Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011): Season 2, Episode 4 - Episode #2.4 - full transcript

LAURA: 'It had taken many months

'for Miss Ellison to secure
an invitation to the rectory

'for a humble postman, however devout.

'Miss Margaret had been praying

'that her father would make
Thomas Brown feel welcome.

'But families have a habit of
never quite behaving as to plan.'

- Are you ready?
- Yes. Yes.

KNOCKS ON DOOR

Father, Mr Brown is here.

He's a little hard of hearing.

KNOCKS ON DOOR



Father?

SCREAMS

SOBS

CHILDREN LAUGH

Lizzie, love, it's a funeral.

Shouldn't you walk with her, Thomas?

That would not be appropriate.

I'm not a relative.

No, but you're her...

LAURA: She just seems so alone.

Those who have faith
are never alone, Laura.

No. Of course not.

What's she going to do, Ma?

She's going to have
to leave the rectory.



EMMA: Well, she might
stay on as housekeeper

if the new vicar ain't married.

But he will be, surely.

I mean, most men are married.

Oh, careful, Thomas.

Thank you, ma'am. I just lost my...

CHILD SCREAMS

Disgraceful. The Turrills want to
take them Arless urchins in hand.

I don't know. That didn't
sound like larking around to me.

You go on.

- My arm!
- Sally.

Her arm's all funny.

SALLY CRIES

Can you feel your fingers?
Can you move your fingers?

Do you think it's broken?

MAN: It could be a dislocation.

Sally, isn't it?

SALLY SOBS

Do you mind if I have a look?

Ow!

- Uh, excuse me, sir.
- Yes, it's dislocated.

- Sir?
- Ow!

You'll be fine. Keep your arm like that.

You'll need to put something cold on it.

Say, love, I'm going to
carry you home, all right?

Lift you up...

I've got her. You go ahead.

Thank you, sir.

MARGARET: Will you be
coming back to the rectory?

EMMA: Back to the rectory?

I have laid on a few light refreshments.

Emma, you have been
such a kind friend to me.

I hope you'll both come.

Thank you.

I take it Thomas Brown
will be there also.

Oh, yes.

Mr Brown has been a tower of strength.

Miss Margaret?

Miss Margaret.

MARGARET SOBS

That was him, Ma.

The man on the road.

Master George.

It is most kind of you to make room
for me in your carriage, Councillor.

And since I am enjoying your comfort,

there is a council matter
I would like to raise.

Oh, dear.

Our last exchange on a council
matter left me rather out of pocket.

My only hope

is that Thomas Brown will have
a lavish enough wedding reception

that I can recoup a little of the loss.

Mr Dowland, I can't begin to
tell you how presumptuous that is.

As far as I'm aware,
there has been no proposal.

And anyway, who's to
say she would accept?

- Let alone that...
- Of course she will accept.

Really? Not every woman...

I simply meant that Thomas is a good man

and they seem exceptionally well suited.

That is true.

Thank you.

Actually, this is what I
wanted to talk to you about.

The road between Lark Rise and
Fordlow is in a terrible state.

Look what just happened to Sally Arless.

It isn't council land.

The maintenance of the path
is a matter for the landlord.

But as the landlord is absentee...

Exactly. Our hands are tied.

Oh, for goodness' sake!

I will bring the subject
up at the next meeting.

We can draft him a letter.

And how long will that take?

How many children could be
hurt between now and then?

- Could you stop here, please?
- Steady.

Whoa.

What are you doing?

I am going to Lark Rise
to visit Sally Arless.

I brought you some ginger cordial.

Thank you.

Are many people still here?

A few.

They're...all concerned for you.

If you're ready, I could accompany you.

What can they think of
me after such an outburst?

They think, as I do,

that you have borne your loss
with great dignity and fortitude.

And no-one can be surprised that there
are moments when you're...overcome.

There is, of course,
a little curiosity...

in certain quarters

as to the identity of the gentleman.

I expect there is.

Been some talk, some
speculation, that he is your...

My brother.

As you may have gathered,
we are estranged.

Well...I'm sure you have good reasons.

I am so afraid you
will think less of me.

I would never do that, Margaret.

Oh, Thomas, George Ellison
is a sinner and a reprobate

and he broke my father's heart.

He is a man who...

I can hardly even say it.

...a man who denies the
very existence of God.

Oh, my! I never met anyone who
don't believe in God before.

Not that I know of, anyhow.

God or no God, I'd shake his hand
for what he did for our Sally.

ROBERT: You're right there, Alfie.

We ought to do something
about that road.

A footpath or a walkway or something,
just to make it safe for the little 'uns.

And the old 'uns.

I don't much like walking it myself.

What do you think, Twister?

I reckon I'll be next.

That old parson was younger than I am.

Don't start that, you old goat.

Parson didn't have Queenie's
fine mead to keep his strength up.

He didn't have to go out digging
stones out of Old Monday's fields

in all weathers, neither.

With rheumatics.

Weren't much sign of rheumatics

when Old Monday was looking for
someone to dig a new lap trench.

I ain't never seen a man
move so fast...the other way.

What does he do with all them
stones you dig out of his field?

I reckon he goes out there
at night and puts them back.

There's one big bugger I'm
sure I've dug up ten times over.

Why do you want to know?

He's thinking, "Wouldn't they be
just the thing for the footpath?"

That's my Laura.

How the Reverend could ever cast
aside a child of his, I'll never know.

Reckon his Bible must
have had a page missing -

the one with the prodigal son.

Perhaps he turned over two at once.

Oh, Master Georgie...

Sorry to intrude.

Miss Lane told me I might
find young Sally here.

Yes, sir, and right as rain she is
too, after what you've done for her.

Robert Timmins. We meant no
disrespect for the dead, sir.

None of us did.

No, sir. Nor did I.

It's a fine piece of
Forest of Dean granite.

Your sister chose well.

Must be good to have
such skill in your hands.

There's quite a skill in yours,
the way you fixed up Sally.

Half-baked, Robert.
Half-finished.

No real use to anyone.

Never really thought
it would come to this.

I mean, I always expected
I would see him again.

I had a few run-ins with your
father on matters of principle.

He was a formidable opponent.

He was a bully, Robert.

I know that.

And yet, he was still my...

I should be paying you for this
work. I have no money. I should, uh...

You owe me nothing.
I've been paid in full.

No, it should not only be
my sister who... Please.

Look, I have no money,

but I have a strong back
and I'm not afraid of work.

You need a path from here
to Fordlow. Let me lay it.

There is no need. The men
of Lark Rise can lay a path.

I need to do something.

Please.

He was MY father, too.

No, Robert.

Emma, he has offered
to work on the road.

All he needs is space for a
few nights to lay his head.

We can do that.

No, we can't.

Master George...

You are a welcome visitor here

and your offer is most generous.

But I'm afraid we cannot
have you stay in this house.

For God's sake, Emma,
the man is grieving.

Miss Margaret is my friend.

And the way things are between you,

if she were to come
tomorrow and find you here

it would hurt her dreadfully.

And I cannot do that to her.

No, I wouldn't want you to.

ROBERT: The Arless cottage is empty.

And have Cabbage Patterson
cart him off for squatting?

Laura, are you ready to leave?

Yes, ma'am.

George, it's getting terribly late.

Do you have somewhere to stay?

Father,

what would you want me to do?

You've read Mr Darwin?

I have his letters on geology in my bag.

I haven't read those.

He wrote them to his
great friend and mentor -

a theologian, believe it or not.

I do believe it.

I don't think his ideas have
to be incompatible with faith,

as I have tried to tell my
chief postman many times.

But I see you are also a
student of Herbert Spencer.

Psychology does intrigue me, yes.

With all of Candleford
to study, no doubt.

Not at all.

And I read a great many things.

Indeed.

There's a rather well-thumbed
copy of Don Juan here.

Bookmarked.

Laura. She thinks I don't
know that she reads it.

I've told her she's too young, but
I suspect the illicit nature of it

is part of the appeal.

It certainly was for
me when I was young.

And I'm sure my father
was just as aware as I am.

My father wouldn't have had such a
book within a mile of the rectory.

No, and possibly not much house
room for Mr Darwin, either.

The thing is, I don't
think it was the atheism

that angered my father so much.

He probably could have lived with
that if I'd kept quiet about it.

The refusal to go to church, though...

I suppose I humiliated him.

So he found it necessary
to do the same to me.

How?

I was more than halfway through
my medical degree, loving it.

But a university education costs money,

and my father did not
consider my behaviour

worthy of the considerable financial
sacrifice that he had to make.

He cut you off?

I think all he wanted
was my capitulation.

Had I come back suitably
humble and acquiescent...

But the day after I received his letter,

I left Oxford.

Ten days after that, I
was on a ship to Malacca.

The one thing my father did
bequeath me was his stubborn nature.

And you never saw him again?

I read about his death in a newspaper
in the public library in Bristol.

Oh, George, I'm so sorry.

Minnie left the spare bedding
outside the men's dorm, Mr Ellison.

Thank you. I'll try not to wake them up.

I'm off to bed myself, ma'am.

If I could just take something to read?

Of course, Laura.

Night, ma'am.

Night!

Thank you for this, Dorcas.

I have the opportunity to
work my passage to Brazil,

try my luck there.

You can stay as long
as you like, George.

I'm glad you will have another chance

to make things right with your sister.

There's nothing in the
world that I would like more.

Good morning.

Miss Margaret! This is early for you.

Lots to do, Emma. Lots to do.

Robert, I passed your yard.
That piece of Forest of Dean.

Your father's. I've
begun work on it already.

Oh, thank you. Thank you! Now...

Miss Margaret, yesterday, Master...

I do not wish to talk
about yesterday, Emma.

This morning, I am
looking to the future.

Very soon, Fordlow church will have a new
vicar and I must prepare for his arrival.

But...

To that end, I have begun
clearing out my father's things.

He had good-quality clothing
with many years' wear left in it.

Now, I am being scrupulously
fair in dividing it equally

among the men of the hamlet,

but, Robert, I wanted
to give you first choice.

I believe I'm a slightly larger
build than your late father.

Thank you, Miss Ellison.

Oh!

Oh, dear. What a shame.

Edmund!

Ah, George.

I don't think you two gentlemen
have been properly introduced.

I know who he is, Miss Lane,

and he's not someone I would
dignify with the word "gentleman".

Thomas!

A good Christian woman has
been brought low with grief,

plunged into the very depths of despair,

by the wicked nature of this man.

May I remind you, Thomas,
that George is also bereaved?

Bereaved?

This is a man who's made a mockery
of everything his father stood for.

This is a man who denies
the very existence of God!

MINNIE CHUCKLES

Tell me, have I been misled, sir?

No, sir. You have not.

Then I would say, Thomas, that he is
even more deserving of our sympathy,

for he bears the heavy burden of grief

without the comforting
promise of an afterlife.

I cannot break bread with
such a man, Miss Lane.

WOMAN: Good morning, Thomas.

CHILDREN CHATTER

And then I awake to find the
godless heathen's been given lodging

in my own dormitory.

Well!

A pious man like Thomas Brown
being made to lodge with a Catholic!

He isn't even a Catholic, Miss Ruby.

RUBY MOUTHS

No, Ruby, that is not what it means!

Is there any mail for
me, Thomas?..Ladies.

Yes, Mr Dowland, sir.

Mr JD, what is your opinion
of Miss Ellison's brother?

You must remember him from Lark Rise.

The rector's son and myself did
not move in the same circles.

Mmm, no. No, course not.

He's a little younger, too.

But considerably less refined.

He was dressed as a common labourer.

Miss Ellison MUST stand firm.

I am sure that the diocese will
not want a person of that persuasion

loitering round the rectory.

She has her own position
to consider, poor woman.

Her father gone, a new vicar at Fordlow,

her future uncertain
- I don't know how she can bear it.

Certainly, if there was something I
could do to ameliorate the situation,

I would not hesitate.

Yes, Thomas Brown,
isn't it about time...

Ruby, ssh.

- You did say...
- Ssh!

- What?
- Nothing.

Oh, good Lord! The Royal
Mail must not be late.

Some water.

Thank you.

Remember that heron you found as a boy,

how you fixed its wing,

fed it up again till
it was ready to fly?

Isn't that different, really, is it?

Still fixing things.

Fixing what I can.

What you ask is impossible, Miss Lane.

My father is barely cold in his grave!

But had your father lived, he might
have softened towards your brother.

Had George not broken his heart,
he might have lived longer.

He might not have been so...

Things might have been different.

Miss Ellison,

I too have suffered bereavement.

It is a lonely place.

When my own father died,
I would have given anything

to have a sibling at my
side to help me through.

A sibling is not always
a comfort, Miss Lane.

In a week, George sails for Brazil,

perhaps for good.

This opportunity may not come again.

You have both lost so much.

My brother had a choice
about what he lost, Miss Lane.

Did he really?

Miss Margaret, surely one
cannot believe to order,

any more than one can
force oneself to love.

I think Brazil is for the best.

Monkeys? That's a good 'un.

Mind you, I always thought my
grandpa had a look about him.

I think Mr Darwin means a little
further back than that, Minnie.

Miss Lane thinks the same as Mr Ellison.

She swears by it. It's in
one of her favourite books.

And have you seen Thomas
Brown picking his teeth?

I think Miss Lane still
believes, as far as I know.

Well, I don't think
Miss Ellison's a monkey.

I think she's a silly goose for
carrying on so just about that.

If my sisters were to come back home,

I wouldn't care if they
believed in God or monkeys

or running around like savages.

I'd just hug them up to
me and never let them go.

Oh, Minnie!

And I don't think Miss
Lane's a monkey, neither.

She's more like a cat with
a saucer full of cream.

And Miss Pearl is a peacock.

And Mr JD?

Well, a golden lion, of course!

Morning, ladies.

BOTH: Morning, Mr JD.

I hear you have a guest
at the post office.

Enjoying his company?

Oh, Miss Lane is. They've
both read so many books.

They leave me behind a little.

And they leave me so
far back it's yesterday!

Well, I shouldn't worry about that.

For all George Ellison's great learning,

it hasn't brought him much
prosperity or peace of mind.

Mmm, perhaps not.

I was never one for books myself.
Personally, I prefer action.

You can tell Miss Lane that
I've spoken to the mayor

and he has agreed to
write to the estate manager

concerning the Lark Rise road.

Oh, I don't think
that'll be necessary, sir.

My pa and Mr Ellison have it in hand.

Is this correct, Thomas? It
seems a little more than usual.

That is the amount I intend to put by
for the foreseeable future, Miss Lane.

Oh! Are you saving up
for something special?

A rainy day is all, ma'am.

Of course.

Thank you.

- Thomas?
- Miss Lane.

The rainy day might come sooner
if you were to actually...

I know there is some
sense of...expectation.

But if you are unsure in any way
about your feelings for Miss Ellison,

you should not let...

I am not unsure. My feelings
are not in doubt, Miss Lane.

I want... I WILL, soon.

When you've saved a little more.

Yes.

- Thomas?
- Ma'am?

I do think you would make Miss
Ellison the most excellent husband.

I...I hope...

And I do hope the arrival of
Mr Ellison has not in any way...

What I mean is, "I am
not my brother's keeper."

Ah, Genesis 4:9.

Think you'll find it's
a question, ma'am -

"Am I my brother's keeper?"

THOMAS SNIFFS

- I ain't gonna wear them.
- You don't have to!

- Can't you give them back, then?
- No. It'd hurt her feelings.

Reckon that's it for tonight,
boys. Working day tomorrow, huh?

EMMA: Looks good.

That's a fine pair of long drawers
you got there, young boy chap.

Do you want them?

No, I don't wear them in the summer.

I just like to let the air,
you know...circumnavigate.

MEN LAUGH Alf?

No, thank you.

There's a fellow standing in the west
field might be glad of them, though.

The sight of those will keep the
crows off the peas for months.

In all the years I
have known your sister,

I have found her to
be the most reasonable,

generous-spirited woman.

To see her like this, refusing
even to consider to listen...

She must be in great torment.

Are you saying I shouldn't do this?

I shouldn't stay?

I don't know, George.

I am beginning to feel this
might not be the best time.

Perhaps a more gradual approach
- some letters.

Then you could return
another time and...

From Brazil?

Surely there could be an
opportunity for you nearer home.

Home.

There were so many
memories in Lark Rise today.

My father, Margaret.

She and I used to play
cricket in the wheat field.

Cricket! Miss Ellison?

My sister had an excellent
bowling action, I'll have you know.

It's strange to feel part
of a place, I suppose.

I hadn't felt like that in a long time.

I liked it.

I can understand that.

I don't mean to add to your burden,

but your sister has a future.

I wouldn't like to think
her hopes, Thomas's hopes,

hopes that have been
nurtured for some time now,

that they were jeopardised by...

I wouldn't want that, either.

But, Dorcas, what if I were
to leave it too long again?

Anyway, I have made an
undertaking about the road.

I know.

KNOCK AT DOOR

Is everything all right, Laura?

You didn't come in for anything to read.

I'm fine, Miss Lane.

But you never go to bed without a book.

Maybe I shouldn't read so much.

All these new ideas,

things changing all the time.

It's confusing.

Maybe it would be simpler not to think.

This used to be my room, you know?

Would you like to see my darning?

It's the whole thing, nearly!

Your stitches are so tiny.

Miss Lane, this must
have taken you ages.

It took me a whole winter.

It's beautiful.

It's ridiculous.

I never wore it.

My mother turned it out from somewhere

and gave it to me to darn
when the men were indoors.

It was not thought proper

to do ordinary sewing in
front of them in those days,

and one could not sit idle, hmm?

So she cut holes in a stocking

and I had to darn them up again.

And that was considered industrious.

Be glad things are changing, Laura.

Take hold of ideas.

You don't have to agree with them,

but never, ever shy away.

Be glad there are so many better
uses of a woman's time than this.

Good night, Miss Lane.

Good night.

"Our Father, who art in
Heaven, hallowed be thy name."

Beautiful words, them.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done..."

Thomas...

"...on Earth as it is in Heaven..."

Thomas!

"Give us this day our daily bread..."

Thomas!

I grew up in a vicarage.

That isn't going to work.

Thomas...I have to ask -

..my being here, might
it deter you in any way...

My sister.

I am bound by my faith
to be honest with you.

I have seen an unforgiving
side to your sister.

And a troubled family
is not a place of peace.

The truth of it is...

I...I don't know.

Morning.

I'm looking for Miss Lane.

She'll be down soon.

It's a bit early for Dorcas.

- George Ellison.
- James Dowland.

Ah! The Golden Lion.

I've heard much about you.

And I you.

I believe you are building
a footpath at Lark Rise.

Helping with it, yes.

Good heavens, Councillor.
This is an early call.

I'm riding to Banbury on business.

It might be wiser to
leave it to the landlord.

He could pay a gang of men
to complete the work quickly,

using modern methods, proper materials,

not stones from the fields.

I see the whole town is
conspiring to have me gone.

The Councillor doesn't know

when these up-to-date methods and
materials might arrive, George, or if.

- We are writing.
- Well, in the meantime...

I have building projects
of my own. I know people.

I am meeting a supplier today

who, once we have the landlord's
agreement, would be eager...

Mr Dowland, I have spent my
whole life leaving work undone,

things unresolved.

Not this time.

This time I will see it through.

Why is he so involved in all of this?

He's a good man.

And I suppose I'm not?

I didn't say that, Mr Dowland.

Believe it or not, I
wasn't talking about you.

- But...
- But what?

Well, frankly, I find your
attitude to this rather puzzling.

Since your arrival in Candleford,

you have made much of the
benefits of improvement

and have been impatient in
your desire to bring it about.

Indeed. Often in the face of
considerable opposition from yourself.

Yet here we have genuine
need for improvement

as a matter of some urgency

and you are not only
dragging your own feet

but advising those addressing
the issue to do the same.

I am merely following the correct...

Which does lead me to wonder whether your
enthusiasm for the benefits of improvement

only exists when there is also
a benefit for James Dowland.

It doesn't really matter
what I do, does it, Miss Lane?

In your eyes, my motivations will
never be anything other than base.

I had thought better of you than that.

BIRDS SING

Beautiful, isn't it?

Mr Ellison!

How funny. I was just
thinking about you.

- Oh, dear.
- Nothing bad.

Just...

Well...how...

How could I look at all
this and not believe in God?

Is that a very silly question?

Not at all. It's one
I sometimes ask myself.

So it must be extremely erudite.

Strange thing is, I remember
standing around here when I was...

well, probably about your age,

and suddenly knowing that the
thing I felt here in nature

was the thing I was supposed
to feel in church and didn't -

the thing my sister
clearly felt so keenly.

- That's when you stopped believing?
- Not exactly.

I stopped believing
when I was at university.

The study of medicine,
all that disease...

Where was God in this?

And then I realised
- nowhere.

It seems so random because it is.

Isn't it frightening, the
idea that there is no plan,

no justice in the end?

I mean, do you know down
deep in your heart of hearts

that you ain't never
gonna see your pa again?

That's why it's so important
that I see my sister.

MACHINERY CLATTERS

LAURA: Miss Lane.

- Thomas...
- Yes, Miss Lane?

There is a telegram to
go out, for Miss Ellison.

It would appear that the
new vicar is a married man.

He has no need of a housekeeper.

She will have to find a
position in another parish.

No.

No, she cannot.

She...she must not. I
could not bear that, ma'am.

Then, Thomas, I think
the rainy day has dawned.

Yes.

And a man with responsibilities
could do with another shilling a week.

Thomas, are you taking...?

"Faint heart ne'er won fair maid."

BIRDS SING

Margaret?

Margaret?

This is silly, Miss Margaret.
Let me answer the door.

He'll go in a minute.

< Please!

He ain't a bad man, Miss Margaret,
no matter what he believes.

Look what he's doing for Lark Rise.

I have spent my whole life
doing work for Lark Rise,

yet he wins everyone's
heart in two days.

Sorry. I know I sound petulant.

We all appreciate what you do.

Appreciate. Not like, not...

You're the only one who...

I know they laugh at me.

No. Not half as much as they
laugh at him and his monkeys.

But yes, they like him.

And they like you.

It don't have to be one
or the other, does it?

Miss Margaret, you are as
much a part of Lark Rise

as any of us.

Really?

Of course.

Emma...

..I think my father kept some sherry.

Have you ever tried it?

Miss Margaret!

Miss Margaret, what is it?

Oh...it's all right, Emma.

I'd best get on, that's all.

This is yours.

I found it among his things.

My medical bag.

There are other things
- some books, certificates, letters.

Your property.

Why did he keep them?

Isn't it obvious, George?
He hoped you'd come back.

On his terms.

Were those terms so very bad?

Salvation.

Margaret, even you cannot believe

our father was in a
position to offer that.

It's very good to hear that sound again.

You always could make me laugh.

There was little enough
of that when you went.

We can make up for it now.

No, George.

I want you to leave.

Why? My argument was never with you.

I know your beliefs are dearly held.
Can't you see that mine are also?

You left me with him!

You knew what he was like and you
left me to cope with him alone.

In these 15 years,

did you ever once think about
what my life would be like?

And now he's gone

and you think you can just walk back in

and we'll be Georgie and Margaret

playing cricket in
the wheat field again?

I did think of you.

I thought of you often.

I thought of him.

Go, George.

Please.

If that's what you want.

I thought you would marry.

I didn't know that you would...

I'm selling his books, his library.

I will give you the
money, but please just go.

You think I came here for money?

I am simply trying to do the
decent...the Christian thing.

You're behaving exactly like he did.

I didn't mean...

Do you know what, Margaret? If you
don't like me being here, you go.

In case you hadn't noticed,
I'm building a road.

You look very smart, Thomas.

One day someone shall
woo me upon a bicycle.

All this fuss isn't making
it any easier, ladies.

Sorry.

Thomas, wait.

The gallant blade.

Make the ladies of Candleford proud.

Bye.

WOMEN GASP

RINGS BICYCLE BELL

MARGARET: Seems God's
purpose for me is elsewhere.

I hope not, Miss Margaret. I hope...

That will please my brother, no doubt.

Miss Ellison, it would
be... I would be...

I have waited so long to
show him how it feels, Thomas,

to be rejected, abandoned.

So why don't I feel any better?

Miss...

Oh, Thomas, I spoke to him so cruelly.

I fear I am a very wicked person.

No, no, far from it.

You are the least wicked.

Miss Margaret, you are the
person, the lady that I...

The look on his face
when I told him to leave.

Miss Margaret...

The terrible thing is I
wanted him to feel like that.

Miss Margaret, could we perhaps
not talk about your brother

for just a few moments?

- Miss...
- I was just so angry. So jealous.

My father had kept no
keepsakes from my childhood.

He needed none. He had you here.

Oh, yes, he had me here,

stuck in an endless round
of duty and responsibility

while the opportunities that
might have been mine slipped by.

"Opportunities...slipped by."

How tragic.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Opportunities, no doubt, which would
have thrown up more welcome suitors

than a humble postman.

Suitors?

THUNDER RUMBLES

Thomas?

RAIN POURS

Just a postman. Yeah.

"Opportunities...slipped by."

I'm tragic.

Ow!

RAIN POURS

Thomas?

THOMAS: Ow! Ow!

THUNDER CRASHES

Oh, Lord!

Thomas, I don't understand!

MARGARET SOBS

Mr Brown!

Thomas!

Please!

SHE SOBS

KNOCKING

KNOCKING CONTINUES

- Coming!
- You'll wake the children.

- James.
- It's Miss Ellison.

I was riding across
country from Banbury.

I found her on the road.

She didn't want to go home.
She would only come here.

I think, Emma, that I have lost it all.

My home.

My own baby brother.

I've lost him for ever

and it's my own stupid, jealous fault.

- I should go.
- Thank you, James.

Come on, Miss Margaret. It'll
be better in the mornin'.

But Emma, you don't know what I've done.

Ma'am, Thomas's bed ain't been slept in.

What if the weather was bad?

Perhaps he had to stay in Fordlow.

Thomas Brown is never late
for the morning delivery.

Well, it ain't gonna be ready
before school starts now, is it?

I am so sorry.

I think the rain has done most of it.

I'll put it right.

Oh, be careful, Miss Margaret.

You ain't been too well this morning.

When does my brother get here?

To be honest, Miss Margaret,
he is usually here by now.

Ma! Pa!

What's happened here?

Oh, Miss Lane, is my brother with you?

DORCAS: Your brother?

Miss Ellison, your brother has gone.

Brazil?

Um...Miss Ellison, have
you seen Thomas Brown?

- We have been to the rectory...
- No, not since last night.

Oh, dear. It is...all a little hazy,

but I fear I may have
unwittingly offended him.

Oh.

Oh, you didn't turn him down?

What?

Miss Ellison, Thomas Brown
came out here to propose.

And now, ma'am, Thomas Brown is missing.

Run on up to the farm, tell Old
Monday the postman is missing

and see if he can
send down any more men.

MAN SINGS IN THE DISTANCE

MAN CONTINUES SINGING

#...In life, in death

# O Lord, abide with me. #

Oh, Lord, I beseech
thee for deliverance.

Thomas?

Oh, Lord, did it have to be him?

I can go if you like.

No! No! It's my back, I can't...

Oh!

Oh, Lord, the pain! My back.

I am bound by my faith
to thank you, sir.

GROANS

Remember that chap hanged
himself from the dead oak?

Weeks before they found him.
Plague of flies we had that summer.

- Shall we go?
- Oh...

A scarecrow's drawers in a wheelbarrow!

And me a servant of Her Majesty.

Stop complaining.

No, children! Go away!

There's something living down there.

Miss Ellison.

Oh...

Oh!

Of course.

MARGARET: Oh, my dear, dear boy.

I thought you'd gone for ever.

How can you ever forgive me?

Margaret, I'm the one
who should be asking that.

Lord, save us.

It's like a miracle.

And you've brought me my Thomas Brown,

the man I hope to marry.

What do you say, Mr Brown?

Miss Ellison...

..it would be an honour.

Oh!

Easy... No, my back...

What?

It's all right, Twister. We got him.

- Who?
- The postman, you old duffer.

Get back to work!

I am at work!

Been sent down to fix the road.

Old Monday's paying wages for this?

The stingy old bugger
ain't paying himself!

HORSE HOOVES CLOP

Ain't it just wonderful, ma'am?

Yes, Laura. Yes, it is.

GEORGE: I hope there was
a time that he was happy.

MARGARET: I think he's happy now.

He's in a better place.

I'm too mature to rise to that.

You will feel very stupid
when I meet you there

and prove you wrong, George Ellison.

If I meet you there,
Margaret, it will be worth it.

Don't forget this. You'll need it.

I will.

And I'll pay you back, I promise.

Look what you've done
for me already...Doctor.

BICYCLE BELL RINGS

Still a little bit of discomfort...

LAURA: 'Thomas and Miss Ellison
did not rush into marriage.

'And Dr George Ellison
never did make it to Brazil.

'For though our new vicar
did not want a housekeeper,

'he was, it seemed, sorely
in need of a governess.

'So George's letters flew once
more between Oxford and the rectory

'and every so often
there would be another

'that we didn't have to
take out on the round...

'...for George had forged a
friendship that would last a lifetime.

'And in those shifting, changing
times we lived through...

'..we were going to need our friends.'

Why, Miss Lane, you are with child...

With somebody's child.

The noise, the disturbance, the smell...

Perhaps if we tried to amuse it...

Aaaah! Aaaah!

BABY CRIES

I want to lose myself.

Clockmaker, journeyman, wanderer.

I've never met anyone quite
so offensive, so insulting,

so judgmental...

A woman needs to be told how you feel.

Tell me about your plans.

My plans?