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The
so-called Boston, so-called Tea Party, sir, is not an end, sir, but a beginning.
It will blow over my Lord Chatham. Ban it or not, it wonít blow over! Ultimately,
it will blow into a storm that will blow away our entire authority over our American colonies.
It will blow over, upend, and destroy the Empire that I, sir, built for this country.
Would you but return to office, sir, Iíd gladly vacate this chair for you.
No. The nation would rise to the most illustrious
statesman in its history. Our American brethren would bow in allegiance to the name of Pitt.
Have they not named one of their little towns for you Pittsburgh?
There can be no question of that! My interludes can strike me at any time, as you know. At
any time and without warning. The nation needs a stable continuance of its affairs. In time,
it may be, God willing, that another Pitt may come forward to provide it.
How goes it with the boy? A sickly child, sir. Sickly in the body, though
powerful in the brain. But we have high hopes of a new regimen from Dr. Addington. The lad
is to take a bottle of port a day. To build up his constitution.
And as to his education? Well, since he is too weakly to go from home,
I have always undertaken his schooling myself. Come here, William. You understand what weíre
about, do you not? Yes, sir.
Lord Chatham, I must protest about these proceedings. The ladís constitution is still dangerously
weak. Rubbish, Doctor, rubbish. Since youíve prescribed
him his daily regime of port, he has proceeded to flourish like a young lion.
Hiley, stand you by William. My son, the Lord, is the same age as yours. Does not the picture
tell its own story? Is it not the reason that you have shielded William from the rigors
of Winchester and had him schooled at home? Public schools, Doctor, are suitable for boys
of a forward and turbulent disposition. Where there is any gentleness in the personality,
that can be disastrous. And yet, having protected him from all else,
you now wish to visit upon your son one of the most savage forms of public-school barbarity?
A boy who destined to be a beacon to his country must be ignorant of nothing. One taste of
barbarity will inform him, but not, I think, damage him. Master Addington. The rod, if
you please. My Lord, I beg of you.
William, the chair. Now, little counselor, I want you to take your punishment like a
Pitt. It will be the harder for you since you have done nothing to deserve it.
My Lord Chatham! Dr. Addington! Bend over, William. Now, Master
Hiley, as you do at Winchester, lay on a with a will. And mind you, WillÖI shall be watching
your face and I do not wish to see so much as a tremor pass across it. Proceed. That
would scarcely bruise a flea. Harder. Harder, if you wish your father preferment in his
profession. Harder, boy, harder! As you do it at Winchester, sir!
My Lord! Very well, enough. William.
Thank you, sir. Youíve let a little run down your chin, William.
I believe it was Ovid, Father, who said, ìBetter that wine should stain oneís face than ones
linen.î My damned little Lionheart, my philosopher.
William. Iím greatly obliged to you, Addington, and
to your muscular son. Goodbye, Doctor, and you, Master Hiley.
Goodbye, sir. Goodbye, William. Goodbye.
And, WilliamÖ Itís all right, Hiley. It really is all right.
Come now, little orator. Are you up to your speechifying today?
So long as I may stand to do it. I never knew an orator yet could do it sitting
down. Come, let us take a case. Lord North, as surely as the sun moves down the sky, is
moving towards war with our American brothers. Already, I har he has sent emissaries to sound
out the willingness of the red Indian to act as his ally and has touched the Prince of
Hesse on the subject of having his mercenaries to intimidate the colonists. You are addressing
the House of Commons. The government, damned scoundrels, are over there. Commence.
If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, and a foreign troop was landed in my country,
I would never lay down my arms. Never, never, never.
Thatís good. ìNever, never, neverî is very strong. ëTis a brave style of speech. I might
try to steal it from you one day if ever I have cause. Ahh! Are you there again, sir?
Do you think I canít see you? Well, do you? Follow me to the gates of Hell, and you shall
plunge in before I do. Forgive me, William. Sometimes, I think the gout has gone to my
head. Miserable tormentors, merciless tormentors. Will you never let me be? Forgive me, William.
We shall continue this evening. Yes, Father. Father.
Yes? Oh, nothing, sir.
This evening, I shall expect you to read me off six pages of Thucydides of my choosing
in the original Greek and to translate it straight into English without a mistake.
You shall have it, sir. Well, William, was your father satisfied with
you today? Mama, Fatherís interludesÖ
What about them? What is their cause?
Diamond Jack Pitt, you will recall, he found the diamond in India on which the Pitt fortune
was based. Yes.
His blood runs in all of your Pitts. His blood?
Itís a wild blood. Wild?
Unpredictable. It brings genius with it, but sometimes it brings strange fancies, an uproar
in the brain. Perhaps you have it, perhaps not. If you have, you must learn to counter
it, with the colder blood of us Granvilles. A Granville can freeze a live coal at a glance.
The Granville must imprison the Pitt. Downing Street 1797
Dispatch for Mr. Pitt. Urgent. I doubt that Mr. Pitt will wish to be disturbed.
He would by this. Very well.
Mr. Pittís own hands, those being my instructions. Youíll feel Mr. Pittís own tongue if he
doesnít like it. I beg you, mum. Look towards the room and
see the pink door. Drink up.
You look tired, William. You need a woman in this crumbling old house to sustain you.
Oh, it is not this house, Madame, that will kill me, but the one across Parliament Square.
Rubbish, man. You thrive on it. Live there if you could.
Like our father before him, lunacy runs in the family.
Your father Lord Chatham was a great man. Brought us an empire. Iíve only known one
other to equal him. Uh, excuse me, your graces, my lord. Dispatches,
Mr. Pitt. Posthaste, your hand only. Will you excuse me?
Brother, your tongue. Canít even have a quiet tipple with his friends
without damn politics butting in. He needs a woman to set him right. Mark my words. Someone
to throw her arms round him and keep the world out.
Heís not meant for it, Iím afraid. Fudge. John, you remember his cockerel days
when he came down from university. Oh, I do. I do, indeed. I also remember the
night he and I galloped through a toll gate without paying, a blunderbuss thundering rusty
iron about our ears while he consigned the toll people to damnation, and he was prime
minister at the time. Iíll not credit it.
Oh, ëtis true, ëtis true. Weíd been carousing with wenches at inns. Oh, it was, it was a
long time ago. Then I declare heís lived like a monk since
to atone for it. Why, with women, the manís a statue.
He lives only to defend our country from the French corporal. All else is sacrifice to
that. That may be, but I tell you thereís a streak
of something in that icy statue nobody dreams of.
Ah, if you please, Prime Minister. Parslow.
Uh, Lord and lady Auckland and their daughter Miss Eleanor Eden.
How lovely to see you again, my dear, after so long. But where is little Eleanor?
Oh, sheís primping and smoothing in your pier glass in the hall.
Primping? My little splatter? Well, Iíve scarce seen her without dirt on her face and
blackberry juice on her cheeks. Napoleon Bonaparte has embarked upon the building of the largest
fleet of invasion barges the world has yet seen here at Boulogne. He has cannons in the
prow, mortars in the stern, and each barge carries 100 men.
Confounded things wonít ever float. Theyíll go to the bottom of the Channel like stone.
The French have never been sailors, sir. They too heartily dislike water.
Is it little Eleanor? Hardly so diminutive, I would have said, sir.
I am, after all, 20 years old. Eleanor, pray, do not be forward.
No, no, I apologize. I was just trying to think how long it is since I last saw you
at your home, at Eden Farm. Why, you were scarcely 14.
I was 14 and 7 months. We sat in a field against a hay wain, and you explained to me how to
solve the Irish question. Ah, well, then I must have been very much
cleverer then than I am now. My father says youíre the cleverest man in
England. Your father is the most scandalous exaggerator
in England. Shall we go in? Five years? Pretty, that Eden girl.
Oh, yes. Send for the bailiffs again, sir?
Ah, well. Miss Eden.
Last month when I was here, I took some of your accounts back home with me to Eden Farm.
Yes, I know. Your debts amount to 40,000 pounds. And that
is because for years you have been systematically cheated and defrauded.
Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. No. No, you must listen. Here are your incomings:
as prime minister, salary, 3,780 pounds, as a Lord of the Treasury, 1,220 pounds, both
of which I may say are 18 months in arrearsÖas Chancellor of the Exchequer, 2,452 pounds,
and as Warden of the Sink Ports, 3,080 pounds. Total, 10,532 pounds.
Thatís a pretty enough sum. But here are some of your outgoings. Hereís
a butchers bill from which it would appear that 30 hundred weight of meat was consumed
in this house during a month when the entire household was in the country.
30, ah, ha haÖ And hereís a bill from your wine merchants.
Ah. In one year, youíre supposed to have consumed,
2,410 bottles of port, 854 bottles of Madeira, and 572 bottles of claret.
Yes, now that, that I warrant is correct, down to the last cork.
William, canít you see it? While youíre spilling out your lifeís blood for your country,
people are robbing you. Well, I daresay they need to.
But twice the city of London have offered you an outright gift of 100,000 pounds to
remove all worries of this kind, and twice you have refused it. Why?
Because I have to remain completely independent, beholden to no one, answerable only to my
country. Now, please, Eleanor, I do not want to talk about this anymore.
Donít lift your haughty Granville nose in the air at me, sir.
(laughs) I still canít come down to the country this weekend.
Oh, but you need the country. Oh, William, you look so tired. Well, youíre so much better
when youíre in the country. You know you are. Could you not just as well fight Napoleon
Bonaparte from your house at Holwood? Which just so happens to be five miles away
from your home at Eden Farm. You know, when we first met again two months ago, I used
to go down to Holwood at weekends, and at still midnights, I used to, uh, look out my
bedroom window and fancy that I could see your windowÖ(exhales)..shining through the
trees, five miles away! You cannot imagine how wonderfully strangely that affected me.
It was such a comfort. Well, thenÖ.
The struggle can only be directed from the seat of power, here at Number 10 Downing Street.
Now, Miss Eden, Iím sending you and your maid back to your family.
So soon? Yes, yes, yes.
Listen, you must leave. You have to. I have so much work to do. You are so naughÖ..
Oh, Eleanor, oh, my dear, this is primal idiocy. Why idiocy?
Oh, my dear child. Iím a woman. I was a woman when we sat against
that hay wain five years ago. It was not a hay wain. It was a stile.
I can help you. You need help. You need someone to look out for you.
EleanorÖ. I can help you.
(Sigh heavily) Undoubtedly. You will come down to the country this weekend.
I will do everything in my power. Uh, if you please, Prime Minister, Mr. Charles
James Fox to see you. Iíve put him in the study.
Ah. That dreadful Fox? Oh, why does he hate you
so? Parslow, will you be so kind as to show Miss
Eden to her carriage? And apologize to your father, Lord Auckland, for keeping you so
long. Mr. Fox. Mr. Pitt. ìThe Iliad.î This passage, Hecubaís
speech on the death of Hector, why is it marked? Well, my father, Pitt the Elder, had me read
it to him on his deathbed. ìAh, woe is me. How shall I live in my sore
anguish, now thou art dead? Thou that wast my boast night and day in the city, and a
blessing to us all, both to the men and women of Troy throughout the town, whoever treated
thee as a godÖ..for verily thou wast to them a glory exceeding great, while yet thou livedst.
But now death and fate are come upon thee.î Why do you suppose he asked you to read that
to him, Mr. Pitt, on his deathbed? Well, as his son, I believe I know. As a stranger,
I find it impertinent of you to speculate. (Laughs) Impudency is my fault, you know,
Mr. Pitt. I suggest his purpose was to impress upon you the transience of all power.
Say what you have to say. I came to warn you that should you raise the
tax upon incomes to threepence in the pound as you propose, I shall bring your administration
crashing down around your ears. Napoleon will not be kept at bay with painted
soldiers and cardboard ships, Mr. Fox. Liberty must be paid for.
I shall oppose you! Every step of the way, you will tread upon flints!
Mr. Fox, I do have enough enemies abroad without more at home. Is that all the help you have
to extend to me? If so, please be gone to your mistress, Mrs. Armitage, and vex me no
more. Ah, well, if the topic is to be mistresses,
sir. Oh, no, well, Iím Ö.
We know what we know. You know nothing. That is why you speak in
riddles. I know the company you keep gets younger every
day. And rumor has it that even a lass has been admitted within these portals.
(laughs) ìÖ.verily thou wast to them a glory exceeding great, whilst thou livedst. But
now death and fate have come upon me.î Thank you, William. Now, listen to me, young
senator. A day may not be far hence when you are going to have to take over the government
of this country. Oh, Father. Father, Iím not even yet in Parliament.
Donít argue with me. A man in my extremity has no time to be contradicted.
ButÖ The only man of any ability in the Commons
is Charles James Fox, but King George cannot abide him, and he is a dissolute libertine,
to boot. You will be needed. And I, I thank God that you take after your Motherís side.
A Granville rather than a Pitt. An icy heart and judgment will be needed to set this poor
country to rights. Father, I am not a Granville. I am a Pitt.
But your bearing, your calculation, your every action.
Studied under your advisement, ever since the Winchester lesson.
Then Diamond Pitt is in you after all. Do you suffer from interludes? Do you?
Not in the way you do. Mine can always be controlled withÖ
You have your own port, sir. That is mine. Well, Iíll be drinking yours soon enough.
Why not start now? (laughs) Youíll do, sir. Youíll do. Only
keep that proud and heartless tone in the Commons.
If I get there. When you get there, when you get there. Will
you promise me this, William? England is in poor straits. Swear to me that you will do
whatever is necessary to make her great again? I will.
No, but swear it. I swear. Doctor!
Confound the doctor! This is Englandís business we are about. It is Pitt business, too. There,
there is something else I want you to promise me.
Yes, Father. Promise me that should you find Diamond Pitt
powerful in you, you will not perpetuate him. No children, William. There must be no children.
No, Father, IÖno, I cannot think you know what you ask of me.
I know very well what I ask of you. The blood is a greedy blood. It feeds grossly on genius.
Would you have the Pitt family dribble out in a trail of dolts and idiots? Swear to me
that you will not let it happen, at whatever sacrifice to yourself.
Yes. You will swear it!
I give you my solemn oath. Ohh! (sobbing) Parslow.
What, Prime Minister? How long have we known each other?
Um, well, itís been, uh, 14 years in this house, your legal chambers previous, and university
before that. Would you say my temper has deteriorated in
that time? Oh, not so youíd notice. Youíve always been
partial to your, um, well, outbursts. Outbursts? Is that what weíre calling them
now? Well, then, kicking over the tracesÖ.your,
um, interludes, as one might say. They never seem to alarm you?
Oh, bless you, no, Prime Minister. Well, your father, his lordship, was just the same before
you. King George has gone mad again and is strapped
down in Dr. Willisí patent restraining chair, swearing lurid English oaths.
Ah, you think the kingís mad? He certainly held a prolonged conversation
with a tree in Windsor Great Park last week, under the impression that it was a relative.
Having seen some of his relatives, Iím hardly surprised.
Oh, Eleanor. Are these attacks of his really madness? Or
does he simply wish to terrify us with the prospect of the Prince of Wales as regent?
What a perceptive child you are! William PittÖ.if you call me ìchildî once
more, IíllÖÖ Yes? What will you do?
Iíll provide incontrovertible proof that I am nothing of the kind.
Brother! Ah! Prime Minister!
You wish to speak to me? Oh, difficult, deuced, damnably difficult.
Whatís difficult? Damn it, sir, you know what I mean.
No, I confess. I am at a total loss. Quite right. You are. Quite right.
Well, then? Well, thenÖ. Uh, do you suppose I might have a glass of
port? Uh, my dear brother, I find it wonderfully
clarifying to the mind. Napoleon canít touch the stuff. It makes him apparently as sick
as a dog. Highly appropriate.
(chuckles) there. Greatly obliged.
Right, then. Out with the nasty news. Nasty news? What nasty news? I donít know
what youíre referring to. I take my oath. Dear brother, ever since we were children,
that marshal gait has always been the precursor of an attempt to give me unpalatable medicine
of one form or another. An attempt, sir. An attempt is correct.
Now, pray, what are you about to attempt now? Nothing. Nothing in the world. Oh, exceptÖ
Yes? Now look here, Will. You and Miss Eleanor
Eden. What about me and Miss Eleanor Eden.
Do you think it is an appropriate relationship? Iím not quite certain what you mean by the
word ìappropriate.î But whether it is or whether it is not, it is certainly no concern
of yours. Damn it, sir, I know that. Canít you think
of the most mighty struggle Iíve had with myself even, oh, even to mention it at all?
It is a struggle you could have well saved yourself. Now if that is all, I really mustÖ
Will. I speak to you not only on my own behalf. I am aÖoh, damn it, whatísÖ..a delegate.
On behalf of whom? Certain gentlemen.
For example? Mm, I omitted to ask permission to mention
their names, sir, so therefore I may not do so.
Does your tender conscience allow you to indicate the species of the gentlemen?
They are certain members of your cabinet. The Cabinet? Ha!
Now, Will, please allow me to finishÖ I might more admired you if youíd come here
on your own account than as a lick spittle to that collection of ***.
Will, they are as genuinely concerned for you as I am. Oh, and for the party!
I think I may be allowed to know what is best for me. As for the party, were it not for
me, there would be no party. That, that is the point.
And in what way exactly is my association with Miss Eden meant to be injurious to me?
Willie, WillieÖ.she is a child! And nor are you in the least discreet about theÖliaison.
Oh, your vocabulary is improving. Youíve developed the flair, Johnny, for the hurtful
word. My association with Miss Eden is not a liaison. It is a deep and genuine friendship.
So be it. Do you intend to marry the girl? I think youíve said enough. Please go.
Not until Iíve had an answer. You will have none from me.
Will, you must marry herÖor put her aside. I cannot. I will not.
IfÖ Now, have I not sacrificed enough for this
voracious country of mine? You see, my youth has gone by like a dream. OhÖdonítÖLetÖ
Willie, youÖ.. Mnh! Please donít touch me. Donít. Just
donít. Johnny, go. I beg of you, go. Willie appears to be using a black potion.
Do you know what it is? Oh, it some new physic the doctors are trying
on Mr. Pitt, my lord. And what do they say is wrong with him now?
Oh, bless you, my lord. They have no idea. But I know. Itís this house. Itís Number
10 and everything that goes with it. 14 years. Why, thatís enough to kill an ox.
My dearest William, I cannot bear this enforced separation. I sit here in the country looking
at the green meadows. Without you, they are as desolate as the Russian steppes. Could
we but have a scant half-hour together, I could store it away like a squirrel and eke
it out in my fancy for weeks and weeks! Please come soon, William, please. I donít know
how much longer I can stand this. All my deepest love, my adored one. Eleanor.
William! Iím sorryÖ
William! Ellie! Oh, my Ellie!
I couldnít. I couldnít stay away any longer. I know, I know. I was on the point of writing
such complete idiocies to you. Oh, youíll still write them!
Thatís my Ellie. Oh, my dear, but itís late. Where do your parents think you are? Where
do you intend to stay? Iím visiting my Aunt Hester. I shall sleep
at her house tonight. Where does she think you are at this moment?
With my friend, Beatrice Oxtown. I donít like deception
Then donít think of it as deception, but as a loversí stratagem!
Uh, good evening, my lord. Is my brother here?
Yes, sir. Heís in the study. But when shall I see you?
I shall come down to the country as soon as I possibly can.
Willie? Miss Eden.
Milord. You arrived too late, John. Miss Eden was
on the point of leaving. How very disagreeable of her. Perhaps next
time I shall be more fortunate. Your servant, mum.
And yours, sir. Johnny.
The printerís proof, to be published in tomorrowís Morning Post.
I knew in my heart that it couldnít go on, and yet I let it go on.
All it says is that you are going to marry the girl. There. Itís a perfectly happy remedy.
It is the one remedy that is not available to me.
Oh, nonsense. You are as free to marry as, well, the simplest yeoman, sir.
I cannot marry. For what reason?
Johnny, you have the inestimable blessing of being all Granville. The Pitt strain passed
you by. I took it all. Surely, sir, you overstate it.
You recall the time where we were attacked in St. Jamesí by Foxís thugs from Brookes
College? Indeed. And we gave as good as we got.
Do you remember how you had to price my fingers away from Lord Creweís throat?
The heat of the moment. It took four of you to do it. I had every
intention of killing him. But theÖicy composureÖthe cool disdainÖthe
whole bearing you have used to put this country to rights.
Studied, calculated, and any interlude can always be controlled with alcohol. Johnny
do you remember what it was that enforced our father out public life?
Yes, yes. Well, it is that which lurks in me. How can
I inflict that on so precious a creature as Miss Eleanor Eden? How should I ever forgive
myself if she were to bearÖ.mad things for children?
Willie, the solution is simple. You must tell all to her and allow herÖto make the choice.
No, no, no I cannot do that. I know what her answer would be. She would sacrifice herself.
SoÖ..what will you do? I believe the expression isÖput her aside.
Prime Minister, thereís a total of 11 persons waiting to see you on various matters.
Yes, but get Adams. I must send out a dispaÖ(cough) Have you had nothing to eat today?
The Austrians scattered again at the first whiff of gunpowder. Port, thatís all I needÖport.
Yes, very good, sir.. The Prussian charge díaffaires is arriving
at any moment. Send him in to me the moment he arrives, and no one else! You understand,
no one else! Very good, sir. And the 11 waiting in the
library? It is essential that I retainÖnot onlyÖnot
only the respect of my colleagues, but of the British people.
Iím sorry, Prime Minister. I asked Miss Eden not to come upstairs, but she insisted.
Thatís all right, Parslow. Thank you, Adams.
Prime Minister, thereís an urgent message for you from the House. Theyíre mounting
a censure motion on you for the conduct of the war.
Tell them Iíll be along directly. This seems to have been the pattern of our
relationship. I must storm your defenses before I can even speak to you.
I am sorry. I did leave instructions not to be disturbed.
This letter which sent my fatherÖ. As you say, I sent it to your father.
Donít try your celebrated sarcasm on me, William. I am immune.
I sent it to your father because I felt that I had wronged his daughter by making her the
center of vulgar speculation. Why did you not write to me? Why did you not
come and speak to me? Because I felt that I had done you sufficient
damage. A cartoon implying that we were to be married?
I did not feel greatly injured by that. But we are not going to be married, are we?
I donít recollect asking you. How you do come to the point, William.
I am sorry if you were misled by the natural sympathy that existed between us, the common
feeling for nature, our ease of conversation. The fact that we were in love.
OhÖwho knows what love is? I know. And you know. Do you deny that there
are feelings for each other running through our minds and bodies which are the very essence
of love? You speak in absurdities. I am a middle-aged
man. You are a young girl. I am sick! All this is in the letter.
Words! I know what I feel. I know, whatever you may say, what you feel.
How very young you are. Young? Yes, if it be a crime to be young,
I please guilty. Yes, you are ill. Yes, you take port wine as if it were a kind of dying.
And, yes, you carry this country of ours on your shoulders. And it is as if every shot
discharged by the French strikes your own body. But I can face it and carry it and help
you to bear itÖand any other burden which you may bear and about which you have not
yet spoken. I do not wish to marry you, Eleanor.
That is not true, William. You love me as I love you.
Well, you see, unfortunately, the fact that you love me does not inevitably mean that
I love you. And I do not. You can still surprise me, William. You are
cruel. And Iíd have staked my life that you were not.
God! Prime Minister, you must return to the House.
Theyíll tear you to pieces unless you get in there and tame them.
That house! This house! God! Bonaparte. Oh, ParslowÖ.theyíll kill me between them.