Restoration Page #2

You have been given an extraordinary

opportunity for one of your rank.

Haven't l ?

l have--

- You must at every moment

please the King.

- That would mean--

- lf you do not, suffice it to say,

l shall be watching.

- Good.

Now it is my task to lay out for you

your life in this place.

This shall be your lodging.

The royal tailors will be

continually at your disposal.

And these shall be

your playfellows.

[ Giggling ]

This paper sets forth

the following duties for one

Robert Merivel, physician:

the daily care and comfort

of the 18 royal dogs...

with, as required, the right

to perform operations upon them.

lt's ten years wasted. l'm warning you,

your life will be undone.

No, not wasted, Pearce, for those years

have brought me to this new life.

l'm to the palace,

and that's an end of it.

My dear, we must be

pleased for each other.

You must be pleased

for my appointment...

as l am pleased that you have,

uh, given up drinking sack.

And found my peace

in Quakerism.

Even so, Pearce.

Even so.

[ Merivel Narrating ]

My dear Pearce,

a year has passed

most profitably and pleasurably,

leaving me no moment

in which to write to you.

All day l am thick

in the affairs of state,

yet l manage to employ

my medical knowledge--

especially in anatomy--

in the services of the King,

who's particularly fond

of my trick of farting at will.

l am Aeolius,

King of the Winds !

- [ Flatulence ]

- [ All Laughing ]

That my dear departed father

could see me now,

for the King shows me

a flattering affection...

that stems, l suspect,

from my ability to amuse him.

[ Laughing ]

[ Giggling ]

Our physician

has become our fool.

What do you make

of the preparations, Merivel ?

Oh, sir. Most wondrous, Sire !

What is it for ?

- A wedding.

- Ohh !

- A most lavish affair !

- Yes.

- Who's to be married ?

- Celia Clemence.

Um... l understood

she was your mistress.

Then you understood

right, Merivel.

That is generosity indeed.

Merivel, let me explain.

Celia Clemence's

presence in my bed...

continues to be necessity.

So, too, does that of my grand amour,

Barbara Castlemaine.

But her tantrums on the

subject of Miss Clemence...

are making me edgy.

So... Miss Clemence

is to be married...

and seemingly dispatched

out of London with her husband,

while, in fact, l secret her

near the river in Kew,

the better to sport

with her unobserved.

[ Laughing ]

[ King ]

And for her husband, l need a man...

who is far too enamored

of women in general...

to make the mistake of

loving one in particular.

Ah ! Again, a most superior

aspect of the plan.

And whom has Your Majesty chosen

for this particular honor ?

Yes, in fact l've decided that you

should be the one to marry her, Merivel.

Marry, Your Majesty ?

''Marry Merivel.'' The phrase

is very pretty to my ear.

But, Sire,

l do not wish to marry--

l'm not asking you to wish it.

l'm asking you to do it.

Merivel, have l not done you

very many favors in the past ?

Yes, Sire,

many favors, but--

- Voila. You owe me

at least one in return.

- [ Whispering ]

l shall, of course,

reward you for it.

Make you a knight, give you

a most agreeable estate in Suffolk...

- and my second best bed.

- l would prefer to stay at court.

No, no.

You will go to Suffolk...

and you will make something

of the house.

And, perhaps,

if the time is right,

we shall favor you

with a visit.

- Aye. [ Panting ]

- Go now.

Only remember this, Merivel:

lf she's over there with you,

there will be no intimacy

of any kind between you.

Though she is your wife,

she is yours in name only.

You are to be

a paper bridegroom.

- [ Chuckling ]

- Voila, mademoiselle.

[ Speaking French ]

Un, deux,

troix.

- [ French ]

- [ Grunts ]

[ Reading ]

''Sir Robert Merivel, Bidnold.''

[ Man Speaking Latin ]

Nova vel noviter inventa.

Observationes proprias

et alienas recensere...

ad considerandum

propriam opinionem...

vel obsignatis tabulis...

in aliis animalibus agere

secundum Socratis regulam.

Unde observationes exoticas--

[ Continues ]

l've come to give you these.

[ Latin ]

- These are--

These are your medical books.

- l know.

- Your copy of Harvey.

- l know.

l have resolved

to abandon medicine.

The King has made

other plans for me.

l have been given a knighthood,

an estate and a wife.

This is my time of preferment, Pearce.

This is my time.

What ?

Nothing.

Merivel !

[ Sighs ]

When you stood in this room...

and put your hand

around that man's heart--

something l did not dare do

that day--

your vital flame

was burning.

Now, you see, the light

has gone out of your eyes.

No, my study of medicine

has given me nothing...

but a perpetual and visible

awareness of mortality;

that were l to continue, it would

very shortly bring me to despair.

- Very well.

- l must see to my dogs.

Very well !

[ Man Continues ln Latin ]

Merivel !

Merivel !

Merivel !

Harvey revealed his work to us

so that treading in the same path...

we might discover very many things

as yet unknown to others.

- You have a gift for healing, Merivel.

- l do not !

Yes. Oh, yes, you do.

For understanding sickness.

- Death is a terrible thing, Pearce.

- [ Exasperated Sigh ]

l need color and light,

not darkness and death.

l feel l've had quite enough

of dark things.

l want bright things

and decorative things.

l am, after all,

a creature of the new age.

l shall pray for you.

- [ Dogs Whimpering ]

- Come along, Mr. Bung.

- [ Puckering ]

- [ Barking ]

Your bride.

[ Gasps, Sighs ]

[ Applause ]

- [ Man ]

He filled your jar with spice !

- [ All Laughing ]

[ Man ]

To the wedding chamber !

[ Men Cheering, Laughing ]

[ Shouting, Chanting ]

- Bed her well, Merivel !

Bed her well, Merivel !

- [ All ] Whoa !

- [ Laughter ]

- Bed her well, Merivel !

Bed her well, Merivel !

Bed her well !

Bed her well, Merivel !

Bed her well, Merivel !

- Bed her well, Merivel !

- [ Cheering, Applause, Laughter ]

[ All Cheering, Shouting ]

[ Man ]

Fair thee well !

[ Merivel Grunts, Chuckles ]

- l believe our kiss

convinced them, Lady Celia.

- [ Celia Chuckling ]

[ Both Chuckling ]

[ Laughing ]

Well done, Merivel.

Well done !

We fooled 'em all.

[ All Laughing ]

You are a most useful fellow, Merivel.

Most useful !

And at the moment you

are most useful to me...

in Suffolk.

- [ Pants ]

- [ Chuckles ]

Oh. Yes.

[ King ]

Your disguise is behind the pillar.

[ Moaning, Grunting ]

[ King Laughing ]

- [ Ornaments Jingling ]

- [ Moaning ]

[ Moaning Continues ]

[ Moaning lntensifies ]

[ Merivel Narrating ]

Pearce, this will make no sense to you,

as it makes no sense to me,

but the moment l saw Lady Celia

l was captivated by her.

When l think of her,

l feel faint, my heart aches...

and l fear

there is no cure for me,

for l cannot stop thinking

of her, even in my sleep.

[ Bell Chiming ]

[ Man Shouting Commands ]

Sir Robert !

Welcome to Bidnold.

Ah, Will Gates

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