An Ideal Husband Page #3

some benefit to the scheme.

Benefit?

To whom?

This has nothing to do

with Mrs Cheveley, does it?

You seem to be

displaying signs of triviality.

On the contrary, Aunt Augusta,...

.. I've now realised

for the first time in my life...

.. the vital importance of being earnest!

Robert,...

.. you... are telling me the whole truth?

Why do you ask me such a question?

Why do you not answer it?

Author!

Ladies and gentlemen,...

.. I have enjoyed this evening immensely.

Robert,...

.. is there, in your life, any...

.. any secret, any...

.. indiscretion?

.. that you think as highly

of the play as I do myself!

You must tell me!

You must tell me at once!

Oh, Gertrude, there is nothing

in my past life that you might not know.

I was sure of it, my darling.

I was sure of it.

You know, I found it

a perfectly charming evening.

And yours...

.. was a perfectly charming performance.

The costumes were delightful,...

.. but for me... Oh!... it was the acting!

Would you excuse me a moment?

- Miss Mabel.

- Good evening.

- Shouldn't you be in bed?

- Lord Goring!

Father always tells me to go to bed

so I'm giving you the same advice.

Passing on advice is the only

sensible thing to do with it.

- It's very kind of you to offer.

- Don't mention it, Miss Mabel.

But the role of elder brother is being

more than adequately performed...

-.. by my elder brother.

- Oh, really?

Yes. Charming and delightful

performance it is, too.

I think you ought to go to bed

straight away, Miss Mabel.

You're always ordering me around.

I think it's most courageous of you.

Especially as I'm not going

to bed for hours!

Darling, you will write, won't you,...

.. to Mrs Cheveley...

.. and tell her that you cannot

support this scheme of hers?

I might see her.

Perhaps that would be better.

Oh, no, Robert,

you must never see her again.

Darling, I know this woman.

We were at school together.

I didn't trust her then

and I don't trust her now.

She must know at once

that she has been mistaken in you.

Now, all your life...

.. you have stood apart from others.

To the world, as to myself,...

.. you have been an ideal, always.

Be that ideal still.

Claridge's Hotel.

- No answer.

- Sir.

Oh, I love you, Robert!

Oh, love me!

Love me, Gertrude.

Love me always.

Madam.

So, what brings you back to London

after all these years?

Business or pleasure?

I have some business

with your friend Sir Robert Chiltern...

.. which is, of course, a great pleasure.

And what is it brings you here tonight?

- I came because you asked me to.

- And because you were curious.

- Why did you ask me?

- I was curious also.

To see whether you'd come.

And you did!

I see you are quite as wilful

as you used to be.

Far more. I have greatly improved.

I've had more experience.

Too much experience can be

very dangerous, Mrs Cheveley.

- Why don't you call me Laura?

- I don't like the name.

- You used to adore it.

- Yes, that is why.

To think...

.. it was so nearly Laura Goring.

It has a certain ring, don't you agree?

- We were quite well suited.

- Well, you were poor, I was rich.

It must have suited you very well,

until you met the Baron, who was richer.

That suited you better.

- Have you forgiven me yet?

- My dear woman,...

.. it's been so long now

that I'd all but forgotten you.

I really must go.

I have a pressing engagement.

Really? Well, as you know, I hate

to stand between a man and his affairs.

- Bunbury, for goodness sake!

- I can't believe it.

- You are a deserter!

- I didn't say I was getting married.

I was debating the virtues

of the marital state.

Short debate, sir!

We're a dying breed, old man.

We must stick together.

Would you excuse me, gentlemen?

Play the next hand without me.

And now I think it's time

you knew the truth.

That all these riches,...

.. this wondrous luxury...

.. amounts, finally, to nothing.

That power...

.. power...

.. over other men...

.. is the one and only thing worth having.

This is what I call

the philosophy of power,...

.. the gospel of gold.

So now the question arises...

.. how you become powerful.

I mean, you... personally powerful.

Cigar?

Yes, thank you.

The answer is simple.

The answer...

.. is information.

Information is the modern commodity...

.. that can shake the world.

And I happen to know...

.. it's well within your grasp.

And you believed what he said?

Certainly.

I believed it then and I believe it now.

You've never been poor.

You've never known what ambition is.

Go on.

Well, by now, Lord Radley

was a Cabinet minister...

.. and, as the Baron well knew,

I was working as his personal secretary.

One night, as usual,

I was the last to leave the office.

Later that evening,

I wrote the Baron a letter...

.. containing

highly confidential information,...

.. highly valuable information

regarding the financing of the Suez Canal.

- A Cabinet secret?

- Indeed.

In a subsequent transaction,...

.. the Baron made for himself

three quarters of a million pounds.

And you?

I received from the Baron 110,000.

You were worth more, Robert.

No. No, no.

I got exactly what I wanted.

I entered straight into Parliament

and I've...

Well, I've never looked back.

Is it fair that some act of youthful folly...

.. should be brought up against me

all these years later?

Robert, life is never fair!

Perhaps it's a good thing

for most of us that it's not.

Now, what does Gertrude

make of all this?

Robert.

My dear Robert,

secrets from other people's wives...

.. are a necessary luxury in modern life.

But no man should have a secret

from his own wife.

She invariably finds it out.

If I were to tell her, Arthur, I would lose

the love of the one woman I worship.

I couldn't tell her,...

.. but it... did strike me

that perhaps you might...

Go on.

Well, perhaps you might...

.. talk with her.

- Oh, really?

- Not to tell her, of course.

But... just to talk with her.

I see.

It's just that Gertrude can sometimes

be a little... hard-headed.

You are her oldest... and closest friend...

.. and I just thought talking

with you might perhaps...

- Soften her head a little.

- Mmm.

Well, it has been known.

Thank you, Lady Chiltern,

that was most inspiring.

Oh, I'm so glad.

Wonderful speech!

Well, I must say, Arthur,...

.. I'm delighted to find you showing

such a keen interest in women's politics.

Oh, yes, very keen.

I had a bit of a late night last night.

So I gather. I'm so glad to see you.

- Are you?

- Yes.

I wanted to talk to you about Robert.

Really?

He seems a little distracted of late,

a little anxious.

Yes.

You've noticed it, too?

I suppose I...

Yes... In a way.

I mean,... the life that he's chosen

for himself, by its own nature,...

.. must hold innumerable stresses,

full of countless compromises.

- Compromises?

- Yes.

What I mean is, once a man

has set his heart and soul...

.. on getting to a certain point,...

.. if he has to climb the crag,

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