Elizabeth Thatcher quotes from When Calls the Heart

Elizabeth Thatcher

I never got to thank you for leaving me that note....Was it really necessary to leave it on my forehead?

You were snoring; I didn't want to wake you.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Heathen.

What?!

Elizabeth Thatcher

You're late. Only heathens arrive late to a church service.

Uncouth.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Me, uncouth?

Only the uncouth whisper during a sermon.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Jack! Wait a moment! One of my students, Rosaleen Sullivan, she will not speak, she simply will not say a word. I've been working with her, and I believe she was on the verge of a breakthrough when we saw a man, Wendell Backus--

Slow down for a second. Big city folk rattle a mile a minute. I'm just a country boy who needs to understand this.

Elizabeth Thatcher

I'm concerned for one of my students.

Rosaleen Sullivan who doesn't speak and why do you think Mr. Backus has something to do with that?

Elizabeth Thatcher

When she saw him, he stared at her, and it was like her blood froze. It just happened again. She saw him...and she just crawled back into her shell.

Well, how old is she?

Elizabeth Thatcher

She's only eight.

OK. I'll talk to him.

Elizabeth Thatcher

May I let you in on a little secret, Albert? Girls don't care if a gift is fancy, even if we used to be rich.

Really?!

Elizabeth Thatcher

What we care about are gifts that come from the heart. Like this one.

I made that!

Elizabeth Thatcher

So you clearly don't need my advice.

Elizabeth Thatcher

To be honest I'm not the world's best cook. I think I was born without that particular talent. Perhaps you've heard that rumor around town.

No.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Can I help you, constable?

Actually it's just Jack tonight, as you can see.

Elizabeth Thatcher

I stand corrected.

How's your reading student coming along?

Elizabeth Thatcher

Still working on it.

Elizabeth, I was thinking. I do not see you very often since I moved out of the saloon. I miss our friendship. And I was wondering if you might be inclined to have supper with me.

Elizabeth Thatcher

To be clear, when you say you'd like to have supper, you mean you'd like to come to my house where I will be the one doing the cooking?

Oh, no! No, why would you think that?

Elizabeth Thatcher

So what then? Chili and cornbread here at the saloon?

Yeah. No. Uh, I guess I hadn't fully thought it through.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Well, I would love to, but I'm very busy with work and I was planning on cleaning out my closet.

But, I didn't tell you which night I was considering.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Of course. I'm sorry.

How about Friday night?

Elizabeth Thatcher

Actually, that's the very night I was planning on cleaning out my closet.

I see. Well maybe another time then. Good evening.

Elizabeth Thatcher

[sigh] Jack. On second thought, I actually could use your help with one of my students.

Yeah, of course.

Elizabeth Thatcher

So why don't you meet me here tomorrow night? I'll even share a bowl of chili with you.

Good evening, Miss Thatcher.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Good evening. Thank you for coming.

You're welcome.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Please sit here across from me.

I--I thought we were gonna have some dinner together.

Elizabeth Thatcher

We will. You said you wanted to be friends, and right now I could use a friend to help me with this.

Right. Right.

Elizabeth Thatcher

I'm going to be administering an intelligence test. The research shows that some of the smartest students are also the slowest readers--

And my taking this test helps you how?

Elizabeth Thatcher

I need someone to practice on, you'll be my guinea pig.

Guinea pig.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Yes. Now scientists are using guinea pigs for their experimentation. Alright. It's a written test, but I'd like to open with a question to assess your basic comprehension level. I want to make sure you can follow simple instructions.

OK.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Pay me a compliment.

I don't understand.

Elizabeth Thatcher

It's a simple test to determine whether you can follow directions.

Oh. I see. [pause] I admire how dedicated you are to your students.

Not good?

Elizabeth Thatcher

There's no good or bad, it's only an opportunity to assess your ability to follow directions.

No, I want to change my answer.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Well, that's very unorthodox, but you may.

You look really beautiful tonight.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Very good. Please take your pencil, turn over your pages and begin. You will have one hour to complete the test. Then we can have dinner.

[looks at the complexity of the test] Come on.

Elizabeth Thatcher

What?

Really?

Elizabeth Thatcher

It will show your ability to [reads instructions] to perform prehension provoked by visual perception.

That's a lot of p-words I didn't quite grasp.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Well here's another p-word for you. Please?

Elizabeth Thatcher

Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

Oh, I think I need to sit down!

Did you hear what Miss Thatcher said, Ma?! She said I'm smart.

Elizabeth Thatcher

The first step in helping Bo was to give him an intelligence test. He scored extremely high.

I can't wait for Pa to get home so I can tell him.

But I'm confused. How could he take a test if he can't read?

Elizabeth Thatcher

I read Bo the questions, and he remembered all of them. I think Bo has a condition called word blindness. A fancy name for it is dyslexia....I think, with the right tools and methods, Bo will be able to learn to read.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Jack, do you stay up late at night thinking of ways to drive me batty?

Nope, don't have to, just sort of comes out naturally.

You look silly!

Elizabeth Thatcher

What do you mean, sweetie?

Uh...

Elizabeth Thatcher

I have paint on my nose, don't I.

Elizabeth Thatcher

How long were you going to let me go on like that?!

I don't know. All day?

Talking to yourself again? I'm beginning to worry about your mental health.

Elizabeth Thatcher

It's this play. I hardly slept a wink last night. I've never directed a play before!

Well, didn't they go through that in that big-city university you attended?

Elizabeth Thatcher

I didn't go to drama school, Jack. I went to teacher college.

"No great dramatist exists without a touch of madness." Aristotle.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Well aren't you just full of surprises?

Yes.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Did any of you know about this?

Why would we know anything about this? We weren't the ones who painted the backdrop.

It does look a lot like you and Mountie Jack, though.

Elizabeth Thatcher

No it doesn't, James, it doesn't at all! And I'll ask that you three forget all about this incident.

Lips are sealed, Miss Thatcher.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Jack, are you aware that someone painted a tiny likeness of the two of us on the Founder's Day backdrop?

Likeness?

Elizabeth Thatcher

Yes! And it's hidden there like a stick of dynamite just waiting to go off, and some of my students just lit the fuse.

What are we doing in the painting?

Elizabeth Thatcher

Um, I can't really say. We're--we're kissing.

We're kissing?! Well that is completely inappropriate. Pure fiction!

Elizabeth Thatcher

Yes. Fiction.

Who would do such a thing? You know, I think I should launch an investigation, interrogate some of your students until we get to the bottom of this.

Elizabeth Thatcher

Uh, alright. But on second thought, both of our reputations are on the line here.

Hm. That is a good point. But I promise I will get to the bottom of this. Don't you worry.

Elizabeth Thatcher

I'm glad you're on the case. [pause] I'm gonna go!

Have a good day!

Our little secret, boy.

Elizabeth Thatcher

You've made it very clear that Mounties do not have wives. If they wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one.

Did I say that?

Elizabeth Thatcher

Several times.

That does sound like something I'd say.

Julie Thatcher

I love your home! It's so...rustic. So quaint!

Elizabeth Thatcher

I think what Julie meant to say is--

Abigail Stanton

It's OK, Elizabeth. Rustic and quaint work quite well for this town.

Elizabeth Thatcher

That must be him. Why am I so nervous?

Julie Thatcher

You're supposed to be.

Elizabeth Thatcher

You never get like this.

Julie Thatcher

Well, I've had more suitors than you.