"Go on!" "Get out!" "Out!" "Well, let us see what we can do here." " Melmotte." " Melmotte?" "Mel... motte." "Mel - motte." "Well, what about him?" "Only that he's brought his whole business to London." "Office, family, taken a house in Grosvenor Square." " What is his business?" " Money." "Makes it work for him, makes it sit up and beg like a circus dog." "Wait a minute, I've heard of this man." "Didn't his bank collapse in Vienna?" "I daresay it did, but Melmotte got out scot-free with a cool million." "I've heard the man's a jew, and a swindler and a scoundrel, and I shan't know him." "That's all very well, Longestaffe, but can you afford not to know him?" "I'm damned if I can." "Your five and another ten." "Apparently there's a daughter." "What does she look like?" "Hardly the point, Felix." "She's supposed to be worth a hundred thousand." "I hear it's twice that." "Anyway, don't look at the mantelpiece when you're stoking the fire, what?" "That's caddish, Grendall." "I beg your pardon, Sir Felix." "Come on!" "Are you in or are you out?" "Out." "Out." "I'll see you." "Uh... damn!" "Damn and blast!" "Perhaps you had better go and have a look at Miss Melmotte after all!" "Yes, Very amusing." "Lord!" "What a long face." "Who is it, Hetta?" "It's Mr Wakeham, the wine merchant." "At this hour?" "That's quite beyond the pale!" "Simpson!" "Shh!" "He's going away." "Who is that?" "It's Mr Broune and Mr Alf." "The two cleverest men in London, Hetta, here in my poor little salon." "No, no, Lady Carbury, you're too kind." "Too kind." "Not a bit of it." "Not a bit of it." "Without your great newspapers to tell us, how should we know what to think?" "But will you be kind to my poor little book?" ""Criminal Queens"." ""Cleopatra;" "Mary, Queen of Scots;" "Marie Antoinette;" "powerful women, as the playthings of love"." "Ha, ha." "Good heavens!" "Mr Alf, I quake already in anticipation." "Will you be as cruel to me as you were to poor Mrs Effington Stubbs?" "Will you tell me I'd much better sit at home and darn my stockings?" "I have to speak as I find, Lady Carbury." "Well, no amount of critical severity will make me receive you otherwise than with a smile, but do, I beg you, bear in mind that authorship is my only means of providing for my poor children." "I don't see how it bears on the literary merit of the work, ma'am." "As for your son, I'd have thought he'd be providing for himself by now." "He's not crippled or an imbecile, I take it." "No, no Alf." " Good evening, Lady Carbury." " Good night, Mr Alf." "Be gentle with my literary effort, as gentle as you can be." "Oh, dear." "Just wait a moment, my dear friend." "There's something I'd like to consult you about." "I've received an invitation from someone called Melmotte." "Madame Melmotte of Grosvenor Square is holding a ball." "Who is this person, Mr Broune?" "Should one accept her invitations?" "I understand that all London has been invited, and all London intends to go." "The prince will be there." "Shall you be there, Mr Broune?" "I shall indeed, Lady Carbury." "Then I shall follow your lead." "I value your guidance so much in this perplexing modern world." "Supporting my family single-handedly as I do with nothing but my pen," "I sometimes feel so very alone and unprotected." "You will never be unprotected while I am here, Lady Carbury." "Mr Broune." "Beg your pardon!" "How do you do, Mr Broune?" "Carry on, carry on." "Don't mind me." " Little bit of spooning don't shock me, you know." " Oh, Felix!" "I'll take my leave, Lady Carbury." "I think it's best." "If you think so." "À bientôt. (See you soon)." "Yes." "Yes." "Good night." "Must you, Felix?" "Yes, Hetta, I find I must." "Oh, Felix, I wish you'd leave your tobacco behind when you come in here." "Well, for you, mother." "Dear boy." "I wonder, mother, could you let me have 20 pounds?" "Felix, I can't afford to pay the wine merchant." "I'm not giving you 20 pounds to fritter away at the Beargarden Club." "Who said anything about the Beargarden Club?" "Mother," "I.." "I am about to recover the family fortunes." "Aren't you always telling me I've got to find myself a nice rich girl and marry her?" "Well, I've found one." "Name's Maria Melmotte." "Quarter of a million, guaranteed." "Now, I intend to try for her." "But I'll need a little something... you know, to set up my shopfront, shan't I?" "I can't go round to Grosvenor Square like a beggar, can I?" "Felix..." "Do you really think you can bring this off?" "I'll try, mother, for you... and Hetta." "You are a good, dear boy." " Ah!" " Yes, Hetta, what is it?" "Mother, don't you know he'll go and lose it at cards like all the rest?" "You might as well just throw your money out the window." "Oh, can't a fellow have a game of cards, now?" "I'd be happy for you to play night and day if you won any money at it," "I'd be happy for you to lose if it was your own money, but it isn't." " It's all we have to live on." " Good lord..." "And should you encourage him to be such a shameless fortune hunter?" "Shouldn't marriage have something to do with love, I only ask." "I married for love, Hetta, and watched the man I loved turn into a heartless brute." "If your brother is generous enough, to put his wishes last, so you can have the freedom to please yourself, then I think, you should be grateful rather than otherwise." "Well put, mother." "There's no need to thank me, Hetta." "See you tomorrow morning, then." "Where are you going to at this hour?" "Urgent, unfinished business." "Don't forget we're going to the country tomorrow." "I'm back!" "I'm back!" "New blood at the table!" "Look lively, lads!" "Deal me in." "Count them." "Well, well, well, well." "Would you believe it?" "Lucky at cards, unlucky in love." "Looks like a damn fine, clear, cold day." "Fancy a spot of hunting, Felix?" "oh, god." "Are you sure you're up to it, Longestaffe?" "Three things I can do in any condition, ride, shoot..." "I forgot the other one!" "Anyway, what do you say?" "Sorry, Dolly." "Promised to my cousin today, your neighbor." "A beastly bore, but there we are." "Old Roger Carbury?" "Finest fellow in England." "I won't hear a word said against him." "Heart of oak and so on." " Bit of a dull dog, for all that." " Exactly." "Mind you, there's some pretty scenery thereabouts." "Well, why didn't you shoot?" "Why didn't you?" "Thank you, Bain." "Oh, good lord." "Only just in time." "I'm so glad you could be here when they came." "Here we are." "You made good time." "The great thing about the railways is, they're so reliable." "Lady Carbury, do you know my ward, Paul Montague?" "Mr Montague." "The last time we met you, you were 12 years old and getting into fearful scrapes at school, as I recall." " And my son, Sir Felix." " How do you do?" "My daughter, Hetta." "Hello, Roger." "Miss Carbury." "Mr Montague." "The last time you saw Hetta, she must have been very small." "Do you think she's turned out well?" "Mother." "Yes." "Well, uh, shall we go inside?" "Ah, Carbury, thought I might borrow a mount off you, admire the local scenery." "Yes, certainly, if you wish." "Why, Ruby, what a pleasant surprise." "Surprise, my foot." "I've been waiting and waiting for you." "Roger Carbury is the best man I know." "I owe so much to him." "Well, he could see that Oxford and the bar meant nothing to me." "I wanted a different life," " get into engineering and go west." " Go west?" "Yes." "New York first, then the midwest, then California, Texas, New Mexico." "How I should love that!" "What did you do there?" "Cattle, property, roads and bridges, stringing the telegraph way up into the Sierras." "But railways are still the biggest thing out there, I'm convinced of it." "I've put all my inheritance into a partnership, and we're going to build a railroad right down into Mexico," "from Salt Lake City 2000 miles to Vera Cruz." "And if it weren't for Roger Carbury," "I should probably be cooped up in some poky chambers in the city." "Yes, he is a dear, good man." "Why do you smile?" "I don't know." "Because I'm having a good time, I guess." "Why do you?" "The same, I suppose." "I know she has feelings of...of fondness for me." "Perhaps she's still too young to experience the kind of passionate attachment that I feel myself." "No, Roger, don't think she's too young." "In fact, if I were you," "I'd make my bid, as soon as possible, before anyone else does." "You must take your courage in both hands, my dear friend." "Faint heart never won a fair lady." "Yes." "Yes." "What are you doing in England now if your business is in Mexico?" "We had to meet Melmotte." "Hear he's a great man for raising money." "Melmotte." "Strange that everything should revolve around him." "Shall you be at Madame Melmotte's ball?" "Yes, I..." "I guess so." "Shall you?" "Yes, I shall." "Well, I look forward to seeing you there." "Longestaffe, yes, father and son." "Grendall, yes." "Nidderdales yes." "Ah." "Prime minister's declined." "Well, he'll regret that." "But we've got two cabinet ministers, and a couple of ambassadors." "Here, you make sure you dance with young Nidderdale." "I don't like young Nidderdale, pa." "He's got nothing to say, and he's got a funny neck." "You'll like who I tell you to like." "His father owns half Scotland." "He's land-rich, cash-poor, like all the rest of these dukes and lords." "They'll come cap in hand to Melmotte." "But I won't like him, whatever you say." "Ah, dommage. (What a pity)." "Stupid woman!" "Cannot you get one simple thing right?" "And as for you, you'll do as I say, do you hear?" "And you'll like who I tell you to like, do you hear?" "Not listening." " Do you hear?" " Not listening." "Not listening." "It will be magnificent." "They will come." "They will." "Welcome." "Good evening." "You're very welcome." "Mr Melmotte." "Mr Melmotte." "Enchantez, Madame." " This is my daughter." " Thrilled to meet you, sir." "Thrilled to meet you." "Lovely to meet you." "Oh..." "Oh, no, no." "Really." "Andrew!" "Good evening." "I hardly know a soul." "Very welcome." "Very welcome." "Please." "Good evening." "You're very welcome." "My daughter." "Very welcome." "Miss Carbury." "Mr Montague." "May I request the pleasure of this dance?" "Don't think I know this one." "I'll gladly teach you, if you like." "Round." "One... two... three... round." "You're a very quick study, Mr Montague." "It's easy to learn with such a good teacher." "Very good." "So, tell me, what are the balls like in California and Texas?" "Not quite so formal." "In Texas, they often end in fisticuffs and gunplay." "Lady Carbury, ain't it?" "The well-known authoress, am I right?" "Yes?" "Mr Melmotte!" "You flatter me." "Oh, no, no, no." "Not at all." "I just make it my business to know who's who and what's what, Ma'am." "Very happy to see you here at Grosvenor Square." "Happy indeed." "Shadow on the bedsheet, which looks exactly like..." "These fingers, here, are the teeth, and they go up and down and they chew." "Do you see?" "I can make them open and shut." "That's awfully good." "What a strange creature Marie Melmotte is." "She seems to have plenty of admirers." "Should you like to have so many?" "One that I truly liked, would be quite enough." "Shall we dance again?" "I've already danced with you twice." "Is there a law around here about dancing three times?" "Not that I know of." "Is there in Texas?" "There aren't many laws of any kind in Texas." "Even less in Mexico." "I think I'd like Texas and Mexico." "I think they'd like you." "And Carbury goes into an early lead." "Nidderdale lengthens to 7-to-2." "Grendall 20s." "Longestaffe, nowhere." "Well, good luck to him." "Melmotte won't come up to my governor's price." "She's a queer little thing, ain't she?" "Thought we'd get a little fresh air." "How well you dance." "Do I?" "No one ever told me that before." "No one ever tells me anything." "Anything nice, I mean." "Well..." "let me see." "I'll tell you what you would like best in all the world." "And what is that?" "Someone who liked you best in all the world." "But who would like me best in all the world?" "No one, I think." "Oh, yes." "There is someone." "Don't you know?" "Can't you tell?" "Don't tease me, Sir Felix." "Nobody will ever like me best in all the world." "Oh, but you're wrong." "You're wrong." "I do." "Oh, Felix!" "Felix!" "Lady Carbury." "You... here?" "Why not?" "The evening pulpit goes everywhere." "Oh, look." "Here comes the prince." "What will they do with him, now they've caught him?" "I wouldn't have missed this for anything." "Lady Carbury... may I have the pleasure?" "Would you care to dance?" "I really think I should be going." "Come on, Alfred." "One more hand won't hurt you." "It's "Lord" Alfred, if you don't mind." "Call people by their proper names." "If you want me to make you rich, Alfred, you'll take me as you find me and do what I ask of you." "Now... one more hand?" "Good!" "Here!" "Now... deal the cards, my boy." "There's something wrong with this door, mother." "Shh!" "Roger's in there with Hetta." "Ah!" "Oh." "'Nuff said." "Fat chance." "I've loved you for so long..." "I've watched you change from the loveliest girl into the loveliest woman in the world." "Could you love me as I love you?" "Could you be my wife, the mother of my children?" "I'm so sorry, Roger." "I don't think I could." "You refuse me." "Roger, I do love you." "I always have done it, ever since I was a little girl, but not in the way that you mean." "But that could grow." "I don't think so." "I don't think I could ever love you as you would wish, and it would be wrong for us to marry if I didn't love you in that way." "Perhaps I'm not... one of those girls who ought to marry at all." "At any rate," "I should like to do something with myself, something in the world, before I settle down." "What sort of something?" "Hetta, are you being entirely honest with me?" "Is there someone else who has gained your affections?" "No." "No one has spoken to me of love but you." "Then I can still hope?" "I wish you would not, Roger." "I don't think you understand me." "All I care about in life is bound up in you." " Don't say that!" " Hetta please!" "Hear me out, I beg you, Hetta." "You have to know that only you have the power to make me happy." "And I would move heaven and earth to make you... happy too." "I can wait, so long as there is a shred of hope." "I have proposed to Hetta, and she has refused." "Silly, silly girl." "I'm so sorry." "But she has given me leave to hope." "I shan't give up." "Well, mind you don't." "Now, would you have that word with Felix, as you promised." "Please... please... dear friend." "Very well." "Oh, Carbury. 'Morning." "I was just on my way out, actually." "You can spare ten minutes from your busy life." "Sit down." "Very well, but it won't do any good, you know." "It's all very well, preaching to people who... are good, but nothing will come of preaching to people who ain't good." "Water off a duck's back." "Can't be helped." "It can be helped, and it will." "This can't go on, Felix." "You've wasted all your inheritance, and now you appear to be set upon wasting your mother's." "If you're talking about the 20 pounds I had off her the other evening, that's laid out in a very good cause indeed." "Why don't you just sit down with me and eat a grilled chop like a good fellow?" "Get any luck with Hetta, by the way?" "Never mind that." "I do know that every penny you lay your hands on goes straight into your friends' pockets at the gaming table." "I know very well what I'm doing, thank you." "Yes." "Bringing your mother and sister to beggary." "You know nothing of my affairs." "In fact... in fact..." "I hope to be able to support them both very soon, and in a finer style than they have ever known." "I don't suppose you've heard of Miss Melmotte?" "I've heard of a swindler called Melmotte, who has lately come over from Paris, and is buying his way into society." "Hmm." "Just so and he can buy or sell you or me 100 times over." "Well, I expect, very soon, to be able to announce my engagement to his daughter, with a fortune of half a million, all right?" "All right, is that enough to satisfy you?" "You're a fool, Felix, if you're setting all your hopes on that." "If Melmotte could buy anyone he liked for his daughter, why on earth should he choose you?" "Because she loves me, old boy." "And I am a baronet, after all." "I know, I know." "I know virtue ought to triumph and all that, but that ain't the way the world works." "Sorry." "I enjoyed our chat." "You'll ruin your sister and break your mother's heart." "Ah." "For Miss Melmotte, from Sir Felix Carbury." "I won't come in." "Pressing affairs of business." "Good day to you." "Merde!" "...tomorrow to set up the business side of things." "I'll be overseeing the thing itself the planning, surveying, building the railway." "And you want to get this man Melmotte involved?" "He's the only man in Europe for raising capital, so everyone says." "I don't like what I've heard of him." "People say all sorts of things." "He's a bit coarse, I daresay." "I was at his house last night." "Huge place." "Your cousins were there." "Yes, I know." "What a lovely girl Hetta Carbury is." "Yes, she is." "She's the loveliest girl in England." "There's something I ought to tell you, Paul." "I've..." "I've offered my hand to Hetta Carbury in marriage." "And has she accepted?" "No." "Not as yet, no." "She needs time to get used to the idea." "But everything in life to me depends upon it, Paul." "Oh, god... sorry." "I think I may count on your sympathy." "I wish you'd told me this before, Roger." "Before?" "Why should I have told you before?" "Before what?" "Before you introduced us." "Oh, come on!" "Come on, Paul." "This isn't a joking matter." "I'm not joking, Roger." "You've barely spoken to the girl." "Hetta Carbury is the one and only love of my life." "And she loves me too." "She said so." "She..." "Promise me you will abandon this fancy, Paul." "Anyway, aren't you involved with a woman whom... you told me you wanted to marry just as much only a year ago?" "That's all over." "Oh." "Hardly a model of constancy." "Roger, let's not break our friendship over this." "If Hetta really loves you and wants to marry you," "I shan't..." "I shan't try to interfere." "Anyway, I've got my work cut out with this railway business." "I shall stay out of your way for a while." "Fisker!" "Over here!" "Here's where we break off from the San Francisco line, here at Salt Lake City, and then it is down through Arizona and then New Mexico and all the way through Mexico City, and then out at the gulf at Vera Cruz." "Look at that!" " Now, that is one helluva railway, boy." " And we're really going to build it." "It's you and me, pal." "And look at this." "You see this?" "This is the detailed business plans, forward investment and profit forecasts." "But you don't have to worry about any of that." "You let me deal with that, because that's my department." "I hope you've got the concession from the US Congress." "I'm all set up to open up offices in Mexico City, Vera Cruz." "So, when can I go out there and get some work started?" "Just as soon as we get our finances sewn up here." "All that we have to do now is sell it." ""Melmotte  Company"." "Rather poky premises for the greatest financier in Europe, don't you think?" "These great men have their own way of doing things." "Good morning, gentlemen." "Mr Hamilton K Fisker and Mr Paul Montague, to see Mr Melmotte." "He's expecting you." "The South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway." "Would anyone want to take a train from Salt Lake City to Vera Cruz?" "I wouldn't." "Yes, but there are thousands who would, sir, and we're talking about opening up a whole continent for trade." "Hmm." "That's so." "You have a very nice turn of phrase, Mr Montague, but I'm just a plain man of business." "I like to stick to practical matters." "All right, there, Mr Fisker, how far have you got?" "Well, we've got the concession from congress, in principle." "We're to have the land for free, of course, and we are all set up to float the company in New York, San Francisco," "St. Louis, and Chicago, and I can tell you that... they are going wild." "The price of shares is forecast to go right through the roof as soon as this issue goes public." "Oh, is it?" "So, what do you want me for?" "Ah." "Chairman of the English Board of Directors, I suppose." "Exactly, sir." "And I can assure you that, if you gave yourself up to it heart and soul, Mr Melmotte, it would be the finest thing out." "There would be such a mass of stock." "And the rest of the board?" "Up to you, sir." "Well, we'll get a few names- lords, dukes, baronets... that sort of thing." "That's just about what I thought myself, Mr Melmotte." "This kind of thing... it can only be brought off once in a lifetime, you know." "That's it, sir, exactly." "That's what's so splendid about it." "Or, perhaps one should say, only once in each continent." "That's very good, Mr Montague!" ""Once in each continent"!" "I would say you were just about right." "Eh, Croll?" "All right, gentlemen, I'll look into it." "I won't say any more just now, but... if this thing is properly set up... we could do business together." "What?" " It's no good, Mr Melmotte." " Who says?" " It's too big, too risky." " Hmm." "I know it's a big idea." "It's a beautiful idea." "A railway across half a continent?" "I should say." "But the cost of building it could soak up ten times the value of the capital raised and bankrupt us all!" "It's all a matter of confidence, Croll." "This is the kind of opportunity that happens once in a lifetime, and who better than Melmotte  Company to bring it off?" "I tell you the truth now," "I can't resist it!" "Well, mother," "I'm going to be a director of the Mexican Railway." "Invited by Melmotte himself." "Oh, Felix, what wonderful news!" "Mr Melmotte must think very highly of you." "Ha!" "I can't think why." "Are you sure they haven't made a mistake?" "Why should they have?" "I'm rather good with money and all that sort of thing, you know." "Yes, you're rather good at losing it, aren't you?" "How very amusing..." "And begging for it, and stealing it out of other people's purses." "Yes, I do know that was you." "I shan't stay and listen to this!" "Mother, tell her to stop!" "I hope Mr Melmotte's safe has a stout lock on it!" "Really, Hetta, that was rather unkind." "This new post might be the making of Felix." "Now!" "I think it's time" "I invited Marie Melmotte to call on us." "My lords, gentlemen, this inaugural dinner" "is to celebrate the formation of the English board of directors of the South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway Company." "I'd like to extend our warmest wishes to our American partner, Mr Fisker." "Wish him a safe journey across the Atlantic to New York, where he will be talking up the shares over there." "Up!" "Up!" "Up!" "Those of you who know me will know that I am a man of few words." "All I want to say is... this is going to be" "the biggest thing ever seen on either side of the Atlantic for 50 years!" "We'll be making history, gentlemen, and making money, too." "Ah!" "Bravo!" "To the South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway." "To the South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway." "You're a good fellow, Montague." "We're all damn good fellows." "This is a great thing we're on, you know." "Glad you agree." "Yes, and the great thing about being directors, you know, is that we don't have to do the work." "Money just comes in by itself." "It's wonderful, it's wonderful." "I'm afraid I'll have to do quite a bit of work for my money, actually." "Really?" " Really?" " Yes." "That's a shame, good fellow like you." "You're a good fellow." "Broune:" "I've heard that she used to be a counsel's writer." "She shows great promise." "I have the utmost respect for our hostess, but her book is a bad book." "It is a thoroughly rotten book, and I, for one, refuse to tout it." "See, I have more respect for my readers than that." "But to praise a friend's book, it's just the way of the world." "Everyone understands that." "You seem to think it's the greatest historical work of the age." "Oh, come, come." "I didn't quite say that." "Mr Broune, may I have a word?" "I'll never forget what you've done for me." "Never." "No more than my duty, Lady Carbury." "Much, much more, and I hope you'll learn to know that a woman can really be grateful." "Mr Alf?" "I forgive you, and I'm so glad you feel you can still come here as my friend." "Madame Melmotte." "Your mama's not much of one for talking, is she?" "No, and nobody's much for talking to her, either." "Anyway, she's not my mama." "She's my stepmother." "Papa got rid of my real mama when I was just a little girl." "Got rid of her?" "I say!" "How?" "Don't know." "She was there when we lived in Frankfurt, but we were so poor then, and then we were in New York." "But by the time we were in Paris, he was married to her." "My poor, sweet darling." "I know what you need." "You need someone to take care of you and love you, don't you?" "Yes, I most certainly do." "I'm not sure we should..." "Come on." "Oh, Felix!" "Will you be that someone?" "Will you love me and take care of me?" "Will I?" "Yes, if you want me to." "If it were up to me, but... papa... settles everything." "Lord, haven't I done enough?" "You must make sure of her, Felix." "Now, Madame Melmotte told me they're going down to... the country to stay with the Longestaffes for Whitsun (festival)." "Is that so?" "I didn't think they were that thick." "Lady Pomona won't like it, or Georgiana, the biggest snob in England." "I hope they're not thinking of Adolphus for Marie." "Dolly?" "No, no." "No." "Don't think so." "They say at the club that Melmotte wants to buy one of their old properties," "Pickering Park, and Dolly's not so keen to sell." "It's come to him, you see." "Maybe Melmotte's thinking of throwing in Marie as part of the bargain." "But he mustn't!" "Well, now that you've..." "It's quite distasteful that the poor girl should be used as a bargaining counter in a property sale!" "She has a heart, and she's entrusted it to my only son." "I believe she has." "There's no need to make those faces, Hetta." "We shall be there, too." "We can stay with Roger and get ourselves invited over to Caversham for dinner." "You can ask papa then." "All right." "Oh, Felix, you are becoming quite a treasure." "Dear, dear boy." "I hope you're not expecting me to come as well, mother." "Of course." "Why not?" "It might be awkward for me, and for Roger, too." "That's nonsense." "You've been going there since you were a girl, and if Roger asks you again," "I hope you'll have the good manners to accept." "Really, Hetta, it's most ungrateful of you, and it's not as if you've had other offers, is it?" " No, not as yet, Mother." " Well, then." "Really, you must learn to behave with more consideration, dear." "He's invited the Melmottes?" "All of them?" "So I understand, Georgiana." "But that... foreign woman who can barely speak a word of english, and that strange, monkey-faced creature of a daughter!" "I can understand going to a crush at their house in town when everybody else goes." "One doesn't speak to them, and one needn't see them afterwards." "But to have them in one's own house!" "For how long?" "A week, I believe." "Well, they are very wealthy, you know." "It would be an idea if Adolphus could marry the daughter." "Dolly will never marry anyone." "He'd never take the trouble to ask a girl." "Why..." "I'm sure I don't know what your papa is to do, or how there is never any money for anything." "I don't spend it!" "It really is too bad of papa?" "Oh, my dear Adolphus!" "I didn't think you'd come down." "Pa wouldn't leave me alone till I said I would." "Give him some tea, Georgiana." "I'd sooner have a soda and brandy." "Oh, lord." "Here's the governor." "Now for a row." "Well, Adolphus?" "Have you changed your mind?" "Well no." "Matter of fact, I haven't, pa." "Pickering Park's my inheritance, and I shan't see it sold just to pay debts on Caversham." "It ain't right, and it ain't fair." "Very well, then." "You leave me with no alternative." "My dear, we shall not be going back to London for the rest of the season." "We cannot afford the expense." "But, my dear, our ball is fixed!" "Then it must be unfixed!" "He doesn't mean it." "He can't can he mama?" "I fear, my love, he does." "We must be in London for the rest of the season." "I don't like to be indelicate, but if I'm to be married, I must meet men, and London is the only place where they are to be found." "Do you really want me on your hands for the rest of your life, mother?" "Oh, dear." "Perhaps, after all," "Mr Melmotte will do something for us." "Here you are." "This is so kind of you." "What must you think of me, inviting myself and my children without so much as a by-your-leave." "Only that I am delighted you should like to come again so soon." "You can't imagine how it has raised my spirits." "Hetta?" "'Morning, Roger." "Still here, then?" "There's more to life than Carbury, you know." "You ought to get out a bit more." "All right if I borrow a horse and take it for a bit of canter?" "Perfectly." "Take as long as you like." "Thanks." "I will." "Ahh!" "Ah, Ruby." "You know, I've never done that before, not with anyone, ever." "Well, I should be sorry to hear if you had, Ruby." "And you do love me, don't you?" "Of course I do, more than anything else in the whole world." "You'd better, 'cause there's ever such a lot of men wants to be my sweetheart." "So you better behave yourself." "Well, don't I always?" "I wish you'd come and see me more often." "Yeah." "Oh, you've got such soft skin, ...soft as a little baby." "Oh, I say, Ruby, draw it mild!" "You know what?" "I think I'm going to let you do it again." "I love you that much." "Look here, I'm not at all sure that I can." "Oh, I am." "I'm certain sure." "I haven't been able to arrange much entertainment for you." "My dear cousin, it was to escape the eternal parties that we came down here." "The bishop will be pleased to come and dine tomorrow." "I shall be glad to see the bishop once more." "Eh look!" "This article is about Mr Montague." "Yes, he left it with me when he came." "Could I borrow it?" "Of course, yes, if you wish." "I have asked the Longestaffes for friday, but they won't come." "I daresay they are going to have guests themselves." "Yes, I did know they were to have guests." "The Melmottes are coming to them." "The Melmottes?" "I fancy he wants a little pecuniary assistance, Roger." "Oh he might well indeed." "But I should have thought he would have kept such a man as Mr Melmotte out of his wife's drawing room." "Why should you dislike the Melmottes so much, Roger?" "I tell you I don't dislike them." "Why should I..." "Why should I dislike people I never saw?" "No, but I do dislike those who seek their society simply because they are rich." "Meaning me, I suppose." "Not meaning you." "No." "Of course I don't dislike you, as you very well know." "No, I meant the Longestaffes then." "But I can't say I'm happy to discover that you are come down to the country just because you knew the Melmottes are to be at Caversham." "Not just." "You know how I love to be here." "But I will admit to partly, not for my own sake, I should never run after such a man, but for my poor son." "Felix has spent every penny of his inheritance, as you know." "But he does have other assets." "He's good-looking, he's a baronet, and I must say the girl seems quite in love with him." "So he'll save his bacon by marrying for money." "Well, what is wrong with that?" "It's nothing less than stealing her money." "Oh, Roger, how hard you are!" "Does he feel anything at all for the girl?" "Well, I never..." "It's entirely beside the point, I suppose." "Well..." "I have nothing more to say on the matter." "It's no affair of mine, but when I'm told a girl is in the neighborhood, from such a house as the Caversham and that Felix is coming down here to be near his prey, and that I am asked to be a party to such a thing," "I can only say what I think!" "Felix is welcome here because he is your son and my cousin, but I wish he'd chosen some other place for the work he has in hand." "If you wish it, we will return to London." "I had hoped you'd be glad to see us, perhaps particularly glad to see my Hetta." "Mother!" "But we have offended you, and I think we should leave." "You are very harsh, and it crushes me." "You mustn't leave." "If I've hurt you, I regret it very much." "Let me beg your pardon." "Please, no more about going away." "I shall return to my room." "My head hurts so I can hardly speak." "Shall I come with you?" "No, no." "I shall be well." "Stay with your cousin." "Oh, that was badly done." "No." "You said what you thought, that was all." "A gentleman should never be rough to a lady, and a man should never be rough to his guests." "I hope she will forgive me." "Sir Felix!" "How delightful!" "Lady Pomona." "Madame Melmotte." "Beautiful gardens." "For myself, I don't care much for gardens, but if one is to live in the countryside, this is the sort of place one would like." "Carbury's a very poor place." "For a small place, Carbury is very pleasant and pretty, though it isn't extensive." "No, by jove." "No." "It's as poky as a prison." "You were in prison?" "Hmm?" "No." "No, no." "That was jus..." "Is that your daughter there, madame?" "I must just... ah..." "Miss Longestaffe." "Miss Melmotte." "I'm sure you two would like to be left together." "She doesn't like me." "She doesn't like any of us." "How very imperceptive of her." "I like you very much indeed." "I wonder... am I to believe that?" "Well, of course you are." "Haven't I come all this way just to tell you so?" "And to ask you again, will you accept me?" "Do you really love me well enough, Felix?" "Of course I do." "I'm not good at making pretty speeches and all that, but you know I love you." "Then I will love you, too." "I will, with all my heart." "Ohh, Felix, no one ever kissed me like you do." "I don't know what papa will say, when we tell him." " Think he'll be angry?" " Yes, I expect so." " But you will speak to him, won't you?" " Yes, of course, yes." "Well, there he is." " Who's that chap with him?" " Lord Alfred Grendall." "Oh." "Spends a lot of time with old Grendall, don't he?" "Papa says he can make old Grendall do anything he likes." "He says old Grendall will jump through hoops for him." "Does he?" "Have to be pretty big hoops, what?" "You're so funny." "I do love you so." "Look here, I don't think now is the time to talk to papa, not in the country." "In another man's house, you know." "It's not quite the thing." "I never know what the thing is, but you will speak to him soon, won't you?" "Oh, yes, yes." "Very soon." "Mr Melmotte's given his consent?" "No, not in so many words, no, but it's all settled apart from that." "Oh, Felix." "It's almost too good to be true." "Darling!" "Darling boy!" "Oh, leave off, mother, do." "I ain't quite sure I care about being married and all that, you know." "You will care very much when you have enough money to do anything you like and go anywhere you like." "Well, I suppose you're right." "So you must come with us to the Longestaffes' tomorrow." "If you run away now, it will be an affront to her, and might set Mr Melmotte against you just at a time when you should be laying yourself out to please him." "Oh, bother!" "All right, mother, I'll come." "Dear boy!" "Please, please!" "Please!" "I've had a very tiring day." "There's your inamorata, Felix." "I know, mother." "Why don't you go and talk to the father now?" "Not in front of all these people." "He might cut me out." "Well, if you won't, I shall." "Oh, lord!" " Mr Melmotte." " Lady Carbury." "My lords, ladies and gentlemen, dinner is served." "I hope you like suffolk, Mr Melmotte." "Pretty well." "It's a very nice place for fresh air." "Thinking of getting a place down here myself." "I'd sooner be in London, though." "It's a very nice place, is London." "It is if you have plenty of money, Mr Melmotte." "And if you haven't, it's the best place to get it." "You written any more books?" ""Wicked Women of History", wasn't it?" "How kind of you to remember, Mr Melmotte." "I know a bit about wicked women myself, and girls." "There are books I could write, Lady Carbury, if I had a mind to." "Your son is Sir Felix Carbury, ain't he?" "Sitting over there with my daughter?" "Happy fellow." "He sits on the same board with you, I believe." "I trust he's diligent there." "He don't trouble me much, ma'am." "I don't trouble him much either." "I've told mama." " Did she say anything?" " Yes." "A lot." "She says papa will think you're not rich enough, but I don't care about that." "Talk about something else or people will hear." " Have you been riding?" " Nope." "I don't really know how to ride." " You ride beautifully." " What, on that old screw of Roger's?" "I think you do." " When are you going back to town?" " Tomorrow." "We go on Wednesday." "You will come and see me, won't you?" "Hmm?" "Uh, yes, I expect so." "And you'll go and see my father." "He's in the city every day." "Best to go there." "Right." "You will stick to it, though, Marie, won't you?" "I always stick to things when I've made my mind up." "Papa knows that." "You're a good girl, Marie." "I'll be a very good girl to you." "What a lovely couple they make." "Whatever happens, we shall always be friends." "Yes." "That's what I want, too." "I shan't tell you that I love you again." "You know that already." "I shan't press you to make a sacrifice of yourself." "But I think you may come to love me... unless your heart is already given elsewhere." "What do you mean?" "You seem very interested in my friend, Paul Montague." "Who would not be?" "He has done such extraordinary things, and may do more." "Yes, but... he is rather wild and... just now he's engaged in a risky and possibly a dishonest venture in, what I regard as, very bad company." "You speak this way about your friend, your protégé!" "Yes, because I care very much about his welfare and his happiness, and I care even more about yours." "Then we must hope that your fears are misplaced, mustn't we?" "Here you are, sir." "Would you like anything sent up?" "No." "Thank you." "I won't be staying very long." "Paul." "You came." "You came to me." "I knew you would." "I can't stay very long." "You can't stay long?" "I see." "I don't think we have very much to say to each other." "Not now." "Paul," "I came 3000 miles to see you." "I think you owe me a little more than that."