"Ijustwanna go home, Alexis." "I've been here a week." "I just want out of this damned place." "Darling, I know you do." "But your doctors insist that you still stay for a couple of days." "But since you're feeling so much better," "I feel free to leave town for a little while on business." "Leave?" "For where?" "You have your little secrets, Dex, and I have mine." "Alexis, I'm sorry." "Sorry for what?" "I haven't been able to tell you where I've been, and I still can't, not yet." "It's got something to do with Daniel Reece, doesn't it?" "That's all right, I..." "I knew you weren't going to answer me." "That would probably destroy the blood oath that you both took when you pricked each other's little toes and rubbed them together in eternal fun and games." "All right, darling." "I'll be off." "Get some rest." "Mommy." " Yes?" "I went by the apartment, and Lin told me you were here with Dex." " What's happened to him?" " I'll tell you when we get home." "But I want to see him." "He's fast asleep, and he has been for hours." "Now let's go." "Hi." "Listen to that, that's the late great Dominique Deveraux." "Dominique." "He began, his voice stern, but filled with love." "And I do need that love, Blake." "The doctors all agree that you're a remarkable woman, making a remarkable recovery." "But they also say that if you expect too much too soon, you're going to delay that recovery." " Now, is that what you want?" " Of course not." "But I have to admit that I am frightened, Blake." "I mean, what is going to happen to me?" "What about my future?" "Tomorrow?" "Tomorrow." "Tomorrow." "It's such a little throwaway word." "I think I'll have my hair done tomorrow." "Let's have lunch tomorrow." "Here today and gone tomorrow." "But today is here." "And I have lost Brady." "And maybe, probably, my voice." "Oh, I don't know, Blake, tomorrow just scares the hell out of me." "It shouldn't." "Because tomorrow's going to be a good day, a beautiful day." "Do you guarantee that?" "Mm-hm." "As your brother, as" "As your friend, I guarantee that." "Thank you." "You said nothing in the car." "You said nothing in the elevator." "And you look equally prepared to say nothing now." "What's wrong, Amanda?" "I'm angry." "Oh, yes, I can see that you are unspeakably angry." "Why?" "Is it anything to do with Dex?" "He's been back in Denver for over a week now." "Sick, or hurt, or both." "And you haven't mentioned it to me once." "It's obvious that I have my reasons." "And it's also obvious that you're concerned about Dex." "That's very touching." "But if I may pose a motherly question, why don't you find a husband of your own to worry about?" "As in Prince Michael?" "Well, the royal catch, as you would put it, has been caught." "He's taken, remember?" "And betrothals to you are sacrosanct?" "Tell me, darling, do you feel the same way about marriages?" "Are they sacrosanct too?" "Thank you." "Oh, yes, that looks absolutely delicious." "Doesn't it, darling?" "Thank you, that will be all." "By the way, darling, I have to go out of town on business for a few days." "I know how dutiful you can be at times, but don't feel obliged to visit Dex in hospital, he's doing fine." "And besides, he's not allowed visitors." "Mommy, I'll be delighted to avoid Dex." "Good." "We only quarrel when we're together." "I didn't like pigeon as a child, and I still don't." "What a pity." "I had them specially flown in from Paris." "By plane, of course." "Well, at least eat your carrots." " I know, I didn't phone first." " No, you didn't." "Ashley, I'd like you to have dinner with me tonight, and I didn't wanna risk a refusal." "So to get you to say yes, I thought I'd do something a little different." "Actually, nicely outrageous, I think." "Okay." "The first one is called sterling silver." "The next one is town crier." "This is called bridal pink." "This is the butterfly." "And this one is the Sonia." "And finally, what some refer to as the American Beauty, but what I now christen for one and for all time, the Lady Ashley." "That's a very sweet thing for you to have done." "I think so." "Where shall we put all these?" "Oh, all over." "Thanks, guys." "Thank you." "Jeff, that was an outrageously lovely gesture." "Well, the question still is..." "Yes, I will have dinner with you tonight." "Good." "I'll give you a half hour to get dressed." "No more, no less." "On behalf of His Majesty, I bid you welcome." "Your Majesty." "Your guest has arrived." "Mrs. Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter of the United States." "Have her come in." "Yes, sir." "Your Majesty." "Alexis." "I never thought we'd meet again." "Tell me, did you-?" "Did you hope as much as I did that somehow we would?" "Steven?" " Krystle, what time is it?" " About 6." "Do you always get up this early?" "Well, when I feel like riding at sunrise." "You know I've woken up to some of the most beautiful sunrises in the world." "venice, Tahiti, Rio." "The sight of you beats them all." "Why, that's the nicest compliment I" "You've gotten this morning." "In a long time." "Well, you seem happier than you've been for a while." "Well, I'm not all that happy." "I mean, some things in my life are great." "Others..." "You wanna talk about it?" "Yes, I would." "very much." "I'm involved with Luke Fuller." "I've told Claudia about this." "I've even told Blake." "What did he say?" "I was surprised, but he accepted it." "Once, I thought that was all I needed, my father's acceptance." "But I was wrong." "It's more complicated than that." "I still love Claudia." "I love her too." "Think it's possible for someone to love more than one person at a time?" "To need two people at the same time?" "Well, yes, I think it's possible." "And given enough time and thought, I know you'll work it out." "You know, you have to remember, Steven, that some people can live outside rules." "And others can't." "Claudia can't." "I know." "I guess I've gotta understand that." "And accept it." "Now, speaking of choices, and immediate ones..." "Either you can go upstairs and hop into bed and get some sleep, or I can put off riding for a while, and we can both sneak into the kitchen before Mrs. Gunnerson takes over for the day." "And I can whip you up an omelette, a pot of coffee and some toast." "Which is it?" "Why don't we see if we can beat Mrs. Gunnerson to the fray." "All right?" "In the case of the Utah fields, they get 20 percent of the profits." "Well, that should be an acceptable offer to Morrison." " Mm-hm." "More coffee?" " Please." "You know, Jeff, I'm proud of you." "Your attitude these days is so positive." "And the way you've been handling things." "You mean with my marriage?" "Well, that wasn't exactly a marriage with Nikki, Blake." "Breaking off a relationship is never easy." "Oh, I know that." "But I'm not gonna let myself go to pieces." "And I'm not gonna let myself slip back to where I was before Nikki." "I'm gonna get on with my life and take on some new challenges." "Even the most unlikely challenge of all." "It's Ashley, Blake." "Getting her to fall in love with me." "Ashley." "Ashley Mitchell?" "Yes." "You're" " You're interested in her?" "Oh, very interested." "I think she's beautiful, understanding." "Well, she's" " She's very special." "And does she know about this?" "This infatuation of yours?" "Well, I should hope so." "And?" "I think she's becoming interested in me." "Jeff, don't you think you're moving a little too quickly?" "I mean, you're going to" "Gonna need some time to put your life back in order, aren't you?" "Blake, if- If this is upsetting to you in any way..." "I mean, if you're thinking about Fallon and me" "I was only thinking that perhaps you hadn't stopped to think that Ashley Mitchell is" "Is what?" "Older than me?" "Yes, older than you." "I, uh, just hope that you're not becoming involved, that's all." "Aren't you jumping the gun, Blake?" "Well, come to think of it, though, that's not a bad idea." "I've gotta run." "I'll talk to you at the house tonight." "The vodka is at your preferred temperature, Majesty." "And the caviar arrived this morning from Odessa." "Will there be anything else?" "Nothing." "You may leave us." "Thank you." "May I liven a wedge of toast for you, Galen?" "When we are alone, Alexis, I am your subject." "Allow me." " As you wish." " As you wish." "You say that as if anything I desired would be mine." "Automatically, even passionately." "If you're talking about the two of us last night" "Correction, Alexis, I am talking about last night." "But we were not the two of us." "In fact, as I lay in my massive bed, alone," "I thought how there was a time when the beautiful English girl, who went on to become the rage of western American society, would not so easily have fended off my passion." "Oh, Galen." "Galen, those were other times, other hunting lodges." "We're different people now." "To be honest, Alexis, I don't see one difference." "Well, thank you." "But you didn't come all this way to rekindle an old affair." "You came on business." "I came as a parent." "I see." "And as parents, we should talk about our children, correct?" "Correct." "Let's start with your son, Michael, and his intended marriage to the Duchess of Breena." " Branagh." " Oh, whatever." "It's so small a duchy that I never remember its name." "This marriage, what do you think you will gain from it?" "Another drop of royal blood in the family?" "There's very little of it left in the world." "Ah, yes, but how much is it really worth in the open market?" "Well, you talk about it as if it were a commodity." "Something to be sold by the barrel." "Rather like oil, for example." "Oil." "That is a good example." "An even better example might be South China Sea oil." "Are you saying that you might be willing to reconsider the marriage for a percentage of my South China Sea oil leases?" "Ten percent, no less, for me." "A reverse dowry, as it were." "Yes." "I'm sorry, but the Chinese have full authority over those leases." "Oh, then, in that case there is very little that can be done." "You see, it was understood from the time that they were children, my Michael and the duchess would be married." "So this discussion is terminated." "You're a good king, Galen." "But you could be a great king." "Your country is rich in natural resources, but you have done nothing to try and develop them." "Well, as you know, Alexis, my first priority was giving the country some political stability." "Oh, yes, yes, that you have done." "Well, I have revised the constitution, redistributed some of the land, but there are still problems." "That perhaps could be solved with some economic reforms." "I and my company, Colbyco, would be prepared to enter into an agreement with Moldavia to develop your economic resources." "You'd have tens of millions of dollars at your disposal, in exchange for a marriage between our two families." "Michael and your daughter." "Yes." "We have a lot to talk about, don't we?" "Steven." "You know, all movies, good or bad, must come to an end and tonight's midnight special said ciao to the world about 20 minutes ago." "I like looking at patterns, sue me." "All right, I'll phone my attorney in the morning." "You're still in a mood, aren't you?" "You tell me." "Okay, I will." "You're moping over your talk with Claudia." "Steven, it's only natural." "I know, I know, you've been through it." "You lived in Chicago, your wife's name was Karen." "I've heard it, Luke." "Steven, you want some brandy or some warm milk to calm you down?" "No." "You're still depressed." "I guess I am." "Steven, I really need to know whether you want to be here or not, right now." "For my own peace of mind." "I wanna be here, Luke." "I really do." "Good." "Let's go to bed." "Again." "Great." "Terrific." " Nope, nope, no more, that's it." " I haven't even finished." "That is" " Yes, you are finished." "Now I'm gonna take a photographic essay of you." " I hate to be photographed." " Oh, yes, yes, yes, I am." " I hate it." " Here we go, here we go." "What do you want me to be?" "Shall I be a villain?" "Or a harem girl?" "Why don't you just be yourself." "You're much more interesting that way." "Blake, there's something on your mind, I can tell." "Do you wanna tell me about it?" "I mean, the subject being honesty?" "All right." "It's about Jeff." "What about Jeff?" "You've been seeing quite a lot of him lately, haven't you?" "I have." "Is that a problem?" "It could be one, yes." "Why?" "Why, Blake?" "Because he's younger than I am?" "Because I've been around the block a few more times than he has?" "No, because he's been very hurt recently." "And you don't wanna see him hurt again." "I don't plan to hurt Jeff or anyone else." "But as a matter of fact, I think Jeff Colby is quite capable of taking care of himself." "Blake, are you sure that only Jeff's best interest is the point here?" "What do you mean by that?" "I mean, that some men" "I mean, highly powerful, successful men find it hard giving up what even they don't particularly want." "Well, I have been accused of having a big ego, but I hope it's not as uncontrollable as you suggest it is." "I just gave in to one of my impulses." "Sorry about that." "Claudia, I was walking through the lobby and I took a look at this wily character, and I realised he's a buddy of mine from Yale." " Oh." " Minus the beard." "I decided when I joined Lamnicorp to get rid of it, or rather the prez of Lamnicorp, who happens to be my old man, strongly suggested I shave it off." "Ha, ha." "That sounds more like it." "Kyle, meet Claudia Carrington, who manages La Mirage." "You must be Kyle Burke." "It is I, none other, and it's my pleasure." "Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" "This is the rep you were telling me about?" "Who was coming in from Boston tonight to inspect the hotel regarding a conference that will involve 100 rooms including 20 suites for one full week." "Well done." "Yes, this is the man." "Why don't we have a drink and talk about it?" "Rather you two can discuss it and I'll just push things along." "Excuse me, Claudia, can I talk to you for a couple of minutes?" "Steven, can't this wait?" "She's in the middle of a business conference." " No, it's all right." "I'll just be a few minutes." "Excuse me." "She's a very nice lady and very pretty." "Yes, she is." "Is everything all right, Adam?" "What?" "Yes, Kyle, everything's just fine." "Why don't we have that drink and wait for her to come back?" "A double Scotch." "Kyle?" "Same." "Claudia, I've come because I want you to hear what I'm going to say from me, not somebody else." "Hear what?" "I'm going to try to make my relationship with Luke work." "Because ours didn't?" "Yes, but that's not the only reason." "Part of me is drawn to him, part of me needs him." "I can't let you take the blame for my choices." "I was wrong to do that." "I made some mistakes too." "I'm sorry." "All I ever asked was that you make a choice and you stick by it." "I have to be honest with you." "I was hoping that I'd be that choice." "I want you to know something that might be hard to understand." "I still love you." "I understand." "I love you too." "I always will." "I heard you were here, Mrs. Dexter." "This is a pleasure and a surprise." "It's a surprise for both of us, Your Highness." " I thought you were in the capital." " I was." "But I've come to talk to my father." "There's opposition in parliament to one of his reform proposals." "But that's between him and me." "To you, I apologise for this intrusion." "Michael, there are affairs of state and affairs of the heart." "And you're not intruding on the latter, if that's your implication." "I'm here on business." "Negotiating mineral leases with your government." "By the way, Amanda sends you her regards." " You do remember my daughter?" " I do." "Amanda is lovely." "A very lovely young woman." "Maternal partiality aside, I must agree with you." "She's delightful and much in demand." "But I regret to say she's not willing to please me." " Please you how, Mrs. Dexter?" " By settling down." "I'm afraid she's very much of a social butterfly." "I don't agree with that." "Amanda is loving, tender." "She just needs the right man, Mrs. Dexter." "Could you be the right man that you are referring to?" "If I were, it wouldn't do any good, Mrs. Dexter." "Why not?" "You care about her, don't you?" "I love her." "But you're a dutiful prince and a dutiful son." "And you have to do what's right for your king and country." "I respect you for that, Michael." "But you must do what's right for yourself." "Because if you don't, you could regret it for the rest of your life." "You know, the more you talk, the more impressed I am." "Good." "With the hotel, and with you." "Well, Kyle, I try my hardest to please." "Now, shall we discuss the entertainment for the gala?" "What I'd like to discuss is entertainment, period." "Namely, your entertaining me and the other way around." "Well, La Mirage does give me an expense account." "If you're suggesting dinner tonight, you're on." "And after dinner?" "We'll throw in a brandy." "I like what you have to offer more and more." "Kyle, I should tell you that I'm not really part of this package deal." "Well, why don't we negotiate that particular bit of business over dinner tonight." "That particular bit of business is not open for negotiation." "Shall we get back to business, Mr. Burke?" "I'm headed to Aspen for some skiing on the way home." "Oh." "Well, what about La Mirage and the conference?" "Well, it's still alive, sort of." "It's an attractive hotel." "It's got a lot of possibilities, but the manager is a tough, cold lady." "Hard to do business with." "Not the type you cosy up to?" "What happened, Kyle?" "You try and she turned you down?" "Adam, you and I both know" "I'm not used to being turned down flatly by women." "Most of them probably wouldn't even dare." "You just might take Daddy's business elsewhere, if there was any business involved, I mean." "Yes, I've been known to, if the cooperation's lacking." "Remember?" "Bastille Day?" "I not only remember it, but I remember that near-riot two nights later at the lido." "You'd come down with laryngitis, and those NATO troops were not at all pleased, not at all." "Those were the good old days, weren't they?" "Me, the young cabaret singer." "You, the young best photographer in all of Paris since Margaret Bourke-White." "And engaged to the English ambassador, no less." "Ah." "Those were the good old days, and they're gone forever." "Only to be replaced by better ones." "We've got to keep on enjoying life more and more and more." "Is that what you're doing here in Denver, Ashley, enjoying life?" "Yes, I am." "Doing what?" "Building my career." "You should understand that." "Wanting to make a name for oneself as a real artist." "Yes, I can understand it." "But is that all you really want?" " Krystle." " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." "Oh, Krystle, please come in." " You've met Lady Ashley Mitchell?" " Yes." " Hello." " Hello, Krystle." "I was just telling Dominique what I'm really after here in Denver." "To have a little fun, to have a little success, and to take advantage of any opportunity that may happen to come along." "I've got to be going now." "You, you keep getting better and better, do you understand?" " That's an order." " Promise." "Okay." " Bye, Krystle." " Bye." "Bye-bye, darling." "It's suddenly very cold in here." "What is it between you two?" "Maybe I can guess." "I hope it's a dumb guess." "Could it possibly be that she wants Blake Carrington?" "The thought has crossed my mind." "In that case, may I make a suggestion?" "That you do something to patch up your marriage to my very attractive half brother." "Because Ashley Mitchell, to put it bluntly, is a very attractive woman to whom men usually find it very difficult to say no." "alexis I'll get you yet." "Come on, woman, will you discard?" "We'll be here all night." "Well, I see your hand." "Gin, again." "Ha-ha-ha!" "Curses, foiled again." " You cheated." " I did not." " Yes, you did." " You allowed me to win." "You want something from me, Alexis." "What is it?" "I want to talk, Galen." "It's important." "I sense it is about our children, once more." "Yes, it is." "This matter isn't something that one can let go of all that easily, not where flesh and blood is concerned." "Galen, Michael is not in love with the little duchess." "But he will marry the woman that his father tells him to." "And you will do to your son what your father did to us." "History will repeat itself." "Well, was it so terrible after all?" "I mean, you did marry an extremely successful man, with whom, I have heard, you fell very much in love." "Blake Carrington?" "He was a cold, hard, unfeeling man." "He never loved me." "And when I went looking for love and for comfort, he banished me from my children, leaving me lonelier than ever." "And now..." "Now I'm married again." "To a man who is disloyal, to a man who has betrayed me." "I did not realise this, Alexis." "I am sorry." "Truly, I am sorry." "I didn't mean to bring it up." "But who knows what my life would have been like if I'd married you." "A kind, gentle, loving man." "I'm gonna do something now that I seldom do." "Beg." "I beg you, Galen." "Don't let happen to my daughter what happened to me." "And do not condemn your son to the sort of loveless marriage that we both had to endure all these years." "I've thought of you so often during these years, Alexis." "Of what nearly was, of what might have been, of what might be yet." "No." "Now don't say no to me." "I want you." "Thank you." "Good evening, I was just about to have Jeannette take this upstairs." " It arrived a few minutes ago." " Oh, thank you, Gerard." "Who are you calling?" "The private investigator who's been working on this." "He hasn't come up with one lead." "I'm gonna fire him." "I'm gonna put somebody else on this case." "Damned answering machines." "Blake, I'd like an explanation." "It was innocent." "It was, uh..." " Go on." " It was simply a friendly kiss." " Was it?" " Yes." "Blake, I'm beginning to wonder about you and Ashley Mitchell." "Maybe the reason you're finding it so hard to believe my innocence is because you're guilty." "I wanna know what's going on between the two of you." "Nothing is going on." "When the devil will you learn to trust me?" "Maybe when you begin to trust me." "Would you like me to believe that your relationship with Reece was innocent?" "Yes." "The man was lying on top of you." "His body was on top of your body." "Now, look at this." "Tell me, is there any comparison between those two pictures?" "Go on, look." "Look at them." "There is not, is there?" "And you know it." "Alexis, must you go so soon?" "I'm afraid I must, Galen." "Well, I want to tell you that our hours together, alone, were the happiest I've spent in a long" " A very long time." "Galen, I want you to know that whatever comes of the matter that we discussed," "I'm extremely happy that we had a chance to share some time together again." "Goodbye." "Morning." " Morning." " Morning." "How are you this morning?" "Fine." "Please don't wait breakfast for me, I'll be with Kristina." " Morning, Adam." " Morning, Father." "I like this publicity the tennis tournament's been getting for La Mirage." "It's a pity though about the Lamnicorp conference falling through, isn't it?" "I didn't know Lamnicorp was planning to hold a conference there." "What happened?" "Well, I'm sorry I mentioned it." "I just assumed Claudia would've talked to you about the loss in business." "They were ready to book a hundred rooms for a week." "If you wanna believe that losing the conference was my fault, you can, but it wasn't." "I am not trying to find fault with you, Claudia." "I merely want to know why." "Blake, why are you so angry with me?" "It's Steven, isn't it?" "The way you think I treated him." "Why don't you just come out and say it instead of using this as an excuse for attacking me?" "That is not the case, and you know it." "I don't." "I wish I did, but I don't." "Blake, I did everything in my power to save that conference for La Mirage." "Everything that I could do, professionally." "What does that mean?" "Claudia, I asked you a question, I'd like an answer." "I'd rather not talk about it." "All right, let me say this." "I have confidence in you, I always have had." "However, this is a hotel that you manage on behalf of my grandson." "And I feel a responsibility to see that it is properly managed." "And I will hold you accountable as to how it is managed." " Is that clear?" " Yes." "Kyle Burke cancelled because you turned him down?" "I can't believe he'd do a thing like that." "I can't believe Blake's attitude about the cancellation." "Now, I tried to warn you about that." "It was only a matter of time before it finally happened." "The fabulous father of us all has finally revealed his true self." "Claudia, he's an insensitive autocrat who chops off heads unless things are done his way." "I'm sorry, but I did try to warn you." "And you were right." "About Steven and now about Blake." "I don't know why I didn't see it before." "That's all over with now." "It's past, it's history." "From now on, you know you can trust me, and that's all that really matters." "I do trust you." "And I need you." "I know that now." "Dex?" "Yes, yes, that's right." "It's Dex himself." "What are you doing here?" "Well, let's just say that I miss the place." "The ambience, the view," " the fireplace, whatever." " What are you doing out of hospital?" " The doctors" " Said that I should stay another week." "Yes." "Let me ask you something, what are you doing here?" "Well, Mommy sent me a cable asking me to meet her when she got back." "Got back from where?" "You don't know?" " You mean, she didn't tell you?" " No, and I asked you something." "Oh, Dex." "Poor Dex." "Don't you get sick and tired of her doing this to you?" "Of leading you around by leash?" "Of having to play her ever-obedient little show dog?" "What I am sick and tired of, young lady, are women who decide for themselves when they're going to walk into and out of my life, all women." "Dex, you're so weak." "You should be in the hospital." " Let me help you." " I don't need your help." "Yes, you do." "You do need my help." "You need me." " Dex." "Prince Michael?" "Amanda." "Aren't you going to say hello?"