· · ·

94EXT. FORD PLANTATION - DAY

It's Sunday morning. All of Ford's slaves are dressed with their "finest" clothes - brightly colored and as free as possible of defect. The slaves are gathered on the lawn just beyond the piazza. Mistress Ford is present as well. As the slaves listen, Ford reads to them Scripture. His tone is of a man trying to preach by way of compassion.

FORD

"But as touching the resurrection

of the dead, have ye not read that

which was spoken unto you by God,

saying, I am the God of Abraham,

and the God of Isaac, and the God

of Jacob. God is not the God of

the dead, but of the living. And

when the multitude heard this,

they were astonished at his

doctrine. But when the Pharisees

had heard that he had put the

Sadducees to silence, they were

gathered together. Then one of

them, which was a lawyer, asked

him a question, tempting him, and

saying, Master, which is the

great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt

love the Lord thy God with all thy

heart, and with all thy soul, and

with all thy mind. This is the

first and great commandment. And

the second is like unto it, thou

shalt love thy neighbor as

thyself. On these two

commandments hang all the law and

the prophets."

Despite the lightness with which Ford speaks and the hope in his words, Eliza sits off to the side - self-secluded a bit - weeping gently.

We should be able to see in Mistress Ford's eyes that Eliza's constant crying is unsettling.