"Well..." "They weren't young, you know far from it." "My sister was, what?" "26, I think." "Tom the same." "Maurice!" "Catch !" "I used to drive her up to Oxford to see him." "Tom was one of Bertrand Russell's graduate students." "I can't remember how they first met, exactly." "There wasn't much of a courtship a few months at most." "Well, then, romance." "I think Vivie just swept him off his feet." "Tom was an American, you know." "Though you might not have guessed it, he tried to hard to be more english than the english." "Dressed like an englishman, tried terribly hard to sound like one of us." "Don't think he ever quite got the hang of it." "Mind you, he was very reserved." "I'm sure he thought our family, the Haigh-Woods, was just what he needed sleepy, old, and respectable." "Poor Vivienne misunderstood him completely." "She thought Tom was going to rescue her from tight little england." "Hey, how about over there " " look." " For God's sake, Viv!" "Actually, I think tight little england was just what Tom wanted." "exactly how long have Tom and Viv been courting?" "Oh, minutes absolute minutes." "Really?" "You can't really want to go back to America." "What would you do?" "Most likely, become a professor..." "write learned papers on obscure philosophers." "I don't know." "melt into the stones of Harvard, I suppose." "My Adonis." "He's my fancy man." "Whatever he chooses is all right by me." "I suppose he is quite safe, this EIiot chap." "Safe?" "I can't imagine what you mean." "Tom is a brilliant scholar." "Rather Viv's type, then." "I never want to see the States again." "I want to live in Europe and write poetry." "I Iove you." "I Iove you more than life itself." "I'd do anything for you." "Oh, dear!" "What?" "I know all that." "You don't have to be so wet about things." "I'm sorry." "Oh, it's all right, Tom." "It's perfectly all right." "I don't think this is quite the right place." "It's not that I don't want to." "Are you sure?" "It's just that..." "when we do..." "I want it to be perfect." "Nothing -- nothing in the world must go wrong." "Are you a virgin, M r." "Russell?" "Not exactly." "Is Tom, do you suppose?" "Very probably." "I am." "awful thing, that dreaded sex business." "Viv is not, though." " Not what?" " A virgin." "Forgive me, Maurice, but are you doing a survey of some kind?" "Survey?" "Into sexual habits." "Ah, no." "You see, there was a spot of bother last year." "Vivie took rather a shine to a chap." "Mums found out, put a stop to it." "awful scenes -- bed without dinner, house arrest." "You know the kind of thing." "I wouldn't want to go through all that again with Tom." "No." "I'm sure Tom's intentions are entirely honorable." "M mm." "Not sure about Vivie's, though." "You can stay in the house." "M um and Dad are away." "There's nobody there except the staff." "And the house is absolutely stuffed with cigarettes, so we can be as decadent as we like." "And the season's coming up" "Ascot, Goodwood, the Russians at Covent Garden." "But I don't know these places, Viv." "What a wonderful time I'll have showing you." "But I don't have any clothes." "Oh !" "GorbIimey, aren't you a bore!" "I'll buy you some, you ninny." "Oh, darling, you're going to have to Iearn to make an absolute ass of yourself." "We're going to get married, be broke we may even starve." "It'll be absolute hell." "But it wouId be worth it because we have this love." "And nobody else has it." "This is my one chance of happiness, Maurice, and I'm taking it, and I'll need the car!" "Yeah, but M um and Dad are coming home." "They'll kill me!" "What am I gonna tell them?" "For God's sake, Vivie, you can't!" "Oh, God." "You're eloping, aren't you?" "Well, where are you getting married?" "What am I gonna tell them?" "Oh, God, there'll be an almighty row, I know it." "And I'll get all the blame." "Viv wants it this way -- no fuss." "Look, Tom..." "There's only one rule in our family -- sort of unspoken kind of thing." "You have to be kind to Vivie." "I will be, Maurice." "That I promise you." "No, no, I mean especially kind." "carefuI-handIing, this-side-up kind of thing." "You see, the -- the thing is, you -- you grow up trying not to notice certain things the scenes, the closed doors, the " "Oh, a family of mutes." "But M um's always said it's not Vivie's fault, not her fault at all, and that's right -- she's right, you know." "Maurice, I don't think I follow." "Ah." "Well, listen, Tom, man to man..." "there isn't anything beastIy between you and Viv, is there?" "Nothing in the..." "in the medical way." "Oh." "I think I can reassure you on that point, Maurice." "I'm perfectly healthy." "Well, perhaps it's all right, then." "I'm sure it is." "Poor Tom." "It was impossible to tell him." "Anyway, he was far too straightIaced." "You see, Vivie suffered from what we used to call "women's troubles. "" "She was tormented by them, constantly, emotionally as well as physically." "Of course, none of us could say a word far too embarrassing shameful family secret." "Won't be long." "What damn fools we were." "If you wouldn't mind hurrying, my husband's waiting." "Um... yes." "Uh, the one's anodyne, the other, bromide, Miss Haigh-Wood." "Mrs. Thomas EIiot." "Uh... youknow,Mrs." "EIiot, you must never mix them." "Yes, I quite understand." "Ma'am, uh, e-excuse me for asking, but this is what you were recommended, is it?" "The anodyne is 60% spirit of ether, and the bromide, 90% alcohol." "You think there's been some mistake?" "Sir Frederick Lamb is the king's personal physician." "Oh, no, ma'am." "No, I know." "I-It's just... y-youwill be careful, won't you?" "I will." "Thank you." "Louise, ma'am." "Louise." "What's happened, Maurice?" "Where are they?" "Is it too late?" "Why didn't you stop them?" "!" "Who is he?" "I'm going out." "Will you come?" "Forgive me, Tom." "There is nothing to forgive." "Where are you going?" "I don't know." "Out." "Oh, please, Tom..." "Don't leave me." " Oh, God, Tom, please." " Vivie, don't." "I can make you happy, my darling." "I can." "I can." " Don't." "please." " Oh." "Let me try and make you happy." "Viv... thereis..." "there's no need to say anything." "I disgust you." "Tom !" "Do I?" "Thank you, thank you, John !" "Mr. EIiot, I'm terribly sorry, but I wonder if you could help us." "Mrs. EIiot?" "Vivie?" "It's me." "Thank you." "Vivie, why?" "Why did you leave me?" "I take the pills for my head, the tummy comes back." "I take the medicines for my stomach, the headaches come back." "So sometimes I take them all together." "I know I shouldn't, but..." "You know, you mustn't leave me like that." "You must talk to me." "I never know what you're thinking." "I know I can make things right for you, Tom." "I know I can make you happy." "I promise." "But we have to get used to each other, have to be kind to each other." "Tom..." "darling Tom." " Good morning, Annie." " Morning, ma'am." "Sir." "Maurice." "Tom." "Has it been very ghastly, Maurice?" "Totally blistering absolute tongue-Iashing all around." "I think they..." "They're in the..." "I won't excuse what we've done." "I haven't even told my family back in the states, but I can assure you Vivienne is my Iife now." "I Iove her completely." "Tea?" "Thank you." "I really, sincerely did not mean to hurt you." "Lemon?" "Uh, please." "Why don't you do something sensible with that hat and brolly?" "Yes, uh, of course." "Thank you." "Is Vivienne pregnant?" "No." "No, she is not." "After her money?" "Are you a Johnny-come-IateIy?" "A cad?" "A bounder?" "No, I don't think so." "Any money or prospects?" "I have $ 1 00 a year from Harvard." "I am -- well, actually, was studying the philosophy of F. H. bradley." "I don't know whether you know " "The very last thing my husband will want to hear about is someone else's philosophy." "I have published one small book of poetry." "Got a roof?" "A tutor of mine, the honorable Bertrand Russell, has offered us accommodations in his flat in Soho." "It's small." "I n fact, it's in the attic " "Bertrand Russell, the pacifist fellow -- the one the newspaper wallahs call the most hated man in London?" "That sounds like him, yes." "If I can put your minds at rest, I recently have received an offer for six lectures on French symbolism." "So, to be precise, you have $ 2 a week, you intend to share an attic with the most hated man in London, and you might be giving a few lectures on French percussion instruments." "In the meantime, the whole of Europe is at war with the kaiser." "Nothing could make me feel more secure." "How was the wedding?" "Of course, Eastbourne's proudest boast is that you won't find one shop window on the front." "It reminded me of Forest Park in St. Louis." "Oh, did it really?" "Was the weather kind?" "Very bracing." "Had you a sunny room?" "hardly had time inside to find out." "Oh, please." ""Dear M rs." "Haigh-Wood," ""thank you for your check to cover the damage to room 86." ""Throughout this whole episode," ""I may say that M r." "EIiot behaved with considerable forbearance. "" "Before Vivienne rushed you headlong into this, did she tell you anything?" "Nothing?" "Nothing at all?" "I really am rather proud of you." "I don't condone anything, but, all in all, I feel you've behaved very well." "And you are discreet -- I sense that." "Yes, I think you're going to make a wonderful member of the family." "Bertie Russell says that war is a crime." "He says that killing in uniform is merely licensed murder." "Oh, thanks very much." "What do you think, Tom?" "Not at the dinner table, please, Vivienne." "Of course." "M illions of young men are going to die, and it mustn't interfere with the cream of broccoli." "Good Lord, is that what it is?" "Bertie Russell says war must be abolished." "Bertie's Tom's friend." "He paid for all my dance lessons." "Your friend wants to go to bed with me." "Did you know that, Tom?" "That's enough." "You should tell him what it wouId be like." "These are my men -- Tom and Bertie." "But they can't always communicate." "I unlock their minds!" "could you hear yourself shouting in there?" "could you?" "Now, very calm." "Very still." "Have you taken your medicine?" "How often is Granny visiting you?" "I thought Granny was dead." "Very well, then." "How often do you get the curse?" "Two or three times." "In a month?" "Sometimes in a week." "Tom's not quite what I imagined a poet to be." "Was he a virgin?" "He most certainly was." "It can't be easy for a new husband." "No." "Have you enough S.T. s?" "Yes, Mummy I have enough sanitary towels to make a patchwork quilt, in two colors." "please, Vivienne, try not to be vulgar." "There is never any occasion for it." "Life is quite vile enough as it is." "Oh, it's all right, M ummy." "You don't have to worry anymore..." "because whatever else happens, I've got Tom." "He's mine." "And you can't stop it now." "Ah." "A wooden-Iegged man." "There's always a wooden-Iegged man." "Wasn't one in the Iast one?" "There has been someone else, a very able and efficient climber." ""Doctor, could you scale this wall?"" "Yes, but not quite the same without that Moriarty chap, though." "Here we are, Vivie." "I Iooked out the open window." "The moon shone brightly on that angle of the house." "We were a good 60 feet above the ground, but look where I would, there was no foothold nor as much as a crevice in the brickwork." "Oh, careful !" "And?" "Yes?" "Hey!" "ALL:" "Ah-ha-ha!" "ALL:" "Ah-ha-ha!" "Ah-ha-ha!" "I never know..." "when it's going to strike." "It's overwork, as the doctor says." "You know, you think you write best when you get sick." "So you make yourself sick." "You know you do." "And you can't expect to teach and give lectures and write book reviews and articles and write your poems..." "and not get sick, Tom." "Poetry's a mug's game." "Yes?" "Yes." "Without a shadow of a doubt." "Hello, Maurice." "I say, I had no idea philosophers danced like that." "The most hated man in London." "What do you know?" "He's been very good to us." "We couldn't have done without him." "I've come to say goodbye, Tom." "Just had orders." " GallipoIi next." " I envy you." "Yes." "Well, you did try." "If they wouldn't have you, well, it's their loss." "Physically unsound." "That's me, Maurice." "please." "A cigarette?" "Yes, please." "So, how's the old poetry business?" "Oh, it isn't a business." "It's a mug's game." "In fact, I've been thinking about getting a regular job." "Gosh." "Well, it's advisable for a poet to have -- to lead a commonplace life if he's to do his work." "Yes, yes." "Well..." "I must say," "I can't quite get used to having a poet in the family, sort of married to my own big sis and such." "Fraterus." "What?" "A brother-in-Iaw." "Ah." "Sorry." "My Greek's not up to much." "It's Latin." "Ah." "SqueIch." "Listen, Tom..." "man to man..." "there isn't anything awful between you and Viv, is there?" "Nothing." "Nothing at all." "All right." "I say, good luck with you two." "It'll all turn out massive fun in the end." "Massive." "That's the ticket." "Three out of four junior officers don't come back, Tom." "Say cheerio to Viv for me, will you?" "Yes." "Of course." "Tom, so good to see you again." "And the boys gone out upon the holiday..." "And half the girls that did it" "They are full of purity" "And they all were walking the wibbIy-wobbIy walk" "walk on, the wibbIy-wobbIy " " blank." " Who has the question?" " blank." " Ah, the bishop." ""approximately how many teeth has a turtle?"" "40?" "hopelessly wrong !" "The bishop of Oxford is out." "A turtle has approximately no teeth at all." "You're out, out!" "Give his bishopric to someone who knows something." "Where the wibbIy-wobbIy time..." "Faster." "Who has the question?" " blank." " blank." ""-40 degrees centigrade" ""is the same as -40 degrees Fahrenheit." "True or false. "" " false." "True." "You're out." "Ignoramus!" "Of a Iong mile" "The wibbIy-wobbIy mile" "When the day is soaring" "Soar on, the wibbIy-wobbIy" "blank." ""A lady, when asked her age, replied that she was 35" ""not counting Saturdays and Sundays." "What was her real age?"" "I think she was... 60." "Wrong !" "Tom may answer." "Come on." "For the cleverest man in england." "Come on." "Come on." "49." "What was that?" "Correct!" "Correct!" "I declare Tom EIiot the cleverest man in england !" "Bravo." "Daddy should never have done it." "You're not a money lender." "It's a disgusting idea." "hardly that -- a banker." "I'll be working at LIoyd's." "Of course you won't even consider it." "My poetry has sold about 200 copies." "What kind of income do you imagine that gives us?" "You're an artist." "We can always borrow some more money from Bertie." "He doesn't mind a bit." "I've already accepted the position." "Your father has been immensely kind." "Can't you see what they're doing to you?" "They want to bury you." "They want to drag you down." "I have no idea who you are talking about." "How can you work when you are locked in some dungeon of a bank all day?" "I shall work at the bank in the day and write at night." "Nothing could be more straightforward." "But what can I do?" "What use can I be if you're away all day?" "How can I help?" "You do help..." "all the time..." "with everything." "Well..." "Bertie has offered to take me to the seaside." "What do you think about that?" "Well, you know I can't come." "Of course not." "What could I expect?" "I mportant affairs at the bank, I suppose." "Well, Vivie, you must go, if you want to." "It'll be good for you." "telegram, M r." "EIiot." ""please come, Tom." ""She's very low, and influenza has settled on her chest." "I am sorry. "" "Viv and I -- I want you to know that I have absolutely nothing to reproach myself with." "Of course you haven't, Bertie." "You're our closest friend." "Tom?" "Over here." "I'm sorry to be a nuisance." "It's an awful bore dying." "Nobody's dying." "I did so want to help you with your poetry." "You will." "You do..." "on every line." "I can't do it without you." "I know." "Can I help you with anything?" "Perhaps." "Perhaps you can." "Tom?" "What if it reads "What you get married for if you don't want children"?" "That's better." "Yes." "Yes, it is." "Good morning, Bishop." "Good to see you." "It was so good of you to come." "Not at all." "please, right this way." "Viv." "I suppose you just happened to be in the area." "I've asked the bishop to call, Viv." "Vivie..." "I'm sure you have a million things to do." "Oh, I see." "You want to be alone." "Well, if you Iike, I couId go up to the roof and see how long I couId dangle in the air." " If I'm intruding" " Not at all." "I believe the sale is still on at SeIfridges." "I thought we were working on your poems today, Tom." "It's very good of you to devote so much time to an unbeliever, Bishop." "I hope you don't think my husband's looking for religion." "No, what Tom wants is boredom a boring and conventional life." "He mistakenly thinks he needs it for his work." "Oh, and if you can arrange it, the egotistical little shit would Iike to be a saint." "And I don't normally use words like that." "Here at the base of the brain, there is the pituitary gland." "Now, we know it is linked to instances of dementia." "Here in the lower stomach, there is unceasing colic." "We're certain that there is a link between the gland and the colic." "She feels heights of enthusiasm, and then sudden great falls of emotion." "I ndeed." "Well, unfortunately, she has what I call intestinal catarrh." "She cannot control her menstrual life." "Apart from the drugs I am already prescribing her, there's little we can do to control the symptoms." "May I ask about the marriage?" "We love each other." "I see." "And there are no problems beyond what I imagine must " "No." "None." "Do you intend to have children?" "Well..." "I ..." "Uh..." "We have never discussed it." "I think I should tell you that your wife's condition will not improve." "It may worsen." "What do I tell Vivienne?" "As little as possible." "With a patient like this, it's important not to..." "burden her with details." "Yes." "Maurice!" "Home at last!" "And not dead, either." "Oh, my dear fellow, how did you survive all that shooting?" "Oh, simple, really." "Just ducked when I saw the bullets coming." "You look -- you -- you sound different." " You look" " How do I Iook, Maurice?" "The spitting image of a banker a true-bIue english banker." "Well, my dear fellow, we must celebrate." "please." "Shall I send out for some champagne?" "Oh, gosh, no." "The old firewater's just the ticket." "So, how are you both?" "We couldn't be happier." "Viv goes dancing twice a week." "Me too, sometimes." "Saturdays at the theater." "That's us." "And how are you, Maurice?" "Oh, pretty fair." "Looking all over for a job." "No one wants to employ me." "Don't you think that's a bit off?" "After all, I have just won the bloody war." "It's called "He Do the police in Different Voices. "" "Ah." "One thing you need is a catchy title." "Of course, it's a work in progress." "It might help if you try to imagine Tom's poetry as a smashed vase." "Ah." "Naturally." "You must understand that Tom quotes from many different sources." "The main character, the prophet Tiresias, has just seen Athena's body quite naked, and it is such a frightful shock to him that he can think of nothing but rats in a sewer." "Vivie, I really don't think it needs" "Is there anything more I need to know before I hear the poem?" "Other voices emerge." "The Duchess from Webster's "MaIfi. "" "She'd made a reckless marriage to Antonio." "Her family would go to every length to stop it." "There's a moment where she brushes her hair, and he cannot bring himself to touch her!" "The horror enguIfs" "That's not what I meant at all." "It is!" "Of course it is!" "He, he quotes from Dante" ""A soldier makes a hasty marriage. "" "Soon after the wedding, he discovers he's made a hideous mistake" "Vivie, please." "This is really unnecessary." "Oh, is that the time?" "charles, dear..." "it is time for your medicine." "Thomas, the poem " "I think it is time, dear." ""He Do the police in Different Voices. "" ""My nerves are bad tonight." "Yes, bad." ""Stay with me." ""Speak to me." ""Why do you never speak?" "Speak!" ""What are you thinking of?" ""What thinking?" ""What?" ""I never know what you are thinking !" "Think!"" ""I think we are in rats' alley where the dead men lost their bones. "" ""What shall I do now?" ""What shall I do?" ""I shall rush out as I am and walk the street" ""with my hair down, so." ""What shall we do tomorrow?" "What shall we ever do?"" "There it is." "More wine, ma'am?" "Tom looks rather bloody." "There's nothing wrong with Tom that separation from his wife couldn't cure." "She reeks of ether." "If she had any conception of his significance, it wouId be less alarming." "The drain on his energy must be " "I know - unimaginabIe." "I don't keep a line that Viv hasn't approved." "I rely on her completely." "She's my first audience." "Of course." "She's a writer, too." "considerable talent." "Really?" "I'll send you some of her things, shall I?" "You do realize, of course, what she's doing to you, to your reputation?" "What she might do to your work?" "You're wrong." "You're quite wrong." "You have no idea." "You don't know her." "She... hasan uncanny understanding of certain things." "I haven't made her happy." "Some moments in life..." "decisions..." "are irrevocable." "Perhaps one can become moral..." "only by being damned." "She's often in a Iot of pain." "I must take care of her." "That's what I must do." "Of course, Virginia thinks Tom should leave me." "She refers to me as a bag of ferrets." "It's my nose, you see writer's insight." "Well, she should know." "Leonard has her in and out of the loony bin every couple of months." "They all hate me because I've got Tom, and they all want him." "OttoIine's desperate for an affair with Tom." "Ha!" "Lawrence says OttoIine's vagina is like a bird's beak." "I know he's always been totally disgusting, but" "A bird's beak!" "Why is there never any wine?" "!" "They all admire Tom's mind, but I am his mind." " Ma'am?" " Oh, good." "Oh !" "The trust fund accounts for everything, M rs." "Haigh-Wood." "What about Viv?" "What is she to be told?" "I don't want to overburden her." "She doesn't understand money." "charles had the greatest confidence in you." "Viv will be taken care of just as she always has been, without fuss." "Where is she, anyway?" "SeIfridges, I think." " Have I missed anything?" "There you are." "Looking so lovely." "So, how much has Daddy left?" "What's my share?" "I'm the eldest child." "We were just talking about M um's life and her evenings." "She's going to be jolly lonely now, so I've proposed we should all play more bridge." "Oh, by the way, Tom and I can't go on living in that awful little hole in Crawford Mansions." "Tom is quite famous now, and there's a house in Chester Street which would be quite perfect for him." "And we need a motorcar." "What's this?" "It's a list of property holdings and investments." "Houses?" "Mm-hmm." "In Manchester and London." "I didn't know we had a farm in anglesey." "So, um, what is it when we add it all up?" "The trust was set up to protect the estate against taxes." "One does not "add it all up. "" "That's just the point." "So, what's my share?" "I have to be independent, you know." "Uh, Tom's family won't let me inherit anything from him." "They're quite adamant about that, so I have to know where I stand." "You see, your father didn't want you to bother with any awful papers, so what he's done is..." "He hasn't said anything about you in the will." "You are all tenants of the trust." "The trustees have power of attorney." "And who are they?" "Uh, Maurice and myself." "Oh, so it's all right -- the house and the car." "darling, leave it to the boys." "They know best." "I have a right to some of Daddy's money." "Viv, uh, there's no money to share it as such." "Uh, Viv, please, please." "Are you sure you wouldn't like to go home?" "The solicitor will arrange everything." "Oh, the solicitor." "What else does the solicitor have to arrange?" "!" "Does the solicitor know that Tom and I sleep in separate rooms and that I've driven him to it?" "!" " You have not." " And divorce!" "Tom's friends say we should divorce." "There's been no talk of divorce." "And does he know that there are times when I am not allowed in the same room as you, particularly when the Bishop of Oxford calls?" "Tom wants to be baptized into the Church of england." "Now, if a big baby wants to stick his head into a bowl, it's called baptism." "If I want to do it, it's called shampoo." "And -- and..." "has the solicitor taken into account Tom's sandwiches?" "Sandwiches?" "God knows I'm tired of making them." "God knows he takes them each day into the office and then dives around to a little church in the city and plows through the cheese and pickle on his knees." "I mean, what do you suppose is the legal position on sandwiches?" "!" "Oh, I see." "I'm ill again, am I?" "No." "No, I-I-I can hear myself." "I know perfectly well what I'm saying." "Oh." "Let's just pretend I never came in." "Just carry on as before." "please." "By the way, I've been thinking that I might toddIe off to Africa." "Try my luck, so to speak." "Well, there doesn't seem to be much opportunity in england these days, does there?" "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "This next poem is called "Marina. "" "The title will, of course, be quite clear to anyone familiar with Shakespeare's "PericIes. "" "No poet can truthfully tell you the origin of the poem, however personal the poem may seem." "What makes it a poem will not derive from the fact that it is personal." "Poetry is not an expression of emotion, but an escape from emotion." "Hello?" "Oh, M rs." "EIiot." "Hello." "Won't be a moment." "Williams came with the job, ma'am night nurse." "First time they've ever given the position to a woman." "I'm so pleased for you, Louise." "My husband's reading to some friends in our new house." "Oh, you should be there, ma'am." "Oh, I know them all off by heart." "It's his fifth book of poems." "wonderful." "7 00 people bought the Iast one." "A proper bestseller." "Sometimes I feel you're my only friend, Louise." "But you know so many people." "Oh, it's Tom they come to see." "What about your family?" "Oh, well, they just say, um, "Poor Tom. "" ""He's got his hands full. "" "I'm glad about M r." "EIiot, though, being so busy and important." "Oh, he's in a spin, all right, yes." "Ever since he left the bank and took the job in publishing, everyone wants to see him." "Like bees around a honey pot." "I hardly ever see him now." "Isn't that awfully difficult?" "Oh, I never think about it, ma'am just something for idle hands." "Thank you." "Hello." "T. S. EIiot's office." "Mr. EIiot, please." "Who is this?" "Who's speaking, please?" "would you tell him his wife is calling?" "One moment, please." "I'm sorry, M rs." "EIiot, but M r." "EIiot isn't your husband's not here just now." "I know perfectly well he's there." "And working too hard to keep you in the job that's what he's doing." " Now" "Is this some deliberate attempt to provoke me?" "!" "Give me the chairman at once!" "I want to speak to M r." "Faber immediately." "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm under strict instructions not to allow any " "Oh, for God's sake!" "I am coming over this instant!" "I am opposite this building, and I am going to make the most awful stink you ever heard." "I only wanted to leave a small bar of chocolate for my husband." "Anything for me?" " Thank you." " M m-hmm." "Ohh !" "Oh !" "As we have discussed before, the uneven flow from the pituitary gland somehow feeds down to the ovulation cycle." "But in addition to this," "Vivienne has what I prefer to call a febrile disease of the mind." "Now, that is why I have asked Dr. M iller here today to explain the condition." "I n fact, we consider it a secondary form of mental disease, and it is notorious in attacking young women of exceptional gifts." "The patient falls to understand her social position and her duty to society." "She becomes vulgar and impulsive and frequently shows a rebellious disregard for propriety." "And it is this condition that the Iaw and the medical professions define as "moral insanity. "" "Insanity?" "Technically, yes." "I thought I'd take you by surprise." "A very pleasant surprise indeed." "How very good of you to visit." "We'll be undisturbed here." "Ooh." "Um." "What has she done?" "Ohhh." " Oh, hurry." " Yes." "Up!" "Uhhh." "Uhhh." "Uh !" "Uhhhhh !" "Oh, I'm so sorry." "Ohhh !" "I'll never do it again." "I'll be good." "Uhh !" "Leave me." "Oh, I'm so ashamed." "I'll be good..." "I'm sorry." "Forgive me." "Tom..." "Don't look at me." "What is it that you want?" "I want nothing." "That's precisely what you have." "You can't go on like this, neither of you." "What is it that you want?" "I'm married to a woman that I Iove..." "but everything we do together falls apart." "I crave companionship..." "but I am completely alone." "I , Thomas, renounce the devil and all his works the vain pomp and glory of this world, the carnal desires of the flesh." "Taxi !" "Taxi !" "Taxi !" "Why, Vivienne." "Oh, hello, Vivie." "Hello, Vivienne." "No." "Uh, no, you've made a mistake." "You're confusing me with that other woman who is so like me." "She's always getting me into terrible trouble." "How absurd." "And if you don't go away this minute!" "Don't be silly." "You are Vivienne EIiot." "I am not Vivienne EIiot and never have been." "Is that clear?" "Yes." "Yes, it is." "It's perfectly, perfectly clear." "Yes, you know." "A huge mistake, of course." "You are not Vivienne EIiot." "How could we possibly think you are?" " You are not." "One simply has to fight tooth and nail to get a cab at this time of day." ""Dear M r." "EIiot," ""thank you for your reply of the sixteenth." ""The faculty is naturally delighted" ""that you have accepted the chair of poetry" ""at Harvard University." ""Tenure will be for one year, commencing September 1" ""would you be kind enough to relay your travel plans" ""so that arrangements for suitable accommodation" ""can be made?" "Yours sincerely, G.T. Lowell, President, Harvard University. "" "Hello, Nancy, darling." "Oh, look, there he is." "Hello." "New friend !" "Great white hunter." "Yoo-hoo!" "Come along, darling." "Hello!" "Look at you, Vivie, look at you." "My, you're marvelous!" "Oh, look at you !" "You've shrunk." "Tom, my dear fellow." "marvelous to see you." "So, how's england treating you, Tom?" "Aces all around new house, new car." "Same wife." "Tell us about Africa." "Well, uh, totally huge, swimming with gin and elephants." "Yes." "Natives speak english to a man." "Oh, Tom, I must tell you" "I met this American filly in Mombasa, and she was actually reading one of your books." "Oh, splendid." "Yes, startling." "Who'd have believed it?" ""Oh, God, " I said." ""That's old Tom's poetry. "" "Well, worked wonders in the old courtship front." "I knew poetry would come in useful one day." " glad to be of use, Maurice." "I say, super motorcar." "So, what have you two been up to?" "Oh... endlessparties." "All Tom's friends come over students bang!" "ng on the door at all hours for autographs and bishops by the truckload." "Oh, Tom is one of us now -- British citizen." "Hoorah." "welcome aboard." "Thinking about kids next, I shouldn't wonder." "Oh, I don't know about that." "We do have cats, though." "Both still crazy about chocolate?" "absolutely mad about it." "Ah." "You both sound so happy." "We are." "That's it?" "Yes." "Mums, Tom's whole career is at stake." "He gives lectures to the archbishop at Lambeth palace." "All that will go up in smoke." "Maurice, please." "No, no." "Short memory, these top people." "Now, Tom can't take her anywhere." "He's terrified in case she causes another awful scene." "I mean, she's sending letters around town, accusing all and sundry of trying to seduce him." "Ask Tom." "Thank you, Maurice." "First the letters." "Then the car." "Well, my teeth will never be the same again." "Sometimes she gets carsick." "I know it's not an excuse, but you might have told her about America." "I Ieft the letter where she could see it." "I thought it best." "So the first thing she knows of your going to America -- for who knows how long -- is a letter on the dining-room table." "I can't pretend anymore." "She's sick." "All the doctors say the same thing." "She's running around town with a knife in her handbag." "What knife?" "The poor sod only has to say "Meet the wife, "" "and a brigade of these BIoomsbury wallahs stampede mad dog for the causey." "Think of the scandal, M ums, if she goes too far." "Where is Viv?" "I sent her off to Harrods." "M r." "Janes, would you come in?" "M ums, this is M r." "Janes, whom we were talking about earlier." "Um, he was a policeman and" "Maurice, please." "M r." "Janes is a medical officer with the Association of Private Practitioners." "What does a medical officer do?" "It's purely hypothetical." "No final decision's been taken." "Well, M rs." "Wood " "M rs." "Haigh-Wood." "I observe the lady of whom we speak and report to the family." "I n the event of a crisis, two doctors are obliged to ask the lady two questions of a simple nature." "The next morning," "I go to the magistrate's court with a petition." "Yes?" "And apply for a notice of committal." "I then convey her into the care of her doctors." "You mean you bundle her into a straitjacket and cart her off to the lunatic asylum." "It is vital that we act together as a family." "Good evening, sir." "She's locked herself in." "I thought I better call you." "Yes." "I think now's the time, M r." "EIiot." "Yeah." "I , um, took the liberty of calling the doctors." "Yes..." "I see." "I unlocked the door the minute I heard you." " Hello, Viv." "What's all going on out there?" "We need to be very calm." "Oh, there's no need for that." "If you want to go out, do." "I want you to." "Thank you, but no." "No, it's good for you." "You can't stay trapped in here with me." "I do know what goes on in your mind." "Who is it this time " " Gert or Daisy?" "Ooh, you're up to something." "Let's be calm, Vivienne." "I keep getting all these horrible formal letters from your lawyer." "I told them I wanted to talk to you." "After all, you are my husband." "We are legally separated." "Oh, that's just a form of words, isn't it?" "Whom God has joined, Iet no man put asunder." "You're an expert on God, aren't you?" "We are going to have to talk about things, Vivienne." "Well, we've never done that before, have we?" "You have to understand what you have done." "We have to face this together." "The motorcar..." "the chocolates." "Oh, that." "Those rats at Faber's wanted you all to themselves." "There was no room for me." "I'm so angry at being locked up." "You see, you have to remember what a success you are -- a famous poet, director of a leading publisher's." "I would Iike some recognition for that." "After all, the poems come out of our lives, Tom." "I'd Iike to share just an inch of that success." "But why chocolate?" "Because you love it, although not quite in that form, I grant you." "And the car?" "You really could have killed us." " How are Maurice's teeth?" " Fine." " Was the car fixed?" " Yes." "And you and I are still upright, so..." "Look, I felt a rush of blood to the head." "I was sitting, listening to a string of trivial chatter." "You were vexed by the conversation?" "You were leaving me for a year, and you didn't have the courage to tell me." "Maurice was asking us questions about ourselves, and I heard us telling him masses of lies over and over." "You see" "Oh." "You see, that -- that's..." "why I married you, Tom to escape from all that." "But you..." "Well, Tom, you always wanted to be the perfect EngIishman." "All these years, Vivie..." "right from the start." "All the secrets we had to keep." "Trying not to catch each other's eyes because we might realize we were strangers." "And always the medicines, the doctors, the experts, the things I was never told." "And the way people looked at us." ""There go Tom and Viv." ""What do they say to each other?" "What ever do they say?"" "I have the doctors and attendants, sir." "Stay out!" "What's going on?" "Two of your doctors are outside." "They want to come in and take a look at you and make a decision." "At this time of night?" "They have your best interests at heart." "What decision?" "They need to come in..." "and ask you a few questions." "You won't let them take me away from you, Tom." "After all, there have been good moments in the past." "We've had our splendid times, haven't we, Tom?" "Yes." "Are you ready?" "Vivie, darling..." "if you have a knife..." "would you give it to us, please?" "We know you have a knife there." "We're being a bit Ethel M. Dell, aren't we?" "There have been complaints." "From whom?" "M rs." "Virginia woolf." "And you believe them?" "Well, M ums, um..." "I'm afraid it's too late." "I caught up with Mrs. WooIf in the ladies' room at Victoria Station." "I'll show you exactly how I did it." "Like that!" "Oh, good Lord !" "I bought it in a toy shop." "Oh, God." "Now, I believe you have some questions for me." "Tom will tell you I'm brilliant at puzzles." ""Rupert takes his friends to the opera." ""Rupert is sitting next to charles and on his left." ""Daphne sits immediately on charles' right." ""CIarissa sits somewhere to the Ieft of Daphne." "Can you put them in their correct order?"" "CIarissa is next to Rupert," "Rupert is next to charles, charles is next to Daphne." "Uh, yes." "That's... correct." "Next." "A greasy pole is 1 0 yards high." "The little brown monkey wishes to climb the pole." "The monkey climbs three yards a day." "Each night, he slips back two yards." "How many days will it take him to reach the top?" "Seven." "S-- wrong." "The answer is eight." "A member of the family must sign for the reception order." "The, uh, Lunacy Act provides the following all Vivienne's bank accounts and credit arrangements at certain shops cease immediately." "She's not allowed to vote or drive a vehicle or hold any kind of passport." "She has no right of appeal at any time for her release." "After that, everything is at the discretion of the trustees." "What do we do with Vivie now?" "Well, M rs." "EIiot will be completely at liberty for at Ieast two or three days until the magistrates can approve of the reception order." "Then... shewillbecommitted." "Excuse me." "Oh, God." "Men in white coats." "M rs." "Vivienne EIiot..." "under the Lunacy Act," "I'm obliged to take you away from here to a proper place of detention." "How dare you?" "!" "We're not going to have a nasty scene in a public place, are we?" "I don't see why not!" "Stop it!" "Are we going to be a bit more ladylike now, Vivienne?" "Dear God !" "Pay for the tea, would you?" "And, um, be sure to leave a tip." " Oh, goodbye." "Oh." "please!" "Ma'am !" "Don't listen, ma'am !" "She was the first in her class to audition for the ballet school." "And languages -- oh." "What a gift she had." "It is a..." "very impressive place acres of grass." "Viv will be very comfortable." "And it is just for a while." "Yes." "After you came to us," "I-I warned our family and friends," ""He's a bit of a stick... "" ""... butso eager to be like us. "" "And then those BIoomsbury types got hold of you." "You mustn't think that riffraff is the heart of english life." "It isn't such a..." "an achievement to turn gossip into art..." "and write nasty novels about one's friends." "Haigh-Woods have been buried as far afield as..." "alberta..." "and nepal." "Magistrates, councilors, church wardens." "Oh, unfashionable, yes." "Snigger behind BIoomsbury shutters..." "but that is true British stock." "Goes about its business." "Is quiet about it." "Quite unexceptionaI." "And, I might add, never before has one of us been carted off in disgrace to a lunatic's house." "You swore to us, Tom, you would always look after Vivie." "So now you're famous on a bookshelf." "What do we have left to give you?" "I Iove this family." "And I've always wanted to be a part of it." "family unity " "No, please." "I've lived all my Iife in the hope that Vivie would be acceptable to someone." "It's not quite the moment..." "to give me the benefit of your mind." "Good night, Maurice." "Tom?" "I'm off." "Day after tomorrow." "Africa." "Oh." "So soon?" "I'm joining the regiment." "Of course." "Cheerio." "I will keep in touch." "Fraterus." "Brother-in-Iaw." "Greek." "Latin." "SqueIch." "It's been splendid knowing you." "I feel I've..." "touched history." "Well..." "I sortof hungon." "Maurice?" "What have we done?" "M rs." "EIiot?" "Hi." "I'm Captain Todd." "I believe you know M r." "Davis from the Board of control." "Yes." "Hello." "Hello, M rs." "EIiot." "You're an American." "That's right." "Seconded by my unit to the Tavistock clinic as an observer." "I've been looking at your case history." "I was wondering if we could go over a few things together." "certainly." "Did any doctor ever mention hormonal imbalance?" "No." "When did menopause occur?" "Seven years ago." "And since that time, you've had pretty good health?" "I have -- remarkably." "Yes." "This treatment you had " "I mean, all there is is this history of headaches followed by stomach pains and menstrual bleeding." "[ Sighs ] Yes, I suppose you could sum up a quarter of a century of frightfulness in that way." "You see, today there are courses of hormone treatment to maintain the uterus." "It's relatively simple." "Really?" "You're legally separated from your husband?" "I'm sorry to say that's true." "Look, ma'am..." "I'm not too acquainted with British law, but I understand your husband is a trustee of your estate and has control over your money." "Is that right?" "I mean, could you clarify that?" "I have no intention of clarifying anything." "I don't know what you're insinuating." "It seems to me that you're paying for your own incarceration here." "I mean, are you trying to say that in all these years, no one has ever made an application for your release?" "No member of your family?" "No trustee?" "How dare you." "My husband is the sweetest man on Earth." "He has borne the most awful lies and vilification with absolute courage." "He belongs with kings covered in raiment." "Look, excuse me " "T. S. EIiot is the greatest living poet in the english language." "Ma'am, I'm sorry." "I've never heard of T. S. EIiot." "And you won't belittle me that way." "I gave Tom the title to The Waste Land." "We worked together, side by side, for 1 5 years." "I am threaded through every line of poetry he has ever written !" "And he has my undying love!" "He will have it until the Iast breath leaves my body." "And he knows it." "And nobody can ever take that away." ""'... therendingpain of reenactment" ""'of all that you have done, and been ;" ""'the shame of motives late revealed," ""'and the awareness of things ill-done" ""'and done to others' harm" ""'which once you took for exercise of virtue." ""'Then fools' approval stings" ""'and honor stains." ""'From wrong to wrong the exasperated spirit proceeds," ""'unless restored by that refining fire" ""'where you must move in measure," "like a dancer. "'" "Tom." "Tom !" "Ah !" "Tom, how good to see you." "Hello, Bertie." "How are you?" "And what are you doing?" "Cheerio." "Goodbye." "normal things for a poet -- watching enemy planes, avoiding bombs, checking the blackouts." "And you, Bertrand?" "I heard about Viv." "I suppose there was no other solution." "Of course, she was always unstable." "You used to say she was a free spirit." "Did I?" "I don't recall." "Don't think it doesn't hurt." "She's with me all the time -- every minute of the day." "Ah." "My stop." "Goodbye, Bertie." "Goodbye." "She is well, Tom?" "You have no right to ask that." "Tom..." "There's a visitor for you, M rs." "EIiot." "Vivie." "Hello, Maurice." "God." "You look so fit." "That's Africa." "Oh." "Tea." "I'll move these." "Well..." "looks pretty ace here." "It is." "They're looking after you well?" "Oh, five-star." "That's the spirit." "How was Africa?" "Not bad." "Uh, saw off a few U-boats." "Gin was a bit difficult to come by." "Appointed me chief of police " " Lagos." "Hurrah." "Had to give it up, though." "Hit a bit of a bald patch." "High commission wanted this victory parade, so we held a sunset curfew the night before, rounded up every dark bIighter we found in the streets, and popped them over to the chief magistrate's court the next morning." "No chief magistrate." "I'd locked the rascal up with all the others." "Red faces all around." "Dear old Vivie." "I want to know how you are..." "how it's all gone." "Pretty quiet." "Really?" "You must have had masses of visitors -- celebs from the book world." "Not masses." "I mean, you -- you do see chums?" "Chums drop by?" "You're the first chum I've seen since M ummy died." "Ah." "But there's... stilloldTom ." "Yes." "Well, he must write -- that sort of thing." "I haven't heard from Tom in 1 0 years." "But you are... allright." "I mean, you seem so okay." "I'm as sane as you are, Maurice." "Which... maynotamounttomuch,  God knows, but..." "Ah." "SqueIch." "I've learned to cook." "Wait here." "I want you to give this to Tom." "It's his favorite -- chocolate fudge." "You know how he loves chocolate." "I've really no idea when I'll see him." "I-I can't promise." "But when you do..." "Yes..." "I 'mbound to bump into him, of course." "I have to go now, Maurice." "I don't want to miss supper." "Goodbye, Maurice." "Chin up." "Maurice!" "Vivie was, of course, the strong one." "She made cowards of us all." "Well, me, certainly." "terrible, really." "Can't forget it." "It never mattered to Vivie what the world might think." "She's a very honest person, you see." " She stuck by her beliefs." "She believed in Tom and his genius." "She loved him and she stuck by him." "Never left him." "Never, ever left him."