Original subtitles

There is no need for that, we are just going out.

It will be nice to find the fire lit when we get back.

The servants will be at church. There'll be no-one to make it up.

It can be relit when we return.

The room will be so cold, Robert.

After all, we do have guests.

A little cold won't kill them.

You've already been to enough extravagance on their acount.

The fine hock you ordered and the vintage brandy.

People expect to find such things in a rich man's house, Robert, especially at Christmas.

So we are to celebrate our Lord's nativity by svvilling brandy.

We need not celebrate it by quarrelling over a few sticks of wood.

There shall be no quarrel, Laura.

- Your brother and Miss Effingham are late. - They'll be down soon.

It is bad enough that they are here at all, unwanted as they are.

I invited them.

But that they cannot be prompt on divine service on Christmas Day itsetf...

- Robert, it is meant to be a day of rejoicing. - Rejoicing?

A day of secret meetings, more likely,

of whispers and asignations.

That is why you invited them, Laura,

so that they may consort together under my roof.

Ah, Kennedy,

I've just seen Violet's maid.

Violet has a chill and she won't be coming to church.

You had better make haste, Chiltern. The rest of us must start at once.

Oh, I shan't be coming either. It's the sort of thing I never do.

Come, wife.

Merry Christmas, Violet.

How's the chill?

Certainly not up to two hours in that cold, hideous church.

Er, you do not mind these, I hope.

- No. No, I like the smell. - Good.

Well, what excuse did you give Mr Kennedy for cutting the service?

I told him the truth. I never go to church and so I told him.

- How did he take that? - Badly.

Men like Kennedy do not care for the truth.

No, very few people do.

It upsets too many comfortable assumptions.

That's it, my dear, and now I shall upset some of your comfortable assumptions.

- But I have none. - Oh, but you have.

You assume, or would like to assume, that men and women are made like the angels,

all safe and neuter.

But when someone comes and reminds you that it simply is not so,

you become all tight and touch-me-not,

like an oyster in its shell.

Well, a young woman has to take care of herself.

She may find a man to do that

But any man worth calling a man is not made like the angels.

Nor should any woman that is worth his care pretend that she is either.

That goes for you, Violet

- I simply deprecate violence. - It is not violence you deprecate, but the truth.

And since that's all I ever tell you,

you have chosen to deprecate me.

Well, it simply won't do, Violet.

I love you

and I want you,

and you love me and you want me back.

If you didn't, you'd have taken Phineas Finn,

who's full of fine words and knows how to conceal his animal naiure.

But since you ain't taken Finn,

you can damn well take me.

And let that be an end to it.

Oh.

So let me give you a toast

to our friend and guest from across the water, the right honorable Mr Monk.

Mr Monk.

I would like to propose a toast this Christmas Day,

and though I am English, mine is an Irish toast.

Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to raise your glasses to a cause dear to our hearts -

justice for the Irish tenants,

the Irish Tenant Right.

The Irish Tenant Right.

We've come a long way since last we were in Ireland together.

Yes, indeed.

The Government now know I mean what I say and will not be put off.

- And the people? - The people will listen, the people will be angry.

Some will be angry at the injustice we shall expose

and others will be even angrier with us for exposing it.

Some of our friends will be angry, I think.

All our friends, or all those on the Government benches.

Phineas, the music.

- Yes, very nice, Mary. - For the dancing, Phineas.

Go and enjoy yourselves.

While you can.

- Happy Christmas, Miss Flood. - And the same to you, Mr Finn.

- It's nice like this, isn't it, Phineas? - Hm.

It would be even nicer if there was no-one to watch us.

Mary, you go upstairs to tidy yourself.

I'll go out for a breath of air and then...

slip up the back stairs to the old night nursery.

After this dance.

So at last it's settled between you and Oswald.

I can hardly dare to believe it, Violet

After so long. Tell me, what happened?

Well, your brother told me a few home truths.

Not for the first time, I should have thought.

Well, no, but this time he illustrated them.

- Most colourfully, I thought. - And you did not resist.

Well, I meant to, but I suppose my chill must have weakened my resistance.

Then we must all be very grateful to your chill.

Well, Oswald doesn't seem to be all that grateful.

He might at least have stayed on here a little longer in honor of our engagement.

Oswald always intended to leave on the 26th and Oswald sticks to his plans,

just as he's stuck to you.

Yes, I must say, he has been most constant

Well, I shall go up now.

I must write to Oswald and to your father before I sleep.

Father will be so happy for you both.

Violet?

Shall you write to Phineas Finn?

Oh, I shall leave that to you.

Well, I fancy it would be appropriate.

My dear Phineas.

I think you should know...

...that Violet has accepted Oswald...

...at last.

The days go so slowly here without you.

You do not spare the lamps, I see.

To whom are you writing at this hour?

I am writing to Mr Finn to tell him of Violet's marriage.

Is there any need for such haste? ls there any need to write at all?

I think it is due to him. He risked his life for her.

So the story of the duel was true?

And yet you denied it to me.

I don't recollect.

You said to me that people will believe anything for a little excitement,

thereby implying that the report was false.

You are in the Cabinet, Robert.

I did not wish you to be burdened with embarassing facts.

You mean you did not wish me to stand in that man's way.

That man? The man who saved you from being murdered.

So you keep reminding me.

That man, Robert, is my brother's friend and Violet's friend and my father's friend.

He should also be your friend. He most certainly is mine.

More than that, he is loved by me very dearly.

- I will not have you love any man very dearly. - You are insulting, Robert.

And you, madam, are insolent.

Love this man dearly? Write to him secretly in the dead of night?

- I have made no secret of it. - You would have, hadn't I come on you.

I forbid it, do you hear?

I forbid you to write a word to Mr Finn.

Violet is within call, Robert.

If you touch me, my father and the whole Cabinet will hear of it.

If I were you, I should retire

while I write my letter to Mr Finn.

Phineas! Phineas!

Phineas, there's something we must talk about, Phineas,

something we've got to discuss.

There's no need for words.

Oh, but there is, Phineas.

- There's something you must say to me. - Hm?

Oh, I love you, Mary.

I love you very dearly.

And is that to be all?

It must be all for the time being, Mary.

I have my way to make.

I could stand by you and help you make it.

No, not yet, Mary.

I'm a poor man.

It wouldn't be fair to you to ask you to share my life now.

- But I don't mind poverty. - Well, I mind it for you.

- But you're not poor. - Hm?

They pay you very well for what you do at Downing Street.

They may not pay me much longer, Mary.

My Position...

Any position is very precarious.

And is it always to be like this?

For a long time.

But at least we may be engaged. Phineas?

We must be engaged.

All you said, and did,

in the night nursery on Christmas Day.

Oh, must that commit me for ever?

Phineas! Oh!

Ah, Mary.

Mary, look, I'm sorry. I didn't...

Now, Mary, will you stop it?

Mary, I didn't mean to be cruel.

Of course, it shall be as you say, Mary.

You may consider that we're engaged.

- When shall we be married? - Oh, I can't say that yet, Mary.

My future is very uncertain.

Mary, when this parliament is over, I won't have any seat

So your career is more important than our love?

Unless my career flourishes, Mary, there can't be any love for us,

or any life together, either.

For true love there must be life together.

And so there shall, Mary, so there shall. All in good time.

- You promise? - I promise.

Then it shall be as you say.

In the eyes of God, we are engaged.

Yes, but no-one else must know, Mary. No.

This is to be our secret.

Untold and therefore unsullied.

What day shall we be going to London, Robert?

I must make arrangements and start putting my things together.

- London? - Parliament begins again very shortly.

We shall want to be there a few days before.

Why should you wish to be in London a few days before?

Or indeed at all. What is parliament to you?

For one thing, I'm the wife of a minister.

Wife...

Wife, who hankers to leave home and her wholesome duties there for London.

Robert, I am only asking to know your plans.

I have none...yet.

You are going to London for the beginning of the session

and I suppose that you wish me to come with you.

In any event I must come and see my father again, Robert.

He is old and far from well.

I do not think it is only your father you wish to see in London.

I have not yet decided, Laura, what is best for you.

Whatever you decide, Robert, I shall go to London.

- You would disobey me? - You can't imprison me here.

If you forbid me to come to London, I shall go by myself.

- Where would you go? - I shall go to my father's house.

You would cram to him for support?

Lord Bremford is unable to bear extra expense just now.

- He can still afford to look after me. - He had to sell property to find your dowry.

- Don't worry, he won't ask for it back. - He would not get it back.

At least I can keep the money that is my right, even if I cannot keep the love that you owe to me.

You shall have everything that is owed to you if you will only use the oonfidence that you owe to me.

Let me come to London with you.

Please, Robert.

Please.

I am not sure any longer

what confidence is owed to you, Laura.

I must think.

I must pray

As for London,

we shall see.

Oh, Phineas, it seems like forever without you.

And yet I can be happy knowing we're engaged.

It would be nicer, of course, if I could tell...

The Chancellor of the Exchequer to see you, sir.

- Hello, Finn. - Mr Palliser, what a pleasant surprise.

My congratulations, by the way.

I now hear your two little boys have a sister. I'm very happy for them.

And for yourself and Lady Glenoora.

Thank you very much. I'll pass on your regards.

I was just passing with the Prime Minister.

Thought I'd tell you how much appreciation he has expressed for your work.

This business with the Canadian lakes, for example.

Yes, well, the problem there is or may be one of industrial or urban refuse.

Take Lake Erie, for instance.

Yes, I was much impressed by your analysis.

Such a pity if anything should happen to interrupt your services here.

You mean Tenant Right in Ireland?

Yes, Finn, exactly that.

We'll come round to it in good time.

Meanwhile, Mr Monk can get on with it perfectly well without your support.

Mr Palliser, my support is promised.

Finn, Monk is a very old friend of mine. He's the most reasonable man on earth.

He gave up his ministry in order to fight this Irish question from outside the Government.

Now, he can very well afford to do that

But he knows that you are very differently placed.

You have a friendly word with Monk.

I'm sure he'll be happy to settle for your tacit support for the time being.

Then when and if the Government take it up,

you can come out with him in the open.

When and if the Government take it up?

Nothing is certain in politics, Finn. You know that.

One can be certain of what one believes in.

And yet your advice to me is to confine myself to being Mr Monk's fair-weather friend.

Not exactly that.

Let's say an all-weather friend

who has the prudence to use a stout umbrella.

Now that Mr Mildmay has retired into well-eamed ease

and Mr Gresham stands before us as Prime Minister,

let us hope that we may begin a new era

by banishing the more shameful reminders of the old.

Yes-

And first of all candidates for banishment

must surely be...

Ah, Mr Finn.

Lady Glencora has been saying

thai she detects a new mystery about you.

Probably, she says, a romance.

Lady Glenoora has a fecund imagination.

Personally, I would trust her instinct.

Now, let me have a good look at you.

Yes, yes.

Definitely an odour of romance.

Madame Max, I might as well admit to you...

Yes, Mr Finn?

Romance is over for me.

You must have heard that Miss Violet Effingham, whom I loved,

has married Lord Chiltern.

So, it is no romance, it is self-pity.

- Oh, what chance did I have? - A very good one, I should have said.

Had I been Miss Effingham, I know whom I should have chosen.

Oh, but him being a Viscount, and his father an Earl.

It is very easy for a man to be a Lord if his father is one before him.

But for a man to make himself a Lord, or as good as one,

now, that I call very much indeed.

So, don't worry about Miss Effingham.

There are women, and pretty women too,

who have spirit enough to understand this and to realise that what really counts is the man.

- His Grace the Duke of Omnium is below. - Ah.

Please show him up.

So remember,

'There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far

who would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.'

In Scotland and in England and, I am sure, in your native Ireland too.

Yes-

Yes, there is still something about you which suggests not exactly romance,

but...certainly intrigue.

Some day, Madame Max, I will tell you my secret.

Why not now?

No, it's too slight a thing to bother you with now.

With the Duke of Omnium on your stairs?

I could always ask his Grace to wait for a few minutes.

Oh, no, nothing in my poor affairs could possibly justify that.

- Mr Finn again, Marie. - Ah.

I was solacing myself, Duke.

I thought you were still taking the waters in Bath.

Oh, what's the use of cures at my age?

There's no cure for anno Domini except to forget oneself in pleasure.

So I have come back to London to see you.

Your Grace is, as always, very flattering.

You had my letter when you were in Vienna?

I did indeed, Duke.

Your Grace was very exigent in making a request which I had already forbidden.

Marie, I know I'm an old man.

But when I look at you, I feel a surge of youth.

Lake Como is just as beautiful in the spring as it is in the autumn.

If you will only come with me to my villa there,

just for a few weeks.

Lady Glenoora Palliser and Master Plantagenet Palliser.

Ah.

I saw my uncle's carriage downstairs so I knew you wouldn't mind our coming straight up.

Come along.

Say hello to your great uncle.

Well, well.

- And how is Plantagenet? - Oh, he's very busy in the House.

Oh, how he loves it and how he'll miss it when he's Duke in my place.

Oh, let's not talk of that.

Well, it will happen some day, and that not before long, I think.

But whenever it is, it will be too soon for Plantagenet.

There's not a man in England, Planty, in less of a hurry than your papa.

Sometimes I think he'd sooner not have 'rt at all.

So, you are in London, Lady Laura.

- Your father didn't know when you might come. - Nor did I until the last moment.

Mr Kennedy would not inform me of his plans.

Oh, but surely he was bound to come.

Of his plans for me.

Oh.

And what were they at last?

That I should come to London with him and then go nowhere without him.

So, at this very moment...

I'm playing truant like a child from school.

He cannot be as bad as that.

It's far worse, Phineas.

He didn't wish to bring me to London for fear of those I might see here.

And yet he dare not leave me alone at Loughlinter lest I escape him altogether.

Is that how he thinks of you?

It may be how I think of myself.

If only I had someone to turn to, Phineas.

But Oswald and Violet are away on their wedding tour

and my father is very frail.

If you need someone to...consult, Laura,

you know you may trust me.

I shan't be able to come here again

and you mustn't come to Grosvenor Place.

Why not?

It would be cold, stiff, horrible.

Then...

tell me what it is you wish of me.

Say no word to anyone of this visit

but be ready for a word or a sign when I may send it.

Be civil to Mr Kennedy when you meet him but never be alone with him.

In this matter, my husband is insane.

Marie.

- Yesterday I asked you something. - You did indeed, Duke.

Something to my purpose nothing.

Fortunately you were interrupted by your nieoe and that dear little boy.

- Marie, a man at my age should be gratified. - And so you shall be, Duke.

Since you were kind enough to send me these beautiful grapes,

the least I can do is to share them with you.

Do not tease, Marie.

A man at my age does not like to be denied.

What man at any age likes to be denied?

Forgive me, Marie.

If l ask you humbly, will you deny me still?

If you ask humbly, I must listen, I think.

I am asking for the greatest gift of all.

Ah, but that is salvation, my Lord Duke,

which is hardly mine to bestow on you.

You may bestow on me all the salvation I need

if you would spend a few weeks with me in the quiet of an Italian lake.

And jeopardise my own salvation?

Marie...

...you know that I love you.

Why I should have so sore a love I cannot say.

So sore a love?

So sore,

if it be not gratified.

Marie,

I ask you to be my wife.

Duke of Omnium.

This from you?

From me, Marie.

My coronet is at your feet.

If you will allow me to raise it, I will place it on your brow.

You will give me an answer, Marie.

You cannot have thought of this, my Lord.

I have thought of it much.

- And your friends? - Oh.

My dear.

I may venture to please myself in this,

as in everything else.

You will give me an answer, Marie.

Not...on the spur of the moment.

I...

I am so flustered now, I must ask you to leave me.

Marie.

Please.

Give me two days.

Kennedy.

I'm very glad to see you again.

And what, I wonder, does this session hold in store for us?

I understand it holds little good for you, Finn,

if you persist in this Irish affair.

I must persist. My word is given.

I am sorry for it and will wish to hear your own account in full.

You will dine with me tonight, Finn, at the Reform Club?

Tonight I am engaged.

Then tomorrow will serve just as well.

I think not, Kennedy.

But we have much to discuss, apart from the Irish question.

We have been friends, Finn, and I would wish we would continue so.

But first we must come to an understanding on certain matters.

Certain matters, Kennedy, I think were better left alone.

Yes, indeed, but you choose to tamper with them.

I have never wished you any offence, nor do I wish you any now,

but if you're going to take that tone, we had best stay apart.

You are evasive, Finn.

You are afraid.

You wish me no offence, you say,

but you in yourself are an offence

against Gods law and all decency.

I think you had better go now. We need not quarrel if we do not meet.

How can we not meet?

Every day I shall see you in some room or some corridor

and I shall be reminded of the threat to my honor and happiness.

I am a threat to neither.

You have long been a shadow over my happiness

and for ought I know have destroyed my honor.

I warn you, Finn.

If I find it to be so, I shall be as merciless as my just God

who poured down fire on the cities of the pain.

If he were to marry, there would be no child, I think.

Well, she's young enough to bear one.

But he is an old man. He's worn out with his pleasures.

This woman has stirred him, Plantagenet

He was tired of fair faces and fat arms.

This woman has a glitter about her which has called up the last of his desire.

My dear, I cannot be his keeper, and nor can you.

Oh, can I not?

For my son's sake, I would cling to the very tail of his coat

Cora,

many women have tried that with my uncle

and he's always had his way.

He is not engaged to Madame Goesler otherwise he would have told me.

Yes, yes, I think he would.

Still, there's no knowing.

I only have one doubt now -

whether to act upon him or upon her.

I don't see that you will do any good by doing either.

Well, if she's the woman I think she is, l...could do something.

I shall go to her tomorrow.

Why have you not...

"written, Phineas?

I know you are very busy.

Even so, I swore to myself

that I would not pester you,

that I would wait until I heard from you before I wrote again.

But now I can wait no longer.

For some time I have been uncertain.

Now I am sure.

Phineas, I am with child.

Lady Glencora.

Madame Goesler.

- I am very glad to find you. - And I to be found.

My uncle has been with you since I saw you last?

- He was here yesterday. - He comes to you often.

Not as often as I would wish, Lady Glencora.

The Duke is one of my dearest friends.

Then I think, Madame Goesler, that I had better come to my subject at once.

What I have to say will be...disagreeable,

but I assure you, I don't mean to offend you.

I shall be offended at nothing, Lady Glenoora, unless I think you mean to offend me.

No, no, I do not

You know my little boy.

Ah, yes, yes. The sweetest child.

God never gave me anything half so precious as that

He is the Duke of Omnium's heir, after my husband.

So l understand.

For myself, Madame Goesler, I care nothing.

I...have all the world can give me.

For my husband in this matter I care nothing.

His career will not depend on a title.

Why all this to me, Lady Glenoora? What have I to do with your husband's titles?

Much, if it is true that there is an idea of marriage

between you and the Duke of Omnium.

Ah.

Then it is untrue.

No, Lady Glencora.

It is not untrue.

There is an idea of such a marriage.

And you are engaged to him?

- I am not engaged to him. - But he has asked you?

Lady Glencora.

I have promised not to be offended, but do not pry.

Then he has asked you.

If you tell me that I am mistaken, I will beg your pardon and offer my most sincere friendship.

Lady Glencora,

I can tell you no such thing.

What would you gain by this marriage? You have money and position already.

A sort of position, yes. Not one such as yours.

But you are free.

Yes, free.

You go where you wish, you do as you please.

Too free sometimes.

And what would you gain by changing all this simply for a title?

To be called cousin to the Queen.

And for that, you would rob him of all his friends, degrade him among his peers.

Degrade him?

Who dares say that I shall degrade him?

He will exalt me but I will in no whit degrade him.

Ask anyone, anyone, Madame Goesler. It is not I that despise you.

Well, if l did, would I offer you my hand in friendship?

An old man over 70, carrying the burden of a rank such as his...

will degrade himself among his fellows if he marries a young woman without rank,

let her be ever so beautiful.

A Duke of Omnium, Madame Goesler, may not do as he pleases.

I would not willingly injure him in any way.

Who wishes to injure a friend?

But Lady Glenoora, I must tell you,

my mind will not be turned against this marriage half so strongly

by any arguments you may use as by those I may adduce for myself.

You have made it almost incumbent upon me to marry him to prove you wrong.

But you must leave me to settle this matter in my own heart,

you must indeed.

If you are sure, Mary,

there is only one thing to be done.

And I shall be happy and privileged to do it.

I shall come to Ireland,

but, Mary, this cannot be at once.

Be assured of this, the moment Parliament rises, I will come to Ireland

and make you my own wife.

Well, Duke.

Your two days are gone, I think.

I am your friend forever

but I can never be your wife.

Marie.

I should ask so little.

The truth is

that I should injure your Grace's honor.

And though I should raise myself in name, I would degrade my characler.

Marie.

As Madame Goesler,

I can move with ease, even among my superiors.

But as your Grace's wife, I would not know an easy moment,

nor would your Grace.

But I am your dear friend

and shall hope that you will still be mine.

And so, Lady Glencora,

I shall never stand in the way of you or your little boy,

but there are more women in the world than one.

Well, if there arise another, I shall come to you for expert advice.

And now, Marie, I really must make my apology.

You spoke a true word,

if not a very kind one.

But yes, I should have disgraced him.

Degraded and disgraced.

I should not have been very happy, I think.

As it is, you have all society can give you.

One thing I have not got -

a bright-faced little boy to go about with me in my carriage.

Yes-

Yes, I dote on my bright-faced little boy, as you call him.

You see, it was because of him,

or rather Plantagenet's and the Duke's need for an heir,

that I sent away the one person I truly loved.

I stuck to my duty.

Still, that's an old story.

- You will bring him again to me soon. - That was part of the bargain.

- I shall hold you to no bargain. - I know and that's why I shall keep it,

because I believe you to be a generous, noble woman.

- But not noble enough for the nobility. - Oh, Marie.

Why bother with nobility when there is youth to be had?

Ah, I think you refer to Mr Finn.

He and I are close friends, no more.

Then it is high time that there was more.

He'll be at the garden party on Saturday and I'm hoping...

Thank you.

Lady Easlnor.

Mr Robert Kennedy and Lady Laura Kennedy.

Lady Laura, this is the first time we've seen you this summer.

Yes, my wife has been unwell and unable to get about.

- But she insisted on coming today. - Then we are the more honoured.

Something very wrong with those two, I think.

Phineas Finn is down by the croquet lawn alone, for the moment.

I'll take care of him for a bit.

Your Grace will excuse me for a few minutes?

- Why? - Because I ask it.

Sir John and Lady Arbuthnot

Mr Finn?

- Are you going to play croquet? - No.

Pity. I should like to have seen you wielding a mallet.

Then I will play if you like.

I'm afraid I have to return to the Duke in five minutes.

- Why? - Because he will be crossed.

That won't hurt you. He's only buckram.

I think he is a gracious old gentleman.

I do not like to hear him called buckram.

What good has he ever done?

Oh, I own that to me there is something glorious

in the dignity of a man too high to have to do anything

if only he knows how to carry his dignity with the proper grace.

And you think the Duke of Omnium still does that?

I think he still maintains his prestige,

to me at least.

Prestige!

The man is idleness incarnate.

What kind of an example is that for you or for anybody?

Mr Finn, I told you I admired the Duke.

I did not say that I would wish to be like him.

No.

For myself, I would raiher be of use somewhere.

Or to someone.

Mr Finn.

Let me be more precise.

I am a free woman and a rich one.

I am looking for a cause,

or a man,

both in one, if possible.

Tell me, Mr Finn,

do you know of a man with a cause,

one who would welcome both wealth and love?

There must be many such men.

One would do, Mr Finn.

I hope you find him soon, Madame Max

And now I mustn't keep you from his Grace.

Phineas

Mr Finn looks depressed. Do we know what he intends to do?

I think he still intends to follow Monk.

That's a pity-

Once he declares himself openly in the House,

it's all over for him at the colonies.

Where's Lizzie Eustace? She's late.

Who?

You know, the little widow who's engaged to Lord Fawn.

Oh, Lady Eustace.

Lizzie Greystock that was.

Horace Greyslock's girl.

He was a sailor, was Horace.

Thorough rascal but damned good company.

But I can't imagine any girl of his being engaged to a dummy like Fawn.

If we don't get there soon, we'll gonna miss the acrobats.

What can I do?

Well, you might tell him to drive faster, dearest.

He's going as fast as he can.

We've already had one accident

Since your sense of what is proper denies us the pleasure of my carriage,

you might at least have hired one without a wobbly wheel.

You talk as if l did it on purpose.

At this rate, we'll die of old age before we get there.

A hearse would have been quicker.

Longstaffe?

Have you seen my wife?

Over there, I think.

I tell you, Phineas, it's the only way.

I must go home from here with my father and never set eyes on Mr Kennedy again.

- Does your father know? - I have sent him a note.

I don't know what he'll make of it but it must be so.

Kennedy will prevent you.

Yes, he'll try, and he may succeed unless you stand by me.

He'll use force, Phineas.

Go to my father and tell him to be ready at his carriage at 5 o'clock.

I'll hide from Mr Kennedy until just before then.

There's to be a show of acrobats at 5 o'clock which may create some distraction.

I don't think Mr Kennedy will be distracted by acrrobats.

Phineas, you mustn't fail me.

Hello, Finn.

It's hot, isn't it?

Mm.

In the shade too.

Ah, Mr Kennedy.

Well, I understood it will be a duel, yes,

but he should tell you about it himself.

- Lord Brentford. - Phineas.

Mr Finn.

You have had Lady Laura's note, my Lord?

You're to be ready in your carriage at 5 o'clock.

What have you to do with this, sir?

I am to give help, my Lord, if it's needed.

It's all sorrow, Mr Finn.

Everything has turned to sorrow and disgrace.

The acrobats, my Lady.

Oh.

Wake up, Duke.

- What is it? - Time to go and get the acrobat's started.

On, good.

You know, I'm looking forward to these acmbats.

Thai fellow I was talking about, Horace Greystock.

He liked acrobats.

Didn't matter what nationality - Japanese, Chinese.

Horace used to take me off to circuses whenever he got leave from the fleet.

'Much better value than the Empire,' he used to say.

The girls used to take him to their caravan and introduce him to all their little sisters and...

Your Grace, the acrobats are ready.

0h. my God!

Lady Glencora.

- Lord Fawn, we'd quite given you up. - I'm sorry, Lady Glencora.

May I introduce Lady Eustace?

I'm afraid we had rather an accident.

Oh, I know all about you, my Lady.

Admiral Graystock's girl

Take it from me, your father was more fun to be with than any man in London,

and I'll wager it's the same with you, eh?

Oh, your Grace is so sweet.

But not sweet enough.

Eh, Marie.

Duke, the acrobats.

Oh.

Er, y, well, um...

We mustn't detain his Grace any longer, my dear.

It's been a pleasure looking at you, my dear,

but I suspect you're well aware of that.

Well, then, good afternoon, your Grace.

Lord Fawn looks rather nervous.

Hm, not quite sure what he's taken on, if you ask me.

Marie, you go with the Duke and watch the acrobatics.

I must nip off and find Plantagenet

Let them begin.

- A glass of champagne. - Sir.

I believe it's a Polish troupe.

Oh, dear. I'm afraid it's going to be awfully warm for them.

Gentlemen.

Just like one of Horace Greyslock's circuses.

Oh!

Marvellous.

Oh!

They're very supple, aren't they?

I beg your pardon?

- The acrobats. - Oh.

Ooh

Lady Laura leaving the acrobatics?

- No, her husband. - Hm?

Duke.

Duke.

Let me pass. I want my wife.

Lady Laura wishes to return with her father.

My God, she shall return with me.

Let me pass, sir.

- Get out of my...way, sir. - Oh!

So distressing, sneaking away like a pair of culpurses.

Excuse me, please.

Please, come at once.

His Grace, the poor dear Duke.