"A QUEDA DO PODER" " The Magnificent Ambersons " "This way." "Good evening." "Yes, of course." " Yes, directly over here." " All right." "The invitations." " Eugene Morgan is back in town." " Hello, Sam." " Good evening." "Eugene Morgan." " Welcome, sir." "Yes, thanks." "Let's go." "It's Eugene." "Eugene Morgan." "He's a childhood friend of mine." " Remember you very well indeed." " Nice to meet you." "Isabel." "Remember you very well indeed." "Remember you very well indeed." " Isabel." " Eugene!" " Is this your boy?" " Yes." "George, this is..." "Remember you very well indeed." "George, you never saw me before in your life, but... from now on you're going to be seeing a lot of me." "I hope." "I hope so too, Eugene." "Where's Wilbur?" "He's off in the game room with the others." "He never was much for parties." "Remember?" "Yes, I remember." "I will come back for a dance." "Please, do." "Eugene Morgan, Major." " Remember you very well indeed." " Of course... of course!" "I heard you'd come back to town." "Are you thinking of settling down here?" " I plan to, Major." " Hello, Eugene..." "It's good to see you!" "You look terrific!" "Come on, let's go to the game room!" "Remember you very well indeed." "George, you don't remember her either though of course, you will!" "Ms. Morgan is from out of town." "Perhaps you'd like to take her dancing." "You've pretty well done your duty here." "I'd be delighted." "May!" "Who is that?" "I didn't quite catch his name when my mother present him to me." "You mean the queer looking guy?" "I mean the aristocratic guy." "That's my uncle George." "The honorable George Amberson?" "I thought everybody knew him." "It looks as if everyone ought to know him." "It seems to run in your family." "I suppose most people do." "Out in this part of the country specially." "Besides, Uncle George is in Congress." "The family likes to have someone there." "Why?" "Lt'll make it pleasant when the rest of the family wants to go traveling... or things like that." "I myself expect to do a great deal of traveling when I leave college." "I suppose he will be too, when this time goes." "Oh, is this Lucy Morgan?" "Ms. Morgan, Ms. Sheffield... this is my aunt, Ms. Fanny Minafer." "And this is Ms. Johnson, my friend Charlie's mother." "You must favor your mother, dear." "I never knew her." " Hello, Lucy." " Hello, Lucy." " Hello." " Hello, Lucy." " Hello." " Hello, Lucy." "Lucy, can I have the next dance, please?" "Yes, yes." " It's Geoffrey." " Geoffrey." "Lucy, my name is Edward, and I would love to dance with you." "And how about one for Fred Kinney?" " Ok." "Hi, Fred." " Hi." "Give me the next one." "And the one after that." "And give me every third for the rest of the evening." "Are you asking?" "What do you mean "asking"?" "Well, it sounded to me as if you were just telling me... to give you all those dances." "Well, I want them." "What about all those other girls that is your duty to dance with?" "They will have to go without." "Look here..." "I want to know:" "Are you going to give me those?" "Good Gracious." "Yes." " My name is William." " William." " Alfred." " Alfred." " I would love to dance with you." " Right." "And..." "I can't believe that fellow." "He just sweeps in here... and takes that girl right away!" "Eugene, you're so funny!" "How is that for a bit of freshness!" "What was?" "That queer guy waving at me like that." "He meant me." "Oh." "You seem to know too many people." "Papa does." "You know, he used to live here in this town... before I was born." "Where do you live now?" "We don't live anywhere." "What do you mean you don't live anywhere?" "Well, we've lived all over." "Why did you keep moving around for?" "Is your father a promoter?" " No, he is an inventor." " What's he invented?" "Lately, he's been working on a kind of horseless carriage." "Look here, who sent you those flowers you keep making such a fuss over?" "What?" " He did." " Who's he?" " The queer looking guy?" " Him?" "I suppose he is some widower." "Yes, he is a widower." "I ought to have told you before." "He is my father." "Well, that's a horse on me." "If I had known he was your father... of course, I would not have made fun of him." "I am sorry." " Nobody could make fun of him." " Why couldn't they?" "I wouldn't make him funny, it'd only make themselves silly." "Well, I am not going to make myself silly anymore, then." "I don't want to take chances like that with you." "Thank you." ""Damas y caballeros"." "Ladies and gentlemen, directly from New York and Europe... the forbidden dance." "Hello young namesake!" "Life lingers on the languid heels of the dancer!" "She is around here, waiting for me somewhere." "See, who is this fellow Morgan, auntie Fanny was dancing with?" "He is a man with a pretty daughter, Georgie." "It seems you have spent the evening noticing something of the sort." "Never mind!" "What sort of man is he?" "Your question is purely mercenary, I take it." "If you want to know his true worth... before proceeding further with his daughter..." "I can not inform you." "Thou I noticed signs of considerable... prosperity in that becoming dress of hers." "Oh, dry up." "He seems at home here, by the way he is dancing with aunt Fanny." "I am afraid your Aunt Fanny's heart... was stirred by ancient recollections, Georgie." "You mean she was silly on him?" "She wasn't considered singular, He was... he was popular." "Do you take the same passionate interest... in the parents of every girl you dance with?" "Oh, go on!" "I only wanted to know." "Eugene Morgan!" " Wilbur." " I heard that you were in town." "Twenty years!" "Make some difference in the face... but more in behavior!" "My own behavior began to be different about that... long ago, quite suddenly." "I remember." "Well, life is odd enough as we look back." "It will probably be odder still as we look forward." "Tom, I heard you were in the conservatory dancing like an Indian." "I leave that to my boy Fred." "He is competing with young Georgie... for the prettiest girl I have seen here for some time." "Those boys had a row as kids... and there's still a bitter feud between them!" "And between him and others." "Does young George dislike people generally?" "I don't know about "generally"." "But there are a lot of people who'd be glad to express their opinion about him." "What is the matter with him?" "Too much "Amberson", I suppose, for one thing." "And then for another, his mother just worshiped him from the day he was born." "He acts the high tin God, yet this intelligent, high-spirited woman... can't see the truth of it." "What does she see when she looks at him?" "She sees an angel." "If she sees an angel, she's a funnier woman than I thought she was!" "Perhaps." "But that's what she sees." "Mothers see the angel in us because the angel... is there." "What?" "You mean if a son cuts somebody's throat... then the mother can only see that it is possible for a misguided angel... to act like a devil." "And she'd be entirely right about that!" "What you are saying is Isabel is always right!" "No, no." "But in her mind, she always has been!" "Some people might think she was wrong once, you know!" "No." "No, no." " My Lord." " No." "This is like old times starting all over again." "Old times?" "Not a bit!" "When times are gone... they are not old, they're dead!" " There aren't any times but new times!" " Here, here!" " So what are you studying in school?" " College." "At the University, yes, what are you studying there?" "Lots of useless guff!" "So why don't you study some useful guff?" "What d'ya mean, useful?" "Something you would use later, in your business or profession." "I don't expect to go into any business, or profession." " No?" " Certainly not." "Why not?" "Take a look at them." "That's a fine career for a man, isn't it?" "Businessmen, lawyers, politicians..." "I mean, what do they ever get out of life?" "What do they ever know?" "Where do they ever get?" "What do you want to do?" "A yachtsman!" " Come on, come on!" " George!" "Come on!" "Excuse me!" "Excuse me!" "Out of the way!" "Out of the way!" " Thank you." " Will you come again?" "Excuse me." "How lovely your mother is!" "I think she is." "She's the most graceful of women, she dances like a girl of 16." "Most girls of 16 are bum dancers!" "Anyhow, I wouldn't dance with one unless I had to!" "The snow's fine for sleighing." "I'll be by for you tomorrow in a cutter a tad after two..." "Tomorrow I can't possibly go." "If you don't, I'm going to sit outside your gate... and if you try to go out with anybody else, he's going to have to whip me... before he gets to you." " Major, thank you so much." " Eugene." "Thanks so much." "A tremendous party, a pleasure seeing you looking so well." "Thank you." "Are you ready, Lucy?" " Good night, Ms. Minafer." " Good night, Lucy." "I hope we see much more of you!" "You'd better take this scarf Lucy dear..." " Thank you, Ms. Minafer." " You're welcome." "Lucy?" " I'm coming out too!" " Fanny, you'll catch cold!" "Lf we're going to ride in that thing tomorrow I want to make sure it's safe!" " Good night, Isabel." " Good night, Eugene." "Thank you." "Thanks." "Hello!" "Pop..." "Poppa, do you think George is terribly arrogant and domineering?" "Oh, he's still only a boy!" "There's plenty of fine stuff in him." "Can't help but be!" "He's Isabel Amberson's son." "You liked her pretty well once I guess?" "Yes!" "Yeah, I still do." "She's lovely..." "lovely." "I find her..." "What?" "How did she happen to marry Mr. Minafer?" "Oh, Wilbur's all right!" "Lt seems pretty much like squandering, but when you see that dog out... walking with Miss Isabel, it seems worth the money." "I don't know as I know how to put this... but she's kind of a delightful looking young lady." "Eugene!" " Come on over here, Eugene!" " Come on, Eugene!" "Hey, give it back!" "Eugene!" "Give it back!" "A poem." "I am of old and young, of the foolish... as much as the wise..." "Regardless of others, ever regardful of others." "I can't..." "Eugene!" "The band is going to sound better now!" "My hearing's going to be..." "Is Miss Amberson at home?" "No, Mr. Morgan, Miss." "Amberson is not at home." "Thank you, Sam." "Dear Isabel..." "You seem to care a great deal about double bass's." "I promise never to break another." "No sir, Miss Amberson's not at home to you Mr. Morgan." " Thanks, Sam." " Mr. Morgan... this time she really is out, with Mr. Wilbur Minafer." "Yesterday they were row boating." "Thanks, Sam." "Getting married, getting married!" "Isabel!" "Good." "Push harder, push harder!" "Yes, yes, very good!" "Now, that is it." "Good." "Push." "Push!" "Very good!" "Gentlemen, please!" "Mrs. Minafer will not be able to have any more children." "I'm sorry." "Good day!" "Giddy up, giddy up!" "Move out!" "Come on!" "Get out of my way, get out!" "By golly!" "I guess you think you own this town!" "I will, when I grow up." "I guess my grandpa owns it now, you bet!" "I'll pull off your vest!" "Don't have to!" "Doctor says it ain't healthy." "But I'll tell you what I'll do!" "I'll pull down my vest if you'll wipe off your chin." "Well!" "I'd like to know if young George Minafer isn't spoiled enough... for a whole cartload of children." "Look, it's the girlie curls!" "Get out of my way!" "Say bub!" "Why d'ya steal your mother's old sash?" "Your sister stole it for me." "Stole it off her own clothesline and gave it to me." "I haven't got any sister!" "I know you haven't at home." "I mean the one that's in jail." "I dare you to get out of that cart!" "I'll get him, don't worry!" " I dare you to come over here!" " Yeah?" "I dare you, half way her" "Here I come!" "Take that, Fred Kinney." "Boy!" "Boy!" "Here boy!" "Now that will be enough of that!" "You will..." "You stop that!" "You..." "I guess you don't know who I am?" "Yes, I do know... and you're a disgrace to your mother!" "You shut up about my mother!" "She ought to be ashamed." "A woman who'll let a bad boy like you..." "Pull down your vest you old billy goat you!" "Pull down your vest, wipe off your chin... and go to hell!" ""Pull down your vest... wipe off your chin, and go to hell"." " Did you say what he said you did, dear?" " Which one?" " Did you tell him to go to..." " Listen here, mom..." "Grandpa wouldn't wipe his shoe on that old storyteller, would he?" " Georgie, don't!" " I mean... none of the Ambersons would have anything to do with him, would they?" "Come here." "That's not what we're talking about!" "I bet if he wanted to see any of us... he'd have to go round to the side door." "George..." " Please, Major." " No!" "Yes, he would, Mom!" "That kind of people, I don't see why we can't say anything we want to them." "No Georgie, those were terrible words that you used!" " But he's just riffraff!" " You mustn't say so!" "Just promise me you'll never say bad words!" " I promise." " All right." "Go!" "Unless I get mad at somebody..." " Careful!" " Slow down!" "Slow down, boy!" " Got any sense?" " Watch it now!" "See here, bub!" "Does your mother know you're out!" "Pull down your pants, you would be dude!" "Raining in dear old money!" "Get off the earth!" "Welcome, friends of the Ace!" "Welcome, friends of the Ace!" "Take your seat in the secret square." "We will now proceed to..." "Look here, Charlie Johnson!" "What's Fred Kinney doing in the President's chair?" "Didn't you all agree I was to be President just the same... even if I was away at school?" "All friends of the Ace will take their seats!" "I'm president of the F O T A now, George Minafer." " This meeting will now proceed to..." " No, it won't." "You put down that gavel!" "Lt belongs to my grandfather!" " I was legally elected here!" " All right... you're President:" "Now we'll hold another election!" "We will not!" "We'll have our regular meeting, and then we'll play Yuker." "And Nick in the corner." "That's what we're here for!" "Who's the founder of the F O T A, if you please?" "Who got the Janitor to let us have most of this furniture?" "Do you suppose you could keep this clubroom a minute... if I told my grandpa I didn't want it for a Literary Club any more?" "I'd like to say a word about how the new members have been acting too." "That's what you want?" "You can have it!" "All in favor of having a new election say "l"" ""l"." "All in favor of me being President instead of..." "Fred Kinney..." " say "l"." " "L"." "The "Is" have it." "I resign!" "Old redhead Fred will be back around next week." "He'll be around bootlicking to get us to take him back in again!" "Now I don't suppose there's any more business before the meeting?" "Anybody who's game for a little quarter limit poker... or any limit, as they say..." "I'd like to have them sit at the President's card table." "Your face looks like... it looks like a snowflake on a lump of coal." "Perhaps you'd better look at the reins!" "'Cos there's too much pink in your cheeks for a snow-flake." "We're going pretty fast, Mr. Minafer." "Well, you see, I'm only here for two weeks..." "I mean the sleigh!" "I suppose your father thinks he can build a horseless carriage... that can go that fast!" "Lt can go that fast already sometimes." "All of this land, 200 acres of it, my grandfather developed." "He built the streets, set up statues and fountains." "It's called the Amberson Addition." "And that there is Amberson Boulevard." "It must be from the soot." "Somebody ought to see that these statues are kept clean." "There are so many houses around here!" "My grandfather sold most of the lots, there aren't any vacant ones left." "And there used to be heaps when I was a boy." "Many people built houses, and then the price of the land kept getting higher... and, people sold part of their yards and the people who bought 'em built houses." "The way it used to be... it was like a gentleman's country state." "That's the way my grandpa will keep it." "These people do anything they want to!" "But how can you stop them, if you sold them the land, it's theirs, isn't it?" "He ought to have all the trades-people boycott them!" "All he'd have to do is say they wouldn't get any more orders from the family." "The family?" "The Ambersons." "I see." "What are you laughing at now?" "You always seem to have some little secret of your own to get happy over!" "Always?" "What a big word when we only met last night!" "That's another case of it!" "One of the reasons I don't like you... much... is that you've got this way of seeming quietly superior to everybody else." "I have?" "Oh, you think you keep it, sort of confidential to yourself!" "I don't believe in that kind of thing." " You don't?" " No." "I believe the world is like this..." "There are a few people where their birth and position puts them at the top... and they are to treat each other entirely as equals." "I wouldn't speak like this with everybody." "You mean, you are confiding your deepest creed to me?" "Go on, make fun of it then!" "Well, if you don't like my seeming quietly superior... from now on I'll be noisily superior." "We aim to please." "I had a notion before I came to get you today that we were going to quarrel." "No, we won't!" "Lt takes two!" "Go on!" "When we get this far out, we can see the smoke hanging over the town." "Poppa says it used to be nicer here when he lived here." "From the way he talks, you'd think that life here then was just... one long mid-summer serenade." "There always seemed to be gold dust in the air!" "I think the gold dust he thinks was here was just being young that he remembers!" "Still, it is pretty pleasant to be young, isn't it!" "I wonder if we really do enjoy it as much as when we look back and..." "You're a funny girl." "But your voice sounds pretty nice when you think and talk along like that." "Hey!" "Look at that old sewing machine!" "Hey, that's father's car!" "And there's your mother, Miss Minafer, and Mr. Amberson!" "Go on!" "Get on!" "Get a horse, get a horse!" "Look out!" "There's a ditch on the right!" "Georgie!" "Lucy!" "Lucy!" "They're all right!" "The snow's like a feather bed." "There's nothing the matter with them at all!" "George!" " Lucy!" " Georgie!" "Georgie!" "Lucy!" "Lucy, dear, are you all right?" " Don't make a fuss Mother!" " Let me see you!" "When you fell like..." " Let me get the snow off you!" " No!" "Leave me alone, Mother!" "All right, you mustn't catch cold!" "Mother..." " I was worried you had broken your neck!" " Stop it." "Stop it!" "That darn horse!" "I wouldn't bother about the horse!" "He'll be home a long time before we are!" "All we've got to depend on is Eugene's broken down chafing dish yonder." "Here we go!" "All aboard!" " Stop doing this..." " Come on, Mom, get in..." " You will catch a cold!" " Just get in the car!" "I walk along with a pot of gold And an independent wealth" "And you can hear the girls declare He must be a millionaire" "He was very sad And he wished to die" "And to see in a blink of an eye" "The man who wrote the card" "He was very sad And he wished to die" "And to see in a blink of an eye" "The man who wrote the card" "Look here..." "How about this man Morgan and his old sewing machine?" "Doesn't he want to get grandfather to put some money into it?" "Isn't that what he's up to?" "I bet he borrows money from Uncle George!" "He strikes me as that sort of a man!" "He was a fairly wild young fellow 20 years ago." "He was a lot like you, Georgie." "He spent too much money... only he didn't have a mom, to get money out of her grandfather to help him... so he was usually in debt." "But, I believe he's done fairly well of late years... so I doubt he needs anybody's money to back his horseless carriage." "What's he got her here for then?" "People who own elephants don't take their elephants when they go visiting." " What has he got it here for?" " I am sure, I don't know." "Why don't you ask him?" "While strolling through The park one day" "In the merry month of May" "I was taken by surprise By a pair of roguish eyes" "In a moment my poor heart Was stolen away..." "They seem to be getting along a lot better than they did at first... those two children." "They seemed to always be having little quarrels of some sort at first." "At least Georgie did, always being cross with her over nothing." "Cross with her?" "My Georgie?" "Why I have never seen a more angelically... amiable disposition in my life!" "That's all the side of him you happen to see!" "I immediately raised my hat" "And finally she remarked" "I never shall forget That lovely afternoon" "I met her at the fountain In the park" " Would you join me in a drink, Eugene?" " Oh, no, thank you, Major." "Oh, that's right!" "You don't!" "Not since a certain run-in with a double bass!" "Well, hardly anybody drinks nowadays..." "Almost." " Perhaps it's just as well..." " Thank you!" "Things used to be livelier." "The fact is... if you hadn't broken that double bass..." "Isabel would never have taken Wilbur." "That may be the only reason Wilbur got her!" "By Jove!" "I think she's blushing!" "Who wouldn't?" "Well, the important thing is, that Wilbur did get her." "And he not only got her, he kept her!" "There's another important thing!" "Well, that is for me!" "Lt's the only thing that makes me forgive that double bass... for getting in my way." "What is it?" "Lucy." "To Lucy!" "For heaven's sake!" "What's the matter?" "You're going away." "Well, I'll be back, don't you suppose?" "I never could bear to see you go, that's most of it." "I'm a bit worried about your father as well." "Why?" "Lt seems to me that he looks badly." "Everybody says so!" "Nonsense!" "He is not much different from the way he's looked all his life." "I can tell!" "He's been worried about his investments, and I that worry affected his health." "What investments?" "He hasn't gone into Mr. Morgan's automobile concern, has he?" "About three years ago... he and your Uncle George put almost everything they could get together... into some stocks of some rolling mills." "And those mills haven't been doing well." "What of that?" "You and I will look after him." "We'll build him a little stone bank out the back... and every morning he can put pennies in it... and we'll keep him as happy as he's ever been!" "I look out on the campus from my many paned window... and things are different with me from the way they were back in freshman year." "I can see now how boyish I was in many ways back then." "I believe what has changed me as much as anything was my visit home... and meeting you." "And so I sit here with my faithful briar... and dream all dreams over as it were." "Dreaming of the waltzes we waltzed together... and of the last night before we parted." "And the good news you were going to give to me there." "And that I would find my friend waiting for me... when I got home next summer." "That telegram came this morning!" "Not bad news?" "My father!" "As you see, I've got to go home!" "Yonder is where I room when I was here." "I don't know whether George would allow my admirers... place a tablet to mark the spot, or not." "He thinks he owns all of these buildings now, you know!" "Didn't you!" "When you were here?" "Like Uncle, like nephew!" "I wonder if I was like that?" "Oh, look at the swell!" "You don't suppose every Amberson has to go through it, do you?" "At least half of it is the combination of youth and good looks and college." "And even the noblest Ambersons get over their nobility... and come to be people in time." "It takes more than time, though." "You should say it did take more than time!" "Lt's charming, isn't it?" "They're so eager and confident, all these boys." "It's touching." "Of course, youth doesn't know that it's touching!" "Do you know what I think whenever I see all these smooth, triumphal young faces?" "I always think: "Oh, how you're going to catch it!"" "Oh, George!" "Yes, life is most ingenious..." "It has a special walloping for every mother's son of them!" "Well... maybe some of the mothers can take the walloping for them!" "Not any more than she can take on her own face the lines... that are bound to come on her sons." "Well, maybe times will change and nobody will have to wear lines!" "Times have changed like that for only one person that I know." "The serenest brow is the one that believes the most." "In what?" "In everything." "I believe." "I believe I do." "Isabel, you're a foolish person!" "There are times when you look exactly like 14 years old." "Gracious!" "What'll your crowd be doing after graduation?" "Don't you think that being things is rather better than doing things?" "Rather better?" "What are these things that are so superior and beautiful to be?" "Family and all that." "Being a gentleman, I suppose." "Where have the children got to?" "Yes, where is the exact proprietor of the universe?" "Well, it's never becoming for your mother to look pale." " What did you say, Aunt Fanny?" " Nothing." "I suppose your mother's been pretty gay, going out a lot." "How could she?" "I mean, in mourning all she could do was just sit around and look on." "That's all Lucy Morgan could do either for the matter of that." "I suppose so." "How did Lucy get home?" "Well, she came on the train with us, of course." "I didn't mean that!" "I meant from the station!" "She drove home with her father of course." "Oh, I see, so..." "Eugene came to the station to meet you?" "To meet us?" "How could he?" "I don't know what you mean." "I haven't seen him while your mother's been away." "Naturally." "He's been East himself." "Did you see him?" "Well, naturally, since he made the trip home with us." "He did?" "He's been with you the whole time?" "No." "Only on the train and the three days before we left." "Uncle George got him to come." "You're a fine housekeeper." "You know how to make things look dainty as well as taste the right way." " I shouldn't be a bit surprised if..." " It's real odd..." "What is odd?" "Your mother not mentioning that Mr. Morgan had been with you." "Didn't think of it, I suppose." "I'll tell you something in confidence..." "What?" "Lt struck me that Mr. Morgan was looking pretty absent-minded most of the time..." "I shouldn't be surprised if all the young fellow was waiting for... was to know that he had an assured income before he proposed." "What young fellow?" "This young fellow Morgan." "I shouldn't be a bit surprised to have him to request an interview with me... and ask my permission to pay his addresses to you." "Good heavens!" "I was only teasing!" "Let me alone!" "Please, Aunt Fanny!" "Please!" "I said:" "Let me alone!" "I didn't mean it!" "How can you eat?" "In the name of God!" "What does grandfather mean by doing such things!" "My private opinion is:" "He desires to increase his income... by building these houses to rent." "In the name of God!" "Couldn't he find any other way of increasing his income... other than building them in the front yard?" "In the name of God..." "it would appear he couldn't!" "Lt's beastly!" "Lt's a damned degradation!" "Lt's a crime!" "Your mother said not to tell you until we got home... so as not to spoil commencement." " She rather feared you'd be upset." " Upset?" " I should think so!" " Your mother knows you rather well." "And your mother was right!" "She is right!" "Oh, be careful!" "Heavens, oh, my!" "My, it's noisy!" "All this noise seems to be good for you!" "Perhaps you ought to tour a factory every time you get the blues!" "She doesn't get the blues, George!" "I've never seen a person with a more even disposition in my life!" "I wish I could be like that!" "Eugene!" "Eugene!" "Lt makes us all so happy." "Dear old Eugene!" "Fanny, take his hand." "There." "Now if George was here, Eugene would have 3 of his oldest and best friends... congratulating him all at once." "It's just beautiful, Eugene." " Did you like it?" " Of course I did." "You know, I used to write verse, if you remember..." "Yes, I remember." "I don't recall that I have written any for 20 years or so... but I'm almost thinking that I could do it again... just to thank you... for making a factory visit such a... such a kind celebration." "Goodness!" "Aren't they sentimental!" "People that age always are!" "They get sentimental over anything at all!" " I quite enjoyed part of that tour!" " The assembly of the engine?" "No." " You whispering to me!" " Blarney!" " No, don't." " Don't?" "I know when you let us drift like this it's to give all of your attention... to proposing to me again." "Lucy." "Dear, what is the matter?" "You look as if you are going to cry!" "You always do that whenever I get to talk to you about marrying me." "Everything is just so... unsettled." "If you aren't the queerest girl!" "What is unsettled?" "Well, for one thing, you haven't settled on anything to do." "At least, if you have, you've never spoken to me about it." "You really don't mean to have any regular business or profession at all?" "I certainly do not!" "I was afraid so." "So that's it, is it?" "Lt's your father's idea that I ought to go into business... and that you oughtn't to be engaged to me until I do." "No!" "No, I've never once spoken to him about it." "Never." "But you know without even talking to him that that's what he feels about it." "Yes." "Lucy." "Don't you know that I love you!" "Yes, I do." "Don't you love me?" "Yes, I do." "Let me tell my mother when I get home that we're really engaged." " No." "No." " Because of your father!" " Because it's better!" " Isn't it your father?" "Lt's his ideals I'm thinking of." "Yes." "I know what you mean." "But I daresay I don't care for your father's ideals... any more than he does for mine." "It's so nice of you to always dress for the evenings, Georgie." "Uncle George used to, and so did father, but they stopped a long time ago." "There are a great many more automobiles than there used to be." "Eugene is right about that." "Why?" "I've begun to agree with George... about them being more of a fad than anything else, like roller skates." "They're probably a mistake." "I don't believe we'll see so many next summer as we do right now." "Besides, people won't permit the automobiles to be used." "You can see how they spoil the bikes..." "People seem to hate them." "I should be sorry to see such a thing happen to Eugene." "I shouldn't be surprised if there was a law... forbidding the sale of automobiles." "Just the way there is with..." "Summer's dying." "How quickly it goes once it starts to die." "Isn't it queer how your mother can use such words?" "What words you talking about?" "Words like..."die and dying"." "I don't see how she can bear to use them so soon after your poor father..." " It seems you are using them yourself!" " I?" "Never!" " Yes, you did." " When?" "Just this minute." "You mean when I repeated what she said?" "That's hardly the same thing, George!" "I don't think you'll convince anybody that my mother's unfeeling!" "I'm not trying to convince anybody of anything!" "I mean, that merely in my opinion... well, perhaps it's just as wise for me... to keep my opinion to myself." "There's just one thing I hope." "I hope at least she doesn't leave off her full mourning... on the very anniversary of Wilbur's death!" "Beautiful!" "Of course you are." "Riffraff." " Who is going?" " Not I." "Summer's gone and I've hardly seen Lucy!" " I've missed my best girl." " We all do!" "Well, Lucy's spending some time with a school friend, Major." "Eugene, I hear someone's opened another automobile shop... somewhere in the suburbs." "I imagine they will either drive you out of business... or else the two of you will drive all the rest of us off the streets." "Well, if we do, we'll even things up... by making the streets five times as long as they're now." "And how do you propose to do that?" "Well, it isn't the distance from the centre of a town that counts... it's the time it takes to get there." "This town's already spreading... and automobiles are going to carry city streets clear out to the county line." "Dream on fair son!" "But if people are going to be moving out that far... the real estate values in the old part of town will be stretched pretty thin." "So, you and your automobiles will ruin all your old friends, Eugene." "Do you really think that they're going to change the face of the land?" "Oh, they're already doing it, Major... and it can't be stopped." "Automobiles..." "Automobiles are a useless nuisance." "What did you say, Georgie?" "I said, "all automobiles are a nuisance"." "They are never going to amount to anything more than a nuisance... and they had no business being invented." "Of course you forget that Mr. Morgan makes them... and also did his share in inventing them." "If you weren't so thoughtless, he might think you rather offensive." "That would be too bad!" "I don't think I could survive it." "Well, I'm not sure he's wrong, about automobiles." "For all their speed forward, they may be a step backward for civilization." "Maybe they won't add to the beauty of the world, to the light of men's souls." "I am not sure." "But automobiles have come... and almost all outward things are going to be different... because of what they bring." "They are going to alter war and, they are going to alter peace." "And I think men's minds are going to be changed in subtle ways... because of the automobile." "But you can't have the immense outward changes that they will cause... without some inward ones, and it may be... that George is right... and that the spiritual alteration will be bad for us." "Perhaps 10 or 20 years from now... if we can see the inward change in men by that time..." "I shouldn't be able to defend the gas engine, I'd have to agree with him... that automobiles... had no business being invented." "Well, Major, I hope you'll excuse me." "I have a prior engagement and... much as I prefer to linger." "I'll bid you all a good evening." "Good evening." " Good night." " Good night." "Georgie dear, what did you mean?" " Just what I said..." " Well, he was hurt." "I don't why he should be." "I didn't say anything about him." "Anyway, he didn't seem hurt to me." "He seemed perfectly cheerful." " What makes you think that he was hurt?" " Because I know him." "You didn't mean him, you say, Georgie?" "By Jove, but you're puzzlement!" "In what way, may I ask, sir?" "Well, thank you." "It certainly is a new way to court a pretty girl!" "For a fellow to go out of his way to try to make an enemy of her father... by attacking his business." "That's a novel way to win a woman!" "Eugene would never be anyone's enemy." "He just couldn't." "Last of all, Georgie's." "Well... it certainly wasn't a successful dinner!" "I've come to say good night." "Good night." "You needn't look so worried, old lady." "I won't be tactless with Morgan anymore." "After this, I'm just going to stay out of his way." "Darling, tell me something." "Why don't you like Eugene?" "I've had the feeling from the very first that you never liked him... and now I know that feeling's right." "That seems so queer to me... given how you feel about his daughter!" "How do I feel about his daughter?" "You've certainly never looked at another girl since Lucy Morgan came to town!" "And surely, you've been best friends." "What of it?" "Lt's like what was said by your grandfather." "I can't see how you can feel so interested in a girl and not be... pleasantly disposed to her father." "Well, I admit." "There may be something in what you say, but... the truth is, up until recently, I've only ever thought of Lucy as Lucy... and Morgan as Morgan." "I've never really thought of her as somebody's daughter." "Probably you've got plenty of friends that don't much care for your son!" "Not at all!" "And if I knew anyone felt like that, I would..." "There, there Mother!" "I really want to go to bed, Mother." "Good night." "But George... you would like him if you just let yourself." "Let's not talk of it any more." "Good night, old lady." "Good night." "Why... hello, George!" "How do you do?" "I..." "I trust..." "I trust you had a pleasant time." "I hope you are extremely..." "I beg your pardon?" "Nothing of the slightest importance!" "Good afternoon." "Riffraff!" "Riffraff!" "Riffraff!" "Riffraff!" "George!" "George!" "Now what on earth do you want?" "Oh, for the Lord's sake!" "What in the world is wrong with you?" "I don't think I can stand it!" "You wouldn't treat anybody in the world this way, except for old Fanny." ""Old Fanny," you say..." ""lt's nobody but old Fanny... so I'll kick her." "Nobody will resent it!"" "And you're right!" "I haven't got anybody or anything... in the whole world since my brother died." "Nobody!" "Nothing!" " Nothing!" " My Lord!" "I would never, never..." "in the whole world have told you... had I seen that somebody else had told you, that you'd found out by yourself." "Somebody else had told me what?" "I'd found out what for myself?" "How people are talking about your mother!" " What did you say?" " Of course..." "I understood what you were doing." "It puzzled other people at first... when you began to be rude to Eugene." "They couldn't understand how you could behave in such a way... when you were so interested in Lucy, but I knew... you'd give Lucy up fast if it became a question of your mother's reputation." "Because you said that reputation is the most important thing!" " What are you talking about?" " Everybody knows it!" "Everybody in town knows... that your mother has never cared for any other man in her life except Eugene." "Poor Wilbur... he was the only man alive that didn't know it!" "You say that they believe that my mother is in love with that man!" " Of course!" " Just because he came over here?" "And they went out driving?" "That they think that she was in love with him, before my father died?" "Why George... don't you know that's what they say?" "You must know... that everybody in this town says that they are going to be married very soon!" "God knows I'm sorry for you George." "I wanted to say so... but I'm only poor old lonely Aunt Fanny so whatever she says... even if it's in sympathy, pick on her for it." "It's only poor old lonely Aunt Fanny." "Someone must have told you!" " Who told you?" " What?" "Who told you there was talk?" "Where is this talk?" "Where does it come from?" "Who does it?" "Sorry..." "I suppose pretty much everybody!" " Who said so?" " I... heard." "Where did you get hold of it?" "Answer me!" "I hardly think it would be fair to give names." "One of your most intimate friends is that mother of Charlie Johnson's..." " has she ever mentioned it to you?" " She may have intimated..." "I said... has she ever talked about it with you?" "She's a very lovely discreet woman, George... but she may have int..." "I saw two talking about it on the street." " Do you deny it?" " I..." "Do you deny it?" "No." "What are you going to do, George?" "George?" "George!" "What are you going to do?" "George!" "I didn't... where are you going?" "Mr. Amberson!" "I mean, Mr. Minafer." "I'm really delighted!" "Mrs. Johnson!" "I've come to ask you a few questions." "Why certainly..." "anything I can do to help..." "You were talking with my Aunt Fanny about my mother this afternoon?" "Lf we were discussing your mother, it must have been a pleasant conversation." "I don't intend to waste time, Mrs. Johnson." "You were talking..." "You were discussing a scandal that involved my mother's name." "Mr. Minafer!" "My Aunt said that you repeated the scandal to her!" "I don't think your Aunt could have said that." "We may have discussed matters that have been topics of conversation around town." "Yes!" "I think you may have!" "That's why I'm here and that's what I intend to find out!" "Don't tell me what you intend, please!" "And I would prefer that you keep your voice not quite so loud in this house... which I happen to own." "Now... if I discussed this matter with your Aunt... you can make sure that it was in the most charitable spirit... and without sharing people's disposition to put an evil connotation to it." "Other people!" "That's what I'd like to know about... these other people!" "I beg your pardon!" "You say that other people talk about this?" " Well, I presume they do." " How many?" " What?" " How many other people talk about it?" "Really, this is not a courtroom and I am not a defendant in a lawsuit." "You may be." "I intend to know just who dared to say these things... even if I have to force my way into every house in this town." "I'm going to make them take every word of it back." "I intend to find out the name of every slanderer who spoke of this to you." "I mean to know!" "You'll know something pretty quick!" "You'll know you are out on the street." "Now please to leave my house!" "Now you have done it!" "What do you mean?" "What have I done that wasn't honorable and right?" "Do you think these riffraff can go around bandying my mother's name?" "They can now!" "What do you mean by that?" "Gossip is never fatal, Georgie, until it is denied." "Gossip almost never does any harm... until some defender makes a controversy." "See here!" "I didn't come to listen to philosophies." "You asked me what you have done, and I'm telling you." "People who have repeated a slander either... get ashamed or forget about it." "Challenge them... and in self-defense they believe everything they've said." "What do you think I've been doing?" "Nothing helpful!" "The more you do, the more harm you'll do." "Didn't you understand me when I told you... that these people say that my mother means to marry this man?" "I don't see anything precisely monstrous... about two people getting married when they are free and care about each other!" "What's the matter with them marrying?" "Lt would be monstrous!" "Don't be so theatrical!" "Come back here!" "George, you mustn't speak to your mother about this." "Get out of my way!" "And I tried on this ridiculous dress..." "You should've seen it, it didn't fit me." "It was so funny." "I laughed for hours." "Here you go, sir." " You should've seen the shopkeeper..." " So, what are you going to do?" "I don't know, but I'll think of something..." "Can I get you anything else?" " We want another couple of beers." " All right." "Beers." "One..." " two." " Now, eight." "Turn, turn." "One, two." "Ok." "One, two, three, and..." " Turn." " One, two..." "Heavens!" "Oh, I'm sorry!" "Yes?" "Oh, it's you." "Oh, indeed I should!" "Of course!" "Then I'll expect you around noon." "Yes!" "All right!" "I'll see you then." "Good-bye, Eugene." "You needn't mind, Mary!" "I'll see who it is and what they want." " Probably it's only a peddler!" " Thank you, sir, Mr. George!" "How do you do, George!" "Mrs. Minafer expects to go driving with me, I believe, so..." "Would you be kind to sand her the word I'm here?" "No." "I beg your pardon?" " I said she's, she..." " I heard you." "You said you had an engagement with my mother, and I told you no!" "What is the... the difficulty?" "My mother will have no interest in knowing that you came for her today." "Or any other day." "I am afraid I do not understand you!" "I doubt that I could make it much plainer, but I'll try!" "You are not welcome in this house, Mr. Morgan." "Not now, or at any other time." "Perhaps you'll understand this!" "Georgie!" "Dear, I waited lunch almost an hour for you, but you didn't come!" "Did you lunch out somewhere?" "Yes." " Did you have plenty to eat?" " Yes." "Are you sure?" "Wouldn't you like Maggie to get you something from the dining room?" "They can bring it to you here if you think it would be cozier." "No." "Gracious, Georgie, you have been investing!" "That was very nice of you, Georgie." "I ought to have had it framed myself when I gave it to you." "Isabel?" "I'm sorry to disturb you... but I have got to speak to you... upstairs!" "I don't mean to be mysterious." "But, recent events compel me... to have to speak to you about a very, very serious matter." "I can guess what that was about!" "He's just told her what you did to Eugene!" " You go on back to your room!" " You're not going in there!" "George!" "George!" "You get away from that door!" "George!" "You listen to me!" " Let go of me, you!" " Come here." "Here, look..." "We are going upstairs... you are going to go up those stairs and leave them alone for a change." " This is ridiculous!" " Ridiculous is squabbling at that door." "You sit down and you hush up!" "There." "I thought you knew about everything!" "Lf I even dreamed you'd go out making a big tragedy of it all..." "Look here!" "Lt seems to me you've been taking a pretty different tack." "I know!" "They haven't done anybody any harm." "Isabel was really a good wife to Wilbur and she was always true to him." "I'm not doing myself a bit of good... going around and ruining them..." "I suppose you think I'm doing that." "Yes!" "Yes I do!" "On the contrary!" "I'm trying to save my mother from a great calamity!" "I think there is something you ought to know, George." "I'd leave your mother alone, if I were you." "I don't think she is very well." "It's nothing!" "Lt's nothing at all!" "Well, she's trying to keep it from you, but she goes to a doctor regularly." "You stay here!" "You stay here and let them alone." "Don't go down." "Let her alone." "One thing you can never doubt, beloved boy..." "I could never care for anything in the world as I care for you." "Never!" " Never." " I know..." "No matter what happens." "I want you to read this." "Dearest one, yesterday I thought the time had come... when I could ask you to marry me, and you were dear enough to say... some day it might come to that." "But now we are faced, not with slander... and not with our own fear of it, because we haven't any, but... with someone else's fear of it... your son's, and... dearest woman in the world, I know what your son is to you... and it frightens me!" "I don't think he will change." "Forty can't tell twenty about this." "Twenty can find out only by getting to be forty... and so we come to this, dear." "Where you live your own life... your way... or George's way?" "I'm saying too much for wisdom, I fear... but oh my dear, won't you be strong?" "And such a little, short, strength it would need." "Don't strike my life down twice, dear." "Because this time, I've not deserved it." "The worst of it is, he thinks he's been such a hero... and Isabel does too." "She goes about, overseeing the packing... and pretending to be perfectly cheerful about what he's making her do." "And all the while, it's almost killing her." "What he said to your father!" "Now... you must come and see me." "After they've gone of course!" "I'll go crazy if I don't see something of people." "I'm sure you'll come and see me as often as you can." "I know you well to think you'll be sensitive about being reminded of George." "You're much too well balanced to let anything effect you deeply about that." "Oh, that monkey!" "Where's your father?" "I should say good-bye to him before I go." "He's just stepped out, I'm afraid." "Good afternoon, Mr. Minafer, Mr. Johnson." " Hello, Suzanna." " Hello, Charlie." " How are you?" " How is your mother?" " Well, she is the same." " I hope she is on the mend." "Well, we hope so too, the doctor's into see her." "Well, that is good." " Look what I bought." " It's lovely!" " Hello, George!" " Lucy, I want to tell you something!" "Well, I hope it's a lively something then!" "Poppa's been so glum today, he's scarcely spoken to me." " I'd be glad to hear a funny story!" " Well, it may seem one to you!" "To begin with, you went away and you didn't even let me know." " Not a word!" "Not even a line!" " I know." "I trotted off for some visits!" " At least you could've said something!" " I know." "Don't you remember, George?" "We had a terrible quarrel and... hadn't spoken to each other all the way home, from a long drive." "And, well, as we couldn't play together like good children... of course it was plain that we ought not to play together at all." " Play?" " Yes." "Well, what I mean is... we had come to the point where it was time to quit playing... whatever it was we were playing." "At being lovers, you mean, don't you?" "Something like that!" "Lt was absurd!" " It needn't have been!" " No, it couldn't help but be." "The way I am and the way you are, it could never have been anything else." "Well, this time I'm going." "That's what I wanted to say!" "I'm leaving tomorrow night indefinitely!" "Well, I hope you'll have ever so jolly a time." "I don't expect to!" "Well then if I were you, I don't think I'd go!" "Lucy!" "This is our last walk together!" "Evidently, if you're leaving tomorrow night!" "Lucy!" "This may be the last time I'll ever see you, in my life!" "Well, you're not going away are you, to live?" " No." " And, well, you'd be back for visits." "I don't know when I'm coming back." "Mother and I are leaving tomorrow night on a trip around the world." "Your mother's going with you?" "Good heavens!" "Doesn't it make any difference to you that I'm going?" "Of course!" "Will you be gone long?" "I've made no plans at all for coming back." "Well, that does sound like a long trip!" "Will you be traveling all the time, or will you be staying in one place?" " I think it would be just lovely if..." " Lucy!" "I can't stand this any longer!" "I can't stand this!" "I'm just about to walk into this drugstore here... and ask the clerk to give me something to stop me from dying in my tracks." "It's quite a shock!" "What is?" "To see how much you've cared for me." "To see how much of a difference this makes to you!" "George!" "Surely you don't want me to do pathos on a downtown corner?" "I can't stand this any longer!" "Good-bye, Lucy." "It is good-bye." "I think it's good-bye for good!" "Good-bye." "I hope you'll have the most splendid trip." "Give my love to your mother." "Please, let me have a few drops of aromatic spirits of ammonia..." " in a glass of water." " Yes ma'am." " Look out!" " God, are you sick, miss?" " Are you all right?" " Lucy!" "The Major had one painful satisfaction this spring." "He had his taxes lowered!" "How did he manage that?" "I said it was a painful satisfaction, Fanny." "The property has gone down in value... and they assessed it lower than they did 15 years ago." "But further out I hear they..." "Oh yes, prices are magnificent further out." "We just happen to be the wrong spot." "That's all." "Not that I don't think something could be done... if father would let me have a hand." "But he won't." "He's always done his own figuring, he says." "And its his life-long habit to keep his affairs and just... hand us out the money." "Heaven knows!" "He's done enough of that." "It does seem as if there's a great deal of money to be made nowadays." "I ran into Frank Rohnson the other day and he told me..." "Even dear old Frank has got the fever!" " Yes, and he told me..." " He told me about... this invention he's going into." "Some new electric headlight..." " Yes, electric headlights, that's right." " Headlights better than anything yet..." "Yes, he was telling me about it, yes." "He's putting half he's laid by into it." " Half?" " Half." "And he's almost talked me into getting father to finance me enough... for me to go into it." "At any rate, I've been thinking it over." "So have I!" "He seemed to be certain it would pay 25% in its' first year." "And I'm only making four on my little principal." "It does seem as if enormous fortunes are being made... out of anything to do with motorcars these days." "So, I told him I would think it over seriously." " Seriously?" " Seriously." " Really?" " Yes." "You must be careful to leave yourself a margin of safety, Fanny." "Now I'm confident that this is a pretty conservative investment of its' kind." "And all the chances are with us." "But it is prudent... to leave yourself enough to fall back on." "In case anything should go wrong." " Nothing will go wrong." " We seem to be partners all right." "Now let's go and be millionaires before Isabel and young George come home." "Well, if they ever do come home!" "Fanny." " Thank you." " My pleasure." "My dearest George, thrilled by your news!" "I'm so looking forward to your visit!" "Dear, dear Fanny, we are so happy to have George with us." "Dear Father!" "What fun to be in Venice with Uncle George." "I wish you were here with us." "I trust this finds you well." "I miss you." "Isabel." "Dear Frank Rohnson, we have offered prayers here today for father's health." "Fanny, my dearest!" "How we all wished you had been here with us." "I shall be so sad to see George go." "Well, he seems to have recovered." "I beg your pardon!" "Your grandson!" "He was inclined to melancholy on certain days... but he seemed jolly enough when we parted." "What was he melancholy about?" "Not getting remorseful about all the money he's spent in Europe?" "I wonder what he thinks I'm made of." "Gold!" "And he's right about part of you, father!" " What part is that?" " Your heart." "I suppose that accounts for how heavy it feels sometimes nowadays." "This town is rolling right over that old mansion, George." "Rolling right over it and burying it under..." "Never mind, father!" "Don't think of it!" "Lf things are a nuisance, it's a good idea not to keep remembering them." "I try not to." "I try to keep remembering that I won't be remembering anything very long." "Not so very long now, my boy." "Not so very long." "Has this been a good holiday for you, dear?" "Oh, I suppose so, why?" "Lt's pleasant for people my age to know that people your age see they're happy." "People your age?" "You know, you don't precisely look like an old woman, mother." "No?" "But I suppose I feel about the same as you do inside." "But time really does fly." "Perhaps it's more like the smoke and sky." "What do you mean?" "Time being like the smoke and sky." "I mean the things that we have and we think are solid are like smoke." "And time is like the sky the smoke disappears into." "You know, how really the smoke curls up from the chimney, it seems all thick... and black, busy against the skies as if it would go on and do important things." "And then you see it getting thinner and thinner." "And then in such a little while it isn't there at all." "Nothing is there but the sky and the sky just keeps on being the same forever." "I don't see much resemblance between time and the sky... but I do see why you like Lucy Morgan so much." "You two talk the same wistful, moony way sometimes." "We do?" "I don't mean to say that I mind it in either of you, 'cos I like to hear it." "Anyway, I've got a lot to read while you romance." " Au revoir, Madame." " Au revoir." "Welcome back!" "I wonder if history is going on repeating itself forever." "It's the Amberson Mansion again, only it's your father who's built this one." "Oh, you're pretty refreshingly out of the smoke up here." "Yes, until it comes up and we have to move out farther." "No, somebody else will move out farther... you'll stay here." "I found Isabel as well as usual... only I'm afraid "as usual" isn't particularly well." "What do you mean by that?" "I'm afraid she hasn't been really well for several years." "She's rather alarmingly short of breath." "For a slender person of course she makes nothing of it... but it seems rather serious to me." "I told her I thought she ought to make George let her come home." "Let her?" "Does she want to?" "Well, she doesn't urge it, George seems to like the life in Paris." "He's quite a swell." "In spite of anything she said, I know she does want to come." "She'd like to be with father, of course..." "I think she's... well, she intimated one day that she feared... she wouldn't get to see him again." "I thought at first she was referring to his age and feebleness." "Later it struck me she was actually thinking of her own... state of health." "I see." "And you say he won't let her come home?" "Oh, I don't think he uses force, he's very gentle with her." "I doubt if the subject is mentioned between them." "And yet... knowing my interesting nephew as you do... wouldn't you think that was about the way to put it?" "Knowing him as I do?" "Yes." "Yes, I should say that is about the way to put it." "She is very sick." "It seems to me that you should return to America." "To be around the things that she loves." "It's changed." "It's so changed." "You mean the town!" "You mean the old place has changed, don't you dear?" "Yes." "It'll change to a happier place now that you are back in it!" "Oh, dear!" "You're going to get well again." "When are they going to let me speak to my daughter?" "They told me to stay out of the way when they carried her in." "Said it might upset her!" "I wish they'd let me go on in there and speak to her!" "She wants to see me!" "You must get something to eat, Georgie." "I know she'd want you to." "I have things ready in the kitchen." "I know she'd want me to." "You'd better go on down." "I don't want anything to eat." "I never thought this thing that's the matter with her could be so serious." "Mr. George will be right down, Mr. Morgan, sir." "Thank you, Sam." " I've come to see your mother, George." " I'm sorry." "No." "Not this time, George." "I'm going up to see her." "The doctor said she has to be kept quiet." " I'll be quiet." " I don't think you should, Eugene." "The doctor said she's going to..." "Fanny's right, Eugene." "Why don't you come back later?" "All right." "Darling!" " Did you get something to eat?" " Yes, mother." "Oh, you need it." "Yes." "Are you sure..." "Are you sure you didn't catch cold coming home?" " I'm all right." " Oh, God!" "Oh, that's sweet." "It's so sweet." "What is?" "I get to feel my hand on your cheek." "I can feel it." "I wonder if Eugene or Lucy know we've come home?" "I am sure they do." "Did he ask about me?" "Yes, he was here." "Is he gone?" "Yes, he is gone." "I should like to have seen him... just once." "I feel that old familiar sinking feeling... that's attended all my previous efforts to prove myself a business genius!" "Well, it looked so right." "We saw how perfectly nicely they worked." "Yes, it was perfect." "In the shop!" "The only thing we didn't know... was how fast an automobile has to go to keep the light going." "I don't understand, just how fast does it have to go?" "Lt is computed, by those enthusiasts who bought our product... and subsequently returned it to us and got their money back." "That people have to go 50 miles an hour and above to have a real headlight." "Unfortunately, many people don't care... to drive that fast, at all times, after dusk..." " and especially in traffic!" " But isn't that man going to remedy it?" " Can't he at least try?" " Yes, he can try, he is trying!" "I'm standing in the office while he is trying." "George, you startled me!" "I can hear you walking up and down in your room." "You're at it almost every night." "I know your mother would want you to rest." "I wanted to tell you once more, that what I did was right." " About what?" " About everything!" "I think she was happy in her life, and it is my only consolation." "She had a good husband... and all the comforts and luxuries that anybody could have had." "Do you deny that what I did was right?" "I don't intend to judge, Georgie, I know you think what you did was right." "What else was I to do?" "How else could I protect her from the talk?" "Lt would've died out before long." "If I hadn't acted as I had, that slanderous old Mrs. Johnson... would still be slandering my mother today!" " No, no, no... she's dead." " Ok." " One of the others, they would have!" " No, things are so changed, Georgie." "Other people... one hardly knows what's become of them." "You mean to tell me... that if I'd just let things go on, it would all have turned out fine?" " I'm not saying so." " You're afraid to!" "Lt's not all my responsibility!" "Lf you were so sure that you were wiser than I... you could've stopped it!" "No, Georgie!" "No one could've stopped you." "You were too strong and..." "And what?" "And she loved you too well." "It must be in the sun." "There wasn't anything here but the sun in the first place." "The earth came out of the sun... and we came out of the earth." "So, whatever we are... it must have been in the sun." "We go back to the earth that we came out of." "The earth will back to the sun that it came out of." "Time means nothing." "Nothing at all." "So, in a little while... we will all be back in the sun... together." "I wish..." "I wish..." "Did you want anything, grandfather?" "What?" "Would you like a glass of water?" "No, no I don't want anything." "I wish... somebody could tell me." "This is the Last Will and Testament of Major George Amberson." ""I, Major George Amberson, being of sound mind and body... do hereby declare, as I am a gentleman... that the following expresses my true desire and sincere wish... for those of my family as named herein." "And also I hereby bequeath those items as mention hereafter... the said items being rightfully due from myself, George Amberson"." "So much for the great Amberson estate!" "I guessed it!" "As an expert on prosperity... my career is disreputable." "But, as a prophet of calamity..." "I deserve a testimonial banquet!" "We'll survive, Georgie!" "You will especially." "I'm too old and accustomed to falling back on somebody else to survive... to start a big fight with life." "But an ex-Congressman can always be pretty sure... of getting a Consul-ship." "I'll live pleasantly enough." "A pitcher of ice under a Palm tree." "And I'll manage to send you fifty dollars every now and then." "Yes, I can appreciate that they are all fine objects, but I am afraid that..." " You understand, right?" " Yes, I do." "Just sign here." "Right this way." "Mother?" "Forgive me." "Forgive me." "There was this bad Indian chief that lived in a grove." "He was the worst Indian that ever lived." "And, his name was, it was Vendona." "It means "writes down everything"." "I see." "Vendona was so proud, he wore iron shoes." "He walked over people's faces with them." "At last, the tribe decided that it wasn't a good enough excuse for him... that he was young and inexperienced." "He had to go!" "So, they brought him down to the river and they put him in a canoe... and they pushed him off from the shore and he never come back." " So, Georgie, I mean, the chief..." " Vendona." "No, they didn't want him back, of course... the tribe had lived such an exciting life under Vendona... they wouldn't settle down to anything tame." "Couldn't help feeling that way." "Well, I see, so that's why they named the place "They couldn't help it"." "It must've been." "So you are going to stay here in your garden... growing to look like a penciled garden lady in a Victorian engraving." "I suppose I'm like the tribe." "I had too much unpleasant excitement." "It was unpleasant, but it was excitement." "And I don't want any more." "In fact, I don't want anything but you." "What was the name of the grove?" " "They couldn't help it"." " No, the Indian name." "Mo-wa-ha-ha." " That wasn't a native sound." " I've forgotten." "Well, perhaps you can remember the Chief's name better?" "I don't." "I hope someday you can forget." "Porter!" "I may not see you again, George." "It's an odd way for us to be saying good-bye." "One wouldn't have thought it, but here we are... two gentlemen of elegant appearance in a state of prostitute." "We can't ever tell what will happen at all, can we?" " Please, take my dog." " Once I stood where we're standing now... to say good-bye to a pretty girl... only it was in the old station, before this one was built." "They called it the "Deepo"." "I was wild about her and we were to be married." "She had to go abroad first, and when we came to say good-bye to each other... we knew we wouldn't see each other again for almost a year." "I thought I couldn't live through it." "I don't even know where she lives now, or if she is living." "If she ever thinks of me, she probably imagines I'm still... dancing in the ballroom at Amberson Mansion." "Whisky, twice." "Life and money." "Both behave like loose quick-sliver in a nest of cracks." "And when they are gone you can't tell where... or what the devil you did with them." "I believe what I'll say now." "I've always been fond of you, Georgie... but I can't say I've always liked you." "But you've received a pretty heavy jolt and you've taken it pretty quietly..." " and I..." " All the passengers to Washington..." "With my train coming into the shed, you'll forgive me for saying... there have been times when I thought you ought to be hanged." "On plaftorm two..." " Washington D.C." " But I've always been fond of you." "And now..." "I like you." "Just for a last word." "There is someone who's always felt about you that way." "Found of you, I mean." " You might try to..." " All aboard." " Well, I must run." " All aboard." "All aboard!" "Ladies and gentlemen... this is the last call!" "All aboard!" "I'll send back the money as fast as they pay me." "So... good-bye!" "God bless you, Georgie." "By this time tomorrow we'll be in our new home, Georgie." "I'll make a nice home for you." "Even out of a three-roomed kitchenette apartment." "You'll see!" "Lt'll be good to be among nice people, people who know who we are." "It's about this new apartment that I wanted to speak." "What?" "I'm sure it's just what you like, but..." "I've decided on another arrangement for myself." " You're going to leave me in the lurch!" " Get up, Aunt Fan." "I can't!" "I'm too weak!" "You're going to leave me in the lurch!" "For heaven's sake, get up!" "Stop sitting with your back against the stove." "No, it's not hot, it's cold..." "we ran out of coal a long time ago." "I wouldn't mind if it was hot..." " I wouldn't mind if it had burned me..." " For heaven's sake." " Get up, come on!" " No!" "No!" "I'd be a burden on you." "I'm to get eight dollars a week." "You'd be paying more of the expenses than I would." "I'd be paying, I'd be paying, I'd be paying." "Exactly!" "You'd be, you certainly would!" " But you'd be using more of your money." " Money?" "I've got 28 dollars!" "That is all!" "Until the interest is due." "And no, there's no interest 'cos there's no more principal." "But, but, Uncle George said you had more money!" "Uncle George said you had enough money to fall back on!" "He said you'd bought some stocks you shouldn't have but that's all..." "I lost it all!" "I lost it all!" "Lt seemed a sure way... of making a fortune out of a little bit of money." "Good Lord!" "Did you have to wait until now to tell me?" "I couldn't tell it until I had to!" "Lt wouldn't have done any good." "Nothing does any good in this old world." "I can't." "I tried, I tried." "I was trying to look for a place for us to live." "I knew you didn't want me!" "I knew it!" "And what of you, you shouldn't be left alone in this world..." "I knew your mother would want you to be looked after... and have a home." "I walked my heels down looking for a place for us to live." "I didn't..." "I walked and walked all over this town." "I wouldn't take a streetcar, no matter how tired I got." "Because I didn't want to spend... and now, you want to leave me... in the lurch." "You want to leave me in the lurch." "Sr. Minafer to see you, sir." "George!" "The real flair!" "The real flair for the law." "That's right!" "Couldn't wait till tomorrow to begin, eh!" "I'm delighted that..." " I wanted to say..." " Wait just a minute, young man." "I've prepared a little speech of welcome, and, I mean to deliver it." "I think you'll find an honest pleasure in our industry and frugality." " The law is a jealous mistress, but..." " I can't do it." "What?" "I can't take her for my mistress." "I've come to tell you, I have to find something quicker." "I have to find something that pays from the start." "Well, sit down, my boy." " What's the trouble?" " Well, you see sir, it's Aunt Fanny." "She has her heart set on this apartment." "She's got some old cronies there and..." "I guess she's been looking for the games of bridge." "But she has her own resources." "No!" "Lt all went into the headlight company." "I got her into that." "I feel a certain responsibility" "I'm taking the responsibility." "She's not your Aunt, you know!" "Sir!" "I'm unable to see that a young man is morally called upon... to give up a career in the law... to provide his Aunt with a favorable opportunity to play bridge!" "I feel as if..." "I feel as if..." "I have one or two pretty important things in my life to make up for." "Well, I can't!" "I can't make them up to... to whom I would." "So it struck me that I might be decent to somebody else... perhaps... so that's what I've come to see you about." "I have an idea, you see!" "Well, I'm glad of that!" "I can't think of anything, just at the minute, that pays, from the start." "I suppose that I am about as ignorant of business as anybody in the world... but I've heard they pay very high wages to people who work in dangerous trades." "People who handle touchy chemicals or high explosives." "I thought I'd see if I couldn't find something of the kind to do." "As soon as possible!" "All right!" "You promise not to get blown up... and I'll go with you to see if we can find the job!" "There you go, George." " Good morning, Sr. Averson." " Good morning." " How are you?" " Fine!" "Are you all right, Georgie?" "You seem a little down." " I'm fine." " Excuse me." " Really?" "Are you sure?" " Can I join you?" "You seem a little down." "Do you want some cream?" "4th of July reminds me." "Have you heard what that George Minafer is doing?" "No, I haven't." "Well, sir, it beats the devil!" "My boy Fred told me about it yesterday." "Seems young Georgie is working for the Acres Chemical Company." " What does he do?" " He's a nitro-glycerin expert." "He is what?" "Doesn't that beat the devil?" "Seems to me I heard the average life in that sort of work is around 4 years!" "Agents can't write any insurance at all for nitro-glycerin experts." "No, I suppose not." "I suppose it would be pass around the hat for old Fanny, if he blew up." "They say she hasn't got anything else to depend on." "I suppose not." "I was wondering why you couldn't find something around your works for him." "He used to be such a tremendous friend of the family, I thought perhaps you..." "No, no." "I haven't anything to offer him." "I don't know that I would myself!" "Well... we'll probably see his name in the paper some day... if he stays with that job." "Here it is, our Civic History, sir." "The latest version." "Please let me know if you need anything else." "This old town of ours is really getting enormous." "I shouldn't mind knowing who he is!" "Well, I don't know who he is... but from his looks, I know who he thinks he is!" "He thinks he's the Grand Duke Cuthbert." "Riffraff." "Lucy?" "Lucy?" "Lucy?" " Look out!" " Will you get out of the way!" "Look out!" " Look out!" " Get out of the way!" " Look out!" " Oh, God!" "Now, just stay calm." " Be careful with him." " Let's take him to the hospital!" "Now, stay calm." "Do you want me to take you to a private hospital?" "No!" "Take him to the city hospital" "Take me to the city hospital." "He was just standing right in the middle of the road." " That is right!" "I saw it!" " We all saw it!" "Stand back, stand back." "Give us some space, please." " Stand back." " He was right in front of us!" "Some would call it progress, I would call it shame." "Those darn machines shouldn't be allowed on the street, as far as I'm concerned." "Funny what he says to the little cuss that done the damage." "That's all he did call him." "Nothing else at all." "The cuss that broke both his legs for him and God knows what all." "What was it?" ""Riffraff"." "What's the prognosis?" "We don't know yet." "It's critical." "Nurse." "Do you want something?" "There's nothing in this family business." "Even George Washington... is only something in a book." "I'll not go home now, Harry, drive to the City Hospital." "Yes, sir." "Miss Lucy's there." "She said she expected you to come there before you went home." " She did?" " Yes, sir." "I suppose Mr. Minafer must be pretty bad." "Yes, I understand he's liable to get well though, sir." "Fanny?" "Eugene!" "Where is he?" "He is right here." "I will take you." "You must have thought my mother wanted you to come here... so that I could ask you to forgive me." "No!" "Just to take your hand." "Dearest, Isabel..." "Your boy was hurt a few days ago in a street accident... run down by an automobile." "At first, I thought I wouldn't go to see him at the hospital, but... of course I did." "I thought it would be hard not to be bitter... but I found it was easy, he looked so much like you, dearest one." "As I came in, he said..." ""You must've come because you thought my mother wanted you... to forgive me"." "Lucy sat beside him, radiant." "But for me, another radiance filled the room... and I knew that I had been true at last... to my true love." "And that through me you had brought your boy under shelter again." "Done by (c) dcd / February 2014"