Hope and Glory Page #22

GRACE:

Father, that's enough now

GRANDFATHER GEORGE

And...and...Henry Chapman's girl,

was it Thelma? No, I can see those

cornflower eyes...I've lost your

name, my sweetness.

Tears come to his eyes. He falters. There are cries of

'shame'. HOPE, GRACE'S sister, jumps to her feet.

HOPE:

Do we have to listen to this

nonsense every year? You're drunk,

Dadda. Sit down.

GRANDFATHER GEORGE

...Betty Browning...Betty, let me

tell you something. I'm seventy

three years old, I've seen half the

wonders of the world and I never

laid eyes on a finer sight than the

curve of Betty Browning's

breasts...

raises his glass again

My girls Dead you may be, or old and withered. But while I

live, I will do you honour to the last. Bless all of you.

He drinks and slumps down into his chair, overcome with

melancholy. Only MOLLY applauds and only DAWN looks

sympathetic. BILL taps his grandfather's knee.

BILL:

It was Sheila, Grandpa.

GRANDFATHER GEORGE looks up sadly.

GRANDFATHER GEORGE

What's that?

BILL:

Henry Chapman's daughter. It was

Sheila. I remember her from last

year.

GRANDFATHER GEORGE

So it was. Sheila. This boy will go

far.

BILL turns away to DAWN, stifling his giggles.

BILL:

I made it up!

EXT. ROHAN HOUSE - NIGHT

DAWN and BRUCE kiss goodbye in the porch. She pulls away,

sensing something amiss.

DAWN:

What's wrong?

He looks away, unhappy and awkward.

DAWN:

What is it?

BRUCE:

We're not supposed to say, but

we're being shipped out tomorrow.

DAWN:

Where?

BRUCE:

I don't know?

DAWN:

You do, you do. You're just not

saying.

BRUCE:

I swear I don't know.

(offers her a little

box)

Here's your Christmas present.

She opens it. A diamond ring. She gasps, then trusts it back

at him angrily.

DAWN:

You expect me to spend the rest of

the war sitting at home staring at

a ring? And you'll meet some French

girl who can speak your own

language. No thank you!

BRUCE:

Please yourself.

BRUCE hurls the little box into the next-door bomb site and

storms off into the night. DAWN slams the door.

INT. ROHAN HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

DAWN buries her head in a cushion, crying and wailing. Only

MAC and MOLLY of the guests remain, and they are playing

cards with CLIVE and GRACE. GRACE goes to comfort DAWN.

GRACE:

What is it, pet?

DAWN:

He's being posted. I was terrible

to him.

GRACE:

Don't leave it like that. Go after

him. Swallow your pride.

EXT. ARMY CAMP - DAY

CLIVE and DAWN riding pillion, pull up at the Guard House on

his old Norton. DAWN slides down and hurries to the Guard

House. CLIVE props up the bike and follows her. A convoy of

trucks pulls out of the gate. Soldiers lean out of the back

of the lorries, cheering and whistling when they see DAWN.

INT. GUARD HOUSE - DAY

The SERGEANT of the Guard sits toasting his toes on a coke

stove. DAWN addresses CLIVE as he enters.

DAWN:

We've missed them. They've gone.

(turns back to the

Sergeant)

Can't you tell me where? You can

see I'm not a spy.

SERGEANT:

I would if I could, but I can't.

He points to a wall on which two posters are pinned. One

says 'Careless talk costs lives, the other, ' Walls Have

Ears'. DAWN is shattered. CLIVE puts his arm about her.

CLIVE:

He'll write as soon as he can.

SERGEANT:

Sure, he will. You'll meet again

(sings)

don't know where,

don't know when.

But in the meantime, I am free

tomorrow night.

CLIVE leads her out. A sprig of mistletoe hangs over the

door. DAWN rips it down and flings it back at the SERGEANT.

It hits him square in the face.

EXT. ROHAN HOUSE - PORCH - DAY

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