Ex-Lady Page #3

---

Mr. Peterson. Just on that one campaign.

- "Just on that one campaign. " -Yeah.

I counted on that. I needed it.

It's my fault. I shouldn't have gone.

I might have foreseen this would happen.

A stitch in time usually...

- Why don't they get Fletcher?

What's the matter? -Yes, sir.

- Oh, Don. Please don't

worry about it. -Hmmph.

We didn't miss any bills...

Hello. Fletcher Company? Get me

Mr. Simon Fletcher, please.

This is Mr. Peterson talking.

Hello, Mr. Fletc...

Oh.

Mr. Fletcher is out. To me.

That's $8000 a year we lose.

We took a trip.

Now if we lose Dorothy Gray,

we can close up shop.

Oh, Don, I'm sorry.

We had to take a trip.

Don, please. I wanted us

to have a honeymoon.

Mm-hmm. You wanted us

to have a honeymoon.

Don, please!

All that is gone now.

Take the Romanticists.

Look what they did.

For the harmony and the

purity of the classics...

...they substituted the capricious

standards of the Middle Ages.

Fantastic? Picturesque?

Imaginative? Yes!

But sentimental.

That other thing which had precision,

truth, unadorned beauty...

That's all gone now.

- My boilers can stand more

strain than... -Indeed?

Oh, yes, my, yes.

They've been subjected to 50 years of

wear & tear, and have stood every test.

- Every test? -Every test. My boilers...

His boilers...

- How are your boilers, Mr. Peterson?

- I'm doing fine. Thank you.

Oh, let me forget.

What were you saying?

Something else about my boilers:

They're made of a very secret

alloy. Did you know that?

- No. -Of course not. Few people

know anything about boilers.

There's something else

you'd never guess:

My boilers are the best boilers

manufactured in the world.

Van Hugh inherited this place.

I inherited the boilers,

from my grandfather.

- It's been a grave responsibility.

- Of course.

Entertainment is needed.

Madame Godzinskaya, would

you favor us with a number?

Delighted.

I forgot the words!

- There's another thing about

my boilers... -Good heavens!

I beg your pardon?

The song was so touching.

Swell evening, wasn't it?

What's the matter?

Boilers.

What?

Boilers, boilers, boilers. I've heard so

much about them, I hope they all bust.

He's a dull fellow, isn't he?

Pity a girl like Peggy has to

be married to a man like that.

Great pity.

It's alright though for your wife to sit

listening all evening to the big bore..

...as long as you can make it a

thrilling evening for poor, poor Peggy.

Aw, listen, you're not jealous, are you?

It isn't jealousy. If you

don't understand why...

Marriage!

What do you mean, "marriage"?

What's that got to do with it?

Well, if you're in love with a boy, and

he's supposed to be in love with you...

...you don't sit stuck away

in a corner all evening...

...while he makes love to another

woman. Not twice you don't!

Not if you aren't married!

Aww, you're exaggerating.

I don't like it, Don.

I don't like it at all.

Now, Helen, I don't want any scenes.

I'm tired and I want to go to sleep.

Boilers!

- Now, Ms. Seymour, please. Let's jump

into this. -It's 6:00, Mr. Peterson.

Ms. Seymour, we've too much

to do to worry about the time.

I can't work anymore! I don't feel well.

I'm sure I have a high temperature.

I'm sorry to hear that.

You better go home.

Yes... I've got to go home.

- Get here early in the morning.

- I hope I can, Mr. Peterson.

- Goodnight.

- Goodnight.

- Coming out to dinner, Don?

- No. I have work to do.

Well, I'll run along.

- Why? What's your hurry? -I have work to

do. Here are the drawings for Garfinkel.

What is it that's so important that you

go home every night to work on it?

Don... I'm doing the

drawings for Ellison.

- What drawings?

- The Palm Mennen drawings.

Wasn't any point in my not doing

them. Ellison had the account.

- Thought I might at least...

- You don't owe me any explanation.

I know I don't. I'm just

decent enough to offer one.

You might have told me sooner.

- What's the difference?

- It's not so sneaky.

- Didn't want to hurt you.

- Ha! Hurt me.

Well!

You'd better go along.

Don't waste any time.

Don, don't always tell me what to do.

HELLO.

Hello...

Oh.

Hello.

What are you doing this evening?

Working.

Can't play hooky?

No.

- Well, how long are you going to

be there? -All night, probably.

I'm going to be in the neighborhood.

Going out for dinner.

If I see a light in your window,

may I stop by and take you home?

I guess...

Yes.

A light in the window...

Don?

- Yes? -What time is it?

Just 3 o'clock.

Heavens, I must have been asleep for

hours. I meant to wait up for you.

Just finished working?

Yes.

Don, why are you lying?

Lying?

Let's have a showdown.

When I finished working,

I went down to the office.

I wanted to see if there

wasn't something I could do.

When I got there, I saw you

going away with Peggy.

Don, I'm fed up.

- Before I even explain...

- Before you even explain!

You'll tell me that it was the first

time, or that it was an accident.

I don't care if it was the

first or the 50th time.

The point is, Don: it isn't any

one thing. It's everything.

It can't go on like this. I can't.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I'm tired and I don't want to argue.

I'm not going to argue either.

Tomorrow, I'm moving out.

We're through.

Are you crazy?

I will be crazy, if we go on like this.

It's been piling up and piling up.

I said so in the beginning.

Marriage isn't any good.

- What's marriage to do

with it? -Everything.

Why did I lose out on the Palm

Mennen account in the first place?

Why bring that up? You've

got it now, haven't you?

Yes, and you resent that. And you resent

the fact that we went to Havana.

And when we got back, the business

was in a mess on account of it.

Don, you've got a right to resent it.

Don't you see? It's all mixed up.

You're trying to do

what you think I want.

And I'm trying to do

what I think you want.

And neither of us is doing what

we want. It's no go this way, Don.

Helen. You've got to

compromise once in a while.

Compromise is defeat.

I'm not going on, Don.

You're tired. And jealous.

That's right, I'm jealous. And why?

There's nothing wrong with your

taking another girl out for an evening.

If I weren't a wife,

I wouldn't be jealous.

And you have to come sneaking in!

Alright. Listen. It's no go.

What are we going to do about it?

I love you, darling.

And I know you love me.

Let's be lovers again. Let's be

separate people, and not try to be one.

Listen:
I'll take an apartment of

my own again, and you keep this.

I'll go, darling.

Either way. But let's work separately

and do things separately.

And when we do come together again it'll

always be new, and exciting, and real.

Alright.

We'll try that.

If it'll make you happy.

Goodnight.

Night.

Tie this for me, will you?

That's another disadvantage

of our arrangement:

I haven't even a wife handy to tie this.

Ah, these modern young people!

Give me the old-fashioned girl.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes