"and see the oyster parlors there?" "My father kept one." "I was born in it." "That's my sister Alice." "She was a good girl, Alice, and my best friend as well as my big sister." "That's my father." "Best Whitstable natives you'll ever taste." "Right you are, sir." "Coming." "But this isn't about him or Alice or my brother Davy or my mother." "It's about me, Nan Astley, and I was nothing then." "I was barely 18." "My life had hardly started." "But open an oyster, and it's like a secret world in there, and that's how it was with me." "I didn't see how my life could have any surprises waiting in it." "I suppose I was content with my oyster girl's existence." "All right then, Nan." "Hello, Freddy." "Go for a little walk, then?" "Yes, all right, then." "I don't mind." "That was our little routine." "I'd meet him when they brought the boat in, and we'd go for a little walk... and a little spooning." "We weren't what you'd call "fast."" "It was expected, really, but..." "I never knew how I was supposed to feel." "Tony Reeves was sweet on Alice." "He was undermanager at the Canterbury Palace of Varieties." "Mother thought him a bit rapid, but you couldn't not like him." "Ding-dong, ding-dong!" "I heard that from Gully Sutherland himself." "Hey, you mustn't miss his show next week." "It's a stunner!" "I'll get you in the circle for gallery price." "That's very kind of you, Mr. Reeves." "Tony!" "Tony!" "We know each other well enough by now." "Well, we should love to come." "Is it all right if Nan's Freddy comes along, too?" "Of course." "The more the merrier." "He's not "my" Freddy, Mother." "He isn't yet, but he'd like to be." "Is that about the shape of it?" "And now, ladies and gentlemen, a very special treat." "For those of you who are connoisseurs of elegance and top class" "Miss Kitty Butler!" "What do you think?" "Pretty smart?" "Not half bad, I should say." "I'm following in Father's footsteps," "Following me dear, old dad." "He's just in front with a fine, big gal," "So I thought I'd have one as well." "Oh, Rosie." "Dear Rosie." "There's a rose in my heart... for you." "Catch." "Good-bye!" "Good-bye!" "Come again!" "Miss Kitty Butler!" "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the one and only" "Mr. Gully "He'll tickle your fancy" Sutherland!" "Hey, ladies and gentlemen!" "What's up?" "Just a bit" "Do you want me to come?" "No." "Are you all right, Nan?" "Nan?" "I've seen that face somewhere before." "Hello?" "You what?" "She did!" "I'm all right now, really." "Why don't you go back then?" "Come on, now." "Keep me company." "Oh, it must be wonderful to work here." "Aye, some of the time it is." "Enjoying the show?" "Oh, yes!" "Anything in particular?" "Kitty Butler." "I've never, ever seen a girl like her." "She's got it off, hasn't she?" "Like a proper boy." "All the walk, all the business." "But then she's not." "You've got to remember that, Nancy." "Well, of course I know that." "Well, that's all right, then." "Oh, I wish I could come and see her every night." "Well, there's no reason why you shouldn't." "I can put you up in one of the boxes, if you like." "They're hardly ever taken on a weeknight." "Really?" "Alice." "Alice." "How do you feel when you're with Tony?" "What a question." "Same as you when you're with Freddy, I suppose." "I don't feel anything much when I'm with Freddy." "Well, perhaps you should be showing him what to do." "If you don't like him, chuck him then." "Plenty more fish in the sea." "It's not I don't like him." "Yeah, I know." "He's just not "the one."" "You'll find someone you really like, Nan." "Promise?" "You wait." "You'll meet someone who'll have your head spinning and your legs turning to jelly and" "And what?" "You'll find out." "Now shut your eyes and go to sleep." "Oh, Rosie." "Dear Rosie." "There's a rose in my heart... for you." "But now I come to look around, there's a lot of pretty girls down here as well." "Put out the lights, Lymsman." "Let's have a look at you." "Well, we're spoiled for choice this evening, gents." "Catch." "Good-bye!" "Come again!" "Here she comes then." "How was she tonight, Nancy?" "Just as good, if not better." "She's not a real boy, you know." "I know she's not." "You ask me, I think there might be some young chap in the orchestra pit she's got her eye on." "I just hope young Freddy don't catch on!" "I wish you'd all mind your own business!" "When I see her, it's like..." "Oh, I don't know what it's like." "When she walks on stage, she makes me want to smile and weep at once." "She makes me sore, here." "I never, ever saw a girl like her before." "I never knew that there were girls like her." "I don't know what it is." "I don't know what's the matter with me, Alice." "Do you think I'm cracked?" "I don't think you should get too keen on that girl, Nan." "Why ever not?" "They're...not like us, people like that." "They don't lead natural lives, you know." "I think you should forget about her, Nan." "You don't understand, Alice." "I don't want to talk about it anymore." "It wasn't any use, telling me to forget about Kitty Butler." "As if I could." "And..." "I didn't see why I should." "Nancy, you can go as far as you like." "Don't worry." "I'll tell you if it hurts." "No!" "I don't want to." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "I just don't want that, Freddy." "I'm serious, you know, Nan." "We can be engaged." "Well, then it would be all right, wouldn't it?" "Can't we just go on as we are?" "You don't really care for me at all." "I do, though." "No, you don't." "You just like to keep me there, tagging along like." "If you really cared for me, you'd let me do it." "Well, then..." "I don't care for you." "Oh, Nan!" "Oh, don't take it like that, Nan!" "I didn't really mean it!" "But I did." "I meant it!" "And if what Freddy wanted was only human nature, so was what I wanted!" "But what was it I wanted?" "I didn't know, but I knew it had something to do with Kitty Butler." "We said good-bye with a tear and a sigh" "And whispered all the pretty things that sweethearts say." "You promised you'd never forget me." "I promised I'd always be true." "Oh, Rosie." "Dear Rosie." "There's a rose in my heart... for you." "Miss Kitty Butler, ladies and gentlemen!" "Good-bye!" "Come again!" "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the one you've all been waiting to see..." "Hey, ladies and gentlemen!" "...as a friend would, and knocks on door." "Sorry, um" "No, no, no, no." "Nothing to be sorry about." "You're just the person I wanted." "I've got a message for you." "Someone wants to see you." "Who?" "Shh, shh, shh." "Come in!" "Here she is, Miss Nancy Astley." "Miss Butler, I'll take up no more of your valuable time." "May I say again, a delightful evening, a rare treat." "Miss Astley, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." "Walter Bliss at your service." "Good night, ladies." "Mr. Reeves." "I'm very pleased to meet you, Miss Astley." "Do have a chair." "So...you're "my" mystery admirer." "I thought it was Gully you came to see very night." "Then somebody told me you always went out after I had finished." "Is it really me you stay for?" "Yes." "I'm sorry." "Now I'm here, I can't think of what to say." "Well, it was me who sent for you, so you needn't say anything if you don't want to." "But I do wish you'd tell me what it is you like so much." "I'm very vain, you see." "I do love to hear nice things about myself." "I like everything." "Your costumes and your songs and the way you sing them." "And the way you move and the way you smile and your voice." "You seem so very gay and bold." "It makes me happy just to hear you." "And I think your hair is beautiful." "Truly?" "Gully says it's like guinea pigs' fur." "Well, he's wrong." "Well, I'll tell him you said so." "Do you mind if I clean my makeup off while we talk?" "So...what about you?" "I know that you're a friend of Tony's." "Is he your sweetheart?" "No." "No, he's courting my sister Alice." "Is he?" "Hmm." "So, what about you?" "Have you got a sweetheart?" "No." "Nor have I." "So, where do you come from and where do you work at?" "Whitstable." "I work in an oyster house." "An oyster house?" "Like the song." "As I was going down Bishop's Gate Street," "An oyster girl I happened to meet." "Into her basket, I happened to peep" "To see if she had any oysters." "I do hope I haven't offended you," "Miss Astley." "No!" "No." "There's nothing wrong with oyster girls." "I think they're rather nice, if you're an example of them." "Miss Butler" "Oh, call me Kitty, do." "And what can I call you?" "Nan." "Thank you." "You're very kind." "I was going to ask..." "Kitty... why did you think of it in the first place?" "Dressing like a boy and cutting your hair short and everything?" "Oh, wouldn't you if you had the chance?" "Men have all the fun." "Besides, there's too many girls in this business." "Most of them would do anything to please the manager, and you won't find me playing those games, Nan." "And I love my costumes and being able to stride about and give them a bit of cheek." "Don't get me wrong..." "I do like being a girl as well, you know." "Well...what do you think?" "Pretty smart or a bit of a letdown?" "I should say so." "No." "Oh, no." "You're a dear girl!" "But I can't stop and talk any longer this evening, Nan." "Gully's taking us all out for supper, and what Gully wants, Gully gets." "But you'll come and see me again, won't you?" "You could come before the show and help me dress, if you'd like." "Really?" "Of course really." "Then I shall." "Starting next Monday." "And now we shall have to say good night." "Miss Astley." "You smell like-- I know." "Like a herring." "Not a bit like a herring." "Like a mermaid." "I told myself to be sensible." "Perhaps she hadn't meant it, or she might think better of it." "Like a mermaid." "Like a mermaid." "And so I became Kitty Butler's dresser, and her best pal, too." "And we were together all that season." "Good-bye!" "Come again!" "Miss Kitty Butler!" "Careful, Kitty." "Don't turn that poor girl's head." "What would she think if she knew the part she played in my fierce dreamings?" "You hold it like this, flat shell on top." "Then, you put the point of the knife in the hinge, see?" "Hold it steady." "Mustn't waste any of the liquor." "That's the best bit, some say." "That's the flesh." "You cut that loose." "And now you may eat it." "Well done, Miss Butler." "Thank you." "Thank you, Nan." "And this is your room." "Very cozy." "Oh, it feels funny, you being here." "Come." "Sit by me." "I'm sure your mother would disapprove." "I am just about dying for a smoke." "You're lucky to have a proper family." "Such a nice one, too." "I've never had a proper family." "How do you mean?" "Oh, you don't want to know." "Let's just talk about happy things." "Now, I think, if I had a family like yours," "I'd never want to leave home." "Nan..." "I have something to tell you." "It's a piece of good news, and you must promise to be happy for me." "Do you remember the man who was with me the first night you came 'round?" "Mr. Bliss?" "Well...he's offered me a contract in London working in the halls there!" "He says I'm too good for the provinces." "He says London needs to see me, and I need to be seen there." "He thinks I could be one of the really big names, Nan." "I've got to take it." "Oh, yes." "I say that you have." "I am happy for you, Kitty." "You don't look it." "Well..." "I'm selfish." "I'd be unhappy to see you go." "And I'll be unhappy to leave you behind." "Truly?" "Would you come with me, Nan?" "Come with you?" "If your mother and father will let you, of course." "I mean, you--you'll have a proper wage, not much, but enough if we share a room." "Yes!" "Do you really think you might?" "And do you think they'll let you?" "I suppose you could always come back home if you didn't like it." "Didn't like it?" "I'd do anything to go with you!" "I'd go even if they said I wasn't to!" "They could lock me in my room, and I'd climb out the window and walk all the way to London to be with you!" "I love you more than anyone or anything!" "I do!" "Remember when you gave me this?" "When you picked me out of all the others?" "You did, didn't you?" "You chose me." "Yes." "Yes, I did." "And I didn't know then I was choosing the very best friend I've ever had." "They didn't try to lock me in." "They could see my heart was set on going to London with Kitty, and they couldn't bear to see me grieve." "There." "Don't spend it all in the same shop." "You will write us, won't you, Nan?" "Of course I will." "Well, visit when you can." "Good-bye, Mother." "Nancy, what am I going to do without you?" "Take care now." "I shall." "Miss Butler!" "What a pleasure!" "Welcome to the gay metropolis." "And Miss Astley, late of Whitstable." "Off goes his bonnet to an oyster girl." "You're very welcome, my dear, more so than I can say." "Go on, Nan." "And Miss Butler!" "Follow me, porter!" "Come along!" "Keep up, man!" "Make way!" "Mr. Bliss kindly took us to our new home," "Mrs. Dendy's Theatrical Lodging House..." "Miss Butler, allow me." "in Brixton." "There we are." "Well, we'll be safe here, ladies." "Oh, I've always loved theatricals, and my mother before me." "...himself once fell down these stairs." "Here is Signor Corelli." "You'll get no trouble from him." "He loves those doves." "Ready to go for you ladies." "Oh, they're very nice gents." "No trouble at all." "3 more up here, Signor Corelli!" "One more to go." "Come on up now." "This will be yours." "Got a little entrance hall as well as the bedroom." "Won't mind doubling up, I hope." "Not at all." "We're a bit close to the railway." "You'll get used to that after a while." "Are you asleep?" "No." "Are you homesick, Nan?" "Do you miss Alice?" "Not really." "How your heart beats." "Do you like this, Nan?" "Mmm." "If you knew how I'd longed for a sister." "You'll be my sister now, won't you?" "I didn't want to be her sister." "I do love you, Nan." "I wanted to be her sweetheart." "Night-night." "Ladies and gentlemen." "I give for your pleasure this evening, Miss Kitty Butler." "Hello." "I've just come down from Brighton." "There's a lot of pretty girls down there, you know." "But now I come to look around," "There's a lot of pretty girls down here..." "Following in your father's footsteps" "Is a matter for each boy." "And following in your father's footsteps" "Is a thing I much enjoy." "My mother caught me out one evening" "Up the West End, on a spree." "She said, "Where are you going?"" "And I answered, "Don't ask me"" "I'm following in my father's footsteps." "Following my dear old dad." "Who's just in front with a fine, big gal," "So I thought I'd have one as well." "They don't like me, Nan." "They don't like me." "My dear, your first night in the capital." "They were warming to you." "Give the word a chance to spread." "They'll be eating out of your hand by the end of the week." "Do you really think so?" "I'd stake my life on it, Kitty." "I promise you, I swear to you, there is no match to your act in town." "I promise you." "You promised you'd never forget me." "I promised I'd always be true." "Oh, Rosie." "Dear Rosie." "There's a rose in my heart...for you." "But he was right." "It didn't happen by the end of the week, but after a few months, they couldn't get enough of her." "A triumph!" "Oh, a triumph!" "Now we've got them." "Now, Kitty, get changed quickly." "The manager of the Alhambra wants to meet you." "The Alhambra?" "Yes." "You won't mind, will you, Nan?" "It'll all be business talk." "Your chance for an early night." "I did mind, but what could I do?" "I was proud of her success, but terrified it would take her away from me." "I wanted to keep her close, as close as my own skin." "I've just been down to the seaside." "There's a lot of pretty girls down there, you know." "Come to think of it," "There's a lot of pretty girls down here, too." "I'm following in Father's footsteps." "Following me dear old dad." "He's just in front with a fine, big girl," "So I thought I'd have one as well." "I got talking to an oyster girl." "She could suck an oyster rather well." "Oh, Kitty." "I love you." "Love you." "Love you." "Oh, it's you." "I'm sorry." "I don't know what came over me." "Well, don't be sorry, Nan." "You're the very thing." "You look more like a boy than I do." "Give us a turn." "Go on." "No." "I'm shy." "I could quite fall for a boy like you." "Come here and give me a kiss." "What a handsome fellow." "I can't resist him." "Just wait till Walter sees you." "I don't want him to." "Well, I think it could be just the thing he's looking for." "They're talking about developing my repertoire, Nan, and, well, to go on with a pal might be just the very thing." "Help me, Nan." "We'll show him first thing tomorrow." "But all I could think was that she had kissed me on the lips, and yet I was no nearer to declaring myself." "Was it possible that she felt as I did?" "I couldn't risk it." "Ready?" "Uh-uh." "My God, that's it." "Why didn't I see it before?" "Oh, this could be sensational." "Didn't I tell you?" "Doesn't she look quite the bobby-dazzler?" "It's as if she was born to it." "Let's try a little song." "No, no." "I couldn't." "Yes, you could." "You know all the words to all the songs." "Come on, Walter." ""Father's Footsteps."" "To follow in your father's footsteps" "Is a matter for each boy." "Good." "And following in Father's footsteps" "Is a thing I much enjoy." "My mother caught me out one evening" "Up the West End, on a spree." "She said..." ""Where are you going?"" "But I answered, "Don't ask me."" "We're following in Father's footsteps." "Following me dear old dad." "He's just in front with a fine, big gal," "So I thought I'd have one as well." "We don't know where we're going." "But when he gets there, I'll be glad." "We're following in Father's footsteps." "Yes, we're following me dear old dad." "Bill from Bowbells and his shy brother Bob." "How about that?" "We'll get some songs to suit you," "Suits made to measure..." "And we should do something about that hair." "There we are, Miss." "Or perhaps I should say, "Sir."" "Remarkable." "Now I'm like you." "Ladies and gents," "Your very own favorite with a special treat," "For the first time in this or any other hall," "It's 2 for the price of 1 ," "It's Kitty Butler and Nan King." "I'm rather shy." "I'm rather shy." "I'm rather shy." "I'm rather shy." "I'm rather shy." "All right." "Come on, Bob." "They won't eat you." "Oh, I don't know, Bill." "I'm rather shy." "Oh, I don't know what I'm going to do with him." "He's the best partner anybody could wish for," "But he's a little bit backward in coming forward, if you know what I mean." "Listen, and I'll tell you." "Come on, Bob." "Last Sunday was a holiday." "We scrubbed up nice and clean." "And took a little stroll about" "Around the village green." "We saw a couple of pretty girls" "As they were passing by." "I say the..." "was spiffing." "And I'm sure one winked her eye." "Oh, I don't know, Bill." "You better leave me out." "But it's very easy, Bob." "You never know until you try." "Oh, I don't know, Bill." "I'm rather shy." "Come on, Bob." "You're not funking it." "Well, I don't know what to do, Bill." "...Leave the stage!" "Come here and I'll show you." "Sorry." "You come up very softly" "And you take her by the hand." "Like this?" "That's right." "Look tenderly into her eyes." "And she will understand." "Like this." "Then lean a little closer" "And steal a little kiss." "Oh, I can't." "I'm too shy." "No..." "Oh, just try it." "What?" "Like this?" "I think he's been taking private lessons." "What do you think?" "Should we ask him?" "Now, Bob." "Mm-hmm?" "Own up." "Where did you learn to kiss like that?" "I couldn't tell you, Bill." "I'm rather shy." "He's rather shy." "Kitty:" "I'm rather shy." "He's rather shy." "I'm rather shy." "He's taking free lessons" "In giving girls the eye." "Where did you go last Friday" "When you...sky?" "I'm going to tell you, Bill." "2, 3." "Come on!" "I'm rather shy!" "Thank you, thank you." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "Well done, Kitty." "It's all for you, Nan." "Thank you." "Bravo." "Congratulations, my dear." "You've done well for yourself, there, Bliss." "I'll give these 2 a booking anytime you like." "Oh, that's very good of you." "Charlie Frobisher." "The Empire." "Here we are, girls." "Best table in the place." "Well." "Here's to Bill and his shy brother Bob." "How does it feel to be a star, eh, Nan?" "All right." "It feels all right." "Come and have a dance, Kitty." "Go ahead." "It would be a pleasure to watch you." "All right." "I will." "Hello." "Well, don't you know me?" "Jimmy Burns." "I was in the pit this evening, doubling up here for a bit of pocket money." "Well, I don't know how I like you best, in skirts or trousers, and that's a fact." "I don't know how" "I like myself best." "Well, then, it's nice to have the choice, ain't it?" "Would you fancy standing up with me, for a little twirl around?" "Oh, go on." "Say you will." "I don't think I could." "I've had too much cham." "Well, that's all the better." "Up you come." "That's it." "Now." "Who's going to lead, then?" "You or me?" "You can, if you like." "Oh!" "Oh, I'm getting You've spoiled my dress." "Soon put that right." "No, get off." "Get off." "I'm going." "You can come or not, as you like." "I'd better go." "But" "Kitty!" "Kitty, wait." "What's the matter?" "What did you think you were doing making a fool of yourself with that horn player?" "We were only larking about." "Larking about?" "His hands were all over you." "Sometimes I don't think you care about my feelings at all, Nan." "Oh, Kitty." "If you knew..." "I hate the way you make me feel." "May I really touch you?" "Oh, Nan." "I think I shall die if you don't." "I do love you, Nan." "So very much." "Good morning." "Good morning." "I drank too much last night." "We both did." "But don't say you want to unsay what we said or undo what we did." "I think I'd die." "No." "No." "It has to be a secret... our secret." "I wish I'd had the nerve to tell you before." "Couldn't you see how I felt about you?" "I wasn't sure." "It's easier to be friends." "I didn't know it was possible." "You know, for 2 girls to be sweethearts, and to--to go all the way." "I'd never heard of it." "Had you?" "Well, that's true." "I've never cared for any other girl the way I care for you, Nan." "Oh." "But the fact was," "I loved her too much to fret long over the other girls she might have loved before me, for she loved me best, and she loved me now." "To Butler and King, the toast of London." "And I was happier than I had ever been, and I wished I could tell the whole world, but Kitty insisted we kept it a secret, even from Walter, for no one else would ever understand," "and it was the happiest, most magical 6 months of my life." "Miss Kitty Butler and Miss Nan King." "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "It's only human nature after all!" "Oh." "Walter arranged us a few days off." "He needed Kitty for some business meetings, and I thought it was time I visited my parents." "I felt strange... like a ghost." "Nancy!" "Is it really you?" "Hey." "We shall have to mind our manners, shan't we, Davy, with such a fine lady in our parlor?" "Don't be silly, Father." "I haven't changed." "I'm just the same as I always was." "She's gone all la-di-da." "Don't be rude, Davy." "I don't mind, Mother." "Must be the company I've been keeping." "So, how have you been keeping?" "Have you got yourself a young man yet?" "No, no time for anything like that." "I'm far too busy." "Look, I've got presents for you all from London, and I hope you like them, for I've spent half my wages on them." "That's for you, Mother." "That's for you, Pop." "That's for you, Davy." "And this is for you, Alice." "My word, Nancy." "You've done us proud." "I shall look quite the thing in this, now, shan't I?" "Look at these, Ma." "Look how they're soft as butter." "I shall be the best-shod bloke in Kent now." "Oh, Nancy." "You shouldn't have." "Well, what else would I do with my money?" "Oh, you are a good girl, Nancy." "Aren't you going to open it, Alice?" "Oh, what a stunner." "Don't you like it, Alice?" "Well, when would I ever wear a thing like that?" "It seems so strange to be back here, in our room." "I hope you don't mind being invaded, Alice." "Wouldn't make any difference if I did, would it?" "Oh, Alice." "Please don't be like this with me." "I can't bear it." "What's the matter?" "Was it the hat?" "I thought you'd like it." "I thought you could wear it when you went out with Tony." "I bet you anything he would like you in it." "I'm finished with Tony." "Oh, Alice." "I'm sorry." "What happened?" "I don't want to talk about it." "Hurry up." "Oh, that's better." "What's the matter?" "I wrote and told you I'm part of the act now." "You didn't think I went on as a girl, did you?" "I wouldn't get much work like that." "But I make a very good boy." "You'd be surprised." "I don't know how you can show yourself like that." "Kitty can do it." "Why shouldn't I?" "Kitty." "Are you two as close as you ever were?" "Yes, we are." "Closer, if you'd like to know." "I'm in love with her, Alice." "Please let me tell you." "We never used to have no secrets from each other." "Come on, then, if you must." "Well, she's just everything to me, and I am to her as well." "Remember how I used to feel like there was something wrong with me?" "How I never felt anything much when I was with Freddy?" "Well, it turns out there's nothing wrong with me at all." "She only has to touch me or sometimes even just to lo" "I don't want to hear anymore." "You're disgusting." "I thought you'd understand." "I don't want to understand." "I hate anything like that, all those..." "Alice." "If you want to know, that's why" "I broke up with Tony, when I found out he liked men as much as he liked girls." "He made me feel dirty, and you make me feel dirty." "I don't wish you any harm, Nan, but I don't want to know about your life, and I don't like you near me." "And please don't try talking to Mother and Father about your dirty life, because it'll break their hearts." "Alice, please, don't be like this." "It's still me." "I'm still the same as I ever was." "Just get into bed." "Keep to your own side." "My own sister couldn't bear to have me lying next to her." "I'd lost her, and all I could think of was getting away as quick as I could, back to London and my dearest, dearest Kitty, my lover and my only friend." "I didn't belong there anymore." "If they couldn't love me as I am, then I should go where I would be loved." "My life was in London now, with Kitty." "Oh, Miss Astley." "You're back already." "Hello." "I'm back early." "Ahem." "Captioning made possible by Acorn Media" "Captioned by the National Captioning Institute" "Oh, some, they like it this way" "And some, they like it that." "The lady dips a curtsy, and the gentleman tips his hat." "And some, they like 'em big and fat" "And others meek and small." "But whatever they say," "It's only human nature after all." "Last Sunday I went out the park" "Just to take the air." "I saw a girl upon the swings," "And she was pretty fair." "I said, "Now, shall I give a push" "And catch you if you fall?"" ""Push on," she said." ""lt's only human nature after all"" "Oh, some, they like a nightingale." "And some, they like a lark." "And some, they like a pretty girl" "To cuddle in the dark." "Some, they like a pansy." "And some they like a ball." "But whatever you say," "It's only human nature after all." "Hello, are you awake?" "I came back early!" "What's this?" "Nan, you surprised us." "We didn't look for you until tomorrow." "We were going to tell you, Nan, when you came back." "Tell me what?" "Kitty?" "No, it isn't true!" "I'm so sorry, Nan." "Tell me it isn't true, Kitty!" "It's true, Nan." "Aah!" "Oh!" "No, don't touch me!" "Go away!" "Go away!" "Aah." "Oh, Kitty." "What have you done?" "Don't be horrible to me, Nan." "I couldn't help it." "Oh, he forced you, did he?" "So that's what all your business meetings were about!" "All this time, when I thought you were mine!" "No, it wasn't like that!" "Until last night, it was just talk and kisses." "I swear it, Nan!" "We were going to tell you everything." "Everything?" "Good God, what more is there to tell?" "Kitty and I are going to be married, Nan." "I'm sure in time you'll come to see it's for the best." "No!" "No!" "Don't you see, Nan, it wouldn't do to go on as we were." "I believe you've killed me." "The pair of you." "Oh, come now, compose yourself, Nan!" "I know this has come as a shock to you, but this carry-on is quite out of proportion!" "Out of proportion?" "Don't you know?" "Hasn't she told you about us?" "I know that you were sweethearts of a kind." "Of a kind!" "The kind that hold hands?" "Didn't she tell you that we fuck each other?" "I don't care to use such language, Nan." "And if I did, I wouldn't use that word for anything a pair of girls can do." "You need a man for that, I think you'll find." "Eh, Kitty?" "Good-bye." "Nan!" "You said we'd be together forever." "You said you loved me." "You said you loved me!" "You said we'd be together forever!" "You said we'd be together forever." "You said you loved me." "Loved me." "Loved me!" "Loved me!" "Kitty and I are going to be married, Nan." "I walked the streets all that day, not knowing where I was going." "I wanted to see nothing, to feel nothing, to remember nothing." "Everyone I knew and loved had betrayed me." "You need a man for that, I think you'll find." "You need a man." "You need a man, I think you'll find." "You said you loved me!" "How could she let him touch her?" "I hated them, and wanted to die." "But I wouldn't let them do that to me." "Morning, Nan." "Oh, you don't look a thing at all." "Kitty's not in, is she?" "Or Mr. Bliss?" "No fear, a bit early for them." "Yes?" "I've come about the room." "The house I keep here is a tidy one." "I like my lodgers ditto." "I've had trouble with single ladies in the past." "Who you see or what you do outside my house is your concern, but there's one thing I won't have, and that's gentlemen followers in a single lady's room." "You'll have no trouble on that score from me, Mrs. Best." "5 shillings a week." "In advance." "Late payment will not be tolerated." "I expect the room to be kept clean at all times." "No cats, dogs, rabbits..." "Now I was truly alone, a poor outcast from life's feast, tormented by my memories." "It's nice and hot." "You really should take something, miss." "For nigh on two months," "I never left that room." "I barely washed, and never changed my dress, for I had no other." "I believe I would have faded away altogether, if it weren't for the little maid, Nell, who brought me morsels of food and urged me to eat them." "Nice and hot, miss." "Kitty and I are going to be married." "To join together this man and this woman..." "You said you loved me!" "It was done." "It was over." "I suppose I had been hoping that she would change her mind and come and find me, but now I knew for certain she was lost to me." "It was time to face the world alone, though I had no idea how I should live in it." "But I found that to walk alone in London isn't an easy thing for a woman to do." "Hello, darling." "Oi." "Oi!" "What's the matter, love?" "Got sick because you found a penny?" "You hold onto me and I'll treat you..." "Leave me alone!" "Leave me alone!" "Here, only asking." "Cow!" "I thought, what a cruel joke that I, who had swaggered across the stages of London, should be afraid to walk upon the streets." "And most of all, I wished that I could escape from my miserable self." "Looking for a room?" "How long, dear?" "Just an hour." "One hour only, mind." "Hello, dear." "You looking for a nice time?" "Not today, dear." "Perhaps another time, eh?" "All right, dear." "Don't forget, now." "And for the first time since that terrible day," "I felt a sort of freedom, and a sort of strength." "Somehow I had taken the first steps that would lead me out of my misery and into some different way of living... though I had no idea what that would be." "My little stock of money was dwindling fast, and I was going to have to find some way of replenishing it, or starve." "Necessity is a hard taskmaster." "And if the opportunity had presented itself," "I dare say I should have sunk so low as to become a thief." "Good evening, Tommy Atkins." "Buying a little present for your sweetheart?" "Couldn't afford anything here, sir." "That's a shame." "She'll have to be content with a kiss, then, eh?" "Haven't got no sweetheart." "Not anymore." "No sweetheart?" "Good-looking lad like you?" "I find that hard to believe." "Are you up for it, Tommy, for a sovereign?" "Up for what, sir?" "I don't understand you." "Come on, you know the game, Tommy." "You're all at it, you soldier boys, your hands are never off each other's cocks." "Not me, sir." "I only joined up last week," "I've never done anything like that." "Then it's time you began, my boy." "Just take it your hand, only a minute's work, and there's a sovereign in it for you." "Oh, have a heart, Tommy." "I'm hard as a broom handle, and aching for a spend." "Nan Astley could never have given the answer that I gave him." "But Tommy Atkins took us both by surprise!" "Come on, then." "Ooh." "Slow and steady, Tommy, dear." "Mmm!" "Go on." "I thought, if this were Walter," "I'd bite it off!" "Oh!" "Steady on!" "Ooh!" "Ooh, oh!" "Ooh!" "Oh!" "Ohh!" "Oh." "I suppose I should have felt ashamed, but I felt nothing but surprise, and a kind of fierce elation that in a couple of minutes," "I'd earned enough to keep me for a couple of weeks." "And so I my new career as a streetwalker, and I found it not so very different from acting on the stage." "I told myself it wasn't Nan Astley who took men's spunk in my mouth or in my hand." "But Tommy Atkins, or Eton Bertie, or Able Seaman Simms, or Bobby Brown, from Birmingham." "But now I was in a regular way of business," "I needed a more regular way of life." "I had had enough of changing in filthy rooms that reeked of men's spendings." "Perhaps this respectable lady would accommodate the needs of a rather unusual female." "Good afternoon." "Good afternoon." "I've come about the room." "Say good day to the lady, Grace." "Good day, Grace." "Oh, dear." "To tell the truth, we were hoping for someone a bit older." "A widow, perhaps." "You see, um... my daughter's, um... a rather unusual, trusting sort of girl." "I wouldn't like to have young fellows coming in and out." "There wouldn't be any young fellows, Mrs. Milne." "That I'll guarantee." "And I'd never get behind with my rent." "Well..." "You see, the thing is," "I work as a kind of entertainer, at parties and suchlike." "And for that," "I sometimes dress in gentlemen's suits." "Now, if you and Grace don't mind that," "I think I might do very well." "Gentlemen's suits, you say?" "Well, Grace, what do you think of that?" "Would you like to see one, Grace?" "Ha ha!" "My eyes, Grace, what a beauty!" "Would you like to try it, Grace?" "Yes, please!" "Now isn't that kind of the lady." "Ha ha ha!" "She gave me the first floor front, 8 shillings a week." "I think she'd have let me have it for nothing for Grace's sake." "Sometimes I thought she must have been as simple as her daughter, for she never asked where I went or what I did." "I'm off then, Mrs. M." "See you tomorrow, Gracie." "You take as long as you like, dear." "You have your own key." "Bye then." "Some nights I didn't need to go out." "I told myself that this was freedom." "Perhaps that was the secret of happiness, to expect nothing, or expect very little." "What is it that soldiers say?" "If you're warm, dry, and smoking, that's happiness." "Evening, sweetheart." "How are you?" "Florence, are you ready?" "Florence!" "Florence." "Who knows what it is that draws one person to another." "But for the first time in months," "I felt something of my old self stirring in me." "I wanted to see more of Florence." "And soon enough, I did." "Hello again." "I hope I didn't frighten you the other night." "I'm sorry, I don't..." "Evening, sweetheart." "How are you?" "Oh, that was you." "Quite right." "You live up there, do you?" "I do." "And you live there?" "That's right." "We were very lucky." "Mother and I lost our other house, but Miss Darby found us this one." "And now I work for her charity, finding homes for others." "Well, that's nice." "I was just going to the park." "Will you come with me?" "Oh, no, I've got so many calls." "Oh." "But I go along that way." "So, you're not in your trousers today, then?" "No." "I like to change and change about." "Boy one day, girl the next." "Does that shock you?" "No, I don't think so." "I can see it must have advantages." "I suppose you can go where you like." "You can do as you like." "Exactly so!" "Hit the nail on the head!" "Miss Darby would be most interested." "She's writing a book about the woman question." "Perhaps she'd like to put me in it, then." "I certainly think she'd be interested in meeting you." "I didn't give a tinker's fart for Miss Darby, or the woman question." "But I knew I wanted to see more of Florence." "I wonder, would you like to come to a lecture with me?" "At the Atheneum Hall?" "It's on women and labor." "A lecture?" "I say, that's just my style, I don't think." "But I'll give it a go, if you like." "Really?" "Said so, didn't I?" "When is it?" "00." "We can meet for some tea beforehand, if you like." "Done." "You live with your mother, don't you?" "That's right." "Before that we lived just round the corner." "Do you know," "I've never been out of Islington?" "Very adventurous, eh?" "You don't have to travel far to have adventures." "You're not from round here, are you?" "No." "So, where did you come from?" "Kent." "Whitstable." "It's a seaside place." "I used to work in an oyster bar." "So, do you go back there very often, see your ma and pa?" "They're dead." "Oh." "I'm sorry." "No need to be." "It was a long time ago." "So, what work did you do in London?" "In a shop." "What sort of a shop?" "A hat shop." "Well, I'd never have imagined that." "Why not?" "I don't know." "You just don't seem the sort." "I bet they don't let you wear your trousers in there." "Ha ha!" "No!" "No, of course not!" "So..." "What do you do there exactly?" "Do you serve in the shop or are you in the back making the hats up?" "I just can't seem to imagine you there somehow." "I... well... no." "I couldn't keep it up." "She was so sweet and straight I couldn't bear to lie to her." "But I couldn't tell her the truth either." "Is there a ladies' lavatory here?" "Yes, through there, I think." "I won't be a tick." "What made me think" "I could be friends with a respectable girl?" "All that was over for me." "If she could have seen me, known what I really did and what I really used those clothes for." "I belonged in the gutter." "What's your business?" "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, dear." "You game for it, sonny?" "It's a sov for a dubbing, two for a suck, but I won't be buggered." "I don't pay more than a sov for a soldier." "Dubbing or nothing, then." "Know a place?" "Follow me." "This is the place, sir." "Come on, then." "Ah!" "Let's see what you're made of, soldier boy." "No!" "I said no!" "Let me up!" "I'll cut you, I will!" "Keep still, or you'll get worse." "Ah!" "Uh!" "All right, me boy." "Your safe now." "You come with me." "You won't be hurt." "Please, constable, let me go." "It was my very first time, sir." "He made me!" "Constable?" "I'm no constable." "Somebody's taken a fancy to you." "You've got nothing to fear." "I won't be buggered!" "In you go." "Good evening." "I never thought..." "Well, now you see, you have nothing to fear." "I'll see you safely home." "Or my own house is quite nearby." "Let me offer you a hot toddy to calm your nerves." "You were in a little difficulty just now, I think." "Yes, thanks ever so." "That chap said he'd buy me a drink, and next thing I knew, he dragged me off the street." "I had a bad fright there, but I shall know better next time." "Shall you?" "So you were perfectly innocent, were you?" "No idea at all what a gentleman on the town might want with a young soldier boy?" "No, miss." "Well, that's a surprise." "I had the impression that you understood the game pretty well." "I've been watching you for a while, young man." "There's no need to be coy with me." "I'm sorry, miss, you've made a mistake." "No, I don't think I have." "Truly you have, miss." "I'm very grateful, but honest," "I'm not what you're looking for." "Oh, yes, I think you are." "But I'm a girl!" "Do you think I didn't know that, you little fool?" "Though you wear the outfit far better than most of the lads do, and you have the legs for it too, oh, yes." "And none of your gentlemen guessed?" "If they did, they didn't say." "And anyway, I was pretty strict about what they could and couldn't touch." "And it all went off all right." "Until tonight." "Pretty strict, were you?" "I wonder, should I like you to be pretty strict with me?" "There's no need to be afraid." "This could be the luckiest night of your life." "Come, come, where's your sense of adventure?" "Take my arm." "Don't think of making a run for it." "Corder is quick as well as strong." "That will be all tonight, thank you, Blake." "Yes, ma'am." "Good night, ma'am." "Night, sir." "Come, come." "How warm it is in here." "Not too warm for you, I hope." "Perhaps a bit." "What's your name?" "Nancy." "King." "And I think you might have offered me a glass of wine and a cig." "I beg your pardon, Miss King." "My name is Lethaby, Mrs. Diana Lethaby." "Have you heard that name before?" "No." "All the better." "There." "If you were the king of pleasure, and I were the queen of pain..." "You're very handsome, Miss King." "I know." "Oh, what have we here, I wonder?" "So, all your promises come to nothing after all." "Take those off." "Give me the glass and the cigarette." "Quickly!" "You may leave the jacket on." "And the boots." "And the hat." "Good." "Now go through there into the bedroom and open the chest under the mirrors." "Pronto!" "Put it on!" "Put it on and come to me." "Come here." "You exquisite little tart." "Oh, you sleep like a child." "I've been up this half hour making a fearful row and still you slumbered on." "I've rung for breakfast." "I hope you're hungry." "Yes." "Yes, I am." "Good." "Ah, here she is." "Good morning, ma'am." "Good morning, miss." "Very good, Blake." "Draw a bath for Miss King." "Oh, and tell Mrs. Hooper I'll speak to her about luncheon." "Yes, ma'am." "There's a Persian story I read as a girl." "A beggar sets a genie free from a bottle and is rewarded with a wish." "He can live in..." "ordinary comfort for 70 years or in pleasure, with a princess for a bride, servants, every desire satisfied for 500 days." "Now if you were that beggar which would you choose?" "The pleasure." "Good." "Ha ha ha." "So did the beggar." "So... will you stay with me, Nan... and be pleasured and pleasure me in your turn?" "Stay with you as what?" "Your guest, your friend, your servant..." "As my tart, you silly girl." "No, no, no, no, not in a hole and corner way." "You'll ride out with me to the park, attend me at the theatre, wear the finest clothes... but you'll belong to me and we'll pleasure each other." "How does that seem?" "I don't know." "I don't know enough about you to know whether I like you, and you don't know me." "I know all I need to know about you." "You're like me." "You showed it last night and you're showing it now." "You hunger for your own sex." "You hunger for the pleasure I can give you, don't you?" "Yes." "There are moments in our lives" "That night when Kitty cast her rose at me and sent my admiration tumbling over into love, and this was another, the start of a new life." "How do you like yourself?" "Not bad." "Smarter than anything I wore down the dilly." "It's your coming out suit." "I had begun my new life." "And what a life..." "and what a world!" "It was so easy to get sucked in." "Look how they eye you, men and women both." "Hah!" "They'd all love to have you, but they shan't 'cause you're mine, bought and paid for." "Diana, you old roue." "You've done it at last." "Ladies, allow me to present my companion," "Miss King." "This is Mrs. Jex, Nan, quite my oldest friend in London and quite the most disreputable." "Everything she says and does is designed to corrupt." "I'm afraid I've been corrupted already, Mrs. Jex." "Ha!" "Good!" "Good god!" "It talks." "That is Dickie, Miss King." "A touch of the green-eyed monster there." "Charmed." "Likewise." "So, tell me, Miss King, where does a little treasure like you come from?" "Like me?" "There's no one quite like me, Mrs. Jex." "But if you want to know, I was born by the seaside in Whitstable, where the oysters come from." "Whitstable!" "Would you believe it?" "She's a Whitstable mermaid." "Like a mermaid." "Come along, child." "But the Whitstable mermaid was no more." "This was my life now." "For the most part, she kept me close and displayed me at home." "The boy, they called me." "She contrived tableaux so that they could feast their eyes on me." "She enjoyed that, that they could look but couldn't touch." "They knew that she would be enjoying me later." "Ladies, tonight we give you" "Hermaphrodite." "Oh!" "Oh!" "Oo." "We were a perfect double act." "I was the living proof of her perversity." "I was the stain left by her lust." "She had awakened something perverse in me, too, and I couldn't imagine a life beyond her shaping." "Ow!" "Sorry, Miss." "Easier to put on than take off this stuff." "Where's Mrs. Lethaby?" "Gone out, Miss." "She went out before you woke up." "Well, she might have told me." "Well, she can please herself, can't she?" "Not like you and me." "Do you like being a maid here, Blake?" "It's a very good place, Miss... but I'd rather be my own mistress." "What would you do if you were your own mistress?" "I'd set up my own boarding house... in the colonies." "I'm saving from my wages towards it now." "A boarding house in the colonies?" "Yeah, for ladies." "Well, maybe I'll come and stay in it some day." "You'd be very welcome, Miss." "To mark the passing of time." "Do you know you've been with me longer than any of the others?" "Quite an achievement." "Take our coats." "Dickie, Clara," "The boy will take our coats." "Oh, there, there." "What a little angel." "There." "Take care, will you?" "Ladies and gentleman, will you please hurry along to your seats?" "The curtain will rise in 3 minutes." "Thank you, sir." "Two gents and two ladies." "Don't you know me, Bill?" "Nan King." "Have you got a sec?" "Give us two ticks, Raymond." "What happened to you then, Nan?" "What have you been doing?" "Oh, you was missed..." "and you still are." "There was never an act like you and Kitty Butler's." "Do you hear from Mr. Bliss?" "Or Kitty?" "Oh, yes." "They've got an act together now playing just down the road at the Strand Palace." "What?" "Tonight?" "What time are they on?" "Second half, just after the interval..." "What's the boy doing?" "He's talking to the nigger at the cloaks." "I'd better go, and thanks, Bill." "Can't take him anywhere." "I think you should get a collar and chain, Diana." "And a whip." "Tssssss." "Excuse me." "Call of nature." "See where she's going." "I had to see her." "I had to see Kitty again." "# Where's my little Willie now #" "# He's my only comfort and my only joy #" "# Now his mother's gone to heaven #" "# All I've got's my little boy #" "# Can anybody tell me #" "# Where's my little Willie now #" "Ooooh!" "Ooooh!" "Hey, father!" "I've been looking for you all over!" "Oh, Willie!" "Come to your dad and give us a kiss." "And don't you ever run away again, me boy." "# Can anybody tell me #" "# Where's my little Willie now #" "Been sick in the gents." "Sorry." "I know where you've been tonight." "Corder followed you." "But what I want to know is why!" "There was an actor I wanted to see!" "Who?" "A girl I used to know." "Who, damn you?" "!" "A girl I once loved more than anyone, more than myself." "More than you love me?" "!" "Much more than I love you!" "I don't love you at all!" "I hate you!" "Oh, Kitty." "Kitty." "You feeling better, Miss?" "You looked ever so poorly last night." "Oh, yes." "I shall live." "Come sit down, Blake." "Talk to me." "What about, Miss?" "Well... what's your first name?" "It's Zena, Miss." "Mrs. Lethaby says she got you out of a reformatory." "What were you there for?" "I was sent there..." "on account of a girl" "I was friends with at a house in Kentish Town." "We were maids there together." "So, you were a maid before you came here." "Went out as a skivvy when I was 10, and then I got the place at Kentish Town when I was 14." "I was a housemaid then..." "and..." "I got very thick with another maid there called Agnes." "Agnes had a chap." "She threw the chap over, Miss, for my sake." "That's how thick we was." "And it was Agnes got you sent to the reformatory?" "No, Miss." "It was another girl." "She was jealous of me and Agnes." "It was her that told the missis." "And Mrs. Lethaby, does she know why you were in the reformatory?" "Oh, yeah, she knows alright." "She's a great friend of the Lady Governor." "Has Mrs. Lethaby ever tried..." "Not since you came, Miss." "It was only once or twice in any case." "I think she just wanted to make it clear-like that she could do what she wanted with me." "Oh, yes." "I can believe that alright." "Will there be anything else, Miss?" "No... not just now." "Thank you." "Very good, miss." "What had become of me?" "What had I become?" "She spoke of love, and it touched me." "But I felt too spoiled and stained for love." "Besides, I was still obsessed with Diana, for all her casual cruelty." "I must have been, for it would've been easy enough, you would think, just to walk out of the house one day when she was out, walk out forever and leave no word of farewell." "Thank you, Corder." "I hated myself." "But still, after nearly two years," "I was on fire for her as she was for me." "I had started, and I had to take that journey with her right the way to the end... though I feared it would be a bad end." "Well..." "did you miss me?" "What do you care if I miss you or not?" "Now, now, little soldier, no sulks." "Of course I care." "Don't you know you're the love of my life?" "And then, in March, came Diana's 40th birthday." "She decided to celebrate it with a fancy dress party." "I chose to go as Antinous," "Hadrian's favorite page who drowned in the Nile." "His sad fate suited my mood." "I hated my life, but I couldn't leave it." "What do you think?" "I think you look lovely, Miss." "I hated it all, but I still had my pride." "I would still be the most beautiful thing in the place, desired by all, inaccessible to any but my mistress." "Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh." "Ladies, ladies." "I give you..." "Antinous." "What, no dildo?" "!" "Where's Monsieur Dildo?" "He might come later, but remember, this is a very sweet and virtuous Roman boy." "Yes, delightful, mmm." "You look like a picture from a bugger's compendium, my dear." "Thank you, kindly, I'm sure." "And what might you be wearing under that, young man?" "Just a little au de Cologne." "No." "You mustn't touch or look." "Just use your imagination." "Don't get much chance to use anything else these days." "God, look at Dickie." "What's she supposed to be?" "Dorian Gray, I believe." "I swear to you, it was as big as a boy's doodle and as stiff as my thumb." "She blames it on her Hindu nurse." "I've seen that amongst the Turks as well." "They're bred like it in order to pleasure themselves and the seraglio." "We needn't go as far as that to find it." "English girls in the slums all have 'em." "They're brought up 20 to a bed, frgging all night." "No wonder they look at..." "I was sick of it, the backbiting, the bitching." "Something inside me was getting ready to explode." "If we had a girl from the slums here," "I'd pull down her drawers myself and show you the proof." "Oh, what does Antinous say?" "You used to be a little slum slut, didn't you, once upon a time?" "Of course, Blake." "Come here." "Come here." "Ooh!" "You're a reformatory girl, aren't you?" "Oh!" "Aren't you?" "Yes, ma'am." "Good." "Lower your drawers and lift up your skirt." "Oh, good god, girl." "Do I have to come and do it for you?" "Leave her alone." "What?" "Let her alone!" "Go back to the kitchens, Blake." "Stay where you are!" "And as for you, ha ha ha, do you think you're mistress here?" "What's it to you if I ask my girl to show me what she's got between her legs?" "You've done the same thing yourself often enough." "Get back behind the curtain." "And when we finish with Blake, perhaps we'll all take turns upon Antinous." "You shouldn't talk to me like that." "You don't own me." "Oh, Lord, what a bore." "What a bore." "Ha!" "Nothing to you, you old cow!" "Got up like a boy of 17," "Dorian Gray!" "Look in the glass!" "You're more like the portrait in me attic." "And that goes for the rest of you, you tired old trotters!" "Why don't you all just fuck off on this girl's word." "I can't take any one of you!" "I think you're a little overexcited, Nancy!" "You'll go to your room now... and when you've had time to think, you will come down and apologize." "Then we'll devise a little punishment for you." "Something suitably Roman, maybe." "What are you gonna do then?" "Throw me to the lions?" "I know one thing." "I'd make a tastier meal than you, you worn-out, pathetic old trollop!" "Oh, Zena..." "What a night." "I've got a cloth..." "with a bit of ice in it." "If you just let me..." "It's all right." "It's all... shh." "What is it?" "Can I stay here with you, Miss?" "I'm frightened to go back to my own room with those ladies roaming all over the house." "Yes, you can stay." "What's in the bottle?" "Brandy..." "Miss." "L..." "I..." "I... thought for the shock." "Give it here." "Oh, Miss!" "Oh, please do." "Did you used to frig yourself in the reformatory?" "You're as bad as them downstairs to think of me with a cock." "I'd like to see you with one." "What... you don't mean..." "Oh!" "# It's only human nature after all #" "# Oh, some they like it this way #" "# And some they like it that #" "# The lady dips a curtsey #" "# And the gentleman tips his hat #" "# And some they like 'em big and fat #" "# And others neat and small #" "# But whatever you say #" "# It's only human nature after all #" "# Last Sunday I went out the park #" "# Just to take the air #" "# I saw a girl upon the swings #" "# And she was pretty fair #" "# I said, "Now shall I give a push #" "# And catch you if you fall" #" "# "Push on," she said #" "# "It's only human nature after all" #" "# Oh, some they like a nightingale #" "# And some they like a lark #" "# And some they like a pretty girl #" "# To cover in the dark #" "# And some they like a pansy #" "# And some they like a bull #" "# But whatever you say #" "# It's only human nature after all #" "How dare you?" "You made it pretty clear you didn't want us, so we had to make our own entertainment." "Well, then, since you're so pleased with each other's company, you may leave my house this moment." "Oh, please, my lady, don't dismiss me." "I've never done anything like that before, and I never will again." "Not in my house, you won't because you won't spend one more moment in it." "What you do outside of it is no concern of mine." "You can do it in the street like dogs, for all I care." "Corder?" "Where's Corder?" "Diana, wait!" "How dare you speak to me, you little whore?" "Have you forgotten who I am and what you are?" "The love of your life." "You said I was the love of your life." "I say, hearts and flowers." "Listen to the little liar." "Corder!" "Oh, Zena, what an end to it all." "What are we to do?" "Oh, you'll be all right, I suppose." "Go back to your family and spin them some tale about where you'd been." "No." "I won't go back there." "I couldn't." "I couldn't let them see me like this." "Then we're in the same boat, then, aren't we, miss?" "Don't you have any cash about you at all?" "What's in the bag?" "Clothes... the boys clothes I brought with me when I first came." "Well, then." "What, you mean we should put them on and pass as gents?" "No." "I mean, we should sell them." "Sell them?" "Well, it's that or sell ourselves, I reckon." "Don't want to spend the night in the open, do you?" "Come on, miss." "It's all right, miss." "Men and women is separate." "So from luxury and a 4-poster bed," "I had come to this, but I had Zena and a little money now." "Come on." "Hurry up." "Lie close, miss, for the warmth." "You mustn't call me miss anymore." "You must call me Nan." "We're equal now, aren't we?" "If only Diana hadn't come in when she did." "It was fun, though, wasn't it, till she came and spoiled it?" "It's always fun before they catch you." "It won't be so bad, will it?" "We've got each other now." "We might make a go of it, don't you think?" "Yes, I had lost my place of privilege, but I had found something better, I told myself." "I had found a good pal in Zena Blake." "Morning." "You're a good sleeper." "Ha ha!" "Where's my friend?" "Where's my friend?" ""Where's my friend?" "Where's my friend?"" "She went hours ago, dearie, before it was light." "I saw her." "I saw her go, and you never stirred a whisker." "Zena had gone and taken our meager funds with her." "Spare some change, sir?" "Spare a penny for a cup of tea, sir?" "For the first time for over a year," "I found myself longing for home." "I thought of the warmth of the oyster parlor," "Mother's cooking, Father's jokes, but I didn't have so much as a tuppenny bus fare, and how could I let them see me like this?" "But I had to find some way or starve on the streets, and during that long night, it came to me." "There was a place where I'd been made to feel at home." "Mrs. Milne!" "Mrs. Milne!" "Gracie!" "Gracie?" "Mrs. Milne." "Yeah?" "Mrs. Milne, Gracie, they used to live here." "Where have they gone?" "Couldn't say." "The lady before me took ill back in November, and her sister come and took her back to live with her, but where..." "Bristol, Bath... don't know." "Dear girl, you have been in the wars, haven't you?" "I have, and that's not all." "I've got nowhere to live and nothing to eat and not a penny to buy bread." "Well, we've got nothing to spare, so it's no use hanging around here begging." "You'll get nothing by it." "Wait." "Mister... there was a girl who lived over there with her mother, name of Florence." "Oh, she's been gone this past year." "Moved to Quilter Street in Bethnal Green," "I think." "Bethnal Green?" "But that's miles from here." "Best I can do." "Dear lady, please." "Please, miss." "Quilter Street..." "Quilter Street..." "Excuse me." "Is this Quilter Street?" "Florence." "Where does she live?" "Number 115, just up there." "Thank you." "109... 111..." "Ohh... 113..." "115." "What are you doing here?" "She's been in the wars, all right, poor girl." "Look at that cheek." "And someone has cropped her hair." "Prison, do you reckon?" "They crop the poor girls very short there, don't they?" "Or one of your reformatory girls." "She's pretty near half-dead, whoever she is." "Oh, look out." "She's waking up." "Hello there, miss." "Here we go." "You feeling a bit better?" "There's no need to fear, you know." "You're among friends here." "Here." "Here." "Let's help you up." "Give us a hand here, Flo." "There we are." "I'll make you a nice cup of something hot." "Would you like that?" "Yes, please." "Thank you." "That's very kind." "You're both very kind." "Would it make you very ill to tell me why you've come here?" "I met you once a long time ago." "Don't you remember?" "Yes." "I remember." "You left me sitting in that cafe." "You made me feel a fool." "I'm sorry." "It was..." "I can't explain." "Please don't send me away." "Why should you go to such a lot of trouble to find me now?" "I couldn't think of anyone else I could go to, and I just always remembered you." "I thought you'd remember me." "I made a mistake." "Didn't expect to find you like this." "You've changed, I think, with a baby and everything." "Here we are, then." "Ah, she looks better already, doesn't she, Florence?" "Ralph, this lady is a friend of Miss Darby's, that lady I used to work for." "Oh." "I'm afraid I've forgotten your name." "It's Nancy Astley." "Miss Nancy Astley." "Pleased to meet you, Miss Nancy Astley." "You're very welcome." "Thank you." "Thank you." "That cheek still looks very sore." "I expect you're wondering how I came by it." "It was a man with a ladder on the street." "Oh, I can't tell a lie." "Truth is, I've been living with someone, and they've thrown me out and kept all my things, and I had such handsome things." "A gentleman, I suppose." "Yes." "You must think me very wicked, but he... he said I was the love of his life." "He was as rich as anything." "He could do what he liked." "He did what he liked with me." "He used to like to make me dress up as a boy in a soldier suit." "They're the worst of the lot when they go bad, the rich ones." "They think their money gives them the right to treat people like toys." "I'm a socialist, Miss Astley, and we're working to try and put a stop to all that sort of thing." "You ain't in trouble, are you?" "No." "I was... but the gent fixed that when he... when he beat me." "Oh, well, Miss Astley, if you truly have nowhere, it won't hurt for you to stay the night with us, just one night, and tomorrow" "I'll help you find a proper lodging." "But I've no money to pay." "Well, then I'll help you find work, as well." "And I was thinking, if she could stay one night... stay one night..." "I had thought and hoped" "Florence was a tom like me, but here she was, married with a child and so stern and serious and thoughtful." "He was kinder to me than she was." "Ooh." "And there was nothing more in it than kindness." "I was sure of that." "Gentle as Jesus, he was, and her working, working for her friendless girls, no doubt, and never looking at the friendless girl who lay in her armchair almost too weak to move." "Well..." "I'll turn in." "Good night, Miss Astley." "Hope to see you feeling better in the morning." "Good night." "Thanks for all your kindness." "You do understand, don't you, that it's just for one night?" "It won't do to have you stay any longer." "If the girls at the hostel heard about it, they'd all be clamoring," ""If she can stay with the family, then why shouldn't we?"" "Yes." "I can see that," "I suppose." "Have you got everything you need?" "Privy is out back, as you know." "Ralph will be up and out of the house by 6:00." "I'll get up a bit later, but you'll have to leave the house when I do at 8:00." "You do understand that?" "Yes." "You've been so kind to me when, really, you hardly know me at all... and your husband." "Good night, then." "Oh, Miss Astley, you're not up yet?" "You must get up now." "I have to get to work." "Ohh..." "Oh, dear, I don't feel so well this morning." "Well, I'm sorry, but you can't stay here." "I must go to work, and I must go now." "If you keep me waiting any longer," "I shall be late." "Oh, please let me stay just a little while till my head clears and I get a little strength back." "You don't need to wait." "I'll let myself out later." "I'd be gone by the time you get home." "You can trust me." "I wouldn't take anything." "All right." "You may do as you said and let yourself out." "There's precious little to steal here, anyway." "Now, I've made you a list of places you might find a bed in and some places where you might find work." "Oh, and Ralph left you this half crown." "He says good-bye... and good luck." "He's so good." "Now, I'm trusting you." "Don't let me down." "Hello." "Hello." "Who are you?" "Just a friend of the family." "I was down on my luck, and they let me stay the night." "Yeah." "That's them." "Always doing things for other people," "Miss Banner and her brother." "They've got no time to look after themselves." "He's her brother?" "But I thought they were man and wife." "So... little Cyril?" "No, nothing like that." "He belonged to another girl, their previous lodger." "Oh..." "I see." "Then I knew what I should do." "I would make myself indispensable." "I would make myself the angel of the house." "Exotic fruit!" "Pineapples!" "Exotic fruit of the..." "This will be my new home." "It will." "It will." "It will." "Oi!" "Uhh!" "Mmm." "Oops." "Who are you?" "I'm Nan Astley." "I'm just visiting here for a while." "You're making your presence felt." "I've never seen it so tidy." "Thought I'd come in the wrong house." "Yeah." "Well, I've come to drop these leaflets off, all right?" "Tell Florie." "I'm Annie, Annie Price." "Bet you can't guess what I do for a living." "Chimney sweep?" "Hey, you're not far off." "I don't crawl up chimneys." "I crawl down drains." "I'm a sanitary inspector." "It's the stinkiest job in London, and I love it." "Mm." "Lovely smell." "What is it?" "Oh." "Beef and oysters." "I better see to it, if you'll excuse me." "Do you need any help?" "Oh, no." "I'm all right." "Thank you." "Oh, hello." "Yeah." "I brought them like I said." "Well, I got to run now." "I'll be late." "What's that smell?" "Something very nice, I think... called Nan." "It... it's... ha!" "You wait and see." "I'm never wrong." "Bye, Miss Astley." "I wanted to do something for you." "So I cleaned the house and made supper for you and your brother." "Who told you that?" "The lady next door." "I liked my house the way it was." "Please don't be like that." "Oh, Florence... please let me stay." "It's not possible." "Yes, it is." "I could cook and clean for you like I did today." "I could sleep downstairs like I did last night." "I could do your washing and look after your baby boy when you're at work." "My word, I never saw such a shiny doorstep." "I was almost frightened to tread on it." "Hello, Miss Astley." "You still here?" "Have we you to thank for all this?" "Out." "But he's just been to..." "Oh, shh, shh." "Let me have him." "No." "It won't do." "Just for a moment." "Please." "Come here." "Ohh." "Shh, shh." "Yeah." "Shh, shh." "All right." "You may stay... for a week, and if the week works out, we shall try it for a month, but if it doesn't work, you must go." "Thank you." "Thank you." "And so I became a sort of housekeeper to them." "It was a kind of work I'd never done much of before." "Hard enough and dull, too, you'd think, but it seemed like play to me." "Who's my little one?" "You are." "Yes, you." "Yes, you are." "There's my little man." "Oh, Cyril." "Oh..." "Oh!" "Ha ha ha!" "Mmm." "Mm." "And as the time went by," "I got more confident." ""Why not?" I thought." "After all, women's clothes weren't suited to hard physical work." "It was only practical." "And I started to express myself in other ways, too." "Oh, my pal Cyril is a regular peril" "When he gives the girls the eye" "Oh, my pal Cyril, he drinks like a devil" "He could drink the dairy dry" "And when he goes up on the town" "A wiggle in his walking stick up and down" "And then he goes off on a spree" "Oh, that's delicious." "Mm." "Beautiful, Nan, beautiful." "I think if there was only one dish that had to be served in paradise, it would be oysters." "No." "Beef-and-oyster pie for me." "Oysters, definitely, and it would be a socialist paradise, of course." "Equal shares for all." "And who would be there with you to share it?" "Where, in paradise?" "Well, Flo, of course, and Cyril and you and Eleanor Marx, I think, and Keir Hardie and Mrs. Sykes from next door." "Oh, that's you all over." "You'd let them all come, you would." "Well..." "And who would be in yours, Nancy?" "Well, you and Ralph would have to be there making yourselves busy and telling everyone how to run it and Cyril, of course." "Can't leave my big boy out." "And of course you would have to be in mine." "Well, who else would make me oyster pie?" "Well, I've had better compliments paid me, but not recently." "Thank you kindly, Miss Banner." "Well, up the wooden hill for me." "Night, both." "Night." "What a lovely day it's been." "Do you know, I don't think we've had a picnic in years?" "You do too much for others." "You have to think of yourself now and then." "Don't go up yet." "Come sit down by me." "All right, then." "I wanted to say... sorry for running away from you before." "I was hurt at the time then." "The thing is, you kept wanting to know what I did, and I couldn't tell you." "Somehow, I couldn't tell you a lie, either." "So I thought" "I just couldn't be with you at all." "Lie to me?" "About what?" "I let you think it was a gentleman I lived with, but it was a lady." "She picked me up off the street and carried me off in her carriage, and what was I doing on the street?" "I was selling myself to men dressed as a boy." "When you say you lived with this lady... do you mean..." "As her lover?" "As her slave, more like." "She dressed me up in fine clothes, but really, I was just a kept whore." "Oh, Nan." "Have you never been truly happy?" "Oh, yes... when I was in love." "That was a girl called Kitty." "She was my first love, and she broke my heart, and I've been happy since I've been living here with you, as happy as I could be, except I've never felt able to tell you the truth about myself," "but now I have, and I suppose you're gonna say I have to go." "No." "I'd like to tell you something, Nan." "That night after you..." "after we parted," "I went to that lecture, and I met a girl there." "Her name was Lillian." "Well, she was so very interesting-Iooking," "I knew I just had to know her." "So after the lecture, I went up to her, and we began to talk." "We just went on from there." "It was as if she understood all my thoughts." "I'd never felt like that about anybody." "Um..." "You loved her." "Yes, and she loved me, too, only not in the same way." "The fact is, she had a man friend who wanted to marry her, only she wouldn't do it." "She wouldn't be a man's property, she said." "Oh, she loved him, and then when she fell pregnant, the man wouldn't stand by her." "So she came here to live with us, and those were the happiest months of all my life." "And then?" "And then she died." "She died having Cyril." "She was too slight." "The confinement was a hard one, and she died, Nan." "I'm so sorry about your friend, Flo." "Well, it's been very hard since then." "Sometimes..." "I've wished I might die myself." "She'd only been gone 6 months when you came, and I couldn't bear the thought of having another girl in the house." "She's the only one I could ever love, you see." "Oh." "So I'm just about good enough to do the cooking and the cleaning, but no hope of anything more, right?" "No, Nan." "I didn't mean that." "Yes, you did." "I'm not good enough for you, am I?" "And no one ever will be after her." "I'm going to bed." "Good night." "What are you doing?" "Well, I can't stay here anymore, can I, after last night?" "You've been very kind to me." "No." "Wait." "I've been awake half the night thinking about things." "I'm sorry, too, Nan." "I haven't treated you very gently since you've been here, have I?" "It wasn't right to take it out on you because I was unhappy." "I've liked it... having you here all these months." "I'm glad you stayed." "I was wondering... perhaps we could go out somewhere together... just the two of us, tonight." "All right." "I thought you said it was all girls here." "It is." "You ought to look a bit more carefully." "Ohh." "Did you used to come here as a boy?" "Now and then." "So he slapped down a sovereign, and Suzie and me flap up for half an hour and then tip the velvet while the gent looked on." "Easiest night's work we've ever had." "We'd have done it for nothing, if only he'd known it." "Ha ha!" "Tipping the velvet?" "Whatever can that be?" "You don't know?" "It sounds like something to do with dressmaking or millinery, but I don't think it can't be." "Nobody would pay to watch that." "Ha!" "It isn't." "Well, what, then?" "Oh." "Or so I understand." "So you managed to get her out of the house." "Good for you, Nan Astley." "I kept telling Florie this is the place for her." "Flo, I'm in such a state." "She's coming here tonight." "I met this girl the other day in the office at the sewage works, sitting in a ray of sunshine." "I said, "Are you Sue Brighthead?" "My name's Jude."" "She gave me a little smile, and she took my hand, and I knew that I was in love again." "Oh, you." "Yeah, well, it's about time you was in love again, too." "Perhaps you can show her the way, Uncle." "Here she comes." "I won't bring her over, if you don't mind." "I want her all to meself." "What?" "Ahh." "Excuse me, sweetheart, but didn't you used to be Nan King that worked the halls with Kitty Butler?" "Yes, I was Nan King." "Who wants to know it?" "There you are." "What did I tell you?" "It is her." "Oh, come and give us a song, Nan." "No." "No." "I'm finished with all that." "Oh, you was the best, you and her." "Half the girls in London was in love with you." "Me and Jenny have got your picture by our bed." "Oh, come on, just one song, eh?" "Just to remind us." "Well, go on." "I'd love to hear you." "Oh, all right, then." "Oh, I can go out on the town" "To all the grand hotels" "Going at large till midnight" "With all the London swells" "But it ain't any good at all" "I can't help remembering" "Can't help remembering" "The girl I kissed behind the garden wall" "Oh, Rosey, do you remember" "The promises we made only last September?" "Why did I have to go away?" "We said good-bye with a tear and a sigh" "And whispered all the pretty things" "That sweethearts say" "You promised..." "There's a rose in my heart" "For you" "Miss King." "Delightful to hear you again, and in such good voice." "I shan't detain you, but if you are ever interested in a return to the boards," "I can guarantee you excellent billing in any of my theaters." "My card." "Good evening to you, Miss King." "Ma'am." "Who was that?" "Mr. Charles Frobisher." "He only owns 6 theaters in the West End." "So you really did?" "I did, and maybe I will again." "Good night, eh?" "And mind you take care of her." "Ha ha ha!" "Here come the toms." "Look at them, the dirty cows." "How'd you like to see what a proper man can do?" "Come on!" "Who's first?" "Ignore him." "Just keep going." "Come on, girls!" "We'll show you a thing or two." "You?" "You could hardly get across the road, let alone get a cock to stand." "Show us a thing or two?" "I don't think so." "Now get off home to your wife before I put you over my knee and spank you!" "Come on, Flo." "Oh, Lord, they're coming." "Lee, Jay, come on, then!" "Where'd they go?" "Come on, blokes!" "Ha ha ha!" "Oh, look, Nan." "It's all frozen over." "Ralph must have gone out." "We'd better be quiet." "Oh." "Oh, what a night." "Wasn't it just?" "Kiss me, Nan." "Hmm." "Morning." "Morning." "Nan?" "Hmm?" "What happened last night?" "Oh, don't say you wish it hadn't happened." "I couldn't bear that!" "I was determined it shouldn't happen." "I thought I could never care about another girl after Lillian." "But when it came to it," "I think you put a spell on me with that song you sang." "That was the idea." "And you were really in the halls?" "Do you really mean to go back?" "Well, if Charlie Frobisher thinks I can still do it," "I think I might give it a go." "Would you mind?" "I think I'd be rather proud to be a friend of Nan King's... and very happy to be the lover of Nan Astley." "Ha ha ha!" "Flo?" "Flo?" "Oh, God." "No." "Stay there." "Sorry to disturb you, Nan." "You don't know where Flo might..." "Oh, there you are." "I was wondering if you could have Cyril for a few minutes, just... while I get... get shaved." "Here we are." "Well..." "I'll just... get shaved." "Oh, Flo, your brother is just about the best kind of man, I think." "Ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha!" "OK." "Now move it around the corner, get it up the stairs." "I'll lift, and you drop a bit, all right?" "All right." "OK." "I've got it." "That evening, we put the truckle bed back in the attic, and I moved my night things to Florence's room... and I put my gown beneath her pillow." "And I felt..." "I had come home at last." "Right." "Now..." "I've had enough of this." "I've had just about as much as I can take." "Look about you... at our great places and public buildings... and our country houses and our..." "Damn!" "Our factories and our empire!" "And our factories and our empire." "Yeah, thanks." "Thanks, Nan." "That was very good till then." "Well, get on." "OK." "What is the rich man's wealth but robbery?" "Gradually, I was drawn in to the center of their lives." "I had never given a thought to politics, but now I couldn't escape it, it seemed." "There was going to be a big rally at Victoria Park." "Florence was helping to organize it, and Ralph was to speak at it." "And my own life was opening up as well." "This way, ladies." "Hmm." "It's the best dressing room in the house, Miss King." "I trust it meets with your approval." "Yes." "I think it'll do me very nicely, thanks." "Oh, Flo." "What is the rich man's wealth but robbery?" "They steal the land and set a wall about it." "They steal the fruits..." "Flo, please be quiet." "How's a man to think?" "And steals the fruits..." "The fruits..." "the fruits of our labor and obliges us to buy them back from him!" "Good!" "Oh, I've got a girl" "She's as pretty as a picture" "She's the best pal" "In the world" "Hello, Nan." "Sorry, Jimmy." "Could you give us 5 minutes?" "Tommy, 5 minutes." "All right!" "Top of the bill, I see." "Charlie Frobisher's done you proud." "Do you remember when you first came to see me, I wonder?" "What do you want, Kitty?" "You haven't forgotten me, then?" "I was afraid you might have." "Well, I wanted to see you again, of course." "Nan, if you knew how I tried to find you." "It was as though you'd vanished off the face of the earth." "I was afraid you might have... have harmed yourself." "It was you that harmed me, Kitty." "I'm so sorry, Nan." "It doesn't matter now." "No." "No." "I can see." "You're doing ever so well." "And you... are you still married to Walter?" "You heard about that?" "Yeah." "Yes." "Yes, I am, but after a fashion, if you know what I mean." "It's what you might call a... a marriage of convenience." "Nan, so long, I've thought about what I might say if I ever found you." "I must..." "I must tell you..." "I'm not sure I want to hear it." "Would you come back to me, Nan?" "Oh!" "Aren't you forgetting you're a married woman?" "Oh, that needn't matter." "Walter's very good." "He lets me do very much as I like." "Well, if we were only a little careful..." "No!" "We were always careful because you wanted it that way." "You were always halfhearted, Kitty, and I was all for you." "And now I've found someone who's all for me." "She isn't me, though, is she, Nan?" "No." "She's very different from you." "Nan..." "I made a mistake with Walter." "If you were to come back to me," "I would leave him." "It would be just you and me." "I'll make it all up to you, Nan." "I promise." "I've never stopped loving you, Nan." "You broke my heart, Kitty." "Well, won't you let me see if I can't mend it again?" "My mermaid." "You need time to..." "to think about it." "I shan't beg you, Nan." "You let your heart tell you what's right." "I'll come to the show on Monday." "Until then... good-bye." "Penny for your thoughts." "That's torn it." "The rally's off." "The marquee company won't let us have the tents." "Won't have no truck with political revolutionaries, so that's that." "Oh, Ralph, we can't just give up just like that." "Well, what else are we to do?" "Well, the theater's dark on Sundays." "You could hold your meeting there." "Oh, Nan, do you think you could wrangle it for us?" "I think Charlie Frobisher would do more than that to keep me happy." "Nan, you're a tiptopper, you are!" "I beg your pardon." "They call it enterprise and capitalism, but what is it, really?" "What is it... uh, real... really?" "Robbery, swindling, and slavery!" "Robbery, swindling, and slavery!" "Quiet, please." "I give you Ralph Banner." "Go on." "You'll be fine." "Oh, Lord." "L-l-ladies and gentlemen..." "Why socialism?" "That is the question" "I've been invited to discuss with you this afternoon." "Speak up!" "Why socialism?" "I shall keep my answer rather brief." "Thank God for small mercies!" "Oh, come on." "Shh!" "How many times have you heard economists say that England is the richest country in the world?" "I can't bear this." "Nor can I." "Order, ladies and gentlemen." "Order, please." "All right, ladies and gentlemen." "Why socialism?" "We'll tell you why." "Because we've been robbed and cheated long enough!" "Haven't we, Mr. Banner?" "Yeah." "Yeah, we have." "How old are we likely to be when we die?" "Do you know that?" "What's the average age of death in Bethnal Green?" "Mr. Banner knows." "Don't you, Mr. Banner?" "29." "Tell them." "29." "29!" "And your rich man lives to 70!" "And all this in the richest city on Earth." "And they call it progress... but what do we call it, Mr. Banner?" "We call it a disgrace!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "And... and it is a disgrace, and we want an end to it." "What is the rich man's wealth but robbery under another name?" "Is it right that babies should die for want of milk?" "No!" "No!" "Join unions..." "Thank you!" "Like a mermaid." "Oh, Nan." "I do love you... so very much." "This is your beginners call, ladies and gentlemen." "Beginners, please!" "5 minutes, Miss King." "...triumphant return to the London stage of Miss Nan King!" "Hello again." "Remember me?" "There's a lot of things that have happened since you and I last met." "I've been up, and I've been down," "If all good things around us are sent from Heaven above, they've sent me down an angel." "I can't help it." "I'm in love" "I've got a girl" "She's as pretty as a picture" "She's the best pal in the world" "She's not the kind who'd let you down" "She's the sweetest little lollipop in London town" "She's a dear, she's a darling" "She's a little bit of Heaven" "She's a diamond, she's a ruby" "She's a pearl" "Oh, I've got a girl" "She's as pretty as a picture" "She's the best pal in the world" "I've had a funny sort of life" "With lots of ups and downs" "I've worn a lot of different sorts of hats" "I've trudged the streets of London" "Not a penny to my name" "Next day, a toff in topper, cane, and spats" "I've seen a lot of pretty girls" "A lot of plain ones, too" "I've felt the prick of naughty Cupid's dart" "I've known some girls" "Whose kisses could leave you black and blue" "And one or two" "Could fairly break your heart" "But now I think it's time" "I settled down" "And built myself a cozy little nest" "To share with the sweetest girl in London town" "The one that I love best" "Aww." "Oh, I've got a girl" "She's as pretty as a picture" "She's the best pal in the world" "She's not the kind who'd let you down" "She's the sweetest little lollipop in London town" "She's a dear, she's a darling" "She's a little bit of Heaven" "She's a diamond, she's a ruby" "She's a pearl" "Oh, I've got a girl" "She's as pretty as a picture" "She's the best pal" "In the world" "I had come so far from the days when I was a girl, standing on this beach, wondering why I didn't care for Freddy like I should." "And here I am again." "And though I shan't stay long, there's a part of me will always belong here in Whitstable, where they have the best oysters in the world." "Shall we go, then?" "Have you got your courage up?" "Are you ready to meet the family?" "If you are." "It's only human nature after all"