The Fountainhead Page #5

what you think of it yourself?

We have to consider

public opinion, don't we?

No, don't ever hire an architect

who's a genius.

- I don't like geniuses. They're dangerous.

- How?

A man abler than his brothers

insults them by implication.

He must not aspire

to any virtue which cannot be shared.

I wouldn't know about that intellectual

stuff. I play the stock market.

I play the stock market of the spirit...

...and I sell short.

It's stunning, perfectly stunning, but

I wouldn't want to live in a house like this.

One could never relax and feel homey.

You know what I mean.

- Comfortable and sloppy and, well, homey.

- No, one couldn't.

- Dominique.

- Yes, Father.

I can't understand how my own daughter

can approve of this mess.

This is such uncivilized taste.

Are you going to defend it?

No, I won't try to defend it.

Mr. Francon, that stairway,

it's not bad. It's a clever idea.

I'm designing a building right now

where I can use an idea like this...

...and I'd have to adapt it, of course.

Well, if one gave it some elegance...

You know, a touch of Greek ornament.

The engineering idea is brilliant.

I could use it myself.

Hello. I've been waiting for you.

You're the guest of honor tonight,

in more than just the social sense.

Whom do you want to meet first?

There's Dominique Francon looking at us.

Come on.

Miss Francon, may I present

Howard Roark?

You're...

...Howard Roark?

- Yes, Miss Francon.

You don't know it, but Miss Francon

has a connection with you.

She resigned from the Banner to

protest their attack on your building.

- How did you know that?

- I heard about it.

- I didn't want Mr. Roark to know it.

- Why not, Miss Francon?

It was a perfectly futile gesture

on my part.

Dominique won't admit it, but she admires

your buildings. She understands them.

- I expected her to understand them.

- Did you?

- But you didn't know me.

- I used to read your column, Miss Francon.

I admire your work

more than anything I've ever seen.

You may realize that this is not a tie,

but a gulf between us...

...if you remember what you read

in my column.

I remember every line of it.

I wish I had never seen your building.

It's the things that we admire or want...

...that enslave us,

I'm not easy to bring into submission.

That depends upon the strength

of your adversary, Miss Francon.

Well?

Roger, why did you bring him here?

Why did you deliver him

to these people?

Don't you see he doesn't

have a chance against them?

Come in.

I expected you to come here.

I didn't know your name.

You knew mine.

But you haven't tried to find me

in all these months.

I wanted you to find me

and have to come to me.

If it gives you pleasure

that you're breaking me down...

...l'll give you a greater satisfaction.

I love you, Roark.

Would it please you to hear

that I've lived in torture all these months...

...hoping never to find you,

wishing to give my life...

...just to see you once more?

But you knew that, of course. That's

what you wanted me to live through.

- Yes.

- Why don't you laugh at me now? You won.

I have no pride left to stop me.

I love you without dignity,

without regret.

I came to tell you this...

...and to tell you

that you'll never see me again.

You want to know whether

you can make me suffer, don't you?

You can.

Roark, you're everything

I've always wanted.

And that's why I hoped

I'd never meet anyone like you.

I'll give you up now myself

rather than watch you destroyed...

...by a world where you have no chance.

- Why are you afraid?

- I know what they'll do to you.

You had the genius

that made the Enright House.

But you were working like a convict

in a granite quarry.

- I chose to do it.

- Why?

Don't you know why?

Yes. Because you won't conform.

They'll drive you down again.

Stone quarry's all you can expect.

- I got out of the quarry.

- Did you?

Do you think the Enright House

is your beginning?

It's your death sentence.

Has any other client come to you?

No.

They won't.

They hate you for the greatness

of your achievement.

They hate you for your integrity.

They hate you because they know

they can neither corrupt you nor rule you.

They won't let you survive.

Roark, they'll destroy you.

But I won't be there to see it happen.

Do you want to leave me?

I've loved you from the first moment

I saw you, and you knew it.

You tried to escape from it.

I had to let you learn to accept it.

Are you gonna leave me?

Yes.

I won't stop you.

Roark, don't you see?

I don't want to leave you.

Will you marry me?

I want to stay with you.

We'll take a house in some small town,

I'll keep it for you.

Don't laugh. I can. I'll cook, I'll wash

your clothes, I'll scrub the floor...

...and you'll give up architecture.

If you give it up,

I'll remain with you forever...

...but I can't bear to stand by and see you

moving to some terrible disaster.

It can't end any other way.

Save yourself from tragedy.

Take a meaningless job.

We'll live only for each other.

I wish I could tell you

it was a temptation.

Roark, yes or no?

No.

You must learn not to be afraid

of the world, not to take any notice.

I must let you learn it.

When you have,

you'll come back to me.

They won't destroy me, Dominique.

I'll wait for you.

I love you.

I'm saying it now

for all the years we'll have to wait.

I'd do anything to escape from you.

I could've expected anything on my return

except to see you coming here to meet me.

If I wanted to delude myself,

I'd think you were impatient to see me.

- I was.

- I'm very happy, my dear...

...no matter your reason.

I'm honest enough to warn you,

you shouldn't be.

I realize that.

What was your reason?

If you found another request to make of me,

I like to be able to grant it.

No. I didn't come to make a request

but to grant you one of yours.

You still wish me to marry you?

More than anything

I was ever capable of wishing.

I'll marry you.

- Don't you want to ask me any questions?

- No.

Thank you.

You're making it easier for me.

Whatever your reason, I shall accept it.

What I want to find in our marriage

will remain my own concern.

I exact no promises

and impose no obligations.

Incidentally, since it is of no importance

to you, I love you.

No, Mr. Roark, there is too much talk

and public resentment against you.

We can't take part in controversies.

We can't afford to arouse antagonism.

I'm sorry, but we find it impossible to

give you the commission for our building.

As one of our directors said, "You can't

expect us to stick our necks out."

No, and I don't expect it.

Hello, Mr. Roark.

I hoped I'd meet you someday,

like this, alone.

- You shouldn't mind talking to me.

- What about?

There's a building

that should've been yours.

There are buildings going up all over the city,

chances refused to you and given to fools.

You're walking the streets while they do

the work you love but cannot obtain.

This city is closed to you.

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