(KNOCKING)
Bloody hell! I'm suddenly terribly popular.
I thought I'd see how you are. I hope it's not too late... I can see it's not.
You find me knee-deep in more cooked eggs. Peter's made this amazing omelette.
It's full of everything that anyone can ever put in an omelette. Have some.
- No. I've just eaten. - I bet you'll succumb.
We're about to go next door to watch one of Ernest's old British war movies.
You can choose.
(PLANE ENGINES ROAR)
- I haven't seen this one. - It's good. You'll like this one.
- As long as it's got Jack Hawkins. - See?. It has.
He plays the commander in the air base, whose nickname is "Tiger".
- The main pilot's name is "Septic". - Septic?.
- Honestly. You'll see. It's exciting. - Couldn't be better.
- Identity card and password. - You know who I am?
- Yes, sir. - Then you don't need my card.
Sorry, sir. Sergeant gave me orders...
Too many memories this weekend.
It's like we're waiting for somebody to get rid of them or at least ease them a bit.
You mean Stephen's going to straighten things out with the things he finds?.
I wasn't thinking of Stephen.
Jack Hawkins isn't going to make you cry, is he?.
No. Oh, no.
This'll be good.
I spy strangers. Are you looking for someone?
- The CO of 1320 Squadron. - Hold on a minute.
Are you down there, Bill?
- I should have called my father. - Yes, you ought.
It's been an amazing few days.
I 'm glad to have been part of your amazing experience.
You know what I mean.
- Stephen's right. - Stephen?. Stephen is right?.
Yeah.
He said if you take any family and get them to stay up long enough,
the stories will come tumbling out.
He said there are at least three great stories in any family.
It's like an addiction. It's like a legal narcotic.
- Daniel?. - Mm.
You're thinking about Alice, aren't you?.
Yes. I was...a little.
I love her. I adore her.
The sort of person you dream about as a surrogate mother.
Rebecca, maybe because I'm part of this family but I'm on the outside looking in...
..maybe there are things I can do, connections I can make.
- I don't want you to misunderstand. - I don't.
- Are you sure?. Promise me one thing?. - Yes.
Don't go thinking you can put the pieces back together again - promise -
because you can't.
Right.
Time you were awake.
- Is it very late?. - No, it's 7.30, but I've got to go to work.
- How are you feeling?. - I'm fine.
I was dreaming. A great dream.
- So none of this is yours?. - No. It all belongs to a friend of mine.
I would love to know more about you.
I thought you said you knew what I was thinking about.
- You wish last night hadn't happened. - No, I'm not thinking that.
You got that one wrong. I just don't think it should happen again.
Not for a bit.
What are you doing?. Who are you calling?.
(PHONE RINGS)
- Hi. - Daniel! Where have you been?
Catching up on family business.
- Tell me where. - Where are you?
- You know where I am! - I mean, are you up?
I'm in the bloody loo.
I'm practically under house arrest.
Your mother is tapping away on her computer about something she won't tell me about.
I can't stir for another week. When are you coming?.
Later on today. You sound like you're getting better.
Right. Come and help me negotiate my release.
Absolutely.
- We're not going to let go now. - What do you mean?.
We come to this weekend, all these relations we haven't met,
my dad sees a picture that intrigues him about his father
and I see a picture of when I was a tiny boy dressed in an extraordinary way.
We're not going to shove off back to the suburbs.
Shoving off back to the suburbs?. That's not like you.
Besides, we're all going to the country. Irving's getting me an invitation.
- I won't go because of Alice. - You can't let that stop you.
Yes, I can.
- I need another message for Alice. - No, you don't.
She'll want to know what happened when you heard her message.
Don't you have to get to work?.
All I've got today is a couple of houses in Isleworth. They can wait.
I'm not sure you'll want to take any of my messages.
Of course. I'll take any message.
Like, for instance, "Tell the truth for once, you bitch"?.
See?. Told you you wouldn't want to take it.
- Who are you?. - I'm Daniel.
I've come to see Alice. Are you Minty?.
How do you know that?. I don't know who you are. Nobody tells me anything.
I suppose you'd better come in.
What's it matter?. There's nothing left to steal.
I'm not at all well today. It just goes on and on - my back.
And there's this terrible racket from next door.
There you are. You always arrive sooner than I expect.
Do you have a message for me, Daniel?.
- Maybe. - What does maybe mean?.
- Rebecca said, "Tell Daniel everything." - I'm sure she didn't.
If you tell me, maybe I can help... resolve things.
How?.
Because I'm trusted by both sides.
-I've already pieced together a few things. - You think you've pieced it together?.
Something happened to Richard, didn't it?. I mean, before he died.
Three children who were very close but whose parents were never around,
but there was this other person available who gave them love,
introduced them to books, art, encouraged them,
and she was chic and a little mysterious.
This arrangement suited everybody perfectly
and Richard was the glue that held it all together because he was the most fun,
the most outgoing - the one in the middle, always having ideas.
But then something made Richard grow away and that left very big scars.
That's quite close, Daniel, in some ways - not in others.
The children 's parents were bound up in their marriage.
Louis, their father, had this marvellously undemanding job, it seems.
He worked for "The Metal Box Company"
in the last moments of British business abroad - gin and tonics on the veranda.
- A lazy way of doing business. - Yes.
They are rather lazy, Louis and Margaret.
And Margaret was determined to go wherever Louis went.
As soon as they were old enough, the children were sent to boarding school.
There was this aunt living just down the road.
Someone who'd given up her job to live with her affluent husband and have children.
Only, hard as she tried, the babies didn't come.
So we got very close, the children and me.
- It's not unusual... - No.
..that children find themselves being brought up by an aunt or sister.
Who's a clever boy then, eh?.
There was a very revealing moment the day Richard got into university.
Louis and Margaret were looking almost shy.
It was like something entirely separate from them.
Then Louis was on the phone
talking about whether he'd make it back to Buenos Aires for a polo match.
Then whatever happened started to happen?.
Come on, you slackers.
Less wooden, please!
He's taking the photo, everything's normal...
What was that?. Did you feel it?.
I felt something going on down there, some sort of noise.
A ripple of something going on down there.
There.
- Did you feel it?. - No.
It's probably nothing. Must be some very busy moles.
Furiously burrowing, partying down there!
Come on, let's get a decent picture.
Have you ever heard...?.
A few months later, we were off to the theatre.
We regularly went out together.
Madam?.
You're wearing my brother. This skin, this fur - you're wearing my brother.
Is that whimsical?. No, I don't believe so.
Excuse me.
- Please... - Because here I see one of his feet.
And one of his toenails just by your cheek. How does that feel?.
Richard, what the hell are you doing?. Get out!
I'm so sorry, madam. I'm so sorry.
What the hell was that about?. What is wrong with you?.
We thought because animal rights activities were fashionable,
maybe Richard was going through an extreme phase.
- Then he refused to stay at university. - That must have been hurtful.
He went to work at a pawnbroker's. I bet you thought they didn't exist.
Thank you.
There he was - my Richard - standing behind the counter.
Hi.
He said he had to be there because he needed to meet weird people.
It would help him in his career of being a novelist.
- Touch that. - What?.
Go on, touch that. Yeah, that.
- What do you feel?. Can you feel it?. - Feel?.
It's warm, isn't it?. And sort of tingling.
No... Not those. Touch those over there.
Anything on the back shelf is good. Trust me, they're really good.
We were standing there on that summer's day...
touching these various objects.
Could we feel certain things going through them?
Richard keenly waiting for our answer.
Can you feel that?.
Kind of spooky, isn't it?.
I thought it would be all right.
I'd read about how these things can be temporary.
I got him to see various doctors and all the diagnoses were different and inconclusive
because he could be so charming.
But then there was an unignorable incident.
- I'm going to get you on a bus, Alice. - Very comic.
I haven't seen you on a bus in years. I'll take care of this.
No.
Sorry, not good enough. It'll be the next one.
This one.
Thank you. Carry on.
- Keep going. - Oh, Richard, please!
Nearly there.
He stood there and as each bus came, he'd stop it.
He'd get on the bus to check it, listen for a second, and then he'd reject it.
Wouldn 't let us get on, waved the bus away.
Until he finally found one he approved of and let us get on.
- This is good. Come on. - Hooray. Great.
Do you feel it?. Can you feel it?.
This is really good. Why is it vibrating like that?.
You know how some buses vibrate...
..when they're not moving - when they pull up or at the lights they shake?.
Yeah. It's when the engine revs are set too low and the fuel isn't going in fast enough.
- It's fighting to turn over. - Oh, I wish you'd there been that day.
Not a mechanic amongst us. Of course, it wouldn't have made any difference.
Concentrating on how much it's shaking is really interesting.
If you really listen to this bus... Have you ever done that before?.
Listen to the city and feel it as it really is -
saying many different things.
Sometimes, like now, they're saying there is no other way.
There is no other way!
It broke my heart.
He became more and more unpredictable. He began drinking heavily.
He was always suddenly appearing, asking for money.
He walked everywhere - often he was barefoot. He walked across the whole city.
The noises of the buses and tubes were too complicated, he said.
If he heard them, he had to start talking back, so it was easier to walk.
There were still moments when he was wonderfully his old self.
I li ke it very much when it's just us.
You look perfect...
- And then somehow... - It's Richard. You're talking about him.
And somehow it became easier to make plans and not include him.
Did I start that happening?.
I'm not sure.
I know that's what Rebecca believes - that I started it.
And we did it surreptitiously because he still wanted to come.
He wasn't violent. It just became more and more normal not to include him.
We were having Sunday lunch at my house in Buckinghamshire.
My husband had been dead a few years and I loved to see Rebecca and Charles.
We were having coffee after lunch. It was a summer afternoon.
Suddenly there was Richard coming across the lawn.
What?.
- He was carrying this picnic basket. - Oh, God.
I thought he was i n London.
- We must have a picnic. - We've already eaten.
We've just had lunch.
I've found the perfect spot and brought the perfect picnic.
So we follow him to the bottom of the garden.
- Isn't this the perfect spot?. - It looks good to me.
- This is lovely, Richard. - What have you got in there?.
No. This isn't the spot.
This spot isn't good enough.
The perfect spot is just over here.
This is the perfect spot.
We settled in the shade and he said, "This is much more like the perfect spot."
Then the same thing happens again.
This isn't good enough.
We'd just sat down, he starts unpacking the picnic,
then he decides this spot isn 't good enough and we're all off.
- Here we are. The perfect spot. - Richard, there are thistles everywhere.
It's lovely. The perfect spot. Trust me.
- No, this isn't right. - What?.
- The perfect one is over here. - For God's sake, Richard.
It'll be worth it. This way.
And again and again this happened.
And we'd go further into the wood, deeper and deeper.
- Where are we going?. - Nearly there.
- Nearly where?. - Just here.
Come on.
Down here. This is good. Come on.
This is it. This is the perfect spot.
And we've ended up by some disgusting pipes. Some drainage system.
- I don't believe it. - For God's sake.
We just can't follow him there by the pipes.
I can't bear the idea of sitting there with him saying,
"Do you understand the significance of the noise of these pipes?"
None of us could cope sitting there and that happening.
And we lose him.
We let him unpack the picnic and we leave him there.
We scramble away.
Hello?. Alice?.
Becky?
Alice!
Charles!
- Alice! - We can hear him calling us.
Where are you?.
He's completely surprised that we've left him.
And then, because we know he'll follow us back to the house,
we get into the car and we drive round and round in circles for hours,
Ionging for him not to be there when we get back.
Where are you?.
Come on, guys.
Alice?.
Come on, Becky. Alice.
He wasn't there when we got back.
That was not the only time we did something like that, not by any means.
And then one day, he walked onto a railway line and was hit by a train.
And that was the end of a beautiful boy.
He was ill. There's nothing you could have done.
He was ill, of course. Nobody gave him a definitive diagnosis.
He wasn't schizophrenic. He didn't fit any one pattern.
There was a lot of pain for all of us, obviously.
After his death, Charles got a posting abroad.
- Rebecca buried herself in work. - And it was difficult to see them.
Somehow every time I arranged to see them, there was an excuse.
Until the idea of a great family reunion came up.
You encouraged Ernest because Charles and Rebecca would have to attend.
There were only two guests you wanted to see.
I don't agree with that. It's too simple.
- I wanted us to have time together. - You can still see them.
- I don't know about that, Daniel. - I can help.
I really think I can...
(LOUD BANGING)
That bloody noise from next door.
Will you show me the house?. I'd really like to see it.
I think I may have been here when I was small.
- You're awake. - Yes.
You're meant to be resting.
- I've been watching you for half an hour. - Really?.
- Why were you doing that?. - I wish I knew what you were doing.
I'm just going back into my family - their history.
- You've caught me at an exciting moment. - Really?.
I'm just about to cross out of the 19th century and dip into the 18th,
- following where the Dents lead me. - I see.
And you're hoping to discover something unexpected or romantic?.
I don't know. I've got a tiny sense about something. I'll probably be disappointed.
I ought to be beavering away too - looking for solutions to my father's picture.
Remember him dancing?. Probably the answer's right here.
You need to take things gently.
- You need... - Don't say rest.
If I hear that again, I'll have a relapse.
Alice.
There's this picture of me as a child, staring down these stairs,
dressed like a little prince.
I don't know what I was doing here.
- Just here. - Let me have a look.
I can't help you with that. I don't remember you standing there.
I'm hoping something really interesting lies behind it.
No.
Oh, well. Probably just a Christmas party.
- Want to see some more?. - Please.
What a miserable sight this all is. Time they burnt the lot.
- Where are you going?. - I want to see the big cupboard again.
You remember that?. Or have you been here recently?.
No. I must remember the cupboard. It was a big, enormous cupboard.
- Found something?. - Possibly.
- Still can't remember really. - So, Daniel, what is your plan?.
- It's simple. - Good.
You all need to be together again - you, Charles and Rebecca.
There's an urgent need for that. And you can use the go-between.
- I can be the instrument. - How would we do that?.
- You send another message. - I thought you didn't want to do that.
This time the message needs to be a lie - not much of one.
A small lie. That's all it needs.
We should have insisted we kept this office on all week.
The last thing we need is to move. Chaos is developing. It's chaos, Daniel.
- In what way?. - The party, of course.
All sorts of people want to come.
It's turning into something it was never supposed to be.
I was going to do something elaborate for each person, but the guest list is too long.
I'm here to wangle an invitation. Irving...
Irving will not be invited. If we invite Irving, we'll be inviting everyone!
It'll be up to the numbers of the banquet. I can't even do a proper table plan!
After the disaster last time, I'm determined this one will be perfect.
You will get me an invitation, Poppy?. Alice wants me to be there.
I might just get you in. Mind you get there on time.
Leave at least four hours. The traffic can be horrendous on a Saturday.
(MOBILE RINGS)
- Charles. - Daniel.
I'm on my way to a meeting. What is it?.
Are you coming to the party in the country?. I'm going to be there.
Right. Go on. Daniel, I've got all these people waiting for me.
And I've got a message from Alice.
Alice will definitely not be coming. I've just left her. She gave me this message.
Tell them under no circumstances will Alice be there.
- Right. - So you will come?.
It'll be great. The three of us together.
I've been talking about Richard to Alice and Rebecca.
- You have?. - Yes.
I didn't know you knew about Richard.
Look, I'll talk to you later.
Right. So... Um...
We're looking at the minutes from the Antwerp meeting...
and especially...paragraph 809.
Paragraph 809 is on...er...
It's on page...
- Sorry. It's on page... - Page 75.
Yes. Page 75.
I'm terribly sorry. I'm feeling this incredible call of nature.
It's absolutely shouting at me. So will you excuse me for a minute?.
- Becks?. - Hi. How are you doing?
I'm in the middle of watching a Ukrainian game show.
Daniel's just rung and he wants us to go to this party in the country.
- Alice won't be there. - Who says?.
Alice says, via Daniel. She sent a very clear message.
- I'll talk to Daniel. - Right.
Also, Daniel mentioned that he...er... he knew about Richard.
Yes. He found out about it.
For some reason, Daniel knowing suddenly made it...
It was incredible what went through me.
It made it seem all fresh again.
I was in the middle of this meeting and I felt myself...
(SOBBING) I wanted to burst into tears.
- It's OK.. - It's like a panic attack.
I know.
It's all right.
Why should this be happening?
I've got 20 people in there waiting for me!
Let them wait. It's all right.
There's this gentleman cleaning the floors in here
trying to pretend very hard that there isn't a man crying on the phone.
Charles, it's OK..
Becks...
..it just sometimes seems so bad.
Cry. Why not?.
I get like that.
I involved Daniel.
I sent a message via him that there was no way we wanted to meet up with Alice.
I told her that under no circumstances would we do that. It seems to have worked.
Yes.
God, if somebody came in to use the loos, they'd never see me in the same light.
They're so used to seeing me in control.
I don't think I've ever cried in the lavatories before.
(RAIN PATTERS)
Right. So...back to Antwerp.
- Septic calling. - Hello, Septic. This is Tiger.
- Message received and understood. - (PHONE RINGS)
- (ESTHER) How are you, my love? - That's a nice greeti ng.
You find me slumped in front of my favourite of Ernest's old war films.
Daniel's just rung. He's got an invitation to this engagement party.
- He seems excited. - What's he up to?
He's plotting something. Maybe he's hoping to unearth an inheritance.
- He's finding out more about the family. - You reckon?
- Maybe we should go to this party. - No. You know you can't.
- Are you missing me, my love?. - Of course.
What's brought all this on?. You been drinking?.
Not exactly.
I've made a discovery that I want to tell you about because it's...
- It's not huge, but... - Not huge?.
I think it's lovely.
I pursued the Dents - I followed my family and dug and dug
and I've hit this amazing relation that I'm descended from.
I'm directly descended from him.
- Do you hear the music?. - What music?
- I'll turn it up. Can you hear it now?. - (OPERATIC ARIA)
That's Mozart! You're not telling me you're descended from Mozart?.
- That you're Mozart's great... - Not quite.
William Beckford.
- I've never heard of him. - He was an astonishing man.
- An aristocrat, a dilettante, bisexual... - That sounds good.
He was taught by Mozart.
The eight-year-old Mozart had given him lessons in London in Soho Square.
They became lifelong friends
and William claims to have written this music with Mozart.
- Obviously he's a liar. - Maybe.
But the fantastic thing -
the thing that gave me this strange feeling - is that he put up these huge follies.
He kept on doing it, couldn't stop.
He built this ludicrous abbey - Fonthill Abbey -
with an amazing tower that was so tall it fell down.
And who do you know who loves towers?.
I'm staring at the garden now and there are my abbey towers - getting a bit soaked!
Isn't it amazing?.
(MUSIC SWELLS)
Sounds good. Don't build any more till I get home.
I really feel there must be something in all this.
Things in your family resurfacing after generations.
Swimming around in the gene pool, coming out in unexpected ways,
unexpected places - like Hillingdon.
It is quite exciting, yes. How about the bisexual part?.
I like the music your ancestor wrote.
I'd like to get into this discovery malarkey myself.
Might sort a few things out. I need to get rid of my jailers and into action.
Soon. You'll be well enough soon.
He ought to make Manston if he's got height enough.
God, it's a deluge. It hasn't stopped for three days.
- If it's like this tomorrow... - We'll be swimming.
It'll be a disaster.
You promise me she isn't going.
I promise. The message couldn't have been clearer.
- Alice wouldn't lie about that. - She wants you to have a good time.
- Why are you looking so excited?. - Was I?.
Because I'm going to be with you.
I was meant to stop this, wasn't I?. It wasn't mean to happen again.
But it has.
- When I first saw you... - You thought, "Jesus! Who is this??"'
Yeah. Something like that.
He's a stranger. He's also my cousin.
- And now?. - Now I don't know.
- Part lover, part replacement brother. - Not replacement brother.
No.
You're right. Not that.
I don't know what you're hoping for tomorrow.
It's just a big house that Ernest's family used to own.
It's a conference centre now. Couldn't be less evocative of the family.
Perhaps Ernest's having it there to say goodbye to his childhood memories.
That makes sense. I can't wait.
Oh, my God. It's even worse than I imagined.
Poppy! Poppy! I heard the radio!
The good news is...
The really good news is no more rain. It's official.
Angus, it's going to be our greatest challenge to pull this off.
We'll need notices galore - boards to create walkways and paths -
and boots - hundreds of boots.
Bloody hell! Every time I wake up there's someone new at the end of my bed.
- Good morning, Raymond. - Have you got some spare rope?.
Spare rope?. No, I think I'm right out of that, as it happens.
We thought we'd tie up the nurse.
We're going to get you out of here.
Everybody else is going to this party, why should we miss out?.
My feelings entirely.
- They won't let us in, will they?. - We have a secret weapon.
- Do you want to come to my father's party?. - You bet.
No problem.
I'm just poking about in his desk because somewhere
is his least favourite picture of me.
Keeps them right back here.
St Pancras Station. I worked there for eight years.
One day my father bought a paper from me, by accident.
He had no idea I worked there. Martina took these pictures.
She brought him along specially. Look at his face.
My father looked like that every time he caught me watching television.
(JINGLING)
(RADIO:. WOMAN SINGS SOFT POP MUSIC)
- Is this music OK?. - Mm.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
Don't. It'll be great. It's just a party.
(ALICE) All the dinosaurs in the world are dead...
but there is a huge enormous creature -
almost as big as a dinosaur - which is still alive.
Do you know what it is?.
It's a crocodile.
And this is a story of a fantastically clever crocodile.
I thought I'd come and visit you.
You may know all about flower-arranging in Turkey,
but to grasp what's really worth knowing...
..you need to turn to me - if only you would listen.
Come back to me.
I haven't gone anywhere.
- It seems set fair, at last. - Yes.
I believe so.
Apologies for the motor. I'm getting rid of it.
Any stuff you don't like, just chuck out.
Wait till you see the house, Raymond. You'll be jealous that Ernest grew up there.
- I can remember the house. - Give this stuff the heave-ho.
I've got to ring Esther when we're halfway there.
She shouldn't miss out on this either.
Right. Everybody in?.
Irving, that's right.
It's a very male gathering.
Hold tight.
I'm going to do this in record time.
You see?. It's nothing like it was when the family were here.
Imagine how big it seemed when we came to visit.
Everybody's arrived early because of Poppy's fierce instructions.
"Be late and you'll get no food."
There's mud! There's mud!
Stay strictly in the designated area otherwise your vehicle will sink.
Follow the arrows. We only have a couple more of these so please don't rely on them.
Please use your intelligence. Stay on the duckboards.
Follow the arrows to the house. There are boots if you need them.
- Hi. - Charles, you beat us.
Of course. I have my own special route.
(POPPY) Keep strictly to the path.
They look like refugees at their own party.
They couldn't book the inside because of a conference,
so Ernest's locked out of his old house.
Come on. We can still follow Poppy's arrows.
The marquee will look fantastic inside when it's finished,
so please make use of the gardens for now.
Keep to the duckboards as you go.
Come on, Daniel. We've got to stick to the path.
We're under strict instructions to follow the arrows.
There's the pile Ernest grew up in. His father made a few bob in margarine.
He only got rid of it about 15 years ago.
- You wouldn't say no to a piece of that. - Beats putting up road humps.
Yes. I know what I want to see first. I'm going to check out something at once.
See you at the feast.
Jesus. They're all cleaned up. They've got shiny faces.
Just imitating my father's dance.
Ah, here. See?.
(SOFT INDISTINCT VOICES)
Here we are.
Oh, it's a bit muddy. Oh, never mind.
What the hell, it's only a meal.
- Remember this view?. - Yes.
It seems right that the golfers have taken over.
Even when we were kids it felt like Ernest was only temporarily in possession of it.
Like they weren't really meant to be here.
(CHARLES) Playing at being landowners.
Come on, guys.
(MOBILE RINGS)
Turn it off, Daniel.
Hello?. Hello.
Yes. I'm just with them now. Yeah.
OK. OK, then.
I bet it's Irving calling.
It's business. An enraged house buyer.
Let's go this way.
How do you know which way to go?.
This is off Poppy's route. It's forbidden.
- This looks right. - Daniel, I want a drink.
Come on. We're nearly there.
(REBECCA) Blimey, Daniel. This had better be worth it.
That's brilliant, isn't it?.
I told you not to do this. I told you.
- But you thought you knew better. - Becks.
This is the single worst thing you could have done, Daniel.
- People aren't talking... - Rebecca, please don't blame Daniel.
Blame me. I'll go straight back to London or you can walk out of here now and go back.
I don't need your permission. The last thing I need is your fucking permission!
Oh. We can't hide in here. People in here.
- This place is taken, I'm afraid. - Yes.
- I'll take you back to the marquee. - Oh, no. We've got to hide.
Well...
I'm going to pour myself some tea since it's been so thoughtfully provided.
- Does anybody want to join me?. - I can do that.
- No, no. I'll do the tea. - It'll be a bit cold.
It is, but drinkable, I think.
I know you think what I've done is underhand or probably misguided,
and I don't want this to seem presumptuous,
but I'm part of the family but I didn't know any of you,
and that gives me, I think, a unique sort of point of view.
And what I want to say about Richard is this.
I know there's all this guilt about excluding him.
But you couldn't have done anything.
There's this pattern in the family - a pattern that recurs.
If you know anything about Violet and Edith
and how they lived in the woods and removed themselves from their parents and sister,
and how they've been in a different world ever since, it's in the family.
Don't you see?.
It came out in Richard - this force pulling him away.
Once it reappeared it was bound to happen -
him growing away from you - and there was nothing you could have done.
Nobody could have stopped it.
Don't you see?.
I just wanted to do something.
I wanted to make a difference.
Daniel, don't go.
- Are you sure?. - I am sure.
I want you to hear this absolutely,
since this is your fantasy solution to intervene and bring us all together.
Let the guilt melt away. Let it all slip off.
So I think you should see the results of your efforts, Daniel.
Every day, every single day, I think about what we did to Richard...
- I'm sure we all do. - Please!
Please.
I can assure you that I don't blame you as much as I do myself.
But, Alice, I don't forgive you.
I don't forgive myself and I certainly don't forgive you.
We helped cause Richard's death. We shut him out.
There is absolutely nothing else I want to say to you.
- Please, Becks. - Don't try to stop this, Charles.
I won't need to say it again because...
I'm finding being with you, Alice, impossible.
Just as you found the mess Richard brought to your life unbearable,
that is how I feel about you.
You can't even bear to see his name on the family tree.
- That was a mistake. - What a perfect mistake it was, Alice!
What a brilliantly revealing mistake!
So, Alice...
Do you understand what I'm saying?.
I'm saying I want no further dealings with you.
I don't want your calls, I don't want your letters,
I don't want your messages, I don't want to hear your voice.
It's so simple, Alice. I wish we'd never met you.
- It really is that simple. - Don't do this, Becks.
Don't you ever try to contact me again.
Nice one, Daniel.
- Rebecca. - Don't you dare start trying to explain.
- You promised you wouldn't do this. - I had to try.
You think talking about patterns helps?.
You really think that helps?.
Alice...it won't last.
Maybe it won't...
..and possibly it will.
Now, if you could both just leave, please.
- Can I get you anything?. - No.
I would really appreciate you both just leaving me here.
In a little while I have to make my speech at the party welcoming everyone.
It was my turn to do it - and I just need to go over it in my head.
(SHE SOBS)
- Sorry. That was very foolish. - No, it wasn't.
Yes. It was a ludicrous idea that I could make a difference.
If people aren't talking, somebody's got to make them.
Rebecca was right. I've made it worse.
Every day I see him. It doesn't matter where I am.
Last year, I...er...
I walked into this little supermarket in Mexico
and saw his face suddenly by the counter.
It was extraordinary.
At least something came out just now.
- No forgiveness. - From Rebecca, no.
It's the fault of all of us, of course.
I never blamed Alice so much, but then...
..maybe I didn't love her quite as much as the other two did either.
My father - you see him down there?. Fumbling along.
Planning his next holiday, no doubt.
His whole life seems to have been a permanent holiday.
And there is my mother.
God, how unfair things are.
There is my mother, who happily neglected us all - handed us over to Alice -
and yet we feel nothing.
No hate. Nothing.
Everyone at some time wants alternative parents.
Glorious, exciting, only ever around when you want them to be.
(CHARLES) Yes, but we got an alternative mother.
There's something terrible about the way things have turned out.
Alice wanting children so much, never having any of her own...
..then she gets children and she brings us up and she's brilliant at it.
She really was brilliant at it, Daniel.
And then one child becomes an embarrassment...
..and so we slowly and deliberately excluded him...
..until he dies.
Yeah. That's a... That's a sad story.
As I said, a terrible thing.
Hello.
I didn't recognise you at all. I thought, "Who's this lovely apparition??"'
- You look wonderful. - Thank you.
I got a message from my husband saying, "Come to the party at once."
He's escaped from his sick bed and I haven't been able to find him yet.
I must own up. I was one of those that sprung him from house arrest.
Right. I'll withhold punishment for the moment.
- It's an amazing place this. - Yes. It is.
- I'd never be able to live here though. - Really?.
No. I will always be orbiting, Esther.
That's what I've come to realise now. I'm a natural orbiter.
But I'm going to check out every corner of the globe.
If I keep moving, I know who I am.
Nobody else will know, but I do.
Dinner, everyone!
Time for dinner!
(BELL TOLLS)
Dinner is served!
I hadn't thought how to get them back.
Does it sound like a funeral?.
How foolish to have sold all these houses
and just to be living in hotels and rented apartments.
Why don't I know where I want to live at the end of my life?.
Please, Ernest, concentrate. Look at the table plan.
Is it all right?. I've worked and reworked it and I've no idea if I've got it right now.
I'm sure it'll be perfect, Poppy.
Money. Look at all this money.
Imagine what it would be like living here. This was Ernest's home.
- We could have had a share, you and I. - Maybe.
Come on, Daniel. Don't pretend you're not interested.
We're the only people here who are not too snobbish to say we'd love a bit more money.
Even Irving's more interested in travel.
It's you and me.
Rebecca!
Rebecca.
Rebecca, please.
Please.
Daniel!
(RAYMOND) Daniel!
- Somebody's calling you. - Yes.
- How did you know it was for me?. - You look lost.
Daniel!
- Where is he?. - That way.
Daniel!
- There he is! - Daniel!
- Where the hell is he?. - Where are you?.
- Daniel! - Where are you?.
There you are at last. Come on!
- You've got to see something. - We'll miss the meal.
Bugger the meal! Come on.
Come on. This way.
Keep following.
- Stephen found it. - Found what?.
I found it but Raymond interpreted it.
- Excuse me?. Who are you?. - Who are we?. Good question.
Only conference guests are allowed in the house.
Party guests are allowed to use the toilets and that's all. Do you want the toilets?.
No, we'll pass on the toilets. It's all right. Our family once owned this house.
Don't put mud everywhere.
There it is. That's a little prince. There I am.
Great, isn't it?.
(STEPHEN) It's an early 20th-century copy of a Venetian mural, I think.
I remember the party...just.
I found the ruff the other day in the London house...and the shoe.
I must have been the only one not in normal pirate costume.
But what does it mean?. Why was I dressed after the picture?.
- What was this room used for?. - Aha.
It was used as a study when Ernest was growing up here.
As a study. So what does that tell us?.
It might tell us quite a bit. But you're not heir to his fortune.
- Come on, outside. - Where are we going?.
Worth missing the salmon mousse for.
This is where your father's picture was taken. Where he was dancing.
We were standing there watching him.
I realised - Stephen helped me realise - and what I remembered for the first time
is what was really going on in the picture.
Who do you see in the trees?.
You mean someone else was in the photograph?.
Exactly. Somebody else was there. There was somebody else in the picture.
You can just about make out the arm in the trees.
My father was dancing for another person in the garden -
the only person that made him feel joyful.
Henrietta, Ernest's mother - the wife of my father's much older brother.
I always suspected from little bits I came across in the archive.
They were having a passionate affair.
It's terrific, isn't it?. My serious, hard-working, obsessive father,
and the only person who brought out the joy in him was here in the trees.
And I was watching as a boy. I saw everything.
I just didn't realise.
I wasn't dressed as the little prince because...?.
Yes. It was for her too. Don't you see?.
(FAINT CHILDREN'S VOICES)
We couldn't remember taking you to a party because we didn't. Your grandfather did.
He must have told us some lie - taking you to the pictures or something.
He took you there because he knew she would be there.
He must have hired the costume.
No doubt it was a sign of his continuing love for her, a message.
You were a visual gift.
Lovely, Daniel. Lovely.
Come on, off you go. Lots of food upstairs.
All of you upstairs except for Daniel.
You look lovely, Daniel. Like a little prince. We're going to take your picture.
(GRANDFATHER) Put your hand on the dagger. Keep absolutely still.
The study was Henrietta's study. They probably frequently met there.
- To make love. - To make passionate love.
You were a love token.
No, Daniel. We like you like that.
My shoes came off and I managed to get the ruff off.
He took me away without my shoes.
He wanted to leave and he couldn't be bothered to find them.
It's great. I love it.
The two pictures - our two pictures - they're for the same reason, Daniel.
My father's secret life.
Why does that make you so happy?.
My father was such a severe old stick. All my life, he set me such high standards.
To find he had such passion... He was adulterous.
He betrayed my mother. Makes it much more easy to cope with.
I can start jazzing him for a change.
Makes me feel quite strange really.
I was a go-between even when I was five.
Who have you been acting as a go-between for?.
Oh...just family business.
I wouldn't worry too much about being made to run errands -
we are the Hillingdon contingent after all.
Poppy's special lighting. It looks good, doesn't it?.
Esther, you made it!
Oh, you look fantastic.
- You shouldn't be here. - Neither of us was invited.
- I'm glad we're here. You look very well. - Wait till you hear this.
- Your mother's made a discovery too. - Right.
One of her relatives wrote most of the works of Mozart.
Don't exaggerate. Don't mock.
Come on or we'll miss the food.
They're your star pupils, Stephen. They feel they've discovered something meaningful.
I haven't seen my mum look so young for years.
Makes up a bit for my terrible mistake.
- On the family tree. - Leaving Richard off.
Yes. It's very upsetting. I've been thinking about why it happened.
I knew I had to check with Alice about how to put Richard on the tree -
just the bald dates or something else -
and somehow it led to me leaving him off altogether.
Awful thing to do to Richard.
Don't be afraid to guzzle. We've been given permission to guzzle.
You were wondering how you ended up with me.
I was wondering how Poppy had done the seating plan,
not knowing who was going to turn up.
- There is a strange wisdom to it. - That's just what I was thinking.
Peter next to my father.
Stephen near my mother.
- The siblings a long way from Alice. - And a long way from you.
The most glamorous relations aren't always the one you have the greatest affinity with.
I think you're right, Sidney.
My parents seem to have found out something about themselves.
But me?. I'm not sure how much nearer I am...
..about learning who I am.
You're like me. That's the whole point. That's why I'm here next to you.
Determined, full of hidden talents and you won't stay a suburban surveyor.
- You're a fortune-teller now?. - It doesn't take a genius to know that.
I'm also thinking about the family tree.
If family trees were...
Wouldn't it be great if instead of being arranged by birth lines,
they were arranged by who you shared the most in common with?.
- Who you were most like in the family. - That is exactly what I was thinking.
(GLASS TINKLES)
Everybody.... Your attention. Alice has just got something to say.
(APPLAUSE)
I just want to say...
I just um...
I just want to welcome you all, obviously.
And to say, first, we're here to celebrate Martina and Thomas's engagement.
(APPLAUSE)
I'm so, so happy you're all here... and even more of you than I'd expected.
There's going to be fantastic food - as you can already smell, I know -
and dancing too, of course.
I just want to say one other thing
because there's nothing so bad as big speeches before the food.
Maybe big speeches at any time.
Some of you will remember this house.
Some of you may have been here as children.
And also there are many of you here who attended the reunion,
and who have come face to face with memories.
We will all have our own private list, of course.
So I would like to propose that we drink to those who are no longer with us.
Those who couldn't be here.
I would like, above all, to mention my friend, Richard...
..who I loved as a child.
As my own child.
And who is not with us anymore.
To all of us and to a great night. Thank you.
(ALL) To all of us.
(APPLAUSE)
Photo!
All right, everybody. Look this way. Lovely.
The family.