Beldon.
If I hadn't known you'd taken that pilot
single-handed, I'd say you were scared.
I am scared, just as I was when
I took that German pilot single-handed.
- Know why she's come in such haste?
- To object to the marriage, I suppose.
It's really insufferable snobbery.
A boy like Vin,
she ought to be proud and happy.
- And honored.
- I wish I had a better dress on.
Oh, well.
Clement Miniver, don't you dare smile.
Why, Lady Beldon, this is nice.
Won't you sit down here?
I think I can guess why you came.
- Vin's told you his news, hasn't he?
- Yes, Mrs. Miniver.
- I do hope you're as pleased as we are.
- I'm afraid not. Why, they're infants.
- Carol's 18 and that boy's not 20.
- Yes, they are young.
I think I should tell you frankly:
I hope to persuade Carol to wait.
- You think she may change her mind?
- Frankly, yes.
- Perhaps make a better match.
- There's always that possibility.
Of course,
it may be just maternal vanity...
...but I don't think Carol will find
anyone nicer than Vin.
- I don't believe she'll change her mind.
- It's a matter of opinion.
- Her age is a matter of fact.
- Isn't that Beldon tradition...
...to marry young?
- I don't know what you mean.
- My daughter Judy...
You've not met Judy. She had to write
a composition on the Crusades.
She brought a small book home
from the library...
...called A Friend
of King Richard the Lion-Hearted.
- It was a life of an ancestor of yours.
- Really, I fail to see...
It was a fascinating book.
I got quite interested in it myself.
It was full of stories
of the Beldon family.
I trust you satisfied yourself
we were worthy of the alliance.
Well, there were one or two things
that rather surprised me.
Did you know that the
12th Lord Beldon was hanged?
He was beheaded.
Such things happen in the best families.
- Usually in the best families.
- In fact, what interested me most...
...was the extreme youth of the
Beldon brides. This Gilbert Beldon...
...who went on the Crusades, married an
Isabelle Du Something-or-other, age 12.
I did not come here to chatter pedigrees.
I'm old-fashioned. I believe in breeding.
- That's neither here nor there.
- Your point is, they're too young.
I've said so, haven't I?
We're at war, Lady Beldon.
And Vin's a flyer.
It's no excuse for rushing into
an ill-considered marriage.
But in war, time is so precious
to the young people.
- How old were you when you married?
- I?
It's no use telling fibs...
...because I looked you up.
- Oh, well, if you've looked me up...
...I suppose you know that I was 16.
- Sixteen. And did your parents approve?
- That's beside the point.
Oh, forgive me. Is it?
You married very young,
without your parents' consent...
...and yet when Carol...
- Oh, but perhaps you regretted it.
- I did nothing of the kind.
- Then why...?
- My marriage lasted a few weeks.
My husband was in the army.
He was killed in action.
Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me.
I didn't know.
I never regretted it.
Not for one moment.
We married because
we knew that might happen.
But I don't want Carol to suffer
as I suffered.
Don't you want her to be happy,
even for a little while...
...the way you were?
I was afraid you'd say that.
Not that it matters what you say.
Or what I say, either.
You know that, don't you?
You mean, Carol will go her own way?
She's my granddaughter.
Well, then why?
Goodness knows.
I was beaten before I started.
You don't mind terribly, do you?
He is a nice boy.
Yes.
I see now where he gets it.
You're pretty too.
No wonder that wretched Ballard
named his rose after you.
Not that he's got a chance
of getting the cup from me.
Well, so long as we're going
to be relatives...
...the least you can do
is to offer me some tea.
- Well?
- Oh, yes. Yes, of course.
"So Alice sat on with closed eyes...
...and half believed herself again
in Wonderland.
With the grass rustling in the wind...
...and the pool rippling