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Lord Gainsford: Yes. Yes, I believe it. I believe it, because I want to believe it.
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Robert Conway: [On the plane, having been evacuated] Hello, Freshie. Did you make that report out yet?
George Conway: Yes, Bob.
Robert Conway: Did you say we saved 90 white people?
George Conway: Yes.
Robert Conway: Good. Hooray for us. Did you say we left 10,000 natives down there to be annihilated? No... No, you wouldn't say that. They don't count.
George Conway: You better try to get some sleep, Bob.
Robert Conway: Just you wait till I'm Foreign Secretary. Ha ha... Can't you just see me, Freshie, with all those other shrewd little Foreign Secretaries? You see, the trick is, to see who can out-talk the other. Everybody wants something for nothing. If you can't get it with smooth talk, you... send your army in. But I'm going to fool them, Freshie. I'm not going to have an army. I'm going to disband mine. I'm going to sink my battleships. I'm going to destroy every piece of war craft. Then, when the enemy approaches, we'll say, "Come in, gentlemen! What can we do for you?" So then the poor enemy soldiers will stop and think. And what will they think, Freshie? They'll say to themselves, "There's something wrong here, we've been duped! This is not according to form. These people seem quite friendly, and why should we shoot them?" Then they'll lay down their arms. You see how simple the whole thing is? Ha! Centuries of tradition kicked right in the pants. Ha ha... and I'll be slapped straight into the nearest insane asylum.
George Conway: You'd better not drink any more, Bob. You're not talking sense.
Robert Conway: Don't worry, George. Nothing's going to happen. I'll fall right into line... I'll be the good little boy that everybody wants me to be. I'll be the best little Foreign Secretary that we've ever had. Just because I haven't the nerve... to be anything else.
George Conway: Do try to sleep, Bob.
Robert Conway: Sleep, yes. Good thing, sleep. Ever notice the sunrise in China, George? Ah, you should... it's beautiful.
Margo
Extended Reading
