Stop, Wait, Please

GEORGE
...And then with a swift karate-chop
I removed his gun --
You should have been there!
Poor chap didn't know what hit him...

GIULIETTA (interrupting)
Still George!
If you can't keep your tongue still
You will have the face of Edith Sitwell!

GEORGE
Ah well they're happy...
It's for the best anyway...
Let's face it
He's the man for her
And I'm the man for you dear...

GIULIETTA
Don't talk such nonsense --
You'll never stop loving her.
You don't fool me:
You're quite besotted with her...

Stop. Wait. Good. Please...
Still George...

GEORGE
With my scarf I made a tourniquet --
Shantung silk but worth the sacrifice --
It stemmed the flow the arm was saved and...

GIULIETTA
Still George
Rose would seem the kind of lady
Who would live through any blood-bath...

GEORGE
Darling it's over --
So don't be so cynical.
I don't suppose that you've become a nun
Since last I saw you...

GIULIETTA
Wouldn't you love that!
Perpetual chastity!

GEORGE
So tell me
Have you found some young Adonis?

GIULIETTA (back to work again)
Stop. Wait. Good. Please...

No George.

BOTH
Time and light are fading --
Shouldn't we make the most of
Every precious moment?
Life is sweet and slow and still and...

VOICES
I'm not leaving here till I get what I came for...it's a
scandal...out of my way...heaven help him if he won't
pay...who are you pushing...I got here first...all I want
is what's fair...he had better be there...

GEORGE (over the voices)
For heaven's sake!
Who's making all that mayhem?

MARCEL (to GEORGE)
Thank God you're here!
We've got trouble with Rose --

HOTELIER (to MARCEL)
Are you certain that
This is the man?

MARCEL (to GEORGE)
Running up bills
Wherever she goes!

HOTELIER (to MARCEL)
Is he the one
Footing the bill?

BOTH
This is the man I was
Looking for
Is this the man? / This is your man!

CASHIER (to HOTELIER) This is the man
Who will pay for
The eighty-one phone calls!

I beg of you pay!
My poor mother is dying!

HOTELIER (to GEORGE)
She loses her job if
These bills don't get settled!
If I lose my job then...
PHARMACIST (to DOCTOR)
This is the man
Who will pay for
The codeine and dressings!

DOCTOR (to GEORGE)
I've called the police there
(to GEORGE)
We'll call the police if...

Are eight in the lobby!
CASHIER
The Doge's Suite!
HOTELIER
DOCTOR & PHARMACIST
Beluga caviar!
Twenty thousand lire!
GONDOLIER
You are the man
I understand
Who can clear my expenses.
Here they are:
Thirty thousand lire! CASHIER
Forty thousand!
HOTELIER
Fifty thousand!

GEORGE (counting)
DOCTOR & PHARMACIST
Nineteen...
Twenty thousand lire!
GIULIETTA (counting)
GONDOLIER
Twenty-three...
Thirty thousand lire!
GEORGE & GIULIETTA
Forty-eight...
CASHIER
Forty thousand!
Forty-nine...
HOTELIER
Fifty thousand!

MARCEL
George I'm sorry...She's been very ill.

ROSE
George...George...
My life is draining...
Away...

MARCEL (backing out to GEORGE)
We'd best be on our way --
We'll leave you three alone...

GIULIETTA
So this is Rose Vibert.
The famous Rose Vibert.

GEORGE
I have to talk to her.
Sit down and talk to her.
This can't go on another day.

Rose what can I do with you?
Wreaking havoc left and right --
It's absurd!
She must change her ways
She must pass this passing phase --
Problem child...
Running wild...

Rose I ought to strangle you!
But there's a style about that girl
That stops me in my tracks.
Heaven knows why she
Wants to waste her life with me...

And yet if she went off
If she set herself free
As I've told her she should...
Where on earth would I be?

GIULIETTA
You'd be lost my friend
And so would she...

ROSE
...And he said to me
He really ought to buy that vineyard...

GIULIETTA
Please Rose.
Don't you think you ought
To take a little rest
From George's foibles?

ROSE
Well you'll have to learn to live with it.
That and all his other pet obsessions:
God and Trollope
Other women...

GIULIETTA
Please Rose!
George is a remarkable man.
He was there when I thought I had no one.
He saw me through my darkest moments.
He made me talk about my husband.

We had been married five days...
He drove like the wind...
Not any more...

But George was always there
No matter when or where.
He stopped me feeling so alone...

ROSE
When did you meet him?

GIULIETTA
One evening at Harry's bar --
He wore a silver tie pin
And a smile that was even brighter...

ROSE
I know that tie pin --
It catches on everything!

GIULIETTA
And as for all those paint rags...

ROSE
Heaven help us!

BOTH
We deserve a medal!

ROSE
Nice to see that George has settled in:
Fifteen novels on the go as always!
Used to drive me to distraction...

GIULIETTA
Please Rose!
Last year he forgot my birthday
So I rearranged his bookmarks...

ROSE
George dear we're talking --
We don't need you hovering.

GIULIETTA
My darling you're completely right --
We're doing fine without you.

GEORGE (smiles)
I get the picture.
Condemn me to solitude!

ROSE
You'll find some things to keep you occupied.

GIULIETTA
We'll call you if we need you!

ROSE & GIULIETTA
Time and light are fading --
Shouldn't we make the most
Of every precious moment?
Life is sweet and slow and still
And perfect!
All the more now our man George
Has brought the two of us together!

ROSE
I never imagined she'd be like that --
Your lady friend comes as a sweet surprise...
A wonderfully sweet surprise...

GEORGE
Take a deep breath and prepare yourself...
I've been such a trusting fool...
Those wretched investments I made
Have gone down the drain...
After today there'll be no more champagne...
The ways of the world are cruel...

ROSE
If I ask a question
Will you promise...?
You must promise...
That the answer to my question is "yes"...

GEORGE
Yes I'll say yes...

ROSE
Take a deep breath and prepare yourself...
My mind is in such a mess...
But really George
All that I wanted to ask was this:
Would you be willing to marry me?

GEORGE
I've already told you.
Yes.