Marie Antoinette Page #5

And you, you know what will happen

to you when I'm king?

There are places for women like you

in the Bastille.

- Stop it. Make him stop!

- Silence!

I'm going to have my wife back.

I'm going to have children.

I know.

But you, you're old, you're weak.

You're not going to live long.

I'll be sitting there and you'll be dead.

- Be silent!

- Sit down!

Forgive me, sire.

I didn't mean to touch you.

Forgive me.

His Excellency had friends to dinner...

...the Swedish ambassador

and other gentlemen.

Dinner was barely over

when the king's messenger arrived.

His Excellency was obliged

to leave immediately.

How unfortunate.

Will Your Royal Highness wait?

No, thank you, Franz.

Will you see that my carriage

is prepared for my return?

Yes, Your Royal Highness.

Mama.

I'm sorry, I had no idea.

I thought the room was empty.

Excuse me, I left some papers.

May I?

Thank you. And pardon me.

I know I'm making a nuisance of myself,

but if there's anything I can do...

Thank you. There's nothing.

It's hard to be helpless when...

May I get you a glass of sherry?

I'm trying to tell you that my life

is at your service, you know.

Haven't you heard the news?

You know why the king

has sent for Count Mercey.

And still I can't get rid of you.

You want to be my friend

in my disgrace?

Yes.

I'm not impressed, Count Fresen.

I've lived at court too long,

I've seen too much tonight.

Confess, I attract you.

I saw it in your eyes that night.

You want to profit by the occasion.

You'd like to make love to me,

wouldn't you?

Yes, I would like to make love to you.

You think that would be

a simple matter, I suppose?

From my point of view, yes.

Then you risk nothing

in offering me your attentions.

You're not French, you need

no favors from the king of France.

I wouldn't cry.

He isn't worth it.

Oh, be quiet. Must you preach too?

What have you to offer in his place?

I don't know what his place was.

I offer you myself.

How generous of you. How adroit.

How comforting

to a discarded woman.

Oh, surely you must have heard.

They said he and I were...

I know that isn't true.

You don't know anything about me.

I've known you all your life.

You saw me for the first time

at the gaming house in Paris.

You're mistaken, madame.

At 13 you could neither write German

nor French correctly.

You knew nothing of history.

You liked music, but you trifled with it,

as with everything else.

Gluck was your music master. He brought

you apples and you threw them at him.

You were inattentive, spoiled

and adorable.

You've been talking

of me to Count Mercey.

You came to breakfast every day and said

something wonderful was about to happen.

On rainy days,

you sat at a small gilded table...

...and pressed rose leaves

and screamed.

You had a blue Noah's Ark

with Monsieur and Madame Noah...

...and 24 pairs of animals.

You had a little farm

with woolly sheep...

...and a little red cow named Plop.

Why, it's true, monsieur.

How do you know it?

Do you remember a governess,

Madame Cordat?

A sort of little flopping person,

like a respectable magpie?

Pecky. Not Pecky?

Pecky. She became

my sister's governess.

And chattered all this?

Oh, how dreadful.

When she left, she left you with me.

And l... I fell in love with you.

I dreamed of daring feats

in your defense.

The world rocked

in some tremendous upset...

...and I rode through seas of blood

to your side.

How very foolish of you.

I was jealous too.

Insanely jealous.

It maddened me to think that

paid menials could hear your voice...

...see your hair unbound.

And when you were married,

I was in despair.

I begin to understand, monsieur,

why you were so angry that night.

You thought of me as something

quite wonderful, didn't you?

But instead, you found an empty-headed,

ill-mannered little fool.

You see, monsieur,

how sadly I am changed.

Oh, no. No, madame.

You have made pleasure a shield

against loneliness and slander...

...but you could never change

so deep a heart, so eager to be loved.

Everyone, even the highest,

has some dream of love in his heart.

And unless he achieve it...

...he must fill that emptiness with noise,

fame, excitement, pleasure.

Where did you learn this, monsieur?

In museums, mostly.

Museums?

They're very dull, most of them,

and neglected...

...but you'll always find

someone there...

...gazing over the relics of queens

who were true lovers.

There isn't much to see.

A ring, a glove, a fan, perhaps.

But we preserve them

as we do our laws.

And we have

much more faith in them.

Do you think,

a hundred years hence...

...some Swedish gentleman,

wandering in Paris...

...might smile over a relic

of Marie Antoinette?

A miniature, perhaps, or a ring?

This very ring, for instance.

It's centuries old.

It has an inscription on it.

"Everything leads me to thee."

Can you see it...

...lying on a velvet cushion

in its little glass case?

I don't know.

I don't know.

You might make a present of it,

perhaps, to some man who had loved you.

And it would be worn on his hand

for as long as he lived...

...and buried with him when he died,

because he loved you reverently...

...and as was fitting,

from a respectful distance...

...but with all his heart,

for all his life.

I must go.

- But Count Mercey...

- It doesn't matter. My cloak.

- Madame...

- Let me alone. Let me go.

You're only upsetting me,

you always do.

- I?

- Yes, yes.

Last time, and now,

the things you say.

You hurt me. No one has hurt me so.

I hurt you?

Oh, I'm tired, tired,

I don't know what I'm saying.

You bewilder me.

I can't think. So many words,

such wonderful words.

What were you telling me?

That I love you.

What else have I been saying

with every word, and with no right?

That you love me.

Let me be still a moment

and understand.

When we first met,

my heart stood still.

I knew then, really.

I knew something had happened.

Something glorious

and terrible and everlasting.

But...

...I thought love came more happily.

What are you saying?

Perhaps the great loves

come with tears.

The dawn is breaking.

How beautiful it is.

I knew it would be beautiful.

I must go.

- You're not afraid?

- No.

Stay a moment.

When the door closes upon you,

I shall doubt that all this really happened.

You're here beside me.

If I bend my head

I can feel your cheek against my lips.

I can hear your voice

saying incredible things.

Will it always be like this?

Shall we never lose the wonder of it?

For me it will never change.

I have a stubborn streak in me.

I may pray to forget,

but it will never be granted me.

How grave you are.

Have you ever thought that people

to whom miracles happen must be dazed?

The blind man to whom his sight

was suddenly given...

...must be startled

by the strange new world.

So it is with me.

I came here hoping to catch

a glimpse of you at court.

You might have flung me a word,

gracious and indifferent, as you passed.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes