I Capture the Castle Page #4

Go right ahead.

I don't suppose

I'd have much of an appetite

if I was actually concussed.

Where've you been?

We were in the long gallery,

looking at pictures.

Never mind all that

tedious ancestor worship.

I'm going to photograph this.

Would you like some water?

Stephen, this is my card.

Five guineas a pop.

I'd like you to consider it.

Thank you. I will.

You aren't going to go, are you?

It's just, I mean... Five guineas.

That'll buy a fair few pounds

of whole nut.

Stephen, can I get you anything else?

Sir William always used to

send us a ham at Christmas.

It was great.

He missed last year.

Thomas...

Here.

Rose hasn't said a word since we got in.

I am going to pretend I don't

care what she's thinking.

Can I tell you something?

When we got back to the dining room,

I suddenly imagined

being in bed with Simon.

- You didn't.

- You wouldn't understand.

No.

- What was it like?

- It was peculiar, but bearable.

- Even with the beard?

- I sort of skirted around it.

If only I could get him to shave.

Wouldn't you rather have Neil?

He's got a nice clean face.

No, I wouldn't rather have Neil.

You can have Neil.

I'd marry Simon even if I hated him.

God, I've never seen

anything more beautiful

than Mrs. Cotton's bathroom.

Peach colored towels!

Rose, there isn't a towel

on earth that could make up

for marrying a bearded man that you hate.

- But I don't hate him.

- You're not in love with him.

I want to be. You have no idea

how much I want to be.

I don't know why I'm excited,

or what it is I really feel.

Perhaps if you...

kissed or something.

I'm not going to let him

until after he's proposed,

otherwise, he might just kiss me

and run and not propose at all.

Why would he do that?

I wish we knew more about men.

I keep trying to imagine

what Mother would say.

There must be signs you can

study, signals you can read.

I think I realized then

how little we have to go on,

how desperate we are,

and that the thing we know least

about of all is being women.

Three teas, two luncheons...

It's only been five days

since we went there for dinner.

I just wish you'd tell me what you and Mrs.

Cotton find to talk about.

We do not talk about anything.

We converse and that's different.

Elizabeth is an extremely

stimulating woman.

- That bloody hound.

- Clothes brush is on the dresser.

Is there nowhere a man in dark

trousers can sit in this house?

And why are you wearing your London Suit?

Because I'm going to London.

Do you want me to start

writing again, or don't you?

I knew it.

She's inspiring him.

His temper has been getting worse.

God, I'd let him tear me limb from limb

if I thought it would unleash him.

I hope I'm not tempting fate.

I keep imagining

Rose's honeymoon... in Paris.

I put flowers by the bed

and think about her, waiting.

I can't decide between a pink

negligee with swan's down trim,

or duchesse satin

in classic eau de Nil...

But she's always just a tiny bit afraid.

Is this your playhouse?

It's...

It's where I come to write.

Like father, like daughter.

Except I've written 147 pages.

It can't help him that rain

pours through his study roof.

I'm suspending the rent

until I've had it repaired.

Is Rose at home today?

She's gone to the village to buy soap.

Shall we walk over there?

I'm sure he was never

going to stab mother,

but it must have looked quite bad

to the next-door neighbor,

because he jumped the fence

and tried to grab the knife off Father.

The neighbor got punched in the stomach

and Father got four months.

And then he stopped writing.

And started reading detective novels.

Well, I can't work it out.

He's a complete mystery all on his own:

"The Case

of the Buried Talent."

You know, he should

really see an analyst.

- An analyst?

- Yes.

The right person could take him

back to the time he spent in jail

and find out why there's still a

part of him imprisoned, locked up.

He'd never agree to that.

Father says

all psychiatrists are con men.

Besides, it would mean he'd

actually have to talk to someone.

Well, doesn't this make

the perfect picture?

I feel like I'm painted

on the lid of a candy box.

- Did you get the soap?

- They'd run out.

Neil was buying cigarettes.

Would you like a lemonade?

Can't I have the same as Rose?

Creme de menthe.

Of course.

I think your sister chose it

for the contrast with her hair.

No, no.

Just there, dear.

The colors look so pretty.

Simon, don't get the beer with

the picture of the hen on it.

Disgusting.

You pick it, I'll buy it.

Neil hates me.

He thinks I'm going

to take Simon away from him.

Do you know, their parents

kept them apart for 14 years.

Did they?

I shan't let him interfere.

I don't care what he wants.

Do you remember that picnic

we went on with Mother and Pa

when they forgot the food?

Yeah, and we had to buy it in a shop.

And Mother had to cut the bread

with a nail file.

That...

That was a funny day.

They took us out because they meant

to tell us they were divorcing,

but they couldn't

in the end, because the chicken

and the plates and the napkins

hadn't been packed.

And they were at a loss

as to how to be civilized.

We never did find out how they decided

which of them would take which one of us.

Who would you have picked, Rose?

I'd have put you both in a home

or sold you to chimney sweep.

I made a mistake with Rose.

I thought she was affected

when I first met her,

artificial

and maybe mannered or something.

She's not.

She's natural and spontaneous.

Quite unlike anyone I've ever met before.

I suppose she is.

- And so are you.

- No.

I'm really glad that we met you all.

I'm glad that we came.

Look out!

Have you seen Rose doing cartwheels?

Have you ever seen such

a change in a girl?

Well, this must be

her fresh-air personality.

Yeah, the question is,

how many Roses are there?

How could you?

A gesture of social intercourse.

What are we going to feed them?

They gave us that ham.

We haven't got a decent table

to eat it off.

There are doors.

They can be taken off their hinges.

What's the matter?

You're father's invited

the Cottons to dinner.

All of them?

And the Fox-Cottons and the vicar.

He's been in London with her.

Elizabeth.

They've had an assignation

at the British Museum.

Elizabeth is my patroness.

We were doing some research.

People use that place

for nothing but assignations.

I used to meet you there myself when was

married to Eduardo, in the Mummy Room.

It can't be done, and we're so, so close

to the only thing

that's going to save us.

Should we try

to get the dinner cancelled?

No. Don't you see?

Simon has to propose to me now,

before he meets somebody else,

or gets to know me better.

If only I could get him on his own again.

You will.

I promise you, you will.

They didn't seem to notice

it was their ham we were serving...

or that they got the biggest portions.

Tell me, James,

did our visit to the Mummy Room

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