The Horseman on the Roof Page #4

---

Back to Manosque.

Wait a minute!

Wait and think.

I did all night.

You don't even know

where your husband is!

You want me to go home,

while he might be dying?

I can't endure that.

But you're safe!

Don't plunge back into the epidemic!

You're not responsible.

You've not a chance of finding him.

You know it's pointless!

I can see you've never loved.

Get off that horse!

I order you! Dismount!

Miss.

Or is it Mrs.?

What's your name?

I've been here the longest,

so I handle the chores.

They're mandatory.

Even for pretty ladies.

Thus. Madame de Thus.

Like the castle?

This name, Thus.

Was there one here?

No. I'd remember.

You're looking for family?

I'm a colonel

of the Piedmont Hussards.

I respect your laws

and want to go to quarantine.

Sergeant.

This way!

Move over!

Make room!

Out of the way!

Come on!

Will this spot do, Colonel?

Some other spot, sir?

There.

Do a good job.

It's cold by the window.

I'll get a blanket?

I have one.

- If you need me...

- I'm fine.

Your servant, sir.

I forgot! Soup's at 11:00.

- Did they take anything?

- My pistol.

I'll give you one of mine.

I have your teapot.

The food's not safe.

You did it on purpose.

Excuse me?

You got captured on purpose.

I couldn't leave you here.

There are 24 soldiers.

Some are ill. You saw their faces?

In the stairs,

I'll fight two at a time!

I forbid you to fight.

Fine.

And how will we get out, pray tell?

Get out... But to go where?

I have no courage left.

You? I don't believe it.

Before you came, I looked down.

I thought:

It's so easy to die, so brief.

- You just slip away.

- Be quiet.

We can't do a thing.

The disease is everywhere.

Maybe already in us.

That's not true.

Go rest. Sleep.

Don't you ever have doubts?

You are always so sure?

I do my best.

Why do you stay with me?

I could have infected you

just like anybody else.

I slept in your coat.

Cholera avoids me like the plague.

I don't even know your name.

Pardi. Angelo Pardi.

My name is Pauline.

Sorry, sir. I'm disturbing you.

I'm Mr. Petit, seed and feed dealer.

It's about those damned chores.

I can find a replacement.

Interested? Three francs a day.

For both of you, five francs.

Your servant, sir.

Don't! It's your friends' money.

I'll replace it. I've none left.

I have brought you nothing but trouble.

If you hadn't met me,

you'd have crossed the border.

You'd be in Milan with your mother.

Let me be.

Get away. Escape!

I'll make some tea.

Mozart... German dances.

He's a musician from Marseilles.

He was on the road, like us.

People protested.

Now they can't sleep without it.

Did I sleep long?

Pretty long, yes.

Since morning.

I didn't know I was so worn out.

I did. You wouldn't admit it.

You're always right.

It's annoying.

We're leaving tonight.

Fine.

You're ready to follow me?

You won't say that...

I won't say a word or ask anything.

I'll obey like a soldier.

Get up!

Wake up!

- Sir! You're mad!

- Pack up!

- Stop!

- Do it! We're going!

Help! Fire!

Come on! Hurry!

It's locked!

- I told you!

- What now?

- I don't know.

- Wait!

Let me! I'm strong!

Everybody, go back up!

Your rifle.

Let go.

Stand back.

Is that good, Colonel?

Where's my bag?

Careful! It's fragile!

Thus is behind that mountain.

Your country's not far.

I can see Italy from my window.

They say it's bad

down in the valley.

And here? Did you see any soldiers?

What would they do here?

Nobody's dying around here...

except the old folks.

Is it still far?

No, there's a village after the woods.

People know me there. They'll drive us.

This is your land.

My husband's.

Can I buy a house in Thus?

We'll give you one.

Will you leave tonight?

Yes.

Why?

If you wish to stay a bit...

No.

Whose place is this?

Do you know?

Thanks.

She's not happy to see me.

She hated you breaking her door.

Where did they go?

- You think...

- Come warm up.

Sit down.

Wait. I'll be back.

- Where are you going?

- The cellar.

- I'll come.

- Stay and warm up.

You're soaked too.

I'll try to make hot wine.

Don't put that dress on.

- It doesn't look nice?

- It's not safe.

This isn't cholera land.

This is my land,

where I dress in the evening.

Do you like the dress?

I don't know... Yes, I like it.

You know why I chose it?

Why?

It's like the one in Manosque.

I wondered if you'd notice.

I'll dry your jacket out.

- More.

- Not right away.

Yes, right away. Give me some wine.

I'm burning.

You drank a lot. It's not sensible.

Sensible. I admire you.

Always so sensible. Obstinately so.

Isn't it tiresome, so young?

Sometimes.

It's strange.

You're both so young and so old.

Older than my husband who's

forty years older. He's never sensible.

So I gathered.

You don't even know him.

You don't even ask questions about him.

Normally, people gape

when I say how old he is.

What am I supposed to do?

Shout?

Am I nothing to you?

I know what people think.

A country doctor's daughter,

my husband's name and fortune.

They only think about that...

When I met him,

he was beside a stream,

a bullet in the chest...

nearly dead.

I ran to get my father.

We took him home.

I was 16.

My father saved him,

but I tended to him,

day and night, for weeks.

I didn't know who he was,

nor why he was wounded.

I didn't dare ask.

He was so mysterious.

My father cured him, and he left.

I was convinced he had forgotten me.

Six months later, he came back...

and proposed to me.

Stay! You never speak about yourself.

Tomorrow we part!

- What's to say?

- Talk to me.

About her.

- Who?

- Your mother.

What about my mother?

Is there anyone else in your life?

You're drunk.

She knows you're going back?

No.

She'll stop you from fighting.

Oh, no. She waited 20 years

for this revolt.

Isn't she afraid for you?

Never.

- We must go.

- Not now.

The storm's over.

I'm fine here.

I don't want to leave.

It's late.

Let's sleep here and leave tomorrow.

Come on.

Leave if you wish. I'm staying.

Fine.

You're really odd.

You followed me since Manosque.

You were my knight, my guardian angel.

And now you rush to pack your bags

like you're escaping.

I'm not running away.

I'm leaving before dark.

I can hear your mother:

" Never spend a night alone in a house

with a woman."

You're raving.

What's wrong?

It's the wine, I think.

My mother isn't like you imagine her.

For her, I...

I'm never crazy enough.

She's right.

Forgive me.

Will you find your way?

I'll stay a while.

I'm tired.

Don't lie in those beds.

Don't bother about me.

Pauline.

I'd rather die.

I covered you up. You were freezing.

I feel so weak.

You nearly died.

Give me your hand.

There's the marquis!

Laurent.

Dear Angelo, Where are you?

I'm writing to you in Turin...

where you said your mother lived.

I hope her name

is enough for an address.

But if she gets it,

will she know where to find you?

We heard about the uprising

against the Austrians.

Were you part of it?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes