Cranford (2007–2010): Season 1, Episode 5 - May 1843 - full transcript

Cranford
1x05

Mary!

Mary! Mary!

Was it you who arranged
for the bells, Miss Smith?

Perhaps.

We knew you'd settled
on a quiet wedding,

but still thought a little
celebration warranted!

What next then, Mrs Hearne?

I'm gonna cook us our wedding
breakfast. Eggs and ham.

You can sit beside the range
in your new chair, and watch me.

But I'll want you to eat up sharp
and get out from under me feet.



Poor Miss Matty's not had her
pudding these past three weeks.

She's going to fade away!
I don't understand why
she's putting up this front.

Everybody knows that bank went down.
They don't know she had
everything she owned in it!

Anyway, I'm not sure it's
any of our business, Jem.
You made it our business.

You moved us in here to lodge!

I'm sorry it has come to this.
My mother's glad of the money.

I've brought you a book of verse.

It has that poem you like so much
by Mr Gray.

Miss Smith?

I was aware Mrs Rose
is staying at Miss Pole's.

But I didn't know she had
taken all her furniture!

Dr Morgan sent a wagon for it.

Have you seen Sophie?

She's gone away,
to an aunt in Shropshire.



I just don't know how
this trouble came about.

I swear to you, I sent no
valentine other than to Sophie!

Mary!

I must speak with you.

I cannot invite you to take tea.

Mrs Rose is in the parlour
and in the grip of melancholy!

I said to her, "The tragedy
of your situation, my dear,

"is that you've been
so very credulous,

"not only could you perceive no harm
in that vile man's actions,

"but you actually believed
he had your interests at heart!"

Married people are all the same, they
leave their judgement at the altar.

Do you know she'll not let me
reapply the blacking to her hair?

There's a great grey streak
right down her centre parting!

Is it true about Miss Matty?

That she's lost all her money,
and is destitute?

I never thought I would see the day
when I would part with these.

They were our father's.

I cannot recall ever seeing him
without a book in his hand,

or on the desk before him.

They are so very fine,
and they have been little used.

Perhaps it is right that you
should let the Rector buy them.

I think it is absolutely right.

It will add much
to the sum of his knowledge,

and something to the contents
of your purse.

I thought they would always
remain in the family.

But after our father died,

Deborah and I discovered that he had
willed them to our brother, Peter.

Mary knows all about Peter.

He was a scapegrace. He would
have thumbed his nose at them.

But father always hoped
that he would come home again.

If you'll pass me another
sheet of paper, Jessie,

we can get these parcelled up.

I shall see about some tea.

We have a deal in common, you and I.

We have both seen a sister buried,

and had someone dear to us
go off to India.

Did Peter go to India?

He wrote me a letter from there.

Just once.

He spoke of sending me
some muslin for a gown.

But it never arrived.

It is such a distant place.

So many things must get lost
on the journey.

Do you ever listen
for footsteps in the street?

At night, when you're sitting alone?

Major Gordon mostly called
on horseback.

But I cannot deny that sometimes,

when I hear the clip of hooves,

something inside me leaps up
for a moment.

And I wish it did not.

For I think it is not the
despair that hurts one,

but the hope.

Would you pass me the string?

Good afternoon, Mr Carter.
Good afternoon.

I walked up through the woods today.

There was a wild bee orchid,
right beside the path!

That is a rare thing.
I should like to see it myself.

I had hoped to return there
with my sketchbook.

Tomorrow, if I can,
before it has a chance to fade.

Miss Galindo, do you,
by any chance, know

how the deeds to Hanbury Court
came to be in the possession

of Lady Ludlow's bank?

Her ladyship expressed a desire to
see them, perhaps three weeks ago...

Her talk had turned to reminiscence,

and to her family's importance
in the history of England.

It was after that that she said...

she would like to see the deeds,

for some of the dates
had escaped her memory.

And so, to please Lady Ludlow,
you came into my office,

and you unlocked the drawer,
and you took these documents away?

Yes, I did.

Miss Galindo,

Lady Ludlow has mortgaged
the estate,

against my advice,
without my knowledge,

and as a direct consequence
of your assistance!

You left me with no choice,
Mr Carter.

I knew you wouldn't sanction it, and
so I dealt directly with the bank.

The power to make that decision
was entirely yours, my lady.

I thank you
for that acknowledgement.

I hope you see I do this
out of concern for my estate,

and not the lack of it.

My lady, money could have been
raised in other ways.

Do not even speak to me
of the railway!

I saw for myself the path
it would slice across my land.

I saw which fields would be
devoured, which buildings tumbled!

And the damage to Hanbury
would be irreversible.

Domestic economies are possible.

If you close the main house
and move into the eastern wing,

we could reduce your staff
by 40 or more.

And what will become of those
whom I dismiss?

House for their livelihood.

My lady, you house and wage one man

whose sole occupation
is the winding of your clocks!

I have a great many clocks, Mr
Carter, and Will Jones is mute.

Were it not for his position here,
he would be in the workhouse,

an institution I've heard
you say that you abhor.

My duty is sacred.

When I die I will hand my son
his inheritance intact.

With a mortgage on it.

Mortgages are there

to be paid off.

With what, my lady?
You have no money!

Your funds cannot support this.

I'm sorry I must speak so plainly.

Are you, Mr Carter?

Yes.

Because it grieves you.

What is it, Mary, dear?

Nothing.

We, the ladies of Cranford, are
assembled in Mrs Forester's parlour

today, in order that we might
resolve upon something.

Miss Smith,

yesterday afternoon I conversed with
all the ladies present here today,

on the subject of the misfortune
which has befallen our dear friend,

Miss Matilda Jenkyns.

I imagine none of us
is what may be called...

"rich",

though we all possess a genteel
competency, sufficient for tastes

that are elegant and refined,

and would not, even if they could,
be vulgarly ostentatious.

And every last one of us
has agreed...

...has agreed...

that whilst we have a penny to spare,

it would not only be our duty,

but a pleasure... A real pleasure!

...for each of us to give
what we can to assist her.

Mrs Forester, please, you're
betraying your emotions! I'm sorry.

I can hardly think of what to say,

in the face of such generosity.

You need say nothing.

We all know that if
the position was reversed,

Miss Matty would be the first
to offer help to others.

Even now she worries most about
ten shillings owing to the butcher,

because he is a widower with twins!

I'm sure that we can deal with that.

My sister and I are customers
of Mr Goddard.

And... and of course
we're also agreed,

that we wish to contribute our aid
in a secret and concealed manner,

so as not to hurt
Miss Matty's feelings.

That was my suggestion.

I understand better than anyone

that sense of delicate independence,

which exists in the refined female.

So, we will each write down
in a sealed paper,

what we can afford to give,

after which, Miss Smith, we hope
you will confer with Captain Brown,

and devise some scheme by which the
money can be passed to Miss Matty

without her knowing it is really
from her friends.

The most important thing

is that it should somehow
seem to be her proper due.

Perhaps as a result
of miscalculation.

By the bank.

Yes!

By the Town and...

Mrs Forrester!

There's no need to mention
the establishment by name.

Mary!

Mary!

Mary!

The truth is, Mary, dear,

I really have very, very
little to live upon.

Less than ?100 a year!

You have no need to make any such
confession to me, Mrs Forester.

I could not bear you to think that
the smallness of my contribution

in any way reflected
the affection and regard

I have for dear Miss Matty.

I do not doubt you
have given all you can.

When we were both quite young,

I was 20,
and she a year or two above,

my mother lay dying.

I had had to go to market,
with some plover's eggs,

and as I drew near to Cranford,

I saw Miss Matty with a man.

Mr Holbrook?

Holding a posy of primroses.

Mr Holbrook was talking to her
in a low voice.

And I heard the words,
"Please think again, I beg you."

Kept picking at the primroses.

I remember... the petals, in the mud.

I... I tried to creep past unseen.

It seemed such a very
private interview.

She put her hand on my arm,
and asked how my mother was!

And when I cried, she comforted me.

Even though her own heart
must have been so very full.

I have loved her ever since.

And that is why I am sorry
I cannot give more.

When I invited you
to Cranford, Frank,

I thought we would be
of help to one another.

You could build a reputation, and
I begin to retire from my practice.

But no-one will see you
since this scandal!

I work harder than I did before,
and your good name is in tatters.

But Dr Morgan,
I never courted Mrs Rose!

Or Caroline Tomkinson!

I fear you must move on.

I must seek a new assistant,
and you must start afresh.

Somewhere where you are not known.

It seems to me, Miss Matty,
that the miscalculation by the bank

has been your greatest
good fortune to date.

You will be in receipt
of ?50 pounds per year

in addition to the ?13
and 16 shillings

you originally thought
you were left with.

And with Martha and Jem paying me
rent, and the sale of the books,

will I have enough to live on?

You will still be living on half
the income you previously enjoyed.

You will have to add to it,

or else give up this house.

Miss Matty, we wondered if you
might consider setting up a school.

Well...

If I was not expected
to teach mathematics,

or French,

or accomplishments.

And I would not care
to teach the globes,

for I never did like the notion
that the world is round.

It makes me feel so giddy.

I suggest you open up a shop.

A shop?

In this dining parlour.

What kind of a shop?

I would advise you to sell
some sort of commodity

called for on a daily basis.

Tea would be ideal.

I couldn't. I couldn't!

To go into trade...

I'm sure your friends will accept
it, and admire your common sense.

Tea really is a very genteel
form of trade, Miss Matty.

It is purchased by people of every
class. Including the most superior.

At least it is not
a sticky form of merchandise.

For I could never bear to handle
things that leave a residue.

I'm not sure that I could
possibly consider it.

I might offend Mr Johnson,
by going into competition...

Would you like me to ask him?

...without consulting him.

Good morning, Mrs Johnson.
Good morning, Miss Jenkyns.

Last time you were
looking at the silks.

I was.

But today I should like
to confer with Mr Johnson.

What is it regarding?

Tea.

And if you would be so kind
as to tell Miss Matilda

there has been an error
in your butchery accounts,

we would be sincerely grateful.

It would be my pleasure,
Miss Tomkinson.

She was compassion itself
when the good Lord took my wife.

And Mr Goddard, how are
those dear little twins?

Oh, they're weaned already,

and the boy has begun to take pork.

Did you hear that, sister? Pork!

Pork.

It is testament
to your talent as a parent.

There was less noise when the
walls of Jericho were tumbled!

And less dust!

Dear Mr Johnson said my dining room
would make a very fine shop!

By the by, Mary, do not
stint upon the Assam.

I stood by his counter
for an hour yesterday,

and they were selling it
hand over fist!

I will stock any sort of tea
except the green kind.

So fearfully bad for the digestion.

I must say it will be bolstering
to Cranford's reputation,

having a second place
to purchase tea.

We will lose such face when
we're left with just one doctor!

Is Dr Harrison leaving?

The man cannot remain!
There has been such vicious gossip!

And Caroline Tomkinson
has been made ill,

clutching at that wretched valentine

and weeping over it
till it's more smeared and blotted

than it was when it arrived.

He is doubtless waiting
for a moonless night,

so he might slink away
without having stones thrown.

There's a letter come.
I think it's for Miss Smith,

but the hand's so blotched and
scratchy I can scarcely make it out.

Who is it from, Mary, dear?

It's from Dr Marshland.

I am aware that this is a matter
of the utmost delicacy.

But if we can prove the valentine
was in another's hand,

don't you agree
everyone would benefit?

Oh, get it out of the drawer.

What care I about it now?

I think we have found our culprit.

It is the same hand. Unquestionably.

Dr Marshland's hand.

You're in correspondence
with Dr Marshland?

Yes. He prescribes my spectacles.

These were sent to
Lizzie and Helen Hutton.

I show them not to increase
your embarrassment,

but rather to diminish
your distress.

You were not singled out
for mockery.

Are you seeking to defend
that Irishman?

No.

I am not.

I do not pretend to understand

the nature of friendship
between men, Dr Marshland,

but surely in its better points
it resembles that between women?

Where, then, was your loyalty
to Dr Harrison?

Where was your kindness and respect?

And where now is your compassion?

His career is ruined,
his reputation savaged,

and his courtship annihilated,

all by your wilfully
mischievous hand.

I urge you, sir, to apply your wits
to the resolution of this disaster,

as greatly as you did
the manufacture of it.

You may yet salvage
your connection with Dr Harrison,

but I fear my regard for you
will not recover.

Right you are, ma'am.

Sophie?

Sophie!

Sophie!

Sophie, are you ill?

Seeming more yourself.

So did I, Miss Smith. So did I.

Walk on.

I should say that apart from the
infamous springs of that coach,

the only disorder

is in her heart.

Is it diseased?

Well, not in any way I can help.

It has been woken up to love,

and found love wanting.

I warned him not to hurt her!

I sat with him, l-I spoke
to him, quite seriously,

and respectfully,
as though he were a gentleman!

Mm. I thought only to advise him
on his medical manner.

Much good that did.
Caroline Tomkinson was his patient!

And as for Mrs Rose! I've had to
prescribe a tonic for her spleen.

Lavish your daughter
with eggs and affection.

A girl's heart is a stouter
organ than is realised.

Dr Harrison.

I came to enquire after Miss Hutton.
Miss Hutton's not to be distressed.

And I'm under orders.

If you come anywhere near
I'm to go straight to the Rector.

Good afternoon, Dr Harrison.

I assure you, Mr Carter,
I had not the least notion

what Lady Ludlow intended to do with
the deeds! I am quite sure of that.

Just as I am quite sure that no...

no-one on this earth, man or woman,
could have stopped her.

I think perhaps the stems of those
flowers are still a little moist.

I should not like you
to stain your cuff.

Lady Ludlow was brought up
in a different century, Mr Carter.

She's had but two tasks
in her lifetime -

to bear her children,
and preserve her land.

The very thought
of that mortgage

must pierce her
like a shard of glass.

It pierces me.

I've worked beside her
these last ten years.

Oh, pray! Don't think
I disregard that.

Hanbury has been such
a large part of my life.

I was not yet 30
when I applied to Mr Boatman,

who managed the estate then.

He trained me in his ways, he even
let me get married to his daughter.

My wife had a little
money of her own.

And when she died,

it was put to me that I could
buy myself a small farm,

start afresh away from her memory.

But I could not part with the past,

I was persuaded by a friend to
invest in his mill, up in Halifax.

And without further effort,

I made more money than I could
earn in 30 years at Hanbury.

But when I went to see
the place that made me rich,

it sickened me.

There were children there,
dragging great sacks of wool,

sleeping under looms in exhaustion
- so pitiful it tore my soul.

I pulled my thousands out of there,
and just put them in the bank,

where they grow still.

And I cannot bear to touch them.

I sometimes wonder if

the presence of money isn't more
unsettling than the lack of it.

If only Lady Ludlow had come
to see me about the mortgage!

I might have been able
to dissuade her.

She has made her choice, Mr Carter.

Septimus came first.

All other things
were rendered secondary.

And the tragedy of it is, that
he'll never return to Hanbury.

And as soon as he inherits,
he will sell the whole estate.

No, Mr Carter.

The tragedy is

that Lady Ludlow knows it.

I'd like a pound, please.

Thank you.

I have tried.

But I can't reconcile myself
to this new... venture.

She's hardly hawking buttons
from a tray about her neck!

And Mrs Jamieson,
she's still our friend.

I know she's our friend.

And whilst I'm here in this room,
I am her friend, too!

Force me across that threshold,
and I become her...

...customer.

You rank so very highly in our town.

Your approval would mean much.

I will suggest a compromise.

Mrs Jamieson will take
a pound of Pouchong!

A very good choice!

If you'll just wait in line.

What a delightful
establishment this is!

It surpasses every description
of its charms.

We expect a visitor,
and require some tea.

Have you any of the green kind?

I stock it
out of deference to demand,

but I always advise
against its purchase.

Perhaps you would prefer some Assam?

Or Lapsang makes a very robust cup.

Sister, which do
you think would suit?

Perhaps a pound of each?

I'm entirely adept with scales, if
you require another pair of hands.

Sophie! I'm so glad you're home.

But you must listen to me.

Not everything was as it seemed!

Dr Harrison is innocent.

You're intolerably hot!

If he was innocent,
he'd have called by now.

He would have come.

You must try to calm yourself.

He cannot be ignorant of my pain!

You need the doctor.

It is the typhoid fever.

There can be no mistaking it now.
You mistook it before.

Sometimes it follows
the ambulatory pattern,

and the patient displays
no more than a general malaise
for the first two weeks.

After that, the disease
can take a very severe course.

What can be done for her?

If you do not object,
I might confer with Mrs Rose.

Her husband was known for his
fomentations and his poultices.

Dr Morgan, will my daughter die?

Miss Smith!

Dr Marshland.

I wondered if we'd be seeing you.

RAPPING AT DOOR

For pity's sake, Frank,
will you open the door?

I'm really sorry
about the valentines.

I only did it for a joke.

I know you're in there.

Listen, Frank, I'm with Miss Smith.

She says Sophie Hutton has
the typhoid fever. Typhoid?!

Are you sure? Am I sent for?
Dr Morgan is attending her.

I'm going to The George,
to hire myself a bed.

If you want to speak to me,
that's where we'll be.

I'll raise a blister
to draw her out of her delirium.

There must be no natural light
allowed into the room,

and no cold draughts.

Now Bessie, build up the fire.

We must provoke a crisis of fever.

Unto God's gracious mercy
and protection we commit thee.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.

The Lord make his face to shine upon
thee, and be gracious unto thee.

Lighten our darkness,
we beseech Thee, oh, Lord,

and by great mercy,
send us through the perils

and dangers of this night,
with the love of Thine only son,

our saviour, Jesus Christ.

Lady Ludlow will not sell one
single acre in her lifetime.

Railway money has a way of talking.

She may be deaf to it,
but there are those that listen.

There will be a line
to Cranford yet.

It may take longer, it may

but it will get there.

And I will be glad,

Captain Brown, is there no
other way for Hanbury to
profit from the railway?

Can we not sell you timber,
or fodder, or tools?

Could you supply us
with the quantities we need?

I don't know.

I'm afraid you do, Mr Carter.
You cannot.

I have been to the Miss Tomkinsons,
about the valentine.

I said I was sorry,
and they forgave me.

Did you go to the rectory? Yes.

I left a letter of confession,
addressed to the Reverend Hutton.

Was Dr Morgan there?
I believe he was.

He always advocates a purge.

If her symptoms are gastric,
rather than pulmonary,

then the effects of the fever
will not be beneficial,

but acutely dangerous.

If she vomits up all fluids,
and continues to perspire,

then the effects on her constitution
will be the same as cholera!

She will die, Jack.

Of desiccation and exhaustion!

What would you do?

Eradicate the fever,
not nurture it.

Cool her temperature right down.

They won't let you near her.

I am near her.

I'm in that room.

There's been an explosion,
at the railway works.

Two men are dead.

I've brought you Mr Carter.

This way.

This is not your blood, I think.

I was nearby a horse
when the gunpowder went off.

You will need an operation.

Soon.

Do you consent to that?

If you do it.

Miss Galindo, can you send to
Hanbury Court for a quantity of ice?

Of course. And see if a message
can be sent to Miss Mary Smith.

She has assisted me before
and showed great common sense.

Miss Galindo... Yes?

When you are done
running his errands,

come back to me

with a pen and ink.

And it's... out.

Next, I'll stitch back
the corner of the lid.

Jack.

What about the leg?

The loss of vitality is total.

No circulation, no reflex,
no choice.

It's coming off above the knee.

Come to me when you're done.

We need to prepare the tools.

And that is it.

Everything accounted for.

It must be signed and witnessed.

Mr Carter, I would be a fine clerk,

if I did not know the form
for such a thing!

Shall I ask Dr Harrison?

No.

I don't want him to know
I saw the likely end of this.

You sign it.

I'm a fool for indulging you,
Mr Carter.

There is no likely end.

You have injured your leg,
it will be righted.

That is all.

Now...

Put your name here, above mine.

I brought brandy, too,
and a quantity of linen.

Thank you.

You know as well as I,

that these are gestures
made in place of an apology.

We spoke in anger to each other,
the other day.

I am sorry.

You must conserve your energy,
Mr Carter.

I will speak with Dr Harrison
after the procedure,

and arrange for your return to
Hanbury as soon as he permits.

Miss Smith.

Help! Somebody, help!

Quickly!

His breath has stopped.

It is his heart.

It has given out.

His heart?

The doctors think there must
have been an unseen injury.

Possibly within the chest.

In a few moments you may see him,

if you wish.

Lizzie! What will father say?

I don't care!

Frank, you did your utmost.

KNOCKING
Dr Harrison, open the door!

Please come!

Who asks for me?

We do.

Fetch the ice. Now. All of it.

In there. Now.

Wait for me.

Not you.

Let him come in.

Dr Harrison and I have had
our misunderstandings,

but I've watched him work
for nigh on a twelvemonth,

and if anyone can save her now...

...it is he.

Go to her.

Thank you.

We need to cool her down now.

Walter died, when he
was crossing the equator.

I know, my love.

But I'm going to bring you home.

It's jammed!

The other Macintosh.

Belladonna?

Two minims.

Two?

Are you certain?

She hasn't responded.

Trust me.

Yes!

Building to a pitch.

Building...

And slowing!

Slowing...

Slowing...

You can sleep now.

"Graved on the stone
beneath yon aged thorn

"Here rests his head
upon the lap of earth

"A youth to Fortune
and to Fame unknown

"Fair Science frowned
not on his humble birth

"And Melancholy marked him
for her own

"Large was his bounty

"And his soul sincere

"Heaven did a recompense
as largely send

"He gave to Misery all he had,

"A tear

"He gained from Heaven

"Twas all he wished

"A friend."

There'll be a funeral, lad.

I might not be allowed to go.

You can put the lid on now.

It is you.

Yes.

I dreamed about a boat.

Dragged out of the water,

put upside down on the sand.

Why should I dream that?

Because you are not
going anywhere.

Clove rock for the children,

and peppermints for those who
scour their livers with green tea.

It's the only way
I can square my conscience!

Miss Matty, I had a talk
with Martha today.

Did you? Yes.

And there is a change afoot.

Well, my dear.
You must tell me what it is.

Poor Martha came to me
in some distress,

because she rather hoped
you might have guessed
at what will come to pass.

But you have not, and she
fears that soon her appearance
will cause comment in the town.

Mary!

My dear...

Is...

There to be a child?

A baby?

In this house?

I promise you, Miss Matty,

I'll make sure my lying-in doesn't
go one day over the fortnight!

God bless you!

Harry, please sit down.

I'm dirty from the cowsheds.

It is no matter.

Mr Carter,

who was a friend to you and me,

made a most detailed
last will and testament.

You are to have,
with immediate effect,

the sum of ?1, 000.

You may take from it an amount
with which to help your family,

but the bulk of it must be used
to fund your education.

?1, 000?

Just for my education?

Yes. It's too much!

You could build a whole school
with that. Everybody could go!

Mr Carter left

In total, he left
more than ?20, 000.

I have borrowed almost ?20, 000
from the bank.

It is a vast amount,

and I concede that it has robbed me
of my sleep and peace of mind.

Mr Carter has willed you
the whole of his fortune,

when you come of age.

On one condition.

That you must lend
the greater part of it to me

for the duration of my lifetime.

So that I may pay back
my mortgage to the bank.

And then, when I die,
and my son inherits Hanbury,

he must pay you back
with the interest accrued.

Mr Carter knew you well.

When that day comes,

he wants you to use as much
of the money as you wish

to found a school.

In Cranford.

But... he always said
you didn't want that!

I didn't.

That doesn't mean
that I was correct.

When we've finished our talk,
you may read the will for yourself,

and I hope that you'll let me know
what you think of it.

I think it must make you sad.

To be told what you must do.

You're not used to that.

Did Mr Carter want me
to go away to school?

He stipulated Shrewsbury,
in the will,

since it is not so very far
from Cheshire.

He also suggests at first you go
to the Reverend Hutton,

for instruction in the Classics,

and in that way you won't be
far behind the other boys.

He thought of everything, didn't he?

Yes. He did.

I shall do it all, you know.

Everything that Mr Carter asks.

And so shall I.

I don't know what to play!

I've hardly had the lid up at home
these past three weeks.

Every time I start,
poor Father says it pains his eye!

I'm sure the frailty will pass
when you get the bandage off!

Dr Marshland advises
a temporary patch.

I shall look quite the buccaneer!

Play this one.

Did I hear somebody outside?

I shall go and see.

It's probably Jem Hearne
coming home.

Major Gordon?

It has taken me three months
to travel back from India.

And I find I have not had time...

to think of what to say!

Well, I hope you plan
to propose to her again.

Miss Matty,

Major Gordon's purpose in coming
back from Chunderayabad was twofold.

To ask for Jessie's hand.

And to bring something for you.

Tell me that you know me.

You are my brother.

Peter.

I have brought you
the muslin that I promised,

for your wedding gown.

Though I fear
I am come a little late.

Tis no matter.

You have come home.

I'm holding back the mutton puffs.

Caroline Tomkinson!

Engaged to a butcher!

Well, that's the last we'll see
of elegant economy in this house.

Ham!

At half-past three.

He's arm in arm with Mrs Rose!

Ah! You're there!

An entirely predictable liaison.

I've seen it looming for some time.

Must be anticipated!

It is most irregular.

Why does the man
not sit upon a chair?

Perhaps the Orient
has rubbed off on him.

I hear tell that he's actually
quite weather-beaten.

Do not look to me to have it proved!

Every time I call,
he's in his room asleep!

I do not know who he is, that he
must be kept under a glass case!

Well! This is a monumental day.

Do try a little of
the cold roast beef.

Caroline will make a most
memorable bride!

She looks quite radiant.

There are some girls who do not
feel complete unless they marry.

I was never one of those,
but I think my sister is.

You have to consider her health.

What good is a husband
to the constitution?

I have spinster carved on my bones,

and the doctor is a stranger
to my door!

Oh, my dear Miss Matty!
This must be Mr Jenkyns!

I am the lady who is...

still Miss Pole.

Miss Matty!

I hope I do not intrude,

or tire you.

I grow stronger by the day!

I could not keep from calling,

once I had heard your news.

It is a delight, to see
the room so little changed.

I sometimes forget, that this
was the home of your youth.

My brother brought me a bolt
of cloth from Chunderayabad.

It's the loveliest of muslins.

I wonder...

Would you take it,
to be your wedding dress?

Oh, Miss Matty!

It is exquisite.

It was meant for a
rectory bride, my dear.

And now a rectory bride
will wear it.

Ah! My dear friend!

Congratulations!

Don't they look happy?

Congratulations!

Oh, Harry! Well done!

Good luck, Harry!

Now that is a shame.

That is the loveliest bridal gown!

Such beautiful material.

Such a fine, close weave.

**Fine**

Trad. Paulanna
Rev. AlexandraD