ALICE
(secretive)
I saw a white rabbit run through
here…wearing a waistcoat.
IMOGENE
(secretive)
How very strange. What kind of
waistcoat?
ALICE
Brocade, I think. What does
it matter? It was a rabbit wearing
a waistcoat!
IMOGENE
I’m sorry, you’ll have to go
someplace else to look for
your rabbit. I’m waiting here
for my fiance.
ALICE
You’re engaged? I didn’t know.
IMOGENE
No one does. I’ve been secretly
engaged for years.
ALICE
Who is he?
IMOGENE
A prince.
AL I CE
Where did you meet a prince?
IMOGENE
Alas, he cannot marry me
unless he renounces his throne.
ALICE
(worried now)
I…see.
IMOGENE
Run along now. And marry Hamish,
Alice. You don’t want to end
up a spinster like some of those
poor women we know.
It’s a cautionary tale. Alice continus to look for the elusive
rabbit. She hears rustling ahead and peeks around a
tree…surprisinga man and a woman kissing. The woman gasps and
runs off. The man turns. It’s Margaret’s husband, Lowell.
ALICE
Lowell?
LOWELL
Alice. We were…Katrina is an
old friend.
ALICE
(upset)
I can see you’re very close.
He’s caught and he knows it. So he goes on the offensive.
LOWELL
You won’t tell your sister
about this, will you?
ALICE
I don’t know. I need time to
think.
LOWELL
Think of Margaret. This would
be devastating to her.
ALICE
I know!
LOWELL
Marriage is based on trust. She
would never trust me again. You
don’t want to ruin your sister’s
marriage, do you?
ALICE
But I’m not the one…
LOWELL
She must never know about this.
Hamish approaches.
HMI IS H
There you are, Alice! Lowell.
LOWELL
Hamish.
HAN I SH
Come under the gazebo.
As Hamish pulls Alice away, Lowell places his finger on his
lips. Hamish pulls her insistently to the gazebo. The shadows
of the pillars fall on her like prison bars. She glances at
the musicians. They’re at the ready…bows poised. Hamish drops
to his knee. Alice glances over at an artist who’s drawing the
moment for posterity.
HAN I SN
Alice Kingsley…
She notices something on his shoulder.
ALICE
Hamish.
HAN I SH
What is it?
ALICE
You have a caterpiller on
your shoulder.
HAN IS H
Well, get it off me!
He frantically brushes at his shoulder.
AL I CE
Don’t hurt it! Hold still.
Alice lets the caterpiller crawls onto her finger, then places
it gently onto a tree branch.
HAN I SN
You’ll want to wash that finger.
(starting again)
Alice Kingsley…will you be my
wife?
The question hangs in the air. The musicians’ bows are poised.
The party has fallen silent. It seems the whole world is
listening. Unsure of herself, unsure of her future, unsure of
anything in that moment, Alice stammers.
ALICE
I…I…would have to say…everyone
thinks I should…and there ‘s no
reason not to…so I suppose my
answer would have to be…I would
have to say…
She trails off as she sees the WHITE RABBIT leaning against a
pillar, glaring at her with undisguised impatience.
13
ALICE (cant.)
I need a moment.
She turns and runs, whether she’s running after the Rabbit or
away from Hamish is a question that she’ll often ask herself
in the future.
EXT. THE MEADOW – DAY – CONT
She spots the White Rabbit bounding across a meadow.
ALICE
Wait!
She runs into the meadow. But she’s lost him again. She peeks
over the hedgerow. No rabbit. Stumped, she looks around.
CLOSE ON ALICE’S ANKLE
A white paw reaches up from out of the ground and grasps her
by the ankle. With a quick jerk, it pulls her down into the
rabbit hole. She screams.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
…and keeps screaming as she tumbles head over heels down the
rabbit hole. She frantically grabs at the walls which are hung
with exotic objects: paintings, ancient maps, cracked mirrors,
demonic masks, etc. She pulls out books, jam jars, a crystal
ball, a badger claw, a monkey’s hand and a human skull in her
frantic effort to stop herself. And down she falls.
She looks up and sees the round bright circle of the rabbit
hole and the blue sky above which grows smaller the further
she plunges.
Gradually, it grows darker as the day passes into night. And
still she falls. Now she can see stars twinkling in the dark
round circle of the hole as she plunges deeper and deeper
beneath the earth’s surface. Finally, after what seems like
hours, Alice dozes off. And still she plunges until…
INT. THE ROUND HALL
WHAN! She hits the bottom, hitting her head onto a wooden
floor and knocking her wind out. Alice gasps. After a moment,
she’s able to breathe again. She rubs the bump on her
forehead.
