Barry Lindon Page 3

  I had no doubts of the future; thinking that a man of my person, parts, and courage, could make his way anywhere. So I rode on, singing to myself, or chatting with the passersby; and all the girls along the road said, "God save me, for a clever gentleman."

  Farm girls in the fields flirting with him.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  As for thoughts of Dorothy Dugan, there seemed to be a gap of a half-a-score of years.

  EXT. ROAD TO DUBLIN - DAY

  A well-armed gentleman dressed in green, and a gold cord, with a patch on his eye, and riding a powerful mare, puts his horse alongside.

  ARMED GENTLEMAN

  Good day to you, young sir.

  RODERICK

  Good morning.

  ARMED GENTLEMAN

  Where are you bound for?

  RODERICK

  (after a long look at his companion)

  That is none of your business.

  ARMED GENTLEMAN

  Is your mother not afraid on account of the highwayman to let one so young as you travel?

  RODERICK

  (pulling out a pistol)

  Not at all, sir. I have a pair of good pistols that have already done execution, and are ready to do it again.

  At this, a pock-marked man coming up, the well-armed gentleman spurs into his bay mare, and leaves Roderick.

  EXT. ROAD TO DUBLIN - DAY

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  A little later on, as I rode towards Kilcullen, I saw a crowd of peasant people assembled round a one-horse chair, and my friend in green, as I thought, making off half-a-mile up the hill.

  A footman howls, at the top of his voice.

  FOOTMAN

  Stop thief!

  But the country fellows only laugh at his distress, and make all sorts of jokes at the adventure which had just befallen.

  COUNTRY FELLOW #1

  Sure, you might have kept him off with your blunderbush!

  COUNTRY FELLOW #2

  O the coward! To let the Captain bate you, and he only one eye!

  COUNTRY FELLOW #3

  The next time my lady travels, she'd better leave you at home!

  RODERICK

  What is this noise, fellows?

  Roderick rides up amongst them, and seeing the lady in the carriage, very pale and frightened, gives a slash of his whip, and bids the red-shanked ruffians keep off.

  Pulling off his hat, and bringing his mare up in a prance to the chair-window.

  RODERICK

  What has happened, madam, to annoy your ladyship?

  MRS. O'REILLY

  Oh, I am grateful to you, sir. I am the wife of Captain O'Reilly hastening to join him at Dublin. My chair was stopped by a highwayman; this great oaf of a servant-man fell down on his knees, armed as he was, and though there were thirty people in the next field, working, when the ruffian attacked, not one of them would help but, on the contrary, wished him "good luck."

  COUNTRY FELLOW #1

  Sure, he's the friend of the poor, and good luck to him.

  COUNTRY FELLOW #2

  Was it any business of ours?

  RODERICK

  (shouting)

  Be off to your work, you pack of rascals, or you will have a good taste of my thong.

  (to Mrs. O'Reilly)

  Have you lost much?

  MRS. O'REILLY

  Everything -- my purse, containing upwards of a hundred guineas, my jewels, my snuff-boxes, watches. And all because this blundering coward fell to his knees...

  FOOTMAN

  Be fair, ma'am, them wasn't so much. Didn't he return you the thirteen pence in copper, and the watch, saying it was only pinchbeck?

  MRS. O'REILLY

  Don't be insolent, or I'll report you to the Captain.

  FOOTMAN

  Sorry, ma'am.

  He shuffles a few steps away and frowns in the direction that the Captain has vanished.

  MRS. O'REILLY

  That fool didn't know what was the meaning of a hundred-pound bill, which was in the pocket-book that the fellow took from me.

  RODERICK

  I am riding to Dublin myself, and if your ladyship will allow me the honor of riding with you, I shall do my best to protect you from further mishap.

  MRS. O'REILLY

  But I shouldn't like to put you to such trouble, Mister... ?

  RODERICK

  O'Higgins... Mohawk O'Higgins.

  EXT. ROADSIDE INN - DAY

  They stop at the inn.

  RODERICK

  (very gallantly)

  As you have been robbed of your purse, may I have permission to lend your ladyship a couple of pieces to pay any expenses which you might incur before reaching your home?

  MRS. O'REILLY

  (smiling)

  That's very kind of you, Mr. O'Higgins.

  He gives her two gold pieces.

  INT. INN - DAY

  Roderick and Mrs. O'Reilly finishing their meal. We will hear dialogue underneath Roderick's voice over.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  How different was her lively rattle to the vulgar wenches at Kilwangan assemblies. In every sentence, she mentioned a lord or a person of quality. To the lady's question about my birth and parentage, I replied that I was a young gentleman of large fortune, that I was going to Dublin for my studies, and that my mother allowed me five hundred per annum.

  MRS. O'REILLY

  You must be very cautious with regard to the company you should meet in Dublin, where rogues and adventurers of all countries abound. I hope you will do me the honor of accepting lodgings in my own house, where Captain O'Reilly will welcome with delight, my gallant young preserver.

  Paying the bill.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Perhaps had I been a little older in the world's experience, I should have begun to see that Madame O'Reilly was not the person of fashion she pretended to be; but, as it was, I took all her stories for truth, and, when the landlord brought the bill for dinner, paid it with the air of a lord. Indeed, she made no motion to produce the two pieces I had lent her.

  EXT. DUBLIN - STREET - NIGHT

  They ride by.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  And so we rode on slowly towards Dublin, into which city we made our entrance at nightfall. The rattle and splendor of the coaches, the flare of the linkboys, the number and magnificence of the houses, struck me with the greatest wonder; though I was careful to disguise this feeling.

  EXT. O'REILLY HOUSE - DUBLIN - NIGHT

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  We stopped at length at a house of rather mean appearance, and were let into a passage which had a great smell of supper and punch.

  INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

  Captain O'Reilly, a stout red-faced man, without a periwig, and in a rather tattered nightgown and cap.

  Roderick and Mrs. O'Reilly.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  Mr. O'Higgins, I cannot say how grateful I am for your timely assistance to my wife.

  RODERICK

  I am only sorry that I was unable to prevent the villain from carrying off all her ladyship's money and pearls.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  Mr. O'Higgins, we are in your debt, and rest assured, sir, you have friends in this house whenever you are in Dublin.

  (pours a glass)

  Mister O'Higgins, I wonder if I know your good father?

  RODERICK

  Which O'Higgins do you know? For I have never heard your name mentioned in my family.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  Oh, I am thinking of the O'Higgins of Redmondstown. General O'Higgins was a close friend of my wife's dear father, Colonel Granby Somerset.

  RODERICK

  Ah -- I see. No, I'm afraid mine are the O'Higgins of Watertown.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  I have heard of them.

  There are relics of some mutton-chops and onions on a cracked dish before them.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  My love, I wish I had known of yo
ur coming, for Bob Moriaty and I just finished the most delicious venison pasty, which His Grace the Lord Lieutenant, sent us, with a flash of sillery from his own cellar. You know the wine, my dear? But as bygones are bygones, and no help for them, what say ye to a fine lobster and a bottle of as good claret as any in Ireland? Betty, clear these things from the table, and make the mistress and our young friend welcome to our home.

  Captain O'Reilly searches his pockets for some money to give to Betty.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  I'm sorry, Mr. O'Higgins, but I don't seem to have any small change. May I borrow a ten-penny piece to give to the girl?

  MRS. O'REILLY

  I have some money, my dear. Here, Betty, go to the fishmonger and bring back our supper, and mind you get the right change.

  She takes out one of the golden guineas Roderick gave to her.

  INT. DINNING ROOM - LATER

  They are eating.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Our supper was seasoned, if not by any great elegance, at least by a plentiful store of anecdotes, concerning the highest personages of the city, with whom, according to himself, the captain lived on terms of the utmost intimacy. Not to be behind hand with him, I spoke of my own estates and property as if I was as rich as a duke.

  INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT

  The couple wishing Roderick goodnight.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Had I been an English lad, the appearance of the chamber I occupied might, indeed, have aroused instantly my suspicion and distrust. But we are not particular in Ireland on the score of neatness, hence the disorder of my bed-chamber did not strike me so much.

  Broken door.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Was there a lock to the door, or a hasp to fasten it to?

  Dress lying over bed.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Though my counterpane was evidently a greased brocade dress of Mrs. O'Reilly.

  Cracked mirror.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  And my cracked toilet-glass not much bigger than a half-crown, yet I was used to these sort of ways in Irish houses, and still thought myself to be in that of a man of fashion.

  Drawers, full of junk.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  There was no lock to the drawers, which, when they did open, were full of my hostess' rouge-pots, shoes, stays, and rags.

  INT. BEDROOM - O'REILLY HOUSE - NIGHT

  In the middle of the night, Mrs. O'Reilly comes to Roderick's room on a flimsy pretext, and in the course of events, he has his first woman.

  INT. COACH - DAY

  Roderick, Captain and Mrs. O'Reilly.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  I needn't ask whether you had a comfortable bed. Young Fred Pimpleton slept in it for seven months, during which he did me the honor to stay with me, and if he was satisfied, I don't know who else wouldn't be.

  EXT. PROMENADE - PHOENIX PARK - DAY

  Roderick, Captain and Mrs. O'Reilly, their friends. Various cuts.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  After breakfast, we drove out to Phoenix Park, where numbers of the young gentry were known to Mrs. O'Reilly, to all of whom she presented me in such a complimentary way that, before half an hour, I had got to be considered as a gentleman of great expectations and large property.

  INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - NIGHT

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  I had little notion then that I had got amongst a set of impostors -­that Captain O'Reilly was only an adventurer, and his lady a person of no credit. The fact was, a young man could hardly have fallen into worse hands than those in which I now found myself.

  An evening of gambling.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Their friends were always welcome on payment of a certain moderate sum for their dinner after which, you may be sure, that cards were not wanting, and that the company who played did not play for love merely.

  Various cuts of the characters present.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  What could happen to a man but misfortune from associating with such company? And in a very, very short time I became their prey.

  Roderick loses two hundred guineas to Captain O'Reilly in a single hand.

  We see Captain O'Reilly cheat, but Roderick does not.

  He pays him the 18 gold guineas, remaining from the sum his mother gave him.

  RODERICK

  I shall have to write out a note for the rest of it, Captain O'Reilly.

  EXT. STREET - OUTSIDE O'REILLY HOUSE - DAWN

  Roderick exits to the street. The sound of the gambling can still be heard in the street. He is soon joined by Councillor Mulligan.

  COUNCILLOR MULLIGAN

  Master Roderick, you appear a young fellow of birth and fortune; let me whisper in your ear that you have fallen into very bad hands -- it's a regular gang of swindlers; and a gentleman of your rank and quality should never be seen in such company. The captain has been a gentleman's gentleman, and his lady of no higher rank. Go home, pack your valise, pay the little trifle you owe me, mount your mare, and ride back again to your parents -­it's the very best thing you can do.

  Roderick does not reply, and walks slowly away from him down the street.

  INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - RODERICK'S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING

  Roderick enters.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Into a pretty nest of villains, indeed, was I plunged! When I returned to my bed-chamber, a few hours later, it seemed as if all my misfortunes were to break on me at once.

  Valise open, wardrobe lying on the ground, and Roderick's keys in the possession of O'Reilly and his wife.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  Whom have I been harboring in my house? Who are you, sirrah?

  RODERICK

  Sirrah! Sirrah, I am as good a gentleman as any in Ireland!

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  You're an impostor, young man, a schemer, a deceiver!

  RODERICK

  Repeat the words again, and I run you through the body.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  Tut, tut! I can play at fencing as well as you, Mr. Roderick James. Ah! You change color, do you? Your secret is known, is it? You come like a viper into the bosom of innocent families; you represent yourself as the heir to my friends the O'Higgins of Castle O'Higgins; I introduce you to the nobility and gentry of this methropolis; I take you to my tradesmen, who give you credit. I accept your note for near two hundred pounds, and what do I find? A fraud.

  He holds up the name, Roderick James, printed on the linen.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  Not Master O'Higgins of Watertown, but Roderick James of the devil only knows where...

  Captain O'Reilly gathers up the linen clothes, silver toilet articles, and the rest of Roderick's gear.

  RODERICK

  Hark ye, Mr. O'Reilly, I will tell you why I was obliged to alter my name, which is James and the best name in Ireland. I changed it, sir, because, on the day before I came to Dublin, I killed a man in deadly combat -- an Englishman, sir, and a Captain in His Majesty's service; and if you offer to let or hinder me in the slightest way, the same arm which destroyed him is ready to punish you.

  So saying, Roderick draws his sword like lightning, and giving a "ha, ha!" and a stamp with his foot, lunges it within an inch of O'Reilly's heart, who starts back and turns deadly pale, while his wife, with a scream, flings herself between them.

  MRS. O'REILLY

  Dearest Roderick -- be pacified. O'Reilly, you don't want the poor child's blood. Let him escape -- in Heaven's name, let him go.

  CAPTAIN O'REILLY

  (sulkily)

  He may go hang for me, and he's better be off quickly, for I shall go to the magistrate if I see him again.

  O'Reilly exits. His wife sits down on the bed and begins to cry.

  EXT. DUBLIN STREET - DAY

  Roderick riding down the street, with his valise.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Where was now a home for the descendant of the James? I was expelled f
rom Dublin by a persecution occasioned, I must confess, by my own imprudence. I had no time to wait and choose. No place of refuge to fly to.

  INT. ALE HOUSE - DAY

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  There was a score of recruiting parties in the town beating up for men to join our gallant armies in America and Germany.

  Roderick approaches a Captain and a Sergeant, who quickly make him welcome.

  RODERICK

  I will tell you frankly, sir. I am a young gentleman in difficulties; I have killed an officer in a duel, and I am anxious to get out of the country.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  But I needn't have troubled myself with any explanations; King George was in too much want of men to heed from whence they came -- and a fellow of my inches was always welcome. Indeed, I could not have chosen my time better. A transport was lying at Dunleary, waiting for a wind.

  EXT. BRITISH WARSHIP AT SEA - DAY

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  I never had a taste for any thing but genteel company, and hate all descriptions of low life. Hence my account of the society in which I at present found myself must of necessity be short. The reminiscences of the horrid black-hole of a place in which we soldiers were confined, of the wretched creatures with whom I was now forced to keep company, of the plowmen, poachers, pickpockets, who had taken refuge from poverty, or the law, as, in truth, I had done myself, is enough to make me ashamed even now.

  Roderick sits very disconsolately over a platter of rancid bacon and moldy biscuit, which is served to him at mess. When it comes to his turn to be helped to drink, he is served, like the rest, with dirty tin noggin, containing somewhat more than half a pint of rum and water. The beaker is so greasy and filthy that he cannot help turning round to the messman and saying:

  RODERICK

  Fellow, get me a glass!

  At which, all the wretches round him burst into a roar of laughter, the very loudest among them being Mr. Toole, a red-haired monster of a man.

  MR. TOOLE

  Get the gentleman a towel for his hands, and serve him a basin of turtle-soup.

  Roars the monster, who is sitting, or rather squatting, on the deck opposite him, and as he speaks, he suddenly seizes Roderick's beaker of grog and empties it in midst of another burst of applause.

  LINK-BOY

  (whispers)

  If you want to vex him, ask him about his wife, the washerwoman, who bates him.

  RODERICK