An Ideal Husband Page #6

I never thought you did.

Even so, I felt it worth a try.

I understand and respect you

all the more for the attempt.

And I take it you reject my offer?

I fear I must...

.. when, tempting as it seems,...

.. in truth,...

.. it's little more than blackmail.

True.

- Gertrude!

- Mabel.

I... suddenly remembered

you were due to meet Arthur.

At least somebody remembered.

You mean he's not here either?

Oh... strange.

- Gertrude, are you quite well?

- Me? Yes, of course.

No, I'm not at all.

Could we talk?

All I have learned leads me to reject

and revile him for what he has done!

- And yet...

- And yet?

I have never known such joy...

.. as when I'm with him.

I've never felt so... free...

.. as when I'm lying in his arms.

I'll look out for you at the Commons

where at least I'll see your friend submit.

I wouldn't be too sure.

Come now. We both know

how dearly he values his career.

I look forward to him proving you wrong.

I anticipate it keenly.

- In fact, I'd stake my shirt on it.

- Your shirt?

Indeed, I'd probably wager

my entire wardrobe on his integrity.

What confidence.

Would you stake your liberty?

My liberty?

Mmm, a rather charming little idea

has sprung into my head...

.. and, now I consider it, I discover it

to be a rather charming big idea.

Go on.

If, as you suggest,

he stands by his principles...

.. and condemns the scheme,...

.. then shall I give you his letter

to dispose of as you choose.

But if, as I project,...

.. he surrenders to my demands

and publicly supports the scheme, then...

- Then I give you my hand in marriage.

- Precisely.

- To dispose of as you please.

- You must concede...

.. there is a certain thrill to it.

Concede, too, how elegantly I have eased

from proposal to proposition.

And with barely any loss of face.

I'm most impressed.

We are creatures of compromise,

you and I.

I await your response.

Are you less certain of your friend's

nature when your own future rests on it?

Not at all. I accept your wager

in all confidence.

- You do?

- I do.

Oh, Arthur, isn't it remarkable...

.. how those two little words

can quicken the heart?

Would you do something for me,

Gertrude?

Accompany me

to the House of Commons.

I believe there is

an interesting debate there tonight.

I believe the Prime Minister himself

has taken an interest.

And I believe...

.. that its outcome will prove

particularly interesting to you...

.. and to me.

Whatever it may be.

Damn!

The Honourable Member...

.. for Witney.

- Good evening, Chiltern.

- Good evening, sir.

I beg to ask the President

of the Board of Trade...

.. to what extent he believes...

.. the projected Argentine canal merits

the nation's attention and support.

Mr Speaker...

I believe this excellent scheme

represents a genuine opportunity...

.. to extend our trading routes

and to stamp our authority...

.. on an increasingly

vital portion of the globe.

Excellent speech.

Didn't expect to see you here.

Neither did I, but I have developed

a sudden, very singular interest...

.. in politics.

- Married yet?

- Ask me again in half an hour.

What?

- Nothing.

- The Member for Cheltenham.

- Arthur!

- Shh.

I beg to ask the Under Secretary

for Foreign Affairs...

.. to clarify his position

in respect of the proposed scheme.

Hear, hear! Answer, sir!

Let me first of all

thank the Honourable Member...

.. for his articulate contribution

to the debate.

Since I last addressed this House

on the subject,...

.. I have had the opportunity...

.. to investigate this scheme

more thoroughly...

.. and to grasp fully the ramifications

of our lending it support.

I have to inform the House...

.. that I was...

.. mistaken...

.. in my original perceptions...

.. and that I have now taken

a rather different view.

Ow, ow!

I find that now I must agree

with my Right Honourable friend...

.. that this is indeed an excellent scheme.

A genuine opportunity.

An opportunity,...

.. particularly if you happen

to be a corrupt investor...

A corrupt investor

with nothing but self-interest at heart.

Now it is my utter conviction that

this scheme never should have had...

.. or should ever have

any chance of success.

It is a fraud, an infamous fraud at that.

Our involvement would be a political fraud

of the worst possible kind!

This...

.. great nation...

.. has long been

a great commercial power.

Now it seems there exists

a growing compulsion to use that power...

.. merely to beget more power,...

.. money merely to beget more money,...

.. irrespective of the true cost

to the nation's soul.

And it is this sickness,...

.. a kind of moral blindness,

commerce without conscience,...

.. which threatens to strike

at the very soul of this nation!

The only remedy that I can see

is to strike back and to strike now!

Hear, hear!

Hear, hear!

Order!

- Bravo!

- As we stand...

As we stand at the end of

this most eventful century,...

.. it seems that we do, after all,

have a genuine opportunity.

One honest chance...

.. to shed our...

.. sometimes imperfect past.

To start again,...

.. to step unshackled...

.. into the next century...

.. and to look our future...

.. squarely and proudly...

.. in the face.

Hear, hear!

You must agree,

it has been a romantic interlude.

You might even confess to some faint

and secret regret at its outcome.

For I do indeed feel some slight relief

that, in the end,...

-.. Sir Robert has come to no harm.

- Really?

Oh, yes, you see, I'm not really

quite as wicked as you suppose.

Mrs Cheveley!

And a lady must always honour her bets.

Come back with me, Arthur.

Come back to Vienna.

Bravo, Sir Robert.

It seems I underestimated you.

- Robert.

- Sorry if I've spoiled your plans.

- Far more than you realise.

- Some small satisfaction.

- Look, Robert...

- I've nothing to say to you, Lord Goring.

Nor is there anything I wish to hear.

I hope that now you are content.

- That I didn't disappoint you.

- Robert, I...

Let women make no more ideals of men

or they may ruin other lives...

.. as completely as you,

you whom I have loved so wildly,...

.. have surely ruined mine.

Robert...!

I know there is no hope for us now.

I know you can never forgive me.

Poor man.

I almost begin to feel sorry for him.

Sorry?

I can't bear to see so upright and

honourable an English gentleman...

.. being so shamefully deceived.

- Deceived?

- And on such positively pink paper.

What are you talking about?

"I need you after all.

I'm coming to you now. "

You stole Gertrude's letter?

Losing a man is scant cause

for concern,...

.. but losing a man to her

is another matter entirely.

It's only right Sir Robert should know,

as indeed he shall,...

.. when the letter arrives at his office

first thing in the morning.

You've got a good man there, Gertrude.

You should try to hold on to him.

It occurs to me this whole business

is really just about you and me.

- Gertrude, I must speak with you.

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