1
00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:08,191
The great house behind me
is the ancestral seat of my family.

2
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,391
We have lived in a house,
on or near this site, since the 11th century.

3
00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:16,031
I am the 23rd Earl.

4
00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:18,513
From the roof of the house,

5
00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,997
any land one can see, in any direction,
is part of our domain.

6
00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:29,434
It is my responsibility to conserve,
nurture and develop the estate,

7
00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,553
until such a time
as I can pass it on to the 24th Earl,

8
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,876
secure in the knowledge
that it is substantially larger

9
00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,595
and more productive
than when it came into my care

10
00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,030
on the death of the 22nd Earl, my father.

11
00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,398
I want to tell my story.

12
00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:54,713
In doing this,

13
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,593
I want more than anything else
to demonstrate

14
00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,074
that at the very centre of my life,

15
00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:02,588
there has been a sense of history.

16
00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,559
We came over
with William the Conqueror

17
00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:24,071
and here we have lived and farmed
in direct male line ever since.

18
00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,714
The nature of the holding has changed
a great deal over the centuries.

19
00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,194
The principal influences being,

20
00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:36,712
one, the enclosure of vast tracts of land
in the 15th and 16th centuries,

21
00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,355
which increased the size of the estate
quite substantially,

22
00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:45,758
and two, the gradual but significant
diminution of the ancient woodland.

23
00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,434
Successive generations
have been variously adept

24
00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:52,471
and I was able to inerit from my father

25
00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,910
some 10,000 acres
of mixed arable and pasture.

26
00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,759
This was considerably less
than he inerited from my grandfather.

27
00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,631
But more of that anon.

28
00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:10,758
We're looking now
at a field of some 200 acres.

29
00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,189
This is a truly vast expanse

30
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:18,268
and as little as 35 years ago,
this was upwards of ten fields.

31
00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,030
The economic demands of creating
ever more efficient and productive land

32
00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,275
has meant that in many areas,

33
00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,756
we have ripped out the hedges
and filled in the ditches

34
00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,590
in order that the diesel-powered leviathans
of modern agriculture

35
00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:38,430
may move with ease over more and more
acres of chemically-enriched soil.

36
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,555
I'm not greatly proud of my own role

37
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,718
in this brutalisation
of my green and pleasant heritage,

38
00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:48,397
but having said that,

39
00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,638
I sincerely believe, that for me
to have taken any other course

40
00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,035
would have been frankly irresponsible.

41
00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,314
This land is not mine to squander.

42
00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,990
It is held in trust
for all future generations of my family.

43
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:10,036
For us still to be here after
900 and some years is an achievement,

44
00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,437
but I don't doubt that my forebears
fought some pretty torrid battles

45
00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,074
to hang onto what was rightfully theirs.

46
00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:19,791
And I have a massive debt.

47
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:25,995
A debt to them, to do my darndest
to ensure that I do not flunk my heritage.

48
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,237
My brother and I were born and brought up
between the wars,

49
00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,352
my brother being four years older
than myself.

50
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,516
Our parents were an unfortunate couple.

51
00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,394
Mother was a great, great beauty,
of that there can be no doubt,

52
00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:44,150
but as far as her qualities are concerned,
that is quite simply the end of the story.

53
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,318
She was stupid and vain, lazy and craven.

54
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,193
We adored her
but she paid us scant attention.

55
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,989
I do remember her, particularly her smell.

56
00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,909
It was a heady, exotic mixture
of expensive toilet water,

57
00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,633
fine talc, exquisite perfume

58
00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,990
and something else
which was sweet and mysterious.

59
00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,230
I now know what that was.

60
00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,192
For a great many years,
until it was taken off the market,

61
00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,550
she was addicted
to a certain proprietary cough medicine,

62
00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,990
of which the active ingredient
was some sort of opiate.

63
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,237
I think as a child,
it was her odour I craved most.

64
00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,950
I'd manoeuvre myself so that I could bury
my head in her blouse or skirts,

65
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,118
and inale as deeply
as was humanly possible,

66
00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,631
that I might experience her
more intensely, more completely.

67
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:42,636
But I was usually asked to refrain.

68
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,992
My father was as handsome
as she was beautiful.

69
00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,828
The 21st Earl, my grandfather,
had been a formidable man.

70
00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:58,752
Soldier, politician, farmer, acclaimed
and respected in all these spheres.

71
00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:04,079
A difficult act to follow for the best of men,
which my father most decidedly wasrt.

72
00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,873
Where grandfather excelled,
father disappointed.

73
00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,753
He was a perilously inadequate soldier,

74
00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,156
a master of the misguided heroic gesture,

75
00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,910
which, during the Great War, proved fatal
to his men on more than one occasion.

76
00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:23,669
He had no interest in
or understanding of politics,

77
00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,155
and as a farmer,
he was catastrophically inept.

78
00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,191
He had no feeling for the land

79
00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:36,518
and the science and economics of estate
management completely passed him by.

80
00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:38,389
And worst of all,

81
00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:43,275
he was loathed and detested by
every single person who worked for him.

82
00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:45,834
He was, in short, a bully

83
00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,158
who gloried in the abasement
of the weak and defenceless.

84
00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,829
My brother and I suffered his indignities
no less than the staff.

85
00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:59,953
Upon the slightest pretext, he would let
loose upon us torrents of withering abuse.

86
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,560
He would crack our skulls together,

87
00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,795
slap us, pinch us, punch us,

88
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,638
pull our hair, hold our heads underwater.

89
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,549
We lived in dread
of his diminishing humiliations.

90
00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,397
We would run to Mama for protection,

91
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:20,434
but she had already taken her own refuge
in a self-induced narcosis.

92
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:29,672
So there we were, two little chaps
with hopelessly inadequate parents.

93
00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:35,272
My father, this nasty booby of a man,
whom I hated ferociously,

94
00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,393
and my mother,
this astoundingly beautiful woman

95
00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:41,476
with whom we sometimes had tea.

96
00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,751
Big deal, as my children would say.

97
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:53,556
I was a solitary unlovable boy,
but I was blessed with a keen intelligence.

98
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,750
I knew that we were somehow special

99
00:06:55,800 --> 00:07:01,272
and I was fascinated, I suppose,
by the whole ethos of the elite families.

100
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,553
I desperately wanted to know
how it all worked and how I fitted in,

101
00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,354
so I took to eavesdropping
on adult conversations

102
00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,392
and what I learned
was very alarming indeed.

103
00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:18,468
It was clear that my father was making the
most frightful hash of running the estate

104
00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:22,115
and vast tracts of land
had already been sold off.

105
00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,391
I knew that by some degree
I was the cleverest person in the family,

106
00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,512
and I knew that my brother
would inerit the earth.

107
00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,997
I liked my brother, we got on well,
given the difference in our ages.

108
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,716
But at the age of seven
I realised two quite dreadful things.

109
00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,320
Firstly, he was simple-minded.

110
00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,397
Not backward as such, but decidedly dim.

111
00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:48,036
There was no way he would ever be able
to rebuild the estate to its former glory

112
00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:54,110
and left to his own devices, he would in all
likelihood oversee its continuing decline.

113
00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,230
Now, this was troublesome,

114
00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,068
but it was my second realisation
that was more ominous.

115
00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:06,477
I knew... with a terrifying clarity,
that he was a homosexual.

116
00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,553
How I could be so certain of the sexual
proclivities of an 11-year-old boy,

117
00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,388
when only seven and a half myself,
I don't know.

118
00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,877
I don't know how I knew a lot of things,
but know them I did.

119
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,109
Now, as I saw it, the family
would be extremely hard-pressed

120
00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,709
to survive two generations
of duffers at the helm.

121
00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:39,838
And this, combined with the fact
that my brother would, in all probability,

122
00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,793
prove incapable
of keeping the dynastic ball rolling,

123
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,994
convinced me that we were
in a very, very parlous state indeed.

124
00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:56,111
It seemed to me that my whole world
was in serious danger of collapse.

125
00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,151
Something had to be done.

126
00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,873
The best hope would be for me to inerit.

127
00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,356
The only way this could happen,
given my brother's rude health,

128
00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,472
would be for me to kill him,
and the sooner the better.

129
00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:09,431
For one thing, were I to be found out,

130
00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,597
any penalty incurred
would be less the younger I was,

131
00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:17,475
and secondly, small boys lead notoriously
dangerous lives in any case,

132
00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,354
and an accident would never be
easier to contrive than now.

133
00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,233
So it was, that at the age of seven,

134
00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,913
I committed myself
to the murder of my brother.

135
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:36,593
He was walking along here
with his double-barrelled.410 shotgun.

136
00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,552
Pigeon and rabbit shooting
was something he liked to do.

137
00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,478
On this occasion, I had followed him,

138
00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,910
making quite certain
that I was seen by no one.

139
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:47,712
It was a warm summer's evening

140
00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:52,550
and there was no danger...
of my leaving unwanted footprints,

141
00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:54,875
with the ground being so hard.

142
00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,072
I ran down the other side
of that copse there,

143
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,873
came in through the gate there,

144
00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,072
and met him here, as if totally by chance,

145
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,475
and we chatted easily.

146
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:11,750
I showed him a beetle
I had in a matchbox.

147
00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,189
It was a devil's coach-horse, I believe,

148
00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,151
and he told me of an area of woodland

149
00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,795
where he thought
a cracking tree house could be built.

150
00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,435
At that time,
this fence here was in good repair

151
00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:25,599
and I climbed over...

152
00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,032
and bade him follow me.

153
00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,470
He was reluctant to change his course,
but I begged him.

154
00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,550
He passed me the gun.

155
00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:39,513
I was wearing little yellow
knitted string riding gloves,

156
00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,358
in order not to leave any fingerprints.

157
00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:44,755
At the very moment
he was astride the fence,

158
00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,791
I shot him under the chin
at point-blank range.

159
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,315
He wasrt looking.

160
00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,430
He never saw it coming.

161
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,471
He never suspected a thing.

162
00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,198
I suppose
he was the best friend I ever had.

163
00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:10,710
Until the Reformation,
these fields here were church land,

164
00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,508
and then, with the dissolution
of the monasteries,

165
00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:21,350
thousands upon thousands of acres, were
as it were, thrown onto the open market,

166
00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,278
and the 6th Earl snapped
quite a lot of it up.

167
00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,232
The effect of my brother's death
on my parents was frankly astonishing.

168
00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,193
One might have thought they'd barely notice,
but they were shattered.

169
00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:45,798
It was really quite moving.

170
00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,673
They even came together somewhat
in their grief,

171
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,110
and they gave one attention
for the first time in one's life,

172
00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,594
which was stifling and embarrassing.

173
00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,438
But I was due to be packed off to school
in any case,

174
00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,995
so I didn't have to endure for too long
their awkward kindnesses.

175
00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:03,955
- (Engine)
- What have we here?

176
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,752
- Hello, Giddy, how are you?
- All right, thank you.

177
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,678
- Where are you taking the plough?
- Up Longbottom.

178
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,156
That's right. How are you getting on
with this brute? Do you like it?

179
00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,510
- Best I've ever 'ad.
- Good. Mind you, it should be at that price.

180
00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:30,630
- How's your pa?
- All right, thank you.

181
00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:33,319
Do give him my regards,
he's a good old chap.

182
00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:35,351
All right, Giddy, I'll see you later.

183
00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:37,630
Keep me informed about the tractor.

184
00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:40,672
If you think they're any good,
I might get a couple more.

185
00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:42,711
Jolly good, keep going.

186
00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,231
When I was 14, my father
hanged himself and I took the title.

187
00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,510
It may be that he never got over
the death of my brother.

188
00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:10,551
It was the best thing he could've done.

189
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,070
Another five years and there'd have been
precious little for me to inerit.

190
00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,430
He hanged himself from this tree.

191
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,629
It was three days before he was found,

192
00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:22,955
and the sad thing is,
no one had missed him.

193
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,913
Oh, look... some of the rope is still here.

194
00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:30,671
That's rather gruesome.

195
00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:36,553
So, a manager was hired to run the estate
until I could take over,

196
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,353
and thank the lord,
the chap we got was first-rate,

197
00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,755
and the situation stabilised somewhat,

198
00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,588
which, given this was the '30s,
was no mean achievement.

199
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:50,953
My mother retreated further and further
into a weird world of her own invention,

200
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,073
which seemed to comprise
three parts malice to two parts euphoria.

201
00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:01,194
Any visit to her rooms
was a delicate exercise in timing.

202
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,109
Then came the war.

203
00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,550
At the outbreak of hostilities,
I was still a schoolboy, of course,

204
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,319
but it was naturally assumed
that when one became of age,

205
00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,874
one would follow the course
of previous generations

206
00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:14,512
and fight for king and country.

207
00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,960
But when it came to it,

208
00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,390
I chose not to be part of this war
with the Germans.

209
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,638
Quite simply,
I did not feel I could, in all conscience,

210
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,114
take up arms against Adolf Hitler.

211
00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,396
Now, there has been an awful lot
of the most frightful tosh

212
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:37,116
written and said about this chap,
but suffice it to say,

213
00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,993
that here was a man
who'd single-handledly

214
00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,554
brought a bankrupt country to prosperity

215
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,397
within a very few years.

216
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:48,228
And as a farmer, I had to respect that.

217
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,716
Of course, there were aspects to
his approach which I found questionable,

218
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,753
and there is no doubt I'd have taken issue
with him on a number of counts,

219
00:14:55,800 --> 00:15:01,193
but at the end of the day, I felt very strongly,
and I still do, as a matter of fact,

220
00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,358
that we should've been batting
on the same side.

221
00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:08,551
Moreover,
my deciding not to go into battle

222
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,433
meant that I was able to immerse myself
in the farm.

223
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:15,632
I had some excellent advisors
and I was a quick and ready study.

224
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,592
The estate was once again
on a sound footing

225
00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,590
and it became a preoccupation of mine

226
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:23,710
that we should acquire
neighbouring farms

227
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:25,716
as and when they became available.

228
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:27,835
This we did.

229
00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,632
Now, historically,
the quickest and cheapest way

230
00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,150
to increase the size of one's holding
is through marriage.

231
00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,111
The proviso being, of course,

232
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:41,950
that one mustrt allow that awful monster,
sentiment, to poke her wet nose in.

233
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:43,752
No, I was quite clear.

234
00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:49,079
I'd make a methodical search until
I found a girl who was wealthy and fertile.

235
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:54,911
There followed an interminable round of
tortuous balls and so forth, but I got her.

236
00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,988
By whatever criteria one chose
to judge her, she was a catch.

237
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:01,871
She was passably attractive,

238
00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:03,638
an excellent hostess,

239
00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,195
and she slipped easily
into the running of the household.

240
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,629
She bore me two fine sons

241
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,913
and all was well with the world.

242
00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:16,589
But there's always something
round the corner, isn't there?

243
00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,076
As I trundled along,
happy in the knowledge

244
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,193
that our position of wealth and privilege
was relatively secure,

245
00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:29,268
the gods were preparing to toss
the golden apple of chaos into my path.

246
00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:31,673
She was younger than my wife.

247
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,554
She was a student who'd come to work
in the stables during the holidays.

248
00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:37,593
She was very, very pretty,

249
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:39,596
and extraordinarily vital.

250
00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:41,119
I was quite overwhelmed.

251
00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,630
We enjoyed each other's company so.
She made me laugh.

252
00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,353
And to my astonishment,
I made her laugh.

253
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,712
And she teased me,
which I found a very novel experience.

254
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,638
I fell hopelessly, wondrously in love.

255
00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,195
It was a very frightening thing to happen
to a cold old fish like myself.

256
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,755
As far back as one could remember,
one had been in control,

257
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:08,432
yet here one was being thrown around
by great breakers of love,

258
00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,029
that would deposit one
on some fantastic beach

259
00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:14,230
where everything was new and exciting.

260
00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,829
Then one would be dragged back
into the maelstrom,

261
00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,270
only to be tossed up
onto some other shining shore.

262
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,472
However, the light this blessed creature
brought to my life

263
00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:27,953
shone also on my marriage.

264
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,037
It exposed every detail of its drab tedium.

265
00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,834
I knew what I had to do.
It was very simple. I had to get a divorce.

266
00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,599
It would be expensive,
but won'th every penny,

267
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:39,756
if it would allow me to remarry.

268
00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,155
As I fell more and more deeply in love,

269
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:47,228
so, a profound distaste for my lumpen wife
grew to nothing short of hatred.

270
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,840
And she indeed began to show
her true colours.

271
00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:54,158
She would not consider
even a trial separation, far less a divorce.

272
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,555
Now this put one
in a very difficult position.

273
00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:01,628
and given the situation, her obdurate,
intractable stance was deeply offensive.

274
00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:03,830
It was a petty emotional response,

275
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,077
calculated to cause me
as deep a hurt as possible.

276
00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:11,955
I cannot stress too strongly that there was
absolutely nothing at all that I could say

277
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,436
that could make her shift her position
one iota.

278
00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,429
Any door I tried to open was slammed shut
in my face with insolent scorn.

279
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:22,755
I found my plight quite untenable.

280
00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,916
One had but one option.

281
00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,194
As we came along the bank here,

282
00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:34,869
I was mouthing all sorts of drivel
about wanting to make a go of it

283
00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,036
for the childrers sake and so forth.

284
00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,755
Just here, I grabbed her round the waist,

285
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,597
put one hand over her mouth

286
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,108
and I launched us both into the lake.

287
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,151
She put up a terrific struggle,

288
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,794
but I was bigger and stronger than she,

289
00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:55,150
and I managed to keep her head
under the water.

290
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,272
She fought and fought
and it seemed to take forever,

291
00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:03,678
but gradually
the spasms got less and less...

292
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,752
and finally she was still.

293
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:14,068
Then, I saw standing just there,
at the corner of the boathouse,

294
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:19,513
my two sons, aged eight and six,
their faces studies of bewildered shock...

295
00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,632
their possibly having been witness
to the whole thing.

296
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:26,033
I said to them,
"There's been a bit of an accident,

297
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,275
"come and help Daddy get Mummy out."

298
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,350
They came to the bank,
offered me their hands,

299
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,154
and I pulled them in
and drowned them too.

300
00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:45,197
Their struggle was not so great.

301
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,195
I made it look like a boating accident.

302
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,552
There was an inquiry and a degree
of suspicion, but nothing too serious.

303
00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,716
My alibi proved watertight.

304
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,313
And the beautiful girl
for whom I'd done all this,

305
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:05,713
I never saw her again.

306
00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:10,276
After the killings, I left a decent amount
of time before getting in touch.

307
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,675
And when I could resist no longer,

308
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:16,508
I was told that she'd married some
Austrian count and was living abroad.

309
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:19,755
I was shattered.

310
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,155
I just assumed
that things would go my way.

311
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:28,918
There it is. I don't know, perhaps
I hadrt declared myself sufficiently.

312
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,269
It may be that she didn't know how I felt.

313
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:37,431
Ah, my children!

314
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,994
Come here, my darlings.

315
00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,715
I've just been telling the men a story
about a water rat.

316
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,877
I acted it out for them. I got rather wet.

317
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,319
Have you been in your den?

318
00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:50,396
- No.
- Of course we have.

319
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,510
Have you? Could you do me a favour?

320
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,757
Run up to the house
and tell Mummy we'll be up soon,

321
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,075
but don't tell her about the story.

322
00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:00,156
It's going to be a surprise for her.

323
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,509
Bless you, my darlings, off you go.

324
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,271
Come on.

325
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:12,675
So eventually, I married again.

326
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,917
Somewhat late in life, I suppose,
but she's an excellent woman.

327
00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,077
The children are sound, the line continues.

328
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:24,717
Oh, blast!

329
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,151
Has anyone got a ciggy?

330
00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:36,231
The other day, I was rummaging around
in one of the attics for something or other,

331
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,515
and down at one end, behind a pile of junk,

332
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,598
I came across
the most perfect little corner.

333
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:54,556
Armchair, table, books, toys, rugs,
pictures, an oil lamp and some candles,

334
00:21:55,520 --> 00:22:01,072
all arranged very neatly and tastefully
and covered with a thick layer of dust.

335
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,310
It was my brother's secret place.

336
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:08,156
There was a diary.

337
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,634
I read it.

338
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,672
I don't know if he was queer or not.
Unlikely, I suppose.

339
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,918
There was certainly no evidence of it
from his journal.

340
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:19,791
But one thing was very plain.

341
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,670
He wasrt dim.

342
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,350
He was an extremely intelligent,
rather private, modest boy.

343
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,030
I can't think how I got him wrong.

344
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,309
An unspoilt corner of the estate like this

345
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,988
gives me more pleasure
than almost anything I can think of.

346
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,350
At least here, I'm at one with my ancestors.

347
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:51,439
Here, I have been able to raise a hand
to the meddlers,

348
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:56,793
the accountants, the economists,
the euro-bureau-Brussels sprouts,

349
00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:02,039
the... the motorway builders, the town
planners, the property developers,

350
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,358
the golf course designers, the parachutists,

351
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,790
the bloody Ramblers' Association,
et cetera, et cetera!

352
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:16,598
I raise a hand to them all and I said,
"Stop, go away. Thus far and no further."

353
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,950
"Bugger off out of it.
Sod off, this is my land,

354
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,037
"my forefathers' land
and my descendants' land,

355
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,719
"and what we do with it is our business."

356
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,951
And it's so beautiful.

357
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,629
And it's always here...

358
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:37,834
absorbing the wind and the rain
and what have you.

359
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,031
And we've kept those other bastards out!

360
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,874
And that's good, isn't it?

361
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:47,911
Isn't it?

362
00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:52,429
Erm...

363
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:58,310
If anything should happen to me,
I do want this film to be shown.