The Prince and the Pauper Page #8

Truly, he is the King.

By your favor, sire,

might I ask some questions...

which may allay our doubts?

I command you to do so,

that I may answer them...

and end your stupid perplexity.

What stands near the right-hand door

of our late King's apartment?

The Great Herring.

A model of the warship

designed by my late father.

God rest his soul.

Of what did Lady Jane eat so many

that she became...

- discommoded?

- Pomegranates.

And got ill on

the Steward of the Household.

Which man did you wrongly

but affectionately call uncle?

Milord Norfolk,

whose absence displeases me.

- All these things are true, milord.

- Unbelievably.

Astonishing.

Quite astonishing indeed, but the King

can do the same. They are not proofs.

It is perilous to the state and to us all,

to entertain such a mystery as this.

It could undermine the throne,

divide the nation.

- Arrest this...

- One moment.

The mystery may be easily solved.

There's one question which only

the Prince of Wales can answer.

- Where is the Great Seal of England?

- That'll settle it.

I must have put it with all things of value

which had been entrusted to me.

Of course. Milord St. John...

go to my private cabinet.

Close to the floor in the left corner

is a nailhead.

Press it and a jeweled closet will fly open.

There you will find the Great Seal. Fetch it.

- At once!

- And do hurry.

Yes, Your Majesty.

- Your mount, Captain!

- Yes, milord.

The seal, Your Majesty, is not there.

Cast this beggar into the streets.

Stone the impostor. Take him away.

Let him alone!

Please, sir. Maybe His Majesty has just

misplaced the seal.

- He might have, mightn't he?

- Hardly likely, sire.

A massive golden disk isn't

a thing to escape notice.

Was it round and thick?

And did it have letters carved in it?

That would describe it, my liege.

Blimey. So that's the thing

that's been worrying everybody.

If you'd described it to me,

you could have had it sooner.

Your Majesty,

knowing where the great seal lies...

does nothing to establish

this lad's spurious claim.

Perhaps we'd better

continue the ceremony.

But with the real King,

because he put away the seal himself.

Remember, Your Majesty?

You must. You've got to be king.

Because I wouldn't like it anymore.

Think.

I just can't.

- It seems so long ago.

- We exchanged clothes, you remember?

That I'll never forget.

And you asked me if I knew any games,

and I said, Constable.

And you went out to get your dog.

But before you left, what did you do?

Think.

- Harder, Your Majesty.

- I just can't.

Listen, and try and see it.

You started for the door.

You passed a table.

That old thing you called a seal was on it.

You picked it up and looked about

for some place to hide it.

Your eyes caught sight of...

The suit of armor

by the door, in the leg-piece.

Your Majesty. Coming through.

- Your mount again, Captain?

- Yes, sir.

He's a busy bloke, ain't he?

Come here, lad.

Yes, Your Majesty?

I owe my throne to you, Tom.

A debt which I shall pay.

But tell me, how could you

remember where I hid the seal...

when I couldn't myself?

You see, Your Majesty,

I found it and used it.

Used it? For what?

To crack nuts with.

My father told me the night he died...

that a wise king

removes the heads of those...

who try to remove the crown.

But I suppose I'm not a wise king.

Because I don't want you to be killed.

Instead, I hereby order you

to be banished from England...

for the rest of your life.

May I learn generosity from you, sire.

The acts, Your Majesty.

Milords and ladies, my dad...

I mean, the late King...

told me to use the Great Seal

sparingly in making laws.

But if he had gone out

among his people without his crown...

I know he'd have told me not to spare it

in breaking them.

So these acts abolish the begging laws...

modify the laws of eminent domain,

and do away with slavery.

Churl, you dare sit

in the presence of your King?

Yes. But you mustn't.

- Your Majesty!

- Let's not take affront.

It is his right, afforded by a grateful King,

whose life he saved.

- Also, Sir Miles Hendon...

- Yes, sire?

There is among these papers

a commission for you.

- As Captain of my Guard.

- Thank you, Your Majesty.

You aren't pleased by my appointment?

You see, Your Majesty,

the enemy will never come to Windsor.

And a Captain of the Guard

can't go looking for them.

So, as my trade's soldiering, I don't see

when I'll get a chance to practice it.

Very well.

- But I owe you something.

- Three crowns to be exact, sire.

You shall have them. A hundredfold.

Yes, and an earldom, castles, lands...

- and a retinue of servants.

- Your Majesty.

I hope Your Majesty won't

think me ungrateful...

but please may I be permitted

to forgo all these honors...

with which Your Majesty threatens me?

To one of my temperament,

riches are a curse.

Possessions, a veritable scourge.

All I ask is an obscure life

and a peaceful one.

But not too peaceful, of course.

Anything to content you, Sir Miles.

But remember, I'm eternally in your debt.

I'll seal these,

and you may send for them later.

- Please dismiss the court.

- Yes, sire.

You have His Majesty's permission

to withdraw.

- Tom.

- Yes, Your Highness?

- Come here.

- Yes, sire.

They're gone.

Sit down.

Are you sure it's all right?

You sat down all the time you were King,

so I suppose it won't matter now.

- This one's about you.

- Me?

- It makes you my ward.

- Ward?

That means all your life

you'll have money to live on.

And if anybody's unkind or cruel to you...

they've committed an offense

against the Crown.

- Oh, Your Majesty.

- What's the matter?

- I just don't know what to say.

- Just say thank you.

This is good for cracking nuts, isn't it?

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