This is in fact the very first scene, how the whole story actually begins, with the indecent proposal. The complete story will be told in subsequent scenes. Based on the 1997 movie Firelight, by William Nicholson. Some changes have been made in the story that I'm telling here, Elisabeth Laurier' is now named Esther Abrabanel. Scene: A dimly lit reception room, in Victorian London: Time: Sometime in the winter of 1838. Present: The Governess, Miss Esther Abrabanel; the Go-Between, Mrs Jago, and the Gentleman, Mr. Charles Godwin. In the previous scene, the Governess had to stand for inspection, and have her assets assessed from head to toe, and from all angles (with her clothes on, -of course). The Master: (whispers, from where he is hiding behind the screen) Has she done this ever before? Go-Between: "The Gentleman asks..." Governess: "Can the Gentleman not ask for himself? Go-Between: "You are not to know who he is, my dear; no one is to know!" Governess: "He need not tell me his name, -(swallows)I'd like to hear his voice." The Master: (in a clear, low, well modulated voice) "What can you tell from a voice?" Governess: (softly)"A little." The Master: "Have you ever done anything like this before?" Governess: (softly) "No, never." The Master: "Will you do it?" Governess: (swallows) "Of course, why else am I here?!" Go-Between: "tisk, tisk, tisk (disapprovingly), -shall I look further? The Master: (decisively) "No, this is the one!" To be continued... (Next installment: The Passage to Normandy) BACKGROUND SYNOPSIS: In 1838, lovely Swiss governess Esther Abrabanel (Played by Sophie Marceau, the French Princess of Wales in Braveheart) agrees to conceive and bear the child of an anonymous English landowner (Steven Dillane, he plays Thomas Jefferson in the John Adams TV series), in return for which he'll pay her £500. He needs an heir to carry on his line, but who's wife has suffered a serious riding accident shortly after marriage, and can no longer bear children (she's actually in a vegetative state). Miss Laurier needs the money to pay her father's debt, and obtain his release from prison; but she's fiercely independent, and refuses to surrender to the yoke of a loveless marriage just for financial convenience and security. So their mutual need brings them together. They meet for three days in a hotel on the coast of Normandy, during that time their relationship metamorphs from cold the mechanics of commercial contract sex, to a mutual lust, to a deep and abiding love. However, in spite of this awakened feeling between them, they part ways on their return to England, ostensibly never to see each other again. At the birth of their child (a daughter),she surrenders her as agreed to the midwife to hand over to the father. However, unlike as agreed, she can neither forget her child, nor the man that she bore it to. Seven years pass, when one day she arrives at a remote Sussex estate, to be the governess of a young girl. The father of the girl, Charles Godwin, turns out to be the same anonymous landowner who met with her years before in the Normandy hotel, and the child Louisa is their daughter. So Esther has to be her own daughter's governess. I strongly urge you to read more about Firelight (1997) at IMDB, and to follow this link to watch it in 11 consecutive segments on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBJoNkFd5TA&feature=related Another link to watch this movie online is here: http://moviescollections.info/video/6698-Firelight.html One can also visit Firelight Screen Writer and Director, William Nicholson's site here: http://www.williamnicholson.com/qa/?failed#faq