Little Dorrit

theme music playing

Doctor

Separation of the jugular vein. With this penknife, no doubt. Hmm. Laudanum. To dull the pain. Dare say you've seen this sort of thing before?

bath attendant

I have, sir. -

Doctor

And you know what to do. -I do, sir. I was told to come straight away. Good God!

Doctor

It seems he was stealing from one fund to pay another, issuing shares without collateral, and now it's all blown up and burst. There's nothing left. So he took his own life rather than face the consequences. Merdle. The Man of the Age.

butler

Whom do you wish to see, gentlemen? My master is not at home.

Doctor

Mrs. Merdle's maid must be called, and told to get Mrs. Merdle up, and prepare her as gently as she can, to see me. I have dreadful news to break to her.

butler

I regret to inform you, sir, Mrs. Merdle has not yet returned from Italy. We expect her tomorrow afternoon. I can, if you wish, convey your news to her when she arrives. Mr. Merdle is dead.

butler

I see. In that case, I should wish to give one month's notice. Mr. Merdle has destroyed himself. That is very unpleasant, sir, to the feelings of one in my position. I think I should leave immediately. Good God, man, if you are not shocked, are you not at least surprised? Your master is dead, and by his own hand! Sir, Mr. Merdle never was quite the gentleman and no ungentlemanly act on his part could surprise me. Nearly dawn. Mmm... and hundreds of thousands of men and women still happily asleep, with no idea that they will wake to their own ruin. If only they knew what we know now, what a fearful cry against one miserable soul would go up to Heaven!

voices

-Merdle's dead! -Merdle dead? -Suicide! -Cut his own throat! -Blood everywhere! -Was it a woman? -Money! -It was money. Ruined! He's ruined!

screams

indistinct shouting

footsteps

We're ruined. I persuaded you to it, Mr. Clennam. You say what you will. You can't say more to me than I say to myself. I've ruined my partner, Pancks. I've ruined Doyce. He trusted me, he thought I had a head for business. Don't reproach yourself, sir! You reproach me! Or I'll do myself an injury! After all the disappointments he's endured, now he's ruined by his own partner, his own friend. Say "You fool, you villain!" Say "Ass, what were you thinking?" Say "Beast, what did you mean by it?" Come on! Say something abusive to me! It's not your fault, Pancks. I took advice from others, not just you. But I will say... that if you hadn't yielded to this fatal mania, -That's it. -it would have been much better for you, -and maybe for me, too. -Come on. At me again! -At me again! -No, no! I'm as much to blame as you are. But I wish you hadn't gone in for those accursed calculations... -That's it! -and brought out your results with such abominable clarity! At me again! At me again! I'm sorry, Pancks. I haven't the heart for it. I haven't been to bed, you know, since it began to get about. Mr. Clennam... have you laid out everything? -Everything. -

groans

snorts

Everything.

sighs

Arthur

There's nothing more to be done, Pancks. Uh... I must face the consequences. I must declare... Doyce and Clennam insolvent. Now wait... Mr. Clennam. There are other ways. What ways? You don't want to go to the debtors' prison, sir. That is no place for you. Close up the doors, now, today. Cross the Channel. Live abroad until it all blows over. There's many a man who's done that and he's come back as clean and shiny as a new penny.

Arthur

No, Pancks, I can't do that. I can't leave Doyce to take the blame. Then get yourself some legal help, for God's sake. Yes, perhaps I'd better. Rugg! He knows his worth. I'll get Rugg for you, Mr. Clennam.

Amy

Who are all those people outside the door, Fanny?

Fanny

Tradesmen, mostly. Hoping to get paid. Ha! Bit too late for that. But if they don't get paid, how will they live? Well, I don't know, do I?

Fanny gasps

Amy, step away from the window. Amy, do! -If you please, ma'am, it's the missus! -

Edmund

Oh.

parrot squawks

Hello, Mater. -

clears throat

Beastly business. -Quite. Mrs. Merdle... welcome home. Did you have a good journey? Tedious and uncomfortable, thank you. Where is the head butler? Where are the footmen? Packed their bags and gone, mother. Tell you the truth, I don't miss 'em much. That butler always gave me the shivers. That little skivvy that brought you upstairs, she's doing her best. And a good little girl she is, too, and do you know, -she hasn't got the slightest bit of nonsense about her-- -All right, Sparkler. Yes, my dearest love. Just thought I'd make the observation. -Well, don't. -Right. So, we are ruined. Everything lost.

Fanny

Well, ma'am, I believe you are ruined. We're not quite. Sparkler still has his job. And I have my own money. And if the worst comes to the worst, I could always go back to the theatre. And who knows, perhaps you could go back to doing whatever it is that you did before Mr. Sparkler and Mr. Merdle. But I don't think we've come to that just yet. And Lord knows we wouldn't see you out on the streets, would we, Sparkler?

Edmund

Dash my buttons, no! Heaven forbid! No, I'm sure we'll all get along like a house on fire! So I am to be dependent on your goodwill, am I? You'll be all right, Mrs. M, so long as you remember your Ps and Qs. Now, this is the plan. Sparkler and I do not intend to be paying off Mr. Merdle's old bills, otherwise we should soon find ourselves in Queer Street. We shall be leaving rather quietly, by the back gate, and rather late at night, and lie low until the fuss dies down. I dare say you're not so grand but it's what you might have heard of as a moonlight flit. You may have even done one once or twice in your... younger days? So what do you say, Mrs. M? Are you game for it? My dear Fanny... I am entirely in your hands. That's nice.

Mrs. Plornish

Mr. Clennam! Mr. Clennam! Come quick! Before they get here! Oh, come along, Mr. Clennam, make haste! Si, si, presto, Signore! Presto! Quick, sir! Quick, sir! Out the back. We might be able to get away before they come in. -Who? -Creditors, sir. They want their money. Then let me meet them, Mr. Rugg. I want to face up to my obligation.

shouting

Open up! Mr. Clennam, Mr. Clennam. This is not the time to be thinking of others. The question is, what can we do for our self? You've been allowing your feelings to be worked on. That won't do-- It's not losing my own money that I care about. If it had been only that, I should have cared much less. Is that so? That is singular, sir. Generally, it's their own money people are particular about. Most people can lose other people's money and bare it very well indeed. Well, I am determined to face up to my creditors. And I want to keep nothing for myself but my books and the clothes that I stand up in. Then I'm afraid it's the Marshalsea, sir. I'd rather be sent to the Marshalsea than to any other prison. Do you say so indeed, sir? Then we may as well be walking.

banging

door opens

Chivery

Good morning, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chivery. I don't recall as I was ever less glad to see you, sir. I certainly never thought I would return in this way. Ah, that Merdle brought a lot down with him, Mr. Clennam. We'll be full to bursting, but we've got a room for you. Show him up, John. This way, Mr. Clennam. I thought you'd like Mr. Dorrit's old room, sir. For old time's sake. That was a kind thought, John. Won't you shake my hand, John? I don't know as I can, sir. No, I find I can't. But I thought you'd like this room, and here it is for you. Good day, sir. Gratified to welcome you, sir. A very handsome testimonial offered with, uh, great delicacy. I'm infinitely obliged, sir... infinitely obliged.

banging on door

Ah! Thank you, John. I'm sorry to have given you the trouble.

sighs

Are you... angry with me, John? I'll tell you what, Mr. Clennam. If you weren't under a cloud... which you are... and if it wasn't against all the rules of the Marshalsea, which it is... I'd sooner be having a round with you than shaking your hand! I beg your pardon. Freely granted. But, uh... what is it, John? If you don't mind my saying so, sir, you don't look very well to me. How long since you've eaten anything? Oh, I don't have any appetite. I don't think I could eat. Do you not think that even if it's not worthwhile to take care of yourself for your own sake, it's worth doing for somebody else's? Truly, I don't know for whose. You don't know whose? You can say that to me?! I don't understand, John. I don't mean to offend you-- I had got over it. I had... I might never have thought of it again. I may not be a gentleman, but I am a man. Why do you think I found this room for you that you'd like, and carried up the things for you when really I felt like... knocking you down? Do you think I did it for your own sake? I didn't do it for you, I did it for her! For who? For Amy! Because she loves you! What? How can you say you don't know it? Anyone with eyes could see it! These walls know it! And you're so lofty, so far above the rest of us, you don't even notice it! All the time... I was breaking my heart over her, she was breaking hers... over you.

John sobs

Well, I've talked to you now. So if you, uh... won't take anything else, I'll say good night, sir. Good night, John.

Arthur

I know what these affairs of the heart are like. How we... how we hesitate I fancied I was in love with someone... I don't know why I'm telling you all this, Amy.

Amy

My brother is free. A gentleman paid his debts but he would not allow us to know his name. But if I could meet him, I would thank him, and take his hand, and kiss it and thank heaven that he took pity on us. -

Arthur

I don't understand. -Don't you?

Amy

Do you know, I sometimes wished that you'd never come to the Marshalsea... That I'd never met you, that none of this had ever happened. I was happy as I was.

knocking on door

Oh, Mr. Clennam, I hope you don't mind us coming around, but not to deceive you, we couldn't bare to think of you languishing here on your own. We brought you a few things, as you see, tempt your appetite. Thank you, Mrs. Plornish. Oh, dear. Mr. Clennam, you're not looking well at all. The air in the Marshalsea is very bad, there's no denying it, it didn't agree with Plornish, did it my love? Don't agree with anybody, I believe. Won't you take a little something, Mr. Clennam? Thank you, Mrs. Plornish, but I, uh, I'm afraid I've lost my appetite. I'll leave them here, Mr. Clennam. Perhaps you'll feel like them later. Lost his will to live by the looks of it. Come va? Cheer him up a bit, Plornish, if you can. The way I see it, Mr. Clennam, there's ups and downs. Now don't ask me why; why ups, why downs, but there is, you know. But I've heard it given for a truth that as the world goes round, so it comes around again. Now you're down now, no doubt about it, but you'll be up when your turn comes round again. Eh. I fear I shall never be up again, Mr. Plornish.

Mrs. Plornish

What I say, Mr. Clennam, is there's always something to be thankful for, as I'm sure you yourself will admit. Speaking in this room, it's a thing to be thankful for, that Miss Dorrit isn't here to know it. So that's something to be thankful for, you see, Mr. Clennam? Ups and downs, you see. Ups and downs. Thank you, Mr. Plornish. Thank you. Would you rather you was left alone now, Mr. Clennam? Uh, if you don't mind, Mrs. Plornish. I'm not, uh... I don't feel quite myself today.

Mrs. Plornish

He's not himself indeed, Mr. Chivery. Not to deceive you, I'm very worried about him. I think he needs attendance of a medical man. -Medical man. -I think he's sinking into a decline, Mr. Chivery. Sinking into a decline. It does take some of 'em like that, Mrs. Plornish. I'll see what I can do. Arthur Clennam! You have been looking for me? Well, my friend, my fellow jailbird, it would appear you know very little about me, and I know all about you. I know you are a murderer. And I know you are... well, I am too delicate to say the word. But what I know, it could bring the House of Clennam crashing down in a heap of dust and ashes. Say what you have to say, damn you. To you? If you had a ��1,000, you could hear it all. But your mother will pay, I think, so that you don't know the shameful truth that concerns you, that concerns her, that concerns your poor dead father, that concerns the little Dorrit girl. What does she have to do with all this? She cannot be left out. She is in it, whether you like it or not. This is very bad wine. Marshalsea wine? Paupers' wine. The wine of losers. -Tell me what you know. Tell me! -

glass breaks

No. No. For that, you will have to go to your chere maman. Perhaps she will tell you. Perhaps not. Farewell.

singing

Qu'est-ce qui passe ici si tard? Compagnons de la marjolaine...

gasps

Arthur

It's too late, it's no use now... What could I-- What could I have offered her? And yet she loved me. Why--why? Who's this? Who's this? Is he very bad, Doctor? He seemed to go down very quick. We couldn't get him to take anything.

Doctor

He's running a high fever. I doubt he has the spirit to fight it. Nothing to do but watch and wait. Let him have a little brandy and water if he'll take it. The next 12 hours should settle it. One way or the other.

Fanny

Now isn't the time to be sitting down reading letters. -We have to go! -

Amy

I don't like it, Fanny. Don't you think we should face our problems, not run away from them? They're not our problems. They're Mr. Merdle's problems, but he's isn't here to face them, is he? And it's only a temporary stratagem. We shall pay our bills when Pa's will comes through. Where are we going to go? Oh, good gracious, Amy! It's a good job one of us is thinking. We shall go to Pa's hotel, keep our heads down until we get our inheritance, and then come back out into Society. You can stay for weeks in a hotel without having to pay anything.

clatter

Ah, um, respectfully suggest, Ma, not to bring the whole panjandrum. This is a flit, you see, not a Royal Tour. Uh, first class woman all the same though, through and through. As are you, of course. And you, my dearest Fanny. -All absolutely first-class women, -

scoffs

-with not a bit of-- -Sparkler! Right.

coughs

indistinct voices

indistinct

groans

Have a care... for what you wish for...

gasps

Have a care for what you wish for... Here. Take this. You're not wanted here.

Amy

Shh... Go to sleep. I dreamt of you... but now you're really here. Mr. Chivery wrote to me, and told me you were here. I have been here since yesterday. I think you have been very ill. But I am well now. You've made me well. You must take it slowly. Let me take care of you. But you have better things to do than that. No. Nothing better than that. I have thought about you... every day, every hour, every minute, that I have been in here. -Have you, truly? -Yes, I have. And now you're here. Then you must let me make you well. There is something I should say to you while I'm here-- There's something I should say to you, too, Amy-- No... let me speak first. Tip is coming home to find my father's will, and take possession of his property. He says he is sure we shall be left rich. I hope you are. But I have no use for money. I only need a very little to live on. Will you let me help you? Will you let me use my fortune to pay all your debts? -It would make me so happy. -Dear Amy... I couldn't let you do that. Yes, you could. And one thing more... to let me stay with you all your life. No. I can't let you... bind yourself to a ruined man. This is a tainted place, its taint will stay with me forever. I never thought of it as tainted. It was my home. Do you think of me as tainted by it? No! God, no, no! You were always too good for this place. -You were too good for me. -So you are sending me away? I hoped that you cared for me too much to do that. It is because I care for you that I send you away. Had I realized, how I loved you, all that time, not as the poor child I used to call you, but as a woman had I suspected... that you might love me, I couldn't let myself think it... -I, a man twice your age-- -I never cared about that. And it is even more impossible now. How could I take your money? The time when you and I, and this prison, had anything in common, has long gone by. Do you understand? You can't stop me from coming here. I will come, every day, you'll see. I'll tell Chivery and his son to deny you access.

Amy

They won't obey you. Till tomorrow.

sighs

Amy grunts

Do not be frightened! I have a little thing for you. Let's call it my, uh, insurance. Here. I don't understand, sir. Keep it. Don't open it. I may reclaim it. Meet me here tonight at the gate before the bell rings. If I do not come, open it. There is a letter for you, and a letter for your dear friend Arthur Clennam. That is all. Au revoir, Mademoiselle! Ah, so it's you! Your time is up. Have you got the money? She will never give you money. We will see. Not dead then. Did you enjoy my little game? If it was supposed to frighten me, it did not. Madame. We have played for long enough. It is time for the reckoning, I think.

Mrs. Clennam

You say you have power over me. Prove it.

Flintwinch

Affery, old woman, take yourself away! No, I shan't, Jeremiah! I shall stay and learn all I don't know. Even if I have to die for it! I will! I will! Oh, you'll get such a dose! Leave her, Flintwinch!

Rigaud

"Do Not Forget". Forget what, I wonder, hmm?

Rigaud

Let me tell you a little story, Madame. The story of a strange marriage with no love in it. A strong woman,

with force of character

fierce, cruel, implacable, married to a poor, weak husband. But did she crush him to powder? Hmm? No, not quite. There was a little spark of life in him yet! He was a frequenter of a certain boarding house for theatrical ladies. And there, your poor husband found a little friend and, uh, got her with child. Ooh, la, la!

Mrs. Clennam

with force of character

My husband was a weak man, Monsieur Rigaud, and a sinner. What of it?

Rigaud

with force of character

How you punished him for it... and her. You stole away the child, and cast that little dancing girl into darkness.

Mrs. Clennam

with force of character

She sinned against the Lord.

Rigaud

with force of character

You sent her to the poorhouse to weep for her stolen child. I saved her from her depravity! She died of a broken heart in poverty and pain. But before she died, she wrote to old Gilbert Clennam, your husband's father. And he was so moved by the letter that learning of her death, he wrote a new will. It was too late to help that poor abused mother, so he left a legacy... for a newborn. A child born as poor as she and on the very day she died. A child born... in the Marshalsea. Amy Dorrit! I have read Gilbert Clennam's will. It is in my possession. Flintwinch?

Flintwinch

with force of character

I didn't burn the will because I had no right to. The pretense of having done no wrong for all these years has paralyzed you! But the truth will out. There's no stopping it. What are you doing here? These things are nothing to do with you. They're nothing to do with you, either. Why did you say you'd keep them? You've done a very wicked thing! You kept the truth from Little Dorrit all her life. Why did you do that? Because to reveal the legacy would disclose the greater secret, the secret you have been trying to hide all your life. -Who have you been hiding it from? -Enough. My conscience is clear before God, and I will make my peace with Little Dorrit. But this is not Little Dorrit's story, is it? This story concerns the other child. Taken away from its loving mother to be brought up in a hard school of punishment and shame. Finish the story, Madame Clennam. Unburden yourself. Tell us the name of that orphan child. Who is it, mistress? Who is it? Who must never know the truth? Who is that child? Arthur! It is Arthur. And if this house were blazing from the roof to the ground, I would stay in it to justify my righteous motives. Poor Arthur! To be snatched from his own mother! He knew no mother but me! I devoted myself to him, to raising him in fear and trembling, away from the sins of his father. Enough of your piety! I have, today, placed in the hands of Amy Dorrit, a letter. I want... two thousand pounds today before the Marshalsea bell rings. If I have it, your secret will be safe. If not, then the little seamstress will know the truth. And so will your beloved Arthur.

Mrs. Clennam gasps

with force of character

Mistress... Mistress, what are you doing? I am going out. Wait here, till I come back. Make sure he does. Well!

laughs

with force of character

The age of miracles and wonders is not past! She has gone to get my money!

singing

with force of character

Qu'est-ce qui passe ici si tard Compagnons de la Marjolaine Qu'est-ce qui passe ici si tard Compagnons de la Marjolaine Oh, sing! Sing, you--you miserable dog! Sing!

woman

with force of character

Hey, steady there! Are you all right, love? I am looking for the Marshalsea. Sante, my old friend.

bell chimes

whimpers

with force of character

Mrs. Clennam! You are recovered? You have had a packet left with you? Yes, I have it here. I have come to reclaim it. Have you any idea of its contents? No. Break the seal, then, and read them. You know, now, what I have done. Can you forgive me? Please don't kneel to me. You are too old to kneel to me. Let me help you.

grunts

with force of character

I never knew about the money and I never wanted it. You can forgive me... truly? Yes.

sighs

with force of character

Waiting, waiting! How it irks me, my little Flintwinch.

house creaks loudly

with force of character

Death of my life, how this house creaks and groans like... an old rotten ship! I tell you, my little Flintwinch, I shall be very happy to be out of it! And so shall I, to see the back of you for good!

creaking

screams

man

with force of character

Run for it! This way! -

loud cracking

with force of character

-

screaming

with force of character

Sacre bleu!

screams

grunts

screams

screaming

man

with force of character

Move away! Move away!

pants

screams

screams

gasps

gasps

with force of character

Mrs. Clennam? Mrs. Clennam?

groans

with force of character

Mrs. Clennam? Mrs. Clennam? Madam?

woman

with force of character

Oh, poor lady.

indistinct chatter

yells

with force of character

Blimey.

Fanny

with force of character

What?! What, no money at all? It would seem dear Pa placed all his funds with Mr. Merdle, like everybody else. -

Fanny

with force of character

And they're all gone? -

Tip

with force of character

All gone.

Fanny

with force of character

Oh, dear!

Tip laughs

with force of character

It's all very well for you. He's got his job at the whatever it is. It's all very well for Amy. She likes being as poor as a beggar. But what I say is, what about me? It suited me, being rich. What am I going to do now? I, uh... might be able to find you a position -in the Circumlocution Office. -

Fanny grunts

Edmund

with force of character

Just a small one, you know? What would I have to do? Oh, you know, not much. -And there would be money? -Oh, yes. Well, you know, a bit. Excellent. You're on.

bells ring

with force of character

Oh! Miss Dorrit! I was just on my way to see poor Arthur... Doyce and Clennam, though perhaps one shouldn't say that either. Where were you going? To see him, too. Well, yes of course. Of course, how could I have thought anything else. Those days are gone, of course, they are. And now I come to think of it, three might be a crowd and far be it for me to play the gooseberry-- why do they say gooseberry I wonder, and not "greengage" or pomegranate! Oh, dear. I'm sure Mr. Clennam would be pleased to see you. No. No, no, dear little one. Uh, please take this for me... and tell him I didn't desert him. Though I don't know after all whether it wasn't just... nonsense between us! Goodbye! Are you all right, Amy? Does Mr. Clennam know... about his mother's death? He does. I broke it to him as gentle as I could. I'm sure you did, John. Thank you. I'll go up to him now then. Right you are, Miss. Here lie the mortal remains of John Chivery, assistant turnkey and later chief turnkey of the Marshalsea prison for debt. He was unlucky in love, and endured a good deal of sorrow but he rose above it and performed many an act of kindness, even to his rival. And always engraved, not on stone, but deep into his very heart, was the name of Amy Dorrit. You see? I have come back. Amy, I told you not to. And I told you I would take no notice. I won't let you send me away, ever again. Oh, Amy. You find me in such a state of confusion. This is a letter from my real mother! It's all in here, who I truly am, and how your fate is bound up in mine. She writes here of her love for me. This woman whom I... never even knew. My mother. I saw Mrs. Clennam before she died. She told me everything. She knelt to me... and asked for forgiveness. Do you think you can forgive her, Arthur? I fee-- I feel sorry for her. That she never knew love. But she did! When she spoke to me, it was clear that she loved you and knew that you loved her. And your real mother loved you, too, just as my mother loved me, though I never knew her. Two orphans, then. One a rich woman, one a pauper.

Arthur

with force of character

Come on, Dan! Fortune favors the brave, this is the chance of a lifetime. You go to Russia and let me do this for you. You won't regret it. Would you like to know what my fortune truly amounts to? Whatever it is, no fortune could be more richly deserved. And you won't take a penny of it? Never. Well, the truth is... I have nothing. Father placed his money with Merdle, just like everybody else. So now will you share my fortune with me? Oh, my dear love, -gladly! -

laughs

Arthur

with force of character

What a fool I have been all this time... never realizing that it was you, it was always you, how stupid you must think me not to have seen -that it was you that I loved all along. -

giggles

with force of character

Well, I did think you were a bit unobservant,

laughs

with force of character

not noticing how much I was in love with you. When did this begin? Oh, very soon after we first met. Do you remember that night when Maggy and I came to see you in your rooms?

Doyce

with force of character

Clennam? Arthur Clennam?

door unlocks

with force of character

Oh, Lord. Daniel Doyce. Courage! We'll face him together. Daniel... I'm so sorry. -I should never-- -No! Not a word. Not another word... about the past. There was an error in your calculations. I know what that is. It affects the whole machine and failure is the consequence. I have done it myself in construction many a time. Daniel, I have let you down in every conceivable way. Not a bit of it, old friend! If you hadn't encouraged me to go to St. Petersburg, I never should have gone. If I hadn't met you, and gone into partnership with you, my invention would still have been languishing amongst the Barnacles, instead of galvanizing every factory West of the Urals, and making us both a fortune! Allora!

laughs

with force of character

My dear friends, I humbly submit that Doyce and Clennam have more than enough funds to pay off all our creditors and expand the factory! I rejoice for you, but surely after all this, you will no longer want me as a partner.

laughs

with force of character

Oh, come on. Haven't I been telling you that I owe my good fortune to you? And Doyce and Clennam stands in more need of you than ever.

laughs

laughs

with force of character

Come, don't cry... He's a very beautiful, eh? "She is very beautiful." -Si, is very beautiful. -"She... is very beautiful."

Edmund

with force of character

And no by God no nonsense about her! -Sparkler! -Yes? -Be quiet. -Right.

Mr. F's aunt

with force of character

Rubbish! She's lively as a cricket! And if he can't take it, he shouldn't hand it out! -"She is very beautiful." -That's what I say. Ciao! Bella!

theme music playing