SCENE 1
January 1923. Interior. Night. EDITH THOMPSON’s nightmare.
A handsome auburn-haired woman in her late twenties, EDITH THOMPSON, is lying alone in the bedroom of her home at 41 Kensington Gardens, Ilford. Her eyes open. She pulls back the sheets and gets out of bed. She is wearing a summer nightdress. On tiptoe in the silence of the night she crosses the bedroom and opens the door into the darkened hall.
She steps out – a floorboard creaks. She freezes. Very carefully, she opens the door to the small bedroom at the end of the corridor, and peers in. The room is unfurnished, except for a small glowing lamp.
Disappointed, EDITH starts tentatively down the stairs into the pitch darkness. But she hears an ugly, frightening sound below: a sharp blade tearing through thick cloth. She retreats as quietly as possible to her bedroom and locks the door behind her.
In her cell in Holloway Prison, EDITH in her final days, haggard and drenched with sweat, screams herself bolt awake. The screen goes black. Outside the door, the sound of threatening footsteps approaches and comes to a heavy stop.
MAIN TITLES
SCENE 2
TITLE: May 1920
Inside 231 Shakespeare Crescent, the small neat terraced house of Edith’s parents, the Graydons.
The door from the hall into the lounge opens to reveal EDITH THOMPSON, who is 26, quite tall, vivacious and attractive, a keen and elegant dancer, but now tired after a week’s work. Beside her is her sound-looking but unexciting husband, PERCY THOMPSON, 3½ years older than her. He has a firm strong voice, except when nervous or upset. He is somewhat stolid and awkward, unathletic and self-conscious; he can’t dance. EDITH, running sales in a fashionable shop, earns more than PERCY in his dull post as a clerk.
They enter the room which is full of laughter. MRS GRAYDON –tall, handsome, kindly, restrained, nearly fifty — has a surprise for them.
FREDDY BYWATERS, eight years younger than EDITH, is a striking figure, only of medium height but broad-shouldered, muscular and self-assured. He is a ship’s writer on one of his shore-leaves. His sea-voyages have left him tanned, with his thick brown hair slightly bleached. His eyes and eyebrows are dark. When his name is mentioned he turns round from talking to EDITH’s younger sister, AVIS GRAYDON, who is lively and dark, and who is in love with him. The immediate attraction between EDITH and FREDDY is palpable, and it takes them a moment to hide it.
EDITH
Hallo, mum, lovely to see you.
MRS GRAYDON
You remember young Freddy, don’t you, Edie? He used to play cricket with your young brothers.
EDITH
[advancing, laughing, shaking hands]
You were in short trousers, last time I saw you. [With a sidelong glance at AVIS] I didn’t expect such a sea-dog. Life on the ocean wave seems to agree with you.
FREDDY
[laughing politely]
It’s good to see you again, Mrs Thompson. [Cheerily] You’re looking very well yourself. [Looking past her to PERCY]
MRS GRAYDON
Freddy, I’d like you to meet Percy Thompson, Edith’s husband. Percy, this is Freddy Bywaters, an old friend of the family.
PERCY
[as they shake hands; politely interested]
And the lodger, Edith tells me.
FREDDY
Yes, till my ship sails again. It’s a home from home.
PERCY
[with a look at AVIS]
I can see why you like it. Avis, what do you make of your new lodger? I’ve heard from your sister here you’re great pals.
AVIS
[getting up; smiling, a bit embarrassed]
Oh, he’s all right, and he’s not really new, are you Freddy? I’ve known him for years. He’s a favourite with the whole family.
PERCY
[winking at FREDDY]
You lucky man! Take care they don’t spoil you!
EDITH turns away and sits down beside her brother NEWENHAM, only a gangly, jokey 21 but a veteran of the Great War, and her father, MR GRAYDON, a wiry, energetic, good-hearted 53, who is a part-time dance instructor as well as a solidly established clerk. PERCY starts filling his pipe.
FREDDY
It’s too late for that, I’m afraid. Poor Avis has heard all my stories twice through…
AVIS
At least!
FREDDY
…but she still hasn’t complained.
PERCY
[knowingly; man-of-the-world]
Ah yes, there’s nothing you seafaring men like better than a good audience, specially when it’s a beautiful young woman…
AVIS
[blushing but pleased]
Oh, Percy!
FREDDY
No, no, he’s quite right. [He gives her a big smile; then, to PERCY] I hear you’re a bit of a seafaring man yourself.
PERCY
[lighting his pipe, makes him wait, then]
Only in a manner of speaking, you know. I’m in shipping in a small way – a very small way, actually. My desk never leaves port. I’m rather a land-lubber.
As PERCY says this FREDDY, shifting position, looks across at EDITH in an apparently casual way. NEWENHAM is excitedly saying something to MR GRAYDON, so EDITH is for a moment not directly engaged in the conversation. With equal apparent casualness she looks across at FREDDY. Their eyes meet. EDITH blushes deeply.
SCENE 3
September 1920
The interior of Carlton and Prior, the hat shop where EDITH works as Deputy Manageress. 11 a.m.
EDITH, LILY, her plain amiable best friend, and the timid, giggly junior MYRTLE, all with cups of tea, are in the foreground, round EDITH’s desk in the office. Beyond them, by the open door into the shop, is the wall telephone. And through the door a vista of hats stretches into the distance. A barrel-organ in the street is playing the romantic ballad “Margie”.
They are all shrieking with laughter at something LILY says, EDITH a little awkwardly. The laughter subsides as MR CARLTON, the boss, a tall, lean, balding, insinuating man of fifty, comes into the office and joins them.
CARLTON
Hullo, ladies, what’s the joke? [They go off into further, stifled laughter] You can tell me, I’m harmless. [More laughter. Archly] Oh I see, it’s a ladies’ matter. Well, I’m a married man, there’s not much I haven’t heard. Still, if you don’t want to tell me, it’s up to you.
MYRTLE
Mr Carlton, you are awful!
EDITH
As a matter of fact, if you’re really interested, we were talking about poor Ethel in packing. She’s going to have a baby.
CARLTON
[joking]
Don’t look at me, I had nothing to do with it!
LILY
What a thing to say!
MYRTLE
[as they go off into further shrieks]
Dear oh dear!
The telephone begins to ring, and EDITH crosses the office to answer it. She assumes it’s a business call.
EDITH
[bright and polite; businesslike]
Hello, Sales Manageress.
FREDDY [off]
Ah, hullo. Is that Mrs Thompson?
EDITH
[slightly surprised]
Yes. Who is this? They call me Miss Graydon here.
FREDDY [off]
It’s Freddy Bywaters. I was wondering if …if you’d be free for lunch…
EDITH
When would this be?
FREDDY [off]
Today.
EDITH
Today?
FREDDY [off]
Yes, if you can. I’m coming into town anyway. I was hoping I could talk to you about something.
EDITH
Is Avis coming too?
FREDDY [off]
No. No, what I was thinking was, you’re such a great reader, and I’m just about to go off to sea again for months on end, that maybe you could give me some ideas for books to read.
EDITH
Oh I see. Oh yes, I’m always glad to have a chat about books. Look here, I have an hour for lunch at one o’clock. Do you know the Queen Anne’s Restaurant?
SCENE 4
Interior. Queen Anne’s Restaurant, in St Paul’s Churchyard. It is 1.58 p.m. by the large clock, which is visible, as we can see, to FREDDY but not to EDITH. The restaurant is opulent, bustling, full of noisy groups and intimate couples. FREDDY and EDITH are flushed with the heat, the drink, and each other’s company. Their pudding bowls are empty, and their glasses.
FREDDY
[conscious of the time, but casually]
Let’s have another drink, shall we?
EDITH
[carefree]
I don’t see why not. Just a port, please. I’ve got to work this afternoon. Tell me when it’s five to two, will you?
FREDDY
[not saying; looking around]
Oh yes. [In a manly tone] Waitress! Could you bring us a glass of port for the lady and a bottle of Bass for me.
The hard-bitten WAITRESS, as she turns and heads for the bar, is obviously struck by the disparity in age between FREDDY and EDITH.
EDITH
What’s the matter with her?
FREDDY
[half joking]
Maybe she thinks we’re a courting couple. I wonder what Avis would think of that!
They both laugh, but there is an embarrassed silence when the laughter dies away. They’re starting to betray AVIS.
FREDDY
Look here, Mrs Thompson…. I hope you don’t think it’s improper for me to ask you to lunch like this? I mean, do you think Mr Thompson will mind when you tell him? I’d hate to offend him, he’s been so good to me.
EDITH
Oh, Percy won’t mind! We’re only having a chat about books, and there’s no harm in that.
FREDDY
That’s a weight off my mind. [Their drinks arrive. To the WAITRESS] Thank you.
WAITRESS
Thank you.
EDITH
Cheerio. [Raising her glass to FREDDY]
FREDDY
[raising his glass]
Here’s to you. [They drink. After a moment]
Would you like to do this again next week? Before my ship sails.
EDITH
I’ll have to see if I can manage it. But do ask me. [Not wanting to be pinned down, she looks round at the clock, and expresses surprise – it’s 2.13 p.m.] Heavens! Is that the time? Why didn’t you tell me? [Getting ready to leave] I must get back.
FREDDY
Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice. Please don’t rush off. Look, you haven’t finished your drink. Surely a couple more minutes can’t do any harm?
EDITH, on her feet, is unhooking her bag from the back of her chair. He gives her an appealing smile, and, not knowing quite why, she relents, and smiles back, replacing her bag.
EDITH
Oh, all right. Though I really shouldn’t. Just five more minutes, then I must be off. And I’ll get a fearful wigging from Mr Carlton. He’s a real Tartar. [Settling down again] You know, when you put on that expression you remind me of when you were a little boy…
FREDDY
[laughing and groaning]
Oh, don’t!
EDITH
[laughing too]
It’s just that it’s so funny. ‘Cos most of the time you’re quite the man of the world!
She drinks her port, and they smile at each other. The WAITRESS passes, and throws them an ambiguous look.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 5
A montage of postcards, with music, rapidly conveys the passage of time during FREDDY’s absence. To start, we see the brief message on the first, addressed to “Mr and Mrs Percy Thompson”: “Calm seas, blue skies. Wish you were here. Reading Bella Donna – with bated breath! All the best, Freddy./ R.M.S.Morea.” The card flips over to the picture side: the Rock of Gibraltar.
DISSOLVE to the picture on a second card: Cairo. And a third: Bombay. And a fourth: Sydney, Australia. And a fifth: Ceylon. And a sixth: Cairo (a different picture). And a seventh: Gibraltar. And an eighth: Tilbury Docks, London: ‘Here I am again!’
SLOW DISSOLVE
SCENE 6
Exterior. A bright and breezy June day in the scorching summer of 1921. PERCY and FREDDY are leaning on the rail of the ferry taking their party across the Solent from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight.
PERCY, who is red with sunburn, is wearing a pretentious version of a nautical outfit, chewing his pipe in what he takes to be the sea-dog manner. FREDDY, deeply tanned, is more casually dressed, completely at home on board ship. On benches behind them we see the sunburned EDITH and the lightly tanned AVIS in summer dresses.
As the scene begins there is a blast on the ship’s whistle, and PERCY, with a start, covers his ears, as do AVIS and EDITH behind. FREDDY is impassive, evidently used to the sound.
FREDDY
Loud, isn’t it?… Jolly good of you to ask me along like this, Percy. I’ve always wanted to go to the Isle of Wight.
He lights a cigarette, guarding the flame with his hand in a practised way. He and PERCY then look out, smoking, over the sea. After a bit PERCY speaks.
PERCY
I say, Fred, there’s something I’ve been turning over in my mind. You’re down at your mum’s for a couple of months now, aren’t you? [FREDDY nods] You must be missing Avis being stuck at the other end of town. Well, there’s a spare room at our house at the back, might suit you while you’re around. You’d have to put up with our sitting tenants, the Lesters, but it’d be a nice change, having a man in the house. What do you say?
FREDDY
[a touch less surprised than
he ought to be; heartily]
Nothing I’d like better. [Pause] But what about Mrs Thompson? Are you sure she won’t mind?
PERCY
[laughing]
Edith? Oh no. As a matter of fact, it was her idea in the first place. [Turns round; loudly]
Edith!
EDITH and AVIS, who have been talking about this very proposal, look round. PERCY does vigorous pantomime nodding to indicate FREDDY’s answer. They wave back, smiling.
PERCY
[to FREDDY, grinning]
Back in a moment.
He leaves FREDDY smoking at the rail and heads for EDITH and AVIS. As he crosses the deck he is stalked by a SMALL BOY playing “The Sailor’s Hornpipe” on a mouth-organ and mimicking his walk.
PERCY gradually notices, slows down, and turns round to face the SMALL BOY. Jovially pretending to be angry at the mockery, he raises his arm as for a wallop.
The movement is clumsy, and knocks off the cap, which falls to the deck and is caught by the stiff breeze; it skids and bounces and rolls along and is whisked overboard between the rails, evading PERCY’s pursuit. It ends up in the water below.
We see the dismay on PERCY’s face. EDITH starts laughing; then FREDDY; then the SMALL BOY; then AVIS taking Freddy’s arm and the other passengers; then PERCY himself joins in. They cluster at the rail and look back at the cap as it floats away.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 7
Exterior. Twilight. A BAND and TENOR are performing in Rylstone Gardens on Knock Cliff, near Shanklin. There is a relaxed CROWD enjoying the warm summer evening, some dancing, some sitting. The expanse of the sea is calm down below.
The music wells up. Then the TENOR sings, with heartfelt emotion, “One Little Hour”.
TENOR
One little hour of happiness divine,
One posy from the garden of your heart;
One dream alone – that Heav’n had made you mine:
And then to part!
And then to part!
As he sings, we move through the CROWD to where LILY and her nice, bland husband NORMAN, PERCY and EDITH, AVIS and FREDDY, are sitting. On the words ‘One little Hour’ AVIS, bending, gives FREDDY’s arm a little squeeze. He smiles back a bit awkwardly. Then, on the words “that Heav’n had made you mine’, EDITH and FREDDY exchange a surreptitious glance. As the verse comes to an end PERCY pats EDITH proprietorially on the knee and consults his watch.
PERCY
Come on, Avis, aren’t you hungry? We’ll be late for our tea.
PERCY, a reluctant AVIS, LILY and NORMAN get up quietly and make their way through the CROWD to the path leading back down to their hotel. EDITH and FREDDY get up and linger to hear out the two remaining verses of the song, which obviously moves and tempts them.
TENOR
One little hour of joy – a life’s regret!
A world of thorns for one elusive flow’r!
And after all to treasure dearly yet
That little hour!
One golden hour! for that eternal pain!
Yet could you stand today where once you stood
And ask me if for you I’d live again
That little hour – I would.
When it ends they follow the others, at a distance. The BAND takes up the tune, plaintively, from the TENOR, and as they stroll away the strains become fainter. There is a tension between EDITH and FREDDY. Then EDITH speaks.
EDITH
Freddy? [He doesn’t answer] Freddy? [FREDDY stops, but doesn’t speak; she takes his hand] Tell me.
FREDDY
[looking round at her; quietly]
You know what the matter is. I love you.
From below in the twilight on the steep path comes the worried sound of AVIS calling up the hill to them.
AVIS
Come on Freddy, come on, Edith! We’re late enough already!
PERCY
Aren’t you hungry?
They look at each other.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 8
Interior. Late evening. The Thompsons’ bedroom in their hotel, Osborne House. It is blue in the moonlight.
In the still hot night a BAND somewhere on the promenade below is playing a slow, melancholy version of “One Little Hour”. We can also hear through the open window the sighing noise of the sea as it laps on the pebbles of the beach. PERCY and EDITH making love in the missionary position. Her thoughts are elsewhere with FREDDY. She glances at the alarm clock.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 9
Two weeks later. Interior. Day. The Thompsons’ house at 41 Kensington Gardens in Ilford. EDITH is lying alone in bed, bathed in a dim blue light. She seems to be having a blissful dream.
Suddenly the blue curtains are drawn back and the hot morning sun shines on her. She rolls away from it with a sleepy groan, stretching. We hear a milkman’s horse and cart in the street, and a train in the distance.
PERCY
[already dressed, bright and breezy]
Wakey wakey! Come on, Edie, it’s a quarter to eight and it’s already seventy-five degrees.
He starts putting on his tie in front of the mirror. EDITH luxuriously stretches, purring with pleasure. She has a plan.
PERCY
[singing to himself]
Awake my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily course of duty run…
EDITH
Please don’t….
PERCY
You know, I feel like singing with our bloody lodgers away… You’d better get a move on…
EDITH
I told you, I’m going to the dentist’s this morning, so I can take my time.
PERCY
It’s a lovely morning for it.
EDITH
[hiding alarm]
For what?
PERCY
For the dentist’s. You haven’t woken up yet, have you? And there’s no sign of life from young Bywaters. He’ll sleep through his birthday if he’s not careful. We had a few pints at the Pig & Whistle, poor chap. You’d better remind him, we rendez-vous at the theatre at half-past six. [Putting on his jacket, he crosses to the bed and gives EDITH a farewell peck on the cheek. She groans] So long, old girl! [He leaves the bedroom, and we hear him yell out as he crosses the landing] Morning, Fred! Happy birthday!
EDITH sits up, obviously not as sleepy as she was pretending to be. PERCY thunders down the stairs, and the front door slams.
SCENE 10
EDITH is in the kitchen in a fancy silk dressing-gown, filling the kettle at the sink. She hears the front door opening, and tenses up.
PERCY, breathless, calls up to the bedroom.
PERCY
I was in such a good mood I forgot my hat! Best of luck with the dentist!
He waits for an answer. EDITH holds her breath. The door slams shut again. EDITH, disconcerted, puts the kettle down, then takes a cigarette from a pack on the table and lights up. She takes a deep drag and coughs.
She opens the door and goes out into the garden to calm down. Birds are singing, children playing. She sits down on the wicker sofa which is in the dappled shade of a tree. She takes another drag and looks up at the curtained window of FREDDY’s room. A neighbour hangs out her washing, humming.
SCENE 11
EDITH is in the bathroom. Her face is concentrated, she winces slightly as she fits her contraceptive cap. We hear a baby cry in a neighbouring garden. The kettle starts to whistle down in the kitchen.
EDITH
[to herself, in a whisper]
Bother!
She finishes the task hastily and straightens up, then washes her hands. Garden shears start clipping a hedge.
SCENE 12
EDITH is in the kitchen pouring the boiling water into the teapot. She arranges the tea things on a tray, pointedly putting on a second cup. As she does so she hears the neighbour singing through the open scullery door. She picks up the tray.
Outside FREDDY’s door, she puts the tray down, adjusts her dressing-gown and pats her hair. Then she knocks.
FREDDY
Come in.
She picks up the tray and enters the darkened room. It is the small bedroom from Scene 1. We can still hear the music and the shears. FREDDY is sitting up in bed. He isn’t wearing a pyjama jacket. His torso is bronzed. EDITH pauses for a second, excited and embarrassed. She puts down the tray.
EDITH
[cheerily]
Happy birthday!
She leans down and gives him a peck on the cheek. He takes her hand, but she pulls it away briskly and gets on with pouring the tea – only one cup. He looks hurt and puzzled at this rebuff as she hands him the cup.
She goes over to the window, pulls open the main curtains and opens the window wide. The room is filled with sunlight reflected off the windows of the house opposite, and with the singing and other noises. She stays at the window, looking out.
FREDDY silently rises from the bed and comes up behind her. He puts his hands on her shoulders, and she turns to face him, her cheeks wet with tears. He is surprised and suddenly out of his depth. She buries her face in his shoulder, sobbing. He strokes her hair.
EDITH
I’m so unhappy, I don’t know what I want.
He undoes the belt of her dressing-gown, and embraces her. She raises her face and they kiss. He gently steers her towards the bed.
SCENE 13
Two weeks later. Interior. Day. 41 Kensington Gardens. A FAMILY gathering.
PERCY is singing “Love’s Old Sweet Song”, accompanied by MR GRAYDON on the piano, in the front room. PERCY is sweating because of the heat. MRS GRAYDON, EDITH, AVIS, FREDDY and NEWENHAM are also present. They all look hot, even the tanned FREDDY. PERCY sings the verse – in a light baritone, with feeling ‑ while the others join in the refrain. He sings to EDITH which is mortifying for her with FREDDY there. FREDDY doesn’t know where to look. AVIS registers his discomfort.
PERCY
Even today we hear love’s song of yore;
Deep in our hearts it dwells for evermore.
Footsteps may falter, weary grow the way,
Still we can hear it at the close of day.
So till the end when life’s dim shadows fall
Love will be found the sweetest song of all.
ALL
Just a song at twilight, when the lights are low,
And the flick’ring shadows softly come and go.
Though the heart be weary, sad the day and long,
Still to us at twilight comes love’s old song,
Comes love’s old sweet song. [Applause and laughter]
NEWENHAM
[feeling his tie‑less collar]
What a scorcher!
SCENE 14
In the garden, NEWENHAM, behind the camera, with AVIS beside him is giving instructions.
NEWENHAM
Let’s have you all on the chaise longue. Freddy, why don’t you pick up your novel? – and Mr Thompson could be reading the paper. We’ll have you in the middle, Edie, just looking lovely.
They settle into the poses. PERCY, full of himself, starts reading out from the newspaper.
PERCY
How about this? [reads] “Garlic is Good for You”!
EDITH
[revenge for the song; without real humour]
Huh, it gives you wind.
She looks serenely at the camera. FREDDY, embarrassed, looks down at his novel. PERCY flushes and glowers.
NEWENHAM
Come on, Percy, why don’t you have a go? Don’t worry, I’ll set it up for you.
PERCY is fed up. He hands NEWENHAM the paper silently as they cross. NEWENHAM sits down with PERCY’s paper. EDITH relaxes now without PERCY beside her. Her leg touches FREDDY’s too visibly, and she self-consciously shifts towards NEWENHAM. AVIS notices and begins to guess. She turns away to hide her pain.
FREDDY
What do you want me to do, Percy? Do I stay put?
PERCY
Don’t ask me.
EDITH
Oh come on, Percy.
CLICK. We hear the neighbours’ gramophone booming out an Italian tenor. FREDDY is restless.
FREDDY
I’ll take one now, shall I?
PERCY
Will you listen to that? Sorry about the neighbours. Sometimes they get carried away.
FREDDY
Shall I have a go?
PERCY
Haven’t we had enough of all this bother? It’s ninety-five degrees…
EDITH
Don’t mind him.
FREDDY rises, hands EDITH his book, and their eyes meet furtively. PERCY moves towards the settee.
PERCY
Budge up then.
EDITH moves over. FREDDY steps behind the camera. PERCY grunts and balefully stares at the camera, with his arms and legs crossed.
NEWENHAM
[calls down the garden]
Avis! Come and have your picture taken with Freddy!… Come on!
AVIS
[stifling her emotion, calls back]
No, you go on without me!
EDITH looks from AVIS across at FREDDY and the camera: does AVIS know?
SCENE 15
Exterior. Day. The garden of 41 Kensington Gardens. Three weeks later.
From behind a rosebush we see PERCY’s face, which has an intent look. A pissing noise is heard, as the water splashes from the can onto the roses and the dry earth. EDITH is lying on the settee, facing the other way. FREDDY is reading a novel in a deckchair.
EDITH
What are you up to, Percy?
PERCY
Nothing. [He carries on watering.] When is Avis due?
EDITH is doing the hem of a silk nightdress. She replies without looking up.
EDITH
Four o’clock.
FREDDY checks the remaining pages of his novel. PERCY has now emptied the first watering can, and goes back to refill it from the outside tap at the back of the house. He passes between EDITH and FREDDY, and notices the nightdress.
PERCY
[curtly, glancing at Freddy]
Do you have to do that now?
EDITH
Why not? I’ve got to do it some time.
EDITH and FREDDY briefly look at each other, he over the pages of his book, raising his eyebrows, she at him, wistfully. PERCY refills his watering can, and moves towards the roses. As he goes past again, FREDDY glances up at him.
EDITH runs out of pins at exactly the moment PERCY starts watering again.
EDITH
[back over her head]
Could you get me some pins, dear?
Because of the noise of his watering PERCY seems not to have heard her request. She looks across at FREDDY, about to ask again.
FREDDY
Don’t worry, I’ll get you some.
He puts his novel down, and walks over to the house. He gets to the French doors and turns just as the watering noise stops.
FREDDY
Where are they?
EDITH
On our dresser.
FREDDY enters the house. PERCY, whose can is empty again, comes up to EDITH, whose lap is full of scissors, cuttings etc.
PERCY
What was that all about?
EDITH
Freddy’s gone to get me some pins, that’s all.
PERCY
I thought they were in our bedroom.
EDITH
So?
PERCY
Why didn’t you go yourself?
EDITH
Well, I can’t very well, can I, with all this? [She gestures towards her lap]
FREDDY re-enters the garden. EDITH looks at him, then at PERCY with a pointed look – they shouldn’t quarrel in front of their lodger.
PERCY trudges back to refill his watering can. He crosses FREDDY’s path and addresses him with strained politeness.
PERCY
That’s very good of you, Fred.
FREDDY
Anything to oblige.
EDITH
[loudly and graciously]
That’s awfully nice of you, Freddy.
PERCY looks up briefly.
PERCY
[grumpily]
Where’s Avis?
SCENE 16
One and a half hours later, in the morning‑room. The big old clock on the sideboard, ticking loudly, shows 4.30 p.m. EDITH is sitting with her elbows on the table, which displays a rich spread of cold ham, scones, sandwiches &c. for high tea. FREDDY is smoking; PERCY is pacing, with his pipe, and looking out at his garden.
PERCY
Where’s your sister then? I thought she was supposed to be here at four o’clock?
EDITH
I can’t think where she’s got to. I hope nothing’s happened to her; it’s not like her to be late.
PERCY
[sarcastically]
I just don’t think it’s very polite, that’s all.
Embarrassed pause. FREDDY looks uncomfortable, EDITH strained.
PERCY
[murmuring]
Bloody typical.
EDITH
What was that? [PERCY remains silent, glowering. FREDDY leaves the room] Typical of what?
PERCY
Typical of your bloody family. Always giving yourselves airs and graces. First off, your sister doesn’t even bother to turn up, when we’ve laid on a spread like this [sweeping gesture]. That’s not enough. You have to go and stop us eating till she gets here. She’s probably not even coming. Bloody marvellous!
EDITH
[dangerously calm]
You’re so low sometimes, I despair.
PERCY
It’s no good coming on grand with me. You’re no better than I am. I’m a decent chap. I work bloody hard, and I expect to be treated like a white man, with a bit of consideration… in my own house.
EDITH
Your house? ‑ What do you bring home, then? All you’re good for is whining and feeling sorry for yourself. For all we know Avis might have had some dreadful accident, and all you can do is moan about being a decent chap and a big spender. [Rises, very angry] It was me as paid for half this house, most of the furniture you sit on it was me as paid for it, and here you are acting like … like a cad because you’ve got to wait half an hour for your tea. I wish I’d never met you. What possessed me ever to marry you.
PERCY, who has got more than he bargained for, loses his rag. He slaps her across the face.
EDITH
[holding her cheek]
You beast! Hitting a woman! and you call yourself a decent chap!
PERCY, wounded, gives her a shove.
EDITH
Filthy brute!
PERCY pushes her more violently. She falls over a chair and against the table. The tea-things crash onto the floor and the table tips over. EDITH starts to cry and screams at PERCY.
EDITH
I wish you were dead. Get out of my house!
PERCY stands over EDITH. He hasn’t noticed FREDDY come in behind him. PERCY hollers.
PERCY
Damn you, damn you, you rotten cow!
He raises his hand to strike her, but FREDDY grabs it and brings it down behind his back.
FREDDY
That’s enough! Calm down. Leave her alone. [turning to EDITH] You all right, Edie?
She rises from where she has fallen, slams the door shut behind her and runs upstairs. FREDDY still holds on to PERCY, who makes as if to chase after her, but is on the edge of tears.
PERCY
Mind your own business. Let go of me…
FREDDY
Come on, old man, pull yourself together. [A door slams upstairs]
PERCY
Let go of me… just let go of me.
FREDDY
Not till you’ve simmered down.
PERCY struggles some more. Then, moist-eyed, he becomes quite silent. He allows himself to be guided into a seat by FREDDY.
FREDDY
That’s better.
He pulls up a chair and brings his face right up to PERCY’s.
FREDDY
You’re never – never – going to lay a finger on her again. Because if you do, you’ll answer to me. By the way, I didn’t like your tone about Miss Graydon. Watch what you say in future.
FREDDY lights a cigarette, and PERCY, trembling, sits watching him. Then he wipes his face and tries to recover some dignity.
LESTERS
[through the wall]
Everything all right?
PERCY
I won’t put up with this kind of interference in my affairs. You’d better get out of this house and not come back.
FREDDY
[tapping ash in the ashtray]
I wouldn’t want to stay.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 17
Interior. Night. 41 Kensington Gardens. EDITH and PERCY in their bedroom that evening. PERCY is already in bed.
EDITH
You should be ashamed. Look what you’ve done! [She is undressing, and shows him her bruised arm] What’s Freddy going to tell people about why he’s gone?
PERCY
Don’t mention him. I said I’m sorry. I mean it, Edie. I don’t know what came over me. If you really want, we can have a separation.
EDITH
[weary]
You tell me that every time it comes up. But you always go back on your word. You come whining back and you take it back again. It makes me sick thinking I ever believed you.
EDITH turns out the light.
FADE
SCENE 18
Interior. Day. The bedroom in 41 Kensington Gardens. Mid-October 1921. It’s an Indian summer.
EDITH is writing a letter to FREDDY at the dresser by the window. The net curtains are stirring dreamily in a gentle breeze, mingling with her escapist mood.
EDITH
[over]
Oh Freddy! He wouldn’t have given me a divorce, I know – even if he’d known about us he wouldn’t have -and I couldn’t have told him. He wouldn’t have understood anything so pure. It’s above him.
I’ve missed you so much; but our troubles are nearly over. I think I’ve finally succeeded with the ground glass. Yesterday I crushed three light bulbs into his rice pudding. Now he’s ill in bed – at death’s door. He can’t last long. You see how far I’ve gone for you. I feel so strong, and he’s so weak…
The front door slams shut as PERCY arrives home from tennis, shattering EDITH’s delusion. There is a further crash as PERCY bumps into MRS LESTER in the hall and gruffly apologises. EDITH, in a panic, looks round the room for somewhere to hide the letter, then, in desperation as PERCY thunders up the stairs, crumples it up and thrusts it into her bosom. PERCY bursts cheerfully into the room with his racket, a towel round his neck, ruddy with health.
PERCY
Those Lesters! Always getting under your feet! [Waves his racket] Straight sets! Hail the conquering hero!
EDITH is shivering uncontrollably with the return of unwelcome reality and the collapse of her fantasy. PERCY doesn’t notice.
SCENE 19
3 November 1921. Interior. Night.
EDITH is waiting in a corner of Liverpool Street Station near a W.H. Smith stall. In the window copies of The Sheik are on display, as well as a large poster of Way Down East. She is wearing her musquash coat, a winter hat, and her breath is steaming.
FREDDY comes up behind her, and puts his hands over her eyes.
FREDDY
[gruff voice]
Who is it?
EDITH
[jumps]
Freddy Bywaters!
They kiss and hug, she overflows with all that’s been on her mind.
EDITH
My own darling… Look at you, you’re so brown! I’ve been dreaming about you in Bombay. Did you like it? I’ve been so lonely at home without you; and now I only have you for two poor little weeks. But we’ll make them beautiful weeks, won’t we darling? It’s been awful. He‘s been rotten. We must do something.
FREDDY
[puts his finger on her lips]
Shhhh, don’t let’s talk about him.
He shuts her up with a kiss.
SCENE 20
Exterior. Night. A suburban train leaving the station, passing under a bridge, and gathering speed slowly through the built‑up areas of East London.
The train rattling along, leaving behind the lighted streets and going across the marshes towards Bow.
The interior of a carriage. EDITH and FREDDY are kissing urgently. Their time is short. FREDDY is fumbling with her winter clothes, feeling for her breasts. She is running her hand through his hair.
EDITH
[murmuring]
I wanted you all the time. I did what you said in your letters. I even bruised myself like you used to. [FREDDY, aroused, forces her legs open with his body] No, don’t. It’s not safe. I haven’t done anything. [But he doesn’t stop. The sound of tearing underwear] Please Freddy. [Then going along with it] Don’t be rough with me. I want to feel it. I know I could.
More heavy kissing. Then she opens her eyes, and looks out, because the train is pulling into a station. She is more aware of this than him. The train stops. Everything is quiet. They are still kissing.
VOICE
[off; drily]
Someone in there having himself a free meal…
Both FREDDY and EDITH, startled, turn to look out of the window.
At it, surprisingly close, they see a uniformed STATION-MASTER in a cap, and a STATION LACKEY.
EDITH and FREDDY blush. They are flushed and out of breath. FREDDY gets off her lap and sits beside her. Both stare straight ahead, while EDITH rearranges her clothes. There is a long and embarrassed wait till the whistle blows and the train starts moving again.
FREDDY unbuttons his fly, and as her arms pull him towards her, he raises her skirt. They swivel around hastily so they can lie on the seat. They are in a hurry to make love before the next station, and are so frenzied that they almost slip off onto the floor of the compartment. EDITH has to reach out and grab the seat opposite to stay in place. Their breaths are visible in the cold air. FREDDY climaxes quickly. While he is in her arms, exhausted, EDITH, making the best of it, runs her fingers through his hair, tenderly, and looks up at the ceiling of the compartment. They begin to move out of their supine position as the train grinds to a halt.
FADE
SCENE 21
Christmas 1921. Interior. Morning. EDITH is on the lavatory at 41 Kensington Gardens, scribbling a letter, finishing a page.
EDITH’S VOICE [over]
All the other Graydons are coming for Christmas dinner. We’ve got a big turkey: twenty-two pounds! It’s my birthday, but you’re not here, which makes me cry, although I try not to. But darling, I’m always with you wondering what you’re doing, feeling and loving you every minute of always. At night in bed the usual subject came up. I resisted. I didn’t want him to touch me for a month from the third of November and the train ‑ do you understand me, darling? I haven’t been ill this month, not in the usual way. I have to finish it, darlingest boy. Don’t be disappointed. [We dissolve slowly to a saucepan of porridge bubbling in the kitchen] I’ve got a little bottle I’m taking for it. Tell me you won’t worry about me, darling.
MRS LESTER, a thin-faced woman in her fifties, stirs the porridge. EDITH enters.
EDITH
Good morning, Mrs Lester.
MRS LESTER
[mildly rebuking]
Happy Christmas, Mrs Thompson, and happy birthday.
EDITH
How’s Mr Lester today?
MRS LESTER
Mr Lester? Oh, he’s not too well, I’m afraid. He gets more and more confused ‑ I don’t know what the trouble is. Yesterday he asked me to marry him. We had our silver wedding two years ago. [Ladles dollops of porridge into the Thompsons’ bowls] Poor man, he’s going funny in the head. It’s all coming unstuck.
The porridge is glutinous, and she has to shake the spoon violently to serve it out.
EDITH
Oh, that’s terrible. Thank you.
EDITH takes the bowls of porridge, puts them on a tray and takes them across the kitchen to put sugar in. At the same time she pours powder into one of them – her own – from a little bottle.
SCENE 22
EDITH brings the tray into the dining room. We see a Christmas tree.
PERCY
[in a good mood]
Happy birthday, darling, and happy Christmas.
He comes forward, surprising EDITH, takes the tray, kisses her over it, and carries the tray around to the other side of the table.
PERCY
There’s a little present on your plate.
PERCY then takes the wrong porridge off the tray and puts it in his place. EDITH and PERCY sit down. She looks furtively across at his porridge bowl, but can’t do anything. PERCY passes her the wrong bowl.
PERCY
Go on then, open it!
EDITH, preoccupied, opens the package. It’s a red, heart‑shaped brooch.
EDITH
[without conviction]
It’s lovely.
PERCY
It ought to be. It was a lovely price. [He waits. Nothing happens] Aren’t you going to try it on?
She does. He takes his first spoonful of porridge. She is pretending not to watch him, anxiously waiting for the effect of the porridge. She looks down at the brooch.
PERCY
Oogh, funny…
EDITH
[showing off the brooch]
What do you think?
PERCY
I think this porridge tastes rather peculiar.
EDITH
No, the brooch: how do I look?
PERCY
You look like a leading lady…. I don’t think much of this porridge. I’d leave it, if I were you. Those Lesters are the limit. [With sudden self-pity] You can’t even get a proper bowl of porridge on Christmas morning.
EDITH
Well, never mind, dear. It is the season of good will.
SCENE 23
TITLE: January, 1922.
Exterior. Evening. EDITH and FREDDY walk down a dingy, snowbound East London street, past warehouses &c. Sleet is falling, slush under foot. They pass a lit window from which they are watched by a wizened old LASCAR with glazed eyes and a skull cap, smoking a long pipe. In the smoke‑filled room behind him, Chinamen excitedly play cards.
EDITH is scared at the LASCAR, but FREDDY sticks out his tongue at him.
FREDDY
Be brave, Edie. They won’t eat you. Ah, there it is.
A pub looms up, with craning gaslights outside, and a sign: THE HORNPIPE. It carries an “Off‑Licence” sign.
SCENE 24
Interior. Evening. Inside the pub is full of SAILORS and NAVVIES. Some ROUGH TYPES have just vacated a table and leave, pushing their way past EDITH and FREDDY as they enter.
FREDDY has to steady EDITH, then sits her down solicitously.
FREDDY
Stout or Guinness?
EDITH just nods. She is scared of her surroundings.
The glasses arrive in front of EDITH and FREDDY sits down next to her. She doesn’t thank him, because she is watching something at the table on her left. FREDDY also turns to look at it.
The fingers of a SAILOR’s huge, hairy, skull-tattooed hand are spread on the table, while in a very dangerous-looking fashion the SAILOR, drunk and increasingly frenzied, stabs his knife into the splintered wood of the table in the gaps between the fingers.
EDITH, horrified, continues to watch.
FREDDY
[off, bragging]
It’s all right, he knows what he’s doing.
The knife‑game speeds up, till suddenly the SAILOR gashes one of his fingers.
SAILOR
Fuck!
Blood runs over the table. The SAILOR’S FRIENDS roar with laughter.
EDITH looks away, pale and wincing. FREDDY picks up his glass, and knocks it against hers, which is still standing on the table.
FREDDY
Sorry, Edie. Never mind them. Chin chin.
He starts to drink. EDITH has a sip from her glass, puts it down, takes up her bag, looks for cigarettes in her case, and finds it empty.
EDITH
Oh bother! I really want a fag. Freddy, could you get me ten Dunhill?
FREDDY kisses her proprietorially on the cheek as he heads for the bar. Someone at a nearby table mockingly makes a kissing noise.
SCENE 25
Interior. Later the same night. Inside Carlton & Prior.
Sex has just taken place, rather painfully. EDITH and FREDDY have both drunk a lot. Their speech is slurred; and low, because they are trespassing on these premises. There is pain on EDITH’s face as she adjusts her clothing on the chaise‑longue just outside the offices at the back of the shop. She is dimly lit by street lamps. As FREDDY, standing, rearranges himself and looks down, she forces her features into a smile. She takes out a cigarette and puts it in her mouth, with a slight grimace.
FREDDY, noticing that EDITH is in some pain, lights it for her. She inhales deeply and starts coughing. She doubles over.
FREDDY
What’s the matter, darling?
EDITH only makes a move, obviously in some pain, to stub out the cigarette. She leans back on the chaise‑longue in pain. FREDDY looks at her anxiously, rapping his cigarette on its case.
FREDDY
Is it because you hurt yourself, darling?… with the wire… or that stuff?… Is it very bad?
EDITH
[haltingly]
I don’t know what it is. I think it’s because of that. But it’s confusing. I don’t have any experience in… experience in things like this, and I’ve never really discussed it, you know, with other… other women. But I think it must be that. I don’t know what else it can be, but it does hurt.
FREDDY
Oh Peidi, I wish I wasn’t going.
EDITH
If it was in the train, then it’s nearly three months, and if nothing happens, what am I going to do? He didn’t touch me for a month, and he suspects already. If it goes on… what will he do to me?
FREDDY
Don’t worry darling. I won’t go tomorrow. The ship can go without me.
EDITH
[pulling him down towards her]
No, don’t. It may be all right; and besides, we may need all the money we can get… if something happens… Oh Freddy, whatever’s going to become of us?
FREDDY’s head is buried in her shoulder; she strokes his hair.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 26
That night. Interior. The bedroom, 41 Kensington Gardens.
EDITH lies awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. Next to her PERCY is fast asleep and snoring in a ‘fluey way. EDITH gets stomach cramp and stiffens. Her face contorts. A sharp intake of breath, followed by a convulsion. She holds her breath while the pain gradually abates, then relaxes visibly.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 27
20 January 1922. The next morning. Exterior. EDITH is on her way to work in sleet and whirling snow, about to come through the York Road entrance to Ilford station.
Inside the entrance stands BERT, the ticket-collector, a cheerful chap in uniform, with scarf and fingerless gloves. BERT’S MATE comes through the gate just before EDITH.
BERT’S MATE
Morning Bert. Touch of spring in the air, wouldn’t you say?
BERT
Cold enough to freeze the bloody balls off a brass monkey.
BERT’S MATE moves on. EDITH appears.
BERT
Good morning, Mrs Thompson. Marvellous day, i’n’it?
EDITH
[pale; with forced cheerfulness]
And they say it’s going to get worse.
Once she’s through the barrier, her cheerfulness fades. She is still in pain.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 28
Interior. Later the same morning. Carlton & Prior.
EDITH comes past the chaise-longue with a glance and arrives in her office. She sits down in the chair at her desk, looking awful. A barrel-organ is playing in the street, again the ballad “Margie”, and EDITH looks down blankly.
She takes out her “Where Is It?” book, runs her hand over FREDDY’s photo in it, and puts it back. A bronze “hear‑no‑evil” monkey is prominent on her desk. The telephone starts to ring very loudly. EDITH covers her ears, consciously mimicking the monkey’s expression. She lets out a groan.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 29
An hour and a half later, EDITH is taking deep drags on a cigarette while signing her way through a pile of invoices. The room is filled with smoke, the ashtray is full of stubs. LILY comes in.
LILY
Pooh, what a stink! How was it last night? [EDITH grimaces] Sorry I asked. Mr Carlton wants to see you, when you’ve got a spare moment.
LILY leaves, and closes the door. EDITH looks rather absent, then realises she meant to give LILY the invoices.
EDITH
Oh, Lily!
She gets up, opens her office door, tries to call again, but can’t get it out, and faints. The invoices flutter in the air as she collapses in a pile of them.
FADE
SCENE 30
Some minutes later, EDITH wakes on the chaise‑longue. LILY and MYRTLE lean over her.
LILY
Are you all right, Edith?
EDITH
What happened?
MYRTLE
You fainted. You don’t look at all well. Shall I call the doctor?
EDITH
No, it’s all right. I’ll be fine.
She tries to sit up, but faints again and falls back.
FADE
SCENE 31
Later again, EDITH is on the chaise‑longue, covered with a rug. A DOCTOR is using smelling salts. She comes round, groggy. The DOCTOR takes her wrist to feel her pulse.
DOCTOR
Well, Miss Graydon, what seems to be the trouble? You’ve been fainting, they tell me.
EDITH
I don’t really know. I had a pain. I don’t remember what happened.
DOCTOR
A pain? [patronizingly] Where would that be now?
EDITH
[evasively]
It’s hard to say. All over. I feel peculiar.
DOCTOR
Have you had this before?
EDITH
Fainting? I haven’t fainted for years.
DOCTOR
And the pains? How long have you had them?
EDITH
[not noticing the DOCTOR’s innuendo]
Maybe it’s something I ate; or maybe it’s because I did have a little stout last night. That might have disagreed with me.
At this moment she has a contraction and can’t help shuddering with pain. She experiences these intermittently during the next questions. The first shudder alerts the DOCTOR, who speaks in a distinctly quieter voice.
DOCTOR
Have you been ill this month, as usual?
EDITH
[blushes and pretends]
Oh that, yes, it was just as bad as always.
DOCTOR
I see… [Obviously not convinced she’s telling the truth] You may have heard that there’s a lot of influenza about at the moment. The best thing just now would be for someone to take you home, and for you to go straight to bed. Is there anyone who could run you home?
EDITH
I think Mr Carlton might. He’s a gentleman.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 32
The interior of CARLTON’s well-appointed car arriving in Ilford from the City. Slush outside. EDITH is lying across the back seat of the car, wrapped in a blanket, with a hot water bottle on her stomach. The car pulls into Kensington Gardens.
CARLTON
Here we are, home again! [He reaches back, offering EDITH a hipflask] Have a snifter of brandy. Go on, Edith, it’s medicinal. That’ll put you to rights. The wife swears by it when she’s under the weather ‑ has done ever since Charlie. Gor dear! The little blighter was two weeks late. Must’ve been happy where he was, I suppose. Bloody miserable for us, though. In the end they had to go in and get him. Dragged him out kicking and screaming. What a business!
EDITH, wincing, takes a larger than lady‑like swig. She tries to pass the hipflask back to him in the front of the car, but sinks back. The car comes to a halt. CARLTON hasn’t noticed her failed effort, because he is parking.
CARLTON
Righto! Let’s get you into the warm. I’ll give you a hand upstairs.
He gets out of the car and goes round to help her out.
EDITH
No, it’s all right, thanks ever so much. [They move slowly to the house through the slush, with her leaning on his arm] Mrs Lester will be here. She’ll look after me. It’s very good of you, running me home like this. You must be aching to get back to the shop.
CARLTON
Not so much that I won’t be happy to see you in and tuck you up.
EDITH
[hastily]
No, please don’t bother. You’ve been too kind already. I’ll be fine now. Mrs Lester will look after me.
Old MR LESTER has been watching them glazedly from behind the net curtain, which is slightly drawn aside by his finger. CARLTON rings the bell before EDITH can get out her key. MRS LESTER, who has been watching and listening, immediately opens the door.
CARLTON
Oh well, always glad to help a lady in trouble. Hullo. Mrs Chester, isn’t it?
MRS LESTER
Lester.
CARLTON
[unabashed]
Mrs Thompson was feeling poorly this morning, so I brought her home in the motor. [As to a menial] Boil her up a hot water bottle, would you, and see to it she has everything she needs.
MRS LESTER scowls and doesn’t reply. EDITH is slightly embarrassed by his tone, and acts more genteelly in front of MRS LESTER.
EDITH
I mustn’t keep you, Mr Carlton. [Forcedly jaunty] I’ll be right as rain now.
CARLTON
Okeydokey… [He heads down the path. At the gate he stops, turns and calls back] Toodle-oo, Edith! I’ll pop in at your parents and let them know you’re safe at home.
EDITH
[making an effort]
Tell them it’s nothing to worry about.
CARLTON
Will do. Get that lucky dog of a husband of yours to poach you an egg for once.
This last remark registers on MRS LESTER’s disapproving face. The door of the house closes. Inside the hall, the baleful MRS LESTER remains sullenly silent. EDITH leans against the wall in some pain.
EDITH
That was Mr Carlton. I feel rather off‑colour. I’m going upstairs to lie down. Please don’t disturb me.
She starts to drag herself up the stairs.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 33
Interior. Day. 41 Kensington Gardens. Shortly afterwards.
EDITH is sitting in an upright chair in the little room, pressing her stomach, rocking to and fro, moaning and weeping.
EDITH
[repeatedly]
Oh God… Oh God…
DISSOLVE
SCENE 34
Interior. The little room. It is getting dark outside, and the room is dimly lit by a table lamp. EDITH is lying on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, covered in sweat. A great shudder, followed by a violent convulsive effort. The convulsion recedes. She lies still for ten seconds, then reaches down and brings her hand up again. It is stained with blood. She notices the time on the loudly ticking clock: 4 o’clock (p.m.).
DISSOLVE
SCENE 35
Interior. The same room. The clock now reads 6.30. PERCY enters solicitously. EDITH looks haggard and drained. She has had to change the sheets and blankets on the bed.
PERCY
Hallo dear, your mother said you weren’t up to the mark at the office and came home. Are you better now? What was it?
EDITH
[with an edge of hostility]
The usual thing, but worse than ever. I’ll sleep in here tonight.
PERCY
You do look a bit poorly. Shall I get the doctor to look in?
EDITH
I’ll be fine in the morning. I want some peace and quiet.
EDITH closes her eyes. PERCY remains hopefully sitting on the side of the bed, then leaves the room. A rattle of hail against the window.
SCENE 36
Exterior. Five months have passed. It is a warm spring night in May 1922. A gentle breeze disturbs the white blossom of a tree by the front gate of 41 Kensington Gardens. It flutters down through the darkness onto the embracing forms of EDITH and FREDDY. EDITH is wearing a summer frock, a shawl and a hat. FREDDY awkwardly disengages himself from her farewell embrace.
EDITH
[whispers urgently]
I’ll think of you every day.
Quietly opening the gate, she looks up and sees a light still on in the bedroom window. The other windows in the street are all dark. EDITH tiptoes up the path so as not to wake the LESTERS. She waves FREDDY away from the gate. As he goes, she blows him a kiss.
SCENE 37
At the bedroom door, EDITH has already taken off her shawl and hat. Carrying her shoes, she comes in and very gently shuts the door. As it clicks shut, she looks round at the ottoman. PERCY is lying on it, clutching his chest melodramatically. But she ignores him and crosses the room to her cheval glass, where she sits down and takes off her bracelets, watch, necklace and earrings, putting them on the dresser. She can see PERCY in the mirror, but does not turn round. She can’t bear the contrast with the romantic embrace of the moment before. She starts getting ready for bed.
PERCY
Thank God, you’re back… You said you’d be home at six, and here it is now, eleven-thirty! You know how my heart is. It was beating so hard, I had to lie down. I told myself you’d be here in a little while… [Pleading] Come here, Edie, come here. [EDITH doesn’t respond] Please, Edie, I feel awful. I couldn’t get it out of my head that I was going to die, and that you’d come home and find me lying here dead and then I’d never hold you in my arms again…
EDITH
Why didn’t you?… at least I wouldn’t have had to put up with all this nonsense.
PERCY’s soft approach is clearly not winning her over. He is stung, and raises his voice in an agony of self-pity.
PERCY
“In sickness and in health”… Perhaps you don’t remember that bit? You go off flirting with that young scamp, because it’s his last night, when you promised you’d be home, and here’s your husband, at his last gasp, and you come home and you don’t give a damn. You’ll be the death of me some day.
EDITH
What was that again?
PERCY
What was what?
EDITH
Who did you mean when you said that?
PERCY
What?
EDITH
You know very well. I told you if you uttered his name again I’d never forgive you. If you don’t take back that remark, I’ll leave this house and never return, I mean it.
PERCY
That’s a good one. Do you have no shame? You go all about the place with that Freddy Bywaters. What he’d do, if he had an ounce of decency, he’d marry your sister. That’s what he’d do. I ought to tell her, ’cause it’s not fair. But no, you don’t care if all and sundry see you having a good time together. How do you think Avis feels? [Overdramatising] They got a name for women like you.
EDITH
[stung in turn, poisonously]
I’d just like to hear you say it… He has nothing to do with this.
PERCY
[pause; changes tack]
All right then. Well in that case I’d like to know why can’t we do like other married people and have some children? You could stop work and that would be a good thing. That crowd you work with, they’re a bad influence. Then you wouldn’t make everybody’s life a misery. You’ll be doing something worthwhile.
EDITH
You must be mad… [More conciliatory] You know we can’t afford it.
PERCY
[pleading again]
But everything would be different if we had a baby, Edie. We’d be a family, and I’d look after you; that’s what I’d really like.
EDITH
[long pause]
Poor Percy… it’s no use. We’ll see about it.
EDITH leaves the room. She thinks things are going well with FREDDY, and for the time being she’ll give PERCY his marital dues.
SCENE 38
Interior. The same night.
EDITH is in bed, facing the wall. PERCY can only see her back. The cord with the light‑switch hanging from the ceiling is on his side, and he is not yet ready to go to sleep.
PERCY
[whispers]
Edie!… Edie, darling, are you awake?
There is no reply. Looking glum, PERCY turns out the light.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 39
Interior. A little later. EDITH’s face is blue in the darkness. Her eyes are closed, but when there is a tell‑tale rustle of sheets behind her in the bed, they open for an instant. PERCY’s hand steals over her breast. She flinches, but the hand doesn’t move back. He cuddles up to her and holds her close.
PERCY
Why can’t we be like before? We used to be so happy. Won’t you be my little Edie again? [He draws her back towards him. She allows it to happen – with a groan]
EDITH
Oh dear.
PERCY clambers on top of her and fussily rearranges the sheets. He is wearing his pyjamas. He begins. His face is buried in the pillow. EDITH is looking at the ceiling. The earth is not moving for her. The lace curtains hang limply in the blue moonlight.
SCENE 40
Interior. 41 Kensington Gardens. Six weeks later.
The lace curtains of the bedroom are gently moved by a breath of air on a very hot July day. The noise of people on the way to work, and the milkman’s horse and cart, are heard outside. All the windows are open; a milk bottle breaks.
VOICE [off]
Careful!
PERCY
[off; singing in the bathroom]
If you lak-a-me, lak I lak-a you
And we lak-a both the same,
I lak-a say, this very day,
I lak-a change your name;
‘Cause I love-a-you and love-a-you true
And if you-a love-a-me,
One live as two, two live as one,
Under the bam,
Under the boo,
Under the bamboo tree…
EDITH in her slip is moving about in front of the cheval glass mirror, turning, modelling, feeling her hair in its new shape, a bob.
EDITH’S VOICE
[over]
Will you like my hair in a bob? I wish you’d write and let me know. That last letter you sent, you never once said you loved me.
The bathroom door closes loudly. PERCY’S heavy footsteps descend the stairs. EDITH gets dressed, still half in her reverie.
EDITH’S VOICE
[over]
I’m feeling very blue, an inactive sort of drifting feeling that I can’t describe. Don’t drift away from me, darling, write to me soon.
SCENE 41
Interior. EDITH’s office at Carlton & Prior. The same bright morning.
We see that there is a letter from FREDDY open on the table. EDITH is sobbing, shaking uncontrollably.
SCENE 42
Exterior. Day. Friday 22 September 1922, the day of FREDDY’s return. A West End street. A loud gust of wind carries away the hat of a passer-by among swishing autumn-leaves. AVIS blows her nose. Through a shop-window we see EDITH and AVIS outside, peering in at the grand autumn fashions. AVIS sneezes.
AVIS
Oh dear, I think I’m getting a cold.
EDITH
[bravely cheerful]
You wouldn’t catch a cold in one of those.
We see an obviously autumnal costume in the window, arranged with heather and grouse, etc. A WINDOW-DRESSER is crawling about, putting on finishing touches, and props up a sign announcing “Autumn Fashions“. He is on all fours. He pushes his glasses back up his nose to look at the two women, trying to decide if they’re posh enough to be likely customers. But AVIS catches his eye, and mischievously wrinkles her nose at him.
EDITH
[mock‑aristo]
Shall we take tea, my dear?
AVIS
There’s a Lyons on the corner.
EDITH
[ironically]
How nice.
SCENE 43
Interior. A few minutes later. EDITH and AVIS are at a table in Lyons. A tea‑tray is being set down between them. EDITH, who hasn’t heard from FREDDY since his devastating letter, is nervously sounding AVIS out. She knows AVIS has been in touch with him.
EDITH
[insinuatingly]
I suppose your Freddy Bywaters will be here any day now.
AVIS
[blushing, pleased]
I don’t think you should call him my Freddy. [Pause] He was coming back today, I think.
EDITH
That must be exciting for you.
AVIS
[evasively]
I don’t know when he’ll turn up, though. He said he’d come round to Shakespeare Crescent some evening.
EDITH
[startled]
You haven’t seen him already?
AVIS
Oh no – when he wrote me from Sydney. But he didn’t know exactly when.
EDITH
[pouring the tea]
He writes you letters then? He must be serious if he does that.
AVIS
[diffidently]
Well, they were only postcards really. But it was very nice of him to keep in touch, don’t you think? [She wants EDITH to leave it alone]
EDITH
[rather distractedly]
Oh yes, very nice. Two sugars?
AVIS
Yes please.
EDITH
[recovering her composure]
Well, give him my regards when you see him. I hope I‘ll see him before he goes away again. How long is he home for?
AVIS
Twelve days. It’s not much after so long away
EDITH
[Sips her tea and sighs]
I’m glad this week’s over: what a grind… [Another sip]
FADE
SCENE 44
Interior. Day. The Thursday before FREDDY’s departure. Fuller’s Tea Room near Carlton & Prior. It’s raining heavily outside.
EDITH, carefully made up and smartly dressed, is looking towards the door with a glazed smile. There is a half cup of tea on the table in front of her. We hear the letter EDITH has written FREDDY.
EDITH
[over]
Dear Freddy – You asked me not to write to you because it would be better to make a clean break, but I must. I still love you and need your friendship. Please can we meet? I shall be waiting in Fuller’s Tea Room on Thursday 28 September at 4 o’clock.
The bell goes. She jumps. The PERSON who has come – not FREDDY -is standing in the doorway, dripping, and shaking out an umbrella. EDITH looks round at the clock. It is 4.45pm. She notices her half cup of tea. She takes a sip, but it is unpleasantly cold. Suddenly she looks up. FREDDY is standing there. He has no coat and his clothes are soaked. He has run all the way.
EDITH
Hallo Freddy.
FREDDY
I can’t stay. I promised to meet my mum at half past four.
EDITH
O Freddy, we must talk. Can you see me tomorrow?
FREDDY stands there hesitating, anguished.
EDITH
Here, at the same time. Please.
FREDDY
[toneless]
Yes.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 45
Interior. Friday 29 September 1922. Fuller’s Tea Room in the afternoon.
EDITH and FREDDY are sitting tête-à-tête. They are in full flow.
FREDDY
[worked up, but controlling his voice]
Now you tell me to be patient! When you wrote you said you wanted me to be jealous, what was it, “so jealous you’ll do something desperate”. How can I be patient when you go and say things like that? [EDITH makes him pause a moment by touching his hand] …It makes me want to do something… desperate. Isn’t that what you really want? You know, something for us?
EDITH
Oh darling, I didn’t mean anything nasty… [Then, wearily] Oh, I don’t know what I meant. I don’t know what I want… I suppose I meant something like taking me away with you, you know, getting us positions in Bombay, getting us off away from him and all this mess, just the two of us together. I was scared when I wrote you about that. I thought you might not love me any more…
Scene 46
FREDDY Is there already, his resistance fully gone. EDITH comes in five minutes early. She is surprised to find FREDDY already waiting.
FREDDY
I’ve been so stupid. It’s too late now, I can’t stop loving you however hard I try. [A little bashful] When I was away, and I thought everything was going all wrong. I just can’t bear not having you to myself. I even went with other women, out there. But I can see now it’s now good. There’s nothing I can do about it. I just feel so bloody awful when I think of him…being with you. Sometimes I want to wring his bloody neck. [He looks up] Won’t you come away with me, Edie?
EDITH
Oh, Freddy, you know we can’t, not yet, we can’t go away with nothing.
FREDDY
No, come on, we can: what do we need?
EDITH
[prevaricating]
I know you could: you’re a man. It’s too sudden. It’s different for me. A woman needs… certain things… things that cost money. But I do want to, Freddy. I dream about going away with you, but we’ve got to save, and plan. You’re young ‑ I don’t know if you realize quite what you need… you know, to set up in the world; to be respectable. I don’t want to feel cheap.
FREDDY
You’re right, I’m being selfish. It’s just that I can’t stand you being with him much longer… Can’t you just go back to your mum and dad, they’ll take you in. Then I won’t mind waiting; and it won’t be so… dirty.
EDITH
[pained; gently]
Oh Freddy… I wish I could. I hate it too. But I just can’t. Think of mother, and dad. It would break their hearts. And it wouldn’t do any good. He’d come round to work and make a scene in front of everybody. He’d say filthy things, just to humiliate me, and then I couldn’t stay there, and then we’d have nothing, not even anything to hope for.
FREDDY
How can we stand it? What can we do?
EDITH
[earnest]
We mustn’t give up. If things go badly with us, you know what we agreed. To kill ourselves. Then at least it’ll all be over. I’ll be yours for ever.
FREDDY
[after a silence]
When can we meet?
EDITH
If only I’d known… I’d have arranged… I tell you what. I really should be at work tomorrow morning, but I’ve got an idea. I can telephone the shop from Liverpool Street.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 47
TITLE: Saturday, 30 September, 1922
The station clock at Liverpool Street Station reads 8.35 (a.m.). We hear a train grinding to a halt.
PERCY and EDITH alight among the other Saturday morning commuters.
From a distance we see PERCY kiss EDITH on the cheek. They go off in different directions.
EDITH is using the telephone in the tea room kiosk. It rings, then is answered.
VOICE
[off]
Hallo, Carlton & Prior, hats to the quality.
EDITH
[acting a bit faint]
Oh hullo, Edith Graydon here. I’m terribly sorry, but I just got off the train at Liverpool Street and I had a funny turn.
SCENE 48
EDITH spins round to kiss FREDDY on the concourse of Liverpool Street, beside the W.H. Smith bookstall.
SCENE 49
EDITH and FREDDY board a train, and as FREDDY closes the door, the train starts to move out.
SCENE 50
Exterior. A bright morning. The York Road side-entrance of Ilford Station.
BERT, the ticket collector, is reading the paper as the train pulls out. Just beyond the ticket collector’s box a ladder slants across above the exit against the opposite wall. At the top of the ladder Bert’s MATE, red-faced and sweating, is vigorously screwing a lamp into the wall.
As EDITH approaches the gate, BERT is surprised.
BERT
Hallo, Mrs Thompson, you’re back soon ‑ anything the matter?
EDITH
Hullo, Bert, nothing really.
EDITH goes out passing under the ladder without noticing. Once EDITH is out of hearing, BERT mutters
BERT Enjoy your morning off.
BERT returns to his paper. After a few moments, another passenger, a MIDDLE AGED WOMAN, comes through the barrier and passes under the ladder.
MATE
That should do it.
BERT
I certainly hope so.
A few more seconds pass. Then FREDDY in turn comes through the barrier, also passing under the ladder.
SCENE 51
In bright sunlight EDITH, flushed with sexual anticipation, crosses the little bridge into Wanstead Park. She comes past, and a bit later, now only thirty yards behind, FREDDY does too. We hear bird song, and the gurgling stream.
SCENE 52
EDITH advances along a broad path through the woods. We see her horrified at the approach of someone she knows.
MR CARLTON, dressed in tweeds and plus‑fours, with a gold-topped stick, is walking a fat golden retriever. He ceremoniously removes his cap. He is surprised to see EDITH, but pleased, as he finds her attractive. He is always interested to see EDITH.
CARLTON
[intrigued]
Morning, Miss Graydon. I thought you’d be at the shop today.
EDITH
[deeply embarrassed]
Hullo, Mr Carlton. Yes, I’m sorry, I came over all queer at Liverpool Street. I nearly fainted, so I thought I’d better come back.
CARLTON
Quite right too. You do look a bit flushed.
EDITH
And when I got to the Ilford station, I felt a lot better. I just needed some fresh air and a bit of quiet, so here I am.
CARLTON
[mopping his brow]
Very sensible. Perfect day, bosom of nature, and so forth. [FREDDY passes. Jocularly] What ‘ve you done with your husband?
EDITH
I made him go the office. He was disagreeable.
CARLTON
Poor devil! Can I walk you home?
EDITH
[blushing]
No, please, don’t bother. I, er..er…
CARLTON
[looking past EDITH]
I say, isn’t that Mrs Bobsworth? Do you know Ruby? Dear friend of mine, lovely woman! [Looks at his watch] Ah, must be off [Takes her arm] Do take care of yourself, dear girl.
EDITH
[relieved]
I’ll be fine for Monday.
CARLTON
[jolly]
Cheeriebye. Come on Sidney, you tub of lard.
He sets off in haste after Mrs Bobsworth.
SCENE 53
FREDDY waits impatiently in a clearing. We hear the sound of the wind rustling in the leaves. A child cries in the distance, dogs bark, birds sing, and someone on the path ‑ twenty-odd yards away ‑ whistles “One Little Hour”. EDITH enters, taking care not to be seen. They kiss. FREDDY starts undoing the buttons of her blouse.
FREDDY
Who was that?
EDITH
Never mind. Don’t let’s talk, Freddy. Let’s make it special. We’ve all the time in the world.
They undo each other slowly. After a little, FREDDY starts to hurry.
EDITH
[whispers]
Slowly.
When they are undone, they sink to the ground. FREDDY starts to embrace her, but EDITH eases him back.
EDITH
[in a low voice]
Give me your finger.
She guides it to the place and shows him what she wants, as they lie side by side facing each other. Her hand is also at work.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 54
EDITH’s face is in ecstasy, her breath short. FREDDY makes as if to get on top of her, and she, smiling knowingly, shakes her head, holding him off.
EDITH
Don’t stop… [Further spasms of pleasure] …My darlingest boy… I’ll do anything for you.
FREDDY
[slightly detached]
Oh Edie, be with me on Tuesday…my last night before I go?
EDITH
I can’t darling… I told you I can’t
DISSOLVE
SCENE 55
FREDDY is on his back, and EDITH has straddled him. She is rocking back and forth, groaning in the grip of a wild pleasure she has never before experienced.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 56
A cigarette being tapped on a decorated oriental cigarette case. EDITH is lying serenely on her back and FREDDY is sitting up beside her. He lights cigarettes for them both.
FREDDY
[slightly embarrassed, but proud]
I’ve never seen you so… like that. Was it special this time?
EDITH
It’s a feeling I’ve never had before in my whole life.
FREDDY
What does it feel like?
EDITH
I can’t really describe it…a great welling up of love…a kind of inertia…
EDITH closes her eyes as she remembers.
FREDDY
[tenderly]
Can I see you on Tuesday? It’s the last night before my ship goes. We always do the last night.
EDITH
[frowning]
Oh Freddy, I don’t know. I’ll see if I can. If only I’d known.. I’m going to the theatre with him, and with Lily and Norman, and my auntie and uncle. It’s been arranged for ages, and he knows Tuesday is your last night. What can I do…?
FREDDY looks hurt.
SCENE 57
TITLE: Tuesday, 3 October 1922
TITLE: 11.30 p.m.
Exterior. Ilford station, York Road side-entrance, in a pool of light from the lamp outside the ticket barrier. We hear a train pulling out, and see traces of billowing smoke.
Three middle-aged ILFORDIANS emerge. They banter as they come past.
WOMAN’S VOICE
Mr Cleveley, how can you say such a thing?
SECOND WOMAN’S VOICE
Ernest, behave yourself
MR CLEVELEY’S VOICE
[plaintive]
But I like brunettes…
The sound of their voices fades away. The train is faintly audible in the distance.
We now hear the footsteps of a MAN and a WOMAN – his blakies and her high heels – as they stroll down the metal ramp inside the station ‑ a hollow, echoing sound.
They appear in the gateway, and leave the station, heading in the same direction as the threesome. After some seconds, a SHADOWY FIGURE in a hat comes out of the darkness and sets out after them, fifty yards behind.
SCENE 58
We recognize the MAN and WOMAN as PERCY and EDITH, arm-in-arm as they come down the street, walking in and out of the pools of light cast by the infrequent lamps. From time to time, as they talk, we see the FIGURE following them, and we hear, in the background, the clicking sound of his blakies. EDITH, sadly conscious of FREDDY’s imminent departure, is doing her best to keep up PERCY’s high spirits.
PERCY
That chap wasn’t half funny, in that bit in the first act, you know, going like this.
PERCY, clowning, executes a clumsy dance. EDITH laughs in spite of herself.
EDITH
You should go on the stage ‑ you’d make a fortune. I liked it when his arms and legs were going off all over the place.
PERCY
I thought I was going to die.
EDITH
Me too.
Their laughter subsides. They walk on, momentarily in silence. They pass through another pool of light cast by a street lamp. We see the FIGURE fifty yards back turn off to the right as he passes under a lamp at a corner. At first the possible menace seems to be removed, but then we hear, very faintly, the sound of clattering blakies as somebody starts to run.
SCENE 59
Some way further on, EDITH and PERCY are still walking home. The ILFORDIANS have stopped to say their farewells on the other side of the street. We hear their voices as EDITH and PERCY pass.
MR CLEVELEY
…It’s like the saying goes, love always finds a way.
He roars with laughter, and the two women shush him.
PERCY
[glancing across]
They seem very jolly ‑ do you know them?
EDITH
[absent‑mindedly]
No, I don’t think so.
They walk on.
PERCY
[broaching a new subject; slightly awkward]
One thing I liked… you know, in the play… was the way those two, the Thingummybobs,… and those others, you know, the Wossernames… anyway, get back together after all their troubles. That was rather sweet, don’t you think?
EDITH
[guarded; seeing his drift]
Yes, very nice. What I liked best was the dancing.
They walk on.
PERCY
You know, Edie, sometimes I think we‘re a bit like that. We have our troubles, and we quarrel and say things we shouldn’t, but in the end we always come through. We make up, and it’s like when we first got married. Do you know what I mean?
EDITH
Dear me, Percy, it doesn’t take much to set you off, does it? It’s only a play after all. Real life’s not like that.
PERCY
That’s a bit bleak.
EDITH
[curtly]
It’s true though.
PERCY
Well, I don’t believe it. We’ve got a lovely house, no worries about money, we have lots of friends, we go to the theatre all the time… I don’t know what more you can ask from life.
The FIGURE opens a garden gate at the corner behind them and rushes towards them. PERCY is alarmed by the noise of the gate and the blakies.
PERCY
What the hell?…
The FIGURE grabs EDITH and pushes her aside; she falls clumsily and hits her head on the edge of the pavement. As she falls she recognizes the FIGURE as FREDDY. She is astounded to see him. Ignoring her, FREDDY now pushes PERCY ahead into the darkness, beyond the light of the corner lamp. Dazed, EDITH looks up and gets a confused impression of the struggle.
EDITH
[wailing]
Oh don’t… don’t… don’t!
It is dark, but we catch the gleam of the knife. We sense violent movement, and we hear violent sounds; the scraping of blakies on the pavement, the shredding and tearing of clothes, and the panting and groaning of the two men.
We hear FREDDY’s knife inflict flesh wounds; then one sound stands out: the fatal thrust which severs the carotid artery.
There is an eerie silence.
PERCY stands stock‑still; FREDDY turns, and starts to run away. As PERCY leans heavily against the wall, we see FREDDY run off down the street through the pool of light from the lamp at the corner of Kensington Gardens.
EDITH staggers to her feet and is momentarily silhouetted against the light as she comes into the darkness towards PERCY. As she approaches him he collapses into a sitting position against the gate in the wall, with his arms limp by his side. The pavement around him glistens from the blood. He is breathing with difficulty, gurgling. His eyes are glassy.
PERCY
[half-realising; an unearthly groan]
Oo’er…
EDITH kneels beside him, still thinking he has only been badly beaten up. She listens anxiously to his laboured breathing. As he tries to say something more, suddenly a spasm makes blood well up out of his mouth. It flows down over his till now only slightly stained white shirt front; and over EDITH, to her absolute horror.
She recoils, stunned, and stumbles away for help. Soon she is running in panic. Some fifty yards down the road she surges up to MR CLEVELEY and the WOMAN out of the darkness.
EDITH
[breathless, bloodied and in a frenzy]
Oh my God, help me, my husband’s ill, help me!
MR CLEVELEY
[steadying her; a bit slow]
Steady on now. What’s the matter?
EDITH
It’s my husband… [in a quavering voice] He’s bleeding on the pavement.
WOMAN
My goodness me! How awful! We must fetch a doctor.
MR CLEVELEY
Dr Maudsley’s the nearest. Come on.
EDITH, still frenzied, runs ahead of the other two to MAUDSLEY’s house nearby. The house is dark except for a porch light. Above the electric bell a brass plaque reads “Archibald Maudsley, MD”. The bell echoes loudly in the house. A light comes on upstairs. After an agonising wait a beaky, scowling face (DR MAUDSLEY) glowers down from the window. Seeing it, she starts to run back towards PERCY. As she rounds the corner she bumps into CLEVELEY and the WOMAN. They look startled, expecting her to have waited.
EDITH
He’s coming. Bring him as fast as you can. It may be too late. Hurry, please!
She dashes off again back to PERCY.
Again she kneels in front of him, again she listens anxiously: this time there’s no sound. Struggling to control her panic, she looks round for her bag, which she dropped when she fell, but can’t see it. Not finding it, she gingerly reaches into PERCY’s jacket pocket and comes out with his lighter. She holds it up to his face and flicks it on. His glassy eyes are still open. She whispers.
EDITH
Percy?
She can’t take in that he is dead. We hear the others approach. EDITH, who can’t bear to look at PERCY, snaps the lighter shut with a deafening click.
FADE TO BLACK
SCENE 60
The following afternoon at the Graydons, 231 Shakespeare Crescent. Interior. The kitchen. EDITH is shattered, anxious, confused. MRS GRAYDON solicitously gives her a cup of tea. The clock strikes 4, and MRS GRAYDON remembers something. She murmurs to AVIS, not to disturb EDITH, but EDITH listens intently with mixed emotion.
MRS GRAYDON
Oh Avis, isn’t Freddy coming round? I’d completely forgotten. What time did he say last night?
AVIS
When he saw me home from the pub, he said he’d come for tea at 4 o’clock.
MRS GRAYDON
Dear me, we’ll have to tell him this terrible news about poor Percy.
There’s a knock on the door. MRS GRAYDON goes to answer, there is a low murmur in the hall, AVIS and EDITH look at each other. FREDDY comes in with a strange expression on his face.
FREDDY
Mrs Thompson, this is terrible news.
EDITH can’t find anything to say. The silence is broken by another knock on the door, and this time AVIS answers it. Another low murmur, and then AVIS re-enters the room without speaking. She is followed by two plainclothes policemen. One of them starts to speak with great solemnity.
POLICEMAN
Edith Thompson, Frederick Bywaters …
SCENE 61
December 1922. Interior. Day. The Old Bailey, Court Number One. A succession of witnesses.
MR CLEVELEY
He was covered in blood. It was horrible.
MRS LESTER
Well, they used to row a lot, about all sorts of things.
CARLTON
A very good manager…a delightful lady…really charming.
NEWENHAM
Percy? He was all right, I suppose.
LILY
[flustered by questioning]
I told her to leave him alone, `coz he wouldn’t be good for her in the end.
MRS GRAYDON
[not being able to get her gloves off]
He is such a nice boy, I just can’t believe it.
MR GRAYDON
We always thought Avis was Freddy’s girl.
AVIS
[brave]
Yes, Freddy and I had a drink and a nice chat at the Avenue Arms. He was a bit quiet, but he wasn’t odd. I remember him saying he had some things to sort out before his ship sailed. I still can’t understand what they say he did.
SCENE 62
EDITH’s face shows the strain of the nightmarish occasion. We hear the SOLICITOR-GENERAL’s cultivated voice.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL [off]
Remember, gentlemen of the jury, Frederick Bywaters has confessed that it was he who inflicted the wounds from which Mr Thompson died. What we are therefore dealing with here is a question of conspiracy, of conspiracy to murder. These letters [rustling his copy] demonstrate this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Listen now to the conclusion of this letter, written, you must remember, by a much older, married woman to an inexperienced boy who had become entangled with her. [Slightly disdainful] “…Yes, darling, you are jealous of him. But I want you to be ‑ he has the right by law to all that you have the right to by nature and love ‑ yes darling be jealous, so much that you will do something desperate.” [EDITH winces; she glances across at the JURY, all male but one: they stare curiously, and she looks away blushing] Well?
We see the whole courtroom. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL, a neat, portly, assured, not very sharp man in his fifties, is cross-examining FREDDY, who is sullen and cagey. The JUDGE, an ex-athlete and solid family man with a stern line on morality, looks on balefully. FREDDY, peering at his copy of the letters, takes a moment to answer.
FREDDY
I wasn’t jealous.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
But she was appealing to you to be jealous and “do something desperate”?
FREDDY
No, when she said “desperate” that meant taking her away ‑ at least that’s how I read it.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Then why didn’t you take her away?
FREDDY
[a cough]
Financial reasons.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
You were in love with Mrs Thompson?
FREDDY
Oh yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Did you at that time intend to marry her?
FREDDY
[after a pause]
No.
EDITH winces.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
And did Mrs Thompson really want you to take her away?
FREDDY
[reluctantly]
Well, she seemed to want to go away, but then she used to get very hysterical. She had… well… a highly strung nature.
QUICK FADE
SCENE 63
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[thoroughly warmed up]
Read what Mrs Thompson says in this passage. [Puts on glasses] “We said it before darling I know and we failed ‑ but there will be no failure this next time darling, there mustn’t be.” [An impressive pause] Had there been a failure?
FREDDY
Yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
What had you tried that had failed?
FREDDY
[the prepared line]
Mrs Thompson obtaining a separation or divorce.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[scornfully, pouncing]
I suggest to you that “failure” here [waggles letter] means that Mrs Thompson had tried to poison her husband and had failed.
FREDDY
[rattled]
And I say that’s not true.
QUICK FADE
SCENE 64
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Come now to the evening of Tuesday the third of October, the last evening of Mr Thompson’s life. After you left Mrs Thompson, I understand you spent the evening at the Graydons, and then went to a public house with Miss Graydon. Were you carrying your knife when you went there?
FREDDY’s thin-lipped counsel, Cecil WHITELEY, looks tense. Beside him EDITH’s counsel, Sir Henry CURTIS-BENNETT, a big, balding, successful man of the world, is thoughtfully sketching the JURY.
FREDDY
Yes I was. Like always.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[for the benefit of the JURY]
Are you telling us that you carried the knife with you everywhere, even while you were in England?
FREDDY
[with a shrug]
Yes, like any sailor.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Did you ever use it for anything?
FREDDY
It’s handy for cutting string, and opening letters.
Someone in the audience titters, the JUDGE scowls.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[holding up the dagger]
A knife of this size and character?
The JURY, especially the one FEMALE JUROR, look horrified. A murmur in the court. WHITELEY purses his lips. FREDDY sticks to his guns.
FREDDY
Yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
I see. Now, did anything unusual happen at the Graydons, or at the public house to which you then went with Miss Graydon?
FREDDY
No, nothing.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Very well, then. Why, if nothing unusual happened, did you then go to Ilford instead of home?
FREDDY
I went to see Thompson… Mr Thompson.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
And why was that?
FREDDY
[as coached]
To come to an amicable understanding… for a separation or divorce.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
And was this “amicable understanding” an object you had discussed with Mrs Thompson?
FREDDY
Oh no, it kind of came across me like…
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
I see… Now, tell us please, in your own words, what happened when you arrived at Ilford Station?
FREDDY
[taking it carefully]
I see Mr and Mrs Thompson a bit of a way ahead. I overtake them, and I push Mrs Thompson with my right hand, like this. [He illustrates the gesture more violently than he intends] Then I get hold of Thompson with my left hand. I get him by the back of his coat, and I push him along the street, kind of swinging him round.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
So while you were pushing Mr Thompson along the street, I presume you were discussing with him the “amicable understanding for a separation or divorce”?
Some nervous laughter in the court.
FREDDY
[not seeing the problem]
Well, I swing him round, and I say to him, “Why don’t you give Edie a divorce, you cad?”
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
What were you doing to Mr Thompson when you said that?
FREDDY
Nothing. I’ve let go of him. Then he says, “I’ve got her and I’ll keep her. Now I’m going to shoot you dead”. And then he goes like this; [demonstrates the drawing of a gun] and I says, “Oh, you will, will you?”, and so I draws my knife and I puts it in his arm.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Did you actually see a gun?
FREDDY
No, but he was acting like he’d got one. I thought I was going to get shot.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
And what was Mrs Thompson doing all this time?
FREDDY
I don’t know. I didn’t see. Anyway, after it was over, I suppose I must’ve run away.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
When you say “after it was over”, you mean after you had killed Mr Thompson?
FREDDY
I didn’t know nothing about that. Last I saw him, he was just standing there.
A murmur in the court.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[with cool sarcasm]
Mmmm, of course; and what did you do then?
FREDDY
I went home.
QUICK FADE
SCENE 65
EDITH is looking down, while the SOLICITOR-GENERAL is heard reading out another apparently incriminating letter.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL [off]
“I used the `light bulb’ three times but the third time ‑ he found a piece ‑ so I’ve given it up ‑ until you come home.” [Purringly] What exactly did you understand by that passage?
FREDDY doesn’t answer at first, searching in vain for an explanation. For the rest of the scene we move slowly in on him as he ties himself in knots.
FREDDY
[beaten]
She had been lying to me again.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[playing deaf]
She had been what?
FREDDY
[more loudly]
Lying to me, lying!
We hear EDITH weeping.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Why would she lie to you?
FREDDY
It wasn’t so much lying, it was melodrama.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
“Melodrama” now! So it wasn’t lying. Very well, what is it you call “melodrama”?
FREDDY
Well, she had a vivid way of expressing herself. You know, she’d read a book and then imagine like she was the character in it.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[brandishing the letter]
Thank you. Would you now explain to the court what might be the point of her supposed “melodrama” here? Why would she be imagining things about broken glass?
FREDDY can’t say the truth, that EDITH has spun him a fantasy of murdering her husband in order to string him along. He flounders visibly, then plumps for the best version he can think of.
FREDDY
She wanted me to think she’d taken it… taken broken glass.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[acting puzzled]
“I used the `light bulb’ three times but the third time ‑ he found a piece”. You say you understood by that, that she meant her husband had detected her in an attempt to commit suicide?
FREDDY
[weakly]
Yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[unable to follow]
“So I’ve given it up until you come home”. Are you really suggesting that she was waiting for you to get home so that you could help her to kill herself? Doesn’t that seem a peculiar idea to you, though, Bywaters?
FREDDY
[sullen and baffled]
I don’t properly know what she’s on about there.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Later in the letter she says, “I was buoyed up with the hope of the `light bulb’ and I used a lot ‑ big pieces too. I quite expected to be able to send that cable.” You’ve already told us that she was trying to make you think she was attempting suicide.
FREDDY
Yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[incredulous]
Are you really suggesting that after she had taken a fatal dose, a dose that would kill her, she was expecting to rise from the dead and send you “that cable”?
FREDDY
[caught out; stung]
No, I’m not. Of course not.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[now quite cheerful]
No, that would be nonsense, wouldn’t it. Bring us up to date, please, Mr Bywaters, if you would. Tell us what you’re suggesting now.
FREDDY
[despairing; in a dead voice]
That she, Mrs Thompson, would have sent me a cable if she had been… if she had been… I dunno… if she’d got a divorce.
By now no one in court believes him. FREDDY is close to tears.
QUICK FADE
SCENE 66
Interior. Day. A bare cell in the Old Bailey. CURTIS-BENNETT is pleading with EDITH not to take the stand.
CURTIS-BENNETT
You saw what the prosecution did to Bywaters. I beg you again, Mrs Thompson, please don’t insist on taking the stand. They’ll twist everything you’ve said in your statement and your letters to make you look wicked and scheming, just as they did with Bywaters this morning.
EDITH
But I can explain it all. All I want is a chance to make people see how it was. I’m innocent. Surely they’ll see that.
CURTIS-BENNETT
The law doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid. Believe me, there’s nothing they’d like better than to get you up there. Leave it to me. It’s my job. I’ve got good answers for anything they might throw at you.
EDITH seems persuaded. CURTIS-BENNETT, thinking he has won her over, removes a cigarette and taps it on its case before lighting it – like FREDDY in Wanstead Park. EDITH suddenly flushes.
EDITH
What about Freddy? [CURTIS-BENNETT just leaves a pregnant silence; EDITH takes it in; alarmed] What do you mean?
CURTIS-BENNETT
[gravely]
He’s lost, Mrs Thompson. There’s nothing we can do. He killed your husband, he’s confessed it, and nothing you could say in the witness-box could prove otherwise. His counsel will do the best he can. [For her own good] All you’d do is risk getting yourself hanged with him.
EDITH
[shaken]
I only want to tell the truth. It’s the least I can do… Freddy can’t have meant to kill Percy. I’m sure it was all a horrible accident. [Firmly] I’ve got to do it.
CURTIS-BENNETT, realising he can’t get through to her, conceals his irritation; but grinds out his cigarette with feeling.
SCENE 67
EDITH has taken the stand. CURTIS-BENNETT is making the best of a bad job.
CURTIS-BENNETT
[soothingly]
Members of the jury, my learned friend has seen evidence of a sinister conspiracy in the words, “Yes, darling, be jealous, so much that you will do something desperate.”
Mrs Thompson, what did you actually mean when you wrote “do something desperate”?
EDITH
[slightly stagey]
To take me away at any cost, to do anything to get me away from England.
CURTIS-BENNETT
Did you believe in your heart of hearts [JUDGE cringes] that Mr Bywaters ever would take you away from England?
EDITH
[muted]
I hoped he would.
CURTIS-BENNETT
When Mr Bywaters was away from June until September of this year, were you getting as many letters from him as previously?
EDITH
[embarrassed]
No.
CURTIS-BENNETT
[gently]
What did you think about that?
EDITH
[to a hushed court]
I thought he was gradually drifting away from me.
CURTIS-BENNETT
[very quiet: his coup de théâtre]
Did you still love him very much?
EDITH
[visibly moved]
I did.
A tremor in the audience. EDITH glances at FREDDY, and then anxiously round the courtroom: some are moved, some sceptical, some whispering.
QUICK FADE
SCENE 68
CURTIS-BENNETT
[reading]
“When we got to Endsleigh Gardens a man rushed at me and knocked me aside. I was dazed.” [Sympathetically] And what happened then?
EDITH
I don’t remember exactly, only about being knocked over. Then I came to, and I looked round for Percy, for my husband, and I saw him a way down the road. He seemed to be scuffling with someone… Then I went over, and he fell up against me, and he said “Oo’er”.
At this some people in the audience laugh; others hush them.
CURTIS-BENNETT
[considerate as ever]
Did you take that to be an exclamation of pain from your husband?
EDITH
I did. I followed him along by the side of the wall, and then, well, I think, yes, he slid down the wall onto the pavement.
CURTIS-BENNETT
Did you notice any blood coming from him?
EDITH
Yes, from his mouth. I didn’t know why… It went on my skirt.
EDITH makes an involuntary grimace at the memory.
QUICK FADE
SCENE 69
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[hawkishly cross-examining]
Mrs Thompson, in your statement to the police you failed to mention any attack on your husband. “I heard him call out [fastidious pause] `Oo’er’ [again someone titters] and he fell up against me.” Did you at that time intend to tell an untruth about the incident?
EDITH
[subdued]
Yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Was that to shield Bywaters?
EDITH
It was. I thought…
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[interrupts]
Just answer the question, please. At the time you made this statement to the police you knew that it was Bywaters who had done it?
EDITH
[struggling against the
incriminating effect of it]
I did, but I dunno what you mean by “done it”. I wasn’t to know that anything had been done.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Were you afraid that if you brought Bywaters’s name into it, he would be suspected?
EDITH
I wasn’t afraid of anything.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Nonetheless, you left his name out altogether, didn’t you?
EDITH
Yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Why? What were you afraid of if you didn’t know your husband had been stabbed?
EDITH
I wasn’t afraid of anything.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
What were you going to shield him from?
EDITH
Oh, well, just from being connected… to stop his name getting brought into something… embarrassing…
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Now, Mrs Thompson, is it not the fact that you knew very well Bywaters, with whom you were secretly engaged in an adulterous affair, [AVIS represses a wince] was going to do something that evening, and is it not the fact furthermore that your false statements were an attempt to stop the police getting wind of it?
EDITH
[taken aback for a moment]
No, that’s not the fact, none of it; it’s not true.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL turns in disbelief to the JURY, who are grim.
QUICK FADE
SCENE 70
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[as if it’s obviously damning]
“I’m going to try the glass again occasionally ‑ when it’s safe. I’ve got an electric light globe this time.”
When was it likely to be “safe”?
EDITH
[wary, evasive]
There wasn’t any question of it being safe, ‘cos I wasn’t going to try it.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
In that case, why did you tell Bywaters you were going to try it when it was safe?
EDITH
To let him keep thinking I was ready to do what he wanted.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
You realise what you’re suggesting? You’re suggesting that this young man was seriously suggesting to you that you should poison and kill your husband?
EDITH
There was no such suggestion.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
I thought that was the suggestion?
EDITH
I didn’t suggest that.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
What was your suggestion?
EDITH
He said he would give me something.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Who would give whom something?
EDITH
Me. To give him.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL, at a loss, wipes his mouth with a handkerchief. The JUDGE chips in to clear up the confusion.
JUDGE
Give him… something in his food. You mean, give him something to make him ill?
EDITH
[giving up the struggle]
What it was, was, I was going to give him something so that… something so that when he had a heart attack he wouldn’t be able to resist it.
The audience is hushed by this, and gasps are heard.
JUDGE
[after a pregnant pause]
You are suggesting now ‑ if I understand you ‑ that it was young Mr Bywaters who was suggesting that to you?
EDITH
[evasive]
I suppose so.
JUDGE
Please answer with a “yes” or a “no”.
EDITH
Yes.
JUDGE
And did you not do it?
EDITH
No, never.
The JUDGE leans back.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[fawning]
Thank you, your lordship. [Turning to EDITH] So, Mrs Thompson, you made every effort to keep the accused thinking you were ready to do what he wanted?
EDITH
[exhausted]
Yes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
In other words, you were acting to Bywaters in this letter that you wished to destroy your husband’s life?
EDITH
I didn’t say that.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Come on, Mrs Thompson, were you or weren’t you?
EDITH
[bullied]
I didn’t mean it.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
So you were acting?
EDITH
Yes.
JUDGE
One moment, can we get something clear? I don’t want to be mistaken about this. Did I take you down rightly as saying [consults his notes, adjusting his pince‑nez] “I wanted him to think I was ready to take my husband’s life”?
EDITH
No, I just wanted him to think I was ready to do what he suggested.
JUDGE
[impatiently reiterating]
In other words, “to kill my husband”. Isn’t that right?
EDITH
[feebly but stubborn]
I never said that.
JUDGE
Humph!
EDITH looks bewildered. She turns to the SOLICITOR-GENERAL, who addresses her again, picking up where the JUDGE has left off.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
To injure your husband at any rate.
EDITH
Well, to… to make him ill.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
And what was the object of making him ill?
EDITH
[guiltily, thinking
he means a light bulb]
The object?
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[not seeing the problem]
Yes, the object.
EDITH
[fumbling and evasive]
I hadn’t discussed any special object.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
[now seeing the ambiguity]
No, what was in your heart the object of making him ill? So that he wouldn’t recover from one of his heart attacks?
EDITH
Yes, that was certainly the impression. Yes, that was what I thought. [Plaintive, sensing things have gone against her] But I didn’t do it, did I?
During EDITH’s last words the JUDGE is looking at his watch and decides to adjourn. He brings down the hammer to announce it even before she has finished, so that the last words are partly drowned out by the blows and his announcement.
JUDGE
This Court is now adjourned.
FADE
SCENE 71
EDITH’s last words are still in the air as the JURY file back in through the door with a shuffling of feet, and settle into their places. The hubbub in the court dies away. The JURY avoid looking at the accused – except one of them, a SMALL FAT JUROR with some strands of hair smeared across his bald pate, who looks across at EDITH and FREDDY with shameless curiosity. He wants to see how they take it. The one FEMALE JUROR next to him nudges him and tells him not to stare.
We see the whole court from the back of the spectators’ gallery. The CLERK OF THE COURT stands.
CLERK
[in a loud voice]
Members of the jury, have you agreed upon your verdict?
FOREMAN
[stands, twitchily]
We have.
CLERK
Do you find the prisoner, Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters, guilty or not guilty of the murder of Percy Thompson?
FOREMAN
[before the question is
quite over blurts out]
Guilty,… [a nervous afterthought] sir.
Whispering in the audience, hushed by others.
CLERK
Do you find the prisoner, Edith Jessie Thompson, guilty or not guilty of the murder of Percy Thompson?
FOREMAN
[now conscientiously waits before replying]
……Guilty.
We see the JURY. They look strained and self-conscious.
CLERK
You say they are severally guilty, and that is the verdict of you all.
FOREMAN
It is.
We see the five figures standing in the dock (from left to right: MALE WARDER 1, FREDDY, MALE WARDER 2, EDITH, MATRON). FREDDY keeps his chin up, but his eyes are glistening. EDITH is pale, and clutches the lip of the dock so fiercely that her knuckles are white. Her wedding ring shows. The MATRON is anxious that she may collapse.
CLERK
Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson, you severally stand convicted of murder; have you, or either of you, anything to say why the Court should not give you judgment of death according to law?
We move violently in on FREDDY.
FREDDY
[defiantly, in a broken voice]
I say the verdict of the jury is wrong. Edith Thompson is not guilty. I am no murderer, I’m not an assassin.
We see the JUDGE, who thinks there may be exceptional circumstances – EDITH may be pregnant.
JUDGE
Is there any question of law, Sir Henry, as to the sentence I have to pronounce?
We move violently in on EDITH. The verdict has only just sunk in. She cries out at random, not having followed the proceedings.
EDITH
[moaning]
I am not guilty.
We see CURTIS-BENNETT answer the JUDGE’s question.
CURTIS-BENNETT
No, my lord.
The JUDGE has the black cap placed on his head by the CLERK. He removes a sheet of paper from a law book. We see EDITH’s stunned face as she struggles to take in what is happening. As the JUDGE starts to pronounce sentence on FREDDY there is a buzzing in her ears and the voice fades away.
JUDGE’S VOICE [off]
Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters…
EDITH is jolted back to attention by the sound of her own name.
JUDGE’S VOICE [off]
Edith Jessie Thompson, the Court has found you guilty of wilful murder; and the sentence of the Court upon you is, that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison, and thence to a place of execution, and there you suffer death by hanging, and that your body be buried within the precincts of the prison in which you shall have been last confined before your execution. And may the Lord have mercy on your soul.
CHAPLAIN’S VOICE [off]
Amen.
CLERK’S VOICE [off]
[in case she is pregnant]
Edith Jessie Thompson, have you anything to say in stay of execution?
There is silence.
EDITH is trembling, pale, unable to answer. A whisper starts in the gallery.
FEMALE WHISPERER [off]
…baby…
FREDDY, after being sentenced, has stopped at the top of the stairs out of the dock to listen to EDITH’s sentence. The WARDERS pull at his sleeves to get him down.
We see the CLERK, who waits impassively. EDITH still does not speak. The CLERK nods again, to the MATRON.
We see EDITH in the dock. As they touch her to lead her away, she begins to moan.
EDITH’s fingers lock on the rail of the dock, and the MATRON tries to prise her away.
We see MRS GRAYDON between AVIS and MR GRAYDON, distraught in the well of the court, who speaks loudly to no one in particular.
MRS GRAYDON
She’s my child… They daren’t harm her; they daren’t.
We see FREDDY being hastily bundled down the stairs.
We see MRS BYWATERS screaming at the back of the court as she sees her son taken away.
MRS BYWATERS
Freddy!…
She staggers and leans on the arm of a RELATIVE.
We see EDITH’s fingers being wrenched away from the rail of the dock. She is lifted to her feet and virtually carried out, weeping and wailing, down the same staircase as FREDDY. We continue to see the staircase after EDITH is out of sight, as her cries recede and then a door closes.
We see the JURY, including the one FEMALE JUROR. They are horrified at the scene.
JUDGE’S VOICE [off]
Gentlemen, I thank you for your patient attention to a long and difficult case…
FADE
SCENE 72
Interior. Day. Holloway Prison, December 1922.
TITLE: Holloway Prison, London
We fade up very slowly from black to AVIS climbing wearily up a dark staircase, behind a FAT WARDRESS in uniform with a thick bunch of keys, past barred windows and a sign, “Hospital”.
SCENE 73
Interior. Day. EDITH’s cell in the prison hospital.
AVIS sits on a chair by the door, at the other end of the cell from EDITH, who is propped up in bed.
Painful silence. The stolid presence of two guards – the STOUT WARDRESS standing against the wall between EDITH and AVIS, and the other WEEDY WARDRESS standing in the open doorway next to AVIS – have inhibited their attempts to keep the conversation flowing.
EDITH’s eyes start to glisten. She forces herself to say something which has been on her mind.
EDITH
Avis, I’ve never said… I’m sorry…
AVIS
Oh Edie, please don’t…
EDITH
I didn’t want to, I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know what love could do to you. But look how it’s all come out. Look what I’ve done to you, and look what they want to do to me for something I never did.
AVIS
Don’t.
EDITH
Why did he do it? Why? Did he say anything when he was with you in the pub?
AVIS
[painfully]
He said there was someone he liked very much, but there were obstacles. He could hardly bear it, but he wasn’t going to wait any longer, he was going to sort things out.. [she starts to cry, but blows her nose, and changes the subject] Dad’s doing all sorts of things. We’re writing letters to all the important people, and there’s a big petition the newspaper’s getting up. And there’s the appeal. They say the chances are very good.
The STOUT WARDRESS, stony-faced, again consults her fob watch. The room is so silent that we hear it ticking.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 74
Interior. Day. EDITH’s cell, a week later.
EDITH is doing crochet work, as all prisoners do. She has placed her chair so that she is framed in the square of golden sunshine cast by the barred window. The sun glows in her auburn hair as she looks down at her work.
When she hears the approach of MR GRAYDON and NEWENHAM, she looks up. Her face shows a weariness new since the previous scene.
NEWENHAM’S VOICE
[outside; bouncily]
Lovely day, matron!
There is no reply, but EDITH’s face registers pleasure.
She rises and moves towards the door, which we see is open; but a long deal table is now placed across the doorway on the inside, with a chair on the inside and two outside. There’s hardly room in the corridor for people to squeeze past the two outer chairs. A SPINDLY WARDRESS, nasal and bespectacled, appears in the doorway.
SPINDLY WARDRESS
It’s your father and brother come to see you. Half an hour, all right?
She sniffs in a bored way and squeezes awkwardly back past MR GRAYDON and NEWENHAM, who move forward diffidently.
EDITH
[in a cheerful voice]
Hullo, dad, hullo Newnie. It’s lovely to see you.
MR GRAYDON
[comforting]
It’s lovely to see you, Edie.
NEWENHAM
It certainly is. How’re you getting on, my darling?
MR GRAYDON and NEWENHAM don’t sit at once, though they nod to the SPINDLY WARDRESS. They size up the table to see if it’s feasible to lean over and kiss EDITH. NEWENHAM, who is six inches taller than MR GRAYDON, manages it ‑ and we hear the SPINDLY WARDRESS cough disapprovingly ‑ but MR GRAYDON tries and fails, and he and EDITH are reduced to clasping hands across the table. They remain hand in hand till a louder cough from the SPINDLY WARDRESS tells them that they have to sit down.
EDITH
How’s my baby brother? Anything exciting happen to you lately?
NEWENHAM
Oh, thrilling; you know the timber business. It’s a frightful strain. [EDITH smiles wanly] In a couple of years, I’ll be as grey as… well, as grey as our old dad here would be, if he still had any hair.
MR GRAYDON
[tries to enter into the spirit]
Don’t you cheek me, young man. You ought to show some respect for my grey hairs.
The sunlight picks out numerous grey hairs among EDITH’s auburn waves. She can’t fully enter into the banter. A baby starts to cry in a cell down the corridor.
NEWENHAM’S VOICE [off]
I’d be delighted to show respect for your grey hairs, dad ‑ if you had any.
MR GRAYDON
I’ll talk to you later.
They all laugh without great conviction. As their laughter subsides, the sound of heavy footsteps approaches in the corridor, and they fall silent. We see a BURLY WARDRESS carrying a chamber-pot shove rather ungraciously past.
BURLY WARDRESS
‘Scuse please.
We see MR GRAYDON and NEWENHAM, and EDITH inside the cell, wait painfully till the footsteps recede into the distance.
EDITH turns to look at the barred square of light on the cell wall; and then at the blue sky outside the window.
She turns back to MR GRAYDON and NEWENHAM, but as she is on the point of speaking, we hear the noisy arrival of a WARDER (sent by MURRAY, the chaplain). A door opens.
WARDER’S VOICE [off]
[loud and coarse]
Those Graydons still with Thompson, are they?
SPINDLY WARDRESS [off]
[slightly embarrassed]
They only just arrived. They got at least ten minutes.
WARDER’S VOICE [off]
‘Cos the chaplain wants to see Thompson. Any chance of ‘urrying ’em up?
During this exchange we’ve seen the three GRAYDONS listening in pain. EDITH feels sorry for MR GRAYDON, he for her, and NEWENHAM for both.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 75
The same. Fifteen minutes later.
The baby down the corridor is moaning. EDITH’s composure has gone. She is reciting her woes and lamenting the injustice of her plight, without any longer sparing MR GRAYDON’s feelings.
EDITH
…And I don’t like it. It’s always the same, all milk and fish and eggs, and none of them fresh. Oh dad, they don’t care about you in here. It’s all just how they want it. I wish I could just come out with you and walk around ‑ it’s such a lovely day ‑ and they ought to let me, because I didn’t do anything. I didn’t know anything about it. Please, dad, can’t you get them to let me come home? It’s so unfair…
MR GRAYDON
[helpless]
Come on, Edie, try and be brave. We’re just going to have to bide our time till the appeal. It’s only five days. Maybe then you’ll be back with us. [We hear sniffing as the SPINDLY WARDRESS approaches] I’m sure justice will be done. We know you’ll come out all right. Just try and bear it the best you can, and…
He is here interrupted by the SPINDLY WARDRESS, not very discreetly.
SPINDLY WARDRESS
Time’s up. Sorry. The chaplain’s waiting to see her. You’ll have to leave now.
MR GRAYDON
[deferential]
Oh dear ‑ we hadn’t realised. I wonder if… Please, madam, could you just let us have one more minute, to say goodbye properly?
SPINDLY WARDRESS
Sorry, I already gave you five minutes more than I should ‘ve.
MR GRAYDON
Oh. Righto then. Thanks for the extra time. [Turning] Oh well, goodbye then, Edie. Chin up, sweetie, it’ll turn out all right.
EDITH
[still downcast]
I hope so. Goodbye dad, goodbye Newnie.
SPINDLY WARDRESS
Come along, please.
MR GRAYDON and NEWENHAM walk away down the corridor, then call back.
NEWENHAM & MR GRAYDON
Goodbye… cheerio, Edie!…
We stay with EDITH as the door closes behind them. She is, just visibly, shaking. We hear the door almost immediately open again, and the approaching steps of the chaplain, Glanvill MURRAY.
Two WARDRESSES, the SPINDLY one and a GREY-HAIRED one, precede him. MURRAY is a tall, lean, well‑spoken, well-meaning, and somewhat diffident man of about thirty. Knowing EDITH will change his life.The WARDRESSES get EDITH to stand up, and they move the deal table so that MURRAY can enter the cell. Although there is still a patch of bright late-afternoon sun on the cell wall, they turn on the harsh electric light (from outside the cell) in honour of this official visit.
The SPINDLY WARDRESS draws up a chair for him near EDITH’s bunk.
SPINDLY WARDRESS
[sycophantic]
There you are, Mr Murray, sir. How’s that?
MURRAY senses that EDITH resents the contrast between the treatment of himself and that of her family.
MURRAY
[curtly]
Thank you. I’ll call when I want you. Shut the door, please. [The two WARDRESSES leave. Gently] Good afternoon, Edith.
EDITH
[still dejected]
Hullo.
MURRAY
I gather you’ve just had a visit from your family? [EDITH nods] That’s good. You must have been pleased to see them.
EDITH
They sent them away so soon.
MURRAY
Yes, I know, it’s hard. [No reply] …How are you feeling today? Any better for the sunshine?
EDITH
It doesn’t do me much good in here, does it? No, I don’t feel any better.
MURRAY
I’m sorry to hear that. Is anything in particular depressing you?
EDITH
Isn’t it bloody obvious?
MURRAY
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. No, I was thinking, maybe you’re troubled in your mind, in your spirit. Is that right?
EDITH
Maybe.
MURRAY
[slightly hesitant]
Because as I tried to say before, one thing you can do when you’re troubled is to try praying, to try and talk to God and get things straight with Him. It’s a great relief. Have you tried that, Edith?
EDITH
No. I didn’t see any point, I didn’t feel like it.
MURRAY
That’s a pity. It might help you to tell someone what’s on your mind, don’t you think?
EDITH
What do you think’s on my mind then? Do you know what’s in my head?
MURRAY
I don’t, of course I don’t. But I can tell something’s bothering you. There’s something weighing on your spirit, and you’d be easier in your mind, please believe me, if you could unburden yourself before God… if you could tell someone about it.
EDITH
You, you mean.
MURRAY
Only if you want to. That’s what I’m here for, to try to bring comfort to you, to your spirit. I thought that it might bring you comfort if you were to confess, if you were to try to…
EDITH
[flares up, sounding very Ilford]
“Confess”!? I got nothing to confess! I didn’t do anything, and they couldn’t prove I did do anything, but here I am now anyway just bloody waiting for them to bloody hang me. It’s hardly surprising something’s weighing on my bloody spirit, is it? And to cap it all I’ve got you sneaking round every day, pestering me like I was a murderer, wanting me to confess like I did something I never done! You Judas! It’s not going to bring me any bloody comfort if I tell you I done it just to shut you up and you tell them and they bugger up the bloody appeal and I get hung at the end of it. Is it, Mr Murray?
MURRAY
[stammering]
Edith, please! It’s not for them…
EDITH
Look, I don’t have nothing to feel sorry for, ‘cos I done nothing in the first place. [Hurtful] Anyway, your God wouldn’t want me saying as how I was sorry if I wasn’t, would He?… There’s nothing I can do.
MURRAY
Please, Edith… Please don’t say that. You’re right, God wouldn’t want you to lie. But don’t you have anything you feel sorry for? Isn’t there anything you regret?
EDITH
[sullen again]
Like what?
MURRAY
Well, what about your husband, your late husband, Mr Thompson? You must have felt some affection for him? [No response] There must have been something?
EDITH
Not much.
MURRAY
The way he died was terrible. Surely anyone would feel some pity and grief to see a life ended that way.
EDITH is silent a long time; then speaks in a subdued tone.
EDITH
What about my life?… Ending like this.That’s a pity, don’t you think?
MURRAY
[taking the point]
Yes… Yes, of course… Yes, it is.
They sit in silence for a few seconds.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 76
Interior. Day. Holloway Prison.
LILY and EDITH are sitting in awkward silence. A loud ticking. The click of the STOUT WARDRESS’s fob watch being opened makes LILY glance to the side for a moment, without turning her head. The STOUT WARDRESS closes the watch again and snorts indifferently.
Some seconds of silence elapse, during which EDITH’s preoccupations return.
EDITH
[unable to hold it in any longer]
I’m sorry, Lily, can you tell me ‑ what’s happened in my appeal? It must’ve been in the paper.
LILY
Your appeal?…
LILY is interrupted by the STOUT WARDRESS, who jumps in sternly.
STOUT WARDRESS
You know you’re not allowed to ask for news about your case. The governor’s the one who’ll tell you about that, all in good time.
We see LILY’s face: her knowledge that EDITH’S appeal has failed, and her horror of letting EDITH suspect that she knows.
EDITH’S VOICE [off]
You and your bloody rules! I just want to find out if they’re going to kill me, that’s all.
STOUT WARDRESS
[aggrieved]
I don’t make up the rules, you know. I’m just doing my job.
EDITH
[bitterly]
And don’t you enjoy it!
All this time we have seen LILY’s pain at her false position. Now she steps in to try and clear the air, attempting to dismiss the subject, with just a hint of defiance towards the STOUT WARDRESS; but lying.
LILY
Anyway, I don’t know what happened with your appeal. But in any case, even if we don’t get the best result, there’s always the Home Secretary. Canon Palmer says he’s a good man, and he knows about these things.
EDITH
[impressed but puzzled]
Who is Canon Palmer?
LILY
Oh, surely you remember him. He’s that awfully handsome one in Ilford, the tall chap who does the tombola for the nuns at the summer fair. He’s a real charmer. He always reminds me of one of those romantic priests in novels, who hear frightful secrets in the confessional and never bat an eye. You know, strong and silent. Just the right sort for a man of God.
EDITH
[interested]
He sounds rather different from the chaplain here.
The STOUT WARDRESS snorts again.
LILY
Well, he’s certainly a good listener, he knows just the right things to say. And he’s got a lot of influence with important people. I think you’d get on.
EDITH
[eager]
Do you think he’d come and see me?
LILY
[pleased]
I’m sure he would. Shall I ask him?
EDITH
Oh, yes please, that would be a help. Though I don’t expect I’ll need him.
LILY
You ought to see him anyway. Seriously, I’ve never met anyone like him.
We hear a door open, and low voices in the corridor. Footsteps approach the cell, and the WEEDY WARDRESS appears in the doorway at LILY’s shoulder.
WEEDY WARDRESS
[looking at the floor]
The governor’s here to see Mrs Thompson. [To LILY] I’m afraid you’ll have to go now.
LILY looks stricken, knowing what’s to come. She and EDITH stand. We hear the GOVERNOR pacing up and down in the corridor. It dawns on EDITH, seeing LILY’s expression, that LILY knows and that the news is bad. She sways a little. LILY hardly knows what to say.
LILY
Oh Edie. I’m sorry. I’ll get Canon Palmer to come as soon as I can.
EDITH does not respond: the fact is sinking in. LILY reaches across the table and takes EDITH’s hand; she holds it for several seconds. Then she turns to go.
The WARDRESSES wave EDITH back into the cell and with loud grating sounds move the deal table out of the doorway and back against the cell wall. EDITH is still standing dazed in the corner; and the STOUT WARDRESS has to shepherd her over to sit on the bed. The WEEDY WARDRESS places a chair for the GOVERNOR. They retreat into the corridor, and one signals. EDITH looks up blankly.
The GOVERNOR, Dr Morton, a conscientious man who doesn’t believe in the death penalty for women, appears in the doorway. He is fundamentally benevolent, but his expression offers no false hope. EDITH gives a low moan.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 77
EDITH’s pen is writing. She has put the date, “Thursday 21 December, 1922” in one corner, and in the other the address, “Hospital Wing, H.M. Prison, Holloway, Tufnell Park, LONDON N”.
The pen writes: “Dearest Mother and Dad,”
Then it rests on the paper at the beginning of the next line. We see EDITH’s face, tear‑stained and numb, and hear the pen scratching again. We stay on her face, and hear her words faster than she can write them. Her tone begins rather flat, but is increasingly tinged with self-dramatisation.
EDITH’S VOICE [over]
The appeal has failed, and today seems the end of everything. I can’t think ‑ I just seem up against a blank, thick wall, through which neither my eyes nor my thoughts can penetrate. It’s not within my powers to realize that this sentence must stand for something which I have not done, something I did not know of, either previously or at the time. I know you both know this. I know you both have known and believed it all along. What a mysterious thing life is. We all imagine we can mould our own lives ‑ we seldom can, they are moulded for us, moulded by unjust laws, by the cruel conventions of this world.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 78
Morning. The swinging bells of a Tufnell Park church loudly ring out a cheerful Christmas peal.
SCENE 79
The peal continues, still loud, at a distance. EDITH is moaning and tossing on her bed in the hospital cell. The WEEDY WARDRESS and the BURLY WARDRESS stand over her, looking helpless.
WEEDY WARDRESS
[ineffectual]
Please, Mrs Thompson… It’s your birthday… Please try…
EDITH
[turning away to face the wall; in despair]
Oh God… [A restraining hand fastens on her arm; she tries to beat it off, screaming] Let me go, let me go! It’s Christmas Day! I’m twenty‑nine. [She sobs]
WEEDY WARDRESS
[to the BURLY WARDRESS, unable to stand it]
Go and get the Governor, and ask him to bring his doctor’s bag. Tell him what she’s like.
The BURLY WARDRESS pauses at the door, looking back at the moaning EDITH.
WEEDY WARDRESS
Come on, Annie. Hurry up, for God’s sake!
The BURLY WARDRESS closes the door behind her. It shuts with a bang.
SCENE 80
The door opens again to admit the BURLY WARDRESS and the GOVERNOR, Dr Morton, his black bag in his hand and his waistcoat unbuttoned, such has been his haste. By now EDITH is shrieking.
EDITH
Why am I here? Oh God, why am I here?
GOVERNOR
Hold her down, please. Roll up her left sleeve. Keep her steady.
He puts his bag on a chair, removes a syringe and a phial of morphine, fills the syringe carefully and squirts the air out. We see EDITH’s face distended in pain, her eyes tightly closed.
EDITH
[screams]
Why me? Why me? Why me?
The GOVERNOR’s syringe penetrates the skin of EDITH’s arm. She screams with renewed vigour. The GOVERNOR mops his brow with a white handkerchief. The WEEDY WARDRESS looks pale as she hangs on to EDITH who is rocking about on the bed.
We see the whole group at a distance as the morphine takes effect. Then we hear a subdued but still despairing voice, EDITH’s, come from behind the three officials.
EDITH
Why did he do it, why? [Lower] Why did he do it?
DISSOLVE
SCENE 81
Night. The bells of the same Tufnell Park church, dimly lit, are loudly and ominously ringing out the old year and ringing in 1923. As the scene begins there have already been six strokes. We see the bells strike three times.
SCENE 82
EDITH in her now darkened cell, slightly drugged and on the point of falling asleep, is counting the strokes in a whisper.
EDITH
Ten… eleven… twelve.
There is a distant sound of people cheering in the streets, then of fireworks.
EDITH
[mutters]
Good luck!… Can you hear me, darling?
In the street people start to sing “Auld Lang Syne”. EDITH listens, her eyes moist. They close as the song goes on.
VOICES
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of Auld Lang Syne?
DISSOLVE
SCENE 83
EDITH is asleep. The streets are silent, except for one stray reveller singing in the distance, loudly and out of key, snatches of “Love’s Old Sweet Song”. EDITH is troubled in her sleep, slightly feverish, moaning and sweating. She is lying on her side, her face faintly illuminated by the light from the window. Behind her is shadow.
She restlessly turns over to face the wall, and moving with her, we find the face of PERCY up against her own. In her nightmare he is pasty‑faced, expressionless, his eyes glazed, and dressed in his nightshirt. He reaches for her (as in SCENE 39), with the same tell‑tale rustle of the sheets. She flinches. He holds her tight, pressing against her so that she pants for breath. She struggles ineffectually, with a horrified stare.
Another angle: the reality. We see her perspiring face with eyes closed, and slowly draw back up to reveal her struggling in her sleep, alone in the bed. She continues to struggle.
FADE
SCENE 84
Friday 5 January 1923. 3 p.m.
The GOVERNOR’s face as the cell door is closed behind him. He is obviously oppressed by the solemnity and finality of the news he has to give, and it takes him a moment to bring himself to speak.
GOVERNOR
I’m sorry, Mrs Thompson. We’ve just received a letter from the Home Secretary stating that your appeal to him, and that of Mr Bywaters, have been rejected. This means that the sentences will be carried out on Tuesday morning at nine o’clock.
EDITH
[blankly, trying to take it in]
Next Tuesday?
GOVERNOR
Yes.
EDITH
[groping]
What day is it today?
GOVERNOR
[in a murmur]
Friday. [She doesn’t seem to hear, so he clears his throat, and repeats more loudly] Today is Friday, the fifth.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 85
The same day. Half an hour later. The WEEDY WARDRESS is watching anxiously as EDITH drinks the mug of tea she has brought her.
EDITH is drinking the tea fast and mechanically, with regular slurps. She finishes the mug.
EDITH
[flatly]
Oh Maisie, tell me what I should do. I can’t think. What should I do now? Is there something I can do? Please help me, I can’t think of anything.
WEEDY WARDRESS
[in great distress at this appeal]
I don’t know, I’m sorry. I can’t think of anything. I’m sorry, Edith. Maybe… well, couldn’t you talk to Mr Murray again? [EDITH groans] I know you got off on the wrong foot, but he’s a very kind man.
EDITH
Oh God!
The WEEDY WARDRESS looks helpless and harrowed.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 86
Half an hour later.
A syringe is having the air squirted out of it. We hear EDITH loudly addressing those in the room (the GOVERNOR, the WEEDY WARDRESS, and the STOUT WARDRESS).
EDITH
I never did it, I never did nothing! They can’t hang me, I never did it!
The syringe injects morphine into EDITH’s arm.
GOVERNOR’S VOICE [off, calming]
This will help you. Try to rest now.
WEEDY WARDRESS
[desperate to leave the cell]
Let me get you a nice cup of tea.
She rushes out.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 87
The next day, Saturday 6 January. Holloway Prison. Interior. Day.
The door of the cell opens. CANON PALMER, a commanding presence in a cassock, steps in confidently and smilingly, accompanied by a short RED-FACED WARDRESS. We see the WEEDY WARDRESS hovering outside in the corridor, unable to look at EDITH and anxious to be gone. CANON PALMER is a Roman Catholic priest and has never met EDITH, and on these two counts should not really be here, but he gives her a lead so they can carry it off.
PALMER
Good afternoon, Mrs Thompson. [He extends a firm hand] Your friend Lily sends you her regards.
EDITH
[brightening at once]
Good afternoon,… [hesitates slightly] Canon Palmer. Thank you so much for coming. Won’t you have a seat?
PALMER
You’re very kind. [About to sit, he turns to the RED-FACED WARDRESS; charmingly] Could you leave us, please?
We see the RED-FACED WARDRESS, rather cowed by this authoritative male figure, back out, slightly flustered.
RED-FACED WARDRESS
Yes, vicar, of course, sorry, thank you.
The door closes. PALMER takes out a cigarette case and offers it to EDITH, who takes one.
EDITH
[noticing the brand]
Ah. These are nice, aren’t they?
PALMER produces a gold lighter and solicitously lights her cigarette, then his own.
PALMER
Can’t you get hold of them in here?
EDITH
[exhaling pleasurably]
No, we’re not allowed anything special.
PALMER
What a shame. It wouldn’t hurt anyone. [Casually] It’s strange, that’s exactly what Freddy was complaining about when I saw him.
EDITH
[surprised and delighted]
You’ve seen Freddy? When? How? How is he?
PALMER
[smiling]
This morning. He’s fine. He’s being very brave, and …
EDITH
[interrupting in her excitement]
But how did you get to see him? I can hardly believe it. Did you know him, then?
PALMER
No, no, your friend Lily mentioned me to Freddy’s mother, and she gave him the idea of asking for me. You know, I can’t get in unless I’m asked for. I must say, he impressed me a good deal.
EDITH
Is he well? How does he look? I miss him so much.
PALMER
He’s in very good shape, and keeping cheerful.
EDITH
Because I’ve been worrying, he hasn’t answered any of my letters, I thought he might be ill. Why hasn’t he answered my letters? Did he mention me? Doesn’t he have anything to say?
PALMER
[leans forward and takes her arm]
He hasn’t had your letters. And you haven’t had his. He’s written four or five.
EDITH
You mean they’ve stopped them? Without telling us? How cruel! All this time I’ve been thinking there was something wrong with him, or he didn’t want to. [Suddenly tearful] So we’ll never say anything to each other again. It’s all over.
PALMER
Not entirely. He sent you a message.
EDITH
[overjoyed]
A message? What did he say? Can you remember exactly what he said?
PALMER
[smiling and serious]
He made me learn it by heart. “I still love you, Edie, as much as ever; and I always will. Fate has been unkind to us, things have gone against us at every turn, and it seems impossible we should ever meet again in this sordid world. But I believe that if we hold true to our love we will be united in the better life to come.” And then he said “Be brave”.
EDITH is in tears.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 88
The packed prison chapel. Mid‑afternoon, the light fading outside. Everyone knows EDITH is to die in a few days.
A strong female voice is singing a slow, deep, sad Negro spiritual. We start on a crucifix over the altar, lit by tall candles; then, moving to the left, we see the figure of a smartly dressed black SINGER, who performs with penetrating fervour. A society LADY, her sponsor, sits behind her. We stay on her as she sings a verse.
SINGER
When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
Let my people go.
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses
Way down in Egypt land
Tell ole Pharaoh,
Let my people go.
Then we continue to the left and swing round to look at the PRISONERS, all female, occupying the front pew of the full chapel. As we move along the pew we see that many of the PRISONERS are moved by the performance, and by the situation of EDITH.
SINGER
No more shall they in bondage toil,
Let my people go.
Let them come out with Egypt’s spoil,
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses [&c]
When Israel out of Egypt came,
Let my people go.
And left the proud offensive land,
Let my people go.
One PRISONER, struck by the refrain, surreptitiously looks over to her right as we pass, then looks down abashed. Beyond the pew there is an aisle, on the other side of which we see EDITH looking intently at the SINGER, struggling not to cry. The RED-FACED WARDRESS sits beside her, blowing her nose as quietly as possible.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 89
Monday 8 January, the last full day. EDITH’s cell. Early afternoon.
The SPINDLY WARDRESS and the PLUMP WARDRESS hover in the background. AVIS, seated, is looking at EDITH (whom we don’t at first see) with tears in her eyes, but she does not wipe them.
NEWENHAM, not crying but moved, is unable to come up with lively remarks, though he’d obviously like to. He can’t look at EDITH.
MR and MRS GRAYDON sit together, their chairs close, the father clasping one of the mother’s hands between his own. He is looking at the floor. MRS GRAYDON, weeping silently, looks at EDITH, then to him, then again at EDITH.
EDITH is pasty‑faced, bloated. She is heavily sedated and has a vacant expression. Her clothes have obviously been put on awkwardly by others, her hair is disordered, her posture is slumped and passive, as if she has put on weight.
AVIS
[her eyes now wiped; to relieve the silence]
Come on, Edie, can’t you show us a bit more of your old self? We all love you so much.
This attempt evokes no response. A moment passes, then in the corridor we hear the approaching excited footsteps of the chaplain, MURRAY. He enters the cell with a telegram in his hand.
MURRAY
[breathless]
I’m sorry to disturb you all at a time like this, but it seems important. This telegram arrived at your home, Mr Graydon, after you left, and was sent on here by taxi. You’d better read it at once.
He passes over the telegram to MR GRAYDON, who sits and reads it in silence. EDITH looks on without much understanding. MR GRAYDON, shaky‑voiced, hands the telegram to the eagerly waiting NEWENHAM.
MR GRAYDON
Here, you read it.
NEWENHAM
[reading slowly so EDITH can take it in]
“Dear Mr Graydon stop
I have sent telegram to the Home Secretary and the king for pardon for your daughter stop Good news coming stop
Bethell, Coldbath‑street, Lewisham.”
MURRAY
Isn’t it marvellous?
AVIS
You hear that, Edie? “Good news coming”! Who is “Bethell”, Dad? Is he someone important?
MR GRAYDON
[having risen, but still dazed]
Oh yes, I think so, isn’t he, vicar? It must be Lord Bethell, the one who was MP for Ilford and used to be Home Secretary. That should do it. They’ll have to pay attention to him.
MRS GRAYDON
[confused]
Are they going to let Edie go, then?
She looks round at EDITH, and moves to take her hand.
MR GRAYDON
I don’t know, dear. It certainly looks like it.
He takes EDITH’s other hand. EDITH, though dazed, is starting to gather animation from the others.
NEWENHAM
It’s jolly good news, but what’s Bethell doing in, what is it, “Coldbath‑street, Lewisham”? That’s not his neck of the woods, is it?
MURRAY
[starts agreeing, but drowned out by AVIS]
It does seem odd…
AVIS
[determined to be cheerful; drowning MURRAY]
Oh Newnie, leave off. Things are looking up at last… Don’t spoil it. Who else could it be?
EDITH
[speaking at last, with an effort]
Are they going to let me go?
MR GRAYDON
[not wanting to commit himself]
What do you think, vicar?
MURRAY
[embarrassed]
Well, we’ll have to make sure it’s genuine, and then see what comes of it. I’m sure if it is from Lord Bethell, he wouldn’t risk giving you false hope at this stage. I’ll talk to the Governor immediately.
MURRAY leaves the cell.
EDITH
[not understanding]
Can I go now? Is it all over?
MR GRAYDON
Not yet, dear. We’ll have to wait and see. Still, things are looking up. Maybe they’ll let you come home tomorrow.
EDITH
[pleading, with more urgency]
Can’t I go now? Please? Take me home, dad. I won’t feel right till I get outside again.
MR GRAYDON
[pained]
Well now, Edie, we’ve just got to be patient. But don’t you worry about it, my girl. You’ll be home with us again tomorrow night.
AVIS is now sobbing in spite of the apparent good news. EDITH, surrounded by her family, sees AVIS break down and herself begins to cry. So do the other three members of the family.
FADE
SCENE 90
Interior, then exterior. Monday night.
EDITH, fully dressed, is being helped by the RED-FACED WARDRESS and the STOUT WARDRESS down the last few steps of the staircase we have seen which leads up to the hospital.
EDITH
[confused]
Are you taking me home? [Frightened] Where are you taking me?
STOUT WARDRESS
Never mind, we’ll be there in a minute.
EDITH
No, please, tell me, where are we going?
RED-FACED WARDRESS
[trying to be kind]
They found a better room for you. That’s where we’re going.
EDITH makes no reply. They emerge and cross the courtyard diagonally, past a small brick shed. As they walk, the patter of rain on canvas attracts EDITH’s attention to the corner of the yard, where her grave has been dug and covered with a tarpaulin.
EDITH
[to RED-FACED WARDRESS]
What’s that hole?
There is no reply. The WARDRESSES are lost for anything to say. EDITH looks at them in turn.
EDITH
[in a low voice]
It’s a grave, isn’t it?
They remain silent. EDITH takes in the meaning of their silence: her legs give way, she stumbles. They hold her up until she can go on. They leave the courtyard. We stay on the small brick shed.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 91
Night in the death cell.
The STOUT WARDRESS is putting EDITH’s gown over a chair, and the RED-FACED WARDRESS arranges chairs for herself and her colleague.
EDITH, sitting on the bed, looks round at one end of the cell. We see what she sees: a metal cell door with a small peephole.
EDITH now looks round to the other end of the cell. We again see her view: of a second, more sinister door, smaller and narrower, again with a peephole.
We hear the sound of the first door opening, and EDITH turns as the GOVERNOR nervously enters the cell.
GOVERNOR
[solicitous]
Good evening, Mrs Thompson. I hope you have everything you want. If there is anything, just let me know.
EDITH
[blankly]
Thank you.
GOVERNOR
[coming to the point]
It’s my duty to tell you, Mrs Thompson, that I’ve just had a letter from the Home Secretary, in which he states that: “After full consideration of all the representations made to him, he regrets that he finds no grounds for departing from his decision.”
EDITH
What does that mean?
GOVERNOR
[suffering]
I’m afraid it means the sentence will be carried out tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.
EDITH
[can’t believe it]
But what about Lord Bethell? He sent us a telegram this morning which said there was good news coming. Maybe the Home Secretary hasn’t heard from him yet. There must have been some mistake.
GOVERNOR
[forced into it]
I’m very sorry, Mrs Thompson. We contacted Lord Bethell, and he had no knowledge of any telegram.
EDITH
[dazed]
I don’t understand.
GOVERNOR
That telegram seems to have been a cruel hoax. I wish you had never seen it.
EDITH
Why would anyone do such a thing? It’s so…
GOVERNOR
Yes. I’m sorry. It’s best to forget it. Would you like some supper?
EDITH
What time is it?
GOVERNOR
Six o’clock.
EDITH
Six o’clock… No thank you, it’s hardly worth it. [Increasingly out of control] Why bother? I’m not particularly hungry, and you’re going to hang me in the morning.
The GOVERNOR and the WARDRESSES blanch.
EDITH
It’s a waste feeding me, I might as well be dead already.
GOVERNOR
You’re getting agitated, Mrs Thompson. I think I’d better give you some medicine. That will calm you down.
He turns to get his black bag from the table where he put it down. EDITH tries to get up from the bed, but the WARDRESSES push her down. She struggles violently but without a sound.
We see the syringe squirting air out again.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 92
The cell in the small hours of 9 January 1923.
EDITH is tossing and turning on her bed, feverishly, and her eyes suddenly open. The cell is bathed in a dim yellow light, and the WARDRESSES are asleep on their chairs against the opposite wall.
Something puzzles EDITH. She looks round the cell and sees that the small door stands open. Beyond it is darkness.
She gets up cautiously and, frightened, approaches the threshold. Timidly she peers out into the gloom, and we see it over her shoulder. Dizzily, she falls out into the cavernous blackness. As she falls, she screams at the top of her voice.
EDITH
Freddy, Freddy, oh Freddy! Don’t!
As she screams she half‑wakes from the drug‑induced nightmare.
We suddenly see her still in bed. The WARDRESSES are standing over her, terrified by her screams. EDITH stops screaming when she sees where she is, but with a convulsive movement grabs the RED-FACED WARDRESS’s wrist and twists it round so she can see the wrist-watch. The RED-FACED WARDRESS gives a yelp of pain. The watch face shows 4.00 (a.m.). EDITH groans and slumps back on the bed.
DISSOLVE
SCENE 93
We can barely hear a low heartbeat, which grows impercepibly louder till the end of the film.
The STOUT WARDRESS is seated on EDITH’s bed, trying gently to wake her. She takes EDITH’S arm and shakes it very slightly. EDITH’s eyes open, but she seems dazed. The STOUT WARDRESS reaches her fob watch out of its pocket and holds it in front of EDITH’s face.
The watch face now shows 5.15 (a.m.).
The STOUT WARDRESS helps EDITH to sit up in bed; the RED-FACED WARDRESS proffers a mug of steaming tea which EDITH takes with some difficulty, but doesn’t yet sip.
A pack of cigarettes, one sticking out, being offered to EDITH by the STOUT WARDRESS.
EDITH, still looking very drugged and dopy, with a cigarette being placed between her lips by the STOUT WARDRESS.
A cigarette lighter being ignited and held to the end of EDITH’s cigarette, which lights less by a conscious effort on EDITH’s part than by a nervous intake of breath. We stay on EDITH for some moments as she smokes. She is trembling, and inhales deeply without touching the cigarette. Half an inch of ash forms at the tip. EDITH holds the smoke for a second, and then expels it violently through her nostrils, blowing off the ash in the process.
EDITH being helped to sit on the edge of the bed by the STOUT WARDRESS. The RED-FACED WARDRESS brings a pile of folded clothes and places it beside her.
The RED-FACED WARDRESS puts a sock or thick winter stocking onto one of EDITH’s feet.
The RED-FACED WARDRESS attaches a stocking to a suspender belt.
The RED-FACED WARDRESS helps EDITH off with her nightdress, beneath which she is wearing a loose corset. The STOUT WARDRESS hands the RED-FACED WARDRESS EDITH’s slip, and the RED-FACED WARDRESS gets the passive EDITH to raise her arms so it can be put on. A petticoat being pulled up over EDITH’S feet and knees; then EDITH has to be raised a little for it to be pulled up to her waist.
The RED-FACED WARDRESS puts on EDITH’s shoes.
The black mourning dress, worn by EDITH at her trial and belonging to her mother, is passed over her head and upper body.
EDITH is helped to her feet. The dress is pulled down into position. EDITH’s head emerges. She still seems dazed.
EDITH, seated again, has her greying hair tied up into a regulation bun that won’t inhibit the work of the hangman.
EDITH sitting on the bed, inert. On the bedside table is a tray with a piece of toast and an apple. She has taken one bite of each. We hear the cell door open discreetly.
MURRAY enters, sheepish and clumsy, past the RED-FACED WARDRESS, who is sitting on a chair at the end of the bed. He carries awkwardly, cradled in one arm, two vases of arranged flowers, a crucifix and two large candle-sticks each holding six candles.
MURRAY arranges these as a chapelle ardente on the table against the wall opposite EDITH, with the occasional furtive glance round at her. His back still turned to her, he lights the twelve candles. The scrape of match on matchbox barely impinges on EDITH. When he stands aside, we see the fierce glow of the candles.
EDITH weeps softly, sitting on the bed. She is still visibly detached from what’s going on around her. MURRAY comes across.
EDITH doesn’t stir, and he tentatively sits beside her. He now believes her to be innocent, and bitterly regrets his earlier assumption of her guilt.
MURRAY
[tremulous]
Edith? Edith? [No reply. He goes on] If you like I can say some prayers and you can pray with me… [EDITH doesn’t respond] There’s no hurry. I just want to say… I believe you. Please forgive me.
MURRAY is close to tears. EDITH does not seem to have taken it in. Her face is numb and tear‑stained. She doesn’t seem to be listening. But then she puts her hand on his without looking at him. He looks puzzled and helpless, and glances at the RED-FACED WARDRESS. The RED-FACED WARDRESS begins to cry.
MURRAY’S VOICE [off]
I’m so sorry …
SCENE 94
8.15 a.m.
A large close‑up from inside the cell, through the spyhole, of an eye: Prison Officer William YOUNG’s, arrived from Pentonville to help with the hanging, and curious to see EDITH. Before he has looked his fill, footsteps announce the GOVERNOR’s arrival.
The eye disappears, and we move back into the cell to see the cell door open and the GOVERNOR come in with his black bag and an ASSISTANT in a suit. Outside the door YOUNG is still trying to catch a glimpse of EDITH round the GOVERNOR.
The GOVERNOR, looking haggard, murmurs to his ASSISTANT.
GOVERNOR
I’ll give her a thirty-second of a grain of strychnine. [Glances down at watch] 8.17 a.m.
The ASSISTANT writes it down in a notebook.
The GOVERNOR sits down on the bed beside the weeping EDITH, with the STOUT WARDRESS on the other side to keep her in place.
GOVERNOR
Good morning, Mrs Thompson.
The skin being wiped with a cotton swab soaked in antiseptic.
The plunger on the syringe is squeezed home; the drug enters EDITH’s arm. The syringe is withdrawn; a bubble of blood appears.
FADE TO BLACK
SCENE 95
8.45 a.m.
MURRAY, who is sitting on a chair near the bed, looks nervous. He opens up his prayer-book and begins in a quiet uncertain voice to read the service for the Burial of the Dead, which he continues to do through the rest of the scene.
MURRAY
“I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live…” [&c.]
EDITH, who is just coming round from the injection, begins to moan.The GOVERNOR comes back in. He looks across at MURRAY in an attempt to hide his emotion; then he sees EDITH again becoming conscious of her situation. The moaning becomes louder and louder.
GOVERNOR
[agitated; in a low voice to his ASSISTANT]
Poor woman. All right, I’ll give her a hundredth of a grain of Purlight sleep and a sixth of a grain of morphia. [Wearily looking at his watch] 8.48 a.m. [Under his breath] Not long now…
The squirt of the syringe.
MURRAY, still reading the burial service, is disturbedly watching the grisly business of the injection out of the corner of his eye. The scene comes to an end as he reads the words:
MURRAY
“…Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my days: that I may be certified how long I have to live.”
DISSOLVE
SCENE 96
We observe real time from here to the end.
EDITH is slumped on the bed, blinking heavily, attempting to come back from her drug‑induced swoon. We hear MURRAY reading in a low, half‑embarrassed murmur.
MURRAY
“As soon as thou scatterest them, they are even as a sleep: and fade away suddenly like the grass. In the morning… &c.”
EDITH looks blank and dazed. Without turning her head, she looks round [on the words “afraid of thy wrathful indignation”] at the death-door that featured in her nightmare. We see it from her point of view: small, dully metallic, a sinister peephole set into it, brightly lit and sharply focused. We hear the muffled clumping of boots beyond it.
EDITH moans in apprehension. She begins to cry again. As MURRAY reads “…as it were a tale that is told…”, the clumping of boots and the sound of talking has ceased. Then both doors to the cell are briskly opened, and people march in.
From the death-door comes ELLIS, the hangman, a slightly paunchy man of medium height in his fifties, with a heavy moustache and sunken, nervous eyes; with him his assistant, Robert BAXTER, a stout ginger‑haired man in his late thirties, carrying the leather straps with which EDITH is to be bound.
From the main door come the GOVERNOR, his ASSISTANT, YOUNG, and a skeletal pinstriped balding REPRESENTATIVE of the Prison Commission, and finally a white‑coated middle‑aged bespectacled doctor, Dora WALKER.
As they enter, the STOUT WARDRESS presses EDITH’s hand in farewell and hurriedly leaves the cell.
YOUNG and BAXTER raise EDITH from the bed from her slumped position. YOUNG encircles her waist with his arms from behind.
YOUNG
[murmuring in her ear conspiratorially]
Come on, mate. It’ll soon be over.
He holds her upright while BAXTER, after handing one strap to ELLIS, fastens the others round her skirt just below the knee, and round her ankles. When this is done BAXTER, officiously making sure his face shows no flicker of feeling, embraces her from the front, to hold her, again around the waist, while ELLIS binds her wrists behind her back with the third and last strap.
EDITH’s eyes are half‑closed; her head lolls against YOUNG’s and then BAXTER’s. She moans a little, as if trying to form words.
YOUNG slides his arms through under her shoulders from behind, while BAXTER leans down to lift her ankles. He holds them in the crook of his right arm, facing away from EDITH towards the death-door. EDITH’s head slumps back against YOUNG’s chest. Everyone shuffles into place for the rapid procession to the gallows.
ELLIS is first, then BAXTER‑EDITH‑YOUNG, then MURRAY, then the GOVERNOR, his ASSISTANT, Dr WALKER and the REPRESENTATIVE. They wait, motionless.
As they wait, MURRAY starts to read the burial service again.
MURRAY
“Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.
In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins are justly displeased?
Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.
Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee.”
EDITH’s moaning becomes louder and more insistent; most of those present show signs of distress. The GOVERNOR coughs, Dr WALKER wipes her glasses, ELLIS wipes his hands on his trousers.
On “In the midst of life we are in death…”, the first stroke of the prison clock sounds and an unseen hand opens the death-door. With a purposeful air, ELLIS and the others go into action: they pass through the death-door into a small, dusky antechamber, and thence out into the open air of the courtyard, where a cold drizzle is falling in the grey light of a winter morning.
The mournful strokes of the bell fall at two second intervals. The execution is to be completed on the ninth and final stroke.
As the cold air and drizzle touch EDITH’S face, she flinches and groans louder again. The party hastily crosses the small courtyard. As they do so, due to their speed, MURRAY, who is trying to read from the prayer-book, misses his footing and almost stumbles.
They enter the shed, which is harshly lit, and ELLIS and BAXTER, EDITH, YOUNG and MURRAY climb the steps to the scaffold, while the others take their positions below. When everyone has entered, a WARDER firmly closes the door.
On the sixth stroke BAXTER and YOUNG place EDITH’s feet on a chalk cross in the centre of the trapdoor. They continue to support her, one taking each arm. Still moaning, EDITH tries to articulate something. ELLIS removes the white silk hood from his pocket and places it over EDITH’s head. As he then goes on to move the noose into position round EDITH’s neck and tighten it, we see EDITH’s painful breathing suck the silk into her mouth.
EDITH
[only we hear her low whisper]
Love. Where are you?
From the silk-enshrouded head we move down over EDITH’s trembling, unsteady frame, which is supported by BAXTER and YOUNG, to her feet and the wood of the trapdoor.
We see the feet of ELLIS step back to where he can kick the lever, and then immediately those of BAXTER and YOUNG as they step back away from EDITH.
A fraction of a second before the ninth stroke there is a terrific crash as ELLIS kicks the lever and the mechanism releases the heavy bolt that holds the trapdoor.
The trapdoor swings open. EDITH, losing her balance and twisting round even as she falls, plunges past the camera and disappears from view; as she falls the heartbeats cease and the motion slows and the muffled final stroke of nine blends with the still-echoing crash of the lever and trapdoor. MURRAY is now inaudible.
With the slowing motion as EDITH falls we begin to fade to black, and before the rope jerks tight (when she is a foot below the level of the trapdoor) the screen is dark.
TITLE: Freddy Bywaters was hanged at the same time in Pentonville Prison.
TITLE: The Governor of Holloway Prison went to The Daily Mail on the evening of Edith Thompson’s execution to persuade the editor to campaign against the death penalty for women.
TITLE: The Chaplain of Holloway, Glanvill Murray, left the Prison Service shortly afterwards. He spent the rest of his life speaking and writing against the death penalty.
TITLE: Avis Graydon died in 1977. She never married.
TITLE: Edith Thompson’s remains were moved to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey after the demolition of Holloway Prison in 1971. On 22 November 2018 she was reunited with her parents in the City of London Cemetery, in a grave that she had bought for Percy in October 1922.
THE END
CREDITS