"I was eating a tomato at teatime a few weeks ago," "And I suddenly realized that Mummy is not dead at all..." "Just very, very mysterious." "Papa spoke languages, climbed mountains." "He was an adventurer." "But Mummy was such a gifted person socially." "She was a master of the understatement, an adventuress." "And he was cold and dark, and she was warm and light." "And I was "little Tony. "" "Bye." "Your mummy loves you." "I was the steam when hot meets cold." "Midge?" "Well, hello." "The reason that I called, darling, is that Aschwin," "Prince Aschwin Lippe - his brother is Prince Bernhard - well, Aschwin thought it would be lovely to meet at the Stork Club tonight." "He so wants to know you and Joost, and asked if I could..." "Well, of course." "Shall we say... 10:30?" "Is that too Continental?" "Be as catty as you want, but Tony can hear every word you're saying." "Can you imagine the world he's growing up into?" "Brooks and I will see you tonight." "Brooks... darling." "I gather that you're making commitments for me." "Sans permission, sans consultation." "Prince Aschwin de Lippe, please." "You may say Barbara Baekeland is calling." "Don't get difficult, not tonight, darling." "Please forgive the intrusion and the damnably short notice, but we are having supper with Midge and Joost van den Heuvel, and they would so like the pleasure of your company." "They'll be delighted." "As will I." "As will Brooks." "Thank you, darling." "People say now that I must have hated them because of what... transpired..." "We won't be back too late, I promise." "... but everything that happened happened because of love." "Do I..." "Do I look like a monkey to you?" "Then why on earth should I get dressed up in a fucking monkey suit just to eat?" "You don't have to wear your tux." "And no need to be vulgar." " In front of the b-o-y?" " Just wear your uniform." " I will not." " You look so handsome in your uniform." "The war is over." "Had you not heard?" "You have a right." "You won the war." "I mean, you volunteered, so you have a right to wear your uniform." "Your father looked so handsome, so dashing." "So dashing." "Is the little paragon coming with, or do you plan on leaving him here alone?" "Nini will be here at nine." "In that case, I'm glad that I shall be dining out." "Tone." "Tony, Tony..." "Mother, do you think we should call him "Antony"?" ""Antony" will be his full name, his formal name, his name to the world." "And "Tony" will be his name as a child..." "and among intimates." "When I refer to him, when I am asked if I have a photograph, do I say..." "You say, "This is Tony. "" "And they will say, "What an angel!"" "Oh, yes." "An angel." "What an angel." "What an angel you are." " We may be out late." " "Shall. "" "Oh, yes... your mummy loves you." "Barbara." "Good night, Tony." "You are in good hands." "Enjoy the Stork Club." "And you may stay out as late as you wish." "Fuck!" "Mr. and Mrs. Baekeland." "Right this way, ma'am." "She's gorgeous." "Hello." "Wonderful to see you." "How do you do?" " I'm Barbara." " Simone." "How do you do?" "Why, it was with Dieter that Brooks went on his great adventure, in Peru, in the Villa..." "Darling, you know I'm not at my best with geography." "Brooks, help me." "Villa?" "Darling, don't press." "Maybe your husband doesn't feel like in midst of dinner." "Brooks, please, if you don't feel like performing..." " Vilcabamba." " Ah." "Dieter and I, we went to the Vilcabamba in Peru." "So tell us, man, what was your "little adventure"?" "It was nothing." "Well, I lie." "It was something." "I was intrigued by a 400-year-old mystery - what became of Manco Inca." "I wanted to find the ruins of the lost city." "This is actually true." "Give him a dirt road and he'll go up it." "That's very good." " Would you, Simone?" " Oh, I don't know." "Your husband asked you a question." "This seems... unfair." "This seems..." "... tedious." " Hmm... but would you?" " Yes, would you?" "Would I eat a pound of human flesh for $10 million?" "No, I would not." "I have eaten horse flesh, you know." "There is a difference between eating the cheval and eating the chevalier." "Brooks, for $10 million, would you sleep with Simone?" " For $10 million, would you..." " Don't, Barbara." "Please, don't be tedious." "Would you go home with the first person you met going through a nightclub door?" "Yes, I would." "So... shall we get on with our drinks?" "Brooks, Barbara, have you ever been to the Engadin?" "Oh, I was practically born in Gstaad!" "She practically loves the ski instructors." "Thank you for coming this evening." "Bye." "Barbara." "You said you'd go home with the first person you met" " at a nightclub." " No..." "So I thought I might go home with the first person..." "Hello!" "Hello, I'm awfully thirsty." "Would you buy me a drink?" "Aschwin, Simone." " Barbara!" " Brooks." "Lovely to see you all." "Nini." " Oh, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." " Quite all right." " I must have..." " You fell asleep." "Quite natural." "It's late." "It got late, you fell asleep." " I trust your evening was..." " Oh, we had a fine time." "I can hold down the fort." " Where's Barbara?" " She's returning separately." " May I get your coat?" " I'll just go." " And was the prince there?" " Excuse me?" "The prince." "The prince of Amsterdam." " Ah." " Was he there?" "I think you're thinking of Prince Bernhard, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands." "He was Count Lippe-Biesterfeld, of course, before he married Juliana." "The man with whom we dined, Aschwin Lippe, is just Aschwin Lippe, younger brother - a prince in title, but not in any way..." " Oh, because Barbara said..." " "Barbara said"!" "Decent man, nonetheless." "I see." "Good man." "Oh, yes." "Oh, yes." "Hey, kid." "Oh, what a life." "Thirsty?" "Hm?" "Thirsty boy?" "Tony a thirsty boy?" "Papa used to say, "For $2, the court fee, and $10 for a wedding band," ""I made your mummy into 'Mrs." "Brooks Baekeland'..." "S'il vous plaît!" ""... and myself for the next 30 years into 'Barbara's husband. '"" "Oh!" "You are an angel." " Where's Papa?" " He went to visit Durán." "What shall we do today?" "Ah." "Well... tonight we're going to I'Hippo with Marcel and his wife Teeny." " You remember them." " Ceux-Ià ne me plaisent pas." "En anglais, s'il vous plaît." " Doesn't sound like much fun for a kid." " You don't have to come." " But when you leave me alone..." " Tony." "... I feel no bigger than a lima bean." "Oh... you won't be alone." "You'll be with Clothilde." "Maybe since I'll be with boring Clothilde, we can balance it out with something more fun during the day?" "Ah..." "I see where this is going." " I need time to paint." " I'd like to go on the Ferris wheel." " Really?" " And for lunch, I'd like some ice cream." "Ah!" "But you had ice cream for breakfast." "Please don't tell Papa." "I won't." "It will be our secret." "As will the aspirins you're going to fetch..." "From the bathroom, next to the sink." "Your mother has a shocking hangover." "Mummy..." "I shall cure you." " Ha!" " Oh!" "Ha!" "OK!" "OK, OK." "I concede, I resign." "Well, sir, I'm pretty expert." "So there's no embarrassment in losing, if that's a concern." " Do you love me?" " Of course." "Will you still love me when my hair is gray and my tits are sagging?" "Well, of course." " Do you remember the dog?" " What dog?" " Which dog?" " The one we had in Italy." "Giotto." "I remember when Giotto died." " He was old." " No, he wasn't." "In dog years." " We still have his collar." " I know." " Somewhere." " I know where." "Leo was famous." "Not like you're famous, of course." "Well, I'm not..." "For heaven's sake." "You won the Premio Nadal." "You know Picasso, you know Camus, you know Malraux, you know Dali." "Pilar knows them." "I just write." "What I'm saying, Carlos, is that Leo's fame, like yours, was a function of achievement, came from what he did." "So Leo's stroke of genius was the notion that the formaldehyde might stabilize the phenol, give it strength." "But they never mixed." "Leo thought, "Let's try putting it under pressure. "" "Poof!" "Long chain molecules, Bakelite, plastic." "The telephone, bracelets, radios, records, coffins, submarines, the housing for the atom bomb - the world as we know it today." " That was your father?" " No, that was my grandfather." "My father is a crapule." "My grandfather decidedly was not." " What does Papa do?" " How do you mean?" " Well, François at the..." " At the école?" " François asked me..." " You can tell him, "My father writes." ""My father explores." ""My father has a very refined knowledge of mathematics. "" "Oh." "And you can tell him that your mother was almost a movie star." "Do you find my wife attractive?" "Most men do." "But what she doesn't... what Barbara doesn't realize... is that women find me... you know... attractive." "Some people's fathers, some people's mothers, they have to go to an office or a factory or a store, I guess, every day." "But we are fortunate... because what we do is what we love." "What does François' father do?" " He works." " Ah, well, we worked." "I mean, Father worked, Nini worked." "There was no other way." "I kind of had to raise myself, and then I worked, too - at Filene's." "Then when I could, I left." "I just left." "Nini wanted what was best for me - only what was best for me." ""Find the mon, " she'd say." "She meant "man, " I guess, and she meant "money. "" "The rich, they don't have pet names for money." "Did you know Leonardo da Vinci wrote backwards?" "So you could only read it in a mirror." " Entrez." " Hi." "Carlos!" "Pilar!" "My, you're looking swell!" "Gracias." "Mrs. Baekeland, permit me to introduce Monsieur Souvestre." "Jean-Pierre, I am so happy to meet you." "Please, come in." "I have been dying to ask you about Marcel Proust, your biography of whom I have yet to read as my French reading skills are not what they will be." "It is not necessary to apologize for that." "Brooks reads the language like a native." "And our Tony is mastering it every day at the école bilingue." "But for poor moi, I must confess, it's been a struggle, n'est-ce pas?" "Understood." "What was I saying?" "Oh... yes." "Jean-Pierre, was Proust truly a homosexual?" "Qu'est-ce que tu penses?" "So you met Carlos here in Paris?" "I was at the Sorbonne, the adoring graduate student writing about his work." "But then... we woke up one morning and none of that seemed to matter." "I think I knew he was serious when he introduced me to Marcel and Teeny Duchamp." "Oh!" "I ran into them today, at I'Équipe." "They said they might stop over..." "later." "Je peux lui telephoner?" "You may be assured they were only being polite." "I don't want to be impolite, but M. Souvestre has the early day tomorrow." "He's off to Vittel." "It is regrettable, but what Mrs. Durán says is the truth." "Un petit café for the road?" "And you've yet to meet Tony." "Excusez-moi." "Monsieur Souvestre, permettez-moi de vous présenter mon fils, Tony." "Did I get it right?" "Did I get the order right?" "The younger is presented to the older, the less distinguished to the more so." "Exception: a gentleman is always presented to a lady." "Exception to the exception: unless the man is a president, a cardinal or a sovereign." "So, then, it's right." "Well, everyone, this is Tony." "Say hello." "Buenas noches, señor y señora Durán." "Buenas noches." "Bonsoir, M. Souvestre." "Enchanté de faire votre connaissance." " Bonsoir." " Told you his French is better than mine." "Perhaps you'd like to read something." "Perhaps Tony would prefer to get his sleep." "Especially as M. Souvestre has an early start." "Please." "For me." "Thank you, Tony." "It was gracious of you to volunteer." "You are welcome, señora." "Your mother's a bit tired, as are we." "As, I'm sure, are you." " Um..." " Then we call it an evening." "As your friend, Monsieur Duchamp, says..." "Your husband or your son will translate." "Don't you dare." "Don't you dare condescend to me." "Fucking French!" "They tell you how to raise your child, and then they stare at your ass." "Yes, cul - I know the word!" "It's sick." "This society is sick!" "Excuse me." ""Move-ez"!" "I shall be leaving too." "Tell Tony his father says good night." "Un momento, por favor." "Vos clés." "What are you doing in my hotel room?" "You bribed the concierge, didn't you?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Mummy?" "Mummy?" " Bonjour, Maman." " Bonjour." "Who's that boy?" "François." "From the école?" "From the école bilingue?" "I know where he's from." "When you left, and then when Mummy left, I didn't want to be alone, so I called François, and he came over." "We listened to the radio." "It was Boulez - one of those poems by René Char, which Boulez set to music." "I rather like Boulez, don't you, Mummy?" "I know that some consider him atonal and all that, but I think they just don't know how to listen, or what to listen for." "Your friend leaves." "Now." "Get him a towel." "That wasn't bad, you know." "Tony?" "Do you have a cigarette for me?" "Black." "I like black tobacco." "But sometimes I yearn for the brown." " You know how they are." " What?" " Fussing, always making a fuss." " Not all women." "Damn near all." "Always telling us, you know." "Always telling us where to put our cocks, where not to... and so forth." "I don't need to tell you." "You've seen, you know." "So what are you saying?" "You'll soon be..." "Hell, you're on your own." "I just wanted to give you a piece of..." "what fathers tell sons." "Well, thanks." "I mean, your mother was an actress." "In some ways, is an actress." "Will mostly likely be..." "Mummy can be histrionic, but she's not..." "Don't defend her." "You needn't defend her." "You love her, as do I, but for the moment, we're sitting here, Brooks and Antony, two men." "Had she been on time, we'd never have had this discussion." "Do you think she gets stoned?" "Well, she's Spanish." "Worth a pull?" "After you, pal." "¿Te gustaría fumar?" "Sí." "Gracias." "Taught by experts." "You know what this place needs?" "Some music." " I have one." " Excuse me?" "¶ Once upon a time a long, long time ago" "¶ Wherever you lead me I would surely follow" "¶ Girl, you put me through some pain and misery" "¶ And now you stand here on my doorstep" "¶ Telling me how much you need me" "¶ Ain't nobody home" "¶ Girl" "¶ Ain't nobody home" "¶ How many times I begged for you to come home" "¶ But you laughed at me and said, "Let me alone"" "¶ Ain't nobody home ¶ Girl" " I don't know." " What's she like?" " I don't know." "She's Spanish." " Well, with a name like Blanca..." " Blanca what?" " I don't know Blanca what." "This is not a city, it's a port, so when we hang out, it's typically on a first-name basis." "And if what you're asking is, "Does she come from bonne famille?"..." "You know, if that's what you're asking, well... aren't there enough counts and countesses in that stack of cartes de visite in the foyer, just the way that Nini taught you?" "The carte from Prince Bernhard is always on top, and the bills on the bottom." "You will not speak to your mother like that." "I will not stand for it." "Oh, piss off." "A mother knows." "Hm?" "When her son..." "when her son might like someone." "The discovery, that was 1907." "In less than ten years my grandfather was a very wealthy man." "1924, his face on the cover of Time magazine." "1930, Coco Chanel makes all her mannequins wear Bakelite accessories." "Then came the Depression, which hit everyone except the Baekelands." "We were headed the other direction." "Our triumph - and, of course, our downfall." "How do you mean?" "Leo knew the social register, but it wasn't what moved him, it wasn't what he prized." "To him, all that was just la parade." "But not to George - his son, my father." "He valued all that to a fault, and in the process lost everything." "Camarero!" "No one here is drinking enough." "Another round over here." "Tony, let's drink while your father bores the shit out of your little friend." " She's not very happy." " Ah!" "Then you understand." "Well, it's been a long night." "Bye, kiddo." " Night, Blanca." " Good night." " Are you sure that?" " Yes!" "You know, I don't think I've ever met a family like yours." "All this excitement, all this history." " Well, there is that." " Yes." "You really are such a handsome boy." "Later, Mummy said that I had brought Blanca home like a kitten that had killed its first mouse... and laid it at your feet." "And you... and you took it." "Por favor. ¿Adónde hora esta la aeroplane de Nice?" " Landing?" "When it lands?" " Oh, it's been delayed." "So, 6p. m." "Anytime after that." "Paging Mr. Baekeland - to the Aviaco counter, please." "Paging, please, Mr. Baekeland - to Aviaco." "Your party is waiting." "Boarding time's at 1:30, no?" "Let me see." "Yeah, it's 1:30." "Come, darling." "Coward!" "¡Cobarde!" "¡Cobarde!" "That's right, that's you I'm talking about you, little puta." "You little whore!" " Aún no estamos embarcando." " Señor, por favor." "You are truly disgusting, do you know that?" "You and your little Spanish cunt." " You're speaking too loudly." " I am speaking of a cunt, half your age." "She looked at Tony, looked at you, thought for about five seconds, and said to herself, "Ha!" "That's where the money is. "" "¿Entiendes?" "You go on about your grandfather and the life of the fucking mind." "I go away for one week, and what do you do?" "Something very intellectual." "Very intellectual indeed." "Oh, does he fuck you up the ass?" "¿Por el culo?" "That's what he likes, you know." "He thinks it's very manly." "I think... quite the opposite." "She bats her eyes at you and says:" ""Oh, Brooks, you..." ""you big man, you. "" "And you honor the great Baekeland tradition by fucking her." "OK... fuck her." "Fuck her." "I understand." "But leave me?" "Break my heart?" "Break Tony's?" "He never broke Tony's heart." "And neither did I." "Much of what you've just said is an amalgam of paranoia and spite." "Sell yourself to yourself any way you like, but in your heart, you know." "So does everyone else." "Also... you're a little old for this, don't you think?" "¿No lleva equipaje?" "No tengo." "You are a very nice man." "Un... hombre... encantador." "Jake was like a devil..." "or a magician." "Nothing is true." "Everything is permitted." "He wore little bones and things on his vest - these certain little bones." "Tony!" "Jake!" " You might have knocked." " I did." "I went to the airport today, to pick up Sam." "Who should I see but your father?" "We had a word or two, I can tell you that." "You can tell me, you are telling me." " Don't get harsh with me." " I'm sorry." "Are you defending him?" "Are you taking his side?" "You must have had a long drive." "Sit down and let me pour you something to drink, OK?" "So I told Sam you'd be joining us for dinner." "I'll see you around nine." "How can you live in this shithole?" "Sam was often called a walker- one of those homosexuals who escort wealthy women to dinner or to the opera when their husbands are not able." "But Sam's devotion to Barbara was never about the money." "In fact, he liked us more when there was less of it." "Do you remember how it was with Maxime de la Falaise?" "There was a difficult period." "I helped her, as much as I could - a few of us, we did what we could - and now, well... no one remembers the sad period now, do they?" "These are the facts we have to face." "One - we are dealing with an insecure and capricious crowd who, given any doubt or hesitation, will always follow the money." "In this case, meaning Brooks." "Second, and this is in your favor... you were, to any sensible observer, the charm and vivacity of the couple." "So, we must make that work to your benefit." " I'm so glad you're here." " It's my pleasure." "Pop across to Cadaqués for a day or two." "You need to be proud, not embarrassed, to be seen in public." "And that will give people permission to be seen with you." "Hola." "Un café..." "Let us think who are those, you know, from whom others take their cue?" "Someone like Pilar Durán would be terrific." "And then, of course, we need a doyenne to seal it." "You do, of course, know Teeny Duchamp?" "Teeny Matisse Duchamp?" "And I shall, naturally, make sure that the word gets out." "As will others." "As will others!" "You've got to start painting again." " The difference between..." " An artist and a divorcée." "So you understand." "That's for starters." "Some of it will, I've no doubt, be emotionally unpleasant." "Oh, please." "Where is he?" "Oh, I'm sure he'll be along, Barbara." "He's just... being Tony." "Mummy, what I don't understand is Brooks." "Of all the places Brooks would want to go for the season, why choose a place right near us, and then not want to see us?" "Why would Blanca want to go to Mallorca when she hates me so much?" "She doesn't hate you." " And Brooks?" " He doesn't hate you either." " Then why won't he..." " I've given up trying to understand him... explain him, justify his ways." "Men do..." "This is something you know very well." "Men do what... what men do." "Mummy?" "I think he's writing us a letter." "I think he is writing us a letter, but in another alphabet, in Baekeland writing... no one else can read." " 'Cause the thing with Brooks is, he..." " Oh, please." "Mummy, don't be angry." "I'm not angry." "I love you." "Mummy, I love you." " You've been fantastic." " You needn't..." "I wanted to, really." "I can't begin to tell you how much of an improvement..." "Well, she'll be all right." "Well, she'll always be Barbara." "Yeah." "And... what of you?" "What of life in the world of Tony Baekeland?" "Ça va." ""Ça va"?" ""Pas mal"?" "No, no, no, no!" "That isn't good enough by half." "Tony takes care of Jake." "Tony takes care of Barbara." "Someone must take care of Tony." "What I would like to do, ideally, is to place you with a gallery." "Or, failing that, with a private dealer - and that is something I know I can do." "You shouldn't have done that." "Sam... you should not have done that." "He's your child, and he will always be your child, but he is a grown man with his own life and his own choices." "You don't know what you're talking about." "Tony is who Tony is." "Tony is not who Tony is!" "Dear Papa," "I don't know any other way to say this but straight out." "Would you please come back to Mummy?" "She's so unhappy." "She needs you... but is too full of pride to ask." "Do you remember our dog whom you named Giotto?" "The dog is gone, but the collar remains." "For all the times we've moved, I've taken it from place to place." "It's never gotten lost, not even once." "I do not know why you fear me." "I do not fear you." "Sometimes I have a bloody mind and I don't know what to do about it, but I fight it with everything I've got." "With my best love, Antony." "Tony!" "Tony!" "Brooks!" "Everything is going to be all right." "My mummy told me, ever since I was seven:" ""Hold your head up high. "" "A very strange thing is when your charm ceases... and, for one reason or another, you become gloomy." "And people cease to understand you when you need understanding the most." "I now realize that, for many years," "I have been living a totally false life." "Anyway... for Mummy's sake, I've decided to make a new person of myself." "We'll be bored rigid without you." " It's harder to get people to come..." " Than it was in Cadaqués?" "I know." "I know." "It's time." "It's time." "I'm glad he's gone." "I'm not sure, Papa, you would want to know this, but she used sleeping suppositories, six or seven of them, so that she wouldn't change her mind - couldn't." "I remember she told me that her father, my grandfather, had killed himself, so I fear that..." "all this ran very deep within her." "It was a miracle, that I came home that night instead of staying out till morning, as is my custom." "And a miracle that when I did come home she was still alive." "Taking care of Mummy had been your job." "But when you left, Brooks, taking care of Mummy became my inheritance." "Barbara?" "Hi." "We just missed each other." "À I'hôpital?" "They told me that you had been there." "This... must be very hard for you." "Your music?" "Your writing?" "That!" "Carlos thinks very highly of you - always has." " And I'm sure he'll..." " Have you seen Brooks?" "Carlos saw him." "I don't think that Brooks is liking me very much these days." " He said I was a crapule." " Oh, please!" "To Brooks, everyone is a little shit." "Everyone in the whole wide world." "Including me, including you." "Including even Carlos, for God's sake!" "But not Leo." "Not the sainted grandfather." " What was it he said?" " Who?" "Hemingway, I think." "Or the other one..." " Fitzgerald?" " Yes." "It was one of them." " Who said?" " What it is I'm trying to remember!" "God!" "I'm turning into Nini." "Monsieur, encore." "Merci bien." "I know." "It was about Paris, I think." ""If you're tired of Paris, you're tired of everything. "" "I remember." ""To say that one is tired of Paris" ""is in fact to say that one is tired of life. "" "Something like that." "Mummy hoped that with a new place would come better things for us, and she was right - but not completely so." "But still, Paris was a step up in the world." "It was in Paris that I started writing backwards in my notebook so that no one could read my thoughts." "But Mummy seemed to be able to read them anyway, as if she were inside my head, looking out." "My great-grandfather Leo once said:" ""One of the uses of money is" ""that it allows us not to live with the consequences of our mistakes. "" "But I fear that, in this, Leo was wrong." "Tony?" "Do you know what I would really love?" "What would you really love?" "What do you think?" " This is so good." " I'm glad." "It's exactly what I wanted." "Well, then I'm all the more glad I was able to obtain it." "Is there a better ice cream in the whole world?" " Is it Thursday?" " Yes, it is." "I have dinner with Ethel tonight." " Ethel de Croisset." " I'll make other plans." " She won't mind if you tag along." " I don't want to impose." "I don't like what happens when you "make other plans. "" "Mummy... please." "The afternoon of the longest laundry?" " I don't do that anymore." " Mmm..." "Hm!" "What does the G stand for?" " What, dear?" " The G." ""George" - like his father." "Do my wrists, would you?" "That was lovely." "And now..." "I need some privacy." "Scoot, so that I can get dressed." "Teeny." "I'm so sorry." "Mummy always said that I should be furious with you for stealing my girl." "But I said:" ""Mummy, he didn't hurt me." ""He hurt you. "" "Still, Papa, you should have come back." "I thought that one day you'd wake up and know that, too." "But you never did." "And something else I want you to know:" "Giotto's collar has disappeared, and I will not be able to sleep until we find it." "Not the formal opening dinner - that's me and 17 of the dealer's closest friends getting pissed at Regine's." "This is different, more intime." "I was thinking that after the vernissage I would gather together a small group - you and Mishka, of course, and Ethel de Croisset and the Duráns and Bill and Rose Styron, if they are still in town." "Not buyers - not... not a business thing." " Thank you." " People you love, and who I know would love each other." "I can't begin to tell you how much Tony adores London." "I believe it's brought about a sea change in him." "Do you remember, in Paris, how down he could get, how... pulled within himself?" "And then, in the morning, how agitated?" "Well... that's still Tony, of course." "But in London he eats, he walks, he even shops." "This morning we stayed in bed until 11 reading the newspapers." "For him, that's unheard of." "For me, paradise." " Oh, thank you." " It's a pleasure." "What do you think, Mishka, of a small dinner following the vernissage?" "What's not to like?" "It sounds like a great idea." "Well, I was thinking I might have it here." "I thought it might add a note of class to my own little works, which they in no way, on their own merits..." "Of course you can have your little dinner over here." "I don't know how to thank you." "Tony will be thrilled." "Well?" "Where is it?" "Where is it?" "Where did you put it?" "It is not my responsibility to keep track of your objects." "But it's not anywhere." "Missy Harnden is the soul of graciousness." "When I mentioned that there would be a vernissage after the opening, she offered to host a little dinner..." "chez Harnden." "I'm so happy for you, Mummy." "I like the way you've been dressing lately." "Is that from Gieves?" "No." "Actually, it's from Anderson, from Anderson  Sheppard." " Did you just walk in?" " No." "You might just walk into Gieves, but you're not going to walk into Anderson - you get walked into Anderson." "In my case, by Timothy Chalmers." "Have you been seeing a lot of young Timothy Chalmers?" "I don't think he's the kind of person you want to learn from, if what you want to learn is how to be a man." " What do you mean?" " I don't think Timothy likes women much." "Oh, he's English, is all." "He's the kind of person that does things for people - in the way that Missy Harnden does for you." "I hope you haven't incurred any obligation." "Mother, we're talking about an introduction to a tailor, a clothier." "Well, I very much like this material... this fabric." " What would you call it?" " It's a worsted, I should think." "It's much nicer than your other worsted." "Well, that's Anderson." "This is interesting." "Barbara... please." "You don't seem to mind it." "Part of you doesn't seem to mind it." "I suppose I don't... mind." " You might even enjoy it." " I might." "Ah, I'm finding some buttons here." " How many?" " Five." " They do them with five." " That's five." "That's four." "That's three." "Hold that thought." "God..." "I like the boxers you've chosen." "I picked them out for myself." "How does that feel?" "I think you know." "Did you come?" "No." "We can do something about that." "You're the best." "You are." "You are the best." "Are you sure you didn't put it anywhere?" "Why do you care so much about this thing?" "For the same reason that anyone cares about anything - for its value, its sentimental value." "We are talking about a dog collar..." "We are talking about a collar that belonged to Giotto," " a dog I loved, and a dog that died!" " Inside voice, please." "Now the dog is gone, but we still have the collar, and we have moved and moved and moved, and we have never lost it!" "Oh, Tony, please." "Go look for it." "Go!" "Tony?" "Tony!" "Get your thumb out of your mouth." "You are not a fucking baby!" "You hid it." "You hid it in the cupboard." "At the very back of the cupboard, with Nini's silver." " I did no such thing." " Then how did it get there?" "Well, maybe you put it there for safekeeping, and then you forgot." "Everything's gonna be all right." "Let me help you." "Tony." "Tony..." "After we fought this morning you wrote something on a piece of paper." "And I was so angry... that when you went out for lunch I just had to tear it up." "We didn't fight this morning." "We stayed in and read the papers, remember?" "You wrote it in that backwards writing." "But I'm not stupid." "I know that you think I'm not smart, but I'm... smart enough to know that if there is a piece of backward writing  why, you just hold it up to a mirror." "So I tore it into little pieces, and I flushed it down the toilet." "But you know how that toilet is, and those pieces kept... kept floating to the top." "I don't know what you're talking about." "When you talk nonsense I can't..." " I'm not talking..." " I can't help you." " I am telling you!" " You are spouting!" "I'm going to call an ambulance." "Yes." "83..." "Cadogan Square." "Thank you." "Yes, I'd like to place an order." "To be delivered." "Yes." "Baekeland." "I'm very hungry." "Yeah, those thin rice noodles with pork, shredded pork." "Yeah, that would be it." "And some rice, some fried rice." "No, the large." "Dear Papa," "I'm hoping you receive this letter." "During the time preceding what happened a lot of rather strange things were happening." "Earlier that afternoon" "I had a telephone call from a friend of ours who lives in Wales." "She told me I had fallen down an elevator shaft." "I thought this rather strange." "And yet it had a profound effect on me." "I was in a dreadful state." "For a long time I didn't know where I was." "Past memories kept flooding my mind, and I felt like I was re-enacting parts of my former life." "You know I loved, and still love and adore, Mummy more than anyone in the world." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Mr. Baekeland?" "You would be Mr. Baekeland, sir?" "Yes." " And this would be?" " My mother." "I do wish we could all be together again." "And another thing is, I have so much in my head that... to let it out would surely kill me." "Nevertheless, I feel better now... and even feel that a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders." "Does anyone know who died?" "Is it someone famous?" "No." "They said to move on." "Yes, it is very boring here, but I try to be good and not to fret." "And you ask me what it's like to be in prison." "Well... just exactly as one would imagine." "There will be a Mass given by Barbara's friends who knew her well and remember what was lovable and brave in her at St. Mary's, Cadogan Gardens, at 6:30 p. m. on November 30." "She would have been happy to know you had been there, too." "¶ Let's get out of town" "¶ Go swimming, swimming" "¶ Move your arms around" "¶ We're wading so far out" "¶ Nothing to cry about" "¶ Mmm, mmm" "¶ It barely makes a sound" "¶ Let's get out of here" "¶ Go flying, flying" "¶ You're so pretty, dear" "¶ And you're mine" "¶ Aren't you, now?" "¶ Higher than a cloud" "¶ Mmm, mmm" "¶ It barely makes a sound" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh" "¶ Oh, didn't you find me" "¶ Drawn on lightly?" "¶ Dragging it out" "¶ Oh, didn't you know me?" "¶ Nothing to show me" "¶ Just gotta get out" "¶ Ooh, ooh, ooh" "¶ Let's get out of town" "¶ Go sailing, sailing" "¶ Throw the anchor down" "¶ Head to heaven with me now" "¶ Angel on the bow" "¶ Mmm, mmm, mmm" "¶ It barely made a sound" "¶ Ahh-ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh" "¶ Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh"