Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) s02e07 Episode Script
Episode Seven
LAURA: 'When I was young, sunlight seemed to me a solid thing.
'The golden promise of warmth and happiness.
'But where there is sunlight there must also be shadows.
'A reminder that night must fall and the cold winter come.
'If not now Walk on! '.
.
then soon.
' Bunting.
From rooftop to rooftop and trestle tables lining the high street on which supper will be served.
And, after supper, the band.
And, after the band I cannot imagine what is left.
Fireworks.
The sky will be ablaze.
Perhaps with all that bunting Oh! What a quantity of gold edging.
I have invited several dignitaries.
The Mayor of Ingleston.
Well, perhaps he will not come.
Oh! Well, if he refuses then you must march on Ingleston at the head of the band and take him by force.
You are laughing at me, Miss Lane.
Teasing only.
In truth, I don't believe any clock anywhere will ever have a finer inauguration.
We await one final component.
When it arrives, I would be glad if it could be delivered to Mr Bloom urgently.
Of course.
And, Miss Lane, do not forget your own invitation.
(BELL TINGLING) Three new pairs of boots.
It truly is the most beautiful sight in the world.
Since Mr Dowland's carved panels is paying for treats all around .
.
I thought we deserved one too.
Robert! Oh, come on, Emmy! What's it for? So I can sit in the sun on a hot day and buy my girl a drink.
(GIGGLING) Is theresomethin' in the window that particularly takes your interest? No.
That is to say teacupswill always be useful to those planning a home together.
(INHALING) (BELL TINGLING) (LAUGHING) Minnie! Got a message for you to deliver to that daughter of mine, if she's not above such things.
Oh! And thought you might care for one yourself.
Thank you, sir! I'll give it to her directly they're back, sir! They? Who's they? Tell me a true thing.
I've five brothers and I love the youngest the best.
Now you.
I'm afraid of the dark.
The sea is the most wondrous thing I've ever seen.
But I lose me insides every time I ride on it.
(LAUGHING) You have a freckle on the back of your hand, and each time I see it, I feel like my heart's falling away from me.
Your turn! The clock wants only one more part and then it's finished.
Laura I heard you.
I don't want to know any more true things.
And I don't want to tell you lies.
There's so little time.
Shouldn't we make the most of what we have? (PANS CLATTERING) (QUEENIE SHOUTING) Alf gave it to us! He gave it to me! Rent! Queenie! You're looking at this all wrong.
Oh, yes? James pays Robert handsome for carvin' the panels of his clock.
So Robert gives Alf a little extra.
And Alf passes it on to us.
Everyone doin' their best to spread joy and good fortune around.
Don't you think you should be doin' the same? So you can pour it down your throat in a public house? A man deserves respect in his own home.
A bit of consideration.
Yes, he does.
And he's gonna get it! Oh, not you, you duffer.
Alf! I've got plans.
Laura's ma and pa were kissin', in the high street! They must be the happiest people I ever saw.
Theirs is certainly a special romance.
You must have heard their story.
Robert Timmins was only ever meant to be passing through Lark Rise, but the day he was due to leave, his hammer went missing so he stayed to look for it.
And before the day was out, he had proposed to Emma and before the year was out Laura had come to join them.
But the very day after he proposed, Queenie Turrill was picking blackberries, when she found the hammer right in the middle of the biggest bramble patch in Lark Rise.
How'd it get in a bramble patch? No-one knows, but there are those who believe that Emma knew he was teetering on the brink that he just needed a little more time in her company to know his own heart.
Some people are lucky enough to be blessed with more swift, morecertain powers of decision.
From your pa.
Miss Lane! My magazine.
Is it come? OhLaura, I've not had time to sort the second post.
Could you? Course.
The Dungeons Of Malevolo.
I've been in such agonies of anticipation.
It's part two, you see.
The orphaned daughter of the murdered countess just escaped from the convent! Laura? Oh! As she left, the gatekeeper called out a warning, but, having lost his tongue in the Inquisition, the poor man was unable to (GASPING) Is something wrong? The cloaked monk.
He's followed her.
He means to kill her, I'm sure! That may be his intention but I doubt it is the author's, as there are a further ten parts promised.
About the gown you ordered for the inauguration.
Would a fitting tomorrow at ten be convenient? Yes, I Miss Lane? Yes.
Ten will suit me very well.
(GASPING) He means to force her to the altar.
At the point of her own death by the sword! If the man had any consideration, he'd run her through, and put us all out of our misery.
Come along, Ruby.
(BELL TINGLING) Come on, you.
Hope you're gonna eat your tea.
Straight to bed for you.
I'll take our William back to Mr Paxton.
My tool bag.
What about it? I put it there, behind Frank.
It's gone.
QUEENIE: Come along, children, eat up or you'll be late for school.
Where's Twister? Why ain't he havin' breakfast? He's in disgrace.
Can't you stop them children and their thundering talk? You be as loud as you like, my chicks.
If a man spends the evening at a public house in Candleford, then a headache is no more'n he deserves.
If a man can't find respect and consideration under his own roof, he's no choice but to look elsewhere.
I dropped a shilling! Did it all go on beer? No! There was this chap from Oxford, selling stuff.
Thought it might come in useful.
Chances are it fell off the wagon along the way or got left in Candleford.
Just a matter of looking.
How can it have got left in Candleford if you put it in the wagon? I know what you're thinking, Emma, but the place was full of working men, and a working man's not gonna steal another's tools - the means by which he feeds his family.
(KNOCKING) I didn't know it was yours, I wouldn't have bought it if I'd known.
I never realised a machine could be beautiful.
And when I bring her to life and she starts eating time, will you still think her beautiful? Yes.
Because you made her.
I'm sorry about how I was yesterday.
You're right.
We don't have much time.
Maybe only today.
We should make the most of it.
Come on.
There was folk from all over, as far as Fordlow and beyond.
Everyone was buying 'em, soI did too.
He says everything went, right down to the masonry pins.
Sixpence I paid for that hammer.
Not that I'm asking for anything for it.
Sixpence.
Sixpence! Robert.
Do you know how much these tools were worth? A lifetime's work.
My life's work.
He was selling 'em cheap.
(DOOR OPENING) (SIGHING) Whoever did this, Emma, they knew.
They saw me on that cart with my children and they took And other men, men like Twister bought them, and they didn't ask where or how They didn't know they were yours.
They knew they were someone's! Robert Don't.
Look, there must be something we can do.
There is nothing! Don't you understand? I can't shape the stone with my bare hands, I can't score it with my nails.
There's nothing left! No work no apprenticeship Nothing.
Farmer'll be hiring today, same as he does every day.
But But what, Emma? Six of us to feed, and clothe and house.
The money from Dowland's panels is spent, every last penny.
You tell me, what else should I do? I don't know when I've experienced more pleasure looking at tableware.
The pattern.
The shape.
The handles.
Just precisely where one would wish a handleto be.
Yes.
The handles.
One could not desire them better placed.
Looking at such a cup, I find I have a strong .
.
almost overwhelming desire .
.
to hold it in my hands.
Touch it to my lips.
And yet .
.
perhaps sampling the china before its appointed time might lead one to be tempted towards the sampling of other .
.
joysequally premature.
Oh, Margaret! Oh, Thomas! Ooh, glory! The boards must take the weight of the clock once it is winched up, so let me know when the platform height is reached.
Ah, Miss Lane.
Has my clock part arrived yet? I'm afraid not.
I have come to talk with you on another, more private matter.
Please.
Mr Dowland, I would not want you to think I'm unappreciative of the honour you have shown me in asking me to cut the ribbon But you are going to refuse it? It is too public a moment.
The attention is too marked.
Are you saying that because you do not welcome the attention or because you do not wish it to be public? Miss Lane everything I have contributed to Candleford until now has been for profit.
This is for the pure pleasure of giving.
I wonder if you appreciate how important how very much I Mr Dowland, believe me I am looking forward to the inauguration with the greatest pleasure.
I've even ordered a new gown.
But I do think the Mayor of Ingleston would be a more fitting choice to cut the ribbon.
The Mayor of Ingleston is no doubt an estimable man, but I have no wish to spend the evening with him on my arm.
I did not realise the invitation extended so far.
Miss Lane I think you are being disingenuous.
I think you know perfectly well how far the invitation extends.
Edmund? Edmund, what? See the nest? It's in the bank.
They've got little ones in there.
Been taking turns feeding them.
The mother and father both? My ma says people could learn a lot from kingfishers.
(WINGS FLAPPING) That's him! Did you see him? I think the sky in heaven will be the colour of a kingfisher's tail.
Today I'm gonna show you every beautiful thing I know.
A perfect day.
My goodbye present to you.
Laura! Queenie! You've been shopping? Oh, Laura you haven't heard, have you? Heard what? I could perhaps find it in myself to forgive the tools, perhaps .
.
but they've taken his faith from him.
And his trust and his hope.
And that I can never forgive.
Thank you for bringing Edmund home.
Oh, I couldn't let him walk the distance barefoot.
Three shillings, for boots that cost ten not two days ago.
He would not let me redeem them.
No.
He has his father's pride.
Edmund? I can't let you.
Don't tell me we don't need it.
I know what it means, my father losing his tools.
I know what it means for him and I know what it means for us.
When you've more experience, they'll most likely let you join one of the field gangs.
Until then? Pickin' stones.
What does pickin' stones pay? A shilling a day.
Five shillings a week.
Five?! That's a quarter of what I'm used to.
Less! (HOOTER) Miss Lane.
I've been putting money aside.
It's only a little, but if you just give me permission to go home Laura, whatever you have will be a drop in the ocean.
You cannot maintain a family of six on your savings.
Besides, your father is a proud man.
What you would call a gift, he would see as charity.
And that is something he will never accept.
It's not money he needs, Laura, but the means to earn it.
Robert Timmins is a master craftsman.
Far more skilled than a town of this size has any right to expect.
There are many in Candleford who have cause to value his ability Mr Dowland? And others.
All of whom would I'm sure be only too happy to contribute.
Contribute to what? A tool fund.
To replace what was stolen.
It is no small task.
It will take hard work and time.
I know Mr Bloom is leaving soon, and that you must have had plans to spend this time with him.
No plans that can't be given up.
He is my pa.
Where's Twister? He thought you were Mr Timmins.
You can't hide for ever.
You didn't see the way he looked at me.
Come and give me a hand.
Take your mind off things.
I ain't got the heart.
What are you doing? Making a bedroom for your brother.
He ain't a boy-chap no more, he's a man.
And we must pay that some mind.
So come on, clear away.
You can give me a hand to sew these sheets together to make a bedroom wall.
How are you gonna hang 'em? I thought a few nails.
(LAUGHING) This old cottage won't take 'em.
Knock a nail in that, it'll come down like the walls of Jericho! What you want with a job like this is hooks in the beams.
Well, why don't you come and show us? (COUGHING) (BELL TINKLES) Ah, Miss Lane, we were about to close.
We were expecting you at Oh, please, I have to know what happened to her.
ToMiss Lane? To the girl.
With the count and the monk and her dead father's sword.
What happened to the girl? Watch and pray, so that ye may not fall into temptation.
The spirit is willing but the body is weak.
(LAUGHING AND CHATTERING) Ah, my clock part, I take it.
I'm sure it will be here tomorrow.
I have come on a matter of far greater urgency.
Greater urgency? Yes.
Miss Lane, perhaps you do not understand.
Until I receive the part, the clock cannot be finished.
The urgency, believe me, is great enough.
Mr Dowland, perhaps it is you who do not understand.
Robert Timmins' tools have been stolen and sold.
I am sorry to hear it.
Without them, he has neither the means to practise his trade nor support his family.
Indeed.
I am very sorry to hear it.
But I fail to see what this has to do with the clock.
Mr Dowland, the world does not begin and end with your clock.
I understand it is a great thing to you, but surely you can see how trivial it is compared with the matter in hand.
We are speaking of a man's pride and self-respect.
Are we? Are we indeed? I take it you intend to buy new tools for Mr Timmins.
Then it will be my great privilege to contribute.
Butas YOUR pride is so deeply founded on the service you and your post office offer this community, I suggest you look to yourself.
The part was ordered and the part has not been delivered to me, and I am not satisfied.
(BELL TINKLES) Ruby? I have the trimming for Mrs Gladbourne's Ruby? "Drawing his rapier, the silver blade flashing in the moonlight, "he threw aside the curtain "behind which the evil monk" Ruby? (BOTH SHRIEK) Oh, please don't scold! I begged her so.
Minnie was concerned for her heroine.
Mercifully, it transpired that one of the flagstones was loose and when the monk trod upon it, he was pitched into the very dungeon in which he murdered her father.
At which point, of course, the young chevalier returned.
It's even more romantical than Mr and Mrs Timmins.
You must have heard the story about Mrs Timmins? And the hammer in the bramble patch? A day's wages.
You must be hungry.
Sit down and eat.
Have you been baking? There's plenty of flour yet.
Not the last time I looked.
Ethel and Frank have had a slice.
Where did you get it then? I told you, I Please, don't.
All right, but what a fuss over nothing.
I borrowed a bit off Queenie, is all.
Lord knows I lent it often enough! Robert (DOOR SLAMS) Is everybody ready? One, two, three Up she goes! Whoo-oo! (CHEERING) There's a hole.
Wellit ain't a hole, it's a window, so Alf can see what's for breakfast before he decides whether to get up.
(LAUGHTER) I thank you for your goodwill, Queenie.
I'm not wishing to cause offence, but we don't need help or charity.
So there'll be no more lending of flour or anything else to my wife.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I never lent no flour to Emma.
Up you go.
Go on, go up.
No.
Edmund, I said go.
No.
Where did you get this flour, Emma? I know you didn't get it from Queenie, so Robert, don't I don't need boots around the house.
And Edmund has to walk to school.
Robert Robert, please.
What would you have me do? Sit back and let them go hungry? You lied to me! Because I knew how you'd be.
What do you expect? Christ above, woman, I may not have my tools, I may not have my trade, but I've still got my pride! Your pride.
You're going to tell ME about your pride? Dear God in heaven, Robert, there is nothing about your pride that I don't know.
It's like an extra child in our house.
Always in need of my care, my protection.
How dare you?! How dare YOU put me in this position?! Asking me to choose between your pride and my children! Well, I did.
I chose.
I chose them.
And don't you make me pay for it now.
Don't you dare make me pay when you would have done the same.
You know you would have done the same.
Your feet Your poor feet.
(SHE SOBS) I don't have the experience to earn more than five shillings a week on the land.
It's not enough.
There's building work in Oxford.
No It's not skilled, but it pays better than the fields.
I could be sending money back, maybe even putting a bit by.
In time, buy some new tools.
Oh, please, Robert I'm looking after you all.
Providing.
That is my purpose, Emma, that's what I'm for.
But we need you here.
I need you here.
Emma, if I stay here, like this, it is going to kill me.
(BELL TINKLES) Well, the shopkeepers of Candleford have been very generous.
Very generous indeed.
I have looked, as you asked, Miss Lane.
Mr Downing's clock part is not in the morning delivery.
I expect it's plain lost.
Are the breakfast things cleared away? They surely will be, ma'am.
I only came cos when the door went I thought it might be Fisher.
I like looking at him and Laura together.
And Thomas and Miss Ellison.
And you and Minnie, out of my sight! It's my belief, ma'am, that the shame of a man being robbed among us awakens in all of us a memory of our own original sin.
And prompts in us a desire to atone.
Or perhaps, Thomas, Robert Timmins is simply a man who inspires affection and respect.
He made my father's headstone.
It is a thing of beauty and a comfort to me still.
These things matter to people.
(BELL TINKLES) Mama.
I came to ask if Laura might come home this evening.
Robert is leaving in the morning to find work.
He's going to Oxford.
Perhaps not.
Voila les petits drapeaux.
The bunting.
We have tested it.
On our washing line.
It flutters most pleasingly.
We have used only fabrics which drape.
Excellent.
Very good.
Is there a problem, Mr JD? Not at all.
It will, as you say, flutter, I'm sure.
Only you seem tres occupe.
A clock part, the last clock part, appears to be delayed.
Excuse me, I must call in at the post office.
Am I right in thinking that Miss Lane's post girl is keeping company with your journeyman clockmaker? And when the clock is finished, he will move on? Yes? And? Like mother, like daughter.
The part is not delayed, Mr Dowland.
It is sabotaged.
(MOUTHS) Surely you've heard the story of Emma Timmins and the hammer in the bramble patch? Eight, nine, ten But that's three months' wages.
Is it enough to replace the tools? It's more than enough to make a start.
Folk have been so generous, Ma, you wouldn't believe it.
That's because they believe in a man's right to provide for his family.
Perhaps that will go some way to restoring his faith? As well as his tools? Dorcas thank you.
Well now, you should take this and go shopping.
Laura, would you like to help your mother? Perhaps if there were something very small, you might let Mr Timmins know it was from Minnie, particularly from Minnie, to say thank you for the toffee apple.
Oh.
(BELL TINKLES) Miss Lane, I wish to speak with youin private.
Mr Dowland, are you seriously suggesting that on the basis of a piece of idle, vicious gossip, I should search the premises and personal effects of my staff? I'm not suggesting, I'm demanding.
The date of the inauguration is set.
Everything is set.
I'm well aware of your plans, sir.
Then you will see to it that no action on the part of one of your staff is allowed to sabotage them.
Mr Dowland, do not presume to tell me how to run my post office.
Miss Lane I only wish I didn't have to.
Dorcas Lane bought these? Not DorcasCandleford.
I don't understand.
All those people you've worked for over the years, they wanted to help.
Are you saying Dorcas Lane made it her business to go and ask them? Robert, no, it wasn't What did she do - go around with a collecting box? Dear God! Robert And you you who have nothing to learn about my pride, you thought I would welcome this? You thought I would thank her for turning me and my family into a public charity? Where are you going? Where do you think I'm going? Earlier today, I I believe it possible that someone in this room may have acted in a manner unbefitting of a post office employee.
If there is anything anyone wishes to tell me .
.
I shall be in my private parlour.
That is all.
Come in.
Thomas? Laura? Fisher, I have to talk to you.
All right, but not here.
It's my room, Laura you'd be ruined.
I'm ruined already.
I should have confessed all when the incident occurred.
I hope you'll believe that my failure to do so was born out of my desire to protect the character of a young lady for whom I have a great a very great regard.
You wish to protect Laura? Laura? I never I wouldn't dream No, 'twas Miss Ellisonma'am.
Thomas, I'm afraid we are at cross-purposes.
To what exactly are you confessing? An embrace, ma'am.
In Her Majesty's post office .
.
whilst in uniform.
Thomas .
.
if you feel that you have dishonoured your uniform by kissing Miss Ellison, I suggest that next time you intend to kiss her, you take it off.
(SIGHS) (KNOCK AT DOOR) Yes, what is it now? Minnie? Minnie? I just wanted a little more time with you.
One more day.
And then my pa's tools were stolen and our day along with them.
I knew there was no getting it back.
So I went back to restore the parcel It was gone.
I've searched for it everywhere and it's just not there.
I think that Miss Lane knows.
I don't know what to do.
All that for one more day with me? I thought that, if we had one more day .
.
I could make you love me.
But I do! I do love you.
How could I not? And then I pulled back the flagstone, ma'am, and there it was.
My suspicions is the flagstone being loose, somehow the parcel must have fallen beneath.
Minnie Yes, ma'am? Are you being honest with me? No, ma'am.
Well .
.
how did you find this package? I loved the story you told about Mrs Timmins and the hammer in the brambles.
And I love the look on Laura's face when she sees Fisher.
And I just sort of put 'em together, ma'am.
I have to go.
What are you gonna do? I don't know.
Tell Miss Lane.
I'm not scared of anything now.
I'll tell you a true thing.
I can't remember what my life was before you.
I can't remember what any of it meant.
Maybe we were just waiting.
Maybe we both were.
You seem very friendly with my daughter, Mr Bloom.
Perhaps it's time you and I got to know each other.
BUTLER: Miss Lane, sir.
Your clock part, Mr Dowland.
And I offer you my apologies.
We were at fault, but not in the way you imagined.
Then I accept your apology.
Will you also accept my request that you never set foot into my post office again? You came to me, into my home, making threats and demands.
You consistently failed to treat this matter with the urgency it warranted! I have treated this matter with every seriousness.
No, madam, you have not! On the contrary.
You have been at great pains to point out to me that the world does not begin and end with my clock.
That while it may be a great thing to me, it is of little moment to others.
"Trivial" was the word, I think, you used.
Is that the real cause of all this? That I piqued your pride? That I had the audacity to suggest that a poor man's self-respect mattered more than your public display of wealth and influence? What would you know of a poor man's self-respect? You, whose father tossed silver thrupenny bits to ragged boys in the street.
And who bequeathed to his daughter a life of privilege and entitlement.
How could you ever understand? Yes, the clock matters to me.
The display of wealth and influence, the fact that I, who had nothing but what was thrown to me in the street, am now a public benefactor.
But none of it God help me, none of it matters so much as YOU seeing it.
And knowing what it meant.
Mr Dowland, I When I am in your presence, it is all too easy .
.
to think myself still the ragged boy.
I had not realised that you too are so shaped by your past, that you are, and always will be, the indulged child of a prosperous father.
And that, Dorcas, that makes you blind.
Minnie, where is Miss Lane? She has taken the clock part to Mr Dowland.
It's all right I told her it was me.
I saw you hide it, so I hid it some more, so Fisher would stay, like your pa.
Oh, Minnie! He IS going to stay.
He loves me and he's going to stay.
Laura I was looking for your pa.
Oh, Mrs Timmins, Laura's got such news! You say you love her? I've been the old man since I was 15, Mr Timmins.
I know I do.
And what does that mean, exactly, that you love her? It means I don't wanna leave her.
It's not just the girl you have to want, Fisher Bloom, it's the life you'd have with her.
The home.
The children.
It's all too easy to make someone else pay when all the art and the beauty is gone from your craft and it's just about putting food on the table.
That can make a man more cruel than he thought he had it in him to be.
Not wanting to leave.
It's not the same as wanting to stay.
If there's any doubt in your mind .
.
go.
Break her heart now.
No.
Tell her that and stay.
Break her spirit over years.
Or leave anyway, a few years, a clutch of children down the line.
With kisses like that, believe me, children will come sooner than you think.
They say you're a truth-teller.
So tell me now truthfully Imagine you live here, with my daughter.
You have Laura, but the rest? The road, the life that goes with it.
The working at your craft.
The freedom has gone.
How does that make you feel? I said, "How does that make you feel?" Trapped.
(LAURA SOBS) Laura Ah, Mr Bloom! The final clock part.
I'm sorry.
(SIGHING) (SOBBING) You are so much more to us than you know.
Providing, bread-winning, that's not what you're for, Robert.
That's just what you do.
THAT is why we need you here.
That's why you can't leave us.
I couldn't have done it.
I don't have the strength.
The job's only half done, Emma.
The boy can't go until he finishes what he came here to do.
How can he finish when he can't bear the thought of leaving any more than he can live with the prospect of staying? Maybe he needs some help? (TOOLS CLATTERING) I was coming here to throw these back at Dorcas Lane.
I know.
There are good tools in 'em.
You chose well.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) (SIGHING) Fisher's leaving.
Oh Laura.
I'm going to her now, but .
.
I don't know how it feels, Dorcas.
Robert stayed.
Imagine if he hadn't.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) You know, the funny thing about clocks .
.
is the moment before you bring them to life.
It's like time standing still.
Like you can hold everything where it is just a little longer.
This moment isn't gonna get any easier for waiting on it.
You ready? (TAPPING) Gently! Gently! There, me lad! Up! Looks splendid.
Yes.
MAN: Heave! That's it! Higher! (STEADY TICKING) (BELL CHIMING) (BAND PLAYING JAUNTY TUNE) (CHILDREN SHOUTING EXCITEDLY) Laura.
There is someone here to see you.
He didn't have to go.
He didn't have to stay.
It's the same boat for both of you, Laura.
Would you have given up this, your job, the life you're making for yourself, Lark Rise, for him? And if you had, wouldn't you be craving for it? Yearning for it when it went away? He loves his life, Laura.
The same way you love yours.
That feeling you get when you stand on the Rise, and look over fields of gold, that's what he feels about the road he's on.
Whatever he feels for you.
I hid the last clock part, Pa.
Minnie told Miss Lane that it was her, but I did it first.
I thought it would work for me like it did for Ma, dropping your hammer in the brambles.
A little more time for him to know his own heart.
Oh, Laura It weren't your ma who dropped that damn hammer in the brambles.
It was me.
I knew my own heart well enough.
I just needed more time.
Work up the courage to tell her.
Everyone thinks it was her.
Because she lets them.
Protecting my pride.
It's her life's work, apparently.
It's like an extra child - always needing her attention.
Pa, she never said that.
She'll tell you she was provoked.
(SNIFFLES) I've been standing close to him for so long.
Now that he's gone, it feels like something's been torn away.
It hurts so much.
(SOBBING) (CLOCK CHIMES) (BRASS BAND STRIKES UP) Mr Dowland What you said to me earlier I had no right to speak to you as I did.
You were right.
I have been blind.
But to myself, if anything else.
You are a man used to risk.
I, on the other hand, have always chosen comfort and security.
My privilege has enabled that.
I see now that what begins as caution .
.
may become cowardice, without one realising.
If you are about to claim cowardice as your one weakness, I must tell you, I've always found you rather alarmingly prepared to do battle.
Perhaps that's just with me.
Perhaps it is because in crossing swords with you, I have never really risked losing what matters.
Or revealing what that might be.
Even to myself.
And what is it that "matters" to you, Miss Lane? Laura is in her room at the moment, sobbing for what she has lost.
It makes me see that there are things .
.
I would also find it very hard to lose .
.
your friendship.
Your good opinion, your company You.
(FIREWORKS EXPLODING) (EXCITED GASPS) (APPLAUSE) LAURA: 'When I was young, ' I knew that sunlight and shadow were part of a natural rhythm, 'the heartbeat of the world.
'But experience taught me that life can also be filled with light, 'because another person makes it so.
'And that the darkness that follows when they have gone 'is the deepest and the hardest of all.
' Ma'am, I have just seen a very la-di-da carriage come from the hotel.
Oh, I wonder who it contained.
Celestia! What an When did you arrive? Pleased to see me? Of course.
Laura, come and give your old grandpa a hug.
But you have hopes of marriage? Oh, it's not for me to Then I must tell you a little about James Dowland.
When he and I first met, we came to an agreeable arrangement.
Marry me.
'The golden promise of warmth and happiness.
'But where there is sunlight there must also be shadows.
'A reminder that night must fall and the cold winter come.
'If not now Walk on! '.
.
then soon.
' Bunting.
From rooftop to rooftop and trestle tables lining the high street on which supper will be served.
And, after supper, the band.
And, after the band I cannot imagine what is left.
Fireworks.
The sky will be ablaze.
Perhaps with all that bunting Oh! What a quantity of gold edging.
I have invited several dignitaries.
The Mayor of Ingleston.
Well, perhaps he will not come.
Oh! Well, if he refuses then you must march on Ingleston at the head of the band and take him by force.
You are laughing at me, Miss Lane.
Teasing only.
In truth, I don't believe any clock anywhere will ever have a finer inauguration.
We await one final component.
When it arrives, I would be glad if it could be delivered to Mr Bloom urgently.
Of course.
And, Miss Lane, do not forget your own invitation.
(BELL TINGLING) Three new pairs of boots.
It truly is the most beautiful sight in the world.
Since Mr Dowland's carved panels is paying for treats all around .
.
I thought we deserved one too.
Robert! Oh, come on, Emmy! What's it for? So I can sit in the sun on a hot day and buy my girl a drink.
(GIGGLING) Is theresomethin' in the window that particularly takes your interest? No.
That is to say teacupswill always be useful to those planning a home together.
(INHALING) (BELL TINGLING) (LAUGHING) Minnie! Got a message for you to deliver to that daughter of mine, if she's not above such things.
Oh! And thought you might care for one yourself.
Thank you, sir! I'll give it to her directly they're back, sir! They? Who's they? Tell me a true thing.
I've five brothers and I love the youngest the best.
Now you.
I'm afraid of the dark.
The sea is the most wondrous thing I've ever seen.
But I lose me insides every time I ride on it.
(LAUGHING) You have a freckle on the back of your hand, and each time I see it, I feel like my heart's falling away from me.
Your turn! The clock wants only one more part and then it's finished.
Laura I heard you.
I don't want to know any more true things.
And I don't want to tell you lies.
There's so little time.
Shouldn't we make the most of what we have? (PANS CLATTERING) (QUEENIE SHOUTING) Alf gave it to us! He gave it to me! Rent! Queenie! You're looking at this all wrong.
Oh, yes? James pays Robert handsome for carvin' the panels of his clock.
So Robert gives Alf a little extra.
And Alf passes it on to us.
Everyone doin' their best to spread joy and good fortune around.
Don't you think you should be doin' the same? So you can pour it down your throat in a public house? A man deserves respect in his own home.
A bit of consideration.
Yes, he does.
And he's gonna get it! Oh, not you, you duffer.
Alf! I've got plans.
Laura's ma and pa were kissin', in the high street! They must be the happiest people I ever saw.
Theirs is certainly a special romance.
You must have heard their story.
Robert Timmins was only ever meant to be passing through Lark Rise, but the day he was due to leave, his hammer went missing so he stayed to look for it.
And before the day was out, he had proposed to Emma and before the year was out Laura had come to join them.
But the very day after he proposed, Queenie Turrill was picking blackberries, when she found the hammer right in the middle of the biggest bramble patch in Lark Rise.
How'd it get in a bramble patch? No-one knows, but there are those who believe that Emma knew he was teetering on the brink that he just needed a little more time in her company to know his own heart.
Some people are lucky enough to be blessed with more swift, morecertain powers of decision.
From your pa.
Miss Lane! My magazine.
Is it come? OhLaura, I've not had time to sort the second post.
Could you? Course.
The Dungeons Of Malevolo.
I've been in such agonies of anticipation.
It's part two, you see.
The orphaned daughter of the murdered countess just escaped from the convent! Laura? Oh! As she left, the gatekeeper called out a warning, but, having lost his tongue in the Inquisition, the poor man was unable to (GASPING) Is something wrong? The cloaked monk.
He's followed her.
He means to kill her, I'm sure! That may be his intention but I doubt it is the author's, as there are a further ten parts promised.
About the gown you ordered for the inauguration.
Would a fitting tomorrow at ten be convenient? Yes, I Miss Lane? Yes.
Ten will suit me very well.
(GASPING) He means to force her to the altar.
At the point of her own death by the sword! If the man had any consideration, he'd run her through, and put us all out of our misery.
Come along, Ruby.
(BELL TINGLING) Come on, you.
Hope you're gonna eat your tea.
Straight to bed for you.
I'll take our William back to Mr Paxton.
My tool bag.
What about it? I put it there, behind Frank.
It's gone.
QUEENIE: Come along, children, eat up or you'll be late for school.
Where's Twister? Why ain't he havin' breakfast? He's in disgrace.
Can't you stop them children and their thundering talk? You be as loud as you like, my chicks.
If a man spends the evening at a public house in Candleford, then a headache is no more'n he deserves.
If a man can't find respect and consideration under his own roof, he's no choice but to look elsewhere.
I dropped a shilling! Did it all go on beer? No! There was this chap from Oxford, selling stuff.
Thought it might come in useful.
Chances are it fell off the wagon along the way or got left in Candleford.
Just a matter of looking.
How can it have got left in Candleford if you put it in the wagon? I know what you're thinking, Emma, but the place was full of working men, and a working man's not gonna steal another's tools - the means by which he feeds his family.
(KNOCKING) I didn't know it was yours, I wouldn't have bought it if I'd known.
I never realised a machine could be beautiful.
And when I bring her to life and she starts eating time, will you still think her beautiful? Yes.
Because you made her.
I'm sorry about how I was yesterday.
You're right.
We don't have much time.
Maybe only today.
We should make the most of it.
Come on.
There was folk from all over, as far as Fordlow and beyond.
Everyone was buying 'em, soI did too.
He says everything went, right down to the masonry pins.
Sixpence I paid for that hammer.
Not that I'm asking for anything for it.
Sixpence.
Sixpence! Robert.
Do you know how much these tools were worth? A lifetime's work.
My life's work.
He was selling 'em cheap.
(DOOR OPENING) (SIGHING) Whoever did this, Emma, they knew.
They saw me on that cart with my children and they took And other men, men like Twister bought them, and they didn't ask where or how They didn't know they were yours.
They knew they were someone's! Robert Don't.
Look, there must be something we can do.
There is nothing! Don't you understand? I can't shape the stone with my bare hands, I can't score it with my nails.
There's nothing left! No work no apprenticeship Nothing.
Farmer'll be hiring today, same as he does every day.
But But what, Emma? Six of us to feed, and clothe and house.
The money from Dowland's panels is spent, every last penny.
You tell me, what else should I do? I don't know when I've experienced more pleasure looking at tableware.
The pattern.
The shape.
The handles.
Just precisely where one would wish a handleto be.
Yes.
The handles.
One could not desire them better placed.
Looking at such a cup, I find I have a strong .
.
almost overwhelming desire .
.
to hold it in my hands.
Touch it to my lips.
And yet .
.
perhaps sampling the china before its appointed time might lead one to be tempted towards the sampling of other .
.
joysequally premature.
Oh, Margaret! Oh, Thomas! Ooh, glory! The boards must take the weight of the clock once it is winched up, so let me know when the platform height is reached.
Ah, Miss Lane.
Has my clock part arrived yet? I'm afraid not.
I have come to talk with you on another, more private matter.
Please.
Mr Dowland, I would not want you to think I'm unappreciative of the honour you have shown me in asking me to cut the ribbon But you are going to refuse it? It is too public a moment.
The attention is too marked.
Are you saying that because you do not welcome the attention or because you do not wish it to be public? Miss Lane everything I have contributed to Candleford until now has been for profit.
This is for the pure pleasure of giving.
I wonder if you appreciate how important how very much I Mr Dowland, believe me I am looking forward to the inauguration with the greatest pleasure.
I've even ordered a new gown.
But I do think the Mayor of Ingleston would be a more fitting choice to cut the ribbon.
The Mayor of Ingleston is no doubt an estimable man, but I have no wish to spend the evening with him on my arm.
I did not realise the invitation extended so far.
Miss Lane I think you are being disingenuous.
I think you know perfectly well how far the invitation extends.
Edmund? Edmund, what? See the nest? It's in the bank.
They've got little ones in there.
Been taking turns feeding them.
The mother and father both? My ma says people could learn a lot from kingfishers.
(WINGS FLAPPING) That's him! Did you see him? I think the sky in heaven will be the colour of a kingfisher's tail.
Today I'm gonna show you every beautiful thing I know.
A perfect day.
My goodbye present to you.
Laura! Queenie! You've been shopping? Oh, Laura you haven't heard, have you? Heard what? I could perhaps find it in myself to forgive the tools, perhaps .
.
but they've taken his faith from him.
And his trust and his hope.
And that I can never forgive.
Thank you for bringing Edmund home.
Oh, I couldn't let him walk the distance barefoot.
Three shillings, for boots that cost ten not two days ago.
He would not let me redeem them.
No.
He has his father's pride.
Edmund? I can't let you.
Don't tell me we don't need it.
I know what it means, my father losing his tools.
I know what it means for him and I know what it means for us.
When you've more experience, they'll most likely let you join one of the field gangs.
Until then? Pickin' stones.
What does pickin' stones pay? A shilling a day.
Five shillings a week.
Five?! That's a quarter of what I'm used to.
Less! (HOOTER) Miss Lane.
I've been putting money aside.
It's only a little, but if you just give me permission to go home Laura, whatever you have will be a drop in the ocean.
You cannot maintain a family of six on your savings.
Besides, your father is a proud man.
What you would call a gift, he would see as charity.
And that is something he will never accept.
It's not money he needs, Laura, but the means to earn it.
Robert Timmins is a master craftsman.
Far more skilled than a town of this size has any right to expect.
There are many in Candleford who have cause to value his ability Mr Dowland? And others.
All of whom would I'm sure be only too happy to contribute.
Contribute to what? A tool fund.
To replace what was stolen.
It is no small task.
It will take hard work and time.
I know Mr Bloom is leaving soon, and that you must have had plans to spend this time with him.
No plans that can't be given up.
He is my pa.
Where's Twister? He thought you were Mr Timmins.
You can't hide for ever.
You didn't see the way he looked at me.
Come and give me a hand.
Take your mind off things.
I ain't got the heart.
What are you doing? Making a bedroom for your brother.
He ain't a boy-chap no more, he's a man.
And we must pay that some mind.
So come on, clear away.
You can give me a hand to sew these sheets together to make a bedroom wall.
How are you gonna hang 'em? I thought a few nails.
(LAUGHING) This old cottage won't take 'em.
Knock a nail in that, it'll come down like the walls of Jericho! What you want with a job like this is hooks in the beams.
Well, why don't you come and show us? (COUGHING) (BELL TINKLES) Ah, Miss Lane, we were about to close.
We were expecting you at Oh, please, I have to know what happened to her.
ToMiss Lane? To the girl.
With the count and the monk and her dead father's sword.
What happened to the girl? Watch and pray, so that ye may not fall into temptation.
The spirit is willing but the body is weak.
(LAUGHING AND CHATTERING) Ah, my clock part, I take it.
I'm sure it will be here tomorrow.
I have come on a matter of far greater urgency.
Greater urgency? Yes.
Miss Lane, perhaps you do not understand.
Until I receive the part, the clock cannot be finished.
The urgency, believe me, is great enough.
Mr Dowland, perhaps it is you who do not understand.
Robert Timmins' tools have been stolen and sold.
I am sorry to hear it.
Without them, he has neither the means to practise his trade nor support his family.
Indeed.
I am very sorry to hear it.
But I fail to see what this has to do with the clock.
Mr Dowland, the world does not begin and end with your clock.
I understand it is a great thing to you, but surely you can see how trivial it is compared with the matter in hand.
We are speaking of a man's pride and self-respect.
Are we? Are we indeed? I take it you intend to buy new tools for Mr Timmins.
Then it will be my great privilege to contribute.
Butas YOUR pride is so deeply founded on the service you and your post office offer this community, I suggest you look to yourself.
The part was ordered and the part has not been delivered to me, and I am not satisfied.
(BELL TINKLES) Ruby? I have the trimming for Mrs Gladbourne's Ruby? "Drawing his rapier, the silver blade flashing in the moonlight, "he threw aside the curtain "behind which the evil monk" Ruby? (BOTH SHRIEK) Oh, please don't scold! I begged her so.
Minnie was concerned for her heroine.
Mercifully, it transpired that one of the flagstones was loose and when the monk trod upon it, he was pitched into the very dungeon in which he murdered her father.
At which point, of course, the young chevalier returned.
It's even more romantical than Mr and Mrs Timmins.
You must have heard the story about Mrs Timmins? And the hammer in the bramble patch? A day's wages.
You must be hungry.
Sit down and eat.
Have you been baking? There's plenty of flour yet.
Not the last time I looked.
Ethel and Frank have had a slice.
Where did you get it then? I told you, I Please, don't.
All right, but what a fuss over nothing.
I borrowed a bit off Queenie, is all.
Lord knows I lent it often enough! Robert (DOOR SLAMS) Is everybody ready? One, two, three Up she goes! Whoo-oo! (CHEERING) There's a hole.
Wellit ain't a hole, it's a window, so Alf can see what's for breakfast before he decides whether to get up.
(LAUGHTER) I thank you for your goodwill, Queenie.
I'm not wishing to cause offence, but we don't need help or charity.
So there'll be no more lending of flour or anything else to my wife.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I never lent no flour to Emma.
Up you go.
Go on, go up.
No.
Edmund, I said go.
No.
Where did you get this flour, Emma? I know you didn't get it from Queenie, so Robert, don't I don't need boots around the house.
And Edmund has to walk to school.
Robert Robert, please.
What would you have me do? Sit back and let them go hungry? You lied to me! Because I knew how you'd be.
What do you expect? Christ above, woman, I may not have my tools, I may not have my trade, but I've still got my pride! Your pride.
You're going to tell ME about your pride? Dear God in heaven, Robert, there is nothing about your pride that I don't know.
It's like an extra child in our house.
Always in need of my care, my protection.
How dare you?! How dare YOU put me in this position?! Asking me to choose between your pride and my children! Well, I did.
I chose.
I chose them.
And don't you make me pay for it now.
Don't you dare make me pay when you would have done the same.
You know you would have done the same.
Your feet Your poor feet.
(SHE SOBS) I don't have the experience to earn more than five shillings a week on the land.
It's not enough.
There's building work in Oxford.
No It's not skilled, but it pays better than the fields.
I could be sending money back, maybe even putting a bit by.
In time, buy some new tools.
Oh, please, Robert I'm looking after you all.
Providing.
That is my purpose, Emma, that's what I'm for.
But we need you here.
I need you here.
Emma, if I stay here, like this, it is going to kill me.
(BELL TINKLES) Well, the shopkeepers of Candleford have been very generous.
Very generous indeed.
I have looked, as you asked, Miss Lane.
Mr Downing's clock part is not in the morning delivery.
I expect it's plain lost.
Are the breakfast things cleared away? They surely will be, ma'am.
I only came cos when the door went I thought it might be Fisher.
I like looking at him and Laura together.
And Thomas and Miss Ellison.
And you and Minnie, out of my sight! It's my belief, ma'am, that the shame of a man being robbed among us awakens in all of us a memory of our own original sin.
And prompts in us a desire to atone.
Or perhaps, Thomas, Robert Timmins is simply a man who inspires affection and respect.
He made my father's headstone.
It is a thing of beauty and a comfort to me still.
These things matter to people.
(BELL TINKLES) Mama.
I came to ask if Laura might come home this evening.
Robert is leaving in the morning to find work.
He's going to Oxford.
Perhaps not.
Voila les petits drapeaux.
The bunting.
We have tested it.
On our washing line.
It flutters most pleasingly.
We have used only fabrics which drape.
Excellent.
Very good.
Is there a problem, Mr JD? Not at all.
It will, as you say, flutter, I'm sure.
Only you seem tres occupe.
A clock part, the last clock part, appears to be delayed.
Excuse me, I must call in at the post office.
Am I right in thinking that Miss Lane's post girl is keeping company with your journeyman clockmaker? And when the clock is finished, he will move on? Yes? And? Like mother, like daughter.
The part is not delayed, Mr Dowland.
It is sabotaged.
(MOUTHS) Surely you've heard the story of Emma Timmins and the hammer in the bramble patch? Eight, nine, ten But that's three months' wages.
Is it enough to replace the tools? It's more than enough to make a start.
Folk have been so generous, Ma, you wouldn't believe it.
That's because they believe in a man's right to provide for his family.
Perhaps that will go some way to restoring his faith? As well as his tools? Dorcas thank you.
Well now, you should take this and go shopping.
Laura, would you like to help your mother? Perhaps if there were something very small, you might let Mr Timmins know it was from Minnie, particularly from Minnie, to say thank you for the toffee apple.
Oh.
(BELL TINKLES) Miss Lane, I wish to speak with youin private.
Mr Dowland, are you seriously suggesting that on the basis of a piece of idle, vicious gossip, I should search the premises and personal effects of my staff? I'm not suggesting, I'm demanding.
The date of the inauguration is set.
Everything is set.
I'm well aware of your plans, sir.
Then you will see to it that no action on the part of one of your staff is allowed to sabotage them.
Mr Dowland, do not presume to tell me how to run my post office.
Miss Lane I only wish I didn't have to.
Dorcas Lane bought these? Not DorcasCandleford.
I don't understand.
All those people you've worked for over the years, they wanted to help.
Are you saying Dorcas Lane made it her business to go and ask them? Robert, no, it wasn't What did she do - go around with a collecting box? Dear God! Robert And you you who have nothing to learn about my pride, you thought I would welcome this? You thought I would thank her for turning me and my family into a public charity? Where are you going? Where do you think I'm going? Earlier today, I I believe it possible that someone in this room may have acted in a manner unbefitting of a post office employee.
If there is anything anyone wishes to tell me .
.
I shall be in my private parlour.
That is all.
Come in.
Thomas? Laura? Fisher, I have to talk to you.
All right, but not here.
It's my room, Laura you'd be ruined.
I'm ruined already.
I should have confessed all when the incident occurred.
I hope you'll believe that my failure to do so was born out of my desire to protect the character of a young lady for whom I have a great a very great regard.
You wish to protect Laura? Laura? I never I wouldn't dream No, 'twas Miss Ellisonma'am.
Thomas, I'm afraid we are at cross-purposes.
To what exactly are you confessing? An embrace, ma'am.
In Her Majesty's post office .
.
whilst in uniform.
Thomas .
.
if you feel that you have dishonoured your uniform by kissing Miss Ellison, I suggest that next time you intend to kiss her, you take it off.
(SIGHS) (KNOCK AT DOOR) Yes, what is it now? Minnie? Minnie? I just wanted a little more time with you.
One more day.
And then my pa's tools were stolen and our day along with them.
I knew there was no getting it back.
So I went back to restore the parcel It was gone.
I've searched for it everywhere and it's just not there.
I think that Miss Lane knows.
I don't know what to do.
All that for one more day with me? I thought that, if we had one more day .
.
I could make you love me.
But I do! I do love you.
How could I not? And then I pulled back the flagstone, ma'am, and there it was.
My suspicions is the flagstone being loose, somehow the parcel must have fallen beneath.
Minnie Yes, ma'am? Are you being honest with me? No, ma'am.
Well .
.
how did you find this package? I loved the story you told about Mrs Timmins and the hammer in the brambles.
And I love the look on Laura's face when she sees Fisher.
And I just sort of put 'em together, ma'am.
I have to go.
What are you gonna do? I don't know.
Tell Miss Lane.
I'm not scared of anything now.
I'll tell you a true thing.
I can't remember what my life was before you.
I can't remember what any of it meant.
Maybe we were just waiting.
Maybe we both were.
You seem very friendly with my daughter, Mr Bloom.
Perhaps it's time you and I got to know each other.
BUTLER: Miss Lane, sir.
Your clock part, Mr Dowland.
And I offer you my apologies.
We were at fault, but not in the way you imagined.
Then I accept your apology.
Will you also accept my request that you never set foot into my post office again? You came to me, into my home, making threats and demands.
You consistently failed to treat this matter with the urgency it warranted! I have treated this matter with every seriousness.
No, madam, you have not! On the contrary.
You have been at great pains to point out to me that the world does not begin and end with my clock.
That while it may be a great thing to me, it is of little moment to others.
"Trivial" was the word, I think, you used.
Is that the real cause of all this? That I piqued your pride? That I had the audacity to suggest that a poor man's self-respect mattered more than your public display of wealth and influence? What would you know of a poor man's self-respect? You, whose father tossed silver thrupenny bits to ragged boys in the street.
And who bequeathed to his daughter a life of privilege and entitlement.
How could you ever understand? Yes, the clock matters to me.
The display of wealth and influence, the fact that I, who had nothing but what was thrown to me in the street, am now a public benefactor.
But none of it God help me, none of it matters so much as YOU seeing it.
And knowing what it meant.
Mr Dowland, I When I am in your presence, it is all too easy .
.
to think myself still the ragged boy.
I had not realised that you too are so shaped by your past, that you are, and always will be, the indulged child of a prosperous father.
And that, Dorcas, that makes you blind.
Minnie, where is Miss Lane? She has taken the clock part to Mr Dowland.
It's all right I told her it was me.
I saw you hide it, so I hid it some more, so Fisher would stay, like your pa.
Oh, Minnie! He IS going to stay.
He loves me and he's going to stay.
Laura I was looking for your pa.
Oh, Mrs Timmins, Laura's got such news! You say you love her? I've been the old man since I was 15, Mr Timmins.
I know I do.
And what does that mean, exactly, that you love her? It means I don't wanna leave her.
It's not just the girl you have to want, Fisher Bloom, it's the life you'd have with her.
The home.
The children.
It's all too easy to make someone else pay when all the art and the beauty is gone from your craft and it's just about putting food on the table.
That can make a man more cruel than he thought he had it in him to be.
Not wanting to leave.
It's not the same as wanting to stay.
If there's any doubt in your mind .
.
go.
Break her heart now.
No.
Tell her that and stay.
Break her spirit over years.
Or leave anyway, a few years, a clutch of children down the line.
With kisses like that, believe me, children will come sooner than you think.
They say you're a truth-teller.
So tell me now truthfully Imagine you live here, with my daughter.
You have Laura, but the rest? The road, the life that goes with it.
The working at your craft.
The freedom has gone.
How does that make you feel? I said, "How does that make you feel?" Trapped.
(LAURA SOBS) Laura Ah, Mr Bloom! The final clock part.
I'm sorry.
(SIGHING) (SOBBING) You are so much more to us than you know.
Providing, bread-winning, that's not what you're for, Robert.
That's just what you do.
THAT is why we need you here.
That's why you can't leave us.
I couldn't have done it.
I don't have the strength.
The job's only half done, Emma.
The boy can't go until he finishes what he came here to do.
How can he finish when he can't bear the thought of leaving any more than he can live with the prospect of staying? Maybe he needs some help? (TOOLS CLATTERING) I was coming here to throw these back at Dorcas Lane.
I know.
There are good tools in 'em.
You chose well.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) (SIGHING) Fisher's leaving.
Oh Laura.
I'm going to her now, but .
.
I don't know how it feels, Dorcas.
Robert stayed.
Imagine if he hadn't.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) You know, the funny thing about clocks .
.
is the moment before you bring them to life.
It's like time standing still.
Like you can hold everything where it is just a little longer.
This moment isn't gonna get any easier for waiting on it.
You ready? (TAPPING) Gently! Gently! There, me lad! Up! Looks splendid.
Yes.
MAN: Heave! That's it! Higher! (STEADY TICKING) (BELL CHIMING) (BAND PLAYING JAUNTY TUNE) (CHILDREN SHOUTING EXCITEDLY) Laura.
There is someone here to see you.
He didn't have to go.
He didn't have to stay.
It's the same boat for both of you, Laura.
Would you have given up this, your job, the life you're making for yourself, Lark Rise, for him? And if you had, wouldn't you be craving for it? Yearning for it when it went away? He loves his life, Laura.
The same way you love yours.
That feeling you get when you stand on the Rise, and look over fields of gold, that's what he feels about the road he's on.
Whatever he feels for you.
I hid the last clock part, Pa.
Minnie told Miss Lane that it was her, but I did it first.
I thought it would work for me like it did for Ma, dropping your hammer in the brambles.
A little more time for him to know his own heart.
Oh, Laura It weren't your ma who dropped that damn hammer in the brambles.
It was me.
I knew my own heart well enough.
I just needed more time.
Work up the courage to tell her.
Everyone thinks it was her.
Because she lets them.
Protecting my pride.
It's her life's work, apparently.
It's like an extra child - always needing her attention.
Pa, she never said that.
She'll tell you she was provoked.
(SNIFFLES) I've been standing close to him for so long.
Now that he's gone, it feels like something's been torn away.
It hurts so much.
(SOBBING) (CLOCK CHIMES) (BRASS BAND STRIKES UP) Mr Dowland What you said to me earlier I had no right to speak to you as I did.
You were right.
I have been blind.
But to myself, if anything else.
You are a man used to risk.
I, on the other hand, have always chosen comfort and security.
My privilege has enabled that.
I see now that what begins as caution .
.
may become cowardice, without one realising.
If you are about to claim cowardice as your one weakness, I must tell you, I've always found you rather alarmingly prepared to do battle.
Perhaps that's just with me.
Perhaps it is because in crossing swords with you, I have never really risked losing what matters.
Or revealing what that might be.
Even to myself.
And what is it that "matters" to you, Miss Lane? Laura is in her room at the moment, sobbing for what she has lost.
It makes me see that there are things .
.
I would also find it very hard to lose .
.
your friendship.
Your good opinion, your company You.
(FIREWORKS EXPLODING) (EXCITED GASPS) (APPLAUSE) LAURA: 'When I was young, ' I knew that sunlight and shadow were part of a natural rhythm, 'the heartbeat of the world.
'But experience taught me that life can also be filled with light, 'because another person makes it so.
'And that the darkness that follows when they have gone 'is the deepest and the hardest of all.
' Ma'am, I have just seen a very la-di-da carriage come from the hotel.
Oh, I wonder who it contained.
Celestia! What an When did you arrive? Pleased to see me? Of course.
Laura, come and give your old grandpa a hug.
But you have hopes of marriage? Oh, it's not for me to Then I must tell you a little about James Dowland.
When he and I first met, we came to an agreeable arrangement.
Marry me.