Anastasia Page #10

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Please.

Mikhail Vlados...

Yes, we were in the same hospital

in Bucharest.

- They treated you for head wounds...

- They did.

Which you got in a train explosion

outside Bucharest.

- Is that true?

- Were you in a train wreck?

- Please, I would like to answer.

- All right.

Ladies and gentlemen, please!

Please!

Her Highness cannot hear your

questions, let alone answer them.

What is it you wish to know,

whether I was wounded...

- in a train explosion on the way to Bucharest?

- Yes.

I remember being

in a train explosion.

Whether or not I was wounded,

I do not know.

- Well, where did you get the wounds?

- In Russia or in Bucharest?

- Is it not possible to have been wounded twice?

- In a war maybe.

What else is a revolution?

I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen,

the interview is over.

Make sure there are men

posted at every entrance...

to keep the reporters

from the guests.

- And check every invitation at the door.

- Yes, sir.

I don't make things easier

for you, do I?

Was it a disaster?

No matter what the papers print,

before they can be on the street...

the guests will be here, and the empress

will have made the presentation.

- Oh, forgive me. May I?

- You may even give me one.

Thank you.

The stairs aren't

doing that dress any good.

- It doesn't matter.

- It will in an hour.

I haven't seen you

in a long time.

And you missed me terribly.

I missed you, yes.

Whose orders kept you from

seeing me, the empress's or Paul's?

Apparently, it has

never occurred to you...

that I can function

without orders from anyone.

Then you didn't want

to see me. Why?

I thought it better not to.

The marriage rumors are true.

You yourself told me that

Paul and I were engaged years ago.

- Aren't you taking your royal duties a bit too seriously?

- Independently, you mean.

- The puppet has pulled the strings herself.

- This is childish.

You've always had an obsession that people

want you to do only what they tell you.

No, not people. You.

- Nonsense.

- Is it?

You pushed me at Paul.

And now you're against him. Why?

- Are you afraid that he's going to be in control?

- Over what?

- Over me. Over the money.

- I don't give a hang about the money.

Then what is bothering you,

that I might be Anna Koreff?

I don't care what your name is.

I care what you are.

What bothers me

is the way you've changed.

- I'm the one who has changed.

- Yes!

When we began you wanted

to find out who you were.

You said that was

all you wanted.

- Yes, I s...

- But is it? No!

Now you must be the Grand Duchess

Anastasia Nicolaevna.

Now you must be placed upon a throne

before a morgue of royal corpses.

- Must you always hate? Must you always ridicule?

- Ridicule who?

Your loyal loving subjects?

Those embalmed skeletons?

They don't care about you!

They don't care who is Anastasia, so long

as they get money and a better position...

in a world that is dead

and buried, and should be!

You didn't say that a month ago. Then

you wanted it, and you wanted it for me!

- Well, now I like it.

- Go on, like it.

Be a grand duchess!

And make it really royal.

Marry a man who wouldn't come

within ten feet of the altar...

if you were not an heiress.

Oh, the truth is insulting.

You told me once that I was

selfish and ambitious.

And I admitted

that you were right.

Why don't you now have the courage

to admit that I'm right?

- Remember?

- What?

- The music. This waltz.

- Yes, of course.

- No, you don't really.

- Sorry. Should I?

No, it was a long time ago.

My first waltz.

My first ball.

- My first...

- What?

Partner.

I thought it was you.

It must have been somebody else.

- It might have been me.

- It really doesn't matter.

It might not even

have been at the ball.

- Frankly, I don't understand you.

- Why?

- Because I didn't deny what Vlados said?

- Yes.

How do you know

that I'm not Anna Koreff?

- Be serious.

- I am.

You're deliberately behaving

very strangely tonight.

How do you know

how Anna Koreff behaves?

I know how you behave.

And all I care about is you.

- Do you mean that?

- Of course.

Then let's announce

our engagement tonight.

I want to very much.

Prince Paul von Haraldeberg

to Miss Anna Koreff.

- Will you announce that?

- Certainly not.

- Oh.

- Because it's not true.

No? Suppose I have no title,

no inheritance, nothing.

I can't suppose that when I know

perfectly well who you are.

Still, what if I can't get the money?

Or if I make no claim to it?

You can and you will. Why be poor

when you can so easily be very rich?

The poor have only one advantage.

They know when they are loved

for themselves.

Sorry, but I refuse to take

that remark seriously.

- The empress is ready. She's upstairs in the green room.

- Good.

- It's almost time.

- All right.

- Oh, Piotr Ivanovich. Should I not be back in time...

- Why not?

Just go ahead without me.

Sergei Pavlovich,

isn't this all superb?

- I have never seen you look so well.

- In this? Oh.

They don't know how

to make baggage nowadays.

Imagine trying to fit this

into a modern suitcase.

Oh, the times

aren't suited for elegance.

But you have

brought it back ce soir.

- What's the matter? You look upset.

- No, just tired.

Would you ask Her Majesty if she would

receive me for just a moment?

You know I will.

General. General!

- You may go in.

- It's very kind of you.

- Just in case, she's heard about the reporters.

- Thank you.

Vassili, Her Majesty

is expecting the general.

I was going to send

for you, Bounine.

My granddaughter tells me to expect

some unpleasantness in the newspapers.

- I'm afraid so, Your Majesty.

- Thank you.

The man was probably

a hired troublemaker.

- Her Highness says that actually...

- I'm aware what she says.

Unfortunately, she is not aware...

that truth serves only a world

that lives by it.

I have prepared a statement

for the press...

that I want you to give to them

before you leave tonight.

I am leaving now,

Your Majesty.

Oh, and why?

I feel that my work is finished,

satisfactorily, I trust.

And since this is your evening

I felt it my duty...

No, that isn't quite true. I simply

wanted to say good-bye to you.

Extraordinary.

You want to leave

before the spectacle.

I should have thought no one would

watch it with more triumph than you.

If the evening belongs to anyone,

General, it is to you.

- We are all grateful.

- Thank you, but I want no further part in it.

Come. After all, you performed

an enormous task.

You've restored my granddaughter

to her rightful position.

And, unless I have been misinformed...

you even effected her reunion

with her childhood sweetheart.

Yes, to a degree, I suppose I did.

But you are not particularly pleased

with it, are you? You are not pleased.

- Why not?

- But I am not in a position...

Oh, come. After all,

it is extremely unlike you...

to speak of position, Bounine.

When I am with Your Majesty,

I'm deeply aware of it.

Thank you.

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