#caligula #byron #bethfreed25 https://dailymotion.com/bethfreed25
As war rages, Fanny and the Radletts reunite to live at Alconleigh, while Linda desperately awaits word from Fabrice.
As war rages, Fanny and the Radletts reunite to live at Alconleigh, while Linda desperately awaits word from Fabrice.
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01:00Linda darling it's Fanny. I'm in London to meet Alfred but not till luncheon.
01:13Fanny for God's sake I'm expecting an important call which may come at any
01:17moment. someone may be trying my number this very second. all right I'm on my way.
01:25hello darling. how do you imagine this got here? all the way from Paris in the
01:33middle of all this. the Southern Railway people just brought it and I signed for
01:37it as if things arrived from Paris every day.
01:39oh Fanny darling what an extraordinary war. what are you doing in London darling?
01:49I told you on the telephone I've come to meet Alfred. I don't remember. how is
01:59Alfred? oh he's rushing around buying lots of new equipment and seeing people.
02:03he thinks he'll be off abroad again almost immediately. what did he say about
02:08Dunkirk? he said it was like something out of the boy's own paper. he seems to
02:12have had a fascinating time. little Matt was here yesterday with Bob. oh isn't it
02:18wonderful to have them back again. if only one knew what had happened to one's
02:27French buddies. poor Linda. don't pity me. I've had several months of perfect and
02:36unalloyed happiness and very few people can say that even after long long lines.
02:43just off for now ma'am if that's all right. I'll be back this evening. thank
02:48you mrs. Hunt. I can see you're very cozy here but still wouldn't it be jollier
02:55and less lonely if you were to go down to Alkenley? you know I'm going there
03:00with the children as soon as Alfred's off again. I'd like to come for a visit
03:04sometime when I know a little more what is happening.
03:08oh wouldn't it be lovely to have ours and ours and ours in the Hans cupboard.
03:14it's such heaven to be here again. to be with you and uncle Matthew and Louisa.
03:20I've hardly seen her in years. you can take turn and turn about with the
03:24children. very handy for both of you. so nice for them all to be brought up
03:27together. just like old times. so sweet of you to have us all.
03:31oh the more the merrier. I shall like to fill the house. it's better for the
03:36Russians. with little Matt and Bob in the army. Jassie in America and Victor in
03:42the Wrens. Matthew and I'd be a very dreary old couple here all alone.
03:46I'm surprised they didn't try and stick some evacuees on you. no they did. then
03:51they decided the house was too cold for the lower classes. so they sent us some
03:56enormous crates from the Science Museum instead. Matthew thinks there may be some
04:01sort of secret weapon which they're hiding here. stands to reason. they're not
04:05gonna bother shifting a load of old rubbish down here to town like this.
04:07essential implements of war I'd say. sounds as if it were empty. don't you go
04:13tampering missy. it's our duty to guard them until they're wanted. just that.
04:17it's obvious why they sent them down here. they knew that this place is or soon will be the
04:22headquarters of the LDV. who's that spy? oh local defense volunteers. they're just
04:32forming down here your uncle's in command. he's as happy as a boy with his
04:36first full-size cricket bat. only Josh after all. he wanted to bring me the news.
04:44our uniforms have just arrived. soon this company will be equipped to guard this
04:49little lot down to the last man. then the last woman.
05:02I'm just at the right time. I need a subaltern to command the new platoon I'm
05:25forming for my home guard. I can't be a subaltern again. I mean I was a captain
05:30when I handed in my papers a million years ago. no vacancies for captains. I
05:34need an ensign. exercise will do you good. oh Matthew so relentless.
05:38all that can wait till later. time for lunch. oh god I'm starving. what is it? cottage pie?
05:43cottage pie? it's twice cooked meat. sheer poison. we'll have to make sacrifices in
05:49wartime. if I'm to be a platoon commander at my age I must have proper food. you'll
05:53have what you're given and like it. stiffer up you wreck. mr. Warbeck to the
05:59cookhouse.
06:19hello. yes yes. I have a call for you.
06:26Fabrice! Fabrice! I've been waiting for you for such a long time.
06:32can I come to your house straight away? wait yes you can come at once but don't go for a
06:37moment. go on talking. I want to hear the sound of your voice.
06:51so lucky it's Sunday and mrs. Hunt isn't here.
06:54mrs. Hunt? my daily woman. whatever would she have thought? about the same as the
07:02night porter at the Hotel Montalembert.
07:10why did you come Fabrice? to join general de Gaulle? no I joined him long ago in
07:16Bordeaux. my work is in France but we have ways of communicating when we want.
07:23I must go and see him of course. he expects me at noon. but actually I came
07:34on a private mission.
07:42I came to tell you that I love you.
07:45you never said that to me in Paris. no. you always seem so practical. I had said it so
08:02often and often. I had been romantic with so many women but when I felt this to be
08:11different I couldn't bring out all those stale old phrases again. I couldn't utter them.
08:21I never said I loved you. I never called you to. indeed you often called me madame.
08:32all on purpose. because from the beginning I knew this was as real as the others
08:45were false. it was like recognizing somebody.
08:56oh dear. I can't explain. don't try. you needn't. I know. and then when you were gone I felt I
09:11had to tell you. it became an obsession with me to tell you. all these last
09:20dreadful weeks were made more dreadful because I was being prevented from
09:27telling you. however did you get here? on the circuit. I have to leave again tomorrow
09:39morning very early. I may not be back until the war is over.
09:51but you'll wait for me Linda. and nothing matters so much now that you know. I shall
10:05never again have to bear the horror of being away from you. and you're not
10:13knowing what a great great love I have for you. oh Fabrice. I feel. well I suppose
10:30religious people sometimes feel like this.
10:43I've been thinking. soon London may become a dangerous place. more I know this
10:57Sunday afternoon is peaceful but I do not think these people know what is
11:01coming. what is coming? soon there will be Thunderbolts out of this blue sky
11:09of yours. the worst kind of Thunderbolts always falls from a clear sky. remember.
11:27I think that you should go to mummy and find the country. oh no it's not as if
11:33I've got children with me like Fanny or Louisa. I shall stay here. suppose you
11:38come to London again suddenly. it is not likely. if I did I could find you in the
11:42country. well if it's like this visit there will be no time. I do not think I
11:49shall come again until the war is done.
11:58Fabrice. mm-hmm. do you think we shall ever live together again? of course we shall.
12:04for years and years and years until I'm 90. I have a very faithful nature. you
12:13weren't very faithful to Jacqueline. you know about Jacqueline you do. my poor. she
12:21was so kind. kind elegant and boring. oh how boring she was.
12:29I was immensely faithful to her and it lasted five years. it always does with me.
12:35either five days or five years. but as I love you ten times more as the others.
12:42that brings it to when I'm 90 and by then I shall have got into the habit. and
12:50how soon shall I see you again? on fera la navette as we say. that is I shall be
12:57hooking my turnips roundabout. and who knows it's possible just possible that
13:04the turnip trade will bring me again to London.
13:08tu fera la navette.
13:12I thought I heard a car.
13:16yes it's for me. I must go now.
13:22come on Linda.
13:27la navette. tu fera la navette.
13:57what's this stuff for? putting into the water to do the washing. what are you
14:13washing mummy? socks. trouble is Basil I can only use a very few flakes because I
14:18have to leave enough for auntie Louisa and this water is as hard as nails. what does hard as nails mean?
14:23you'll never guess who's turned up now. not in a thousand thousand years. Hitler.
14:29no your mother. auntie Boulter. she's just walked up the drive and walked in.
14:34alone? no with a man. let me see her current husband's a major something or
14:39the other. oh he doesn't look like a major. he's got a musical instrument with
14:42him and he's very dirty. come on Fanny leave those to soak. so there we were
14:46darlings. stuck on the Riviera with the Germans already in Bordeaux and nobody
14:52giving a hoot what happened to us. so then Mervin. that's the filthy beast I
14:58was married to. mother! Fanny! hello darling. this must be Basil I suppose.
15:05hello Basil darling. now let's have a look at you Fanny. ooh what a nasty spot
15:12you've got in your nose. make a seat with Emily. you brought her up. now where was
15:18I? on the Riviera with your filthy husband Mervin. that's it darling. thank
15:22you. so then the foul brute decided to stay behind and collaborate with the
15:26Huns. he always was a bit Hunnish you know. so I managed to make a break for it
15:32over the mountains to Spain. what the hell's going on Davy? you're supposed to
15:35be drilling your platoon. to Boulter Matthew. Matthew darling. Boulter!
15:41oh who's this sewer with the violin? now if you brought that with you...
15:52Boulter's in the middle of telling us all her thrilling adventures. I'm sure she can explain everything.
15:55oh yes indeed. you see when I got to Spain they popped me in this ghastly prison
16:00camp and if it hadn't been for my heavenly Juan here. oh he doesn't speak a
16:08word of English by the way. well if it hadn't been for him Matthew I would
16:13still be sitting there now. but as it was he helped me to escape. we had to
16:20converse entirely in signs darlings and he indicated to me that I should entice
16:25one of the guards. it's really too shame making. flaunting around the sentry box
16:30and then my lovely brave Juan hit him on the head while he was being... well
16:36enticed. and then we managed to get away to Barcelona with me pretending to be a
16:42tart and Juan my pimp. oh and at last we got the British consul to help because
16:49guess what? he was a second cousin of my last husband but two. then we sailed home
16:57taking ten weeks in a tub like Noah's Ark and tossing down when it was our
17:02turn in the steerage lavatories. well Voltaire I'm delighted to see you and I
17:10hope you'll stay as long as you like but Voltaire but I am thinking we must let
17:20him stay. please Matthew darling just for one little week. oh all right then
17:28just for one little week. only for a few days and this is not definitely not the
17:36thin end of the wedge.
17:46as fine a seat as ever milady. oh Josh. oh you really mustn't call me milady. I
17:52haven't been for ages you know. yes milady. no Josh you really mustn't say that.
17:57Fanny. Fanny. help me to explain Fanny. the thing is Josh I have had four
18:03husbands since Lord Logan. miss Francis's father. I mean mrs. Winship's father.
18:09four husbands Josh. I said only three Fanny. you know I am never quite sure whether my marriage
18:17that disgusting major was valid. there was something awfully fishy about those
18:20papers. oh well in that case I'm still married to my lovely lovely Hank. the big
18:27game hunter. oh yes darling. but I can't still be married to him. I shot him in
18:33the head by accident. silly me. I'll be safari one day. I suppose I could still be his
18:40relic. now that would mean that I could call myself mrs. Rall rather than mrs.
18:45Plug which is what I call myself today. hmm which do you think sounds better
18:51Josh? mrs. Rall or mrs. Plug? really not my place to advise you milady. this little
18:57piggy went to market. this little piggy stayed at home. this little piggy had
19:02roast beef. this little piggy had none. and this little piggy was a bold little
19:09piggy. all the way home. and as for this little piggy...
19:30there's no doubt she's a great hand with the children. it's funny. she only ever had
19:35me of her own and I was looked after by a squadron of nannies. for the few months
19:39she actually stayed with me before the first bolt. well mine all adore her and I
19:44propose positively to exploit the fact. but of course we must be a little
19:48careful Fanny. Juan you know. he rushes into her room before tea and lives with
19:53her before tea. well it wouldn't do at all if any of the children caught them.
19:59David and Basil are safe in bed darling sleeping like seraphs. Juan gave them a
20:03little tune to send them off. ah I want a word with you about that. this um Juan.
20:09what's to be done about him? well Matthew darling. Juan did save my life time and
20:19time again you know. I can't very well tear him up now throw him away now can
20:23I my sweet? point taken but I can't keep a lot of daggers here you know. oh but do
20:28keep him just a little longer Matthew darling please. just for a few more days
20:32and then I swear I will find some place for him and tiny me to go. you can't
20:40think what a lousy time we had together. I must stick to him now. I simply must.
20:46well another week if you like and after that I'm afraid he must go.
20:55Sadie I'm going to do an unpardonable thing. it is for the general good and for
21:04your good too but it is unpardonable. David what can be coming? it's the food
21:10Sadie the food. I know how difficult it is for you in wartime but all of us in
21:15turns are being poisoned. I was sick for hours on end last night. the night before
21:20Emily had diarrhea. Fanny still has that enormous spot on her nose and the fact
21:25is dear that if mrs. Beecher were a bourgeois she couldn't be more
21:27successful. I know she's an awful cook. we're very lucky to have her but what
21:31can one do Davy? the meat ration only lasts two days. we have 14 meals a week.
21:36then what about game? there used to be such a lot here. the trouble is that Matthew
21:40thinks that all ammunition even cartridges must be kept for the Germans.
21:44so he refuses to waste even one ball of shot on hairs and partridges. but you're
21:50quite right Davy. the food is unwholesome. I'll try and do something about it.
21:56come on Davy. stop stuffing yourself like a capon. time for the night exercises and
22:01remember full fuel service marching order.
22:06Matthew! he's worse than all the torturers of the whole Spanish Inquisition.
22:37Davy what are all those bottles? Davy's vitamin pills. I have to take all of
22:45these Sadie because in spite of what I said the food is still so awful. unless I
22:50took these I might peter out altogether. and another thing Boater! you've been at
22:56my florist's essence of geranium again. a tiny droppy Davy. a tiny droppy
23:01doesn't stink out the whole bathroom. you've been pouring it into the bath
23:04with the stopper out. that's my quota for the whole of the month. it really is
23:07heinous of you Boater. I'll get you some more darling. I swear I'm going to London
23:12next week to have my wiggy wash and I'll bring you back a whole bottle. promise
23:16darling. and I very much hope you'll take Gawain with you and leave him there.
23:22while the Boater's in London now is your time to talk to him. why me? because you're
23:28so clever darling. look at him poor fellow. he hasn't even got the spirit to
23:33play his guitar anymore.
23:48now we obviously can't turn him out to starve. I mean one does have human
23:52feelings. not towards Dago's. but we can get him a job. but first we must find out
23:57what his profession was. now you're so good at languages Davy and you're so
24:04worldly and resourceful. I'm sure if you had a look at the Spanish dictionary in the
24:08library you could manage to ask him what he did before the war.
24:11don't try Davy. oh yes darling do. all right I'll try. but I can guess what the
24:19answer will be. G for gigolo. not M for matador or H for Hidalgo. even more
24:25useless. what then? then B for be off and the Boater will have to support him.
24:55in the library you say the Spanish dictionary? West wall fifth shelf down
25:13halfway along.
25:25my dears it's too fantastic. you'll never never guess. clever Davy to have found out
25:40what my precious Juan is good at. only one thing I thought silly me. a cardinal
25:47chef. mmm Spanish food. so delicious. so unconstipating. so digestible. mmm so full
25:59of glorious garlic. succulent birds, beasts, crustaceans at every meal.
26:05vegetables simply running with extravagant sauces. I only hope the food
26:10won't be too rich for you now Davy. oh I never mind the rich food. it's the poor
26:14food that does one such an infinity of harm. oh and then there's his talent for
26:17organizing. have you seen the storeroom that he's built up Matthew? I go and gaze
26:22at it in sheer wonderment for hours on end.
26:29pickles and preserves from morning till night.
26:34he shoots fowl with a catapult.
26:53makes the most inspired that is from what we leave over.
27:05these doughty hams.
27:11where does he get them from?
27:17heraldic shields of brawn.
27:21oh no more Juan.
27:26this place it's a veritable Aladdin's cave.
27:34if I were the Porter by God I'd marry the fella. and so everyone's happy and
27:41healthy again. my spot that I had on my nose has completely vanished and now
27:46even uncle Matthew's taken Juan to his heart. I'm afraid it happens all the time.
27:57she's that poorly. can't you take her back to the country with you? she simply
28:02wouldn't budge. she's as obstinate as a donkey madam. but it ain't hardly right.
28:07she should sleep here all alone with the bombs and everything. but she won't
28:12listen to saints. I'd better let you have my telephone number where I live in the
28:16country just in case. right you are madam. are you all right madam? yes I'm fine
28:25thank you. have you guessed? I'm in the family way. that's what it is. darling
28:36you're not supposed to have another. remember what the doctor said when Moira
28:40was born? doctors don't know anything. of course I can and I'm simply longing for
28:45it. this one won't be in the least like Moira you'll see. I'm going to have
28:51another one too. how lovely. when? around the beginning of May. me too. oh good. and
28:57Louisa's due at much the same time. haven't we been busy? I do call that nice.
29:02they can all be Hans together. why don't you come back with me to Alkenley?
29:07there's no sense in stopping here in all this. it can't be good for you or the
29:11baby. I like it. it's my home and I like to be in it. besides someone might turn
29:18up just for a few hours you see and he knows where to find me here. you'll be
29:21killed and then he won't know where to find you. oh darling Fanny don't be so
29:25silly. nobody gets killed in air raids. there's a great deal of noise and mess
29:29but people don't really get killed much. darling please don't touch wood.
29:48music
30:19music
30:31Fanny! there's a Mrs. Hunt on the telephone from London. Linda's house has been hit.
30:38is Linda? they don't know. they're still digging.
30:49music
31:05thank God for uncle Matthew's home guard petrol.
31:18music
31:48music
32:04Fanny! Louisa! Fanny!
32:11come on
32:16you see? what did I tell you Fanny about air raids not killing people? my bed
32:24simply went straight through two floors into the basement rather like a lift.
32:28nothing wrong. mild shock. she'll be all right Najif. then you can take her off
32:34in your car. you do realize she was pregnant? yes she still is. no damage
32:43though. pity. the child could kill her even though the Germans haven't. well at
32:50least there can't be any more of this nonsense about staying in London. so now
32:54you know it all down to the teeniest little thing. you see I wanted him to
32:59find me there in the house that was given to me for love. well no one will
33:03find you there anymore. he'll come on here when he comes. he knows all about
33:07Alkinley and all of you. I've told him the histoire. that's what he calls it all.
33:12histoire. I've told him oh so many times. meanwhile how are you going to explain
33:18the baby? I don't have to. or not yet. mummy and Farah have assumed without being
33:24lied to just assumed that it's Christian's. they think we've more or less
33:27been together all this time you see or at any rate whenever Christian could get
33:31in leave. there's no end of Christian now he's an officer. and in his old regiment
33:37at that. the whirligig of time.
33:41it does seem rather unfair. Linda goes off and has this glorious time in Paris
34:01and comes back covered in rich birds. and what do we get for sticking all our
34:06lives to the same dreary old husbands. three-quarter length Sean Lamb. Alfred
34:13isn't a dreary old husband. nor is John. but you know what I mean. yes I know what
34:19you mean. is that one of the ones you got in Paris you know when you were doing
34:31your war work? oh it's wonderful what one can get there with no money if you're
34:35clever. yes wonderful isn't it Linda darling? just been doing the pillboxes. I
34:43reckon we should be able to stop them for two hours possibly three before we're
34:48all killed. not bad for such a little place. cheer up missy. you won't know
34:56you're dead and better dead than being raped by the hung. could be two points of
35:01view about that. mother you must stop all this with Linda. what darling? you know
35:06all this giggling and whimsiness. let's face it we're just two fallen women
35:11approach. she simply can't bear it. but darling she really is nothing but a
35:15high-class taft in that flat in Paris. all those clothes. it was Softer wasn't it?
35:21how did you know? everybody knew in the Riviera. one always knew about Softer
35:25somehow. oh and a jolly good cop for Linda too darling. you mustn't think I
35:30grudge. but mother you must understand that she regards it all with the most
35:34intense feelings of romance. all those months she spent with Fabrice. he was he
35:40is the great love of her life. I still don't see why she has to be so high-hat
35:45about it. Sadie and that don't know I realize that. wild horses wouldn't make
35:49me tell them I'm not that kind of a girl. I know. but I still think that when we're
35:53all together Linda might be a teensy bit more jolly and less high-hat. so I'm
35:58afraid darling the Bolters feelings have been rather coarsened by time. no
36:02good expecting sensitivity in that quarter. oh well I'll just have to steer
36:06clear of her I suppose. the reason I can't bear her way of carrying on is just
36:10because I might have been her. just like her I mean. a Bolter myself. I almost
36:16thought I was until Fabrice. well at least she does realize that Fabrice has
36:20got to be kept from uncle Matthew and aunt Sadie. she won't let you down there.
36:23I sometimes think I should let myself down. it's such a strain making up things
36:28I'm supposed to have heard from Christian. you know how he hates his CEO or
36:32adores Cairo. and of course I never hear anything from him at all. but don't they
36:36notice that you never get any letters? no I do this act of always being the first
36:40down to grab mine off the mat. you know so eager for news I can hardly wait.
36:45but of course it isn't an act. it's quite true. I am eager. I'm consumed to hear
36:51from Fabrice. if only there could be just one line.
37:00do you ever think about your husband's?
37:06well funnily enough I do quite often think about Tony. and I see that the
37:11thing going wrong was hardly his fault. I don't think would have gone right with
37:14anyone unless I'd happened to meet Fabrice then. because in those days I was
37:20so extremely nasty. and Christian? oh he was just an interlude. he hardly counts
37:27in my life at all. because our marriage only lasted such a very short time and
37:31was quite overshadowed by what came after. and what do you think is to come?
37:40one day the telephone will ring as it did once before. he'll be there.
37:47oh Lord we give the hearty thanks that one has catapulted yet another pheasant
37:52and that the storeroom continues to be crammed with abundance. yes that's just
37:59the thing. oh yes what's the thing? the storeroom. Aladdin's cave as you call it.
38:03when the invasion comes there's a very important job to be done. and I'm making
38:07you officer responsible Davey. responsible for what? blowing up Aladdin's
38:11cave. but why Matthew? why? when the Germans come and we're all dead that
38:18cupboard could keep them going for weeks. all wrong. make them come up their lines
38:22of communication by having to bring up their own food. Matthew telling some of
38:27us may still be alive. then you'll deserve to starve or live off the scraps
38:32the Huns give you. I would have let old Juan blow it up. it's his storeroom after all.
38:37the fact is although I rather like old Juan these days I don't altogether
38:41trust the fella. once a foreigner always a foreigner in my opinion. so Davey I'll
38:47show you how to do it after luncheon.
38:50senor.
38:52ah
39:06do you mind? I thought I'd pop in to work up a little circulation. really it's too
39:19bad of Matthew to insist on blowing up Aladdin when the Germans come. invasion
39:24or no invasion I shall not be able to find it in my soul to blow up Aladdin.
39:27and Emily entirely agrees with me. I think Farr's right. it's all very well
39:32for you Linda. you'll get fed somehow. pregnant women always are. but nobody
39:37will bother about me. I shall never be able to make the Germans understand
39:41about my delicate stomach. Davey if you won't go and blow up Aladdin I shall go
39:45to Farr for lessons how to do it tomorrow. I shall just have to resign
39:49myself to a lingering death. not a very pleasant prospect I must say.
39:55Farr's plan is simply ridiculous.
39:57and it's typical of Linda's sheer fecklessness to support it.
40:01she takes no thought for the future for any aspect of it. I've tried to jolt her but she simply
40:07says one day the telephone will ring as if she were saying one day my prince
40:10will come. whatever will a baby wear poor thing. if ever a baby came naked
40:15into this world it'll certainly be this one. what on earth's Christian to say when he hears about it?
40:19they asked you're married. you'll have to bring a suit to illegitimize it and then the
40:23scandal will be quite infinite. I quite think Farr will turn her out into the
40:27snow. much as he loves her. he's simply Victorian about all this kind of thing.
40:33she ought to be beside herself with worry. instead of which she's behaving like the
40:38wife of a millionaire in Monte Carlo. nevertheless as her time is very near I
40:43shall positively go to Oxford and buy her a layette myself. it's rather sad to
40:49belong to a lost generation as we do. I'm sure history will squeeze the two
40:54wars together and they'll count as one. people will forget we ever existed.
41:01we might just as well have never lived at all.
41:06it is unfair.
41:13this is for you. oh Louisa Fanny. thank you. how sweet of you. it's all Louisa's doing.
41:21I've no energy for Oxford or shopping now. I'm due the same time as you
41:25remember. so's Louisa. thank you Louisa. you're you're a real hon. well it wasn't
41:33all that much bother. after all I've had more practice at this kind of thing than
41:37you two. but times are hard and I'd like to be paid. when you can of course.
41:45Tony's engagement ring. you ought to get a bid for it. done? done. Fanny! Fanny are you all right?
41:54Fanny darling. Fanny.
41:57now here's a telegram from Alfred in Alexandria and Marnix sends his love.
42:03his best love he said and a million congratulations. oh and you'll be
42:07delighted to hear that Louisa has had a boy. Angus they're going to call him.
42:12Sadie sends love. she says you to take it very easily after the beastly time
42:16you've had and not to dream of coming back until you're quite well. but who
42:19will manage the boys? the Bolter and Emily are doing a spectacular job between them.
42:23the Bolters turned up absolutely trumps. her turn to come and see you tomorrow.
42:27and Aunt Sadie. I do long to see her. Sadie can't come just now darling. she
42:33has to stay at Alkenley. I suppose she's busy looking after Linda. I know Louisa
42:38and I were pretty early but Linda must be due at absolutely any moment. Linda is
42:44dead Fanny. she had a fine son but she is dead. the doctors were right.
42:58it's funny how few things she had. these lovely dresses she bought in Paris when
43:14she was on a war work and that sable coat and then nothing. most of her stuff
43:21was destroyed when Cheney Rock was bombed. there must have been letters and
43:25things. what happened to all those letters and Christians she was always telling us about?
43:29dispatch rider? I shouldn't wonder if the balloon hasn't gone up at last.
43:38darling Matthew must be the last man in England who still believes there may be
43:47an invasion. hmm well don't disillusion him darling. he needs something enjoyable to
43:54think about just now. a frog of all things from the girls HQ in London with a
44:00message for... for Linda. the devil can always be found. I think you'd better let
44:14Aunt Sadie open it.
44:24chère madame je suis chargé... in English perhaps. I'm instructed to inform you with the deepest
44:34regret that major-general... major-general the Duke of Sauveterre... Duke of Sauveterre?
44:43who's he? has been killed while on active service. why this to Linda?
44:55listen to me darlings. I hope to God I can make you understand.
45:03yes well then but...
45:13oh no no children! sandwiches first!
45:22oh it's a lovely christening. two little boys.
45:26thank you
45:32if only Linda's was Christian as it should have been. you must forgive her that.
45:44oh I do. one always forgave her anything in the end but I could just wish. wish
45:50what? the Sauveterre fellow may have been a frog but he was a soldier. a gentleman.
45:55from all I've heard he died like one too. proper father for any woman's child. so
46:00there's an end to that. I heard all about it through free French liaison.
46:07Sauveterre was running the resistance over a large area beneath the Pyrenees. he was
46:12betrayed to the Gestapo. captured and shot. who betrayed him? I can make a
46:18goodish guess. a successful leader with the name Duke de Sauveterre will be gall
46:24and wormwood to at least one political faction in the resistance. well whoever
46:30betrayed Fabrice Sauveterre may have made a hero of him. so they weren't quite as
46:34clever as they thought. Sauveterre's class will need a few heroes when this war is
46:40done. I have decided if Juan will come and cook for me at Merlinford Bolta I
46:45will even put up with you in the house. this war has finally destroyed whatever
46:50conscience I had left. treble the money. did you understand that one darling? his
46:57English has got much better you know. yes I have understood him. my lord if Juan
47:01serves whom it pleased him to serve and it pleased him very much to serve the
47:07Lady of Alkeny who took him in when things were very low.
47:18pity yours couldn't be christened with the other two. we must wait until his
47:22father can get leave. where exactly is John now? I don't know I'm sure or madly
47:27secret. like Linda's Duke. not nearly as dangerous thank God. I once met Linda's
47:35Duke a long time ago. he was a favorite of mummies and she asked him to Hampton.
47:39Fanny was there too I remember and simply adored him. I think he was the
47:45most attractive man I ever met. not beautiful not even handsome but somehow
47:53magical. come and look at the table.
48:00since both Linda and Fabrice are dead I have adopted the little Fabrice with the
48:17consent of Christian the legal father. he has blue eyes the same shape as Linda's
48:22brown ones and is a most beautiful and enchanting child. I love him quite as
48:28much as and perhaps more than I do my own. penny for them Fanny darling. I was
48:35thinking about Linda. ah yes Linda. poor Linda. poor little girl. do you know Fanny
48:43perhaps it's for the best after all. I mean the lives of women like Linda and
48:48me are not quite so much fun as one begins to get older. I think she would
48:51have been happy with Fabrice. he was the great love of her life you know.
48:57one always thinks that. every every time.
50:57you