Parade's End (2012): Season 1, Episode 4 - Episode #1.4 - full transcript

Edward's command is in Rouen,
or somewhere in France.

Bertram tells me that you've
lost a window during the last raid.

- Are you going to the Satwell Squash?
- I thought I might.

It's also to tell the French
best shut up about the single command.

No.
No votes for you, I'm afraid.

It's going to be
married women over 30.

And it's a serious problem
on the whole front.

Horses decimated by pink-eye.

You should put that fellow
Hotchkiss in charge of the horse lines.

The warhorse needs to be hardened.

Mollycoddling will ruin him.



Hotchkiss is the man
you need in France.

Hotchkiss?

You'll find him in Horse World
advertising embrocation.

Get hold of Hotchkiss.

The Come? will back you

The Comets first edition, my lord.

General.

Sylvia wants a pass to
the Infantry Base Depot in Rouen.

She wants to see her husband.

That's strictly out of bounds to wives,
I'm afraid, Mrs Tietjens.

Mmm. And what about mistresses?

I bet there's a few of those
behind the lines.

I think it's jolly unfair.

Here you are, Bertram.



Might as well spoil your dinner
as your breakfast.

The Come? exposes the scandal
of our out-of-touch command in Flanders

I'm sure it does.

But it's your own fault for building up
General Perry in the first place.

Wait until the German spring offensive
gives him a bloody nose, Beichen.

And then we can bring him home.

Is that why you're keeping

the Commander-in-Chief
short of troops, Bertram? Hmm?

If we gave Perry the men,
he'd lose half of them in a week.

If I had my way,
we'd let the French go to blazes.

Quite.

There won't always be a European war

but there'll always be an Empire.

What about Salonika, Bertram?

Salonika!

Nathan, isn't that
where your people originally...

- Not originally, my dear!

I say, it would be nice if we could
forget the war, just for five minutes.

I give up.

- Move to adjourn.
- Come on, my dear.

- Mother.
- I'm just finishing.

It'll be the finish of you
if you don't... Mother!

I'm writing to Christopher.

At least he isn't in the casualty lists.

I always look.

Well, of course he's not.
He's not in the fighting.

His brother got him into a job
looking after horses.

There's the all-clear.

Sylvia,

I need you to rally round.

Johnnie's behaving appallingly.

Oh, what, you mean,
about your divertissement?

It's not a divertissement. I'm bolting.

Oh, Bobbie.

You mean, you and...

- But he's...
- It's not his fault he's a Jew.

Fat, I was going to say.
It's his fault he's fat.

He wants me to marry me.

So, I need you to
get Johnnie over the hump.

No. just take him out and about.

He's a good old sausage.

I want to do my best for him.

That's all very well, but I've a mind
to visit Christopher in France.

I've written to General Campion.

I wish Tietjens
would write to his damned wife.

Or, at any rate,
stop her from writing to me.

It's not my job
to reassure the wives of officers

their husbands are still alive, damn it.

It's bad enough having to write to them
when they're not.

There's a movement order come in
for Captain Tietjens, sir,

from the War Office, Room G14R.

It was misrouted
and has only now caught up, I'm afraid.

Movement? To where?

Divisional horse transport.

Well, you can tell Room G14R,
whoever the hell they are,

that I'm not parting
with Captain Tietjens!

He's the only officer on the base

who can get his draft
into marching order on time!

Not that he isn't
a confounded nuisance.

I could give them Captain McKechnie
when he's back from divorce leave.

He's sane enough for horses, isn't he?

Captain McKechnie
has returned from leave, sir,

but he omitted to get divorced.

How dare he not get divorced?

He told me his wife was cohabiting
with a...an Egyptian, wasn't it?

- Some sort of dago, anyway.
- No, sir, an Egyptologist.

They've agreed to share her.

That dirty dog!
I'll strip him of his commission!

A damn fine officer

when he isn't going mad.

And a Vice-Chancellor's Latin prize man
as well.

Another brilliant fellow.

Like Tietjens.

That's a thought.

They can be brilliant together.

Does "subter" take the accusative
or the ablative?

Both.

Accusative when it's under as a motion
and ablative when it's under as a state.

"...Pictured at Lady Hazlitt's Ball
with the Honorable Johnnie Pelham"?

"Mrs Christopher Tietjens, whose
husband is in hospital at the Front."

Sylvia must have told them that herself.

The paper
wouldn't put the knife into her.

Women like Sylvia
are the jam on their bread and butter.

But why would she do that?

To let him know she's on the warpath.

Well, don't worry about Christopher.

It was only pneumonia,
and not at the Front.

He's a hundred miles
from the nearest German trench.

His job is kitting out fresh troops
on their way to the fighting.

Nothing to worry about except air raids.

But are they dropping bombs on him?

My dear, they're dropping bombs on you
and yet, here you are.

But I thought Christopher was
looking after horses somewhere safe.

That's the War Office for you.

But an Infantry Base Depot

is a soft posting so long as
you're not sent back to your battalion.

Anything but the trenches!

Hmm.

General Campion is attaching
a Captain McKechnie to my unit

for rations and discipline.
What's that about?

I can't say as I can say, sir.

"A Vice-Chancellor's Latin prize man."

Well, I'm sure that will come in useful.

Fire extinguishers.

We indented the Royal Engineers.

Sir.

The Royal Engineers say that as per
Army Directive 1BDR3417,

for fire extinguishers
we should apply to Ordnance.

Ordnance said there's no provision
for fire extinguishers

for Canadian units passing through
an Infantry Base Depot.

And that the proper course would be to
obtain them from a civilian firm at home

and charge them against barrack damages.

- Yes, sir.
- I have here a letter

from the leading British manufacturer
of fire extinguishers,

telling me that
they been forbidden by the War Office

to sell fire extinguishers to anyone
but the War Office, direct.

Thank God we have a navy.

Yes, sir.

Cardiff Police Office.

0 Nine Morgan is outside, sir.

- Application for compassionate leave.
- Hmm.

His wife has sold their laundry business
to someone, name of Evans.

- Now she can't get the money.
- True, in as far as it goes.

The police say his wife is now
living with Mr Evans, a prize-fighter,

and that we should keep 0 Nine Morgan
here if we know what's good for him.

- In he comes.
- Sir!

0 Nine Morgan, present yourself
to the officer at the double!

Well, now, 0 Nine Morgan.

Because there are things that
I have to discuss with Christopher.

And what is the point
in being permanent secretary

of the Department of Transport
if you can't transport me,

if I put it like that,
between London and Rouen?

This is family business, Mark.

I have to go to the office.

As far as I'm concerned,

Groby is Christopher's
to do what he likes with.

So if you can produce
his written authorization,

I have no objection
to your living at Groby.

But of course, if what you say is true,

he might want to live at Groby
with Miss Wannop.

Well, that is why I'm asking you now...

I'm afraid you overestimate
my authority,

which does not extend to France.

And in any case,
does not exceed General Campion's

in matters that concern the army.

Thank you for coming to see me.

Utter nonsense.

I'll buy a ticket at the station.

See if they can stop me.

Never known a woman like her.

She says she's going to come and see
for herself.

On no account,

on no account is Mrs Tietjens to be
allowed within 50 miles of Rouen.

Understood?

Inform the War Office,
the Provost-Marshall,

the port authorities
and the rail authorities.

I will not have skirts around my HQ!

More importantly,

General Perry is now on the telephone
twice a day.

He has troops
who were due to be relieved weeks ago.

And I have troops waiting for Ordnance
to supply them with eyebrow tweezers,

while our political masters
keep changing their minds

whether to send them up the line
or ship them to Salonika

or Mesopotamia or Timbuktu!

But I have one draft

of Canadian troops
ready to go to the Front today.

That's the draft prepared
by Captain Tietjens' unit.

Capitaine Thurston,
do I have the trains or do I not?

You will have the trains, sir,

and the cooperation
of the French railway,

going east to the Front, certainly.

I want these troops on their way to
Flanders before London can blink!

- Oui', man General.
- Champagne at two o'clock!

Which train, madam?

Oh, I don't know.

Dover, I expect.

Sylvia!

Potty! What are you doing here?

- King's messenger.
- King's messenger?

Yeah, glorified postman, really,
but frightfully important.

Locked carriages, private cabins,
saluted through the gate.

Oh!

- Where are you off to?
- Well, where are you?

This way, sir.

- Gosh, I've missed you, Sylvia.

Thank you. Captain.

Good day to you, gentlemen.

Everyone got a glass?

Splendid.

Well, then.

It's been our pleasure
to fit out you and your men

for the task ahead.

Somebody deal with that telephone.

It is a great task

and thanks to Captain Tietjens
and his unit,

you Canadians go to the Front
in good order.

You will be relieving soldiers who've
been in the trenches for many weeks.

Believe me, 3,000 fresh troops
under keen young officers

is just what the Hun doesn't
want to face in our part of the line.

Discipline and training
will keep you alive, remember it.

I'll be at the railhead to see you off.

Form up at 2000, air raids permitting.

That's in the event
of there being no further orders.

Thank you!

Captain Tietjens, come with me.

The draft has been countermanded.

I'll find out what's going on,

but you had better be ready to get
the men back under canvas tonight.

- Yes, sir. May I ask...
- No, you may not.

I can't tell you where overseas

these new orders will be taking you

but believe me,
the war where you're going

is every bit as important
as the war in Flanders

and you will get your chance
at the Hun.

I daresay you're disappointed.

Stop that telephone.

But I know that you Canadians
will enjoy the challenge

and some rather warmer weather.

There, that's a clue for you.

You will form your men up at 1700 hours
for the march to the railhead.

We'll try to send you off by 1900,
before the expected air raid.

That's all, gentlemen. Good luck!

It was Major Perowne, sir,
calling for a driver.

- He's at the station.
- Good.

And... And he's got
Mrs Tietjens with him.

I will break you for this!

I will smash you!

General, how lovely!

We've all been missing you.

Tietjens.

May I ask a small favour for my orderly?

His mother's come from Montreal
to say goodbye to him.

A pass to leave the camp?

If he misses the draft,
he'll get me shot.

She's lost two sons already.

He could see her
and still be back in time for the draft.

If I could scream louder than the bombs,
I would fix it, then I'd be all right.

McKechnie, control yourself.

She sold it to some bugger called Evans.

If I thought it was William Evans
from Castell Coch, I'd desert.

Don't talk that way, Morgan,
you'll get your leave soon.

Midnight before we can march them out.

It's not right to keep the men hanging
about like that. They don't like it.

For heaven's sake,
can't you set an example?

Lost the fuckers!

Not so much swear words, 0 Five Thomas.

Now that it's gone quiet, sir,

we could send one of the runners
to the sergeant-cook,

tell him we're going to indent
for the draft's suppers.

We could send the other one
with the 128s to the Quarter.

Send the runner to Depot,

and say that if candles are not provided
for my orderly room by return of bearer,

I, Captain Tietjens, commanding
No. XVI Casual Battalion,

will bring the whole matter of supplies
before Base HQ tonight.

Come on, you two, 0 Nine Morgan
to the cook house, at the double.

- Yes, Sergeant.
- What's it all about?

That's what I want to know.

You're no sort of soldier.

They say up at HQ that your wife's
got hold of your friend the General.

I know all about you.

You are very much mistaken if you think
the General is a friend of mine.

I haven't a friend in the world.

Sergeant Major, make sure

all the Canadian troops don't
leave their dugouts till the all-clear.

Look, are you mad?

Stark staring?

If you let yourself go,
you'll go further than you wish.

They must imagine
that they've found the Hun again.

I must say
you look divine in your uniform.

Enrhante, Madame.

I knew le brave Capitaine
and his wife in London before the war.

And didn't we see each other
somewhere in...in France in 1912?

Here, in Rouen, Madame. Extraordinaire.

Does Christopher know I'm here?

No. As soon as his draft
leaves for the station,

he'll have a few hours
to come to the hotel.

Failing that,
all my officers are under orders

to attend my regular
entente cordiale party tomorrow.

Why can't I see him now?

You may have noticed
there's an air raid.

Isn't that normal?
This is where the war is.

The Captain's on duty
and can't leave the camp.

I've booked you the room next to his.
There's a connecting door.

If Christopher is billeted at the hotel,
why doesn't he sleep there?

He bunks down in the hut lines.

We're all working
under difficult circumstances.

Are we?

Don't think I'm afraid
of a bit of shrapnel.

They ought to let my orderly room
have tin hats.

Headquarters are full of Huns
doing the Huns' work.

Do you believe that tripe?
It's the English doing it.

Nearly got me, surely to goodness.
But I did run. I did run.

All right, Thomas, you can go
into shelter

with the Colonial troops, if you like.

No, no. I'll wait for my mate
0 Nine Morgan, Captain, sir.

I was in for the Foreign Office
before all this began.

I suppose you speak seven languages.

Five. And Latin and Greek, of course.

Here it comes.

Here's another bloomin' casualty.

0 Nine Morgan?

Oh! Poor fucking 0 Nine Morgan,
surely to goodness...

Get out from under him...

This ain't your job, sir!

You'll get all sticky.

Bugler, call two sanitary
lance-corporals and four men!

Thomas...

0 Nine Morgan was your mate.

He was a good pal.

Poor old bugger.

But you would not like,
surely to goodness,

to go to Mess with your boots so bloody.

If I'd given him leave,

he would not be dead now.

Ah, no. Surely, he would not.

It is all one.

Your honor is a good captain.

I know why Christopher
doesn't sleep at the hotel.

He's got his mistress in Rouen,
with the child.

How old is that child now? Five?

No. Of course not.
I know nothing about it.

If you're talking about Miss Wannop,
I'm not prepared to...

- Even if his treatment of you has...
- Yes, Miss Wannop.

Christopher's little suffragette.

Oh, I've nothing against them
being pro-German.

I have German friends myself.

Oh, I say, steady on.

Yes, stop doing...
What does your mother call it?

Shower baths.

Is Sylvia pulling the strings
of the shower-bath?

I say, they've got the vote, though.

Saw it in the Sketch.

Will you vote, Mrs Tietjens?

I am not going to the hotel until
I've seen Christopher with my own eyes.

There's a note from your foul General.

What does it say?

"For God's sake,
can't you control your woman?"

Well, it didn't say it was private.

"You're more trouble to me than all
the rest of my command put together."

Give me the rhyme-words

for a sonnet.

That's the scheme of it.

I know what a damn sonnet is.
What's your game?

Give me 14 end-rhymes of a sonnet
and I'll write a sonnet.

In two and a half minutes.

If you do, I'll translate it into Latin
hexameters in under three minutes.

Well, get on with it, then.

A, B, B, A, A, B... Yes, what is it?

Good God. Who are you?

Hotchkiss.

They said to find you.

Are you Captain Tietjens?

Don't you know
how to address an officer?

Oh, yes, sorry.

- Sir.
- How long have you been in the army?

- Two weeks.
- There you are.

Two and a half minutes from now.

I have to go to the Division horse line

and I seem to have been put in charge
of taking your soldiers

to some place called Bailleul...

uh, sir.

I shall endeavor to be, uh, swift.

There's pink-eye running rife
through all the service horses.

I've made a study of it.
I was sent for by the War Office.

I suppose Lord Beichen knew about me
from my publications.

I'm a professor of equine studies.

Well, you're a stout fellow.

You should talk to Colonel Johnson

You'll find him in XVI IBD Mess.

He'll be interested to meet you.

He's got a Hun horse
captured on the Marne,

I ride Schomburg myself.

Well, if you say so. Many thanks.

Two minutes and 11 seconds.

I'm not starting
till I've checked it's a sonnet.

GSO 2, sir.

You understand I've not read it?

I'll turn it into Latin
in the time stipulated when I'm free.

The Canadian draft has not left yet.

We shall be strafed to hell.

We had to wangle everything, sir.
Desert boots, malaria powders...

Then unwangle everything to normal
in a hurry

when it was changed back to Bailleul.

It makes you wonder
who's in charge, sir.

Ah.

I see you're there, McKechnie.

Feeling well? Feeling...fit?

Look here.

Can you spare me 10 or 20 minutes?

It's not exactly a service matter.

You have to come down to the gate.
I hate to keep a woman waiting.

You mean, your...

As it happens,
I was spotted at the station.

And now my French lady friend
thinks I've got an English mistress.

Come on!

Are you dragging me down there
to deal with your absurd love life?

Mine? It's yours!

The poor woman is in
a dreadful state of anxiety about you.

You haven't written to her once,
she says.

You can't mean Miss...

Wannop?

Do you swear it?

Cross my heart, miss.

I saw the captain with my own eyes
this very morning, miss.

I've been dreadfully worried about him.

You're welcome to wait
in the guard room, miss.

No, it's perfectly all right.

I don't want to disturb Captain Tietjens
when he's on duty.

So long as he's all right.

You've all been absolutely sweet.

Oh, God.

Sylvia.

Damn it! She's taken the car.

Battalion, halt!

Sylvia!

Sylvia!

About turn!

Dash it!

- The draft's come back.
- Oh, for the love of God!

By the way, did you give a pass
to a Canadian?

Why?

He missed the curfew
and redcaps nabbed him.

So, a few minutes before curfew

you witnessed this prisoner
saying goodbye to his mother.

And the prisoner called you
a "damn brute" for no reason,

least of all because you made some
discourteous comment about the old lady.

- Is that right?
- Yes, sir!

And, then having engaged the prisoner
in conversation,

by no means calling him
a blankety-blank Colonial conscript,

you discovered
it was two minutes past 11,

so very properly charged him with being
off base and conduct prejudicial.

Sir!

Mark the charge sheet
as "case explained".

- Dismissed.
- Sir!

I am a hair's breadth from recommending
a court of inquiry into your conduct.

If there is any, any repetition,
by God, you will regret it.

Witnesses dismissed!

Provost-Marshall won't like it, sir.

General O'Hara loves his police
like his own ewe lambs.

The French railwaymen going on strike

was a bit of luck
for that Canadian lad there.

And lucky for me, too.

They heard a rumor
the draft was for overseas.

If anyone needs me, I'm going to
ride Schomburg to the Hotel DE la Poste

to take my wife to General Campion's
tea party for the locals.

What the hell is the Colonel's horse
doing in horse-standings?

- Don't you know Schomburg by now?
- Yes, sir.

The horse's been put in horse-standings
by orders of Lieutenant Hotchkiss.

Didn't you tell him it was my orders
that Schomburg should be kept warm

in the stables of the farm
behind XVI IBD?

The lieutenant says horses have
to be hardened, sir.

He also says there are
any departure from his orders

will be visited
by the extreme displeasure

of Lord Beichen, KCVO, etcetera.

Listen carefully.

I'm here to ride Schomburg
over to the Hotel DE la Poste,

so saddle him up and meet me there,

where you will take him back
to the farm stables.

Make sure the windows are closed
and stop up any chinks.

Give him oatmeal and water,
hot as he can take it.

Finally,

if Lieutenant Hotchkiss
makes any comments,

refer him to me!

Yes, sir.

How can you forget?

It's the very place
where you left me and ruined my life.

So fair's fair.

Will you leave your door unlocked
tonight?

There's Christopher.

I can see him in the glass.

- He's seen me, too.
- Good God, what are we going to do?

What' LL he d 0?

He'll smash me to pieces.

Oh, he wouldn't do anything
to a girl like you.

A decent man doesn't hit girls.

Damn his chivalry.

So as not to embarrass me,
he'll leave it to me.

Pardon, I did not see Madame.

- He looks ill.
- What's he doing?

Giving me the social backing he thinks
it's his duty as my husband to give.

He's Jesus Christ calling on the woman
taken in adultery.

By all the saints,
I'll make that wooden face wince yet.

I'll bring him to heel.

He's going upstairs.

He's probably gone
to wreck your bedroom.

It's no use trying to awaken
sentimental memories in me.

Does Christopher have a girl
in this town?

No, he's too much of a stick.

He never even goes to Madame Suzette's.

Now, look here.

Will you let me
come to your room tonight or not?

What's your game?

Hell and hounds,
you can't have come here for him.

What's your game?

I'm going to tidy up before
the General's tea party. Wait for me.

I'm not going to look as if
I couldn't find a man to escort me.

Campion will send me to the trenches
if it looks like that.

Oh, you mean you wouldn't
die for me, Potty?

Hang it all, what a cruel fiend you are.

I'm a woman desperately trying
to get her husband back.

If Christopher would throw
his handkerchief to me,

I would follow him round the world
in my shift.

No, you wouldn't.

You're just wanting to make him squeal.

For that I'll leave my door unlocked
and be damned to you!

I don't say you'll get anything
or like what you get,

but it's up to you.

Ah, Colonel, may I introduce you
to Monsieur Dupuis,

regional manager of the railway?

Railways?

Oh, dear. Oh, dear.
What's going on with you chaps?

Look, hating the Hun has to come first,
otherwise... Well, it's the giddy limit!

- Well, why do you
treat her so damnably?

- Sir, I don't have
to discuss my...

I mean, for heaven's sake.
Sylvia is the finest, the cleanest...

My dear.

Come to do your bid
for the Grand Alliance?

You've already seen each other?

Yes, I made time to stop off
at the hotel...

- Good.
- Sir, if I may trouble you. Um...

Well, I suppose I should thank you
for being clear.

I don't understand you.

You didn't come back
to the hotel to sleep.

You prefer all the fun of camping out
with your Boy Scouts, do you?

Or did you spend the night
with your mistress

in her little nest
in this frightful town?

I hardly got any sleep anywhere.

There was a railway strike.

I was landed with 3,000 men I dispatched
to the front lines three hours earlier.

- The French way of telling us that...
- I'll scream if you don't stop.

Sorry.

I've forgotten how...

how to be at peace, I suppose.

How is Michael?
He hasn't written to me.

He hardly knows you.

I came to settle things between us.

Will you come to the hotel tonight?

See?

Still sealed.

I'll send a driver for you
in the morning, 0800.

Where am I going?

You're going to the station.
And think yourself lucky.

I will.

You've been sweet.

Hurry up, girls,
the bell's about to go!

Come on.

Come on, hurry up.

So, does the new law mean you'll vote
in the next election, Miss?

If I'm old enough.

I won't be 30 for years.

- Do you know Mrs Pankhurst, Miss?
- She's your heroine, isn't she, Miss?

Well, I don't know, Annie.
I'm certainly not hers.

She said the other day
that pacifism was a disease.

But you wouldn't be a pacifist
if your sweetheart was in the war,

would you, Miss?

More than ever, of course.

Hurry up, the bell will go in a minute.

Have you got a sweetheart
in the war, Miss?

I...

Captain Tietjens.

I got your report
on the Canadian prisoner.

I must say, marking "case explained"

on a charge sheet I signed myself
is pretty strong.

If you would see fit, sir,
to instruct your men

not to call Colonial troops
"damned conscripts".

- They are damned conscripts.
- No, sir!

Not one of them. Voluntarily enlisted.

Why, you insolent!

You haven't heard the last of it.

Sir!

Christopher.

You look half dead.

Not far off it.

Have you had dinner?

Mmm. Ivamped an old fool of a general
over a cutlet.

Then the air raid started and
he went off to order everybody about.

General O'Hara. just had the pleasure.

What have you been doing?

Since I saw you? Let me think.

Well, I have inspected
2,934 toothbrushes,

most of which were clean

because the soldiers use
their button-brushes for their teeth,

to keep their toothbrushes clean
for inspections.

So you betrayed me with a battalion.

You'll want a brandy. I'll ring down.

Rum and hot water, if you would.

Of course. Would you like to bathe?

I think I would, you know.

Sheer cheek, putting a gun

where people of quality
might be wishing to sleep or converse.

They're not answering. I'll try again.

I've brought a few letters for you.
Two from Mrs Wannop,

who doesn't seem to realise that
her daughter is your mistress,

and one from your brother Mark,

which begins,
"Your bitch of a wife came to see me."

You should read that one first,
it's what I came to see you about.

Thank you.

The War Office brilliantly sent it on
to the flat.

I've always understood
that your idea of marriage

is that husband and wife should be
able to read each other's letters.

Of course.

I'll go...

- Monsieur.
- Thank you.

What is it?

The draft's been brought forward.

I have to be at the camp by 4.30.

It's ridiculous
that a man of your abilities

should be at the beck and call
of a lot of gaga old fools

like the ones downstairs.

You shouldn't be here at all.
You're not fit.

Nobody posted to a Base Depot is fit.
That's why we're here.

I'm sorry that you felt you had to
come all this way to settle something

I'd be perfectly happy for you
to have settled for yourself.

Groby is at your disposal,
if you want to live there with Michael.

And of course with sufficient income
to keep it up.

Well, that means you don't intend
to live there yourself.

Or you intend to get killed.

I should warn you that if you do
get killed, I shall cut down the cedar.

It darkens the drawing room
and the rooms above.

At last,
I changed the expression on your face.

I haven't the slightest intention
of getting killed.

But it's not really up to me.

If I were to be sent back
to my battalion...

Your brother refers to me
as "that whore".

I haven't had a man, Christopher,
for five years

and more.

Not one.

I haven't let myself be kissed
or touched.

Not once, not since Perowne.

Potty Perowne!

Can you see
how I must have been feeling,

to go off with a fool like Potty?

I was not in my senses.

I broke

under your forbearance, your permanent,

well-mannered forgiveness
for my doing the dirty on you

when I married you, not knowing,

still don't know whether my child
was yours or Gerald Drake's.

You forgave,

without mercy.

To scream blue murder and throw me out
would have been a kindness

compared to five years under your roof,

banished from your comfort.

Look what you've brought me to.

Throwing myself at you
in my whore's trousseau.

My heat must have put a spell on
all the sentries and ticket-inspectors.

The musk

of five years wanting a man,

they must have smelt it.

Well,

don't bother now.

I've changed my mind.

What's going on?

Get into bed. I didn't see who it was.

- Potty, I expect. I forgot about him.

Where is the hussy?

This is my wife's room.
I must ask you to leave this instant.

We'll see whether she's your wife
or not!

- Leave this room!
- You assaulted an officer!

Are you drunk?

By God, I'll have you for that!

If you do not take General O'Hara away,

I will order you to arrest him
for drunkenness.

Consider yourself under arrest!

Return to your quarters!

Well...

- what a lark.
- I am under arrest.

Why must you, everywhere you go...

Oh, Potty asked for it.

I'm sure he did.

I asked for it, too.

Sylvia, I...

I'm so sorry.

He says they could have
as much coal as they wanted

at 1914 pithead prices.

I notice, Captain Tietjens, you have
no fire extinguishers on your unit.

You're aware
of the disastrous consequences

that would follow a conflagration?

Yes, sir.

I was informed by Ordnance that there
is no provision for fire extinguishers

for Dominion troops
under an Imperial officer.

So, I applied, as advised,
to a civilian firm...

I didn't ask for your memoirs.
Make a note, Levin.

Go and get your belt.

You can go round your cook houses
with me in a quarter of an hour.

You can tell your sergeant-cook.

You are aware, sir,
that I am under arrest?

I gave you an order

to perform a duty.

Sir!

You're doing splendidly.

You understand
you're released from arrest

if you're given an order
to perform a duty?

Of course I understand.
It's the last thing I want.

You can't refuse.
A court martial would be... He'd be...

He thinks the world of...

What did Perowne say?

Perowne told General O'Hara...

Oh, I couldn't possibly...

He told O'Hara he went to
Mrs Tietjens' room at her invitation?

- It's impossible to believe anything...
- No, it's true. He did.

But my wife was after fun, not adultery.

What has she told the General?

The General has not seen Mrs Tietjens.
He couldn't trust himself.

He said she'd twist him
round her little finger.

- He's learning.
- He refused to let Perowne speak.

He said Perowne could choose
between going up the line

and being broke by his regiment.

My God.

He believes so absolutely
in Mrs Tietjens.

It's broken the General's heart.

Something he heard from the Capitaine,
the liaison officer.

You! Put that down.

Tell Sergeant Case
to report to my quarters at the double.

Yes, sir.

I'm supposed to ask you,

was O'Hara drunk?

The General is anxious for your opinion.

He and O'Hara graduated together
from Sandhurst.

Then...O'Hara was not drunk.

Campion will be immensely gratified.

As Provost-Marshall,
he had a right to enter my room.

I pushed him out,
which is an assault on a senior officer.

I'd be happy to plead guilty to that.
And to being drunk, of course.

An officer
doesn't strike generals sober.

Your mania for taking the blows...

I'd rather be broken
than have this hell raked up.

Case.

General Campion will be going round
the cook house in 15 minutes.

- Right, sir.
- Don't serve out white clothing.

The General likes to see them in white.

He won't know white clothing
has been countermanded, sir.

If you do that, one of your cooks

will tuck some dirty piece of clothing
into a locker

where the General will find it.

Yes, sir, there is always
one piece of clothing left in a locker

for a GOCIC's inspection, sir,
and General Campion will always find it.

I've seen him do it three times.

This time, the man it belongs to
goes for a court martial.

Sir!

Sit down.

Captain Tietjens, I would be glad
of your careful attention.

This afternoon
you will receive a movement order.

You are not to regard it as a disgrace.
It is a promotion.

I'm requesting General Perry to give you
the appointment of second-in-command

of the Vith Battalion of his regiment.

What is your medical category?

Permanent base, sir. My chest is rotten.

I should forget that if I were you.

The second-in-command of a battalion
has nothing to do

but sit about in armchairs,
waiting for the colonel to be killed.

- If you say so, sir.
- Who is your sergeant-cook?

Sergeant Case, sir.

Sergeant Case?

He was in the drums
when we were in Delhi.

He ought to be at least
a quartermaster by now,

but there was a woman
he called his sister.

He still sends money to his sister, sir.

He went absent over her
when he was a color-sergeant.

Reduced to the ranks.

Twenty years ago, that must be.

God help you, Chrissie,
there's nothing else I can do.

I can't put you on my staff.

You crossed General O'Hara
in some row over his redcaps,

never mind threatening him with arrest,

so now you've a black spot
against your name

as regards access to intelligence.

Next, damn it,

the commander of the 9th French army
is an intimate friend of mine.

But in the face
of your confidential report

from your time in French liaison,
that's blocked.

Examine the detail of the report, sir,
you will see the unfavorable inclusion

is initialled by
an Intelligence Officer, Major Drake,

who doesn't like me.

What difference does that make?
Not many officers do like you.

Are you aware there's
one hell of a strafe put in against you

by a RASC second-lieutenant
called Hotchkiss?

That was about Schomburg, sir.

I'd rather die than subject any horse
for which I am responsible

to the damnable theories
of Lieutenant Hotchkiss!

It looks as if you will die
on that account.

There was a request
from your brother Mark

through Room G14R of the War Office,

that you be given the command
of the horse lines of 19th Division.

But the 19th Division
is attached to the Fourth Army now,

and it's Fourth Army horses
that Hotchkiss is to play with.

How can I send you there
to be under his orders?

No, sir. You cannot.

I can send you home in disgrace
or I can send you to your battalion.

You're finished here.

I cannot have men
commanded by an officer

with a private life as incomprehensible
and embarrassing as yours.

Yes, sir.

I took that woman to be a saint.

I swear, she is a saint.

There's no accusation
against Mrs Tietjens, sir!

By God, there is!

You let me think...

I remember every word
of our conversation in Rye,

letting me think Sylvia had gone abroad
to look after her mother.

Sylvia and Perowne were seen together
by Capitaine Thurston

at the Hotel DE la Poste in 1912.

Can you beat it?

Were they?

Well...

what is one to do
when a woman is unfaithful, sir?

Divorce the harlot!

Or live with her like a man!

What sort of a fellow wouldn't see that?

But there is, or used to be,

among families of position,

a certain...

Well?

Call it...parade.

Was there?

Well, there are no more parades
for that regiment.

It held out to the last man

but you were him.

Open that, will you, my man?

Yes, sir!

I hope you had a good visit, miss.

Very good, thank you.

- Did the draft get off, do you know?
- It did, miss.

Captain Tietjens' draft,
at five o'clock.

You know the army, then, miss,
the lingo?

I should say so.

I'm the Captain's lady.