Reunion in France Page #6

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we've finished.

Robert, you come along.

I'll want your approval.

In just a moment.

- It was an honor, mademoiselle.

- Thank you.

- Coming, Robert, huh?

- In a moment.

You'd better run along. The next time,

you might not get off the leash.

I wonder sometimes just how you reason.

The general who just left belongs to a Nazi

army that crushed France in five weeks.

What point to telling his wife

she couldn't have a coat?

The point that she had to take it.

That I wouldn't give it to her.

They can take all of France,

but get none of it...

...except you and the rest like you.

- That seems little enough.

- That's a great deal.

You're not a parasite they've picked off

a starving carcass to feed on their own.

They're too smart for that.

What they let you have,

they must get back a hundred times over.

Your trucks, tanks, your genius for design,

those are your attractions, Robert.

That's what you're giving them

that belongs to France.

Not your charm or your approval

of Frau Schroeder's gowns.

Or the fact that I love you. That's mine.

It has nothing to do with them.

Can't you understand?

I won't even try

because it isn't important.

- But let...

- Let's leave it at that.

I can't just leave it

as if it were a dull book.

Then don't.

But leave me alone, Robert.

Leave me alone.

Michele, listen to me.

There's something you must...

Yes?

I was told to tell you

your friends are waiting.

Thank you.

- What must I, Robert?

- Leave France.

You're living stupidly,

and for you, dangerously.

You cannot take on a humble existence

without the humility that goes with it.

- You'll say or do a wrong thing.

- Or right one.

They have become the same.

Go to Portugal, join your parents.

I can arrange the papers for you.

I'll give you the money,

I'll see that you get there.

You could do that, couldn't you?

If your parents have left,

follow them to America.

Get as far away as you can from France.

- And from me.

- Why?

Because then I'll know you're gone...

...and then maybe someday,

I can stop loving you.

Frau Schroeder's tea gown is lovely.

I'm sure you'll approve.

No doubt.

And while we're on the subject...

...you don't look well at all in that halo

you have been wearing.

Goodbye, Michele.

Mr. Talbot.

- Pat.

- Peekaboo.

What are you doing in there?

The boys upstairs have been having

a coffee klatch.

I was afraid they might drop in

for some lemons and cracked ice.

It's not much of a hiding place.

It has its advantages.

Like going to sleep in a flower bed.

If you're that crazy about my perfume,

I can let you have some.

Won't do.

There's something soft and cool

about those dresses, like perfume.

Like you.

- Apparently you've had enough sleep.

- Like a baby.

That's quite a wardrobe you have.

Yes, isn't it?

- I've got good news for you.

- Yes?

- Two out of those three miracles.

- Four miracles.

The money

and a way to get papers.

Do all fitter's assistants

have that many beautiful gowns?

Not all.

- I've arranged for you to stay...

- Good.

To stay with a friend till we can find

a way to get you out of France.

Imagine what your eyes will do

to Wilkes-Barre.

Don't be mad at me.

I'm not mad at you.

I thought more than anything you wanted

to get back to England to fight again.

You kind of clipped me with that one,

didn't you?

I'm going out to get

something to eat for us.

A young man may come while I'm gone.

His name will be Jeannot.

He'll bring clothes

and take you to a safer place to stay.

I'm beginning to feel more like

a great, big hero all the time.

Ain't you got somebody

to wipe my chin while I eat?

I told you I wasn't mad, Pat.

Mike.

I won't be long.

Who are you?

- What are you doing here?

- Who wants to know?

Captain, the guards aren't there.

They're upstairs.

Don't think me presumptuous,

but what are you doing here?

- I have come to see you.

- What about?

Why must it be about something?

It's not an unusual request. People talk

to each other all over the world.

Let's leave the rest of the world

out of France.

I thought you'd like to join our party.

I'd like to very much. Some other time.

- You have something better to do.

- Possibly.

The prospect of drinking

with German officers is offensive to you.

- That's possible too.

- Who do you think you are?

Who do you all think you are?

Don't you understand?

You are a conquered people.

- Your first duty is to do as you are told.

- Take it easy, bub.

- What do you call me?

- Bub.

Monsieur is an American. A student.

They speak strangely.

American.

Pat. Don't. Don't, you idiot.

Are you all right?

The punishment

for striking a German officer is death.

- You are under arrest.

- But he didn't know.

The law concerns itself with the act

and not the intent.

But you're in command here.

You're the law.

That's right.

I am.

I am the law.

I have got the power

of life and death in this room.

- Isn't that true?

- Yes.

You want me to let him go?

- Yes.

- Are you in love with him?

Certainly not worth risking

my own life for.

You might have thought of me.

This is my room and if you get

into trouble here, I get into trouble too.

I want you out of here

by the time I get back.

That's okay by me.

That's not the way to the house.

I'd like some air.

I hate crowded rooms full of people.

I'm the same fella

you were looking at before.

I know.

I don't want to forget you.

We'll meet up again sometime, bub.

But I want some air.

I can't be seen on the street

in this condition. I am drunk.

If you hadn't told me,

I would never have guessed.

If it's air you want,

you can breathe it here as well...

...and I can stand and look at you.

It seems you have my back to the wall.

Stop pretending you are not frightened.

Why should I be?

It's become rather commonplace in France

to be stood against the wall and shot.

- You won't be.

- Not just yet, at any rate.

Not you. You are not the enemy.

You never were, you and your kind.

You know what it means

to be the masters, to live off the weak.

- To live off the top of the bottle.

- Don't fight. Leave that to the little people.

They lose when we win.

Everything you've had, you'll have again.

Isn't that almost too much?

For just letting you look at me?

You let me kiss you

as if it were some sort of penance.

- Isn't it my first duty to do as I'm told?

- You don't think that way.

I've met others like you before.

- They looked at me as you did now.

- How?

As if I were something

to be suffered through, like a disease.

Patient, knowing someday I would pass

and they would be well again.

As if I were an animal.

As if I were anything

but a human being like themselves.

I had no idea I looked at you that way.

- I am not a fool, you know.

- Either am I.

You came with me

to save that young man's life.

Only temporarily. He'll do something

equally stupid soon again.

But I won't.

You saw the wrong look

in my eyes, captain.

I wasn't even thinking of you.

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