Albert Nobbs Page #3

and... one, two, three farthings.

In six months,

I could have 600 pounds.

Doctor.

Your morning cuppa, sir.

Suffering God, Albert,

what was I drinking last night?

Your tea, sir?

Your Bushmills.

Oh, good man, Nobbs.

Let's have a drop, shall we,

for an eye-opener.

That's good. Oh, dear.

Everything all right, Albert?

Sir?

Is there something on your mind?

Oh, no. No, sir.

Well...

Well, sir, the fact is, uh...

I've been thinking.

Oh, thinking, are you?

- Yes, sir.

- Hmm.

I've been thinking...

I might purchase a little business.

Ah, a business. Fancy that.

What kind of a business?

Perhaps...

- a little shop.

- Hmm.

What kind of a shop?

I'm thinking, maybe... tobacco.

Oh, well, yes, a tobacconist's, now?

That would suit a man.

But a woman could serve

at the counter.

Yes, indeed, a woman could.

You're not thinking

of taking a wife?

Are you, Nobbs?

Who's the lucky lady?

- Good morning, Dr. Holloran.

- Good morning, Mary.

Good morning, Mr. Nobbs.

Get that out of your way there.

Women.

Here Oh! Whoa, there.

Oh, mister.

Two counters,

one for tobacco... and things,

the other for sweetmeats.

There's a door behind

leading to the parlor.

The wife's parlor.

But where do Hubert

and Cathleen sleep?

- Need a hand there, Mr. Nobbs?

- No.

All right, don't lose your rag.

Lovely to see you again, ladies.

- We'll be back.

- Thank you, Mrs. Baker.

There now, Albert will look after you.

Now she can have a clock

on a marble chimneypiece.

Yes?

Mr. Nobbs.

I was... passing by.

Come in, come in.

Cathleen, this is Mr. Nobbs.

Mr. Nobbs, my wife.

Mrs. Page.

Pleased to meet you, Mr. Nobbs.

Well now,

we were just about to have

a bit of dinner, Mr. Nobbs.

- Will you join us?

- Oh, no, thank you, Mrs. Page,

I wanted to... to give you this.

You left it in my...

in the room.

You came all this way,

just to give me this.

It's the button from my work coat.

I didn't have another one to match.

Well, you have averted

a veritable tragedy, Mr. Nobbs.

For that you must certainly stay

and have your dinner with us.

Hubert, you take

Mr. Nobbs's coat and hat,

and not have him standing there

like a stranger.

Well, I... I thought she'd be...

- different.

- Cathleen?

In what way?

Well, she's...

- real.

- Ah, she's real, all right.

So, you've been thinking

about my Cathleen, have you?

Or, how you might find

a Cathleen of your own?

Sit down.

I thought you'd be dressed

as a woman at home.

And what if a neighbor passing by

happened to look in the window?

So... you never wear a dress?

It's safer, this way.

But I don't need to tell you that.

And anyway, it's not like

we robbed a bank or killed someone.

You know, um...

I never gave you

the chance to tell your story.

So, why don't you tell me now?

I don't know the beginning.

I was a...

bastard.

Mrs. Nobbs, the woman

who was paid to raise me,

she knew who I was,

but she never told me.

Maybe she would have one day, but...

she died suddenly.

- Without telling you who you are?

- Yes.

She gave me a picture of a lady

she said was my mother

and she hinted, more than once,

that my people were grand folk.

I got a convent education

because of a big allowance

from my mother's family.

But one day, the Reverend Mother

told us that my mother was dead

and we had to leave.

So we went to live in Seven Dials.

Had to go find work.

Thought I'd die living

among such rough people.

They were poor,

living like animals.

Indecently.

Life without decency is unbearable.

Then Mrs. Nobbs died.

And you were what age?

Fourteen.

So... you decided to become a man?

One night.

There was...

There was five of them.

They caught me and they...

they pulled me apart.

It was under the stairs.

They hurt me...

and then they left me there.

Soon after that, I...

I heard there was to be a big dinner

at the Freemasons Hall,

and that they were short of waiters.

And back then, my...

my figure was just right

for a waiter's, so...

I managed to get

a second-hand suit of clothes,

an evening suit.

I didn't think they'd hire me,

but they were shorthanded

and I got the job.

I was paid 10 shillings.

That was it.

Since then, I've sewed round

tables of all the biggest places

in London and Manchester,

Liverpool.

Then...

Then I came to Morrison's.

Right, you men, up you get, before

everything on the table is stone cold.

"Oh, very salubrious, Mr. Page,

very salubrious. "

Salubrious?

Who does she think she is,

the Queen of England?

Oh, I'd love to get a squint at her,

the old trout.

It must be nice, though, Mr. Nobbs,

working in a hotel.

Always something happening,

something to give you a laugh.

Yesterday...

Sean Casey fell down

the coal-hole steps.

And who, may I ask, is Sean Casey?

He's one of the waiters.

And did he hurt himself?

- He got a black eye.

- A black eye. In the coal-hole.

You're funny.

Now, you'd better learn how to do this,

if you're going to open a tobacco shop.

So we were speaking of Morrison's.

That Helen Dawes, she's a fine girl.

Aw, she's the life

of the place, she is.

Helen, is it?

That's not the first time that name's

been heard in this house, Mr. Nobbs.

Hubert took quite a shine to her,

didn't you, now?

Well...

Look at you, you're all thumbs.

Give it to me.

I'm just saying, you know, if one day

you should take it into your head

to run off to America,

I might indeed try me luck

with Miss Dawes.

How could you deny

that sweet little face

and all those lovely blonde curls?

Aw, she's gorgeous.

Try me luck, is it?

I wouldn't be getting my hopes up,

Hubert Page,

'cause I have no intentions

of budging from this spot.

There you go, Mr. Nobbs.

The shop is a sound idea, Albert.

You've been shrewd in the way you've

saved up money, all these years.

I haven't enough yet.

You have it all stashed under

the mattress, is it, Mr. Nobbs?

Easy now, little fella.

Could we have some water?

Are you all right?

My dad, now there was a boozer,

a fierce whore for the drink.

None of us ever slept,

we'd be lying there,

shivering with the fright,

waiting for him to come home,

knowing that if he did...

there'd be no place to hide.

He'd get up in the morning

with no memory

of having beat the stuffing

out of us the night before.

You know what kept me

from killing him?

What?

The thought of getting on a boat

and hopping it to America.

Good evening, Miss Dawes.

Evening, Mr. Nobbs.

Miss Dawes.

I was wondering, Miss Dawes,

if you would care to come out for a walk.

Uh, pardon me, Mr. Nobbs?

I'm off duty at 3:00 tomorrow

and if you're not engaged...

"Engaged"?

No, I'm not engaged, Mr. Nobbs.

But are you asking me

to walk out with you?

I am.

Well, uh...

Well, the thing is, I'm walking out

with Joe Mackins.

I don't know what he'd say if I started

walking out with you, as well.

Ah, yes.

Good night, Miss Dawes.

Mr. Nobbs.

He asked you to go for a walk?

That's a good one. The sly old dog.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes