Lincoln Page #39

his wife out buggy-riding on Good

Friday.

LINCOLN:

Jerusalem. Where David and Solomon

walked. I dream of walking in that

ancient city.

She seems sadder. They ride in silence.

MARY:

All anyone will remember of me is I

was crazy and I ruined your

happiness.

LINCOLN:

Anyone thinks that doesn't

understand, Molly.

She nods; then, tenderly:

122.

MARY:

When they look at you, at what it

cost to live at the heart of this,

they'll wonder at it. They'll

wonder at you. They should. But

they should also look at the

wretched woman by your side, if

they want to understand what this

was truly like. For an ordinary

person. For anyone other than you.

Lincoln laughs, takes her hand. She leans against him.

LINCOLN:

We must try to be happier. We

must. Both of us. We've been so

miserable for so long.

INT. LINCOLN'S OFFICE - EVENING

Lincoln's in the shirtsleeves and vest of his formal evening

wear, his hair brushed down and plastered in place. William

Slade is working the tie and gloves. James Ashley and

Schuyler Colfax stand with him, holding glasses of scotch

whiskey. Slade waits with Lincoln's coat, clothes brush, the

stovepipe hat and gloves on the table.

John Hay tears down several of the military maps, heavily

marked, from the bookcases where they're tacked. He drops

these on the floor. As they watch Hay:

LINCOLN:

I did say some colored men, the

intelligent, the educated, and

veterans, I qualified it.

JAMES ASHLEY:

Mr. Stevens is furious, he wants to

know why you qualified it -

SCHUYLER COLFAX:

No one heard the intelligent or the

educated part. All they heard was

the first time any president has

ever made mention of Negro voting.

LINCOLN:

Still, I wish I'd mentioned it in a

better speech.

JAMES ASHLEY:

Mr. Stevens also wants to know why

you didn't make a better speech.

123.

They laugh. There's a knock on the door; Nicolay enters.

JOHN NICOLAY:

(TO LINCOLN:
)

Mrs. Lincoln's waiting in the

carriage. She wants me to remind

you of the hour, and that you'll

have to pick up Miss Harris and

Major Rathbone.

Lincoln nods. Slade enters with Lincoln's hat, coat, and

gloves. Lincoln begins to dress hurriedly.

LINCOLN:

Am I in trouble?

WILLIAM SLADE:

No, sir.

LINCOLN:

Thank you, Mr. Slade.

Slade hands Lincoln his gloves as Colfax and Ashley drain

their drinks and rise.

LINCOLN (CONT'D)

I suppose it's time to go, though I

would rather stay.

He leaves the room.

INT. AN EMPTY CORRIDOR, SECOND FLOOR OF THE WHITE HOUSE -

CONTINUOUS:

On the way out, Lincoln tosses the gloves on a side table.

Slade grabs them, considers chasing after Lincoln, then

thinks better of it. He walks back towards the office. Then

some strange feeling stops him, and he turns around again.

Lincoln is walking away, past the petitioners' chairs, down

the empty hallway.

Slade watches till Lincoln turns the corner, and he's gone.

INT. A THEATER - NIGHT

The theater is adorned with patriotic bunting.

Onstage, a Caliph's palace. A YOUNG MAN duels with scimitars

against a huge, hideous AFRIT. A YOUNG WOMAN in chains cowers

in distress. The young man gymnastically avoids being killed,

then plunges his scimitar into the afrit's heart. The demon

screams and topples to the ground. The audience gasps as a

124.

flame-colored, bejewelled bird rises up from the dead afrit's

heart.

The audience applauds. In the center box, Tad Lincoln is

joining in, as is his companion for the evening, Tom Pendel.

Onstage, the bird flies off, the young man is freeing the

young woman, when the scene is halted by the red curtain

lowering, surprising actors and audience. The music dies,

the gas lights in the house are being raised as the owner of

the theater, LEONARD GROVER, steps out before the curtain and

walks to the center of the stage, pale and badly shaken.

In the box, Tom Pendel glances quickly at Tad, who's fixed on

the stage, eyes open, alarmed.

The audience knows something's wrong. Their rising murmur of

concern dies immediately when Grover raises his hands.

LEONARD GROVER:

(VOICE SHAKING:
)

The President has been shot.

There are screams of horror from the audience; people leap

from their seats.

LEONARD GROVER (CONT'D)

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