Hugh Grant: Jeremy Thorpe

Episode #1.3

Jeremy Thorpe

[over breakfast, Marion is questioning Jeremy about his "Bunnies can - and will - go to France" love letter to Norman Scott, which has just been published in the newspapers]
Jeremy Thorpe: "Bunnies"?
Jeremy Thorpe: [to his son] Rupert, darling, I want you to take that piece of toast and eat it in your room. There's a good boy.
Jeremy Thorpe: [to Marion] Technically, he was "Bunny", singular.
Marion Thorpe: Then why did you say "Bunnies"? Were there two of you? Are *you* a Bunny? Am I married to a Bunny?
Jeremy Thorpe: No, I was using a generic noun in an imperative clause.
Marion Thorpe: Well, thank God it's grammatically correct, because the whole country's reading this! Bunnies!
[later scene: Jeremy returns home]
Jeremy Thorpe: Well, I saw David Steel. Handed him my letter. I have resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. One word. One bloody word brought me down.
Marion Thorpe: No, it wasn't "Bunnies". It's because you lied. You told the party you hardly knew Norman Scott, then the "Bunnies" letter caught you out. From that moment on, your position was untenable.

[after the "Bunnies" letter has been published, Jeremy is explaining himself to Marion]
Jeremy Thorpe: Before I met you, um, before I met Caroline... I had moments... certain nights, unfortunate nights, involving alcohol... and, um... with no women in the vicinity, I... I would dabble, to relieve myself... and that's all.
[Marion looks sceptical but not shocked]
Marion Thorpe: So this thing with Norman Scott, it wasn't a relationship?
Jeremy Thorpe: Oh! How could it be?
Marion Thorpe: Jeremy, I'm not a fool. I practically grew up with Benjamin Britten. I've seen something of the world. I fled from Hitler, for God's sake. My own son married a hippie in a yurt. And I've toured with orchestras. I couldn't begin to tell you the things I've seen, so there's no need to protect me.
Jeremy Thorpe: I made mistakes, and I've stopped. And I swear I had nothing to do with that gun and the dog and...
Marion Thorpe: Of course you didn't, Jeremy!
Jeremy Thorpe: Absolutely nothing to do with me.
Marion Thorpe: I'm not even asking. I won't dignify it with discussion, and there's an end to it.
Jeremy Thorpe: Thank you.
Marion Thorpe: For what it's worth, I think people have focussed on the word "Bunnies". But the last thing you wrote in that letter was "I miss you". I think that's a wonderful thing for a man to say to his friend.

[George Carman has been retained to defend Jeremy Thorpe in court, and is meeting him for the first time]
George Carman Q.C.: What a great big stinking mess you've got yourself into. I want to say congratulations.
Jeremy Thorpe: What for?
George Carman Q.C.: These are the greatest charges ever levelled against a Member of Parliament - and considering the House of Commons has had 270 years of bastards, liars, perverts, thieves, blackmailers, inbreds and arsonists, that really is quite an achievement.

[private meeting between Jeremy Thorpe and George Carman]
George Carman Q.C.: This is the story of a liar meeting a fantasist... but I'm not sure which one's which. My problem is this - it's your turn to take the stand. I have to conduct your defense, and yet I can't help wondering, will you be as convincing as Norman Scott?
Jeremy Thorpe: Good God. Yes, I think that people will take my word rather than his, yes.
George Carman Q.C.: But the jury have just seen him in all his glory - an open homosexual, the new world blazing. In contrast, you might seem a little... old. And if they prefer him, you could go to jail.
Jeremy Thorpe: So what do you suggest?
George Carman Q.C.: That you don't take the stand.
Jeremy Thorpe: That would be worse.
George Carman Q.C.: I wonder.
Jeremy Thorpe: I'd look guilty. And I'd look like a coward.
George Carman Q.C.: That might be a risk worth taking.
Jeremy Thorpe: Are we running in fear from Norman Scott? Well, thank God it's not your decision, it's mine.
George Carman Q.C.: My case. My courtroom. I decide.
Jeremy Thorpe: I could have you sacked, George.
George Carman Q.C.: Consider the balance of the scales of justice above us. If you don't take the stand, you could look like a liar. If you *do* take the stand, you could look like a liar.