"Tea, I think, don't you?" "Yes." "Boots off." "Well, arm up." "Aah!" "Just arrived for you, miss Caroline." "Oh, for me!" "Could we have some tea, joanna, when you're ready?" "Oh, come now, darling." "Put us out of our misery." "Tell us who they're from." "It just says, "to my darling Caroline."" "Well, don't look at me." "I didn't send them." "Grandfather?" "Not me." "Sorry." "Why, they're probably from daddy, darling." "But he would have said, wouldn't he?" "[Camera clicks]" "Oh." "I must have been absolutely potty, agreeing to help with the talent show." "At least it's for a good cause." "I can't help thinking I've got better things to do." "You seemed definite enough about it when you agreed." ""Where else are the pensioners gonna have their quiz night?" You said." ""And the mother and toddler groups, where are they gonna go?"" "Look at it this way, love." "I think you're gonna have a lot more fun this morning than I am." "Oh?" "What have you got in mind?" "Introducing young Geoffrey to the mysteries of accountancy for starters." "I wouldn't worry about that, Robert." "I've got me own plans for that young man this morning if and when he ever gets back from his driving lesson." "What plans?" "Geoffrey:" "Hello?" "At last!" "Hi!" "How did it go?" "Not bad." "I only ran over one policeman." "Oh, aye." "Ha." "How do you like your new instructor?" "Nice legs." "A woman?" "Well, of course, a woman." "Well, don't sound so shocked, Robert." "They're thinking of giving us the vote soon, you know?" "Now then, Geoffrey, you like music, don't you?" "Yes." "Good." "Come on!" "There's some lunch for you on that tray, Robert." "Tata!" "Race you to the Ford." "Come on." "You're on." "[Camera clicks]" "Caroline:" "Ha ha ha!" "Oh, no." "It's him again." "Right!" "Go on!" "Hetty:" "Right." "Come on, Geoffrey." "Say something." "Like what?" "Well, I think the usual phrase is" ""how now, brown cow?"" ""How now, brown cow?"" "I'm not saying that in front of all these people." "Look, we haven't got all day." "Jus say it, will you, please?" "Ok." "How now, brown cow?" "Oh, terrific." "I think the tweeter's blown, Mrs. Wainthropp." "What?" "The tweeter." "It's obviously gonna need a bit of adjusting." "All right." "Should we give it another go?" "No." "Not if the what's-it is gone." "We'll have to find somebody who knows what they're doing." "Oh, look at this!" "Aw!" ""When daisies pied and violets blue."" "Oh, it's lovely, is this." "We used to sing it at school." ""And lady-smocks all silver-white and cuckoo-buds of yellow hue."" "¶ Then, on every tree ¶" ""mocks marr"" "¶ mocks married men ¶ oh, it's lovely." "¶ Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo ¶ woman: ¶ cuckoo ¶ yes." "Isn't it lovely?" "¶ Oh, word of fear ¶ very, very nice tune." "Right, then, Geoffrey." "Let's make a start on this lot, shall we?" "Right." "Thanks." "Coping are we, Mrs. Wainthropp?" "I think so." "Ha ha!" "Oh!" "Well done, Geoffrey." "Good morning." "Oh, good morning, Mrs. Langley." "May I introduce Mrs. Wainthropp?" "She's our local sleuth." "I'm delighted to meet you, Mrs. Wainthropp." "So, all set then?" "Well, I wouldn't say that, but I expect we'll get there eventually, won't we, Mrs. Wainthropp?" "I expect so, yes." "Very kind of you to let us use the grounds, particularly with your own big day coming up." "Oh, it's the least I could do as President of the committee, and we'd booked the marquee for Caroline's young friends to have her party, so it really is no trouble." "Woman:" "Excuse me." "Mrs. willoughby, can I have a quick word." "Yes." "Oh." "Excuse me, please." "This is Geoffrey Shawcross, my associate at the agency." "Oh." "Hello." "Geoffrey." "How are preparations coming along for the wedding, Mrs. Langley." "Very well, thank you." "Good." "Mrs. Wainthropp, I confess" "I came over deliberately to meet you." "I was hoping to have a word with you about my daughter Caroline." "If you have a moment, of course." "Of course." "So how can we help you, Mrs. Langley?" "I'm not sure that you can." "The police don't seem to be able to." "The police?" "You know that Caroline's wedding is due to take place a week on Saturday at St. Peter in the vale?" "Yes." "Well, everything was going very smoothly, swimmingly, in fact, and now it appears she's-- she's being stalked." "Stalked?" "Yeah." "For the past fortnight, this man's been appearing everywhere she's gone, taking photographs of her." "And that's all he does, is it, simply takes her photograph?" "That's all he's done so far, but, well, as you can imagine, it's not pleasant." "No, it's not." "What did the police say to you?" "Basically, that with the manpower situation the way it is they were hardly in a position to offer 24-hour surveillance." "Besides, he could just be some sort of journalist and, according to them, well within his rights." "So what exactly do you want us to do for you, Mrs. Langley?" "Well, if nothing else, find out who he is and why he's here at whatever your usual rates are, of course." "But before we do, there's nothing I should know, is there?" "What do you mean?" "You've no idea why he might be doing this?" "Of course not." "There is one thing, though, that may or may not be significant." "Those." "They arrived for her yesterday afternoon, but as you can see, there's no name on the card." "And you think this person might have sent them?" "The events could be entirely unconnected, but no one else will admit to it." "Robert:" "She's right about that of course." "Who is?" "Mrs. Langley when she said the two events could be entirely unconnected." "Well, of course she's right, but then again, Robert, it seems to me to be too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence, if you know what I mean." "Any road up, it's somewhere to make a start." "Now where are you off to?" "To find out who sends £40 worth of roses and doesn't even bother to put his name to them." "Beautiful, though, isn't she?" "In fact, they both are." "Woman:" "Two dozen best red, right?" "That's right." "Australian gentleman, actually." "Australian?" "Oh, yeah." "Right aussie twang." "And his name?" "Can't help you there, love." "He paid cash, you see." "Can you remember what he looked like?" "Oh, yeah." "I mean, dead fit really for his age, like." "What age would that be?" "Ooh!" "Must have been getting on for 50 at least." "Good heavens!" "That old?" "Anything else you can remember about him?" "Well, he were brown-haired, and he had this dead-good tan, like," "I mean, the sort you felt he probably had all over, you know?" "Oh, yes." "Well, apart from that and the fact he obviously had a Bob or two." "I mean, that car he were driving." "Well, don't ask me what it was, but it looked like it had a swimming pool in the boot." "Nothing else really." "Well, thanks for that anyway." "So you're one of those private detectives, are you?" "Yes, I am." "Can you do courses in that down at the tech then?" "I don't see why not." "Mrs. Langley, please." "Oh, I see." "Is Caroline there at the moment?" "Oh, is she?" "And that would be at St. Peter's in the vale?" "Right." "Thank you." "[Man speaking indistinctly]" "Then comes your chance to test out acoustics." "They're particularly fine at St. Peter's, so you don't need to shout." "Now it's at this point that the best man will do one of two things-- either produce the ring or break the bad news to the groom that he's left it back in the mess." "[Reverend continues indistinctly]" "[Car starts]" "Bye." "Mm." "Good luck." "Thanks." "Now, darling, you sure we can't drop you off anywhere?" "I told you, I have absolutely tons of shopping to do." "Ok." "Well, we'll see you later back at the ranch." "Don't be late." "I am saving that for the big day." "Oh, don't you dare." "[Horn honking]" "Bye, darling." "Bye." "Miss Langley." "Yes?" "I'm Hetty Wainthropp." "Your grandfather said I'd find you here." "Ah, so you're the gumshoe mummy's hired." "Ha!" "That's the first time I've been called that." "I was wondering if we could have a word over a cup of tea perhaps." "It will be have to be a quick one." "I am rather meeting myself coming back today." "I'm sure." "I do feel that mummy's making a bit of a meal of this photographer business," "Mrs. Wainthropp." "You didn't see him inside the church then?" "He was in church?" "Well, somebody with a camera was." "An Australian?" "Apparently, yes." "I don't know that I know any 50-year-old Australians, certainly none that would send me flowers, but if he is that age, then he can hardly be my stalker, can he?" "Because the man Thomas and I saw when we were out riding the other day couldn't have been a day over 30." "Robert:" "What's she like then, this miss Langley?" "Oh, a bit toffee-nosed, I suppose, but then given her background, that's not all that surprising." "She probably thinks I'm a bit of an odd stick." "I think I dislike her already, and I haven't even met her yet." "Now you she'd have eating out of her hand in 10 seconds flat." "Oh, thanks very much." "She's a beautiful-looking girl." "If she's snooty as that father of hers-- oh, thanks." "I didn't know you knew her father." "Yes, we've met." "Not that he'd remember me, mind." "Where was that?" "The British legion when I was secretary of the fundraising committee." "He came to our armistice day parade and marched up and down as though he was" "Montgomery or somebody." "So what's our next move then," "Mrs. Wainthropp?" "Well..." "I think we should concentrate now on our aussie friend, don't you, who if he is an aussie and a stranger to this area, must be staying at some hotel locally." "Unless he's resident locally." "I think not, Robert, with the sort of tan I've had described to me." "Heh heh heh!" "So tomorrow, Geoffrey, you and I check out every hotel in the area." "And if he is at one of them, then what?" "Well, we tell them that as aussies ourselves we've heard there's a fellow countryman of ours staying with them, and being aussies and famous for our outgoing nature, we just want to drop by and say, "g'day," don't we?" "As aussies ourselves?" "What?" "Fair dinkum, Geoffrey." "I'm not even sure I can do an aussie accent." "I've told you." "The key to doing an authentic Australian accent is" ""I'm going down to brisbane for the cricket."" "Come on." "I don't know anything about cricket." "You don't have to." "Now, look, just keep practicing, will you?" "I'm going down to brisbane both:" "I'm going down to brisbane for the cricket." "Good." "You don't think I should wear a hat with corks in it and put a didgeridoo over my shoulder, do you?" "I'll get you a koala bear to carry if you say much more." "See you later, cobber." "[Bell dings]" "G'day." "Pardon?" "G'day..." "Mate." "G'day, dearie." "Good morning, madam." "And isn't it a good day by the way for the time of year anyway?" "I suppose it is, yes." "Can I help you... sir?" "I'm over here for the cricket." "The cricket?" "Yeah, you know, the, uh..." "Cricket." "Uh, and what I heard is that one of our lot might be staying here." "We have no cockneys staying here." "You see, I'm over here from down under, brisbane, tell you the truth, and sweet though the old country undoubtedly is, I'm already feeling the odd pang of homesickness, you know." "Aussies." "I'm an aussie from brisbane." "Are you?" "Yep." "And if we have, what?" "Well, I'd just like to say, "g'day."" "Woman:" "As a matter of fact, we do have an Australian gentleman staying with us at the moment." "Really?" "He wouldn't by any wild stretch of the imagination be from brisbane, would he?" "I think he's from Melbourne actually." "You wouldn't by any chance be trying to extract the Michael, would you, sir?" "Me?" "No?" "You're one of those barmy, bloody students perhaps." "No." "Up to one of your rag day romps." "No, no." "Honest." "I just want to know if you have any aussies staying here." "So you can say good day to him, right?" "Right." "But..." "If you haven't, that's ok to be honest." "In fact, forget it." "Ok." "All right." "Woman:" "A Mr. arkwright." "Is he on the premises at the moment?" "He isn't, but we are expecting him back shortly if you'd like to leave a message." "Oh, well, perhaps not, eh?" "I mean, I--I wouldn't like to seem pushy, and if he is from Melbourne, which, as you know, is just down the road a piece from us," "I can-- well, thanks very much anyway, dearie." "You've been a real sport." "Not at all, madam." "Reception." "How may I help you?" "304, please." "Cheers." "Oh, Mr. arkwright." "There's a Mr. Vincent waiting in the bar for you." "Cheers." "Mr. Vincent, I presume." "Have we met then?" "We have now." "Hetty Wainthropp, private investigator." "Snap." "Robert:" "A private detective?" "That's what it said on his card." "Well, why would somebody want to hire a private detective just to take photographs of the langleys?" "Exactly." "Fortunately, while I was waiting in reception," "I did just happen to catch his room number." "I hope you're not planning on breaking and entering." "I'm planning to go in and question him." "Hello again." "Oh, hello, dearie." "You, uh, found him then, did you" "Mr. arkwright?" "Only I believe that he's up in his room in the moment if you'd like me to call him for you." "We did bump into him in the bar just now." "Between you, me, and the gatepost, we've arranged to split a couple of tinnies later." "Right." "Oh, and this is my nephew by the way." "He's over here for the cricket, you know." "Aren't you, possum?" "Yeah." "The cricket?" "You play then, do you?" "Oh, yeah." "Two right." "We named him after Jeff Thompson." "He's our quickie." "Really?" "Excuse me." "[Telephone ringing]" ""Our quickie"?" "Never mind." "Hello?" "Mr. arkwright?" "Mr. arkwright?" "Wait outside, please, Geoffrey." "[Door shuts]" "[Elevator dings]" "Mr. arkwright?" "Mr. arkwright!" "Mr. arkwright, I was just looking for you." "Only there's a message for you in reception, and it sounded urgent." "Ok." "Thanks." "I'll ring them up." "Oh, whoa!" "No, no, you can't ring them." "How come?" "No." "Ha ha." "Uh, the computers have just crashed, and none of the phones are working." "I see." "Yeah." "So shall we?" "Yeah." "Ok." "Ok." "Uh, here." "Thanks." "Oh." "Thanks very much." "Mrs. Wainthropp?" "Here!" "Oh, come on!" "Mrs. Langley:" "Good God." "It's Doug arkwright..." "After all these years." "Is that his real name?" "Oh, yes." "Yes, except that he isn't Australian." "He's as English as we are, so where the accent has come from..." "Well, I--I suppose some sort of explanation is in order, isn't it?" "It might help." "If nothing else, it might shed a bit of light on why he's doing what he's been doing." "Look, do you mind if we get some fresh air?" "Of course not." "I last saw Doug, what, 22 years ago, something like that." "We were with b.A.O.R. In Germany." "Father had just been made up to C.O." "I was only about 21 myself at the time." "We both were." "And close friends obviously from the look of the photograph." "Oh, rather more than that, Mrs. Wainthropp." "In fact, much more." "Doug was father's driver." "He used to run me all over the place." "Which was how it all started, I suppose." "He was very attractive in those days." "Well, he still is." "Is he?" "Oh, yes." "Yes." "I expect he is." "And of course there was the other attraction for me anyway." "What other attraction?" "Forbidden fruit." "You mean that in those days the army wouldn't have taken kindly to the idea of the C.O.'s daughter having an affair with a mere private." "Or even in these days to be honest, Mrs. Wainthropp." "Things haven't changed all that much." "No, I suppose not." "So your father knew nothing about all this." "No." "Neither of my parents did." "We both went to some lengths to make sure of that." "Didn't they ever find out?" "Oh, yes." "It all came out eventually, but by then, Doug had vanished." "Vanished?" "Yes." "I'd been over in London for a family wedding, and when I got back, he'd gone, left the army altogether." "But why?" "It seems that for some time they'd suspected that someone had been pilfering from the house, and when a snap inspection of Doug's billet was called, his locker was found to be full of stuff." "I see." "Well, my father was devastated." "He was genuinely fond of Doug." "He wouldn't hear of his being court-martialed, and so they came to an arrangement." "Such things can generally be arranged, you know." "Especially if it's going to spare the army a bit of unsavory publicity." "Yes." "And what was the arrangement." "That no charges would be brought if Doug agreed to go quietly." "Which presumably he did." "With some alacrity apparently." "And you've not heard from him since." "Not a word, no, which, as you can imagine, left me feeling pretty devastated at the time." "I was after all under the impression that he was as much in love with me as I was with him." "So why do you think he would suddenly turn up again after all these years, Mrs. Langley?" "I've really no idea." "Unless of course, he still bears a grudge for having been kicked out of the army." "But that wouldn't explain why he would want photographs of Caroline surely." "Or of you for that matter." "Me?" "Oh." "Quite a lot of the photographs were of you." "Really?" "Perhaps it's time you had another word with the police if he really has got some sort of bee in his bonnet about your family." "Oh, no." "No, no." "There's absolutely no way I'd want to involve the police now." "In fact, I'd say we've taken this thing just about as far as we can, wouldn't you?" "You want me to drop the investigation?" "What I asked you to do was to find out who was behind all this, and that's what you've done." "And quite brilliantly, if I may say so, so really what else is there to investigate?" "If you'd just let me have your bill." "If that's what you want, of course." "Would you like a cup of coffee, Mr. arkwright?" "[Door shuts]" "Well, well." "The ubiquitous Mrs. Wainthropp." "Not all that ubiquitous, Mr. arkwright." "It's just an impression we like to give." "How did you know it was me by the way?" "My own private detective told me you'd had a word with him, and stealing is a criminal offense, Mrs. Wainthropp, even if it's only an old photograph." "If you check with your hotel," "I think you'll find it's been left for you at reception." "So why don't I make us a nice pot of tea, and you can tell me what all this is about, not that I don't know most of it already." "Oh." "You do, do you?" "I know all about what went on over in Germany, how you got kicked out of the army for stealing." "I never stole a thing in my life, lady." "I was fitted up for that one!" "That's what they all say, isn't it?" "Ok." "Put the kettle on." "So who fitted you up, Mr. arkwright?" "He did of course." "Who?" "The man who eventually married her." "Lieutenant colonel Langley." "Yeah." "Or rather captain Langley as he was then." "And why would he want to fit you up?" "Why, he'd probably claim he was just doing his duty as a loyal member of staff to safeguard his C.O.'s good name, having found out what was going on between his daughter and a mere private." "And when did this happen?" "On the day she left for england." "I drove her to the airport as usual and carried her bags in for her." "Langley was just getting back himself from London at the time and spotted us in the airport lounge, saying good-bye, only, uh, being what you might call pretty preoccupied with each other at the time, and we never clocked him..." "Unfortunately." "So what did he do about it?" "Well, once we got back to the base, he took me to one side and told me," ""hands off!" "For other ranks, strictly verboten."" "What did you say to that?" "What do you think?" "Only, the next thing, the military police do a snap inspection of my locker, and suddenly, it's jammed to the gills with stuff nicked from the house, stuff I'd never seen before." "You're suggesting Langley planted it?" "No, I can't..." "But I know I never nicked the stuff." "As far as I was concerned, the facts spoke for themselves." "So that's what this is about, clearing your name." "Get real, Mrs. Wainthropp." "I know I have about as much chance of doing that now as I had then, which is why I accepted their terms in the first place." "So why did you come back?" "Well, uh, reading this was what started it, I guess." "Caroline's engagement announcement?" "Wouldn't you want to be there, Mrs. Wainthropp, at your daughter's wedding?" "[Piano being tuned]" "Girl: 4 and a 5 and 6 and 7." "8 and a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." "Hello!" "Rachel, I can't manage this." "Girl: 6, 7, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7." "I gather you wanted a word, Mrs. Wainthropp." "There have been further developments," "Mrs. Langley, that I think you should know about." "It is true then?" "Caroline is his daughter?" "Yes." "Though I only found out myself that I was pregnant a couple of weeks after he'd gone." "Of course, I was frantic." "Yes, you would have been." "If it ever came out that the so-called daughter of the regiment had been put in the pudding club, as they called it, bu the C.O.'s driver-- and then there Gerald was at one fell swoop prepared to save" "not only the good name of the family but of the regiment, as well." "Oh, you wouldn't believe how pathetically grateful we all were, Mrs. Wainthropp." "Oh, I can imagine." "If I'd only know what they'd really done to him." "You do believe Doug then when he says he wasn't guilty of pilfering." "It wasn't his style." "There were times when he was honest almost to the point of naivete." "Is Caroline aware of who her real father is?" "Oh, goodness me, no." "And she mustn't ever find out either." "You see, the real irony is, she worships her daddy." "She really does." "She thinks Gerald is wonderful, in fact." "I see." "He is quite determined then to make himself known to her." "He was when I last talked to him." "Ok, Geoff, it's all yours." "Oh, uh, Mr. Wainthropp, can I ask you something?" "It's, uh, it's personal like." "Not in trouble, are you, Geoffrey?" "Is it a loan you want?" "No." "It's, uh, it's nothing like that." "It's--it's just this problem I have with girls and that." "Problem?" "Yeah, uh, I'm all right when I get going." "It's just, well, getting started really." "I mean, when you were my age and you wanted to chat up a girl, what did you used to say to them?" "Well, I suppose," ""do you come here every week?"" ""Do you come here every week?" What?" "Well, we were usually either fox-trotting or quick-stepping down at the local palais." "Right." "I remember one Friday night" "Hetty:" "Robert?" "Your bacon's going brown at the edges." "Oh!" "G'day." "I'd like to speak to Mr. arkwright, please." "He's expecting me." "I believe you'll find him in the bar." "Thank you." "Arkwright:" "The army was the only family" "I ever had, Mrs. Wainthropp." "I was in for life and happy to be so until Langley planted that stuff in my locker." "And now after all these years, you want it brought out into the open." "Well, that's one way of looking at it," "I suppose." "In my experience when a person's intent on vengeance, everybody ends up getting hurt, including the avenger." "Besides, what a waste of your life." "Waste of my life?" "Well, from what I can see, you've already spent half of it festering away over what Langley did to you." "Now you're planning to spend the rest of it blaming yourself for what you will have done to Caroline." "Blaming myself?" "Ruining the happiest day of her life just to get your own back on him." "So what am I supposed to do, Mrs. Wainthropp, the honorable thing, keep my mouth shut and say nothing?" "Let me tell you something about waste, lady." "My entire life's already been wasted." "You never married then?" "Never met anyone I wanted to Mary." "Meanwhile, back in good old england, the bastard responsible for all this, he was married to the only girl" "I ever wanted and passing my daughter off as his own." "You know, all I could think about when I saw the photograph of her in that magazine and realized who she must be..." "Was that this beautiful creature was my daughter, my flesh and blood..." "Who I never knew even existed..." "And she sure as hell didn't know about me." "And you ask me if I'm bitter!" "You bet I am, Mrs. Wainthropp." "And determined to have your pound of flesh whoever gets hurt, even if it's your own daughter?" "Put it this way." "Why the hell not?" "Behold!" "A giant am I!" "Aloft here in my tower!" "With my granite jaws I devour." "Penny for your thoughts." "Oh, Mrs. willoughby." "I was wondering why do people go in for these things?" "They enjoy them, I suppose." "Right." "Also, it's an excellent way of meeting people." "You mean, girls?" "Yes." "Rachel looks as if she could do with some help." "Bit of a problem, is there?" "See you later." "Thanks." "Thanks." "I see." "Oh!" "Do you really think he'll come tonight," "Mrs. Wainthropp?" "I have no idea what he'll do, Geoffrey." "Boy:" "And I cross my arms on my breast, and all is peace within." "[Door opens]" "Aren't you going over there?" "Probably later." "Caroline tells me Gerald rang." "Yes." "He's flying in on Wednesday." "In good time for the wedding." "Yes." "Something on your mind, is there, dear?" "Yes." "Doug arkwright." "After all these years?" "I was just wondering what would have happened if he hadn't bee found guilty of theft and we'd discovered I was carrying his child." "What would you have done then, father?" "How do you mean?" "If he'd volunteered to make an honest woman of me himself?" "Well, I'm just deeply grateful we found him out in time, and it never came to that." "You do realize, Doug has always claimed that it was Gerald who set up the whole thing simply to discredit him?" "You believe that about your own husband?" "Oh, easily, yes." "Having married him, I soon realized that he'd do almost anything to get what he wanted and where he wanted, but then as a professional soldier yourself, you'd probably have recognized that, wouldn't you, father?" "He was in love with you, you know." "He was in love with his career!" "Almost as much as he was in love with himself." "You sound as if you hate him." "You mean, you don't realize, father?" "How can you possibly know what arkwright claims or doesn't claim?" "Oh, it isn't important." "It isn't even all that important whether or not it's true anymore." "What is important is just where you stood in all of this." "Where I stood?" "If Doug arkwright was framed, were you a party to it or not?" "You ask me that?" "I don't know what to believe anymore." "All I know is that marrying" "Gerald Langley was just about the biggest mistake of my entire life." "20 miserable years, father, and none of them necessary if I hadn't been told a pack of lies!" "You made it then." "Finally." "Yep." "I'm glad." "Hello, Doug." "Hi." "Well, um..." "It's been a long time between drinks." "A lifetime." "Two lifetimes." "So I gather from Mrs. Wainthropp you've something you want to say to me." "Yes." "Well?" "She tells me you're proposing to make yourself known to Caroline at the wedding." "That's the idea, yeah." "I just wish you wouldn't, that's all." "Don't you think I have a right to for God's sakes?" "She's my daughter." "But firmly under the impression that's he's Gerald's daughter." "That's something else the bastard's stolen from me then." "How could you bring yourself to marry that creep?" "What the hell was I supposed to do, Doug?" "Settle down to life as an unmarried mother?" "Go into a nunnery perhaps?" "You weren't there, remember?" "I wrote to you!" "You what?" "Half a dozen letters!" "You mean..." "You never got them?" "No." "Not one of them?" "No." "And what did you say to me in your letters?" "Um, if I remember rightly, what I was usually inquiring about was how you felt about eloping with me." "Would you have?" "Oh, yes." "So he stole that from me, too?" "I'm sorry, Doug." "I'm so very sorry." "Well, the important thing is, has he made you happy?" "Oh." "He's away a lot." "I have my committees, do good works." "So why do you stay with him?" "Caroline's sake principally." "She'll be married soon." "What then?" "Oh." "I don't suppose anything will change." "Not now." "It's a bit late for that." "You're still a lovely woman, dawn, and I, uh" "I guess you know I'm still in love with you." "Oh, please don't." "Why?" "Am I suddenly so repulsive to you?" "Oh, you know better than that." "[Bells ringing]" "So that's that then?" "I shouldn't have thought so, Geoffrey, not for a minute if the looks dawn Langley and Doug arkwright were giving each other were any sort of guide." "You think they'll get back together, Mrs. Wainthropp?" "Well, judging by his good behavior," "I'd say he's still the gentleman she fell in love with."