Top Hat Page #4

- Right between the eyes.

- Good.

- Where's Horace?

- I left him struggling with the baggage.

The hotel's crowded and both of you

will have to bunk together tonight.

Dale's with me.

- Did you get that room for my husband?

- Si, signora, but I am so sorry...

because of the carnival,

the only thing available is the bridal suite.

- The bridal suite.

- How romantic. Thank you.

Signor, are you Horace Hardwick?

Thank you, I am. How do you do?

- I am very displeased to meet you.

- Really?

What do you mean, displeased?

Signor, I warn you.

For men of your kind,

this is not a healthy place.

My dear fellow, this is one

of the healthiest spots in Europe.

The air, the breeze, the flowers.

So it is funny tricks you're being.

I warn you...

never let your path

criss-cross mine again, or the heart...

- Horace.

- How do you do?

Madge, darling.

My, your passion frightens me.

- Been practicing?

- Yes. Well, scarcely. No.

Madge, what do you think

has happened to me?

- I know. You got your first long trousers.

- Madge, please.

There's something down here

that I have to investigate...

and Jerry thinks that I...

Maybe I better tell it anonymously.

You know, it sounds as if you were

about to confess something, Horace.

Does it? What would I have to confess?

You really want to tell me

about Dale Tremont, don't you?

Yes, but then again, no.

You see, as a matter of fact,

I haven't even met her yet.

- You haven't met her?

- No.

If that's your story, Horace,

you stick to it.

I suppose you weren't in the park, either.

The park, my dear girl,

it happened in the zoo. What?

The zoo... Yes. The zoo was in the park.

How did you know I was there?

- A little bird told me.

- The stork?

I think, after the trip

I better clean up a bit.

- Of course, I understand just how you feel.

- Yes.

- What's the matter?

- It's Madge.

- Has she been chasing you?

- No.

Jerry, I think she's found out about Violet.

And I just had my life threatened.

But what did he say?

He just lied in a straightforward manner,

and said he'd never met you.

- He did, did he?

- I told you he'd forget all about you.

I'll make him remember me

in a manner he'll never forget.

Has Horace been away from you lately

for any length of time?

Well, he was alone

on the Continent last year.

Connect me

with Mr. Hardwick's apartment, please.

Madge, have you any objections

if I scare your husband...

so that he'll never look at another woman?

Dale, no husband

is ever too scared to look.

Hello.

Hello, where are you?

So you do remember me?

He remembers me all right.

- Are you alone?

- Completely and desolately.

Fine. I'll be right up.

Horace, she's coming up.

She's coming up here?

She can't do that. It isn't proper.

- She wants to see me alone.

- Alone? Jerry.

What did I tell you?

She wants to compromise you.

Rack your brains, please.

Couldn't you have met

that girl someplace else before?

I could have met her in Moscow.

- In Moscow. You see?

- But I've never been to Moscow.

Couldn't you have met her in Paris?

The last time I was in Paris,

I was 10 years old.

Jerry, I don't think it's safe

for you to see that girl alone.

I don't think it would be quite proper

for you to receive her that way.

Hello.

I know you'll think this is

a little unconventional of me...

but I just couldn't wait to see you alone.

I'm awfully glad you came up.

My darling.

Hello. How have you been?

I've been missing you terribly.

I came down

on the fastest plane I could get.

No, I meant before yesterday.

- Before yesterday?

- Yes, of course.

Don't you remember?

Should I?

Have you forgotten...

- what we've been to each other?

- No.

What we've been to each other...

I knew yesterday in the park,

when I was dancing in your arms...

- you remembered who I was.

- Of course.

Who are you?

Then you still don't remember?

I can try to remember something.

How could you forget

that funny little house...

and the suspicious concierge...

and that quaint little room?

We used to have tea and muffins

in front of the fireplace...

watching the

shadows leaping on the ceiling.

And those long walks down that

twisty cobblestone street to the river.

Paris is heavenly in the spring.

So that's where we met.

Yes, last year.

In Paris.

Why, of course.

It's all coming back to me now.

Is it?

Yes, but you weren't calling

yourself Dale Tremont.

- Wasn't I?

- No, it was...

Madeline, that was it.

I called you Mad for short.

You've put on a little weight, haven't you?

Remember that night on the Left Bank...

you had on that little blue dress

I bought for you?

And to think that I almost forgot you...

Tell me something.

Do you still have that awful weakness

for diamond bracelets?

I suppose I do.

Make yourself comfortable, darling.

I'll order some cocktails.

A little later on,

we'll have supper up here, just we two.

It'll be like old times, won't it?

I think I'd better be going.

I'll let you go on one condition.

Promise me, now that I found you again...

we can be to each other

what we were in Paris.

There, you see? I was right.

Of all the scheming, brazen creatures...

trying to pretend

that she met you in Paris.

Do you realize that she's

deliberately trying to trap you?

- What are you going to do about it?

- Marry her.

Jerry, this is no time for you to be funny.

All right, then, you be funny.

I'm going down

and ask her to marry me right now.

Jerry, please wait.

Now, before you make

a complete fool of yourself...

promise me that you won't ask her...

until I find out from Madge

more about her past.

All right, you find out all about her past...

and I'll go down and plan her future.

- Remember, that's a promise.

- All right, it's a promise.

What happened? Did you scare him?

No. He scared me.

What did he do, make faces at you?

You know, sometimes

I get up in the morning...

and I take a good look at him

and he frightens me, too.

He mistook me for someone called

Madeline he'd met in Paris.

Really?

Madge, do you think you ought

to let him go away from you alone?

I don't believe he was nearly so innocent

in Paris as you seem to think.

Darling, you interest me.

I must send him to China next year.

But, Madge,

you don't seem to understand.

I'm trying to tell you that I'm afraid...

that we're carrying this thing too far.

You know, I wonder if you've seen

something in Horace...

that I've never seen.

I wonder what's keeping Horace.

What's the matter?

I'm afraid I'm going to have a headache.

Don't go. This is a meeting

I've been planning a long time.

Good evening.

It's nice to see you again, Miss Tremont.

You've robbed me of the pleasure

of introducing you two.

You've already met.

Yes, we've met last spring.

I hope you see a lot of each other.

You know, Madge is

the most understanding person.

She seems to know instinctively

the kind of girl that interests me.

I don't know what I'd do without her.

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