The Paradise Page #2

Season #2 Episode #16

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SUSY:

Yes. Then you would have been there

so you wouldn’t have needed a note

to say why you’re not there.

They ALL look at her as they figure this one out.

And SUSY is trying to fathom it herself.

MYRTLE:

Have a sit down, Susy. Rest your

mind a while.

7.

CLARA:

You must admit, Mr. Lovett, youdon’t have any cause to stay when -EDMUND

(adamant)

Yes I do.

SAM:

I’m not one to meddle in affairs of

a marital nature, but what is yourreason, Edmund?

EDMUND:

I can’t sell my shop -- because it

looks so worn-down and decrepit. IfI paint it up, you watch me, itwill be a more agreeableproposition for any buyer. A fewdays of sweat and toil will makeall the difference. You’ll see ...

They’re joshing and teasing him, which spurs him on.

EDMUND (CONT’D)

I will prove to the lot of you I amonly here because I intend toleave!

Which brings roars of laughter.

7 INT. KATHERINE’S BEDROOM. BELVILLE HOUSE - NIGHT 7

KATHERINE wakes to find TOM standing in her room. He saysnothing: just stands there like and ghost ... and then heleaves.

KATHERINE is spooked to her bones. There will be no moresleep tonight.

8 EXT. TOLLGATE STREET - NIGHT 8

The GIRLS are heading homewards.

CLARA:

She’s done it, hasn’t she. Mrs.

Ballentine. She’s got what we all

hanker after. Bagged herself awealthy husband, living the grandlife.

SUSY:

I don’t. I want a kind husband.

8.

MYRTLE:

Susy, think on:
if he’s not well-

off, what good is his kindness?

CLARA:

We all say that what we dream of is

love, but -- let’s admit it -- what

we really want is love and riches.

Every fine-dressed woman who walks

through that door, we long for what

she has. That’s why we come to work

in a department store.

SUSY:

Is it? I thought it was just a job.

CLARA:

You’re quiet, Denise. What do you

say about Mrs. Ballentine’s good

fortune?

DENISE:

I don’t envy our customers. I can’t

say I long to come into The

Paradise to shop and spend ...

CLARA:

Here we go ...

SUSY:

What do you want?

DENISE:

I dream of a world where a girl

doesn’t need to find a rich

husband.

CLARA starts the laughter at the absurdity of this, and the

OTHERS follow, including DENISE.

MYRTLE:

Oh, yes, and I am looking forward

to the day when a woman is Prime

Minister, and a woman is a priest

in the pulpit, and a woman is in

charge of The Paradise.

They’re ALL laughing at that.

9 EXT. WALLED GARDEN. BELVILLE HOUSE - DAY 9

MORAY and KATHERINE sit on a bench in the secluded garden.

MORAY:

His proposal to send Denise to

Paris -- he could have discussed

that with me.

(MORE)

9.

MORAY (CONT'D)

It is as if he is seeking to turn

the staff against me.

KATHERINE is struggling: at times she has to close her eyes

tight shut just to stop herself from imploding.

MORAY (CONT’D)

If I try to speak to him about

these matters he brushes aside my

concerns. It is impossible for me

to run the store as I believe -

MORAY can see KATHERINE’s volatile state, but can’t fathom

it.

MORAY (CONT’D)

Perhaps you could encourage Tom to

see reason -

It’s too much:
KATHERINE can’t keep it in any more.

MORAY (CONT’D)

Katherine, what is it?

KATHERINE:

Can you come back tomorrow? We will

speak then ...

She needs to be away ...

MORAY:

Of course ... Please tell me ...

KATHERINE:

God, help me ... God, please help

me ...

She sees MORAY’s pity and her terrors pour out of her.

KATHERINE (CONT’D)

He is capable of such cruelty. I

never imagined ... What have I

done? We married in such haste. I

hardly knew him. I live in terror

of upsetting him. I dare not speak

for fear of how he will react.

There are times I think he hates

me. He wishes only to punish me. I

cannot bear one more day ...

It’s too much, she is too vulnerable: MORAY is compelled to

hold her, to comfort her.

KATHERINE lets herself sink into his arms.

KATHERINE (CONT’D)

Thank you. Thank you, Moray.

10.

What is between them now is comfort and only comfort.

MORAY:

What can I do to help you?

KATHERINE:

Just to have someone I can talk to

-- someone I can tell how it is.

Someone to hold me ...

MORAY:

You cannot live like this,

Katherine.

KATHERINE:

What else can I do?

MORAY:

Promise me you will come to me when

you need someone ...

Beyond the wall, through the gate, glimpsed through the

foliage, TOM stands dead still, looking at KATHERINE in

MORAY’s arms.

10 INT. LADIESWEAR. THE PARADISE - DAY 10

SUSY hurtles into the Department.

SUSY:

It’s her. It’s Mrs. Ballentine.

She’s here with her husband. And

he’s ... He’s not ... What I mean

is ...

Too late, they come in now: LUCILLE and her husband, CAMPBELL

BALLENTINE. He’s in his sixties. Thirty years older than

Lucille.

The GIRLS take this in: it freezes them to the spot, not sure

how to react, afraid of giving away their shock.

LUCILLE:

Here they are, my darling: my new

friends. They have been looking

after me so sweetly.

BALLENTINE:

Thank you, girls. You have made my

wife the happiest woman in the

whole of this city.

LUCILLE:

Well, show them, Ballentine: show

them how obliged we are.

BALLENTINE is dishing out lavish tips to the GIRLS.

11.

No one dare speak for fear of giving away their surprise.

DENISE:

Perhaps I might take you to the

Cashier’s Office, Mr. Ballentine,

to settle your account?

BALLENTINE:

I’ll wager it’s down those stairs

again ... when I have only just

climbed up them!

But he’s laughing and good-hearted.

LUCILLE is left with the GIRLS, nervous now, feeling exposed.

LUCILLE:

(she laughs nervously)

I need you to show me how to walk

in my new dresses.

11 INT. STAIRWAY. THE PARADISE - DAY 11

DENISE and BALLENTINE are coming down the stairs.

BALLENTINE:

I know what you’re thinking.

For a moment DENISE is caught, but there’s a glint in the

BALLENTINE’s eyes.

BALLENTINE (CONT’D)

You’re thinking: what could be

better? A man so in love with his

wife that he will indulge her every

whim. Oh, how your sales will soar.

He’s teasing and he has made DENISE laugh. She likes him.

They meet MORAY as he comes up the stairs.

DENISE:

Mr. Moray, sir, might I introduce

Mr. Ballentine?

MORAY:

Campbell Ballentine? We met once

before, sir. I believe it was at

the race course.

BALLENTINE:

Ah, yes. I was newly married. Lost

a fortune that day.

12.

MORAY:

Well, I am pleased to see you in my

... in The Paradise. If you will

excuse me ...

MORAY continues on his way and DENISE leads BALLENTINE down

the stairs.

BALLENTINE regards the sweep of the store.

BALLENTINE:

What a splendid enterprise ...

DENISE:

We recently opened a Food Hall. We

have an Oriental Room which has

proven very popular. We try to

stock items at all kinds of prices

to attract all manner of customers.

They are on the move and reach the Cashier’s Desk during the

scene.

DENISE (CONT’D)

Those who can’t afford the finer

goods still like to come in to gaze

at them. We have a Children’s

Department, Bedding, Menswear,

Furniture:
we are always looking to

expand.

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