Testament of Youth Page #3

VERA:

Don’t worry, they have very little

influence.

ROLAND:

(a smile)

So I saw earlier.

She flashes him a look. His self-confidence both riles and

attracts her.

ROLAND (CONT’D)

(more sincere)

I’m sorry about the badly timed

arrival, by the way.

VERA:

(defensive)

Why should I care?

She starts to head back inside, then stops, turns to him -

VERA (CONT’D)

I can see this is all highly

amusing for you -

ROLAND:

No

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VERA:

Yes, you’re polishing up the

anecdote already, for your friends

back at school! (Raw) But it’s my

life -!

Exasperated with herself, and embarrassed, she heads back

inside. Roland thinks for a moment - touched by her. Then

produces the poem he pocketed. He reads, his expression

moved.

14 INT. VERA’S ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT 14

Vera is up with some open text books before her, studying.

There’s a knock at the door. Startled, she gets up, goes and

opens it. Roland stands there.

VERA:

(thrown)

What?

ROLAND:

(smiling)

You’re studying.

VERA:

What of it?

ROLAND:

(more vulnerable)

Nothing, I - Look, I’ve done the

Oxford entrance exams, it’s all

about technique. I could help you.

Once you’ve learnt it, you’ll sail

through I’m sure.

VERA:

Like a masonic secret, passed from

teacher to boy.

ROLAND:

Actually my teachers weren’t that

good. I worked it out for myself.

She looks at him - the reaching out to her beneath the

smooth, confident surface.

VERA:

(softly)

Then so will I.

She closes the door in his face. Taken aback by herself, she

leans against the door with a smile.

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15 INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE VERA’S ROOM - SAME TIME 15

Roland is also taken aback. But after a moment, he turns away

with a smile.

15A EXT. COUNTRYSIDE, BUXTON - DAY 15A

The three men and Vera are walking up a beautiful, gently

sloping green hill, talking and laughing together. The boys

are ribbing Vera, who takes it in good humour - she teases

Edward back, giving as good as she gets.

16 EXT. HILLSIDE OUTSIDE BUXTON - LATER 16

Vera, Edward, Roland and Victor are lying or sitting on the

hillside, gazing at the countryside stretched out before them

in the green beauty of spring. The atmosphere is relaxed.

ROLAND:

(lightly - the view)

The world at our feet!

EDWARD:

(grimace)

Except we’re nearly back at school.

ROLAND:

We’re here now, Ted, come on. Live

in the moment a little.

VICTOR:

One more term and it’ll all be

over. It’s sort of daunting, seeing

your whole life stretched out in

front of you. I mean, wonderful

too...

ROLAND:

I’ll stick with wonderful.

VERA:

At least you won’t be buried alive

in Buxton.

EDWARD:

Come on, think of all the gossip

you’re providing the local ladies

with!

VERA:

Talking of which, Mrs Fraser mixed

her china sets at dinner last week.

The whole town’s buzzing with it!

EDWARD:

The triviality of female lives...

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Vera playfully swats Edward.

VERA:

Don’t you dare...!

ROLAND:

(a chuckle)

Have we got a suffragette on our

hands?

VERA:

I would be, given the chance, I

suppose that shocks you?

EDWARD:

You’re talking to the wrong man,

Vera. Roland’s a supporter.

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Vera assumes he’s joking.

ROLAND:

Well, my mother does admire them.

EDWARD:

She’s a novelist, and she writes

for the papers, she supports the

whole family in fact. (To Roland) I

hope you don’t mind me saying...?

ROLAND:

(smiling)

Not now I’ve seen Vera’s face!

Vera is thrown.

VERA:

I had no idea....

ROLAND:

Perhaps you’ve jumped to

conclusions about me.

VERA:

I think that’s mutual.

ROLAND:

No, I’ve researched you quite

thoroughly. I found a poem in the

garden, in fact, and took the

liberty - (of reading it)

As he takes the piece of paper from his pocket -

EDWARD:

(interrupting)

Poems! You’ve kept that very quiet!

Let’s have a look!

He takes it off Roland - Vera snatches it off him

VERA:

Give it back! It’s nothing - it’s

just a - stupid thing!

She pockets the poem, upset and humiliated. Roland realises

his mistake.

ROLAND:

I’m sorry, I thought...you two...

He gestures to her and Edward.

VERA:

It’s fine...

They sit there in awkward silence.

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VICTOR:

(trying to lighten the

atmosphere)

I don’t know about anyone else, but

I could do with a drink of

something.

17 EXT. GREEN GLADE, OUTSIDE BUXTON - A LITTLE LATER 17

On the way back - Vera has deliberately slowed her pace to

fall behind the others, needing a moment alone. Roland

carefully approaches her. We can hear Edward and Victor

talking and laughing off-screen.

ROLAND:

I didn’t know you kept it secret

VERA:

Really. That’s why you stole it

from me and stored it to use like

-like ammunition!

ROLAND:

No -

VERA:

Stop pretending!

ROLAND:

I kept quiet because - I was

moved by it, I thought it

beautiful, and - you seem an

impossible person to say that to.

This silences her. She plays with a stick she’s picked up.

A long moment.

VERA:

I’m not.

ROLAND:

No.

VERA:

(hesitant, more open)

You really - don’t think me

ridiculous?

He smiles, shakes his head.

VERA:

What if I told you I want to be a

writer - and - I even dream of

earning a living by it?

Roland smiles his gentle, confident smile.

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ROLAND:

Don’t you need some experience

first?

VERA:

Of course!

A beat.

ROLAND:

I want to write too, as it happens -

I’m a little in my mother’s shadow.

She looks at him -

VERA:

Is she good?

He nods.

VERA:

How’s she done it..?

ROLAND:

Sheer pig-headedness. You should

meet her, you’d get on.

They both laugh gently.

ROLAND:

(sincere)

You must write. Really.

VERA:

No one’s ever said that to me

before.

They smile.

18 OMMITTED. 18

19 EXT. WHITE ROAD, BUXTON - LATER 19

They’re on the way home. Vera, holding some flowers she’s

gathered, walks ahead of the three men, down a long, winding

white road across the gentle sloping hills.

She can hear them chatting and laughing behind her, she turns

to look back at them

And her eyes directly meet Roland’s. He’s been concentrating

on her. She looks away again, in sudden shyness....

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20 INT. VERA’S BEDROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT 20

Vera is putting some of the flowers she collected into

frames. She snaps a frame shut, takes it across to the wall

to hang there, when she catches a glimpse of herself in a

long mirror -

-she looks again at her reflection, suddenly thinking about

herself in a different way, as a woman -

She runs her hands over her waist, her hips, turning to look

at herself, trying to assess her appeal.

She puts a finger to her lips - imagining his kiss -

She starts at a sound at the door; goes over. Someone is on

the other side, she can feel the presence; she knows it’s

him. Quietly, she presses her body against the door

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