The Draughtsman's Contract
- R
- Year:
- 1982
- 108 min
- 2,023 Views
Mr. Chandos was a man
who spent more time...
...with his gardener
than with his wife.
They discussed plum trees...
...ad nauseam.
He gave his family and his
tenants cause to dread September...
...for they were regaled with
plums until their guts rumbled like...
...thunder and their backsides
ached from over-use.
He built the chapel at Fovant...
...where the pew
seats were of plumwood...
...so the tenants still have cause
to remember Chandos...
...through their backsides...
...on account of the splinters.
At last the glittering...
... Queen of Night...
... with black caress...
... kills off...
... kills off the day.
Some years ago two gentlemen
went back to Amsterdam...
...saying that Allhevinghay
was just like home.
There was so much water...
...so many ornamental ponds,
so many canals...
...so many sinks and basins.
There was even a wind pump.
What they had not realised was...
...my father had made
his land into a pattern...
...of reservoirs...
...because he was terrified of fire.
There was even a room
under the front stairs...
...that housed two hundred buckets...
...all of them filled with water.
I know because
whenever I was taken short...
...my brothers and I used
to rush in there and use them.
Those buckets were
filled before my mother died.
I expect them to be still there...
...with the same water of thirty years
ago I shouldn't wonder...
...mixed with a
little of myself, of course.
I used to pee like a horse.
I still do.
For those that walk...
... that walk...
... with hopeful step...
... in garden...
... in garden...
... in garden...
... love to find.
At Southampton there's
a house I've admired...
...because from the
side it looks so flat.
It is of white Portland stone...
...and on a cloudy
day it looks as though...
...it might be attached to the sky.
Especially in the evening.
Its owner is a Miss Anterim.
She is a lady without a husband.
From the side Miss Anterim is also...
...a lady without significance.
Maybe that is why unlike her house...
...the lady is unattached.
What with one flatness
and another, Mr. Neville...
...as a painter
and as a draughtsman...
...you could be entertained.
Especially in the evening...
...from the side.
For those that walk...
... that walk.
It is said that the Duc de
Courey invited his water mechanic...
...to the top of an elaborate
cascade he had built...
...and asked him if he could
build such a marvel for anyone else.
The man, after offering
various thanks and pleasantries...
...admitted that with sufficient
patronage he probably could.
The Duc de Courey pushed him
gently in the small of the back...
...and the wretched man
plummeted to a watery death.
Their hope to find success.
They're sure to make.
Mr. Noyes...
...do you have a
ribald piece of gossip for me?
I am here to fulfill a role
as entertainer, so I am sure...
...that I could find
something for you.
Then you are here on merit.
A characteristic that the
company does not share...
...being here merely to express
confidence in one another's money.
You are one of the company.
My merititious conduct in
the company of Mr. Seymour...
...has been my invitation.
I am strictly not of the company...
...but a part of its property.
Since that's what the company is
here to discuss and to revel in...
...you should be well favoured.
I would well favour you myself
above two parterres and...
...drive of orange trees.
You are not extravagant in
your compliments, Mr. Noyes.
I'm not wealthy enough
to offer you more...
...but I intend to be so soon.
In the present company of 13...
...that owns a fair slice of England.
Two parterres and a drive of
orange trees is a beginning...
...and being a lady
of the Italian fashion.
You will appreciate
the value of oranges.
They smell so sweet.
They are so invigorating.
The very statues...
... breathe.
Do you think your father will ask Mr.
Neville to draw the house?
Why not improve Mr. Neville's chances,
and yours, by inviting him yourself?
That is a too imaginative
stratagem for me.
Your father would find it
uncharacteristically bold.
Then you could surprise him...
...and perhaps surprise
Mr. Neville, as well.
And if that frightens you, mother...
...we could lay the
blame on Mr. Neville.
I hold the delight or despondency
of a man of property...
...by putting his house
in shadow or in sunlight.
Even possibly...
...I have some
control over the jealousy...
...or satisfaction of a husband...
...by depicting his wife...
...dressed or undressed.
Mrs. Clement asked
me if I had a wife...
...which has a ring of impertinence.
She knows I have a garden, how
doesn't she know I have a wife?
Perhaps because you
boast of one and not the other.
But I suspect a sense of
modesty is an impertinence...
...to such a lady as Mrs. Clement.
modesty an unprecedented distance.
Why doesn't she come out more?
She frets in the shadows.
She does not fret, father...
...or if she does you well
know the cause is your indifference.
A house, a garden, a horse, a wife,
the preferential order.
Nonsense!
I am anxious, Mr. Neville...
...that you should
draw my husband's estate.
Why is that Madam?
My husband is a proud man delighted
to be associated with every brick...
...and every tree of his property at
every moment of his waking life.
No doubt in his dreams as well...
...though I've not been
well acquainted with his dreams.
With such an excellent
relationship as...
...your husband has
with his property...
...he surely, having the
real thing, does not need a copy.
I do not take well
to young men who preen.
Their vanity outweighs their prowess.
Mr. Neville has prowess enough.
Enough to charm
where he cannot impress.
He can charm and
impress the wives of rich men.
That's not so uncommon, Mr. Seymour.
You come with me to
Southampton tomorrow.
I'll show you how to impress
a lady with a good drawing on.
My father's property, Mr. Neville...
...is a little more
forward than humble.
Since humility in a building
is not antithetical to you...
...perhaps I can prevail on
you to draw my father's house?
The same proposition
from a different quarter.
A concerted effort
naturally intrigues me...
...but I feel things being
as they are.
May I be bold.
I do not think that
you or your mother...
...could afford my services.
Why not enjoy our patronage?
Come and walk in Mr.
Herbert's garden tomorrow.
Madam...
...I cannot say that I
wouldn't be delighted...
...but I fear,
despite your persistence...
...that I have work
to do up and beyond...
...this apple season
and will be in the service...
...of Lord Charborough
until next year's apples...
...have all been drunk as cider.
Your mother is excessively keen...
...to have this house down on paper.
Or perhaps it is you that is keen...
...and your mother is
merely your surrogate?
I admit, Mr. Neville, to being a
0 fans
Submitted on August 05, 2018
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"The Draughtsman's Contract" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_draughtsman's_contract_20113>.
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