Because I loved you.
00:37:37I lie awake all night and returning to me over and over the image of the beggar.
00:37:45His skin, hard and rough, like the hide of a goat.
00:37:50His bare, emaciated legs. His head, the cheeks hollow.
00:37:55The eyes wild, the head of a madman.
00:38:00And just as sharply, I see the babies of the convent wriggling and writhing.
00:38:06Red and restless, their quaint little faces screwed in grimaces.
00:38:12Their lives, blades of grass blowing in the wind.
00:38:20I must ask you to excuse me for keeping you waiting.
00:38:24I was occupied.
00:38:26Has something happened? Would you like me to go away?
00:38:29No, no.
00:38:31Tell me what I can do for you.
00:38:34It is only that one of our sisters died last night.
00:38:40It is very wicked of me to grieve.
00:38:43For I know her soul will have flown straight to heaven.
00:38:47She was a saint.
00:38:50I have been writing to her father.
00:38:52She, like me, was her mother's only daughter.
00:38:56I'm so dreadfully sorry.
00:38:58She was one of the sisters who came from France with me ten years ago.
00:39:02There are only five of us left now.
00:39:06There is so much to do and now fewer than ever to do it.
00:39:09That encourages me, Mamere.
00:39:12I wonder, would you allow me to help here?
00:39:15I don't mind what I do. I should be thankful if you would just let me scrub the floors.
00:39:19My dear, do you not think you have done enough in coming here with your husband?
00:39:24That is more than many wives would have the courage to do.
00:39:28I have nothing whatever to do from morning till night.
00:39:32There is so much to be done that I cannot bear to think that I am idle.
00:39:36You don't look very strong.
00:39:38I am not afraid of hard work and I am not at all afraid of the cholera.
00:39:42Could I not be of help to the sisters in nursing?
00:39:45You do not know what the cholera is.
00:39:47I am sure your husband would not wish it.
00:39:50It is a terrible and frightening sight.
00:39:52I should grow used to it.
00:39:54No, it is out of the question.
00:39:57You make me feel very useless and very helpless.
00:40:02Have you spoken to your husband of your wish?
00:40:05Yes.
00:40:07It doesn't matter. I think I can find something for you to do.
00:40:11It is true that it is impossible now for us to cope with the work.
00:40:15When will you be ready to start?
00:40:17Now.
00:40:18A la bonne heure.
00:40:20I promise to do my best. I am very grateful to you.
00:40:24I must tell you, my dear child, that one cannot find peace in work or in pleasure,
00:40:30in the world or in a convent, but only in one's soul.
00:40:34You mustn't come here wishing to be set free.
00:40:46You have to cross-stitch the hem or it won't hold.
00:40:50I can't, miss.
00:40:52You can. Look. You'll get it.
00:40:55You have clever hands.
00:40:57I can't do it like you.
00:40:59That's it.
00:41:03That's it? Well done. You see? That's very good.
00:41:10Ne pleure pas, ma petite.
00:41:13Does she understand at all?
00:41:15It's not the words that matter, but the sounds.
00:41:18Did she have an accident? Her head?
00:41:22She was born this way. N'est-ce pas, ma petite?
00:41:27When her parents abandoned her, she was a death door.
00:41:30Now she thrives.
00:41:32Do you think it's a pity?
00:41:34A pity?
00:41:35That she was born at all.
00:41:38You wouldn't believe the trouble we've had to keep her with us.
00:41:41Three or four times we thought our little soul would escape to heaven.
00:41:47Take her hand. She understands.
00:41:50Her name is Lynn.
00:41:53Hello, Lynn.
00:41:56No, no need to cry.
00:41:59You're all right.
00:42:02I am never so happy as when I am among the children.
00:42:06Do you never wish to go home?
00:42:09It would be too hard to come back.
00:42:11Of course, it is all very well to be a nun.
00:42:14Still, one has a mother.
00:42:16She's old, my mother.
00:42:18And it is hard never to see her again.
00:42:21It's a wonderful sacrifice you make.
00:42:24I knew from my first day in this city that I had found my place.
00:42:28We began to take in the baby girls right away,
00:42:31to save them from neglect and from the grave.
00:42:34There was nothing where we stand.
00:42:36Mother Superior made plans for the convent,
00:42:38but often there was not enough money to pay the builders.
00:42:41We had no beds and nothing to keep out the night air.
00:42:45We lived like peasants.
00:42:47Peasants would throw to the pigs the food we ate.
00:42:50Then one evening, when there seemed no hope,
00:42:53Mother Superior collected us to her.
00:42:55We prayed the whole night to the Blessed Virgin,
00:42:58and would you believe it,
00:43:00the next morning that funny Monsieur Waddington
00:43:02came from the customs office to see us,
00:43:05with his little monkey face and his butchering of the French language.
00:43:09He said we looked as though we all wanted a good plate of roast beef
00:43:13and gave us a hundred dollars.
00:43:15He's a surprising man.
00:43:17In the midst of this epidemic,
00:43:19he carries himself as though he were enjoying a holiday.
00:43:22His morals are not all one could wish.
00:43:25He drinks so much, you know.
00:43:27I've noticed.
00:43:28But what am I thinking of?
00:43:30I am a bad religious.
00:43:32I have a thousand things to do and I sit here...
00:43:35No, you should know how grateful I am to you
00:43:37for allowing me to help you here.
00:43:39It means a great deal to me.
00:43:42If the Mother Superior would let me assist with the nursing...
00:43:45She wouldn't allow it.
00:43:47And you mustn't mention it.
00:43:49In any case, the cholera is easing now.
00:43:52The worst days are behind us.
00:43:55What are they doing?
00:43:57It's a romping game they play.
00:43:59You have to watch they don't crack their little heads.
00:44:02Attention, children!
00:44:04Come, come, Liz.
00:44:06Come.
00:44:08Don't let me beat you.
00:44:11Is this how you keep these children good and quiet?
00:44:16We were having a game, Mother.
00:44:18They got excited. It's my fault.
00:44:20I led them on.
00:44:22Oh, que vous êtes belle, ma chère enfant.
00:44:26It does the heart good to look at you.
00:44:28No wonder these children adore you.
00:44:30You make me ashamed.
00:44:32Why?
00:44:33Beauty is a gift from God
00:44:35and we should be thankful if we are happy enough to possess it
00:44:38and thankful if we are not that others possess it for our pleasure.
00:44:43No wonder the good doctor loves you.
00:44:54Here, I brought you some lunch.
00:44:56Oh, thank you.
00:45:00I suppose you'll be returning to Hong Kong in a couple of months.
00:45:03The cholera seems to be abating
00:45:05and the cool weather should see the end of it.
00:45:08I almost think I shall be sorry to go.
00:45:11Take care the nuns don't start converting you.
00:45:14They're much too busy.
00:45:16Nor do they care.
00:45:17They're wonderful and so kind.
00:45:19And yet, I hardly know how to explain it.
00:45:22There's a wall between them and me.
00:45:26They walk in a different world from ours
00:45:28and we shall always be strangers to them.
00:45:31Each day when the convent door closes behind me
00:45:33I feel that for them I have ceased to exist.
00:45:36It's as though they possess a secret which I'm unworthy to share.
00:45:40I can understand that's something of a blow to your vanity.
00:45:44Sir Saint Joseph was singing your praises yesterday.
00:45:49I don't believe it.
00:45:51She was singing your failings too.
00:45:53Yeah, well, that I believe may view me with a smiling tolerance.
00:46:00Life is so strange.
00:46:03I feel like someone who's lived all her life by a duck pond
00:46:07and suddenly is shown the sea.
00:46:10Makes me a little breathless.
00:46:13What does Walter have in mind after the epidemic?
00:46:17Where will you go next?
00:46:19To tell you truthfully, I never know what Walter has in mind.
00:46:23Isn't that a terrifying way to live?
00:46:25I don't know.
00:46:27I know I'm looking for something and I don't quite know what it is.
00:46:32Some of us look for the way in opium.
00:46:35Some in God.
00:46:37Some of us in whiskey.
00:46:39And some in love.
00:46:42It's all the same way and it leads nowhere.
00:46:46There was someone I loved in Hong Kong who hurt me very much.
00:46:51So greatly I thought I should die from it, if not from this epidemic.
00:46:56And yet here I am, two months later, useful for the first time in my life
00:47:02and I haven't thought or dreamt of that person in a week.
00:47:07I don't feel terrified at all.
00:47:11I feel strangely suddenly free.
00:47:19Good morning, children.
00:47:23I finished the sewing, miss.
00:47:28Miss?
00:47:30I'm just... I'm just dizzy. I'm fine.
00:47:35I just feel a little...
00:47:40Oliver!
00:47:44Kitty.
00:47:46Kitty.
00:47:48Kitty, can you hear me?
00:47:52Oh, Mother.
00:47:54Mother, am I going to die?
00:47:57I don't want to die.
00:47:59Of course you're not going to die.
00:48:03Where's Walter?
00:48:05Is the cholera...
00:48:07Come, come, my dear child.
00:48:09Your husband is much too busy to be troubled.
00:48:12Do you think you can stand?
00:48:15Let's sit.
00:48:17Come. Let's sit over here.
00:48:22Have you not felt nauseous in these last three mornings?
00:48:25Is there not a special color in your cheeks?
00:48:28Sir St. Joseph has more experience of these things than I have
00:48:32and she said at once what was the matter with you.
00:48:35What do you mean?
00:48:36Did the possibility of such a thing never occur to you?
00:48:39You are with child, my dear.
00:48:43It's impossible. It isn't true.
00:48:46I am convinced...
00:48:47How long have you been married, my child?
00:48:49Two years. A little less.
00:48:51When my sister-in-law had been married as long as that,
00:48:54she already had two babies.
00:48:56Oh, quelle joie pour le docteur!
00:48:58Oui! Yes, think what happiness for your husband!
00:49:01You only have to see him with babies
00:49:03and the look on his face when he plays with them
00:49:06to see how enchanted he will be to have one of his own.
00:49:11I feel very much better now.
00:49:13Thank you so much. I'll get back to my work.
00:49:16Not today, my dear child.
00:49:18You have had a shock.
00:49:19You'd much better go home and rest yourself.
00:49:22We must take special care of you now.
00:49:24Doctor Fane will be overwhelmed with joy.
00:49:40Yes?
00:49:41I hope I didn't wake you. I knocked very, very gently.
00:49:45What's the matter?
00:49:46Why are you back at this time of day?
00:49:48The sisters said that you weren't well.
00:49:50I thought I had better come and see what was the matter.
00:49:53Didn't they say?
00:49:54The Mother Superior said that you must tell me yourself.
00:49:57Are you all right?
00:49:59I'm going to have a baby.
00:50:04I don't know why it never occurred to me before.
00:50:07It was stupid of me, but what would one thing in another?
00:50:11How long have you...
00:50:13But when do you expect to be confined?
00:50:16I suppose I've been like this between two and three months.
00:50:22Am I the father?
00:50:25Well?
00:50:28I know what it would mean to you.
00:50:30What?
00:50:31If I could say yes.
00:50:32It's a simple question.
00:50:40I've lied so much to you.
00:50:42Am I the father?
00:50:43I don't know.
00:50:56It's an awful muddle, isn't it?
00:51:00Walter...
00:51:01I wouldn't try to do anything today.
00:51:03You'd better take it easy.
00:51:04Is there anything you want before I go?
00:51:06No.
00:51:08Perhaps you should go to your mother.
00:51:10This isn't the place for a woman in your condition.
00:51:12Do you think she would be pleased to see me?
00:51:15Then you can go to Hong Kong.
00:51:17You'll need a good deal of care and attention.
00:51:20I don't know why you should suddenly be so anxious about my health.
00:51:28When you insisted on me coming here,
00:51:30did you want to kill me, Walter?
00:51:34At first.
00:51:37It was a terrible risk you were taking.
00:51:39I wonder if you could have ever forgiven yourself if I had died.
00:51:43Well, you haven't.
00:51:44You've thrived on it.
00:51:45I've never felt better in my life,
00:51:47and I don't want to go anywhere.
00:51:49I want to continue my work at the convent.
00:51:52I shouldn't have thought you were the sort of person to put yourself out
00:51:54for a few stuffy nuns and a parcel of Chinese brats.
00:51:59You're not staying for my sake?
00:52:02No.
00:52:03You don't love me.
00:52:05I often think I rather bore you.
00:52:07But you see, I'm in a peculiar position
00:52:09that I haven't got a soul in the world that I can go to.
00:52:13I know no one who cares a row of pins whether I'm dead or alive.
00:52:18I'm afraid I must get back.
00:52:21I have a great deal of work to do.
00:52:23You don't look well, Walter.
00:52:26You look exhausted.
00:52:28You must be half of what you weighed when you came here.
00:52:30You'd better not wait for me this evening.
00:52:32I have to return to the convent,
00:52:33and there are endless vaccinations after that.
00:52:36If it makes any difference to you,
00:52:38Charles Townshend is nothing to me now.
00:52:42We've made a dreadful hash of things, haven't we?
00:52:46What are we going to do when we leave here?
00:52:49Are we going on living together?
00:52:52Don't you think we can let the future take care of itself?
00:53:07Dead.
00:53:13Mrs. Fane!
00:53:15Mrs. Fane!
00:53:17What is it?
00:53:19Can you get up or what?
00:53:23I'm coming.
00:53:28What's wrong?
00:53:29There's not a moment to lose.
00:53:31Put on a coat or wants, come with me.
00:53:33Has something happened in the city?
00:53:35Your husband's been taken ill.
00:53:37The colonel sent this officer
00:53:38and asked me to bring you to the barracks at once.
00:53:45Here, give me your hand.
00:53:47The deck's wet.
00:53:49Fast, come on!
00:53:51Is it cholera?
00:53:52I'm afraid so.
00:53:53He was taken ill this afternoon.
00:53:54Why wasn't I sent for at once?
00:53:56Colonel, you wanted to, but Walter...
00:53:58Walter wouldn't let him.
00:53:59He's my husband.
00:54:00He must be very brave.
00:54:02He must be prepared for the worst.
00:54:04Is he dying?
00:54:05I only know the message
00:54:06Colonel Yu gave to the officer.
00:54:09As far as I can judge, collapse has set in.
00:54:12I'm afraid that if we don't gather quickly,
00:54:14we shan't find him alive.
00:54:24He's in here.
00:54:25He's still alive.
00:54:27He's been overworking.
00:54:28He had no powers of resistance against the cholera.
00:54:34Walter.
00:54:36Walter, speak to me.
00:54:41This is a pretty kettle of fish.
00:54:45Surely something can be done.
00:54:47They've done everything possible.
00:54:50The regimental surgeon has been treating him.
00:54:52Your husband trained him.
00:54:54Walter, is there something we can do?
00:54:58Don't fuzz.
00:55:00I've had a rough passage, but...
00:55:03I'm all right now.
00:55:06It's awful to do nothing.
00:55:10Can I be left alone with him?
00:55:13Only for a minute.
00:55:15We'll wait outside.
00:55:21Walter.
00:55:24I'm so desperately sorry.
00:55:29I betrayed you.
00:55:31And I...
00:55:33I so bitterly regret it.
00:55:36Darling.
00:55:38My precious.
00:55:40My dear.
00:55:42If you ever loved me...
00:55:44I know you loved me.
00:55:47And I was hateful.
00:55:50I beg you to forgive me.
00:55:54I have no chance now to show you my repentance.
00:55:58But have mercy on me.
00:56:02Lift not the veil.
00:56:05Walter.
00:56:08Lift not the veil.
00:56:15Will...
00:56:17Will he come, please?
00:56:19He doesn't seem to...
00:56:21Doctor, will you check?
00:56:23I'll check for you.
00:56:26Don't eat.
00:56:28He's dead.
00:56:30I'm afraid he's dead.
00:56:41Walter.
00:56:45I'm sorry to give you so much trouble.
00:56:57I'm sorry.
00:57:15Shall we sit down a little?
00:57:18It's a beautiful morning.
00:57:23This epidemic will soon end.
00:57:26And their bodies will lie underground.
00:57:29And the morning light will be tranquil as it ever was.
00:57:32It seems cruel.
00:57:34I find it reassuring.
00:57:36When they washed Walter, before they put him into the coffin,
00:57:40he looked very young.
00:57:42Too young to die.
00:57:44Supposing there is no life everlasting.
00:57:50Think of those wonderful nuns in the convent.
00:57:53They've sacrificed home and country,
00:57:56and love and freedom.
00:58:01Supposing they've given it all up for nothing.
00:58:04I wonder if it matters.
00:58:06I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible
00:58:09to regard this world we live in without disgust
00:58:13is the beauty which now and then we create out of the chaos.
00:58:17Men and women may paint pictures, compose music, write books,
00:58:23but the richest beauty is the beautiful life.
00:58:26The life lived with kindness and with conviction.
00:58:31That's the perfect work of art.
00:58:35You know, I think you should make plans to return home.
00:58:38You must think of your child.
00:58:40I have nowhere to go.
00:58:41Wouldn't your mother have you?
00:58:43I've spoken to the Mother Superior,
00:58:45and if you make a baiting and two new sisters coming from Canton,
00:58:48they'll soon have little need for you.
00:58:51So it's all been decided.
00:58:54Of course I'll miss you terribly,
00:58:56but you needn't stay on my account.
00:59:01There's a house in Hong Kong.
00:59:04I'll have to go back there first.
00:59:06There's a whole world I'd rather not return to.
00:59:12When you get to Hong Kong,
00:59:14would you do something for me?
00:59:16Keep out of the way of Charles Townsend.
00:59:19Why do you say that?
00:59:20I may be just a drunken customs man, but I see some things.
00:59:23I saw how your eyes leapt when I mentioned his name your first day here.
00:59:27He's the one you spoke about.
00:59:28Am I wrong?
00:59:29He's truly not worthy of you.
00:59:32I give you my full assurance.
00:59:35There's no one I wish to see less.
00:59:43My journey travelled with Walter just months before,
00:59:46all seen in duplicate and in reverse.
00:59:51The bearers beating their untiring path past peasants in their blue rags,
00:59:56the women tottering with their loads in their bound feet,
01:00:01the morning fields shimmering with the enchantment of fairy tale,
01:00:07and growing with every mile, a new notion.
01:00:11Escape.
01:00:14Freedom.
01:00:20Mrs Fane! Mrs Fane!
01:00:24Oh, my dear. My dear, I'm so glad I caught you.
01:00:28I am so dreadfully sorry for your loss.
01:00:31That's very kind of you.
01:00:32Your boat's early. Very nearly didn't get down in time.
01:00:36You didn't come to meet me.
01:00:37The customs man, Mr Waddington, sent a telegram to the governor.
01:00:41When I heard the news, I simply couldn't stay away.
01:00:45It's awfully good of you, Mrs Townsend.
01:00:47Will you do me a great favour?
01:00:49Charlie and I want you to come and stay with us while you're in Hong Kong.
01:00:54I couldn't possibly.
01:00:55You can't live by yourself.
01:00:57I'm afraid I'm not very good company among strangers just now.
01:01:00Need we be strangers?
01:01:03I so want you to allow me to be your friend.
01:01:08When I heard that you had gone with your husband into the jaws of death without a moment's hesitation...
01:01:15Please, say you'll come to ours.
01:01:20If you really mean that you'd like to have me, of course I shall be glad to come.
01:01:28There you are.
01:01:30Thank you.
01:01:31Am I late?
01:01:33I hope I haven't kept you waiting. I had to meet with the governor.
01:01:36I'm so very, very glad you've come here, Mrs Fane.
01:01:41We want you to stay as long as ever you like.
01:01:44Your husband was a thundering good chap and he'll be missed here more than I can say.
01:01:49Don't, Charlie. I'm sure Kitty understands.
01:01:52I'm glad to see you're enjoying Dorothy's famous hospitality.
01:01:56It'll do you good.
01:01:57I'm sure there's no such thing as a cocktail in Mei Tan Foo.
01:02:00You're not mistaken.
01:02:02Once you've rested, we shall need to have a little business talk, Mrs Fane.
01:02:05We must make arrangements about your house and then there's the furniture.
01:02:09You know you're entitled to a pension.
01:02:12There's really no need...
01:02:13Put yourself in our hands.
01:02:16All we want you to do is get fit and well.
01:02:19Isn't that right, Dorothy?
01:02:20Of course.
01:02:23Ah, so you are in here.
01:02:25I don't recall asking you to come in.
01:02:27What's that you're reading?
01:02:28A book.
01:02:31Dorothy's gone to a garden party at Governor's house.
01:02:33I know.
01:02:34Why haven't you gone too?
01:02:36I thought I'd keep you company.
01:02:39The car's outside.
01:02:40Would you like to come for a drive around the island?
01:02:44Do you think we have anything to say to one another?
01:02:48Do you think we have anything to say to one another?
01:02:52Oh, you're not still angry with me?
01:02:54Not a bit.
01:02:56I despise you too much to be angry.
01:02:58Well, I think you're rather hard on me.
01:03:01Now that you know Dorothy, you must admit she's rather nice.
01:03:05It would have been a rotten trick to play on her if we'd bolted.
01:03:07She really is the best wife a man ever had.
01:03:10You're despicable.
01:03:11I'm human.
01:03:14I don't know why you should think me such a cat,
01:03:16because I fell head over heels in love with you.
01:03:19And now it's all over.
01:03:20You must see I acted for the best for both of us.
01:03:23You hardly expect me to forget that you sent me to almost certain death
01:03:27without a shadow of compunction.
01:03:28Oh, what nonsense.
01:03:30You've come back, haven't you?
01:03:31And Walter?
01:03:33Nothing suits you so well as black.
01:03:37Oh, for God's sake, don't cry.
01:03:40It was only a joke.
01:03:42I'd give anything to have Walter back again.
01:03:45He died because of you and me.
01:03:48He died of a broken heart.
01:03:50Kitty.
01:03:51He was worth ten of you, and I was too big a fool to see it.
01:03:55I didn't mean to upset you.
01:03:56Don't touch me.
01:03:58You know I've always loved you.
01:04:00How can you tell such lies?
01:04:02I know I've been a brute to you, but forgive me.
01:04:08How could you be so unkind?
01:04:12Don't you know that I loved you?
01:04:15No one has ever loved you as I loved you.
01:04:28Kitty?
01:04:31Hello.
01:04:33I didn't think you were at home.
01:04:35Where are you going?
01:04:36I got a place on a ship last minute.
01:04:38I've written Dorothy a letter.
01:04:41What about me?
01:04:42What about you?
01:04:43I thought after yesterday you'd feel a little more kindly toward me.
01:04:46I feel absolutely degraded.
01:04:49I feel like an animal.
01:04:51You can't despise me any more than I despise myself.
01:04:54I don't despise you.
01:04:55I meant every word I said to you yesterday.
01:04:57Why couldn't you leave me alone?
01:05:01Dorothy tells me you're going to have a baby.
01:05:04Am I by any chance the father?
01:05:06No.
01:05:07It's Walter's child.
01:05:08Are you sure?
01:05:09The dates seem to fit all right.
01:05:10I'd rather kill myself than have a child of yours.
01:05:12Come now, that's nonsense.
01:05:15I should be awfully pleased and proud.
01:05:19You know there's no need for this.
01:05:22I could help you.
01:05:23I could set you up somewhere in England.
01:05:25Send you money.
01:05:27I'd come and visit.
01:05:29You'd live very well.
01:05:31It won't be your child, Charlie.
01:05:33Not even if it bears your face exactly.
01:05:36Nothing of me is yours.
01:05:44You really are the most vain and fatuous ass that it's ever been my bad luck to run across.
01:05:57My dear Mr. Waddington.
01:06:00You wouldn't believe what's become of me.
01:06:02I sailed from Hong Kong to Marseilles and from there to the coast.
01:06:07I found a little house to rent for next to nothing.
01:06:10You'll laugh at me knowing how catastrophic my French is, but I'm learning.
01:06:14Call it folly, but I've become certain that my child is to be a girl.
01:06:20A little girl who'll look to me for love, for guidance.
01:06:25Can you imagine?
01:06:27I'll bring her up to be independent and free and honest.
01:06:32What else?
01:06:34I'll teach her to live a beautiful life.
01:06:38How's that?
01:06:40I've been foolish and wicked and hateful in ways you'll never know.
01:06:44I almost died for love, and yet I never knew a thing about it.
01:06:49Walter knew.
01:06:51Poor Walter knew completely.
01:06:54He said something to me in that dark barracks room that I thought gibberish.
01:06:59I've discovered it to be a quotation from a poem.
01:07:02I think perhaps I'm beginning to make sense of it.
01:07:06Lift not the painted veil which those who live call life,
01:07:11though unreal shapes be pictured there.
01:07:14Through the unheeding many-heeded move.
01:07:17The splendor among shadows, a bright blot.
01:07:20Upon this gloomy scene a spirit that strove for truth,
01:07:26and like the preacher found it not.
01:07:38The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham was dramatised by Lizzie Nunnery
01:07:43and starred Sarah Smart, Nicholas Farrell and James Nickerson.
01:07:47It was directed by Pauline Harris and the Chinese consultant was Jing Griffin.