"Dearest Meg, I'm having a glorious time.
I like them all.
They are the happiest, jolliest family you can imagine.
The fun of it is, they think me a noodle.
And say so. At least Mr. Wilcox does.
Oh, Meg, shall we ever learn to talk less.
But dearest Meg...
i don't know what to say or what you will say.
Paul wilcox and I are in love.
We are engaged."
- Well, you Schlegel girls! - Tibby, look.
Margaret, if I may interfere.
What is going on?
I can tell you nothing, aunt Juley. I know no more than you do.
We only met the wilcoxes last spring while we were hiking in germany.
Oh, dear.
Someone must go down to howards house to make inquiries.
- Howards end. - Inquiries are necessary.
What do we know about these wilcoxes? Are they our sort? Likely people?
But aunt Juley, what does it matter?
Helen's in love. That's all I need to know.
Please get me a train timetable, dear.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
Paul?
I'm afraid Crane has reported sick again.
He was to take me to the worrington's today for tennis. I told them.
He's standing, of course.
Get rid of him, father, hire a new chauffeur.
Mother, we're off. Good-bye.
Charlie, wait.
- What? - Is papa there?
Wait a minute. I've got some cherries.
- About last night. - Nothing happened.
- I'm afraid I lost my head. - Yes, we both did.
Must've been the moonlight, except there was no moon.
Well, that's quite all right.
- Do you mind? - No.
I have no money of my own...
and I have to make my way in Nigeria.
It's beastly there for a white woman, with the climate, natives and all that.
- I think you're a ripping girl. - It's quite all right.
No one knows about it.
- Meg! I wrote to my sister. - You didn't!
Yes, I'm sorry. She's sure to come. We must stop her.
We'll send a telegram. Crane's off sick.
- Isn't there a bicycle? - Yes, there is somewhere.
That'll be one and threepence 70, sir.
M.j. Schlegel. 6 Wickham place.
London, west.
"Dear Meg. All over.
Wish i'd never written. Tell no one. Helen."
Excuse me. I'm looking for somewhere called howards house.
Mr. Wilcox, this lady wants Howards End.
Forgive my asking. Are you the younger Mr. Wilcox or the elder?
The younger.
The station's unorganized. If I had my way, the whole lot would be sacked.
- Thank you, bernard. - Thank you, sir.
I should introduce myself. I am miss Schlegel's aunt.
Rather. Yes, miss Schlegel's stopping with us.
- Do you want to see her? - That would be very nice.
I could run you up.
All the Schlegels are exceptional.
They are british to the backbone...
but their father was german...
and that is why they care for literature and art.
Just one minute.
Wilcox, Howards End!
Know that I come in no spirit of interference.
I'm here to represent the family...
and to talk to you about helen wilcox...
my niece, and you.
Miss Schlegel and myself?
I trust there's no misunderstanding.
It's true I'm engaged to be married...
but to another young lady, not to miss Schlegel.
Helen wrote to us. She has told us everything.
Good god! It's some foolery of Paul's!
- But you are Paul. - No, I'm not.
- Why did you say so? - I said nothing of the sort.
- You did. - I did not. My name is Charles.
You mean to tell me that Paul and your niece have... the idiot!
Damn fool!
Look, I warn you.
It's useless. Paul hasn't a penny.
No need to warn us. The warning is all the other way.
He hasn't told us, but your niece lost no time in publishing the news.
If I were a man, for that last remark i'd box your ears.
You're not fit to sit in the same room as my niece.
- She spread the news, he hasn't. - Or to clean her boots.
- Might I finish my sentence? - No! I won't argue with such a person.
Let me out of this car this instant.
Don't stand up. Sit down! Sit down!
Just sit down! Goodness sakes!
It will, I think, be generally admitted...
that beethoven's fifth symphony...
is the most sublime noise...
ever to have penetrated the ear of man.
But what does it mean?
You can hardly fail to recognize in this music...
a mighty drama.
The struggle of a hero beset by perils...
riding to magnificent victory and ultimate triumph...
as described in the development section of the first movement.
I want to draw your attention to the third movement.
We no longer hear the hero, but a goblin.
Thank you, mother.
Single, solitary goblin...
walking across the universe...
from beginning to end.
Why a goblin?
- I beg your pardon? - Why a goblin?
It's obvious.
The goblin signifies the spirit of negation.
But why specifically a goblin?
Panic and emptiness. That is what...
a goblin signifies.
Miss!
Excuse me, miss, but my umbrella.
Miss!
Miss?
Mrs. Wilcox never got her wedding dress wet.
Hurry up, Charles.
In you go.
Good-bye. See you there.
Astonishing bad luck...
that in the whole of london they could find no flat to rent...
except the one bottled up against our library window.
Who could find no flat?
Tibby, the wilcoxes.
Surely you remember that business last summer...
with helen and Paul wilcox.
Paul wilcox?
The one I was expected to thrash within an inch of his life?
Oh, miss!
What is it? Is Tibby ill?
Tibby's making tea.
Well, there's nothing worse than that.
Now, helen...
something odd has happened.
Promise me you won't mind.
It's the wilcoxes.
They've taken the flat opposite for the wedding of their son.
The other son.
You do mind.
Will Paul wilcox point and say, '; there lives the girl who tried to catch me"?
Ridiculous.
They've only taken the flat for a few weeks, the porter said.
Do we bow or cut them dead?
Darling, why don't you take up cousin frieda's invitation...
and go to hamburg for those few weeks?
I think I shall.
Not that it matters, but...
one wouldn't want to keep bumping into wilcoxes.
Don't hog all those scones, Tibby.
Is that young man for us, do you suppose?
He is for us.
If you'll pardon me, miss. You took my umbrella.
Inadvertently, I'm sure.
At the ethical hall. ;'music and meaning."
I'm so sorry.
I do nothing but steal umbrellas. Come in and choose one.
Let's see. Is yours a hooky or a knobbly?
I think mine's a knobbly.
That's Tibby's. How about this one? You shouldn't open these indoors.
It's gone along the seams.
This is an appalling umbrella. It must be mine.
I'm sorry.
Has my sister stolen your umbrella?
Not again, helen. She is an incorrigible thief. I am so sorry.
Do stay for tea, Mr...
- bast. - Won't you stay for tea?
Do stay for tea.
It's the least we can do, having made you all wet.
Our brother's upstairs to chaperone.
- He's soaked, Meg. Please come up. - Bring him upstairs.
What did you think of the lecture? I don't agree about goblins.
But I do about the heroes and shipwreck.
I'd always imagined a trail of elephants dancing at that point.
He obviously didn't. ;'music and meaning," margaret.
Does music have meaning, of the literary kind, I mean?
- That's pure slush. - We've a guest.
- Mr. Bast, take off your coat. - Trust us with your umbrella.
- Sit down. - Have some tea.
How boring it would be if it were only the score.
China tea? Only the score? What an insidious omen.
We have other tea if you prefer.
Thank you.
Here's some scones that Tibby hasn't yet consumed.
We're sorry to have inconvenienced you. I hope you will come another day.
Would you?
We should be so glad. Do take our card.
Thank you.
If you'll excuse me, i must be going.
I'll see you out. Are you sure you don't want a spot for the journey?
No, thank you. I must be going. Good-bye.
Why didn't you make that young man welcome, Tibby?
You must do the host a little, you know.
You could've coaxed him into stopping...
instead of letting him be swamped by screaming women.
Get your hot soup here!
Hot soup! Lovely and warm.
That you, len?
Where have you been?
- I'm off my head with worrying. - About what?
- About you. - Let go, jacky.
Every time I'm five minutes late, you see me lying dead in the road...
crushed and killed in a gruesome accident.
People do get killed in accidents and don't come home no more.
Anymore, jacky.
I told you I was going to a lecture on;'music and meaning."
I lost my umbrella.
It's all right. I got it back.
Have you had your tea?
I've cut you a bit of tongue and jelly.
Sure?
I'll have it, then.
Funny, isn't it?
Every time I worry, i get starving hungry.
Thoughts that go through my head!
You'd laugh.
You listening, len?
Not only accidents...
but you'll get wet in the rain.
- Did you? - No.
You said you lost your umbrella.
I thought, "lord, he'll catch cold. It'll go to his chest.
Where's the money to come from for the doctor?
And what if he is in an accident...
and they take him to the hospital in the ambulance?
- And him with holes in his socks." - Hey, jacky!
- I want to see. - What?
- If there's holes in your socks. - Stop it, jacky!
Len...
come to bed.
I'll finish this chapter.
- You love your jacky? - Let me read.
Len, are you going to make it all right?
You're not starting on that again.
I've told you a hundred times, we'll get married the day I'm 21.
I'd do it before if my brother wouldn't come and put a stop to it.
What's it to him? What's he ever done for me?
That's right. What's anyone ever done?
It's just you and me.
If you was to leave me, i don't know what i'd do.
I truly don't.
Now go to bed.
You come, too.
Come on.
Bookmarker.
"Margaret Schlegel."
And who is margaret Schlegel?
A lady I met.
A lady. La-di-da.
Come off it. She's 100 years old.
Says you. So that's where you had your tea.
Nice cucumber sandwiches cut ever so thin.
"Ankle deep, he waded through the bluebells.
His spirit rose and exalted...
as he breathed in the sun-drenched air.
The glorious day was in its last decline.
Long shadows lay on the sward...
and from above the leaves dripped their shimmering drops of gold-green light.
Moths and butterflies swarmed in merry hosts...
flittering here, glimmering there.
But, hush. Could that be a deer?"
Oh, please, show her in.
So sorry.
Why, miss Schlegel.
How kind of you to call.
I wanted to for ever so long.
But we haven't been here for ever so long.
Mrs. Wilcox...
may i?
All that business last summer at Howards End...
no, it goes further than that.
Since we met at speyer. Do you remember?
That restored cathedral that we all hated so.
What I remember principally about speyer...
was the great pleasure of meeting you, miss Schlegel.
Helen's gone to germany.
And Paul's gone to nigeria.
Now we can meet because they can't.
It's no use beating about the bush. What happened in the summer...
was unfortunate for both of them, don't you feel?
I'm sure you think the same way. Because they should not meet.
Yes, I feel that.
They belong to types that can fall in love but can't live together.
I'm afraid that in 8 cases out of 10...
nature pulls one way and human nature the other.
I do rattle on. I shall tire you out in no time.
It is true, I am not particularly well today.
But I'm so grateful for your visit.
I'm quite alone.
My husband and daughter have gone on a motoring tour in yorkshire.
And the young couple are on their honeymoon. Charles and dolly.
May I see? How lovely.
They've gone to naples.
- I can't imagine Charles in naples. - Doesn't he like traveling?
Yes, he likes travel.
But he does see through foreigners.
What he would enjoy most is a motor tour through england.
Charles takes after me.
He truly loves england.
Not, of course, london. None of us love london.
It's so...
it makes one feel so unstable, impermanent...
with the houses being torn down on all sides.
Including, in the foreseeable future, ours.
- Are you having to leave wickham place? - Yes.
In 18 months when the lease expires.
- Have you been there long? - All our lives. We were born there.
That is monstrous!
I pity you from the bottom of my heart.
I had no idea this thing was hanging over you.
How dreadful!
You poor girls.
Of course, we are fond of the house...
but it is an ordinary London house.
We shall easily find another.
No, not in this world.
Not the house you were born in.
You'll never find that again. Poor, poor girls.
Howards end was almost pulled down once.
It would've killed me.
It's my house. It was left to me by my brother who died in india.
I love it so.
I even resisted when henry, my husband...
wanted to make changes to improve the property.
He knew best of course.
We even have a garage...
to the west of the house...
just beyond the chestnut tree...
in the paddock...
where the pony used to be.
Where's the pony gone?
The pony? Dead, ever so long ago.
The vice of the pan-german mind is that it only cares for what it can use.
- That is the vice of the imperial mind. - The vice of the vulgar mind.
But... and this is a tremendous;'but"... they take poetry seriously.
- They take poetry seriously. - Is anything gained by that?
Yes! The germans are always striving for beauty.
Mrs. Wilcox, my father was a german of the old school.
A philosopher, an idealist.
The countryman of hegel and kant.
Isn't that your father's sword upstairs in the drawing room?
Yes. He was a soldier, too, when he had to be.
He was so uncomfortable about being on the winning side...
he just hung up his sword and never used it again.
My idea has always been...
if we could bring the mothers...
of the various nations together...
there would be no more war.
- Indeed, yes. - Absolutely.
If the mothers went to war, there'd be no one left to defend.
- Have another cutlet. - Thank you.
You are fortunate in your cook.
We have found it difficult to get reliable servants in london.
Servants have become as unreliable as we are.
And we can hardly expect them to listen to radical discussions at the table.
Annie does very well, don't you annie? You're very patient with us.
We never discuss at Howards End...
except, perhaps, sport.
But you should. Discussion keeps a house alive.
You will laugh at my old-fashioned ideas.
I will not.
I sometimes think...
it would be wiser to leave action and discussion to men.
Then where would we be with the suffrage?
L am only too thankful not to have the vote myself.
Shall we go up for coffee?
Will you lead the way? Thank you.
What interesting lives you all lead.
No, we don't.
It's no use you pretending you enjoyed lunch. You loathed it.
But I hope you will forgive me...
by coming again alone, or by asking me to you.
I enjoyed my lunch very much.
Truly I did. I only wish i could've joined in more.
You're so clever, and yet so good.
It's kind of you, but I'm neither.
You've been very good to me. You've kept me from brooding.
I'm too apt to brood.
About what?
I really don't know.
I think about my house a great deal.
You've never seen Howards End. I want to show it to you.
Now, this is the scientific approach to christmas shopping: A list.
A list? What a good idea.
Why don't you put your own name at the top of the list?
Hooray!
How very kind of you to start with me. Schlegel.
Now next. Shall I put Mr. Wilcox?
I know, these.
What do you think of that?
Oh, yes. Thank you very much.
- Good, I'm glad. - You are wonderfully efficient.
- Wrap that with a nice paper. - Certainly.
But your name still remains at the top of the list.
Yes. So, dolly.
I would like to give you something worth your friendship.
Couldn't you get it renewed?
- I beg your pardon? - The lease on your house.
Have you been thinking of that? How kind of you.
- Surely something could be done. - No, values have risen enormously.
They mean to pull down wickham place and build flats like yours.
- But they're horrible. - Landlords are horrible.
And so are the flats they build.
I fail to understand how people...
can actually choose to live in them.
There we are.
There we are. Thank you.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Thank you.
I sorry. We shouldn't have done this today.
No, no. We had to do it before.
Before?
Before my operation.
I still haven't told my family yet. Everyone hates illnesses.
That's as it should be.
There's a chestnut tree at Howards End...
that has pig's teeth stuck into the trunk...
about four feet from the ground.
Yes, the teeth of a pig.
The country people put them there long ago...
and they think that if they chew a piece of the bark...
it will cure the toothache.
I love folklore...
and the old superstitions.
Isn't it curious, though, that unlike greece...
england has no true mythology?
All we have are witches and fairies.
Will you come with me to Howards End?
- I would so much like to. - Come with me now.
- Now? It's too late... - there's a train at 5:00 if we hurry.
- I want you to see it. - And I want to see it.
It sounds such a glorious place, so redolent.
Yes. L lived there long before i was married.
I was born there.
Might I come some other day?
Yes.
Some other day.
Well, a thousand thanks, miss Schlegel, for your help.
It is a comfort to have the presents off my mind.
The christmas cards especially.
I do admire your choice.
Mrs. Wilcox.
- I will come, if I still may. - Return to hilton, please.
You must stop the night, my dear.
It's in the morning my house looks most beautiful.
Two returns, please.
Thank you.
This is yours?
I can't show you my meadow properly except in sunlight.
It was so romantic. It was in italy.
Yes, and the two trains stopped on either side.
I opened the window and this man handed a rose across.
I don't know where he got it.
- Was he italian? - Yes, I think so. Italian.
He'd have to be italian, wouldn't he?
- Mother! - Evie!
- You never wrote. Look who I found. - What are you doing here?
We crashed the car. Are you going to Howards End? Why? How are you?
It's such a lovely surprise I'm fit as a fiddle.
- Do you remember miss Schlegel? - Yes. How are you?
We crashed the car in yorkshire.
We must go home. You can't go to Howards End. It's 10 to 5:00.
Miss Schlegel, I'm afraid our outing will have to be another day.
- Before I forget. - There's a german expression with that.
Yes. Not canceled but postponed. Come home with us.
No, no. Please. Good-bye.
Till later.
How lovely to see you.
I've been thinking of you.
And of our meadow.
Here.
The day you are strong enough...
i shall hold you to your promise.
Oh, miss Schlegel.
So, to repeat. We have here...
forwarded by the matron of that nursing home...
sealed and addressed to me...
a note purporting to be in your mother's handwriting.
And it says...
"i would like miss Schlegel, margaret...
to have Howards End."
Mother never wrote that.
No date.
No signature.
Of course. It's a forgery.
Not now. Later. Thank you.
The house was your mother's to leave to whom she wished.
Let me see it.
It's only in pencil. Pencil never counts.
Yes, we know it is not legally binding, dolly. We are aware of that.
Of course, my dear, we consider you as one of the family.
But it is better if you don't interfere with what you don't understand.
The question is...
whether, during the time miss Schlegel managed to befriend my mother...
I don't think this is a case of undue influence.
To my mind the question is...
the invalid's condition when the note was written.
My dear father, consult an expert if you wish...
but I don't admit it is my mother's handwriting.
You just said it was.
Never mind if I did.
So we're all agreed that I would be legally justified in tearing this up.
And all else aside...
how is this gift to be conveyed to miss Schlegel?
Is she to have a life interest in it or to own it absolutely?
She may be on her way down this very minute to turn us all out.
I don't believe miss Schlegel knows anything about...
this whim of your mother's.
Mother believed so in ancestors.
She would never have left anything to an outsider.
If miss Schlegel had been poor, if she'd wanted a house...
but she has a house. Why should she want another?
She wouldn't have wanted us to even see this thing.
Your poor mother would not have wanted it.
Len, you coming in?
In a minute.
Right.
What are you looking at?
See that big one up there? That's ursa major.
Great bear.
You follow those two down about four times...
and that one there is the polestar, I'm fairly certain.
They're just stars.
Jacky, stop it. It's important.
You'll catch your death.
Excuse me, sir. The policy.
Yes, yes. That's all signed.
Would you read that?
Yes, of course.
"The trees reared in mighty columns...
their tops still radiant in sunlight...
which, spilling down, went through the wealth of leaves...
dissolved at last in the darkness of the mossy earth.
Their color slowly faded from out of the flowers.
But their scent lingered to honey the air he breathed."
There's a woman to see you, ma'am.
A woman and not a lady, annie?
- She won't give her name. - Ask her to come up.
She says she won't come up.
Then we shall have to go down.
Good afternoon.
- I'm looking for my husband. - Here?
Thank you, annie.
I have my reasons to believe he is here.
- You're welcome to search for him. - I'm so sorry.
- Your husband's name. - Leonard bast, as I'm sure you're aware.
Margaret, are we concealing a Mr. Leonard bast?
There appears to have been some mistake.
I do not think we are acquainted with your husband.
No, there's no mistake.
I know for a fact he has visited in this house.
- He had his tea here. - That is a grave allegation.
Yes, to have corrupted a married man with giving him tea.
I wish we could help.
It seems you can't...
or won't...
except to have a laugh at my expense.
I'm sorry to have troubled you, and wish you a good afternoon.
Do what you can for the house. The drawing room reeks of smoke.
With rita smoking, too, the house might be more mousier.
I doubt it.
This is lovely.
There's a Mr. Leonard bast.
- It must be him. - The one you corrupted with tea.
- I'll do the host. - Thank you.
Mr. Bast, come this way.
Do come in, Mr. Bast. Good evening.
- Do come in and have pudding with us. - Or would you prefer some dinner?
- I've had my tea, thank you. - Have a chair.
Glass of wine? Port?
No, thank you.
Do take a seat, and let us know how we can help you.
You wouldn't remember giving me this?
- Not at the time. - That was how it happened, you see.
- How what happened? - Where did we meet, Mr. Bast?
I don't remember.
It was more than a year ago at the ethical society.
The lecture was on;'music and meaning."
I see. The mistake arose out of my card, did it?
The lady who called yesterday thought you were calling too and would find you.
In the afternoon, I said to my wife...
i said to mrs. Bast, "i have to pay a call on some friends."
Mrs. Bast said to me,;'do go."
But while I was gone, she wanted me on important business...
and thought I had come here, owing to the card.
I tender my apologies, and hers...
for any inconvenience we may have caused.
- None at all. - I still don't understand.
When did you say you paid this afternoon call?
In the afternoon, of course.
Saturday afternoon or sunday?
- Saturday. - Really?
And you were still calling on sunday when your wife came here?
A long visit.
It was good of you to come and explain.
The rest is no concern of ours.
We are going upstairs for coffee. I do hope you will join us.
- Annie, pour the coffee. - It's not what you think.
I was...
i left my office and walked.
Right out of london.
I was walking all saturday night.
All night? In the dark?
So dark I couldn't see my own hand.
Mr. Bast, you must be a born explorer.
I tried to steer by polestar, but everything gets mixed and I lost it.
Don't tell me about polestar.
It goes round and round, and you go round with it.
Yes, but why? Why did you do it?
I wanted to just walk.
Just get out.
I've been reading the ordeal of richard feverel.
I remember. There's that chapter where richard walks all night.
- In a forest by moonlight. - What was that wonderful...
i know exactly what you mean.
"The forest drooped glimmeringly."
Wait, I'll get it.
The chapter's called;'nature speaks."
- Where do your people come from? - London.
I know. I mean before that.
They didn't always live in a town.
No. They came from around shropshire.
They worked on the land.
They were agricultural laborers.
There. You see? It was ancestral voices calling you.
Here it is.
;'richard was walking hurriedly.
A pale gray light on the skirts of the flying tempest displayed the dawn."
- Did you see the dawn? - Yes, suddenly it got light.
- Was it wonderful? - No.
It was only gray. By that time i was so tired and hungry...
i didn't know when you're walking, you want breakfast, lunch and tea.
All I had was a packet of woodbines.
Give Mr. Bast money!
We really must go.
Meg, come on.
Mr. Bast wouldn't know what to do if you gave him money.
Nonsense. Money is educational, more than the things it buys.
Such crass materialism out of your mouth.
Give him money. Let us give Mr. Bast money.
What would it profit him if he gained the whole world and lost his own soul?
He won't gain his soul until he has enough money. Give Mr. Bast money.
Good-bye.
Thank you.
What do you think is the most important thing in the world?
I suppose it is whatever matters to you most.
- Like love, for instance? - Like love or oxford, if you're Tibby.
- Henry wilcox. - Oh, hello!
- Good evening. - How nice to see you.
Wonderful surprise. I heard you ladies talking of love.
We were continuing a serious discussion.
Yes. We belong to a club which meets once a week to discuss subjects.
How are you? I would have thought you'd be down at Howards End.
Howards end is let. We've bought a house in mayfair.
Supposing you were a millionaire.
But I expect you are one.
We have met a young man who is poor, sensitive and intelligent.
We wondered, if one was a millionaire, how one could help him.
- What's his profession? - He's a clerk in...
the porphyrion fire insurance company.
- Porphyrion? - Yes.
Then, miss Schlegel, if I were to help your young clerk...
i'd advise him to clear out of the porphyrion with all possible speed.
- Why? - This is between friends, understand.
The porphyrion will be in the receivers' hands before christmas.
In other words, it'll smash.
Do you hear? Helen, the porphyrion will smash!
We must warn Mr. Bast to get another place.
I hope quickly.
- But rather than wait to make sure? - Decidedly.
The man already in a situation when he applies for work...
stands a better chance.
This is letting you into state secrets...
but it does affect an employer greatly.
Human nature, I'm afraid.
Our human nature appears to be the other way.
We employ people because they're unemployed. The boot man.
- How does he clean the boots? - Not well.
There you are.
Is it difficult for a clerk to get a situation?
- Yes, extremely. - I'm so sorry about Howards End.
That you're not living there.
I have some idea how much her house meant to mrs. Wilcox.
Yes, but to us, the family, it has certain drawbacks.
Would you be able to help our friend to a new situation?
Unfortunately we have very few positions and vacancies.
When there is one, there's always hundreds of applicants.
Of course.
- It has been a pleasure. - Yes, indeed.
I hope your young clerk finds success.
Thank you. Good night.
He was in a hurry to get away.
Mr. Bast, I fear you may have thought our letter a little odd.
We're not odd, just over expressive.
The more a lady has to say, the better. Ladies brighten every conversation.
I know, the darlings are regular sunbeams.
Your company is the porphyrion, isn't it?
Would you call it a solid concern?
Cake? This big one or one of these little deadlies?
It depends what you mean by solid.
We were told the porphyrion's a no-go.
A friend of ours did think that it's insufficiently reinsured.
- And advised you to clear out. - You can tell your friend he's wrong.
Oh, good!
Wrong, so to speak.
How, so to speak?
I wouldn't say he was right altogether.
Then he is right partly?
Tell your friend to mind his own business.
Mr. Wilcox, miss wilcox.
What a surprise!
- Pardon the intrusion. - Mr. Wilcox, do come in.
Please forgive us for this unexpected visit.
Mr. Bast, come play with the puppies.
This is Mr. Bast.
I must be going.
- Must you really? - Oh, come again.
No, I shan't come again.
I call that a very rude remark. What do you want to turn on me for?
I thought you invited me here for a friendly chat.
Instead you want to pick my brains about my place of business.
Oh, yes, cross-question him, pick his brains?
Are we intruding? Shall we go?
Helen, go after him. Explain.
What was all that about?
I shouldn't have come. Before was all right, but things like that get spoiled.
Things do, but people don't!
Don't you understand? We really did want to warn you about the porphyrion.
We were worried about you.
Why should you worry about me?
Because we like you! That's why!
- You noodle. - No cause to call a person names.
There is when a person is being tremendously stupid.
Listen, this is serious.
Our friend said you should look for another post before anything happens.
- Will you? - I'll think about it.
You must do more. You must search for another place while you still have one.
Promise you'll do that at least? Please!
Ali right.
Thank you, miss Schlegel.
Come and tell us when you've found another place. Or just come anyway.
Don't say no. Don't dare to say no!
And don't forget your umbrella or you'll say we pinched it.
You ought to be more careful. Your servants should not let such people in.
But we invited him in.
We wanted to see him again, talk to him and maybe help him.
Not only in a practical way.
You're too kind. You behave too well to people, and then they impose on you.
I know the world and that type of man.
But he is not a type.
No. He is a quite unusual young man. And he has something in him.
I don't know what it is except he wants something better than he's got.
- Oh. - Yes.
He has romantic ambition.
It is your view of him that is romantic.
We wish you to have something to remember mrs. Wilcox by...
in return for your kindness.
Oh, thank you so much.
What a lovely thought. Thank you.
She would want you to have it. She spoke very fondly of you.
It's beautifull are you sure?
Is it 18th century? Must be crystal.
Thank you. Thank you, evie.
What's she look like?
An old maid type. Goodness knows why father wanted me to ask her.
She talks and talks... here she is.
- Miss Schlegel. - Miss wilcox.
How do you do? This is my fiance percy cahill.
How do you do?
- Ah, good afternoon! - Hello. I didn't expect to see you.
Evie told me of her little plot, so I secured a table. Evie, sit there.
Miss Schlegel, if you please here.
Mr. Cahill, there.
Are you still worrying around after your young clerks?
- I hope you're hungry. - Famished. I want to eat heaps.
Good. What will you have?
Fish pie.
Fancy coming for fish pie to simpson's. It's not a fit thing to go for here.
- Go for something for me then. - Right.
Roast beef and yorkshire pudding and cider to drink.
That's the type of thing to go for.
I like this place. It's so thoroughly old english. Don't you agree?
I began an inventory of our possessions.
There are over 300 things in the drawing room alone. Thank you.
And that's not counting the books! Whatever shall I do?
The modern ownership of movables is reducing us to a nomadic horde.
We are averting to a civilization of luggage.
- Thank you. - Thank you, sir.
Always tip the carver. '; tip everybody" is my motto.
- Perhaps it does make life more human. - And these fellows remember one again.
Especially in the east. If you tip, they'll remember you from year to year.
- Have you been in the east? - Yes. Greece, livanatai.
I used to go for sport and business to cyprus.
A few piastres help to keep one's memory green.
How shockingly cynical.
Not a bit. Simply realistic.
- How would you like your meat? - Well-done.
You don't like cheese. You never take cheese.
- I adore cheese. - You said you didn't.
That's the most despicable lie. You've grown quite pink.
- I haven't. - Your ears are pink about the tips.
I like that.
Miss Schlegel expects me to act as house agent for her.
I want a new home in september, and someone must find it. I can't.
Do you know of anything, percy?
Can't say I do.
I wish you would give us Howards End.
I'm afraid it's let.
Can't you turn out your tenant, let it to us?
We're nearly demented.
Mr. Wilcox, I am demented.
One bit of advice.
Fix your district, fix your price, then don't budge.
That's how I got ducie street and oniton.
I shall...
i shall look around for you.
- Would you? - Yes.
Would you really? How kind!
I warn you, the house has not been built that would suit the Schlegel family.
It's no fun trying to help us.
Fun? No, but a pleasure and a privilege...
to do whatever I can for miss margaret Schlegel.
Thank you very much.
"Dear miss Schlegel...
dare I intrude on your holiday and request you to come up to london?
Where, I may add, you are greatly missed.
Matter is of some urgency."
But to interrupt your holiday!
And before we have undertaken any of our excursions.
You haven't even been to nine barrows down.
I know, but I shall be back before long.
Let me go up to town today, and take the house if it's possible.
Whose house is this?
Mr. Wilcox's. Are you being obtuse on purpose?
Look.;'owing to changed circumstances..."
he means that evie's getting married. That's his daughter.
"I no longer have need for a london house of this size...
and am willing to let it on a yearly tenancy."
It's perfect.
Out of all our acquaintances, Mr. Wilcox is the only one who stuck...
and yet we've met far more interesting people.
Interesting people don't get one houses.
I shall never forget that dreadful motor drive with that dreadful Charles.
My one consolation is that I was able to be useful to you girls.
Thank you, aunt Juley.
And now it is my turn to be useful.
This is the ballroom.
Goodness!
- Like it? - Rather!
Even I know a good thing when I see it.
Yes, but nowadays with evie always out with her fiance...
when I get home in the evenings, i can't stand the place.
- It would be very lonely for you. - Yes.
Do you ever get lonely?
I soon shall horribly.
It's heartbreaking to leave one's old home.
Goodness! How high this ceiling must be.
Yes, it must be over 30 feet. No, maybe 40, I should think.
Perhaps even more.
I've had you up here on false pretenses.
I want to speak on a much more serious matter than the house.
Do you think you could be induced to share...
i mean, is it at all probable...
oh, yes, I see.
Miss Schlegel...
margaret, I don't think you quite understand.
Oh, yes, indeed yes.
- I'm asking you to be my wife. - Yes, I know. I know.
- Are you offended? - How could I be?
Perhaps I should have written first.
No! Rather you will receive a letter from me.
- Thank you. - Not at all. And it's you I thank.
Should I order the motor around now?
That would be most kind.
I am warning you, evie, she will never set foot in this house.
- It's not my fault! - Of course it's your fault.
Going around hobnobbing with those Schlegel girls.
They're hardly girls.
L never dreamt of such a thing.
Dad took me to call, and made me ask her to simpson's.
I'm altogether off dad.
You've woken diddums. I knew you would.
Well, miss Schlegel's fairly got us on toast.
She always meant to get hold of Howards End.
Now, thanks to you, she's got it.
I call that most unfair.
Evie, why don't you pretend to break off your engagement?
Then perhaps your father will also quarrel with miss Schlegel.
Stop talking nonsense.
I'll get married as soon as possible, and dad can do what he likes.
Taking mother's place. The idea!
I could scratch that woman's eyes out.
Tootle, tootle.
Come on, dolly, I'll have a try.
It's no use talking.
We're in a bad hole, and must make the best of it.
But I'll keep my eye on those Schlegels.
And if I find them putting on airs with their artistic beastliness...
i intend to put my foot down.
Yes. Firmly.
I've had a letter, too. Not a nice one. I want to talk it over with you.
My letter's about Howards End. The tenants have decamped.
What is worse, he's trying to sublet the house.
What are you laughing at?
You haven't had a chance to talk with helen yet, have you?
- A talk with her? - Well, do before you go.
- What's the matter? - I'm anxious you two should be friends.
We've always hit it off together. We do.
There's no clause in the agreement to allow subletting. Read it yourself.
- That's awfully jolly. - Thank you.
Yes, especially that.
- Foxgloves. - Yes, dear old digitalis.
Digitalis. Sounds like a sneeze.
- Margaret, such nice news from Mr. Bast! - Really?
Good. Here we all are, then.
Mr. Bast is now with dempster's bank. That's his news.
Thanks to your hint, he cleared out of the porphyrion.
Not a bad business, the porphyrion.
I shall have to go to Howards End and take charge. I'd like you to come.
- Not a bad business? - I would like that very much.
- Good. What about tomorrow? - Tomorrow? I couldn't well do that.
You told us the porphyrion would smash before christmas.
Did i? Yes, it was outside the tariff ring at the time.
Took some rather bad policies.
Lately it came in. Safe as houses now. What's wrong with tomorrow?
Aunt Juley would be so disappointed if I left now.
- Didn't Mr. Wilcox clearly tell us... - yes. Let's talk about it later.
Aunt Juley regards this...
now it turns out it's safe as houses, and Mr. Bast should never have left...
at a greatly reduced salary.
My dear helen, I grieve for your clerk. I really do.
But it is part of the battle of life.
Battle of life? A man who had little money has less, owing to us.
Come, come. You're not to blame. No one is to blame.
- Is no one to blame for anything? - I didn't say that.