Barry Lindon Read online

She puts it on, out of shot.

  LANGEAC

  There you are, dressed by my hand. It is nearly the same thing; but despite the fineness and transparency of the skin, the little fellow pleases me less well in costume. It seems that this covering degrades him, or degrades me -- one of the other.

  RODERICK

  Both, my angel. It was Love who invented these little jackets: for he had to ally himself with Precaution.

  INT. ROOM OFF A BALLROOM - NIGHT

  Roderick making love to the Countess von Trotha. Enter the Count, in the uniform of a Colonel.

  COUNT

  I entered here, monsieur, at a bad moment for you; it seems that you love this lady.

  RODERICK

  Certainly, monseigneur, does not Your Excellency consider her worthy of love?

  COUNT

  Perfectly so; and what is more, I will tell you that I love her, and that I am not of a humor to put up with rivals.

  RODERICK

  Very well! Now that I know it, I will no longer love her.

  COUNT

  Then you yield to me.

  RODERICK

  On the instant. Everyone must yield to such a nobleman as you.

  COUNT

  Very well; but a man who yields takes to his legs.

  RODERICK

  That is a trifle strong.

  COUNT

  Take to your legs, low Irish dog. Roderick smiles at him.

  RODERICK

  Your Excellency has wantonly insulted me. That being so, I conclude that you hate me, Monseigneur, and that hence you would be glad to remove me from the number of the living. In this wish, I can and will satisfy Your Excellency.

  EXT. BEAUTIFUL GARDEN - EARLY MORNING

  Roderick's sword duel with the Count. Details to be worked out. INT. BILLIARD ROOM - NIGHT

  Roderick watches the Chevalier play with a Prussian officer, Lieutenant Dascher.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  It was my unrivaled skill with sword and pistol, and readiness to use them, that maintained the reputation of the firm.

  Towards the end of the game, Dascher, seeing that he is losing, makes an unfair stroke, so obvious that the marker tells him so to his face.

  Lieutenant Dascher, for whom the stroke wins the game, takes the money which is in the stake bag, and puts it in his pocket, paying no attention to the marker's adjurations, or to Roderick's.

  Roderick, who is without his sword, reaches for a billiard cue and swings it at Dascher's face.

  He wards off the blow with his arm, drawing his sword and runs at Roderick, who is unarmed.

  The marker, a sturdy young man, catches Dascher around the waist and prevents murder.

  DASCHER

  I see that you are without your sword, but I believe you are a man of mettle. Will you give me satisfaction?

  RODERICK

  I shall be delighted; but you have lost and you must pay me the money before we meet, for, after all, you cannot pay me when you are dead.

  ANOTHER OFFICER

  I will undertake to pay you the 2 0 louis, but only tomorrow morning at the meeting.

  EXT. FIELD - DAY

  On the field, there are six people waiting with Dascher, and his seconds. Dascher takes 20 louis from his pocket and hands them to Roderick, saying:

  DASCHER

  I may have been mistaken, but I mean to make you pay deadly for your brutality.

  Roderick takes the money and puts it in his purse with the utmost calm, making no reply to the other's boasting.

  RODERICK

  (privately)

  It is distasteful to kill a scoundrel -- that should be work for a hangman.

  CHEVALIER

  To risk one's life against such people is an imposition.

  RODERICK

  (laughs)

  I risk nothing, for I am certain to kill him.

  CHEVALIER

  Certain?

  RODERICK

  Perfectly certain, because I shall make him tremble.

  He takes his station between two trees, about four paces apart, and draws a pair of dueling pistols.

  RODERICK

  You have only to pace yourself at ten paces difference, and fire first. The space between these two trees is the place where I choose to walk back and forth. You may walk too, if you wish, when it is my turn to fire.

  No one could have explained his intentions more clearly or spoken more calmly.

  DASCHER

  But we must decide who is to have the first shot.

  RODERICK

  There is no need of that. I never fire first; and, in any case, you have that right.

  Dascher places himself at the specified distance.

  Roderick walks slowly back and forth between the two trees without looking at him.

  Dascher takes aim and fires, missing.

  RODERICK

  (with the greatest composure)

  You missed me, sir. I was sure you would. Try again.

  The others think he is mad, and had expected some kind of discussion between the parties, but not a bit of it.

  Dascher takes careful aim and fires a second shot, again missing Roderick.

  Without a word, but in a firm and confident manner, Roderick fires his first shot into the air.

  Dascher looks amazed. Then, aiming at Dascher with his second pistol, he hits him in the center of the forehead and stretches him out dead on the ground.

  EXT. ROAD - DAY

  Roderick and Chevalier traveling in their coach.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Thus is will be seen that our life, for all its splendor was one of extreme difficulty and danger, requiring high talents and courage for success, and sudden and unexpected departures.

  They meet a four-wheel carriage, drawn by two horses, carrying a master and a servant.

  The driver of the four-wheel carriage wants Roderick's driver to make way for him.

  Roderick's driver protests that if he does, he will upset his master in the ditch, but the other insists.

  Roderick addresses the master, a handsome young man, and asks him to order his driver to make way for him.

  RODERICK

  I am posting, monsieur, and furthermore I am a foreigner.

  STRANGER

  Monsieur, here in Saxony, the post has no special right, and if you are a foreigner, you must admit that you have no greater claim than mine, since I am in my own country.

  At that, Roderick gets out and holding his drawn-sword tells the stranger to get out, or to make way for him.

  The stranger replies, with a smile, that he has no sword and that, in any case, he will not fight for such a silly reason.

  He tells Roderick to get back in his chaise, and he makes way for him.

  INT. GAMING ROOM - NIGHT

  Roderick and the Chevalier running a faro bank when an important lady suffers a huge loss.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  The ladies were passionately fond of play, and hence would often arise no small trouble to us; for the truth most be told, that the ladies loved to play, but not to pay. The point of honor is not understood by the charming sex; and it was with the greatest difficulty that we could keep them from the table, could get their money if they lost or, if they paid, prevent them from using the most furious and extraordinary means of revenge.

  EXT. ROAD - DAWN

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  On this evening, the lady of high rank, after I had won a considerable sum in diamonds and pearls from her, sent her lover with a band of cut­throats to waylay me.

  Roderick and the Chevalier are sound asleep in their carriage when they are awakened by a violent jolt, upon which the carriage overturns in the middle of the road.

  The Chevalier is underneath, and screams from the pain in his right arm, which he thinks is broken.

  Their servant forces the door open to help them out, telling them that the two postilions have fled.

  Roderick easily gets out of the carriage through the door, which
is above him, but the Chevalier, unable to move because of his disabled arm, has to be pulled out.

  His piercing shrieks make Roderick laugh, because of the strange oaths with which he interlards his prayers.

  From the carriage, Roderick takes his dueling pistols, and sword.

  Roderick tells his servant to mount and to looking for armed peasants in the vicinity; money in hand, he leaves.

  The Chevalier has lain down on the hard ground, groaning and in no condition to resist robbers.

  Roderick makes his own preparations to sell his fortune and his life at the highest price.

  His carriage is close to the ditch, and he unhitches the horses, tieing them to the wheels and the pole in a circle, and stations himself behind them with weapons.

  In this predicament, Roderick cannot help laughing at the poor Chevalier, who is writhing like a dying dolphin on a seashore, and uttering the most pitiful execrations, when a mare, whose back was turned to him, take it into her empty head to empty her bladder on him. There is nothing to be done; he has to put up with the whole stinking rain, and to forgive Roderick's laughter, which he has not the strength to hold in.

  The chill wind and the silence are suddenly broken by an attack, which is half-hearted and uncertain, by the lady's lover, and his hesitant band of six cut-throats.

  Some falter and run away as soon as Roderick fires his pistol.

  The leader and two heartier followers engage Roderick. During the fight, they mortally wound the helpless Chevalier and two of them are killed.

  After they flee, Roderick kneels by the Chevalier, who utters some appropriate last words, then dies.

  His servant finally arrives at full gallop, shouting at the top of his voice, and followed by a band of peasants, each with his lantern, come to his rescue. There are ten or twelve of them, all armed with muskets, and all ready to obey his orders.

  EXT. SPA-HOTEL - DAY

  Roderick's carriage arrives.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  After making suitable arrangements for the Chevalier's burial, in proper accord with his church, I traveled to Spa, which was now in season, alone, to continue my profession which formerly had the support of my friend and mentor.

  INT. GAMING ROOM - NIGHT

  Crowds surround Roderick.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  I was by this time one of the best-known characters in Europe; and the fame of my exploits, my duels, my courage at play, would bring crowds round me in any public society where I appeared.

  INT. CASINO - NIGHT

  Attractive women alone, while men are at the gaming table.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  The passion for play is stronger than the passion for gallantry; the gamester at Spa has neither time to stop to consider the merits of a woman, nor the courage to make sacrifices for her.

  EXT. GARDEN IN SPA - DAY

  The Countess of Cosgrove walks beside her husband, Sir William Cosgrove, who is in a wheelchair. They are accompanied by their young son, Lord Brookside, and two servants.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  In evoking the recollections of these days, I have nothing but pleasure. I would if I could say as much of a lady who will henceforth play a considerable part in the drama of my life -- I mean the Countess of Cosgrove, whose fatal acquaintance I made at Spa, very soon after the tragic events which caused me to quit Germany.

  Closer shot of the Countess.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Victoria, Countess of Cosgrove. A Countess and a Viscountess in her own right.

  Closer shot of Sir William Cosgrove.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  She was the wife of her cousin, the Right Honorable Sir William Reginald Cosgrove, Knight of the Bath, and Minister to George II and George III of several of the smaller courts of Europe.

  Closer shot of young Lord Brookside, walking behind them in the care of his governor.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  She was the mother to Viscount Brookside -- a melancholy, deserted, little boy, about whom his father was more than indifferent, and whom his mother never saw.

  INT. GAMING ROOM - NIGHT

  Shots of Sir William Cosgrove being wheeled in, and at play with Roderick, and some other gentlemen.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  I made Sir William Cosgrove's acquaintance as usual at the play-table. One could not but admire the spirit and gallantry with which he pursued his favorite pastime; for, though worn out with gout and a myriad of diseases, a cripple wheeled about in a chair, and suffering pangs of agony, yet you would see him every morning, and every evening at his post behind the delightful green cloth.

  SIR WILLIAM

  Hang it, Mr. Roderick James, you have no more manners than a barber, and I think my black footman has been better educated than you; but you are a young fellow of originality and pluck, and I like you, sir. because you seem determined to go to the devil by a way of your own.

  Laughter at the table.

  RODERICK

  I am obliged to observe, Sir William Cosgrove, that since you are bound for the next world much sooner than I am, I will depend on you to get comfortable quarters arranged for me.

  Laughter.

  SIR WILLIAM

  Indeed, you are right, sir. Look at me. Marriage has added forty years to my life. I am dying, a worn-out cripple, at the age of fifty. When I took off Lady Cosgrove, there was no man of my years who looked so young as myself. Fool that I was! I had enough with my pensions, perfect freedom, the best society in Europe -- and I gave up all these, and married and was miserable. Take a warning from me, Mr. Roderick, and stick to the trumps. Do anything, but marry.

  RODERICK

  Would you have me spend my life all alone?

  SIR WILLIAM

  In truth, sir, yes, but, if you must marry, then marry a virtuous drudge.

  RODERICK

  (laughing)

  The milkmaid's daughter?

  SIR WILLIAM

  Well, why not a milkmaid's daughter? No man of sense need restrict himself or deny himself a single amusement for his wife's sake; on the contrary, if he selects the animal properly, he will choose such a one as shall be no bar to his pleasure, but a comfort in his hours of annoyance. For instance, I have got the gout; who tends me? A hired valet who robs me whenever he has the power. My wife never comes near me. What friend have I? None in the wide world. Men of the world, as you and I are, don't make friends, and we are fools for our pains.

  Polite laughter at the table.

  SIR WILLIAM

  My lady is a weak woman, but she is my mistress. She is a fool, but she has got the better of one of the best heads in Christendom. She is enormously rich, but somehow I have never been so poor, as since I married her. I thought to better myself, and she has made me miserable and killed me, and she will do as much for my successor when I'm gone.

  There is a reflective silence at the table.

  RODERICK

  Has her ladyship a very large income?

  This question causes Sir William to burst out into a yelling laugh, joined by the rest of the table, and makes Roderick blush not a little at his gaucherie.

  EXT. ORNAMENTAL GARDEN - SPA - NIGHT

  A beautiful scene, lit by the flambeaux, held by a dozen footmen. A small orchestra, playing in a Temple of Love, some dancers, people gambling and lounging along a line of trees.

  Roderick approaches the Countess.

  RODERICK (V.O.)

  Despite my friend's strong warning. I resolves to become acquainted with his lady. Sir William Cosgrove was dying. His widow would be a rich prize. Why should I not win her, and, with her, the means of making in the world that figure which my genius and inclination desired? When I determine, I look upon the thing as done.

  RODERICK

  Charming lady, tell me the truth and earn my gratitude. Have you a lover?

  The countess laughs.

  COUNTESS

  No.

  RODERICK

  Have you had one?

&nb
sp; COUNTESS

  Never.

  RODERICK

  But, for a time... a passing fancy?

  COUNTESS

  Not even that.

  RODERICK

  How can I believe that there is not a man who has inspired desires in you?

  COUNTESS

  Not one.

  RODERICK

  Have you not a man whom you value?

  COUNTESS

  That man has, perhaps, not yet been born.

  RODERICK

  What! You have not met a man worthy of your attention?

  COUNTESS

  Many worthy of attention; but valuing is something more. I could value only someone whom I loved.

  RODERICK

  Then you have never loved? Your heart is empty.

  COUNTESS

  Your word "empty" makes me laugh. Is it fortunate, or unfortunate? If it is fortunate, I congratulate myself. If it is unfortunate, I do not care, for I am not aware of it.

  RODERICK

  It is nonetheless a misfortune, and you will know it when you love.

  COUNTESS

  But if, when I love, I am unhappy, I will know that my empty heart was my good fortune.

  RODERICK

  That is true, but it seems to me impossible that you should be unhappy in love.

  COUNTESS

  It is only too possible. Love requires a mutual harmony which is difficult, and it is even more difficult to make it last.

  RODERICK

  I agree; but God put us on earth to take that risk.

  COUNTESS

  A man may need to do that, and find it amusing; but a girl is bound by other laws.

  RODERICK

  I believe you, and I see I must hasten to leave, for otherwise I shall become the unhappiest of men.

  COUNTESS

  How so?

  RODERICK

  By loving you, with no hope of possessing you.

  She laughs.

  COUNTESS

  You want my heart?

  RODERICK

  It is my only object.

  COUNTESS

  To make me wretched in two weeks.

  RODERICK

  To love you until death. To subscribe to all your commands.

  COUNTESS

  The amusing thing is that you deceive me without knowing, if it is true that you love me.

  RODERICK

  Deceiving someone without knowing it is something new for me. If I do not know it, I am innocent.