Lies We Tell (2023) Movie Script
1
- [wood creaks]
- [wind gusting]
- [wind continues gusting]
- [crows cawing]
[ominous music playing]
[birds chirping]
[ominous music continues]
[ominous music continues]
[Maud gasps]
[Maud] What makes a monster,
you may well wonder.
My father taught me that
only after our death
will we know what we are,
what we have chosen to be,
angel or demon,
creature of light or monster
clothed in human flesh.
He said I could choose,
that I had a choice.
He told me it's an easy journey
between this life and the next.
He told me he loved me.
He told me many lies.
[somber music playing]
Downstairs after upstairs,
Mrs. Rusk.
The gentlemen are
in the drawing room, miss.
The silver service, I think.
Not the china.
- The gentleman...
- Are waiting. Thank you, Rusk.
I'd like the silver service
instead, if you please.
[Mary] Miss Maud!
[somber music continues]
[Bryerly] I must, for a moment,
speak not of your father's
recent death but of his judgment.
Your uncle is hardly
a fit person
to have charge of
an impressionable young girl.
He's my nearest relation, sir.
Therefore eminently fit.
You've never met him, I think.
I look forward imminently
to that happy event.
Your Uncle Silas was a most
expensive, vicious young man.
A friend, was he not,
of your late father?
An acquaintance, rather.
Married beneath himself.
Though, to do him justice,
I believe he hadn't intended
to ruin her.
I fail to see why a youthful
msalliance
bears upon my uncle's
present fitness as guardian.
- [Bryerly] May I be blunt?
- Certainly.
Your trustees would be remiss
in our duties
should we fail to
take into account
and consider the implications
of the historic...
You proposed to be
blunt, doctor.
Suspicion of murder
committed by your uncle.
My uncle was exculpated
by the inquest.
That gambler took his own life.
Perhaps you'd care to view
the suicide room, captain,
in your new capacity as trustee.
Another time, possibly.
Thank you.
Miss Ruthyn, what I mean to say
is that your trustees
are amenable
if you would care to
mount a challenge.
You may remain trustees
of my property.
My person is none of your
concern but that of my uncle.
That is what you kindly offer,
to assume the additional burden
and the allowance which accompanies
it and have me elect you as guardian,
rather than my own
flesh and blood.
I will not challenge the will
or my father's choice
of guardian.
You will not, I'm sure, wish
to travel home in the dark.
[somber music playing]
You need some rest and
some feeding up.
Good day to you, doctor.
My father was what is
called an oddity.
- There's no shame in that.
- [Maud] I'm not ashamed.
The appointment of my uncle
was made not despite,
but because my father
was deeply, bitterly conscious
of his brother's disgrace.
A mild word for suspected
murder.
[somber music continues]
Goodbye, captain.
I trust you'll discharge
your duty
by casting an eye over
the place as you go riding past.
[horse chuffs]
[somber music continues]
You may go.
I'll serve myself this evening.
[door opens]
[Emily] Oh my goodness!
How exciting!
[group chattering indistinctly]
[door closes]
- [somber music playing]
- [footsteps thumping]
My dear cousin.
My dear cousin Maud.
I am so out of breath!
So delighted, but so fatigued
after our dreadful journey.
You can't imagine how I've
been longing to meet you.
My father's been shown
to his room.
My brother, about the
place somewhere.
The stables, I expect.
[chuckles]
What good friends we shall be.
Would you care to take
a turn about the garden?
Or perhaps you're too fatigued
after your dreadful journey.
[upbeat music playing]
[Emily chuckles]
[Emily panting]
What a barracks of
a place it is.
I shouldn't wonder
you're longing to get out of it.
I shall never leave Knowl.
I've put you in the room
next but one to mine.
[Emily sighs]
[gentle music playing]
[Emily] We had a lovely
walk today.
[Edward] Splendid.
Only one nag in the stables. Room for
a string of hunters, I should say.
[Silas] Don't rush
your fences, boy.
Uncle.
You are most welcome.
Dear child, I rejoice
to meet you.
Truly rejoice.
My daughter Emily has
made your acquaintance,
and I perceive already
the foundations of a
lasting friendship.
Pray, allow me to present
my son, your cousin Edward.
Where is your gallantry?
Kiss your cousin, sir.
You modern young women
are so correct,
and all the more alluring
for your modesty.
Your servant, Cousin.
Cousin Edward.
Hmm.
Shall we?
[gentle music playing]
[dishes clatter]
Getting on a bit, aren't they?
I suppose so.
[Mr. Rusk] I'll serve.
Go on back down.
I hadn't thought about it.
You must, of course, consider
everything in this house
perfectly at your disposal.
Beg your pardon, Uncle?
Come.
It is not so very long,
your minority, is it?
May the Lord bless you and
make you all that I could wish.
Forgot your proprieties, Rusk.
[Mr. Rusk] Beg your pardon, sir?
Serve Miss Maud at once!
[Mr. Rusk] Yes, sir.
You think them very bad.
Not very.
You play pianoforte?
A little.
I must hear you.
By and by.
Who makes your dresses?
Mrs. Rusk, I think,
ordered this one.
Mary Quince and I planned it.
Mrs. Rusk, the housekeeper?
Mary Quince?
My maid servant.
There is something
a trifle whimsical about it.
Whimsical has not been
used in this house.
Your father had a taste
for being miserable.
I would rather enjoy this life
than contemplate
my mortification in the next.
You are an heiress
and ought not to appear
like a Jack Pudding.
[chuckles]
Pardon, mademoiselle.
I startled you.
I am Madame, the governess
de votre cousine.
Emily requires a governess?
You, mademoiselle, having,
of course, nothing to learn,
pas du tout, have
no need of one.
Not these three years past.
Is there something further
my cousin requires this evening?
Ah, no. I merely wished to introduce
myself to Mademoiselle Maud,
my most gracious hostess.
You have done so. Good night.
That is my father's desk.
As it was my father's
before him.
Evidently, neither was
much for paperwork.
Ha!
Piquet?
Faro? Loo?
I do not care to play, sir.
Now, we will see what we can do.
Hmm.
Ground rent.
Rent roll.
Leases.
Liquid assets.
Your trustees intend
to keep a tight rein
on the purse strings.
- They are ridiculous, aren't they?
- You needn't mind them.
Ah, putty in your
hands, are they?
I salute you. Guardianship
also just a formality, yes?
I suggest an alliance.
What do you say?
Perhaps you'd rather
stick to the conventions.
I believe, Uncle,
that legality rather than
convention constrains us.
Dear niece, I will
treasure that us.
Come.
My dear brother.
He told you of me?
Yes.
What?
That you are a man
of great talents,
great faults, and great wrongs.
Your talents have
not availed you.
Your faults, you repented
for long ago,
but the wrongs done to you
are still very sore.
[door opens]
[Emily] Cousin Maud.
Are you quite well?
You look tired.
It is not good,
all this time in the woods.
A walk in my own forest
with my uncle for company
is hardly likely to tire me.
Perhaps Madame perceives a
difficulty of which I'm unaware.
No. No. You and your guardian
are completely free
to fatigue yourselves together.
[Maud gasps]
[Emily] You'll have
some tea, Edward?
[chuckles]
You sinner, Edward. Now,
Maud, isn't he a sinner?
[somber music playing]
Case of turtle, I should think,
and get in some hock.
Do you care for hock, Niece?
Above all things, Uncle.
[Emily snorts]
My daughter makes a
noise like a pig.
Do you think your cousin's
table a farmyard, pig?
No, sir.
Then apologize to your cousin.
I beg your pardon, Maud.
And also some claret, Rusk.
Two cases?
Three?
As you wish.
Three cases of claret, Rusk.
[chuckles]
[birds chirping]
[Madame speaking French]
The sentiment quite overcomes
the defect in perspective.
[speaking French]
Emily, come.
Perhaps you might give
votre cousine
the benefit of your advice.
Oh, no, no, no. I won't
trouble you.
See, if you just adjust
the sight line here and here...
Goodness.
I'm sorry if I offended
you, Cousin.
- It doesn't matter in the least.
- [Madame] What do you see?
[Emily] The weather is
rather changeable here.
[indistinct chatter]
[door opens]
Touch of neuralgia.
My father was similarly
afflicted.
May I be of some service
to my beloved niece?
Emily's governess.
- Yes?
- You don't wish for me to obey her?
Only to be polite.
She's not my governess.
She's not responsible
for your conduct, certainly.
[Maud] I am to understand
that you are.
Yes, my dear brother has appointed
me to act in loco parentis,
but I shan't wield
my authority without cause.
Nor I when the authority
becomes mine.
How I will enjoy
introducing you to society,
and reintroducing myself.
You think I regret my seclusion?
I assure you, I do not.
To revisit the continent
with you by my side.
A climbing holiday, perhaps.
I was just your age when
your father and I first went.
When he first took you
mountaineering.
His youthful passion,
I understand.
I'm afraid I don't share it.
Well, not having tried it.
Naturally, one couldn't
consider such a thing
while in mourning...
or even half-mourning.
Hmm.
On that subject, might I inquire
as to whether Madame,
being a French woman
and therefore clever
with her needle,
might sew me a new dress in the
style which meets your approval?
Well, should you present
your request
with sufficient charm,
I may drop a hint,
a measure of docility.
I'm sure Madame might teach
you to wield your own needle,
a much better scheme.
[chuckles]
Don't be vexed.
- May I be of any service, Uncle?
- Oh, how gracious.
No, but I shan't trouble you
with small matters of business.
Anything else?
No.
Do shut the door.
[somber music playing]
[somber music continues]
[Maud] Does family history
interest you?
Oh, yes.
Indeed it does.
I had no idea.
[ominous music playing]
[door locks]
When they broke open the door,
they found him half out of bed,
his head hanging down,
and his throat cut
by his own hand.
How horrid.
[Maud] They scrubbed
and scrubbed.
Did your father not
tell you all this?
No.
Mine did.
Perhaps he didn't mind
discussing it.
There's no suspicion
attached to him.
It seems most unfair,
my father shunned but not yours.
My father's reputation
was ever unsullied.
However unfair and unmerited,
I'm afraid the same
cannot be said for yours.
You concede his ill reputation
unmerited.
Then why should my father
bear all the notoriety?
I'll mention to my uncle
you've been asking, shall I?
No. Don't.
- [shouts]
- [Maud and Emily scream]
- Am I supposed to find you amusing?
-[laughs]
Confess. I frightened you.
Confess.
Confess!
It makes no sense at all.
If the door was locked
from the inside,
then no suspicion could
attach to anyone.
[somber music playing]
[crows cawing]
[bell chiming]
There's no need to
skulk, my dear.
One of your trustees has come
to see how you're getting on.
May I present my niece's humble
cousins, Mr. Edward Ruthyn,
youngest scion of our name,
and my daughter, Miss
Emily Ruthyn.
I trust I find you
well, Miss Ruthyn.
Very well. Thank you.
Tea, Cousin?
She is very striking, isn't she?
No one can hardly wonder about
my brother already being
so fascinated by her.
Their acquaintance is
but recent, I understood.
Mm-hmm, my brother did not
trouble to extend his hospitality
even to his nearest and dearest,
I'm afraid,
but we have overcome
the deficit, as you see.
A hunting man, I understand.
I can give you a good run,
if you're so inclined.
My niece's foxes will be trembling
in their rank little dens.
[Silas and Emily chuckle]
A word with Miss Ruthyn,
if I may.
Miss Maud Ruthyn.
If I may give you some advice...
No, thank you.
You are, and I mean no
disrespect by this,
unschooled in the
ways of society.
I certainly hope so.
Your fortune is
considerably more extensive
than your experience.
Pray, excuse me if I take
a great liberty.
You are a prize, you know.
I do know.
If there's any service
I can render,
anything at all that I can do.
For my property,
I am to presume?
Indeed. Of course,
for your property.
Please consider myself
entirely at your disposal.
[sighs]
[door opens]
[door closes]
The good captain will find
an heiress tres convenient.
The good captain thinks
more of his wine, his horse,
and the folds in his cravat
than he does of me.
And so you may tell my uncle,
should he inquire.
- [somber music playing]
- [birds cawing]
[somber music continues]
Dearest Maud, well,
I imagine you have
a shrewd suspicion of the
object of this tete-a-tete.
I haven't the slightest conception.
Kindly move aside.
You know that it is
totally impossible
for a fellow such as myself
and a charming girl
such as yourself
to meet continually as we do
without a liking growing
on one side or another.
I suppose I needn't pretend
to be violently in love.
Please don't.
Sensible girl. Governor will see to it.
We needn't go into the particulars.
Please don't continue.
Beg pardon?
Am I to suppose you've
formed an attachment for me?
Mm-hmm.
A sincere attachment?
Most sincere.
You do me too much honor, sir.
- Dash it!
- [gasps]
If you require some love-making,
then I'm your...
Have the goodness
to let me pass.
[somber music playing]
[knocking on door]
[Silas] You will excuse
the intrusion.
I have hitherto spoken
to you as a friend,
but I have not forgotten,
if you have,
that my authority as guardian
gives me the right to question
your conduct.
Have I been rightly informed
that you contemptuously
rejected the hand of my son?
I rejected it certainly
with no more contempt
than the question was put to me.
He is unpolished, I concede,
but under your tutelage,
he will improve.
Really, my dear, think
of the advantages.
Marry Edward. Remain at Knowl.
What could be better than
taking your own blood to wed?
Better, surely,
not to marry a man
for whom I have no regard.
Your fancy lies elsewhere,
does it?
Not, I trust, in the direction
of a certain captain
who makes nothing
by his profession
and everything by
his trusteeship.
No, sir.
Wise girl.
[sighs]
[somber music playing]
You have something of the look
of your poor mother.
I'm afraid I don't remember her.
No? Delicate girl.
Sad.
My son's impetuousness
has taken you by surprise.
You were quite right
to take time to reflect.
I require no further...
I yield, my dear. I shall
not press you.
You shall have time,
your own time, to think.
I will accept no answer now.
[door closes]
[discordant piano music]
- [metronome ticking]
- [Mary moans]
[Edward panting]
[Mary moans]
[door clicks]
[Silas] Hurry up. You're
letting the cold in.
[door closes]
[somber music playing]
[Silas] A tribute to
your beaux yeux, my dear.
Your phlegmatic cousin
prefers business to romance.
Will find the arrival
of bailiffs
more compelling than your posy.
It is quite impossible.
I shall speak to my trustees.
This matter, to my regret,
does not concern you or your
property but rather my own.
There will be no bailiffs
at Knowl.
Your creditors have caught
wind of the fee
compensating you for
my guardianship.
Mm.
Ready money is not something
I have frequently been
troubled with.
Perhaps I might communicate
with my trustees
about releasing some funds.
What unwanted generosity.
If you'd care to, Uncle.
[door creaks]
[footsteps approaching]
I'm on tenterhooks.
Tell me, how do you propose
to inveigle your trustees
into settling my paltry affairs?
I propose to tell them
it's a small price to pay
for securing your departure
from Knowl
and that of my cousins.
[sighs]
And if I decline your
so generous offer?
Then I regret very much that the
bailiffs will indeed arrive at Knowl.
And I will make sure
they understand what is mine
and therefore untouchable
and what is yours and
therefore fair game.
[somber music playing]
[birds chirping]
I don't mind waiting a bit.
I'm in no rush to have
a wife on my back.
Oh, very obliging of you.
I'm no hand at play-acting.
I assure you I never had
the least expectation
of a preux chevalier
charging up to carry me off.
Surely you want someone,
someone of your own,
someone to come after you.
I mean, I needn't
trouble you much.
I was just in the midst of
declining your son's proposal,
which he has been
so obliging as to repeat.
Well, shall I carry on
or may we take it as read?
Dear young lady, I
have watched you,
indeed we have all watched you,
without one word of
discouragement,
permit my son's most
marked attentions to you.
There have been no attentions
to speak of.
I have sought no attentions.
You know as well as I withheld
words are powerful allurements.
Allurements are not something
I've ever been accused
of wielding.
However, to be on the
safe side, Uncle,
I will henceforth extend nothing
but coldness and discouragement
towards my cousin, your son.
You are excused.
Pray, excuse me.
[Silas] There is
something you should know.
[somber music playing]
We once made a bargain,
my brother and I.
He paid to clean up your mess
when that gamester took
the coward's way out
- and put an end to himself.
- Ah.
You play too deep, all of you.
That is true, at least.
And he lost more than
he could pay.
Less true. False, actually.
The loss was mine.
But then you won again what
you'd lost and more besides.
No. I lost everything I had
and more besides.
Your father staked me.
The money I had to lose was his.
The whole of his fortune. The
whole of this house, certainly.
That can't possibly be true.
Well, luckily, that other
eventuality transpired.
[ominous music playing]
I don't understand.
I think you do.
That is a foul implication.
I imply nothing.
I tell you plainly,
your father took the steps
required to preserve his fortune.
What steps? The door
was locked from the inside.
Which your father promised me we
could rely upon at the inquest,
and, happily, he proved correct.
You lie. You're a liar.
I speak truth, unaccustomed
as you are to hearing it.
Uncle...
if murder was committed
at Knowl...
it was not by my father's hand.
He was always the
better climber.
The taint of suspicion was
to be mine, mine alone,
as one day so would be Knowl.
That was the bargain.
[Silas] Mm.
I'm afraid I didn't bank on him, at
his age, acquiring a wife and heir.
He did what he could for you.
He made me your ward to
prove to the world
his great confidence
in your innocence and honor.
Oh, yes.
How grateful I am to my
honorable brother,
guardianship of you.
The trust with which he placed
you wholly within my power
restores my reputation...
though sadly not my expected
inheritance.
[somber music continues]
[knocking on door]
[door opens]
[Mary] Excuse me, miss.
[ominous music playing]
If mademoiselle has
any petite commissions,
Madame will be charmed
to undertake them.
No, thank you.
Ah, Monsieur Ruthyn prefers that
Madame attend to mademoiselle's
petite d'affaires.
That won't at all be necessary.
Monsieur thinks otherwise.
You mustn't trouble
yourself to go out.
Jet buttons.
I require a set of jet buttons.
Keep your pennies.
Your uncle graciously provides.
Thank you, Uncle.
- [Madame] Tea?
- [Silas] Brandy.
[peaceful piano music]
[ominous music playing]
Unhand me, Uncle!
You're hurting me!
You, says one man
of experience to another,
- buy a pig in a poke.
- Unhand me, I say!
I realize she isn't exactly
what you like.
- Waist none too small. Bosom, negligible.
-[Maud] You forget yourself, sir.
- Still, child-bearing hips.
- Pater!
Fine eyes, and a pretty
little foot and ankle.
[Maud shrieks]
- [knocking on door]
- Come in.
Oh, don't.
It's so lovely.
We could be sisters.
It is enough that
we are cousins.
[door opens]
What is it?
[door locks]
Edward?
I'll accept your apology
in the morning.
Now get out.
No.
[Maud] No!
Get out of my room! Get out!
- Get out!
- [Edward] Quiet!
- [Maud] No!
- Shh!
[Maud screaming]
[Edward panting]
[Maud whimpers]
[Maud shrieks]
[Edward shouts]
It will be best not to resist
or pretend to resist.
- [Maud shrieks]
- [Edward groans]
No, no, no, no!
No!
[whimpering] Edward. Edward.
Edward, look at me!
Don't do this!
Don't do...
[whimpering]
[shrieks]
[Edward grunting]
[Edward gasps]
[Maud sobbing]
[Edward panting]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[somber music playing]
[birds chirping]
[door opens]
[dishes clattering]
Coffee please, Rusk.
I trust you slept well, Uncle.
Moderately well, Niece,
and yourself?
Immoderately poorly,
as I'm sure you're aware,
but then I'm hardly
alone in that.
But I must thank you all
for your kind concern.
[door opens, closes]
I do think you've been
a little cruel, my dear.
If there has been an
excess of gallantry,
you only have yourself to blame.
My charms, I make no doubt,
are near as numberless
as the quantity of pounds
lodged in my bank account.
I cannot conceive why
you are so intractable.
I should rather consider
myself lucky
your son deigns to rape me?
My decision is unalterable.
I will not marry your son.
Well, I'm afraid no
respectable man
will take a soiled article
to his bed and board.
I find myself not much disposed
towards marriage, Uncle.
What is it you want in
that little heart of yours?
Do you think it so
little, my heart?
You're mistaken.
[somber music playing]
[somber music continues]
[inaudible dialogue]
[somber music continues]
Saute, please, with peas
a la francaise.
Yes, miss.
[bolt creaking]
Fierce rusty, them bolts.
- See to them then.
- Yes, miss.
The carriage, please, Rusk.
No, miss.
I require the carriage,
please, Rusk.
If necessary, I'll
drive it myself.
I'm sorry, miss.
The master said no, miss.
[Maud] I am your mistress.
[grunts]
- Get down.
- No.
- You'll hurt yourself.
- Come on! Go! Go!
Let me lift you down.
Get your hands off
me. Step back.
[grunts]
Mary Quince, I need you
to post a letter.
Miss, I can't lose my place.
No. They will lose their places.
I'm sorry I asked.
I won't again.
[birds cawing]
[somber music playing]
Ilbury.
Ilbury!
Ilbury!
Ilbury!
Captain!
Captain, wait!
[somber music continues]
Mama, will you be my host
Mama, say you love me most
Mama, watch me as I creep
Mama, sing me back to sleep
Don't
Cut
Me
Off
Very sorry, miss.
Doctor.
Miss Ruthyn, do come in.
How would you say you've
been feeling, Miss Ruthyn?
A tad confined, I would say.
Thank you, Dr. Bryerly.
And yourself?
Concerned, dear, that
you've been unwell.
I've not been unwell.
You've been misinformed.
We shall soon have you put right.
Do not agitate yourself.
I'm not at all agitated.
You're to remain
perfectly quiet.
Your nerves appear to be
more shaken than you know.
I'm fortunate then to have at least
one of my trustees to look after me.
You may relieve yourself of that worry.
I have today spoken to my fellow trustee,
as the consent of both
of us is required
to secure the funds
to ward off the bailiffs.
Be so good as to explain
yourself.
The timber requires thinning.
No such things!
[yelps]
Doctor, a word.
Leave it with me.
Whatever he's paying you,
I will match it. Double it.
You have three years
until your majority.
In that time, you will
be brought to understand,
indeed agree with,
your uncle's point of view.
And Captain Ilbury,
does he share your opinion,
or more accurately,
your doubtless fat fee?
Do not agitate yourself so.
- You will do...
- We may take it then that he does.
[Bryerly] You're hysterical and will
find yourself committed for treatment!
[Maud] I am perfectly
sane and you know it.
In certain nervous states,
intemperance of language
indicates
a likely progression
to violence of action,
to self-destruction even.
The treatment generally
involves a degree of restraint,
more or less disagreeable
depending on the patient.
Hmm.
Say it's a hardened case.
Even the most hardened cases
respond to cold water treatment.
The simplest thing in the world,
a sort of shower bath.
Tiled room, efficient drain,
a chair, leather restraints.
Iron has a tendency to rust.
Water tank overhead
fitted to a powerful pump.
Thirty minutes
for the most obdurate cases.
Something between 10 and 13
tons of water in that time.
Tons?
Ten tons of cold water shoot
down on the head of the girl?
I beg your pardon. The patient.
No, you are correct.
Irregular vibrations
of the nerves
are the almost exclusive
liability of the fairer sex
due to the peculiarities
of the female constitution.
One can hardly imagine what
it's like for the poor girl.
There is a viewing platform if
you'd care for a visitor's ticket.
Please. I cannot stop him.
[door creaks]
Couldn't sleep.
Nor I.
We are en rapport, it seems.
Might I suggest some Cowper?
Or perhaps Radcliffe would
be more to your taste.
You know, less bucolic.
I'll leave the candle, will I?
[retching]
[ominous music playing]
Let's get you back to bed, miss.
[Maud] No. Just lace
me up tightly.
[knocking on door]
[door opens]
I can see you're a great deal
under the weather today.
A period of seclusion,
nourishing food, rest,
and no reading
or drawing.
Your uncle wonders
whether you keep a diary.
I'm afraid I do not. Would
you recommend I commence?
Stand.
Thank you. I prefer to sit.
Stand, or I will have
Mr. and Mrs. Rusk
lift you to your feet.
[ominous music continues]
[sniffing]
You'll be the better
for the treatment.
[gasps]
You're an intelligent girl.
Indeed, as I recall from
our meeting not long ago,
you take inordinate pride
in your intelligence.
Perhaps I overestimated
my abilities.
Perhaps when you offered
to overturn my father's will.
- I did no such thing.
- Did you not?
Well, perhaps, Ilbury will recollect.
Shall we send for him?
Ilbury? Ilbury will do as he's told.
You may expect no help in that regard.
Bonjour, doctor. Do you
require some assistance?
Mr. Ruthyn would not
wish to add to any trauma
mademoiselle might be imagining.
[door closes]
All this difficulty,
so unnecessary.
You make your situation
worse than it need be.
Submit.
You need two doctors
to commit me.
Do you know what the medical
profession prescribes
as a sure-fire cure
for hysteria?
Sexual congress.
In holy wedlock, naturally.
I decline to marry my rapist.
Consider the alternative.
Leather restraints,
a tiled room,
and 13 tons of water
bucketing down on my head.
At weekly intervals.
Bryerly alone can't do it.
Even Bryerly and Ilbury
and you can't do it.
But one doesn't need
a panel of doctors,
far less a magistrate,
to secure urgent treatment
for a troubled young family member
in a benevolent institution.
Solely the signature
of one doctor.
Our kind friend Dr.
Bryerly, say.
I am sorry to see you suffer so.
But you will be better
away from here.
The law is not on your side.
The law being made and
enforced by men.
I concede your point.
But if I contest your treatment,
bridle my tongue, and
appeal most humbly
to the kind gentleman
of the law,
as a girl...
will they believe you or me?
I'll wager me, and then I will
be made a ward of the court
and you will be removed.
Of what do you think
to accuse me?
Approval of the match
my impetuous son
has been rather too
determined to make?
I cannot be held responsible for any
action of his, however reprehensible.
And yet, Uncle, I feel
the weight of previous suspicion
will count against you,
outcast as you are.
Shall we roll the dice and see?
I might just add, should anything
transpire with regards to me,
I really don't think your
reputation would handle it.
Your son is to go away.
You as well.
Hmm.
25,000 pounds would
hardly do it.
Say 50.
Done.
How is it you conceive yourself
able to appeal to magistrates
when you are under the
care of a physician
who won't allow anything
to disturb your fragile state?
50,000 pounds to be paid
at once by my trustees.
At my majority, I will guarantee
you and my dear cousins
the means to live comfortably
elsewhere.
50,000 pounds to be paid at once
will secure you respite from
any further marital proposals.
Edward shall go.
I prefer to remain at Knowl.
In my father's house,
there are many mansions.
You and I needn't set
eyes on one another.
[Silas chuckles]
Une detente, then?
Detente.
[somber music playing]
[knocking on door]
[Mr. Rusk] The carriage
will be around directly, sir.
[Bryerly] I should wait
until after dinner.
A sudden journey, unless
fortified, can be perilous.
[Mr. Rusk] The master has
called the carriage, sir.
Dinner downstairs this
evening, miss.
Your uncle presents
his compliments
and requests that Miss Maud
join the family.
- That's plenty, Mary Quince.
- Mrs. Rusk will do for you tonight.
I'm to go for bits and pieces
for your cousins.
No, you're wanted here.
Mrs. Rusk can go
for their bits and pieces.
Well, the master
wouldn't trust her for it.
Mr. Ruthyn, I mean.
Heaps of things they'll need.
- They'll be so long away.
- Both my cousins?
- So says Mr. Ruthyn.
- [sighs]
- How we will miss them.
- [snickers]
As much as it pains me
to see my son and heir
depart the ancestral halls,
I will have to bear the
grief of parting.
Your cousin is made of
sterner stuff than you, sir.
It therefore becomes necessary
that your importunity should
trouble her no longer.
I don't follow, sir.
Your stupidity never ceases
to reproach me
for the callow mistake
I made in my youth.
And since I do not choose
my son's going to be accompanied
by any sordid gossip,
my daughter shall accompany him.
A spell at a French convent
will do wonders for you.
Et moi?
Mm, Madame, it seems,
after all these years,
we can dispense with
your services.
Indeed, monsieur.
I would be pleased to continue
my care of Mademoiselle Emily.
Self-sacrifice was ever
your strong suit, Madame,
but I shan't be required
to task it further.
She's my charge. I shall
accompany her.
No.
Monsieur.
[chuckling]
[in Irish accent] Silas.
I beg your pardon?
You'll not part me
from our daughter.
My dear Madame,
I fear you're not quite
yourself this evening.
Emily, don't let him do this.
Don't.
Emily, look at me please.
Emily, please, my darling. My own girl.
My own... Please.
- [Emily] Don't touch me. Don't.
- Please, please, please.
- All right! Enough!
- Please!
You are, of course, perfectly
free to accompany your mother.
No, thank you, sir.
Emily.
- No, no.
- Now, now.
Come on. You're quite worn out.
I suggest you retire
and rest up...
before you go.
[Madame sobs]
[Silas sighs]
Must I really go?
[chuckles] Must I repeat myself?
And Maud?
Remains at Knowl with me,
unless you would find
a period abroad productive.
I shall, of course,
remain at Knowl.
[knocking on door]
[Mrs. Rusk] Miss?
Spiced claret.
Master says I'm to undress you.
And I say you are not.
My silence was a condition
of my employment,
and yet you blame
me and not him?
You chose not to trust me
with your secret.
But I couldn't tell you.
But I thought you knew.
You did know.
I thank you for your service.
[somber music playing]
Madame.
[wind howls]
[knocking on door]
[rattling]
[ominous music playing]
- [knocking on door]
- [Emily] Maud?
Such distress. Surely you're content
you've banished my brother and me.
I would like to give
you a memento.
A family piece, if you'd
care to choose something.
If you wish.
Here.
Lie back.
[clattering]
[door opens]
[Silas] Put her out.
[Edward] I thought you might
do the honors, sir.
Feet first. She jumped.
An irrevocable impulse
of the unbalanced mind,
as the good doctor will confirm.
There's no need to
reproach yourself.
- We gave her every chance.
- [Edward] Pater, I...
[Silas] Don't be such a girl!
[Edward] Pater, it's Emily.
[panting]
[gasps]
- [door bangs]
- [Maud shrieks]
[glass shatters]
[lantern creaking]
Darling Maud.
Shall we go out together
in a blaze of glory?
I have an idea.
You go out and I'll stay here.
Glory needn't come into it.
So, tell me, Uncle.
Is Edward also Madame's?
Edward was got in wedlock.
Only my daughter is a bastard,
and I would think that you
in your delicate situation
might show touch more sympathy.
The kind you showed
me, for example?
[gentle music playing]
I would have loved you.
You do love me.
We're the same, you and I.
[Maud gasps]
Then why should my
life be forfeit?
- [knife squelches]
- [gasps]
And not yours?
[gasping]
I gave you every chance.
[Silas yelps]
[Edward] Father!
- [tense music playing]
- [knife clatters]
[Edward] Maud!
[tense music continues]
[Maud] Captain Ilbury!
Captain!
Captain!
Captain!
What's happened?
What's happened?
- Oh, captain.
- It's all right. It's all right.
What's happened? What
has happened?
My father is dead.
Murdered.
Murdered by Madame.
[somber music playing
Come, come. Come inside. It's all right.
It's all right, Maud.
Come inside. It's all right.
[Maud sobbing]
We didn't know where to turn.
My poor cousin is
quite distraught.
You'd only to say the word.
I would've come to you.
Madame is also dead.
A double tragedy.
They were lovers or
had been once, I think.
You will correct me, Cousin, if
I misapprehended the situation.
The prospect of Emily
being schooled abroad
and no longer requiring
a governess
put an intolerable strain
on Madame's faculties.
An insanity, even.
She can hardly be blamed
for stabbing my uncle to death.
Did I get that right, Cousin?
Indeed, I'm not altogether sure
of my uncle's state of mind.
Devastated, he was,
at the prospect
that you had also expressed
an intent to leave Knowl.
A scheme by which you must
no means abandon, going abroad.
America.
Australia, I thought?
Australia.
You would then be unprotected.
- My sister would be...
- Ever the dearest companion I have known.
I will so miss her
when she's away at school.
I, of course, cannot
leave Knowl.
You would then be
entirely alone.
[gentle music playing]
You may rely on me.
[Maud] The direful
knowledge of good and evil
comes with age.
I wonder how I lived through
that terrible ordeal.
It can only have been
the hand of providence.
[indistinct chatter]
[gentle music continues]
[Maud] Behold, the day cometh
that shall burn like a furnace,
and all the proud and
everyone that doth wickedness
shall be stubble.
- [Ilbury] Hallelujah! [chuckles]
- [Emily] Oh, what joy!
[Maud] I was a peculiarly
innocent girl,
my father always said.
He told me many lies
and one truth.
Angels and demons, monsters
and spirits,
do walk among us, clothed
in human flesh.
I tell many lies and one truth.
Lies to the liars,
and truth to the one
who comes after me.
Angels and monsters
do walk among us.
The trick is to tell
which is which.
[gentle music continues]
[somber piano music playing]
- [wood creaks]
- [wind gusting]
- [wind continues gusting]
- [crows cawing]
[ominous music playing]
[birds chirping]
[ominous music continues]
[ominous music continues]
[Maud gasps]
[Maud] What makes a monster,
you may well wonder.
My father taught me that
only after our death
will we know what we are,
what we have chosen to be,
angel or demon,
creature of light or monster
clothed in human flesh.
He said I could choose,
that I had a choice.
He told me it's an easy journey
between this life and the next.
He told me he loved me.
He told me many lies.
[somber music playing]
Downstairs after upstairs,
Mrs. Rusk.
The gentlemen are
in the drawing room, miss.
The silver service, I think.
Not the china.
- The gentleman...
- Are waiting. Thank you, Rusk.
I'd like the silver service
instead, if you please.
[Mary] Miss Maud!
[somber music continues]
[Bryerly] I must, for a moment,
speak not of your father's
recent death but of his judgment.
Your uncle is hardly
a fit person
to have charge of
an impressionable young girl.
He's my nearest relation, sir.
Therefore eminently fit.
You've never met him, I think.
I look forward imminently
to that happy event.
Your Uncle Silas was a most
expensive, vicious young man.
A friend, was he not,
of your late father?
An acquaintance, rather.
Married beneath himself.
Though, to do him justice,
I believe he hadn't intended
to ruin her.
I fail to see why a youthful
msalliance
bears upon my uncle's
present fitness as guardian.
- [Bryerly] May I be blunt?
- Certainly.
Your trustees would be remiss
in our duties
should we fail to
take into account
and consider the implications
of the historic...
You proposed to be
blunt, doctor.
Suspicion of murder
committed by your uncle.
My uncle was exculpated
by the inquest.
That gambler took his own life.
Perhaps you'd care to view
the suicide room, captain,
in your new capacity as trustee.
Another time, possibly.
Thank you.
Miss Ruthyn, what I mean to say
is that your trustees
are amenable
if you would care to
mount a challenge.
You may remain trustees
of my property.
My person is none of your
concern but that of my uncle.
That is what you kindly offer,
to assume the additional burden
and the allowance which accompanies
it and have me elect you as guardian,
rather than my own
flesh and blood.
I will not challenge the will
or my father's choice
of guardian.
You will not, I'm sure, wish
to travel home in the dark.
[somber music playing]
You need some rest and
some feeding up.
Good day to you, doctor.
My father was what is
called an oddity.
- There's no shame in that.
- [Maud] I'm not ashamed.
The appointment of my uncle
was made not despite,
but because my father
was deeply, bitterly conscious
of his brother's disgrace.
A mild word for suspected
murder.
[somber music continues]
Goodbye, captain.
I trust you'll discharge
your duty
by casting an eye over
the place as you go riding past.
[horse chuffs]
[somber music continues]
You may go.
I'll serve myself this evening.
[door opens]
[Emily] Oh my goodness!
How exciting!
[group chattering indistinctly]
[door closes]
- [somber music playing]
- [footsteps thumping]
My dear cousin.
My dear cousin Maud.
I am so out of breath!
So delighted, but so fatigued
after our dreadful journey.
You can't imagine how I've
been longing to meet you.
My father's been shown
to his room.
My brother, about the
place somewhere.
The stables, I expect.
[chuckles]
What good friends we shall be.
Would you care to take
a turn about the garden?
Or perhaps you're too fatigued
after your dreadful journey.
[upbeat music playing]
[Emily chuckles]
[Emily panting]
What a barracks of
a place it is.
I shouldn't wonder
you're longing to get out of it.
I shall never leave Knowl.
I've put you in the room
next but one to mine.
[Emily sighs]
[gentle music playing]
[Emily] We had a lovely
walk today.
[Edward] Splendid.
Only one nag in the stables. Room for
a string of hunters, I should say.
[Silas] Don't rush
your fences, boy.
Uncle.
You are most welcome.
Dear child, I rejoice
to meet you.
Truly rejoice.
My daughter Emily has
made your acquaintance,
and I perceive already
the foundations of a
lasting friendship.
Pray, allow me to present
my son, your cousin Edward.
Where is your gallantry?
Kiss your cousin, sir.
You modern young women
are so correct,
and all the more alluring
for your modesty.
Your servant, Cousin.
Cousin Edward.
Hmm.
Shall we?
[gentle music playing]
[dishes clatter]
Getting on a bit, aren't they?
I suppose so.
[Mr. Rusk] I'll serve.
Go on back down.
I hadn't thought about it.
You must, of course, consider
everything in this house
perfectly at your disposal.
Beg your pardon, Uncle?
Come.
It is not so very long,
your minority, is it?
May the Lord bless you and
make you all that I could wish.
Forgot your proprieties, Rusk.
[Mr. Rusk] Beg your pardon, sir?
Serve Miss Maud at once!
[Mr. Rusk] Yes, sir.
You think them very bad.
Not very.
You play pianoforte?
A little.
I must hear you.
By and by.
Who makes your dresses?
Mrs. Rusk, I think,
ordered this one.
Mary Quince and I planned it.
Mrs. Rusk, the housekeeper?
Mary Quince?
My maid servant.
There is something
a trifle whimsical about it.
Whimsical has not been
used in this house.
Your father had a taste
for being miserable.
I would rather enjoy this life
than contemplate
my mortification in the next.
You are an heiress
and ought not to appear
like a Jack Pudding.
[chuckles]
Pardon, mademoiselle.
I startled you.
I am Madame, the governess
de votre cousine.
Emily requires a governess?
You, mademoiselle, having,
of course, nothing to learn,
pas du tout, have
no need of one.
Not these three years past.
Is there something further
my cousin requires this evening?
Ah, no. I merely wished to introduce
myself to Mademoiselle Maud,
my most gracious hostess.
You have done so. Good night.
That is my father's desk.
As it was my father's
before him.
Evidently, neither was
much for paperwork.
Ha!
Piquet?
Faro? Loo?
I do not care to play, sir.
Now, we will see what we can do.
Hmm.
Ground rent.
Rent roll.
Leases.
Liquid assets.
Your trustees intend
to keep a tight rein
on the purse strings.
- They are ridiculous, aren't they?
- You needn't mind them.
Ah, putty in your
hands, are they?
I salute you. Guardianship
also just a formality, yes?
I suggest an alliance.
What do you say?
Perhaps you'd rather
stick to the conventions.
I believe, Uncle,
that legality rather than
convention constrains us.
Dear niece, I will
treasure that us.
Come.
My dear brother.
He told you of me?
Yes.
What?
That you are a man
of great talents,
great faults, and great wrongs.
Your talents have
not availed you.
Your faults, you repented
for long ago,
but the wrongs done to you
are still very sore.
[door opens]
[Emily] Cousin Maud.
Are you quite well?
You look tired.
It is not good,
all this time in the woods.
A walk in my own forest
with my uncle for company
is hardly likely to tire me.
Perhaps Madame perceives a
difficulty of which I'm unaware.
No. No. You and your guardian
are completely free
to fatigue yourselves together.
[Maud gasps]
[Emily] You'll have
some tea, Edward?
[chuckles]
You sinner, Edward. Now,
Maud, isn't he a sinner?
[somber music playing]
Case of turtle, I should think,
and get in some hock.
Do you care for hock, Niece?
Above all things, Uncle.
[Emily snorts]
My daughter makes a
noise like a pig.
Do you think your cousin's
table a farmyard, pig?
No, sir.
Then apologize to your cousin.
I beg your pardon, Maud.
And also some claret, Rusk.
Two cases?
Three?
As you wish.
Three cases of claret, Rusk.
[chuckles]
[birds chirping]
[Madame speaking French]
The sentiment quite overcomes
the defect in perspective.
[speaking French]
Emily, come.
Perhaps you might give
votre cousine
the benefit of your advice.
Oh, no, no, no. I won't
trouble you.
See, if you just adjust
the sight line here and here...
Goodness.
I'm sorry if I offended
you, Cousin.
- It doesn't matter in the least.
- [Madame] What do you see?
[Emily] The weather is
rather changeable here.
[indistinct chatter]
[door opens]
Touch of neuralgia.
My father was similarly
afflicted.
May I be of some service
to my beloved niece?
Emily's governess.
- Yes?
- You don't wish for me to obey her?
Only to be polite.
She's not my governess.
She's not responsible
for your conduct, certainly.
[Maud] I am to understand
that you are.
Yes, my dear brother has appointed
me to act in loco parentis,
but I shan't wield
my authority without cause.
Nor I when the authority
becomes mine.
How I will enjoy
introducing you to society,
and reintroducing myself.
You think I regret my seclusion?
I assure you, I do not.
To revisit the continent
with you by my side.
A climbing holiday, perhaps.
I was just your age when
your father and I first went.
When he first took you
mountaineering.
His youthful passion,
I understand.
I'm afraid I don't share it.
Well, not having tried it.
Naturally, one couldn't
consider such a thing
while in mourning...
or even half-mourning.
Hmm.
On that subject, might I inquire
as to whether Madame,
being a French woman
and therefore clever
with her needle,
might sew me a new dress in the
style which meets your approval?
Well, should you present
your request
with sufficient charm,
I may drop a hint,
a measure of docility.
I'm sure Madame might teach
you to wield your own needle,
a much better scheme.
[chuckles]
Don't be vexed.
- May I be of any service, Uncle?
- Oh, how gracious.
No, but I shan't trouble you
with small matters of business.
Anything else?
No.
Do shut the door.
[somber music playing]
[somber music continues]
[Maud] Does family history
interest you?
Oh, yes.
Indeed it does.
I had no idea.
[ominous music playing]
[door locks]
When they broke open the door,
they found him half out of bed,
his head hanging down,
and his throat cut
by his own hand.
How horrid.
[Maud] They scrubbed
and scrubbed.
Did your father not
tell you all this?
No.
Mine did.
Perhaps he didn't mind
discussing it.
There's no suspicion
attached to him.
It seems most unfair,
my father shunned but not yours.
My father's reputation
was ever unsullied.
However unfair and unmerited,
I'm afraid the same
cannot be said for yours.
You concede his ill reputation
unmerited.
Then why should my father
bear all the notoriety?
I'll mention to my uncle
you've been asking, shall I?
No. Don't.
- [shouts]
- [Maud and Emily scream]
- Am I supposed to find you amusing?
-[laughs]
Confess. I frightened you.
Confess.
Confess!
It makes no sense at all.
If the door was locked
from the inside,
then no suspicion could
attach to anyone.
[somber music playing]
[crows cawing]
[bell chiming]
There's no need to
skulk, my dear.
One of your trustees has come
to see how you're getting on.
May I present my niece's humble
cousins, Mr. Edward Ruthyn,
youngest scion of our name,
and my daughter, Miss
Emily Ruthyn.
I trust I find you
well, Miss Ruthyn.
Very well. Thank you.
Tea, Cousin?
She is very striking, isn't she?
No one can hardly wonder about
my brother already being
so fascinated by her.
Their acquaintance is
but recent, I understood.
Mm-hmm, my brother did not
trouble to extend his hospitality
even to his nearest and dearest,
I'm afraid,
but we have overcome
the deficit, as you see.
A hunting man, I understand.
I can give you a good run,
if you're so inclined.
My niece's foxes will be trembling
in their rank little dens.
[Silas and Emily chuckle]
A word with Miss Ruthyn,
if I may.
Miss Maud Ruthyn.
If I may give you some advice...
No, thank you.
You are, and I mean no
disrespect by this,
unschooled in the
ways of society.
I certainly hope so.
Your fortune is
considerably more extensive
than your experience.
Pray, excuse me if I take
a great liberty.
You are a prize, you know.
I do know.
If there's any service
I can render,
anything at all that I can do.
For my property,
I am to presume?
Indeed. Of course,
for your property.
Please consider myself
entirely at your disposal.
[sighs]
[door opens]
[door closes]
The good captain will find
an heiress tres convenient.
The good captain thinks
more of his wine, his horse,
and the folds in his cravat
than he does of me.
And so you may tell my uncle,
should he inquire.
- [somber music playing]
- [birds cawing]
[somber music continues]
Dearest Maud, well,
I imagine you have
a shrewd suspicion of the
object of this tete-a-tete.
I haven't the slightest conception.
Kindly move aside.
You know that it is
totally impossible
for a fellow such as myself
and a charming girl
such as yourself
to meet continually as we do
without a liking growing
on one side or another.
I suppose I needn't pretend
to be violently in love.
Please don't.
Sensible girl. Governor will see to it.
We needn't go into the particulars.
Please don't continue.
Beg pardon?
Am I to suppose you've
formed an attachment for me?
Mm-hmm.
A sincere attachment?
Most sincere.
You do me too much honor, sir.
- Dash it!
- [gasps]
If you require some love-making,
then I'm your...
Have the goodness
to let me pass.
[somber music playing]
[knocking on door]
[Silas] You will excuse
the intrusion.
I have hitherto spoken
to you as a friend,
but I have not forgotten,
if you have,
that my authority as guardian
gives me the right to question
your conduct.
Have I been rightly informed
that you contemptuously
rejected the hand of my son?
I rejected it certainly
with no more contempt
than the question was put to me.
He is unpolished, I concede,
but under your tutelage,
he will improve.
Really, my dear, think
of the advantages.
Marry Edward. Remain at Knowl.
What could be better than
taking your own blood to wed?
Better, surely,
not to marry a man
for whom I have no regard.
Your fancy lies elsewhere,
does it?
Not, I trust, in the direction
of a certain captain
who makes nothing
by his profession
and everything by
his trusteeship.
No, sir.
Wise girl.
[sighs]
[somber music playing]
You have something of the look
of your poor mother.
I'm afraid I don't remember her.
No? Delicate girl.
Sad.
My son's impetuousness
has taken you by surprise.
You were quite right
to take time to reflect.
I require no further...
I yield, my dear. I shall
not press you.
You shall have time,
your own time, to think.
I will accept no answer now.
[door closes]
[discordant piano music]
- [metronome ticking]
- [Mary moans]
[Edward panting]
[Mary moans]
[door clicks]
[Silas] Hurry up. You're
letting the cold in.
[door closes]
[somber music playing]
[Silas] A tribute to
your beaux yeux, my dear.
Your phlegmatic cousin
prefers business to romance.
Will find the arrival
of bailiffs
more compelling than your posy.
It is quite impossible.
I shall speak to my trustees.
This matter, to my regret,
does not concern you or your
property but rather my own.
There will be no bailiffs
at Knowl.
Your creditors have caught
wind of the fee
compensating you for
my guardianship.
Mm.
Ready money is not something
I have frequently been
troubled with.
Perhaps I might communicate
with my trustees
about releasing some funds.
What unwanted generosity.
If you'd care to, Uncle.
[door creaks]
[footsteps approaching]
I'm on tenterhooks.
Tell me, how do you propose
to inveigle your trustees
into settling my paltry affairs?
I propose to tell them
it's a small price to pay
for securing your departure
from Knowl
and that of my cousins.
[sighs]
And if I decline your
so generous offer?
Then I regret very much that the
bailiffs will indeed arrive at Knowl.
And I will make sure
they understand what is mine
and therefore untouchable
and what is yours and
therefore fair game.
[somber music playing]
[birds chirping]
I don't mind waiting a bit.
I'm in no rush to have
a wife on my back.
Oh, very obliging of you.
I'm no hand at play-acting.
I assure you I never had
the least expectation
of a preux chevalier
charging up to carry me off.
Surely you want someone,
someone of your own,
someone to come after you.
I mean, I needn't
trouble you much.
I was just in the midst of
declining your son's proposal,
which he has been
so obliging as to repeat.
Well, shall I carry on
or may we take it as read?
Dear young lady, I
have watched you,
indeed we have all watched you,
without one word of
discouragement,
permit my son's most
marked attentions to you.
There have been no attentions
to speak of.
I have sought no attentions.
You know as well as I withheld
words are powerful allurements.
Allurements are not something
I've ever been accused
of wielding.
However, to be on the
safe side, Uncle,
I will henceforth extend nothing
but coldness and discouragement
towards my cousin, your son.
You are excused.
Pray, excuse me.
[Silas] There is
something you should know.
[somber music playing]
We once made a bargain,
my brother and I.
He paid to clean up your mess
when that gamester took
the coward's way out
- and put an end to himself.
- Ah.
You play too deep, all of you.
That is true, at least.
And he lost more than
he could pay.
Less true. False, actually.
The loss was mine.
But then you won again what
you'd lost and more besides.
No. I lost everything I had
and more besides.
Your father staked me.
The money I had to lose was his.
The whole of his fortune. The
whole of this house, certainly.
That can't possibly be true.
Well, luckily, that other
eventuality transpired.
[ominous music playing]
I don't understand.
I think you do.
That is a foul implication.
I imply nothing.
I tell you plainly,
your father took the steps
required to preserve his fortune.
What steps? The door
was locked from the inside.
Which your father promised me we
could rely upon at the inquest,
and, happily, he proved correct.
You lie. You're a liar.
I speak truth, unaccustomed
as you are to hearing it.
Uncle...
if murder was committed
at Knowl...
it was not by my father's hand.
He was always the
better climber.
The taint of suspicion was
to be mine, mine alone,
as one day so would be Knowl.
That was the bargain.
[Silas] Mm.
I'm afraid I didn't bank on him, at
his age, acquiring a wife and heir.
He did what he could for you.
He made me your ward to
prove to the world
his great confidence
in your innocence and honor.
Oh, yes.
How grateful I am to my
honorable brother,
guardianship of you.
The trust with which he placed
you wholly within my power
restores my reputation...
though sadly not my expected
inheritance.
[somber music continues]
[knocking on door]
[door opens]
[Mary] Excuse me, miss.
[ominous music playing]
If mademoiselle has
any petite commissions,
Madame will be charmed
to undertake them.
No, thank you.
Ah, Monsieur Ruthyn prefers that
Madame attend to mademoiselle's
petite d'affaires.
That won't at all be necessary.
Monsieur thinks otherwise.
You mustn't trouble
yourself to go out.
Jet buttons.
I require a set of jet buttons.
Keep your pennies.
Your uncle graciously provides.
Thank you, Uncle.
- [Madame] Tea?
- [Silas] Brandy.
[peaceful piano music]
[ominous music playing]
Unhand me, Uncle!
You're hurting me!
You, says one man
of experience to another,
- buy a pig in a poke.
- Unhand me, I say!
I realize she isn't exactly
what you like.
- Waist none too small. Bosom, negligible.
-[Maud] You forget yourself, sir.
- Still, child-bearing hips.
- Pater!
Fine eyes, and a pretty
little foot and ankle.
[Maud shrieks]
- [knocking on door]
- Come in.
Oh, don't.
It's so lovely.
We could be sisters.
It is enough that
we are cousins.
[door opens]
What is it?
[door locks]
Edward?
I'll accept your apology
in the morning.
Now get out.
No.
[Maud] No!
Get out of my room! Get out!
- Get out!
- [Edward] Quiet!
- [Maud] No!
- Shh!
[Maud screaming]
[Edward panting]
[Maud whimpers]
[Maud shrieks]
[Edward shouts]
It will be best not to resist
or pretend to resist.
- [Maud shrieks]
- [Edward groans]
No, no, no, no!
No!
[whimpering] Edward. Edward.
Edward, look at me!
Don't do this!
Don't do...
[whimpering]
[shrieks]
[Edward grunting]
[Edward gasps]
[Maud sobbing]
[Edward panting]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[somber music playing]
[birds chirping]
[door opens]
[dishes clattering]
Coffee please, Rusk.
I trust you slept well, Uncle.
Moderately well, Niece,
and yourself?
Immoderately poorly,
as I'm sure you're aware,
but then I'm hardly
alone in that.
But I must thank you all
for your kind concern.
[door opens, closes]
I do think you've been
a little cruel, my dear.
If there has been an
excess of gallantry,
you only have yourself to blame.
My charms, I make no doubt,
are near as numberless
as the quantity of pounds
lodged in my bank account.
I cannot conceive why
you are so intractable.
I should rather consider
myself lucky
your son deigns to rape me?
My decision is unalterable.
I will not marry your son.
Well, I'm afraid no
respectable man
will take a soiled article
to his bed and board.
I find myself not much disposed
towards marriage, Uncle.
What is it you want in
that little heart of yours?
Do you think it so
little, my heart?
You're mistaken.
[somber music playing]
[somber music continues]
[inaudible dialogue]
[somber music continues]
Saute, please, with peas
a la francaise.
Yes, miss.
[bolt creaking]
Fierce rusty, them bolts.
- See to them then.
- Yes, miss.
The carriage, please, Rusk.
No, miss.
I require the carriage,
please, Rusk.
If necessary, I'll
drive it myself.
I'm sorry, miss.
The master said no, miss.
[Maud] I am your mistress.
[grunts]
- Get down.
- No.
- You'll hurt yourself.
- Come on! Go! Go!
Let me lift you down.
Get your hands off
me. Step back.
[grunts]
Mary Quince, I need you
to post a letter.
Miss, I can't lose my place.
No. They will lose their places.
I'm sorry I asked.
I won't again.
[birds cawing]
[somber music playing]
Ilbury.
Ilbury!
Ilbury!
Ilbury!
Captain!
Captain, wait!
[somber music continues]
Mama, will you be my host
Mama, say you love me most
Mama, watch me as I creep
Mama, sing me back to sleep
Don't
Cut
Me
Off
Very sorry, miss.
Doctor.
Miss Ruthyn, do come in.
How would you say you've
been feeling, Miss Ruthyn?
A tad confined, I would say.
Thank you, Dr. Bryerly.
And yourself?
Concerned, dear, that
you've been unwell.
I've not been unwell.
You've been misinformed.
We shall soon have you put right.
Do not agitate yourself.
I'm not at all agitated.
You're to remain
perfectly quiet.
Your nerves appear to be
more shaken than you know.
I'm fortunate then to have at least
one of my trustees to look after me.
You may relieve yourself of that worry.
I have today spoken to my fellow trustee,
as the consent of both
of us is required
to secure the funds
to ward off the bailiffs.
Be so good as to explain
yourself.
The timber requires thinning.
No such things!
[yelps]
Doctor, a word.
Leave it with me.
Whatever he's paying you,
I will match it. Double it.
You have three years
until your majority.
In that time, you will
be brought to understand,
indeed agree with,
your uncle's point of view.
And Captain Ilbury,
does he share your opinion,
or more accurately,
your doubtless fat fee?
Do not agitate yourself so.
- You will do...
- We may take it then that he does.
[Bryerly] You're hysterical and will
find yourself committed for treatment!
[Maud] I am perfectly
sane and you know it.
In certain nervous states,
intemperance of language
indicates
a likely progression
to violence of action,
to self-destruction even.
The treatment generally
involves a degree of restraint,
more or less disagreeable
depending on the patient.
Hmm.
Say it's a hardened case.
Even the most hardened cases
respond to cold water treatment.
The simplest thing in the world,
a sort of shower bath.
Tiled room, efficient drain,
a chair, leather restraints.
Iron has a tendency to rust.
Water tank overhead
fitted to a powerful pump.
Thirty minutes
for the most obdurate cases.
Something between 10 and 13
tons of water in that time.
Tons?
Ten tons of cold water shoot
down on the head of the girl?
I beg your pardon. The patient.
No, you are correct.
Irregular vibrations
of the nerves
are the almost exclusive
liability of the fairer sex
due to the peculiarities
of the female constitution.
One can hardly imagine what
it's like for the poor girl.
There is a viewing platform if
you'd care for a visitor's ticket.
Please. I cannot stop him.
[door creaks]
Couldn't sleep.
Nor I.
We are en rapport, it seems.
Might I suggest some Cowper?
Or perhaps Radcliffe would
be more to your taste.
You know, less bucolic.
I'll leave the candle, will I?
[retching]
[ominous music playing]
Let's get you back to bed, miss.
[Maud] No. Just lace
me up tightly.
[knocking on door]
[door opens]
I can see you're a great deal
under the weather today.
A period of seclusion,
nourishing food, rest,
and no reading
or drawing.
Your uncle wonders
whether you keep a diary.
I'm afraid I do not. Would
you recommend I commence?
Stand.
Thank you. I prefer to sit.
Stand, or I will have
Mr. and Mrs. Rusk
lift you to your feet.
[ominous music continues]
[sniffing]
You'll be the better
for the treatment.
[gasps]
You're an intelligent girl.
Indeed, as I recall from
our meeting not long ago,
you take inordinate pride
in your intelligence.
Perhaps I overestimated
my abilities.
Perhaps when you offered
to overturn my father's will.
- I did no such thing.
- Did you not?
Well, perhaps, Ilbury will recollect.
Shall we send for him?
Ilbury? Ilbury will do as he's told.
You may expect no help in that regard.
Bonjour, doctor. Do you
require some assistance?
Mr. Ruthyn would not
wish to add to any trauma
mademoiselle might be imagining.
[door closes]
All this difficulty,
so unnecessary.
You make your situation
worse than it need be.
Submit.
You need two doctors
to commit me.
Do you know what the medical
profession prescribes
as a sure-fire cure
for hysteria?
Sexual congress.
In holy wedlock, naturally.
I decline to marry my rapist.
Consider the alternative.
Leather restraints,
a tiled room,
and 13 tons of water
bucketing down on my head.
At weekly intervals.
Bryerly alone can't do it.
Even Bryerly and Ilbury
and you can't do it.
But one doesn't need
a panel of doctors,
far less a magistrate,
to secure urgent treatment
for a troubled young family member
in a benevolent institution.
Solely the signature
of one doctor.
Our kind friend Dr.
Bryerly, say.
I am sorry to see you suffer so.
But you will be better
away from here.
The law is not on your side.
The law being made and
enforced by men.
I concede your point.
But if I contest your treatment,
bridle my tongue, and
appeal most humbly
to the kind gentleman
of the law,
as a girl...
will they believe you or me?
I'll wager me, and then I will
be made a ward of the court
and you will be removed.
Of what do you think
to accuse me?
Approval of the match
my impetuous son
has been rather too
determined to make?
I cannot be held responsible for any
action of his, however reprehensible.
And yet, Uncle, I feel
the weight of previous suspicion
will count against you,
outcast as you are.
Shall we roll the dice and see?
I might just add, should anything
transpire with regards to me,
I really don't think your
reputation would handle it.
Your son is to go away.
You as well.
Hmm.
25,000 pounds would
hardly do it.
Say 50.
Done.
How is it you conceive yourself
able to appeal to magistrates
when you are under the
care of a physician
who won't allow anything
to disturb your fragile state?
50,000 pounds to be paid
at once by my trustees.
At my majority, I will guarantee
you and my dear cousins
the means to live comfortably
elsewhere.
50,000 pounds to be paid at once
will secure you respite from
any further marital proposals.
Edward shall go.
I prefer to remain at Knowl.
In my father's house,
there are many mansions.
You and I needn't set
eyes on one another.
[Silas chuckles]
Une detente, then?
Detente.
[somber music playing]
[knocking on door]
[Mr. Rusk] The carriage
will be around directly, sir.
[Bryerly] I should wait
until after dinner.
A sudden journey, unless
fortified, can be perilous.
[Mr. Rusk] The master has
called the carriage, sir.
Dinner downstairs this
evening, miss.
Your uncle presents
his compliments
and requests that Miss Maud
join the family.
- That's plenty, Mary Quince.
- Mrs. Rusk will do for you tonight.
I'm to go for bits and pieces
for your cousins.
No, you're wanted here.
Mrs. Rusk can go
for their bits and pieces.
Well, the master
wouldn't trust her for it.
Mr. Ruthyn, I mean.
Heaps of things they'll need.
- They'll be so long away.
- Both my cousins?
- So says Mr. Ruthyn.
- [sighs]
- How we will miss them.
- [snickers]
As much as it pains me
to see my son and heir
depart the ancestral halls,
I will have to bear the
grief of parting.
Your cousin is made of
sterner stuff than you, sir.
It therefore becomes necessary
that your importunity should
trouble her no longer.
I don't follow, sir.
Your stupidity never ceases
to reproach me
for the callow mistake
I made in my youth.
And since I do not choose
my son's going to be accompanied
by any sordid gossip,
my daughter shall accompany him.
A spell at a French convent
will do wonders for you.
Et moi?
Mm, Madame, it seems,
after all these years,
we can dispense with
your services.
Indeed, monsieur.
I would be pleased to continue
my care of Mademoiselle Emily.
Self-sacrifice was ever
your strong suit, Madame,
but I shan't be required
to task it further.
She's my charge. I shall
accompany her.
No.
Monsieur.
[chuckling]
[in Irish accent] Silas.
I beg your pardon?
You'll not part me
from our daughter.
My dear Madame,
I fear you're not quite
yourself this evening.
Emily, don't let him do this.
Don't.
Emily, look at me please.
Emily, please, my darling. My own girl.
My own... Please.
- [Emily] Don't touch me. Don't.
- Please, please, please.
- All right! Enough!
- Please!
You are, of course, perfectly
free to accompany your mother.
No, thank you, sir.
Emily.
- No, no.
- Now, now.
Come on. You're quite worn out.
I suggest you retire
and rest up...
before you go.
[Madame sobs]
[Silas sighs]
Must I really go?
[chuckles] Must I repeat myself?
And Maud?
Remains at Knowl with me,
unless you would find
a period abroad productive.
I shall, of course,
remain at Knowl.
[knocking on door]
[Mrs. Rusk] Miss?
Spiced claret.
Master says I'm to undress you.
And I say you are not.
My silence was a condition
of my employment,
and yet you blame
me and not him?
You chose not to trust me
with your secret.
But I couldn't tell you.
But I thought you knew.
You did know.
I thank you for your service.
[somber music playing]
Madame.
[wind howls]
[knocking on door]
[rattling]
[ominous music playing]
- [knocking on door]
- [Emily] Maud?
Such distress. Surely you're content
you've banished my brother and me.
I would like to give
you a memento.
A family piece, if you'd
care to choose something.
If you wish.
Here.
Lie back.
[clattering]
[door opens]
[Silas] Put her out.
[Edward] I thought you might
do the honors, sir.
Feet first. She jumped.
An irrevocable impulse
of the unbalanced mind,
as the good doctor will confirm.
There's no need to
reproach yourself.
- We gave her every chance.
- [Edward] Pater, I...
[Silas] Don't be such a girl!
[Edward] Pater, it's Emily.
[panting]
[gasps]
- [door bangs]
- [Maud shrieks]
[glass shatters]
[lantern creaking]
Darling Maud.
Shall we go out together
in a blaze of glory?
I have an idea.
You go out and I'll stay here.
Glory needn't come into it.
So, tell me, Uncle.
Is Edward also Madame's?
Edward was got in wedlock.
Only my daughter is a bastard,
and I would think that you
in your delicate situation
might show touch more sympathy.
The kind you showed
me, for example?
[gentle music playing]
I would have loved you.
You do love me.
We're the same, you and I.
[Maud gasps]
Then why should my
life be forfeit?
- [knife squelches]
- [gasps]
And not yours?
[gasping]
I gave you every chance.
[Silas yelps]
[Edward] Father!
- [tense music playing]
- [knife clatters]
[Edward] Maud!
[tense music continues]
[Maud] Captain Ilbury!
Captain!
Captain!
Captain!
What's happened?
What's happened?
- Oh, captain.
- It's all right. It's all right.
What's happened? What
has happened?
My father is dead.
Murdered.
Murdered by Madame.
[somber music playing
Come, come. Come inside. It's all right.
It's all right, Maud.
Come inside. It's all right.
[Maud sobbing]
We didn't know where to turn.
My poor cousin is
quite distraught.
You'd only to say the word.
I would've come to you.
Madame is also dead.
A double tragedy.
They were lovers or
had been once, I think.
You will correct me, Cousin, if
I misapprehended the situation.
The prospect of Emily
being schooled abroad
and no longer requiring
a governess
put an intolerable strain
on Madame's faculties.
An insanity, even.
She can hardly be blamed
for stabbing my uncle to death.
Did I get that right, Cousin?
Indeed, I'm not altogether sure
of my uncle's state of mind.
Devastated, he was,
at the prospect
that you had also expressed
an intent to leave Knowl.
A scheme by which you must
no means abandon, going abroad.
America.
Australia, I thought?
Australia.
You would then be unprotected.
- My sister would be...
- Ever the dearest companion I have known.
I will so miss her
when she's away at school.
I, of course, cannot
leave Knowl.
You would then be
entirely alone.
[gentle music playing]
You may rely on me.
[Maud] The direful
knowledge of good and evil
comes with age.
I wonder how I lived through
that terrible ordeal.
It can only have been
the hand of providence.
[indistinct chatter]
[gentle music continues]
[Maud] Behold, the day cometh
that shall burn like a furnace,
and all the proud and
everyone that doth wickedness
shall be stubble.
- [Ilbury] Hallelujah! [chuckles]
- [Emily] Oh, what joy!
[Maud] I was a peculiarly
innocent girl,
my father always said.
He told me many lies
and one truth.
Angels and demons, monsters
and spirits,
do walk among us, clothed
in human flesh.
I tell many lies and one truth.
Lies to the liars,
and truth to the one
who comes after me.
Angels and monsters
do walk among us.
The trick is to tell
which is which.
[gentle music continues]
[somber piano music playing]