Barry Lyndon Page #3

Roderick falls silent.

EXT. SMALL BRIDGE OVER A STREAM - DAWN

They come to an old, high bridge, over a stream,

sufficiently deep and rocky.

DOROTHY:

Suppose, now, Roderick, you, who are

such a hero, was passing over the

bridge and the enemy on the other

side.

RODERICK:

I'd draw my sword, and cut my way

through them.

DOROTHY:

What, with me on the pillion? Would

you kill poor me?

RODERICK:

Well, then, I'll tell you what I'd

do. I'd jump Daisy into the river,

and swim you both across, where no

enemy could follow us.

DOROTHY:

Jump twenty feet! You wouldn't dare

to do any such thing on Daisy.

There's the captain's horse, Black

George, I've heard say that Captain

Bes --

She never finished the word for, maddened by the continual

recurrence of that odious monosyllable, Roderick shouts:

RODERICK:

Hold tight to my waist!

And, giving Daisy the spur, springs with Dorothy over the

parapet, into the deeper water below.

The horse's head sinks under, the girl screams as she

sinks, and screams as she rises.

Roderick lands her, half-fainting, on the shore.

INT. MOTHER'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY

Various cuts showing illness and convalescence.

Roderick feverish: the doctor taking his pulse.

Mother brings a tray of food.

RODERICK (V.O.)

I went home, and was ill speedily of

a fever, which kept me to my bed for

a week.

Dorothy visiting him.

RODERICK (V.O.)

Dorothy visited me only once, but I

quitted my couch still more

violently in love than I had been

ever before.

EXT. DUGAN MANOR HOUSE - DAY

The air is fresh and bright, and the birds sing loud

amidst the green trees. Roderick is elated, and springs

down the road, as brisk as a young fawn.

He encounters an orderly whistling "Roast Beef of Old

England," as he cleans down a cavalry horse.

RODERICK:

Whose horse, fellow, is that?

ORDERLY:

Feller, indeed! The horse belongs

to my captain, and he's a better

fellow nor you any day.

RODERICK (V.O.)

I did not stop to break his bones,

as I would on another occasion, for

a horrible suspicion had come across

me, and I made for the garden as

quickly as I could.

Roderick see Captain Best and Dorothy pacing the path

together. Her arm is under his, and he is fondling and

squeezing her little hand which lies closely nestling

against his arm.

Some distance beyond them is Captain Grogan, who is paying

court to Dorothy's sister, Mysie.

RODERICK (V.O.)

The fact is that, during the week of

my illness, no other than Captain

Best was staying at Castle Dugan,

and making love to Miss Dorothy in

form.

CAPTAIN BEST:

No, Dorothy, except for you and four

others, I vow before all the gods,

my heart had never felt the soft

flame.

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