“I wasn't going to take you to Paris. I was going to send you.”
Por qué es buena
One verb swapped from take to send turns a promise into a one-way errand.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
I wasn't going to invite you, I was going to replace you.
00:00 / 02:13
00:00 / 02:13
Linus Admits He Was Sending Her Away, Explained
Sabrina · 1954
Capítulo 16 de 18 · 2'13"
Sabrina arrives with the tickets, sure Linus is taking her to Paris. He corrects her flatly: "I wasn't going to take you to Paris. I was going to send you." When she asks why, the answer is business—"You got in the way"—and her sarcasm becomes the only weapon she has left.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:49–1:38
Linus Tells Sabrina He Was Sending Her Away
49s - 1:42–2:11
Sabrina Answers with Wounded Sarcasm
29s
Linus Admits He Was Sending Her Away, explained
What happens
Sabrina comes to Linus full of hope, certain the tickets mean a trip to Paris together. Linus tells her the truth: he meant to send her there alone, to keep her out of David's way while the family arranged his marriage. She asks why, and he lists the business reasons without softening any of them.
What's really going on
The scene turns on a single word: send. Sabrina has read the tickets as romance—"Linus Larrabee, Esquire, is taking me to Paris"—and Linus has to correct the whole picture: "I wasn't going to take you to Paris. I was going to send you." It's the coldest version of the truth, and he gives it plainly, without excuses. His reason, when it comes, is worse than cruelty: "High finance, expansion, the marriage, a merger, a new plaque on the Larrabee building. You got in the way." Sabrina doesn't cry or beg. She answers with a dry, wounded politeness—"How inconsiderate of me"—and then begins to wonder what else was staged, down to the farewell note Miss McCardle would have typed. Her sarcasm is the last dignity she has.
Key lines & what they mean
- “I wasn't going to take you to Paris. I was going to send you.”
- The correction that breaks the scene: the tickets weren't a shared trip but a one-way plan to get her out of the way.
- “High finance, expansion, the marriage, a merger, a new plaque on the Larrabee building. You got in the way.”
- Linus's answer to 'why': not personal, just business. She was an obstacle between the family and a merger, so she had to be moved.
- “I'm ashamed to say I enjoyed every minute of it.”
- Linus admits the one thing the plan didn't account for: he genuinely liked the time he spent deceiving her.
- “Such a busy man having to waste so much time just to get me on a boat.”
- Sabrina's sarcasm: she frames her own unmaking as an inconvenience to him, the busier and more important person.
- “You do want to take me with you, don't you?”
- Her hopeful question, asked before she knows the truth, that the rest of the scene quietly answers.
Theme
- Betrayal — The man Sabrina trusted was quietly removing her, and the truth only surfaces when she finds the tickets.
- Class — Linus explains her away as a business obstacle: he lists mergers and plaques, then says, flatly, 'You got in the way.'
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel2/6
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“High finance, expansion, the marriage, a merger, a new plaque on the Larrabee building. You got in the way.”
Por qué es buena
A list of grand plans ends with five blunt words that reduce a person to an obstacle.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
The job, the city, my whole future. You got in the way.
“I'm ashamed to say I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Por qué es buena
He confesses he enjoyed the very scheme he should be ashamed of, and the honesty cuts both ways.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
I'm ashamed to say I enjoyed the whole argument.
“Such a busy man having to waste so much time just to get me on a boat.”
Por qué es buena
Calling him a busy man while describing the effort of shipping her off is sarcasm at its driest.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
Such a busy boss having to stay late just to check on us.
“You do want to take me with you, don't you?”
Por qué es buena
An emphatic do plus a tag question packs both hope and doubt into one breath.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
You do want to come along, don't you?
Siguiente · 17add two and two togetherLa escena: Linus Changes All the PlansIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- Linus lists a merger and a marriage before he names her as the obstacle.
- Sabrina's politeness is the sharpest thing she says.
- He confesses he enjoyed arranging her exit.
- The empty cabin stands for everything he planned without her.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhat was Linus's plan for Sabrina?
He had booked her a one-way passage to Paris, alone, with an empty cabin, to keep her away from David while the family pushed the Tyson merger through.
Why does Sabrina say 'how inconsiderate of me'?
It's sarcasm. She's mocking Linus's cold business logic by pretending her feelings were the inconvenience—answering his betrayal with dry politeness instead of tears.
What does Linus mean when he says Sabrina got in the way?
She was an obstacle to the family's plans—the merger with the Tysons and David's marriage. Getting rid of her was, to him, a practical business decision.
Does Linus actually care about Sabrina?
The scene suggests he does. He admits, "I'm ashamed to say I enjoyed every minute of it"—the one line that doesn't fit the cold plan he just described.