(John and Margaret have stopped by the Ashton house after their wedding ceremony.)

JOHN PORTER
Here we are, then. Home at last, as they say in all the best films.

MARGARET PORTER
But not for long. Any minute, there'll be Freda and Molly and my mother and your father here.

JOHN
No, no, uh...Dad's gone home. Mum, you know.

MARGARET
Does she have this sort of thing often?

JOHN
No, no, not often.

(He notices his suitcase.)

JOHN
I see my case got up here.

MARGARET
You're not worried about her.

JOHN
No, no, no, no. It's happened before.

(They kiss.)

JOHN
We're on the last lap, love. Another hour or so, and we'll leave them all behind. At least you've stopped trembling. I could feel you beside me in the church.

MARGARET
Look, I'm sorry, John. I... I've not been very good today.

JOHN
Don't worry. I just wondered where my cool, self-possessed Margaret had gone, that's all.

MARGARET
John, is that how I am? Is that how I seem to you?

JOHN
Let me tell you something. First time I saw you...you know how you sum people up...I thought, there's one that knows her own worth. I wonder what sort of man could make an impression on you. And, lo and behold, it turned out to be me. At least I thought it had.

MARGARET
Now, why do you say that?

JOHN
Because you're not easy. It might be nerves or it...or it could be regret.

MARGARET
Now, John. John, be patient with me, please.

JOHN
Love, I'm going to be patient with you for the next forty years.

(They embrace.)

 

(from "Lines of Battle" by Stan Barstow)