Freddie Clegg
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I suppose it was the loneliness... and being far away from anyplace that made me decide to buy the house. And after I did, I told myself I'll never go through with the plan — even though I'd made all the preparations ... and knew where she was every minute of the day.
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I kept thinking perhaps it was my fault, after all, that she did what she did and lost my respect. Then I thought, no. It was her fault. She asked for everything she got. My only mistake was aiming too high. I ought to have seen I'd never get what I wanted from someone like Miranda with all her la-di-da ideas and clever tricks. I ought to have got someone who would respect me more. Someone ordinary. Someone I could teach.
Dialogue
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Miranda: Do you mind telling me where we are and who you are? … You've gone to a lot of trouble. All those clothes in there, all those art books. I'm your prisoner, but you want me to be a happy prisoner. Why? Since you know my father isn't a rich man, it isn't for ransom, as you say. The only other thing is sex.
Freddie: It's not that at all. I shall have all the proper respect.
Miranda: Then why am I here?
Freddie: I want you to be my guest.
Miranda: Your guest? I don't want to be your guest! Let me go!
Freddie:
[grabbing her, he softly declares] I love you.
[shocked, she freezes, and turns to face him] Funny thing is — I told myself a dozen times — I wasn't going to tell you. I was going to let it come natural on both sides. But I touched you just then. It came out. You see at home in Reading we used to travel on the same bus together. I even sat next to you once or twice. I used to watch you all the time. And then, when you got the scholarship and went to London I thought I'd forget you. From the first time I saw you, l... I think I knew you were the only one.
Miranda: I don't understand all this. I don't understand why you brought me here.
Freddie: I want you to get to know me.
Miranda: But you don't kidnap people so they'll get to know you. Don't you realize the trouble that you could get into?
Freddie: I don't care.
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Miranda: Oh, God! This is like a lunatic asylum. Look, people must be searching for me. All of England must be searching for me. Sooner or later, they're going to find me.
Freddie: Never. Because, you see — they're looking for you, all right — but nobody's looking for me.
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Miranda: How long are you gonna keep me here?
Freddie: I don't know. It depends.
Miranda: On what? On my falling in love with you? Because if that's what you want, I'm going to be here until I die!
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Freddie: I've been collecting all my life. I'm an entomologist. I won a hobby prize for this setting. And most of these come from Central America. I correspond with a monk who sends me larvae, and then I incubate them myself. You see that? This is a leaf butterfy. Looks just like two leaves. These are my chalkhills. And... these are my Adonis blues. I bred that aberration myself. And it's better than any they've got in the Natural History Museum. These are my fritillaries. That's the silver-washed and that's the medium brown beckerwood, red admiral, swallowtail, peacock.
Miranda: They're beautiful — but sad. How many butterfies have you killed?
Freddie: You can see.
Miranda: Think of all the living beauty you've ended.
Freddie: That's silly. What difference does a few specimens make to a whole species?
[She picks up a jar with a living butterfly inside] Be careful. It's very rare.
Miranda: Let it go.
Freddie: You're joking.
[Stops her from opening the jar] Don't do that! I may never get another one.
Miranda: And now you've collected me, haven't you? Don't you see what's happened? You've had this —
this dream with me in the center of it. It's not love — it's the sort of dream young boys have when they reach puberty, only you've made it come true.
Freddie: I'll tell you something. There'd be a blooming lot more of this if more people had the time and the money!
Miranda: We all want things we can't have.
Freddie:
We all take what we can get! I never had your advantages. My father wasn't a la-di-da doctor. I never went to a posh school. I was just a clerk in a bank.
Miranda: "Reading." …
Of course! You won a fortune on the pools! You had your picture in the paper! I remember now! You could do so much! You could travel, learn, meet people. You could have a wonderful life! But this is death, don't you see? Nothing but death! These are dead. I'm dead. Everything here is dead. Is that what you love? Death?
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Miranda: I've stayed the four weeks.
Freddie: I just have to have you here a little longer.
Miranda: Why? What more can I do? What more can you want?
Freddie: You know what I want... it's what I've always wanted. You could fall in love with me if you tried. I've done everything I could to make it easy. You just won't try!
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