Your flight would spread the whole truth far and wide.
It would be impossible to save the family credit for a day.
It is not to be thought of.
Rosa, come here, child.
Yes, my lady?
What would you say, if after all
I let Mr Rouncewell take you away and have you educated
to be his son's wife?
I thought Your Ladyship wanted to keep me as long as possible.
But circumstances have changed.
You do like Mr Rouncewell's son?
Yes, my lady.
I have been selfish wanting to keep you for myself.
I shall be very sorry to lose you, Rosa.
Dear Esther....
Dearest Esther....
My very dear girl....
No.
My very dear Esther.
I hope what I write...
will not come
as too much of a surprise to you.
I'm sorry. Do I disturb you?
No. No, not at all. What is it, Esther?
Uh....
I should like your permission to make a short visit to London.
You remember Caddy Jellyby,
who married Mr Turveydrop from the dancing school?
Well, she tells me she's going to have a baby.
And Ada would like to come with me, of course.
She wants to see how Richard is getting on.
So, have we your permission?
Yes, yes!
I had hoped by now....
Well, never mind.
Uh, Esther, of course you have my permission.
My very best wishes to young Mrs Turveydrop.
Thank you.
Damn.
I'm very sorry. Mr Tulkinghorn's engaged.
I will see him. I will. Let me pass!
I'm very sorry, Mr Tulkinghorn.
I have had a great deal of trouble to find you, sir.
Have you?
"He's not at home. He's engaged. He's this and that. He's not for you."
Well, you're here now.
What have you to say?
That you have not used me well.
You have been mean and shabby.
I helped you to trap my mistress.
The dress the boy recognised. You owe me something, Mr Tulkinghorn.
My dear young woman, I owe you nothing.
You performed a service and you were paid for it.
You promised to help me.
- You said you would find me a good position. - I said I would consider it.
Having considered it, I decided against it.
Because I judge your temperament to be too fiery to be suitable for a lady's maid.
With a lady who was kind to me, I could be as meek as a cooing dove.
I think not.
- Then you will do nothing for me? - Nothing at all.
Then you had better beware!
No.
You had better beware.
If you come near these premises again, you may find yourself taken by the police,
strapped down on a board and carried through the streets for all to see.
What do you think of that?
I dare you to do it.
Don't put me to the test, young woman.
Rubbish.
Good day, Mr Smallweed.
- Rent! - Oh!
In due course,
Mr Smallweed, as promised.
Now! Or you're out!
Now we'll have some fun, Judy.
Rubbish!
Mr Smallweed,
I cannot make my key turn in the door.
Oh, dear.
And why is that, I wonder?
'Cause I had the lock changed. That's why.
Mr Smallweed, you....
- You cannot do this to me. - Done it, ain't I? Done it.
But my things.
My poor little birds!
- What have you done with them? - Outside in the alley.
You're lucky I didn't wring their little necks.
You're lucky I didn't bite their little heads off.
Well, go on, then. Hook! Sling it!
No come backy!
But Mr Smallweed...
where am I to go?
What do I care about that?
Who do you think I am? The Christmas Spirit?
Go on! Hop it! Out!
One, two, one, two!
Judy, take the broom, chase her out.
Right you are, Granddad.
There she goes.
Oh!
Oh, my bones.
Shake me up, Judy!
So, as you see, we're managing very well.
We've got more pupils than ever before,
and Prince has taken on three apprentices,
and I've learned myself to play the piano.
Well enough to get by.
But how will you manage when the baby comes?
Don't know, but we will manage somehow.
I'm sure you will, Caddy.
And it was you who got me started on trying to make something out of myself.
I'm ashamed to think of what I was like when you first met me.
All unpolite and inky and not a good word to say to anybody.
Maybe you don't see much of a difference now,
but if there is it's thanks to you, Esther.
No.
No, you've done it yourself, Caddy.
I wish I could say I'd done as much with my life as you have with yours.
Oh, Lord!
Mrs Guppy, is Mr Guppy at home?
Mrs Guppy, may I come in?
Miss Summerson!
This is indeed an honour.
Mother!
I took the liberty of sending you a note, Mr Guppy.
You did.
And I have it here.
Mother,
please.
I do beg your pardon, Miss Summerson.
Perhaps I could speak to you alone for a moment?
Mother?
I came here rather than to the office
because I did not want to cause you any embarrassment,
remembering what you said to me on another occasion.
Oh, yes.
Uh....
Forgive me, were you referring to the occasion when I
made a declaration?
Oh, Lord.
I feel a little giddy.
It's very hot and close in here.
Where was I?
You were saying that you made a declaration, Mr Guppy,
a declaration of love and a proposal of marriage.
Which you turned down.
You did. You won't object to admit that.
I don't object in the least.
You proposed and I turned you down. There's no doubt about that.
Thank you, miss.
I regret that my arrangements in life,
combined with circumstances beyond my control,
will make it impossible for me ever to renew that offer
in any shape or form.
That's quite all right, Mr Guppy.
I'm very sorry.
Truly, I am,
but it couldn't be, now could it?
You know?
But...
the memory of it will stay with me....
Mr Guppy, please, stop. I want to tell you why I came to see you.
I beg your pardon.
Please do.
When you asked me to marry you....
Which proposal has now been repudiated on both sides.
You also said that you might be able to help me
by making inquiries into my birth and my ancestry.
Yes. Yes.
And I have already made some discoveries.
I want you to stop,
Mr Guppy.
I have been told all the circumstances of my birth.
So I would be very grateful if you would make no further inquiries.
Is that all?
Yes, Mr Guppy. That's all.
Then, Miss Summerson,
upon my soul,
you may rely upon me
in every respect.
Esther!
Ada! What's the matter? I thought you were with Richard.
I went to his lodgings at the time we arranged,
but they said he'd gone out,
and they didn't know where.
Where else but the court?
Another adjournment, again. Nothing done. Nothing. Nothing done.
No, no, sir. Don't say nothing done, sir.
That is scarcely fair.
We have our shoulders to the wheel, and the wheel is going round.
The wheel goes round,
but it does need oiling from time to time.
Yes, indeed.
Which reminds me, there are some bills for you to sign, Mr Carstone.
Let's go this way, it's just a short step to my chambers.
Ada, Esther.
Whatever are you doing here?
Oh, Lord. It was today, wasn't it?
Ada, I'm so sorry.
It doesn't matter. I've found you now.
Am I forgiven?
Excellent.
Now, I know a very good place to eat. The devils on horseback are the best in London.
Do you know, I heard the most extraordinary thing from Tulkinghorn?
What was that?
Our neighbour, Boythorn, has been entertaining Mr John Jarndyce and the wards in Jarndyce.
And what should that be to us?
Mr Jarndyce is an old friend of yours, I understand.
They should have been entertained here,
not at that fellow Boythorn's place.
I'm sure that Mr Jarndyce wouldn't have felt slighted in the least
by not being invited here.
Well,
I disagree.
I've written to Mr Jarndyce to invite them all.
Welcome back. Welcome back!
It's been a bleak house indeed, without you to brighten it.
Indeed, I think the wind has been in the east ever since you went away.
- We weren't away for long. - I know, but you were very much missed.
The pair of you.
Now, when you're both ready, supper's on the table.
We've received an invitation
from a very august personage.
Sir Leicester Dedlock has invited all three of us to stay at Chesney Wold.
Now, what do you think of that?
Why should he invite us?
He knows we're friendly with Mr Boythorn,
and he hates Mr Boythorn.
I know. I was astonished myself, but you know,
there's a degree of acquaintance from the past,
and didn't you meet Lady Dedlock, Esther, when you went to look at the ghost walk?
I think you must have made a great impression on her,
and that the invitation really comes from her rather than Sir Leicester.
I'm quite sure it does not.
You are not intending to accept, are you?
Why not?
I couldn't possibly go.
Esther, why ever not?
If Sir Leicester thinks you're good enough for Chesney Wold,
- who are you to disagree? - I can't go.
Esther.
I've come to tell you why we....
Why I, at any rate, cannot go to Chesney Wold.
It is a secret, but I think I must tell you.
Go on.
I am Lady Dedlock's daughter.
She told me so herself.
And she also told me that we must never meet again.
So, you see,
the invitation...
it couldn't possibly have come from her.
Esther. Esther. Poor dear girl.
You must not tell anyone else.
Of course I shan't tell anyone else.
What a burden it must have been, to keep that secret.
It was for her.
Yes.
Perhaps.
Esther.
There is a secret I have kept from you all these years.
But now I think you should know.
The lady who brought you up,
who entrusted you to my care,
was Lady Dedlock's sister.
Her sister?
But didn't you ever suspect?
Not for a moment.
I did think you might have been her child, the sister's.
That would have explained why she broke off with Boythorn so suddenly.
So she sacrificed her life for me.
I wish she had not.
She never loved me.
She was right. It would have been better if I had never been born.
But then,
I would never have known you...
would I?
You have filled my life with joy.
But you have changed my life, too.
Oh, Esther, let me go on now, or I shall never manage it.
Our lives are changing.
Rick has already left Bleak House,
and Ada will not be with us much longer.
But I hope
that you will want to stay here
with me.
Yes, of course. If you wish it.
Will you stay here
as the Mistress of Bleak House?
As my wife?
I know the world will say
I'm far too old to offer myself as a husband for a young girl, but I can't help what I feel.
And I care for your feelings much more than the world's.
There.
I've said it.
I love you, Esther.
Will you be my wife?
May I think about it for a little while?
Of course. Of course.
As long as you like.
Thank you.
You tell your policemen to seize me on the street and bring me here, when I have done no crime.
What justice is this?
You've been annoying respectable citizens, mademoiselle.
It seems a friendly warning might be in order.
Who gives you your orders?
Is it my lady?
Or is it that devil Tulkinghorn?
They are both as bad as each other.
Is this a free country?
Where is liberté, égalité, fraternité?
You forget, mademoiselle,
we haven't had no revolution here.
I must ask you to write down your present address
on this paper,
so we can keep an eye on you.
Unless you'd prefer to be clapped in irons?
Tout suite.
All the same to me.
You are as bad as the rest of them.
Give me the pen.
There.
Much obliged, mademoiselle.
And that is all? I can go now?
Yes.
Yes, I will.
Aren't we all quiet this morning?
This is delicious, Esther.
No one makes blackberryjelly like yours.
No, indeed.
Is something the matter?
No, nothing's the matter.
That is,
- that we.... - Esther,
could you come and see me in the growlery in a little while?
Yes, of course.
What is it? What has she done?
Has she got the accounts all wrong?
No. Nothing like that, Ada.
- I hate secrets. - So do I.
Why didn't you tell her?
Tell her what, exactly?
That we are engaged to be married.
I wasn't sure I....
Esther, I've had an anxious night of it.
Are you sure this is what you really want?
Yes.
Or I would not have said so.
You wouldn't have rather carried on as we were?
I was surprised when you asked me to marry you.
You thought of me as...
a father,
rather than as a lover.
Yes.
But now, I think I could learn to think about you
in that other way.
Truly?
Yes.
Truly.
I don't know what marriage is like,
I think perhaps no one does until they try it.
And I think you and I
may do as well as others at it.
Dear Esther.
But, all the same,
I think you need time to accustom yourself to the idea.
And, so for now, I think it's best if we continue as we were.
At least, that is, as far as others are concerned.
And not tell Ada?
Not for the present. If you should change your mind, you see....
I shan't go back on my word.
Humour me in this, Esther.
Very well.
And now I have my work to do.
What an inspiring sight!
Captain Carstone.
And where is it to be now?
China? The West Indies?
The Hindu Kush?
No, we shall be quartered at Deal for the time being.
Well, not too dangerous, then.
Not dangerous at all.
Except to the pocket.
I've been...
wondering whether it might be best to sell out,
after all.
Dear me.
I am sorry to hear that, Mr Carstone.
Well, there are so many expenses.
Mess bills, stabling.
And one or two debts of honour.
Ah, yes.
Regarding which,
if you would be so good as to....
Thank you.
If I could only have some assurance of a speedy settlement.
Now, Mr Carstone,
you know me,
I think.
I am not the man to give assurances
when the facts are not certain.
What a man.
What a fellow. What integrity.
Yes.
Yes. You're a good man, Mr Vholes.
A true friend.
Should I sell out, do you think?
You might think that the best course.
You might very well think that,
but I would not wish to influence you
one way
or the other.
I am afraid that he has no present means at all.
Even if he sells out,
that money will be eaten up in debts he has incurred in the service.
Meanwhile, I have three daughters to support,
and an aged father in the Vale of Taunton.
How are they to be fed?
Now you mention it,
I've always found an application to Mr John Jarndyce rarely goes amiss.
But Mr Carstone has broken with him, has he not?
Perhaps he has,
but I fancy my friend Jarndyce
has not broken with him.
# Oh, what care I for house and land
# What care I for treasure-O
# What care I for my newly wedded lord I'm away with the raggle-taggle gypsies-O #
Very pretty.
Sir.
You startled me.
You like your work here, Rosa?
Yes, sir.
My lady is kind to you?
Very kind, sir.
She's fond of you, I think.
Rosa.
My lady.
Rosa, will you fetch my book?
I think it is in the little sitting room.
Yes, my lady.
What were you saying to her?
Nothing.
Merely passing the time of day.
I don't like your speaking to her.
She is a very agreeable young woman.
And I believe she loves you dearly.
I wonder what she would think of you if she heard of your disgrace?
You will have to forego that pleasure, Mr Tulkinghorn,
as I have decided to send her away.
No, you will not do that.
Do you presume to tell me how to run my household?
We have an agreement, you and I.
You will not draw attention to yourself by doing anything out of the ordinary.
I understand very well that you wish to protect your little favourite
from the taint of association with you,
but it will not do, Lady Dedlock.
If any action is to be taken, I will decide what and when.
Not you.
Oh, my bones!
Go steady there, you brimstone beasts!
Set me down gentle.
Judy, shake me up.
Afternoon,
Mr Smallweed.
What brings you here?
Just a friendly call, George.
How's business?
Quiet.
That's a pity.
I've come to call in your debt, George.
What are you talking about?
That debt was settled.
- And you know it. - Oh, no, George.
I don't think it was.
Settled? No, no, no, no.
Look here.
Two hundred and forty-three pounds, seven and tuppence, three farthings still owing.
Your memory must be playing tricks on you, my old friend.
You promised me
if I supplied a letter with the Captain's writing on it,
it would put me straight and clear.
And I did it.
Against my conscience.
And now you tell me I'm not straight and clear after all?
That's about the size of it.
Cruel world, isn't it?
What?
You little bloodsucker!
I'll give you cruel world.
I'll snap your neck for you!
That debt was settled, and you know it.
No, George! It's not me. It's him!
I'm just the messenger. He sent me to tell you.
Who sent you?
Oh, my bones.
For pity's sake, George!
Mr Tulkinghorn.