Meeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.
Source: IMDB
Source: IMDB
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00:09:50Wake up, Laura. We're here.
00:09:52Get to work.
00:09:54I could easily come to the house with you, dear.
00:09:56It isn't very much out of my way.
00:09:58All I have to do is to walk down Elmore Lane,
00:10:00past the grammar school, and I shall be home in two minutes.
00:10:02Oh, it's sweet of you, darling, but I'm perfectly all right now.
00:10:04Really, I am.
00:10:05Now, you're quite sure?
00:10:06Absolutely positive.
00:10:07Thank you for being so kind.
00:10:08Oh, Nancy, dear.
00:10:09Well, I shall telephone in the morning and see if you've had a relapse.
00:10:12I shall disappoint you.
00:10:14Good night.
00:10:15Good night.
00:10:16Oh, give my love to Fred and the children.
00:10:21Is that you, Laura?
00:10:24Yes, dear.
00:10:25Thank goodness you've come back.
00:10:26The place has been in an uproar.
00:10:28Why, what's the matter?
00:10:29Bobby and Margaret have been fighting again.
00:10:31They won't get asleep until you go in and talk to them about it.
00:10:33Mommy, is that you, Mommy?
00:10:35Yes, Margaret.
00:10:36Come upstairs at once, Mommy.
00:10:38I want to talk to you.
00:10:40You're both very naughty.
00:10:41You should have been asleep hours ago.
00:10:43Now, what is it, you two?
00:10:45Well, Mommy, tomorrow's my birthday, and I want to go to the circus.
00:10:49And tomorrow is not Margaret's birthday, and she wants to go to the pantomime.
00:10:53My birthday's in June.
00:10:54There aren't any pantomimes in June.
00:10:56It's far too late to discuss it tonight.
00:10:58How about you go to bed, and I'll stay here and keep an eye on you.
00:11:01All right, all right.
00:11:02Good night.
00:11:03Good night, dear.
00:11:04Good night.
00:11:05Good night, dear.
00:11:06Good night, dear.
00:11:07Good night, dear.
00:11:08Good night.
00:11:09to discuss it tonight, and if you don't go to sleep at once,
00:11:11I shall tell Daddy not to let you go to either.
00:11:13Oh, Mom!
00:11:15Well, why not take them to both? One in the afternoon, one in the evening?
00:11:18You know that's impossible.
00:11:20You shouldn't get them to bed till all hours, and they'd be tired and fractious.
00:11:23Well, then, one on one day and the other on the other.
00:11:27You're always accusing me of spoiling the children.
00:11:29Their characters would be ruined in a fortnight if I left them to your over-tender mercies.
00:11:33All right, have it your own way.
00:11:36Circus or pantomime?
00:11:37Neither. We'll thrash them both soundly, lock them up in the attic,
00:11:41and go to the pictures by ourselves.
00:11:48Oh, Fred.
00:11:50Well, now, what's the matter?
00:11:52Nothing, really. It's nothing.
00:11:55Darling, what's wrong? Tell me, please.
00:11:58Really and truly, it's nothing. I...
00:12:00Just a little run-down, that's all.
00:12:03I had a sort of fainting spell at the refreshment room at Milford.
00:12:06Wasn't it idiotic?
00:12:08Darling Messiter was with me, and she talked and talked and talked
00:12:11till I wanted to strangle her.
00:12:12But still, she meant to be kind.
00:12:15Isn't it awful about people meaning to be kind?
00:12:17Would you like to go to bed?
00:12:19No, Fred, really.
00:12:21Come and sit by the fire in the library and relax.
00:12:24You can help me with the Times Crossword.
00:12:26You have the most peculiar ideas of relaxation.
00:12:30That's better. There you are, darling.
00:12:34But why a fainting spell? I can't understand it.
00:12:37Don't be silly, darling. I've often had fainting spells, and you know it.
00:12:40Don't you remember Bobby's school concert and Eileen's wedding?
00:12:43And that time you insisted on taking me to that symphony concert at the town hall?
00:12:47Go on. That was a nosebleed.
00:12:49I suppose I must be that type of woman.
00:12:51It's very humiliating.
00:12:52I still maintain there'd be no harm in you seeing Dr. Graves.
00:12:55It'd be a waste of time.
00:12:57Oh, listen, I... Oh, but do shut up about it, darling.
00:12:59You're making a fuss about nothing.
00:13:01I've been shopping, and I was tired, and the refreshment room was very hot,
00:13:04and I suddenly felt sick.
00:13:05Nothing more than that.
00:13:07All right.
00:13:08Really nothing more than that.
00:13:10Now you get on with your old puzzle and leave me in peace.
00:13:12Have it your own way.
00:13:16You're a poetry addict. See if you can help me over this.
00:13:18It's Keats.
00:13:20When I behold upon the night-starred face
00:13:22huge cloudy symbols of a high... something in seven letters.
00:13:26Romance, I think.
00:13:28I'm almost sure it is.
00:13:30Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance.
00:13:32It'll be in the Oxford Book of English first.
00:13:34No, that's right, I'm sure,
00:13:36because it fits in with Delirium and Meluchistan.
00:13:42Put some music to throw you off your stride.
00:13:44Noddy, I like it.
00:13:52A little more. In fact, you don't need piano.
00:14:31No.
00:14:49Fred.
00:14:50Fred.
00:14:53Dear Fred.
00:14:56There's so much that I want to say to you.
00:14:58You're the only one in the world with enough wisdom and gentleness to understand.
00:15:03If only it were somebody else's story and not mine.
00:15:07As it is, you're the only one in the world that I can never tell.
00:15:11Never, never.
00:15:13Because even if I waited until we were old, old people and told you then,
00:15:18you'd be bound to look back over the years and be hurt.
00:15:22And oh, my dear, I don't want you to be hurt.
00:15:25You see, we're a happily married couple and must never forget that.
00:15:32This is my home.
00:15:35You're my husband, and my children are upstairs in bed.
00:15:40I'm a happily married woman.
00:15:43Or rather, I was until a few weeks ago.
00:15:47This is my whole world, and it's enough.
00:15:52Or rather, it was until a few weeks ago.
00:15:56But oh, Fred, I've been so foolish.
00:15:59I've fallen in love.
00:16:02I'm an ordinary woman.
00:16:05I didn't think such violent things could happen to ordinary people.
00:16:10It all started on an ordinary day,
00:16:13in the most ordinary place in the world,
00:16:16the refreshment room at Milford Junction.
00:16:19I was having a cup of tea
00:16:21and reading a book that I'd got that morning from Boots.
00:16:24My train wasn't due for ten minutes.
00:16:27I looked up and saw a man come in from the platform.
00:16:31He had on an ordinary mac.
00:16:33His hat was turned down, and I didn't even see his face.
00:16:36He got his tea at the counter and turned.
00:16:38Then I did see his face. It was rather a nice face.
00:16:41Any sugar?
00:16:43He passed my table on the way to his.
00:16:46The woman at the counter was going on as usual.
00:16:49You know, I told you about her the other day, the one with the refined voice.
00:16:53Minnie hasn't touched her milk.
00:16:55Did you put it down for her?
00:16:57Yes, but she never came for it.
00:16:59Fond of animals?
00:17:01In their place.
00:17:02My landlady's got a positive mania for animals.
00:17:04She's got two cats, one minx, one ordinary,
00:17:06three rabbits and huts in the kitchen.
00:17:08They belong to her little boy by rights.
00:17:10And one of those daft-looking dogs with hair over its eyes.
00:17:13I don't know to what breed you refer.
00:17:16I don't think it knows itself.
00:17:18Go and clean off number three, Beryl.
00:17:20I can see the crumbs on it from here.
00:17:22What about my other cup?
00:17:24Might have to move him. The 5.40 will be in in a minute.
00:17:26Who's on the gate?
00:17:28Young William.
00:17:43Oh, please, could you give me a glass of water?
00:18:00I've got something in my eye and I want to bathe it.
00:18:02Would you like me to have a look?
00:18:05Oh, no, don't trouble. I expect the water will do.
00:18:08Bit of coal dust, I expect.
00:18:10The man I knew lost the sight of one eye
00:18:12through getting a bit of grit in it.
00:18:14Nasty. Very nasty.
00:18:15Better?
00:18:16I'm afraid not.
00:18:17Can I help you?
00:18:19Oh, no, please, it's only something in my eye.
00:18:21Try pulling your eyelid down as far as it'll go.
00:18:23And then blowing your nose.
00:18:25Please let me look. I happen to be a doctor.
00:18:27That's very kind of you.
00:18:28Turn round to the light, please.
00:18:30Now look up.
00:18:33Now look down.
00:18:37Keep still.
00:18:38That's it.
00:18:42There.
00:18:43Oh, what a relief. It was agonizing.
00:18:45Looks like a bit of grit.
00:18:46It was when the express went through.
00:18:47Thank you very much indeed.
00:18:48There we go. I must run.
00:18:49How lucky of me you happened to be here.
00:18:51Anybody could have done.
00:18:52Never mind, you did and I'm most grateful.
00:18:53There's my train. I must go.
00:18:54Goodbye.
00:18:55Goodbye.
00:19:01That's how it all began.
00:19:03Just through me getting a little piece of grit in my eye.
00:19:06I completely forgot the whole incident.
00:19:08It didn't mean anything to me at all.
00:19:12At least I didn't think it did.
00:19:19The next Thursday I went in the Millford again as usual.
00:19:32I changed my book at Boots.
00:19:35Miss Lewis had at last managed to get the new Kate O'Brien for me.
00:19:38I believe she'd kept it hidden under the counter for two days.
00:19:41On the way out, I bought two new toothbrushes for the children.
00:19:44I like the smell of a chemist better than any other shop.
00:19:47It's such a mixture of nice things.
00:19:49Herbs and scent and soap.
00:19:51That awful Mrs. Leftwich was at the other end of the counter...
00:19:54...wearing one of the silliest hats I've ever seen.
00:19:56Fortunately, she didn't look up.
00:19:58So I got out without her button-holing me.
00:20:01Just as I stepped out onto the pavement...
00:20:03Good morning.
00:20:04Oh, good morning.
00:20:05How's the eye?
00:20:06Perfectly all right.
00:20:07How kind it was of you to take so much trouble.
00:20:08It was nothing at all.
00:20:09It's clearing up, I think.
00:20:10Yes, it's going to be nice.
00:20:12Well, I must be getting along to the hospital.
00:20:14And I must be getting along to the grocers.
00:20:16What exciting lives we lead, don't we?
00:20:18Goodbye.
00:20:21That evening I had to run nearly all the way to the station.
00:20:24I'd been to the Palladium as usual, but it was a terribly long film...
00:20:27...and I was afraid I'd be late.
00:20:29As I came up onto the platform...
00:20:31...the cherry train was just puffing out.
00:20:34I looked up idly as the windows of the carriages went by...
00:20:37...wondering if he was there.
00:20:39I remember this crossing my mind, but it was quite unimportant.
00:20:42I was really thinking of other things.
00:20:44The present for your birthday was worrying me rather.
00:20:47It was terribly expensive, but I knew you wanted it.
00:20:50And I'd sort of half taken the plunge...
00:20:52...and left a deposit on it at Spink and Robson's until the next Thursday.
00:20:56The next Thursday.
00:20:59Well, I squared my conscience by thinking how pleased you'd be and bought it.
00:21:03Yes, I'll have it.
00:21:04Thank you, madam.
00:21:05It was wildly extravagant, I know, but having committed the crime...
00:21:08...I suddenly felt reckless and gay.
00:21:11The sun was out and everybody in the street looked more cheerful than usual.
00:21:15And there was a barrel organ at the corner by Harris's...
00:21:17...and you know how I love barrel organs.
00:21:20It was playing Let the Great Big World Keep Turning.
00:21:23And I gave the man sixpence and went to the Cardoma for lunch.
00:21:27It was very full, but two people had got up from the table just as I'd come in.
00:21:31That was a bit of luck, wasn't it?
00:21:33Oh, was it?
00:21:35Just after I'd given my order, I saw him come in.
00:21:38He looked a little tired, I thought, and there was nowhere for him to sit.
00:21:41So I smiled and said, good morning.
00:21:44Oh, good morning. Are you all alone?
00:21:46Yes, I am.
00:21:47Would you mind if I shared your table?
00:21:49It's very full. There doesn't seem to be anywhere else.
00:21:51No, of course not.
00:21:53I'm afraid we haven't been introduced properly.
00:21:55My name's Alec Harvey.
00:21:56How do you do?
00:21:58Mine's Laura Jessen.
00:21:59Mrs. or Miss?
00:22:00Mrs.
00:22:01You're a doctor, aren't you? I remember you said so that day in the refreshment room.
00:22:04Yes. Not a very interesting one. Just an ordinary GP.
00:22:07I practice this in Churley.
00:22:09Yes, sir.
00:22:10What did you plump for?
00:22:11Um, the soup and fried sole.
00:22:14Yes, I'll have the same.
00:22:16Anything to drink?
00:22:17No, thank you.
00:22:18That is, would you like anything to drink?
00:22:20No, thank you. Just plain water, please.
00:22:21Just plain water, please.
00:22:32Oh, you just look at the chest.
00:22:42Oh, dear. It really is dreadful, isn't it?
00:22:44But we oughtn't to laugh. They might see.
00:22:46There should be a society for the prevention of cruelty to musical instruments.
00:22:49You don't play the piano, I hope?
00:22:51I was forced to as a child.
00:22:52You haven't kept it up?
00:22:53No.
00:22:54My husband isn't musical at all.
00:22:55Good for him.
00:22:56Well, for all you know, I might have a tremendous burning professional talent.
00:22:59Oh, dear, no.
00:23:00Why are you so sure?
00:23:02You're too sane and uncomplicated.
00:23:04I suppose it's a good thing to be uncomplicated, but it does sound a little dull.
00:23:08You can never be dull.
00:23:10Do you come here every Thursday?
00:23:12Yes, just before Christmas.
00:23:14Do you come here every Thursday?
00:23:15Yes, to spend a day at the hospital.
00:23:17Stephen Lynn, the chief physician here, graduated with me.
00:23:20I take over from him once a week.
00:23:22Gives him a chance to go up to London.
00:23:23Gives me a chance to study the hospital patients.
00:23:25I see.
00:23:26Do you?
00:23:27Do I what?
00:23:28Come here every Thursday.
00:23:30Oh, yes, I do the week's shopping. Thank you.
00:23:33Change my library book, have lunch and generally go to the pictures.
00:23:37Not a very exciting routine, but it makes a change.
00:23:41Are you going to pictures this afternoon?
00:23:43Yes.
00:23:45Extraordinary, so am I.
00:23:48I thought you had to spend all day at the hospital.
00:23:50Well, between ourselves, I killed two patients by accident this morning.
00:23:53The matron was very displeased with me.
00:23:55I simply had to go back.
00:23:57Can you be so silly?
00:23:59Seriously, I really did get through most of my work this morning.
00:24:01It wouldn't matter at all if I played truant.
00:24:03Would you mind very much if I came to pictures with you?
00:24:06Well...
00:24:07I could sit downstairs and you could sit upstairs.
00:24:09Upstairs is too expensive.
00:24:14The orchestra stopped as abruptly as it had started,
00:24:16and we began to laugh again.
00:24:18I had no premonitions, so I suppose I should have had.
00:24:21It all seemed so natural and so innocent.
00:24:24We finished lunch,
00:24:25and that idiot of a waitress had put the bill all on one.
00:24:28I really must insist.
00:24:29I couldn't possibly.
00:24:30Having forced my company on you,
00:24:31it's only fair that I spay through the nose for it.
00:24:33Oh, please don't insist.
00:24:34I should so much rather we halved it.
00:24:35I would really please.
00:24:37I shall give in gracefully.
00:24:39We halved it meticulously.
00:24:42We even halved the tip.
00:24:57We have two choices.
00:24:58The loves of Cardinal Richly at the palace,
00:25:00or love in the midst of the Palladium.
00:25:01You're very knowledgeable.
00:25:02And there must be no argument about buying the tickets.
00:25:04We each pay for ourselves.
00:25:05You must think me a very poor doctor
00:25:07if I can't afford a couple of one-and-nine pennies.
00:25:08I insist.
00:25:09I had hoped you were going to treat me.
00:25:10Which is it to be?
00:25:11Palace or Palladium?
00:25:12Palladium.
00:25:13I was once very sick on a channel steamer called Cardinal Richly.
00:25:40I feel awfully grand perched up here.
00:26:03I was very extravagant of you.
00:26:04It was a famous victory.
00:26:05Do you feel guilty at all?
00:26:06I do.
00:26:07Guilty.
00:26:08You ought to more than me, really.
00:26:09I work this afternoon.
00:26:10I work this morning.
00:26:11A little relaxation never did harm to anyone.
00:26:13Why should either of us feel guilty?
00:26:15I don't know.
00:26:17How awfully nice you are.
00:26:33It can't be.
00:26:36It is.
00:26:40We walked back to the station together.
00:26:42Just as we reached the gates, he put his hand under my arm.
00:26:45I didn't notice it then, but I remember it now.
00:26:49What's she like, your wife?
00:26:51Madeleine?
00:26:52Small, dark, rather delicate.
00:26:55How funny.
00:26:56I should have thought she would have been fair.
00:26:57And your husband, what's he like?
00:26:59Medium height, brown hair, kindly, unemotional,
00:27:03and not delicate at all.
00:27:04You said that proudly.
00:27:05Did I?
00:27:06Even.
00:27:07Even.
00:27:08Even.
00:27:09We've just got time for a cup of tea before our trains go.
00:27:12And for the third time in one week,
00:27:14he brought that common man and his wife to the house
00:27:16without so much as a bye or leave.
00:27:18Two teas, please.
00:27:19Cake or pastry?
00:27:21Cake or pastry?
00:27:22No, thank you.
00:27:23Are those bath buns, first?
00:27:24Certainly.
00:27:25They are made this morning.
00:27:26Two, please.
00:27:29That'll be sevenpence.
00:27:32Take your tea to the table, Beryl.
00:27:34I'll carry the buns.
00:27:39You must eat one of these, fresh this morning.
00:27:41Very fattening.
00:27:42I don't hold to such foolishness.
00:27:44They do look good, I must say.
00:27:45One of my earliest passions in life.
00:27:47I've never outgrown it.
00:27:48What happened then, Mrs. Becket?
00:27:50Well?
00:27:51Well, it's all very fine, I said,
00:27:53expecting me to do this, that, and the other,
00:27:55but what do I get out of it?
00:27:56You can't expect me to be a cook, housekeeper,
00:27:58and char-rolled into one during the day,
00:28:00and a loving wife in the evening just because you feel like it.
00:28:03Oh, dear me, no.
00:28:04There are just as good fish in the sea.
00:28:06There are just as good fish in the sea, I said,
00:28:08as ever came out of it.
00:28:09And I packed my boxes then and there and left him.
00:28:12Didn't you never go back?
00:28:14Never.
00:28:15I went to my sister's place at Folkestone for a bit,
00:28:17then I went in with a friend of mine,
00:28:19and we opened a tea shop in Hathe.
00:28:21What happened to him?
00:28:23Dead as a doornail inside three years.
00:28:25Well, I never.
00:28:28Is tea bad for one?
00:28:29Worse than coffee, I mean.
00:28:31If this is a professional interview, my fees are guinea.
00:28:34How did you become a doctor?
00:28:35That's a long story.
00:28:37Perhaps because I'm a bit of an idealist.
00:28:39I think all doctors ought to have ideals, really.
00:28:41Otherwise their work would be unbearable.
00:28:43Surely you're not encouraging me to talk shop.
00:28:45Why shouldn't you talk shop?
00:28:46It's what interests you most, isn't it?
00:28:48Yes, it is.
00:28:49I'm terribly ambitious, really.
00:28:51Not ambitious for myself, so much as for my special pigeon.
00:28:54What is your special pigeon?
00:28:55Preventive medicine.
00:28:57I see.
00:28:58I'm afraid you don't.
00:29:00I was trying to be intelligent.
00:29:02Most good doctors, especially when they're young, have private dreams.
00:29:05That's the best part of them.
00:29:07Sometimes, though, those get over-professionalised and strangulated.
00:29:09Am I boring you?
00:29:10No.
00:29:11I don't quite understand that you're not boring me.
00:29:13What I mean is this.
00:29:14All good doctors must primarily be enthusiasts.
00:29:18They must, like writers and painters and priests,
00:29:21they must have a sense of vocation.
00:29:23A deep-rooted, unsentimental desire to do good.
00:29:26Yes, I see that.
00:29:27Well, obviously, one way of preventing disease is worth 50 ways of curing it.
00:29:30That's where my ideal comes in.
00:29:32Preventive medicine isn't anything to do with medicine at all, really.
00:29:34It's concerned with conditions.
00:29:36Living conditions and hygiene and common sense.
00:29:39For instance, my speciality is pneumoconiosis.
00:29:41Oh, dear.
00:29:43Don't be alarmed. It's simpler than it sounds.
00:29:46It's nothing but a slow process of fibrosis of the lung
00:29:49due to the inhalation of particles of dust.
00:29:51In the hospital here, there are splendid opportunities
00:29:53for observing cures and making notes because of the coal mines.
00:29:56You suddenly look much younger.
00:29:58Do I?
00:30:00Almost like a little boy.
00:30:02What made you say that?
00:30:05I don't know.
00:30:07Yes, I do.
00:30:09Tell me.
00:30:11No, I couldn't really.
00:30:13You were saying about the coal mines.
00:30:16Oh, yes. The inhalation of coal dust.
00:30:21That's one specific form of the diseases.
00:30:23It's called anthracosis.
00:30:26What are the others?
00:30:28Chalicosis.
00:30:30That comes from metal dust.
00:30:32Steelworks, you know.
00:30:34Yes, of course, steelworks.
00:30:37And silicosis.
00:30:40That's stone dust.
00:30:42Gold mines.
00:30:45I see.
00:30:49There's your train.
00:30:50Yes.
00:30:51You mustn't miss it.
00:30:52No.
00:30:53What's the matter?
00:30:54Nothing. Nothing at all, really.
00:30:57It's been so very nice.
00:30:59I've enjoyed my afternoon enormously.
00:31:00I'm so glad. So have I.
00:31:02I apologize for boring you with long medical words.
00:31:04I feel dull and stupid not to be able to understand more.
00:31:07Shall I see you again?
00:31:09It's the other platform, isn't it?
00:31:11You have to run.
00:31:12Don't bother about me. Mine's not due for a few minutes.
00:31:14Shall I see you again?
00:31:15Yes, of course.
00:31:16Perhaps we'll come out to Ketchworth one Sunday.
00:31:18It's rather far, I know, but we should be delighted.
00:31:20Please. Please.
00:31:21What is it?
00:31:22Next Thursday, the same time.
00:31:25I couldn't possibly...
00:31:26Please.
00:31:28I ask you most humbly.
00:31:30You'll miss your train.
00:31:33All right.
00:31:35Run.
00:31:36Goodbye.
00:31:37I'll be there.
00:31:38Thank you, my dear.
00:31:53Goodbye.
00:32:07I stood there...
00:32:09and watched his train draw out of the station.
00:32:13I stared after it...
00:32:15until its taillight had vanished into the darkness.
00:32:18I imagined him getting out at Churley...
00:32:21giving up his ticket...
00:32:23walking back through the streets...
00:32:26letting himself into his house with his latchkey.
00:32:30His wife...
00:32:32Madeleine...
00:32:34would probably be in the hall to meet him.
00:32:38Or perhaps upstairs in her room...
00:32:40not feeling very well.
00:32:42Small, dark, and rather delicate.
00:32:44I wondered if he'd say...
00:32:47I met such a nice woman at the Cardoma.
00:32:50We had lunch and went to the pictures.
00:32:54And then suddenly I knew that he wouldn't.
00:32:56I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that he wouldn't say a word.
00:32:59And at that moment, the first awful feeling of danger swept over me.
00:33:15I got into the first compartment I saw.
00:33:17I wanted to get home as quickly as possible.
00:33:21I looked hurriedly round the carriage to see if anyone was looking at me...
00:33:24as if they could read my secret thoughts.
00:33:27No one was...
00:33:28except a clergyman in the opposite corner.
00:33:31I felt myself blushing...
00:33:33and opened my library book and pretended to read.
00:33:38By the time I'd got to Ketchworth, I'd made up my mind definitely...
00:33:41that I wasn't going to see Alec anymore.
00:33:42Good evening, Mrs. Jessup.
00:33:43The silly and undignified flirting like that was a complete stranger.
00:33:47Oh, good evening.
00:33:49I walked up to the house quite briskly and cheerfully.
00:33:52I'd been behaving like an idiot, admittedly...
00:33:54but after all, no harm had been done.
00:33:58You met me in the hall.
00:34:00Your face was strained and worried, and my heart sank.
00:34:02Red, what's the matter?
00:34:04It's all right, old girl, but you must keep calm and not be upset.
00:34:07What is it? What's wrong?
00:34:08It's Bobby. He was knocked down by a car on the way home from school.
00:34:10Now, it's not serious.
00:34:11He was just grazed by the mudguard, but it knocked him against the curb...
00:34:14and he's got slight concussion.
00:34:15The doctor's upstairs with him now.
00:34:24It's all right, Mrs. Jessup, nothing to worry about.
00:34:26He'll be as right as rain in a few hours.
00:34:30You're sure? You're sure it's not serious?
00:34:33Quite sure, but it was certainly a very lucky escape.
00:34:36I've given him a little sedative...
00:34:38and I shall advise keeping him at home for a couple of days.
00:34:41It must have been a bit of a shock.
00:34:43I felt so dreadful, Fred, looking at him lying there...
00:34:45with that bandage round his head.
00:34:47I tried not to show it, but I was quite hysterical inside...
00:34:50as though the whole thing were my fault.
00:34:53A sort of punishment.
00:34:55An awful, sinister warning.
00:34:58An hour or two later, of course, everything became quite normal again.
00:35:01He began to enjoy the whole thing thoroughly...
00:35:03and reveled in the fact that he was the centre of attraction.
00:35:06Oh, God.
00:35:08Do you remember how he spent the whole evening planning his future?
00:35:13But he's much too young to decide, really.
00:35:15Good life. The boy has a feeling for it.
00:35:17Well, how can we possibly really know if he has a feeling for it?
00:35:20He'll probably want to be an engine driver next week.
00:35:22No, it was last week he wanted to be an engine driver.
00:35:25Seems so final, somehow, entering a child of that age for the Navy.
00:35:29A healthy life.
00:35:30Well, I know it's a good life, and I know it's a healthy life.
00:35:33And I know he'll be able to see the world and have a wife in every port...
00:35:36and keep on calling everybody sir, but what about us?
00:35:39What do you mean, what about us?
00:35:41We shall hardly ever see him.
00:35:42Oh, nonsense.
00:35:43It isn't nonsense.
00:35:45He'll be sent away to sea as a smooth-faced boy...
00:35:47and the next thing we know, he'll come walking in with a long beard and a parrot.
00:35:52You take rather a Victorian view of the Navy, my dear.
00:35:55He's our only son, and I should like to be there while he's growing up.
00:35:59All right, old girl.
00:36:00Then we'll put him into an office...
00:36:01and you can see him off on the 850 every morning.
00:36:04You really are very annoying.
00:36:05You know perfectly well I should hate them.
00:36:07All right, have it your own way.
00:36:13Fred?
00:36:14Hmm?
00:36:17I had lunch with a strange man today, and he took me to the movies.
00:36:19Good for you.
00:36:22He's awfully nice. He's a doctor.
00:36:25A very noble profession.
00:36:28Oh, dear.
00:36:31It was Richard III who said,
00:36:32My kingdom for a horse, wasn't it?
00:36:34Yes, darling.
00:36:36Well, I wish to goodness he hadn't, because it spoils everything.
00:36:40I thought perhaps we might ask him to dinner one night.
00:36:43By all means.
00:36:46Who?
00:36:48Dr. Harvey, the one I was telling you about.
00:36:51Must it be dinner?
00:36:52Well, you're never at home for lunch.
00:36:53Exactly.
00:36:54Exactly.
00:36:56Oh, Fred.
00:37:00Now, what on earth's the matter?
00:37:03It's nothing. It's only...
00:37:05Oh, Fred.
00:37:07Well, I really don't see what's so frightfully funny.
00:37:09Oh, I do.
00:37:10It's all right, darling. I'm not laughing at you.
00:37:12I'm laughing at me.
00:37:14I'm the one that's funny. I'm an absolute idiot...
00:37:16worrying myself about things that don't exist...
00:37:19and making mountains out of molehills.
00:37:21I told you when you came in that it was nothing serious.
00:37:23There was nothing to get into such a state about.
00:37:25I do see that now. I really do.
00:37:37When Thursday came, I went to meet Alec...
00:37:40more as a matter of politeness than for any other reason.
00:37:43It didn't seem of any importance.
00:37:45But after all, I had promised.
00:37:48I managed to get the same table.
00:37:49I waited a bit.
00:37:51But he didn't come.
00:37:53The lady's orchestra was playing away as usual.
00:37:56I looked at the cellist.
00:37:58She'd seemed to be so funny last week.
00:38:00Today, she didn't seem funny any more.
00:38:02She looked pathetic, poor thing.
00:38:05After lunch, I happened to pass by the hospital.
00:38:10I remember looking up at the windows and wondering if he were there...
00:38:13or whether something awful had happened to prevent him turning up.
00:38:15I got to the station earlier than usual.
00:38:17I hadn't enjoyed the pictures much.
00:38:19It was one of those noisy musical things, and I'm so sick of them.
00:38:22I'd come out before it was over.
00:38:24As I took my tea to the table,
00:38:26I suddenly wondered if I'd made a mistake...
00:38:29and he'd meant me to meet him there.
00:38:46Oh, for God's sake, how dare you?
00:38:48I couldn't resist it.
00:38:50I'll trouble you to keep your hands to yourself.
00:38:52Oh, you're blushing.
00:38:54Oh, you look wonderful when you're angry.
00:38:56Just like an avenging angel.
00:38:58I'll give you avenging angel.
00:39:00Coming in here taking liberties.
00:39:02I thought after what you said last Monday,
00:39:04you wouldn't object to a friendly little slap.
00:39:06Have you mind about last Monday?
00:39:08I'm on duty now.
00:39:10Nice thing if Mr. Saunders had happened to be looking through the window.
00:39:12Well, if Mr. Saunders is in the habit of looking through windows,
00:39:13it's about time he saw something worth looking at.
00:39:15You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
00:39:17Oh, it's high spirits.
00:39:19Don't be mad at me.
00:39:21High spirits, indeed.
00:39:23Take your tea and be quiet.
00:39:25It's all your fault, really.
00:39:27You don't know to what you're referring.
00:39:29I was thinking of, um, tonight.
00:39:31If you don't learn to behave yourself,
00:39:33there won't be a tonight, or any other night either.
00:39:35Give us a kiss.
00:39:37Oh, do no such thing.
00:39:39The lady might see us.
00:39:41Come on, a quick one across the bar.
00:39:43It's all over the floor.
00:39:45Just in time.
00:39:47All ball in the vestry.
00:39:49You shut your mouth,
00:39:51and help Mr. Godby pick up them cakes.
00:39:53Come along now.
00:39:55What are you standing there gaping at?
00:40:14As I left the refreshment room,
00:40:16I saw a train coming in.
00:40:18His train.
00:40:20He wasn't on the platform,
00:40:22and I suddenly felt panic-stricken
00:40:24at the thought of not seeing him again.
00:40:32I'm so sorry.
00:40:34I had no way of letting you know.
00:40:36The house surgeon had to operate.
00:40:44I thought they might shout your name out of the bell.
00:40:47Oh, please don't, sir.
00:40:55Quickly, quickly, the whistle's gone.
00:41:00I'm so glad I had a chance to explain.
00:41:02I didn't think I'd see you again.
00:41:04I'm so sorry. Quickly, quickly.
00:41:07Next Thursday?
00:41:09Yes, next Thursday.
00:41:11Goodbye.
00:41:13The train for Ketchworth
00:41:15is about to leave from platform three.
00:41:29The stars can change in their courses.
00:41:31The universe can go up in flames
00:41:33and the world crash around us,
00:41:35but there'll always be Donald Duck.
00:41:37I do love him, sir.
00:41:39His dreadful energy and his blind, frustrated rage.
00:41:41It's a big picture now.
00:41:43Here we go.
00:41:45No more laughter. Prepare for tears.
00:41:50It was a terribly bad picture.
00:41:52We crept out before the end,
00:41:54rather furtively,
00:41:56as though we were committing a crime.
00:41:58The usherette at the door
00:42:00looked at us with stony contempt.
00:42:02It was a lovely afternoon,
00:42:04and it was a relief to be in the fresh air.
00:42:06We decided we'd go to the botanical gardens.
00:42:07Do you know,
00:42:09I believe we should all behave quite differently
00:42:11if we lived in a warm, sunny climate all the time.
00:42:13We shouldn't be so withdrawn and shy and difficult.
00:42:17Oh, Fred, it really was a lovely afternoon.
00:42:19There were some little boys sailing their boats.
00:42:21One of them looked awfully like Bobby.
00:42:23That should have given me a pang of conscience,
00:42:25I know, but it didn't.
00:42:27I was enjoying myself,
00:42:29enjoying every single minute.
00:42:31Alex suddenly said
00:42:33that he was sick of staring at the water
00:42:35and that he wanted to be on it.
00:42:38All the boats were covered up,
00:42:40but we managed to persuade the old man
00:42:42to let us have one.
00:42:44He thought we were a raving mad.
00:42:46Perhaps he was right.
00:42:48Alec Rode offered a great rate,
00:42:50and I trailed my hand in the water.
00:42:52It was very cold, but a lovely feeling.
00:43:01You don't row very well, do you?
00:43:03I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.
00:43:05I don't row at all.
00:43:07If you want to go round and round
00:43:09in ever-narrowing circles,
00:43:11you'd better start steering.
00:43:13Oh, we had such fun, Fred.
00:43:15I felt gay and happy and sort of released.
00:43:18That's what's so shameful about it all.
00:43:21That's what would hurt you so much if you knew
00:43:24that I could feel as intensely as that
00:43:27away from you
00:43:29with a stranger.
00:43:32Oh, look out!
00:43:34We can't get through.
00:43:35Turn left.
00:43:42Oh, dear, I never could tell left from right.
00:43:45I'm most awfully sorry.
00:44:06You know, the British have always been nice to mad people.
00:44:09That boatman thinks we're quite dotted.
00:44:11Look how sweet he's been.
00:44:13Tea, milk, even sugar.
00:44:36You know what's happened, don't you?
00:44:41Yes.
00:44:43Yes, I do.
00:44:46I've fallen in love with you.
00:44:50Yes, I know.
00:44:56Tell me honestly.
00:44:58Please tell me honestly if what I believe is true.
00:45:00What do you believe?
00:45:02That it's the same with you.
00:45:04That you've fallen in love, too.
00:45:08It sounds so silly.
00:45:09Why?
00:45:10I know you so little.
00:45:12It is true, though, isn't it?
00:45:15Yes, it's true.
00:45:17Laura.
00:45:18No, please.
00:45:19We must be sensible.
00:45:20Please help me to be sensible.
00:45:22We mustn't behave like this.
00:45:24We must forget that we've said what we've said.
00:45:26Not yet. Not quite yet.
00:45:27But we must, don't you see?
00:45:30Listen.
00:45:32It's too late now to be sensible as all that.
00:45:35It's too late to forget what we've said.
00:45:37And anyway, whether we'd said it or not couldn't have mattered.
00:45:40We know.
00:45:41We've both of us known for a long time.
00:45:44How can you say that?
00:45:46I've only known you for four weeks.
00:45:48We only talked for the first time last Thursday week.
00:45:52Last Thursday week.
00:45:53Has it been a long time for you since then?
00:45:55Answer me truly.
00:45:57Yes.
00:45:59How often did you decide that you were never going to see me again?
00:46:02Several times a day.
00:46:04I love you.
00:46:06I love your wide eyes.
00:46:08The way you smile.
00:46:10And your shyness.
00:46:12And the way you laugh at my jokes.
00:46:14Please don't.
00:46:15I love you.
00:46:16I love you.
00:46:18I love you.
00:46:20I love you.
00:46:21I love you.
00:46:22I love you.
00:46:24You love me too.
00:46:25It's no use pretending it hasn't happened.
00:46:26Because it has.
00:46:28Yes, it has.
00:46:30I don't want to pretend anything either to you or to anyone else.
00:46:33But from now on I shall have to.
00:46:35That's what's wrong, don't you see?
00:46:37That's what spoils everything.
00:46:39That's why we must stop here and now talking like this.
00:46:42When neither of us is free to love each other there's too much in the way.
00:46:46There's still time.
00:46:48If we control ourselves and behave like sensible human beings
00:46:53there's still time.
00:46:58There's no time at all.
00:47:03There's your train.
00:47:05Yes.
00:47:07I'll come over to the platform with you.
00:47:18No, Alec, not here. Someone will see.
00:47:20I love you, Sam.
00:47:47Do you think we might have that down a bit, darling?
00:47:51Hi, Laura.
00:47:54Yes, dear?
00:47:56You were miles away.
00:47:59Was I? Yes, I suppose I was.
00:48:01Do you mind if we turn that down a little?
00:48:03It really is deafening.
00:48:04Of course not.
00:48:14It shan't be long over this, darling, then we'll go up to bed.
00:48:17You look a bit tired, you know.
00:48:19Don't hurry, I'm perfectly happy.
00:48:30How can I possibly say that?
00:48:33Don't hurry, I'm perfectly happy.
00:48:36If only it were true.
00:48:39Not, I suppose, that anybody's ever perfectly happy, really.
00:48:42But just to be ordinarily contented.
00:48:45To be at peace.
00:48:48It's such a little while ago, really,
00:48:50but it seems an eternity since that train went out of the station.
00:48:54Taking him away into the darkness.
00:48:57I was happy then.
00:48:59As I went back through the subway to my own platform,
00:49:02I was walking on air.
00:49:04And when I got into the train,
00:49:06I didn't even pretend to read.
00:49:08I didn't care whether people were looking at me or not.
00:49:10I had to think.
00:49:12I should have been utterly wretched and ashamed.
00:49:14I know I should, but I wasn't.
00:49:15I felt suddenly quite wildly happy.
00:49:18Like a romantic schoolgirl.
00:49:20Like a romantic fool.
00:49:22You see, he'd said he loved me.
00:49:26And I'd said I loved him.
00:49:28And it was true.
00:49:30It was true.
00:49:32I imagined him holding me in his arms.
00:49:35I imagined being with him in all sorts of glamorous circumstances.
00:49:38It was one of those absurd fantasies,
00:49:40just like one has when one is a girl,
00:49:42being wooed and married by the ideal of one's dreams.
00:49:44I stared out of that railway carriage window into the dark
00:49:48and watched the dim trees and the telegraph posts slipping by.
00:49:52And through them I saw Alec and me.
00:49:57Alec and me.
00:49:59Perhaps a little younger than we are now,
00:50:01but just as much in love
00:50:03and with nothing in the way.
00:50:05I saw us in Paris.
00:50:07In a box at the opera.
00:50:09The orchestra was tuning up.
00:50:15Then we were in Venice.
00:50:17Drifting along the Grand Canal in a gondola
00:50:19with the sound of mandolins coming to us over the water.
00:50:23I saw us travelling across the sea.
00:50:25I saw us in Paris.
00:50:27In a box at the opera.
00:50:29The orchestra was tuning up.
00:50:31Then we were in Venice.
00:50:32In a box at the opera.
00:50:34I saw us travelling far away together.
00:50:36All the places I've always longed to go.
00:50:41I saw us leaning on the rail of a ship,
00:50:43looking at the sea and the stars.
00:50:47Standing on a tropical beach in the moonlight
00:50:49with the palm trees sighing above us.
00:50:52Then the palm trees changed
00:50:54into those pollarded willows by the canal
00:50:56just before the level crossing.
00:50:58And all the silly dreams disappeared.
00:51:00And I got out at Ketchworth
00:51:02and gave up my ticket
00:51:04and walked home as usual.
00:51:06Quite soberly and without wings.
00:51:08Without any wings at all.
00:51:11When I changed for dinner
00:51:13and was doing my face a bit,
00:51:15do you remember?
00:51:17I don't suppose you do, but I do.
00:51:19You see, you didn't know
00:51:21that that was the first time in our life together
00:51:23that I'd ever lied to you.
00:51:25It started then.
00:51:27The shame of the whole thing.
00:51:28The bitterness.
00:51:30The fear.
00:51:32Good evening, Mrs. Jessen.
00:51:34Hello, dear.
00:51:36Had a good day?
00:51:38Yes, lovely.
00:51:40What did you do?
00:51:42Well, I shopped and had lunch
00:51:44and went to the pictures.
00:51:46All by yourself?
00:51:48Yes. No, not exactly.
00:51:50What do you mean, not exactly?
00:51:52Well, I went to the pictures by myself,
00:51:54but I had lunch with Mary Norton.
00:51:56She couldn't come to the pictures with me
00:51:58outside Milford, you know.
00:52:00So I walked with her to the bus
00:52:02and then came home on my own.
00:52:04Haven't seen Mary Norton for ages.
00:52:06How's she looking?
00:52:08Very well, really. A little fatter, I thought.
00:52:10Hurry up with all this beautifying.
00:52:12I want my dinner.
00:52:14You go on down. I won't be five minutes.
00:52:29Number, please.
00:52:31Ketua 3-7, please.
00:52:33Ketua 3-7.
00:52:42Hello?
00:52:44Hello, is Mrs. Norton there, please?
00:52:46Yes. Will you hold on?
00:52:48Yes, I'll hold on.
00:52:51Hello.
00:52:53Hello. Is that you, Mary?
00:52:55Oh, Laura!
00:52:56Fancy hearing from you.
00:52:58I thought you were dead.
00:53:00No, I haven't seen you for ages.
00:53:02Listen, my dear.
00:53:04Will you be a saint and back me up
00:53:06in the most appalling domestic lie?
00:53:08As bad as all that.
00:53:10My life depends on it.
00:53:12Well, today I went into Milford as usual
00:53:14to do my shopping,
00:53:16with the special intention of buying
00:53:18a far too expensive present for Fred's birthday.
00:53:20Well, Bink and Robson's hadn't got what I wanted,
00:53:22which was one of those clocks
00:53:24with barometers and everything in one.
00:53:26And there was a guy up there
00:53:28who said there was one there.
00:53:30So I hopped on the one-sided train
00:53:32and went to get it.
00:53:34Well, this is where the black lie comes in.
00:53:36Fred asked me if I'd had a good day,
00:53:38and I said yes,
00:53:40and that you and I had lunch together
00:53:42and that you'd gone to see your in-laws
00:53:44and I'd gone to the pictures.
00:53:46So if you run into him,
00:53:48don't let me down, will you?
00:53:50Darling, of course not.
00:53:52I'll do as much for you, I promise.
00:53:54Well, let's really lunch one day.
00:53:56You can't on Thursday.
00:53:58That's my Milford day.
00:54:00What about Friday?
00:54:02Fine. Better make it here.
00:54:04All right, perfect.
00:54:06You know what my cook's like.
00:54:08It'll have to be early.
00:54:10Yes. All right.
00:54:12Goodbye.
00:54:14Goodbye.
00:54:27I went through it in a sort of trance.
00:54:32How odd of you not to have noticed
00:54:34that you were living with a stranger in the house.
00:54:39Thursday came at last.
00:54:41I'd arranged to meet Alec
00:54:43outside the hospital at 12.30.
00:54:52Hello.
00:54:54Hello.
00:54:56I've been thinking all the week that you wouldn't come.
00:54:59I didn't mean to, really, but here I am.
00:55:08Do you know I hadn't been inside the Royal
00:55:10since Violet's wedding reception?
00:55:12It all seemed very grand.
00:55:14He actually ordered a bottle of champagne
00:55:16and when I protested,
00:55:18he said that we were only middle-aged once.
00:55:20We were very gay during lunch
00:55:22and talked about quite ordinary things.
00:55:24Oh, Freddie really was charming.
00:55:26As we were going out,
00:55:28he said that he had a surprise for me
00:55:30and that if I would wait in the lounge for five minutes,
00:55:32he'd show me what it was.
00:55:34He went out and down the steps at a run,
00:55:36more like an excited schoolboy
00:55:38than a respectable doctor.
00:55:40Suddenly, out of the dining room
00:55:42came Mary Norton and that rich,
00:55:44over-made-up cousin of hers.
00:55:46They must have been in the dining room all the time
00:55:48and seen Alec and me and the champagne and everything.
00:55:50Laura!
00:55:52So it was you after all.
00:55:54Come on, you said it was.
00:55:56I haven't peered and still couldn't be sure.
00:55:58I never saw you at all. How awful of me.
00:56:00I expected it was the champagne.
00:56:02I'm not used to champagne for lunch
00:56:04or for dinner either for that matter,
00:56:06but Alec insisted.
00:56:08Alec? Alec who, dear?
00:56:10Alec Harvey, of course.
00:56:12Surely you remember the Harveys.
00:56:14I've known them for years.
00:56:16No, I don't think I do.
00:56:18Well, he'll be back in a minute.
00:56:20You'll probably recognize him
00:56:22when you peer very closely.
00:56:24He looks very charming and very attentive.
00:56:26You do remember Mrs. Norton, don't you?
00:56:28I'm afraid I don't.
00:56:30It's no use, Laura.
00:56:32We've never seen each other before in our lives.
00:56:34I'm quite sure we haven't.
00:56:36How sad.
00:56:38I made certain he and Madeline were there
00:56:40when you dined with us just before Christmas last year.
00:56:42Alec, this is Mrs. Robinson.
00:56:44How do you do?
00:56:46How do you do?
00:56:48Horrid weather, isn't it?
00:56:50Yes.
00:56:52Of course, one can't really expect spring
00:56:54at this time of the year, can one?
00:56:56Goodbye, my dear.
00:56:58I do so envy you, your champagne.
00:57:00Goodbye.
00:57:02Goodbye.
00:57:07It was awful.
00:57:09Never mind.
00:57:11They'd been watching us all through lunch, oh dear.
00:57:13Forget it.
00:57:15Come out and look at the surprise.
00:57:17There at the foot of the steps
00:57:19was a little two-seater car.
00:57:21Alec had borrowed it from Stephen Lynn
00:57:23for the afternoon.
00:57:24He was pleased, but it wasn't any good.
00:57:26I kept thinking of those two,
00:57:28laughing and talking,
00:57:30laughing and talking about us,
00:57:32and I couldn't get them out of my mind.
00:57:34When we were out in the real country,
00:57:36I think it was a few miles beyond Brayfield,
00:57:38we stopped the car just outside a village
00:57:40and got out.
00:57:42There was a little bridge and a stream,
00:57:44and the sun was making an effort to come out
00:57:46but really not succeeding very well.
00:57:48We leaned on the parapet of the bridge
00:57:50and looked down into the water.
00:57:52I shivered,
00:57:54and Alec put his arm round me.
00:57:56Cold?
00:57:58No, not really.
00:58:00Happy?
00:58:03No, not really.
00:58:06I know exactly what you're going to say.
00:58:09That it isn't worth it.
00:58:12That the furtiveness and lying
00:58:14outweigh the happiness we might have together.
00:58:16Isn't that it?
00:58:19Something like that.
00:58:24I want to ask you something,
00:58:26just to reassure myself.
00:58:28What is it?
00:58:30It is true for you, isn't it?
00:58:32This overwhelming feeling we have for each other,
00:58:35it's as true for you as it is for me, isn't it?
00:58:38Yes, it's true.
00:58:47We must have stayed on that bridge for a long time,
00:58:50because when we got back to Steve and Lynne's garage,
00:58:52it was getting dark.
00:58:55I remember feeling as if I was on the edge of a precipice.
00:58:58I think Alec felt that too.
00:59:00You see, we both knew how desperately we loved each other.
00:59:06Alec said that he had to leave the keys of the car
00:59:08in Steve and Lynne's flat,
00:59:10and suggested that I came up with him.
00:59:12I refused rather too vehemently.
00:59:14Alec reminded me that Steve wasn't coming back till late,
00:59:17but I still refused.
00:59:25I'm going back.
00:59:27I'm going to miss my train.
00:59:29Back where?
00:59:31To Steve and Lynne's flat.
00:59:33Oh, Alec.
00:59:49Alec,
00:59:51I must go home now, really much.
00:59:52I must go home now, I really must go home.
01:00:15A cup of tea, please.
01:00:23Good afternoon.
01:00:25Afternoon, lady.
01:00:27Afternoon.
01:00:29A couple of whiskeys, please.
01:00:31Very sorry, it's out of hours.
01:00:33Well, just sneak them to us under the cupboard
01:00:35of them poor old sandwiches.
01:00:37Them sandwiches were fresh this morning,
01:00:39and I shall do no such thing.
01:00:41Come on, be a sport.
01:00:43You can have as much as you want to after six o'clock.
01:00:45Why, I suppose like a parrot's cage, listen.
01:00:47I'm sorry, my license does not permit me
01:00:49to serve alcohol out of hours, that's final.
01:00:50You wouldn't want to get me into trouble, would you?
01:00:52Just give us the chance, lady.
01:00:54That's all we ask.
01:00:56Just give us the chance.
01:00:58Debbie!
01:01:00Ask Mr. Goldsmith to come here for a moment, will you?
01:01:03Yes, Mrs. Beckham.
01:01:05How does he when he's at home?
01:01:07You'll soon see.
01:01:09Coming in here, cheeking me.
01:01:11Jive of it, mother, be a pal.
01:01:13I'll give you mother, you saucy upstart.
01:01:15Oh, you're you, you calling an upstart.
01:01:17You, and I'll trouble you to get out of here a double quick.
01:01:18You're disturbing the customers
01:01:20and making a nuisance of yourselves.
01:01:22Here, where's the fire, where's the fire?
01:01:24What's going on in here?
01:01:26Mr. Godby, these gentlemen are annoying me.
01:01:28What, we haven't done nothing, have we, Johnny?
01:01:30We just asked a couple of drinks, that's all.
01:01:32They insulted me, Mr. Godby.
01:01:34We never did anything of the kind,
01:01:36just having a little joke, that's all.
01:01:38Op it, both of you.
01:01:40We've got a right to stay here as long as we like.
01:01:42You heard what I said, op it.
01:01:44Now look here, what is this, a free country
01:01:46or a blooming Sunday school?
01:01:48Come on, Johnny, come on.
01:01:50Don't argue with the poor basket.
01:01:52Op it.
01:01:57Cheerio, mother.
01:02:00And if them sandwiches are made this morning,
01:02:02you're sure to tipple.
01:02:06Thank you, Albert.
01:02:08What's the nerve, talking to you like that, Mrs. Bagot?
01:02:10Be quiet, Beryl.
01:02:12Pour me out a nip of three star, I'm feeling quite upset.
01:02:14Let's get back to the gate.
01:02:16I'll be seeing you later, Albert.
01:02:18OK.
01:02:25The train now arriving at platform three
01:02:28is the 543 from Ketchworth.
01:02:35I really must go home.
01:02:37I'm going back to the flat.
01:02:39I must go home.
01:02:41I really must go home.
01:02:43I'm going back to the flat.
01:02:46I'm going home.
01:02:48I'm going home.
01:03:12Excuse me, I've forgotten something.
01:03:18I've forgotten something.
01:03:48I've forgotten something.
01:04:19Darling.
01:04:28It's raining.
01:04:30It started just as I turned out of the high street.
01:04:33You had no umbrella and your coat's wet.
01:04:35You mustn't catch cold.
01:04:37That would never do.
01:04:42I've an absolute fright.
01:04:44Let me put that down for you.
01:04:49I hope the fire will perk up in a few minutes.
01:04:53I expect the wood was damp.
01:04:55Yes, I expect it was.
01:04:59Do sit down, darling.
01:05:07I got right into the train then got out again.
01:05:09Wasn't it idiotic?
01:05:11We're both very, very foolish.
01:05:19Eric, I can't stay, you know, really, I can't.
01:05:21Just a little while.
01:05:23Just a little while.
01:05:27Quickly, quickly, I must go.
01:05:29Here, through the kitchen.
01:05:30There's a tray in the staircase.
01:05:42Is that you, Eric?
01:05:43Yes.
01:05:49You're back early.
01:05:50Yes, I found a cold coming on,
01:05:51so I denied myself the always questionable pleasure
01:05:53of dining with that arch-arguer, Roger Hinchley.
01:05:55Decided to come back to bed.
01:05:57Inflamed membranes are unsympathetic to a dialectic.
01:06:00What'll you do about food?
01:06:02I can always ring down to the restaurant
01:06:03if I want any later on.
01:06:05We live in a modern age and this is a service fare.
01:06:07Yes, yes, of course.
01:06:09It caters for all tastes.
01:06:12You know, my dear Alec,
01:06:13you have hidden depths which I never even suspected.
01:06:15Look here, Stephen, I really...
01:06:16For heaven's sake, Alec, no explanations or apologies.
01:06:19I am the one who should apologize
01:06:20for returning so inopportunely.
01:06:23It's quite obvious to me
01:06:24that you are interviewing a patient privately.
01:06:26Women are frequently rather neurotic creatures
01:06:28and the hospital atmosphere is upsetting to them.
01:06:31By the rather undignified scuffling,
01:06:33which I heard when I came into the hall,
01:06:35I'm afraid I've made a mistake.
01:06:37By the rather undignified scuffling,
01:06:39which I heard when I came into the hall,
01:06:41I gather that she beat a hasty retreat down the back stairs.
01:06:44I'm surprised at this farcical streak in your nature, Alec.
01:06:48Such carryings aren't quite unnecessary.
01:06:50After all, we've been friends for years
01:06:52and I am the most broad-minded of men.
01:06:54I'm really very sorry, Stephen.
01:06:57I'm sure that the whole situation
01:06:58must seem inexpressibly vulgar to you.
01:07:01Actually, it isn't in the least.
01:07:03However, you're perfectly right,
01:07:04explanations are unnecessary,
01:07:05particularly between old friends.
01:07:07I must go now.
01:07:08Very well.
01:07:09I'll collect my hat and coat. Goodbye.
01:07:10Perhaps you'll let me have my latchkey back.
01:07:12I only have two and I'm so afraid of losing them.
01:07:14You'll know how absent-minded I am.
01:07:18You're very angry, aren't you?
01:07:19No, Alec, not angry.
01:07:21Just disappointed.
01:07:36I ran until I couldn't run any longer.
01:07:39I leaned against a lamppost to try and get my breath.
01:07:41I was in one of those side roads
01:07:43that lead out of the high street.
01:07:44I know it was stupid to run,
01:07:45but I couldn't help myself.
01:07:48I felt so utterly humiliated and defeated
01:07:50and so dreadfully, dreadfully ashamed.
01:07:54I'm sorry, Stephen.
01:07:55I'm sorry.
01:07:56I'm sorry.
01:07:57I'm sorry.
01:07:58I'm sorry.
01:07:59I'm sorry.
01:08:00I'm sorry.
01:08:01I'm sorry.
01:08:02I'm sorry.
01:08:03I'm sorry.
01:08:04I'm sorry.
01:08:07After a moment or two, I pulled myself together
01:08:10and walked on in the direction of the station.
01:08:13It was still raining, but not very much.
01:08:16I suddenly realized that I couldn't go home,
01:08:18not until I got myself more under control
01:08:20and had a little time to think.
01:08:22Then I thought of you waiting at home
01:08:23and the dinner being spoiled,
01:08:25so I went into the high street
01:08:26and found a tobacconist and telephoned to you.
01:08:30Do you remember?
01:08:34Yes.
01:08:56Hello, Fred, is that you?
01:08:58Yes, dear, it's me, Laura.
01:09:01Yes, everything's perfectly all right,
01:09:02I shan't be home to dinner.
01:09:04I'm with Miss Lewis.
01:09:06Miss Lewis, dear, you know, the librarian
01:09:08I told you about at Boots.
01:09:10Yes, I can't explain in any detail
01:09:12because she's outside the box now.
01:09:15Well, I met her in the high street a little while ago
01:09:17in a terrible state.
01:09:19Her mother's been taken ill
01:09:20and I've promised to stay with her
01:09:21until the doctor comes.
01:09:24Yes, I know, but she's always been awfully kind to me
01:09:26and I feel so sorry for her.
01:09:29No, I'll get a sandwich,
01:09:30but ask Ethel to leave me some soup
01:09:31in a saucepan in the kitchen.
01:09:35Yes, of course, as soon as I can.
01:09:38All right, goodbye.
01:09:41It's awfully easy to lie
01:09:42when you know that you're trusted implicitly.
01:09:45So very easy
01:09:47and so very degrading.
01:09:49I started walking without much purpose.
01:09:52I turned out of the high street almost immediately.
01:09:55I was terrified that I might run into Alec.
01:09:58I was pretty certain that he'd come after me to the station.
01:10:02I walked for a long while.
01:10:04Finally, I found myself at the War Memorial.
01:10:06You know, it's right at the other side of the town.
01:10:09It stopped raining altogether
01:10:10and I felt stiflingly hot.
01:10:13So I sat down on one of the seats.
01:10:16There was nobody about and I lit a cigarette.
01:10:18I know how you disapprove of women smoking in the street.
01:10:21I do too, really,
01:10:22but I wanted to calm my nerves
01:10:24and I thought it might help.
01:10:27I sat there for ages.
01:10:29I don't know how long.
01:10:31Then I noticed a policeman
01:10:32walking up and down a little way off.
01:10:35He was looking at me rather suspiciously.
01:10:39Presently, he came up to me.
01:10:42Feeling all right, miss?
01:10:44Yes, thank you.
01:10:45Waiting for someone?
01:10:47No.
01:10:48No, I'm not waiting for anybody.
01:10:49Don't go and catch cold now.
01:10:51It's a damp night to be sitting about on seats.
01:10:54I'm going now. Anyhow, I've got to catch a train.
01:10:56You seem to feel quite all right.
01:10:58Quite, thank you.
01:11:00Good night.
01:11:01Good night, miss.
01:11:03I walked away, trying to look casual,
01:11:06knowing that he was watching me.
01:11:08I felt like a criminal.
01:11:10I walked rather quickly back
01:11:11in the direction of the high street.
01:11:14I got to the station 15 minutes
01:11:15before the last train to Ketchworth
01:11:18and then I realised that I'd been wandering about
01:11:20for over three hours,
01:11:21but it didn't seem to be any time at all.
01:11:24Stan, you are awful.
01:11:26See you in the yard.
01:11:27All right.
01:11:31A light glass of brandy, please.
01:11:33We're just closing.
01:11:35Yes, I see you are, but you're not quite closed yet, are you?
01:11:37Three star.
01:11:38That'll do.
01:11:44Oh, and have you got a piece of paper and an envelope?
01:11:47I'm afraid you'll have to get that at the bookstall.
01:11:49Well, the bookstall's closed.
01:11:51Please, it's very important.
01:11:52I should be so much obliged.
01:11:54All right, just a minute.
01:12:13Thank you very much.
01:12:14We close in a few minutes, you know.
01:12:16Yes, I know.
01:12:51Darling, I've been looking for you everywhere.
01:12:52Please go away.
01:12:53Please don't send me.
01:12:54I've watched every train.
01:12:55Please go away.
01:12:56I can't leave you like this.
01:12:57You must, it'll be better.
01:12:58Really, it will.
01:12:59You're being dreadfully cruel.
01:13:01It was just an accident that he came back early.
01:13:02He doesn't know who you are.
01:13:03He never even saw you.
01:13:04I suppose he laughed, didn't he?
01:13:06I suppose you spoke of me together as men of the world.
01:13:08We didn't speak of you.
01:13:09We spoke of some nameless creature
01:13:10who has no reality at all.
01:13:11Why didn't you tell him who I was?
01:13:12Why didn't you say we were cheap and low and without courage?
01:13:14Stop it, Laura.
01:13:15Pull yourself together.
01:13:16But it's true, isn't it?
01:13:17It's nothing of the sort.
01:13:18We know we really love each other.
01:13:19It's true.
01:13:20That's all that really matters.
01:13:21It isn't all that really matters.
01:13:22Other things matter too.
01:13:23Self-respect matters and decency.
01:13:24I can't go on any longer.
01:13:29Could you really say goodbye?
01:13:31Never see me again?
01:13:34Yes, if you'd help me.
01:13:46I love you, Laura.
01:13:47I shall love you always until the end of my life.
01:13:52I can't look at you now because I know something.
01:13:55I know that this is the beginning of the end.
01:13:58Not the end of my loving you,
01:13:59but the end of our being together.
01:14:02But not quite yet, darling.
01:14:03Please, not quite yet.
01:14:06Very well, not quite yet.
01:14:09I know what you feel about this evening.
01:14:11I mean about the sordidness of it.
01:14:14I know about the strain of our different lives.
01:14:17Our lives apart from each other.
01:14:20The feeling of guilt, of doing wrong, is too strong, isn't it?
01:14:24Too great a price to pay for the happiness we have together.
01:14:29I know all this because it's the same for me too.
01:14:36You can look at me now, I'm all right.
01:14:44Let's be very careful.
01:14:45Let's prepare ourselves.
01:14:47A sudden break now, however brave and admirable, will be too cruel.
01:14:51We can't do such violence to our hearts and minds.
01:14:55Very well.
01:14:59I'm going away.
01:15:02I see.
01:15:03But not quite yet.
01:15:04Please, not quite yet.
01:15:08That's the ten-ten, it's after closing time.
01:15:10Oh, is it?
01:15:11I shall have to lock up.
01:15:12All right.
01:15:28I want you to promise me something.
01:15:30What is it?
01:15:31Promise me that however unhappy you are,
01:15:34and however much you think things over,
01:15:36that you'll meet me again next Thursday.
01:15:38Where?
01:15:39Outside the hospital at 12.30.
01:15:42All right, I promise.
01:15:43I've talked to you, I've got to explain.
01:15:45About going away?
01:15:46Yes.
01:15:47Where will you go? Where can you go if you can't give up your practice?
01:15:51I've had a job offered me.
01:15:52I wasn't going to tell you.
01:15:54I wasn't going to take it.
01:15:56But I know now it's the only way out.
01:15:58Where?
01:15:59A long way away, Johannesburg.
01:16:03Oh, Alec.
01:16:05My brother's out there.
01:16:06They're opening a new hospital.
01:16:07They want me in it.
01:16:10It's a fine opportunity, really.
01:16:11I'll take Madeline and the boys.
01:16:14It's been torturing me,
01:16:15the necessity of making a decision one way or the other.
01:16:18I haven't told anybody, not even Madeline.
01:16:21I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you.
01:16:25But now I see it's got to happen soon anyway.
01:16:29It's almost happening already.
01:16:34Stanley!
01:16:35Stanley!
01:16:41When will you go?
01:16:44Almost immediately.
01:16:46In about two weeks' time.
01:16:49Quite near, isn't it?
01:16:51Do you want me to stay?
01:16:53Do you want me to turn down the offer?
01:16:54Oh, don't be foolish, Alec.
01:16:56I'll do whatever you say.
01:16:59That's unkind of you, my darling.
01:17:00The train for Ketchworth
01:17:02is now arriving at platform three.
01:17:22You're not angry with me, are you?
01:17:24No, I'm not angry.
01:17:26I don't think I'm anything, really.
01:17:27I just feel tired.
01:17:28Forgive me?
01:17:30Forgive you for what?
01:17:32For everything.
01:17:34For meeting you in the first place.
01:17:36For taking the piece of grit out of your eye.
01:17:39For loving you.
01:17:41For bringing you so much misery.
01:17:45I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me.
01:17:48Thursday.
01:17:52All that was a week ago.
01:17:54It's hardly credible
01:17:56that it should be so short a time.
01:17:59Today was our last day together.
01:18:01Our very last together in all our lives.
01:18:04I met him outside the hospital
01:18:06as I had promised at 12.30.
01:18:08He said he'd be back by noon.
01:18:10He said he'd be back by noon.
01:18:12He said he'd be back by noon.
01:18:14He said he'd be back by noon.
01:18:15I promised at 12.30.
01:18:17At 12.30 this morning.
01:18:20That was only this morning.
01:18:22We drove into the country again,
01:18:24but this time he hired a car.
01:18:26I lit cigarettes for him every now and then
01:18:28as we went along.
01:18:30We didn't talk much.
01:18:32I felt numbed and hardly alive at all.
01:18:34We had lunch in a village pub.
01:18:38Afterwards we went to the same bridge over the stream.
01:18:42The bridge that we'd been to before.
01:18:46Those last few hours went by so quickly.
01:19:00As we walked through the station,
01:19:02I remember thinking,
01:19:04this is the last time with Alec.
01:19:07I shall see all this again but without Alec.
01:19:11I tried not to think of it.
01:19:12Not to let it spoil our last moments together.
01:19:43You all right, darling?
01:19:45Yes, I'm all right.
01:19:48I wish I could think of something to say.
01:19:51It doesn't matter, not saying anything, I mean.
01:19:54I'll miss my train and wait to see you in Paris.
01:19:56No, please don't. I'll come over with you to your platform, I'd rather.
01:19:58I will.
01:20:02Do you think we shall ever see each other again?
01:20:05I don't know.
01:20:07Not for years, anyway.
01:20:10Children will all be grown up.
01:20:12I wonder if they'll ever meet and know each other.
01:20:15Couldn't I write to you, just once in a while?
01:20:17No, Alec, please, you know we promised.
01:20:20Oh, Laura, dear.
01:20:22I do love you, so very much.
01:20:25I'll love you with all my heart and soul.
01:20:30I want to die.
01:20:33If only I could die.
01:20:36If you died, you'd forget me.
01:20:38I want to be remembered.
01:20:39Yes, I know, I do too.
01:20:45We've still got a few minutes.
01:20:47Laura, what a lovely surprise.
01:20:49My dear, I've been shopping till I am dropping.
01:20:51My feet are nearly falling off, my throat's parched.
01:20:53I thought of having tea at Spindle's
01:20:55but I was terrified of losing the train.
01:20:57Oh, dear.
01:20:59Oh, this is Dr. Harvey.
01:21:01How do you do?
01:21:03Oh, how do you do? Would you be a perfect day and get me a cup of tea?
01:21:05I really don't think I could drag my poor old bones over to the counter.
01:21:07No, please.
01:21:09It was cruel of fate to be against us
01:21:11right up to the very last minute.
01:21:13Dolly Messitter.
01:21:15Poor, well-meaning, irritating Dolly Messitter
01:21:17crashing into those last few precious minutes we had together.
01:21:21She chattered and fussed
01:21:23but I didn't hear what she said.
01:21:25I felt dazed and bewildered.
01:21:27No sugar.
01:21:29It's in the spoon.
01:21:31Alec behaved so beautifully.
01:21:33With such perfect politeness.
01:21:35No one could have guessed what he was really feeling.
01:21:37And then...
01:21:39Oh, there's your train.
01:21:41Yes, I know.
01:21:43Oh, aren't you coming with us?
01:21:45No, I go in the opposite direction.
01:21:47My practice is in Churley.
01:21:49Oh, I see.
01:21:51I'm a general practitioner at the moment.
01:21:53Dr. Harvey's going out to Africa next week.
01:21:55Oh, how thrilling.
01:21:57The train now arriving at Platform 4
01:21:59is the 540 for Churley, Lee Green and Langford.
01:22:01I must go.
01:22:03Yes, you must.
01:22:05Goodbye.
01:22:07Goodbye.
01:22:09He leaned on my shoulder for a moment
01:22:11and then he walked away.
01:22:14Away, out of my life forever.
01:22:17He's got to get right up to the other platform.
01:22:20Talking of missing trains reminds me
01:22:22of that awful bridge at Broadham Junction.
01:22:24Darlae still went on talking but I wasn't listening to her.
01:22:27I was listening for the sound of his train starting.
01:22:32Then it did.
01:22:36I said to myself, he didn't go.
01:22:37The last minute his courage failed him,
01:22:39he couldn't have gone.
01:22:41Any minute now he'll come back into the refreshment room
01:22:43pretending he's forgotten something.
01:22:45I prayed for him to do that,
01:22:47just so that I could see him again for an instant.
01:22:53But the minutes went by.
01:22:55Is that the train?
01:22:57Oh, can you tell me, is that the Ketchworth train?
01:23:00No, it's the express.
01:23:02The boat train.
01:23:04Of course, that doesn't stop, does it?
01:23:05I want some chocolate, please.
01:23:07No complains.
01:23:36I meant to do it, Fred.
01:23:38I really meant to do it.
01:23:40I stood there trembling right on the edge.
01:23:45But I couldn't.
01:23:47I wasn't brave enough.
01:23:50I should like to be able to say
01:23:52that it was the thought of you and the children
01:23:54that prevented me, but it wasn't.
01:23:57I had no thoughts at all.
01:24:00Only an overwhelming desire not to feel anything.
01:24:02Only an overwhelming desire not to feel anything ever again.
01:24:07Not to be unhappy anymore.
01:24:09I turned
01:24:13and went back into the refreshment room.
01:24:22That's when I nearly fainted.
01:24:32I nearly fainted.
01:25:03Laura.
01:25:08Yes, John?
01:25:10Whatever your dream was,
01:25:12it wasn't a very happy one, was it?
01:25:17No.
01:25:19Is there anything I can do to help?
01:25:24Yes, Fred, you always help.
01:25:26You've been a long way away.
01:25:32Thank you for coming back to me.
01:26:02Thank you for coming back to me.