"Wait till they see these." "If they like the others, they'll be crazy about these." "Like to look at them?" "l'll see them at the show." "This is the best day of my life. I have my first exhibition and I have you." "Cecile, will you marry me when I'm a success?" "Let's give ourselves a little time." "Cecile!" "Aren't you interested in anything?" "ln going someplace else." "Where?" "l don't know." "Alone?" "Yes, alone." "There." "We're engaged." "l don't want that." "All right." "Then we're engaged." "It's going to be a small wedding, but you may come." "Will I see you later?" "Yes." "Where?" "I don't know." "I'll be ready in three seconds." "Any zipping or buttoning to do?" "No thanks, darling. lt's all done." "Are we calling for Yvette?" "She's no longer with us. lt's Denise." "Model?" "Actress." "Aspiring." "Rather appetizing." "Talented too, she says." "The usual trinket?" "Not this time." "Like to see?" "l'll see it later on Denise." "Jacques, there she is now." "Cecile?" "Hello." "l'm so glad to see you." "l love your dress. ls it new?" "You look adorable." "Raymond." "And this is Denise" " Denise." "How do you do?" "Good evening." "This is Jacques, who's dying to meet you." "How are you?" "Fine." "Have a drink?" "l'd love one." "l've waited a long time to meet you." "l'm flattered." "Now, I'm gonna sit here." "Denise?" "You sit there." "Deanne there." "Paulette here." "Cecile-- That's not gonna work." "Let's dance in the meantime." "May I take you to the races tomorrow?" "l'd love to go, thank you." "After the races he'll take me to dinner and dancing again." "And on Thursday to the tennis matches." "And on Sunday to the country." "What a waste of time, dear Jacques." "What a hopeless waste of time." "He's attractive." "And he's nice." "And I'd like to warn him but he wouldn't understand that I can't feel anything he might be interested in because I'm surrounded by a wall." "An invisible wall made of memories I can't lose." "Hey, how about a dance?" "Half a dance." "Better than none." "He likes you." "He's very charming." "How's Denise?" "Great girl." "This is gonna be a fun evening." "Yes, wonderful." "It's wonderful luck having you for a daughter." "The luck runs both ways, sir." "But even with my father it isn't the same anymore." "Nothing is." "Will I ever be happy again as I was at the beginning of that wonderful summer on the Riviera just a year ago?" "Seven was my magic number." "I was very superstitious then, and loved it." "Seven and three." "The seven came out of my age, 1 7." "And the three from the three members of our very happy household." "Good morning, Albertine." "My coffee, please." "Albertine has the sunstroke." "I'm her sister, Léontine." "So you are." "Good morning, Léontine." "is she very ill?" "You know how it is." "l know." "Good morning, Alber" "Albertine has sunstroke." "This is her sister, Léontine." "l thought I felt a change." "Forgive me." "My sister told me what to expect." "Good morning, monsieur." "I don't think she approves." "They lack imagination here." "More likely they have too much." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Did you sleep well?" "Did you wake well?" "I never do and you always do." "It's unfair." "Wait till you're my age." "How's Elsa?" "She's asleep." "Look at that wonderful sea." "High time we threw ourselves in." "All that vitality." "Elsa?" "Twice more." "Why?" "Three times is good luck." "Pebbles and all?" "Of course." "Elsa?" "Elsa?" "If you want it to work, do it seven times." "If I want that, I'll pull her out by the hair." "Wait." "Let's smell the day." "Good morning, Cecile." "Good morning, Raymond." "I'm up now." "Two letters for you." "One's from your office." "Throw it away. lt's vacation time." "It doesn't say who this one's from." "Look." "Another week, it'll be flatter than yours." "But you're tempting the devil looking in the mirror before noon." "Do I look fatter in the morning?" "It has nothing to do with that." "It's bad luck, that's all." "Why?" "lt just is." "You'll see." "l'm asleep." "Then wake up." "lt's the middle of the night." "lt's morning." "lt's raining." "lt isn't." "It is." "Great big drops." "I heard them on the door." "How do you feel?" "As if I were swimming in sizzling oil." "You do look like a lobster." "You were too lazy to move out of the sun." "If you adored me, you would have moved the sun." "I adore you, all right." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Up." "Don't make me move, I'll crack." "But you can't lie here all day." "Why not?" "Good morning, Elsa." "Good morning." "I wish you would explain to your father- ls that my new pin?" "Pretty, I think." "Off with it." "l thought we were friends." "So did I." "But then you let him come in here before I've washed my face." "I am going to crack." "Curiously, you look very appetizing." "Even with an unwashed face." "Thank you, darling." "I have cracked." "Where?" "Here." "Now I'm getting peely." "l'll be ugly." "You'll hate me." "l can't stand that moaning." "Where are you going?" "To sleep in the sea." "You sleep there, I'll sleep here." "You can't go back to sleep." "You be careful." "She is sunburned." "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 1 0 96, 9 7, 98, 99, 1 00." "Now, the rain from heaven, if you please." "None left." "You'll have to go in yourself." "Marvelous, Raymond." "It's like swimming in cool velvet." "Velvet's always hot." "Cool silk, then." "Know where l'd like to be?" "Exactly where you are." "You're exactly right." "Hey, out of my way." "There's work to be done." "Look." "The lobster lady approaches." "Guess who?" "Marvelous." "She really is a good sport." "She is." "l'm glad you like her." "lt's easy." "She's fun and she's unpretentious." "I'm glad you scuttled Yvonne Marie." "I wouldn't have brought her here." "If you'd met her in April, you would've." "That's why I met her in November." "I would kiss you for the umbrella but you are in the sun." "l mixed three lotions in one jar." "Brilliant." "I don't guarantee they'll stop the peeling." "I'm in no condition to ask for a guarantee on anything." "All the way down here I've been brain-rattling." "Seriously?" "Yes." "Cecile, which would you rather have, jewels or furs?" "Neither." "Jewelry's supposed to be a good investment." "And you can wear it all year round." "But furs feel so good under bare feet." "Are you planning another birthday?" "No." "And I'm not being hinty either." "I was just wondering." "See, when we go to the casino Friday night-- l look like a piece of old wallpaper." "And I win a lot of money again." "Where is my comb?" "There might be one in the pocket of this shirt." "After all, I won quite a bit last Friday." "And if I win a bit this Friday-- Thank you." "You haven't opened your letter." "I was wondering what I ought to give myself for a present." "What happens if you lose?" "But I never lose." "You know that. I can't." "That horoscope Cecile got for me says I was born lucky and...." "Where is she going?" "Will he drown?" "Of course not." "What makes you think it's a "he"?" "Why else would she run?" "You all right?" "l'm fine, thanks." "My, but you're polite." "l'm sorry." "Need some help?" "May I tie her onto your float?" "Sure. I'll help." "My mother has a house on the other side of the rocks." "I'm spending my vacation there." "Vacation from what?" "Law school." "Do you really mean to be a lawyer?" "Why else go to law school?" "One has to do something until one reaches a certain age." "One has to prepare for the future." "l'm preparing." "How?" "By learning how to have a good time." "That's not" "You're terribly serious, aren't you?" "Yes, I am serious." "How marvelous." "Why?" "l don't know any serious people." "How peculiar." "That's my father there with a friend of ours." "Yes, I know." "You do?" "How?" "You've seen us at the casino." "No." "You're too serious to go there." "In the village?" "l've never seen any of you." "Then you heard about us." "About the wicked people from Paris." "l'm from Paris." "You heard and were intrigued." "You're corruptible." "I'm just interested in people, that's all." "Well, it was very nice of you to help me." "l didn't mean to embarrass you." "You didn't." "Or shock you." "lf you'd like to come sailing-- -l'd love it, but I don't know how." "l'll teach you." "l think you could do with a lesson." "I'm an excellent sailor." "The mast broke." "Come on." "Where?" "Don't you want to meet the wicked people from Paris?" "Do you think I upset him?" "Do you think I upset him?" "You hop subjects like a roulette ball." "Upset who?" "That sailor boat boy." "What's his name?" "Philippe." "It's torture to wear clothes with a sunburn." "I think I did upset him." "Was I too open about us?" "He didn't need quite so much help in adding it up." "Anyway, he's brilliantly cute." "Why didn't Cecile ask him to dinner?" "She did for tomorrow." "l would have asked for tonight." "l'm sure." "Why waste time?" "This was found in the pocket of your shirt." "Thank you." "Could I have more coffee?" "Yes, mademoiselle." "She thinks she's being insulting with that "mademoiselle."" "I love it. I'm not old enough to be madame, am I?" "Cecile?" "I'm listening to the crickets." "But they only say the same thing over and over." "I read they make noise by rubbing their legs together." "What a thought." "I have a surprise." "Company is coming." "Brilliant." "Anybody I know?" "Anne Larsen." "This dress is her design." "Coming here?" "When?" "Next week." "ls Larsen married?" "She's divorced." "Why?" "How old is she?" "Older than you." "She was my mother's best friend." "She must be a very lovely lady." "Your thoughts are so hard to follow." "Be careful of my back." "I just have to get out of this dress." "Your crickets are having a cocktail party." "Now, please don't bawl me out." "May I ask a question?" "No." "What made you invite Anne?" "You like Anne." "I do." "Very much." "But we hardly ever see her anymore." "l see her often." "Occasionally." "At large parties." "Last time we had a long chat at a small cocktail party." "What?" "I know the invitations you hand out at parties." "To be honest, I forgot I'd invited her." "You're awful." "How did you happen to ask her anyway?" "She looked particularly attractive." "She always seemed aloof and assured." "I wouldn't think she would vacation here." "How did you get her to accept?" "No one's told you I'm charming?" "Everyone but Anne." "I reminded her she's practically your godmother and hasn't seen you." "I can hear it all:" ""Anne, Cecile is no longer a child." "She's a young girl now." "I try to be both parents, but she needs the help of a woman." "The women I know--"" "That's marvelous." "I should be taking lessons from you." "Raymond?" "Did you tell her about Elsa?" "Elsa?" "Oh, Raymond." "I didn't know Elsa was coming when I asked Anne." "Anne said she'd think it over and-- Oh, dear." "Raymond?" "Which room is Anne going to have?" "I thought I'd give her mine." "l'll sleep in the bathhouse." "l will." "The ladies here, the gentleman there." "You're worried about appearances?" "l'm a bundle of surprises." "You're impossible." "So is the situation." "She's arriving on Monday." "So you can either spank me, walk out or help me." "You know I'll help you." "l suspected you might." "You're such a fake." "It's such wonderful fun to have you for a daughter." "Hey, what's the matter?" "I don't want it to stop." "Ever." "But suddenly somehow I knew it would stop." "That our happy days were numbered." "That was Tuesday." "Anne was due the following Monday." "Six more days." "I remember thinking seven would have been lucky." "It was very hot the day Anne was to arrive." "My father and Elsa went to meet her at the station." "They're back." "Anne!" "Welcome." "Thank you, Cecile." "Are you that grown up?" "Really, welcome." "And really, thank you." "Which way?" "Terrace first, so you can see the view." "How did your collection go?" "Extremely well." "But I wish I could have found material the color of this water." "I spent my honeymoon by the sea." "1 2 years ago." "Did you like it?" "I mean the place?" "Yes, I liked both it and the place." "Although it wasn't nearly as lovely as this." "I had quite a debate with myself before coming here." "I'm delighted I lost." "I'll fetch your things." "What's the matter, Cecile?" "Nothing." "Why?" "You're embarrassed." "There's nothing." "May I guess?" "You're annoyed Raymond isn't here to spread a welcome carpet." "He's spreading it with flowers." "He's spreading it at the station." "But I wired I was driving." "You wired?" "Yes." "I wouldn't drive and not send word." "Where do you suppose that telegram is?" "ln his pocket, unopened." "Albertine!" "I mean, Léontine!" "Slight maid problem." "Weird sisters rotate working for us." "Weird?" "How?" "Every week one or the other is stricken with some odd malady." "Maybe it's us." "Yes?" "Léontine" "Léontine has a bad liver." "I am her sister, Claudine." "Did a telegram come today?" "l handed it to monsieur myself." "Didn't he read it?" "Do you know him, madame?" "Would you take my bags to my room?" "Yes, madame." "Where is my room?" "This way." "Poor Raymond." "For once he's a victim of his irresponsibility." "Serves him right." "No, not on such a hot day." "How I'd love to resist opening telegrams." "To not answer phones." "To do exactly what I intend to do here." "What?" "Nothing." "What a lovely room." "Raymond picked the flowers and cut them himself." "And even arranged them himself." "Isn't he sweet?" "He can be very endearing, can't he?" "At least the weird sisters clean well." "You're looking wonderfully well." "I'm surprised and pleased." "Why surprised?" "From his description" "That was in Paris." "I was worn out from studying." "How did you do with examinations?" "Flunked." "Flunked?" "Flunked." "Would you like me to unpack for you?" "No, thank you." "The box is for you." "Oh, Anne." "Are you studying now?" "During vacation?" "You'll take examinations again in October." "Why?" "Raymond never got a diploma." "But he worked hard." "Made quite a bit of money." "If it's gone, I'm sure there'll be a man to take care of me." "And you don't need a diploma for that." "I don't like vulgarities, Cecile." "Even when they're funny." "I'm sorry." "The dress is marvelous." "lt's really marvelous." "But?" "No, the style is too." "Everything you design is perfect." "But you think it's too young for you." "You're wrong." "A more sophisticated style would make you look more of a child." "I'm not a child." "You're not going to make me study, are you?" "l didn't know I could." "Well, you could." "Don't be so afraid of me." "I'm not here as your governess." "I won't make you do anything." "Although I might try to influence you a little." "Even a scale." "Well, that'll ruin my appetite." "That's Raymond's." "Did he give up this room for me?" "l offered to move out of mine." "It's odd a villa this size has only two bedrooms." "There are three." "Three?" "Yes, this one and two upstairs." "Mine and Elsa's." "Elsa Mackenbourg. I think you met her." "Not too bright but a lot of fun." "Just what does he think I am?" "He sleeps in the bathhouse." "He can sleep here, because I won't." "Or any other place else that he" "Cecile, would you mind leaving me alone?" "No." "Cecile?" "Cecile?" "Yes, Raymond." "She wasn't there." "Maybe she fell out of the train." "She's here." "She drove." "You see?" "I told you Philippe didn't have an American car." "Must have been 1 90 degrees in the shade." "My pathetic feet." "Where is Anne?" "ln her room." "Any point in taking these to her?" "l wouldn't disturb her now." "Oh?" "Yes." "ls she--?" "Very." "Very what?" "You two don't need words." "The perfect marriage." "How bad?" "Breakage." "Really bad." "You suppose the setup--?" "She's too sophisticated." "Discovering occupied territory?" "Couldn't care less." "You think." "l know." "Know what about Anne?" "Anne is fine." "And delighted to be here." "Forgive me. I stood on that platform for hours waving these." "l should have telephoned." "What's the difference?" "We're all here." "l'm here. I'm Elsa Mackenbourg." "l thought you knew each other." "Not as well as I'd like." "Pretty dress." "Not as pretty as some of yours I've got." "They're brilliant." "You're kind." "But the line of that suits you." "The color is good when I'm not half peeling." "I have lotion that will help on my dressing table." "I'm going to sink in the water and drown in the sun." "l'll show you the way." "l can see the way." "Straight down." "I'm putting that lotion on right this minute." "If that woman says it will help, it will help." "She's brilliant." "Amazing figure." "Never mind that." "l thought she said" "What?" "She was leaving." "What is going on?" "l haven't a clue." "We'd better find out." "What's so funny?" "Your face." "I could almost see you figuring out something to say." "It's not too easy." "When I invited you, I had no idea" "No explanations." "l want to." "Explanations only make things more complicated." "They certainly do." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "l'm sorry, darling." "As long as you're staying." "l don't know that I am." "l don't know where we are." "I got stupidly angry before and decided to leave." "Then the prospect of packing and looking for a hotel was too much." "So you decided to stay." "Overnight." "l thought" "Then, if I'm staying overnight" "Might as well spend the holiday." "Yes. lf l find that I like it." "She'll be gone in two days." "No, she'll stay." "How can you be so sure?" "I know women." "I know how to make them like it." "You want her to stay?" "Yes." "Yes, I want her to stay." "She has an amazingly good figure." "Anne stayed." "And we liked it." "All three of us." "And the maids as well." "She ran them." "She ran the house." "She ran us." "This is my dance." "lt doesn't seem to be." "She made everything so easy that we wondered how we had ever managed without her." "And we made everything such fun for her." "We did have fun then." "And everyone was so nice to everyone else." "Anne?" "We thought you deserted us." "Never." "We ordered for you." "Where's Elsa?" "Dancing with Pierre Shube." "He's a marvelous dancer." "Or as Elsa would say:" "Brilliant." "How can you all sit with that brilliant music?" "It's made me forget the last of my sunburn." "Where's your friend?" "Leading the band." "Come on, let's get with it." "No, Elsa." "It's so easy, Raymond." "Just wiggle." "Put it out here and put it back there." "Look at them. lt's wonderful." "Come on, then." "Come on, Philippe." "lt's useless." "If you can teach me to sail, I can teach you to wiggle." "Put it out here and put it back there." "Wiggle, wiggle." "Brilliant." "Wiggle." "Wiggle." "I'm getting dizzy!" "Better?" "Better." "It should have been someone's birthday." "lt was." "Whose?" "Anne's." "I feel as if it was." "What a lovely, lovely evening." "l thank you." "And we thank you." "It seems you're always having birthdays here." "Not always." "It's really rather recent." "Cecile, isn't it time you were in bed?" "Yes." "l think it's time we were all in bed." "Oh, Anne?" "Good night, darling." "Good night." "Good night, Raymond." "Good night." "Good night, darling." "Very funny." "Why do they fall off so much?" "Anne never skied before this summer." "I'm beginning to think he makes her fall." "All that fooling around in the water." "Even I could get back up on skis quicker." "And this sudden interest he has in going to the market." "Every time she goes, he goes." "Yesterday it took all afternoon to buy two chickens." "Don't tell me it takes one afternoon to buy two chickens." "They weren't very good, either." "They've known each other 1 5 years." "With your father, nobody's safe." "Anne could never be interested in a man like him." "I know women." "And if a man finds the right way at the right moment" "Look." "I know I'm going to--!" "My horoscope knows more than your law books." "My horoscope knows more than your law books." "It says tonight is my night and I'm going to win at the casino." "Bravo." "There's a new moon and the casino is starting a new game tonight." "The craps." "When did your eager little fingers learn to hold dice?" "There was this spooky American named Lucky something...." "l can see it all." "There isn't a three or seven in today's date." "Seven times two is 1 4." "But today is the fifteenth." "Not in China." "There's nothing like this Chinese champagne." "Or French laundry." "You're getting giggly." "If we don't go to the casino now you'll fall fat on your flaces." "Fat on your flace." "No, fat on your flace." "After you." "After you." "Come on." "Seven again." "You must have driven like a maniac." "Eleven." "Seven." "You won, madame." "My dear, may I ride on you?" "Tonight is my night." "Ride away." "Baby needs shoes." "Seven again." "Cecile, it's jewels and furs for everybody." "Two and two says she does." "Won't come." "She's three and one." "Have you any sporting blood?" "Mother." "Hello, Philippe." "Cecile, my dear." "What are you doing here?" "I found a new game, and it enchants my blood." "And this friend of yours" " Or of your father's?" "She's brilliant." "No dice." "Marvelous mind." "A mathematical genius." "Who, Elsa?" "She never loses." "Eleven." "You see?" "Here and this back here." "And this here." "Here and this back here." "And this here." "And here and here and here." "Victory!" "Victory!" "Brilliant." "Brilliant." "An old friend, Pablo de L'Amo." "Hello, querida." "Hello, querido." "Hello from America." "Not North America, South America." "Drinks, querido!" "Drinks and champagne." "He's a wee bit tipsy-poo." "He's very drunky-poo." "Very drunk because I'm very rich." "Very rich because I'm very smart." "Very smart because I made it all myself in...." "My beautiful, Elsa, what did I make it in?" "Money!" "Money!" "He's drunk on champagne, I'm drunk on gambling." "You two aren't drunk." "That's not brilliant." "Not brilliant at all." "Where is Raymond?" "Dancing, probably." "Brilliant girl." "Brilliant." "And very right." "You two are not drunk on anything." "Very bad." "To live, you must be drunk on something." "Love." "Money." "Success." "Failure." "Even whiskey." "But something!" "You're drunk, but you're right." "Of course I am. I'm rich." "Or is it the other way around?" "Do you always have such a good time?" "Always." "Except when I'm in America." "Not North America." "South America." "You tell someone you're rich and from America and they always think you are from Texas." "They are not dancing anywhere." "My beautiful girl you are very beautiful." "Also, you are very sunburned." "Also, you are very peeling." "Be quiet, Pablo." "I couldn't find them." "Drink your champagne, Elsa." "Drink my champagne, Elsa." "Lucky in cards, unlucky in" "You're too beautiful to be unlucky." "Shall I go look?" "l'll look." "Anne isn't used to champagne." "She probably needed air." "Stop worrying, Elsa." "Stop worrying, Elsa." "Isn't used to champagne." "She can drink like a man." "Then I want to meet her." "Be still, Pablo." "But it is summer, Raymond and I'm as suspicious of summer as I am of you." "You said I behave like a boy." "How can you be suspicious of a boy?" "Easily." "He likes to play with girls." "That's true." "Until now." "Now you're serious?" "From the moment you arrived." "From the moment I arrived you've been campaigning." "And what about Elsa?" "You know how I think of Elsa." "As a playmate for Cecile." "Exactly." "I could never think of you as just a playmate." "Not even for you?" "The moment I stop joking, you start." "But that's what you want, isn't it?" "A playmate, someone to have fun with?" "I do have fun with you." "And that's a long way from being all I want." "And we've been over and over this." "I know." "Raymond, I cannot be casual." "I've never been less casual in my life." "Then why am I still so frightened?" "l don't know." "I'm often frightened when I want something badly." "And I want you." "I've never wanted any woman the way I want you." "No, Raymond." "Raymond, no." "Part of me was angry." "Part of me was happy." "All of me was excited." "He had brought a girl to the seashore, made her go out in the sun then when she was a mess of peeling, dropped her like a hot lobster." "It was unfair." "Yet even while I was angry at him I was proud that he had gotten the unattainable Anne." "How long would it last?" "Well, how long did Elsa last?" "How long did any of them last?" "Anne wasn't feeling well." "My father had to take her home." "They have gone?" "Yes." "How about a drink?" "No, thank you." "No, thank you." "Would you like to dance?" "No, thank you." "She was awfully sick." "She ruined that beautiful dress." "It was a horrible, frumpy dress." "We were all so happy." "So happy." "We can still be happy, Elsa." "No, we can't." "No, we can't." "Be still, Pablo." "Come on, we'll take you home." "l have no home. I'm not going back there." "Elsa, be reasonable." "l will not be treated like a wife." "Pablo will find me a hotel." "I'll buy you a hotel." "Goodbye, Philippe." "You liked me, didn't you?" "l still do, Elsa." "We were good friends, weren't we?" "I'll see you, Elsa." "Never." "Never again." "Never again." "Poor Elsa. I feel as though I were losing a friend." "l'm confused." "Know what I'd like?" "What?" "I'd like to go someplace alone with you and get very drunky-poo." "Philippe, you'll be a credit to your mother yet." "Good morning, mademoiselle." "Good morning, Albertine." "Holy Buddha!" "You are Albertine." "Come and sit with us." "Appearances indicate you stopped for a nightcap." "A whole hat." "ls that ice cream?" "lt's vanilla." "Her hangover cure." "lt works." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Good morning, Cecile." "Good morning, Anne." "You both look so mysterious." "As if you had a secret." "Well" "Well" "Have you a cigarette?" "l'll get one." "Don't bother, because I don't really want one." "We would like to ask you something." "Elsa's in a hotel." "Some South American was taking care of her." "No, no, it's not that." "What, then?" "Your father and I want to get married." "We'd like it very much." "Well, it's a good idea." "It's a very good idea." "I told you she'd be pleased." "Of course I am." "l wasn't sure." "You never believe me." "Yes, I do. I do." "Now the approval's official, we'll celebrate." "Champagne?" "Or ice cream?" "May I have both?" "You can have anything you want." "You are pleased?" "Yes." "But confused?" "It's just hard for me to smile too much with this head." "ls that really all?" "Yes." "Does our getting married seem strange to you or just ridiculous?" "Not ridiculous at all." "But strange?" "A little." "Why?" "Say it." "Say anything, Cecile." "I want you to." "I have to kind of push everything around to think of Raymond married." "You didn't want him to marry again?" "No, I mean, I didn't think he wanted to." "But if he does, I do." "If he's glad, I'm glad." "That makes me so happy." "You know, I was rather frightened of you." "Of me?" "Why?" "I was afraid of your being frightened of me." "I was." "Until just this minute." "Well, never be again." "l won't." "I've told Albertine the news." "That is Albertine, isn't it?" "Yes." "Anyway, I told her the news." "And she's happier than we are." "I think we've seen the last of her sisters." "You see, you make everybody happy." "Doesn't she, Cecile?" "Yes." "Did I really believe that?" "Well, at least I tried to." "And I tried to live as though it were true." "As though the subtle but swift changes Anne made in our daily life made me happy too." "It isn't that I don't believe your father has changed." "It isn't that I don't believe your father has changed." "I want too much to believe it." "What difference could a change in him mean to you?" "If he changes, you change." "If he's happy with one person" "Raymond is happy with Anne. lt's different than with Elsa or with...." "He loves Anne." "And he wants the kind of life she wants." "You've seen them." "Belonging to one person can make you happy." "Anne is different too." "She looks softer." "She moves easier." "ln the morning, she seems...." "Seems how?" "As though she had the most wonderful secret in the world." "I wish I walked the way she walks now." "I wish I had the look she has. I wish" "You said we weren't to do this anymore." "l don't care." "Cecile!" "I think perhaps you had better go, Philippe." "You got the wrong impression." "There-- -l think you'd better go." "You realize that such diversions can end up in a hospital." "We were kissing." "That won't end up in any hospital." "Please don't see him again, Cecile." "What if I say I love him?" "I don't think you do, darling." "Love doesn't depend on that." "Nor is it the only way to express it." "I enjoy Philippe and I want to see him." "And I feel a great responsibility towards you now." "l cannot allow you to ruin your life." "Are you ruining yours?" "Your father and I are going to be married." "Also, I am not 1 7." "Seventeen now isn't what it was when you were 1 7." "I'm not a child." "And I won't be treated like one." "I don't want you to see Philippe again, Cecile." "You will have studying to do." "That will keep you busy in the afternoons." "My father tells me what to do, not you." "I suppose she told you." "She tells me, and I adore listening." "You know what I mean." "l never know what anybody means." "Stop joking." "I'm sorry." "We were only kissing, and Anne thought-- l didn't. I simply feel it would be good if she stopped seeing Philippe and studied for her philosophy examination." "Couldn't she do both?" "Philippe is well-behaved." "Not a good sense of humor, but nice. I like him." "Cecile is nice and I like her, but they have nothing to do." "We have a great deal to do." "We play tennis, go sailing, swimming and skin-diving." "Healthy things." "Physical things. lf anything happened, you couldn't really blame them." "Yes, I see what you mean." "You do?" "You should do some work." "You don't want to fail philosophy and take it over." "I couldn't care less and neither could you." "Cecile, would it be so hard to study just for a few weeks?" "Yes." "Very hard." "Cecile." "Are you siding with her?" "lt's not a question of sides." "Isn't it?" "I want to see Philippe and not be cooped up studying." "Anne wants me to study and not see Philippe." "What shall it be?" "Loving Anne doesn't mean that I love you any less." "That's not an answer." "Well, I think for the next few weeks you should study and not see Philippe." "She's prim and prissy and prude." "And a know-it-all and I hate her." "She's changed him." "She'll change me." "She'll change everything." "I hate her. I hate her. I hate her." "No, it isn't her fault he doesn't love you anymore. lt's yours." "You're spoiled and willful and arrogant and lazy." "A mean, little monster." "Anne had made me look at myself for the first time in my life." "And that turned me against her." "Dead against her." "I'll be with you in a moment, Jacques." "l'm sorry." "l'm not angry." "Then why are you leaving?" "I don't really know." "You go to a place, you leave a place." "But he's not for you." "Who is?" "Not him, at any rate." "Where do you live, Hubert?" "Where do I live?" "You know where l live." "You know where l live?" "Limbo." "With my father." "There's Jacques." "What happened?" "I thought you weren't gonna show." "You know better than that." "This evening you're very peculiar." "l'm a very peculiar girl." "You're my girl, aren't you?" "Yes, Raymond. I'm your girl." "We have great fun, don't we?" "Yes, we have great fun." "Does he really still have fun?" "I know he wants to desperately." "And I knew he wouldn't have much with Anne." "Which was probably another reason I decided to get rid of her." "How carefully, how seriously I went about that decision." "What a little beast." "While pretending to study, I spent days comparing the contestants for my father." "Comparing Anne and me." "All our good points, against all our bad ones." "I meant to be fair, but the score was against me." "Definitely." "Anne was out." "How to get her out might have been difficult if the way, the trap, had not been opened for me." "Come in, Albertine." "Elsa?" "What's happened to you?" "I'm tan, all over." "Don't I look brilliant?" "Absolutely." "And a new dress?" "Several new dresses, shoes and bags." "From your gambling money?" "No, from Pablo." "For my birthday." "I thought you had that birthday three months ago." "I did." "But he was in America then." "South America." "Pablo said to leave my old things here, but I'm sentimental." "I packed everything myself." "How is Raymond?" "Miserable." "Really?" "Well, he is, but he doesn't know it yet." "She doesn't give him a chance to know it." "She's clever." "Brilliant." "You don't know how clever." "He's agreed to marry her." "Marry?" "Raymond is going to marry?" "Yes." "lt serves him right." "How can you say that?" "He threw me out." "You walked out." "He dumped me at the casino." "No lady goes home alone." "You had me and Philippe." "l have my pride." "And Pablo." "Pablo." "He drinks and laughs and drinks" "Elsa, it's fate." "l hate fate." "That stupid horoscope-- lt's fate that you walked in here." "I was thinking about you." "Really?" "What?" "I was thinking how Raymond still loves you." "Cecile." "You know that deep down he loves you." "Yes, he loves me so madly he's going to marry Anne." "It's the idea of marriage that appeals to him." "You think so?" "He always wants to try something new." "But he has been married." "Yes, but so long ago he's forgotten he didn't like it." "lf he marries again, he's ruined." "So are you." "I know. I wish you wanted to help." "What can I do?" "It's too late." "I walked out when I should have stayed." "Where are you going?" "Back to Cannes." "Must you?" "No." "Do you want to?" "No. I love Raymond. I'd still be here if it weren't for that scheming" "That's what she is." "Scheming." "Ask Philippe's mother if you can stay." "l can." "She thinks I'm brilliant." "But why?" "Say you don't have a place to stay." "Yes, but why go at all?" "I have an idea. lt isn't worked out and there isn't time to explain." "But Cecile--?" "Do you want Raymond back?" "l do." "Then hurry to Philippe's." "Do you have a car?" "Yes." "Pablo was" "You drive." "I'll walk and meet you there." "Why don't you come with me?" "l don't want them to see us together." "And I have to work out my plan." "That means concentration and being alone." "Now, hurry." "Go the back way." "All right." "Cecile." "What now?" "l feel so good." "Cecile?" "Cecile?" "Where are you going?" "For a walk in the woods." "You've been working so hard." "Relax." "Go and take a swim." "No, thank you." "l'll come." "The water's very watery." "I have to concentrate. I'm working out a problem. ln philosophy." "Now, surely philosophy can wait." "Not Pascal." "He's demanding." "You want me to meet his demands, don't you?" "Any man would wait while you took a swim." "Not this one." "Did Elsa tell--?" "Yes!" "Let's get married." "lt's an epidemic." "l'm serious." "You're only a boy." "I only look like a boy. I'm 25." "Where's Elsa?" "Did your--?" "l love you. I'm proposing." "l heard you the first time." "You didn't answer because it's no." "I didn't answer because Anne would answer for me, and she'd say no." "Can't we get rid of Anne?" "That's why I sent Elsa down here." "Then you do love me?" "I don't quite get the connection, but, yes, I do." "Where's Elsa?" "She's watching Mother play bridge." "She told Mother she was an orphan." "Why?" "She thought it was a good touch." "Everybody feels sorry for orphans." "l feel rather sorry for Elsa." "Why the change?" "I didn't realize Anne was such an adventuress or that Elsa was so sensitive." "So much imagination, you mean." "Collect your tiny brain and try to do better this time." "One small diamante." "Two clubs." "Pass." "Pass?" "Pass." "Two hearts." "Three diamantes." "Pass." "Pass." "Pass." "Three hearts." "Three hearts?" "We're on the brink of a tantalizing abyss." "Do I jump or not?" "Three hearts?" "What?" "What?" "Tune that thing up." "She's only repeating your pathetic bid." "Stop semaphoring." "Either come in or go out." "l say jump." "l'm with you." "Come back at 5." "My partner has to go." "You and I will sweep the field." "Where can we talk?" "My room." "I can't wait to hear your plan." "I'm goose-pimply." "l don't like intrigue." "l do." "You want to marry me." "What's that have to do with it?" "Would Anne let me marry you?" "No." "The plan concerns getting rid of Anne." "Anne concerns us." "l still don't like it." "l love it." "You haven't heard it." "Will you two be still?" "The basic idea is wildly simple." "The details may take a bit of working out." "is that your room?" "You two must pretend to be madly in love." "We have to arrange that my father sees you together." "Jealousy." "The green-eyed monster." "Now, wait, Cecile." "You wait." "And let me explain." "Krishnimara, aid me." "Concentration is the secret." "Exhale deeply." "Exhale from the mind." "Exhale from the soul." "Now, then, suppose I tell Elsa." "No, suppose I tell Philippe." "Go away, Albertine." "lt isn't Albertine" "Yoga." "Hindu philosophy." "I wasn't aware that yoga was part of your examination." "All those discussions about your paper on Pascal and how difficult Spinoza was for you." "Cecile, have you actually done any studying at all?" "In the end, it's your own affair if you fail your examinations but it is another matter when you lie to your father and to me." "Why did you lie?" "I really don't understand you at all." "And you never will." "I would like to apologize." "I sometimes forget that you're still a child." "Now, please don't let that word offend you." "It's merely a short way of saying you're still young enough to pattern your behavior after people older than you." "You mean I'm not to blame for behaving like Raymond?" "No, you're not." "Or for being influenced by the way he used to live or the friends he, I hope, won't see very much of from now on." "The Lombards, for instance." "They telephoned from their yacht." "They're taking us to dinner and a club Tuesday." "We have to go." "He's your father's business partner." "I think they're amusing." "They always make me laugh." "There will be risqué stories deliberately in front of you." "Helen Lombard will make sly and bitter jokes about her friends and..." "Henri will confide in Raymond about his new girl, a model while he rubs your knee under the table." "Your knee being younger than mine." "In a few years, the nephew-chauffeur will make off with the car and the latest model will wear Helen's jewelry." "Friends will laugh at them rather than at their jokes." "At least they're having a good time now." "Are they?" "Then why do they drink so much and so often?" "Why are they never alone with each other?" "In the end, their only memories will be of hangovers." "I have another moral. lf you can't accept people as they are, give them up." "Don't try to change them." "Besides, it's usually too late." "Why, you're almost as strong as Rene." "Rene, darling, Rene is Helen's new chauffeur." "And nephew." "On which side?" "On the left side. lt's an American car." "Wicked, but sweet." "Don't you think they're sweet?" "Young love in late fall." "Thank you." "How does little Cecile feel about her father getting married?" "Little Cecile feels like having a great big drink." "Of course." "That's why we're here." "Waiter?" "We were at a party the other night." "Fantastic." "Who's gonna tell this story?" "l am." "Waiter?" "You'll never believe the amount of liquor that was consumed." "Isn't that Elsa Mackenbourg over there?" "She's grown into a beautiful trick." "Who is the boy?" "Her nephew." "Cecile!" "Well, he's young enough." "Everywhere we've been, there they are." "She's flaunting her achievement." "l prefer to rise above it." "lt's all so unimportant, Raymond." "lt's disgraceful." "That boy has a good face." "And he's a good driver." "You're well rid of him." "As a matter of fact, it's indecent." "Anne." "You look particularly lovely tonight." "Thank you." "This is fun." "We ought to go for walks more often." "Those days are over." "Nonsense." "Your days with the Lombards are over." "Putting me out of business?" "I meant socially." "Anne doesn't like them." "She will in time." "No, she won't." "You know Anne." "Why don't you like her?" "l do." "You may like her, but you're always squabbling." "You're a little bit like a mother-in-law." "Mother-in-law will just marry earlier." "That will solve all the problems." "You don't have to go that far." "l exaggerate, and you know it." "But Anne's way of living is better than ours, and I have to face it." "Good, then face it." "It has depth and stability and wholesomeness." "You make it sound like a terrible bore." "lt's the good life." "Come down off the pulpit." "We know that your life with me has not been suitable for your age or mine." "We've never been bored." "We won't be bored." "Anne's not asking us to go into a convent." "l just came out and you couldn't get in." "That's your opinion." "lf you want to make her happy-- -l do." "Then you have to give up our old life." "Don't you think that after a while we can gradually ease into it?" "Don't." "Come on." "That little tramp." "She is." "You threw her out." "She walked out." "You behaved abominably to her." "You enjoy seeing her with Philippe?" "l don't love him." "That's not the point." "What is?" "The point is, it doesn't make any sense." "With a boy." "With a baby." "l found him attractive." "lf l wanted her back" "You couldn't." "No?" "You think I couldn't get her back because he's a few years younger." "What's the enchantment with these woods?" "Anne, how old am I?" "Old enough to marry me next month." "But just barely." "Elsa, what are you done up as?" "You're like an amateur spy." "You could've telephoned instead of sending this." "I didn't want anyone to recognize my voice." ""All's well." "Come." What does it mean?" "lt means your plan worked brilliantly." "Raymond telephoned me last night to say he was madly sorry." "And that he had behaved like an absolute monster cad. it was heaven." "He rumbled a lot of divinely sweet things in that way of his." "You know, quietly in a low, deep voice as if he were suffering." "lt was shivery." "l'm sure." "Then he asked me to meet him after lunch to show I had no hard feelings." "Meet him where?" "He said not to tell." "He meant Philippe, not me." "I don't know." "He doesn't know that you know that" "Where are you supposed to meet him?" "He said not to tell." "Then don't." "But should I go?" "Meet him, don't meet him." "Do whatever you want." "Only don't ask me." "It's getting out of hand. I just wish I were a lot older or a lot younger." "Pig, pig, pig. I ate like a pig." "Sleepy?" "In a way." "No. I have to work." "l have to go meet Lombard." "Lombard?" "Where are you meeting him?" "His yacht's anchored around the point." "Why don't we all go?" "Because I simply must get at those sketches." "l thought you would stop work." "After the wedding." "Today is father and daughter day." "You two go." "Bye." "Can I go with you?" "Darling, no." "You've got to study." "Anne doesn't think Lombard's a good influence." "She suggested I go." "That's very generous of her, but I mustn't take advantage of her generosity." "What a fake." "What an incredible fake." "But I love him." "Don't study too hard, Madame Pascal Spinoza." "It's gone too far." "I must tell her." "I must tell her right away that this is all my doing." "There's no question." "I must tell her." "But how?" "What can I tell her?" "She'll never forgive me." "And she'll have a weapon against me forever." "Where's she going?" "Maybe she wants to join him at the Lombards' yacht." "I can't let her go." "I must stop her." "No." "Maybe I won't stop her." "I'd like to see what she'll do." "No, Raymond, stop that." "Why?" "You're very nervy." "You think you can pick up right where we left off?" "Not at all, you were sunburned then." "I've got a brilliant tan now, haven't I?" "Lovely." "Lovelier than Anne's?" "Much." "But then a young girl's skin is always much lovelier." "You didn't seem to think so a few weeks ago." "Stop punishing me because I had to satisfy my curiosity." "You weren't curious, you were greedy." "And why were you ready to marry her?" "With a woman like Anne, you have to say a thing like that and you know it." "Wait!" "Please stay. lt's my fault." "Please, Cecile, let go." "Anne, we need you." "You don't need anybody." "Either of you." "We do." "No, wait." "Forgive me." "No, you forgive me." "Been trying to write to her." "Where?" "To Paris?" "I suppose that's where she's gone." "What can I say?" ""Dear Anne:" "I'm sorry I went to the wood with Elsa."" "Meaning, "l'm sorry you caught me"?" ""lt meant nothing to me." "That sort of thing never does."" "She'll never understand that." ""Dear Anne:" "A man says silly things to a silly woman."" "Particularly if he's a vain, silly man." "It was bound to happen sooner or later." "If not with Elsa, with somebody else." "I'm a very silly man." "Don't talk that way." "At least I'm aware of it." "We can get her back." "We'll both write, ask her to forgive both of us." "Why both of us?" "You, then." "No, me too. I wasn't very nice to her either." "Where's that pen?" "If we put our silly heads together, we can think of something to say." "Maybe we won't have to write at all." "Hello?" "Yes." "Where?" "May I have that, please?" "She was a friend of ours." "Later they told us that was the seventh accident at that spot since the beginning of summer." "Seven." "My lucky number." "Anyone else would have left my father a note that would have ruined his sleep for the rest of his life." "But Anne gave both of us a magnificently considerate present." "She allowed us to believe her death was an accident." "My father never mentions the word "suicide" to anybody." "Not even to me." "Why don't we have dinner tomorrow?" "There's a new club near the Tremoille." "Yes, I've been." "Fun?" "Great fun." "Well, good night." "I never heard from Philippe again." "I suppose he finished law school." "Elsa, she's living in South America." "And my father and me we still share this apartment our evenings, our friends." "This summer we're going south again for his holiday." "Only this time to the Italian Riviera." ""For a change, " we say to each other." "But we don't say why we want a change, nor do we ask." "We have an unspoken agreement never to mention last summer." "Come in." "You're checking in early." "Denise is a bore." "So soon?" "Well, there's no time limit on bores." "By the way, did you notice Yvonne Marie at that cocktail party?" "Yes." "She didn't look bad at all." "No, I should say not." "Not bad at all." "Will you be taking her south?" "I'll let you know at the end of the week." "If you do perhaps you'd rather I didn't come." "You have to come." "You have to." "Then I'll come." "Besides you need the rest." "You're tired." "Yes. I'm tired." "Good night, darling." "Good night, Raymond." "So here I am, surrounded by my wall of memory." "I try to stop remembering but I can't." "And so often I wonder;" "When he's alone is he remembering too?" "I hope not."