Secret Beyond the Door...

I remember, long ago I read a book

that told the meaning of dreams.

It said that if a girl dreams of a boat or a ship

she will reach a safe harbor.

But if she dreams of daffodils,

she is in great danger.

But this is no time for me to think of danger,

this is my wedding day.

Something old, something new,

something borrowed, something blue.

Something old is this church -

four centuries old.

Mark says it's a felicitous structure.

Baldings, pilasters, walls...

...its altars, its chandeliers,

tuned to a perfect harmony.

Built so that here

only events of joy can happen -

four hundred years of joy.

And something new is Mark himself.

And love is new for me.

My heart is pounding so...

the sound of it drowns out everything.

It's said that when you drown your whole life

passes before you like a fast movie.

Here it is in twelve point bold.

My young, gaudy sister has

broken another engagement.

Darling, I never dreamed of marrying him!

Trombone player - heaven forbid!

I'd sooner see you marry that

witchdoctor of yours!

- Curtis? He's a brilliant psychoanalyst.

Chit chat aside, what are you holding out for?

I still have time, Rick -why should

I tie myself down?

I'm not trying to rush you but, you know,

being mother and father

and check signer for you has its

worrisome moments.

Today, New York's a bull market for you

in good, solid, eligible men.

Are there any as good as you, Rick?

- I wasn't proposing a miracle.

But I won't be around as long as you, Celia.

They don't make spare parts for this

and mine has a lot of milage on it.

I'm... I'm terribly sorry, Rick.

Your secretary said I could...

Hey, hey. Come in, Bob. This is strictly legal.

Speak of the devil, Celia: Here is a

thoroughly eligible man

and a top lawyer - Bob Dwight.

My sister, Celia.

My brother Rick. That was the last time we were

close -and when you died, Rick, life was lonely.

Rick was a cagey investor, but now that it's your

money I've set up a trust fund.

No-one but you can touch the capital,

unless you revoke the trust - not even

your husband.

Has a fortune-hunting husband popped up?

- The woodwork is crawling with them, you know

that.

I wasn't looking.

L... I like you very much, Celia.

And when you're settled I'm going to

ask you to marry me.

Dear Bob. I'm settled now.

Believe me, I'm dead tired

being the darling of the stag line.

I don't want an answer now, Celia. You're

depressed about Rick.

It's only been two months and...

...Celia I want you to be sure.

But I...

- Potter's asked you to go to Mexico with him.

Why don't you take him up on it?

Find some sun.

Will you come too?

- No. Call it your last fling.

I'll still be here when you come back.

It's awfully commercial.

- My dear, it's perfect for Bob.

Alright. The initials are R.D.

I nearly married a man once who was the

image of Bob -

only he broke our engagement simply

because he found out that I...

Celia, let's get out of here.

I don't want to be an innocent bystander.

Celia, come on, come on.

What's wrong with you?

There was nothing wrong with me,

but I was strangely held.

I'd seen fights before - nightclub brawls,

a fist-fight over a cigarette girl.

When one man was knocked down,

the fight was over. But this was different:

A woman and two men

who may have known her an hour or less

fighting for her with naked knives.

Death was in that street

and I felt how proud she must be.

Suddenly I felt that someone was watching me.

There was a tingling at the nape of my neck

as though the air had turned cool.

I felt eyes touching me like fingers.

There was a current flowing between us...

warm and sweet... and frightening, too,

because he saw behind my make-up

what no-one had ever seen.

Something I didn't know was there.

Let's go.

When you finally snapped out of your trance you

looked as though you'd seen death himself.

That's not how he looked to me.

- What?

Weren't you going to 'phone

the hotel about Arthur?

Oh, good heavens, yes! He's a lamb up to a point,

but one drink too many and he's a raging beast!

Waiter! Where's the telephone?

There, seorita.

- Oh yes, thanks.

I sent Edith away because I'd planned my strategy.

I wanted to meet him on my own grounds -

not his.

The fight finished just after you left.

How did it end?

The big gypsy had the knife.

What did the woman do?

To the victim belong the spoils.

The last I saw she was hanging on his arm.

Oh, by the way, I don't think that R.D. Will like that

wallet if he's anything like me.

He's not a bit like you.

- And you're not a bit like you.

I mean you aren't what you seem to be.

There's something in your face I saw once before

- in South Dakota,

in the wheat country, in cyclone weather.

Just before the cyclone

the air has a... stillness,

a flat, gold, shimmering stillness.

You have it in your face - the same hush

before a storm

and when you smile it's like the first

breath of wind bending down the wheat.

I know that behind that smile

is a turbulence that...

I heard his voice and then I didn't hear it any

more, because the beating of my blood

was louder. This was what I'd hunted

those foolish years in New York.

I knew before I knew

his name or touched his hand

and for an endless moment I seemed to float like a

feather blown to a place where time had stopped.

Strange.

I thought then of daffodils.

You were living that fight. You soaked it all in -

love, hate, the passion.

You've been starved for feelings

- any real feelings.

I thought:
The 20th century sleeping beauty.

Wealthy American girl who has lived her life

wrapped in cotton wool

but she wants to wake up.

Maybe she can.

Is it as hard as all that?

- Most people are asleep.

My dear, it must have been frightful!

- I'm Mark Lamphere.

- How do you do?

Arthur went absolutely berserk

after his twelfth burbon.

Chased the chambermaid down three

flights of stairs - he only wanted to pinch!

Well then he only ended up bathing in the patio

fountain for an audience of hundreds.

Sit down, I'm not as poisonous as I look.

I'm afraid they had to hurt the poor dear

in order to quiet him.

What did you say your name is?

- Mark Lamphere.

- He's been telling me that I'm a sleeping beauty.

- Oh, quite an original approach! I suppose then

that you, prince charming,

will kill the dragon, hack your way through the

hedge and give her the magic kiss, hmm?

'Til now I'd forgotten about the dragon and I

somehow think that the hedge is only camouflage.

Darling, shouldn't you be with Arthur?

- No.

Oh, yes, yes of course. Arthur will be touched

when I tell him you're so concerned.

You may consider the dragon

routed, Mr Lamphere.

The next days we were together

twenty-four hours a day.

The third night, we stopped at

the little wishing well.

Celia, when are you going back to New York?

We're taking the noon 'plane tomorrow.

I wasn't going to tell you.

- I wanted you to know me much better.

I know you fairly well... you're an architect, there's

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