1
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Bob are you coming up? yes 
yes i'm coming i'm coming.

2
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:55,840
that's Fanny my wife. she takes so long 
to get to bed anyhow I could walk around Hyde Park  

3
00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:04,000
before she's ready to turn out the light. I want to 
tell you a story. it's the most extraordinary story  

4
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:09,360
you've ever heard. it's the most extraordinary 
story I've ever heard anyway. not that the events  

5
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:16,960
themselves are particularly startling but they're 
unusual well no extraordinary in a sense more for  

6
00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:23,040
what didn't happen than what did more for what 
was never said than what was actually spoken  

7
00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,840
it was a very silence of people who could 
so easily have given vent their feelings  

8
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the fact that they did so little when in 
the normal way one would have expected  

9
00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:37,040
them to have done so much that makes the 
story curious and I repeat extraordinary.

10
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I was connected with it only on the fringe but 
Fanny was you might say in the thick of it where  

11
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I'll be honest she has a habit of being and 
dragging me along with her. not that I minded  

12
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in this case because when, as a matter of fact, 
I got rather fascinated by it. Fanny's a good  

13
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storyteller I suppose because she displays such 
a genuine interest in other people's business.  

14
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:10,160
but she roped me in well more in the nature 
of a broom to sweep and tidy her mind of all  

15
00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:17,680
the clutter that was accumulating in it as the 
complicated affair unfolded. so I got it mainly  

16
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from her and partly from being involved myself on 
the fringe. and by the way my name's Bob Assingham.  

17
00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:30,720
I was in the army for a long time, but uh that's 
neither here nor there, and we live in this house  

18
00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:37,920
in Keduggin place where we're enough off I suppose. 
I wouldn't say rich exactly not by some standards.  

19
00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:45,680
anyway not by Adam Verver's. for instance Verver 
is one of the curious people in this affair.  

20
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an American a millionaire, aren't they all, but 
not the usual sort. oh I've met them in lots of  

21
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places but he was different. he was a quiet 
man for one thing and for another a man of  

22
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exquisite taste. he was a collector of object d' 
arte from all over the world. it was his hobby.  

23
00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:13,200
well more it was his passion in the quietest 
way of course. he'd actually founded a town or  

24
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something in the States called American City 
and filled it with some of his acquisitions.  

25
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it's amazing that you know. that's not 
the sort of thing an Englishman would do.  

26
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I might I don't say that in a carping sense 
of course because Verver really was the most  

27
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:38,640
admirable of human beings who displayed qualities 
in the end uh well I'll get to that later.  

28
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:47,520
first let me try to sort this thing out in my 
mind and decide where to begin because I want  

29
00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:54,240
you to understand it fully and I want you to see the 
characters clearly in your mind's eye as I did and  

30
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I don't have Fanny's gift for words. fortunate 
I suppose as we have a cheek over a listener  

31
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but I do want you to see them. and more 
I want you to to know them. I want you to  

32
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know all about them. I want you to see them 
as it were not just in the flesh but in the  

33
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bone the fiber and the nerve ends as well. so 
just let me think for a moment where to begin.

34
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:26,080
well I can't begin at the beginning 
because that's too far back and uh well  

35
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,920
Fanny didn't know too much about 
all that, which as it turned out,  

36
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was part of the trouble. it often is 
with things Fanny's connected with.  

37
00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:41,760
if she had known well perhaps she wouldn't have 
acted the way she did. perhaps she'd have warned  

38
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others or be more cautious I don't know there's 
so many ifs and buts about the whole business.  

39
00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,600
now you'll just have to pick it up as 
you go along. feel it out and fill it in

40
00:04:53,760 --> 00:05:02,720
as I did. so on second thought let me start with 
Maggie. Maggie Verver. she was an attractive girl  

41
00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:10,560
22 or 3. her mother had died when she was 10 and 
her father Adam Verver had taken her with him on  

42
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,560
all his travels. she received her education in 
all the art museums and junk shops of Europe  

43
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and they were both terribly fond of each 
other. I mean they were devoted to each other.  

44
00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:31,600
they lived in and for each other. they complimented 
each other as a man and wife might to have lived  

45
00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:37,520
together for a long time one knowing the other's 
thoughts before he's even thought of it, able to  

46
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communicate by a look or glance as the common 
shorthand of communication amongst the happily  

47
00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:49,840
married. Fanny and I we communicate by the longest 
shorthand in the book. but you see that's because  

48
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Fanny she loves to talk so and she her mind is so 
tortured sometimes that it's, well I know there's  

49
00:05:55,840 --> 00:06:02,480
something else, but the Ververs were quiet people 
not over given to expressing themselves in words.

50
00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:08,800
they could be silent together for hours strolling 
through the boulevards of Paris or the Borghese  

51
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:15,200
Gardens in Rome. as I say they didn't really 
need to talk. they understood each other  

52
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:21,360
and they positively liked each other's company. 
in fact though neither of them had ever thought  

53
00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:27,200
about it much, I daresay they couldn't really 
imagine a life apart from each other, which  

54
00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:32,400
to say the least was curious, because 
after all, Maggie was of marriageable age  

55
00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,560
and what was more to the point, would inherit 
a great deal of money when that day came.  

56
00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:43,040
Verver was nothing if not generous which 
is really the starting point of the story.  

57
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a young and pretty heiress with lots of 
suitors sooner or later must make a choice  

58
00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:53,840
knowing full well she was a prey to the fortune 
hunter. and though both Verver and Maggie were  

59
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rather simple people they weren't so unworldly 
as not to know the dangers. they knew perfectly  

60
00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:04,720
well it was the easiest trap in the world to 
fall into and that others cleverer and more  

61
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:11,280
sophisticated than they had fallen into it. so 
although Maggie scarcely ever thought of marriage  

62
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indeed unconsciously I suppose assumed an 
attachment to her father that seemed to preclude  

63
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any other. when Fanny introduced her to the 
prince it was as if both she and her father,  

64
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at once and, as if it were a hidden signal, 
saw the possibilities and saw the advantages.  

65
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and if he came recommended by Fanny when he was 
all right to start with. and if Maggie liked him,  

66
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which she did, then they could do worse than 
think about it seriously. he was a young man  

67
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of antecedents so old that mr Verver could scarcely 
be blamed for wanting to add him to his collection.

68
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on this particular afternoon the prince had gone 
to mr Verver's home where his own representative  

69
00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:02,800
CalderonI and mr Verver's were drawing up 
the marriage settlement Verver was making on  

70
00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:09,360
the prince. it was as with everything Verver 
did generous to a degree. there'd be no hard  

71
00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,280
bargaining. the prince wouldn't have allowed 
it. his manners were far too good for that  

72
00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:19,920
and I dare say that had he not believed 
Verver's settlement would be beyond reproach  

73
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,760
from the beginning, he probably never would 
have entered into the arrangement at all.  

74
00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:29,760
and he liked Maggie make no mistake. it would have 
been hard not to she was such a charming girl.  

75
00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:37,520
so that afternoon while he and Verver watched 
the legal gentleman arguing about commas and  

76
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full stops but not about money he had good 
reason to feel satisfied and so did Verver.  

77
00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:51,200
if you think I am a self-evident - can we return to 
the matter? I was not aware we had the left it.  

78
00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:56,480
we seem to have wandered. all i'm asking is 
that in the matter of a settlement of this kind  

79
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English law requires the lady in question and her 
family be protected and I must protect my client.  

80
00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:08,080
no one expects you to do otherwise sir but you are 
asking me to advise my client to sign a document  

81
00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:12,240
that will take effect only on the death of 
my client. it seems a reasonable provision.  

82
00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:21,600
excuse please, your client? yes sir my client 
the party of the first party. I thought you meant  

83
00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:28,080
my client. no sir my client. you idiot could you not 
hear what he is saying? you are supposed to speak  

84
00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:34,880
English. oh you idiot. why I bring you here. I feel 
as if I've been valued knocked down parceled up

85
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and about to be posted. oh you're valued, I can
 tell you that. you're like crystal but without the

86
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rough edges. pure and perfect.
not easy to find.

87
00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,320
i'm delighted i'm a perfect specimen 
I believe they sometimes have cracks  

88
00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:55,504
and flaws in which case they're 
to be had very cheap.

89
00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,120
when I say Verver was generous  
I don't simply mean with his money.  

90
00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:12,880
just think. he had no one in his life apart 
from Maggie for the last 12 years or so.   

91
00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:19,040
she'd been his constant companion. he depended on 
her utterly. not for any obviously important things  

92
00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:24,480
but like a habit one is hardly conscious of 
until suddenly it's broken by a change of  

93
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circumstance. they were like an old married couple 
in whom the bloom of romantic love had long since  

94
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:37,840
faded but are as necessary to each other as the 
soil is to the plant. and yet not for one moment  

95
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:43,200
did it cross his mind to make objections. never 
by word or deed did he display the slightest  

96
00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:49,680
vexation of this permanent wrench in the order 
of his life. and though he felt once again avoid  

97
00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:55,520
looming up before him such as he must have felt 
when his first wife died. it never crossed his mind  

98
00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:02,480
to put difficulties in Maggie's way. and Maggie 
too she was enchanted with her coming marriage.  

99
00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:09,520
she sat that afternoon waiting in a tea shop off 
Knightsbridge for the prince to join her and the  

100
00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:15,040
approaching rift in her life, the alteration, it was 
bound to make never really impinged on her mind.

101
00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:27,840
I suppose that was partly the trouble. I suppose 
in a way that was the cause of all that followed.  

102
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:35,360
well are you all added up and counted? balanced 
and brought down and carried forward to a nice  

103
00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:40,560
new clean page. did you mind? no your 
father's quite the best man I've ever had  

104
00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:50,240
to deal with. I agree with you there. he's a real 
galantuomo. and so are you. a real galantuomo.  

105
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:55,840
well i'm like a chicken at best. chopped up and 
covered in sauce and half its parts left out. 

106
00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:02,400
your father's the whole natural fowl running 
loose in the yard. I like him. you might change  

107
00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:07,120
your mind before you've done with us. done with 
you? found out about us. all there is to find.

108
00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:16,080
you know it's you really. you know so little about 
me. I've read a lot about you. no that's the history part.

109
00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:21,600
the follies of ancestors, especially the 
infamous waste of money that might have come to me.

110
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:27,120
what's the other part? my own 
self about which you know nothing.

111
00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,800
lucky for me then. I'll have 
plenty to occupy me in the future.

112
00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,280
and anyway what would you be without all 
those wicked generations of popes and princes?  

113
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:47,040
well what am I now?  a morceau de musee.
a museum piece?

114
00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:53,280
oh yes that cost a lot of money. I haven't 
the least idea what you cost. wouldn't you  

115
00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,920
find out if you were a question of parting with 
me? yes if you mean not pay rather than lose you.

116
00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,320
well I hope there's one thing 
you believe about me.

117
00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,720
one? there are lots and all 
in watertight compartments.

118
00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,800
well you do believe that i'm not a hypocrite. 
is that in one of your watertight compartments?

119
00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:21,040
that's not a compartment that's the 
ship itself and she's unsinkable.

120
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:32,488
I have some shopping to do. I'll come with you. 
no there are things a girl must do on her own.

121
00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:38,880
now have you made a list of all the people you'll 
be asking to the wedding? yes. there aren't many.

122
00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:46,320
it will still be longer than ours. is that right? well 
we have no relations as such. but you both have  

123
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:52,082
friends. acquaintances. you ask them when you have 
relations not to cover up the fact that you don't.

124
00:13:52,800 --> 00:14:02,560
where will you go? hmm I'll walk for a bit. I might 
drop in on Fanny. what for? well I've never properly  

125
00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:09,680
thanked her for introducing us. do you think 
she needs it? I need it. I feel in the thanking  

126
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:15,840
mood this afternoon. I shall thank Fanny. it's 
a good substitute for thanking my lucky star.

127
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,659
well give her my love then.

128
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:45,600
he came to see Fanny that same afternoon. exactly 
why he came I don't know. perhaps it was as he  

129
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:51,760
said to thank her, to tie up all the ends on a day 
when he felt his life was in fact being tidied as  

130
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:59,280
never before. whatever the reason for his calling, 
whatever his inner compulsion, it was as if some  

131
00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:05,680
secret fate had led him there as inexorably 
as a doomed man to the gallows.   

132
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:16,400
you look restless. you're feeling I suppose like 
all men, the trap closing around you. I don't know.  

133
00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:22,960
perhaps it's all those solemn signatures 
of an hour ago. I feel uneasy. you mean  

134
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:29,200
you're afraid? oh terrified. all is settled, 
the bridges are burned, I've crossed over.  

135
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:33,264
I've now but to wait to 
see the monster come.

136
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,560
and the marriage is what you call the monster. yes. 
well for heaven's sake don't run away from it.  

137
00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:43,280
to run away from it would be to run away from you 
and the monster frightens me rather less than that.  

138
00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,601
I depend on you you know, to see me through...

139
00:15:48,601 --> 00:15:50,816
as you've seen me through up to now. 

140
00:15:50,919 --> 00:15:56,320
I'm at the end of the preliminaries and I can't help feeling how 
little there would have been of those without you.

141
00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:02,400
it was nothing. everything went of itself. uh but 
you had the conception. ah prince but so did you.

142
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:08,320
well then you had it first. you had it most. 
I liked it if that's what you mean. I simply had  

143
00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:15,680
to speak for you. true. but now you're leaving me 
all the same and I won't be left. I shall keep  

144
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:21,840
you in sight. if you're afraid, which of course 
you're not, are you trying to make me the same?

145
00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:25,680
thank you Jenkins.

146
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,600
you say you liked making 
my engagement possible  

147
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:45,360
why? why did you like it? I hardly know what 
to make of such an inquiry. well i'm curious.

148
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,160
after all it wasn't simply a matter of your 
handing me over. it was also a matter of your  

149
00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:59,440
handing over her, Maggie. you adore Maggie and 
yet you enjoyed putting her at risk. are you  

150
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:04,800
trying to frighten me? oh that's a foolish view. you 
apparently don't understand either my good faith  

151
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:12,160
or my humility. you're very deep your old Italians. 
there you are. that's the responsible note I wanted.

152
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:17,119
I don't in the least want to lose sight of you. 
I shouldn't think it right if I did. well that's all  

153
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:23,999
I wanted to hear. you see I can do pretty well 
everything I see but I have to see it first. 

154
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:31,840
your eyes will make me see. see what? when i'm 
off someday when i'm wrong without knowing it.  

155
00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,680
that's what I shall trust 
you for, to tell me when I am.

156
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,400
you know you're not treating 
me quite right. why not?

157
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:48,240
well you're really not in the least bit troubled 
by what I've been telling you and yet you look  

158
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:54,320
troubled. I can only assume that you have something 
on your mind that you don't tell me. am I obliged  

159
00:17:54,320 --> 00:18:00,080
to tell you everything that's on my mind? only 
everything that concerns me. well I have something  

160
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:08,134
on my mind but it doesn't properly concern 
you. oh properly. that speaks volumes. what is it?

161
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:16,464
Charlotte Stant is in London. 
she's just been here.

162
00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:28,640
oh really? she has arrived from America? yes she 
arrived about noon. going straight to a hotel.

163
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:36,640
she dropped in after lunch and was here for about an 
hour. does it bother you? should it? no but it seems  

164
00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:42,400
to. it seems to trouble you. oh I didn't say 
that it did. well you had it on your mind. but only  

165
00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,512
to the extent of not in the least having looked 
for it any more than I judge Maggie to have done.

166
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:57,600
well Maggie will be delighted. oh yes. had Charlotte 
gone to see her? no she's gone back to the hotel  

167
00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:03,680
to get her things. I can't leave her alone at a 
hotel. no I see. I mean if she's here she must stay  

168
00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:10,720
with me. and she's coming now? yes I expect her 
any minute. if you wait you'll see her. charming.

169
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,440
you know if it wasn't for what's going on 
these next few days Maggie would certainly  

170
00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:23,840
have wanted her to stay with her. in fact that 
might be the very reason she will want her to.  

171
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:31,280
what has she come for? for your marriage. 
mine? or Maggie's. it comes to the same thing.  

172
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:38,000
and then she's so lonely. has she given that for a 
reason? oh she's given so many I scarcely remember.

173
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:42,320
Charlotte abounds in reasons but then 
there's one that's always permanent with her.

174
00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:50,640
what's that? she has no home very little means 
and she hates America. she's extraordinarily alone. 

175
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:58,320
has she come with designs on me? is she 
still as beautiful? oh yes she's the same.  

176
00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:04,960
on reflection I think she's acted in coming 
generously. impulsively but generously. she  

177
00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:10,080
has acted beautifully. I say generously 
because she can have hardly counted the cost.

178
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,480
you'll look after her?
of course. so it's all right.

179
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:21,280
it's all right. then why are you so 
troubled? I'm not any more than you are.  

180
00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:26,880
oh well I'm not. I should hope not for 
you wouldn't have a shadow of an excuse.

181
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,840
is that her now?

182
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:37,300
yes

183
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:46,320
she can come to us at any time you know. after 
all she and Maggie are old friends. would you  

184
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:56,240
like her for your honeymoon? oh no you must keep 
her for that. but why not after? why not? splendid.

185
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,840
miss Charlotte Stant.

186
00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:16,160
they confronted each other, these two, across the 
room like two tormented creatures from a previous  

187
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:24,160
life. now what that previous life had been in 
detail no one really knew, though fanny professed  

188
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:30,720
to be sure of it. but that something had happened 
between them was certain. you could see it in the  

189
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:36,000
way the prince was so markedly off balance for a 
moment and the way Charlotte was so certainly on.

190
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:44,400
for a moment he wasn't sure how to respond 
and then she gave him just the right note.  

191
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:53,040
you see you're not rid of me. how's Maggie? I've 
been thinking of her and at last I yearn for her.  

192
00:21:54,160 --> 00:22:01,840
I want to see her happy. then you shall. she is I 
think terribly happy. she's the dearest of the dear,

193
00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:11,840
but then I don't have to tell you that. was 
my butler downstairs to let you in? only the maid.

194
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:19,920
you look charming.
thank you.

195
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,960
Maggie would have invited you to the 
wedding but it seems such a long and  

196
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:30,320
expensive journey for you, but she'll 
rejoice awfully in your being with us.

197
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:41,040
I hear you don't like America. no. that's not 
encouraging for me. are you going? in a month or two.  

198
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:47,360
it seems to be the new idea. didn't Maggie tell you 
about it? well not of you're going at once no.  

199
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:56,720
but of course you must go and stay as long as possible. 
is that what you did? me? I hadn't your interests.  

200
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:03,440
are yours then rather here? mine take 
up very little room wherever they are.

201
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,120
anyway it's not really my 
country. it's just my parent's.

202
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:14,960
I have been thinking it all 
the while probably you know  

203
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,200
that you would have seen 
your way to marry him.

204
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:28,960
marry whom? oh some good kind clever rich 
American. but that's not a very easy combination to find.

205
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:37,440
oh I did try. perhaps I tried too hard. anyway 
one's existence you know doesn't depend on it.  

206
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:43,760
the position of a single woman today is very 
favorable. favorable to what? why to existence.  

207
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:49,600
which can contain all kinds of affections. 
I am extremely fond of Maggie for instance.  

208
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:54,560
I wouldn't adore her more if I were 
married. well you might adore him. ah him.

209
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:04,000
well it's just a question of doing 
the best for oneself that one can.  

210
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:10,400
anyway, I venture to repeat the hope that you'll 
marry some capital fellow. thank you very much.  

211
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,600
the prince hopes so much that 
I shall marry some good person.  

212
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:20,400
we all hope my dear it will be a good person 
that you marry. she's been trying in America  

213
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,720
she says but hasn't brought it off. if 
you take such interest you must bring it off.  

214
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,920
and you must help dear as you've helped with 
these things so beautifully before. your marriage.  

215
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:36,800
is it on Friday? on Friday? no what do you take 
us for. it's not a vulgar Roman wedding.  

216
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:45,920
no on Saturday at 11 o'clock at the Oratory before 
12 guests. including me? oh no that won't do. you'll  

217
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:51,680
make the thirteenth. not if you're going in for 
omens. shall I stay away then? no good heavens no.  

218
00:24:51,680 --> 00:25:00,000
we'll invite another and make it the round number. 
well I must go. i'm dining tonight with mr Verver.  

219
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,440
have you any message for Maggie about coming 
early? she'll want that. then I shall come early.

220
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:13,680
there is a favor i'd like to ask of you 
though. what is it? I want between now  

221
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:20,480
and Saturday to buy Maggie a present. oh no no I 
must and I could find nothing I liked in America.  

222
00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:26,720
what is it my dear that you like? but that's what I 
want the prince to help me decide. can't I help you

223
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:34,080
decide? of course you can Fanny. we'll discuss this 
evening but I want him if he will to come with me.  

224
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:42,400
to look, to help me choose. that is all the 
great favor I ask if you can spare the hour.

225
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:49,680
what you came back from America to ask. why not? 
I can certainly spare the hour. don't you think?

226
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,840
why not? you must 
certainly find the hour.

227
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:12,960
I don't quite see, I'm bound to say, why 
you take it even at the worst so hard.  

228
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:18,800
and after it's not your fault she's here. why 
couldn't she come after the marriage? why did  

229
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:26,800
she have to come before? why so perversely look it 
all so in the face? for discipline. oh nonsense.  

230
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:32,000
you don't understand. you willfully misunderstand. 
oh my dear following your thought is like riding  

231
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:37,840
over rough ground on the back of a mule. you get 
there in the end but it's painfully slow.

232
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:46,400
first of all, what on earth took place between 
them? they fell in love with each other what else.  

233
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:53,600
no no it wasn't possible so they gave each 
other up. why wasn't it possible? because  

234
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:59,200
neither of them had the means to marry. I mean if 
Charlotte had had a little, well enough for two,  

235
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,520
I think they would have done it. hmm or if he 
had a little a little more than a little

236
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:09,040
mean a little for a prince. yes I take your 
point. but there wasn't a way. Charlotte saw it.  

237
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:15,440
saw that he had to have money was life or 
death for him. so she bowed out or they both did.  

238
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:23,040
and that's what you call their romance? what more 
do you want? didn't he want anything more or  

239
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:29,920
Charlotte didn't they do anything more?
they were in love. she might have been his...

240
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:36,160
she might have been his what? she might have 
been anything she liked except his wife.

241
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:43,680
but she wasn't? no she wasn't. well how 
do you know? there wasn't time. for that?  

242
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:50,000
why does it take so much time? it takes 
more than they had. oh you mean you came  

243
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:57,120
on the scene with Maggie? do you remember nothing? 
they'd parted before he'd even heard of Maggie.  

244
00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:01,840
why hadn't he heard of her from Charlotte? 
because Charlotte had never mentioned her.  

245
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:09,520
how do you know? did she tell you? no he 
did the prince. oh I see. no you don't see.  

246
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:16,560
we were in Rome end of February remember? Charlotte 
had been there since November. Maggie and her  

247
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:21,200
father were on their way there when Charlotte 
upped and left a few days before they arrived. why?

248
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:28,720
hm yeah well why? she left to save herself. 
oh to save herself and him. she left to save  

249
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:33,280
herself from becoming his mistress and left to 
save him the agony of afterwards dropping her. 

250
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,240
well in that case, all that's 
needed is to leave things alone.

251
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:44,480
and what case are you talking about? are there 
so many? there's Maggie's and the prince's  

252
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,680
and then there's the prince's and Charlotte's. 
Charlotte and prince and prince and Maggie.

253
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:55,120
of course if you're going to be vulgar. not at 
all. I think for an old soldier I'm rather refined.  

254
00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:03,280
it strikes me as odd really that neither 
he nor Charlotte mentioned anything to Maggie.  

255
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:09,200
there's some things my dear that you cannot 
mention to Maggie. she should be so scandalized? 

256
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:14,880
she'd be so frightened, so hurt. she wasn't born to 
evil she must never know it. some people are like that.

257
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:26,000
all right. tell me this: if Charlotte 
bolted before to save him, well I mean why the  

258
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:32,080
deuce did sh come back to him now? to see 
Maggie through. through what? through everything.

259
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:40,560
Charlotte knows the prince and Maggie doesn't. 
huh so Charlotte comes back to give her lessons.  

260
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:46,880
Charlotte when you come to think of it has been 
magnificent. she gave him up when she saw it was  

261
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:51,120
the only way to help him and she's back now 
to let him see that everything is normal and  

262
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:59,520
that her heart is not breaking. and is it? 
certainly and that's why she's magnificent.

263
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:06,560
oh so that's how she's seeing Maggie 
through. by seeing the prince through.  

264
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:13,200
yes and it's up to us to see Charlotte through. 
again through what? through her loneliness.  

265
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:19,040
well how are we gonna do that? it 
would be all right if she were to marry.

266
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,880
- oh we're to marry her.
- if we can.

267
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,601
it will make up for any mistake 
I may have inadvertently made.

268
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,960
and I thought the whole point of this conversation 
was that you hadn't made any. which were quite sure  

269
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:44,880
you hadn't. one could never be wholly sure of not 
having made a mistake. why risk making another?

270
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:51,040
where would you be my dear if I hadn't risked 
it with you? Charlotte's marrying will prove  

271
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:55,760
the truth of everything I say. it will prove that 
she's cured and that she accepts the situation.  

272
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,360
we can certainly cover up her tracks. 
it'll give her new tracks. it'll give  

273
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:05,760
her her best chance of being magnificent. 
and you along with her. I shall do my best.

274
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:15,120
and you called me immoral. no only obtuse. 
although obtuseness carried to a certain degree  

275
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,840
is you know immoral. 
I'm going to my room

276
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:28,104
besides which, it is after all at 
the worst, great fun.  

277
00:31:32,182 --> 00:31:36,560
now I must tell you but I want to be 

278
00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:47,040
absolutely honest. you've not been honest? I don't 
want to pretend and I can't. I came back for this.

279
00:31:49,920 --> 00:32:02,480
not for anything else really but this. for this? yes 
for this. think of me what you will I don't care.  

280
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,680
this is why I came back. 
this is what i'm here for. 

281
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:18,480
to have one hour alone with you. I don't care what 
you make of it and I don't ask anything of you  

282
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:27,840
except this, to see you once and be with you 
as we used to be for one small hour or two.  

283
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:35,360
I've had it in my head for weeks. I mean, 
to get it before your marriage.

284
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:46,240
so you see it was only a question of whether 
I should be able to manage it in time.

285
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:52,240
and I have. there were moments 
over there when I despaired.  

286
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:57,520
despaired of being able to see you 
once more alone as we once were.

287
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:05,200
well it was a risk. if you'd been horrid 
and refused to come out with me this morning. 

288
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:09,840
well there was no reason to get a present for 
Maggie that Maggie must know nothing about.  

289
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:17,280
yes yes a present for Maggie.
something inexpensive but different.  

290
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,280
something absolutely right that she 
wouldn't think of buying for herself. 

291
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,800
well that's reason enough. it was 
my excuse and it will have to do.

292
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,640
I had to have this moment. 
you see don't you?

293
00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:42,720
not just to get my time with you.
I wanted you to know. to understand.

294
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:53,760
no I don't care whether you understand or not. 
what I want is that it shall always be with you,  

295
00:33:55,040 --> 00:34:01,840
this moment, this meeting that I've made 
so that you will never be able quite to  

296
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:10,367
get rid of the fact that I did. that we 
were here where we are and as we are.

297
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:13,738
do you see?

298
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,840
do you?

299
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:40,720
no I don't think so. she wouldn't like it. well you 
must find something. we've been out for two hours.  

300
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:47,840
it's just that the right thing 
is not easy to find. don't rush.

301
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:55,120
well you're right. there's 
nothing here that she could wear.

302
00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:05,360
is there anything do you think that you could? why? 
is it your idea to offer me something? as a  

303
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:15,440
memento. a memento? of this, our little hunt as you 
say. ah as I said, I don't ask you to. a memento  

304
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:21,440
from you to me would be a memento of nothing. 
you have, on the other hand, given me my idea.  

305
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:33,520
to offer me something? why not? be just 
between the two of us. no. you wouldn't accept? no.  

306
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:42,560
oh that's a pity. it's what i'd hoped. it's 
what you brought me out for. that is my affair.

307
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,960
now where would I wear that? under 
my clothes? wherever you like.  

308
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,960
and is it your idea that I might go 
home and show it to Maggie? why not? 

309
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:07,600
how should I give her an account of the pretext? 
the pretext? the occasion the ramble we've had  

310
00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:15,120
together. I remember we're not to speak of it. 
you seem princess to have seen too much perhaps.

311
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:31,920
my golden bowl. gold? really? gold. 
look at it. see what you make of it.

312
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:42,240
it may be very cheap for what it is but 
will be very dear for me. you like it? do you?  

313
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:49,280
it is a perfect crystal. you mean cut from a 
single crystal? well I promise you if it isn't  

314
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:55,520
you won't find any joints or pinning. not even 
if I scrape off the gold? you couldn't do that.  

315
00:36:55,520 --> 00:37:03,840
it is too well put on by some very fine 
work and some beautiful old process. a lost art.

316
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:16,400
a lost art. if it is so precious how comes it's 
so cheap? I'll wait outside. I had it a long time.

317
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:24,400
I must I must have been keeping it for you. because 
you thought I might not see what's the matter with it.

318
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:31,600
what is the matter? that is for you to say. if 
you cannot tell what it is isn't it as good as if  

319
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:37,200
there were nothing? I probably should as soon as I 
pay for it. ah but not if you hadn't paid too much.  

320
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:43,760
how much is not too much? well 
what would you say to 15 pounds?

321
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:55,120
i'd say it was too much. I can't go lower. then 
it's impossible. it's more than I can afford.  

322
00:37:55,120 --> 00:38:01,840
but sometimes one can afford more for a present than 
one affords for oneself. does one make a present  

323
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:07,440
of something with a flaw? one can always mention 
it. leave the gentleman to find out what it is.  

324
00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:14,880
what if it should come to pieces? but it won't. 
not unless one dropped it onto a marble floor,  

325
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:20,400
smashed it with a hammer. does crystal 
break then no? it doesn't shatter like glass.

326
00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:31,840
no it splits if there is a split along lines 
and by laws of its own. then there is respect  

327
00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,960
I shouldn't want him to come to me 
and say the golden bowl is broken.

328
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,149
where is the weak place?

329
00:38:41,149 --> 00:38:42,593
[taps bowl, it rings]

330
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:48,160
for me only the price. I thank you but 
you will have to let me think about it.

331
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,840
well...

332
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:10,560
accept it for me? are you serious? it has 
a crack in it. you saw it? I saw. didn't you?

333
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:19,520
but still it is exquisite. you would offer 
me a present of something with a crack in it?

334
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:29,200
are you superstitious? i'm superstitious. 
a crack is a crack. an omen, an omen.  

335
00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:36,320
you're afraid? yes i'm afraid. for 
your marriage? for my marriage.

336
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:42,720
well if we are to perish by cracks and 
things we know nothing about... ah but I know.  

337
00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:48,640
that's the difference. my instinct 
protects me. what will protect me?

338
00:39:50,880 --> 00:40:00,240
I will. anything you accept from me will be perfect. 
I am to accept something from you. you will take  

339
00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:05,840
nothing from me. but you attach an impossible 
condition. a gift to me that I must keep to myself.

340
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:12,560
ah well you can shout it from the housetops if 
you like. ah in that case no. I don't want it now.  

341
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,355
I should have liked the 
bowl but if it won't do...

342
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:27,680
yet I shall want someday to give you 
something. what day? the day that you marry.

343
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:42,160
for you will marry. you must. seriously. 
marry. to make you feel better? well it will.

344
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:51,840
I would marry I think just to 
have something from you in all freedom.

345
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:06,960
hmm yes

346
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:18,320
are you going to sit there all night? 
no i'm coming dear i'm coming.

347
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:25,840
I should hope so. what are you doing down here? I 
was just thinking. that's all just just thinking.

348
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:34,720
well I'll continue 
some other time.

349
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:43,520
but that golden bowl was to reappear with amazing 
coincidence in the lives of these four people.

350
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:52,053
when it did 
the  effect was shattering.

351
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:58,063
shattering.