Mr. Skeffington Page #2

And I'll be happy to see him

in the morning.

Yes, sir.

Miss Trellis, your guests

are beginning to arrive.

Thank you.

Soames.

Ask Mr. Skeffington

if he'd wait a moment.

Yes, sir.

What was the idea of that?

Lt'd be nice if you saw your employer.

You'll get more work out of him.

If he thinks because I work for him

he can come barging in here...

But, darling, obviously

he didn't come for a free dinner.

- It must be important.

- Not so important it can't wait till morning.

You get rid of him. I won't see him.

Georgie, what do you think of that?

I think you and I had better

speak to Skeffington.

- But what will we tell him about Trippy?

- Oh, I'll try and think of some lie or other.

No, never mind. I'll think of one.

Trippy's kept me in practice.

Georgie, don't look so worried.

- Good evening.

- Hello.

Fanny, you look beautiful.

You look more like

a statesman every day.

Really, Fanny?

My cousin George just arrived,

and for some reason or other...

...we must be kind to him.

George, this is Mr. Morrison,

Mr. Thatcher and Mr. Conderley.

- How do you do?

- How do you do?

Thank you.

Would you please excuse us?

Will you go speak to Skeffington? I'll be

right in. I must apologize to my guests.

Fanny.

Hello, Chester, darling.

- Fanny.

- Chester.

Evening, Dr. Parker.

Forgive me for being so late.

Fanny.

- Good evening.

- Good evening.

Mr. Skeffington?

I'm George Trellis, Trippy's cousin.

- How do you do?

- How do you do?

- I didn't know you were having a party.

- Quite all right. It must be very important.

I'm afraid it's extremely important.

Yes.

- Cigarette?

- No, thank you.

Good evening, Mr. Skeffington.

Miss Trellis, Trippy's sister.

How do you do, Mr. Skeffington?

How do you do?

George, did you explain to

Mr. Skeffington about Trippy?

No, I didn't.

Unfortunately, my brother went to bed

half an hour ago, with a severe...

...cold.

- Headache.

Both?

I'm sorry to hear that.

It's possible the cold

brought on the headache.

Trippy feels sure he can shake

the cold off overnight...

...and be at his desk in the morning.

- I'm sure he will be.

I don't think that's quite probable.

You see, your brother

is no longer in my employ.

Trippy never said a word about that.

A man with a cold

is never very communicative.

- If you'll excuse me, perhaps I'd better...

- Mr. Skeffington.

Isn't there anything

you would care to discuss with us?

As you may know, Miss Trellis

and Trippy have no father or mother.

I'm more or less head of the family.

Since your cousin avoided me tonight and

undoubtedly will avoid me in the morning...

...I think perhaps

I had better speak to you.

Miss Trellis, it's rather a delicate matter,

so if you'll excuse us.

- No, Mr. Skeffington, I'm staying.

- All right, then.

I dropped in tonight on an impulse. I was

really on my way to see Arnold Hanlon.

Arnold Hanlon?

Wasn't he the district attorney?

He still is.

I don't think I'm going to be able

to take this standing up.

Maybe we'd all better sit down.

- Won't you, Mr. Skeffington?

- Thank you.

Has Trippy done something awful?

Well, to begin with, your brother

has many good qualities.

He's intelligent. He has imagination...

Oh, this is gonna be even worse

than I thought.

As a bond salesman,

he started out brilliantly.

His orders piled in,

his commissions mounted.

We gave him a larger desk,

put his name on the door.

That he told me about.

Then one day he handed in

a very large order...

...from a Mr. Clarence Pruitt

of Big Falls, Rhode Island.

So large an order, it required

an immediate confirmation.

It turned out there was no

Mr. Clarence Pruitt of Rhode Island.

It even turned out there was no such town

as Big Falls in Rhode Island.

You mean he made them both up?

He created everything but Rhode Island.

Naturally, we started to investigate

other orders that hadn't been confirmed.

We found he'd sold $50,000

worth of railroad bonds...

...to a man whose address placed him

squarely in the middle of the Hudson River.

Another block was sold to a man who

could have had only the mildest interest...

...in stocks and bonds,

having been dead for 23 years.

Good heavens.

How long was he doing this?

For about three weeks.

Weren't you suspicious at all?

He threw in enough cancellations

to make the thing seem authentic.

And here and there,

there was a legitimate sale.

But you had to look for them.

It wasn't very clever of him, was it?

Well, he showed a certain flare

for picking odd names and places...

...but it was hardly worth the $24,000

we paid him in commissions.

You mean he stole $24,000 from you?

Yes. I'm afraid that's it.

Does Trippy know you know?

Oh, yes. We called him in

and told him we'd give him...

...every opportunity to return the money.

Then we sent him to a smaller office...

...and took his name off the door.

That was two weeks ago.

- Has he made any effort to make good?

- Not only hasn't he returned a penny...

...but three days ago he forgot himself

and handed in another order...

...from Mr. Clarence Pruitt.

When a man becomes repetitious,

it's time to go to the DA.

You should have gone long ago.

Well, I was quite touched

when I discovered...

...that he'd lost most of the money

at the racetrack.

- That touched you?

- Yes.

They were my horses he bet on,

and I gave him the tips.

How was I to know

it was my own money?

Poor Trippy.

I'm sorry, Miss Trellis.

I know it won't be any hardship...

...for you to return the money.

- No hardship?

There won't be unpleasantness.

Mr. Skeffington, you may as well know

that Miss Trellis and Trippy are stone broke.

I don't understand.

- The Trellis wealth was a legend.

- Well, it's now a myth.

When my father died four years ago

he did leave a considerable estate...

...but, you see,

Trippy insisted on managing it.

He went through their fortune

and was starting in on yours.

I see.

But the house, servants.

I was under the impression...

Everybody's under the same impression.

Even the creditors.

I take it, then, there's no chance

of the money being returned, is there?

I'll be leaving now.

Unless, of course, Trippy could get another

job and pay you back a little each week.

You couldn't write him

a reference, could you?

I could, but my heart

wouldn't be in it, really.

Well...

...all we can do is throw ourselves

on your mercy.

You see, there are stockholders.

It's not my money, it's the corporation's.

Yes, but the horses were yours

and not the corporation's, weren't they?

Yes, that's true.

But I'm not quite sure of the logic.

If you give us time,

I'll look over the estate again.

Perhaps there's something I can salvage.

Mr. Skeffington.

Well, the stockholders don't know yet.

I'll let it ride a while.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

- Mr. Skeffington, may I tell you how...

- Please. I'm keeping you from your guests.

Wouldn't you stay for dinner?

After all, you're really the host.

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