The Paradise Page #3

Season #2 Episode #16

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During this BALLENTINE has been taking stock of DENISE,

noting that there is an air about her.

BALLENTINE:

I have a brewery. I started with

one ale, and now I supply more than

half the inns and hostelries in the

city. And beyond. I might be short

of breath, but I still go into work

every day and I still know every

employee by their first name.

DURING this, an idea has been forming in DENISE’s mind: she

can see now that there is real flint about BALLENTINE.

DENISE:

I know what you are thinking.

It is BALLENTINE’s turn to be curious.

DENISE (CONT’D)

We ought to have some of those ales

of yours in our Food Hall!

He laughs. Her confidence impresses him.

13.

12 INT. LADIESWEAR. THE PARADISE - DAY 12

CLARA and SUSY are teaching LUCILLE to walk in her dress.

CLARA:

The idea is to walk as though your

feet were on wheels.

LUCILLE:

Oh. Like this?

CLARA:

Not up and down -- no hip motion.

Skipping. Tripping, we call it.

Keep your hands in front -- like

this. Long strides are not

feminine. Small strides. Every step

is meant to draw attention for its

grace and poise.

LUCILLE:

I’m not sure I can do grace and

poise.

SUSY:

Perhaps try poise and worry about

grace later.

They are laughing, having fun.

LUCILLE:

We must all go out together. It

will be my treat. Where shall we

go? What is the most lavish night

out we could possibly have?

CLARA:

Mrs Ballentine -

LUCILLE:

Please call me Lucille -

CLARA:

Lucille, there’s no need for

extravagance.

LUCILLE:

Ballentine is so handsome, isn’t

he.

It’s a provocation. She can’t help herself.

CLARA and SUSY flash a look at one another and LUCILLE can

sense their awkwardness.

CLARA:

Your husband clearly adores you,

Madam.

14.

LUCILLE:

He is so funny sometimes. I have

never known a kinder man.

There it is, the crack in LUCILLE’s insistent happiness. She

might cry, she might confess ... but she pushes it away.

LUCILLE (CONT’D)

I am going to invite you all out to

the house, and it will be the

jolliest party of the year. Say

that you will come.

SUSY:

Of course we’ll come. We want to

see your chandeliers. Don’t we,

Clara?

SUSY sees CLARA’s hesitance and she panics.

SUSY (CONT’D)

Or -- we sometimes have a picnic on

Sundays.

LUCILLE:

I am so glad I have found you. The

only women I have met since I came

here have been those well-to-do

society wives who look down their

noses at me.

She takes CLARA by the hand.

LUCILLE (CONT’D)

I love picnics. Come and sit in my

garden. We will have champagne and

roasted meats and oranges ...

CLARA is trapped. She smiles and nods, yes. Capitulating.

CLARA:

We would all love to come, Lucille.

13 EXT. THE YARD. THE PARADISE - DAY 13

TOM moves like a man in a trance, oblivious to those around

him. It is not rage that is on him but despair.

He realises that someone is watching him ... JONAS.

JONAS:

Can I offer you a glass of brandy,

sir?

He is leading TOM into the store, but TOM is brimming with

the need to speak.

15.

TOM:

I must be rid of him.

JONAS:

Perhaps we should speak inside,

sir.

TOM:

Yes. Of course.

They pass SAM and EDMUND carrying a ladder.

But TOM can’t contain it: he’s quiet but charged with hatred.

TOM (CONT’D)

I can’t bear to watch him Lord it

about this place for one more day.

JONAS:

Haste will not serve you well, Mr.

Weston. If you are determined to

dispose of Mr. Moray then do not do

so on his terms. To dismiss him now

would play into his hands. He would

come out on top.

TOM:

What do you mean?

JONAS:

There are things I have heard, sir.

Will you trust that I know best in

this? Let me make some arrangements

and in a few days a proposal will

be laid before you that will finish

Moray.

TOM looks at him, considering, then nods his head, yes.

14 EXT. TOLLGATE STREET - DAY 14

SAM and EDMUND are carrying the ladder across the street.

EDMUND:

What do you think I’m going to do?

Run away with your ladder? I’m only

across the street.

SAM:

It’s not my ladder. It’s the

store’s ladder. All I’m saying is I

had to get permission to lend it to

you.

16.

EDMUND:

You can come over and inspect it

every ten minutes if you like. I

need it get the job done, don’t I.

SAM:

Next time ask Mr. Moray or Mr.

Dudley -- or someone higher up the

ladder.

EDMUND:

You see this street? I look along

it and there is not one person was

here before me. That means

something.

SAM:

Yes. It means you’ve been here a

long time and now it’s your turn to

pull the ladder up.

EDMUND:

Our Denise. Coming into the inn to

chide me. She wants rid of me. She

might just as well push me down the

road.

SAM:

She wants you to be happy, that’s

all. Surely you can see that,

Edmund.

They prop the ladder up against EDMUND’s shop.

EDMUND:

I shall paint my shop top to

bottom. And when it’s done ...

His defiance falters: he is facing that very prospect.

SAM:

I could help you, if you want.

Sunday. I would only spend it

chasing girls up the river. Or

chasing girls down the river.

EDMUND:

Everything I know in this world is

right here.

EDMUND starts scrubbing at the old paint with real venom, and

SAM can see that all is not well.

15 INT. MORAY’S OFFICE. THE PARADISE - NIGHT 15

The lights are low. FENTON dominates the room as though it

were his own.

17.

MORAY:

I am concerned about Katherine. I

fear she might fall ill ...

FENTON:

That is all to the good. She will

depend upon you still m-m-more.

MORAY:

What I am trying to make clear to

you is that it is my fault that her

husband is jealous. Tom Weston is a

dangerously volatile man.

JONAS:

The pressure is telling on him.

FENTON:

All to the good.

MORAY:

My concern for Katherine is not a

calculated exhibition. I feel

genuinely distressed ...

FENTON:

Still b-b-better. She will s-see

that you are true -- she will s-ssense

it, and it will draw her

closer to you.

JONAS:

Mr. Moray, sir, if I may ... If we

make each of them feel that their

situation is rapidly growing worse

FENTON:

And then we approach Tom Weston

with our proposal -

MORAY:

What proposal?

A knock on the door stops them -

DENISE (O.S.)

John?

The door handle turns but the door is locked.

MORAY indicates the door at the back of the room.

MORAY:

Go through this way. I don’t want

her to find you here.

JONAS and FENTON leave through the back door ...

18.

And MORAY lets DENISE in.

DENISE:

Who were you talking to?

MORAY:

It has finally come to it.

(he laughs)

I must have been talking to myself.

They laugh and he draws her to him.

16 INT. KATHERINE’S BEDROOM. BELVILLE HOUSE - NIGHT 16

KATHERINE props a chair against the door handle, to keep it

secure.

She gets into bed.

17 INT. THE PARADISE - NIGHT 17

MORAY and DENISE on the move: he is nervous, unsettled.

MORAY:

Ballentine? He is spending all of

his money on a wife young enough to

be his daughter. The man’s mind is

addled with love.

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