Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011): Season 3, Episode 8 - Episode #3.8 - full transcript

Pearl Pratt is struggling to maintain her business after Ruby's departure and is overjoyed when Enid, a brilliant seamstress, shows up in Candleford and works for her, revitalizing the shop. However, they fall out when Enid reveals she belongs to the Rational Dress Society, who oppose the wearing of corsets, and makes an oration outside the shop. Enid is also a runaway wife. Thomas and Daniel come to grief whilst playing conkers and Sidney goes to great lengths to prevent a goose being killed for Michaelmas.

'My Ma said that, of all the
bonds that exist between people,

'perhaps the sweetest is
the bond of friendship.

'For it is born not out of duty or blood
ties, but out of sheer delight in another.'

'How hard it must be to be
friendless in our hour of need...

'How bitter to be alone at
the moment of reckoning...

'And yet for some, it
was friendship itself...

'the sharing of our deepest truths, and the
trust in another's good will towards us...'

Good morning Miss Pearl. Good morning.

'that was the hardest path of all.'

But, Mum, what's so special about it?

It is a "Kitchen Delight"...



and it is extremely appropriate,
for I am thoroughly delighted.

It has a hot water
boiler and two ovens...

and these are the dampers and
flues, for managing the temperature.

No, no! Don't touch it!
No-one is to touch it.

I must learn its secrets first...

SHE RINGS BELL Service!

What are you all doing? I have
been waiting here for minutes.

Is there anything for me? No,
Miss Pratt, I'm very sorry.

No? You are mistaken...
look again, please.

I have placed an advertisement for a seamstress of the
highest order, and I am expecting a number of replies.

I have a very important commission
to discharge for Lady Whiteleaf.

I am to make the
trousseau for her niece.

It is a great quantity of work, and I must
engage a seamstress tout de suite, tout de suite.

Well, go and look, girl!



Blackberries!

We must make the most of them,
for soon it will be Michaelmas.

That's when the Archangel Michael and his
Celestial Army did rout Lucifer from Heaven,

he fell into a blackberry bush
and was scratched to pieces.

So he widdled all over
the brambles in revenge...

that's what my Ma said. He scorched
them with his fiery breath...

and every year he renews the curse at Michaelmas,
the day of his fall, the day of St Michael's triumph.

What Thomas means, Sydney, is that
the blackberries will soon go mouldy.

Because Satan has cursed them.

He wee'd on 'em! Because
the weather has turned.

Thomas, please do not fill
Sydney's head with talk of Satan.

He has been having his nightmares again.

We shall have a feast!

A Michaelmas Feast! Goose and
apples and all the trimmings!

And a Michaelmas pudding?

It's good luck to have
a Michaelmas pudding.

Miss Timmins! I am still waiting!

I am very sorry, but there are
no letters for you this morning.

I see I shall have to look for myself.

Well, this is quite a scene.

Picnicking on blackberries whilst
the customer remains ignored.

Miss Timmins tells me that there are no letters for
me, but I say, Miss Lane, that this cannot be so.

I regret I cannot magic into existence
letters that have not arrived for you.

Arrived and been lost, Miss
Lane, I have no doubt of it.

Lost in this disorder, this...chaos.

I hope you do not accuse me
or my staff of incompetence.

It is inconceivable that I should have
had no replies to my advertisement.

And yet we have nothing for you.

Good day, Miss Pratt.

Good day indeed, Miss Lane.
But be under no illusion.

I am NOT satisfied.

Chaos! Hoity toity.

Well, let us get back to work.

Oh, Thomas, there is
a parcel for Mrs Brown.

Thank you, thank you. Oh!

"It is inconceivable."
Minnie, stop it at once.

"I am engaged to make a pair of purple
silken bloomers for Lady Whiteleaf's cat..."

Minnie, you will apologise at once.

No, Miss Lane, I do not wish to
hear any protestations of remorse.

I see very well how I am regarded.

And it is of no concern to me,

SHE CLEARS THROAT I can assure you.

You will post this to Miss Ruby?

Of course, Miss Pratt,
there will be no charge.

"Six Beatrice chemises, three Alexandra
chemises, four Alice nightdresses,

"all trimmed with work, six Paris long-cloth
petticoats, two long cloth petticoats, trimmed,

"one dressing gown in fine cambric,
worked, one in hair cord, plain..."

it's too much, too much...

it's impossible!

How could you leave me, Ruby?

Minnie, could you fetch
some kindling from the forge?

I didn't hardly sleep
nary a wink last night.

I put an onion under my pillow so's I'd dream of my
Alfie, but instead I kept dreamin' of boiled beef.

Minnie. Well, no wonder!

It's not an onion you put under your pillow,
it's three bay leaves sprinkled with rose water,

and a sprig of rosemary
wrapped in a dock leaf.

Then you dream of your true love's face and that's
how you know he's your true love. No, no, no.

You know your true love by sums. You add up the letters
in his name and you add up the letters in your name

and then you add them up again, and then you times
them and the higher the number the truer your love.

'Tisn't sums, Minnie. Sums
and love don't go together.

Minnie...

oh, never mind.

And Laura is right.

What can mathematics tell you of a
person's heart that your own cannot?

Can I help you?

Oh... I was going to ask for the smith.

He is on an errand, I'm afraid.

Perhaps I can help? I own the Forge.

I am Miss Lane. You own the Forge?

Yes. And the Post Office.

My boots...

I have walked them almost to death.

They need a heel-iron.

Of course. May I see?

You have come far?

From Oxford.

These are not walking boots.

These... these are very fine. You
have walked from Oxford in these?

They were the only boots I had.

I hope I do not pry, but
I fear you are in distress.

I assure you I am respectable.

I do not doubt it.
Please do not be alarmed.

You have nothing to fear from me.

We'll see what we can do.

Thank you,

thank you so much.

It's just...

I am so tired.

I feel like I have been walking forever.

Do you have much farther to go?

I do not know.

I am seeking employment...

I must go wherever I can work.

What is it that you do?

I am a dressmaker.

My dear, I have something for you.

Thomas, you have bought me...

underwear!

It is German. German wool.

It is Herr Dr Furtwangler's
Sanitary Woollen System.

The good Herr Doktor believes
that only the finest animal fibres

should be worn against the
skin for hygiene and for warmth.

And with the cold weather setting in...

My dear, kind husband...

I urge you to put it
on at once, my dear.

A chill may strike at any moment.

What a beautiful shop.

I have never seen such a lovely shop.

Can I help you?

My name is Enid Fairley,
and I am a dressmaker.

You saw my advertisement?

I have excellent references...

I have been working with La
Signora Gianni in Bristol.

La Signora Gianni!

I am hard-working,
reliable and diligent.

And I am fast.

In truth, Miss Fairley, you find
me more a beggar, than a chooser.

Here, as you see, is all the work
you could wish for. And this shop...

my life's work is
dependant on its completion.

Then I shall start at once.

Mr Brown! What news? Crime?
Scandal? Politics? Events?

You must have heard some news, something, on
your rounds. You must have something to report.

You, I think, do not? Well, it has
been a slow week, it would seem.

I found this giant conker...

but I can't in all conscience
put it on the front page.

I can't even play conkers.

You cannot play conkers, Mr Parish?

I never played as a boy.
I don't know the rules.

I wonder if Sydney would teach me.

Sydney does not care for conkers.

I however may be prevailed
upon to give you instruction.

You play? Lord, forgive
me my vaunting pride...

I do play Sir. I am, indeed,

a Master.

A Master?

Then you must choose your weapon, sir,

for what I lack in experience,
I make up for in ambition.

You find me armed and ready, Sir.

Miss Fairley... your work...

it is sublime.

I am glad it meets with your approval.

My sister Ruby does all the
embroidery...did, I mean to say...

she is now living in Pontefract.

I do believe that yours
is superior, even to hers.

You must feel her loss.

Pontefract is far away.

I do feel her loss,

I do.

Indeed, I miss her dearly.

I see you have found some help.

Yes. She is a seamstress
of the highest order.

She has come from the great
Signora Gianni of Bristol.

She comes from Bristol?

But I thought. Did you
want something, Miss Lane?

No...yes...

I will take a reel of
blue thread, please.

Before we begin, we
must take a solemn oath.

To observe the first and only rule of conkers
- no tampering.

No boiling, no roasting,
no steeping in vinegar.

We must play them as you we
find them...as God created them!

As God created them.

Amen. It is gentlemanly
and sportsmanlike

for the Master to allow
the Novice the first strike.

Play.

Ha!

Do you think it will
be a happy marriage?

Lady Whiteleaf's niece?

I have no doubt.

He is of good blood with a grand
estate, many thousands a year I believe.

And she?

She is sweet-tempered.

Obliging, quiet, undemanding.

Obedient.

Docile.

All a husband could wish for.

SHOUTING OUTSIDE

Excuse me, Miss Fairley.

Stampsies! No stampsies!

Do you mind?

How dare you cause such a rumpus
right in front of my store.

I'm surprised at you, Thomas Brown.

Shame on you.

I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman,
but I have the stomach and heart of a king.

You didn't even have
to raise your voice.

I do not ask for much, Miss
Fairley, but I demand respect.

Indeed you do, Miss Pratt.

Indeed you do.

Laura, Laura! Can we do the sums?

The love sums? Do me and Alfie.

Minnie, I told you, I
don't believe in them.

Please...do me and
Alfie. I can't do numbers.

How much is it? Is it high?

Shh!

A hundred.

A hundred? A HUNDRED?!

I never get a hundred in anything!

Do you and Daniel! Oh, go on.
You might get a hundred too!

And if I do, will you leave me in peace?

Promise.

72.

72! Good night, Minnie...

A hundred!

72!

Miss Fairley, you must be fatigued.

I have made a bed up
for you in the attic.

I hope you will find the
accommodation satisfactory.

Thank you, but I shall
not sleep tonight.

I shall work on.

I love to work.

I live to work.

But I would be glad of some
company, if you are not too tired.

I would like to know all
about your wonderful shop.

It has always been my dream,

to have a shop of my own.

Oh, beware of your dreams, Miss Fairley.

This wonderful shop has kept
me awake on many a night.

Balance sheets that do not balance,
outgoings with no incomings...

it is a constant battle.

Then your achievement
is all the greater.

Miss Fairley. Enid, please.

Enid, would you care for some cocoa?

I would, thank you.

I confess I have a terribly sweet tooth.

My sister Ruby has a sweet tooth.

THEY CHAT INAUDIBLY

'Tis a hungry beast, to be sure,
Mum, I already put in a scuttle-full.

Miss Lane... Yes, Thomas.

I wanted to make a contribution
to our Michaelmas Feast.

Oh, that is very kind of you.

So I have brought you...

The Michaelmas goose!

Thomas, it is alive.

Goosey! A Michaelmas goose must be a
green goose, Ma'am, young and fresh.

It cannot be a hung bird.

Can I look after him, Ma, can I?

I'll take good care of him.

Yes, Sydney, you can look after him.

But you must keep him
outside, in the yard.

SHE SCREAMS, GOOSE QUACKS

Sydney!

Come on, Goosey, come on.

Thomas, I do appreciate your
gesture, but we cannot...

No, Miss Lane, do not
thank me, I beg you.

It is the very least I can do.

Margaret and I wish to make a gesture
in recognition of your great generosity.

FRONT DOOR OPENS

Good morning, Miss Pratt.

Good morning, Miss Lane,
good morning to all.

Miss Pratt, you are. Grinning!

She's grinning. What's wrong with her?

My post, Miss Timmins, if you please.

Miss Lane, may I introduce you Miss Enid
Fairley? She is working with me on the trousseau.

Miss Fairley, this is Miss Lane.

Miss Lane is our Postmistress.

And this is your Post Office?

It is so neat and orderly.

You have arranged it so well.

GOOSE SQUAWKS

Sydney, you must keep the goose outside.

He is a sweet boy. He is my son...

not by blood, but I am
raising him as my own.

On your own, Miss Lane?

Why, yes.

I feel as if I have fallen
into some kind of paradise...

a charmed land where women
are their own mistresses.

Here is Miss Pratt with
her own establishment,

and the Postmaster is a Postmistress.

I think I have found Heaven.

Lor, in't she lovely?

Come along, Miss Enid, we must get on.

Miss Pearl, the goose has
given me a wonderful idea...

for the camisoles, what do
you think to a feather motif?

Feathers worked as angels' wings. Yes!

In plain stitch, I think, don't you?

Good day, Mrs Hester...

Miss Norrish,

Mrs Foster, may I
introduce Miss Enid Fairley.

Miss Foster is one of
our very best customers.

Good day, Mrs Foster. Good day.

That's it, goosey, eat up.

Get yourself all fat and juicy.

Juicy?

Little Man, he isn't a pet, is he?

We're going to eat him,
aren't we, for Michaelmas.

But Ma said I could keep him.

Yes. Until we roast him.

I have brought you peppermint creams.

Thank you,

thank you so much.

Please come in and sit down.

Thank you.

Miss Pearl has...

Gone out. We know.

We hope you find Candleford
a welcoming place, Miss Enid.

Indeed, I do.

Everyone is so nice.

And Miss Pearl...

Miss Pearl is my saviour.

She is so generous and
encouraging and dear and kind.

THIS Miss Pearl?

Yes. This Miss Pearl, here?

My admiration for her knows no bounds.

Truly, she is an inspiration.

Independent, the queen
of her own destiny.

Is it not what we all dream of?

To be free,

to live our lives as we see fit...

to work,

not in drudgery, but to achieve, to
nurture our gifts, to express our talents...

to be of use on God's Earth.

This Miss Pearl, here, of Candleford?

Who makes the dresses?

Are you unwell?

Forgive me, I beg you. I fear...

I am at the mercy...of my...

undergarments.

My dear lady, we are all at
the mercy of our undergarments.

Eh?

I wanted to tell Ruby
all about Miss Enid.

I feel I have known her all my life.

We are like two peas in a pod.

It is most curious, is
it not, Miss Lane, how one

can find immediate, mutual sympathy
with someone one has known for days,

while acquaintances of years' long-standing
are never anything more than mere acquaintances.

I do believe, Miss Enid is an
angel, and has fallen from Heaven...

straight into my parlour.

Miss Pratt, I must ask you...
I sincerely hope, Miss Lane,

that you are not about
to dispense any wisdom.

I only wonder at such unguarded
enthusiasm for someone you know so little.

I would ask you save your
concern for those who...

care for it.

My dear, behold...

my triumph.

Thomas, your face! Yes, I did joust
with the Devil for him, Margaret!

Deep in a thicket of brambles he was, deep
in the clutches of Satan's thorny fingers.

I shall perhaps rub some vinegar
into him, to bring up the shine.

Might that not be
construed as tampering?

You are as always correct...

and indeed he does not need anything
to enhance his natural winning beauty.

And you, my dear? You have been
warm today, and comfortable?

I have certainly been warm, Thomas.

Too warm...

indeed, I think I shall
forego Dr Furtwangler tomorrow.

Oh, but Margaret, the
fluctuating temperatures of Autumn

can be hazardous to the
delicate constitution.

Very well then. Just a quick wipe
with a cloth, that's all it needs...

No!

I am no cheat!

Lord, give me strength.

I do believe I shall
take me to bed, Thomas.

I am tired and I seem
to have lost my appetite.

Yes, my dear, good night.

Do not tempt me!

Do not look at me.

No...

boil it.. no, no!

Vinegar.. NO!

Oh, Margaret! Oh, what? What is it?!

The Devil came to me,

he told me to boil it,

boil the conker in vinegar!

The Devil...

is in that conker!

Margaret!

No!

No, no.

Shh, shh.

Oh, my Sydney, what is
it that troubles you so?

You are so cold.

Enid, my dear, I have been summoned to Whiteleaf
Hall to show Lady Whiteleaf the work so far.

Look at me, I am all a-twitter.

Kitchen Delight? Truly you
have become my Kitchen Torment.

I will master you, if it
is the last thing I do.

Now, look who I found
on the Ingleston Road.

Sydney, you left the gate open. Ah!

A-HA! Ha ha!

I am going to eat BOTH your legs
when we roast you, you naughty goose!

Out you go, stay with
her, Sydney. Good boy.

Miss Lane,

a Missing Persons notice...

shall I put it in the window?

"Husband seeks errant wife. Thirty years of
age. Brown hair, pale complexion, of slim figure.

"Reward £500.

"Contact Mr Richard
Dempster, Esquire, Oxford."

Oxford...

£500?!

He wants her back some. Miss Lane?

I have a most strange presentiment.

I think it may be Miss Enid.

She was in distress when we first met...

and there are things that
simply do not square...

Put it on the fire, Laura.
And say nothing to anyone.

We will hear what she has
to say before we do anything.

Oh, Miss Lane!

Oh, Miss Lane,

Miss Lane.

You find me in a state
of extreme happiness.

I am come from Whiteleaf Hall...

Lady Whiteleaf has invited
Miss Enid and myself to dine!

She is so thrilled with our work.

To dine, Miss Lane!

I have been invited to sit at
her table, as her honoured guest.

You have never been to
Whiteleaf Hall, I believe...

I must tell Enid at once...

oh, Enid! Enid!

Oh, Enid!

Oh, Pearl!

She really liked our work!

What shall we wear? I
see us in midnight blue...

Would it be inappropriate
to take a Michaelmas pudding?

Or would it be a marvellous
gesture? Well, it doesn't matter now.

The important thing is that
we should look extraordinary.

Oh, Enid, this is our chance to
show Lady Whiteleaf and her guests...

to show the great and good our work.

Oh, yes! To show that we
are the future of fashion.

The future of clothes!
The future of clothes...

Oh, Enid, I cannot thank you enough.

When you came to me, you
found me half-broken...

lost and alone. You have...

restored me to myself.

Why do you smile?

Am I? I am ridiculous.

No, Pearl, no.

I smile because... because in describing yourself,
you could not more exactly have described me.

I feel that I am my own person again...

that here I can, at last, be
fully and perfectly myself.

Oh, Enid,

Miss Enid,

I offer you this ribbon

as a token of my esteem.

A symbol of our friendship.

Our friendship.

SHE GIGGLES

Your strike I believe, Mr Parish.

Play.

Oh, Thomas. I almost pity you.

Bad luck, sir.

Ha-ha-ha!

The Lord does love a righteous man.

One moment, Thomas, I will take a
look at that conker, if you please.

What do you imply, sir?

I hope I do not smell vinegar, Mr Brown.

Daniel! Thomas is not a cheat.

You will take your
defeat like a gentleman.

What is going on out here?

Mr Parish has thrown heavy words, Ma'am.

Daniel, you will apologise to Thomas.

Very well, we shall have
no more conkers here.

Thomas...

Daniel...

A fine example you
both are, I must say(!)

Miss Enid.

We are treating ourselves, Miss Lane.

To afternoon tea at the Golden Lion.

Tea for two!

Ow!

Minnie, I could pinch you...

you've got me doing sums in my head
day and night, every time I see Daniel.

And I don't even believe them!
Then why are you doing them? Ow!

You've got me doubting...

and now I don't know if it's the
sums that are making me feel teasy,

or if feeling teasy is
making me do the sums.

You see... Daniel, he has two halves.

He is gentle and loving and dear, and
he is fierce and proud and a sore loser.

And I don't know which
is the truest half...

which is the master.

It is a little frightening, to think you know so little
of someone, when you have trusted them with so much.

Ow!

Good morning, Pearl.

Good morning, E...

Miss Enid, you appear to be wearing...

an un-skirted garment.

Yes, Pearl, I am wearing trousers.

Or more properly, they
are a type of breeches.

You must know of The
Dress Reform Movement?

The Rational Dress Society?

Oh, Pearl,

I want you to join us! The Rational Dress
Society protests against any fashion in dress

that deforms the figure or
impedes the movements of the body.

Join us, Pearl! We are
the future of clothes.

Oh, dear God.

Clothes which are
healthful and comfortable...

and beautiful, Miss Pearl.

Clothes in which a woman may
be elegant and industrious,

active and sophisticated.

Give up your corset. Oh!

You are a radical! A seditionary!

Give up your petticoats.
You are a communist!

And an anarchist! Oh! Let us wear our trousers
to Lady Whiteleaf's dinner and start a revolution!

Indeed no! There will be
no trouser-wearing here.

There will be no revolution! Have you
taken leave of your senses, woman? But...

But you are my inspiration...

the queen of your own destiny...

The queen? Do you think I have chosen this
life...this life of solitary labour and toil?

But...you have the heart
and stomach of a king.

You are quite...

mistaken in me.

So I see.

Then I must share my gospel with
the good women of Candleford.

If you will not hear it, they will...

and they will rejoice in it!

You are not going out
there looking like that.

But if I cannot preach Rational Dress
here, I cannot preach it anywhere.

What will people say?
What will people think?

What if Lady Whiteleaf hears?

Mum...

The range...

Do not tell me that it has died, Minnie.

It has died, Mum.

Do you think perhaps we should ask Mr
Kelly the ironmonger to come and fix it?

No, Laura. I shoed my first
horse when I was eight years old.

I will not be beaten by a range.

Ladies! Good women of Candleford!

Hear my gospel! I am come to free you!

To free you from the madness of corsets!

Let us consider our linen...

Ah! There it is...

the duct is blocked!

That is why it won't draw.

Oh!

Oh, I could...!

Oh, I could spit nails!

Thomas!

Where is Thomas? Mum, Thomas
didn't put it in there...

that'd be cheating. He
wouldn't cheat, not Thomas.

And so you're accusing Daniel?!

It can't be Daniel's! How do you know?

Oh! I have wrestled with
that range for days now!

Oh! I have been on my knees all these hours,
so that we could have our Michaelmas feast...

and this is how I am repaid!

Is it not enough that
I must do everything?

Can I expect no help, only hindrance?

APPLAUSE OUTSIDE

Dear ladies, let me
ask you one question.

Are you comfortable?

Or are you constrained?

Tied up in your corsets,
trussed up in your undergarments.

How is a woman to achieve?

Women must be free to
do, to do what they will!

Do not fear me, ladies! I
do not ask for revolution.

I ask only for what is
reasonable in our dress.

I ask only for rational dress,

rational undergarments.

Comfortable undergarments.

Comfortable undergarments...

I have some leaflets, if
you are at all interested,

we meet every week in every major city.

No, Thomas, no!

I beg you. Do not say a word.

I will not be oppressed for another
moment by this wretched German wool!

I am not a child, or an invalid.

I will not be struck down
by a slightly chilly wind!

I wished to be a loving husband.

To relieve you of all care
and suffering, if only I could.

Oh, Thomas.

You are the dearest husband I could wish for,
but you cannot protect me from everything.

No, indeed. I cannot.

And be reassured I am
stronger than you imagine.

Could you... please...

undo the buttons for me?

Miss Enid...what have you done?

Tell me not that I am
mistaken in you as well.

We received a Missing Persons notice,

a husband seeking his wife.

A Mr Richard Dempster.

Of course, I knew he
would come after me.

I am to blame, I should
have warned you sooner.

I now fear you have drawn
fatal attention to yourself.

He is offering a reward for your return.

Everyone said it was a good marriage.

He was above me...

of great wealth.

He offered me everything I
could ever have wished for...

until he had me.

I had been a daily dressmaker. I made
clothes for his mother and sisters.

They took a fancy to me.

They wanted to make me one of them,

to dress me up like a doll.

Dresses that suffocate you...

hobble you.

I had been saving towards my own
establishment, but he forbade it.

It was beneath the family's
dignity, to be in trade, to work.

I barely knew him when I married him...

I knew his standing, but not his heart.

I could not have known how
he would govern my life.

And so I did nothing
all the day, but sit,

idle, hour after empty hour, while
my talent withered within me and died.

And my hope and purpose with it.

But I have substituted one
living death for another.

Always afraid,

always hiding.

I cannot live in such a way any more.

I will not.

LAUGHTER

Truly, the emperor of all conkers.

It is mine. I saw it first.

But you must get it, my friend.

Whoever gets it,

keeps it.

I shall wait for it to fall.

I warn you, Mr Parish, I
have the patience of a saint.

Thomas, only a stone
can endure longer than I.

We shall see.

You lied to me.

Yes.

Out of necessity. I was
afraid of being discovered.

And then you offered me
such tender friendship,

and I felt safe.

I have so longed to feel
safe, all these weeks.

But I should have confided in you.

My real name is Mrs Richard Dempster,

I came from Oxford, and I am a runaway.

You pretended to be my friend,

to win my protection.

I did not pretend, never for a minute.

I hold you in the highest esteem.

And yet you have brought shame upon me.

You have made me an
object of ridicule. How?

Look at yourself!

What will people think of me,
to have associated with you?

I flaunted our friendship
with no idea whom, what,

I had befriended.

Why should you care what people
think? You are your own person.

With your own style.

You are mighty.

You care nothing for fashion,

you follow your own unique
vision, not the whims of Paris.

I care nothing for fashion?!

Evidently you do not follow it.

Oh! You are wicked!

You are cruel! Then I have
no scruple in turning you in.

Miss Pearl!

Miss Pearl.

I wish to send a telegram, Miss Timmins.

To a Mr Richard Dempster of Oxford.

Miss Lane! Wronged husband,
abandoned by his wife, Enid.

Dear Pearl, I beg your forgiveness.

I would not hurt you for the world.

I owe you so much.

I was at my very
limits when I came here.

I was dying of loneliness.

Miss Lane sent me to you for work, but I found in
you something even greater. Miss Lane sent you to me?

But you answered my advertisement.

Miss Enid came to the forge in trouble.

She needed work, and you needed help.

You knew all about her, all along?

How you must have laughed at me.

How you all must have laughed at me.

No, no. I wish to send a telegram.

Miss Pratt, I beg you to
reconsider, you are better than this.

Of course, you will take a
stranger's part over mine.

Even though I have lived
amongst you all these years.

Very well. I shall go to
Ingleston, to the Post Office there.

And furthermore, I shall tell them that the Post
Mistress in Candleford has failed to discharge her duty.

Ma'am, where is Sydney?

Do you not have a paper to print?
Do you not have letters to deliver?

My posterior portions they are benumbed.

I have lost all feeling in my legs.

Shall we come to a
gentleman's agreement, Thomas?

Shall we leave the Emperor to the grass?

Ow! Oh, my head!

Oh, my knee!

GOOSE HONKS

Sydney?

Sydney?

Sydney. Sydney, where are you going?

I do not know.

I broke the range...

and Ma was on her
knees with it for days,

and she got soot all
over her nice dress...

but I don't want to eat my goose!

Oh, Sydney...

Now, you come and sit here
with us, and calm yourself down,

and then we shall see what to do.

Sydney!

Thing is, Mum, I do believe he was
afraid of his goose getting roasted.

He may have gone to set it free.

I think Thomas once brought it
back from the Ingleston Road.

We have lost Sydney.

Miss Pearl?

Miss Pearl, you are crying.

Where are you going, Miss Pearl?

I'm going to the Post
Office at Ingleston.

The Post Office? Ingleston?
Why do you want to go there?

I do not want to go there. Not really.

I wanted to punish someone who
has already been punished enough.

Now I fear I cannot go back.

In truth, Mr Brown, you
find me somewhat...distrait.

Miss Pearl... Miss
Pearl, what has happened?

Oh, nothing, Daniel.

Nothing out of the ordinary, that
is. I have done what I always do.

I have driven everyone away from me.

Miss Pearl, come and
sit down with Sydney.

I cannot sit down. This is silk
taffeta at seven shillings a yard.

You should not be here Sydney,

why are you so far from home?

I don't want to eat my
goose. He's my friend.

Then you should not be so ridiculous
as to be friends with a goose.

You should be friends with people.
You're not friends with people.

No, indeed.

They do not often seem to like me.

They've always liked Ruby the most.

But they do respect me.

I am...respected.

Am I not?

Dear Pearl, I wonder, perhaps, if
people respected you a little less,

they might like you more.

Enid, won't you come rest yourself?

I was never going to roast the
goose! I wanted Sydney to keep him.

I thought it would help his nightmares
if he had something to look after.

I don't know how else to comfort him.

That is why I bought the range...

I just thought if I
could just keep him warm,

he would not be haunted by those
terrible winters at the orphanage.

Mum, when I first come to you,
I had nightmares, didn't I?

Yes, yes, Minnie, you did.

And you used to come to me and say, "Do not be afeard,
Minnie, they will pass. Let them pass." And they did.

And I don't have them no more, do I?

I think they were leftovers from
before, when I was truly afeard,

and they had to work their way out
one by one, until they were all gone.

Well, now, here you all are. Ma!

Oh, Sydney...

Thomas, you are bleeding! Your head.

Ma, it was me, I broke the range,

I put Thomas' conker in
there to block it all up

but only cos I didn't
want to eat my goose.

I'm so sorry, Ma, I'm so sorry!

Sydney, we will not roast your goose,

nor any other of your friends.

Can we set him free, to
be with the other geese?

Thomas, he was your gift,

and I am so grateful for the gesture.

I don't suppose any of us
could enjoy him now, Ma'am.

I could.

We must chase him away,
or he will stay with me.

Halllloooooo!!

SHE LAUGHS

Is that Miss Pearl?

Miss Pearl from The Stores?

Our Miss Pearl?

It is.

It is our Miss Pearl.

Farewell, goosey.

Where is she going?

Shall we go home then, Pearl?

Shall we go home to Candleford?

So we ain't going to
have a feast at all?

Only I've been dreaming of
roast goose for days now.

The range will never be hot in time.

You could, perhaps, come to
The Stores. If you wanted to.

I would be honoured if you did.

But what about Lady Whiteleaf's dinner?

I believe I would be happier...

if I may, I would be
happier with my friends.

Then we should be delighted
to accept your kind invitation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dorcas.

I've been doing love sums for you
all week, and I hate doing sums.

I don't even believe in them...but
they all came out lower and lower.

Oh.

And I thought they were telling
me that my Daniel was a bad loser

and an arrogant turnip.

Yes.

I don't always like me either.

I like myself most when I'm with you.

You are my better half.

Thomas? Do you know how to play marbles?

Marbles?

Do I know?

Forgive me, Heavenly Father,
my overweening pride...

I am a Master of Marbles.

What will you do?

I will go to America.

I have cousins in New York.

I will start my own business.

I will make beautiful
clothes for adventurous women.

I will build myself a life there...

my own life. As you have done.

And when my courage fails me,

I shall think of you,

and hold fast.

'In years past, at the
Great Feast of Michaelmas,

'the people would give thanks to
their Heavenly Friend and Protector,

'the Archangel Michael,

'for banishing the darkness
and bringing the light.

'But we gave thanks to
friends nearer at hand.'

'And I saw that the sweetest
friendships of all are the unlikeliest.

'For they are founded on something
even more precious than delight.

'They are founded on nothing
less than the complete

'and perfect acceptance
of one by another.'

You're thinking of going
back into the school?

This way of writing has been
handed down through generations.

You can't imagine being the teacher,

you are a mother, you have
chosen this life. Did I?

One day in Oxford and
you have your head turned.

It is my own head to turn.

I do like being resistible.

Irresistible, Minnie.

If you do demand to relate
to me only as your employer

then I can play that game too.

The time has for us to let go.

Suddenly our hopes are to be deserted.