That Hamilton Woman Page #8

You were quite right

to spare the people of London.

The indignity of feting a hero who treats

with contempt the most sacred rules of life.

May I say a personal word?

Try to be forgiving, Lady Nelson.

Only the weaknesses of the great are glaring.

I prefer the official view.

Goodbye, Lady Nelson.

(Cheering outside)

Did you hear it? Cheering.

Listen. He's coming! He's coming!

Excuse me, sir. May I have your permission

to hang a flag in the balcony?

Hang two flags, three flags,

everything you've got.

Come on! Come on!

Hang the coat of arms between the flags!

Most opportune, sir. We saved the coat of arms

from King George's jubilee!

Do you realise

that these are my private rooms, sir?

Forgive me, Your Ladyship.

I had no idea this would happen.

The Admiralty told me that Lord Nelson's return

would be private and without demonstration.

We never dreamed that the public would

take the matter so completely in hand.

Has the government no control

over this vulgar demonstration?

No, ma'am. The vulgar demonstration

has control over the government.

MR NELSON:
Bravo for Nelson! Bravo!

I must get back to the Admiralty,

hang out all the flags we've got.

Listen, church bells.

Victory bells for my son.

Here they are!

(Cheering continues)

Mr Nelson, my name is Hamilton.

Oh, my son's good friend.

He's often told me about you in his letters.

You're to be congratulated.

You have a great son.

Lady Nelson, I am delighted to meet you.

We had the privilege of joining your husband

in his triumphant procession across Europe.

It was overwhelming and quite exhausting,

I'm afraid, for an old man.

My wife was in her element. She swallows

a triumph like a penguin swallows a herring.

Did you have a good crossing, Sir William?

Quite rough, I'm afraid. Everyone was seasick

and I was sicker than them all.

I made the mistake of trying

to ward it off with pills.

- Oh dear dear

- What's the good of trying to fight the elements?

It's far more sensible, is it not, Lady Nelson,

and so much easier to accept their victory

whether those elements be around us

or within us

I hope we shall have the pleasure

of seeing your frequently, Lady Nelson.

He's coming! Nelson! Nelson!

Bravo for Nelson!

My boy!

How proud your mother would be

if she could see you this day.

How have you been all these years, Father?

First rate. Fanny's taken great care of me.

I'm sure she has.

There is so much I have to be grateful to you for.

How are you, my dear?

I'm very well.

And how is Burnham Thorpe?

They've named a street after us.

What an honour.

(Laughs)

EMMA:
Are these Lord Nelson's rooms?

Yes milady

It was magnificent, stupendous.

Wasn't it wonderful, William?

They're wild with enthusiasm.

Come to the balcony! Quickly Quickly!

(Band plays)? For He's A Jolly Good Fellow

CROWD:
? For he's a jolly good fellow

? For he's a jolly good fellow

? For he's a jolly good fellow

? And so say all of us

? And so say all of us

? And so say all of us

? For he's a jolly good fellow

? And so say all of us

? And so say all of us

? And so say all of us

? For he's a jolly good fellow

Lady Nelson...

? And so say all of us

I am Emma Hamilton.

CROWD:
Hooray! Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

Hip hip hooray!

Well, it's been a great day.

A wonderful day.

And next month,

it's the choirboys' picnic at Burnham Thorpe.

(Laughs)

LADY NELSON:
Why do you laugh?

Are the places of country people

of so small account?

A little more wholesome I think

than the mass hysteria we've seen today

Well, call it what you like.

It was a beautiful reception.

MOTHER:
You wouldn't believe the fuss

they made about him at Naples after the battle

Whoo! Such crowds. Thousands of Italians.

All smelling of different sorts of onions.

MR NELSON:
Onions?

Yes, they always do. I don't know why,

it comes out more when they get excited.

There was such a crowd round the embassy

the milkman couldn't get in

So His Lordship had to go

without his macaroni pudding.

LADY NELSON:
His what?

My Emma put him on macaroni pudding

to fatten him up after the battle.

Did you ever meet the King of Naples,

Mrs Nelson?

He was a one for macaroni.

He'd take pieces that length,

open his gullet and drop it in.

Proper caution, he was

He came to see Emma with the Queen one day

and he pinched my...

He pinched me.

He pinched you? The King?

Well, you see, he's a foreigner, poor King.

He got so jealous when they cheered

His Lordship because he loved it so himself.

If you shouted outside his palace,

he'd come in and out like a cuckoo clock.

Emma... Emma, who was that other king

we met on the way home?

You know,

I get so mixed up with all these monarchs.

Oh, dear, Emma. Will you excuse me, dear?

I've been up since five.

Of course, Mother, darling. Good night.

Oh, it's good to be back in England again

to hear the Bow Bells and the muffin men

and the soot falling down your chimney.

(Mother laughs)

MR NELSON:
Well Sir William

how goes the world these days?

Can we hope for a little peace now?

Well, I don't know.

What was that medicine you gave my husband?

It's some stuff my mother makes.

It's very good for coughs and colds.

I think I would prefer my husband

to see a doctor.

This weather is dreadful for him.

It was so different in Italy.

The sun always seemed to shine there.

Yes, it's never very agreeable

in the Thames Valley during the winter.

It's only for a few days. Once he's back

in Norfolk, he'll be a different man.

Do you think

you will be leaving London so soon?

Certainly. There's nothing to detain us.

Directly he's made his report to the Admiralty

and taken his seat in the House of Lords,

we shall be free to go.

Why not?

Oh...of course, yes.

What are your plans, Lady Hamilton?

I suppose you'll be going abroad again shortly?

We don't really know.

Life is so very uncertain, isn't it?

I haven't found it so.

Will you excuse me, Lady Hamilton?

It's been a very exhausting day.

- Of course. Good night.

- Good night.

Emma.

We've been living in a dream.

And now we are faced with the truth,

how ugly it is.

How terribly ugly.

But we've still got the courage to face it.

What's the good of being courageous

if you're trapped?

If you know you are wrong

and there's no way out.

I'll go to her and talk to her. Tonight. At once.

And you must talk to William.

They must understand

- Divorce?

- There is no other way

No, m y ove

That might be well enough for other people,

but not for you.

You are not an ordinary man and you cannot

behave like a Mr Jones or a Mr Thompson.

I wish I were a Mr Thompson.

Now, for the first time,

I begin to understand what William meant.

What we're doing is so dreadfully wrong.

Of course, I should have realised it before.

And because it is wrong,

it cannot bring happiness.

Those streets we came along today.

They're the very same streets I walked through

when I was a kitchen maid looking for work,

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