A Woman's Face Page #7

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- Then can I go skiing this afternoon?

- I don't see why not.

Thank you.

And please don't be cross

with Miss Paulssen.

She didn't mean to.

No. I'm quite sure she didn't.

This possibly explains why doctors

are always such welcome guests.

Yes, possibly.

Get your clothes on, Lars-Erik.

Come along.

I've got first-degree burns.

Hurry and get dressed

before you catch cold.

Your solicitude for the boy's health

is most admirable.

ANNA:

He might have been scarred for life.

For life, did you say?

Do I have to repeat what I said to you

last night?

Do I have to reassure you

every moment?

Do you have to follow me around

with a whip?

For heaven's sake, Torsten,

give me time.

I cannot give you more time. I have none

to waste. Before tomorrow night.

Before tomorrow night?

Why?

Because.

JUDGE:

Well, Miss Holm.

He said because?

Because what?

Answer me.

Because it was what he wanted.

JUDGE:

Was that sufficient reason?

- I couldn't argue.

JUDGE:
Why not?

When he touched me.

When he was near me.

I'd never been in love before.

It wasn't love, l...

I know that now.

But l...

I didn't...

The witness will stand down.

Call Dr. Segert.

- Oh, here I go.

EMMA:
Shh!

CLERK:

Dr. Gustaf Segert.

Gustaf.

Gustaf, you're so kind, so generous.

What's this about?

You don't know women.

Don't I?

- Well, not women like that murderess.

- Talking about the case is forbidden.

[DOOR CLOSES]

Anna certainly can be glad

you're not the judge.

- It's forbidden to discuss the case.

- Oh, sure.

- It ain't forbidden to hope Anna gets out.

- She can't. She mustn't.

- A woman like that must be punished.

- Be quiet.

- She's fooled you too. I know it. I know it.

- What's come over you?

- I have never seen you like this.

- Oh, you men.

I don't like you either.

You see, sir, I was torn

by conflicting emotions.

After the incident with the ultraviolet lamp

I felt that I should warn the consul...

...and yet I wasn't sure.

I wanted to give her every chance.

But that very afternoon,

while I was skiing...

... I happened to come

by way of the falls.

JUDGE:
Were you alone?

SEGERT:
I was looking for Miss Holm.

JUDGE:

Why?

SEGERT:

I wanted to talk the thing over with her.

But when I finally located her...

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

LARS-ERIK:
You beat us.

- I know. It was unfair.

I knew the bucket was quicker.

LARS-ERIK:

We're going to see Granddaddy.

Are you? Good.

If you had told us,

you could have come with us.

Lars-Erik.

- Lars-Erik, wait for me,

- He'll be all right.

I'm going with Tom.

Come on, Tom, I'll race you.

SEGERT:

Quite a handful.

Lars-Erik seems to have taken

quite a liking to you.

And Torsten Barring?

Oh, yes. Yes, he came part of the way.

I saw that.

He's a strange one.

Did you know him before?

Only by reputation.

But evidently he knew you.

Why do you say that?

Because he recommended you for this

position. I didn't know that last night.

And?

- Now, look, Miss Holm.

- Miss Paulssen.

That remains to be seen.

You were saying?

I'm a scientist, not a clergyman.

I go by the evidence of things

as they are.

Not as I might like them to be.

I am, therefore,

considerable of a pessimist.

Go on, doctor.

- Is there any need?

- Yes.

- Miss Holm.

- Miss Paulssen.

- You know as well as I do...

- I know what?

Let's be scientific.

You have a bad record.

Very bad.

- I can't believe it.

- Why not? You're a scientist.

- You have all the facts.

- Don't.

Why shouldn't I take advantage of this

situation? I'm a bad woman.

[SEGERT SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]

Oh, couldn't I? And why not?

- Torsten Barring means nothing to me.

- Torsten Barring?

Why, certainly. He's rich, isn't he?

Why shouldn't I lead him on if I want?

Why shouldn't I blackmail him if I can?

Go on, warn the consul.

Tell him I was a blackmailer...

...and that I came up here

just to blackmail his rich nephew.

Shove me out.

Kick me back in the gutter.

Why should you have any faith in me?

I'm your Frankenstein. A monster.

And I always will be a monster.

Go on, tell him.

JUDGE:

You told the consul that the prisoner...

...was seeking to trap Torsten Barring

in a blackmail plot.

- No.

- Why not?

I saw no reason.

I felt that her outburst came

because of my lack of faith in her.

And I was ashamed of my suspicions.

I felt the danger to the child

was a figment of my imagination.

- I see. I see.

- Sir, may I interrupt this testimony?

- You say you're a scientist, Dr. Segert?

- I try to be within reasonable limits.

And a scientist deals with facts,

not with emotions. True?

As far as possible.

Ah, as far as possible.

In other words, facts are not always reliable

when emotion enters the picture.

- Possibly not.

PROSECUTOR:
Possibly not.

And from certain facts you became

convinced of her trustworthiness.

But tell me this fact, Dr. Segert.

When you saw the prisoner's hand reach

for the safety catch on that cable car...

...did she, of her own free will,

decide not to kill the child at that time...

...or did she refrain from that act because

she was aware that you were watching?

You've heard my testimony.

Yes. And I ask that that testimony

be stricken from the record.

JUDGE:

On what grounds?

On the grounds that this scientist's vision

is so obscured by emotion...

...as to make any of his so-called facts

completely unreliable.

- Emotion? What emotion?

- The emotion of love.

This witness, a married man,

is in love with the prisoner.

JUDGE:
Dr. Segert, you have the right

to deny this charge.

I have no reason to deny the charge.

[CROWD MURMURING]

JUDGE:

Call Emma Kristiansdotter.

- You may stand down.

ATTORNEY:
Just a moment, doctor.

- You're a married man?

SEGERT:
Yes.

- In love with another woman?

- Yes.

Is it true that you had discovered grounds

for divorce against your wife?

It is true.

ATTORNEY:
Is it true you've instructed your

attorney to bring suit against your wife?

- It is true.

- And good riddance.

[CROWD LAUGHING]

[GAVEL BANGS]

Silence. This is a murder trial.

We want no prejudices.

We want the truth.

I never told a lie in my life.

- Yes, I did too.

- Has it any bearing in this case?

Yes. I told the consul that I liked this

new governess.

- And you didn't?

- I hated her.

She was always making eyes

at the consul.

Poor old man.

Had you any other reason

to be suspicious of her?

Well, that afternoon,

the day after the dance...

...she'd gone down to the smelter

with Lars-Erik and Mr. Torsten Barring.

And she came back

with Lars-Erik and that doctor.

That was just like her. Men, men, men.

JUDGE:

Continue.

Well, just after she got back,

late that afternoon...

...it was the day

of the consul's birthday...

...and before he started to open

his presents...

... I went up to the attic

to get more robes for the sleigh ride.

JUDGE:

Why a sleigh ride?

EMMA:
On the consul's birthday the guests

always took a sleigh ride before dinner.

TORSTEN:
I'll tell you

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