I Could Go on Singing Page #6

to go just yet, Father.

Not yet.

I'd like to stay here

for a bit with you...

and get it clearer,

if you have no objections.

No, I have no objections.

Please stay.

Matt, I've never

ordered you...

to do anything

in your whole life, have I?

But I'm asking you now

to come home with me.

Will you?

All right.

Jenny, please...

Yes, Matt?

I'm going because

my father has asked me to...

not because I want to.

Do you understand?

Yes.

It's what you must do.

Thank you.

Could I call you, then,

and talk?

Yes, of course.

Call me tomorrow.

All right?

Yes.

You won't drop it, will you?

No.

Don't let him wait alone.

Please go with him.

Anything I can get

for you, Jenny?

I'll go my way

By myself

This is the end of romance

I'll go my way

By myself

Love is only a dance

I'll try

To apply myself

And teach my heart

how to sing

I'll go my way

By myself

Like a bird on the wing

I'll face the unknown

I'll build a world

Of my own

No one knows better

Than I myself

I'm by myself

Alone

I'll go my way

By myself

Here's how the comedy ends

I'll have to deny myself

Love and laughter

And friends

Gray clouds in the sky above

Have put a blot on my fun

I'll try to fly high above

I'll try to fly high above

For my place

In the sun

And I'll face

The unknown

I'll build a world

Of my own

No one knows better

Than I myself

No, no one knows better

Than I myself

How I wanted love and fell

Now I say what the hell

All of those black days

are gone

'Cause it's solo

All alone

By myself

From

Now

On

Did you call New York?

- Called New York.

- And?

- It's a little complicated.

- Well, tell me.

Can't it wait

until after the show?

No, it can't, George.

Tell me.

- All right. You've got a case.

- I knew it. I told you.

Ida, I've got a case.

Jenny, what you've got

is a technicality.

I'm gonna lay it

out for you...

just the way the lawyers

laid it out for me.

The records were searched,

and the adoption was legitimate.

What did you say?

I said the adoption was

legitimate, as far as it went.

But there's such a thing

as second papers.

Now, don't ask me

what they are.

They're second papers,

and you never signed them.

Thank heaven for me.

That means if you want

to fight it, you can.

Now, no guarantees,

a whole long McGill in court.

Frankly, darling,

it's a long shot.

Did you tell them

to go ahead?

No, I didn't tell them

anything just yet.

Well, tell them so.

George, will you please

call the lawyers.

Jenny, right now,

at this moment...

you're on top of a career you've

been building for over 20 years.

For half that time,

I've been with you...

so I know a little bit

about the subject.

I can't stand by and watch you

destroy it and yourself.

If you fight this case,

you might win.

It's possible. I don't know.

But do you realize

what it would mean?

You couldn't be in Rome

one week, Miami the next.

You'd have to stay

here in England...

and fight it out in the courts.

Jenny, the boy's got a home...

he's got a father, a school,

a way of life.

You can't jump

into the middle of that...

and start making

all kinds of waves.

George, please.

All right. Suppose you got him,

what would you do with him?

Trail him around the world

with a tutor from date to date.

Hotel suites, rented cars,

other people's houses.

And they're pretty strict

in England about schools.

You might have to send him

to a school...

and come and visit him

now and then at vacation time.

Jenny, you'd be strangers,

don't you see?

All right, all right.

What would happen to you?

How would you be able to work

with this pull all the time?

Do you know how

to handle a small boy?

It's a full-time job.

Forgive me, dear...

but I don't think you know

how to do it.

This, all this,

this is your job.

You do it better than anybody

else in the whole world...

because you know it.

Don't force this, Jenny.

Let it rest.

George, I know you're trying

to help me...

but, you see, I love him.

And oddly enough,

I think he loves me.

You have three minutes,

Miss Bowman.

I'm ready.

Matt.

I've got to interrupt,

I'm afraid.

It's all right.

Did you mind me taking this?

No, not a bit.

Have you just got back?

I've been finishing

some notes.

No, don't put it off.

It's rather fine.

I've spent most of today...

wondering how

to explain things to you.

You've had some pretty

rough things flung at you...

and now you'd better

have the truth.

It's up to me

to give it to you.

- Shall we sit down?

- Yes.

I don't know how much

you heard today...

but I presume enough to know

that I'm your real father...

and Jenny's your mother.

Were you and Jenny

married once?

No, Matt,

we were never married.

We fell in love while

I was in New York studying.

I did ask her to marry me,

to come home to England.

But I hadn't reckoned

with one thing...

that was her career, which meant

more to her than anything else.

I couldn't make her

change her mind...

and I had to come back here

to work, so I came alone.

That's pretty clear,

isn't it?

Yes.

Then I met Janet again.

We'd known each other

since we were almost your age.

It was always

rather expected...

that we'd get married,

so we did.

Then I heard that

you were about to be born.

Jenny did her best

to look after you...

but touring the world

with a small child...

isn't always convenient.

So Janet and I

talked things over...

and it was decided that you come

and live with us as our son...

our adopted son because

that was kinder to Janet.

I don't understand why you

didn't tell me when Janet died.

I didn't expect you

to understand entirely.

That'll take time,

perhaps a long time.

But the important thing

now is your future.

Will you help me?

All right.

Well, you've promised

to telephone Jenny, haven't you?

I expect you've been

thinking about that.

- Yes.

- And what you'll say to her.

What do you think

I should say to her?

That's a decision

you have to make yourself, Matt.

But I can tell you

what she'll say to you.

She'll ask you

to meet her in Paris...

and when you get there,

it'll be another place...

- How do you know?

- Because she wants you.

But she just said

for a few days.

It doesn't stop there, Matt.

Just because you're angry

with Jenny, why should I be?

Look, I'm not angry with Jenny.

I'm not angry with her.

I know her, and I know

what I'm talking about.

She wants you...

not for a weekend, but you.

She wants you to leave

your friends, your home...

and your school,

start a new way of life.

Matt, I know what fun

she's been to be with...

and how kind she is and good

and wise, too, sometimes.

And it would be exciting.

You'd see places

you'd never seen before...

you'd fly,

you'd catch boats...

and you'd laugh a lot.

I know her, Matt.

I loved her.

I still do love her.

But mark this. Jenny gives

more love than anyone...

but she takes more love

than anyone can possibly give.

Can you understand that?

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