Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) s04e05 Episode Script

LAURA: When it came to human relations, it was commonly believed that men seem to seek out conflict.
- You lost the game! - You're a cheat.
A cheat! No, I'm not a cheat.
As though they needed to prove themselves against one another.
Where women looked for unity and togetherness.
Local mysteries always intrigued me.
And I seem naturally to see romance and harmony.
As we women do.
It was not always so.
Sometimes women, too, needed to assert themselves over one another.
Especially when it was a matter close to the heart.
And sometimes a woman may even try to be just like a man.
I am so glad you can join us for breakfast, Margaret, whilst Thomas is away.
I'm sure you must miss him already.
I feel as though he is still here.
It was such a sweet party.
Ma'am, I made the most delightful discovery in Oldwood copse.
Two gravestones marked 1746.
So close together.
It was so touching.
Rufus and Bess.
Why were they in the woods, Laura, when graves is meant to be in graveyards? Well that is the mystery of it, Minnie.
The writings on the stones were so distressed and lost But I think they said "Humble.
" Rufus and Bess Humble.
I know of no family hereabouts called Humble.
Perhaps they were so in love that they ran away and died in the woods and then were forgot about.
But there were headstones, Minnie.
(SIGHS) What a captivating riddle it is.
I'd so like to discover who this couple were and what they were doing out there.
Daniel, please.
Come and join us.
I'm afraid I can't eat, Miss Lane.
I know that face, Daniel Parish.
Has Lawrence Jupp been to town? Surely you're not still in dispute about the cricket match.
It is not, Miss Lane, simply a cricketing squabble.
It is a matter of principle.
And honour.
And truth and morality.
Goodness.
Then no wonder your brow is so furrowed for the best part of every week.
I hadn't realised the result of the game had taken on the proportions of a Greek tragedy.
(CLEARS THROAT) I am sorry, Daniel.
I hope you know that my compulsion to tease is meant only to cheer you up a little.
Lawrence Jupp won the last game of the season dishonestly.
Daniel, forgive me for pointing this out but what riles him so is what you wrote in the match report.
I simply presented the events objectively.
You're both so fixed on your own idea of what is right that there will be no end to it until one of you lets it be.
Daniel, if he says he won and you say you won, and now you're fighting and arguing and calling names, perhaps you should play another game.
That is not possible, Minnie.
The season is finished, cricket is a summer game.
Why is it? Because of the weather, I suppose.
And tradition and custom.
(SCOFFS) I say "boo" to custom.
Issue a challenge, Daniel.
Then you can at least rest your mind in the knowledge that you are standing up for what you believe, hmm? Gabriel is late joining us this morning.
Well, Ma'am, he's gone over to Lark Rise.
Oh? So early? Oh, don't worry.
I packed him three sausages.
He has important work there, Ma'am.
Work? Mr Cochrane, sir? I've seen you here so many times.
Now my curiosity has the better of me and I must ask you what it is you're after.
I'm interested in how the men work the fields.
I watch them and I see how taxing it is.
We have a saying here.
"Never flinch.
" Men older than my pa turn out if they can get a day's labour.
And you do, too? I have a family to feed.
I married young.
That becomes the purpose of a woman's life.
So you will not flinch? I notice, sir, how you enquire after my family so that I am still left with the mystery of why you spend so much time here watching the work.
Excuse me.
I must get back to Candleford.
I do not mean to be rude, Mrs Timmins.
I do have a purpose here and soon, I hope, it will be revealed.
And I believe it will be a benefit to all.
Whenever I hear a man with grand intentions, I brace myself for trouble.
(TWISTER STAMMERS) You took the honey up to their house.
Pots of it! I did.
And they said they would pay me next week.
That was last week.
That was a week before last week.
Or the week before that.
Right is right.
That was your honey from your bees, my dear.
You who worked the summer long.
Tending and collecting.
I see now it'll be the same as last year.
They shan't pay at all.
Them Jupps is well enough off.
(LAUGHS) We ain't.
They must pay.
Them with plenty and always the paying kind.
And there's an end of it.
Jupp has accepted my challenge.
Well, hopefully that will put it to rest.
What matters, Laura, is that it will be put to rights.
Isn't it the most beautiful spot here? That can be no accident.
Surely that was the couple's meeting place when they were young lovers.
I've just realised.
Thomas Brown is away, we will be a player short.
Our Edmund played cricket at school.
My pa said he had quite an eye for it.
Though I have no idea what "quite an eye" is.
Well, then we must go over to Lark Rise and speak with him right away.
Daniel I wanted to show you the graves.
We're so close by, Laura.
It makes sense to see Edmund without delay.
Gabriel? I am sorry you missed breakfast.
I hear you went over to Lark Rise.
There are some investigations there that I need to conclude before I can complete my machine.
Yes, I see.
And now you're absorbed in putting it all into practice.
You see how it occupies my mind.
I can see how it occupies your hands and your time.
Gabriel, I feel compelled to remind you of the understanding we reached.
Your work for me is the reason you are here in the forge.
Your efforts on your own business are what you do outside of hours.
Miss Lane, I owe you an apology.
My enthusiasm for my endeavour has caused me to lose sight of my obligation.
It is not so much an obligation, Gabriel.
It is your employment.
And I shall work late tonight and start early tomorrow to put right That won't be necessary.
Please simply hold to the agreement we made.
Yes, of course.
I will be finished soon.
And things will be different.
DANIEL: Mrs Timmins? I hear that Edmund is something of a cricketer.
I'm hoping to enlist him for the Candleford team in a match against Little Garth.
I'll play, 'course I will.
Isn't it a bit cold and wet for the likes of cricket? The game is intended to settle a dispute with Lawrence Jupp.
I shall need more than Edmund.
A number of my team are unavailable.
Jupp? Did you say Jupp? Them Jupps ain't paid my Queenie what they owe her.
They ain't going to, neither.
They're famed for it.
DANIEL: Alfie.
Do you play cricket? White and pads and the like ain't for field hands.
ALF: Can't say I ever felt left out.
Candleford cricketers have plums in their cheeks.
(TWISTER LAUGHS) I thought so.
I need a wicket keeper.
TWISTER: Think on, Alfie.
We might put them Jupps in their place.
Rub their robbing noses in the dirt.
Teach them that poor folk ain't to be trod on.
EMMA: When I was younger, I was a nursemaid.
I worked for the Jupps.
I had the care of little Larry.
His sister was always brighter than he was.
She could argue him into standing on his hat.
So, the poor mite took to cheating.
No amount of tutoring could change him.
(SIGHS) Then I can at least teach him that his way will not triumph.
Not in English cricket, anyway.
Might I be right in supposing that you are doing this for the benefit of all, Daniel? He wasn't the least bit interested in the graves.
I thought he might see how touching I find it.
How much romantic tales mean to me.
He's so preoccupied in winning this wretched cricket match that he's turned into such a (SIGHS) I don't know what.
A warrior, perhaps? My brother played cricket as though it were a battle to the death.
It's all so boyish.
DORCAS: It occurred to me this morning that sometimes we women ought not let men be men.
There is something in a man that needs to be asserted.
They are hunters, after all.
And I can't help thinking we ought to allow, even encourage, their masculinity.
I speak only for myself, of course.
But I sometimes wonder if, in being overbearing, we might push men away.
Perhaps there is something to be said in marrying young, after all.
Before bad habits set in.
Ma, do you suppose I might play on Daniel's cricket team? If you keep on practising, my dear, he will not be able to refuse you.
But I have no one to practice with.
My brother liked to bowl at me.
Though I suspect he merely enjoyed frightening me with those thunderous balls he hurled down at me.
There you are, Sydney.
LAURA: So, you would recommend that I encourage and support Daniel.
Even though I find this contest all rather silly.
Not just support him, Laura, but suppose we might relish those things.
Cricket matches.
Machines.
Those endeavours that make a man Well So manly.
The more that you are a woman, the more he will be a man.
Gabriel.
- Did you play school cricket? - I did.
Daniel, look at me.
Watch me bowl this next one.
Village cricket? A little.
You have the look of a leading batsman.
Middle order.
Daniel, look, I can do over arm.
DANIEL: Spin bowler.
GABRIEL: Fielder, boundary.
Still.
I hope I can enlist you for the challenge match.
I need all the friends I can muster.
Go on, Sydney.
MARGARET: Sorry, Sydney! (THUMP) (ALL COMMENTING) Sorry! Sorry! So sorry! PEARL: More feminine? What I mean is Something to accentuate femininity.
But, Miss Lane, don't we always attire you in the latest fashions? Oh, you do.
Of course.
Perhaps what I mean is I feel inclined towards change.
Something lighter? Oh! I am hardly making sense to myself.
Is there a reason for this proclivity, Miss Lane? No.
Not at all.
But, I do sometimes wonder How shall I put this? We three are Spinsters.
Business women.
So, we must assert ourselves in ways that are, well, less than feminine.
It is a man's world, Miss Lane.
And those of us who are (HESITANTLY) not the marrying kind must draw on those attributes and strengths which enable us to prosper.
But prosper at what cost? I have never thought before, but, it's as though I am missing something precious.
What could have brought about this change of heart? I suppose, because Men are customers or employees and they treat me as, well, Dorcas Lane, postmistress.
And I would like to be appreciated for other qualities.
This is dangerous talk, Dorcas.
And I suggest that you take to your bed until you are restored to sanity.
(SIGHING) I ain't played for a while.
Truth is, I ain't played a proper cricket match before.
ALF: So, folks'll be here to watch? I don't think this kind of thing is for the likes of Alf Arless.
I need you, Alf.
I need all of you.
I haven't enough players as it is.
Daniel, let me show you how I can bowl.
I'm afraid you're too young, Sydney.
This match will need strength and maturity.
TWISTER: Mr Daniel! Them gloves that Alfie has, might I have a pair? Gloves are for the wicket keeper.
Fielders don't have gloves.
Please, can we concentrate? Are we almost done? I'd like to get back to the forge.
We must practise.
You bowled so well, Daniel.
I didn't realize how skilful you were.
It wasn't that I bowled so well, it's that Edmund is so poor.
I'm sure, with you teaching them, they will all improve.
You said he was a good player.
I only told you Pa said he had an eye.
Daniel, so many men have stepped forward to help.
You must believe you can do this.
I have volunteers, yes.
What I don't have are cricketers.
I can't stay any longer, Daniel.
Gentlemen, please.
If we're so ragged and amateurish we're going to be beaten and I will get humiliated.
Then why do you insist on playing? Because I issued a challenge and now I can't back down.
- Don't you understand? - No.
I don't understand.
And what's more, I don't want to understand.
TWISTER: Whoa! What's that? Sorry, Sydney, so sorry! Do try again.
Mrs Brown? Did you do that? (LAUGHS) Would you do something for me? Would you stand before the wicket? Would you like me to take the bat with me? I would.
(LATCHES CLACKING) (EXHALES) Miss Lane.
Gabriel.
Please, do call me Dorcas.
It feels so formal to address me as Miss Lane.
I thought you said there had been objections.
That is so, but we must take into account that you are a man of some standing.
Whatever your circumstances now.
Thank you.
Dorcas.
Your machine.
I assure you, Miss Dorcas.
I only turn my attention to this at the end of the day.
I have not come to check on you, Gabriel.
I simply wish to admire, it looks so fascinating.
Are you ready to tell me what it is and what it does yet? I would appreciate your advice, Dorcas.
As a woman of business.
I have a dilemma.
Ah.
Don't you think that sometimes human dilemmas simply need a little feminine guile? I am hoping to take an early stroll tomorrow, perhaps we could discuss your conundrum then.
But it is only a simple question.
Nonetheless, I would prefer to give you my proper, undivided attention.
Then, thank you.
Until then.
Laura, what are you writing if you ain't writing in your journal? I am sending off a letter to the records office in Oxford to see if I can trace Rufus and Bess.
I think they might have been called Humble or Humboldt.
Or I've sometimes seen a letter for Huntley.
Laura, why do you want to find out about the graves so? I want to show Daniel that there are things that matter more than a boys' row about runs and overs.
Minnie, a true love has been forgotten.
I feel they ought to be remembered.
DANIEL: But, Mrs Brown.
I bowled three overs at you and you hit all 15 balls.
Did I? Do you hit every shot? Not everyone, no.
I did get out once.
Once! It's been so long since I held the bat.
Years.
My brother used to bowl so fast at me I simply had to bat them all.
(LAUGHS) Mrs Brown, you have a true gift.
And such a natural technique.
Thank you.
My brother was always so irritated with me I thought I must just be a silly girl.
(WOMEN LAUGHING) I've found a hidden gem, and I cannot play you.
Oh, never mind.
I did enjoy those plays.
I mean hits.
Or is it scores? I'm not so very confident with cricketing words.
Daniel, if you are short of players and Margaret is a hidden gem, then why can't she take part? Because it is forbidden for a woman to play.
Margaret, do you want to play? If it were to help Daniel, then Well, surely you can simply insist.
The county's cricket rules expressly disallow mixed matches.
But cricket is not so severe an exercise as tennis, and surely not as dangerous as hunting or skating? There is nothing I can do.
What an injustice.
It is a man's world, indeed.
We will lose this match.
And Candleford has the most natural batsman in the county.
Batswoman, dear boy.
Oh, Ma, I've had such a falling out with Daniel.
I did try to admire him at his cricket practice, even though I was bored.
It only seemed to make things worse.
Why on earth would you do such a thing? Miss Lane said I am to look up to Daniel because he is a man.
Cousin Dorcas said such a thing? She said that if a woman is a woman, then a man can be a man.
Dorcas Lane? Said this to my daughter? When we always taught you to stand up for your own independence? Now, Emma, don't let that Timmins temper get the better of you.
And she said that sometimes it's better for a woman to marry young.
They have all manner of machines, now.
My idea is particular.
Really? I only hope that no one else has invented it before me.
Gabriel, you are a modern wonder.
So, Dorcas, my question is my only trial of machine, so far, has been at the forge.
I need now to put it to the test in a field.
Do I bring it to Lark Rise and perform a demonstration before Farmer Morris? There may be some unforeseen defects.
I might spoil my one opportunity to impress him.
You are confident in your work.
Trust that.
What is it? Can't you see? I see a piece of wood.
Look.
Here.
Nature has shaped it.
Don't you see a dancer? I see something.
Yes.
It's how we look that gives it beauty.
It could be a piece of wood in the ground that we walk past without noticing, or it could be something to treasure.
I ain't known Lawrence since you were a boy.
I'll wager he hasn't changed.
I don't have the players to beat his team, so I need tactics.
I need as much insight into my opponent as I can muster.
Lawrence could never bear to lose.
He would risk everything to win.
That's it.
That is his weakness.
A man who must win so severely can overplay his hand, if he is tempted to.
Before you can know your foe well, you need to know who your foe is.
That's obvious.
Is it, now? You seem determined to prove you are right, Daniel.
Suppose you lose.
I can't.
It is beyond consideration.
Lawrence Juppe has been the same troublemaker all his life, but now you feel compelled to prove him wrong and crooked.
Seems to me that a man who likes to wield his will on others, he might do that in all quarters of his life.
How can you say such a thing, Mrs Timmins? I remember how you were when you first came here.
Every inch the city boy, only concerned with his own triumphs.
I fear I see that look about you again, now.
But surely you can see that I have a just cause.
(DOOR OPENING) TWISTER: Mr Daniel, (PANTING) I've just been over to Little Garth.
I posed as a man with no other business than selling a few nuts, when I had no nuts to sell.
(CHUCKLING) (STAMMERS) Well, ain't you gonna thank me? Thank you for what, you old duffer? For what I heard while I was there.
You ain't told us what it was you heard.
I was asking about, see.
(CHUCKLES) Folks think I'm an old fool with no wit or fathoming.
Mr Turrill, you still haven't told us your message.
Didn't I? Did I not tell you that Lawrence Juppe has a cricketer playing in his cricket team? I mean, a real bowler, a county cricketing man.
This is wonderful news.
You think you might catch him out and call him for the deceiver he is? Oh, no, I want to beat him.
This means if he can bend the rules, then so can I.
But you said that women were forbidden from playing.
DANIEL: I did.
But supposing Mrs Brown wasn't a woman.
(CHUCKLES) Young man, you are making no sense.
Supposing she were a man Can you do it? A man? Dress her, disguise her.
Can you, for the sake of Candleford? Margaret, are you willing to be a man? I am willing to try.
(SIGHS) Then, Ruby, this will be the greatest ever test of our skills.
(INDISTINCT) EMMA: Dorcas.
What brings you to these parts this morning? Oh.
I was simply stretching my legs and enjoying the air with Mr Cochrane.
Since you're here, Cousin Dorcas, might I ask you did you suggest to our Laura that her role is to abide by a man's wishes? Oh.
I don't know that I used quite those words, Emma, but I did propose to Laura that sometimes it benefits us to appreciate that a man's nature is to prove himself.
Of all girls, our Laura might be different.
And did you suggest to her that it might be as well to marry young? I might have said that in some instances, for some girls.
Emma, I want the same for Laura as you do.
I want her to be happy Why should it matter what you want for Laura? Is she not my daughter? All that you have, has been given to you.
You can choose the life that you live.
I do not mean to tread on your toes when it comes to Laura, but she seemed so hostile toward Daniel Who are you to declare what is right and wrong when it comes to relations? You have never known what it is to be close to a man, how loving a man can take over a woman's whole life.
She can lose herself, so that her every day is given to standing beside him.
I fear you may be judging me a little too harshly because your own emotions You have never been married, and everyone knows you never will.
Yes, you are right.
I have no right to advise Laura on matters of the heart.
(DOOR OPENING) I'm sure once the hair is up.
Maybe not.
Margaret, walk up and down.
LAURA: Has Daniel asked you to do this? The problem is not so much the clothes as the deportment.
Margaret, you must be a man.
Surely there is something wrong if a woman must pretend to be a man.
But how does a gentleman walk? With his chin up, and his back straight.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
The male plants his feet, like this.
Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous? It's no use.
We must study our subject.
I think we are ready for stage three.
Yes, stage three.
What is stage three? What worries me about Daniel is, I see it in his character, he will dominate our Laura.
And Dorcas Lane, that woman thinks she has the right to direct my daughter's life.
As if she knows best.
Hmm, maybe she does.
Or perhaps the person who knows best is called "Laura Timmins".
Are you suggesting I was wrong to speak out? When I'm Laura's ma? And that gives you the right to be the one to pull the strings, does it, Emma? By the way, my dear, I can't say as I do believe that Dorcas Lane will never marry, so I'd be grateful if you'd leave me out of such charges next time.
What did I say? You said that everyone knows she will never marry.
Oh, Lordy.
(TURNIP THUMPING) It must be the way you're throwing them.
If you can't so much as catch a turnip, I fear for young Daniel and his need to win.
(BALL THWACKING) Mrs Brown, a corker.
Now, Edmund, don't be afraid of the ball.
Move toward it.
Only try to head after the balls that don't come straight.
Will we have to wear that kind of outfit? I'm not sure I'm cut out for white trousers.
What does it matter what we wear? The point is to win.
Daniel, will we be much longer? I have work to do.
Does no one appreciate that we have a chance to defeat that man, but we must stand as a team.
I want you all to listen.
I know that the Little Garth team will bowl at us dangerously.
It is their way.
High bowls, bowls directly at us, they want to unnerve us, but we must not buckle.
They'll expect us to play our best batsman first-up, but I will hold on to Margaret until the end when their bowlers are tired and spent.
That means the rest of us will have to face the full force of their onslaught and simply contain them, wear them out.
Can we do that? - Yes.
- ALL: Yes.
MARGARET: Yes.
Now, Mrs Brown, we need them to be utterly convinced you are a man.
Do you think you might be able to restrain some of your expressiveness? (LAUGHING) Stage three, dear boy.
Stage three.
Hello, Minnie.
Sir? Don't you recognise me, Minnie? I do, and I don't.
It is me, Mrs Brown.
- No, you ain't.
- Yes, I am.
I didn't know that you were a man, sometimes.
I'm doing it to help Daniel.
I ain't never known a woman who was a man, before.
Is it painful? It is rather pleasing.
Laura, you won't believe who this gentleman is.
It is Mrs Brown.
Margaret, I must ask you to consider what it is that you are doing.
Oh, am I not convincing enough? That is not the problem, Margaret.
Supposing you were found out.
Think of how the church parishioners will look upon this.
Oh, I hadn't thought of that.
People who look up to you and respect you as a Christian woman of honesty and integrity, they will see you as a charlatan.
Oh, I hadn't considered that.
And all because Daniel Parish has his mind set on defeating an enemy.
You will risk your reputation for no more than the puffing up of a man's pride.
Oh, I I hadn't thought of that.
LAURA: That is not the worst of it.
Consider, Margaret, for a woman to masquerade as a man, to abandon her true self, her womanhood, all so a man can claim a victory over another with a pointless game.
I hadn't thought of that.
I am asking you to think of it now, and reconsider.
Laura, if Mrs Brown is a man sometimes, does that mean men are women sometimes? I wish they were, Minnie.
(SIGHING) (LAUGHING) Yes! (KNOCKING ON DOOR) (DOOR OPENING) Minnie, do you know where Laura is? I ain't seen her at all, except a little while ago.
Can you tell her that I came by, that I will try to see her after cricket practice? Daniel, are you upset with Laura? I think she's upset with me.
You ain't vexed about Mrs Brown? Why should I be vexed about Mrs Brown? Because she don't want to play cricket no more.
Minnie, I want you to talk slowly and to talk clearly.
What are you saying? Oh, do I have to tell you? Yes, you do.
Mrs Brown is against playing cricket because Laura told her that being a man ain't what a Christian woman of honesty and inte integrity should be.
Are you upset, now? This was a true beauty.
Rufus fell in love with her from the first day that they met.
They first set eyes on each other at school.
Only Rufus ever called her "Bess".
To everyone else, she was "Elizabeth".
- Did they live nearby? - They did.
Bess was an artist.
She'd come out here to paint and draw.
Her family were once wealthy, but they'd fallen on hard times.
Rufus was a gardener on a big estate nearby.
They married young, and were contented and settled, but then tragedy struck.
Bess died in childbirth.
Rufus pined away.
He died himself within a year.
That's so sad, Laura.
Is it true? I don't think we will ever know, Ethel.
I dreamed up their lives as I lay awake, thinking of them.
LAURA: Come on.
What is it, Laura? LAURA: It looks like another grave.
The little child who died.
"Flint"? (KNOCKING ON DOOR) (DOOR OPENING) Oh, Mr Cochrane, sir, I was hoping to find Cousin Dorcas.
Dorcas has taken out her horse.
She may be some while.
Well, you've walked all this way.
Would you like some tea? Thank you.
How is Dorcas? Is she distressed? Has she reason to be distressed? (SIGHS) I have such a sharp tongue when I let my emotions get the better of me.
(SIGHS) Now I shall walk home with the same burden I brought here.
I've never known another soul says such things as I do.
I cut and hurt a person where they are most sore.
Cousins, relatives, people we are closest to, we know how best to wound them.
Cousin Dorcas never married.
That is her choice.
But I know how it pains her.
Why is she never married? If a postmistress marries, then she loses her position.
I didn't know that.
Why do I fear that I have again said the wrong thing? Laura, did you persuade Mrs Brown to stand down from the cricket match? I simply spoke with her and told her the dangers of such a deception.
You know what this means to me and still you robbed me of my best player.
My only batsman! LAURA: Did you not consider, Daniel, the consequences of asking Mrs Brown to mislead neighbours? Her face lights up when she hits the ball.
She loves cricket.
It is you who have denied her that joy with your high and mighty attitude.
You are not truly concerned with Mrs Brown's pleasure, are you? I'd hoped you might support me, Laura.
But instead you act against me.
I did not think it would be you who would destroy our chances.
What kind of a girl are you? What have I done to you, Laura? I didn't mean for you to turn against the man you love.
I speak too fast.
I did not realise how I barge through the lives of others.
Ma, sit with me for a while.
I do not want to disturb your work, Laura.
Please.
My life, Laura, I made my own choices.
If I'm truly honest, I do regret some things.
And so I try to teach you what I have learned from my own mistakes.
No.
Missed opportunities, perhaps.
I see how I try to influence you.
I try too hard at times.
If I ever push in, Laura, in ways that hurt you, then you have my permission to tell me to stand aside.
Ma, there is no one on this Earth I respect more than you.
You do not have to say such things, Laura.
You've always known that you are your pa's daughter.
Ma, it's your voice I hear guiding me when I'm lost in struggle.
Like now.
I know I must admit if I am wrong, or too harsh.
Or interfering.
I look at Queenie and see she has the peace of belonging in her own time.
And you, Laura.
You take those opportunities that your own time gives to you.
I feel caught in the middle.
Lost in the middle.
I will marry.
And I will be a mother one day.
I hope so anyway.
What you have given me, Ma, I can see what women can be in this world.
Oh, I'm sure.
- Cousin Dorcas - You, Ma, you are the one who's inspired me.
Then, perhaps that bit of a chip on my shoulder has done some good.
(BOTH CHUCKLING) Oh, Emma, I was keeping Miss Lane company till you got home.
DORCAS: I hope you don't mind me waiting for you, Emma.
But I thought I must come and apologise.
You apologise? I realise that however well-intentioned I might be where Laura is concerned, it is not my position to give her guidance on matters of such importance.
I would not appreciate it if someone were to offer Sydney advice on his education or, well, relationships.
That's very kind, Dorcas, but I am the worst offender.
I speak before I know what I am saying.
Why, only today in the post office Isn't it good to see relations restored to good relations? (LAUGHING) It is.
And I am glad that no real harm has been done.
And so am I.
I intended no harm when I said to you that you will never marry.
All I meant was, since you are a postmistress Yes, I see.
But should I choose to marry I'm sure I could find a way around such regulations.
Well, I expect we've all had enough of going over what has been gone over.
(WHIMPERING) (KNOCKING ON DOOR) DANIEL: Mrs Brown, may I speak with you? Mrs Brown, I know you are there.
Please, let me in.
At least let me state my case.
(KNOCKS ON DOOR) I will not leave until you let me speak with you.
- Mrs Brown! - (KNOCKING CONTINUES) Mrs Brown Margaret, I've come to plead with you not to abandon us.
Candleford needs you.
No, I know how you love to play cricket.
I can see how it makes you feel.
Mrs Brown, what are you wearing? Please, Daniel, I would be most grateful if you did not tell anyone how you found me.
I know it must appear a most peculiar thing to do.
(WHISPERS) But why are you dressed in Thomas' uniform? When I walked out into the street as a man, I I experienced a kind of transformation.
I couldn't understand why it affected me so.
Then I realised I had glimpsed what it was like to be a man in this world.
All my life I have felt a little afraid of men.
There's always been a certain timidity to me, and to wear those clothes, to walk with a stride, just like an escape, an escape from being Margaret Brown.
Little mouse.
Margaret, I promise you, there is nothing wrong with the way that you are.
You are more than a timid mouse.
So much more.
In the short time that I have been here, I have seen your courage, your fortitude, in the most trying circumstances.
It was wrong of me to bludgeon you into agreeing to play for the team.
It was selfish of me and inconsiderate.
I don't ask you to hide behind disguise.
I can't compel you to announce who you are when who are you are is Margaret Brown, my dear friend.
But you will be a player short.
We will manage.
It was finding the other gravestone, the name on it, Flint, that gave me an explanation for all of this.
Flint? Isn't that the name of old man Jupp's dog? LAURA: It is.
What was inscribed on the stones was not Humble or Herbert.
It was clear to read on the third stone.
It marked what they were.
Not who they were.
Hunters.
So the gravestones that you found I've tried the churches at Ingliston, Newton Morrell, Stratton Audley, Cottisford.
The reason I could discover no records of births, marriages or deaths for Rufus and Bess is because they are hunting dogs.
- Dogs! - Minnie, show some consideration.
There were tears in your eyes, and now it's just a pair of hairy hounds.
(BOTH LAUGHING) I am glad I was wrong.
I dreamed it all up.
A tragic passion between young lovers.
I accused Daniel of ignoring this romantic, wondrous mystery.
It was my own imagination that conjured up the whole tale! Forgive me for staring, Dorcas.
I couldn't help noticing your work.
The post office.
How it fits you so well.
I love it.
I always have.
I consider myself to be most fortunate.
And I hope you will continue to enjoy that sense of belonging - for as long as you live.
- And so do I.
I wanted to clean it before I gave it to you.
Oh.
Gabriel.
I will treasure it.
Daniel, you must sleep.
Tomorrow's your big day.
I can't even close my eyes.
Whenever I do, I see the outcome of tomorrow's match.
We will lose.
Do not be so fateful.
I've been a fool to force this situation on the whole town.
Daniel, sit here, tell us what's troubling you.
(SIGHING) It is for the best if I lose.
You're making no sense.
How can it be better to endure defeat? Because then I must face myself.
Daniel Parish, imagining himself to be the knight in shining armour.
The one to lead a team out to put Lawrence Jupp in his place.
I am the self-appointed guardian of all that is right and proper.
Aren't you being just a little hard on yourself? Daniel, you're not considering withdrawing from the match, are you? And let Jupp accuse us of cowardice? No.
I must play.
And lose.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING) Can you forgive me, Laura, if I admit what a headstrong fool I have been? Margaret told me what you said to her.
I am the one who must ask for forgiveness, Daniel.
If I had listened to you Then you wouldn't be the stubborn, proud, wilful man that I love.
(THUNDER RUMBLING) MAN 1: Close in, lads.
MAN 2: Come on, little girl.
- MAN: How's that? - That's out.
(ALL SIGHING) (PEOPLE EXCLAIMING) Poor Daniel.
I don't know what possessed me to insist it was so wrong for Margaret to play.
I can't help thinking you were right, Laura.
Almost right.
It is rather a shame that a woman cannot take part.
Perhaps she can.
Laura, I wonder, if in the next break, you might ask Daniel to come and join us.
Okay.
(MUTTERING) (MEN EXCLAIMING) That's out.
And that's tea.
(CHATTERING) Thank you for your proposal, ladies.
But it is explicitly against county cricket rules for a woman to play in a man's contest.
But this game is taking place out of season.
So perhaps it is not strictly governed by county law.
If I were to request for Margaret to take part, forgive me if this offends, ladies, but we'd be laughed off the park.
Isn't that the point? Candleford is short of a player.
So you are allowed to introduce another player.
LAURA: They would not refuse.
No, 'cause it would give them the perfect opportunity to mock us.
I think I'm beginning to see your purpose.
Then perhaps you might like to speak with the captain.
And may I suggest, don't be afraid to let him see you as a fool who is a little desperate.
Mrs Brown, are you happy with this? Would you like to play, even in the rain? Play as a woman.
Yes.
(EXHALES) (WOMEN GIGGLING) (CHATTERING) (MEN LAUGHING) LAURA: Sometimes a woman may try to be just like a man.
Men and women, we each have our own weaknesses, strengths, and if we dare to admit it, similarities.
(CHEERING) It is only by making mistakes and hurting one another, that we learn the greatest of human joys, forgiving and being forgiven.