THUNDER RUMBLES
HORSE WHINNIES
Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa, whoa!
Silence in court!
Now we come, not for the first time, to Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
Yes, Mr Tangle?
As we know, m'lud, the problem with which we grapple in the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce
is that there are several wills and fragments of wills,
all of them different, all of them conflicting.
Is there much more of this, Mr Tangle?
Afraid there is. . . a variety of points.
I feel it my duty to submit. . . Ludship.
Mr Brownlow, you appear for Lady Dedlock in this matter. Do you have any matters of urgency?
Er. . . No, m'lud. Ah.
I see that Mr Tulkinghorn has graced us with his presence this morning.
M'lud.
THUNDERCLAP
Is it still raining, my love?
Yes, my love. Remarkable.
And I am bored to death with it. Ah, well. . .
Bored to death with this place,
bored to death with my life,
(bored to death with myself. )
What was that, my love?
Nothing. . .
of consequence.
Mr Tulkinghorn will be coming soon.
Certain legal matters to discuss, he says.
Perhaps there's been a development in Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
Nothing ever happens with Jarndyce and Jarndyce. No, well. . .
JUDGE: Now, somewhat to my surprise,
something stirs in Jarndyce.
It appears that the two young people, the wards of court
who stand at the very centre of these proceedings,
are with us today.
My lord, you were to hear my case today! Gridley, my lord.
Silence in court! Gridley.
I have a right to be heard, my lord. I have waited long enough.
Quiet, sir, quiet. Keep it down.
An application has been made for them to reside with their cousin -
a Mr John Jarndyce.
Will your lordship allow me?
The two young people are here, my lord.
And there is a third young person, my lord. A third young person? Not another ward in court?
No, m'lud. Engaged as companion to this young lady, and seeking your lordship's approval.
Very well. Is she here, too?
On her way, m'lud.
Miss Barbary. . .
will you tell me, who am I, exactly?
Who are you?
You're nobody. You're nothing. You're worse than nothing.
It would have been far better if you'd never been born.
Why?
Is it because of my mother?
Did she die because of me?
Your mother, Esther, is your disgrace. . .
.and you hers.
You're different from other children, Esther.
YOU are set apart.
THUNDER STRIKES, HORSE WHINNIES
MEN CRY OUT
Miss Esther Summerson? My name is Guppy, Miss, of Kenge and Carboys.
Allow me, Miss.
There. Here we are.
Bring down Miss Summerson's box and follow us, my man.
Now, will you take me arm, Miss?
We don't wanna lose ya, do we, Miss?
DOG BARKS, VOICES CRY OUT
Oh! Have a care there, sir. I do beg your pardon.
I beg your pardon.
Are you all right? Quite all right, thank you.
Then no harm done.
Good day to you.
Good day, sir.
Well, Jo, how are you?
You know me, sir. I never vary.
I've nothing to give you now, Jo,
but I'll look out for you on my way back.
You're very good, sir.
SHOP DOOR BELL RINGS
All in order, Mr Nemo.
Very elegantly done, if I may say so.
There'll be another parcel of documents to copy tomorrow if you want it.
Jarndyce and Jarndyce makes work for us all, eh?
Careful how you spend it now.
What's it to you how I spend it, Mr Snagsby? Nothing at all, I'm sure, Mr Nemo.
Good day to you.
DOOR CREAKS OPEN
Here we are, Miss Summerson.
This is Mr Kenge's room.
Er, take this armchair by the fire, if you will. Thank you.
Mr Kenge is in court now.
He left his compliments and would you partake of some refreshment, and look over the paper if you will.
Oh, thank you, Mr. . . Guppy.
Thank you, Mr Guppy. Oh, not at all, Miss, I'm sure.
You're going before the Chancellor, I hear.
A claimant in Jarndyce and Jarndyce, I dare say?
I don't know. I don't think so.
But Mr John Jarndyce. . . There. . . Mr John Jarndyce. You see?
He's right at the heart of the case, and it is a very great case, Miss Summerson.
The most famous case in Chancery.
Gone on for many years.
Some say it will never be settled, and a great deal of money depends on it, Miss Summerson.
Hundreds of thousands. Millions, some say.
I have heard of it, Mr Guppy, but I don't understand it at all.
It's about a will, Miss. Or a number of 'em.
A long time ago, a man named Jarndyce made a great fortune, but he seems to have made more than one will.
So, no-one knows who should get the money,
and it's been in dispute ever since.
There are lots of claimants, and the claims get passed down through the generations.
There's two young people appeared in court today and they are at the heart of it, like your Mr John Jarndyce.
They say one of 'em may get the lot, but you never know.
You may have a claim yourself, Miss Summerson, if Mr Jarndyce has sent for you.
And, may I say, I wish you the very best of good fortune, Miss Summerson.
Thank you, Mr Guppy.
Er, you see there's a looking-glass there on the wall?
Yes? In case you should want to look at yourself after the journey, as you're going before the Chancellor.
Er, not that it's requisite, I'm sure.
It's very much to the contrary, if I may say so.
Oh, no. Oh.
Mortifying.
(Mortifying. )
It's only an ink-stain, is it not, Mr Guppy?
That must be a regular hazard, I would have thought, in your line of business.
Don't upset yourself, I beg you.
You're very kind, Miss Summerson.
Kinder than I could have. . .
Miss Summerson.
Ah, Mr Kenge. Miss Summerson.
Shall we go before the Chancellor?
Mortifying.
Miss Clare? Miss Ada Clare?
Well, well. You are a ward of court, Miss Clare.
Do you know what that means? I'm not sure that I do, sir.
You and Mr Carstone, both being orphaned, you have been placed under the jurisdiction of the court.
As claimants in the case, as direct descendents of the original John Jarndyce
of Bleak House in Hertfordshire, now long deceased,
you may inherit a very great deal of money,
one or both of you, when this case is settled.
In the meantime, your cousin, also called John Jarndyce,
also residing at Bleak House, has undertaken to take care of you.
Are you willing to go to Bleak House, Miss Clare? Yes, sir.
It sounds dreary to me.
Not dreary at present, my lord.
Mr Richard Carstone? Yes, my lord.
Do you think that you will be happy under the roof of Mr John Jarndyce of Bleak House?
I'm sure I shall, my lord.
Though you have never met him?
Hmm.
Mr John Jarndyce is a man of good character, I suppose?
Of excellent character and high standing in the community, my lord.
He has the means to look after these two young people?
No matter what the outcome of the case, he is a man of considerable means.
Is he married?
He is not, my lord.
Hmm. If I might remind your lordship, Mr Jarndyce provides a suitable companion for Miss Clare.
This is the young lady, Miss Summerson.
I see.
Very well.
I shall make the order.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
Well, what a day this has been.
Only yesterday, on the old school bench construing Latin verses,
today I'm Mr Richard Carstone, heir to a fortune.
So where do we go next, Miss Summerson?
Don't YOU know? Not in the least.
We're like the babes in the wood.
Have you known each other very long? Not very long.
We met each other half an hour before we met you, Esther, but we're the best of friends already.
I'm sure all three of us shall be. Oh! The wards in Jarndyce.
Very happy, I'm sure, to have the honour.
It's a good omen for youth and hope and beauty
to find themselves in this place and not know what's to come of it.
I was a ward myself, you know.
Of course, my case was nothing like so grand as yours,
but I expect a judgement shortly, on the Day of Judgement.
Now don't be troublesome, Miss Flite, there's a good soul.
Ah, here's your cab. You're to lodge with Mrs Jellyby tonight.
A good soul, and a great philanthropist. Guppy will take you.
Ah, yes, indeed.
Well, Miss Clare and Mr Carstone.
Miss Summerson.
Up we go. We all in?
Off we go, driver.
Walk on.
Clamb?
Fetch the Jarndyce documents.
Going down to Chesney Wold, sir?
Mmm. A fine house, I understand, sir.
Very fine house, very great family.
A great privilege to serve Sir Leicester Dedlock, Clamb.
And Lady Dedlock, sir.
A great beauty in her day, sir.
Mmm, a beauty.
Not from a great family, but a beauty, as you say.
That's the world.
Fetch the papers, Clamb. Right you are, Mr Tulkinghorn.
CHILD CRIES
Mr Guppy, whatever's the matter?
Don't be frightened, Miss. One of the young Jellybys has got his head through the railings.
Oh, poor child. Oh, never fear.
I'll pull him out, Miss Summerson.
Oh. Move. 'Ere y'are.
CHILD WAILS
No go. I'll try again.
Mr Guppy! Mr Guppy. Would it not be better to push?
Where his head will go, the rest of him will follow.
Oh, excellent thought, Miss Summerson.
Gently, don't be frightened.
Er, wriggle your shoulder a little bit sideways.
CHILD CONTINUES TO WAIL
There, that's it. There, we got him!
DOOR OPENS
Ah, Miss Clare. Miss Summerson.
Mr Carstone. Do, please, come inside.
This way, my dears. You find me, as usual, very busy.
My Africa project employs my whole time.
THUD, FOLLOWED BY CHILD CRYING
We hope by this time next year to have 200 families
cultivating coffee, and educating the natives of Borrioboola-Gha.
Great work, great work.
My husband, Mr Jellyby, does not appear to be here.
But here is my eldest daughter Caddy, my amanuensis.
Do please sit while I, er. . .
Where were we, Caddy?
I'm sure YOUR thoughts have often turned to Africa, Miss Summerson.
The finest climate in the world. Caddy?
Mrs Jellyby presents her compliments to Mrs Swallow. . .
Ma. Now what is it?
No, Peepy, not on any account.
Mama is busy.
You, Mrs Swallow, I know, share my deeply held conviction
about Africa, the essential Brotherhood of Humanity,
and it is with this understanding. . .
I can't keep up, Ma. Go slower.
And. . .
it is with this understanding. . .
KNOCK AT DOOR
(May I come in for a minute? )
You've been working late.
No need to tell me that.
I wish Africa was dead.
Look at my fingers. It won't come off.
She's very pretty. Yes, she is.
She's an orphan, ain't she?
Yes. I wish I was an orphan.
Ma's a disgrace. I wish I was dead.
I wish we were all dead. It would be a great deal better for us.
Don't tell me it wouldn't, it would. Caddy, I'm sure. . .
I'm so angry with Ma. She makes such an ass of herself over Africa, and Pa does nothing at all.
Really, Caddy, I don't think you should speak of your parents like that.
I know I am a disgrace, Miss Summerson.
I wish I'd had you to teach me better manners, but I've got to make the best of myself as I am.
You're shocked, I dare say.
Well, so am I.
I wish. . . Well, never mind.
Goodnight.
Here we are, my beauties!
Hope. Joy.
Youth. Ah. . . SHE WHISTLES
Peace. Rest. Life.
Oooh, shh, shh, shh, shh. . .
Dust. Ashes. Waste.
Want. . .
Ruin, Despair.
Madness.
Death.
Cunning and Folly.
We shall all have a judgement on the Day of Judgement.
Plunder, Precedent, Jargon, Gammon and Spinach.
And then you shall sing to your heart's content, my little ones.
SHE WHISTLES
BIRDS TWITTER
Oh!
SHE HUMS A TUNE
# And we'll all come to judgement one day soon. #
Morning. Off to court then, Miss Flite?
As you see, Mr Krook. And your rent?
Very soon, Mr Krook, very soon.
On the Day of Judgement, yeah?
Oh, long before then, I'm sure.
LOUD HISS All right, Lady Jane?
She could tear a person to tatters if I set her on.
D'you know, she was sold to me for her skin.
It's a very fine one as you see.
Didn't have it in me heart to skin her.
Not like the Court of Chancery, eh?
Not as long as I get what I'm owed.
Mr Krook,
I have met the wards in Jarndyce.
Wards in Jarndyce, is it? Such beautiful creatures.
So full of youth and hope and beauty. Oh, and they won't have it long.
That Jarndyce and Jarndyce eats 'em all up.
It's like being ground to bits in a slow mill.
It's being drowned by drips and going mad by grains.
Look how poor Tom Jarndyce ended up. Mr Krook, don't speak of it.
Come in my shop, right where you stand, a pistol in his hand.
Please, Mr Krook. SHOP DOOR BELL CLANGS
Oh!
Mr Nemo.
Good morning, Miss Flite.
Mr Krook.
Er, forgive me but I'm rather pressed for time.
Rent, Mr Nemo. Six weeks.
As long as that?
Well, you shall have it.
Yeah, that's all very well, but when?
You will be paid, Mr Krook.
You have my word.
Now. . .
.excuse me.
Oh, he's such a gentleman.
A gentleman? That's no use to me.
Some people say that he sold his soul to the devil.
But if he has, I don't know what he done with the money!
My very best remembrances to my good friend Mr Jarndyce.
You won't forget me, will you, Miss Summerson?
Come, Caddy, we have work to do.
OK, driver.
Go on, move on.
We have a visitor.
Can you see who it is, my love?
Tulkinghorn. Ah.
Mr Tulkinghorn. Sir Leicester.
Good of you to come all this way.
My lady's case has been again before the Chancellor, has it? Yes.
It was on again yesterday, my lord.
My lady.
It would be useless to ask, no doubt, whether anything has been done.
Nothing that you would call anything has been done.
Nor ever will be. Mmm.
Well, a long Chancery suit is very much in the way of things, my dear.
Hardly be proper if it weren't.
Indeed, my lord. Now, as a few fresh affidavits have been put upon the file,
and as I proceed upon the principle that my client
should be fully possessed of all the new developments in the case. . .
All right, Mr Tulkinghorn.
I, er. . . I have the papers here, if I might. . .
Thank you.
In Chancery, between John Jarndyce. . . Mr Tulkinghorn, please.
Omit as many of the formal horrors as you can.
As your ladyship pleases.
Who copied that? Hmm? Whose handwriting is it?
I regret to say I have no idea, my lady.
Is this what you call law-hand?
Why do you ask?
Anything to vary this detestable monotony.
Oh, go on, do.
Very well. Er. . .
In the matter of the will, or wills, of the aforesaid John Jarndyce. . .
My lady? What's the matter?
My dear, what is it? What's the matter?
Lady Dedlock is ill, sir.
I'm just. . .faint. Help Lady Dedlock to her room.
Careful. Careful, gently now.
Heat of the fire, perhaps.
Far too much for her.
I mean it! Nemo, no more excuses!
The money by tomorrow or you're on the street!
COINS CLINK
Thank you, sir. Those papers I took down to Lady Dedlock at Chesney Wold, where were they copied?
That depends, Mr Tulkinghorn. They came from several of our regulars.
Well, that one, for instance.
I'll check, sir.
It may take a while. I have to compare the hand.
Thank you, Clamb.
Ada, my love. Esther, my dear.
You are welcome. I rejoice to see you. Come inside and get warm.
Rick, if I had a hand to spare at present, I'd give it to you.
Come in. Come in.
There. Now, make yourselves comfortable, warm yourselves.
Now, Rick, I have that hand at liberty.
A word in earnest is as good as a speech.
I am heartily glad to see you.
You are at home.
You're very kind, sir. We're much obliged to you.
Now, come and see your rooms.
I wish you'd come away from the window, my love.
You must take care for your health. We don't want you fainting again.
I am perfectly well.
You're still pale, I'm afraid. Is it any wonder?
We have not see the sun for months. Mmm.
I think I should take you away for a while.
Paris, now.
A change of scene that will lighten both our spirits.
What do you say?
You are too good to me. No, no.
No, no, no.
Not at all.
D'you think we shall be happy here, Esther?
I think we have been very fortunate.
Bleak House is not so bleak after all.
And do you like Mr Jarndyce?
I think he is a very singular man indeed.
Is that good? I hope so, we are here now for good or ill.
Esther, why do you think he's taken us into his care?
Well, perhaps it is nothing but kindness.
He has made it very difficult for us to ask, since he behaves as if we are all old friends.
It is strange.
But perhaps we shall be good friends.
Do you think we shall, Esther?
I am sure we shall, Ada.
KNOCK AT DOOR Yes?
Miss Summerson? For you, Miss, if you please. The housekeeping keys.
The master said to bring them to you,
then tomorrow morning I'm to show you the presses and the things they belong to.
For me?
Really?
Thank you. Er, and you are. . . ?
Harriet, Miss. Thank you, Harriet.
'You're nobody.'
You're nothing. You're worse than nothing.
It would have been far better if you'd never been born.
Esther, what is it? Nothing.
I'm surprised anyone should trust me so much, knowing me so little.
Shall we go down?
As far as worldly matters are concerned, I am but a child, a perfect child.
Ah, our little party is complete.
Ada, Esther. . . Allow me to introduce myself. Harold Skimpole.
A dear friend and house guest, for the present, of Mr Jarndyce.
Now, you ask my profession. No profession whatsoever.
I have no aptitude for worldly affairs, none at all.
There, that's Harold Skimpole for you.
How do you do, Mr Skimpole? Very well indeed. . .
thanks to my excellent friends, of whom John Jarndyce is one of the very best and kindest. Well. . .
Shall we go in? Miss Clare, would you do me the honour? Hmm?
THUNDER RUMBLES
THUNDER CRASHES
Will you wait there, please, sir?
I'll go and ask the housekeeper.
Mr Guppy? I've never heard of him.
M'lord and Lady Dedlock are away in Paris, sir.
They left this afternoon. The house is all shut up.
Ah, er, my principal, Mr Kenge, has letters of affidavit for Lady Dedlock's attention.
You can leave them with me, sir, I'll see she gets 'em. Ah, right.
Er, begging your pardon most profoundly for the unsociable lateness of the hour,
owing to my having got lost in very unfamiliar country,
I wonder, ma'am, if I might. . . throw myself upon your mercy.
You want to be allowed to stay the night? In a word, ma'am.
All right, Mr Guppy. So long as you don't mind sleeping with the boots.
Show him the way, Rosa.
I covet nothing.
Possessions are nothing to me. I live as innocently as a child.
Forgive me, sir, did you never. . . wish you had a house of your own,
and a wife and children of your own?
Why, bless you, my dear fellow. I have a wife, and children.
Well, half a dozen I should say, or more. And love them very dearly.
But how do you look after them? Look after them?
Well, how could I? You see, I have no aptitude for work of any kind.
None whatsoever. My friend Skimpole needs somebody to look after HIM.
Then how do your children live, sir?
Do you know, I've no idea.
But live, they do, somehow or other.
It's no use asking me how these things are done.
I am a child, a perfect child, in these matters.
I think your life must be a very pleasant one, Mr Skimpole.
Well, yes, you might think that.
PIANO MUSIC: Adagio from "Pathetique" by Beethoven
A lovely young creature like that.
We will not call her an orphan.
She. . . is a child of the universe.
The universe makes rather an indifferent parent, I'm afraid.
Oh, I don't know. I think I DO know.
Well, this is something, I should say.
The portrait is of Lady Dedlock as a young woman.
It's considered a perfect likeness, and the best work of the master.
Dear me! That's Lady Dedlock, is it?
Blest if I can ever have seen her. . .
yet I know her.
I'm dashed if I don't think. . .
I must have had a dream of that picture, you know?
KNOCK AT DOOR
If you please, Miss, Mr Carstone said would you come to the dining room.
Mr Skimpole's been took, Miss.
Took? Took, Miss. Sudden.
Oh. I understood you were. . .
You are not ill, Mr Skimpole?
Not in the least, Miss Summerson.
We thought you might be able to advise us, Esther.
This gentleman is Mr Neckett. NECKETT COUGHS
Mr Skimpole has been arrested for debt.
Are you arrested for much, sir?
My dear Miss Summerson, I don't know.
Er, some pounds, odd shillings and a ha'penny were mentioned, I think.
24 pound, 16 and sevenpence ha'penny, that's what it is.
What will happen if the money is not produced, sir? Jail. Or Coavinses.
Er, may I ask what is. . .
Coavinses, Miss? Halfway house for debtors, Miss.
I thought, you see, that Mr Carstone might,
or his beautiful young cousin, might sign some sort of a bond or pledge.
Not a bit of it. It's cash or Coavinses. Make your mind up.
One moment, please, Mr Neckett.
Why are WE drawn into this?
He feels a delicacy about applying to Mr Jarndyce. . .
Done it too many times before, no doubt. He has no right.
I know, but what are we going to do?
I think we must pay the man, if we can.
I have £10 Mr Kenge gave me. I must try what that will do.
I have £15 and a few shillings.
My life savings.
HE SIGHS Esther.
And this is the laundry room, Miss.
Thank you, Harriet.
Everything is just as it should be. Thank you, Miss. Esther?
Would you step in here a moment?
Sit down, my dear.
This, you know, is the Growlery.
When I'm out of humour, I come here and growl.
Then you must be here very seldom.
HE LAUGHS You don't know me.
When I'm deceived or disappointed, when the wind is in the east. . .
Er, now. . .
what is this I hear about Rick and yourself and Mr Skimpole last night?
Are you angry with us? No! You? No, bless you, no!
To get hold of the pair of you and squeeze you
like a couple of young oranges, that was very bad of him.
But there must be no more of it, Esther.
If I choose to support him, that's another thing altogether. 15, was it
Here you are.
And keep it safe. Safe from our friend Skimpole's inexperience. Hmm?
Thank you.
What is it, Esther?
I don't understand why you're so good to us.
Well. . .
that's easy.
In your case, I. . .
I hear of a young woman without a protector,
and I take it into my head to be that protector.
And Richard and Ada? They've gone into this dreadful thing through no fault of their own.
They need help to guide them through it. Through Chancery?
I wish I could guide them far away from it.
Jarndyce and Jarndyce has ruined better men than me.
The years go by, the claims are passed down generations,
and we can't get out of it, none of us, on any terms.
My great uncle, Tom Jarndyce, was brought to despair by it and. . .
blew his own brains out.
I was his heir. This was his home.
When I came here it was bleak indeed.
And when I brought. . .
what remained of him. . .
home here, I thought the brains of the house had been. . .
blown out too.
It was so shattered and ruined.
Then you must have made great changes, sir.
Yes, yes, and in myself, too, as far as I've been able to.
But I determined never to be drawn into this case,
with its false hopes and ruined expectations.
I am fortunate I have enough to live upon,
and to help others, too, without tormenting myself with dreams of. . .
HE KNOCKS ON TABLE
Well, I told you this was the Growlery,
and I think we may have done with it for one day.
I am very glad to have you here with me, Esther.
You and. . . Rick and Ada.
Do you think that you will all be happy here?
Yes, sir, I think so.
And is there anything I could do to make you more. . .sure of that?
I have been told that I was my mother's disgrace,
and she is mine.
Do you know what was meant?
I assume what was meant is that I was born out of wedlock.
But I should like to know who my mother was. . .
.and whether she still lives. Ah.
That I cannot tell you, Esther.
Your aunt chose not to tell you and her secret died with her.
It may be for the best.
Hmm.
Gallant conduct.
Bravery.
You don't see this one very often.
Your own, sir, are they?
How much? To pawn, or sell outright?
Sell outright.
Eight pound.
CLAMB CLEARS HIS THROAT
Those papers, Mr Tulkinghorn,
that you took to Lady Dedlock, the one you were interested in.
It was copied at Snagsby's.
You quite sure of that? Was there some complaint about them, sir?
None at all.
Quite the contrary. That's all, Clamb.
Mrs Pardiggle has threatened to call. I'm afraid she may insist on taking you on her rounds.
What rounds would those be, sir?
Charitable rounds, Rick.
Will you be embarking on this charitable expedition, Mr Skimpole?
I? Oh, no.
Well, I have nothing to give, but myself.
And Mrs Pardiggle I find a woman best admired, er, from a distance.
What's the cause we're engaged on, Mrs Pardiggle?
Visiting a poor family of brick makers.
The father is a very bad character,
but I believe I have made great strides with them already.
They love to see me, you know.
Come in, come in.
Well, my friends, I am here again.
There ain't any more of you, is there?
You won't put me off, good people.
I enjoy hard work, and the harder you make mine, the better I like it.
Now, did you read the little book I left with you?
No. I've been drunk for three days. BABY CRIES
If I had the money, I'd have been drunk four.
Have I been to church? No, I ain't.
How did my wife get that black eye?
Why, I gives it to 'er.
And if there's anyone else who wants one, you say the word.
Well, if that's the way, perhaps we should move on.
There are others more deserving of our attention.
BABY CONTINUES TO CRY
Is there anything we can do?
Would you like a doctor for the baby?
I think it's gone too late for that, Miss.
SHE GASPS
SHE SOBS
SHE KEENS
We can do no more for now, Esther.
MOTHER CONTINUES TO CRY
Damn you, boy!
Sorry, sir, I. . . Damn your sorry, you little blackguard. Leave it!
Or you will deal with me!
Well, Jo, how are you?
Not so bad, thanks, sir.
Here.
Take care of yourself, Jo.
Well, here you are. How did you like Mrs Pardiggle's charity?
Not at all, sir. Oh, Lord, I shouldn't have let you go.
You're distressed. Our distress is nothing. But theirs is. . .
Can nothing be done to help them? I think something must be done.
But now, Esther, if you feel up to it, you have a visitor. A visitor? For me?
A Mr Guppy. Mr Guppy?
Of Kenge and Carboys? Mmm.
Doesn't it concern us all? Miss Esther Summerson, on a personal and confidential matter, he said.
Miss Summerson.
Will you take some refreshment?
No, thank you.
I'll take a glass of wine.
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
Miss Summerson. . .
Er. . .
What is it, Mr Guppy?
My present salary is two pound a week, and I expect a further rise of five shillings.
My mother has a little property, which takes the form of a small life annuity.
Mr Guppy, I don't understand. . . Er, Miss Summerson. . .
In the mildest language. . .
I ADORE you.
Now would you be so kind as to allow me to make a declaration. . .
To make an offer?
Get up, please, Mr Guppy.
I won't hear any more unless you do.
I will, Miss.
As I love and honour, so likewise I obey.
I'm sorry, Mr Guppy, but I can't marry you. It's out of the question.
I'm aware that, in a worldly point of view,
my offer may seem a poor one. . . No, it isn't that, Mr Guppy. . .
. but I have been brought up in a sharp school.
I've ferreted out evidence, and got up cases.
What means might I not find of advancing your fortunes,
if I had your confidence, and you was to set me on? Please stop, Mr Guppy. . .
I have walked up and down, of an evening, opposite Jellyby's,
only to look upon the bricks that once contained thee.
Miss Summerson,
have pity on me.
Mr Guppy, I don't want to disappoint you, or to cause you pain,
but you must understand that I don't. . .
.and couldn't. . .
love you.
I thank you for your good opinion of me.
And that is your final answer?
Yes.
Er, half a minute, Miss. . .
In case you should think better at any time,
for MY feelings can never alter. . .
. Mr William Guppy, 87 Penton Place, will suffice.
My card.
Without prejudice.
My angel.
SHOP DOOR BELL JANGLES
Bless my soul, sir. Mr Tulkinghorn.
I want half a word with you, Snagsby. Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
Everything's satisfactory, I hope, Mr Tulkinghorn?
You copied some affidavits in that cause for me lately. Yes, sir.
There was one of them, the handwriting of which is peculiar.
Who copied this? Ah.
We gave this out, sir. It'll be in the book.
Jarndyce. Here we are, sir.
This was given out to a writer who lodges just opposite. Name of Nemo.
Nemo? Nemo is Latin for "no-one".
He lodges just opposite? Above Krook's bottle shop.
Will I take you there? No trouble. No trouble at all, sir. No, Snagsby, that will not be necessary.
I was simply curious, that's all.
Good evening, Snagsby. Good evening, Mr Tulkinghorn. Much obliged to you.
SHOP DOOR BELL JANGLES, CAT HISSES All right, Lady Jane.
Mr Krook? That's me.
Is your lodger within?
Male or female? Male.
He's in.
Did you want to see him? Yes.
Then you'd best go up.
Second landing. End on the left.
Thank you.
HE KNOCKS ON DOOR
Mr Nemo?
Are you there?
Opium.
Mr Nemo?
Hello, my friend.
Krook! Krook!
Come up here and bring a light with you.
Do you hear me, man?
Yes, sir. Mr Tulkinghorn, sir. What's the matter with him now?
Er, just coming, Mr Tulkinghorn.
You let your candle go out, did you, Mr Tulkinghorn?
Here y'are. Take a light from this one.
That'll be all, then? No. Look there, man.
Well.
Bless my soul.
Dead as a doornail.
Cold as stone.
There's money here.
Two pounds six and four pence. That's mine.
Leave it. Six weeks' rent. . .
and sundries. He meant that for me.
Didn't leave no note, though.
Nothing.
Let's see what he's got in the trunk.
Nothing but rags, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Send for the doctor, man, and quick about it.
Very well, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Whatever you say.
You! Boy!
Fetch a doctor. Come on!
Quick about it. Now!
Now this, this is your life-line. See? Where I trace it.
It's very long and quite straight. Is that good?
It's very good indeed.
This, this is your love-line. See?
It's a long one, too.
And deep, very deep.
Some fellow's gonna be very lucky.
I hope he deserves you, Ada.
Do Esther's now. No, thank you. I don't wish to have my fortune told.
I was told my fortune a long time ago.
What's this? Richard's been telling fortunes, sir.
Has he? And what does fortune have in store for you, Rick?
Can't make it out at all, sir. I suppose the thing to do would be to take charge of things myself.
Find some profession and work hard at it.
Make my own way in life. Well, good for you.
So, the question is, which profession will you choose?
D'you know, sir, I have absolutely no idea.
I thought of going to sea.
It's a little late already for the Navy, I fear.
There's the Church or medicine?
A surgeon, perhaps?
A surgeon?
Yeah, that's a thing, sir. A surgeon.
Richard Carstone, MRCS.
The medical profession?
Yes, Mr Skimpole. A surgeon, I thought. Perhaps?
I was educated in the medical profession, you know, and practised it, well, for a while.
But never having had any head for detail, and a positive aversion to all that blood, I. . .
but don't let me discourage you.
I suppose there is a lot of blood. I am sure doctors get used to it.
And the thought of, of helping people and making them well.
Yes. Yes, of course. To be sure.
He's been dead about three hours, I'd say.
Poor fellow. Almost certainly from an overdose of opium.
Was anybody present related to him?
I was his landlord. He told me once, I was the nearest relation he had.
Nemo, he called himself. No-one.
Well, he is no-one now.
I knew him by sight.
I prescribed opium for him once or twice, and no doubt he got a good deal more elsewhere.
You knew him, you say?
Do you think he did it on purpose?
Impossible to say.
You discovered the body? I did. And what was your business with Mr Nemo?
Nothing to concern you, sir.
The man was a law-writer. I am a lawyer, sir.
This is Mr Tulkinghorn.
Lawyer to Sir Leicester Dedlock.
That is immaterial.
What is material is that here we have a dead man, apparently destitute with no relations and no connections.
We know nothing of who he was or where he has come from.
What is to happen to the body?
Well, before anything else, there will have to be an inquest. Hmm.
Gentlemen of the jury, we are here to consider a man unknown.
Nobody knows his real name, nobody has been found who knows who he was.
He left no papers behind which might identify him.
If I may say so, he was always polite and well-spoken.
I believe he was once in the Army. Can you swear to that?
No. I, I, I. . . Ah, not evidence.
Anyone else here have anything to say?
(Jo.)
You, boy.
Did you know him? Never knowed his name, but he was very good to me.
Not evidence.
To continue, he left no possessions of any worth.
Nor any money, except a few shillings which he owed in rent to his landlord.
You've heard from several witnesses here that he was in the habit of taking large quantities of opium.
And you've heard from the doctor here that it was a large dose of opium that he died of.
There was no note that indicated suicidal intentions.
The doctor has told us that the deceased was. . .
what was the phrase you used, sir?
He was careless of his life, sir.
Careless whether he lived or died, but not actively intent on self-harm.
Ah, thank you, Mr Woodcourt. Now, if you think you've heard any evidence
to lead you to the conclusion that he committed suicide, you will come to that conclusion.
If you think it is a case of accidental death, you will find a verdict accordingly.
Do you need to retire?
INDISTINCT MUMBLING
Accidental death, Your Honour. Accidental death.
Thank you, gentlemen. You are discharged.
And a pauper's burial for Mr Nemo.
Earth to Earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, carry on.
You, boy. Come here.
Here! I ain't done nothing, sir.
What do you do here? What do you know of this man? What passed between you? Nothing, sir.
I don't know nothing about him. Except. . . Except what?
Except that he was very good to me.
And why should he be good to you?
What good were you to him? Hmm? I don't know, sir.
Let the boy go, Mr Tulkinghorn.
You're frightening him.
I was merely enquiring what he knew of our dead friend there.
It would seem he knows nothing.
There you are, Jo. Thank you for your trouble.
What impression did you form of Mr Nemo, sir?
I thought he might be a gentleman fallen on hard times.
A gentleman?
An officer, perhaps.
An officer, eh?
An officer and a gentleman.
Well, well, well.
Thank you, Mr Woodcourt.
Quite the housekeeper, Esther.
Do the sums balance? Yes, sir, I think so. I'm sure they do.
Wish I could feel so sure about young Rick, there.
He seemed to settle on doctoring without giving it a thought.
Now he's making no serious efforts to get himself a place, and so on, to read and study and. . .
I feel sure he'll do well.
And this wretched Chancery business, it's bad.
It's bad to live in the expectation of one day inheriting some great fortune that may never come to pass,
and letting your life slip by in the process.
He hasn't let very much of his life slip by.
Not yet.
No, no, you're right. He's an excellent young fellow.
He'll make us all proud. And he has a good heart.
He's very patient with poor Skimpole.
I admire your energy and your dedication.
But why put yourself through it? Well, a fellow must do something.
When a fellow is a ward of Jarndyce,
no need to do anything but wait for one's inheritance.
But I know nothing of such matters.
I don't know a great deal myself.
We are a pair of innocents.
But I rack my brains to understand my good friend Jarndyce.
If he thinks following a profession is such a good thing for a man, then why does he not follow one himself?
Well. . I don't know, Mr Skimpole.
And why is the guardian of the wards in Jarndyce
when he himself has an interest in the outcome of the case?
Well, because he's a good man.
Kind and generous and all that.
He's been kind to you, hasn't he?
Oh, indeed he has. Take no notice of my questions.
I, I've a very weak understanding of these matters. . . A child, a child.
Nearly home.
That is a great deal of correspondence you have there.
Yes. Yes.
Nothing in it, though.
Did I not glimpse one of Mr Tulkinghorn's long effusions?
You see everything, my dear.
He is the most tiresome of men.
Oh, of course, er, I beg your pardon.
He sent you a message.
Our stopping to change horses put it quite out of my head.
What was it?
My dear?
His message.
Ah, er, yes, of course. Let me see...
"In the matter of the right of way. . . " No, that's not it.
Ah, yes, here it is, yes.
"I have something to mention in reference to the person who
"copied the affidavit that attracted her interest when I came to see you
"some weeks ago.
"I have seen the man."
That's the message.
I should like to walk a little. Is that wise, my dear? Please stop the carriage.
My dear?
My dear!
I thought, if you wished to walk,
I would walk with you. Of course.
I'm going out, Clamb.
Oh, going out, sir. Very good, sir.
And where shall I say you are, sir? In case anyone enquires.
Tell them you don't know, Clamb. Right. Very good, sir.
Rick, my boy. Ada. Mr Kenge is here.
Good afternoon, sir. Is there some news about our case in Chancery?
There are some papers to sign, Mr Carstone, but no news.
The law grinds very slow and very fine, you must understand.
Yes, of course.
The best is to expect nothing, then we shall never be disappointed.
An excellent philosophy, Mr Carstone. I wish more of my clients were like you.
But Mr Kenge has news about a different matter.
My cousin, Mr Bayham Badger, is a medical man with a good practice in Chelsea,
and is willing to superintend your studies in the subject.
And to take you into his household as a paying guest.
In Chelsea? In Chelsea.
Then I should have to leave Bleak House. Well, naturally, Bleak House is a good long way from Chelsea.
Yes. But is it not excellent news? Yes, of course.
I'm much obliged to you, Mr Kenge.
He'd come back and see us often, and we'd visit him, would we not?
I propose we all take a little holiday in London and see him settled in.
DOOR OPENS
How do you do, Mrs Rouncewell? I'm glad to see you. I hope we see you in good health, Sir Leicester?
Excellent health, Mrs Rouncewell. And my lady? Quite well, thank you.
Who is that girl?
A young protegee of mine, my lady.
Rosa by name.
Rosa. I have been training her as a lady's maid.
I hope your ladyship approves of her.
Rosa.
Well, I wonder if you know how pretty you are?
How old are you? 19, my lady.
19.
Take care they don't spoil you by flattery. Yes, my lady.
Here we are - our London lodgings. We're not staying with the Jellybys? I won't put you through that again.
I should like to see Caddy again.
First things first. Tonight we dine with Mr Bayham Badger.
HORSES WHINNY
Hold your horses!
Hold!
What are you doing on my land, sir? My name is Tulkinghorn, sir.
Lawyer to Sir Leicester Dedlock.
You write me threatening letters.
I must inform you, if you are not aware of it, that this is a public right of way.
Public right of fiddlesticks.
You can tell Sir Leicester Dedlock if he blocks my way over his land, I'll block his way over mine.
I am obliged to you, sir.
Drive on! Walk on.
Is Mr Tulkinghorn come yet?
No, my lady. Not yet.
I wonder what keeps him.
My lady is anxious to see Mr Tulkinghorn? Not in the least.
That Rosa was a very pretty girl, did you not think?
Very pretty, my lady, in a simple village way.
It is a way I like, Hortense.
Mrs Rouncewell has been training her up as a lady's maid.
Perhaps I shall take her on. What would you say to that?
My lady already has a lady's maid.
Well, then I shall have another, Hortense.
Delighted to welcome you into the mysteries of our profession.
Very good of you to take me on, sir. Mr Bayham Badger is very good.
Oh, but hardly deserving of such a paragon of womanhood as Mrs Bayham Badger.
You see how good he is to me? Ooh, but I forget myself.
This is Mr Woodcourt, a young colleague who has expressed himself
ready and willing to enlighten Mr Carstone concerning the. . .
shall we say, seamier side of our profession.
For reasons best known to himself, he has chosen to ply his trade amongst the lowest of the low.
Not exclusively - I have to live as well.
But the poor need doctors just as the rich do, I believe.
Yes, Mr Woodcourt, so do I.
Dear, dear, radical talk.
Bad for the appetite.
Bad for the digestion.
Shall we go in? My dear?
If you please, Sir Leicester. If you please, my lady. . . Mr Tulkinghorn.
How do you do, Mr Tulkinghorn?
We expected you before, you know. I am much obliged, Sir Leicester.
I'd have come sooner but I have been engaged with matters in the dispute over the right of way
between yourself and your neighbour, Boythorn.
And another matter concerning her ladyship.
But let it pass.
Now, as to Mr Boythorn. . . My Boythorn is a man of very low character.
That may well be, Sir Leicester.
But I encountered him today and he was certainly intemperate.
But I formed the strong impression that this disagreement between you
could be settled if you're prepared to consider a compromise.
Mr Tulkinghorn, my neighbour Boythorn has no rights in this matter.
My rights must be asserted absolutely.
There will be no compromise.
No meeting half-way, as you put it.
That way the floodgates are opened to chaos, disorder and anarchy.
You understand, I speak not as an individual but as head of the Dedlock family.
You need say no more, Sir Leicester. I now have my instructions.
Will you take a little supper? By all means, Sir Leicester. I am much obliged to you.
The girl will take you to your room.
Sir Leicester. My lady.
Captain Swosser of the Royal Navy was Mrs Badger's first husband.
A very distinguished officer indeed.
And the name of Professor Dingo, my immediate predecessor in the nuptial couch,
is one of European reputation.
I was barely 20 when I was married to Captain Swosser.
And it was on the twelfth anniversary of my wedding day that I became the wife of Professor Dingo.
Of European reputation.
Extraordinary.
And when we were married, we were married on the same day of the year.
I'd become attached to the day.
So, Mrs Badger has been married to three husbands, two of them. . .
Has your friend, Mr Carstone, been interested in doctoring for a long time, Miss Summerson? No.
I think it was rather a sudden decision.
He seems eager and spirited, and we need good men.
It isn't easy to get yourself established.
I struggle to make ends meet, but Mr Carstone has private means?
He is one of the wards in Jarndyce. Ada is, too. Miss Clare, that is.
They might both inherit a large fortune one day, when it's all settled. And you?
Are you a ward in the case too or are you a ward of Mr Jarndyce?
No. No, I'm no-one of any account.
I don't think so.
You have opinions and you express them, and I like that. Especially as you agree with me.
Please tell Mr Jarndyce what Captain Swosser used to say about you, my dear.
He used to say I was better than "land ahead" or a "breeze astern".
So if you're not Mr Jarndyce's ward, what are you? His niece, perhaps?
I was engaged by Mr Jarndyce as a companion to Miss Clare.
I am Mr Jarndyce's housekeeper, too. Really?
Well, I'd say that makes you a person of some consequence.
No, not at all.
I shall never be a person of consequence.
No? Well, you'll have to allow me to disagree with you then.
But a fine head, you will agree. Mm.
I would have been happy to have had such a head meself.
My angel.
KNOCKING ON DOOR
I hope I don't disturb you. No, please don't get up, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Do go on with your supper. I am obliged, your ladyship. But I've had sufficient.
Was there something your ladyship wished to ask me?
You sent me a message regarding the handwriting I enquired about.
It was like you to remember the circumstance. I had quite forgotten it.
And you really took the trouble to find the writer of that. . .
affidavit, was it?
Yes, it was an affidavit,
and I did take that trouble.
And... you found him?
Yes, I found him.
And how did you find him?
I found him dead.
Please go on, Mr Tulkinghorn.
There's little to tell.
Oh, I was directed to his lodging, a miserable and squalid room, and I found him dead.
He had taken an overdose of opium.
Whether by design or accident, impossible to be certain.
And what kind of man was he?
Hard to say. I would have said he was the lowest of the low.
The surgeon had a notion that he might once have been something better.
And what did they call him?
Nobody knew his name.
He appeared to have had no family or friends.
He went by the name of Nemo.
No-one.
Precisely.
And there was no clue to anything else?
None. I see.
Thank you, Mr Tulkinghorn. I shan't disturb you any further.
Lady Dedlock?
I have been Sir Leicester's attorney for many years,
and my father was attorney to his father before him.
I am aware of that, Mr Tulkinghorn.
And Sir Leicester has always had my complete personal loyalty,
and always will have.
I am glad of it.
Whatever the consequences to others.
That is just as I should hope, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Good night.
So what we got here, Lady Jane?
Nice little bundle out of Nemo's trunk.
Nobody knows I got it, 'cept you and me, Lady Jane.
But what does it say?
We don't know cos we can't read.
But I'd say this is a lady's hand.
I'd say this was love letters.
Smells of ladies.
DOG BARKS
( Ada. . . Are you still awake? )
Ada?
Oh, Ada.
What's wrong?
Are you unwell?
No, not at all.
I'm very well. What? What is it?
I don't know what to say.
This evening, before he left,
Richard told me he's in love with me.
Oh, I think I could have told you that a while ago.
Really?
Was it so obvious? Mmm.
Perhaps I should have realised that's what it was. You see, I've never. . .
What do you feel, Ada?
Do you feel the same? Do you feel as he does?
Well, yes. Yes, I do.
He wants us to be engaged, Esther.
Has he spoken to Mr Jarndyce yet?
An engagement?
You're both very young.
You've hardly, as it were, become yourselves yet.
You're still growing and changing,
and your feelings for each other may well change, too. Mine never will.
I'm glad to hear you say it. But constancy in love is not enough.
As Ada's guardian, I have to assure myself you can be constant in other ways.
In your studies, in your profession. You have your way to make, Rick.
It's far too soon to be thinking of an engagement.
I-I-I'm not happy about it.
You must be able to support a wife, and that'll take time.
Yes, of course, sir. But. . .
if our case is settled soon. . .
Don't pin your hopes on that, Rick. Others have done that and come to grief. I don't pin my hopes on it,
but if it should be settled soon, we'll have all the money we could want. All I'm saying to you both. . .
. is be patient.
You'll be in London, Rick, studying and working to become a doctor.
Ada will be in Bleak House in my care.
You can love each other very well.
>From a distance.
I'm not absolutely forbidding an engagement,
but I am advising you both to wait.
But really, sir, I. . . I think that would be the best way, Richard.
Of course, we wouldn't go against your advice, sir.
Thank you, Rick.
Take a letter, Clamb.
Very good, Mr Tulkinghorn.
To Lady Dedlock.
No, better mention it in a postscript in passing.
To Sir Leicester Dedlock. Very good, sir.
Did I do right, Esther?
I think it is hard for them. . .
loving each other so much and having to be apart.
But it is for the best.
Perhaps what we want for ourselves, and what is the best for us. . .
.are not the same thing.
And you, Esther? What do you want for yourself?
Me?
I don't want anything.
FOOTSTEPS
If you please, sir, it's a visitor for Miss Summerson. . . Miss Jellyby.
Caddy! Don't look at me.
I know I'm a disgrace. But I made up my mind I must call, and here I am.
It all began with you coming to our house and making me feel so awkward,
I decided I must do something about it.
So I enrolled at Mr Turveydrop's Academy of Dance and Deportment in Newman Street. . .
Now you can dance and deport yourself? No. I mean, yes. Well, I hope I can. But that's not it.
What it is, well, I don't know how it came about but I am engaged. . .
to Mr Prince Turveydrop.
LIVELY PIANO MUSIC
Prince? This is my friend, Miss Summerson.
I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr Turveydrop.
And I am very happy to meet Miss Jellyby's friend.
Um. . .
Please, don't let us interrupt.
No, go on, Prince.
If you say so, my love.
I love him so much, Miss Summerson.
I'm very happy for you, Caddy. Oh, lor'.
That's his dad.
Look at him. Poor Prince does all the work and his Pa just preens about, showing off his deportment.
Does he teach deportment? Not him.
He don't do anything at all except preen about.
He thinks he's one of the aristocracy. Ah!
Woman. Lovely woman. What a sex you are.
Oh, I could bite him ! Caddy! I could. Why are we cursed with parents?
I'd never be like him or my ma, not in a million years.
But I am trying to be patient with them, for your sake, and for dear Prince's sake.
Come on. We won't get another two words with Prince.
He works so hard for that dreadful old man, and I promised I'd look in on Miss Flite.
MUSIC STOPS Very good.
More from Tulkinghorn.
Again? He's served a writ on that scoundrel Boythorn.
I don't see why you and Mr Boythorn shouldn't settle your differences and agree to be good neighbours.
I'll see the fellow in leg-irons before I'm done with him.
Ah, more about your law-writer.
Oh?
He says, "I have spoken to a crossing sweeper answering to the name of Jo,
"no other name given,
"who plies his trade near the Court of Chancery.
"He spoke at the inquest on the body of the dead man.
"I am convinced that he has more to tell and await her ladyship's further instructions. "
Is that a matter of concern to you?
Tell him I have no further interest in the subject.
As you will, my dear.
Just a brief look as we're passing, Ada.
Thank you. There you are. Thank you, sir.
God bless you, sir. Was that a shilling? What if it was? It's a pleasure to brighten up his day.
So shall we look in on the court sessions? See how the law grinds on?
We should - our future depends on it. Mr Jarndyce doesn't think so.
Mr Jarndyce is a dear, good man, but his aversion to the law and lawyers seems hardly rational.
The law is a splendid profession. I've been thinking of taking it up.
What about your medical studies? Plenty of time! A fellow can have more than one string to his bow!
So shall we pay a visit to Chancery? Would it be a lark?
All right, if you like.
Inasmuch as the party of the first part shall be known as the party of the first part,
notwithstanding the party of the second part shall be referred to as the respondent. . . Enough!
I beg your lordship's pardon?
Wednesday fortnight. All stand for the Lord High Chancellor of England! My Lord, I will be heard!
Who is that fellow? I seem to know his face. Mr Gridley, my lord.
Ah, yes, the man from Shropshire.
LAUGHTER
Yes, my lord. Gridley. When will my case get a hearing?
I've been dragged into this court, my estate has been sequestered, my farm is left to rot.
I can do nothing until I get a judgement. Mr Gridley. . . Give me justice, my lord!
Be silent, Mr Gridley! I cannot be silent any longer!
Do you want to be arrested for contempt of court? You might as well, my lord,
for it is you and all these villains that bring the law into contempt. . . Quiet! . .and ruin honest men!
He's the worst of them ! Tulkinghorn! I name him ! I see you're determined to make trouble for yourself.
I will have justice! No, no, it's not the way. I pray you, dear friend, hold back. Take him down! Oh. . .
Oh, have pity on him. DOOR SLAMS SHUT
SHE GASPS
Mr Gridley is becoming a nuisance, Clamb.
He's irascible. He's not polite.
No respect for the system, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Get a warrant sworn out for his arrest. Yes, sir.
Contempt of court. And slander.
Very good, sir.
Truly, it's nothing. I'm quite myself again, Mr Woodcourt.
But you must rest. No more court for you this week. Will you promise me?
I'm very sorry to give you trouble. Oh, no, no trouble at all.
He is the very kindest of physicians in all the world.
He will have his reward on the Day of Judgment.
Everyone's so kind.
D'you know, I was carried here by one of the wards in Jarndyce.
Such an excellent young man.
Yes, he is. Miss Jellyby?
Everyone's so kind. Everyone. . .
So very kind.
(How is the old bird?
(Thought she was a goner. )
She is making a good recovery, Mr Krook.
Ah. Is she? Good.
Don't want any more corpses. . . Get a reputation.
Good afternoon. Krook at your service.
You're all welcome at my house. And if you've got anything to sell, Krook's your man.
Hey.
Here's lovely hair.
I got three sacks of ladies' hair, and none of 'em as fine as this.
What colour, what texture. That'll do, my good friend.
You can admire as the rest of us do, without taking that liberty. Mr Carstone, right?
The ward of Jarndyce.
That'll all end in grief and misery. Ask him.
Ah.
So what, what do you call these little fellows, ma'am? Have. . . have they any names?
I'll tell you what they're called, Mr Jarndyce.
She don't like to tell 'em, even though she named 'em.
Their names are Hope, Joy,
Youth, Peace,
Rest, Life,
Dust, Ashes,
Waste, Want,
Ruin, Despair, Madness,
Death, Cunning, Folly, Words,
Wigs, Rags, Jargon, Gammon and Spinach!
This is a bitter wind.
And when my noble and learned friend gives his judgment, they'll all be set free.
That's right, isn't it, Flite?
Yes, indeed, Mr Krook.
And then, should that day come. . .
.all the other birds'll kill 'em !
If ever the wind was in the east, I think it's there today.
Well, we must be going.
Er, Mr Woodcourt, would you do us the honour of dining with us?
Our friend Mr Skimpole will be there, too.
Miss Flite.
Miss Flite seems to depend very much on you, Mr Woodcourt.
I have a great regard for her.
These old ladies pay very handsomely for your services, no doubt? I treat her gratis, Mr Skimpole.
You're a philanthropist, Mr Woodcourt? Yes, indeed.
Though it must be hard to make a living if you treat all your patients for nothing. Hmm?
Not quite that bad. Some do pay me but a lot can't afford to. And what am I to do, turn them away? Hmm.
If I could get a position at a hospital, I could make ends meet. But those jobs are hard to come by.
I nearly took one up in the North Country a few months ago,
but I'd be sorry to leave London if I can manage to make a go of it here. I hope you do. . .
Mr Woodcourt.
Thank you, Miss Summerson.
But I don't want to give Mr Carstone the wrong impression.
Medicine's a great profession, and I for one would have no other.
To medicine.
ALL: Medicine.
'Woodcourt. '
Mr Allan Woodcourt.
Physician!
Welsh.
What's he got that I haven't got?
I saw her first, you. . .
.you Welsh physician. . .
But I will wait, my angel.
Guppy will wait.
My friend Boythorn has invited us down to Lincolnshire. He's a neighbour of Sir Leicester Dedlock.
We shall see the great house, but only at a distance, I fear. Boythorn is in a quarrel with Sir Leicester.
Boythorn is such a boisterous man. I can't abide the fellow. He's invited you as well, Skimpole.
Ah, well, in, in that case. . . If I can bring pleasure to my friends, I will do anything required of me.
Except pay your dues. Hmm?
Do you remember the man who came to arrest, Miss Summerson, and I was saved by your good offices?
Mr Neckett, you mean? Yes, yes, I do.
You'll never guess what's happened to him. He has been arrested, too.
By the great bailiff himself!
He will harass poor innocents like me no more.
You mean Neckett is dead?
Yes. And leaves three children to fend for themselves. No-one, is likely to help them,
their father's profession being so unpopular. I don't like this. Hm? If we make men like Neckett necessary,
by our faults and follies, we should not take pleasure in their misfortunes. No, but what can one do?
Can you tell me where these wretched children can be found? Coavinses. Nothing easier.
Then we shall go there tomorrow.
Excellent idea, sir.
Well, not you, Rick. Why ever not?
You will be at your medical studies with Mr Bayham Badger. Ah, yes.
Of course.
To be sure.
Mr Carstone!
Yes, Mr Badger?
Is the mixture ground up yet?
Er. . .
.very nearly, Mr Badger.
Quick as you like, Mr Carstone.
Just popping out for a second, Mr Badger.
SHOP BELL RINGS, DOOR CLOSES
Will you wait a moment for me?
Miss Summerson.
Mr Guppy, this must stop.
I wouldn't want to cause you any distress.
Then stop. Please, Mr Guppy.
You are wasting your time.
If you say so.
You will see me no more. Thank you, Mr Guppy.
But my feelings won't change.
'Neckett's children? Next floor, sir. '
Turn left and it's the third door.
You'll need the key. Here you are, Miss.
This is most interesting, to visit the lair of my old adversary.
BABY CRIES
We're locked in. Mrs Blinder's got the key.
CRYING CONTINUES
It's all right. We haven't come to harm you.
Who's locked you up here? Charley.
Is Charley your brother? No, she's our sister.
And where is Charley now?
Out washing. Washing? Clothes.
To get money. So we can eat. My God. . .
What's the matter? Nothing's the matter, child.
We heard of your circumstances and we've come to see how you're getting along.
Very well, thank you, sir. We don't need no help from nobody. I take care of all of us.
By working as a washerwoman? That's it.
God help you, You're not tall enough to reach the tub. In pattens I am. I got a pair that belonged to mother.
And how often do you go out? Every day, sir.
The baby's safe. When it comes dark, the light from the court shines in.
And Tom's not afraid of the dark. Are you, Tom? Not me.
So you see, we're all right here.
There's no need to put us in an orphanage.
BABY WAILS
'And in the matter of the law-writer, her ladyship has asked me to pass on to you her gratitude
'for your patient investigations, but to inform you that she has no further interest in the matter. '
Well, well.
We'll see. Clamb!
Yes, sir. Are the court papers prepared for tomorrow? Yes, Mr Tulkinghorn.
And the arrest warrant for Mr Gridley? All is in hand, sir. Good. I'm going out.
Where shall I say you are if anyone enquires?
I'll tell them I don't know.
That's it, Clamb.
Evening, sir. Got any change?
No, I haven't!
Evening, sir. Got any change, sir?
Good day, sir.
Evening, sir. Got any change, sir?
Evening, miss. Got any change, miss?
Are you the boy they call Jo? I don't know nothing.
I ain't done nothing. Come here.
You have nothing to fear from me.
You knew the man who died, the man called Nemo.
What if I did?
What was he like?
He was very good to me, he was.
He give me money when he had some.
I will give you money. . . if you will show me where he lived,
and where he died, and where he was buried. Can you do that?
Yes, my lady. I'm not a lady.
I'm a servant.
Yes, miss.
Now go before me, then.
And don't turn around, and don't speak to me unless I speak to you.
And I will give you more money than you have ever had in your life.
Now lead on.
So, how did you get on with your studies, Richard? Oh, well enough.
Well, you know. . . It'll do as well as anything else, I suppose.
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
Mr Badger?
My dear?
Mr Badger and I were wondering whether Mr Carstone had chosen his profession ill-advisedly.
He has not that positive interest in it which would make it his vocation.
Does Mr Badger think so, too?
We, um. . .
Well, to tell the truth, when I heard Mrs Badger put it in that light,
well, I. . . The conclusion at which I have arrived,
in short, is Mrs Badger's conclusion. Really?
Mmm. I had no idea!
The fact is, I've been coming to the same conclusion myself.
Yes, I have. I've been thinking that the law is the boy for me.
Who lives here?
Mr Snagsby. Him who gave him the writing to do, and give him money for it.
Lead on.
Down here. . .around this corner.
That's Krook's house.
That's where he lived, miss.
And that's where he died.
Which room?
Up at the top, miss.
At the back.
The law?
Yes. You see, if I went into Kenge's office, if I were placed under articles to Kenge,
I should be able to keep an eye on our case.
Look after Ada's interests as well. You mustn't be swayed by hopes of something that may never happen.
No, sir, I understand that. Absolutely.
I really am set upon the law. I believe I'm cut out for it as I wasn't cut out for medicine.
If you are quite sure? I am, sir.
We can retreat with honour, and we will.
But we must make certain, for your cousin's sake, Rick, we make no more such mistakes. Absolutely, sir.
No more mistakes. The law it is.
The law.
What is this place?
Why do you bring me here?
It's where they brought him, miss, to bury him. What? !
In this dreadful place?
Just there, miss. See there?
They didn't dig down very deep.
They was obliged to stamp upon it, to get it in.
Is this consecrated ground?
What's that?
Is it blessed? Blessed? Don't know.
Ain't done him much good if it is.
But I don't know nothing.
Here. . .
Take this.
Goodnight.
You seem troubled. Oh!
I hope you don't think the worse of Richard, for changing his mind. No.
He has time before him.
A whole lifetime.
But I wish he had your steadiness, Esther.
He has Ada's heart, you see.
He has her heart.
If you please, sir.
It's a Mr Woodcourt. Woodcourt!
This is a pleasant surprise.
Forgive the intrusion. I know you're leaving for Lincolnshire soon and I wanted to say goodbye. . .
as I am leaving myself very soon.
Not leaving poor Miss Flite in the lurch, I trust? I'm afraid so.
My financial situation has become acute.
An old debt has been called in and, to cut a long story short,
I have taken an appointment as a ship's surgeon.
The Navy is always in need of qualified men.
It's not what I wanted,
and I am very sorry to be parting from you all. . .
having just made your acquaintance.
Will you be away very long?
Many months.
Perhaps years.
Oh.
DOOR OPENS
Esther, look.
Very pretty.
Did you make it yourself?
No. It's from Mr Woodcourt.
That was thoughtful of him.
Esther, it's for you.
He told Harriet quite expressly, "for Miss Summerson".
Here.
Here we are, Mr Carstone.
You'll find it rather quiet in the long vacation.
I myself am going down to the country.
An excellent opportunity for you, though,
to familiarise yourself with the. . .
Oh, Guppy will show you the ropes. .Guppy!
Here's Mr Carstone. You're to make him at home. . . Read, Mr Carstone, hat's the best way.
Read and familiarise yourself.
Guppy.
Thank you, Mr Kenge, for giving me this opportunity.
I shan't disappoint you.
This way, Mr Carstone.
Here we are. . . Anything particular you wanted to see?
Well. . . D'you know, I thought I might take a glance through Jarndyce and Jarndyce. Hmm?
.Welcome to Lincolnshire! I'm sorry we had to go the long way, ladies.
But I've resolved never to set foot on Dedlock's land.
And nor will he set foot on mine while I breathe a breath of life.
Are the Dedlocks down here at the moment?
Sir Arrogant Numskull is here.
Laid up with the gout! Serve him right.
My lady is expected daily, they say.
No wonder she delays. Whatever can have induced that transcendent woman to marry that effigy of a baronet
is an impenetrable mystery. Still, there we are.
Are we permitted to venture into Dedlock territory while we're here?
Oh, I lay no prohibition on my guests.
And if you should happen to meet Sir Arrogant Numskull, you may tell him
that Lawrence Boythorn is ready to meet him in single combat
any time he chooses, with any weapon he likes, to the death.
What's that, Esther?
Let me see.
Mr Woodcourt's flowers.
Don't say anything to Mr Jarndyce. He would think it very foolish of me. Why foolish?
I don't suppose we shall ever see Mr Woodcourt again. He has his way to make.
He's probably forgotten all about us already. I doubt that very much, Esther.
I think you like Mr Woodcourt a great deal, don't you?
I did.
Nothing will come of it. He's gone now. But not forever.
Think about it, Esther. He came all the way to Bleak House to say goodbye to you. And he left you flowers.
You must know that means he'll come back for you.
I'd rather not think about it, Ada.
Very well. You won't think about Mr Woodcourt, and I won't think about Richard.
Here we are, Mr Carstone.
Is that it? That's some of it.
You have a good read.
Then, about 12 o'clock, I was thinking we might stroll down Old Street for a lobster and lettuce.
Food for thought, eh? Right. Thank you, Mr Guppy.
Esther! What is it?
Only that you seem so very serious.
Is something troubling you?
No, nothing.
Nothing you would readily understand. One day, perhaps.
So, how do you like it here in Lincolnshire?
Very well. But it is strange to be on holiday with no duties to occupy me.
I find, with nothing else to do, I have been thinking about myself.
I think you feel it very deeply, Esther, that you never knew your mother or your father.
But no man or woman worth a thought would think any the worse of you for that. Not everybody's as good as you.
And most people can't afford to ignore worldly things.
Perhaps not, but you should know
that there are those who value you very highly, whatever the circumstances of your birth.
I know, and I'm grateful, truly. But if someone were to a. . .
What I mean is, I would like to be able to say who I am
and who my parents were.
I can only tell you as much as I know myself.
But that I'll tell you gladly.
Nine years ago, I received a letter from a woman I knew who was living in seclusion.
It told me of a child, an orphan girl, then twelve years old.
The writer had brought her up in secrecy since her birth,
Had blotted out all trace of her existence. The writer w. . . The writer was my aunt
and I was the orphan child. Yes.
She asked me if I'd continue what she had begun after her death.
She seemed to believe it was your duty to do penance for your mother's sin,
whatever it was - and if it WAS a sin.
I told her that if I took you into my care there would be no penance,
but that I'd do my best to care for you and see you well and happy, if I could.
And this without knowing anything of me?
I had the means to do it and no-one of my own to care for.
And. . .
It has turned out very well for me, Esther.
I hope it has for you. Yes.
I wish I could know who my mother was.
But you have been the best father I could have wished for.
What is it? Have I said something wrong?
Nothing. . .
.at all.
DRY CHUCKLE
So what's it to be, then, young gentlemen? Ah, first, let me introduce my colleague
Mr Richard Carstone. He's quite a swell, you know. One of the Wards in Jarndyce.
He'll be worth hundreds of thousands one day. Better keep on his right side. I certainly shall, Mr Guppy.
Very honoured to serve you, sir, and if there's anything you fancy,
well, you just let me know. Yeah, all right, Polly, draw it mild. Two lobster and lettuce -
without the slugs this time - and two pints of half-and-half will get us started. Thank you, Mr Guppy.
Thank you, sir.
She's all right, Polly. And you won't get a better lobster and lettuce in London.
May I enquire as to your friends Miss Ada Clare
and Miss Esther. . .er, Summerson?
Both well. They're in Lincolnshire at present with our guardian, Mr Jarndyce.
Oh, Lincolnshire. At Chesney Wold perhaps?
Sir Leicester Dedlock's place? I've visited there myself. They showed me round. Very civil.
No, they're staying with a neighbour of the Dedlocks. Mr Boythorn.
Lady Dedlock, she's a very fine looking lady.
A beauty without peer. . .almost.
Is that so? I say no more at present.
Miss Clare, now, she has great expectations like yourself.
And what about Miss Summerson? Does she stand to come into a fortune too, when she's of age?
I'm not sure that's any of your business, Guppy.
Oh, no offence meant. Friendly enquiry.
She has the look of a lady about her, to my eye, that's all.
Between you and me, Mr Carstone,
I think she has the face of an angel.
That's very poetic of you, Guppy.
There we are, gentlemen. Oh, thank you, Polly. Quick as you like with the lobster.
I AM poetic.
Not a lot know that.
Waiting upon His Lordship's convenience once again.
Sir Arrogant Numskull.
O give thanks unto the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever. . .
for he satisfieth the empty soul.
Take an extreme case - take the case of the slaves on the American plantations.
I daresay they are worked hard.
I dare say they don't altogether like it. But, you know, they people the landscape for me.
They give it a poetry for me. And perhaps that is one of the pleasanter objects of their existence.
Skimpole, you're a damned fool.
Now, this is as far as I go. Enemy territory.
Do you see? Numskull country. DISTANT THUNDER RUMBLES
Do you know, I think I might go back with you. I fancy the weather's on the turn.
THUNDER RUMBLES
THUNDER BOOMS
THUNDER CRASHES
THEY GIGGLE
You're not frightened? Not at all.
IN MOCK EXASPERATION: Ada!
Your friend is exposing herself to danger, I think.
I hope I did not startle you.
I took shelter here myself a few minutes before you did.
I believe I have the pleasure of addressing Mr Jarndyce?
I'm honoured that you should remember me, Lady Dedlock.
I recognised you in church.
I am sorry that this little local dispute of Sir Leicester's
makes it so difficult for me to show you any attention here. I quite understand.
I have sent for a carriage. It should be here very soon.
I will have it sent back for you. Your Ladyship is very kind.
This must be Miss Clare, the ward in Jarndyce?
Very pretty.
And who is this? Miss Esther Summerson. I act as her guardian.
Has Miss Summerson lost both her parents? Yes, my Lady.
You are fortunate in your guardian, Miss Summerson.
Mr Jarndyce, it seems a long time since we were in the habit of meeting,
but I think you knew my sister better than you knew me.
Yes, through my friend Boythorn.
We went our different ways. We had little in common even before we agreed to differ.
It should be regretted, I suppose.
But it could not be helped.
HOOFBEATS Here is the carriage.
What, two of you? You sent a message for an attendant.
I am your ladyship's maid, not this one. I'm sorry, my Lady. I thought you might've meant me.
I did mean you, child. Put that shawl on me.
You may walk back when the rain has cleared.
What? You tell me to walk?
I am your maid, not her.
Always you put her before me, this little village girl, this pig-man's daughter. You cannot do this to me.
I can do as I like, Hortense, as you well know. And now I say this to you,
you are no longer my maid. You are dismissed.
Walk back to the house, collect your things and go.
Come with me, child.
What do you look at? You like what you see? !
Look at this, then.
Weary work, Mr Carstone?
It is, Guppy.
To tell you the truth, I can't make head nor tail of it.
Perhaps the law's not the boy for me after all. You picked a hard one to start on, Mr Carstone.
See, from what I can make out, it's not just that there's more than one will,
it's that they was badly drawn up in the first place.
So bad no-one knows what the old fella meant by 'em. Now you tell me.
You was that set on it, I couldn't stop ya.
Now, what's lacking 'ere is a nice bit of hard, clear evidence.
If we could ferret that out, we'd be in clover, Mr Carstone.
What sort of evidence? Well. . .
say the old chap made a later will.
"I hereby leave all my worldly goods to Mr Carstone and Miss Clare, or in the event of their prior demise,
"to their descendents in the direct line".
That sort of evidence. You think there might be one? You know Krook? Miss Flite's landlord? That's him.
He's a funny old cove.
He knows more than he's telling about Jarndyce, too.
Buys up all these documents even though he can barely read a word,
and no-one knows what he's got there.
I, er, "cultivate" him, you know.
Often learn things to my advantage.
hmm, you might too. Guppy, what on earth has Krook to do with me?
You haven't got a very enquiring mind, have you, Mr Carstone?
You won't get far in the law like that.
Krook's got an empty room, now that Nemo, the law-writer, has died.
Do you know what I'd do if I was you? I'd rent it, have a bit of a root about in Krook's place.
Who knows what you might find?
Thank you for the advice, Guppy.
Up to you.
I'm off to Snagsby's, pick up some copying.
You can mind the store, Mr Carstone.
Mr Snagsby, this is refreshment indeed.
And we need refreshment, my friends, because we are mortal,
because we are sinful, because we are of the earth, not of the air.
Can we fly, my friends?
We cannot.
And why can we not fly?
No wings? Indeed.
Then let us partake of the good things which are set before us. DOOR OPENS
Mr Snagsby, it's a policeman. He's got the crossing-sweeper boy with him.
He's asking for you, Mr Snagsby.
Oh. . . Perhaps you'll excuse me for half a minute.
'Mr Snagsby, do you know this boy?'
Yes, I do know him, officer.
What's the matter, Jo? Loitering. Turned out his pockets, found this half-crown.
When questioned, he said he had it from you, sir.
Quite right, Constable. Then we finds two more.
Very strange for a poor crossing-sweeper boy. And how does he explain that?
I had it from a lady, Mr Snagsby.
A lady in a veil. She said she was a servant, but I don't think she was.
She wanted me to show her where the law-writer lived, and where they buried him.
She wanted to see the shop, too, as well, Mr Snagsby. I took her all around, showed her everything.
She gave me a sovereign, and that's what's left of it.
You expect us to believe that, do you? No, I don't expect nothing at all. . . But it's true, Mr Snagsby.
I believe the boy is honest, Constable.
All right, Mr Snagsby. If I don't lock him up this time, will you engage for his moving on?
Yes, Constable, I will.
Now, Jo, you know you must do it.
All right, Mr Snagsby, sir. Here, catch hold of your money.
Now, the sooner you're five mile off, the better for all parties. I shall see him on his way, sir.
Will you take a cup of tea, Mr Guppy? Mmm.
Kenge and Carboys. I knew them very well at one time.
Was you a party in anything, ma'am? Not exactly, Mr Guppy. I once worked for a lady named Miss Barbary.
Mr Kenge often used to visit. It was in connection with a young girl who lived there, named Esther Summerson.
Summerson?
You know Miss Esther Summerson? I knew her as a child, and there was no "Miss Summerson" about it then.
It was "Esther do this" and "Esther do that", and she was made to do it.
Anyway, as I recall,
her real name was Esther Hawdon. Or so Miss Barbary once told me.
Is that so?
SHOP BELL TINKLES
WOOD CREAKS
STAIR CREAKS CAT SNARLS
Mr Guppy. . .
of Kenge's.
What's he want?
Little present, Mr Krook.
Hey, this ain't the fourteen-penny. This is the eighteen-penny.
Thought you might fancy it for a change.
I do.
Take a drop yourself?
I will, Mr Krook. Thank you.
HOARSE VOICE: That's very fine.
You're a man for information, Krook. I am.
I heard a good one today.
About a lady who wanted to know all about your dead lodger, the law-writer.
Where he lived and how he died.
She give the crossing-sweeper boy a sov to show her round.
Did she come here, Krook?
No.
You ever hear of the name Barbary, Mr Krook?
Barbary? Maybe.
In connection with Miss Esther Summerson?
Summerson?
Can't say I have, no.
See, I've got an inkling they're all connected up somehow.
Ah, yes?
Very good, this, Mr Guppy.
Mind you, it ain't nothing to the two-and-sixpenny.
PURRY GROWL
A woman in a veil( !) A LADY in a veil, the boy said.
And what would a boy like that know?
He was most particular, Mr Tulkinghorn. I thought you would wish to know.
Yes.
Thank you, Mr Snagsby.
Thank you. . .Ah, yes, to be sure.
Good day, Mr Tulkinghorn.
This man Nemo, the dead law-writer.
There's some mystery here. Let's see what we can find out about him.
And perhaps you could ask Inspector Bucket to call.
I think I need to see that boy again.
Miss Summerson! There's a young woman to see you.
Mademoiselle. I 'ave taken a great liberty in coming here.
How can I help you? Mademoiselle, you were present when my lady dismissed me.
She's so very high and I was too high for her.
All that is done.
Mademoiselle, I have come to offer myself to be your domestique.
Oh.
I'm sorry. . . Please, do not dismiss me so soon.
But, you see, I don't keep a maid. I never have. For one thing, I couldn't afford one.
Then I will serve you for nothing but my food.
And I will serve you well. You don't know how well.
I will do anything you ask, and more.
Mademoiselle Hortense, I am sorry. I wish I could help you, but it's not in my power to.
I couldn't pay you a proper wage, and it would be wrong to let you work for nothing.
I'm sure you will find a more suitable position.
I thank you most humbly for receiving me, mademoiselle.
Will you allow me to kiss your hand?
Adieu, mademoiselle.
You seem agitated, Snagsby.
No need for that. Drink your wine.
Very fine wine, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Mmm, it is a rare wine now.
It is 50 years old.
I wouldn't want anything to happen to the boy, Mr Tulkinghorn. Nothing will. Oh, dear me.
I wasn't aware there was anyone else present.
This is Mr Bucket, Snagsby.
Mr Bucket's a detective officer.
No harm will come to the boy, Mr Snagsby.
All we want you for is to help us find him, and then we want to put a question or two to him, that's all.
No harm will come to him?
Not a bit of harm.
Well, then, Mr Tulkinghorn, if that's the case. . .
Here's your hat, Mr Snagsby. And if you're ready, I am.
Tom-All-Alone's, you say.
I believe that's where he finds shelter, yes, Mr Bucket.
Ever been there? Me? No, never.
You won't like it.
It's the last resort, Mr Snagsby, of them as has no choice.
Evenin', gents! And what's your business, young lady(? )
Dear me!
It's a whole different world, Mr Snagsby.
We'll turn down here, short-cut.
They've been going down with the smallpox here, like sheep with the rot, poor devils.
Here we are.
Boy name of Jo.
Is he here tonight?
Here, Mister.
Mister. . .
I saw him. He was with her.
Thank you, kindly.
Mr Snagsby.
Who have we got here, then? We ain't done nothing wrong, sir.
Didn't say you had. You're not from here. No, sir. St Albans.
Brickmakers? Come up on the tramp?
Yes, sir. They said there was some work on the potteries by the Hippodrome, but there wasn't none.
We might as well've stayed where we was.
Jenny! Come as quick as I could.
No need to be frightened, Jo.
All you have to do is stand still and look and listen,
and tell us what you see.
I don't see nothing, sir. Wait.
That's her. Who? The lady.
That is the lady you saw, is it?
Who wanted to know about Nemo, the law-writer?
And gave you a sovereign?
Yes, sir.
Take off your glove.
Well? What about that?
I don't know, sir.
She had rings but she could have took 'em off since.
And do you remember the lady's voice?
FRENCH ACCENT: Was it like this?
No.
The veil.
It's not her. Not a bit like. I'm sorry, sir, it's not my fault.
Nobody said it was, Jo. Did they, Inspector?
Here, take this.
Take care how you spend it and don't get yourself into trouble.
Off with you now.
Are you satisfied, monsieur?
Yes, thank you, mademoiselle.
I will give you no further trouble about this little wager.
You will remember, sir, that I am not at present employed.
Certainly. You will confer upon me the favour of your distinguished recommendation?
By all means.
A word from Mr Tulkinghorn is so powerful.
Goodnight, gentlemen.
All squared then, Mr Tulkinghorn.
There ain't a doubt. It was the mistress with the maid's dress on.
All right, Mr Bucket.
Thank you, Mr Snagsby, for your help.
And for your discretion.
Yes, yes, indeed, Mr Tulkinghorn.
I'll see you on your way, sir.
Goodnight then, Officer.
And you will be discreet, Mr Snagsby, won't you?
Won't speak to anyone, anyone at all, of what you've seen and heard tonight?
Not a word, Inspector. Oh, one more thing.
Are you familiar with a man called Gridley, Mr Snagsby?
The man from Shropshire? Yes, yes.
I-I know him, poor fellow.
I have a warrant for his arrest, you see,
for slandering Mr Tulkinghorn.
He's been keeping out me way.
If you was to see him or hear of where he was hiding himself, you'd let me know, I'm sure.
Certainly, certainly.
But upon my honour,
I haven't the least idea of where he might be.
All right, Mr Snagsby.
I'll let you go now.
Goodnight to you. Goodnight, Inspector.
Richard, we shouldn't.
Who's to say that? We promised Mr Jarndyce. What?
Only to postpone our engagement.
He must be brought to change his mind about that
and understand that we can't bear not to belong to each other utterly.
And I intend to tell him so myself.
And the rest.
There.
I've missed you so much.
GIGGLING AND CHATTER
Rick, this is a very pleasant surprise.
I trust Mr Kenge doesn't mind your taking a day or two of his time to visit us? Ah. . .
Mr Kenge and I have come to an agreement. What agreement's that?
That I'm not altogether suited to the law, sir.
Well, you mean you intend to abandon your studies?
Didn't we agree there could be no more changes of mind?
Yes, we did, but a man can make a mistake.
And if a mistake has been made, isn't it better to face up to it,
admit one's been misled and choose a more suitable profession?
And what profession have you settled upon this time?
The army, sir. I intend to purchase a commission in a good regiment.
Then, by living within my pay, I reckon I should be able to save
up to £2, 000 in five years. Enough to get married.
I've talked it all through with Ada.
Have you? I believe the law is not the best profession for Richard, Mr Jarndyce.
That may well be. Then we're agreed.
And Ada and I want you to recognise our engagement.
We're not children, we know our minds and our hearts.
I'm sure you think you do. Let us leave that a moment.
It's a rare officer who lives within his pay, but let us leave that, too.
You must understand, Rick, this plan to go into the army must be your final choice.
Every penny that you have of certainty, and more, will be spent by the time you've equipped yourself.
Of course, it's quite true that I've exhausted my present resources.
I haven't laid my money out very wisely, perhaps,
but I can admit my mistakes and learn from them.
I think it's hard of you, sir, to remind me of my errors in front of others.
Rick, I simply need to be sure you understand the situation.
Are you quite sure you understand MY situation?
You say every penny I have of certainty has been laid out but what I have of certainty is not all I have.
Rick. Rick, for the love of God, don't found your hope on that wretched court case!
Better to borrow, better to beg. . .
better to die!
I know these are strong words, Ada, but I have seen how that case destroys men's lives.
How it drove my great uncle to blow out his own brains.
Now, as to your proposed engagement,
when we spoke of it before, I advised you that you were too young to make such a commitment.
What has happened since then has strengthened me in that view.
It will be better for both of you if you remain cousins for the foreseeable future.
Why don't you just come straight out and say you have no confidence in me and advise Ada not to have any either!
I don't say that because I don't mean that. But you think I've begun badly!
Rick, you've hardly begun at all.
When you've something to offer Ada, that'll be the time to think of an engagement.
You're very hard with us, sir.
Well. . .
you have the remedy in your own hands.
Come, Rick,
you know it's time to knuckle down and make something of yourself.
Let's shake hands on it.
DOOR SLAMS
KNOCK ON DOOR
Mr Krook?
It is not convenient.
I am in deshabille.
Please go away.
Whatever it is will wait until morning.
Mr. . . Mr Krook, I. . .
Mr Gridley!
A thousand apologies, Miss Flite.
I didn't know where else to go.
They've done for me.
That monster Tulkinghorn's got a warrant on me for slander.
HE COUGHS
I spent last night at Tom All Alone's.
Mr Gridley, dear old friend, much as I sympathise,
I couldn't offer you shelter here.
Please understand, Mr Gridley, it wouldn't be proper. I. . .
I'm an unmarried lady. Of course.
Quite right.
Thousand apologies.
I couldn't think of anyone else.
General George!
General George, Mr Gridley. He will help you.
He has accommodation of a rough sort and a heart of gold.
The flowers in the drawing room are looking rather tired.
I'll see to it at once, m'Lady.
Oh, Mrs Rouncewell? Yes, m'Lady.
What do you know of that girl in Mr Jarndyce's care? Miss Clare, m'Lady?
The ward in Jarndyce? No, the other. Her companion.
Summerbee. . .Summerfield.
Miss Summerson, begging your pardon, m'Lady.
Well? No-one knows anything about her in the village.
Except she seemed a very pleasant young lady. No airs and graces.
But where she comes from, nobody knows, as they say.
All right, Mrs Rouncewell.
MR GEORGE: And come again, Mr Carstone, sir.
Steady. Watch the eyes, not the blade.
And come again, sir.
Hold hard, Mr Carstone, sir. Let's not run before we can walk.
Yes. All right. Thank you, Mr George.
And come again.
I have to go now.
Court, you know.
Thank you, Mr George. Good day to you.
See you this afternoon, sir?
He ain't a stayer, that one, Mr George.
He may be yet, Phil. In too much of a hurry.
Oh, what's that?
GUNSHOT There, that's for the Chancellor.
And that's for Tulkinghorn.
Hang on, Mr G. I don't think you're up to this work, not just now.
You come along with Phil. Thank you, Phil.
Yes?
The man called Nemo, Mr Tulkinghorn.
I've been sniffing around like you asked.
He pawned some medals the day he died.
And? One of them was inscribed with the name of Captain Hawdon.
Do we know of him, Clamb?
Smallweed, the moneylender, had been advertising a little while ago
for the whereabouts of Captain Hawdon.
Seems the gentleman had defaulted on his debts and gone missing.
I wonder if Smallweed had any success in finding him?
Perhaps we should have a word with Mr Smallweed.
Very good, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Don't you know me, Miss?
It's Charley. Charley Neckett.
Oh, yes, of course.
And what can we do for you, Charley?
If you please, Miss, I'm to be your maid. I'm a present to you from Mr Jarndyce.
No, don't embarrass me with thanks.
I saw how things were and how they could be and it gave me pleasure to arrange it all.
I wish you had consulted me first. You don't think she's suitable?
I'm sure she'll do very well.
But is it kind to separate her from her brother and sister?
And what am I to do with a lady's maid?
Maids are for the likes of Lady Dedlock, not the likes of me.
I never asked for a lady's maid, and nor would I feel myself comfortable with one.
Esther, in my mind at least, you're quite as much of a lady as my Lady Dedlock.
And perhaps it's time for you to begin to think of yourself as such.
Look, will you keep Charley on?
Just to humour me?
And if I can arrange it so that she can see Tom and Emma more than once a month. . .
You wouldn't send her away now,
would you?
No.
You must think me very ungrateful.
And believe me, I'm not.
But your kindness is almost. . .
overwhelming.
Forgive me?
MR SMALLWEED: If you're round me, you'll know it.
Have a care there, you maniac!
I'll have your throats cut, I will!
Oh, my Lord, I'm shaken. In here!
Go on, get in there!
Oh, you clumsy oaf!
You'll put me in me grave!
Mr Smallweed, good of you to trouble yourself.
Honoured, Mr Tulkinghorn.
Privileged, deeply gratified. Set me down gently.
Gently! Off!
Off, out. Go on, wait outside. Savages.
I'm half killed.
If you'd be so kind as to ask your man to shake me up a bit, Mr Tulkinghorn?
BONES CRACK Oh. . .
Much obliged. Deeply honoured.
Very nice.
Very smart.
Now, how can I be of service?
Some time ago you were interested in tracing a Captain Hawdon.
Hawdon? Yes, I was.
A welsher. A bilker. A defalcator.
Owes me hundreds of pounds and gone to ground.
Bad debt! Bad debt! I hate 'em !
You didn't find him then?
He'd know about it if I did. I'd squeeze him.
Did anybody come in answer to your advertisement?
Only one, and he was no good to me.
His old sergeant from his army days, Mr George.
He owes me money too, but he pays the interest.
But he clammed up when he heard what the matter was.
This Sergeant George. . .
close companion of Captain Hawdon, would you say? I would.
Close as blood, I'd say. But he wouldn't give him up, no matter what.
Mr Smallweed, I believe you can do me a service.
You know where Sergeant George is to be found?
I do.
Oh, mind my bones, you brimstone black people!
Smash me to pieces, will ya! 'Ere!
Oh, give 'em tuppence, Judy, it's more than they're worth.
I think this has killed me.
Mr George! Mr George, over here!
Mr Smallweed. Oh, dear.
That sword looks awful gleaming and sharp.
It might cut someone, by accident.
We don't go in for accidents here, Mr Smallweed.
And if you could tell your workman not to wave his firearm so. . .
Oh, Lord.
It's me granddaughter, Judy.
Shake me up, Judy.
Nice little business you got here, Mr George.
Worth a bit, I'd say. Come to turn me out of it, have you?
No, not yet, George.
Not unless my friend in the city insists on it.
You're a bit behind on your payments.
HE CHUCKLES
Oh, dear, quite a bit behind.
Never was much of a money man, was you, Mr George?
Oh, yes, reminds me.
Young gentleman who comes here, name of Carstone,
I was thinking of buying some of his debts cheap.
What do you think?
They say he has good friends and a chance in a lawsuit.
Might be worth a flutter, at a price, you know.
But to pass from the ensign to the captain, I've come to do you a favour, George.
You remember Captain Hawdon, your gallant comrade in arms?
You remember I advertised, you came to me?
You tricked me. You said he would hear something to his advantage.
But you were pursuing him for debts.
And why should I not? I bought 'em up thinking he was an honourable man with friends to rally round.
He turned into a scoundrel and a blackguard, a gyper and a sneak!
You won't speak of him like that. Not here.
He was a gallant officer, and the best friend a man ever had.
And bloodsuckers like you feasted on him when he was down.
Oh, Judy, he's killing me.
You won't speak of him like that.
And you won't find him either.
He's dead. Oh, dear.
Shake me up, Judy.
There's a lawyer,
a very eminent lawyer, wants a sample of his handwriting. He'll pay.
He'll pay well.
Enough to end all your troubles, I dare say.
So if you happen to have any letters in his hand, my dear old friend. . .
I wouldn't give you the sight of 'em. I wouldn't want it!
It's for my friend, the eminent lawyer. He's keen.
He's keen as mustard for 'em.
He's got enough to end all your money troubles, George.
And if the Captain's dead, where's the 'arm in it? If you're in it, there's bound to be harm in it.
Not a bit of it, my dear old friend.
Stands to reason I'd like to see you straight.
Will you see the gentleman, George?
I'll think about it.
What's his name?
Tulkinghorn.
Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
Application for costs.
Yes, very well, very well.
Mr Tangle. Always costs, costs, costs, and nothing is done.
Patience, dear friend. We shall all be served on the Day of Judgement.
Miss Flite.
Good to see you in court, Mr Carstone, but there really is no need for you to trouble yourself.
How else am I to find out about my affairs?
It seems to me that you lawyers conspire to prolong proceedings week after week and no progress is made.
It would seem so to the untutored eye, indeed, but I can assure you. . .
You forget that I have studied law, sir. Oh, yes.
Several weeks.
And now we are to congratulate you on your commission in the army.
I trust you'll find it more. . .
in your line.
Mr Jarndyce is coming up to town, I believe?
Yes, he is, sir.
To satisfy himself I'm keeping my nose to Mr George's grindstone.
And the other ward in Jarndyce, Miss Clare, and her companion Miss Summerson?
Yes, yes, they're coming too. Oh! My very best respects to them.
And to you, Mr Carstone.
Good day. Very well, Mr Tangle, the court decrees. . .
I suppose it's nothing to him if the case goes on forever.
I beg your pardon, Mr Carstone, but did I hear you mention Mr George?
Yes, Miss Flite. What of it?
An old friend of mine is lodging there, incognito,
and I should like to visit him, but it's not a neighbourhood I like to go to on my own.
My dear Miss Flite, it will be my pleasure to escort you there whenever you wish.
Oh, Mr Carstone. I'm so obliged.
And as such must be paid by the plaintiff, and. . .
The Turveydrop Academy of Dance and Deportment, Cross Street, driver. Sir.
We'll meet you at Mr George's shooting gallery. You have the address? Yes.
Give Caddy my very best wishes, Esther. I will. Bye, my dear.
Walk on.
It's so good of you to come, Miss.
I'm very glad to see you both. He's in such a state.
He swore he couldn't do it, and I said he must, and then he said,
"Well, if Miss Summerson was standing by, I think I might bring it off. "
And so, today's the day. Caddy, If you think I would be of help. . .
Prince does. Then I'm very happy to.
Oh, Lord, here he comes.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Father, you remember Miss Summerson?
Charmed. Enchanted. Overjoyed.
Our little academy is made a paradise.
My dear son, you have four schools this afternoon.
I recommend a hasty sandwich.
Father. . .
I beg you prepare your mind for what I have to say.
Good heaven. What is this?
Father,
I love this young lady, and we are engaged.
Engaged? !
An arrow launched at my brow by my own child.
It is well your sainted mother is spared this pang.
Strike home, sir, strike home.
Dear Father, don't say that.
Caddy and I don't forget our duty.
You will always be the head and master here.
Strike home. Strike home.
You will have everything you had and more, Father.
You will have two to care for you instead of one.
And we shall devote ourselves to making your life agreeable.
Won't we, Caddy? Yes, Prince.
Father?
My son, my children,
I cannot resist your prayer.
Be happy.
And what did Mr and Mrs Jellyby have to say?
I don't think Ma hardly noticed.
She'd only care about me if I was an African.
Pa's bankrupt and the bailiffs are in. She don't care about that.
It'll be such a relief to be out of that house
and with my darling Prince, even if we do have to put up with his Pa.
He's in court, you say?
Yes, sir. I believe he looks in there most days.
I think I feel a touch of the east wind, Ada.
And what kind of a swordsman d'you make of Mr Carstone?
Pretty good, sir. If Mr Carstone were to give his full mind to it, he would be very good.
Ah, here's the man of the moment.
Rick, my boy. We've come to see how you're getting on.
That's very kind of you sir, I'm sure.
Cousin Ada.
And what have you found out, sir?
How am I getting on? Oh, pretty well, according to Mr George. I'm relieved to hear it.
I'm due to join my regiment next week to sail for Ireland.
Mr George.
I've come to visit a dear old friend of mine who you've been looking after.
We need not speak his name, a Chancery friend. . .
Mr George. . . Says he's a doctor. Called to see you know who.
Ah, very good.
Doctor? You're no doctor.
I know you. You do, George.
And I know you as well.
My name is Bucket, for those who ain't aware of it.
And I've got a peace-warrant against a man named Gridley.
For slandering Mr Tulkinghorn. Oh, dear.
And what makes you think he's here?
Been keeping an eye on his old friend Miss Flite, in case she got the urge to pay him a call.
You kept him out the way a long time, George, and it does you credit.
But the game's up now.
You're a man of sense, you know, and you'll give him up quietly.
This way, then.
May we see our dear old friend first?
Oh. . .
Well, you see. . .
here I am.
This is what it's come to.
I thought they'd never wear me out.
I thought they'd never break my heart,
but they have.
Come, come, Gridley.
That's not your way.
We're all a little low now and then.
Hold up.
You'll lose your temper with the whole round of 'em again and again, you're not done yet.
Don't shake your head, nod it.
Look.
Here's Tulkinghorn's warrant.
Wouldn't you like to tear it with your teeth, him too?
Let's have it out with him before the magistrates, eh?
I made a fight of it, once upon a time.
But it's all done now.
All done? Never.
You're half the fun of the fair at Chancery, you are.
George, you lend him a hand, let's see if he won't be better up than down.
Come on, Mr Gridley.
HE WHEEZES
No!
Mr Gridley. . .
Not without my blessing.
Not. . . not without my blessing.