The Painted Veil Page #5

that I've ever seen.

I'm sorry.

Do not stop on my account

if Dr. Fane is enjoying himself.

No. No, not at all.

No, l-- It's very nice.

I just-- I was passing.

- No. Stay.

- I should go.

I insist.

- All right, if you like.

- Continue, Mrs. Fane.

But perhaps something

a little more soothing.

Yes, of course.

They brought in a new baby today.

The girls named her Zan Xien.

It means "brand-new."

The nuns are going to call it Katherine,

which, of course...

...none of the girls will be able to say.

Thank goodness for those nuns.

They do so much for so little in return.

I suppose you could look at it that way.

You suppose?

I think it might be

a bit more complicated than that.

They take in desperate children

and give them a chance at life.

What could be so complicated about that?

They also go to young mothers

in their homes.

They ask them to give their babies

to the convent.

They offer them money to support

their families to persuade them to do it.

They're not just here

to run an orphanage, your nuns.

They're turning those children

into little Catholics.

None of us are in China without a reason.

Still, on the whole...

...I think that what they're doing

is a pretty good deed, don't you?

I'm here to study bacteria.

I don't feel a need

to have an opinion about the rest.

Well, I do, and I admire them.

I don't think it has to be

so complicated and gloomy.

And I think what you're doing,

for instance, is incredibly noble.

You used to feel contempt for me.

Don't you still?

Walter. I can't believe that you,

with all your cleverness...

...should have

such little sense of proportion.

We humans are more complex

than your silly little microbes.

We're unpredictable.

We make mistakes and we disappoint.

- Yes, we certainly do.

- I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I'm not the perfect young woman

that you want me to be.

I'm just ordinary.

I never tried to pretend

that I was anything else.

No, you certainly didn't.

I like the theater, and dancing...

...and playing tennis. I like games.

I like men who play games.

God forgive me,

that's the way I was brought up.

I play a pretty fierce hand of bridge.

Oh, well, that's bloody exciting.

And you, you dragged me around

all those interminable galleries in Venice...

...blathering on about

the miracle of the canals...

...and the flushing of the lagoon system,

or some such nonsense.

Honestly, I'd have been much happier

playing golf at Sandwich.

I suppose you're right.

It was silly of us to look for qualities

in each other that we never had.

Yes.

Yes, it was.

Walter?

Why didn't you break down that door

when you knew I was in there with Charlie?

You might have at least

tried to thrash him.

He wasn't worth it.

Or maybe I'm just too proud to fight.

I don't know about that.

I've told Mother Superior

to keep her sisters inside the convent.

I put a guard outside the gate.

- I'd advise any Westerners to stay indoors.

- All right.

Sister, has Mrs. Fane

been at the convent today?

Oui, doctor.

But she has left a few minutes ago.

Sung Ching.

Let's go. Let's go!

Let's go!

Stop it!

Sung Ching! Where's Mrs. Fane?

Where's Mrs. Fane?

I don't know what you're saying!

Get away from her.

- Are you all right?

- Yes.

Come on.

We're out of whiskey.

Dr. Fane.

Could I trouble you for a drink?

Hello, darling.

I was stationed at Hankow

during the revolution...

...when they were massacring

all the Manchus.

I was able to help a particular family.

New documents, that sort of thing.

She was the youngest of the daughters.

I didn't pay her

too much attention at first.

Well, more than I should have, I suppose.

When I left Hankow, she followed me.

I sent her back two, three times,

but she kept coming back.

I didn't realize you had

so much affection for her.

What makes you think I do?

I can see it in your eyes.

Men are incalculable.

I thought you were

just like everybody else...

...and now I feel I don't know

the first thing about you.

I wonder what she sees in you.

Wan Xi.

She says I'm a good man.

As if a woman ever loved a man

for his virtue.

Morning.

Morning.

I should think it best

to stay away from town today.

All right.

I'm going for a walk.

Come on, then.

What on earth are you doing

all the way out here?

Walking off a crippling hangover.

What are you doing?

Well, I've been attempting to purchase

a stalk of bamboo...

...off this fine gentleman here,

but his price is exorbitant.

My head is too shattered to negotiate.

- So would you like a ride home?

- On what?

The buffalo?

You see, we're diverting it

from these fields temporarily...

...sending it into the center of town,

where they can get at it easily.

It's over a half-mile.

It gave us a devil of a time in some places.

Oh, Mother.

Am I going to die?

Come, come. You mustn't be so silly.

Listen, ma chere.

Is it possible you are with child?

- No.

- Oh, yes.

- No.

- Yes.

I mean--

I suppose it's possible.

- There is no doubt about it.

- Yes. Sister St. Joseph knew at once.

She comes from a large family,

so she has experience in these matters.

I can't believe it.

Why can't you believe it?

Having a child is so natural.

Yes.

Think how happy your husband will be.

And what's happened here?

- I'm all right.

- They said you fainted.

- I'm fine.

- Let me look at you.

It's not cholera.

No. I don't think so.

Did you feel nauseous? Or just faint?

Walter, stop.

I'm pregnant.

A baby?

You're quite certain?

Yes.

Well, that's wonderful.

How long do you think

you've been like this?

Two months.

Maybe longer.

Kitty.

Am I the father?

I honestly don't know.

I'm sorry.

Well...

...it doesn't matter now...

...does it?

No.

No, it doesn't.

Dr. Fane?

Come with me.

- What is this? Where are they coming from?

- The cholera spread south along the river.

They have no doctors or facilities there.

They'll contaminate everything.

We've got to keep them outside town.

Dr. Fane.

Dr. Fane!

Stop. Stop. Stop.

Stop here. We can help you here.

Colonel, tell them not to go into town!

We'll help here!

Mrs. Fane.

Gather all the children in the music room.

Wait here.

Let's go.

That boy, bring him here. Bring him in.

I don't understand.

Why didn't he wake me?

He made an early start,

and you needed the rest.

- How far is the refugee camp?

- Just outside the town, in the foothills.

Dr. Fane told me he wanted you to leave,

but you would not.

I didn't want to leave you.

Yes, and we appreciate it, dear child.

But I think you did not want

to leave him either.

Well, it's my duty.

Duty is only washing your hands

when they are dirty.

I fell in love when I was 17, with God.

A foolish girl with romantic notions

about the life of a religious.

But my love was passionate.

Over the years my feelings have changed.

He's disappointed me. Ignored me.

We've settled into a relationship

of peaceful indifference.

The old husband and wife who sit

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