My House in Umbria Page #5

Probably in memory of people

who've been killed in traffic accidents.

- No, no. Saved.

- Scusi?

Saved. They were saved.

They give thanks.

They put their casco on the wall.

How very touching.

I haven't got anything to put up there.

What do you mean?

I was saved. I should give thanks.

What a sweet idea.

We must think of something.

Come on, lots to see.

There are some wonderful paintings inside.

Can you think of anything?

If you'll excuse me,

I'll go in search of a bookshop.

- I might find something on roses.

- Yes, please do.

We'll go up to the tower again,

if that's all right.

Yes, of course, if you've got the energy.

- We'll try.

- Come on, I'll race you.

Mr. Riversmith, where are you going?

I thought I'd have a look

at the picture gallery.

No, you don't want to do that.

Full of tourists.

You come with me.

This way.

Is this a place you've been before?

Yes. I always come here.

Scusi.

This is a very quiet place.

It's this place here. This is the place for us.

Are you sure this is a kind of...

Are the others coming here?

Let's sit down, shall we?

I wonder if they're brothers, the barmen.

They look like brothers, don't they?

I wonder if they are.

It's so peaceful here.

I'm sure you're dying

for a bit of peace and quiet.

And a drink!

I insist on standing you a cocktail.

No, I don't drink in the middle of the day.

Recognizing this as a polite reluctance

to accept more hospitality...

I ignored it.

I ordered him an Old Fashioned...

since, in my house,

that had been established as his drink.

It's awfully pleasant here.

You mustn't worry about the others.

There's no reason why you and I

shouldn't spend a little time together.

And if tongues start to wag, who cares?

Such nonsense.

Look at them over there,

the man and the girl.

Are they lovers, do you suppose?

Just a friend, perhaps.

Her father? What do you think?

No, I think they're lovers. Look.

I'm sure they're lovers.

Grazie.

Salute.

What a strange

and mysterious thing it is, love.

To be without it is like being...

deprived of oxygen.

I had no love when I was a child.

The people who brought me up

were not my parents.

I was still very young

when they told me the truth.

- Olive?

- No, thank you.

My real parents were traveling entertainers.

They had no use for a child.

"Not the sort of people you'd care for"...

said the mother who wasn't my mother.

The people I lived with

couldn't have children.

They bought me.

Isn't that astonishing? Bought me.

Like a cut-price sofa.

- Crostini?

- No, thank you.

The father who wasn't my father

used to take me to the Gaiety Cinema.

On Sunday afternoons,

there'd be a comedy short:

Laurel and Hardy or Charlie Chase.

And then the Gaumont News

and then the main feature.

I loved Westerns.

I loved the canyons and the ranches...

and the feathered Indians

that fell one by one.

The saddles that became pillows

beneath the stars.

For a while I think they were fond of me.

But as I grew older, things began to change.

I was 10 when she told me the truth...

the mother who wasn't my mother.

"20, that's what he give," she said.

"Rough type of people," she said,

"to profit from the baby."

"50 they ask, 20 he give."

As soon as I was old enough, I ran away.

I ran and I ran and I ran.

All over the world.

London, America, Egypt...

Morocco.

I felt he was in some way distressed

or preoccupied.

I wanted to reach across the table

and touch the back of his hand...

but naturally, I didn't.

I think we should go.

I think we should join the others.

He'd hardly touched his drink.

That saddened me.

Alcohol in moderation can be a great

loosener for a man like Mr. Riversmith.

Aimee, I've been thinking

about what you could give the cathedral.

- Perhaps one of your paintings.

- What?

Perhaps you could do a special painting.

Wouldn't that be a good idea?

- Special painting?

- To put alongside the crash helmets.

To give thanks. You thought

it would be a good idea.

You remember the crash helmets, Aimee?

We didn't know what they were.

And the Italian lady told us.

Don't you remember?

It appears she can't remember a thing.

That's unusual, but not unheard of

in these cases.

Maybe not, but it's very worrying.

We were planning to go back to the States

at the end of the week.

Should we delay?

That's up to you.

Dr. Innocenti, let me be frank.

My wife and I have no experience

in this sort of thing.

Will we be able to handle it...

or do you think the child will need

institutional care?

It's unlikely, but not impossible.

We'll have to make a decision.

- Four, five, six, seven...

- No, that's eight.

...nine, ten.

- Take bigger steps.

I can't take bigger steps.

One, two, three, four, five...

six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

That would be safer.

One, two, three, four...

five, six, seven...

General.

Oh, Tom.

Have you seen the General?

Yes. He and Werner were talking to a man...

about making a sundial

for the cottage garden, I believe.

In that case, I won't disturb them.

How good they are to me.

A pipe would not have seemed amiss...

clenched between his strong-seeming teeth.

Do you mind if I smoke?

You go right ahead.

If he'd had a pipe,

he would have relit it now.

He would have pressed the tobacco

into the cherry wood bowl...

and drawn on it to make it glow again.

Would you have another bourbon?

I'll fetch one for you. I need a top-up myself.

Nothing to drink for me, thank you.

You know, I went to America once.

To Idaho.

Really?

I dreamed of going there.

I adored Wild West movies

when I was a child.

Idaho is hardly the Wild West.

No, I was misled.

A man called Ernie Chumps took me.

He's a very unreliable person.

But I was young.

Full of romantic ideas.

He went to Idaho...

in search of orders for sanitaryware.

And he took me with him.

He didn't travel

with the sanitaryware, of course.

Just brochures full of photographs...

and a miniature two-dimensional toilet...

just to show the quality of the porcelain.

He took me to Morocco as well.

To Marrakech.

Women were his weakness.

He was Aries on the cusp with Taurus.

A very mixed-up region

for a man of his sensual disposition.

I think I'll turn in early. The jet lag.

You should be waking up now, Tom.

You're six hours behind.

You're right. Then perhaps I'm just tired.

Of course, you know...

before my time...

he took someone else

around with him on expenses.

She wanted to marry him.

Anyway, he couldn't afford to

because of Mrs. Chumps and the alimony.

I was 18 years old when I first met Ernie.

Green as a pea.

He left me in Marrakech.

Just abandoned me in the Cafe Rose.

They gave me a job...

entertaining the guests.

It was exhausting work.

One of Ernie's favorite products

was the joke flush.

When you pulled the chain,

a recorded voice said, "Ha-ha!"

The trouble was you couldn't stop it

from saying, "Ha-ha!"

Poor Ernie.

Defective goods got him in the end.

- Are you really going to bed now?

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