Little Dorrit (2008) s01e14 Episode Script

There is a box containing legal documents and other papers.
I want to see them destroyed.
Not hidden.
Guard it with your life.
There is some secret in this house and it has to do with my father's dying words.
I'm here to ask for your help, Miss Wade, in finding the man Rigaud.
I've seen you with him.
For God's sake, why won't you let me help you?! I long to be at work at some really worthwhile enterprise such as yours.
Doyce and Clennam.
What I have to sell is my silence.
You know this man, Blandois? No, no, no, he is called Rigaud.
He is a killer.
Set my heart on her, Pa.
You think I've got a chance? Why not? Are you angry with me, Little Dorrit? Don't call me that.
I'm not a child.
You loved being called by that name.
Not any more.
Not by you.
We ought to make our capital work for us, and I want to put it into Merdle's funds.
This is the chance of a lifetime.
You go to Russia and let me do this for you.
You won't regret it.
Could you lend me a penknife? A penknife? Yes, I seem to have mislaid mine.
You haven't got one with a darker handle by any chance? Separation of the jugular vein With this penknife, no doubt.
Hm, laudanum to dull the pain.
Dare say you've seen this sort of thing before.
I have, sir.
You know what to do.
I do, sir.
I was told to come straight away.
Good God! Seems he was stealing from one fund to pay another.
Issuing shares without collateral, and now it's all blown up and burst.
There's nothing left.
So he took his own life rather than face the consequences.
Merdle, the man of the age.
Whom do you wish to see, gentlemen? My master is not at home.
Mrs Merdle's maid must be called and told to get Mrs Merdle up and prepare her as gently as she can to see me.
I have dreadful news to break to her.
I regret to inform you, sir, Mrs Merdle has not yet returned from Italy.
We expect her tomorrow afternoon.
I can if you wish to convey your news to her when she arrives.
Mr Merdle is dead.
I see.
In that case, I should wish to give one month's notice.
Mr Merdle has destroyed himself.
It's very unpleasant, sir, to the feelings of one in my position.
I think I should leave immediately.
Good God, man! If you are not shocked, are you not at least surprised? Your master is dead and by his own hand.
Sir, Mr Merdle never was quite the gentleman, and no ungentlemanly act on his part could surprise me.
Is there anybody else I can send to you, sir? Or any directions I can give before I leave? Nearly dawn.
Mmm.
And hundreds of thousands of men and women still happily asleep with no idea that they will wake to their own ruin.
If only they knew what we know now.
What a fearful cry against one miserable soul would go up to heaven.
Merdle's dead! Merdle's dead! Suicide! Cut his own throat! Blood everywhere! Money, it was money! SHOUTS BECOME INDISTINC SHOUTING CONTINUES Man of the age(!) Man of the age! Fraud! What a dreadful thing, Sparkler.
Horrid.
Horrid! And with our mother of pearl penknife, too.
I know, my love.
Shocking! If I'd known what he wanted it for, I might not have lent it to him.
And now the coroner's got it and heaven knows when I shall get it back.
I know, dear heart.
It's very vexing.
Are you fearfully cut up about it, Sparkler? Was you very close to him? Well, I am a bit cut up about it, Fanny.
Of course, it's not as if he was my real pa, but, you know, he wasn't a bad stick.
The mater found him fearfully annoying, but I didn't.
I think the bird was rather fond of him.
I know he was fond of it.
Sparkler? Yes, my dearest love.
What is to become of us now? Are we rich or are we poor? We, um, may have to tighten our belts a little, perhaps find a smaller place in, um, a less expensive part of town? Such as where? Um Fulham? Fulham?! We're ruined.
I persuaded you to it, Mr Clennam.
You say what you will.
You can't say more to me than I say to myself.
I've ruined my partner, Pancks.
I've ruined Doyce.
He trusted me.
He thought I had a head for business.
Don't reproach yourself, sir.
You reproach me or I'll do myself an injury.
After all the disappointments,now he's ruined by his own partner,his own friend.
Say, "You fool, you villain!" Say, "Ass, what were you thinking?!" Say, "Beast, what did you mean by it?!" Come on! Say something abusive to me.
It's not your fault, Pancks.
I took advice from others, not just you.
But I will say that if you hadn't yielded to this fatal mania, it would be much better for you and maybe for me, too.
Come on.
At me again.
At me again! No, no.
I'm as much to blame as you are.
I wish you hadn't gone over those calculations That's it.
And brought out your results with such abominable clarity.
At me again! At me again! I'm sorry, Pancks.
I haven't the heart for it.
I haven't been to bed, you know, since it began to get about.
Mr Clennam, have you laid out everything? Everything.
MAKES CHOKING SOUND Everything.
There's nothing more to be done, Pancks.
Um I must face the consequences.
I must declare Doyce and Clennam insolvent.
No, wait, Mr Mr Clennam.
There are other ways.
What ways? You don't want to go to the debtor's prison, sir.
That is no place for you.
Close up the doors now, today, and cross the Channel.
You live abroad until it all blows over.
There's many a man who's done that and come back as clean and shiny as a new penny.
No, Pancks.
I can't do that.
I can't leave Doyce to take the blame.
You get yourself some legal help, for God's sake.
Yes, perhaps I'd better.
Rugg, he knows this work.
I'll get Rugg for you, Mr Clennam.
Who are all those people outside the door, Fanny? Tradesmen mostly, hoping to get paid.
Ha! Bit too late for that.
But if they don't get paid, how will they live? Well, I don't know, do I? Amy, step away from the window.
Amy, do it! SHOUTING If you please, ma'am, it's the missus.
BIRD SQUAWKS Hello, Mater.
Beastly business.
Quite.
Mrs Merdle, welcome home.
Did you have a good journey? Tedious and uncomfortable, thank you.
Where is the head butler? Where are the footmen? Packed their bags and gone.
Tell you the truth, I don't miss 'em much.
That butler always gave me the shivers.
That little skivvy that brought you upstairs, she's doing her best, and a good little girl she is, too.
D'you know, she hasn't All right, Sparkler.
Yes, my love.
Just thought I'd make the observation.
Don't.
Right.
So, we are ruined.
Everything lost.
Well ma'am, I believe you are ruined.
We're not quite.
Sparkler still has his job and I have my own money, and if the worst comes to the worst, I could always go back to the theatre.
And who knows, perhaps you could go back to doing whatever it is that you did before Mr Sparkler and Mr Merdle.
But I don't think we've come to that just yet.
Lord knows, we wouldn't see you out on the streets, would we, Sparkler? Dash my buttons, no! Heaven forbid! No, I'm sure we'll all get along like a house on fire.
So, I am to be dependent on your good will, am I? You'll be all right, Mrs M, so long as you remember your Ps and Qs.
Now, this is the plan.
Sparkler and I do not intend to be paying off Mr Merdle's old bills, otherwise we shall soon find ourselves in Queer Street.
We shall be leaving rather quietly by the back gate and rather late at night and lie low until the fuss dies down.
I dare say you're not so grand for what you might have heard of as a moonlight flit.
You may even have done once or twice in your younger days.
So, what d'you say, Mrs M? Are you game for it? My dear Fanny, I am entirely in your hands.
That's nice.
Mr Clennam! Mr Clennam, come quick before they get here! Come along, Mr Clennam! Si, si, presto, signore, presto! Quick, sir, quick, sir, out the back.
Time to get away before they come in.
Who? Creditors, sir.
They want their money Let me meet them.
I want to face up to my obligation.
Open up! Mr Clennam! Mr Clennam, this is not the time to be thinking of others.
The question is what can we do for ourself.
You've been allowing your feelings to be worked on.
That won't do.
It's not losing my own money that I care about.
If it had been that, I should have cared less.
Is that so? That is singular, sir.
Generally, it's their own money people are particular about.
Most people can lose other people's money and bear it very well indeed.
Well, I am determined to face up to my creditors and I want to keep nothing for myself but my books and the clothes I stand up in.
Then I'm afraid it's the Marshalsea.
I'd rather be sent to the Marshalsea than to any other prison.
If you say so indeed, sir.
Then we may as well be walking.
BANGING DOOR UNLOCKS Good morning, sir.
Good morning, Mr Chivery.
I don't recall as I was ever less glad to see you, sir.
I certainly never thought I would return in this way.
Ah, that Merdle brought a lot down with him, Mr Clennam.
We'll be full to bursting, but we've got room for you.
Show him up, John.
This way, Mr Clennam.
I thought you'd like Mr Dorrit's old room, sir.
For old time's sake.
That was a kind thought, John.
Won't you shake my hand, John? I don't know as I can, sir.
No, I find I can't, but I thought you'd like this room, and here it is for you.
Good day, sir.
Gratified to welcome you, sir.
A very handsome testimonial, offered with great delicacy.
I'm infinitely obliged, sir, infinitely obliged.
KNOCK ON DOOR Ah, thank you, John.
I'm sorry to have given you the trouble.
Are youangry with me, John? I tell you what, Mr Clennam.
If you weren't under a cloud, which you are, and if it wasn't against all the rules in the Marshalsea, which it is, I'd sooner be having a ram with you than shaking your hand! Beg your pardon.
Freely granted.
But, er What is it, John? If you don't mind my saying so, sir, you don't look very well to me.
How long since you've eaten anything? Oh, I don't have any appetite.
I don't think I could eat.
D'you not think that even if it's not worthwhile to take care of yourself for your own sake, it's worth doing for somebody else's? Truly, I don't know for whose.
You don't know whose?! You can say that to me?! I don't understand, John.
I don't mean to offend you.
I had got over it.
I had.
I might never have thought of it again.
I may not be a gentleman, but I am a man.
Why d'you think I found this room for you that you'd like and carried up the things for you when I really felt like knocking you down? D'you think I did it for your own sake? I didn't do it for you! I did it for her! For who? For Amy! Because she loves you! What? How can you say you don't know it? Anyone with eyes could see it.
These walls know it.
You're so lofty, so far above the rest of us, you don't even notice it.
All the time I was breaking my heart over her .
.
She was breaking hers over you.
JOHN SOBS Well I've told you now.
So, if you won't take anything else, I'll say good night, sir.
Good night, John.
I know what these affairs of the heart are like, how we hesitate.
I fancied I was in love with someone.
I don't know why I'm telling you all this, Amy.
My brother is free.
A gentleman paid his debts, but he would not allow us to know his name.
But if I could meet him, I would thank him and take his hand and kiss it and thank heaven that he took pity on us.
I don't understand.
Don't you? D'you know, I sometimes wish that you'd never come to the Marshalsea, that I'd never met you, that none of this had ever happened.
I was happy as I was.
KNOCKING Oh, Mr Clennam.
I hope you don't mind us coming around, but not to deceive you, we couldn't bear to think of you languishing here on your own.
We brought you a few things, as you see, tempt your appetite.
Thank you, Mrs Plornish.
Oh, dear.
Mr Clennam, you're not looking well at all.
The air in the Marshalsea is very bad, there's no denying it.
It didn't agree with Plornish.
Did it, my love? Don't agree with anybody, I believe.
Won't you take a little something? Thank you, but I'm afraid I've lost my appetite.
I'll leave them here, Mr Clennam.
Perhaps you'll feel like them later.
He's lost his will to live, by the looks of it.
Come va? Oh, cheer him up a bit, Plornish, if you can.
The way I see it, Mr Clennam, there's ups and downs.
Don't ask me why, why ups, why downs, but there they is.
But I've heard it given for a truth that as the world goes round, so it comes round again.
You're down now, there's no doubt about it, but you'll be up when your turn comes round again.
Eh! I fear I shan't ever be up again, Mr Plornish.
What I say, Mr Clennam, is, there's always something to be thankful for, as I'm sure you yourself will admit.
Speaking in this room, it's to be thankful that Miss Dorrit isn't here to know it.
That's something to be thankful for, you see, Mr Clennam.
Ups and downs, you see.
Ups and downs.
Thank you, Mr Plornish.
Would you rather you was left alone now, Mr Clennam? Er, if you don't mind, Mrs Plornish, I'm not I don't feel quite myself today.
He's not himself indeed, Mr Chivery.
Not to deceive you, I'm very worried about him.
I think he needs attendance of a medical man.
Medical man.
I think he's sinking into a decline, Mr Chivery.
Sinking into a decline.
Does take some of them like that, Mrs Plornish.
I'll see what I can do.
Arthur Clennam! You have been looking for me.
Well, here I am.
What do you want of me? That you clear the house of Clennam of suspicion.
I Well My friend, my fellow jailbird, it would appear you know very little about me, and I know all about you.
I know you are a murderer.
And I know you are a Well, I am too delicate to say the word, but what I know, it could bring the house of Clennam crashing down in a heap of dust and ashes.
Say what you have to say, damn you.
To you? If you had £1,000, you could hear it all.
But your mother would pay, I think.
So that you don't know the shameful truth that concerns you, that concerns her, that concerns your poor dead father, that concerns the little Dorrit girl.
What does she have to do with all this? She cannot be left out.
She is in it, whether you like it or not.
This is very bad wine.
Marshalsea wine.
Paupers' wine.
The wine of losers.
Tell me what you know! Tell me! No.
No.
For that, you will have to go to your chere maman.
Perhaps she will tell you.
Perhaps not.
Farewell.
Qu'est ce qui passe ici si tard? Compagnons de la Marjolaine.
It's too late.
It's no use.
What could I What could I have offered her? And yet she loved me.
Why, who's this? Who's this? Is he very bad, doctor? He seemed to go down very quick.
Couldn't get him to take anything.
He's running a high fever.
I doubt he has the spirit to fight it.
Nothing to do, but watch and wait.
Let him have a little brandy and water, if he'll take it.
The next 12 hours should settle it, one way or the other.
Now isn't the time to be sitting down reading letters.
We have to go! I don't like it, Fanny.
Don't you think we should face our problems, not run from them? They're not our problems.
They're Mr Merdle's problems, but he's isn't here to face them, is he? It's only a temporary stratagem.
We shall pay our bills when Pa's will comes through.
Where are we going to go? Good gracious, Amy! It's a good job one of us is thinking.
We shall go to Pa's hotel, keep our heads down until we get our inheritance, and then come back out into society.
You can stay for weeks in a hotel without having to pay for anything.
RUMBLING Ah, um Respectfully suggest, Ma, not to bring the whole panjandrum.
This is a flit, you see, not a royal tour.
A first class woman all the same though, through and through.
As are you, of course.
And you, my dearest Fanny.
All absolutely first class women with not a bit of ALL: Sparkler! Right.
WHISPERING BREATHES HEAVILY Have a care .
.
What you wish for.
Have a care what you wish for.
Here, take this.
You're not wanted here.
Sshhh.
Go to sleep.
I dreamt of you.
But now you're really here.
Mr Chivery wrote to me, and told me you were here.
I've been here since yesterday.
I think you have been very ill.
But I am well now.
You've made me well.
You must take it slowly.
Let me take care of you.
But you have better things to do than that.
No.
Nothing better than that.
I have thought about you, every day, every hour, every minute, that I have been in here.
Have you? Truly? Yes, I have.
And now you're here.
Then you must let me make you well.
There is something I should say to you while I'm here.
There's something I should say too, Amy.
No Let me speak first.
Tip is coming home to find my father's will, and take possession of his property.
He says he is sure we shall be left rich.
I hope you are.
But I have no use for money.
I only need very little to live on.
Will you let me help you? Will you let me use my fortune to pay all your debts? It would make me so happy.
Dear Amy, I couldn't let you do that.
Yes, you could.
And one thing more.
To let me stay with you all your life.
No.
I can't let you bind yourself to a ruined man.
This is a tainted place, its taint will stay with me for ever.
I never thought of it as tainted.
It was my home.
Do you think of me as tainted by it? No! God, no, no! You were too good for this place.
You were too good for me.
So you are sending me away? I hoped you cared for me too much to do that.
It is because I care for you that I send you away.
Had I realised, how I loved you, all that time, not as the poor child I used to call you, but as a woman.
Had I suspected that you might love me, I couldn't let myself think it, I, a man twice your age.
I never cared about that.
It is even more impossible now.
How could I take your money? The time when you and I, and this prison, had anything in common, has long gone by.
Do you understand? You can't stop me from coming here.
I will come, every day, you will see.
I'll tell Chivery and his son to deny you access.
They won't obey.
Till tomorrow.
Have you been crying, Amy? You were always honourable, John.
Do you promise me you'll take care of him? And never let him want for help and comfort? Yes, Amy.
And will you give him a message from me? Will you tell him I sent my undying love? Do not be frightened.
I have a little thing for you.
Let's call it my insurance.
Here.
I don't understand, sir.
Keep it.
Don't open it.
I may reclaim it.
Meet me here tonight at the gate before the bell rings.
If I do not come, open it.
There is a letter for you, and a letter for your dear friend, Arthur Clennam.
That is all.
Au revoir, mademoiselle.
Ah, so it's you! Your time is up.
Have you got the money? She will never give you money.
We will see.
Not dead then? Did you enjoy my little game? If it was supposed to frighten me, it did not.
Madame We have played for long enough.
It is time for the reckoning, I think.
You say you have power over me.
Prove it.
Affery, old woman, take yourself away! No, I shan't, Jeremiah.
I shall stay and learn all I don't know.
Even if I have to die for it! I will! I will! Oh, you'll get such a dose! Leave her, Flintwinch! Do not forget.
Forget what, I wonder, hmm? Let me tell you a little story, madame.
The story of a strange 'marriage' with no love in it.
A strong woman, with force of character.
Fierce, cruel, implacable, married to a poor, weak husband.
But did she crush him to powder? No, not quite! There was a little spark of life in him yet.
He was a frequenter of a certain boarding house for theatrical ladies.
And there your poor husband found a little friend, and got her with child.
Ooh, la, la! My husband was a weak man, Monsieur Rigaud, and a sinner.
What of it? How you punished him for it and her.
You stole away the child, and cast that little dancing girl into darkness.
She sinned against the Lord.
You sent her to the poorhouse, to weep for her stolen child.
I saved her from her depravity! She died of a broken heart in poverty and pain.
But before she died, she wrote to old Gilbert Clennam, your husband's father.
And he was so moved by the letter, that learning of her death, he wrote a new will.
It was too late to help that poor abused mother, so he left a legacy for a newborn.
A child born as poor as she and on the very day she died, a child born in the Marshalsea.
Amy Dorrit! I have read Gilbert Clennam's will.
It is in my possession.
Flintwinch? I didn't burn the will, because I had no right to.
The pretence of having done no wrong for all these years has paralysed you.
But the truth will out.
There's no stopping it.
What are you doing here? These things are nothing to do with you.
They're nothing to do with you, either.
Why did you say you'd keep them? You've done a very wicked thing! You kept the truth from Little Dorrit all her life.
Why did you do that? Because to reveal the legacy would disclose the greater secret, the secret you have been trying to hide all your life.
Who have you been hiding it from? Enough! My conscience is clear before God, and I will make my peace with Little Dorrit.
But this is not Little Dorrit's story, is it? This story concerns the other child.
Taken away from its loving mother to be brought up in a hard school of punishment and shame.
Finish the story, Madame Clennam.
Unburden yourself.
Tell us the name of that orphan child.
Who is it, mistress? Who is it? Who must never know the truth? Who is that child? Arthur! It is Arthur.
And if this house were blazing from the roof to the ground, I would stay in it to justify my righteous motives.
Poor Arthur! To be snatched from his own mother! He knew no mother but me.
I devoted myself to him.
To raising him in fear and trembling, away from the sins of his father.
Enough of your piety! I have, today, placed in the hands of Amy Dorrit, a letter.
I want £2,000 today before the Marshalsea bell rings.
If I have it, your secret will be safe.
If not, then the little seamstress will know the truth.
And so will your beloved Arthur! Mistress Mistress, what are you doing? I am going out.
Wait here till I come back.
Make sure he does.
Well! The age of miracles and wonders is not past! She has gone to get my money! Qu'est ce qui passe ici si tard Compagnons de la Marjolaine Qu'est ce qui passe ici si tard Compagnons de la Marjolaine.
Sing! Sing, youyou miserable dog! Sing! Hey, steady there! Are you all right, love? I am looking for the Marshalsea Sante my old friend.
Mrs Clennam You are recovered? You have had a packet left with you? Yes, I have it here.
I have come to reclaim it.
Have you any idea of its contents? No.
Break the seal, then, and read them.
You know, now, what I have done.
Can you forgive me? Please don't kneel to me.
You are too old to kneel to me.
Let me help you.
I never knew about the money and I never wanted it.
You can forgive me, truly? Yes.
Ah waiting, waiting.
How it irks me, my little Flintwinch.
CREAKING Death of my life.
How this house creaks and groans like an old rotten ship! I tell you, my little Flintwinch, I shall be very happy to be out of it! And so shall I to see the back of you for good! THEY SCREAM PASSER-BY: Run for it! This way! THEY SCREAM SCREAMING Quick! Get out of here! Move away! Move away! Mrs Clennam? Mrs Clennam? CLENNAM GROANS Mrs Clennam? Mrs Clennam? Madam? Oh, poor lady.
Mr Pancks? Is that you? Mr Casby, have you heard? Mrs Clennam's house has fallen down, it's total ruin.
Nothing left of it, and Mrs Clennam herself, she's lying stone dead in the street, and Mr Arthur is in prison, and he doesn't know a thing about it! Is that so? Dear, dear, how very unfortunate.
But look here, these figures are not at all satisfactory, not at all.
Did you hear what I said.
I did, indeed, Mr Pancks, but that was the House of Clennam.
This is the House of Casby.
You've not been doing your duty, Mr Pancks.
You've not been squeezing the people anywhere near hard enough.
But all I do is squeeze 'em! Then you must squeeze them again, Mr Pancks! Otherwise you'll find yourself looking for alternative employment, alternative employment! I wonder what the people would say if they heard how you go on in here.
People They love me, Mr Pancks.
They love me.
In fact, I'm just going out for a little walk, to give them my blessing, you know, to give them my blessing.
They appreciate it, Mr Pancks.
They appreciate it.
Watch out, here's Pancks! The old devil! All the health and happiness.
Come here, you sugary swindler! I mean to have it out with you! Leave him, Mr Pancks.
You'll lose your place.
What do you mean to be? Benevolent? What you?! Benevolent? You're a driver in disguise, you're a screwer by deputy, you're a wringer, a squeezer and a shaver by substitute.
You are a shabby deceiver! This is not true.
I've been a grubber from a boy.
Fag and grind.
Fag and grind.
And if this steaming old hypocrite could have got someone to do it for a shilling a week less, then he would be taken in my place! And you think it's me that wants to flay you alive but here's the man! No, no.
"You squeeze them harder, Mr Pancks, squeeze them harder," those are his words to me, every day! Is that true? It's a fine signpost is the Casby's Head, but the real name of it is the Shams Arms! And you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to give it a trim! Now you stand very still, sir, because I don't want to cut off your head! My God, they're as bad as each other! Oi, Pancks, you missed a bit! Will you do mine when you're done? LAUGHTER Please to accept my resignation, Mr Casby! And please to return these scissors to Mrs Finching with my thanks! Blimey.
What?! What, no money at all? It would seem dear Pa placed all his funds with Mr Merdle, like everybody else.
And they're all gone? All gone.
Oh, dear! It's all very well for you.
He's got his job at thewhatever it is.
It's all very well for Amy.
She likes being as poor as a beggar.
But what I say is, what about me? It suited me, being rich.
What am I gonna do now? I, ermmight be able to find you a position in the Circumlocution Office.
Just a small one, you know.
What would I have to do? Oh, you know, not much.
And there would be money? Oh, yes.
Well, you know.
A bit.
Excellent.
You're on.
Oh! Miss Dorrit! I was just on my way to see poor Arthur Doyce and Clennam, though perhaps one shouldn't say that either.
Where were you going? To see him too.
Well, yes, of course, of course.
How could I have thought anything else? Those days are gone, of course they are.
And now I come to think of it, three might be a crowd and far be it for me to play the gooseberry.
Why do they say gooseberry, I wonder, and not greengage or or pomegranate? Oh, dear.
I'm sure Mr Clennam would be pleased to see you.
No.
No, no, dear little one.
Please take this for me and tell him I didn't desert him, though I don't know after all whether it wasn't just nonsense between us.
Goodbye! Are you all right, Amy? Does Mr Clennam know about his mother's death? He does.
I broke it to him, as gentle as I could.
I'm sure you did, John.
Thank you.
I'll go up to him now then.
Right you are, miss.
Here lie the mortal remains of John Chivery, assistant turnkey and later chief turnkey of the Marshalsea prison for debt.
He was unlucky in love, and endured a good deal of sorrow, but he rose above it, and performed many an act of kindness, even to his rival.
And always engraved, not on stone, but deep into his very heart, was the name of Amy Dorrit.
You see, I have come back.
Amy, I told you not to.
And I told you I would take no notice.
I won't let you send me away, ever again.
Oh, Amy! You find me in such a state of confusion.
This is a letter from my real mother.
It's all in here, who I truly am, how your fate is bound up in mine.
She writes here of her love for me.
This woman whoI never even knew.
My mother! I saw Mrs Clennam before she died.
She told me everything.
She knelt to me and asked for forgiveness.
Do you think you can forgive her, Arthur? I I feel sorry for her.
That she never knew love.
But she did! When she spoke to me, it was clear that she loved you and knew that you loved her.
And your real mother loved you too, just as my mother loved me, though I never knew her.
Two orphans, then.
One a rich woman, one a pauper.
Come on, Dan! Fortune favours the brave.
This is the chance of a lifetime.
You go to Russia and let me do this for you.
You won't regret it.
Would you like to know what my fortune truly amounts to? Whatever it is, no fortune could be more richly deserved.
And you won't take a penny of it? Never.
Well, the truth is I have nothing.
Father placed his money with Merdle, just like everybody else.
So now will you share my fortune with me? Oh, my dear love.
Gladly! AMY LAUGHS What a fool I have been all this time! Never realising that it was you, it was always you.
How stupid you must think me not to have seen that it was you that I loved all along.
Well, I did think you were a bit unobservant, not noticing how much I was in love with you.
When did this begin? Very soon after we first met.
Do you remember that night when Maggy and I came to see you in your rooms? Clennam? Arthur Clennam? Oh, Lord! Daniel Doyce.
Courage! We'll face him together.
Daniel I'm so sorry.
I should never No.
Not a word.
Not another word about the past.
There was an error in your calculations.
I know what that is.
It affects the whole machine and failure is the consequence.
I have done it myself in construction many a time.
Daniel, I have let you down in every conceivable way.
Not a bit of it, old friend! If you hadn't encouraged me to go to St Petersburg, I never should have gone.
If I hadn't met you, and gone into partnership with you, my invention would still have been languishing amongst the Barnacles, instead of galvanising every factory west of the Urals, and making us both a fortune! Eh! Eccolo! My dear friends, I humbly submit that Doyce and Clennam have more than enough funds to pay off all our creditors and expand the factory.
I rejoice for you, but surely after all this, you will no longer want me as a partner? been telling you that I owe my good fortune to you? And Doyce and Clennam stands in more need of you than ever.
CAVALETTO LAUGHS LAUGHTER Come, don't cry at a wedding! It's very beautiful, eh? She is very beautiful.
Si, is very beautiful.
SHE is very beautiful.
And no biggod nonsense about her! Sparkler? Yes? Be quiet.
Right.
LAUGHTER CHEERING Rubbish! She's lively as a cricket! And if he can't take it, he shouldn't hand it out! She is very beautiful.
That's what I said.
Ciao, bella!