Kind Hearts And Coronets Page #5

with my first sight

of the D'Ascoynes en masse.

Interesting and somewhat depressing...

for it emphasized

how far I had yet to travel.

There was the duke.

There was my employer,

Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne.

There was

Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne.

There was

General Lord Rufus D'Ascoyne.

There was Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne.

Shh!

And in the pulpit,

talking interminable nonsense...

the Reverend Lord Henry D'Ascoyne.

The life cut short was one...

rich in achievement and promise...

of service to humanity.

The D'Ascoynes

certainly appeared to have accorded...

with the tradition

of the landed gentry...

and sent the fool of the family

into the church.

Well, good-bye, my dear.

- Good-bye.

- No fretting now.

After all, one thing to be said -

we all have to come to it.

Great thing, you know, family vault like ours.

Constant reminder of one's heritage.

Now, take this new cremation nonsense.

Who wants to see his nearest and dearest

put in an incinerator?

I think, sir, Mrs. D'Ascoyne should leave.

The wind is turning cold.

As Mrs. D'Ascoyne thinks best.

Glad we had Cousin Henry

to take the service.

Boring old ass,

but it keeps the thing in the family.

People getting strange ideas these days.

Had a fellow write to me

not so long ago...

wanted to bury his mother here

from Tooting or somewhere.

Start letting strangers in,

the place will be full up.

No room for us, eh?

I privately promised him

that I would make it my business...

to see there was room for him.

Uncle Ethelred

is not the most tactful of men.

I could gladly have struck him.

Thank you for intervening

when you did.

The house will be so empty...

and yet he will be in it everywhere.

I find the thought of life there

hard to face.

Must you stay there?

A new environment -

I must...

for one reason if no other.

They would say I was running away,

that there was truth in all these rumors.

- Rumors?

- In the village.

There's been gossip.

They say that Henry drank in secret.

They even say that

that was the cause of the accident.

I'm sure that Henry would never have

professed one thing and practiced another.

I, too, am sure.

Otherwise,

I think I could not survive.

We have a long way to go.

Try to sleep a little.

Sleep does not come easily.

Please try.

Allow me.

I was conscious that a new obsession...

was about tojoin the one that I should wear

that Edith D'Ascoyne should wear that

of the duchess beside me.

Her dignity ofbearing

at the worst moments ofher grief...

had impressed me with the feeling

that here was a woman...

whose quality matched her beauty.

I resolved to embark

upon her courtship...

as soon as a decent period of mourning

should have elapsed.

Sibella? Yes, Sibella was pretty enough

in her suburban way.

And, indeed, there was no reason why we

shouldn't continue to meet on friendly terms.

But her face would have looked

rather out of place under a coronet.

That, sir, is a list of bills

due for redemption this week.

I've marked in red

those asking for renewal.

Aitcheson, yes.

Pole and Carter, I suppose so.

Knollis Limited, oh, no.

Redbank and Holland -

You have a friend there,

have you not?

An acquaintance.

I know Lionel Holland.

Would you say that he's sound?

I wouldn't say not, sir.

Hmm. Thank you.

- Mazzini.

- Yes, sir?

I've watched your progress here

with great care...

and have been gratified to note

that it has fully justified my judgment...

in inviting you into the firm.

In view of that, and in order that you

may be able to adopt a style of living...

befitting a member

of the D'Ascoyne family...

I have decided to appoint you

my private secretary...

at a salary of L500 per annum.

- Sir, I cannot begin to -

- Oh, please do not try.

I had intended that my son

should occupy the position.

I can only say that I will try

to make my occupancy of it...

worthy of his memory.

I left the Hallwards'house...

and took a bachelor apartment

in St. James's.

Clapham no longer held

Sibella's presence to compensate me...

for the tedious journey

between the suburbs and the city.

Anyhow, it would be vastly more

convenient for her to visit me here.

Now, let me have a look

at the beautiful Mrs. Holland.

- No, I think I prefer Miss Hallward.

- So do I.

Louis, it's very wrong of me

to visit you here.

- Why?

- A married woman calling on a bachelor?

A dangerous bachelor...

in his apartment.

I? Dangerous?

These things only become wrong

when people know about them.

This is a very discreet apartment.

That's why I chose it.

So that young women

could call on you in safety?

So that one young woman could.

How did you know she'd want to?

I hoped.

- How did you enjoy your honeymoon?

- Not at all.

Not at all?

Not at all.

- And how was Italy?

- Oh, impossible!

Every time I wanted to go shopping,

Lionel dragged me off to a church...

or picture gallery.

- Said he wanted to improve his mind.

- He has room to do so.

I should reprove you

for saying unkind things about him...

but I can't.

Louis, I think I've married

the most boring man in London.

- In England.

- In Europe!

Oh, the Italian men

are so handsome...

but I could never get away

from Lionel for a moment.

But I was forgetting -you're Italian.

Half.

Louis...

I can speak frankly to you.

Well, if not to me, to whom?

I shall go mad.

Already when he touches me,

I want to scream.

What am I doing?

You know very well.

You're playing with fire.

At least it warms me.

I must go.

Lionel's dining at home tonight.

Where is Lionel dining tomorrow night?

With some business acquaintances.

And where are you dining

tomorrow night?

Here?

Here.

Poor little imprisoned bird.

Well, she was welcome to come

and flutter her wings with me.

I could think of many more

disagreeable ways ofkilling time...

pending the arrival of the moment...

when the conventional decencies

would permit me...

to make my declaration to Edith.

As to the other undertaking,

I had not forgotten or forgiven...

the boredom of the sermon

at young Henry's funeral...

and I decided to promote

the Reverend Lord Henry D'Ascoyne...

to next place on the list.

I therefore assumed

the garb and character...

of a colonial bishop

spending his vacation...

making a collection ofbrass rubbings

from country churches.

Good evening, my lord.

It was, for a moment,

a shock to be addressed by my ecclesiastical title...

but I recovered quickly.

Good evening. I was just taking a rubbing

of this most interesting brass.

An ancestress of my dear late wife.

Allow me to introduce myself.

Henry D'Ascoyne,

rector of this parish.

Septimus Wilkinson,

bishop of Matabeleland.

I was spending my vacation taking a cycling

tour around your beautiful country churches.

- Ah! Have you noticed our clerestory?

- Cle -

Ah, exquisite!

- The corbels are very fine.

- Hmm.

Perhaps Your Lordship would permit me

to show you one or two other things...

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