Scene 7 and 8
Nov 21, 2015 2:24:18 GMT
Post by joannem on Nov 21, 2015 2:24:18 GMT
SCENE 7 – THE LADY VANISHES
Fade in
RACHEL
We must flee. And where is Lady Mildred? Is she also...
CHARLES
She was not here. Twas our first port of call.
HARRIET
I thought I heard her spectre, in the tumult of the night.
RACHEL
She is alive.
HARRIET
Lady Mildred?
RACHEL
Rebecca! Of all people I know the darkness in her heart. Oh if you will not save yourselves then -
HARRIET
Charles! Do not let her out of our sight!
RACHEL
Don't you trust me?
HARRIET
I don't trust anyone.
CHARLES
Except -
HARRIET
Anyone. Rachel, together we are three. Stay for your safety, unless the guilty must flee.
CHARLES
Rachel is right. Let us brave the night and wake the magistrate.
HARRIET
If she plots our doom then she will be waiting to despatch us. That mire will fill with us all. And, again, we dare not abandon Lady Mildred.
CHARLES
If she lives.... I'd rather take my chance outside.
HARRIET
We have to make sure. One more search, then we go with good conscience. We'll start from the bottom, chase our fiend to the top.
(FX: DOORS OPENING AND CLOSING AND FOOTSTEPS ON LANDINGS)
CHARLES
Harriet! Enough. We can go no higher. We have searched everywhere.
HARRIET
Not quite, these are the attic rooms above. And what is that... faint excrescence?
RACHEL
I don't...
HARRIET
It eminates from... Pull down that attic ladder.
(FX: TRAP DOOR OPENING)
HARRIET
What can you see?
CHARLES
Oh! Perhaps a rat in the walls? There is indeed something rancid.
RACHEL
We should not trespass up there.
HARRIET
Oh let me see.
(F/X HARRIET CLAMBERS UP THE LADDER)
HARRIET
Perhaps it... Nothing. Hold up your candle. What is that travel chest against the wall?
RACHEL
This is all too perfectly ghastly. I'll just wait down....
CHARLES
Harriet! You.... You want me to open one?
HARRIET
Would you rather it were I?
CHARLES
No... No... Safe in my arms and all that. It is so cramped in here
(FX: STRAPS UNFASTENED AND A CHEST BEING OPENED)
CHARLES
So. This one... is a man. Semi-dessicated in this arid air but I wager some degree of decomposition set in before...
HARRIET
Stop prattling! Search for clues to his identity. Oh, let me... Here, a note in his jacket pocket. A letter! To Captain Wilfred Holmes! Rachel! Rachel?
(F/X HARRIET SCRABBLES TO THE ATTIC TRAP DOOR)
CHARLES
Do you fear she'd trap us?
HARRIET
She has fled. Rachel - or Rebecca. One has played both parts.
CHARLES
Or they are spectres all and you were right in your supposition!
HARRIET
Charles! Unhand me! We must cling to reason rather than each other. One last check of Lady Mildred's room then we must presume she is lost. Whichever twin still besets us, we will be the only ones left.
Fade out
SCENE 8 – THE MUMMY
Fade in
HARRIET
Quiet. Rachel may await us.
CHARLES
Must we? Oh, Rachel is not the only mad woman!
(F/X MILDRED'S DOOR OPENS ONCE MORE
HARRIET
Look, through the shutters?
CHARLES
Light! Another visitation?
HARRIET
The wind has died. I do believe it is dawn. Cast them open. Let us see.
(F/X CHARLES FLINGS THE SHUTTERS OPEN)
CHARLES
No sign. Let us flee.
HARRIET
Wait. Something is wrong.
CHARLES
Indeed it is Harriet, now -
HARRIET
No. Wrong. Wrong with the room.
CHARLES
It has all an old lady might require. A bed, a fire, a chair to sit and a table.
HARRIET
But clothes? Where is her clothing?
CHARLES
Perhaps a lady of her standing has a dressing room. Really, this is no time for a feminine obsession with the paucity of her wardrobe!
HARRIET
But there is no dressing room. No chest of drawers.
CHARLES
There are... Some trifles of attire. Seemingly hastily discarded.
HARRIET
My word. I think you are right!
CHARLES
I am? I mean to say, of course I am... What about?
HARRIET
A house like this. A lady of her standing. Of course there was a dressing room. It would be about....
(FX: SHE TAPS ON THE WALLS. THEY ARE SOLID AND THEN SHE STRIKES A HOLLOW NOTE)
HARRIET
Here! Somewhat crudely papered over, but invisible by candlelight or with these shutters closed.
CHARLES
I have my cigar trimmer.
HARRIET
At last a worthwhile use for that beastly device.
(FX: CHARLES RIPS AT THE PAPER.)
HARRIET
The door! Prise it open!
(F/X THE DOOR IS PULLED OPEN)
HARRIET
Lady Mildred I presume.
CHARLES
Still in her chair.
(FX: RUSTLE OF FABRIC MOVING)
HARRIET
Quite mummifed in this sterile ante-chamber.
CHARLES
But we saw her. We conversed!
HARRIET
Did we? We talked to someone. Leave her be. We can do nothing for her now.
(FX: DOOR CLOSING)
CHARLES
Nothing but ghosts since the echoes of midnight.
HARRIET
I do not care for ghosts, at least no more than they would care for me.
Fade out
Fade in
RACHEL
We must flee. And where is Lady Mildred? Is she also...
CHARLES
She was not here. Twas our first port of call.
HARRIET
I thought I heard her spectre, in the tumult of the night.
RACHEL
She is alive.
HARRIET
Lady Mildred?
RACHEL
Rebecca! Of all people I know the darkness in her heart. Oh if you will not save yourselves then -
HARRIET
Charles! Do not let her out of our sight!
RACHEL
Don't you trust me?
HARRIET
I don't trust anyone.
CHARLES
Except -
HARRIET
Anyone. Rachel, together we are three. Stay for your safety, unless the guilty must flee.
CHARLES
Rachel is right. Let us brave the night and wake the magistrate.
HARRIET
If she plots our doom then she will be waiting to despatch us. That mire will fill with us all. And, again, we dare not abandon Lady Mildred.
CHARLES
If she lives.... I'd rather take my chance outside.
HARRIET
We have to make sure. One more search, then we go with good conscience. We'll start from the bottom, chase our fiend to the top.
(FX: DOORS OPENING AND CLOSING AND FOOTSTEPS ON LANDINGS)
CHARLES
Harriet! Enough. We can go no higher. We have searched everywhere.
HARRIET
Not quite, these are the attic rooms above. And what is that... faint excrescence?
RACHEL
I don't...
HARRIET
It eminates from... Pull down that attic ladder.
(FX: TRAP DOOR OPENING)
HARRIET
What can you see?
CHARLES
Oh! Perhaps a rat in the walls? There is indeed something rancid.
RACHEL
We should not trespass up there.
HARRIET
Oh let me see.
(F/X HARRIET CLAMBERS UP THE LADDER)
HARRIET
Perhaps it... Nothing. Hold up your candle. What is that travel chest against the wall?
RACHEL
This is all too perfectly ghastly. I'll just wait down....
CHARLES
Harriet! You.... You want me to open one?
HARRIET
Would you rather it were I?
CHARLES
No... No... Safe in my arms and all that. It is so cramped in here
(FX: STRAPS UNFASTENED AND A CHEST BEING OPENED)
CHARLES
So. This one... is a man. Semi-dessicated in this arid air but I wager some degree of decomposition set in before...
HARRIET
Stop prattling! Search for clues to his identity. Oh, let me... Here, a note in his jacket pocket. A letter! To Captain Wilfred Holmes! Rachel! Rachel?
(F/X HARRIET SCRABBLES TO THE ATTIC TRAP DOOR)
CHARLES
Do you fear she'd trap us?
HARRIET
She has fled. Rachel - or Rebecca. One has played both parts.
CHARLES
Or they are spectres all and you were right in your supposition!
HARRIET
Charles! Unhand me! We must cling to reason rather than each other. One last check of Lady Mildred's room then we must presume she is lost. Whichever twin still besets us, we will be the only ones left.
Fade out
SCENE 8 – THE MUMMY
Fade in
HARRIET
Quiet. Rachel may await us.
CHARLES
Must we? Oh, Rachel is not the only mad woman!
(F/X MILDRED'S DOOR OPENS ONCE MORE
HARRIET
Look, through the shutters?
CHARLES
Light! Another visitation?
HARRIET
The wind has died. I do believe it is dawn. Cast them open. Let us see.
(F/X CHARLES FLINGS THE SHUTTERS OPEN)
CHARLES
No sign. Let us flee.
HARRIET
Wait. Something is wrong.
CHARLES
Indeed it is Harriet, now -
HARRIET
No. Wrong. Wrong with the room.
CHARLES
It has all an old lady might require. A bed, a fire, a chair to sit and a table.
HARRIET
But clothes? Where is her clothing?
CHARLES
Perhaps a lady of her standing has a dressing room. Really, this is no time for a feminine obsession with the paucity of her wardrobe!
HARRIET
But there is no dressing room. No chest of drawers.
CHARLES
There are... Some trifles of attire. Seemingly hastily discarded.
HARRIET
My word. I think you are right!
CHARLES
I am? I mean to say, of course I am... What about?
HARRIET
A house like this. A lady of her standing. Of course there was a dressing room. It would be about....
(FX: SHE TAPS ON THE WALLS. THEY ARE SOLID AND THEN SHE STRIKES A HOLLOW NOTE)
HARRIET
Here! Somewhat crudely papered over, but invisible by candlelight or with these shutters closed.
CHARLES
I have my cigar trimmer.
HARRIET
At last a worthwhile use for that beastly device.
(FX: CHARLES RIPS AT THE PAPER.)
HARRIET
The door! Prise it open!
(F/X THE DOOR IS PULLED OPEN)
HARRIET
Lady Mildred I presume.
CHARLES
Still in her chair.
(FX: RUSTLE OF FABRIC MOVING)
HARRIET
Quite mummifed in this sterile ante-chamber.
CHARLES
But we saw her. We conversed!
HARRIET
Did we? We talked to someone. Leave her be. We can do nothing for her now.
(FX: DOOR CLOSING)
CHARLES
Nothing but ghosts since the echoes of midnight.
HARRIET
I do not care for ghosts, at least no more than they would care for me.
Fade out