Dangerously Yours 44-09-24 13 Berkeley Square

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio — Dangerously Yours 44-09-24: 13 Berkeley Square

Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Theme: A dramatic radio adaptation of time travel, love, and fate, blending elements of romance, history, and the supernatural in Victor Jory’s starring turn as Peter Standish in "Berkeley Square" (Dangerously Yours series).

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Overview

This episode transports listeners into a haunting story of an American, Peter Standish, who finds himself transported from the 20th century to 18th-century London, trading places with his own ancestor. The narrative explores the collision between eras, the mysteries of fate and destiny, and a love that transcends time. This radio drama, scripted with rich language and atmospheric detail, is part of the Golden Age of Radio tradition, offering an immersive, theatrical experience steeped in nostalgia and wonder.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Highlights

1. The Premise and Time Travel Mystery

• Peter Standish inherits an old house in England and becomes obsessed with his ancestor, also named Peter Standish.
• He posits that “to God there is no past, present and future,” and ponders if time as we know it is merely “an idea in the mind.” (02:13)
• While with Marjorie, his fiancée, Peter experiences a mysterious shift: he finds himself dressed in 18th-century clothes, addressed by his ancestor’s relatives, and the portrait above the fireplace is gone. (05:12)

2. Introducing the Pettigrews

• Peter is introduced to the Pettigrew family: Lady Anne, her daughters Kate and Helen, and son Tom, as well as Helen’s suitor, Mr. Throstle.
• The narrative quickly establishes period atmosphere: social customs, attention to manners, and layered relationships. (06:47)

3. Clash of Centuries

• Peter is caught between worlds; his advanced knowledge and odd expressions confuse and even frighten the 18th-century household.
• He inadvertently predicts what’s inside a gift and slips New York slang, arousing suspicion. (07:17)
• Sir Joshua Reynolds, the famed portrait artist, refuses to paint Peter, saying, “There’s something in your face...that’s unreal. Something I would never be able to capture.” (10:03)

4. Romantic Entanglements and Tensions

• Peter is expected to wed Kate but finds himself drawn to Helen. Their growing closeness and mutual attraction transgress social and familial expectations.
• Kate accuses Peter of “knowing what’s going to happen before it happens,” and fears he is not entirely human. (11:14)
• Helen, on the other hand, is sympathetic and open to Peter’s strange explanations, sensing his love and the mystery around him. Their romance builds in secrecy and intensity. (13:09, 16:49)

5. Revelation and Accusation

• As the family grows more suspicious, Kate exposes Peter by consulting the American minister, who denies the authenticity of his modern expressions.
• The family accuses Peter of possessing his ancestor’s body and being “a fiend from hell.” The accusation escalates, with threats of punishment and ruin. (19:03–20:16)
• Peter, in a moment of contempt and agony, rails against the backwardness and cruelty of the 18th century, calling them “savages” and their world a time of “dirt, disease, cruelty.” (19:23)

6. Love Across Time & The Inevitability of Parting

• Helen and Peter confess their mutual love, acknowledging that their connection defies all explanation and eras.
• Helen gently tells him, “We shall be together always, Peter. Not in my time, nor in yours, but in God’s.” (22:19)
• They part in heartbreak, knowing that Peter must return to his own world.

7. Return to the Present and Aftermath

• Peter wakes in his own time, finding himself ill but restored to the modern world. Marjorie greets him, realizing he has changed.
• He ends his engagement to Marjorie, confesses his love for a woman from 140 years ago, and reads Helen’s epitaph:

  “Here lies, in the confident hope of the blessed resurrection and life eternal, Helen Pettigrew, beloved younger daughter of Sir William Pettigrew and Lady Anne Pettigrew, who departed this life June 15, 1787, age 23 years.” (25:38)

• The story closes with Peter affirming that Helen’s presence will remain eternal in the house—and in his heart—beyond both their times.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Nature of Time:
  Peter Standish: “To God, there is no past, present and future. Time as we know it is nothing but an idea in the mind. In the mind of man.” (02:13)

• On Being Out of Place:
  Sir Joshua Reynolds: “There’s something in your face and your eyes that’s unreal. Something I would never be able to capture.” (10:03)

• Love Transcending Time:
  Helen Pettigrew: “We shall be together always, Peter. Not in my time, nor in yours, but in God’s.” (22:19)
  Peter Standish: “Oh, darling. Darling, I love you now. I shall love you in my own time and in whatever time may come.” (23:08)

• Accusation and Judgment:
  Kate Pettigrew: “If they’re used at all, the devils use them in hell.” (18:58)

• Despair and Return:
  Peter Standish: “Oh, my dear. I’ve seen your shadow on the stairs. I’ve seen your hand rest on this desk. I’ve seen you sitting by that window. And you’ll always be close to me in this house. You’ll always be the living, beautiful soul of this house.” (25:59)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:31 — Adventure Narrator’s opening on the nature of adventure and time
• 01:19 — Peter Standish hints at his time travel experience
• 05:12 — Peter realizes he has crossed into the 18th century
• 09:45 — Sir Joshua Reynolds refuses to paint Peter
• 13:09, 16:49 — Peter and Helen’s love deepens; Helen asks about the future
• 19:03–20:16 — Family confrontation and accusations against Peter
• 22:19 — The parting promise between Peter and Helen
• 24:00 — Peter wakes in his own time
• 25:38 — Recitation of Helen’s epitaph and Peter’s sorrowful monologue

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Tone & Language

The episode is steeped in romantic melancholy, poetic language, and a sense of wistful longing with gothic undertones. The dialogue is formal, rich with period detail and emotional intensity, capturing both the beauty and tragedy of a love story defying the limits of time.

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For Listeners

Even if you haven’t heard the episode, this summary provides a full picture of its themes, dramatic turns, and memorable lines. Dangerously Yours: 13 Berkeley Square epitomizes classic radio storytelling—blending supernatural intrigue, historical detail, romance, and existential questions that still resonate today.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

Vic presents Dangerously Yours, a half hour of romance and adventure. Starring Victor Jory in Barkley Square. First, here's a good thing to remember when you catch a cold. The best known home remedy for relieving miseries of colds is Vic's VaporUp. And now.

[Adventure Narrator]

I am Adventure. In my name, men have traversed the highways, the byways, the skyways of the world have traveled old trails and blazed viewers. I am the fire that burns in the heart of youth, that makes men dream and dare and conquer. I am Dangerously Yours.

[Peter Standish]

This week.

[Adventure Narrator]

Come with me to England to meet a young American who inherited an ancient house and lived one of the strangest adventures any man has ever known. Peter Standish of Berkeley Square.

[Peter Standish]

They tell me I have been very ill. Perhaps I have. But I've also been on the most inconceivable adventure that could be imagined. I have crossed the bridge from the present to the past. I have gone from this century back into the 18th century. I have traded places with my own great great grandfather, Peter Standish. That same great great grandfather whose portrait hangs there over the fireplace. When this strange adventure began, I was with Marjorie.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Peter, that's the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life. Why, you might have sat for that portrait of your great great grandfather yourself.

[Peter Standish]

Marjorie, wouldn't you love to change places with him? Just imagine, walking the quiet streets of London in the 18th century, breathing pure air instead of gasoline. Riding in sedan chairs instead of taxicabs. Wouldn't that be an adventure?

[Kate Pettigrew]

Yes, but it would be an impossible one.

[Peter Standish]

Peter. No, you're wrong. What I'm getting at is this. That to God there is no past, present and future time as we know it is nothing but an idea in the mind. In the mind of man. Do you see, Marjorie?

[Kate Pettigrew]

Peter, darling, you've been working too hard. You aren't being practical or sensible. You haven't been from the time you inherited this house and came here to live. I don't think it's good for you.

[Peter Standish]

This house gave me the idea. I tell you, the possibility of going back in time is perfectly logical.

[Kate Pettigrew]

It may sound convincing, Peter, but of course it's impossible. No, my dear. The past is over and gone.

[Peter Standish]

You're wrong, Marjorie. Look, I have some of the past right here in my hands. It's Peter Standish's diary. Would you like to know a little about him? I've been studying it so hard, I knew it almost by heart. His trip from New York to England took 27 days in a bar called the General Wolf. It says too. That Reynolds didn't want to paint his portrait. That's the one over the fireplace. I've been curious about that.

[Kate Pettigrew]

But he must have painted it. It's obviously Reynolds.

[Peter Standish]

Yes, that's certain. Now, let's see. Oh, yes. He married the eldest Pettigrew girl, Kate, in this very house. They had children who died here. And there was a younger sister, Helen. Her family tried to force her into a marriage she hated. The diary stops before that's settled. And look here, please, Peter.

[Kate Pettigrew]

It's all very interesting, but suppose you tell me about it some other time.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Oh, you look so tired and flushed.

[Kate Pettigrew]

I'm going to get you some tea.

[Peter Standish]

I wish you understood, Marjorie. Are you sure you want to marry me when there's so much you don't understand about me?

[Kate Pettigrew]

Of course I want to marry you, darling. You're just a little tired. You don't really think you could go back into the 18th century. Now, you just sit there while I get you some tea.

[Peter Standish]

I sat there staring about the room. Staring at the rich nulled walls, the satin smooth tables, the dignified chairs. The past was alive in that room, and I knew it. The firelight flickered on the ceiling and touched to gold the face of my ancestor, Peter Standish. And in some curious way, I felt as though I were looking at myself. And then outside I heard. I heard a coach on cobblestones. Then I laughed to myself. A coach? Cobblestone? Why, they had had wood blocks in Berkeley Square for ages. They were quieter even than the asphalt in New York. Then I heard a woman's footstep and I turned, expecting to see Marjorie, and saw.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Oh, I bid you good evening. I suppose you are my cousin Peter from America. We had your note that you'd arrived in London. But how did you get into the.

[Kate Pettigrew]

House without any of us hearing you?

[Peter Standish]

I jumped to my feet staring at her. Staring at this woman dressed in hooped satin, her hair piled high on her head, her shoulders bare. Her. I touched my own sleeve. That was satin, too. I looked down and saw that I was dressed in the clothes of the man in the portrait. Then I looked to the wall, but it was gone. There was no portrait there.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Well, cousin Peter, are you going to stand there staring at me all evening?

[Peter Standish]

I. I beg your pardon. You must be my cousin. My cousin Kate. Or is it Helen?

[Kate Pettigrew]

I'm Kate, sir.

[Helen Pettigrew]

But how did you get here in.

[Kate Pettigrew]

All this rain without getting wet?

[Peter Standish]

Well, I. I came in a coach.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Oh, I see.

[Peter Standish]

I rang the bell, but no one answered, so I came in.

[Kate Pettigrew]

The bell you rang the bell.

[Helen Pettigrew]

What bell?

[Peter Standish]

Oh, I mean the knocker, of course.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Well, in any event, I'm most happy to welcome you, Cousin Peter.

[Helen Pettigrew]

And if you'll come with me, my.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Mother, sister and brother will also bid you welcome.

[Helen Pettigrew]

We've all been looking forward to this.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Meeting for some time.

[Peter Standish]

I followed her out into the hall, my heart pounding with excitement. The miracle had come to pass.

I was in the 18th century. We went down the hall and there in the gracious, candlelit sitting room was the Pettigrew family, Lady Anne and Helen. And the young Pettigrew, Tom, looking a bit the worse for drinking. There was also a small, fat, unpleasant looking man who I judged to be Helen's unwanted suitor, Mr. Throstle. Lady Anne gave me a most cordial welcome.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Well, well. Cousin Peter. What a delight this visit of yours is indeed. Kate has been all a flutter about it for weeks. Indeed, so have you all.

[Peter Standish]

How gracious of her. And of you.

[Kate Pettigrew]

This is my other daughter, Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

How do you do, cousin Peter?

[Peter Standish]

How do you do, cousin Helen?

[Kate Pettigrew]

And this is my son, Tom.

[Peter Standish]

How do you do?

[Kate Pettigrew]

Who will no doubt show you around town. And this is Helen's fiance, Mr. Throsser.

[Peter Standish]

How do you, Mr. Throsser. Gentlemen. It's my pleasure. Gentlemen. Did you like the cashmere shawl your aunt sent you for your birthday, Helen?

[Helen Pettigrew]

Cashmere shawl? Is there a shawl in that parcel? I haven't opened it yet.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Peter, how could you possibly know it was a shawl? How could you possibly know?

[Peter Standish]

I don't really. It was only a guess, you see. Well, shawls are so popular nowadays.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Well, aren't you clever to guess it is a shawl. My sister wrote me about it. Well, come now. You must be shown to your room. Dinner's not so long away. Come, my dear boy. Come.

[Peter Standish]

Come in.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Oh, hello, Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Pardon the intrusion, Peter. Mother thought I should see if you were comfortable.

[Peter Standish]

I'm very comfortable, thank you. Where's Kate?

[Helen Pettigrew]

She's helping Mother downstairs. Cousin Peter, may I ask you something?

[Peter Standish]

Why, of course.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Are you in love with Kate?

[Peter Standish]

Well, I am. Why do you ask?

[Helen Pettigrew]

You never saw her before this afternoon. And yet you and Mother arranged your betrothal before you ever came to England. Of course, it may be a young and stupid fancy on my part, but I always thought that two people had to meet before they fell in love. It seems strange.

[Peter Standish]

You're quite right. Helen. Yes. Will you help me? There's a lot that's strange to me about this country. I'll need a bit of guidance why.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Yes, I'd be very glad to. And now I'll leave you. Good afternoon, Cousin Peter.

[Peter Standish]

Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Yes, Peter?

[Peter Standish]

You're very sweet. Yes, And I think my great, great grandfather was absolutely screwy. Screwy? That. That's just a New York expression.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Oh.

[Peter Standish]

Good afternoon, Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Good afternoon, Cousin Peter.

Oh, excuse me for banging the do.

[Peter Standish]

Helen. A smile curved to fit my heart. Eyes that danced in the candlelight. Hair like blue, black midnight sky. In the days that followed, I could not keep my eyes nor my thoughts away from her. Yet I knew that I must marry Kate. But Kate, after the first few days, kept away from me. It was Helen that was by my side constantly. It was Helen who took me to Sir Joshua Reynolds studio.

[Sir Joshua Reynolds]

Turn your face toward the window, please.

Mr. Standish, I am very sorry, but I must refuse the commission. I cannot paint you.

[Peter Standish]

What? Why, Sir Joshua, you did paint. I mean, that's impossible.

[Sir Joshua Reynolds]

I wish I could paint you, Mr. Standish, but I'm a painter of realities. And there's something in your face and your eyes that's unreal. Something I would never be able to capture.

[Peter Standish]

I never heard of such rot.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Come, Peter. There's no point in arguing.

[Peter Standish]

But he must paint me. He did paint me. He. Oh, never mind. You wouldn't understand. Good day, Sir Joshua. I hope you'll change your mind.

[Sir Joshua Reynolds]

Change my mind? I'd as soon paint the devil as to paint you.

[Peter Standish]

Kate, wasn't this to be my dance?

[Helen Pettigrew]

Yes, but I. I have a headache.

[Kate Pettigrew]

I don't quite feel after dancing just now.

[Peter Standish]

Well, since you have a headache, Kate, let's go outside on the balcony for a breath of air.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Well, I really shouldn't.

[Kate Pettigrew]

I. I wanted to see Mother just for a moment.

[Peter Standish]

Kate, come, let's go out here.

It's a beautiful night, isn't it?

[Helen Pettigrew]

Yes, I. I suppose so.

[Peter Standish]

Kate, what's the matter? You've been avoiding me all evening.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Have I? You certainly haven't been avoiding my sister.

[Peter Standish]

Don't tell me you're jealous. You don't need to be, you know. Jealous?

[Helen Pettigrew]

No, I'm relieved. But I fear for Helen.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Peter Standish, you're a very strange and frightening man.

[Peter Standish]

Oh, now, Kate, you're letting gossip upset you. I know what people are saying about me, and of course it's ridiculous.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Yes.

[Helen Pettigrew]

You know what people are saying, and you know what I'm thinking right now. You always know. You know what's going to happen before it happens.

[Peter Standish]

Oh, no, Kate. No. Not in the way you think. Why are you looking so startled? There's nothing to be Afraid of?

[Helen Pettigrew]

I thought you loved me.

[Peter Standish]

You. You mustn't talk like that. Why, my dear? We're going to be married.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Married? Do you think I'd marry you when I'm hard put to it to force myself to remain alone with you? Sir Joshua saw it. Everyone sees it. There's something that's. That's not human about you, Kate.

[Peter Standish]

You're overwrought.

[Narrator/Announcer]

You'll.

[Peter Standish]

You'll feel differently in the morning.

[Helen Pettigrew]

In the morning I shall drive to Budley. I cannot stay in this house with you any longer.

[Peter Standish]

I see. You're breaking our engagement. You can't do that.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Oh, can't I? How smugly you say it. So you think there are no limits.

[Kate Pettigrew]

To what a wizard can do with a woman?

[Helen Pettigrew]

The women all press after you, don't they? But no woman wishes to dance with you twice.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Except Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Peter Standish. I never was so afraid of anything.

[Kate Pettigrew]

In my life as I am of you.

[Helen Pettigrew]

And you think you can make me marry you? I'd as soon marry the devil. I'm leaving London in the morning, and I'll not return to this house as long as you're in it. And you can be sure I'll do everything in my power to get you out of it.

Peter.

[Peter Standish]

Oh, Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Peter, come and dance with me.

[Peter Standish]

You're not afraid of me, Helen. You're not afraid to dance with me.

[Helen Pettigrew]

How can you be afraid of someone you love?

Oh, come and dance with me, Peter.

[Narrator/Announcer]

In just a moment, we will bring you the second act of Dangerously Yours. Well, here it is. Fall again. And first thing you know, the children may be coming home from school with nasty colds.

[Peter Standish]

Too bad.

[Narrator/Announcer]

But this time, Mother, don't take needless chances with untried remedies. Instead, relieve distress the modern way most young mothers now use. When your child catches a cold, rub the throat, chest and back with Vicks VapoRub. Then see how quickly VapoRub starts to work to bring grand relief as it penetrates. Penetrates into the cold, congested upper bronchial tubes with its special soothing, medicinal vapors. And at the same time, stimulates. Stimulates chest and back surfaces like a warming poultice. This penetrating, stimulating action of VapoRub keeps on working for hours to bring relief and free comfort. And often, most of the distress of a cold is gone overnight. Now, stick to VapoRub this winter, Mother, because only VapoRub gives you this special, penetrating, stimulating action to relieve miseries of colds. Vic's VapoRub. And now the second act of Dangerously Yours, starring Victor Jory in Barclay Square.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Peter it's very late. Are you going to walk up and down the library all night?

[Peter Standish]

I. I can't sleep.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Helen, you're worried about Kate, aren't you? Well, don't be. She'll be all right when she returns. Peter, tell me what all this mystery means so that I can explain it to her. Tell me how you can know things you couldn't know. First it was about my shawl, and since then, oh, so many things.

[Peter Standish]

Well, Helen, I.

[Helen Pettigrew]

But it's true, Peter. You do see ahead. We all know you do. Oh, Peter, tell me how you do it. I want to see ahead, too. I'd love to know about the future.

[Peter Standish]

But I couldn't tell you, dear. You wouldn't understand. There aren't any words to make you understand.

[Helen Pettigrew]

You say there aren't any words because these things must come to your mind. And visions, Peter. And I think I could see them, too, through your eyes. Oh, let me try. Look at me, Peter. Look at me.

[Peter Standish]

Very well. I'm. Look. Looking.

[Helen Pettigrew]

And I was right. I can see. I see this room. This room.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Very room.

[Helen Pettigrew]

It blazes with magic lights, Peter. And there's your portrait on the wall. Then Reynolds did paint it, just as you said he did. Now I see sunshine. White clouds. Great birds bigger than a hundred eagles.

[Peter Standish]

Aeroplanes. Machines with men in them.

[Helen Pettigrew]

And below them reach into the sky. A very dream city. And, oh, Peter, look down on the ground.

[Peter Standish]

You're looking, Helen, into the great age of mechanism. Trains, automobiles, factories, radio. An age of miracles and of great truths. That's the future, Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Peter, you know the future. Tell me ours.

[Peter Standish]

I don't know our future, but I do know I love you. If ever a man loved a woman, I do love you.

[Helen Pettigrew]

I loved you before I ever saw you. In my first dream of you coming with a candle from somewhere far away to meet me.

[Peter Standish]

Helen, I can't play a part anymore. I myself, you see, I'm myself and I'm muddling everything up. This isn't possible. This isn't my world or yours. It isn't my life, and it isn't your life.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Well, Peter, take me away with you. Take me back to wherever you came from.

[Peter Standish]

I can't, Helen. I can't.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Then don't leave me. Oh, Peter, don't leave me.

[Peter Standish]

Oh, my beloved. When I kissed Kate, that was the first Peter Standish kissing his betrothed. But there's never been a kiss like this since the world began.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Well, Kate.

[Kate Pettigrew]

So you've come back from Budley. Well, let me tell you something. Your Peter has asked for Helen's hand in marriage. What do you think of that, Mother?

[Helen Pettigrew]

You wouldn't let Helen marry him. You wouldn't do that. This marriage must not be.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Don't worry, my dear. I shall see to that.

[Peter Standish]

Well, Kate, I'm glad to see you again.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Hello, Kate.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Dearest.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Mr. Standish, when you came into this.

[Kate Pettigrew]

House, although the door was shut and locked, did you come from America?

[Narrator/Announcer]

Yes.

[Kate Pettigrew]

We are all very curious about that, Mr. Standish. What is the answer?

[Peter Standish]

The answer is, yes, I do come from America.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Oh, really, Mr. Standish. You used some very peculiar expressions at times, and I made a note of them. You said they were expressions used in New York.

[Peter Standish]

That's right.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Indeed.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Well, on my way home, I stopped at the legation in Grosvenor Square. Should not The American minister, Mr. Adams, know what words are used in New York?

[Peter Standish]

Mr. Adams is from Massachusetts.

[Kate Pettigrew]

I asked him.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Nevertheless, he had never heard of one of them. As a matter of fact, those expressions.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Are not used in America, and they're certainly not used in England.

[Helen Pettigrew]

If they're used at all, the devils.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Use them in hell.

[Helen Pettigrew]

It is true. Peter Standish came from New York in the general Wolf.

[Kate Pettigrew]

You've taken possession of his body.

[Helen Pettigrew]

What have you done with him?

[Kate Pettigrew]

Kate, I think this has gone quite far enough. I think perhaps we should call your brother Tom to deal with this creature.

[Helen Pettigrew]

In the old days, he'd have been burned at the stake.

[Peter Standish]

Why not now? You still burn people. You burn women accused of witchcraft.

[Kate Pettigrew]

You should be whipped for this, sir.

[Peter Standish]

Yes. Whip people if they're crazy. Flog them in public as you flog your half naked lunatics at Bedlam with a crowd of your gaping Londoners looking on. You savages.

[Helen Pettigrew]

You.

[Kate Pettigrew]

You forget yourself, sir.

[Peter Standish]

Your son Tom, madam. You're proud of him, aren't you? You think he's a gentleman. A typical English gentleman of the time. Well, he is. But what a time. Dirt, disease, cruelty. Smells you. Kate, you may be a fool, but you're the best of the lot. For you're trying in your silly way to help Helen now. But as for you, Lady Anne, I've seen you in Sheridan's plays and I've read you and Jane Austen's novels. You know what you want and you plow straight ahead over everything and through everything, like a. A tank lumbering through the mud. Do you hear? Like a tank. Good Francis Adams, what tank means? No, no, it's not Charles Francis Adams. It's John Adams, Second president of the United States. Charles Adams won't be born until the Civil War in 1861.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Peter. Peter.

[Peter Standish]

What's one more blunder among so many? Your Peter Standish came from New York to Plymouth in the General Wolf. This Peter Standish flew from New York to Plymouth. Shall I make a few more blunders for you to gibber at Kate? Shall I drive you to Budley in my car at 90 miles an hour?

[Helen Pettigrew]

You fiend from hell.

[Peter Standish]

What do I care about you? You're all over and done with, all of you. You're dead. You're rotted away in your graves. You're all ghosts. That's what you are. G Do you hear God?

[Helen Pettigrew]

Come, Helen. Let's get out of here.

[Peter Standish]

And I was in love with the past. I was in love with the past.

[Helen Pettigrew]

My dearest. Oh, my dearest.

[Peter Standish]

I turned, and there was Helen. Helen, born of the 18th century. All loveliness, all grace, all beauty. And I caught her to me and rested my cheek against her hair. And something inside me was weeping. For I knew I was holding Helen for the last time. I thought that thought. Helen. Oh, Helen.

[Helen Pettigrew]

You know, my dearest, each night I've said he must go back. But each morning we'd make some new plan together. And I'd think, let me have just one more day.

[Peter Standish]

No. I've said I would stay, and I will stay. I was a fool and a weakling to talk like that. It won't happen again. I. I couldn't face my own life without you.

[Helen Pettigrew]

What life is this for you? Be brave, Peter, and listen. My life, my London are nightmares to you? Oh, don't be sad. Just think. Out of all the millions of lovers since time began, we two alone have been chosen for this miracle. And it is a miracle. Oh, think of what has been given us, not of what is taken away.

[Peter Standish]

Nothing can be taken away. That we came together as we did proves that we weren't meant to lose each other.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Yes.

[Peter Standish]

Yes.

[Helen Pettigrew]

And we shall be together always, Peter. Not in my time, nor in yours, but in God's.

[Peter Standish]

Yes, darling, it must be that way. But I have neither the will nor the strength to leave you.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Love will give you the strength. You have your life to live out in the future, Peter. Don't be too sad about a girl who's been dead to you so long. And in my life, as I grow old, your youth will see me. Eternal youth. For you will come, won't you, young as I see you now, to my grave in St. Mark's Churchyard. And you'll find me. For I'll ask for a stone with the letters cut deep. So they won't bear away before you come.

[Peter Standish]

Oh, darling. Darling, I love you now. I shall love you in my own time and in whatever time may come.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Then this is our parting, Peter.

Goodbye, my dear.

[Peter Standish]

Goodbye, my darling.

I left her and walked down the corridor into the library. I was dazed. Dazed and empty of everything but sorrow. And there were my own things about me again. 20th century things. There was the portrait on the wall.

I felt weak and shaken and bereft.

I sat there by the fire all night. In the morning, I walked to St. Mark's Churchyard. When I returned, Marjorie was in the library.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Peter.

[Peter Standish]

Hello, Marjorie.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Oh, Peter, you know me. You know me.

[Peter Standish]

Know you? Why, of course I know you.

[Helen Pettigrew]

For weeks you haven't recognized any of us. Peter, you've been very ill. Ill?

[Peter Standish]

Yes. Yes, I've been ill.

[Helen Pettigrew]

But you're all right now. You look yourself again.

[Kate Pettigrew]

Oh, thank God.

[Helen Pettigrew]

You're all right now.

[Peter Standish]

Marjorie, there's something I must tell you.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Yes, Peter?

[Peter Standish]

I can't marry you. I'm very sorry, but I'm not in love with you. And it wouldn't be right.

[Helen Pettigrew]

All right, Peter. If that's the way you want it.

Perhaps you'll change your mind.

I hope you will.

What's that piece of paper you're holding?

[Peter Standish]

It's an epitaph. I copied it just now from a tombstone in St. Mark's Churchyard.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Whose epitaph is it?

[Peter Standish]

A girl who died 140 years ago.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Peter, you're crying. Who was the girl? Peter, speak to me, please.

[Peter Standish]

Marjorie. Please leave me alone.

[Helen Pettigrew]

Very well.

[Peter Standish]

Here lies, in the confident hope of the blessed resurrection and life eternal, Helen Pettigrew, beloved younger daughter of Sir William Pettigrew and Lady Anne Pettigrew, who departed this life June 15, 1787. Age 23 years.

Oh, my dear. I've seen your shadow on the stairs. I've seen your hand rest on this desk. I've seen you sitting by that window. And you'll always be close to me in this house. You'll always be the living, beautiful soul of this house. And I know that we shall be together. Not in your time, nor in mine, but in God's.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Adventure Narrator]

I am Adventure next week Come with me to meet a man who accepted a strange challenge and kept an exciting rendezvous with destiny.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Until next week then.

[Adventure Narrator]

I am Dangerously Yours.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Our script, based on the play Barclay Square was written by Gene Holloway and directed by Richard Sanville. The role of Helen was played by Gertrude Warner. The music for the series is under the direction of Mark Warno. Be sure and listen next week to another exciting adventure starring Victor Jory in Dangerously Yours.