The Hours Page #5

"So, this is the

beginning of happiness.

"This is where it starts.

And, of course, there

will always be more."

It never occurred to me

it wasn't the beginning.

It was happiness.

It was the moment...

right then.

Ah, Nelly, good evening.

I was wondering

if you'd seen Mrs. Woolf.

I thought you knew, sir.

Mrs. Woolf has gone out.

Excuse me! Excuse me!

Mr. Woolf, what an

unexpected pleasure.

Perhaps you could tell me

exactly what you think

you're doing?

What I was doing?

I went to look for you,

and you weren't there.

You were working in the garden.

I didn't wish to disturb you.

You disturb me

when you disappear.

I didn't disappear.

I went for a walk.

A walk?!

Is that all?

Just a walk?

Virginia, we must go home now.

Nelly's cooking dinner.

She's already had

a very difficult day.

It's just our obligation

to eat Nelly's dinner.

There is no such

obligation.

No such obligation exists.

Virginia,

you have an obligation

to your own sanity.

I have endured this custody!

I have endured

this imprisonment.

Oh, Virginia!

I am attended by

doctors, everywhere.

I am attended by doctors

who inform me of

my own interests!

They know your interests.

They do not!

They do not speak

for my interests.

Virginia, I can...

I can see that it must be

hard for a woman of your...

- Of what? Of my what, exactly?

- Uh, your...

your talents to see

that she may not be

the best judge

of her own condition!

Who, then, is a better judge?

You have a history!

You have a history

of confinement.

We brought you to Richmond

because you have a history

of fits, moods, blackouts,

hearing voices.

We brought you here

to save you

from the irrevocable damage

you intended upon yourself.

You've tried to kill yourself

twice!

I live daily with that threat.

I set up the press...

we set up the printing press

not just for itself,

not just purely for itself,

but so that you might have

a ready source

of absorption and of remedy.

Like needlework?

It was done for you!

It was done for your betterment!

It was done out of love!

If I didn't know you better,

I'd call this ingratitude.

I am ungrateful?

You call me ungrateful?

My life has been stolen from me.

I'm living in a town

I have no wish to live in.

I'm living... a life

I have no wish to live.

How did this happen?

It is time for us

to move back to London.

I miss London.

I miss London life.

This is not you speaking,

Virginia.

This is an aspect

of your illness.

- It's not you.

- It is me. It is my voice.

It's not your voice.

It's mine and mine alone.

This is the voice

that you hear.

It is not! It is mine!

I'm dying in this town!

If you were thinking clearly,

Virginia,

you'd recall it was London

that brought you low.

If I were thinking clearly...

If I were thinking clearly...

We brought you to Richmond

to give you peace.

If I were thinking clearly,

Leonard,

I would tell you that I wrestle

alone in the dark,

in the deep dark,

and that only I can know,

only I can understand

my own condition.

You live with the threat...

you tell me...

you live with the threat

of my extinction.

Leonard, I live with it,

too.

This is my right.

It is the right

of every human being.

I choose not the suffocating

anesthetic of the suburbs,

but the violent jolt

of the capital.

That is my choice.

The meanest patient,

yes, even the very lowest

is allowed some say

in the matter of her own

prescription.

Thereby she defines

her humanity.

I wish, for your sake, Leonard,

I could be happy in this

quietness.

But if it is a choice between

Richmond and death,

I choose death.

Very well, London, then.

We'll go back to London.

You hungry?

I'm a little hungry myself.

Come along.

London train on platform one!

This is the London train

terminating at Vauxhall.

You cannot find peace

by avoiding life, Leonard.

This is the London train!

London train on platform one!

Mommy!

Mommy!

Hey. Hey, there, bug.

Hey, what's wrong?

Hi, Mrs. Latch.

Sorry I'm late.

He's fine.

He's been fine.

He's, he's just happy

to see you.

Aw, it couldn't have been

that bad, could it? Hmm?

So, you got it cut, then?

Oh, yes, yes. No problem.

Looks great.

Well, they didn't have

to do very much.

Well, we had a fine time

together.

Thank you very much.

So, that wasn't too bad, was it?

I wasn't gone too long.

No, you weren't long.

That's right.

At one point...

I don't know.

There was a moment where

I thought I might be longer.

But I changed my mind.

What is it, honey?

Mommy, I love you.

I love you, too, baby.

What's wrong?

What?

Don't worry, honey,

everything's fine.

We're going to have

a wonderful party,

and we've made your daddy

such a nice cake.

I love you, sweetheart.

You're my guy.

Mommy!

Mommy!

Richard, it's me. I'm early.

What the hell is going on?

Richard!

What are you doing here?

You're early!

Wha-What is going on here?

What are you doing?

L-I had this wonderful idea.

I needed some light.

I needed to let in some light!

Richard, what are you doing?

I had this fantastic notion.

I took the Xanax

and the Ritalin together.

It-it never occurred to me.

Richard...

Don't come near me!

It seemed to me I needed

to let in some light.

What do you think?

I cleared away all the windows.

All right, Richard,

do me one simple favor.

Come. Come sit.

I don't think I can make it

to the party, Clarissa.

You don't have to go

to the party.

You don't have to go

to the ceremony.

You don't have to do anything

you don't want to do.

You can do as you like.

But I still have to face

the hours, don't I?

I mean, the hours

after the party,

and the hours after that...

You do have good days still.

You know you do.

Not really.

I mean, it's kind of you

to say so, but it's...

I mean, it's kind of you

to say so, but it's...

not really true.

Are they here?

Who?

The voices.

Oh, the voices are always here.

And it's the voices that you're

hearing now, isn't it?

No, no, no, no.

Mrs. Dalloway, it's you.

I've stayed alive for you,

but now you have to let me go.

Richard, I...

No, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Wait.

Tell me a story.

What about?

Tell me a story from your day.

I, um...

l-I got up...

Yes?

...and I went out, and, uh,

I went to buy flowers,

Like Mrs. Dalloway,

in the book, you know?

Yes.

And it was a beautiful morning.

Was it?

Yes, it was so beautiful.

It was so fresh.

Oh, fresh, was it?

Yes.

Like a...

like a morning on the beach?

Yes.

Like that?

Yes.

Like that morning when you

walked out of that old house,

and you were, you were 18,

and maybe I was 19.

Yes.

I was 19 years old,

and I'd never seen

anything so beautiful.

You...

coming out of a glass door

in the early morning,

still sleepy.

Isn't it strange?

Most ordinary morning

in anybody's life.

I'm afraid I can't make it

to the party, Clarissa.

The party...

doesn't matter.

You've been so good to me,

Mrs. Dalloway.

I love you.

"I don't think two people

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