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Four Weddings And A Funeral 5 page

One evening at dinner, Laurent decided that the water in a jug was not cold enough.

'I can't drink warm water. It makes me feel sick,' he said.

'I couldn't get any ice,' Therese replied. 'The water tastes all right.'

'No, it doesn't, it tastes like river water,' Laurent told her angrily.

'River water!' Therese screamed. 'How can you talk about river water? You drowned Camille in the river!'

'You made me do it!' Laurent shouted. 'You sat and watched as I pushed him under the water. You are as guilty as I am. You knew what I was going to do. I told you my plan. Then you got in the boat. You didn't try to stop me, did you?'

'I was too shocked,' Therese replied. 'I couldn't think clearly. You murdered Camille, not me.'

'You helped me to commit the crime! You are guilty too!' Laurent shouted. 'You asked me to come to your husband's bed. Then you came to my room to make love. You hated Camille and you wanted him dead. You made me kill him.'

'The power of your love made me mad and weak,' Therese replied. 'I wasn't strong enough to fight you. You've destroyed my life!'

Laurent lifted his hand. He was going to hit her.

'That's right, hit me!' Therese screamed. 'Murder me too! Then I'll be dead, like Camille!'

And so they went on. They would shout and scream at each other until they could no longer speak. And all the time, Madame Raquin was watching them destroy each other.

Therese was on the edge of complete madness. She could not control her thoughts, her feelings, or what she did. The unhappy young woman talked to Madame Raquin for many hours. She told her everything that she thought and felt. She fell onto her knees in front of her aunt and begged her forgiveness.

'You were always good to me and I deceived you!' Therese cried. 'You can see my pain. Please forgive me!'

Therese kissed her aunt and the young woman's tears fell on the old woman's stiff, pale face.

'Yes! You have forgiven me,' Therese cried. 'I knew that you would forgive me!'

But Madame Raquin could not forgive Therese. She wanted revenge. She wanted the murderers to be punished. That was all that the poor woman thought about.

When Laurent came home, he pulled Therese to her feet.

'Get up!' he said to her. 'You are doing this to make me angry. Cry if you want to. But you aren't sorry for anything.'

'I am sorry,' Therese cried. 'I'm as guilty as you. I am guilty of adultery. I am guilty of murder.'

'Well, that's true,' Laurent said. 'But leave the old woman alone. You can see that she hates you.'

'You're wrong. She is good and so was Camille,' Therese said. 'I loved Camille and he loved me.'

'If you loved your husband, why did you want a lover?' Laurent shouted.

'I loved Camille,' Therese replied. 'I loved him as if he was my brother. Camille and his mother were always kind to me. We were all happy until we met you here. I loved him and I hate you.'

'Be quiet!' Laurent shouted.

'No, I won't be silent!' Therese screamed. Tears ran down her face. 'You're a murderer!'

Laurent knocked Therese down and held her on the floor. He lifted his hand.



'Hit me! Murder me too!' she cried. 'You're not a man, you're an animal!'

As Laurent hit his wife, Madame Raquin watched and she was happy.

After this, Therese began to speak about Camille every day. She spoke about him in every conversation. When he thought about Camille, Laurent became mad and Therese knew this. She would repeat Camille's name until Laurent hit her. Then she knew that she had won.

 

Chapter twelve

Punishment

 

Madame Raquin's life was terrible. She wanted to die.

She decided that she would stop eating. She refused all food. She wanted to kill herself. Therese tried to make her aunt eat some food, but the old woman would not open her mouth.

'Leave her alone,' Laurent shouted at his wife. 'If the old woman wants to die, let her die.'

When she heard these words, Madame Raquin made a decision. She did not want to die now. She did not want to make the murderers' lives easier. She decided to live.

Madame Raquin wanted revenge. And she believed that she would not have long to wait. The murderers would soon be punished. Laurent and Therese were slowly destroying each other.

Therese and Laurent wanted to escape from each other. They wanted to run away, but they could not. If they ran away, their friends would think again about Camille's death. They would remember that Laurent had been Camille's best friend. They would think about how and why Laurent and Therese got married. Then they would think that Laurent and Therese were guilty of a crime. The murderers would be caught, brought back to Paris, and executed.

One day, Therese asked Suzanne Michaud to come and serve in the shop with her. Suzanne was delighted and the two women sat behind the counter, talking all day. Madame Raquin and Francois sat upstairs.

The drapers shop had very few customers now. All the goods were old and dirty. Therese did not care about her customers or the business at all. Sometimes she went out in the afternoon and left Suzanne to look after the shop. When Therese returned to the Passage du Pont-Neuf in the evening, she looked very tired.

Laurent had nothing to do and he was very bored. He could not paint, because every face that he painted looked like Camille. Sometimes Laurent walked along by the River Seine. Sometimes he slept all day in his studio. The mark left by Camille's teeth on Laurent's neck was still painful. The bite-mark had not disappeared. Laurent saw it every day and remembered how he had murdered Camille.

Laurent hated his wife and he hated Madame Raquin. And his hatred of Madame Raquin's tabby cat, Francis, became stronger and stronger.

The cat sat on Madame Raquin's knees all day. He watched Laurent with his big green eyes. Laurent began to think that Francois knew all about the murder of Camille.

One evening, Laurent decided to kill the animal. He picked up the cat and opened the sitting-room window. Immediately, Madame Raquin understood what Laurent was going to do. Two tears ran down her pale face.

Francois fought Laurent and tried to bite him. But the poor cat could not get away. Laurent threw the animal out of the window. Francois's head hit the high black wall and, with one terrible cry, he died.

Poor Madame Raquin had cried when her son died. And now she cried when she saw Francois die.

Laurent soon had other things to worry him. Therese had became very quiet. She no longer tried to please her aunt. Therese also stopped quarrelling with her husband. Sometimes she did not speak to him at all.

Then Therese started to go out of the house four or five times a week. Laurent did not trust his wife. He was afraid that she would go the police and tell them about the murder of Camille. He thought that she would confess to the crime. Laurent decided to follow Therese and find out what she was doing.

Early one morning, Laurent sat down outside a wine-shop near the Passage du Pont-Neuf and waited. After half an hour, Therese came out of the arcade. She was dressed in brightly-coloured clothes and her black hair hung about her shoulders. She lifted her dress as she walked and everyone could see her white stockings and black shoes. She smiled at all the men as she walked along.

Laurent followed his wife carefully. She was walking more quickly now. A police officer passed her and Therese smiled at him. Laurent was terrified. Therese was going to tell the police officer everything! But she walked on until she came to a little cafe. The tables outside the cafe were crowded with students and young women. Therese sat down at one of the tables and greeted all the young people. The men and women were drinking wine, smoking cigars and kissing each other.

Therese spoke to a waiter and ordered a drink. Then she started to talk to a fair-haired young man. When they had finished their drinks, Therese and the young man got up and walked away. Therese was holding the young man's arm.

Laurent followed them and saw them go into a cheap hotel. A few minutes later, Therese and the young man were standing together by an open window. The fair-haired man put his arms round Therese and kissed her.

'Therese is making love to strangers and they are paying her,' Laurent said to himself. 'I don't care. I'll ask Therese for a few thousand francs when she gets home this evening.'

That night, Therese came home late. Laurent did not say that he had seen her at the cafe with the young man.

Therese looked tired and she smelt of cigar smoke and wine. She ate nothing at dinner.

'I want you to give me some money,' Laurent said. 'Five thousand francs will be enough.'

Therese refused. 'No. You'll soon want more,' she replied. 'We're spending too much money. You've got no job. The shop isn't making any money now. I give you an allowance of one hundred francs a month and I pay for all your food. That's more than enough.'

'I want five thousand francs,' Laurent said again.

'We've bought everything for you for four years!' Therese shouted. 'There's a word for a man who women pay for!'

'You've learnt that word from your new friends,' Laurent said. But he did not say more. He did not tell Therese that he had seen her with her new friends.

Therese looked at her husband with anger in her dark, shining eyes. 'At least my new friends are not murderers,' she said quietly.

Laurent's face became very pale. 'I don't want to quarrel any more,' he said. 'Give me the money.' 'No.'

Laurent jumped up and Therese thought that he was going to hit her. 'You're making me mad!' he shouted. 'I shall go to the police and tell them everything.'

Therese stood up too. 'Very well,' she said. 'Let's go to the police together.'

'Yes. We'll go together,' Laurent replied.

But when they got downstairs they both stopped. They were too afraid to go any further. Therese was the first to speak.

'You can have the money,' she said. 'I don't care.'

She left the room and came back a few minutes later with five thousand francs.

Laurent now had money and he began to enjoy himself.

He went out with women. He got drunk in wine-shops and sometimes he stayed out all night. But nothing made him feel happy. Laurent did not care for food and kisses any more. And when he returned home to Therese and Madame Raquin, he felt afraid again. After a few weeks, he decided not to spend any more money.

Then Therese stopped going out and meeting men. Nothing made her happy now. She stayed in the house, wore dirty clothes and did not wash herself.

The two murderers were together in the house all day. They began to quarrel again. They both said that they would go to the police and confess. They watched each other with fear in their eyes. Therese began to wish that Laurent was dead. And Laurent began to wish that Therese was dead. Only a second murder could save them.

Laurent decided to kill Therese because he hated and feared her. Therese decided to kill her husband for the same reasons. Their plans were exactly the same. First, murder, then escape with Therese's money. Therese had hidden the money, but Laurent knew where it was.

Laurent bought some prussic acid - a powerful poison. Therese took a sharp knife from the kitchen and hid it in the pocket of her dress.

Thursday evening arrived and the domino players walked cheerfully up the stairs to the room over the drapers shop. They had been meeting together every Thursday for four years. They had never thought that anything was wrong in the Raquins' home. And they did not think that anything was wrong on this day. They were sure that the Raquins were all happy.

Therese and Suzanne talked together, as usual. Grivet told his silly jokes, as usual. Laurent laughed loudly at all of Grivet's stories, as usual.

Madame Raquin waited and watched. Soon the murderers would be punished for their crime. She hoped that she would live long enough to see them punished.

That evening, the friends stayed much later than usual. It was half past eleven when they finished their last game of dominoes. Grivet and the Michauds got ready to leave.

'This is such a happy place. We never want to go home,' Old Michaud said and he smiled at Madame Raquin.

'I'll be here tomorrow at nine o'clock,' Suzanne said to Therese.

'No,' Therese said quickly. 'I'll be out tomorrow morning. Come in the afternoon.'

Therese and Laurent went downstairs with their visitors and locked the door of the shop. Their hands were shaking and they did not look at each other. Then they went upstairs and sat down at the table. They did not look at Madame Raquin.

Suddenly Laurent said, 'Well, are we going to bed?'

'Yes, we're going to bed,' Therese replied. She stood up and picked up the water jug. 'I'll prepare a drink for us before you take aunt to her bed.'

'No. I'll make a drink tonight,' Laurent said quickly. He turned away from his wife and filled a glass with water from the jug. He poured the poison into the glass and then put in some sugar.

As Laurent turned away from her, Therese pulled the knife out of her pocket.

They both turned towards each other at the same moment. Therese looked at the glass and then Laurent saw the knife in his wife's hand. Madame Raquin sat and watched.

Suddenly, Therese and Laurent began to cry. They stood completely still, looking at each other for the last time. Then Therese took the glass, drank half of the poisoned water and gave the glass back to Laurent. He drank too.

As they fell down to the floor together, Therese's mouth touched the mark on Laurent's neck.

Laurent and Therese lay on the sitting-room floor all night. The light from the lamp shone down on their twisted bodies.

For almost twelve hours, Madame Raquin stared at the corpses of the murderers. She could not move and she could not cry out. But she had a look of terrible joy in her eyes. She was happy. Her son's murderers had their punishment at last.

Four Weddings And A Funeral

Richard Curtis

Words, you might not know:

vomiting, alarm, enthusiastically, disaster, excuse, violently, sympathetic

 

Chapter one

The First Wedding

 

You are invited to the wedding of Angus and Laura on May 1st at St John's Church, Stoke Clandon, Somerset

It's Angus and Laura's wedding day, and Charles is going to be their best man. The best man has to look after the bridegroom and give him the wedding ring. The best man also has to be at the church on time, but Charles is never punctual. He is not even awake yet. The alarm clock rings loudly next to his bed. He reaches out his hand, turns it off, and goes back to sleep.

The wedding is in the west of England, which is at least two or three hours by car from London, where Charles lives. Some of his other friends are awake though. They'll be at the wedding before Charles. In their large, fine house, Tom and Fiona are up and getting ready to go. They are brother and sister, and they come from a very rich family. They are opposite types of people: Fiona is a tall, elegant and clever woman; Tom is a happy, but not very intelligent, man.

Tom enjoys his food, and he's now eating a large breakfast while Fiona chooses what to wear. Finally, she zips herself into a smart dress. She goes downstairs to the dining-room and the maid gives her a cup of black coffee. She quickly drinks it, and they set off. It's Saturday, so the traffic is not too bad, but they mustn't delay any longer.

On their way out of London, they call for Gareth and Matthew, who live together in an attractive, country-style house. Matthew is a cool but kind, sympathetic person - a Scotsman in his thirties. Gareth is a large, fat man of about forty-five. His hair is a little grey, but his beard is still black. He likes to wear quite elegant, but very bright clothes. He loves to joke, and is often quite rude to other people. Gareth and Matthew are boyfriends.

'Late! You're late!' he shouts, pointing at his watch. But Tom and Fiona know Gareth well, and don't take any notice.

They are not as late as Charles though, who is still asleep. Finally, the sun shines on to him through the bedroom curtains and he wakes up. He takes the alarm clock off the table near his bed and looks at it.

'Oh God!' he says. He is really awake this time.

Charles is thirty-three years old, good-looking, and always late. He jumps out of bed and rushes in to Scarlett's bedroom. Charles and Scarlett share a flat together. They are friends, but not lovers. Her room is a terrible mess - there are clothes everywhere. He picks up her red alarm clock and puts it under her nose. She opens her eyes sleepily.

'Oh hell!'

Scarlett is twenty-five, lively, and a real London girl. You can hear it in her voice - she's certainly not from an upper-class family!

They hurry to get ready, and run out to the car, carrying some of their formal wedding clothes with them. The car is Charles's, and it's very old. The engine won't start.

'Oh God! Oh hell!' says Charles. 'Right, we'd better take yours.'

'Mine?' says Scarlett. 'But it only goes at forty miles an hour!'

Charles drives her car so fast along the motorway that it shakes. It is a very small, red car, and it's also very old and rusty. The engine makes a terrible noise. Scarlett can't have looked after it very well!

'What road are we looking for?' asks Charles.

Scarlett has a map, but she hasn't looked at it yet. She picks it up just as they pass a motorway exit sign.

'I hope it's not the B359,' Charles says when he sees the sign behind him.

Scarlett finds the right place on the map. 'It's the B359,' she says proudly.

'Damn!-' says Charles. He suddenly puts his foot on the brake and starts to drive backwards along the motorway. There is a lorry coming up fast behind them, and there is nearly a terrible accident. Charles turns the car on to the exit road.

'Oh, hell and damn!' he says again.

It is a beautiful sunny day not long after noon as they arrive at the small church in the peaceful countryside. The church bells are ringing and all the other guests are already inside. Charles and Scarlett jump out of the car. Charles hasn't finished dressing and neither has Scarlett. They quickly put on the rest of their wedding clothes. For Charles, it's a formal suit. But Scarlett is wearing a bright orange dress with purple around the waist, and an orange hat to match. Charles tries to help her do it up at the back, but the zip gets stuck.

'Hell, hellish hell!' says Charles, pulling at the zip.

'Damn and hell!' says Scarlett. She tries to get his tie straight. A very large smart car drives up behind them. The bride is coming.

She gets out of the car in her beautiful white wedding dress. One of her bridesmaids helps her. They are both holding wonderful bunches of flowers.

'Oh no!' Charles says, and they begin to run towards the church. They smile and wave at the bride as they pass her.

The church is full of flowers and all the women guests are wearing elegant hats. Charles and Scarlett look around and finally see their friends, Fiona and Tom, Gareth and Matthew. They go over to them.

Fiona says to Charles, 'There is a sort of greatness in your lateness.'

'Thanks,' Charles replies. 'I have to work hard at it, you know.'

Scarlett sits down with them, but Charles puts a pink flower in the buttonhole of his jacket and walks on up the church to Angus, the bridegroom, who is waiting nervously for his best man.

'Sorry, sorry,' says Charles. 'There's no excuse, I know. I'll kill myself afterwards, if you like.'

'It doesn't matter,' says Angus. 'If you hadn't come Tom would have taken your place.'

'Thanks, Tom - you're wonderful! What a terrible haircut though!' Charles jokes.

'You haven't forgotten the ring, have you?' asks Angus. The best man is always given the ring to bring to the church.

'No, no, of course not.' Charles touches his pocket confidently. But he is secretly alarmed. Where is the ring? When Angus isn't looking, he searches for it in his pockets, but they are all empty. Oh God! He must have left it at home!

Just then, an attractive girl in a large black hat and white jacket walks into the church.

Charles and several other guests turn to look at her.

'Late!' says Charles. 'I hate it when people are late! Hate it.'

This makes Angus smile a little and he seems less nervous now. Then the wedding music starts.

'Here we go!' says Charles, and Angus turns round to look at his bride, who is walking up the aisle towards him. Laura is holding on to her father's arm, and she's wearing a very expensive white wedding dress. She has two little bridesmaids, and one older bridesmaid, a young woman called Lydia.

'Oh, isn't she beautiful!' breathes Scarlett.

'You're blind,' says Fiona sharply. 'She looks like a big white cake.'

'Dear friends, I am so happy to welcome you here today,' the priest begins the service. 'Welcome to our church on this wonderful day for Angus and Laura!'

But Charles is looking around him, wondering what to do about the ring. When he sees the girl in the black hat, he starts to think about other things - she's very attractive. Then he remembers that there is a more urgent problem. Everyone is singing now. He tries to make one of his friends notice him, but has no luck.

At last Matthew looks at him. Charles points at his own ring finger and the pain on his face tells Matthew what the problem is.

'Please! Help me!' Charles silently makes the words with his lips.

Matthew whispers to Gareth, but Gareth holds out both hands to show that there is no ring on them. He whispers to Fiona, and to several more friends too. None of them is wearing a ring. Charles will be in big trouble! The singing is coming to an end now.

Scarlett is singing very loudly and enthusiastically but not very well. Matthew interrupts her.

'Scarlett!' whispers Matthew. She is their last hope. She smiles back at him innocently. When the priest begins to read the next words of the service, Matthew nods to Charles - yes, they've got something!

'I'll be back in a moment!' Charles says to the groom, who looks alarmed.

The priest continues to speak: 'Do you promise to love her...?' while Charles goes down the side of the church to find Matthew.

Angus, the bridegroom, is saying 'I do.'

Matthew hands something to Charles, and Charles looks surprised at what Matthew has given him.

'It's the best I could do,' whispers Matthew.

Charles rushes back to the front of the church.

'Do you have the ring?' asks the priest.

When he sees it, he is quite surprised too. Angus puts the ring on to his bride's finger. It is in the shape of a large, brightly- coloured plastic heart.

While the happy couple are signing their names at the back of the church, the bride's sister and her boyfriend come forwards with a guitar to sing pop music. It's an old Barry Manilow song.

Gareth holds his head in his hands. Then he pretends to shoot himself. He is letting everybody know that it is one of the most terrible things he has ever heard.

At last it's time to leave the church. When the bride, the groom and the guests walk out of the church they look very happy. Everybody is smiling and chatting. Charles catches up with the girl in the black hat outside.

'That's a great hat,' he says.

'Thanks - I bought it specially,' she smiles at him. He can hear from her accent that she's American.

Now it's time for the wedding photos. The photographer arranges the bride, the groom and the family in groups for the different pictures. A little boy spoils one of them when he tries to hide under the big skirts of the bride's wedding dress. He thinks it's funny - but the others don't.

Charles and his friends all get together in their own group to chat. There's Matthew and Gareth, there's Fiona and Tom, and of course the lively Scarlett. There's Charles's brother, David, too, who is deaf and communicates in sign language using his hands. And there's also Bernard, who is Tom's best friend - he is like Tom, a kind man, but not very clever.

Tom enjoyed the wedding and so did Bernard.

'I thought it was good, very good,' says Tom. 'What did you think?'

'Oh yes, good, very good,' replies Bernard.

'Scarlett,' says Gareth, 'what an amusing dress! Purple for the Christian church, and orange for the wild natural world. Just like the meaning of the wedding itself, don't you think?'

'Yes - that's right,' says Scarlett, who doesn't really know what he means.

'Does anybody know,' asks Charles, 'who the girl in the black hat is?'

They all look at her. She is standing not far away, talking to somebody's grandmother.

'Her name's Carrie,' says Fiona. 'She's pretty,' says Charles.

'Awful girl!' says Fiona. 'She's American. She used to work at Vogue, the fashion magazine. She lives in America now, and she only goes out with very smart, elegant people. So you can forget about her, Charles.'

Fiona is not completely serious.

'It's a good thing you told me,' says Charles, who knows this. 'Thanks.'

The bride and groom leave the guests and get into their car. They look very happy. People wave at them as the car is being driven away.

'Right,' says Gareth. 'It's time for the reception.'

The guests have to walk through a farm to get to the reception. It is very pretty, but Tom steps in some cow mess.

'Did any of you do this too?' he asks, looking at his shoe. 'Typical!' says Fiona. 'Only my brother could do that!'

'Well,' said Tom, 'I might find love at the reception. There might be a really nice girl there! I don't want to spoil my good luck with a horrible smell!'

He stops to clean his shoe, and the others walk on towards the house. The bride and groom and their families are standing outside in a line. Everybody has to shake their hands and congratulate them as they go past.

'I never know what to say,' says Fiona.

'It's easy. Just say, "You must be very proud,'" Matthew advises her. 'That's what everyone says.'

'God, no!' says Fiona.

They walk up the line.

'You must be very proud of your daughter,' says Fiona, as she shakes the hand of the bride's father.

The reception is being held in a very large and smart tent, on the grass at the front of the house. It is full of flowers, and looks very beautiful. The guests are elegant too, but in a comfortable, not too rich way. Most of the men are wearing dark suits, and a lot of the women have dresses with flowers on them. The drinks are being served by waiters and waitresses, and at the back of the tent, the band is getting ready to play.

Charles pushes through the crowd, trying to find Carrie. But when he finally sees her, she is already talking to a good-looking man.

'The rat!' says Charles. He goes back to the drinks table and takes two glasses of wine. When he turns round again, she is alone. He offers her a drink.

'Oh - hello!' he says brightly. 'Do you want one of these?'

'Thank you,' Carrie replies.

Charles badly wants to talk to her, but he can't think of anything to say.

'Ah - mmm-'

The situation is rather embarrassing for them both.

Before he can think of something, another man joins them. This is John, who is about thirty-eight, but behaves like a man of sixty. He is very formal.

'Hello Charles,' he says.

'Ah, hello, dear John - how are you? This is ...'

'Carrie,' answers Carrie for him.

'I'm delighted to meet you. My name's John.'

They are all silent for a moment - who is going to speak first? Charles decides to be the first.

'So, John, how's that lovely girlfriend of yours?'

'She's not my girlfriend now,' he replies stiffly.

'Oh dear - well, don't be sad! I heard that she was still seeing old Toby de Lisle! She needed two men, you know!'

'She is now my wife,' says John, even more stiffly.

The situation is now even more embarrassing than before.

'Excellent, excellent!' says Charles, very uncomfortably. 'May I congratulate you? And is there the sound of little feet yet? You know - babies, and all that? No? Oh well, plenty of time for that, isn't there?'

'Excuse me,' says Carrie, amused. She walks away.

Charles tells himself that he is a fool. If he hadn't said those stupid things, Carrie wouldn't have gone, and John wouldn't have been hurt. He hits his head against a tree on purpose, then tries to say hello to an old lady who is walking past. She thinks he is crazy.

Fiona has found a man called Gerald to talk to. He looks innocent, but a bit strange too. He is wearing a dark suit and a black pullover.

'What do you do?' she asks him.


Date: 2015-12-18; view: 716


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