Little Dorrit (2008): Season 1, Episode 14 - Episode #1.14 - full transcript

Merdle's suicide note reveals that he was a swindler, robbing his investors and leaving thousands ruined. Mrs. Merdle agrees to Fanny's suggestion they do a 'moonlight flit' to escape creditors but Arthur submits to imprisonment in the Marshalsea, where the Plornishes bring food and optimism and John Chivery makes him realize Amy has always loved him. He succumbs to a fever and wakes up to find Amy has come to the Marshalsea to nurse him back to health. She tells him she loves him but he replies that, now he is ruined, he would only drag her down. Rigaud returns to taunt Mrs. Clennam, revealing what he knows from the stolen documents. Her hard heart drove her husband into an affair with another woman who bore a son, Arthur, whom she snatched and brought up lovelessly. The woman died and Mr. Clennam's father, seeking to help someone else who was disadvantaged, bequeathed money to Amy. Rigaud wants £2,000 to keep silent but instead she gets up and hobbles to the prison to confess to Amy what she has kept back, asking for Amy's forgiveness. Whilst she is out her house collapses, killing Rigaud, and she drops down dead on surveying the rubble. Tattycoram discovers that Miss Wade has been using her in her plan to hit back at Gowan and returns to the Meagles. Mr. Pancks exposes Casby as a miser and a hypocrite and cuts his beard off in front of his tenants before resigning. The Dorrit siblings are left penniless when their father's will is read, as he too had invested all his cash with Mr. Merdle, and Sparkler gets Tip a job at the Circumlocution Office. Daniel Doyce returns from Russia, having made a fortune, which he is happy to share with the man who set him up in business - Arthur, whose financial woes are now ended. Flora and John stand aside nobly and join all the other friends of Arthur and Amy at their wedding.

There is a box containing
legal documents and other papers.
I want to see them destroyed. Not hidden.

Guard it with your life.

There is some secret in this house

and it has to do
with my father's dying words.

I'm here to ask for your help,
Miss Wade,

in finding the man Rigaud.

I've seen you with him.

For God's sake,
why won't you let me help you?!

I long to be at work at some really
worthwhile enterprise such as yours.

Doyce and Clennam.

What I have to sell is my silence.



You know this man, Blandois?
No, no, no, he is called Rigaud.

He is a killer.

Set my heart on her, Pa.
You think I've got a chance?

Why not? Are you angry with me,
Little Dorrit?

Don't call me that. I'm not a child.

You loved being called by that
name. Not any more. Not by you.

We ought to make our
capital work for us,

and I want to put it
into Merdle's funds.

This is the chance of a lifetime.

You go to Russia and let me do
this for you. You won't regret it.

Could you lend me a penknife?
A penknife?

Yes, I seem to have mislaid mine.

You haven't got one with
a darker handle by any chance?

Separation of the jugular vein



With this penknife, no doubt.

Hm, laudanum to dull the pain.

Dare say you've seen this sort
of thing before.I have, sir.

You know what to do. I do, sir.

I was told to come straight away.

Good God!

Seems he was stealing
from one fund to pay another.

Issuing shares without collateral,
and now it's all blown up and burst.

There's nothing left.

So he took his own life
rather than face the consequences.

Merdle, the man of the age.

Whom do you wish to see, gentlemen?

My master is not at home.

Mrs Merdle's maid must be called
and told to get Mrs Merdle up

and prepare her as gently
as she can to see me.

I have dreadful news to break to her.

I regret to inform you, sir,

Mrs Merdle has not yet
returned from Italy.

We expect her tomorrow afternoon.

I can if you wish to convey your news
to her when she arrives.

Mr Merdle is dead.

I see. In that case, I should wish
to give one month's notice.

Mr Merdle has destroyed himself.

It's very unpleasant, sir, to
the feelings of one in my position.

I think I should leave immediately.

Good God, man!

If you are not shocked,
are you not at least surprised?

Your master is dead and by his own hand.

Sir, Mr Merdle
never was quite the gentleman,

and no ungentlemanly act on his part
could surprise me.

Is there anybody else
I can send to you, sir?

Or any directions
I can give before I leave?

Nearly dawn. Mmm.

And hundreds of thousands of men
and women still happily asleep

with no idea that they will wake
to their own ruin.

If only they knew what we know now.

What a fearful cry
against one miserable soul

would go up to heaven.

Merdle's dead!
Merdle's dead! Suicide!

Cut his own throat!
Blood everywhere!

Money, it was money!

SHOUTS BECOME INDISTINCT

SHOUTING CONTINUES

Man of the age(!) Man of the age!

Fraud!

What a dreadful thing, Sparkler.

Horrid.

Horrid!

And with our mother of pearl
penknife, too.

I know, my love.

Shocking!

If I'd known what he wanted it for,
I might not have lent it to him.

And now the coroner's got it

and heaven knows
when I shall get it back.

I know, dear heart.

It's very...

vexing.

Are you fearfully cut up
about it, Sparkler?

Was you very close to him?

Well, I am a bit cut up
about it, Fanny.

Of course, it's not as if
he was my real pa,

but, you know,
he wasn't a bad stick.

The mater found him
fearfully annoying, but...

I didn't.

I think the bird
was rather fond of him.

I know he was fond of it. Sparkler?

Yes, my dearest love.

What is to become of us now?
Are we rich or are we poor?

We, um, may have to tighten
our belts a little,

perhaps find a smaller place in,
um, a less expensive part of town?

Such as where?

Um...

Fulham?

Fulham?!

We're ruined.

I persuaded you to it, Mr Clennam.

You say what you will. You can't say
more to me than I say to myself.

I've ruined my partner, Pancks.

I've ruined Doyce.

He trusted me. He thought
I had a head for business.

Don't reproach yourself, sir.

You reproach me or
I'll do myself an injury.

After all the disappointments,now he's ruined by his own partner,his own friend.

Say, "You fool, you villain!"
Say, "Ass, what were you thinking?!"

Say, "Beast, what did you mean
by it?!" Come on!

Say something abusive to me.

It's not your fault, Pancks.

I took advice from others,
not just you.

But I will say that if you hadn't
yielded to this fatal mania,

it would be much better for you
and maybe for me, too. Come on.

At me again.

At me again! No, no.
I'm as much to blame as you are.

I wish you hadn't gone over
those calculations... That's it.

And brought out your results
with such abominable clarity.

At me again!

At me again!

I'm sorry, Pancks.

I haven't the heart for it.

I haven't been to bed, you know,

since it began to get about.

Mr Clennam, have you
laid out everything?

Everything.
MAKES CHOKING SOUND

Everything.

There's nothing more
to be done, Pancks.

Um...

I must face the consequences. I must
declare Doyce and Clennam insolvent.

No, wait, Mr... Mr Clennam.

There are other ways.

What ways?

You don't want to go to
the debtor's prison, sir.

That is no place for you.

Close up the doors now, today,
and cross the Channel.

You live abroad
until it all blows over.

There's many a man who's done that

and come back as clean and shiny
as a new penny. No, Pancks.

I can't do that.

I can't leave Doyce to take the blame.

You get yourself some legal help,
for God's sake.

Yes, perhaps I'd better.

Rugg, he knows this work.

I'll get Rugg for you, Mr Clennam.

Who are all those people
outside the door, Fanny?

Tradesmen mostly,
hoping to get paid.

Ha! Bit too late for that.

But if they don't get paid,
how will they live?

Well, I don't know, do I?

Amy, step away from the window.

Amy, do it!

SHOUTING

If you please, ma'am,
it's the missus.

BIRD SQUAWKS

Hello, Mater.

Beastly business.

Quite.

Mrs Merdle, welcome home.

Did you have a good journey?

Tedious and uncomfortable, thank you.

Where is the head butler?
Where are the footmen?

Packed their bags and gone.

Tell you the truth,
I don't miss 'em much.

That butler always gave me
the shivers.

That little skivvy
that brought you upstairs,

she's doing her best,
and a good little girl she is, too.

D'you know, she hasn't...
All right, Sparkler.

Yes, my love. Just thought I'd make
the observation. Don't. Right.

So, we are ruined.

Everything lost.

Well ma'am, I believe you
are ruined. We're not quite.

Sparkler still has his job
and I have my own money,

and if the worst comes to the worst,

I could always go back
to the theatre.

And who knows, perhaps you could
go back to doing whatever it is

that you did before
Mr Sparkler and Mr Merdle.

But I don't think we've
come to that just yet.

Lord knows, we wouldn't see you out
on the streets, would we, Sparkler?

Dash my buttons, no! Heaven forbid!

No, I'm sure we'll all get along
like a house on fire.

So, I am to be dependent
on your good will, am I?

You'll be all right, Mrs M, so long
as you remember your Ps and Qs.

Now, this is the plan.

Sparkler and I do not intend to be
paying off Mr Merdle's old bills,

otherwise we shall soon find
ourselves in Queer Street.

We shall be leaving rather quietly
by the back gate

and rather late at night and
lie low until the fuss dies down.

I dare say you're not so grand

for what you might have heard of
as a moonlight flit.

You may even have done once
or twice in your younger days.

So, what d'you say, Mrs M?

Are you game for it?

My dear Fanny,

I am entirely in your hands.

That's nice.

Mr Clennam! Mr Clennam,
come quick before they get here!

Come along, Mr Clennam!

Si, si, presto, signore, presto!

Quick, sir, quick, sir,
out the back.

Time to get away before they
come in. Who? Creditors, sir.

They want their money...
Let me meet them.

I want to face up to my obligation.

Open up! Mr Clennam!

Mr Clennam, this is not the time
to be thinking of others.

The question is
what can we do for ourself.

You've been allowing your feelings
to be worked on. That won't do.

It's not losing my own money
that I care about.

If it had been that, I should
have cared less. Is that so?

That is singular, sir.

Generally, it's their own money
people are particular about.

Most people can lose other people's
money and bear it very well indeed.

Well, I am determined
to face up to my creditors

and I want to keep nothing
for myself but my books

and the clothes I stand up in. Then
I'm afraid it's the Marshalsea.

I'd rather be sent to the Marshalsea
than to any other prison.

If you say so indeed, sir.

Then we may as well be walking.

BANGING

DOOR UNLOCKS

Good morning, sir.
Good morning, Mr Chivery.

I don't recall as I was ever
less glad to see you, sir.

I certainly never thought
I would return in this way.

Ah, that Merdle brought a lot down
with him, Mr Clennam.

We'll be full to bursting,

but we've got room for you.

Show him up, John.

This way, Mr Clennam.

I thought you'd like
Mr Dorrit's old room, sir.

For old time's sake.

That was a kind thought, John.

Won't you shake my hand, John?

I don't know as I can, sir.

No, I find I can't,
but I thought you'd like this room,

and here it is for you.
Good day, sir.

Gratified to welcome you, sir.

A very handsome testimonial,

offered with great delicacy.

I'm infinitely obliged, sir,
infinitely obliged.

KNOCK ON DOOR

Ah, thank you, John.

I'm sorry to have given you
the trouble.

Are you...angry with me, John?

I tell you what, Mr Clennam.

If you weren't under a cloud,

which you are,

and if it wasn't against
all the rules in the Marshalsea,

which it is,

I'd sooner be having a ram with you
than shaking your hand!

Beg your pardon. Freely granted.

But, er...

What is it, John?

If you don't mind my saying so, sir,
you don't look very well to me.

How long since you've eaten anything?

Oh, I don't have any appetite.

I don't think I could eat.

D'you not think
that even if it's not worthwhile

to take care of yourself
for your own sake,

it's worth doing for somebody else's?

Truly, I don't know for whose.
You don't know whose?!

You can say that to me?!
I don't understand, John.

I don't mean to offend you.
I had got over it.

I had.

I might never have
thought of it again.

I may not be a gentleman,

but I am a man.

Why d'you think I found this room
for you that you'd like

and carried up the things for you

when I really felt like
knocking you down?

D'you think I did it
for your own sake?

I didn't do it for you!

I did it for her!

For who?

For Amy!

Because she loves you!

What?

How can you say you don't know it?

Anyone with eyes could see it.

These walls know it.

You're so lofty,

so far above the rest of us,
you don't even notice it.

All the time
I was breaking my heart over her...

.....She was breaking hers...

over you.

JOHN SOBS

Well...

I've told you now.

So, if you won't take anything else,

I'll say good night, sir.

Good night, John.

I know what these affairs of the
heart are like, how we hesitate.

I fancied I was in love
with someone.

I don't know why I'm telling
you all this, Amy.

My brother is free.

A gentleman paid his debts, but he
would not allow us to know his name.

But if I could meet him,

I would thank him

and take his hand and kiss it and
thank heaven that he took pity on us.

I don't understand. Don't you?

D'you know, I sometimes wish that
you'd never come to the Marshalsea,

that I'd never met you,

that none of this had ever happened.

I was happy as I was.

KNOCKING

Oh, Mr Clennam.

I hope you don't mind
us coming around,

but not to deceive you,

we couldn't bear to think of you
languishing here on your own.

We brought you a few things,
as you see, tempt your appetite.

Thank you, Mrs Plornish. Oh, dear.

Mr Clennam, you're not
looking well at all.

The air in the Marshalsea is
very bad, there's no denying it.

It didn't agree with Plornish.
Did it, my love?

Don't agree with anybody, I believe.
Won't you take a little something?

Thank you, but I'm afraid
I've lost my appetite.

I'll leave them here, Mr Clennam.
Perhaps you'll feel like them later.

He's lost his will to live,
by the looks of it.

Come va?

Oh, cheer him up a bit, Plornish,
if you can.

The way I see it, Mr Clennam,
there's ups and downs.

Don't ask me why, why ups,
why downs, but there they is.

But I've heard it given for a truth

that as the world goes round,
so it comes round again.

You're down now,
there's no doubt about it,

but you'll be up
when your turn comes round again.

Eh!

I fear I shan't ever be up again,
Mr Plornish.

What I say, Mr Clennam, is, there's
always something to be thankful for,

as I'm sure you yourself will admit.

Speaking in this room, it's to be
thankful that Miss Dorrit
isn't here to know it.

That's something to be thankful for,
you see, Mr Clennam.

Ups and downs, you see.

Ups and downs.

Thank you, Mr Plornish.

Would you rather you was left
alone now, Mr Clennam?

Er, if you don't mind,
Mrs Plornish, I'm not...

I don't feel quite myself today.

He's not himself indeed, Mr Chivery.

Not to deceive you,
I'm very worried about him.

I think he needs attendance
of a medical man. Medical man.

I think he's sinking into a decline,
Mr Chivery. Sinking into a decline.

Does take some of them
like that, Mrs Plornish.

I'll see what I can do.

Arthur Clennam!

You have been looking for me.

Well, here I am.

What do you want of me?

That you clear
the house of Clennam of suspicion.

I...

Well...

My friend, my fellow jailbird,

it would appear
you know very little about me,

and I know all about you.

I know you are a murderer.

And I know you are a...

Well, I am too delicate
to say the word,

but what I know,

it could bring the
house of Clennam crashing down

in a heap of dust and ashes.

Say what you have to say, damn you.

To you?

If you had £1,000,
you could hear it all.

But your mother would pay, I think.

So that you don't know the
shameful truth that concerns you,

that concerns her,

that concerns your poor dead father,

that concerns
the little Dorrit girl.

What does she have to do
with all this?

She cannot be left out.

She is in it,

whether you like it or not.

This is very bad wine.

Marshalsea wine.

Paupers' wine.

The wine of losers.

Tell me what you know! Tell me!

No.

No.

For that, you will have
to go to your chere maman.

Perhaps she will tell you.

Perhaps not. Farewell.

# Qu'est ce qui passe ici si tard?

# Compagnons de la Marjolaine. #

It's too late. It's no use.

What could I...
What could I have offered her?

And yet she loved me.

Why, who's this...? Who's this?

Is he very bad, doctor?

He seemed to go down very quick.

Couldn't get him to take anything.

He's running a high fever.

I doubt he has the spirit
to fight it.

Nothing to do, but watch and wait.

Let him have a little brandy
and water, if he'll take it.

The next 12 hours should settle it,

one way or the other.

Now isn't the time to be sitting
down reading letters. We have to go!

I don't like it, Fanny.

Don't you think we should face
our problems, not run from them?

They're not our problems.
They're Mr Merdle's problems,

but he's isn't here
to face them, is he?

It's only a temporary stratagem.

We shall pay our bills
when Pa's will comes through.

Where are we going to go?

Good gracious, Amy! It's a good job
one of us is thinking.

We shall go to Pa's hotel,

keep our heads down
until we get our inheritance,

and then come back out
into society.

You can stay for weeks in a hotel
without having to pay for anything.

RUMBLING

Ah, um... Respectfully suggest, Ma,
not to bring the whole panjandrum.

This is a flit, you see,
not a royal tour.

A first class woman all the same
though, through and through.

As are you, of course.
And you, my dearest Fanny.

All absolutely first class women
with not a bit of... ALL: Sparkler!

Right.

WHISPERING

BREATHES HEAVILY

Have a care...

.....What you wish for.

Have a care what you wish for.

Here, take this.

You're not wanted here.

Sshhh.

Go to sleep.

I dreamt of you.

But now you're really here.

Mr Chivery wrote to me,
and told me you were here.

I've been here since yesterday.

I think you have been very ill.

But I am well now.
You've made me well.

You must take it slowly.

Let me take care of you.

But you have better things
to do than that. No.

Nothing better than that.

I have thought about you,

every day,

every hour, every minute,

that I have been in here.

Have you? Truly?

Yes, I have.

And now you're here.

Then you must let me make you well.

There is something I should
say to you while I'm here.

There's something I should say too,
Amy. No... Let me speak first.

Tip is coming home
to find my father's will,

and take possession of his property.

He says he is sure we shall be
left rich. I hope you are.

But I have no use for money.

I only need very little to live on.

Will you let me help you?

Will you let me use my fortune
to pay all your debts?

It would make me so happy.

Dear Amy, I couldn't
let you do that.

Yes, you could.

And one thing more.

To let me stay with you
all your life.

No.

I can't let you
bind yourself to a ruined man.

This is a tainted place, its taint
will stay with me for ever.

I never thought of it as tainted.
It was my home.

Do you think of me as tainted by it?
No! God, no, no!

You were too good for this place.
You were too good for me.

So you are sending me away? I hoped
you cared for me too much to do that.

It is because I care for you
that I send you away.

Had I realised, how I loved you,
all that time,

not as the poor child
I used to call you, but as a woman.

Had I suspected
that you might love me,

I couldn't let myself think it,
I, a man twice your age.

I never cared about that.
It is even more impossible now.

How could I take your money?

The time when you and I, and this
prison, had anything in common,

has long gone by.

Do you understand?

You can't stop me from coming here.

I will come, every day, you will see.

I'll tell Chivery and his son to
deny you access. They won't obey.

Till tomorrow.

Have you been crying, Amy?
You were always honourable, John.

Do you promise me
you'll take care of him?

And never let him want
for help and comfort?

Yes, Amy. And will you give him
a message from me?

Will you tell him
I sent my undying love?

Do not be frightened.

I have a little thing for you.

Let's call it my...

insurance.

Here.

I don't understand, sir.

Keep it. Don't open it.

I may reclaim it.

Meet me here tonight at the gate
before the bell rings.

If I do not come, open it.

There is a letter for you,

and a letter for
your dear friend, Arthur Clennam.

That is all.

Au revoir, mademoiselle.

Ah, so it's you! Your time is up.
Have you got the money?

She will never give you money.

We will see.

Not dead then?

Did you enjoy my little game?

If it was supposed to frighten me,
it did not.

Madame...

We have played for long enough.

It is time for the reckoning,
I think.

You say you have power over me.

Prove it.

Affery, old woman,
take yourself away!

No, I shan't, Jeremiah.

I shall stay and learn all I don't
know. Even if I have to die for it!

I will! I will!
Oh, you'll get such a dose!

Leave her, Flintwinch!

Do not forget.

Forget what, I wonder, hmm?

Let me tell you
a little story, madame.

The story of a strange 'marriage'
with no love in it.

A strong woman,
with force of character.

Fierce, cruel, implacable,

married to a poor, weak husband.

But did she crush him to powder?

No, not quite!

There was a little
spark of life in him yet.

He was a frequenter
of a certain boarding house

for theatrical ladies.

And there your poor husband
found a little friend,

and got her with child.

Ooh, la, la!

My husband was a weak man,
Monsieur Rigaud,

and a sinner.

What of it?

How you punished him for it and her.

You stole away the child,

and cast that little dancing girl
into darkness.

She sinned against the Lord.

You sent her to the poorhouse,
to weep for her stolen child.

I saved her from her depravity!

She died of a broken heart
in poverty and pain.

But before she died,
she wrote to old Gilbert Clennam,

your husband's father.

And he was so moved by the letter,

that learning of her death,

he wrote a new will.

It was too late to help
that poor abused mother,

so he left a legacy

for a newborn.

A child born as poor as she
and on the very day she died,

a child born in the Marshalsea.

Amy Dorrit!

I have read Gilbert Clennam's will.

It is in my possession.

Flintwinch?

I didn't burn the will,

because I had no right to.

The pretence of having done
no wrong for all these years

has paralysed you.

But the truth will out.

There's no stopping it.

What are you doing here?

These things are nothing
to do with you.

They're nothing to do
with you, either.

Why did you say you'd keep them?

You've done a very wicked thing!

You kept the truth
from Little Dorrit all her life.

Why did you do that?

Because to reveal the legacy
would disclose the greater secret,

the secret you have been trying
to hide all your life.

Who have you been hiding it from?
Enough!

My conscience is clear before God,

and I will make my peace
with Little Dorrit.

But this is not
Little Dorrit's story, is it?

This story concerns the other child.

Taken away from its loving mother
to be brought up in a hard school
of punishment and shame.

Finish the story, Madame Clennam.

Unburden yourself.

Tell us the name
of that orphan child.

Who is it, mistress? Who is it?

Who must never know the truth?
Who is that child?

Arthur! It is Arthur.

And if this house were blazing
from the roof to the ground,

I would stay in it
to justify my righteous motives.

Poor Arthur!

To be snatched from his own mother!

He knew no mother but me.

I devoted myself to him.

To raising him
in fear and trembling,

away from the sins of his father.

Enough of your piety!

I have, today, placed in the
hands of Amy Dorrit, a letter.

I want £2,000 today
before the Marshalsea bell rings.

If I have it,
your secret will be safe.

If not, then the little seamstress...

will know the truth.

And so will your beloved Arthur!

Mistress...

Mistress, what are you doing?

I am going out.

Wait here till I come back.

Make sure he does.

Well!

The age of miracles and wonders
is not past!

She has gone to get my money!

# Qu'est ce qui passe ici si tard

# Compagnons de la Marjolaine... #

# Qu'est ce qui passe ici si tard

# Compagnons de la Marjolaine. #

Sing! Sing, you...you miserable dog!

Sing!

Hey, steady there!
Are you all right, love?

I am looking for the Marshalsea...

Sante...

my old friend.

Mrs Clennam...

You are recovered?

You have had a packet left with you?

Yes, I have it here.

I have come to reclaim it.

Have you any idea of its contents?

No.

Break the seal, then, and read them.

You know, now, what I have done.

Can you forgive me?

Please don't kneel to me.

You are too old to kneel to me.

Let me help you.

I never knew about the money
and I never wanted it.

You can forgive me, truly?

Yes.

Ah... waiting, waiting.

How it irks me, my little Flintwinch.

CREAKING

Death of my life.

How this house creaks and groans
like an old rotten ship!

I tell you, my little Flintwinch,

I shall be very happy
to be out of it!

And so shall I to see
the back of you for good!

THEY SCREAM

PASSER-BY: Run for it!

This way!

THEY SCREAM

SCREAMING

Quick! Get out of here!

Move away! Move away!

Mrs Clennam?

Mrs Clennam?

CLENNAM GROANS

Mrs Clennam?

Mrs Clennam?

Madam? Oh, poor lady.

Mr Pancks? Is that you?

Mr Casby, have you heard?

Mrs Clennam's house has fallen down,
it's total ruin.

Nothing left of it,
and Mrs Clennam herself,

she's lying stone dead in the street,
and Mr Arthur is in prison,

and he doesn't know
a thing about it! Is that so?

Dear, dear, how very unfortunate.

But look here, these figures are
not at all satisfactory, not at all.

Did you hear what I said. I did, indeed, Mr Pancks, but that was the House of Clennam.

This is the House of Casby.

You've not been doing your duty,
Mr Pancks.

You've not been squeezing the people
anywhere near hard enough.

But all I do is squeeze 'em!

Then you must squeeze
them again, Mr Pancks!

Otherwise you'll find yourself
looking for alternative employment,
alternative employment!

I wonder what the people would say
if they heard how you go on in here.

People...

They love me, Mr Pancks.

They love me.

In fact, I'm just
going out for a little walk,

to give them my blessing, you know,
to give them my blessing.

They appreciate it, Mr Pancks.

They appreciate it.

Watch out, here's Pancks!
The old devil!

All the health and happiness.

Come here, you sugary swindler!
I mean to have it out with you!

Leave him, Mr Pancks. You'll lose
your place. What do you mean to be?

Benevolent? What you?! Benevolent?

You're a driver in disguise,
you're a screwer by deputy,

you're a wringer, a squeezer
and a shaver by substitute.

You are a shabby deceiver!

This is not true.
I've been a grubber from a boy.

Fag and grind.

Fag and grind. And if this steaming
old hypocrite could have got someone

to do it for a shilling a week less,
then he would be taken in my place!

And you think it's me that wants to
flay you alive but here's the man!

No, no. "You squeeze them harder, Mr
Pancks, squeeze them harder,"

those are his words to me,
every day!

Is that true? It's a fine
signpost is the Casby's Head,

but the real name of it
is the Shams Arms!

And you know what I'm going to do?

I'm going to give it a trim! Now
you stand very still, sir, because
I don't want to cut off your head!

My God, they're as bad
as each other!

Oi, Pancks, you missed a bit!

Will you do mine when you're done?

LAUGHTER

Please to accept
my resignation, Mr Casby!

And please to return
these scissors to Mrs Finching...

with my thanks!

Blimey.

What?!

What, no money at all?

It would seem dear Pa placed
all his funds with Mr Merdle,

like everybody else.

And they're all gone? All gone.
Oh, dear!

It's all very well for you. He's got
his job at the...whatever it is.

It's all very well for Amy.
She likes being as poor as a beggar.

But what I say is, what about me?

It suited me, being rich.
What am I gonna do now?

I, erm...might be able
to find you a position

in the Circumlocution Office.
Just a small one, you know.

What would I have to do?

Oh, you know, not much.
And there would be money?

Oh, yes. Well, you know. A bit.

Excellent. You're on.

Oh! Miss Dorrit! I was just
on my way to see poor Arthur...

Doyce and Clennam, though perhaps one
shouldn't say that either.

Where were you going?
To see him too.

Well, yes, of course, of course.

How could I have thought
anything else?

Those days are gone,
of course they are.

And now I come to think of it,
three might be a crowd and far be it

for me to play the gooseberry.

Why do they say gooseberry, I wonder,
and not greengage or...

or pomegranate? Oh, dear.

I'm sure Mr Clennam
would be pleased to see you.

No. No, no, dear little one.

Please take this for me...

and tell him I didn't desert him,

though I don't know after all
whether it wasn't just...

nonsense between us.

Goodbye!

Are you all right, Amy?

Does Mr Clennam know...
about his mother's death?

He does.

I broke it to him,
as gentle as I could.

I'm sure you did, John. Thank you.

I'll go up to him now then.

Right you are, miss.

Here lie the mortal remains
of John Chivery,

assistant turnkey
and later chief turnkey

of the Marshalsea prison for debt.

He was unlucky in love,

and endured a good deal of sorrow,

but he rose above it,

and performed many an act
of kindness,

even to his rival.

And always engraved,

not on stone,
but deep into his very heart,

was the name of Amy Dorrit.

You see, I have come back.

Amy, I told you not to.

And I told you
I would take no notice.

I won't let you send me away,
ever again. Oh, Amy!

You find me
in such a state of confusion.

This is a letter from my real mother.

It's all in here, who I truly am,
how your fate is bound up in mine.

She writes here of her love for me.

This woman who...I never even knew.

My mother!

I saw Mrs Clennam before she died.

She told me everything.

She knelt to me

and asked for forgiveness.

Do you think
you can forgive her, Arthur?

I...

I feel sorry for her.

That she never knew love.

But she did!

When she spoke to me,

it was clear that she loved you
and knew that you loved her.

And your real mother
loved you too,

just as my mother loved me,

though I never knew her.

Two orphans, then.

One a rich woman, one a pauper.

Come on, Dan!

Fortune favours the brave.

This is the chance of a lifetime.

You go to Russia and let me do this
for you. You won't regret it.

Would you like to know
what my fortune truly amounts to?

Whatever it is, no fortune
could be more richly deserved.

And you won't take a penny of it?

Never.

Well, the truth is...

I have nothing.

Father placed his money with Merdle,
just like everybody else.

So now will you share
my fortune with me?

Oh, my dear love.

Gladly!

AMY LAUGHS

What a fool I have been
all this time!

Never realising that it was you,
it was always you.

How stupid you must think me

not to have seen that it was
you that I loved all along.

Well, I did think
you were a bit unobservant,

not noticing how much
I was in love with you.

When did this begin?
Very soon after we first met.

Do you remember that night

when Maggy and I came
to see you in your rooms?

Clennam? Arthur Clennam?

Oh, Lord! Daniel Doyce.

Courage! We'll face him together.

Daniel...

I'm so sorry.

I should never...

No. Not a word.

Not another word

about the past.

There was an error
in your calculations.

I know what that is.

It affects the whole machine
and failure is the consequence.

I have done it myself
in construction many a time.

Daniel, I have let you down
in every conceivable way.

Not a bit of it, old friend!

If you hadn't encouraged me
to go to St Petersburg,

I never should have gone.

If I hadn't met you,
and gone into partnership with you,

my invention would still have been
languishing amongst the Barnacles,

instead of galvanising every factory
west of the Urals,

and making us both a fortune!

Eh! Eccolo!

My dear friends, I humbly submit
that Doyce and Clennam

have more than enough funds
to pay off all our creditors

and expand the factory.

I rejoice for you,

but surely after all this,

you will no longer
want me as a partner?

been telling you

that I owe my good fortune to you?

And Doyce and Clennam stands
in more need of you than ever.

CAVALETTO LAUGHS

LAUGHTER

Come, don't cry at a wedding!

It's very beautiful, eh?

She is very beautiful.

Si, is very beautiful.
SHE is very beautiful.

And no biggod nonsense about her!

Sparkler? Yes?

Be quiet. Right.

LAUGHTER

CHEERING

Rubbish!

She's lively as a cricket!

And if he can't take it,
he shouldn't hand it out!

She is very beautiful.

That's what I said.

Ciao, bella!

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