Original subtitles

I'll never

divorce you.

I'll never divorce you, James.

Never.

There's no question of it.

I'm leaving anyway.

If you won't divorce me, I'll divorce you.

Then I'll contest it, no matter how many

other women there are.

For the last time, there are no other

women.

Why don't you believe me?

Then why are you leaving me?

Just because our marriage isn't a honeymoon anymore?

If only it resembled that.

It is ten years ago, James.

Something should have stayed with us.

It's so routine, predictable, dull.

How can you say that?

You're so rarely here.

When the stock exchange closes, you go straight

to your club.

You spend your evenings playing squash.

You have no interest in how I spend

my time.

Caroline, I'm trying to be honest.

I don't want to hurt you.

But our marriage is dead.

We're bored with each other.

Admit it.

I'm not bored with you.

Do you have to pretend?

We have nothing left to say to each

other.

I'm driven mad trying to think up a

light conversation.

What kind of a marriage is that?

You're forcing me to say these things.

Face the facts.

They are not the facts.

I think you're tired.

Of you?

Yes.

Then there is someone else.

I only wish there were.

What you need, James, is a good holiday.

I don't need a good holiday, or any

other kind of holiday.

I need to be free, and I'm going

to be.

And then what I said, James, I don't

believe in divorce.

I'll never divorce you.

We'll see.

I'm going, now.

Then I'll pack for you.

You're not

English, are you?

Mezzo, mezzo.

My mother is.

Are you here with her?

No, my husband must be mad.

Oh, he is mad, yes, Paolo.

You are not like him, I tell.

I do.

I like to be a little bit mad

sometimes.

Yes?

Well, why not?

My name is Sandra.

Hello, Sandra.

James.

Sandra is an English name.

No, it's Italian.

You come from the sun?

Partly.

Is your wife?

No, I'm divorced.

It's very easy in English divorces.

You marry again?

Once is quite enough.

For me, too.

I never marry.

Your wife was not nice, no?

Oh, she was attractive.

Very cool.

I loved her very much.

Then...

It's finished?

Let's not talk about it.

Have you been out on the lake?

Up to the islands?

No, Paolo not wish to go.

But I wish.

I don't know where he is, Jenny, and

I haven't bothered to find out.

I've had no word from him since he

left.

You haven't bothered?

I'd be out of my mind if I

were you.

You don't even sound worried.

Well, perhaps I am a little.

So, where are you staying?

Forget about James for a while.

Come over to the hotel this evening.

I've got some gorgeous friends here from America.

They'd love to meet you.

Thanks.

That's very kind of you, but I don't

think I will.

You are a fool.

You still love him, I suppose?

I suppose.

Well, I have to go now.

I'll ring you tomorrow.

You need to get out.

Have some fun.

I'll think about it.

Goodbye, Jenny.

I have to go.

I told my partner it's three weeks.

Telephone, say just one more week.

I wish I could.

It's just not possible.

You say you'd love me at first sight.

That was a long time ago.

First sight after your wife, see?

No, that's nothing to do with it.

It's very good for my English in England.

So you keep telling me.

You like my body, why not like me

too?

I do.

I do.

This is it.

Faces west.

Gets the afternoon sun.

I thought you'd like it.

Some view, eh?

Yes, isn't it?

It's very good of you to take this

trouble.

What are friends for?

It's ideal as a pied-à-terre, I

thought.

Only ten minutes' walk from the Stock Exchange.

Oh, it's not a pied-à-terre.

I'm living here, Derek.

Right now.

What if Caroline doesn't like it?

I've committed you.

She doesn't know about it.

I see.

She didn't go with you to Italy?

No.

Nor did anyone else.

So, how were the lakes?

Full of good things?

The longer I stayed, the more difficult it

became to tear myself away.

I want you to get me a divorce.

I assume you've thought seriously about it.

Discussed it together rationally.

You don't want to try for a reconciliation

first.

I've told her I want my freedom.

No children, that's something.

Well, you're a lawyer.

What do I have to do?

She agrees to a divorce.

She's dead against it.

There's no glass, it's blast.

If she won't consent, I think you've got

problems.

Let's talk over lunch.

Just leave it, Howard.

Thank you.

She said it completely without emotion, without...

well, anything.

Symptomatic of the marriage.

She refuses to divorce me.

I believe her.

That makes it very tricky as the law

stands.

You see, James, the old days have gone.

We could have arranged a dirty weekend and

have you caught in flagrante delicto.

I tell you, Caroline wouldn't divorce me if

I were.

She wouldn't even raise her voice.

Without her consent, the only way is to

prove you've lived apart for five years.

Five years?

I want my freedom now.

There's got to be some way, Derek.

The only way is if she has a

boyfriend.

That's unthinkable.

How do you know?

Been deceiving me, Caroline.

Still waters and all that, it is possible,

James.

She's always at home in the evenings, never

goes anywhere.

What about during stock exchange hours?

She knows where you are, do you know

where she is?

Well, no, not precisely.

But that's ludicrous.

Ludicrous may be, but if she were deceiving

you, you could attest that her being unfaithful

has irretrievably broken down the marriage.

Then you've got a strong case.

That's clutching at a straw.

She just might be taking her revenge.

We sometimes employ a private investigation agency.

Do you mean have her followed, spied, watched?

Surveillance is the professional term.

They're very discreet.

No, no, nothing like that.

It's furtive, nasty.

Then let's talk about it in five years'

time.

I'll be 40.

No.

Is the marriage so bad?

I don't know what happened, where it all

went wrong.

When I first met her, I really loved

her.

And now, do you have any feeling at

all for her?

Sometimes I feel I could kill her, to

be free.

Better to divorce her.

But your only hope's adultery.

Hers.

Why don't I ask the man who owns

the agency to come and talk to you?

You say where, and I'll arrange it.

With Bates.

My name is Bates, B-A-T-E

S.

Mr. Howgill, Flat 351 is expecting me.

Now, I'll speak here.

Hmm?

Yes?

Mr. Howgill, sir?

Bates.

Oh, yes.

Come up.

Morning, sir.

Mr. Johnson and Cripps, Johnson and Hooker told

me this hour would be convenient, sir.

He also told you that I'm not very

sure about this, did he?

Alleged aggrieved parties rarely are, sir.

It's a nice view.

I don't like the idea of my wife

being watched by private detectives.

Private investigators, sir.

Small team, mostly ex-navy, very efficient.

No one knows, no harm done.

Gives me a guilty feeling.

Understandably, anybody would with the streak of humanity

in them, sir.

You have a recent photograph?

Of my wife?

No, I didn't bring anything here I wouldn't

need.

Then a description will have to suffice, sir,

and the address of her place of residence.

Severn York Place.

York Place Arts, charming.

I know it.

I haven't decided to go ahead.

It's extremely unlikely that she's up to anything.

Nothing would give me greater pleasure, sir, than

to report exactly that.

Nothing untoward detected.

Alas, it rarely happens.

Almost never.

You say that she would never know.

Will she be expecting us, sir?

Absolutely not.

Well then?

My card.

Terms on the back.

You pay Cripps, Johnson and Hooker, sir, so

my name doesn't even appear on your cheque.

Now, surveillance is continuous.

Three watches.

0800 to 1600, 1600 to midnight and midnight

to 0800.

I'll probably take that one myself, sir.

We don't ring eight bells, of course.

We won't be needing the midnight to eight

period.

Caroline's always in bed by eleven.

Needs nine hours sleep, she's always telling me.

It's a very interesting watch, sir, midnight to

0800, if there's any funny business.

Any real funny business.

Still, I'll take your instructions to the letter

and we'll get underway.

Time is money.

Oh, we do offer some optional extras, sir.

High-speed cameras, electronic listening devices.

No, nothing like that.

Nothing that would incriminate me.

I want that made absolutely clear.

Well, it's up to you, sir.

We'll stand well off.

Don't worry.

You still haven't given me her description, sir.

Oh, she's attractive.

Dresses in good taste.

Hair, eyes, height, weight.

Dark hair, green eyes, five foot four.

Slim.

And she is the sole occupant of the

house now you are not in residence, sir?

Yes, of course she is.

Well, that's all I need to know.

Thank you.

Established subject's residence as per address.

Made visual contact with subject at 14.15.

Why can't he say quarter past two?

Naval training, I suppose.

Subject took taxi to Bond Street, entered Abigail's

at 14.35, purchased clothing, all female wearing

apparel, left with three parcels at 15.00

hours precisely, hailed taxi and returned to residence

where subject remained until surveillance ceased at midnight.

Is that what I'm paying for?

To tell me that my wife's gone shopping?

You don't want to stop her spending?

Look, call Bates off.

I was wrong to agree.

Give them a chance.

One report means nothing.

It's this or wait five years, remember?

Tell him to stop.

I've paid him for seven days.

James, do you really want a divorce or

don't you?

I do.

A further report to Mr. James Howgill, to

his Barbican address, Vicki.

At 18.20 on Wednesday the 13th, subject

answered residence door to unidentified male in his

30s.

Subject seemed to be expecting him, invited him

inside residence.

Subject and male companion left residence at 19

...15 hours, clearly enjoying each other's company, got

into the escort's car and drove off to

the Cascade Club, arriving at 19.35. Subject

and male companion emerged from the club at

23.30 hours, very merry, embracing and kissing.

Escort hailed taxi.

I still can't believe it.

I just can't.

I'm getting copies of Bates's reports.

It seems we're heading in the right direction.

How could she have changed?

Because you've left her?

Well, maybe she hasn't changed.

Maybe you didn't really know her before.

And now, of course, she's a free agent.

She can do what she likes.

She's no more free than I am.

I mean, she doesn't have to consider you

in making her arrangements.

At the Cascade Club till midnight?

Caroline, are you sure you can trust Bates?

Do you want surveillance continued or not?

Let it run the seven days.

Male companion now identified.

From hotel register, a South American racing driver,

Juan Luis Romero.

Where would Caroline meet a man like that?

Romero arrived at subject's residence at 23.00

hours, kissed as he entered.

Fifty minutes later, light appeared in first floor

window.

Subject and Romero seen at window before curtains

drawn.

By end of surveillance, no one had vacated

subject's residence.

Yes?

Bates?

Speaking.

This morning's saga reads like a piece of

fiction.

It's as though you've invented the whole thing.

That's a fairly normal reaction, if I may

say so, sir.

No doubt you're feeling slightly frustrated.

That's an understatement.

We don't enjoy giving an incomplete service, sir.

I mean, calling it a day and midnight

is like missing your rum ration, if I

may use a naval expression.

You're not going to watch my wife through

the night?

Everything points to the necessity, sir.

We could probably wrap it up quite soon.

The answer's no.

Under no circumstance.

Well, if that was your instructions, sir.

Sir, how's the market this morning?

Depressed.

Like me.

Hmm.

Bates told me.

Yes, I took it out on him.

I'm sorry.

It's too bad of her, behaving like a...

like a...

I still can't believe it.

I really can't.

You don't want to believe it.

No, it's not that.

It's...

Your pride's hurt.

Yes, well, possibly.

You'll get over it.

We seem now to be on the verge

of getting the evidence you need to claim

that the marriage has irretrievably broken down, due

to her behaviour.

How long's it been going on?

That's what I'd like to know.

Since before I left home?

And how did she get away with it?

Let's go and eat.

If you'll only agree to round-the-clock

surveillance, Bates believes he will have the evidence

I need very soon.

It's a

very interesting time, sir.

Midnight, 0800, if there's any funny business.

Any real funny business.

My name is Bates, sir.

B-A-T-E, sir.

But if she were deceiving you, you could

attest that her being unfaithful has irretrievably broken

down the marriage.

It's very good for my English, Newland.

Subject and Romero partook of dinner at his

hotel and...

I'm sorry, sir, I'm reporting this from my

own and my colleague's notepads.

In view of what's happened, I've suggested we

tell you immediately.

Subject and Romero finished dinner at 2200 hours.

Romero handed Subject a box from which she

extracted a gold bracelet.

Subject thanked him effusively.

She...

Oh, that's right, sir, yeah.

She kissed him, etc.

Then they went through the lobby, took a

lift to Romero's suite, where next morning they

had breakfast in bed at 0800 hours.

And that, as they say, is that, James.

Legally it's all there.

You've got what you need.

Yes.

I've got it.

But do I want it?

I feel angry, cheated.

But most of all, I feel jealous.

Jealous?

If he finds her exciting, why don't I?

What am I missing?

I want her back.

Don't ask me why.

She intrigues me.

Like she never did before.

Have you called before?

No.

Only I've been away.

Away?

That's not like you.

Quite a shock when you didn't come back.

It shook me out of myself, I suppose.

I see.

So what have you been doing?

I've been staying with friends in Aberdeen.

You have friends in Aberdeen?

Yes.

Sally Hudson.

She married an oil executive.

I haven't been back long.

I didn't tell them, of course.

Tell them what?

That you'd left me.

You've never done your hair like that before.

Hello?

Jenny Carrow.

Got a message you telephoned.

Yes.

By the way, James is back.

I don't know why yet.

He just walked in.

That'll teach him.

You found my thank you note?

I didn't leave a bracelet there, did I?

Yes, that's why I was phoning.

Hold on to it till I see you,

will you?

Listen, has James told you he's set the

snoops on you?

You what?

Every time I left your house, one of

them was waiting.

Followed me everywhere.

I wasn't going to let on I wasn't

you, was I?

Oh, lovely.

That explains everything.

I must go now.

Bye.

You haven't come back to tell me something,

have you?

No.

I realised you're not safe to be left

on your own.

I don't think I know what you mean

by that.

Oh, yes, you do.

But let's never mention it again.