Indian Summers (2015) s02e05 Episode Script
Hide And Seek
1 - Sir, stop - 'She's saying I attacked her?' - Stop! - And she did this? She didn't do anything.
She's telling fibs, oh what a muddle! 'He's teaching my son to hate me.
' I always loved you.
All the time we were apart 'your face was right before my eyes.
' You lied! You lied! "Brother"? He left me like this.
So I want him found and I want him punished.
This programme contains scenes of violence.
Ten .
.
nine CHILDREN GIGGLE Quick, in here! .
.
eight Hurry up! .
.
seven .
.
six I'm hiding! LAUGHING: Percy! That is not a hiding place! Five What did you tell the police? The truth.
That Leena worked at the mission school for a time.
And Adam in service here? Yes.
MADELEINE: 'Here I come, ready or not!' And Mrs Raworth? When is the baby due? Any day now.
RALPH CHUCKLES So here's what I propose.
Tomorrow morning, at first light, you will take Adam down to Delhi.
I'll arrange a car to collect you from the plague post and you can stay at my rooms on Connaught Circle.
Bhupi, you will accompany Mr Raworth.
And you will look after him as you would myself.
As you wish, Sahib.
Why is it, that every time you make me an offer I can't refuse, I feel sick to my stomach? Good day, Mr Whelan.
Now you listen to me! If you care a jot about that woman, you'd better tell her that man Hawthorne will be savage in the defence of his good name! And once he's done destroying her, Adam will be next, I can promise you.
The minute that boy goes into custody, his life will be over - and there'll be nothing you or I can do to save him - Wait! Sir.
Forgive me for crashing in.
Rowntree! What a pleasant surprise.
Just after a private word.
- Yes? - Yes.
With regards to a member of your household.
Oh, the house-boy! Madeleine, where is the house-boy? Yoursister took him off to the tailors.
I told you, honey for a new coat.
I wonder if you might walk him over? I just need to ask him a few questions.
- Happy to.
- Thank you, Sir.
Uncle! Will you help him now? HE GROANS CYNTHIA SOFTLY SINGS TO HERSELF Did they find him yet? - Did they find who, dear? - The boy! The boy.
He's the one who did this to me,not the woman.
They find him and people will see this was an attack on a government official - Well, I'm sure everyone's doing all they can.
- It's not enough! Oh, well, what do you say, Kaiser? Shall we bring in the army? Well, it's not a bad idea.
Oh, for Christ's sake! Get a move on, man! Go on, slap it on.
That's it, nice and thick.
EDWARD YELLS IN PAIN That's right.
May I ask, what do you put in the skin medicine? Oh, just a drop of vinegar, that's all.
EDWARD YELLS IN PAIN Well, maybe it was more of a glug.
Well, it was good enough for our Lord on the cross.
Who knows? It may bring His Lordship nearer to the light.
Oh! Would you look at the state of my lawn? You'll like Delhi.
We'll miss you.
Bags all packed for tomorrow? Yes, Sahib.
Don't do that.
Will Leena-auntie come and visit? She'll certainly give it a try.
Where is she? She's quite safe.
We're your family now.
Huzzah! Get off my ship! Huzzah! And this old thing belonged to my father.
Your grandfather.
Here.
RALPH LAUGHS Was his head very big? Yes! Yes, it was.
And he drank a bit too much.
Which made it a bit sore.
My sister and I used to run and hide.
Still, I want you to take this.
As a keepsake.
Oh, of course.
Who is this? Can't you guess? That's my mother.
She always was a giggler.
Can you guess who THAT is? - You, Sahib? - Yes.
Me, Sahib.
You know, I'd forgotten we had this.
Who tore it? And where's the rest of the picture? That's the mystery.
How do I look? CLOCK CHIMES GENTLY AAFRIN SNORTS WITH LAUGHTER Like a crazy woman! Tell me something.
What? What did you ever see in him? My husband? You know, I think he was the first man to ever pay me a compliment.
No, not even that.
I had no-one, growing up.
No-one but a great-aunt and an absent brother.
Nobody ever told me it was all right to say no.
EARTHQUAKE SHAKES ROOM Get me out of here.
BABY CRIES Alice?! Has anyone seen Alice? Christ! Alice?! - Everybody all right? - Alice?! BABY CRIES Alice! It's all right! It's all right! Here I am.
SHE GASPS FOR BREATH - Where've you been? We've been going out of our minds.
- Out I went out, I couldn't sleep.
There was a dog barking.
Didn't you hear it? Yes! I heard it.
Oh, God, yes.
Me too.
Chasing the monkeys halfway up the mountain.
Usual story.
Look at the state of you.
- What happened? - It's just a tremor.
Happens all the time.
Don't make a fuss Mummy's perfectly fine.
Outside.
Bhupi, lead on! Memsahib, follow me.
What? Good for you.
Where is everyone? Everyone well? Alive.
Here Ma wanted to send out a search party.
I said don't bother.
Listen to me, - Kaira is at rest - I don't want to hear it The man who shot her is dead.
How do you know? He was killed by an army rifle.
In Karachi.
Aafrin! Where have you been? We've been so anxious! - Thank God you're safe! - We didn't know where you were - I was at the bazaar, helping.
- Great help, I'm sure.
- Are you all right? Look at his eyes, Daddy.
He's half asleep.
CICADAS HUM BIRDS SING Thank you.
You know, the past two years .
.
were very testing for your mother.
She had nothing to fear.
Yes, I know, but .
.
she was convinced that you would never return.
Or if you did .
.
you would be as I was after the war.
Somehow .
.
broken.
Some stranger, not yourself.
But I'm quite well.
No, no.
Not "well".
The heart is gone.
Well, not quite gone.
Surrendered.
Given up.
Did I give you too much freedom? Baapi How did I not show you that happiness can be simple? Easily won.
Nobody has to be hurt.
Who is hurt here? - I am not hurt - No, Aafrin.
Too much.
Not just another man's wife, but What? No, that's all.
No, please.
Be honest.
You mean because she is English? HE SIGHS Aafrin.
We are Parsi.
Friendly to East and West.
But, still.
We have our own traditions.
Tradition? No, no.
It is more than that.
Say it, Baapi.
Well, it's not the thing to do.
That's all.
How can you of all people say that, when it was you - No, I - .
.
my father, who raised me to believe these British are our best hope? - Look, I'm not - "One shelf".
Do you remember? "One shelf of a British library is worth all that we can think or do.
" And so it is.
We may not wish it, but I stand by that - You said they were our best friends in the world.
- So they are! So why may I not love my friend? You're twisting my words! Forgive me, Father, but whatever you say, in your own heart, you know that is a lie! We are not these people's friends.
In the end, we arewhat? We are their subjects! Their subjects.
And never the twain shall meet.
Can this be my boy? Can my own boy speak with so much spite? Forgive me, Father.
But I will not give her up.
Not for you.
And not for anything in the world.
I'm sorry.
Please, stay back! Be calm! - We have to get to Delhi.
- Be calm! Stay back! You're not hearing me.
We really have to go on, right now! But the road is not to be passed, sahib.
But why ever not? Look, we have to get to Delhi! Landslides! RONNIE: We are getting reports of a massive earthquake in the city of Quetta.
I felt it - the tremor.
Did you? Yes.
It must have been around three o'clock.
- And yet we are - 500 miles from Quetta.
There are 80,000 people stuck in the mountains.
God help them.
Excuse me.
DOUGIE: The roads are all blocked.
So what's to be done? If the boy is to be protected, let's get him somewhere safe.
HE HUMS There we are.
Mummy won't know you, will she? HE HUMS Morning, Muddle! Yes, morning it is - only just.
- I thought you'd be at work.
- Ah.
Looks dandy, don't you think? Sumitra? Could you take Percy away, please? - Come, baby.
- Thank you.
- Come with - But I'm still hungry! How could you? Lad felt like a change.
Hurt me, not him.
Word of advice -- take a bath.
You smell rather like my breakfast.
LOUD SMASH Would you mind awfully going upstairs for a minute? In you go, in you go.
There we are.
Lie down.
No, face down.
Don't move.
DON'T MOVE! DON'T MOVE! Eyes closed.
Eyes CLOSED! Just tell me why you're trying to make me do this.
The truth is, you do it yourself.
No.
No, no, no, no.
NO! No, no, I am not having that! You are the one who took our only child and you ran off with him out here .
.
to this place, to thesewretched people.
We were perfectly happy.
You ruined it all.
No, you were happy.
I was drowning.
Now I'm not.
You can do whatever the hell you like.
HE SIGHS Wait! This door remains shut.
No-one in, no-one out.
Hand? HE CLEARS THROA Miss Dalal? What are you doing here? Oh, you think this sort of work beneath me? Not at all.
It's fine, charitable work.
There would be no need for charity if the state took right and proper care of the downtrodden.
I think someone has been reading Mr McLeod's precious pamphlets! Don't be ridiculous! I have a mind of my own.
That is painfully evident.
Of course, we are all too vulgar for a gentleman of your standing.
Not at all.
Far from it.
See? I can jolly well muck in with the best of them.
Yes.
Mind your shoes.
So you just stay indoors, just for a couple of days, till we know what we're doing.
We came as quick as we could.
Yes, Ralph called ahead.
Let's get him inside - out of sight.
What are you going to do with him? I don't know.
Adam? You be good.
Come on.
BHUPI SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE She will not come here again.
They say she burned a British man.
And now, because of this, because of you, she will go to prison for many years to come.
LOUD RATTLING DOOR IS LOCKED Al? He wants her locked up, does he? No matter.
- Sahib? - What? - Mr Charlie said - I don't care what he said! Al! Hello, brother.
PHONE RINGS It's all right.
I've got it.
PHONE RINGS - 'Hello, sir.
' - Rowntree! 'I hope you don't mind my ringing you at home?' No, quite all right.
'Look, sir, the fact is, we had a visitor.
' Oh, yes? And who was that? 'You know, I'd be more comfortable talking it over in person, 'if you have five minutes to spare?' Thank you for letting us know.
'Thank you, sir.
' DOUGIE: But why not just tell them the truth? It was an accident -- Adam didn't know what he was doing and the judge will see that.
I plead guilty.
There is nothing to be said.
The boy cannot be harmed.
And what about you? You will go to prison for ten years! You think I don't know that? The truth of the matter is, I knew what that man wanted.
- I knew and I was willing to let it happen.
- Rubbish! Just once, I thought, this one time, let my so-called pretty face do me good, and then I can go to London, live in a fine house with a daughter and all of the children, - just as he promised.
- No! This is not you.
I'm sorry to disappoint -- you more than anyone.
You silly man! SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE Leena! Look after Adam.
One day, when we are gone, he will be all that is left of us.
Yes, sir, a curious day.
First thing, bright and early, I had a fresh confession under oath, volunteered to me by Miss Prasad -- a change of heart, or so I thought.
Do you mind if I Yes, I don't see why not.
Thank you.
The accused accepts sole blame for the attack and so on.
Her lawyer? Has he seen this? No, Miss Prasad has dismissed the lawyer.
She intends to plead guilty.
Ah.
And then? And then I received a visit.
From the house-boy? Yes, and he Well, he tells a very different story.
So, I thought it was best to telephone you straight away, sir.
- Thank you, Rowntree.
- And the boy? Has he made a formal statement about his part in all this? Not yet, no.
You know, it's not our place to intervene.
You should act entirely as you see fit.
Good of you to say so, sir.
Er May we look in on him before we go? Only, Madeleine has grown very fond of the little fellow.
Yes, I'm afraid I have.
Stop, will you? Stop that.
All right.
Now, why don't you tell me, clearly, what you think happened? The man hit Leena-auntie.
He hit her and he was ripping her dress.
Yes, and then? I hit him back.
With the hurricane lamp? Yes, sahib.
Don't! Don't call me that.
And then, the lamp, it broke and the man went on fire and I pushed him.
And you hurt your hands? Yes, saFather.
All right.
Now, did Leena ask you to strike the man? No.
Are you quite sure? Perhaps you can't remember? I cannot bear it.
Bear what? Always, they are hitting her and beating her and fighting with her.
Leena? Who was hurting Leena? Not Leena.
Amma.
Mummy.
'We've had a wire from the First Queen's Regiment up in Quetta.
'The earth's split in two.
Corpses lying in the hot sun.
' Civil lines, railway, not a brick left standing in the entire city Imagine What if it happened right here, to us? Only a few survivors.
A hill-town erased in one night.
There must be something more we can do to help them? Surely? Alice! - Alice! - Excuse me What are you doing here? Oh, well, I don't know, darling.
I suppose you could say I felt like it.
Did you bring your chequebook? We're making donations.
Stop, stop! - Who let you out? - I did.
She was to be left in her room.
I gave strict instructions to that effect.
What, are you drafting an official letter? She's a woman, not a deposit.
Alice - is unwell.
- A doctor AND a bank manager! We're lucky to have you.
My wife.
- My house.
- Well for the time being, at any rate.
You do look cold.
Insatiable! Ha! Just HE LAUGHS HUM OF VOICES IN BACKGROUND Come on, darling.
Let's get you home.
Hmm? Come on.
JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS ON GRAMOPHONE No, no, no, no, no Ah, Mrs Coffin! May I say, you don't look a day older.
Look, McLeod, I don't know which part of my last letter was unclear, but your membership here has been revoked.
Yes, for the entire span of your colourful life, so may I kindly suggest that you bugger off back to your countless wives and unspeakable hygiene before I call the police? But I'm not here as a member of the club.
I'm here for you.
SHE SNORTS I find that very, very hard to imagine I'm donating, for the earthquake fund.
Those poor suffering folk, we're all bound to do what we can, eh? Well, personally speaking, I'd rather the earth swallowed me whole than take anything you had to offer.
But you're swallowing it whole even as we speak, Mrs Coffin.
That tea, in your hand Did nobody tell you? It's from my own crop.
Cheers! That one's on the house.
Ah, you're welcome.
Er, Kaiser! I need you! Where's Ralph? Good news.
No such thing.
Tell him.
The accused has seen the error of her ways.
There'll be no defence.
She pleads guilty.
And the trial will be moved far away to the district court in Lucknow and that'll be the end of it.
- Have they found the boy yet? - They have.
Ah, progress! Well, let's jolly well get him in front of a judge.
Yes! Why not indeed? The woman and I were in the room.
Perfectly civil.
In comes the boy, who launches a vicious, unprovoked attack.
Those are my terms.
Your "terms"? Look, that's not how things work No, no, no, it'sperfectly sensible.
There you are.
Well, as luck would have it, the boy's made a statement of his own.
Which is what? You sure you're up to this, Sir? Just get on with it.
According to him, you attacked the woman.
I did not.
No, quite right.
Not attacked.
You were "forcing yourself against her".
- "UP against".
- Quite right.
Yes, "UP against her".
So I've spoken with the District Superintendent and kindly asked him if he would hold fire for an hour or two, because, well, in the end, it's entirely up to you.
Seems to me what we have here is a choice.
We prosecute the woman alone, no perceptible stain on your honour, or we prosecute the woman and the child together and there is this snag of the statement.
He's a child.
Can't he be made to retract? No, no.
But it occurred to me, if you were to change your statement, say there was no child in the room, the boy's own account no longer pertains.
And you could have you on your way home before the day is out and we could all put this whole business behind us.
What would you say to that, Sir? What about justice? Where's the justice? You want Miss Prasad to plead guilty to something she didn't do, me lie here in hell? In hell! And the boy walks free to carry on maiming whoever.
I mean, I'm just thinking of the next poor bugger! No, I'm not standing for it.
No, he has to pay! Surely you can see that? I'm thinking of your good name and nothing else.
Reflect on it.
And as I said before, it's entirely up to you in the end.
Mr Khan! Are you judging the roses today? Heh, not at all.
The truth is, I have little sense of smell.
What nonsense! Did you not try blowing your nose, Mr Khan? LAUGHING: Oh, very good, yes! There we go.
Give it a good blast! Yes, I did try that, many times, but without success.
- It's clean, I promise.
- The fact is, I have confounded all doctors.
But I always hope, you see, something will enter in.
Yes! And are you here for work? Well, in part.
The Viceroy will be making an announcement of some kind.
What a scoop! I can see the earthquake in Quetta will come a poor second to the spoken word of His Excellency! - Not at all - And with the King's Jubilee almost upon us, you must be planning something very special for that occasion, Mr Khan.
There will be one or two photographic collectables.
MCLEOD SNORTS Here he comes now.
- Duty calls.
- I should, yes.
Oh, Mr Khan.
When will you rise to the occasion? APPLAUSE GOD SAVE THE QUEEN PLAYS Oh, here he comes.
Old Rigor Mortis.
'Quite a turnout!' What an honour(!) Sweetie? Oddest thing.
Al's got herself a young man.
apart from the husband, I mean.
Whelan! Your Excellency.
Go on, off you go.
Before he starts to stiffen up.
You knew.
What? About Alice's man? Yeah.
Who is he? Well, he's He's, er, down there.
- Ronnie?! - Oh, Jesus wept, no! A shade to the right.
Lieutenant Roberts.
First name, Roger.
Oh, he's got plenty to go around.
Legend has it he's better equipped than Kaiser's kitchen.
I know should have told you, love.
I'm sorry.
It's just that Ididn't want to upset you, that's all.
Anyway, I say jolly good for her.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
Good for her, all right.
Off you go.
Your daddy would be very proud.
Early this morning, an earthquake shattered the peace of our nation.
All we can say for certain at this point is that countless lives are lost.
But thanks to the diligence of our Indian army, no effort will be spared.
But we must all play our part.
Yes, even here in our summer capital.
VICEROY'S SPEECH CONTINUES IN BACKGROUND Wakey-wakey.
.
.
to offer the hand of friendship.
- Hear, hear! - Bravo! APPLAUSE BAGPIPES PLAY What's that bloody noise? It's time for your skin medicine.
- No Kaiser? - Oh, he's too busy.
So! Decided yet? What to do? No.
It's a heavy burden I carry.
Aw, is it? I only wanted to help that young woman, you see.
No harm in that.
Better, Your Lordship? Yes.
Thank you.
HE WINCES Perhaps under the circumstances, you might call me Edward.
I've been thinking.
The mendacity of that child.
The necessity of justice.
The guilty SHALL go punished.
Not this time, Edward.
Oh? Why's that? It's time you went home.
Where you will give Mr Whelan a glowing report.
And what makes you think I'm going to do that? You were seen.
By the boy.
By me.
Termites.
That's the trouble.
Boring holes in the wood.
We're being eaten alive.
But they do afford me a very, very good look at my guests.
No, no, stop Stop that.
The truth is, Edward, you may fool other people.
You may even fool yourself.
But I see you.
HE BREATHES RAPIDLY I see that greedy little mouth of yours, Edward.
And how did it go? How did it go, that greedy little mouth? HE GASPS It goes, "Gobble-gobble.
" It goes, "Gobble-gobble-gobble" until we're all gobbled up.
HE GASPS But I think you've gobbled up just about as much as you can chew here now, Edward.
Don't you? Did you mean it? When you made that mischief dance in your eyes? Did you mean it? When it ended in a kiss? I told the police there was no boy.
It was all the woman's doing.
Very good, sir.
Did you mean it? Was it much too sweet to miss? Let me know how you get on back in London.
Your progress will depend on how well you manage to steer the princes round to this bill.
I'll play my part.
Oh, I'd do a bit more than that if I were you.
Did you mean it? When you held me while the night drifted by? Ride on! Did you mean it? Hope you did, cos so did I.
Thank you.
After you, sir.
You'll be pleased to get home, I imagine? EDWARD CHUCKLES Still, it was an eventful trip.
Your poor wife.
She'll be in for the most dreadful shock.
And your daughter.
Anna, is it? Still stuck for a governess! Assuming she ever needed one.
Fear not, Whelan.
You can count on my full support.
Thank you, sir.
Perhaps it's true what people say.
Perhaps a touch more class wouldn't have gone amiss in the end.
What do you say to that? Stay out of the sun, old man.
Auntie! Adam! Aafrin! You remember your old colleague? I'm afraid I've been keeping your father up with my Bengali! Not at all! It's always a pleasure to hear Gurudev recited as he should be! Please, if you will excuse me, I'll take my leave.
- Until next time, sir.
- Good evening.
CICADAS SING What? I heard you were dead.
Shot dead in Karachi.
HE CHUCKLES Not dead.
Not quite, my friend.
Not until our time has come.
Time? For what? Time to light the fuse.
And when all the lords and ladies meet and greet to toast the king, we are going to blow them all to kingdom come.
Are you ready? Funny.
It's been eating away at me, where I'd seen the other bit of that picture.
Y-yeah.
What is my mother doing with that man? With Reggie? What does it mean? Oh, love Did you never think? CICADAS SING - H-He's - Yes.
Yeah.
He's your daddy.
All these years.
Not one word.
Well! What good would it have done? My own mother.
How could she? WellReggie wasn't a bad man.
Despite what you might have heard.
But he Well, he did have a certain way about him.
Very persuasive, he was when he went after something.
And he went after her.
Your mummy.
I mean, he didn't mean any of it, I'm absolutely sure of that.
It was fine sport for him, but she Well, I'm afraid she .
.
made herself quite unwell over him.
We all did .
.
in our different ways.
But those two, oh, my God.
They were past caring, you see.
It was as much as I could do to keep things decent CYNTHIA SHRIEKS Shut up.
Shut up! Shut up! I deserve that.
But I've been living with this so long.
I'm just glad it's out DON'T get up.
Just give it time, Ralph.
It's bound to take a few days.
But I want to tell you something.
He would have been so proud to see what you are.
TEARFULLY: You are the very figure of a man.
You.
You're a proper gentleman.
And that meant the world to him.
SHE SOBS Oh, Ralphie.
Ralphie.
She's telling fibs, oh what a muddle! 'He's teaching my son to hate me.
' I always loved you.
All the time we were apart 'your face was right before my eyes.
' You lied! You lied! "Brother"? He left me like this.
So I want him found and I want him punished.
This programme contains scenes of violence.
Ten .
.
nine CHILDREN GIGGLE Quick, in here! .
.
eight Hurry up! .
.
seven .
.
six I'm hiding! LAUGHING: Percy! That is not a hiding place! Five What did you tell the police? The truth.
That Leena worked at the mission school for a time.
And Adam in service here? Yes.
MADELEINE: 'Here I come, ready or not!' And Mrs Raworth? When is the baby due? Any day now.
RALPH CHUCKLES So here's what I propose.
Tomorrow morning, at first light, you will take Adam down to Delhi.
I'll arrange a car to collect you from the plague post and you can stay at my rooms on Connaught Circle.
Bhupi, you will accompany Mr Raworth.
And you will look after him as you would myself.
As you wish, Sahib.
Why is it, that every time you make me an offer I can't refuse, I feel sick to my stomach? Good day, Mr Whelan.
Now you listen to me! If you care a jot about that woman, you'd better tell her that man Hawthorne will be savage in the defence of his good name! And once he's done destroying her, Adam will be next, I can promise you.
The minute that boy goes into custody, his life will be over - and there'll be nothing you or I can do to save him - Wait! Sir.
Forgive me for crashing in.
Rowntree! What a pleasant surprise.
Just after a private word.
- Yes? - Yes.
With regards to a member of your household.
Oh, the house-boy! Madeleine, where is the house-boy? Yoursister took him off to the tailors.
I told you, honey for a new coat.
I wonder if you might walk him over? I just need to ask him a few questions.
- Happy to.
- Thank you, Sir.
Uncle! Will you help him now? HE GROANS CYNTHIA SOFTLY SINGS TO HERSELF Did they find him yet? - Did they find who, dear? - The boy! The boy.
He's the one who did this to me,not the woman.
They find him and people will see this was an attack on a government official - Well, I'm sure everyone's doing all they can.
- It's not enough! Oh, well, what do you say, Kaiser? Shall we bring in the army? Well, it's not a bad idea.
Oh, for Christ's sake! Get a move on, man! Go on, slap it on.
That's it, nice and thick.
EDWARD YELLS IN PAIN That's right.
May I ask, what do you put in the skin medicine? Oh, just a drop of vinegar, that's all.
EDWARD YELLS IN PAIN Well, maybe it was more of a glug.
Well, it was good enough for our Lord on the cross.
Who knows? It may bring His Lordship nearer to the light.
Oh! Would you look at the state of my lawn? You'll like Delhi.
We'll miss you.
Bags all packed for tomorrow? Yes, Sahib.
Don't do that.
Will Leena-auntie come and visit? She'll certainly give it a try.
Where is she? She's quite safe.
We're your family now.
Huzzah! Get off my ship! Huzzah! And this old thing belonged to my father.
Your grandfather.
Here.
RALPH LAUGHS Was his head very big? Yes! Yes, it was.
And he drank a bit too much.
Which made it a bit sore.
My sister and I used to run and hide.
Still, I want you to take this.
As a keepsake.
Oh, of course.
Who is this? Can't you guess? That's my mother.
She always was a giggler.
Can you guess who THAT is? - You, Sahib? - Yes.
Me, Sahib.
You know, I'd forgotten we had this.
Who tore it? And where's the rest of the picture? That's the mystery.
How do I look? CLOCK CHIMES GENTLY AAFRIN SNORTS WITH LAUGHTER Like a crazy woman! Tell me something.
What? What did you ever see in him? My husband? You know, I think he was the first man to ever pay me a compliment.
No, not even that.
I had no-one, growing up.
No-one but a great-aunt and an absent brother.
Nobody ever told me it was all right to say no.
EARTHQUAKE SHAKES ROOM Get me out of here.
BABY CRIES Alice?! Has anyone seen Alice? Christ! Alice?! - Everybody all right? - Alice?! BABY CRIES Alice! It's all right! It's all right! Here I am.
SHE GASPS FOR BREATH - Where've you been? We've been going out of our minds.
- Out I went out, I couldn't sleep.
There was a dog barking.
Didn't you hear it? Yes! I heard it.
Oh, God, yes.
Me too.
Chasing the monkeys halfway up the mountain.
Usual story.
Look at the state of you.
- What happened? - It's just a tremor.
Happens all the time.
Don't make a fuss Mummy's perfectly fine.
Outside.
Bhupi, lead on! Memsahib, follow me.
What? Good for you.
Where is everyone? Everyone well? Alive.
Here Ma wanted to send out a search party.
I said don't bother.
Listen to me, - Kaira is at rest - I don't want to hear it The man who shot her is dead.
How do you know? He was killed by an army rifle.
In Karachi.
Aafrin! Where have you been? We've been so anxious! - Thank God you're safe! - We didn't know where you were - I was at the bazaar, helping.
- Great help, I'm sure.
- Are you all right? Look at his eyes, Daddy.
He's half asleep.
CICADAS HUM BIRDS SING Thank you.
You know, the past two years .
.
were very testing for your mother.
She had nothing to fear.
Yes, I know, but .
.
she was convinced that you would never return.
Or if you did .
.
you would be as I was after the war.
Somehow .
.
broken.
Some stranger, not yourself.
But I'm quite well.
No, no.
Not "well".
The heart is gone.
Well, not quite gone.
Surrendered.
Given up.
Did I give you too much freedom? Baapi How did I not show you that happiness can be simple? Easily won.
Nobody has to be hurt.
Who is hurt here? - I am not hurt - No, Aafrin.
Too much.
Not just another man's wife, but What? No, that's all.
No, please.
Be honest.
You mean because she is English? HE SIGHS Aafrin.
We are Parsi.
Friendly to East and West.
But, still.
We have our own traditions.
Tradition? No, no.
It is more than that.
Say it, Baapi.
Well, it's not the thing to do.
That's all.
How can you of all people say that, when it was you - No, I - .
.
my father, who raised me to believe these British are our best hope? - Look, I'm not - "One shelf".
Do you remember? "One shelf of a British library is worth all that we can think or do.
" And so it is.
We may not wish it, but I stand by that - You said they were our best friends in the world.
- So they are! So why may I not love my friend? You're twisting my words! Forgive me, Father, but whatever you say, in your own heart, you know that is a lie! We are not these people's friends.
In the end, we arewhat? We are their subjects! Their subjects.
And never the twain shall meet.
Can this be my boy? Can my own boy speak with so much spite? Forgive me, Father.
But I will not give her up.
Not for you.
And not for anything in the world.
I'm sorry.
Please, stay back! Be calm! - We have to get to Delhi.
- Be calm! Stay back! You're not hearing me.
We really have to go on, right now! But the road is not to be passed, sahib.
But why ever not? Look, we have to get to Delhi! Landslides! RONNIE: We are getting reports of a massive earthquake in the city of Quetta.
I felt it - the tremor.
Did you? Yes.
It must have been around three o'clock.
- And yet we are - 500 miles from Quetta.
There are 80,000 people stuck in the mountains.
God help them.
Excuse me.
DOUGIE: The roads are all blocked.
So what's to be done? If the boy is to be protected, let's get him somewhere safe.
HE HUMS There we are.
Mummy won't know you, will she? HE HUMS Morning, Muddle! Yes, morning it is - only just.
- I thought you'd be at work.
- Ah.
Looks dandy, don't you think? Sumitra? Could you take Percy away, please? - Come, baby.
- Thank you.
- Come with - But I'm still hungry! How could you? Lad felt like a change.
Hurt me, not him.
Word of advice -- take a bath.
You smell rather like my breakfast.
LOUD SMASH Would you mind awfully going upstairs for a minute? In you go, in you go.
There we are.
Lie down.
No, face down.
Don't move.
DON'T MOVE! DON'T MOVE! Eyes closed.
Eyes CLOSED! Just tell me why you're trying to make me do this.
The truth is, you do it yourself.
No.
No, no, no, no.
NO! No, no, I am not having that! You are the one who took our only child and you ran off with him out here .
.
to this place, to thesewretched people.
We were perfectly happy.
You ruined it all.
No, you were happy.
I was drowning.
Now I'm not.
You can do whatever the hell you like.
HE SIGHS Wait! This door remains shut.
No-one in, no-one out.
Hand? HE CLEARS THROA Miss Dalal? What are you doing here? Oh, you think this sort of work beneath me? Not at all.
It's fine, charitable work.
There would be no need for charity if the state took right and proper care of the downtrodden.
I think someone has been reading Mr McLeod's precious pamphlets! Don't be ridiculous! I have a mind of my own.
That is painfully evident.
Of course, we are all too vulgar for a gentleman of your standing.
Not at all.
Far from it.
See? I can jolly well muck in with the best of them.
Yes.
Mind your shoes.
So you just stay indoors, just for a couple of days, till we know what we're doing.
We came as quick as we could.
Yes, Ralph called ahead.
Let's get him inside - out of sight.
What are you going to do with him? I don't know.
Adam? You be good.
Come on.
BHUPI SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE She will not come here again.
They say she burned a British man.
And now, because of this, because of you, she will go to prison for many years to come.
LOUD RATTLING DOOR IS LOCKED Al? He wants her locked up, does he? No matter.
- Sahib? - What? - Mr Charlie said - I don't care what he said! Al! Hello, brother.
PHONE RINGS It's all right.
I've got it.
PHONE RINGS - 'Hello, sir.
' - Rowntree! 'I hope you don't mind my ringing you at home?' No, quite all right.
'Look, sir, the fact is, we had a visitor.
' Oh, yes? And who was that? 'You know, I'd be more comfortable talking it over in person, 'if you have five minutes to spare?' Thank you for letting us know.
'Thank you, sir.
' DOUGIE: But why not just tell them the truth? It was an accident -- Adam didn't know what he was doing and the judge will see that.
I plead guilty.
There is nothing to be said.
The boy cannot be harmed.
And what about you? You will go to prison for ten years! You think I don't know that? The truth of the matter is, I knew what that man wanted.
- I knew and I was willing to let it happen.
- Rubbish! Just once, I thought, this one time, let my so-called pretty face do me good, and then I can go to London, live in a fine house with a daughter and all of the children, - just as he promised.
- No! This is not you.
I'm sorry to disappoint -- you more than anyone.
You silly man! SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE Leena! Look after Adam.
One day, when we are gone, he will be all that is left of us.
Yes, sir, a curious day.
First thing, bright and early, I had a fresh confession under oath, volunteered to me by Miss Prasad -- a change of heart, or so I thought.
Do you mind if I Yes, I don't see why not.
Thank you.
The accused accepts sole blame for the attack and so on.
Her lawyer? Has he seen this? No, Miss Prasad has dismissed the lawyer.
She intends to plead guilty.
Ah.
And then? And then I received a visit.
From the house-boy? Yes, and he Well, he tells a very different story.
So, I thought it was best to telephone you straight away, sir.
- Thank you, Rowntree.
- And the boy? Has he made a formal statement about his part in all this? Not yet, no.
You know, it's not our place to intervene.
You should act entirely as you see fit.
Good of you to say so, sir.
Er May we look in on him before we go? Only, Madeleine has grown very fond of the little fellow.
Yes, I'm afraid I have.
Stop, will you? Stop that.
All right.
Now, why don't you tell me, clearly, what you think happened? The man hit Leena-auntie.
He hit her and he was ripping her dress.
Yes, and then? I hit him back.
With the hurricane lamp? Yes, sahib.
Don't! Don't call me that.
And then, the lamp, it broke and the man went on fire and I pushed him.
And you hurt your hands? Yes, saFather.
All right.
Now, did Leena ask you to strike the man? No.
Are you quite sure? Perhaps you can't remember? I cannot bear it.
Bear what? Always, they are hitting her and beating her and fighting with her.
Leena? Who was hurting Leena? Not Leena.
Amma.
Mummy.
'We've had a wire from the First Queen's Regiment up in Quetta.
'The earth's split in two.
Corpses lying in the hot sun.
' Civil lines, railway, not a brick left standing in the entire city Imagine What if it happened right here, to us? Only a few survivors.
A hill-town erased in one night.
There must be something more we can do to help them? Surely? Alice! - Alice! - Excuse me What are you doing here? Oh, well, I don't know, darling.
I suppose you could say I felt like it.
Did you bring your chequebook? We're making donations.
Stop, stop! - Who let you out? - I did.
She was to be left in her room.
I gave strict instructions to that effect.
What, are you drafting an official letter? She's a woman, not a deposit.
Alice - is unwell.
- A doctor AND a bank manager! We're lucky to have you.
My wife.
- My house.
- Well for the time being, at any rate.
You do look cold.
Insatiable! Ha! Just HE LAUGHS HUM OF VOICES IN BACKGROUND Come on, darling.
Let's get you home.
Hmm? Come on.
JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS ON GRAMOPHONE No, no, no, no, no Ah, Mrs Coffin! May I say, you don't look a day older.
Look, McLeod, I don't know which part of my last letter was unclear, but your membership here has been revoked.
Yes, for the entire span of your colourful life, so may I kindly suggest that you bugger off back to your countless wives and unspeakable hygiene before I call the police? But I'm not here as a member of the club.
I'm here for you.
SHE SNORTS I find that very, very hard to imagine I'm donating, for the earthquake fund.
Those poor suffering folk, we're all bound to do what we can, eh? Well, personally speaking, I'd rather the earth swallowed me whole than take anything you had to offer.
But you're swallowing it whole even as we speak, Mrs Coffin.
That tea, in your hand Did nobody tell you? It's from my own crop.
Cheers! That one's on the house.
Ah, you're welcome.
Er, Kaiser! I need you! Where's Ralph? Good news.
No such thing.
Tell him.
The accused has seen the error of her ways.
There'll be no defence.
She pleads guilty.
And the trial will be moved far away to the district court in Lucknow and that'll be the end of it.
- Have they found the boy yet? - They have.
Ah, progress! Well, let's jolly well get him in front of a judge.
Yes! Why not indeed? The woman and I were in the room.
Perfectly civil.
In comes the boy, who launches a vicious, unprovoked attack.
Those are my terms.
Your "terms"? Look, that's not how things work No, no, no, it'sperfectly sensible.
There you are.
Well, as luck would have it, the boy's made a statement of his own.
Which is what? You sure you're up to this, Sir? Just get on with it.
According to him, you attacked the woman.
I did not.
No, quite right.
Not attacked.
You were "forcing yourself against her".
- "UP against".
- Quite right.
Yes, "UP against her".
So I've spoken with the District Superintendent and kindly asked him if he would hold fire for an hour or two, because, well, in the end, it's entirely up to you.
Seems to me what we have here is a choice.
We prosecute the woman alone, no perceptible stain on your honour, or we prosecute the woman and the child together and there is this snag of the statement.
He's a child.
Can't he be made to retract? No, no.
But it occurred to me, if you were to change your statement, say there was no child in the room, the boy's own account no longer pertains.
And you could have you on your way home before the day is out and we could all put this whole business behind us.
What would you say to that, Sir? What about justice? Where's the justice? You want Miss Prasad to plead guilty to something she didn't do, me lie here in hell? In hell! And the boy walks free to carry on maiming whoever.
I mean, I'm just thinking of the next poor bugger! No, I'm not standing for it.
No, he has to pay! Surely you can see that? I'm thinking of your good name and nothing else.
Reflect on it.
And as I said before, it's entirely up to you in the end.
Mr Khan! Are you judging the roses today? Heh, not at all.
The truth is, I have little sense of smell.
What nonsense! Did you not try blowing your nose, Mr Khan? LAUGHING: Oh, very good, yes! There we go.
Give it a good blast! Yes, I did try that, many times, but without success.
- It's clean, I promise.
- The fact is, I have confounded all doctors.
But I always hope, you see, something will enter in.
Yes! And are you here for work? Well, in part.
The Viceroy will be making an announcement of some kind.
What a scoop! I can see the earthquake in Quetta will come a poor second to the spoken word of His Excellency! - Not at all - And with the King's Jubilee almost upon us, you must be planning something very special for that occasion, Mr Khan.
There will be one or two photographic collectables.
MCLEOD SNORTS Here he comes now.
- Duty calls.
- I should, yes.
Oh, Mr Khan.
When will you rise to the occasion? APPLAUSE GOD SAVE THE QUEEN PLAYS Oh, here he comes.
Old Rigor Mortis.
'Quite a turnout!' What an honour(!) Sweetie? Oddest thing.
Al's got herself a young man.
apart from the husband, I mean.
Whelan! Your Excellency.
Go on, off you go.
Before he starts to stiffen up.
You knew.
What? About Alice's man? Yeah.
Who is he? Well, he's He's, er, down there.
- Ronnie?! - Oh, Jesus wept, no! A shade to the right.
Lieutenant Roberts.
First name, Roger.
Oh, he's got plenty to go around.
Legend has it he's better equipped than Kaiser's kitchen.
I know should have told you, love.
I'm sorry.
It's just that Ididn't want to upset you, that's all.
Anyway, I say jolly good for her.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
Good for her, all right.
Off you go.
Your daddy would be very proud.
Early this morning, an earthquake shattered the peace of our nation.
All we can say for certain at this point is that countless lives are lost.
But thanks to the diligence of our Indian army, no effort will be spared.
But we must all play our part.
Yes, even here in our summer capital.
VICEROY'S SPEECH CONTINUES IN BACKGROUND Wakey-wakey.
.
.
to offer the hand of friendship.
- Hear, hear! - Bravo! APPLAUSE BAGPIPES PLAY What's that bloody noise? It's time for your skin medicine.
- No Kaiser? - Oh, he's too busy.
So! Decided yet? What to do? No.
It's a heavy burden I carry.
Aw, is it? I only wanted to help that young woman, you see.
No harm in that.
Better, Your Lordship? Yes.
Thank you.
HE WINCES Perhaps under the circumstances, you might call me Edward.
I've been thinking.
The mendacity of that child.
The necessity of justice.
The guilty SHALL go punished.
Not this time, Edward.
Oh? Why's that? It's time you went home.
Where you will give Mr Whelan a glowing report.
And what makes you think I'm going to do that? You were seen.
By the boy.
By me.
Termites.
That's the trouble.
Boring holes in the wood.
We're being eaten alive.
But they do afford me a very, very good look at my guests.
No, no, stop Stop that.
The truth is, Edward, you may fool other people.
You may even fool yourself.
But I see you.
HE BREATHES RAPIDLY I see that greedy little mouth of yours, Edward.
And how did it go? How did it go, that greedy little mouth? HE GASPS It goes, "Gobble-gobble.
" It goes, "Gobble-gobble-gobble" until we're all gobbled up.
HE GASPS But I think you've gobbled up just about as much as you can chew here now, Edward.
Don't you? Did you mean it? When you made that mischief dance in your eyes? Did you mean it? When it ended in a kiss? I told the police there was no boy.
It was all the woman's doing.
Very good, sir.
Did you mean it? Was it much too sweet to miss? Let me know how you get on back in London.
Your progress will depend on how well you manage to steer the princes round to this bill.
I'll play my part.
Oh, I'd do a bit more than that if I were you.
Did you mean it? When you held me while the night drifted by? Ride on! Did you mean it? Hope you did, cos so did I.
Thank you.
After you, sir.
You'll be pleased to get home, I imagine? EDWARD CHUCKLES Still, it was an eventful trip.
Your poor wife.
She'll be in for the most dreadful shock.
And your daughter.
Anna, is it? Still stuck for a governess! Assuming she ever needed one.
Fear not, Whelan.
You can count on my full support.
Thank you, sir.
Perhaps it's true what people say.
Perhaps a touch more class wouldn't have gone amiss in the end.
What do you say to that? Stay out of the sun, old man.
Auntie! Adam! Aafrin! You remember your old colleague? I'm afraid I've been keeping your father up with my Bengali! Not at all! It's always a pleasure to hear Gurudev recited as he should be! Please, if you will excuse me, I'll take my leave.
- Until next time, sir.
- Good evening.
CICADAS SING What? I heard you were dead.
Shot dead in Karachi.
HE CHUCKLES Not dead.
Not quite, my friend.
Not until our time has come.
Time? For what? Time to light the fuse.
And when all the lords and ladies meet and greet to toast the king, we are going to blow them all to kingdom come.
Are you ready? Funny.
It's been eating away at me, where I'd seen the other bit of that picture.
Y-yeah.
What is my mother doing with that man? With Reggie? What does it mean? Oh, love Did you never think? CICADAS SING - H-He's - Yes.
Yeah.
He's your daddy.
All these years.
Not one word.
Well! What good would it have done? My own mother.
How could she? WellReggie wasn't a bad man.
Despite what you might have heard.
But he Well, he did have a certain way about him.
Very persuasive, he was when he went after something.
And he went after her.
Your mummy.
I mean, he didn't mean any of it, I'm absolutely sure of that.
It was fine sport for him, but she Well, I'm afraid she .
.
made herself quite unwell over him.
We all did .
.
in our different ways.
But those two, oh, my God.
They were past caring, you see.
It was as much as I could do to keep things decent CYNTHIA SHRIEKS Shut up.
Shut up! Shut up! I deserve that.
But I've been living with this so long.
I'm just glad it's out DON'T get up.
Just give it time, Ralph.
It's bound to take a few days.
But I want to tell you something.
He would have been so proud to see what you are.
TEARFULLY: You are the very figure of a man.
You.
You're a proper gentleman.
And that meant the world to him.
SHE SOBS Oh, Ralphie.
Ralphie.