Original subtitles

Subtitling by Acorn Media (re-sync by moviesbyrizzo)

[Grinding]

EDWARD: [ Sighs ]

How long, Mrs. Bridges?

Till it's done and not before.

EDWARD: Well, when's that, then?

When your arm drops off.

Look, I'm supposed to be a footman, not an ice-cream maker.

This is kitchen maid's work, this is.

Ruby couldn't turn the handle of a musical box,

let alone a thing like that.

I said pick them over, Ruby, not eat them.

Blinkin' organ grinder, that's me.

All I need is a monkey on this. [imitating monkey]

Watch it!

Shall I wash them?

Wash strawberries! The very idea.

Take away any good flavour they have got.

You know, when I was a girl, strawberries did have flavour.

Now, it's so much cotton-wool wadding.

Oh, I'm sick and tired of not cooking.

"Something cold, Mrs. Bridges," she says.

How I long to get my hands on a nice leg of mutton.

Oh, you don't want gas going in this weather, Mrs. Bridges.

We'd all suffocate.

Don't want that thing going anyway.

What are we having tonight, Mrs. Bridges?

Salmon. Same as them.

Oh, no, not again.

I don't like it.

Then you'll go hungry.

If I leave this in the larder another day,

it'll walk off on its own two feet.

How are we off for ice, Mrs. Bridges?

It's in the sink, Mr. Hudson, what's left of it.

Thank you.

Oh, Edward, go and remove one place in the dining room.

There'll only be two for dinner tonight.

Oh, drat!

The master will be dining out, Mrs. Bridges, at his club.

Jack Challen?

Yes.

- I'm sorry, but... - It's Dick...

Yes, Bellamy. Oh, it is you.

I can hardly believe it.

Well, I didn't even know you were a member here.

Only just. I live in the country now.

Hardly ever come in here.

Well, that's an ill wind. It's been donkeys years.

Well, since Paris, when you were grand second secretary

and I was humble fourth.

Yes, united in our loathing of the first secretary.

Not to mention the ambassador.

Oh, Bunting, I'll have some more.

- Will you have some whiskey? - Oh, yes, please.

I can't stay long. I've got to catch a train.

Well, sit down for five minutes.

Are you still with the Foreign Office?

No, I married into commerce.

I loved the girl and needed the money.

I prefer it now.

I was sorry to read about your wife.

RICHARD: Thank you.

I say, this place, it's like a morgue.

Yes. well, London's always tedious this time of the year.

The House in recess, everyone away.

Well, you should get away yourself.

Nowhere to go.

Oh. No country seat?

No, no. Heavens, no.

Only our London house now and that belongs to my son.

I just board there.

Thank you.

Just a little, please.

RICHARD: Thank you, Bunting.

Do you ever get down to Southwold these days?

RICHARD: Never. Marjorie's cousin is not...

Ooh!

I've got a cloth. It's a new siphon.

No, it's all right. No, there's no harm done.

- Very sorry, sir. - It won't stain.

No, no. It'll probably spoil the crease.

Nothing more.

Look, just give me a little soda in the glass, please,

and carefully, now.

That's right. That's enough.

- It doesn't show. - No,no,no,no.

Ah, where were we?

Oh, yes, about your situation.

Yes.

Well, it's really none of my business.

Well, I'm now one of those impoverished widowers

with a small income and precious little capital.

Oh, I say. It's rotten for you.

Tell me, Dick, do you...

do you ever gamble on the stock exchange -- shares, parcels?

Oh, never. All a mystery to me.

Yes, well.

I must be getting to the station.

RICHARD: Well, can't you dine and go later?

- I'm on my own now. - Alas, no.

My chairman is coming for the weekend

and as he also happens to be my father-in-law,

I must be getting back.

RICHARD: Well, it's been good to see you again.

We'll meet the next time I'm in London.

- We must. - Yes.

- Goodbye. - Goodbye.

Dick, it's just a thought.

RICHARD: Yes, what's that?

I'd like to give you a tip, if I may.

Well, thank you, Jack, but I never back horses.

No, it isn't a horse.

Any spare cash that you do have, anything you can raise,

buy Cartwrights Engineering.

They're a motor-car firm.

Might just ease your situation.

Well, that's very kind of you,

but surely all motor-car firms are as dead as the dodo.

Even I know that.

Too much competition for too small a market.

Isn't that what they say?

Sorry, Jack.

You will be sorry if you don't.

Do you mean that?

I promise you.

But there is one thing that you must promise me.

For reasons which I can't disclose,

you must not mention to anyone that I told you to buy them.

It must be absolutely confidential.

Word of honour.

I must be going.

Look, Jack, let me have your address.

Cartwright Engineering.

Aye, that's right, Jock.

Apple Cider for the 2:30

and a bob to win white Magic for the same ledger.

[barely audible phone conversation] Oh, and, Jock, I think I'll have a wee saver

[barely audible phone conversation] in the big race, a Seremond.

[barely audible phone conversation] S-E-R-E-M-O-N-D.

[barely audible phone conversation] - JOCK: Seremond. - HUDSON: Aye, sixpence each way.

[barely audible phone conversation] JOCK: Sixpence each way, Seremond in the big race.

[barely audible phone conversation] HUDSON: Right you are, Jock.

[barely audible phone conversation] Cheerie-bye for now.

[barely audible phone conversation] JOCK: Bye, Angus.

[Telephone rings]

Hello?

RICHARD: Ah, there you are, Hudson.

The telephone was busy.

Oh, I'm sorry, sir.

I was just making some arrangements with a tradesman.

Yes.

Yes, well, that's quite all right.

I want you to get me a telephone number.

Chancery 2214.

Very good, sir.

Hello.

WOMAN: Number, please.

Would you connect me, please, with Chancery 2214?

[Telephone rings]

- Hello? - WOMAN: Chancery...

- Good morning, Richard. - Oh, come on in.

Is that Beringer, Sidlaw, and Maine?

Can I speak to Mr. Maine, please?

WOMAN: Can you hold the line, please?

Yes, I will. Hello, my dear.

I am sorry. James wanted some cigarettes.

We thought you might have some.

Eh, yes.

There we are.

Thank you.

Did you have a pleasant evening at your club?

Oh, tolerable.

Met a chap I hadn't seen for years.

As a matter of fact... Oh, hello.

Is that Mr. Maine?

MAINE: Speaking.

This is Richard Bellamy here.

I believe you looked after my late wife's investments.

MAINE: Oh, yes, Lady Marjorie.

- Yes. - MAINE: How nice...

Thank you. I wonder if you'd do something for me.

MAINE: Glad to help if we can.

I'd like you to purchase from my accounts

some Cartwright Engineering shares, the motor-car firm.

MAINE: Cartwrights? They're a bit slack at the moment.

Yes, yes, Mr. Maine, I know they are,

but all the same I would like...

MAINE: Are you certain about this?

Oh, yes, yes, I am quite certain.

£5,000 worth.

Ordinary shares?

Well, yes, I suppose so.

What do I have to do?

MAINE: Oh, nothing further. We'll send you an account.

All right. Thank you very much.

MAINE: You've no doubts about this?

No, no, I have no doubts, Mr. Maine.

Thank you. Goodbye.

MAINE: Goodbye, Mr. Bellamy.

Oh, perhaps they'll make me rich, perhaps they won't.

It's an awful lot of money to risk.

Yes. It's calculated.

Well, thank you for the cigarettes, Richard.

Thank you.

Yes, Hudson, you do it just as well as Locks.

Thank you, sir, though might I suggest a new one?

Oh, certainly not.

One only buys a new hat for a general election

or for the first day of a new session.

Will you be requiring your coat today, sir?

It is cooler this morning, Richard.

No, no, no. Plenty of time for coats and collars.

Thank you, Hudson.

Now, my dear, can you spare me a couple of minutes in the study?

Yes.

Just some bills for you and James.

Now, that's the coal merchants,

and there's bills from Wilson's, the garage.

That's for James' motor cars sent to me by mistake.

I'll see to them.

♫ Three little maids are we ♫

You're very cheerful this morning, Richard.

Oh, it's getting back to the House of Commons

after that interminable summer recess.

Give Mr. Asquith a bite for me, would you?

I'll do that.

And I'm going to my tailor to order a new suit.

HAZEL: Splendid.

Oh, Father. Didn't you say you bought

some of those Cartwright Engineering...

Your motor.

Hmm? Oh.

Didn't you say you bought some of those Cartwright Engineering,

the shares?

Yes. In a moment of aberration.

I should have listened to that stockbroker. why?

Well, there's something about them in the paper this morning.

Oh, well, they went up a ha'penny a month ago.

I suppose they've lost it again.

Well, not exactly. What did you buy them at?

Three and sixpence. It's engraved on my heart.

Today they're 14 shillings.

RICHARD: What? Richard!

That's incredible.

HAZEL: Let me see.

Here. Here, look.

RICHARD: Well, how much am I worth?

Come on, you're the mathematician.

£5,000.

Your £5,000 is now worth £20,000.

- Oh, my God. - Jolly good, Father.

Well, why have they gone up? There must be a reason for it.

There is.

They've just pulled off a whopping great deal

with the war Office,

to make trucks for the army.

What made you buy them, eh?

Someone put you onto them.

Yes, yes. An old friend, yes.

Congratulations.

Oh, darling, you should be off.

So must I.

Well, that's incredible.

£15,000 profit in a matter of weeks,

merely by picking up the telephone.

Well, don't go and spend it, Father.

Remember, it's only on paper.

Unless, of course, you sell the shares again.

No, I won't do that. Come on.

I'm due at the tailors at...

Goodbye, Richard.

RICHARD: Goodbye, Hazel.

Be good.

Bye, James.

Goodbye, darling.

Hudson.

Goodbye, sir.

♫ Buckles on his knee ♫

Thank you, Ruby.

♫ Come back and marry me, Bonny Bobby Shafto ♫

♫ Bobby Shafto's gone to sea ♫

MRS. BRIDGES: The master gone, then?

Both of them, Mrs. Bridges, the old and the new.

And both in a fairly cheerful mood for a change.

Oh, well, that's just as well

with the tradesmen's books higher than ever.

I know what it'll be.

"We must out back, Mrs. Bridges, must economize."

Oh, I don't think we're as hard up as all that, Mrs. Bridges.

Gentry's always hard up when it comes to paying bills.

Especially them as wasn't born to it.

Mentioning no names, but you see where my thoughts lie.

Even the master's not exactly hard up.

Not today, Mrs. Bridges.

MRS. BRIDGES: Oh, what's he been up to, then?

Pawning the crown jewels?

[ Laughs ]

What are you so full of cream for?

He's had good news, Mrs. Bridges.

Though, naturally, I can't say what.

Yes, you can, and, yes, you will.

The girl.

She can't hear.

Even if she could, she wouldn't be able to understand.

What news?

It's some shares he's got.

They've gone right up in the stock exchange.

Ooh, I don't know with shares.

Penny bank, yes. What shares?

It seems he's made a wise investment

that could make him financially independent at last.

And about time, too, Mrs. Bridges.

Ooh.

- Morning. - Good morning.

Ah, Bellamy!

- Pritchett. - Good morning.

Just the fellow. Good summer?

Tolerable. Thank you.

Have you got your extra sheet?

No. Something interesting?

Do you know Arthur Naws?

RICHARD: No, I don't think so.

PRITCHETT: A lobby correspondent with The Evening Gazette .

Not quite my politics and even less yours,

but, still, Arthur Naws, Richard Bellamy.

How do you do, Mr. Naws?

It's an honour to make your acquaintance, sir.

Naws was asking me about this Cartwright business.

Oh, you have heard.

Yes, they've got a contract to re-equip the army

with motor trucks.

Why ask Pritchett?

He's not war Office, just a backbencher, like myself.

Government benchers, of course.

Ah, you need Mayfield or Deeping.

I'll see if they're around.

Oh, don't go to any trouble.

Mr. Pritchett has been most helpful.

I thought perhaps he should have a word with you.

I believe you know something about it.

I?

Ah, Bertie.

Forgive me, gentlemen.

It's these motor trucks that I'm curious about.

Oh, yes.

The one the army favours so much

that they're spending a fortune on it.

Cartwright Engineering have been working on the machine

for years,

with encouragement, I believe.

I don't think I can help you.

It's an interesting question

that Mr. Pritohet's put down for tomorrow, don't you agree?

I get the impression you're trying to say something.

Oh, no, no, not me.

It's your friend, Mr. Pritchet's question.

He's not my friend. And what's his question anyway?

"Mr. Henry Pritchett, the member for Stutworth North,

to ask the prime minister

if he would set up an inquiry to investigate

the circumstances in which allegations have been made

that certain honourable members

have made use of information improperly acquired

when dealing in the shares of Cartwright Engineering Ltd."

Somewhat sensational.

Don't you agree, Mr. Bellamy?

No tea laid, Mrs. Bridges?

I haven't had time. That Ruby's out.

There's a pot on the range if you're dying of thirst.

Where have you been, girl?

To shop in Elizabeth Street.

I fetched Mr. Hudson's evening papers.

Shop!

I think you've been to the printers and printed it.

Oh, thank you, Ruby.

Thank you.

You been talking to soldiers?

Oh, no, Mrs. Brides, I wouldn't dare.

I shouldn't think they'd want to neither.

Well, go on, get the tea laid up.

She's listless, that Ruby.

Dose of brimstone and treacle for her tonight.

HUDSON: A first-class team for Saturday, my own choice exactly.

Oh?

What's that, then, Mr. Hudson?

Chelsea.

For the game against woolwich Arsenal.

God bless my soul.

That's Mr. Bellamy's picture. Look.

"Among the names figuring in the share register

of Cartwright Engineering

is that of Mr. Richard Bellamy, MP.

It will be remembered

that Mr. Bellamy's wife, the Lady Marjorie,

was among the victims of the tragic..."

Why can't they let it alone?

She's dead, and that's that.

Question in the House tomorrow about the masses of shares, eh?

I don't like the sound of this, Mrs. Bridges.

[Knock on door]

RICHARD: Hazel?

Back to my old job as your secretary.

I didn't expect you so early.

How was the House?

Oh, it was fun to be back in harness.

- Oh, do you want some tea? - No, thank you.

I must telephone this stockbroker

before he leaves his office.

- Your valuable shares? - Yes.

Well, I might as well get rid of them while they're high.

Will I be a bull or a bear? I never know.

A bull, I think.

Suppose they go even higher.

I rather hope they don't.

Spoken like a Socialist.

- Why? - Oh, Richard.

Oh.

Some idiot's put down a damn fool question about them.

Oh?

Had me worried for a moment, but it's nonsense.

Still, might as well get rid of them and be done with it.

Excuse me, sir.

I thought perhaps you ought to see the evening newspaper.

Evening newspaper? It's a bit early, isn't it?

It's my own copy, sir.

RICHARD: Oh, well, that's very kind of you, Hudson.

Thank you, Hudson.

RICHARD: Oh, Hudson, will you get me a telephone number?

Chancery 2214.

Very good, sir.

Extraordinary man.

He must think I'm very out of date with the news.

- Oh, Richard. RICHARD: What?

God Almighty.

[Telephone rings]

HUDSON: Your number, sir.

Cancel it please, Hudson.

HUDSON: Very good, sir.

Our friend Pritchett seems to be out for my blood.

In God's name, why?

[Doorbell ringing, pounding on door]

HUDSON: Sir Geoffrey.

Where is your master?

I'll see if he's at home, sir.

Which means that he is.

He's in the study, sir.

RICHARD: Ah, Geoffrey.

Sir Geoffrey Dillon, sir.

What is this, Richard?

- Oh, you've seen it. - I have.

Are you trying to drag the Southwold name in the mud?

I imagined you would come here through concern for me

and not for the Talbot-Careys.

Excuse me, Richard. Sir Geoffrey.

Have you thought of the Dowager Countess?

She's bound to hear of it.

Some friend will telephone, you may be sure.

How could you do this, Richard?

I would have thought a solicitor above all

would assume his client's innocence

until the reverse is proved.

I only bought the damn paper

to read about that disgraceful divorce suit

Evie Smith's conducting.

For us as a matter of fact. Well?

I'll sue the rag for libel, and you'll make a lot of money.

You can't sue them. It's not libellous.

"Have M.P.s been trafficking in Cartwright shares?"

It's a question.

"Richard Bellamy MP. is found to have bought shares

from the company recently."

It's a plain statement of fact.

I assume it is a statement of fact.

Well, of course, it is.

- How many? -£5,000 worth.

What, the £5,000?

The money you got from James for the house?

I have no other.

- Then you're a fool. RICHARD: A fool?

Even though they're now worth £20,000?

I can manage simple arithmetic.

When did you buy them?

Oh, middle of last month.

I was about to dispose of them.

- Don't you dare! - Why not?

It would look suspicious.

Suspicious! For God's sake!

To sell out the moment you're in trouble,

as good as admitting your guilt.

I am not in trouble, and I am not guilty.

What exactly is this question tomorrow?

How is it phrased?

Henry Pritchett?

Asking the prime minister?

I know.

Why didn't they put it down for the war secretary?

Wouldn't have made as big a splash in the papers.

Is Asquith in on this?

Surely not.

They're both Liberals.

I wouldn't put anything past them.

Mr. Johnson Munby to see you, sir.

Johnson Munby?

Oh, send him in, Hudson.

Very good, sir.

I thought you should have your chief whip round here

before you could say the word "scandal."

Damn it, the question doesn't mention me by name.

The newspaper does, Richard.

I'm afraid the fat's in the fire.

Mr. Johnson Munby, sir.

Bellamy.

Ah, Sir Geoffrey.

Good afternoon.

I expect you can guess why I'm here.

Yes, yes, I can. Please sit down.

Thank you.

Now, Munby, before we go any further,

I'd like to make it quite clear to you.

My dear Bellamy, you have purchased shares in a firm

possibly knowing, I will allow you "possibly,"

that the firm in question

would benefit from a government contract.

That was a very dangerous thing to do.

Did you know, Richard?

I did not.

MUNBY: Then why did you buy the stock?

Because someone advised me to.

Someone outside the House?

Was it, Richard? It might make a difference.

The man who advised me to is nothing to do with politics.

Your broker?

Certainly not.

I cannot reveal his name

because I promised not to on my word of honour.

The honour of the Conservative party is at stake, Bellamy,

and of the House of Commons.

The honour of the House! Have they gone mad?

If that's your attitude...

RICHARD: That is my attitude and my firm belief.

Let Pritchett ask this question and be damned.

You're skating on very thin ice, Richard.

Don't you realize that?

Good morning.

I would like you to arrange a meeting for both of us

with the leader, if you would.

I wouldn't advise it.

The morning's newspapers make unpleasant reading.

Yes, they say much to offend

while offering nothing in the way of fact.

Any further developments?

Yes, one.

Through his chief whip,

the prime minister has done us the courtesy

of showing us his reply to Pritchet's question.

Which is?

He knows nothing of dealings by honourable members

in the shares of Cartwright Engineering Ltd

or whether any misuse of privileged information

may be involved,

but he wishes to inform

the honourable member for Stutworth North

that he proposes to appoint a select committee

to look into the matter.

Select committee?

He set one up in '93 in similar circumstances,

when he was home secretary.

The Featherstone Affair.

It worked very well.

It will be my duty

to instruct you to appear before the committee

to answer their questions.

Why not a full-scale trial at the Old Bailey?

A three-man select committee will be simpler and quicker.

And it can take evidence under oath.

Under oath?

I'm not a liar, you know.

Nobody said you were.

Now, I advise you to go home, Bellamy.

I wouldn't show your face in the chamber, not today.

Unless you relish the prospect of a pack of wolves

baying for your blood.

But she said she was going out to luncheon.

But she said she was going out to luncheon.

And now she's not, Mrs. Bridges.

That's right. She was gonna visit her ma.

I heard her say so.

Edward, what on earth are you doing with those flowers?

Well, she likes the way I do them. She said so.

Make a nice little wife for somebody, you would.

More than you would.

Oh, chop and change, chop and change.

The pavement outside is thick with people.

Gawkers.

Yes, gawkers and newspapermen, Mrs. Bridges.

Mrs. Bellamy's quite right not to run their gauntlet.

Well, it'll just have to be the raised pie I made.

There's no choice.

Unless she wants a share of our stew.

[Crowd murmuring]

They're only there because his name's in the paper.

You know, she should have let me call the police.

Well, I should have thought they would have come before.

Him a Member of Parliament and that rabble outside.

They won't throw a bomb, will they?

Get on with your work, Ruby.

Oh! Good God, will they, Mr. Hudson?

I think it extremely unlikely, Mrs. Bridges.

Only villains get into papers.

The master is hardly a villain, Mrs. Bridges.

The king gets in papers.

That's as maybe.

You get on with your work, my girl.

That potato's got eyes in it.

I can see them from here, staring at me.

Just like that crowd outside staring in here.

We're notorious. That's what we are.

Now, keep calm, Mrs. Bridges.

How can anybody keep calm?

Oh! Oh!

Oh, drat.

It's like one of them there sieges.

With the enemy all round.

We'll starve to death.

Oh, be quiet, girl. I won't tell you again.

Don't you pick on my Ruby!

[ Door opens ]

Oh, it's all right, Hudson. I came in through the mews.

Yes. Yes, of course, sir, but...

RICHARD: Rather a crowd by the front door.

Yes, gentlemen of the press, sir.

So I gather.

Things must be bad for him to come in

by his own back door.

So, it's tomorrow.

What is?

Your grilling by the select committee.

Yes.

Well, I suppose I must wish you luck.

But I don't understand you.

Don't you?

No, I don't.

Sir Geoffrey Dillon, sir.

Good evening, Sir Geoffrey.

James. - Do you want me to go?

No, we have no secrets from each other.

Have a whiskey and soda.

GEOFFREY: Ah, thank you, I haven't time.

Well, do sit down.

I have a city dinner tonight,

the worshipful company of Master Cutlers.

Oh, yes, they are the fellows that make the sharp knives

for politicians to stab each other in the back.

If you're thinking of our friend Pritchett,

I'm not altogether satisfied.

- How do you mean? - His motive, Richard.

Damn it, the indiscretion of one Tory member

can't bring down a Liberal government

and you can't bring down an opposition,

so what's his game?

JAMES: Pure mischief-making by the sound of it.

I wonder Where his interests lie.

Must keep an eye on friend Pritchett.

You've seen this, I take it.

The names of my judges, yes.

Not your judges, Richard. Your examiners.

- This isn't a trial, you know. -Isn't it?

With the attorney general leading the team?

- Who is Reuben Chantry? - Liberal.

And this man, Devenish, the Tory?

Oh, he's a big brewer from the north.

Bone idle, harmless and stupid.

One of each and a criminal lawyer in the middle.

Now, look here, Richard, for the last time,

because there is no more time,

who was this man you claim advised you to buy those shares?

Are you going to disclose his name?

For the last time, Geoffrey, I am not.

The advice was given to me in the utmost confidence.

And it remains a fact that it never occurred to you

to ask this man the source of his information?

That is correct.

And that's what you're going to tell the committee tomorrow?

Yes.

JAMES: Oh, Father, why do you have to be so pigheaded?

Because I happen to believe, James,

that a gentleman should keep his word.

And I trust you agree with that.

The real reason why I called in this evening

is to tell you that I have taken the liberty

of seeing the speaker on your behalf.

What good is that going to do me?

Isn't that rather my business than yours?

Not altogether.

Things are going to be said tomorrow and questions asked

which may reflect upon your honour and integrity.

I feel it my duty, as legal adviser to the family,

to hold a watching brief over the proceedings.

To this end, I have obtained the speaker's permission,

and that of the attorney general, to be present myself.

Fortunately, Sir William Trevanion and I

read law together at New College, Oxford.

Is that in my favour?

Quite the contrary. We detest each other.

Then why come?

I am concerned, Richard,

for the reputation of the Southwold name.

As far as yours is concerned,

if you wish to withhold the one piece of evidence

that might save your skin,

by all means, do so.

Wreck your political career, if that's what you want,

and disgrace your family by implication.

[ Door closes]

The evidence I shall give this committee will be

the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,

so help me God.

You understand, Mr. Bellamy,

that the oath you have just taken binds you

throughout this inquiry.

Well, of course I understand.

I would advise you not to be pettish with the court, sir.

Court, Sir William? Committee, surely.

Thank you, Sir Geoffrey.

Thank you.

Now, in permitting the accused...

Accused, Sir William?

I do beg your pardon, Sir Geoffrey.

I remember you are always a hairsplitter.

What would you have?

Now, gentlemen, please, it was my understanding

that we're here to inquire and make a report for the House.

For that, we need facts,

and I am not sure that too much procedure matters.

Procedure always matters, Mr. Chantry.

Without it, we have anarchy.

And no justice is borne of anarchy.

Let's get on with it, eh?

Well, surely, that is our intention.

Now, you've read the affidavit from Robert Maine

of Beringer, Sidlaw, and Maine

relating to the purchase of the shares.

Are there any questions arising from that?

When you saw the sharp rise of the shares,

due to press reports of the contract,

you didn't think it prudent to sell the shares?

In the circumstances, I saw no reason to.

Are you in the habit

of speculating on the stock exchange, Mr. Bellamy?

Up until I bought the Cartwright shares,

I had never bought or sold a share in my life.

When these shares you purchased went up in price,

perhaps you'll allow me to use the word "sensationally,"

because it was announced

that the company had signed a contract to supply the army

with a new motor vehicle known as the Bulldog,

were you surprised?

I was.

The negotiations leading up to this contract were,

I understand,

conducted over a number of years in the strictest secrecy.

One of the reasons, I believe, was commercial rivalry.

Another company, known as Ranking Mechanicals,

having also submitted designs to the war Office.

Now, Mr. Bellamy, if, despite that secrecy,

you had learned of this new vehicle

and the high hopes pinned upon its successful developments,

then surely you must have known that you'd be guilty

-by investing in the company. -[ Clears throat]

Mr. Chantry, Mr. Chantry, you exercise Sir Geoffrey.

Mr. Bellamy is not on trial.

Nevertheless, it is possible

that criminal proceedings could ensue from this committee's work

and in certain circumstances,

the report might have to be sent

to the director of public prosecutions.

I have no objection to anything Mr. Chantry has said.

If I had known of this contract before I bought the shares,

I would indeed be guilty of using privileged information

for personal gain.

There's no question of that.

Thank you, Mr. Bellamy.

So we may take it you did not know.

I did not.

I am a backbencher in opposition,

not party to war Office secrets.

Mr. Chantry, would it not be order if I was to...

Yes, indeed. Now, I think, is the time.

Yes.

Mr. Bellamy, we have,

through the courtesy of the central registrar,

access to certain documents

which are not normally available.

We've had no sight of any such documents, Sir William.

No, Sir Geoffrey, but you will hear of them.

Now, I have in my hand here a minute of the proceedings

of the Imperial Defence Committee

for Friday, June 27, 1905.

A well-attended meeting of that important body.

And among the names of members present

is listed that of a Mr. Richard Bellamy M.P.,

who was at that time

undersecretary of state at the Admiralty

in Mr. Balfour's government.

I admit I was on the Imperial Defence Committee at that time.

That was up until the change of government in 1905 when...

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now, on that day, June 27, 1905,

there were two matters on the agenda --

reports on the maneuvers of the German grand fleet...

A matter of great concern to me, of course.

And...

And a report on the development

of a promising new truck for the army

in its first stages of design

by Cartwright Engineering Company Ltd,

to be known as the Bulldog.

Now, from these minutes, it is perfectly clear

that the further development of that vehicle

was encouraged by, among others, Mr. Richard Bellamy.

Would you care to comment on that?

It was eight years ago.

How can I possibly remember details of the wretched truck

or the name of the manufacturers after all that time?

Can you prove you couldn't?

James, I can't.

Surely, Richard, all you need to do

is to tell them the name of the man at the club.

I will not betray a confidence, Hazel.

Not for a whole army of lawyers and politicians.

If they choose to put a scurrilous

and insulting interpretation on what I did in perfect innocence,

then be damned to them.

Yes.

And allow the press and public,

to mention nothing of your friends and family,

to go on believing

that you behaved in a dishonourable manner.

RICHARD: I did nothing of the sort.

Then prove it for them.

It's not up to me to prove anything.

The burden of proof is on them.

Father, you are guilty by implication.

James, I am not guilty.

Will you please stop making these accusations?

You're as bad as they are.

HAZEL: James, please.

Richard has been through a lot today.

- And more to come tomorrow. - Yes.

And whose fault is that?

Will they put him in prison, do you think?

I don't think.

I daren't think.

Where is that girl?

Ruby?

She's in the scullery.

Fetch her, Edward.

What do you want her for?

Oh, she's going up in the world.

She has correspondence.

Ruby?

Mrs. Bridges, please!

A letter is private, even to a kitchen maid.

I have the right.

If it's from some man, I'll give her one she won't forget.

You wanted me, Mr. Hudson?

You've had a letter, Ruby.

Oh, no, not me?

Yes. Here is the envelope.

Miss Ruby Finch, c/o 165 Eaton Place.

The idea.

Ruby Finch.

That's me name.

A man, Mrs. Bridges?

Oh, no, I never. I swear it's a lie.

Worse.

It's from Bradford, from your mother.

There you go.

You read it for me, Mrs. Bridges, would you?

Well, it would take me all day, and I've got pots to scour.

Is she all right?

It's not her leg, is it?

It's not me sister Ethel?

"Dear Ruby, you're to come home at once.

Your dad and me don't want you serving in no house

what gets in the papers.

Second, we do not want you working for someone

who like as not will soon be in prison,

your dad's sure of it."

"Third, I've got you a place as kitchen maid

with Dr. Reardon round the corner.

It's live-in and all found, so you won't be under my feet.

Enclosed, money for train.

PS. Spot died, run over by the brewer's dray.

Your dad and Ethel send their love.

Mother."

[ crying ]

GEOFFREY: Can you tell the committee

how you first came by the knowledge

that Richard Bellamy's name

was on the register of shareholders at Cartwrights?

I went to the company's office

and looked up the share register.

Did you find the names of any other Members of Parliament

on the register?

Anyone at all whose holding of shares

might have discomforted you?

I did not.

So there was no great Tory plot.

I doubt Whether even you would consider

Mr. Richard Bellamy's holding shares on his own

a Tory plot.

So, one begins to wonder why you made the expedition

to the company's offices in the first place.

I am interested in the good name of this House

and rectitude in public life.

Address the committee, if you please.

I am vigilant against corruption on behalf of my constituents.

Ah, yes, your constituents in Stutworth North, I believe.

Yeah. That is my constituency.

Now, up till 1904, Mr. Pritchett,

you were, I believe,

a shareholder in a company called Ranking Mechanicals.

I did have a few shares.

Well, what of it?

Were not Ranking Mechanicals the only possible competition

for that war Office contract?

Ranking Mechanicals, whose factory is in Stutworth North,

your constituency.

Look, I don't know what you're implying...

GEOFFREY: The committee, if you please.

I told her, madam, she can't go.

I told her, madam, she can't go.

I mean, I can't find another kitchen maid

at two minutes' notice.

And anyway, it's downright disloyal.

All right, Mrs. Bridges.

Ruby, we cannot go against your mother's wishes.

I don't want to go.

I like it here, madam.

Oh, there, there, Ruby.

HAZEL: Perhaps you could take her downstairs, Mrs. Bridges.

Yes, yes. Yes, madam.

I will write to your mother, Ruby,

and see if I can persuade her to change her mind.

That is all I can do.

Thank you, madam.

Come on, Ruby. Blow your nose.

Come along with me. I'm sorry, madam.

Thank you, Mrs. Bridges.

It seems as if Ruby's family have been poisoned

by what they read in the newspapers.

Yes, madam.

As working-class people,

they can hardly be expected not to know any better.

It would be a pity if she left.

Well, we'll just have to see.

Thank you, Hudson.

Hudson?

Madam.

HAZEL: I want to ask you a kindness.

Anything I can do, madam.

Please keep this to yourself, Hudson.

The night before Mr. Bellamy telephoned his stockbroker

about these wretched shares...

I do recall, madam.

Do you?

Do you remember the date?

Because, you see, Mr. Bellamy dined at his club that night,

and someone he met there, one of the members,

advised him to buy those shares.

Yes, madam.

Well, I won't go into all of the details, Hudson.

For various reasons,

Mr. Bellamy cannot himself reveal the man's name

to the committee of the inquiry,

and I'm --

That is, I and Captain James --

We must find out, you see,

so that Mr. Bellamy will be cleared of all this suspicion.

You will be hoping to persuade the gentleman to come forward?

Exactly.

I cannot myself go into a man's club and ask the hall porter

the name of any of the members

who might have spoken to Mr. Bellamy

on the night of, well, whatever it was.

It was the night of September the 9th, madam.

HAZEL: Really?

I have reason to remember

because the following day was the 10th,

St. Leger Day at Doncaster.

HAZEL: Are you sure?

Positive.

If I might take the afternoon off, madam.

Certainly, Hudson.

I put it to the honourable member for Stutworth North

that Rankings found out

that Richard Bellamy was a shareholder in Cartwrights,

their successful rivals,

that Rankings pressured him --

How, I don't know,

and heaven portend that I should find out --

to start this calumny not to destroy Richard Bellamy,

a mere victim standing in the way,

but to negate Cartwrights contract

by painting a picture of corruption

so that the war Office and the treasury

would be forced to cancel the contract.

I agree. The contract should be cancelled.

The whole thing should be re-examined.

And go to Rankings next time.

Well, that, if I may say so, would be disastrous --

to give the contract to another firm

when Cartwrights have already developed a vehicle,

a truck which can serve as a troop carrier,

supply vehicle, ambulance, even light artillery.

It seems you do remember the details, Mr. Bellamy.

And with enviable clarity.

Mr. Challen?

Country member. Doesn't come in much.

Would that have been the night before the St. Leger,

September the 9th?

Yes, I reckon it was.

Can you be sure?

Quite sure.

You see, this siphon of soda squirted all over Mr. Challen,

and when I took the siphon back to Jack in the dispense

and told him as Mr. Challen had wet his trousers,

ho, ho, ho, he laughed

and he said it must be a good omen

'cause he was backing a horse called April Showers

at Doncaster the next day.

Could you tell me this Mr. Challen's address?

Oh, no, I can't do that.

Against the rules to give members' addresses to strangers.

Sorry, it's more than me job's worth.

But you must have a members' address book.

In the old porter's cubbyhole.

Wait here.

That I knew something of the War Office hopes for Bulldog,

I have no wish to deny.

And I was not deceiving the committee in saying otherwise.

It had simply gone out of my mind.

I admit that in July of this year,

I was the possessor of the capital sum of £5,000

without, to be frank, hopes of any more.

While pondering over this,

I came across an old friend I had not seen for many years

whose name,

because his advice was given to me in the strictest confidence,

I am unable to disclose.

Well, were we to believe in this man's existence,

which we must question,

another question would have to be answered.

How much did this individual know, and how did he know it?

Then I can only be right to protect his name.

Yes, I think you are.

Though at what a cost.

There seems nothing more to be said on either side,

so we will adjourn and consider our report tomorrow.

Sir Geoffrey.

I've found out the name of the man at the club.

- Have you, by George? - HAZEL: Yes.

Are you sure?

HAZEL: I hope so.

Where's Richard?

Oh, he's in bed.

He's very tired.

Well, who was it, then?

A man called Challen.

Jack Challen.

- Where's the "Who's who"? - Over there.

I wanted to talk to you first before I telephoned him.

No, no, no, don't telephone.

If he were going to come forward,

he would have done so by now.

His address is Hillgreen Hall, near Taunton.

This should interest the committee.

Now, you told us the other day that it never occurred to you

to ask this man his reasons for advising you to buy the shares.

RICHARD: That is right.

You knew, and, indeed, you made it clear

to the chief whip and to myself

that this was not a man involved in politics.

Yes.

Did you know he was involved in business?

I knew that he was a businessman.

Now, I'm going to suggest to you

that this man is a senior director of Cartwrights

and he is married

to the daughter of the company's chairman,

Mr. William Cartwright,

and that his reason for demanding your discretion

was that he knew of the contract with the war Office

about to be signed by his firm

and that he could be in breach of city ethics

by tipping his company's shares at that time to anyone.

What am I supposed to say to that?

You are under oath

to answer questions put to you here truthfully.

And I shall ask you one more question,

which you must answer truthfully.

What is your question?

Is the name of the man who advised you to buy those shares

John Stuart Challen?

Yes.

And may God and Challen forgive me.

[ Door closes]

Sir.

Well, Richard?

There is to be no report.

At least not one that will cause any scandal.

I am declared innocent, if foolish,

and my lack of forethought is deplored.

Deplored?

How dare they?

How dare they?

They could have dared a great deal worse.

- How dare you? - What?

- Going to my club. - I didn't go to your club.

Sending my servant, involving my servant in my affairs.

Someone had to.

Clubs exist so that women and servants can't meddle.

As a result, I've been forced to break my word.

You make me a man whose word is worthless.

I'd rather prison than that.

Then you are a fool.

Do you think I give a damn about your word-of-honour,

hand-on-your-heart, public-school code?

Such things matter to a man.

They don't matter to a woman.

Any woman.

We fight for things that do matter, like our families.

And you are my family, like it or not.

Women should keep out of men's affairs.

Keep out!

Newspapers, servants leaving,

and those that are here in turmoil.

I don't care!

It was wrong of you and Geoffrey Dillon

to force Challen's name out into the open against his will

and possibly get him to serious trouble with his company.

HAZEL: He should have come forward, but he didn't dare.

The man's a coward.

Oh, Richard.

Please.

Don't be angry just because you needed help.

I'm angry because you behaved so willfully and improperly.

Clearly, your ways are not yet our ways.

I'm sorry about that.

I frequently think that you and James are insane.

Because we have standards?

I have standards, and I obey them.

You won't convince me I've done anything wrong.

Our ways will have to become your ways.

About that there can be no argument.

And I suggest you start working on it this very minute.

Now please leave my study.

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