The Iron Lady Page #11

NELLY:

Where shall we count them?

DICKENS:

Yes..Yes..Through here

(gesturing)

Yes, through here.

NELLY turns looking to MRS TERNAN but she ignores NELLY,

following DICKENS through.

43 INT. DRAWING ROOM. TAVISTOCK HOUSE. 1857. NIGHT. 43

A snaking line of coins piled into small pillars on a

table

Blue Revisions dated 11th June 2012 56.

NELLY and DICKENS lost in counting facing one another. They

whisper to one another, MRS TERNAN snoozes in a chair close

by-

NELLY:

Fourteen hundred and ninety

eight,fourteen hundred and ninety

nine..two shillings and tuppence.

NELLY finishes counting triumphant.

NELLY (CONT’D)

Nearly one thousand five

hundred pounds.

DICKENS:

No?..Really..

They laugh. Triumphant.

DICKENS (CONT’D)

We are rich...

NELLY:

Yes.

DICKENS:

They will be delighted...Until

the next time.

DICKENS scoops up the money, easing it back into the

boxes in piles.

NELLY:

(sudden)

Do you like this life?

DICKENS:

Well - it is not always of my own

making but-

NELLY waits. DICKENS silent, cutting himself off.

NELLY:

I don’t think I would. Being so

constantly on show, so constantly

watched.

DICKENS:

I have my work. It is a

great foil. They try but

they cannot always find you

there.

NELLY:

They?

Blue Revisions dated 11th June 2012 57.

DICKENS:

The hawkers. The men who

need to make money. Who look

to trip you up. And then

there are the admirers.

Those who wish you to be

more than you can possibly

be.

NELLY:

And what is that?

DICKENS:

Good...I suppose.

DICKENS smiles, caught out, looking away.

44 INT. DRAWING ROOM. TAVISTOCK HOUSE. 1857. NIGHT. 44

Later - on MRS TERNAN still asleep.

Flickering candlelight-

NELLY and DICKENS sharing a picnic supper perched at a

cooks table. A half open bottle of wine, the remains

of a make shift supper.

CLOSE on DICKENS

DICKENS:

My father was sent to a

debtor’s prison when I was

twelve. I worked in a blacking

factory thereafter, sealing

bottles,sticking labels.

(beat)

It was hateful.

NELLY:

You were fond of your father?

DICKENS:

He was my first audience. I

honed my comic lines on him.

DICKENS spoons the last mouthful of eggs, caught out.

DICKENS (CONT’D)

You are too good at this. I have

told you too much. You, now. You.

NELLY:

No really..There is little to

tell..

(conceding)

My father - An actor. Son of a

Dublin grocer. Also in debt.

(MORE)

Blue Revisions dated 11th June 2012 58.

NELLY (CONT'D)

Also dead. When I was seven. In

an asylum. Mother never talks

about it. I had a brother. He

died at 10 months. Though how a

boy would have fit with three

girls. We are as thick as

thieves.

NELLY looks to MRS TERNAN.

NELLY (CONT’D)

She is devoted to us. Our life is

unpredictable.

NELLY aware of DICKENS concentration on her.

DICKENS:

You are-

DICKENS laughs, relishing NELLY.

NELLY:

What?

DICKENS:

You are so free.

NELLY:

And you are not.

DICKENS:

I dream sometimes that there

is a place where no-one

knows who I am, or asks me

what I think, or even cares

for my opinion.

Somewhere..where I can

just...live...heart

beating...chest rising..Just

breathe.

DICKENS flushes, deflects, topping up his glass. The

mood suddenly sombre-

NELLY:

It is late. She will sleep

all night if we leave her.

NELLY peers through MRS TERNAN still asleep in a chair.

DICKENS:

Of course. I will ask John

to bring the carriage round-

DICKENS makes to go, suddenly something makes him

stop.

Blue Revisions dated 11th June 2012 59.

DICKENS (CONT’D)

Tell me a secret.

NELLY:

What kind of secret?

DICKENS:

Anything..Something..

Something you have never

told anyone or perhaps never

thought of telling.

NELLY:

(beat)

My middle name is ‘Lawless’.

(beat)

Now your turn. What is your

secret?

DICKENS:

Ellen Lawless Ternan. That

is my secret.

They hold each others gaze. SUDDENLY beyond MRS TERNAN stirs,

the moment broken, her eyes opening.

45 EXT. HARBOUR. MARGATE. DAY. 1885 45

NELLY, stiff in bonnet and corset, walking across the sand,

BENHAM by her side. They have been walking in silence for

some time. The grey wash of sea beyond, lapping at their

boots as they walk, faces flushed, pressed to the wind.

NELLY:

I like to search for faces amongst

the patterns in the sand.

BENHAM:

And do you find them?

NELLY:

Sometimes. Mostly monsters and

angels.

BENHAM smiles, NELLY smiles. The DRAG of a FISHING BOAT

crossing their paths. They navigate their way past the

FISHERMAN pulling the boat across the sand.

BENHAM:

So I thought Great Expectations

might be a choice for our readings.

David Copperfield is of course a

contender but Great Expectations

wins out for me in the end.

NELLY:

Very good.

Blue Revisions dated 11th June 2012 60.

BENHAM:

Do you agree?

NELLY:

It is a fine novel.

OTHER FISHERMAN and a FISHERWOMAN sit knotting nets. They

walk on, BENHAM silent, her steady, calm companion, yet

noting her distraction.

BENHAM:

Mrs Wharton Robinson... Forgive me

if I am intruding but...I see you

are so often...distracted..There is

some..As if a part of you is...

absent. I do not wish to intrude.

You talk I am sure to your husband-

NELLY:

No-

A COUPLE pass, part of the ebb and flow of life, walking in

another direction, NELLY nods, in brief greeting, wavering

momentarily, waiting for them to pass.

BENHAM:

Not all wives do..To confide in the

person you love the most..Sometimes

that is hard.

NELLY:

George is a good man. A very good

man.

BENHAM:

Of course.

NELLY lost deep within herself.

BENHAM (CONT’D)

But you are troubled.

SILENCE:

BENHAM (CONT’D)

It comes and then it goes but it

returns. I wish to help you...I

hope I can be someone you can

trust.

SILENCE:

NELLY:

Really. I am quite well.

BENHAM:

You are not.

Blue Revisions dated 11th June 2012 61.

NELLY:

Please, Mr Benham...

BENHAM:

I will listen without judgement.

NELLY turns, looks at BENHAM, the grey scene beyond.

46 INT. BEDROOM. PARK COTTAGE. 1857. DAWN. 46

Dawn-

NELLY waking listening to distant, muffled conversation.

Reaching for her nightgown, NELLY pulls it across her

shoulders, slipping out of bed. MARIA, sleeping by her side,

barely stirs.

47 INT. CORRIDOR. PARK COTTAGE. 1857.DAWN. 47

NELLY’s bare feet walking down the stairs. Beyond the door

ajar, MRS TERNAN and FANNY in another room, locked in heated

debate.

FANNY:

She is barely 18.

MRS TERNAN:

I have never had to concern myself

with regard to you or Maria. There

is always another tour for you and

your younger sister..Mr. Buckstone

has already enquired if Maria might

be free for Pantomime. But

Nelly...Nelly is different. I love

her. I love her dearly but - her

talent lies elsewhere. Charles

Dickens is not merely some

opportunist, some adventurer. I am

thinking of what life will offer

her. I am thinking of her future.

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