Pipped at the post.
- Do you know what I wish? - No. What do you wish?
I wish I had 10 sisters.
Ten?
Then maybe I could let people be simple, good chaps.
As my father could.
I am too critical.
Is this your confession?
And you?
I wish...
I could walk on the path between the high downs and the sea...
where my father lives.
I do not fit, I know that.
You do not give a hoot what people think of you.
My friend from home, Wardley-Fish...
said it was of no matter.
He is right, your friend.
The idea that Lucinda loved Dennis Hasset had taken hold...
and would not easily be knocked loose.
Cheers to Mr. Hopkins.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
It is a great pleasure to see our missus take up with a gentleman such as you.
When our window-making is at full tilt, just come along.
We'll be pleased to explain it to you.
Thank you, Arthur. I will.
I have never seen anything so splendid as your glassworks.
You may approach. It is not sacred.
It is merely a prototype.
I thought perhaps an exhibition hall.
It is...
It is like a kennel for God's angels.
I am bowled over.
I feel extraordinarily happy. It is so beautiful!
I have an idea.
Are you curious?
Yes, of course I am curious.
Oscar's idea was born out of Christianity.
That if you sacrifice yourself, you will attain the object of your desires.
Yes, thank you.
The odds were surely stacked against him.
Had it been a horse, rather than a woman's heart...
he would never have bet on it. Not even for a place.
How does your correspondent enjoy Bellingen town?
Well enough.
Does he have a church built yet?
No, they still hold the service behind the blacksmith's.
Mr. Hasset should have a church.
What is your idea?
What would be his feeling...
if he woke up one morning, he looked out of his window...
and he saw a church...
made of glass?
- A church? - Of glass.
- A glass church? - Yes!
- It is not practical. - What is the practical purpose of a church?
If it is only to provide shelter to Christians...
and my father would take this view...
then it is better to worship in rooms behind the blacksmith.
But if the purpose of a church is also a celebration of God...
then I would say I am the most practical man you have spoken to all year.
It's like the stairs in the library. It's what they call...
- Prefabricated. - Yes.
You can pack it in crates and transport it by cart.
- Or by ship. - Yes, you can take it...
- across the Great Dividing Range. - We are mad to think of it.
No! We are not mad!
We are not mad.
Can you imagine Mr. Hasset's face?
You will deliver it to him.
- I? - Yes, surely you...
- I cannot leave the works. - But you wouldn't...
No, it's quite impossible.
They're only just recovering from my last absence.
Then I shall, on your behalf.
- Bellingen is approached by sea. - Then I shall go by land.
You cannot. It is largely unmapped country.
You think it is outside my scope?
- There is no shame in that. - And no truth in it, either.
I wager you I can do it. You may nominate the date.
- This is madness. - I am prepared to wager you...
that I can have the glass church in Bellingen by, say...
Good Friday.
And what can you bet?
- 10 guineas. - It's not enough.
What is enough?
Your inheritance.
My father may live until he's 100. He's not a rich man, anyway.
- That makes no difference. - You will bet?
- The same. - The same amount?
The same. My inheritance.
- But you already have it. - Yes.
- Your works? - Yes, everything.
- You will wager all that? - Yes.
Five weeks without even a game of Penny Poker...
and now this.
Very pretty, this fretwork.
It is quite ingenious.
Here is my head clerk.
Come in, Jeffris. We have a question for you.
Miss Leplastrier, Mr. Hopkins.
This is from the horse's mouth. Jeffris is quite the explorer.
He has been there, up north.
- On the road survey, wasn't it, Jeffris? - Yes.
He knows all the ins and outs.
Would that road be of any use?
If you were carrying cargo of any sort, it would be a fool's way to go.
We will have cargo, yes.
- Then you must go by sea. - Mr. Hopkins is set on going overland.
- Is that so? - Yes, I'm afraid it is.
Going by land, of course, one of your main problems...
is the butchering habits of the blacks up north.
But you must know that.
If you go, as all the incompetents have done...
smack-bang through the center of their kingdoms, what can you expect?
It is like thrusting your bare hand into a beehive.
It gets them hopping mad.
Ergo, you take your time...
go around their boundaries, and you are left alone.
- Who knows these boundaries? - I do.
Ease up. You are not stealing my head clerk.
Morning, Captain.
- Mr. Hopkins. - I'm in rehearsal, Mr. Jeffris.
I shall need some assistance at Bellingen...
though it need not be skilled.
I have learned to glaze.
- Excellent. - It's a lot harder than Latin verbs.
No, Harry. That's B. It should balance H.
He is a brave man, Mr. Jeffris.
Yes, he's an extraordinary chap.
He is far braver than you or I.
When I heard of this, I could not believe it.
Now I see it, I still cannot believe it.
It is a scientific expedition.
Here is a list of the party we have...
The Australian sun will scorch your congregation...
as though they are in hell itself.
How kind of you to come from Parramatta to tell me this.
Have you become so sarcastic?
- It is to be built beneath a tree. - Fiddlesticks!
- A shady tree in a cool aspect. - It will be as hot as hell.
Where will the rector change his vestments?
He is like a fish in an aquarium for everyone to see.
Be calm.
You had such a start in life, and now this folly!
Look at it, please.
Calmly.
It is so beautiful.
This celebrates God's name.
They will fry. They will curse God's name.
You don't look well, girlie.
"He has condemned himself to everlasting hellfire.
"He has cast himself out from those who can ask God's forgiveness.
"What brought your friend, the Rev. Stratton, to this pass...
"we can only conjecture. "
- Mr. Jeffris? - Miss Leplastrier, Mr. Hopkins.
I'm offering you a bonus.
Mr. Hopkins will give this to you when he has been safely delivered.
Please, no.
As you wish.
So...
Mr. Hopkins, if you please.
- Oh, dear. - Surely he can wait.
Mr. Hopkins must lead the expedition.
The Lord keep you safe.
The legal document of our wager.
I have this for you.
Go.
Goodbye.
When Oscar first talked of going overland...
he had not known there were six rivers to cross:
The Macleay, the Hastings, the Clarence...
the Manning, the Hunter, and the Namoi.
He was sick with fear at the thing he had begun.
Help!
- Help me, man! He's having a fit. - Help.
- Hold his head. - No!
You are to supervise him at all times, and not to let him out of your sight.
When you hold your cock, you will have your eye on him.
When you wipe your asshole, you will have your hand around his ankle.
When there are rivers to be forded...
you will administer 5 fluid ounces of the laudanum.
- Do I make myself clear? - My duty is as collector of animals.
All other duties are second to this one.
That she did not open Oscar's letter was not forgetfulness.
She did not wish to weep.
They would carry him safely, and they would bring him back.
"I dare not hope, and yet I must
"that through this deed, I gain your trust"
You had my trust.
Oh, you fool.
My darling.
Lucinda did not know it would be four weeks...
before the next steamer left for Bellingen.
One, two, three, heave!
Lift it, you soft whores!
Get those horses up here, man!
Move this thing!
Does your throat still pain you?
It is not so bad.
If I coat the funnel with wax when you have your fits...
- I had no fit. - I found you in one.
That damn church of yours, sir, is costing us time.
He forced his medicine upon me. I had no fit.
He fears your phobia, that you'll jump into the water.
He fears he will lose his bonus.
But he will not lose me. I shall be here until the end.
I have much to live for.
Come on, put your backs into it. Come on, some muscle.
Be quiet now.
Blacks! Niggers!
- Captain! - Simpson, over the top.
Dalton, watch the provisions!
One man secure the horses. The rest of you, with me.
- By the rocks! - Come on, lads.
No!
Talk to them!
How goes life in the ladies' compartment?
What do you say to this countryside?
If it was my country, sir...
I'd be feared to see you coming.
God, man, surely you're not going to drink with them?
I have already traveled with them.
He's a padre...
come to bring God to all you bastard sons of Bellingen.
- Bastard sons and daughters. - The Lord help us.
Take this over to him. Keep your eye on him. He's not to leave.
Step through.
Dip your wee white toe in the holy well.
Compliments of Sir Roger Rogerer...
and Lord Pupslaughter.
He's going walkabout.
How thin my wrist is.
This wrist God made me.
How could I smite you?
That's right, Father. Give us a sermon on the mount.
I will...
play you poker.
And I will win.
This money will be your gift to God's work in Bellingen.
No!
I have a pot of £100.
I forbid this!
I would shoot you dead and go to hell for it.
You murderer.
"The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
"He makest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies. "
- Out. - I warn you.
Percy?
Did I not murder a man?
We did.
- Where is our party? - They're off. Gone south.
In pursuit of Mr. Jeffris.
He went off with their pay, so they believe.
So they've chased after him.
Oh, Lord.
You must not fear.
- I have killed a man. - It is a bad man we have killed.
Your maker will forgive you.
In truth, I have felt more sorrow to have slain a beast.
They were nice enough to leave us tea, sugar, and a billy.
For the rest, they were in too much of a hurry.
Our church.
Look around you.
I'll take Bubba, Miriam. Alice, bonnet, please.
It's tempting fate to have thrown away your widow's weeds.
Why? I have no one left to mourn.
My father, my mother, my husband: All gone.
If you'd nabbed young Rev. Hasset...
I did not attempt to nab him. Although he's been properly nabbed now.
Jealousy killed the cat.
"Curiosity. "
Don't forget to do the butter.
Not "jealousy. "
O Lord...
all thy glory surrounds me...
but I am afraid.
O Lord, I thank thee for granting me this day.
The newly-married Dennis Hasset thought many things at once:
That it was a miracle...
a broken thing, a tragedy...
a dream.
Lucinda.
- Are we there, Percy? - Yes.
They're all waiting.
There you are, Mr. Hopkins.
- Safe and dry. - Thank you, Percy.
I will go alone now.
Sir.
The Rev. Mr. Hasset?
Yes.
Then it is my pleasure, sir...
to present this splendid glass church to you.
It is a gift to the people of Bellingen...
all these people...
from the most...
wonderful woman in New South Wales!
How you can stand there, sir...
while Miss Leplastrier pines in Sydney...
is quite beyond my...
Come with me.
- Mrs. Chadwick, could you help us? - Yes, certainly.
I must hurry home before my wife hears all this puffed up by gossips.
Would you be a good Samaritan? Here's a crown.
Buy bandages, whatever he needs.
And here are the keys to the meeting room.
Lock the door to keep out the busybodies.
Can you manage? Will Mrs. Trevis permit you?
Dear Dennis, you must hurry home to Mary.
Leave this wounded soul to me.
You poor man.
What trials have you been through?
There, there.
Up we go.
Although his whole heart cried out for Lucinda...
Oscar believed that he would have to marry this woman he had compromised.
It did not occur to him that she had compromised him.
Till tomorrow.
That he had been nabbed.
Forgive me...
Almighty God...
for the murder of the blacks.
Forgive me for...
the death of Mr. Stratton.
Forgive me for the murder of Mr. Jeffris.
Forgive me, Almighty God...
for the seduction of Mrs. Chadwick.
Forgive me for my pride.
Forgive me for my ignorance.
Forgive me...
for betraying Lucinda...
and my father.
Will we never again stand together?
Forgive me.
Help!
Help me!
"... always abounding in the work of the Lord...
"as much as you know that your labor is not in vain.
"Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live...
"and is full of misery.
"He cometh up, and is cut down like a flower.
"He fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.
"In the midst of life, we are in death.
"Of whom may we seek for succor, but of thee, O Lord...
"who for our sins are justly displeased?
"Yet, O Lord God most Holy...
"O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Savior...
"deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.
"Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts.
"Shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer...
"but spare us, Lord most holy...
"O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Savior...
"that thou most worthy judge eternal...
"suffer us not in our last hour for any pains of death to forfeit. "
Would you care for our church?
We could surely have it made useful...
with some weatherboards attached, or some such...
What a gift that would be. I shall hold you to that.
Thank you.
If Miriam had known of Oscar's wager with Lucinda...
she would have moved heaven and earth to claim Lucinda's fortune.
Before my great-grandmother died...
she had time to see that her baby had the same red hair as his father.
Oscar Theophilus Peter...
I baptize thee...
in the name of the Father, and of the Son...
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
We receive this child into the congregation of Christ.
When Dennis Hasset told Lucinda the baby's history...
she had only one thought in mind.
A dream, a lie...
a wager, love.
This is the story Lucinda gave to my grandfather...
and I give to you.
All right, let's go home, yeah? Check for rocks.
Ripped by: SkyFury