isn't it because mr rochester's blind?
i've got an english essay to do by tomorrow morning.
cello?
i thought we agreed that cello was my interest or hobby?
or interest.
can i stop going to the youth orchestra, then?
ah. yes. but. i've already joined in. so now i can stop.
no. they don't want people who think for themselves.
you'd better, i'm afraid. just to show my father you're un jeune homme serieux, not a teddy boy.
it'll be all right. i won't wait. it's going to bucket down in a minute. i'll see you at the weekend.
how do i know you won't just drive off with the cello?
jenny. i've never seen a car like this before. c'est tres chic.
it was a rehearsal. the concert's next thursday.
elgar.
i'm not a jew!
oh. can i sit in the car with my cello?
it's even nicer on the inside.
i only live round the corner.
i'd better not. i'm a bit close to home.
we don't go to any concerts. we don't believe in them.
so people say.
i suppose. what would he say?
oh, yes. he'd say there's no point to them. they're just for fun. apart from school concerts, of course, which are no fun at all, so we go to those. the proper ones don't help you get on.
yes. i will. i know. sometimes it seems as though that's what all this slog is for. if i get to university, i'm going to read what i want and think about what i want and listen to what i want. and i'm going to look at paintings and go to french films and talk to people who know lots about lots.
oxford. if i'm lucky. did you go anywhere?
this is me. thank you.
i suppose so. i suppose the growing grass would knock you off balance, and then you'd fall over, and by the time you picked yourself up, there'd be a queue.
oh!
they're for me!
gosh. him.
just. a chap i met.
yes, he is, really.
he's wishing me luck for tonight.
he earns it, i expect.
can we just go? otherwise the bunch of good-luck flowers will actually be responsible for me actually missing the concert. which would be ironic, n'est ce pas?
noted.
the whole point about him is that he doesn't feel.
camus doesn't want you to like him. what he's trying to say is that feeling is bourgeois. being engagee is bourgeois. his mother dies and he doesn't feel anything. he kills this arab and he doesn't feel anything.
no. that just makes you a cow.
well i'm going to be french. i'm going to paris and i'm going to smoke and listen to jacques brel and wear black. and i won't speak. ever. c'est plus chic, comme.
hello. thank you.
oh, fine. i think. i mean, i didn't mess my bit up, anyway. and no-one got thrown out of the orchestra afterwards.
going to school.
oh. yes. of course. nothing.
thank you. and i'd like you to take me. i'd like to go with someone who knows when to clap.
supper.
the trouble is, we'll already have eaten.
oh. yes. of course.
just a man who's been trying to pick me up. we're going to a concert on friday night. and then we're having a spot of supper.
you've heard of supper?
neither of you is interested in the concert part, i notice.
don't be so daft.
why?
there won't be anything to tell.
fine. he's quite happy for you to take me.
good.
st john's smith square.
i don't know. i'm sure we could find out.
he soon put a stop to that.
where are we?
the trouble is, that's where st john's smith square is.
that's him. now what?
oh, and by the way. david's a jew. a wandering jew. so watch yourself.
dad!
ah. well. dad's got something to tell you.
bye.
i'm so sorry.
it's beautiful. where did it come from?
thank you.
that would be nice. but south ken.  c'est beaucoup trop cher pour moi.
i just said. it was too expensive for me.
i just. well, i said it in french.
i don't know.
why on earth would he want to take me shopping?
i've only got. well, i think it's just called `juliette greco'. the one with the eyes on the sleeve. i saved up and got my french conversation teacher to bring it back after christmas.
yes.
you're thinking of buying a burne- jones? a real one?
i love the pre-raphaelites.
yes, of course. rossetti and burne-jones, anyway. not holman hunt, so much. he's so garish.
an auction. gosh. how exciting.
oh. friday.
well. yes.
no. i'm sure i could. re- arrange. that would be lovely.
what are you doing?
it's twenty-five to twelve. we finish tea at seven.
it was. it was the best night of my life.
goodnight, mum.
there was nothing like that. he was the perfect gentleman. he just said he wanted to take me places and show me things.
of course.
he's not my "new boyfriend". god.
how do you know danny?
what kind of work?
how do you know those, those . negro people?
clients?
i'm not sure i quite understand what you do.
jenny mellor.
jenny mellor.
really? fifty pounds? i don't believe you.
that's not a lockey-hill!
it's beautiful. do you play?
gosh, no. one day. when i'm good enough for it.
oh, david. you've never heard me.
a weekend away? i wouldn't be allowed to do that.
who?
about what?
you're going to ask my father if i can go away with you for the weekend? he'd have you arrested.
i'll bet you you can't do it.
half-a-crown.
mon dieu! you must take me back to school. and i've got to change back into my uniform.
how are you going to "have it out" with her? what are you going to do? shout at her until she decides i'm much cleverer than she thinks?
we don't go to oxford. any of us. not even you, dad.
oh, yes. that's the whole point of an oxford education. it's the expensive alternative to a dinner dance.
oh, thanks.
oh, no.
oh. graham. hello.
no, no. it's just. i've got so much to do if i'm going to get the grades i need.
bye, graham.
hello.
but what's he doing here?
you came to see mum and dad?
and you're drinking? but it's not christmas!
yes, that's true. i'm only going on what i've seen over the last sixteen years.
anyway. would you excuse me? i've got a huge pile of latin translation to do.
no. i didn't.
extraordinary.
dad has never come across anyone.
dad has never read any books.
i'd love to meet him.
how often do you see him?
hopefully i'll be there by then. so that won't be much use.
please, daddy. it would be so helpful to know something about the place.
that was scandalous.
really? thank you.
a nightie?
will we be sharing bedrooms?
no. i'm. no.
really? do you think so?
oh, i'd make sure that didn't happen. i'm going to do it when i'm seventeen. on my seventeenth birthday, hopefully.
well. golly. i suppose it will be with david, won't it?
april.
can we stop?
you never get out?
"to dear jenny. with the pleasure of meeting you. come and see me again soon. clive."
i want to read english.
sorry?
oh. yes. reading english is just another way of saying.
please explain what stats are. you're always going on about them.
we've got exactly the same curtains at home.
there's something you should know, david. i'm. well, i'm a virgin. and i want to stay that way until i'm seventeen.
well, yes. of course we can. if it doesn't mean.
is that me?
oh. if that's what.
yes, david?
sorry. yes, bubbalub?
you just want to see them?
aren't you coming?
what are you talking about?
i don't need looking after, thank you very much. david, i want to see.
"either way"?
me? i'm spoiling things?
no thanks. you go. i'll find my own way home.
liberated! that's one word for it.
gosh. yes. loads. thank you. i had a nice time.
as you said in the car, it was a misunderstanding.
you have no idea how boring everything was before i met you.
excitement's a lot, when you're at school and you live in twickenham.
but that is who you are. i've never met anyone like you. action is character, our english teacher says.
i think it means that if we never did anything, we wouldn't be anybody. and i never did anything before i met you. and sometimes i think no-one's ever done anything in this stupid country, apart from you.
thank you.
lovely, thank you.
look inside.
he was just. normal. kind.
oh, he was busy. david did, though.
beautiful.
he might become a famous author, for all you know.
what?
i feel. i feel i should do my homework.
russian sobranies.
paris. you can't buy them here.
no. i never.
but i'll bring you some back, if you want.
non.
oui.
peut-etre.
might be.
you have such a victorian attitude to sex, you two.
they don't know yet. david's got a plan, he says. he usually has something up his sleeve.
oh, it was.  david went to oxford. merton. english. and he offered to show me round.
apparently i do.
sod. miss davies.
not that i know of.
graham?
what did you happen to be talking to her about?
what if david turns up?
and who's the skinned cat, in this enchanting image? me?
i have an education to pursue.
oh. thank you. i needed a new one.
this is graham.
clearly.
can i open anything yet?
you know the one, dad.
dad!
you've just said you don't like europe. what's going to change? it'll have to be europe, won't it? because it isn't going to be you.
oh, for god's sake.
can i go now?
there's no bed.
a suite!
i would have thought that tonight of all nights we only need a bedroom.
what on earth is that for?
with a banana?
david, i don't want to lose my virginity to a piece of fruit.
let's wait until we get to paris. i think the moment might have gone.
and david.  if tomorrow night does happen, it will never happen again, so.
because the first time can only happen once.
so, please. no minnies. no baby- talk. i'm not old enough for baby- talk. treat me like a grown-up.
i know. let's go and sit in our sitting-room.
not after the. first bit. it's funny, though, isn't it? all that poetry, and all those songs and films, about something that lasts no time at all?
it wasn't all glamour. we spent half the weekend at heathrow in a hotel suite .
why will i need to miss it?
god, no.
of course. i'll catch you up.
what do you mean?
i think so.
he couldn't stop me.
i'm not sure what you're trying to tell me.
where did you go?
where did you go? which university?
oh.
you're clever. and you're pretty. so presumably, clever miss stubbs won. and here you are, reading all those pony essays. i don't know. these last few months, i've been to paris, and to jazz clubs, and i've eaten in wonderful restaurants, and seen wonderful films, heard beautiful music.
it's nothing to do with that.
maybe our lives are always going to end up with pony essays. or housework. and yes, maybe we'll go up to oxford. but if we're all going to die the moment we graduate, maybe it's what we do before that counts.
i don't think you're dead. but.
and we know the person who owns this?
i gathered that much. but why do we have to crawl around the west end looking for his car? why don't you just make an appointment, if you want to see him?
thank you.
about what?
have you. have you bought any more paintings recently?
i'm still trying to work out what makes good things good. it's hard, isn't it?
oh. yes.
what are you doing?
what were you looking for?
oh, david.
you're very sweet.
please take me home.
what if i got married instead of going to college?
married.
would it? that's interesting.
thanks.
yes.
nothing yet.
no. a man i just met walking his dog.
this is where you're supposed to say, "but what about oxford?"
i wouldn't need to go. would you like to expand on that?
all that latin! all those essays! what was the point? why didn't you just send me out prowling round nightclubs? it would have been less trouble. and i might have had more fun.
how?
ooh. miss. me. i can.
what?
half the girls in this room are wearing jewelry.
we have a difference of opinion on that.
we won't be getting married in a church. david's jewish.
and you're aware, i suppose, that our lord was jewish?
yes, that's right.
nobody has been able to explain to me the point of university.
and nobody does anything worth doing with one, either. no woman, anyway.
boring!
studying is hard and boring. teaching is hard and boring. so you're telling me to be bored, and then bored, and then finally bored again, this time for the rest of my life. this whole stupid country is bored. there's no life in it, or colour in it, or fun in it. it's probably just as well that the russians are going to drop a nuclear bomb on us any day now. so my choice is either to do something hard and boring, or to marry my.  my jew, and go to paris and rome and listen to jazz and read and eat good food in nice restaurants and have fun. it's not enough to educate us any more, mrs walters. you've got to tell us why you're doing it.
i don't wish to be impertinent, mrs walters. but it is an argument worth rehearsing. you never know. someone else might want to know what the point of it all is, one day.
i'm not sitting them.
oh, telling people. i'd forgotten that what we tell people is more important than anything.
i'm sure david will pay you back. send him a bill. as you said, he wouldn't have wanted me if i was dim, so he should fork out. just tell me why there's a point in sitting my exams, and there's no point in me going to university.
in which case i should have left school years ago, shouldn't i? ask them for the money back. if i'm too clever by half, you overpaid by a third.
am i still allowed to read?
danny didn't seem very pleased about our engagement.
jealous?
where is the flat again?
like that?
ah.
and this is where you're living?
you've stayed there two nights "on and off"?
david!
no, but.  you seem to float around. i never know where you are.
it depends on how funny it is.
we all live at home.
but i live with my mother and fa.  you don't mean it.
your mother and father?
did you do this one? "show from any two scenes in `pride and prejudice' how far it is true that jane austen's methods are `essentially dramatic'".
it says two here. look.
i've been looking at flats. i've been to look at dresses. i've been reading a lot, too.
what's this afternoon?
i'm not sure he sees plenty of nice places.
we've been through this, dad. it'll be quite clearly marked on the menu.
david, probably. who else would it have been?
take us home.
it's another one of david's little muddles and misunderstandings.
i don't want to hear another word from anybody. take me home. now.
go inside, dad.
mr and mrs david goldman, mr and mrs david goldman, mr and mrs david goldman, mr and mrs david goldman.
you're married!
when were you going to tell me?
"oh, jenny. i'm just too busy to find somewhere to live. i live with my mummy." you were living with your wife! all this time!
what's your address?
where?
byron avenue! it's no wonder we kept bumping into each other, then, is it? what number?
what number?
good grief. it's the truth.
spare time? spare time? i can't tell you how grateful i am.
i have nothing. i left school. i didn't take my exams. where's it all gone, now? i gave my life away.
go and tell them. go and tell them, then go and tell your wife. i want to see you. i want to stand there and watch.
please don't leave me to tell them on my own. please. you owe me that much. you owe them that much.
two minutes. and then i'll come out and drag you in.
he's helping himself to some dutch courage before facing you. stolen dutch courage, from the look of it. he has something to tell you.
hello. i'm sorry. i think i must have the wrong house.
yes. i wanted number. it's my cello lesson. silly. i.
i can't.
she's beautiful.
four months!
i saw her. i didn't talk to her. there wasn't any need.
sit down.
oh, you're my father again, are you? what were you when you encouraged me to throw my life away? i'm a silly schoolgirl. was, anyway. silly schoolgirls are always being seduced by glamorous older men. but what about you two?
and now i've got nothing. i'm. i'm broken.
what are you talking about?
it's a funny world you people live in. you both watched me.  carrying on with a married man, but you don't think it's worth saying anything.
i'd like to repeat my last year at school. start all over again.
i know. i was stupid.
i know that i need to go to university.
some other chap? there won't be any other chaps. not for a long, long time, anyway.
is it really so grim, your satisfaction?
i suppose you think i'm a ruined woman.
did you want to?
yes. who'd have thought there'd be a down side to all that? i could tell you all about the imagery in jane eyre. but i couldn't see that a man who stole maps from old ladies might be a liar.
there are a lot of things i didn't tell you. i was dreaming.
no. no, i'm not.
this is lovely.
but it is. really. i'd love to live somewhere like this.
but all these books and pictures.
yes, but. that's all you need, isn't it?
a burne-jones.
what?
yes. i do. still.
i feel old. but really not very wise. miss stubbs, i'm. i need your help.
don't you understand what you've done?
yes. i had fun. but i had fun with the wrong person, at all the wrong times. and i can't ever get those times back, now. look, david. i'm in oxford. every day i wake up and pinch myself. and when i think how close i came.