Original subtitles

Child. I rode in the night air instead of in your bed. You'll catch your death.

Luca told me you were asleep.

I sent her away. I wanted to be alone.

Stars are so beautiful.

What's the matter?

Such news. There's been a battle. A great battle at Slivnitsa. A victory.

And it was won by Sergius.

Oh, but it's father's day. Of course. He sends me the news.

Sergius is the hero of the hour. The idol of the regiment.

Mummy, tell me how was it? How was it? Describe it to me.

Oh, you can't guess how splendid it is. A cavalry charge. Think of it, Raina.

He defied our Russian commanders, acted without orders, led a charge on his own

responsibility, headed it himself, was the first man to sweep through their

guns. Can't you see it, Raina?

Our gallant, splendid Bulgarians, their swords and eyes flashing.

Thundering down like an avalanche, scattering the wretched Serbs and their

dandified Austrian officers like chaff.

And you... You kept Sergius waiting a year before you'd be betrothed to him.

Oh, if you have a drop of Bulgarian blood in your veins, you will worship

him when he comes back.

Ah, but what will he care for my poor little worship after the acclamations of

a whole army of heroes?

But no matter.

I'm so happy.

So proud.

Well, it proves that all our ideas were real after all. Our ideas real? What do

you mean?

Our ideas are what Sergius would do.

Our patriotism, our heroic ideals.

I sometimes used to doubt whether they're anything but dreams.

Oh, what faithless little creatures girls are.

When I buckled on Sergius's sword, he looked so noble, it was treason to think

of disillusion or humiliation or failure.

And yet...

Promise me you won't tell them.

Don't ask me to keep promises until I know what I'm promising.

Well... It came to my head just as he was holding me in his arms

and looking into my eyes that perhaps we only had our heroic ideals because we

were so fond of reading Byron and Pushkin and because we were so delighted

with the opera that season at Bucharest.

Real life is so seldom like that.

Indeed never as I knew it then.

Only think, mother, I doubted him.

I wondered whether all his heroic qualities and his soldiership might not

prove mere imagination when he went into real battle.

I had an uneasy fear that he might cut a poor figure there beside all those

clever officers from the Tsar's court.

A poor figure?

Shame on you.

The Serbs have Austrian officers just as clever as the Russians.

But we have beaten them in every battle for all that. Oh, I know.

I was only a prosaic little coward.

Oh, but I think it's all true.

Sergius is just as splendid and noble as he looks.

And the world is really a glorious world for women who can see its glory and men

who can act its romance.

Oh, what happiness.

What unspeakable fulfillment.

If you please, madam, all the windows are to be closed and the shutters made

fast. They say there may be shooting in the streets.

The Serbs are being chased right back through the pass and they say they may

run into the town.

Our cavalry will be after them and our people will be ready for them, you may

be sure, now they're running away.

I can see that everything is made safe downstairs.

I wish our people were not so cruel.

What glory is there in killing wretched fugitives?

Cruel? Do you suppose they would hesitate to kill you? Or worse?

Leave the shutters, Luca, so I can just close them if I hear any noise. Oh, no,

my dear, you must leave them fastened. You'd be sure to drop asleep and they

would fall open. Make them fast, Luca.

Yes, ma'am.

Don't be anxious about me, Mother.

The moment I hear a shot, I shall blow out the candles and roll myself up in

bed with my ears well covered.

Quite the wisest thing you can do, my love. Good night.

Good night.

Wish me joy.

This is the happiest night of my life.

If only there were no fugitives.

Go to bed, dear, and don't think of them.

Miss Rainer, if you would like the shutters open, just give them a push

like this.

One of them ought to be bolted at the bottom, but the bolt's gone.

Thanks, Luca, but we must do as we're told.

Oh, I shall never be unworthy of you, my soul's hero.

Never, never, never.

Don't call out or you'll be shot.

Be good and no harm will happen to you.

Take care. It's no use trying to run away.

But who are you?

Remember, if you raise your voice, my revolver will go off.

Now strike a light and let me see you. Do you hear?

Excuse my disturbing you, but do you recognise my uniform?

Serb. If I'm caught, I shall be killed. Do you understand that?

Yes.

Well... I don't intend to get killed if I can help it.

Do you understand that?

I suppose not.

Some soldiers I know are afraid to die.

All of them, dear lady, all of them, believe me.

It is our duty to live as long as we can.

Now, if you raise an alarm... You will shoot me.

How do you know, sir, that I am afraid to die?

Ah, but suppose I don't shoot you. What then?

A lot of your cavalry will burst into this pretty room of yours and slaughter

me here like a pig, for I'll fight like a demon.

They shan't get me into the street to amuse themselves with.

I know what sort they are.

Are you prepared to receive that sort of company in your present undress?

Hardly presentable, eh?

Stop! Where are you going?

Only to get my cloak.

Good idea.

I'll wear the cloak, and you'll take care that no one comes in here and sees

you without it.

This is a better weapon than the revolver, eh? It is not the weapon of a

gentleman. It's good enough for a man with only you to stand between him and

death.

Do you hear?

If you're going to bring those blackguards in on me, you shall receive

them as you are.

Open the door!

Open the door!

Wake up, will you?

It's going to be right, sir. My lady, my lady.

The numbers were on the back just a minute ago, sir, I swear it.

But you'd better get round that checker.

No, you still.

I'm done for.

Quick, wrap yourself up. They're coming.

Don't mention it.

What will you do?

The first man in will find out. Keep out of the way and don't look. It won't last

long, but it will not be nice.

I'll help you. I'll save you.

You can't. I can. I'll hide you.

Here, behind the curtains.

There's just half a chance if you keep your head.

Remember, nine soldiers out of ten are born fools.

Oh!

If they find me, I promise you'll fight. A devil of a fight!

All right!

One of these racist serfs has been seen climbing up the water pipe to your

balcony. Our men want to search for him and they're so wild and drunk and

furious. My lady says...

They shall not search in here. Why have they been let in?

Hey, my darling, are you safe?

Have you seen anyone or heard anything?

I heard the shooting.

Surely the soldiers will not dare come in here. I have found a Russian officer.

Thank heaven. He knows Sergius.

They're coming in now, sir. My daughter will receive them.

Madam.

Good evening, gracious lady. I'm sorry to intrude, but there is a Serb hiding

on the balcony.

Will you and the gracious lady, your mother, please withdraw whilst we

search? Nonsense, sir. As you can see, there is nobody on the balcony.

Take care.

Cease firing, now, you fools, do you hear?

Cease firing, damn you!

Would anyone have got in without your knowledge?

Were you asleep?

Your neighbours have their heads so full of runaway Serbs that they see them

everywhere.

Gracious lady, a thousand pardons.

Good night.

Narrow shave, but a miss is as good as a mile.

Dear young lady, your servant to the death.

I only wish for your sake I had joined the Bulgarian army instead of the other

one. I'm not a native Serb.

No, you are one of the Austrians who set the Serbs on to rob us of our national

liberty and to officer their army for them.

We hate them.

Austrian? Oh, not I.

Don't hate me, dear young lady.

I'm a Swiss, fighting merely as a professional soldier. I joined the Serbs

because they came first on the road from Switzerland.

Be generous. You've beaten us hollow.

Have I not been generous?

Oh, noble, heroic.

But I'm not saved yet.

This particular rush will soon pass through, but the pursuit will go on all

night by fits and starts. I must take my chance to get off in a quiet interval.

You don't mind my waiting a minute or two, do you?

No, no, not at all. Won't you sit down? Oh, thanks.

Don't frighten me like that. What is it?

Your revolver. It was staring that officer in the face all the time. What

an escape.

How's that?

I'm sorry to have frightened you.

Pray, take this to protect yourself against me.

No use, dear lady.

There's nothing in it. It's not loaded.

Loaded, by all means. Oh, I've no ammunition.

What use are cartridges in battle?

I always carry chocolate instead.

I finished the last cake of that hours ago.

Chocolate? Do you stuff your pockets with sweets like a schoolboy, even in

the field?

Yes. Isn't it contemptible?

I wish I had some now.

Allow me.

Sorry, I've eaten them all except these.

Oh, you're an angel.

Mmm.

Cream. Delicious.

Bless you, dear lady.

You can always tell an old soldier by the inside of his holsters and cartridge

boxes.

The young ones carry pistols and cartridges.

The old ones grub.

Thank you.

Don't do things so suddenly, gracious lady.

It's mean to revenge yourself because I frightened you just now.

Frightened me?

Do you know, sir, that though I'm only a woman...

I think I'm at heart as brave as you.

I should think so.

You haven't been under fire for three days as I have.

I can stand two days without showing it much, but no man can stand three days.

I'm as nervous as a mouse.

Would you like to see me cry?

No. If you would, all you have to do is scold me, just as if I were a little boy

and you my nurse.

If I were in camp now, they'd play all sorts of tricks on me.

I'm sorry.

I won't scold you.

You must excuse me, but you see, our soldiers are not like that.

Oh, yes, they are.

There are only two sorts of soldiers, old ones and young ones.

I've served 14 years.

Half of your fellows never smelt powder before.

Why, how is it that you've just beaten us? Sheer ignorance of the art of war,

nothing else.

Never saw anything so unprofessional in my life.

Oh, was it unprofessional to beat you then?

Well, come, is it professional?

to throw a regiment of cavalry on a battery of machine guns with the dead

certainty that if the guns ever go off, not a horse or man will get within 50

yards of the fire.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.

Oh, did you see the great cavalry charge?

Oh, tell me about it.

Describe it to me.

Um, you never saw a cavalry charge, did you?

Well, how could I?

Ah, perhaps not.

No, no, no, of course not.

Um, well, it's a funny sight.

It's like slinging a handful of peas against a window pane.

First one comes... then two or three close behind him, then all the rest in a

lump. Ah, the fast one. The bravest of the brave.

You should see the poor devil pulling at his horse.

Why should he pull at his horse? It's running away with him, of course. Do you

suppose the fellow wants to get there before the others and be killed?

Then they all come.

You can tell the young ones by their wildness and slashing.

The old ones come bunched up under the number one guard.

They know that they are mere projectiles that it's no use trying to fight.

And the wounds are mostly broken knees from the horses cannoning together.

Oh.

But I don't believe the first one is a coward.

I know that he is a hero.

That's what you'd have said if you'd seen the first man in the charge today.

I knew it. Oh, tell me. Tell me about him.

Well, he did it like an operatic tenor.

A regular handsome fellow with flashing eyes and lovely moustaches, shouting his

battle cry and charging like Don Quixote at the windmills. We did laugh.

You dared to laugh?

Yes.

But then...

When the sergeant ran up white as a sheet and told us they'd sent us the

wrong ammunition and that we couldn't fire around for the next ten minutes, we

laughed at the other side of our mouths.

I've never felt so sick in my life, though I've been in one or two very

tight places.

I hadn't even a revolver cartridge.

Only chocolate.

With no bayonets, nothing.

Of course, they'd just cut us to pieces.

And there was Don Quixote, flourishing like a drum major and thinking he'd done

the cleverest thing ever known, whereas he ought to be court-martialed.

Of all the fools ever let loose on a field of battle, that fellow must be the

very maddest.

He and his regiment simply committed suicide, only the pistol misfired,

that's all.

Indeed. Do you know him again, if you saw him? Shall I ever forget him?

This is the photograph of the gentleman, the patriot and the hero, to whom I am

betrothed.

I'm really very sorry.

Was it fair to lead me on?

Yes, that's Don Quixote, not a doubt of it.

Why do you laugh?

I didn't laugh, I assure you.

At least I didn't mean to, but when I think of him charging the windmills and

imagining he was doing the finest thing... Give me back the portrait, sir.

Of course, certainly. I'm very sorry.

Perhaps I'm quite wrong, you know.

No doubt of it.

Most likely, he got wind of the cartridge business somehow and knew it

was a safe job.

You mean to say that he was a pretender and a coward?

You did not dare say that before.

It's no use, dear lady. I can't make you see it from the professional... So

much the better for you. How?

You are my enemy and you are at my mercy.

What would I do if I were a professional soldier?

ah true dear lady.

you're always right.

I know how good you've been to me.

to my last hour I shall remember those three chocolate creams.

it was unsoldierly but it was angelic.

thank you.

and now I will do a soldierly thing.

you cannot stay here after what you have just said about my future husband.

But I will go out onto the balcony to see if it is safe for you to climb down

into the street. Down the water pipe? No, stop! Wait! I can't. I daren't.

The very thought of it makes me giddy.

I came up it fast enough with death behind me, but to face it now in cold

blood, I...

It's

no use.

I give up.

I'm beaten.

I'll give the alarm.

Come, don't be disheartened.

Oh, you are a very poor soldier, aren't you?

A chocolate cream soldier.

Cheer up.

It takes less courage to climb down than to face capture. Remember that.

No.

Capture only means death.

And death is sleep.

Oh, sleep, sleep, sleep.

Undisturbed sleep.

Climbing down that pipe means doing something, exerting myself, thinking.

Death ten times over first.

Are you as sleepy as all that?

No. I've not had two hours undisturbed sleep since I joined.

I haven't closed my eyes for 48 hours.

What am I to do with you?

Of course, I must do something.

You see, sleep or no sleep, hunger or no hunger, tired or not tired, you can

always do a thing when you know it must be done.

Well, that pipe must be got down.

Do you hear that, you chocolate cream soldier?

But what if you fall? I shall sleep as if the stones were a feather bed.

Good night.

I'll kill you.

Doesn't matter.

It's all in my day's work. I'm bound to take my chance.

Now, do what I tell you.

Put out the candle so they shan't see the light when I open the shutters and

keep away from the window, whatever you do.

If they see me, they're sure to have a shot at me. But they're sure to see you.

It's bright moonlight.

I'll save you.

Oh, how can you be so indifferent? You want me to save you, don't you?

I don't want to be troublesome.

Oh!

I'm not indifferent, dear young lady, I assure you. But how is it to be done?

Well, come away from the window.

Now, listen.

You must trust to our hospitality.

You do not yet know in whose house you are.

I am a Petkoff.

A Pet what?

I mean to say that I belong to the family of the Petkoffs, the richest and

the best known in our country. Oh, yes, of course. I beg your pardon. The

Petkoffs, to be sure.

How stupid of me.

You know you never heard of them until this moment. How can you stoop to

pretend? Forgive me. I'm too tired to think.

Well, the change of subject was too much for me.

Don't scold me.

I'm sorry.

I forgot.

It might make you cry.

Now, listen.

I must tell you that my father holds the highest position of any Bulgarian in our

army. He is a major.

A major? Bless me. Think of that.

You showed great ignorance in thinking it necessary to climb up to the balcony,

because ours is the only private house with two rows of windows.

There is a flight of stairs inside to get up and down by.

Stairs? How grand.

You live in great luxury indeed, dear young lady.

Do you know what a library is?

A library? A room full of books?

We have one. The only one in Bulgaria.

Actually, a real library. I should like to see that.

I tell you these things to show you that you're not in the house of some ignorant

country folk who would kill you the moment they saw your Serbian uniform,

but among civilized people.

We go to Bucharest every year for the opera season, and I have spent a whole

month in Vienna.

Oh, I saw that, dear young lady. I saw it once that you knew the world.

Have you ever seen the great opera of Ernani?

Is that the one with the devil in it in red velvet and a soldier's chorus?

No. Then I don't know it.

I thought you might have remembered the great scene where Ernani, flying from

his foes just as you are tonight, takes refuge in the castle of his bitterest

enemy, a Castilian noble.

The noble refuses to give him up. His guest is sacred to him.

Have your people got that notion?

My mother and I understand that notion, as you call it.

And if instead of threatening me with your pistol, you had simply thrown

yourself as a fugitive on our hospitality, you would have been as safe

as in your father's house.

I'm quite sure.

It's useless to try to make you understand.

Don't be angry.

You see how awkward it would be for me if there were any mistake.

My father is a very hospitable man. He keeps six hotels.

but I couldn't trust him as far as that.

what about your father?

he is away at Slivnica fighting for his country.

I answer for your safety.

there is my hand in pledge of it. will that reassure you?

better not touch my hand dear young lady. I must have a wash first.

that is very nice of you. I can see that you are a gentleman.

You must not think that I'm surprised.

Bulgarians of really good standing, people in our position, wash their hands

nearly every day.

So you can see that I can appreciate your delicacy.

You may take my hand.

Thanks, gracious lady. I feel safe at last.

And now, would you mind breaking the news to your mother?

I'd better not stay here secretly longer than is necessary.

If you'll be so good as to keep perfectly still whilst I'm away.

Certainly.

You're not going to sleep, are you?

Do you hear? Wake up. You're falling asleep.

Falling asleep? No, no, not in the least in the world, I assure you. I was only

thinking. It's all right. I'm wide awake.

Will you please stand up whilst I'm away?

Certainly.

certainly you may depend on me

sleep

sleep sleep where am I that's what I want to know where am I

I must keep awake.

Nothing keeps me awake except danger. Remember that?

Danger, danger.

Where's danger? I must find it.

What am I looking for? Sleep?

Danger? I don't know.

Ah, yes.

Now I know. I'm to go to bed.

But not to sleep.

I'm sure not to sleep because of danger.

Not to lie down either. Only sit down.

He's gone. I left him here. Here? Then he must have climbed down from... Oh.

Fast asleep?

The brute!

Sir!

Sir!

Sir! Oh, don't, Mama.

Poor darling's worn out. He didn't sleep.

Poor darling?

You've worn it in time, Luca.

Mend your manners.

I know the mistress.

She's so grand that she never dreamed that any servant could dare be

disrespectful to her.

If she once suspects that you're defying her, out you go.

I do defy her. I will defy her. What do I care for her?

If you quarrel with the family, I never can marry you. It's the same as if you

quarrel with me.

You take her part against me, do you?

I shall always be dependent upon the goodwill of the family.

When I leave their service and start a shop in Sofia...

Their custom will be half my capital.

Their bad word would ruin me.

You have no spirit.

I should like to catch them saying a word against me.

I should have expected more sense from you, Luca.

But you're young, you're young.

Yes, and you like me the better for it, don't you?

But I know some family secrets they wouldn't care to have told young as I

am. Let them quarrel with me if they dare.

Do you know what they'd do if they heard you talk like that?

What could they do?

discharge you for untruthfulness?

Who'd believe any stories you told after that?

Who'd give you another situation?

Who in this house would dare be seen speaking to you ever again?

How long would your father be left on his little farm?

You don't know the power such high people have over the like of you and me

when we try to rise out of our poverty against them.

Look at me.

Ten years in their service.

Do you think I know no secrets?

I know things about the mistress that she wouldn't have the master know for a

thousand labors.

I know things about him that she wouldn't let him hear the last of for

six months if I blabbed them to her.

I know things about Raina that would break off her match with Sojourn. How do

you know?

I never told you.

So... that's your little secret is it?

I thought it might be something like that.

well you take my advice.

be respectful and make the mistress feel that no matter what you know or don't

know she can depend on you to hold your tongue and serve the family faithfully.

that's what they like and that's how you'll make most out of them.

you have the soul of a servant Nicola.

yes that's the secret of success in service.

My word for it, Luca, the war's over.

Off with you and get some fresh coffee.

You'll never put the soul of a servant into me.

Hey!

Ah!

Ah!

Breakfast out here, eh?

Yes, sir. The mistress and Miss Reina have just gone in.

They're going?

Say, I've come.

Bring me some fresh coffee. It's coming, sir.

Have you told the mistress yet? Yes, she's coming.

The Serbs haven't run away with you, have they?

No, sir.

That's right.

You brought me some cognac?

Yes, sir.

That's right.

Oh, my dear. What a lovely surprise for us.

Have they brought you some fresh coffee?

Luke has been looking after me.

Oh, the war's over.

The treaty was signed three days ago at Bucharest, and the decree for our army

to demobilise was issued yesterday.

Oh? Have you let the Austrians force you to make peace?

My dear, they didn't consult me.

What could I do?

Of course, he made quite sure that the treaty was an honourable one.

It declares peace.

Peace!

But not friendly relations.

Remember that. They wanted to put that in, but I insisted on its being stuck

out. What more could I do?

You could have annexed Serbia and made Prince Alexander Emperor of the Balkans.

That's what I would have done.

I don't doubt that in the least, my dear.

But I would have to subdue the whole Austrian Empire first.

And that would have kept me away from you.

And I've missed you greatly.

have you been?

oh my usual sore throats that's all. oh well that comes from washing your neck

too often. I'm often told... nonsense Paul.

I don't believe in going too far with these modern customers. all this washing

can't be healthy. I mean it's not natural.

there was an Englishman at Philipopolis who used to wet himself all over with

cold water every morning when he got up.

disgusting. it all comes to the English.

their clit is so dirty they have to be perpetually washing themselves. my

father never had a bath in his life.

lived to be 98.

healthiest man in bulgaria. i don't mind a good wash.

once a week to keep up my position but every day i carry the thing to

ridiculous extreme.

paul you're a barbarian at heart still. i hope you behaved yourself before all

those russian officers.

i did my best.

i took care to show them we have a library.

ah but you didn't tell them that we had an electric bell in it. i had one put

up.

what's an electric bell?

You touch a button, something tinkles in the kitchen and Nicola comes up.

Why not shout for it?

Civilised people don't shout for their servants, Paul. I've learnt that while

you were away.

I tell you, I've learnt something too.

Civilised people don't hang up their washing where visitors can see it. So

you'd better have that put away somewhere else. That's absurd, Paul. I

don't believe really refined people notice such things.

Nicola!

There's Sergius.

Nicola!

Don't shout, Paul. It really isn't nice.

Bosch! Nicola!

Yes, sir.

Are you deaf?

Can't you hear, Major Serrano?

Yes, Major.

You must talk to him, my dear, until Raina takes him off my hands. He bores

my life out about not promoting him. Over my head, if you please. You'll have

to get a promotion when he marries Raina. Besides, the country should

insist upon having at least one native general.

Yes?

So they can throw away whole brigades instead of regiments. It's no use, my

dear. Here isn't the slightest chance of a motion until we are quite sure that

the peace will be a lasting one.

Major Sergius Serrano.

Whoa there, my old warrior.

Ah!

How you doing,

Sergius? Glad to see you.

My dear Sergius.

my dear mother if I may call you so. mother-in-law Sergius mother-in-law. sit

down have some coffee. thank you.

none for me.

you look superb.

the campaign has improved you Sergius.

everybody here is mad about you. we're all wild with enthusiasm about your

magnificent cavalry charge.

madam it was the cradle and the grave of my military reputation.

how so?

I won the battle the wrong way while our worthy Russian generals were losing it

the right way. In short, I upset their plans and wounded their self-esteem.

Two Cossack colonels had their regiments routed on the most correct principles of

scientific warfare. Two major generals got killed strictly according to

military etiquette. The two colonels are now major generals.

And I am still a simple major?

You shall not remain so, Sergius. The women are on your side and we shall see

that justice is done. It is too late.

I have only waited for the peace to send in my resignation.

Your resignation? You must withdraw it.

I never withdraw.

Who would suppose you would do such a thing?

Everyone that knew me, but enough of myself and my affairs. How is Raina?

And where is Raina?

Raina is here.

pretty isn't it? she always appears at the right moment. yes she listens for

it. it's an abominable habit.

and so Sergius you are no longer a soldier.

I am no longer a soldier.

soldiering my dear madam is the coward's art of attacking mercilessly when you

are strong and keeping out of harm's way when you are weak. that is the whole

secret of successful fighting. get your enemy at a disadvantage and never on any

account fight him on equal terms.

but they wouldn't let us stand up and make a fair fight.

I suppose soldiering is a trade like any other trade.

precisely but I have no ambition to shine as a tradesman.

So I have taken the advice of that bagman of a captain that settled the

exchange of prisoners at Pirot and given it up. What? Is that Swiss fellow?

I haven't thought about the exchange since he overreached us about those

horses. Well, of course he overreached us. His father was a hotel and livery

stable keeper. He owed his first step to his knowledge in horse dealing. Ha!

He was a soldier.

Every inch a soldier.

If only I'd bought those horses for my regiment.

instead of foolishly leading it into danger I should have been a field

marshal now.

a Swiss?

what was he doing in the Serbian army? well a volunteer of course keen on

picking up his profession.

we wouldn't have been able to begin fighting it. these foreigners hadn't

shown us how to do it. we knew nothing about it. neither did the Serbs.

were there many Swiss officers in the Serbian army? no.

All Austrians, this is all our offices, we're Russians.

The only Swiss I came across.

I'll never trust a Swiss again. He humbugged us into giving him 50 able

-bodied men for 200 worn-out charges.

They weren't even eatable.

We were two innocent children in the hands of that consummate soldier, Major.

Simply two innocent little children.

What was he like?

Regina, what a silly question.

He was like a commercial traveler in uniform, bourgeois to his boots.

Surgis! Tell Catherine that queer story his friend told us about how he escaped

after Slipnitzer.

Do you remember?

The body being hid by two women.

Oh, yes.

Quite a romance.

He was serving in the very battery that I so unprofessionally charged. Being a

thorough soldier, he ran away like the rest of them with our cavalry at his

heels.

To escape their savers.

He climbed up a water pipe and made his way into the bedroom of a young

Bulgarian lady.

The young lady was enchanted by his commercial traveller's manners. She very

modestly entertained him for an hour or so, and then called in her mother, lest

her conduct should appear unmaidenly.

The old lady was equally fascinated, and the fugitive was sent on his way in the

morning, disguised in an old coat, belonging to the master of the house who

was away at the war.

Your life in the camp has made you coarse, Sergius.

I did not think you would have repeated such a story before me. She's right,

Sergius. If such women exist, we should be spared the knowledge of them. Oh,

pooh, nonsense.

What does it matter?

No, Petkov, I was wrong.

I beg your pardon. I have behaved abominably.

Forgive me, Raina, and you too, madam, the glimpses I have had of the...

seamy side of life during the last few months have made me cynical but I should

not have brought my cynicism here Raina least of all in your presence.

I must... Stop the nonsense Sergius. I've never heard so much fuss about

nothing. A soldier's daughter should be able to stand up without flinching to a

little strong conversation.

Come.

It's time for us to get to business.

We have to make up our minds about how to get those three regiments back to

Philippopolis. There's no forage for them on the Saphir route you see. Now

come along.

Paul, can't you spare Sergius for a few moments? Reiner's hardly seen him yet.

Perhaps I can help settle about the regiments. Impossible, dear madam. Oh,

no, you stay, my dear Sergius. There's no hurry.

I want a word or two with Paul myself.

Now, dear, come and see the electric bell.

Am I forgiven?

My hero.

My king.

My queen.

Oh, how I've envied you, Sergius.

You've been out in the world, on the field of battle, able to prove yourself

fair worthy of any woman in the world, whilst I have had to sit at home,

inactive, dreaming, useless.

doing nothing that could give me the right to call myself worthy of any man.

Dearest, all my deeds have been yours. You have inspired me.

I have gone through the war like a knight in a tournament with his lady

looking down at him.

And you have never been absent from my thoughts for a moment.

Sergius, I think we two have found the higher love.

When I think of you, I feel I could never do a base deed or think an ignoble

thought. My lady and my saint.

My lord, my master. Let me be the worshipper, dear. You little know how

unworthy even the best man is of a girl's pure passion.

I trust you.

I love you.

You will never disappoint me, Sergius.

I can't pretend to talk indifferently before her.

My heart is too full.

I will go and get my hat, and then we can go out into London tonight. Wouldn't

you like that?

Be quick. If you are five minutes, it will seem like five hours.

Luca, do you know what the higher love is?

No, sir.

Very fatiguing thing to keep up for any length of time, Luca.

One feels the need of some relief after it.

Perhaps you would like some coffee, sir? Thank you, Luca.

Oh, sir, you know I didn't mean that.

I'm surprised at you.

I'm surprised at myself, Luca.

What would Sergius, the hero of Slivnitsa, say if he saw me now?

What would Sergius, the apostle of the higher love, say if he saw me now?

What would the half-dozen Sergiuses that keep popping in and out of this handsome

figure of mine say if he caught us here?

Do you consider this figure handsome, Luca? Let me go, sir. I shall be

disgraced. Will you let go?

No.

Then stand back where we can't be seen. Have you no common sense?

Ah, that's reasonable.

I may have been seen from the windows.

Miss Ryanu's sure to be spying about after you. Take care, Luca.

I may be worthless enough to betray the higher love, but do not you insult it.

Not for the world, sir, I'm sure.

May I go on with my work, please, now?

You are a provoking little witch, Luca.

If you were in love with me, would you spy out of windows on me?

Well, you see, sir...

Since you say you're half a dozen different gentlemen all at once, I

should have a great deal to look after.

Witty as well as pretty.

No! I don't want your kisses.

Gentle folk are all alike.

You making love to me behind Miss Ryan's back.

She doing the same behind yours.

Luca! It shows how little you really care.

If... Our conversation is to continue, Luca. You will please remember that a

gentleman does not discuss the conduct of the lady he is engaged to with her

maid. It's so hard to know what a gentleman considers right.

I thought by your trying to kiss me that you'd given up being so particular.

Devil!

Devil!

I expect one of the six of you is very like me, sir.

But I am only Miss Ryan as a maid.

Which one of the six is the real man? That's the question that torments me.

One of them is a hero, another a buffoon, another a humbug, another

perhaps a bit of a blackguard.

And one at least is a coward.

Jealous, like all cowards.

Luca. Yes?

Who is my rival? You shall never get that out of me, for love or money. Why?

Never mind why.

Besides, you would tell that I told you, and I should lose my place. No, on the

honor of...

On the honour of a man capable of behaving as I have been behaving for the

last five minutes, who is he?

I don't know.

I never saw him. I only heard his voice through the door of her room.

Damn nature, now, Dale!

Oh, I mean no harm.

You've no right to take up my words like that.

The mistress knows all about it.

And I tell you, if that gentleman ever comes here again, Miss Reiner will marry

him whether he likes it or not.

I know the difference between the sort of manner you and she put on before one

another and the real manner. Now listen, you, to me!

Not so tight. You're hurting me. That doesn't matter. You have stained my

honour by making me a party to your eavesdropping and you have betrayed your

mistress. Please.

Sad shoes.

You are an abominable little clod of common clay with the soul of a servant.

I know how to hurt with your tongue as well as with your hands.

But I don't care.

Now I've found out.

That whatever clay I'm made of, you're made of the same.

As for her, she's a liar.

And her fine heirs are a cheat, and I'm worth six of her.

Luca!

A gentleman has no right to hurt a woman under any circumstances. I beg your

pardon.

That sort of apology may satisfy a lady.

Of what use is it to a servant?

Ah.

You wish to be paid for the hurt.

I want my hurt made well.

How?

Never.

I'm ready.

What's the matter? Have you been flirting with Luca?

No, no, no.

How can you think such a thing?

Oh, forgive me, dear.

It was only a jest.

I'm so happy today.

I'm sorry to disturb you children, but Paul is distracted with the regiment. He

doesn't know how to send them to Philippopolis, and he objects to every

suggestion of mine.

You must come in and help, Sergius. He's in here.

But we're just going for a walk. I shall not be long. Wait just five minutes.

I shall wait in full view of the library windows. Be sure you draw father's

attention to me. And if you're a moment longer than five minutes, I shall go and

fetch you.

Regiments or no regiments.

Very well.

Imagine them meeting that

Swiss and him telling them the whole story.

The very first thing your father asked for was the old coat we sent him off in.

A nice mess you've got us into.

A little beast.

Little beast?

What little beast?

To go and tell.

Oh, if I had him here, I'd cram him with chocolate creams and he couldn't ever

speak again.

Don't talk such stuff.

Tell me the truth, Raina.

How long was he in your room before you came for me?

Oh, I forget.

You cannot forget.

Did he really climb up after the soldiers were gone, or was he there when

the officers searched the room?

No.

oh yes.

I think he must have been there. you think?

oh Raina Raina. is anything ever straightforward with you?

if Sergius is to find out it will be all over between you.

oh I know Sergius is your pet.

I sometimes wish you could marry him instead of me.

you would just suit him.

you could pet him and spoil him and mother him to perfection.

upon my word.

I always feel a longing to do or say something dreadful to him to shock his

propriety. To scandalize the five senses out of him.

I don't care whether he finds out about the chocolate cream soldier or not.

I half hope he may.

And what should I be able to tell your father, pray?

Poor father.

As if he could help himself.

Oh, if you were only ten years younger.

There's a gentleman just called, madam. A Serbian officer.

Serb? And how dare he?

I forgot.

We're at peace now.

I suppose we shall have them calling every day to pay their compliments.

Well, if he's an officer, why don't you tell your master? He's in the library

with Major Saranov. Why'd you come to me?

But he asked for you, madam.

And I don't think he knows who you are. He said the lady of the house.

He gave me this little ticket for you.

Captain Blunchley?

That's a German name.

Swiss, madam.

Swiss!

What's he like?

He has a big carpet bag, madam.

Oh, heavens.

He's come to return the coat.

Send him away.

Say we're not at home, ask him to leave his address, and tell him I'll write to

him. No, stop.

That will never do. Wait.

The Master and Major Serranoff are busy in the library, aren't they?

Yes, madam.

Bring the gentleman out here at once.

Be very polite to him.

Don't delay.

Here.

Leave that here. Go straight back to him. Yes, madam.

Luca. Yes, madam. Is the library door shut?

I think so, madam. If not, shut it as you pass through. Yes, madam.

Stop.

Tell Nicola to bring his bag here after him. Don't forget.

His bag? Yes.

Here. As soon as possible.

Be quick.

a man be such a fool?

such a moment to select?

captain Blunchley.

ah captain Blunchley.

I am very glad to see you.

but you must leave this house at once.

my husband and my future son-in-law have just returned.

they know nothing. if they did the consequences would be terrible.

you are a foreigner.

You do not feel our national animosities as we do. We still hate the Serbs.

The effect of the peace on my husband has been to make him feel like a lion,

balked of his prey.

If he were to discover our secret, he would never forgive me, and my

daughter's life would hardly be safe.

Will you, as the chivalrous gentleman and soldier that you are, please leave

this house at once before he finds you here?

At once, gracious lady.

I only came to thank you and to return the coat you lent me.

if you will allow me to take it out of my bag and leave it with your servant as

I pass out.

I need detain you no further.

oh you cannot think of going that way out.

this is the shortest way.

many thanks.

so glad to have been of service to you.

goodbye.

but my bag.

I will send it on to you. You will leave me your address.

My dear Captain Blunchley!

Those stupid people of mine thought I was out here instead of in the library.

I saw you through the window. I was wondering why you didn't come in.

Suranov is with me. Do you remember him?

Ah!

Welcome! Our friend the enemy.

No longer the enemy, happily. I hope you've called us a friend and not about

prisoners or horses.

Oh, quite as a friend, Paul. I was just asking Captain Blunchley to stay to

lunch, but he declares he must leave at once.

Impossible, Blunchley. We want you here badly. We have to send on three cavalry

regiments to Philippopolis. We don't in the least know how to do it.

Philippopolis. the forage is the trouble i suppose.

that's it.

you see she's the whole thing at once.

i think i can show you how to manage that.

invaluable man come along.

oh the chocolate cream soldier.

don't you see that we have a guest here captain bluntschli.

one of our new serbian friends.

oh how silly of me.

ornament this morning for the ice pudding, and that stupid Nicola has just

put a pile of plates on it and spoilt it.

I hope you didn't think that you were the chocolate cream soldier, Captain

Brunchley. I can assure you I did.

Your explanation was a relief.

And since when, pray, have you taken to cooking?

Oh, while you were away, it is her latest fancy.

And has Nicola taken to drinking?

He used to be careful enough.

first he shows Captain Bluntsley out there where he knew perfectly well that

I was in the library and then he goes downstairs and breaks Miss Rydena's

chocolate soldier.

he must be... are you mad

Nicola? sir?

what have you brought back for?

my lady's orders Major. why orders Nicola?

Why should I have asked you to bring Captain Blunch's luggage out here?

What are you thinking of, Nicola?

I beg your pardon, Captain, I'm sure.

My fault, madam. I hope you'll overlook it.

You'd better slam that bag, too, don't want Mr. McEany's ice pudding.

Ow! Begone!

You battered finger donkey!

Yes, Major.

Stand, you!

He's got a hammer all the way.

Oh, blagger, I inferno, but I'll teach him.

Sack next Saturday.

I'll tear out the whole establishment.

Never mind.

I have no more nonsense about you going away.

You know quite well you don't have to go back to Switzerland yet. And till you do

go back, you'll stay with us.

Oh, do, Captain Brunchley.

Come, Catherine.

It's you he's afraid of. Press him and he'll stay.

Of course.

I shall be only too delighted if Captain Blunchley wishes to stay.

He knows my wishes.

I am at Madam's orders.

Ah, well, that settles it.

Of course.

You see, you must stay.

Well, if I must, I must.

You sure I can't help it anyway, Blixley?

Quite sure, thank you, Major.

Sir Arnolf and I will manage it.

Yes, we'll manage it. He finds out what to do, draws up the orders, and I sign

them. Division of Labour. Number one. Thank you.

This hand is more accustomed to the sword than to the pen.

it's very good of you Blunchley. it is indeed to let yourself be put upon in

this way.

sure I can do nothing.

you can stop interrupting poor.

quite right my love.

quite right.

you haven't been campaigning my dear.

you don't know how pleasant it is for us to sit here and have a good lunch with

nothing to do but enjoy ourselves.

One thing I want to make me thoroughly comfortable.

What is that?

My old coat.

I don't feel at home in this one. I feel as if I was on parade.

Oh, my dear Paul, how absurd you are about that old coat. It must be in the

blue closet where you left it hanging up.

I tell you, I've looked there.

I have to believe my own eyes or not.

What are you shaying off that electric bell for?

My dear, if you think the obstinacy of your sex can make a coat out of Raina's

dressing gown, and your waterproof and my Macintosh, you're mistaken.

And that's exactly what the blue closet contains at present.

Nick, would you go to the blue closet and fetch your master's old coat?

You know, the braided one he wears in the house?

Yes, madam.

Catherine. Yes?

I bet you any piece of jewellery you like to order from Sophia against a

week's housekeeping money that the coat isn't there.

Done. Oh, here's an opportunity for some sport.

You'll bet on it.

Blunchly.

I'll give you six to one.

It'll be robbing you, Major. Madam is sure to be right.

Well said, Switzer.

Major, I bet you my best charger against an Arab mare for Ryena that Nicola finds

the coat in the blue closet.

best... don't be foolish Paul.

an Arabian mare will cost you fifty thousand livres.

really mother if you're going to take the jewelry I don't see why you should

watch me like that.

where was it Nicola?

hanging in the blue closet madam.

I could have sworn it wasn't there.

age is beginning to tell on me.

I'm getting hallucinations.

excuse me Bluntschler.

don't forget I didn't take that bet of yours.

you better give that Arab steed to Raina since you aroused her expectations.

dreaming as usual.

assuredly she shall not be the loser.

so much the better for her.

I shan't come off so cheaply.

I feel at home at last.

that's the last order.

what? finished?

finished. are you sure you've got nothing for me to sign? not necessary.

his signature will do.

a thunder in good day's work.

now are you sure I can do nothing more?

you would better both see the fellows that'll take these.

pack them off at once and show them that I've marked on the orders the time they

should hand them in by.

Tell them that if they stop to drink or tell stories, if they're five minutes

late, they'll have the skin taken off their backs.

I'll say so.

And if one of them is man enough to spit in my face for insulting him,

I'll buy his discharge and give him a pension.

Just see that he talks to them properly, Major, will you?

quite right. quite right.

by the by Catherine.

you'd better come too.

I'd be far more frightened of you than of me.

I dare say I had better. you would only splutter at them.

what an army.

They make cannons out of cherry trees and the officers send for their wives to

keep discipline.

You look ever so much nicer than when we last met.

What have you done to yourself?

Oh, wash, brush, good night's sleep and breakfast, that's all.

Did you get back safely that morning?

Quite, thanks.

Were they angry at you for running away from Sergius's charge?

No, they were glad, because they'd all just run away themselves.

I must have made a lovely story all that about me and my room.

A capital story.

But I only told it to one of them, a particular friend.

On whose discretion you could absolutely rely.

Absolutely.

He told it all to my father and Sergius the day you exchanged the presents.

No, you don't mean that, do you? I do indeed.

But they don't know it was in this house you took refuge.

If Sergius knew, he would challenge you and kill you in a duel.

Bless me.

Then don't tell him. Oh, please be serious, Captain Blunchley.

Can you not realize what it is to me to deceive him?

I want to be quite perfect with Sergius.

No smallness, no meanness, no deceit.

My relation to him is the one really beautiful and noble part of my life.

I hope you can understand that.

You mean you wouldn't like him to find out that the story about the ice pudding

was a lie? Oh, don't talk of it in that flippant way.

I lied.

I know it.

But I did it to save your life.

He would have killed you.

That was the second time I ever uttered a falsehood.

Do you remember the first time?

I? No. Was I present? Yes, when I told the officer that was searching for you

that you were not present.

True. I should have remembered it. Ah!

It is natural that you should forget it first.

It cost you nothing.

It cost me a lie.

A lie.

My dear young lady, don't let this worry you.

Remember, I'm a soldier.

Now, what are the two things that happen to a soldier so often that he comes to

think nothing of them?

One is hearing people tell lies.

The other... and is getting his life saved in all sorts of ways by all sorts

of people. and so he becomes a creature incapable of faith and gratitude.

do you like gratitude? i don't. if pity is akin to love then gratitude is akin

to the other thing. gratitude?

if you are incapable of gratitude you are incapable of any noble sentiment.

even animals are grateful.

oh i see now exactly what you think of me.

You were not surprised to hear me lie to you. It was probably something I did

every day, every hour.

That is how men think of women.

There was reason in everything.

You said you'd only told two lies in your whole life.

Dear young lady, isn't that rather a short allowance?

I'm quite a straightforward man myself, but it wouldn't last me a whole morning.

Do you know, sir, that you are insulting me?

I can't help it.

When you strike that noble attitude and speak in that thrilling voice, I admire

you, but I find it impossible to believe a single word you say. Captain

Blunchley! Yes?

Do you mean what you said just now?

Do you know what you said just now?

I do.

I?

I?

How did you find me out?

Instinct, dear young lady.

Instinct and experience of the world.

Do you know, you're the first man I ever met who didn't take me seriously.

You mean, don't you, that I'm the first man who has ever taken you quite

seriously?

Yes.

I suppose I do mean that.

How strange it is that we talk to in such a way.

You know, I've always gone on like that. You mean the... I mean the noble

attitude and the thrilling voice.

I did it as a tiny child to my nurse. She believed in it.

I do it before my parents.

They believe in it.

I do it before Sergius.

He believes in it. Yes, he's a little in that line himself, isn't he?

Oh, do you think so?

Well, you know him better than I do.

I wonder.

I wonder, is he?

Have I thought that?

Ah, well, what does it matter?

I suppose now you've found me out.

You despise me.

Oh, no.

My dear young lady, no, no, no. A thousand times no.

It's part of your youth, part of your charm.

I'm like all the rest of them. The nurse, your parents, Sergius. I'm your

infatuated admirer.

Really?

Hunt of sets, really and truly.

But what did you think of me for giving you my portrait?

Your portrait? You never gave me your portrait.

You mean to say you never got it?

No.

When did you send it to me?

I did not send it to you. It was in the pocket of that coat.

I never found it. It must be there still.

There still?

For my father to find the first time he puts his hand in his pocket?

How can you be so stupid?

It doesn't matter. I suppose it's only a photograph.

How can he tell who it was intended for?

Tell him he put it there himself.

Oh, yes, that is so clever, isn't it?

What am I going to do?

Ah, I see.

You wrote something on it.

That was rash.

Oh, to have done such a thing for you, who care no more except to laugh at me.

Are you sure nobody has touched it?

Well, I can't be quite sure.

I couldn't carry it about with me all the time.

One can't take much luggage on active service.

So what did you do with it?

When I got through to Pierrot, I had to put it into safekeeping somehow.

I thought of the railway cloakroom, but that's the surest place to get looted in

modern warfare.

So I pawned it.

I know it doesn't sound very nice, but it was much the safest plan.

I redeemed it the day before yesterday.

Heaven only knows whether the pawnbroker cleared out the pockets or not.

You have a low shopkeeping mind. You think of things that would never come

into a gentleman's head.

That's the Swiss national character, dear lady.

I wish I'd never met you.

For you. The messenger's waiting.

Will you excuse me?

The last postal delivery that reached me was three weeks ago.

These are the subsequent accumulations.

Four telegrams a week old.

Oh.

Bad news.

Bad news?

My...

my father's dead.

oh. how very sad.

yes.

I shall have to start the home within the hour.

he has left a lot of big hotels behind him to be looked after.

here's a whacking letter from the family solicitor.

great heavens.

two hundred four hundred four thousand.

9,600?

What am I to do with them all?

9,000 hotels?

Oh,

no. Nonsense.

If only you knew.

Oh, it's too ridiculous.

Will you excuse me? I must give my fellow orders about leaving.

He's not much heart, that Swiss.

He's not a word of grief for his poor father.

Grief?

A man who's been doing nothing but killing people for years. What does he

care? What does any soldier care?

Major Sir Arnulf has been fighting too and he has plenty of heart left.

I thought you wouldn't get much feeling out of your soldier.

I've been trying all the afternoon to get a minute alone with you my girl.

why what fashion is that of wearing your sleeve child?

my own fashion.

indeed. if the mistress catches you she'll talk to you.

is that any reason why you should take it on yourself to talk to me? come don't

be so contrary with me. I have some good news for you. ah see 20 labors.

Sergius gave me that out of pure swagger.

all in his money soon parted.

there ten labors more.

the Swiss gave me that for backing up the mistresses and Raina's lies about

him. he's no fool he isn't.

you should have had old Catherine downstairs as polite as he pleased to me

telling me not to mind the major being a little impatient as they knew what a

good servant I was after making a fool and a liar of me before them all.

the twenty shall go to our savings and you shall have the ten to spend if

you'll only talk to me so as to remind me that I'm a human being.

I get tired of being a servant occasionally.

Yes.

Sell your manhood for 30 lavers and buy me for 10.

Keep your money.

You were born to be a servant.

I was not.

When you set up your shop, you will only be everybody's servant instead of

somebody's servant. Ah, wait till you see.

We shall have our evenings to ourselves, and I shall be master in my own house, I

promise you.

You shall never be master in mine.

You have a great ambition in you, Luca.

Remember, if any luck comes to you, it was I that made a woman of you.

You?

Yes, me.

Who was it made you give up wearing a couple of pounds of false hair on your

head and reddening your lips and cheeks like any other Bulgarian girl?

I did.

Who taught you to trim your nails, keep your hands clean, be dainty about

yourself like a fine Russian lady?

Me.

Do you hear that?

Me.

I've often thought that if Raina were out of the way, then you're just a

little less of a fool and Serge is just a bit more of one.

You might come to be one of my grandest customers.

Instead of only being my wife and costing me money.

I believe you would rather be my servant than my husband.

You would make more out of me.

Oh, I know that soul of yours.

Never you mind my soul.

But just listen to my advice.

If you want to be a lady, your present behavior to me won't do at all.

Unless when we're alone.

It's too sharp and impudent, and impudence is a sort of familiarity.

It shows affection for me.

And don't you try being high and mighty with me either.

You're like all country girls. You think it's genteel to treat a servant the way

I treat a stable boy.

It's only your ignorance, and don't you forget it.

And don't be so ready to defy everybody.

Act as if you expected to have your own way, not as if you expected to be

ordered about.

The way to get on as a lady is the same as the way to get on as a servant.

You've got to know your place.

That's the secret of it.

And you may depend on me to know my place if you get promoted.

Think it over, my girl.

I'll stand by you.

One servant should always stand by another.

Oh, I must behave in my own way.

You take all the courage out of me with your cold-blooded wisdom.

Put those logs on the fire. That's the sort of thing you understand.

I'm

not

in the way of your work, I hope.

Oh, no, sir. Thank you kindly.

I was only speaking to this foolish girl about her habit of running up here to

the library whenever she gets the chance to look at the books.

It's the worst of her education, sir.

It gives her habits above her station.

Make that table tidy, Luca, for the Major.

Let me see. Is there a mark there?

Does it hurt?

Yes.

Shall I cure it?

No. You cannot cure it now.

Sure. Don't trifle with me, please. An officer should not trifle with a

servant. That was no trifle, Luca.

Are you sorry?

I am never sorry.

I wish I could believe a man could be as unlike a woman as that.

I wonder, are you really a brave man?

Yes, I am a brave man.

My heart jumped like a woman's at the first shot.

But I found in the charge that I was brave, yes.

That at least is real about me.

Did you find in the charge...

that the men whose fathers are poor like mine were any less brave than the men

who are rich like you. Not a bit. They all slashed and yelled and cursed like

heroes. Char, the courage to rage and kill is cheap.

My English bull terrier has as much of that sort of courage as the whole of the

Bulgarian nation and the whole of the Russian nation at its back.

But he still lets my groom thrash him all the same, don't you?

Ah,

that's your soldier all over.

No, Luca, your poor men can cut throats, but they're afraid of their officers.

They put up with insults and blows.

They stand by and see one another punished like children, aye, and help to

do it when they're ordered.

And the officers, well, I'm an officer.

Oh, give me the man that will defy to the death any power on earth or in

heaven that sets itself up against his own will and conscience, he alone.

He's the brave man.

How easy it is to talk.

Men never seem to grow up.

They all have schoolboy's ideas.

You don't know what true courage is.

Indeed.

I am willing to be instructed.

Look at me.

How much am I allowed to have my own will?

I have to get your room ready for you to sweep and dust, to fetch and carry.

How could that degrade me if it did not degrade you to have it done for you?

But if I were Empress of Russia, above everyone in the world,

then, oh, then, though according to you

I could show no courage at all, you should see.

You should see.

What would you do, most noble empress?

I would marry the man I loved, which no other queen in Europe would have the

courage to do.

If I loved you, though you would be as far beneath me as I am beneath you, I

would dare to be the equal of my inferior.

Would you dare as much if you loved me? No.

If you felt the beginnings of love for me, you would not let it grow. You would

not dare!

You would marry a rich man's daughter because you would be afraid of what

people would say to you. You liar! It is not so by all the stars. If I loved you

and I were the Tsar himself, I would place you on the throne by my side.

You

know

that I love another woman.

A woman as high above you as heaven is above earth and you are jealous of her.

I have no reason to be. She will never marry you now.

The man I told you of has come back.

She will marry the Swiss.

The Swiss!

A man worth ten of you.

Then you can come to me and I will refuse you.

You're not good enough for me.

Afterwards, I will do as I please with you.

The Swiss will kill you, perhaps.

He has beaten you in love. He may beat you in war.

Do you think I believe that she, whose worst thoughts are higher than your best

ones, is capable of trifling with another man behind my back? Do you think

she would believe the Swiss if you told her now that I am in your arms?

Damnation! Oh, damnation! Mockery! Oh, mockery everywhere! Everything I think

is mocked by everything I do!

Coward! Liar! Fool!

Shall I kill myself like a man or live?

and pretend to laugh at myself.

Luca.

Remember, you belong to me.

What does that mean? An insult?

It means that you love me.

And I have had you here in my arms, and perhaps will have you there again,

whether that is an insult.

I neither know nor care. Take it as you please, but...

I will not be a coward and a trifler. If I choose to love you, I dare marry you

in spite of all Bulgaria.

If these hands ever touch you again, they shall touch my affianced bride.

Oh.

We shall see whether you dare keep your word.

And take care.

I will not wait long.

Yes, we shall see. And you will await my pleasure.

Captain Blunchley. That's a remarkable-looking young woman.

Captain Blunchley, you have deceived me. You are my rival. I brook no rivals.

At six o'clock, I shall be in the drilling ground on the Clissura Road

alone on horseback with my sabre. Do you understand?

Oh, thank you.

That's a cavalryman's proposal.

I'm in the artillery. I have the choice of weapons.

If I come, I shall bring a machine gun.

And there shall be no mistake about the cartridges this time.

Take care, sir.

It is not our custom in Bulgaria to allow invitations of that kind to be

trifled with. Don't talk to me about Bulgaria.

You don't know what fighting is.

But have it your own way. Bring your saber along. I'll meet you.

Well said, Switzer!

Shall I lend you my best horse? No, damn your horse.

Thank you all the same, my dear fellow.

I shall fight you on foot.

Horseback's too dangerous.

I don't want to kill you if I can help it.

I have heard what Captain Bouchier said, Sergius.

You are going to fight.

Why?

What about?

I don't know. He hasn't told me.

Better not interfere, dear young lady. No harm will be done.

I've often acted as a sword instructor.

you won't be able to touch me and I'll not hurt him. ah!

it will save explanations.

in the morning I shall be off home and you'll never see me or hear of me again.

you and he will then make it up and live happily ever after.

never said I wanted to see you again.

ah! that is a confession!

what do you mean?

you love that man?

Sergius. you allow him to make love to you behind my back just as you treat me

as your affianced husband behind his Captain Brunchly?

You knew our relations and you have deceived me.

It is for that that I call you to account.

Not for having received favors that I never enjoyed.

Stuffed nonsense.

I have received no favors.

Why, the young lady doesn't even know whether I'm married or not.

Who are you?

You see?

The young lady's concerned, Captain Blunch.

Denial is useless.

You have enjoyed the privilege of being received in her own room late at night.

Yes, you blockhead. She received me with a pistol at her head.

Your cavalry were at my heels. I'd have blown out her brains if she'd uttered a

cry. Blunchley!

Raina, is this true?

Oh, how dare you!

How dare you!

Apologise, man, apologise.

I never apologise!

This is the doing of that friend of yours, Captain Blunchley. It is he who's

been spreading this horrible story about me.

No, he's dead, burnt alive.

Shot in the hip in a woodyard and couldn't crawl out.

Your fellow shells set the timber on fire and burnt him with half a dozen

other poor devils in the same predicament.

How horrible.

Ha! And how ridiculous!

Oh, war, war! The dream of patriots and heroes!

A fraud, bluntschnitz!

A hollow sham!

Like love! Like love?

You dare say that before me?

Calm, Sir Arnolf. That matter is explained. A hollow sham, I say!

Would you have come back here if nothing had gone between you except at the

muzzle of your pistol?

Raina is mistaken about your friend who was burnt. He was not my informant.

Who then?

Ah! Luca!

My maid!

My servant!

You were with her this morning all that time after... after... Oh, what sort of

goddesses have you been worshipping?

I looked out of the window this morning as I went upstairs to have another sight

of my hero.

And I saw something I did not understand then.

You were making love to her.

You saw that?

Only too well.

Raina, our romance is shattered.

Life's a fuss.

You see? He's found himself out now.

Blunchney.

I have allowed you to call me a blockhead. You may now call me a coward

as well.

I refuse to fight you. Do you know why? No.

But it doesn't matter.

I didn't ask the reason when you cried on, and I don't ask the reason now that

you cry off.

I'm a professional soldier. I fight when I have to, and I'm very glad to get out

of it when I haven't to.

You're only an amateur.

You think fighting's an amusement.

Well, you should hear my reason all the same.

My professional.

The real reason is it takes two men, real men, men of heart and blood and

honor to make a genuine combat. I could no more fight with you than make love to

an ugly woman. You've got no magnetism. You're not a man. You're a machine.

Quite true.

Quite true.

I always was that sort of fellow.

I'm really very sorry.

But now that you've found out that life isn't a farce, but something...

Quite sensible and serious.

Well, what further obstacle is there to your happiness?

You are very solicitous about my happiness and his.

Have you forgotten his new love, Luca?

It is not you he must fight now, but his rival, Nicola.

Rival?

Yes, do you not know that they are engaged?

Nicola?

Our fresh abysses opening?

Nicola?

A shocking sacrifice, isn't it?

Such beauty, such intellect, such modesty wasted on a middle-aged servant

man. Oh, really, Sergius, you cannot stand by and allow such a thing.

It would be unworthy of your chivalry.

Viper! Viper!

Viper! Don't care, Sir Arnulf. You're getting the worst of this.

Do you realise what this man has done, Captain Blodshley? He has set that girl

as a spy on us and her reward is that he makes love to her. False!

Monstrous! Monstrous!

Do you deny that she told you about Captain Blunchley being in my room? No,

but I... Do you deny that you were making love to her when she told you?

No, but I tell you... It is unnecessary to tell us anything more.

That is quite enough for us.

I told you you were getting the worst of it, Sir Honor.

Tiger! Cat!

Do you hear this man calling me names, Captain Blunchley? What else can he do,

dear lady? He must defend himself somehow.

Come now, don't quarrel.

What good does it do?

Engage to Nicola!

Well, Bluntschli, you were right to treat this huge imposture of a world

coolly.

I don't say you think that's a couple of grown-up babies, don't you?

He does, he does.

Swiss civilization, nurse-tending Bulgarian barbarism. Eh, Bluntschli? Not

at all, I assure you.

I'm just very glad to get you two quieted.

There, there. Now, let's be friendly and talk this over in a pleasant sort of

way. Where is this other young lady?

Listening at the door.

I will prove that that, at least, is a calumny.

Judge her, Bluntschli! You, the cool, impartial man, judge the eavesdro... Oh,

I mustn't judge her.

I once listened to myself outside a tent when there was a mutiny brewing.

It's all a question of the degree of provocation.

My life was at stake.

My love was at stake.

I'm not ashamed.

Your love, your curiosity, you mean. My love, stronger than anything you can

feel, even for your chocolate cream soldier.

What does that mean?

It means... Oh, I remember the ice pudding, a paltry taunt girl.

Excuse my shirt sleeves, gentlemen.

Right, you know, somebody has been wearing that coat of mine.

Somebody with a differently shaped back.

hmm? poor Bertha opening the sleeves.

your mother is bending it.

we should make haste.

I shall catch go.

feeling the matter?

no.

no?

nothing. nothing.

What's the matter, Luca?

No, sir.

That's all right.

Go to your mistress and pass my coat like a good girl, will you?

Here it is, Papa.

Give it to me, Nicola.

And do you put some more wood on the fire.

Oh, going to be very good, poor old Papa, just for one day after he's

returned from the war, see?

Now, how can you say that to me, Papa? Oh, just a joke, my little one. Give me

a kiss.

I'll give you my cape. No, no, no. I'm going to put it on for you. Turn your

back.

There.

Comfortable, dear?

Try it, my little love. Try it.

I've found something funny.

What's the meaning of it?

I don't know.

I could have sworn...

Your mother's taken it.

Taken what?

Your photograph with an inscription.

Raina, to her chocolate cream soldier, a souvenir.

There's more to this than meets the eye.

And I'm going to find it out.

Nicolau. Sir. Did you spoil any pastry of Miss Raina's this morning?

You heard Miss Raina say that I did so. I know that, you idiot. Was it true?

I'm sure Miss Raina is incapable of saying anything that is not true, sir.

Are you? Then I'm not.

Come. Do you think I don't see it all?

Sergius, you're the chocolate cream soldier, aren't you?

I? A chocolate cream soldier? Certainly not.

Not? What do you mean by, you know, send things like that to other men?

The world is not such an innocent place as we used to think it, Petkov.

Uh, it's all right, Major.

I'm the chocolate cream soldier.

The gracious young lady saved my life by giving me chocolate creams when I was

starving. Shall I ever forget their flavour?

My late friend Stoltz told you the story at Perrot.

I was the fugitive.

Sergius, do you remember how these two women went on this morning when we

mentioned it?

You are a nice young woman, aren't you?

Major Serranoff has changed his mind.

And I did not know that Captain Brunchy was married when I wrote that on the

photograph. I'm not married.

You said you were.

I did not. I positively did not. I never was married in my life.

Ida, will you kindly inform me, if I'm not asking too much, which of these

gentlemen you are engaged to?

To neither of them.

This young lady is the object of Major Serranoff's affections at present.

Luca!

Sergius, are you mad?

This girl's engaged to Nicola. I beg your pardon, sir. There is a mistake.

Luca is not engaged to me. Not engaged to you, you scoundrel? Well, you had 25

labours for me on the day of your betrothal, and this girl had a guilt

bracelet for Miss Raina. We gave it out so, sir, but it was only to give Luca

protection. She had a soul above her station, and I have been no more than

her confidential servant.

I intend, as you know, sir, to set up a shop later on in Sofia, and I look

forward to her custom and recommendation, should she marry into

the nobility.

This is either the finest heroism or the most crawling baseness. Which is it,

Bluntschli? Never mind whether it's heroism or baseness.

Nikola's the ablest man I met in Bulgaria.

I'll make him manager of a hotel if he can speak French and German.

I have been insulted by everyone here.

You set them the example.

You owe me an apology.

It's no use.

He never apologizes.

Not to you.

his equal and his enemy.

To me, his poor servant, he will not refuse to apologize.

You're right.

Forgive me.

I forgive you.

Touch makes me your affianced wife.

Ah! I forgot that.

You can withdraw if you like.

I... Withdraw?

Never.

You belong to me.

What does this mean?

It would appear, my dear...

that Sergius is going to marry Luca instead of Raina.

don't blame me. I've nothing to do with it.

marry Luca?

Sergius you are bound by your word to us.

nothing binds me.

Seratov your hand. my congratulations.

these heroics of yours have their practical side after all.

gracious young lady.

the best wishes of a good Republican.

Luca you've been telling stories.

I have done Raina no harm. Raina?

I have a right to call her Raina. She calls me Luca.

I told Major Serranoff she would never marry him if the Swiss gentleman came

back.

I thought you were fonder of him than of Sergius.

You know best whether I was right.

What nonsense.

I assure you, my dear Major, my dear Madam, the gracious young lady simply

saved my life, nothing else.

She never cared two straws for me.

Why, bless my heart and soul, look at the gracious young lady and look at me.

She, rich, young, beautiful, with her imagination full of fairy princes and

noble natures and cavalry charges and goodness knows what.

And I, a commonplace Swiss soldier who hardly knows what a decent life is after

15 years of barracks and battles.

A vagabond.

A man who's spoiled all his chances in life through an incurably romantic

disposition.

Excuse me, but...

What did you say it spoiled your chances at life? An incurably romantic

disposition. I ran away from home twice when I was a boy.

I went into the army instead of into my father's business.

I climbed the balcony of this house when any other man of sense would have dived

into the nearest cellar.

I came sneaking back here to take another look at the young lady when any

other man my age would have sent the coat back.

My coat?

Yes, that's the coat I mean. Would have sent the coat back and gone quietly

home.

Do you suppose I'm the sort of fellow a young girl falls in love with?

Why, look at our ages.

I'm 34.

I don't suppose the young lady is much over 17.

All that adventure, which was life or death to me, was only a schoolgirl's

game to her.

Chocolate creams and hide-and-seek.

Here's the proof.

Now, I ask you, would a woman who took the affair seriously have sent me this

and written on it, Raina, to her chocolate cream soldier, a souvenir?

That's what I was looking for. How the deuce did it get there?

I have put everything right, I hope, gracious young lady.

I quite agree with your account of yourself.

You are a romantic idiot.

Next time I hope you will know the difference between a schoolgirl of 17

and a woman of 23.

23?

Blunchley, my one last belief is gone. Your sagacity is a fraud like everything

else. You've less sense even than I.

23?

23?

In that case, Major Petkov, I beg to propose formally to become a suitor for

your daughter's hand in place of Major Suranov, retired.

You dare!

If you were 23 when you said those things to me this afternoon, I shall

take them seriously.

I doubt, sir, whether you quite realize my daughter's position, or that of Major

Sergei Suranov, whose place you propose to take.

The Petkoffs and the Saranovs are known as the richest and most important

families in the country. Our position is almost historical.

We can go back for 20 years. Never mind all that, Cathy.

We'd be only too happy.

I can't question your position, but hang it all, you know. Hyena is accustomed to

a very comfortable establishment.

I mean, Sergius has 20 horses.

But who wants 20 horses? We're not going to keep a circus. My daughter, sir, is

accustomed to a first-rate stable.

Shh, mother, you're making me ridiculous.

Oh, well, if it comes to a question of establishment, here goes.

How many horses did you say?

20, noble Switzer. I have 200 horses.

How many carriages?

Three. I have 70.

24 of them will take 12 inside, besides two on the box, not counting the driver

and conductor.

How many tablecloths have you?

Well, how did you should I know? Have you 4,000? No.

I have.

I have 9,600 pairs of sheets and blankets with 2,400 eyed-down quilts. I

have 10,000 knives and forks and the same quantity of dessert spoons.

I have...

Six palatial establishments, besides two livery stables, a tea gardens and a

private house.

I have four medals for distinguished services.

I have the rank of an officer and the standing of a gentleman. And I have

three native languages.

Show me any man in Bulgaria who can offer as much.

Are you the emperor of Switzerland?

My rank is the highest known in Switzerland.

I am a free citizen.

in that case captain Blunchley since you are my daughter's choice... please not.

I shall not stand in the way of her happiness.

that is Major Petcoff's feeling also.

I should say so.

200 horses?

what says the lady?

the lady says he can keep his tablecloths and his omnibuses.

I'm not here to be sold to the highest bidder.

I won't take that answer.

I appealed to you as a fugitive, a beggar, and a starving man. You accepted

me. You gave me your hand to kiss, your bed to sleep in, and your roof to

shelter me.

I did not give them to the emperor of Switzerland.

That's just what I say.

Now, tell us whom you did give them to.

To my chocolate cream soldier.

That'll do.

Thank you.

Time's up, Major.

You've managed those regiments so well, you're sure to be asked to get rid of

some of the infantry of the Timok Division.

Send them home by way of Lompalanca.

Suranov. Don't get married until I come back. I shall be here punctually at five

in the evening on Tuesday fortnight.

Gracious ladies, good evening.

What a man!

Is he a man?