Le divorce de Patrick Page #7

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Is it a La Tour?.

-What estimate?.

-No estimate yet.

The owners are deciding whether to sell

at Drouot or Christie's in London.

When we thought it was coming for our

show, 40,000 was the insurance value.

There must be something wrong with it

to be sold so modestly with no fanfare.

-No problem with the export license?.

-The Louvre has passed on it.

I do think Lorraine...

-...around 1 640.

-I don't know.

If I may play devil's advocate...

...the figures lack the weight,

the monumentality of a La Tour.

Has your saint been fasting?.

I don't think it would hurt for you guys

to take a look at it.

Let me say that I think your picture

is superb. Marvelously beautiful.

Thank you.

Now, what do you suppose

an oeuf fermier might be?.

Just boiled eggs, do we think?.

Only in France would they serve

boiled eggs with such panache.

Such effrontery, you might say.

I've explained the legal situation.

Oh, believe me, Christie's

is used to much, much worse.

Of course, everything is worse

when the French are involved.

I think I'm going to go for the liver

with the pommes mousseline.

What about something more cuisine?.

You don't have lunch in Paris every day.

You know what's wonderful here?.

The best is the pintade au cerfeuil.

They do it with chestnuts. It's excellent.

Really?. That's a thought.

As to wine...

... I used to do wine before l

moved to old masters.

Well, you know, they say the real

wine experts are all English.

The French are faddish about wines.

They overlook the most amazing vintages.

I suppose we ought to have

Chateau La Tour. Would be appropriate.

Well, to my mind, your picture

is from La Tour's best period...

...though not the period

he's best known for.

But, in my opinion, La Tour.

Up until now, that hasn't been

the general opinion.

No, but suppose you were a museum...

...and wanted very badly to acquire...

...a Renoir, say, that some local people

had found in an attic.

Well, you have to think of the psychology

of the situation.

You're hardly going to tell the seller

that he has a Renoir, are you?.

The price would go out of sight,

and you'd end up paying more.

So museums, to preserve their integrity...

...often say they can't be sure. See?.

And what do you think?.

I think your very fine La Tour...

...would, in a competitive bidding,

achieve a very fine price.

Several people will know its value.

Our catalog will state the case correctly.

What price range are we talking?.

Perhaps a million pounds.

Million and a half if we're lucky.

Christie's will advise a reserve of that,

meaning it couldn't sell for less.

See, Christie's, obviously, has an opposite

point of view to the museums.

Like you, we'd want to sell

for the maximum price.

We can be competent of our attribution,

and we know the market.

-Thank you.

-Oh, hey, Dad.

Chester Walker, this is Mr. Janely

from Christie's.

-Professor.

-Mr. Janely.

Mr. Janely is sure that it's a La Tour.

-Really?.

-A million, Dad.

A million pounds, not dollars.

That's a lot of money.

To some people I suppose it is.

He was much younger then,

but otherwise he's the same.

You mean personality-wise?.

No, I think I mean character-wise.

There was always something about him.

Worldly, knowing, a bit famous, a bit old...

...which I suppose could be sexually

magnetic, especially to a young person.

It's like fornicating with God.

Where do these pretty things come from?.

Usually we beg in front of Dior

or St. Laurent...

...so that rich women on shopping sprees

can expiate their sins.

Why don't you just put that

in the miscellaneous file for now.

I don't think we need it in Tulsa.

So you won't be coming to Suzanne's

lunch on Sunday?

What can I do?. This conference

was fixed up long ago.

I have to leave now.

I'm in the middle of packing.

Don't you want to meet my parents?.

More to the point...

...would they want to meet me?.

I'm hardly the desirable young suitor

they might have in mind.

Don't you want to see me?

Naturally, but if I don't leave now,

I might miss my plane.

We'll meet on my return.

Please make my apologies

to your parents.

-Goodbye, sweetheart.

-Bye.

Do you really think he's

the best idea for you?.

One hardly has a choice, Roxeanne.

You know that.

Well...

...I used to think so...

...but actually I found it's not true.

You know, this morning I wrote a poem

about the phalarope.

You know those waterfowl that bow

as they swim along?.

The most polite birds in the world.

Very...

...stately.

Bowing...

...as they swim along...

...to no one in particular...

...just in courtesy...

...in gratitude.

You've totally lost your mind.

They think of Saint Ursula

as part of my dowry.

Where do they get dowry?.

Are we in the Middle Ages?.

No, France.

Don't expect them to talk

about any of this at lunch.

They talk about every taboo under the sun.

But money?. Never.

-Never.

-I wish we could stop talking about it too.

I don't want to eat anything weird.

I want to tell you.

Aunt Amelie will be at lunch today.

Uncle Edgar's wife.

She has been summoned.

What am I supposed to do?. Fight for him?.

To say I love him and I'll never let him go?.

Do you think he's worth it?.

But of course, you Americans

are known to be fighters.

You might even fight for something

you don't really want.

I don't like Sundays.

I'd have spotted her

in a crowd of thousands.

Oh, hello, Margeeve.

Hello.

Isabel.

-Chester.

-This is my sister-in-law, Amelie Cosset.

-Nice to meet you.

-Chester.

And Roger. Oh, Roger.

I was forgetting you.

How was the trip?.

It's a privilege for us to be welcomed

here in your country, in your family...

...in your beautiful home.

The privilege is all ours.

-I'm sorry my husband isn't here today.

-Not to mention mine.

My brother Edgar, he's invited

to many international conferences.

I believe he's in Belgium today.

Presumably. I no longer ask.

We love both your daughters,

Roxeanne and lsabel.

They're both so practical, so sensible.

Roxeanne and lsabel?.

We think of the French as practical,

rational.

Voltaire and the Age of the Enlightenment.

Thermidor. But not our girls, I'm afraid.

-Not much rationality there.

-I hunt.

-Hunt?.

-Do you hunt?.

No.

-What do you hunt?.

-The deer.

The deer.

-I guess you shoot them.

-Oh, no.

Birds are shot.

The deer we hunt with dogs.

It's very beautiful.

The horses, the dogs,

the hunters in their coats.

The cleric comes to bless the dogs.

The idea is to run the noble stag

to the ground.

He becomes exhausted

and can no longer run.

-What happens after that?.

-Then the dogs kill the stag.

We have the expression,

"Another kill."' That's what that refers to.

Do people ever get killed?.

Fall off their horses or something?.

Well, not usually,

but it can happen sometimes.

Good. Sort of evens out the odds a bit.

Well, I suppose the moment's come

to say...

...never would I have imagined...

...when I left Santa Barbara

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