Notes On A Scandal Page #2

- Homerton. It's really nice there.

- [ Sheba ] Oh, right.

Lovely, friendly nurses.

I'm going to find out

at the next scan- 20 weeks.

Do you want to come

to lunch on Sunday?

- Where?

- To mine. To our house.

- Won't you be with your family?

- Yes, but you're very welcome.

Oh, it's no big deal.

I'll just do a lasagna or something.

I adore lasagna.

[ Barbara Narrating ]

Bliss. A merry flag...

on the arctic wilderness

of my calendar.

One must make an effort

when one receives an invitation.

The art of it is seeming not to.

Lasagna tends

to disagree with my bowels.

I'll ask for a small portion.

- Oh, I think I've got the wrong house.

- No. You're bang on.

- I'm Richard. Come in.

- Oh.

I'm sorry. I thought-

- That I'd be 20 years younger

and twice as handsome.

- [ Door Closes ]

- Bash!

- [ Sheba ] The kitchen's on fire!

Sorry if you were out there long.

The, uh-The bell's knackered.

- Hi, Barbara.

- Hello.

Oh, what a splendid room.

What can I get you? We're, uh-

We're semi-pro drinkers here. You name it.

[ Barbara ]

I would like a dry sherry, please.

Ah. Uh, I think we might have

some apricot brandy knocking around.

- Uh, dry white wine.

- Done. Have a seat.

- [ Richard ] Where's the, uh, wine?

- [ Sheba Speaks, Indistinct ]

[ Richard ] Well, scrape it. Do you want to-

For a moment. Is it in the fridge?

You must be Polly.

I'm Barbara.

Hi, Barbara.

[ Clattering ]

[ Polly ]

Are you going somewhere?

- Excuse me?

- You're all poshed up.

Oh. Uh, I have an appointment.

Uh, later. In town.

[ Dog Barking ]

- Have you always lived here?

- Mum inherited it.

- It's her littlejoke.

- I only married her for the property. Morning.

- Did Pete go?

- [ Polly ] Mmm.

He was welcome to stay.

He's not really into lunch.

Cheers.

Mmm. Are you interested in wine?

Only the drinking part.

- You?

- Well, I spent a portion of

the summer on the Amalfi coast-

- [ Shouting ]

- Here's trouble.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

Easy! Rocky! Easy!

Easy, easy, wheezy.

[ Barbara Narrating ]

I'd anticipated a suave young lawyer-

- [ Richard ] Barbara?

- and two perfect poppets.

- Not so.

- [ Richard ] Mmm, mmm, mmm.

She's married some

crumbling patriarch.

- He's nearly as old as me.

- Ooh! Ah, ah.

And then there's the daughter,

a pocket princess.

And, finally, a somewhat

tiresome courtjester.

[ Richard ]

Ah, lovely. Thank you.

I'm going to be a wizard.

Oh. Is that when you're grown up?

No. He's just been cast

in his school play.

- [ Boy ] I'm gonna wear a cape.

- Oh.

- I'm the one with the car.

- [ Richard ] Amongst next year's

cultural highlights...

I greatly look forward

to Benjamin Hart...

in the key role of the wizard.

And, indeed, I find myself

beside myself with anticipation.

[ Barbara Narrating ]

A rogue image swam through me:

Hubby's pruney old mouth

pursed at Sheba's breast.

[ Reggae ]

[ Barbara Narrating ]

After lunch, a rather mortifying family tradition.

They do things differently

in bourgeois bohemia.

[ Reggae Continues ]

[ Man Singing ]

Oh. Thank you.

[ Continues, Indistinct ]

Come on. Come on.

Come on.

No.

[ Man Vocalizing ]

[ Phone Ringing ]

[ Vocalizing Continues ]

- Ooh!

- [ Continues, Ends ]

- You ready?

- Watch out.

- Yes!

- Oh.

[ Sheba ]

Took me away for our anniversary. It was years ago.

- When we came back, it was here.

- [ Gasps ]

- As if by magic.

- [ Ben Muttering ]

Oh.

Was supposed to be my studio.

It's more of a refuge, really.

A room of one's own.

[ Sighs ]

Is this you?

- [ Chattering ]

- [ Sheba ] Mmm.

It was.

Oh, I love these.

Such vibrant colors.

Take one. Take two.

Have the lot, actually.

- I couldn't possibly.

- Honestly, no one else wants them.

Oh, I'll treasure them.

Must be exhausting-

running a family and teaching as well.

Oh, I can't wait for term to end.

Roll on, Christmas,

and a month of sod-all.

I shouldn't have kidded

myself I could teach.

It's just that l- I've spent

the last 10 years looking after Ben...

and I'm so desperate

to get out and do something.

And finally we get him into this great

local school, and I'm free to work, and-

You're gonna be a terrific teacher.

Thanks.

But I'm bloody hopeless,

and everyone knows it.

Children are feral.

Don't let them sense your anxiety.

- How do you cope?

- Oh, I'm just a battle-ax.

I'm not popular,

but they respect me.

Well, you're popular with me.

It's strange. I feel

I can talk to you.

[ Barbara Narrating ]

She spoke ofher vile mother...

her grief over the death

ofher father...

the glory days when Richard

scooped her up...

and then jettisoned

wife and children...

for what she called

a nonstop f*** fest.

It's a peculiar trait

of the privileged:

Immediate, incautious intimacy.

But Sheba went well beyond

the tendencies ofher class.

She was utterly candid.

A novice confessing

to the mother superior.

You know, marriage and kids-

I mean, it's wonderful.

But it doesn't give you meaning.

It gives you an imperative,

but it doesn't help you-

My father always used to say-

you know, on the tube- "Mind the gap."

- Uh-

- Oh, I don't know.

It's just the distance

between life as you...

dream it and...

life as it is.

I know exactly what you mean.

[ Barbara Narrating ]

A gold star day.

I always knew we'd be friends.

Our mutual reserve inhibited us...

but now it is manifest-

a spiritual recognition.

[ Man ] At the end of this year,

many of you will enjoy Christmas.

[ Barbara Narrating ]

"S"and I share the ability...

to see through the quotidian

awfulness of things.

[ Continues, Indistinct ]

In a different, better age,

we would be ladies ofleisure...

lunching together,

visiting galleries, traveling...

putting the world to rights.

We would be companions.

[ Rhythmic Clapping ]

[ Singing Christmas Hymn ]

- It's taken. I'm saving it for Sheba.

- [ Continues ]

- Sorry.

- [ Continues ]

- [ Clapping Continues ]

- [ Whispering ]

[ Students Continue Singing ]

[ Cheering ]

Very good! Well done!

[ Boys Singing Christmas Hymn ]

[ Continues ]

[ Ends ]

[ Students Chattering ]

Ben, put it in the car, would you, please?

- [ Cell Phone Ringing ]

- Ben, pop it in the car, sweetheart. Hello?

I need to speak to you

about Steven Connolly.

Who?

Let's not, shall we?

Doubtless you're aware you've

committed a criminal offense.

I'll be with you at 5:00.

[ Knocks ]

Let's go to the pub, okay?

- [ Man ] No, Boxing Day-

- When-When will you tell them?

I need to know the circumstances.

You must inform me of everything.

Actually, you were there

when I first saw him.

- I think you gave him a telling-off.

- Yeah!

[ Barbara ]

I gave him a slight ticking off.

[ Sheba ]

He dedicated his goal to me.

It amused me.

Nothing more.

A few days later, he came to see me.

Miss, would you have a look

at me drawings, please?

I'll look at them in class.

You do art, don't you?

I'm not allowed.

I'm special needs.

I gotta do extra reading instead.

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