Original subtitles

[mysterious music]

- He said he was a member of Parliament,

and so I trusted him.

He told me he wished me to meet another member,

his member for love.

He locked the door.

I pleaded for my maidenhood, but--

- The words are commonplace, but observe the frontispiece.

Show them, Maud.

The execution of the member for love, hmm?

The delicate rendering of the crimson tip.

Done after Beaux, very rare.

I had it as a young man from a store in Liverpool--

thank you, Maud--

for a shilling.

I would not part with it now for 50 pounds.

- But having slipped the bolt of the door--

- [voiceover] A curator of poisons-- so my uncle

described himself to me.

I was 12 years old when he began inoculating me

with poison-- grain by grain, scruple by scruple-- so I

should be immune to what I read, be his librarian,

and when he lost his sight, his eyes.

- --so they came together.

The romance may have been somewhat unusual,

but that gave it all the charm of the unexpected.

And there, as the red sun tinges the sky

and the chatter of birds heralds the coming night,

we must leave them.

[applause]

- You don't care for your uncle's subjects?

I'm his secretary.

It's a matter if total indifference to me.

- Oh, I find it rather curious to find a lady so cool

and unmoved by something designed to,

erm, stir the emotions.

- Most ladies in those books and paintings

seem to me to be singularly unmoved by it.

- [laughs] You are very uncommon, Miss Lilly.

So I understand, sir.

[indistinct chatter]

[eerie string music]

[footsteps]

[music swells]

[knock]

[whispering] Miss Lilly.

- I know nothing of what I read from those books, sir.

- I've not come for that, Miss Lilly.

I can get that in any street corner.

I'm here to help you.

How much do you think you'll receive when you marry?

A few hundred.

40,000 pounds.

Who told you such nonsense?

Hawtrey.

You're the talk of the shady bookshops in London and Paris--

your readings, and the favors men imagine follow them.

Your uncle is a villain, Miss Lilly.

And you are not?

- I came here to seduce you, secure your fortune.

But I saw what life has made of you,

and I knew it wouldn't work.

To a woman like you, it would be an insult.

Instead, I want to free you.

- You're very gallant, Mr. Rivers.

I suppose I don't care to be freed.

I think you long for it.

Go, please!

Go.

Good afternoon, Miss Lilly.

Good afternoon, Mr. Rivers.

Will you marry me?

How dare you!

- He's lively today, ain't he, Mr. Rivers?

Not as lively as me, Charles.

I swear I will not touch you after the ceremony.

We will go our separate ways.

- Why would you do such a thing?

For half your fortune.

- [voiceover] I tell him his idea's nonsense.

My uncle would pursue me.

Not if he thinks you are in the madhouse, he whispers.

But it would not be me who was locked up.

His plan is to install a new maid, a compliant chaperone,

a thief who will think she is cheating me.

[growls angrily]

- [voiceover] Instead, we will cheat her.

She will take with her into the madhouse

all the taint of my mother's madness, my uncle's

filth, my very name.

He is right.

I would be free.

- I return to London in three days.

I must secure the meet when we go back.

You'll never have this chance again, will you?

[whispering] No.

It would be foul, putting a girl in the madhouse.

- The girl's despicable, a thief.

She would do it to you.

- My uncle will be here at any moment.

[gasps] You must not open that.

You belong out there,

not locked up here with this filth!

[church bell rings]

[whispering] Go.

Go.

- [voiceover] There was an obstacle to Mr.

Rivers' plan-- my maid, Agnes.

- The way he painted that fruit, miss.

you could eat it.

He has an eye for it.

And for you, miss.

Oh!

[groans in pain]

- Are you all right, Miss Lilly?

- Think she may have twisted her ankle, sir.

Really, Agnes, I have not.

- Well, we must take no chance of that, Miss Lilly.

It is treacherous ground here.

Allow me to assist you.

[crow caws outside]

I cannot just dismiss Agnes.

Leave her to me.

[heavy breathing]

Agnes, every time I looked into her eyes,

I was thinking of you, of gazing into yours.

[approaching footsteps]

Mr. Wade.

Mr. Wade?

[shouting] Mr. Wade!

Agnes?

- [voiceover] I was shaken by what we had done to Agnes.

But my uncle had trained me too well to feel it for long.

Mr. Rivers returned to London, recommending

the new maid, whose character was as false as her curtsy.

Here is the evil little fingersmith

who is going to make us rich.

Remember, she has to become you, and you, her.

You have one month until I return.

Is it all right, miss?

Very satisfactory.

- [voiceover] She has come to Briar to swallow me up,

like a clutch of eggs.

- What do London ladies do this time of day?

- Make visits to other ladies, like you, miss.

[voiceover] Ladies like me?

There are no ladies like me.

[clears throat]

[knocking]

[door closes]

- [voiceover] But I grew used to her--

to her life, her warmth.

She was not the gullible girl of a villainous plot,

but a girl with a history, with hates and likings.

Yet to escape from Briar, I must despise her,

must deceive her.

[laughter]

Miss?

[gasps, giggles]

Miss?

- It's not bad news, is it, miss?

- Mr. Rivers is coming tomorrow.

Oh, Lord!

I must choose your dresses!

Oh, this one, for sure.

I want you to have that.

Me, miss?

But this is your best dress.

- I want to show Mr. Rivers that--

that I do so much approve of you, of his choice.

Oh, miss.

It's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.

Really, I can't.

I can't, really.

Sue.

- Miss, I--

[laughs]

- [voiceover] She looked so beautiful.

I had to keep telling myself over and over again what she

planned to do to me to go on.

Oh my goodness, miss.

I look like a real lady.

[giggles]

- [voiceover] She changed even my uncle's books for me.

I thought them dead.

The words became suddenly alive, full of meaning.

[serene music]

[birds singing]

[music becomes discordant]

- She must think we love one another.

God damn it, Maud.

There's another hour gone.

In two days, I will leave and I will never see you again.

Wake her.

She'll burn.

Shh.

[suspenseful music]

[music becomes sinister]

Let go of me.

I've lost heart for this.

- Oh, lost it to a wretched little fingersmith.

- Let me--

- She'd laugh in your face if she knew, if I told her.

[whispering] You mustn't.

Then agree.

Do you want to stay here forever?

Appear to love me.

Marry me.

I can't.

Maud!

Miss Maud?

Miss Maud.

[light, sinister music]

[whispering] She's coming.

[heavy breathing]

[music intensifies]

[gentle music]

[whispering] Tell me.

Tell me a way.

Tell you what, miss?

- Tell me, on her wedding night, what must a wife do?

[tender music]

[music intensifies]

You pearl.

[breathing shakily]

You pearl.

- [voiceover] Everything, I say to myself, has changed.

She has touched the life of me, the quick of me.

But she is ashamed.

- I'll be leaving here tonight, miss.

- [voiceover] She didn't love me.

Her feelings were false, part of a trap.

Why should I not trap her to escape from this foul place?

[light snoring]

The night I escaped, I needed to do one last thing.

[sinister music]

[music swells]

[shushing]

[intense music]

- How fast your heart beats, Maud.

[gasping]

- I told you I didn't want that.

But we must show the marks of true love.

Are you by any chance bleeding, to save me the pain?

- Do you mean to insult me in every possible way?

- [chuckles] Hold out the sheet.

[gasping]

[breathy laughter]

- The fashionable couple on their wedding night.

Sit down here, Susan.

- Miss Smith, were you ever a maid with Lady

Stoneleigh of Mayfair?

No, sir.

That's one of poor Mrs. Rivers' fancies.

Ever since her wedding night, she's made up these stories.

Fiction?

Yes, yes.

Does she read books?

Her passion is books.

- Well, there you have it, Graves.

The overexposure of women to literature breeds

unnatural fancies.

Indeed.

Unnatural?

Oh, sir, you don't know the worst of it.

It's not your shame, Susan, your guilt.

You did nothing to invite the gross attentions

my wife, in her madness, tried to force on you.

Is this true?

[sobbing]

- These-- these tears speak for themselves.

Come, Susan.

You're not to blame.

I'm so sorry you were exposed to such horrible things.

[crows cawing]

[suspenseful music]

Speak, damn you, speak.

Ah, my own poor mistress.

- [voiceover] My heart was breaking.

[intense, dissonant music]

That is my story.

That is what brought me here.

- You were very convincing, Maud.

- Don't speak to me, or I shall kill you.

I have betrayed her.

[clanking]

[mysterious music]

Mrs. Rivers!

[screaming]

- Sit, Mrs. Rivers, over there, if you will.

You see?

They tricked me!

[screaming]

It's a fit.

I knew it!

Hold her steady, man.

She may pull out her joints.

We will not have you lying here, Mrs. Rivers.

[door slams heavily]

- You can choke yourself, and it's no business of ours.

Chew your tongue off if you'd like.

We prefer them quiet here.

[gasps]

Welcome to London.

[chatter, bells, hoof beats]

- How could we have done this to her?

- Believe me, she'll be better taken care

of than where she came from.

[street noises fade]

Are we here?

Is this our house?

I thought for a moment that was the Briar bell.

We're near the river.

Chelsea.

Not quite.

Where are we?

- Come on or I shall leave you here.

We cannot live grandly, Maud, until we have your money.

We must wait for the lawyer to release it.

Do you want to stay out here and freeze?

Go on, get out of here.

Mr. Reeves.

Mrs. Maud Rivers.

- Very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Rivers.

Do come in.

Make yourself at home.

- Can you manage a better night than this, Mr. Ibbs?

- Oh, this is a very good night, gentlemen,

a very good night indeed.

Let me take the lady's cloak.

Oh.

Do beg pardon.

Who's she?

How much are you going to pop that for, Mr. Ibbs?

Richard.

Richard.

[sinister music]

Good boy.

- [voiceover] Marry him, miss.

Mr. Rivers loves you.

What kept me alive was the thought

that Mrs. Sucksby would find me,

and then I would find Maud and kill her.

- She lived here too, didn't she?

Will you stop touching me!

What a fool I've been.

What an idiot!

This is Sue's house of thieves, isn't it?

Honest thieves, dear.

Get me a cab.

Hansom or hackney?

- Don't you dare talk to me like that.

- Oh, she's got a dander, ain't she?

- If you don't get me a cab, I shall walk.

[baby cries]

I shall find a policeman.

- Never there when you want them, my dear.

Not in this fog.

Come on.

[struggle, baby crying]

John!

Use the bag.

Gentleman, throw it.

[laughter]

Get her!

That's enough.

[baby crying]

- If you don't let me go, I will kill your baby.

I have come too far for-- for this.

John!

I mean it.

I will.

Get me a cab.

I will do it.

- My dear, I've been caring for unwanted babies for years.

The moment, I'm looking after--

seven babies.

Now, you can make it six if you like, or five.

No one would miss them.

[whispering] Come on.

Stoke the fire, John.

Make some tea, Dainty.

Strengthen it up a bit.

Oh, go on.

You hit the mark there, Betty.

My poor hands have suffered so much recently.

Mrs. Frobisher.

Mrs. Frobisher.

- [singing] You work to try, my dear, and--

Do you want the curb?

Where are you from?

North.

- I'm a little out of touch, and the season

only just beginning.

Are you out?

No, I ain't.

So young.

I'm no much in.

[laughs] In!

[laughter]

That is the first true word I've heard you say,

Mrs. Rivers--

in!

In.

She's in.

- Keep telling the truth like that, Mrs. Rivers,

and you may well be out before the end of the season.

[all chanting "in"]

[chatter, dogs barking]

[babies crying]

- I couldn't bear to wake you, dear.

Feed the babies upstairs, Dainty.

Now-- come on, now.

I can see you're a spirited girl,

but you can't imagine we mean you any harm.

- I can't imagine--

you mean me any kind of good when

you insist on keeping me here when

I so clearly wish to leave.

- Just hear the grammar in that, Mr. Ibbs.

Here, let me take your gloves.

- Her uncle taught her to be very

particular about her fingers.

- Made you read a lot of filthy French books.

Did he touch you, dear, where he oughtn't?

Oh, never mind.

Better your own than a stranger, I always say.

I'll get you a nice cup of tea.

- You plan to kill me, don't you?

- It would mean nothing to me, but she would not allow it.

- What has she got to do with this?

She sent me to Briar.

This is her plan.

She controls everything.

- How did she know about my fortune?

From some servant?

From her.

[cup shatters]

You're liars!

You're cheats.

How could you know my mother?

I was born in an asylum.

Dear, oh, dear.

Well, we're not going to put that together

again now, are we?

No, you weren't born in the asylum, dear.

You was born here.

Marianne, that was the lady's name, wasn't it, dear?

She ran away from Briar, just like you did.

Only her gentleman didn't do the decent thing,

not like your husband.

She'd got my name from a woman in the borough that did

girls and their complaints.

And did she have a complaint, Mr. Ibbs?

- Too far gone to get rid of the poor creature.

- She was terrified, poor lamb, as her father and brothers--

your Uncle Lilly-- they was after her.

So I made up a bed in front of the fire, like I did for you.

And she had her baby right here.

Oh, our Marianne loved her little baby girl.

Oh, poor little scrap.

Then we heard it, didn't we?

The carriage.

Your uncle had found her.

They was hammering at the door.

And Marianne, she was sobbing.

I must name her.

I must.

But not the name like the one I've been

cursed with, but a plain name.

I shall call her--

Maud.

- --Susan.

As God is my witness, she cried--

"I don't want to put my baby through what I've been through.

Take my baby, Susan, and bring her up yourself, Mrs.

Sucksby, poor and honest."

She begged and pleaded, and it would have taken a heart

of stone to refuse her.

So-- so before Mr. Ibbs opened the door,

I gave her the baby that I was holding.

Because she was born on the same day.

Take her quick, I said.

So your brother thinks she's yours.

She has the name of a lady after all.

Her name is Maud.

[birds singing]

My name is Ethel.

- My name is--

[whispering] you must believe me--

Susan.

Susan.

I believe you.

- [sobbing] Thank you, thank you.

- That's a lot of comfort, Mrs. Rivers.

Miss Wilson believes there are creatures on the moon.

Damn you!

I told you that in strict confidence!

[laughter]

- [screams] I'm not Maud Rivers!

I'm Susan Smith!

Susan Smith!

There you are, back with us.

I hope you won't suppose this sherry, Miss Lilly.

Sherry in a lady's chamber--

I could never agree to it.

But a bit of honest brandy is a bracer.

Got a good mouth for spirits.

I know you're lying.

- No, you haven't heard anything yet, Maud.

I'm an orphan.

My mother was mad.

- Her pa and brother preferred the madhouse to shame.

- She went mad when they put her in there.

Oh, Sue.

[CHAINS CLANKING, WOOD CREAKING]

[gasps]

- [voiceover] I knew then I was mad.

I knew the maddest, whose brains were overheated,

were given the plunge.

[laughter]

- I'm her husband. She'll do as I tell her!

Shh!

Leave it to me, Gentleman.

We'll do it my way.

She'll do it, believe me.

Well, I always say brandy is the best sleeping draught.

Here.

- If Marianne wasn't my mother, then who was?

God alone knows, dear.

I took foundlings, you see, out of the goodness of my heart,

and you was one of them.

- This-- is Sue's mother.

Then how do I have a fortune?

Sit down.

Marianne took pity on you--

a poor foundling going to a lonely old place like Briar.

There was plenty for both, she said.

Poor mite'll need it.

Wouldn't change her mind.

She left half to you and half to her own daughter, Susan,

due on yours and Susan's 21st birthdays, in one month's time.

- And you plan to get all of it?

Oh, no, no.

It's Mrs. Sucksby's scheme.

She gets the major share.

I'm getting a mere 3,000 pounds.

- Did Sue know what you planned?

No, dear.

- You're not only villains, you're fools!

I won't sign anything.

And Sue's in no position to.

[scoffs] No, you're right.

Sue-- or should I say, your poor mistress,

my wife, Mrs. Rivers--

is in no condition to sign for her share.

I'll be forced to sign for her, thanks to your help.

- [whispering] What have I done?

- Oh, oh! - Damn you!

I told you, keep away from me.

Leave her!

And what do you want with me?

- Well, we still have to collect

Susan's half of the money.

You want me to be Sue.

Oh, she's sharp, Mr. Ibbs.

I don't believe you.

It's because I'm nothing.

I don't even know my name.

After I sign, you plan to kill me, don't you?

No, dear!

You're one of us now.

And you're a lady.

See, you-- you will be my companion.

[laughter]

Because I need a real lady like you to show

me how to become one, see?

[all but maud laughing]

When we have the money--

You're ridiculous.

You should both be in the madhouse.

Pass me off as Sue?

- Mr. Ibbs will tell the lawyers

he's known you all his life.

She is your legal guardian.

The doctors know you as a maid.

You have no friends in London, no money, no name, even.

You, as you say, are nothing.

And you will do as I say.

I will tell the lawyer.

- How you plotted to swindle an innocent girl?

- Are you truly so wicked, so vile?

- That is vile--

poverty.

You think life is hard with money,

you should try it without.

It is one month before your 21st birthday.

One week of borough living will help you make up your mind.

- [voiceover] Two weeks after the plunge,

I was prepared to be anyone they wanted me to be.

Only the thought of Mrs. Sucksby kept me going.

Mrs. Sucksby used to say, people ain't never

interested in the truth, Sue, but in what they want to hear.

I am Mrs. Maud Rivers.

This is truly remarkable.

I've you to thank, doctor.

You've looked after me so well.

- You would like to see Mr. Rivers.

I'd like to see him.

Oh, my poor husband and my maid, what--

who has put up with so much.

How I long to see them both again.

And so you shall.

Doctor Graves-- a little test, Mrs. Rivers.

Please, write your name.

I think it begins with a different letter, doesn't it?

Remarkable.

The delusion even extends to her motor functions.

It's there we will break her.

Once your own writing comes back to you,

your husband will be here to sign you out.

Rivers!

He has to sign me out?

Rivers?

But I'm-- [sobbing] No!

- [voiceover] I thought about Sue every day,

as Mrs. Sucksby struck off the days to my 21st birthday.

If only I could escape and get to Sue.

There you are, Mrs.?

Rivers.

Well done.

[laughs]

Did you like her?

Sue?

She turned out bad, didn't she?

But I don't know.

I miss her sometimes.

She was fun.

We used to have a good laugh.

[nostalgic music]

[street noises, chatter]

Here, you do it.

[suspenseful music]

[gasps]

What is it?

I don't feel very well.

[scoffs] You never do.

Is that what they call a-- a lady's constitution?

- I suppose it must--

oh!

I need to go to the privy.

I don't want to bother you.

Oh, it's no bother, madam.

It will be if you're not here when Mrs. S gets back.

[laughs]

Dainty, I'm really not well.

[groans]

Come out, then.

- It's my time of the-- oh, it rushes!

I can't leave you.

Open the door!

The men might come.

- But Mrs. Sucksby told me not to leave you.

Maud?

Please.

[intense music]

[intense music]

Maud!

Maud!

Help!

Help!

Please!

Please help me.

What's happened?

I need to go to a hotel.

Come on.

- Grosvenor Street. - Get up there.

Go on.

Go on.

Oh, dear.

Just look at you.

Such pretty little feet, and such finely turned ankles.

Let me go.

No, no.

Help!

Don't be silly.

I'm only trying to--

[shouts]

[intense music]

You stupid bitch!

I was only trying to help you.

- [voiceover] I walked through the night,

running away if anyone approached me.

My thin slippers tore and my feet

were cut and bleeding before I found what I was looking for.

The only street that I had heard of in London, the one

my uncle's books came from.

[mysterious music]

- Miss. Miss!

You can't go in there.

Mr. Hawtrey.

Maud!

Please help me.

What are you doing here?

- You were always saying--

- That-- that was at Briar, before what happened.

You mustn't come here.

You came through the shop.

Did the police see you?

I won't faint, I promise you.

Your feet!

Good God, what--

Mrs. Rivers?

You have a visitor.

Are you here today or not?

[door closes]

Don't you recognize him?

- [voiceover] We didn't know each other from Adam.

Then-- it was the little boat boy from Briar.

It was that look what saved me.

He recognized me.

He knew who I was.

And I knew what I must do.

In that instant--

Oh, Charles.

Charles, how wonderful to see you.

[whispering] Don't say how I am, I don't know.

What, miss?

I'm not Miss Lilly anymore.

- You're--

This is a madhouse, ain't it?

- [whispering] Do you know who I am?

It's Miss Smith, ain't it?

Bless you.

- Miss Smith, who was so kind--

- [whispering] No, you mustn't call me that here.

[speaking normally] And how is Briar, Charles?

- Mr. Lilly had a stroke after what happened.

Oh!

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Gave me the creeps, he did.

- Mr. Wade, the steward, beat me so much, I ran away.

I have no job, no character.

I wanted to find Mr. Rivers, who was so kind to me also.

He said I polished his boots better than anyone

else in the whole world.

And my aunt, he told me that Mrs. Rivers was living here.

And I thought this was a grand house.

Your auntie.

- Mrs. Cream, where Mr. and Mrs. Rivers

stayed after their wedding.

[tea bell ringing]

Five minutes to tea, ladies.

- [whispering] I want to see Mr. Rivers.

- More than anything--

- --anything else in the world.

So do I.

[tea bell ringing]

And Mrs. Rivers.

Ladies.

Ladies!

[whispering] Have you money?

- Five shillings and--

[whispering] Locksmith.

Get one inch blank key and a file.

- A--

- [whispering] A one inch blank key.

Bring them on your next visit.

[speaking normally] I do hope Mr. Lilly improves.

I must go in file now.

Do come again soon, Charles.

Thank you.

- Rivers keeps you without shoes?

So I should not run away?

- You cannot run away from your husband.

- There's someone he has done a great wrong to.

I must save her.

I thought if I can stay at your house--

My house?

That's impossible, my dear.

I have a wife and children.

[approaching footsteps]

I see.

[knocking]

Not now.

Rivers is entirely to blame.

Having taken you, he might at least have kept you close.

He saw what you were.

And what am I, Mr. Hawtrey?

Ah, Thomas.

- Shall I dispose of that for you, sir?

- No, no. No, no.

No.

I-- I'll deal with this.

Well, it's time you got home.

Your mother will be waiting for you.

Yes, sir.

- We'll deal with that in the morning.

Good night.

Good night, sir.

Really, you must not.

- You seem to forget, I've seen much worse at Briar.

"Whip your backside until the blood runs down your heel."

Second part down, wrong font.

They've set it in Clarendon.

The rest is in Garamond, I think.

You're right, so they have.

I could work here for you.

Impossible.

Please.

You have been kind.

I think you are kind.

I beg you, if you could find me some room at a hotel, anywhere.

It's out of the question!

[chatter, drunk singing]

- [voiceover] Lant Street was foul.

It was the last place I wanted to go.

But I had nowhere else.

[sad music]

[woman laughing]

[drunk shouting]

[knocking]

Mrs. Sucksby.

Don't say a word, not a word.

Find Gentleman.

Tell him she's been found.

Mr. Ibbs-- kettle.

Oh, my-- dear girl, come on.

Come.

Come in.

Come in.

Come and get warm.

Come, come, come.

Get Gentleman, be quick.

Come on.

I knew you'd come home.

- Please don't touch me, stifle me, smother me,

pretend to love me.

Pretend?

When-- Sue's mother came here, people will tell you that--

that I had a baby of my own, which died.

At least, that's the story around here.

Nobody questioned it.

Babies do die, in Lant Street in particular.

Many a time I've sat here, thinking how I'd last

held you when you was a few days old,

imagining how you'd grown.

[sentimental music]

Your eyes, the shape of your nose, I pictured exact.

The paleness of the skin, but the hair--

the hair, I always thought would be fairer.

Dear girl--

My own.

My own dear girl--

To have you back--

After all these years.

[sentimental music]

[bell ringing]

Ladies.

Ladies.

- Remember, meet me at the wall.

And don't be late.

[moans]

- [voiceover] Of all the burglar's mates

God could have sent me,

Charles was the worst by a long chalk.

- You here, people want to get to sleep.

- She says your hands are like pork chops.

I never!

- And makes us smell like one. - I never!

- You did! You did!

I never!

After all my kindness, Betty?

I never, Nurse Bacon!

She did!

Oh, God help us.

Look what you've done now!

Am I flesh blazing?

[sobbing]

- I'll put the cream on your hands, Nurse Bacon.

I'll do it.

I will.

[singing]

- Small key-- shut up, Betty!

[sobbing]

- Come, Mrs. Frobisher, if you sing another bleeding verse!

[singing quietly]

- --hold your foolish tongue

Why do you want to marry?

You know you are too young

There's something I demand that you must allow

Thou must never get married, and end the notion now

[suspenseful music]

[snoring]

[quiet filing]

[music intensifies]

Where are you going?

Pee!

[intense music]

[humming]

[suspenseful chimes]

[crows cawing]

[grunts] Charles?

Charles?

Charles!

[bell ringing]

You said 2:00!

Come on!

- [voiceover] What kept me going

was the thought of Mrs. Sucksby's face

when I turned up at Lant Street.

And then I thought of Maud, wherever she was.

[nostalgic music]

I must, miss.

I won't will desert you.

A journey of the heart.

[sobs] Oh, Sue.

Forgive me.

Stay down.

Miss!

Come back, miss!

Hello?

[door closes, latches]

Oi!

You there! Stop, thief!

Ho!

Are you-- what are you doing?

Hey!

Come back here!

What's going on?

[panting]

Turn around.

- You took them clothes without asking.

I had to, didn't I?

Would you rather I picked up and never saw Mr. Rivers again?

Don't look at me like that.

I've never done anything like that before in my life.

Don't you think I feel terrible, stealing

from poor people like that?

Oh, damme.

Damme!

Don't suppose you want a piece of this pie, then?

Charles, there are times in this life

we have to do things we don't want to do.

I will ask Mr. Rivers to go back to that very cottage

and pay every penny for things we've taken, and more.

Will you?

Yeah, that's just the sort of thing Mr. Rivers would do.

Here.

[Train chugging in the distance]

- I can't believe that in a few days' time, you will be 21 years old.

[baby coos]

I'll make myself a cake.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you, dear.

[babies cooing]

Who was my father?

Mr. Ibbs?

No, dear.

Your father was a sailor, lost at sea.

Well-- lost to me, dear.

[street noises, chatter]

Smell it!

Smell it, miss?

London.

[inhales] Ah, the rotten, horrible, bleeding stink of it.

Miss Smith.

I ain't Miss Smith.

I ain't Miss bleeding Rivers.

I'm Susan Trinder!

- I thought you said we were going to see Mr. Rivers!

This is horrible.

So this is horrible?

Country's horrible.

This is where I live.

This place?

And where is Mr.--

Tommy Josselyn.

College rooms, always a good poke.

Go on, get in.

What is it?

Miss Trinder, what is it?

[sobs]

Don't cry, miss.

[gentle music]

There.

Happy birthday.

- Did you take that from the cottage?

Why did you take it?

Why?

Because it's what I am.

You're kind.

You're a lady's maid.

- I'm a fingersmith, you stupid idiot!

A thief!

- Yeah, but I don't want to be a thief.

I want to be with Mr. Rivers.

You said, you promised.

Mr. Rivers?

Mr. Rivers is the biggest prick I know.

Mr. Rivers-- Mr. Rivers got me put in a madhouse.

Mr. Rivers--

[somber music]

- Happy birthday, Maud, and to our absent friend, Sue.

May the day bring good fortune to us all.

Leave her alone, can't you?

Stop baiting her.

- I will order madam's carriage.

- Dear Mrs. Sucksby, Gentleman and that bitch

cheated me and put me in the madhouse.

Send a signal with this boy and help me.

[intense music]

Shh!

Go on.

Remember what you've got to say.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Put--

I love you, as I always will.

[indistinct]

Half a sovereign, Sam.

No.

It's got Geneva works.

I'll open it up.

Hang on.

[dog barking]

[suspenseful music]

She took it.

Mrs. Sucksby?

Miss Maud.

She gave me this.

She's mocking me.

What is it?

The two of hearts?

I'll mock her.

- Well, he gave me a pound for the watch.

Come on.

Who's it?

Mrs. Sucksby, visitor.

It's the fingersmith that cut with the jewelry.

Is that what you told her?

I stole your jewelry?

- You've got some bleeding cheek!

You near broke Mrs. Sucksby's heart!

Give me your knife.

Give it to me!

I got no arguing with you, John, Or you, Dainty.

Sue, dear.

You ain't yourself.

I ain't, Mrs. Sucksby.

Not after what they did to me.

Sue leave now.

- You'd like me to do that, wouldn't you?

Before Gentleman gets back.

You don't know what's really happened.

I know you got my clothes.

You even got my bleeding bangles.

Why?

Isn't your fortune enough?

Isn't what you did to me enough?

Please, go.

- They put me in a madhouse, Mrs. Sucksby.

You planned to put me there!

- I wish I had. - To cheat me!

To kill me!

I will.

I will, I will kill ya!

Girl fight, girl fight!

You old cow!

You've been down on me since the day I was born.

Touch me again, you'll know it!

- I never, I never, I never--

I never believed you cut with the jewelry.

I went along with the others because they'd have thought

me a sentimental old fool.

But I knew deep down.

- Give me the knife. - Did you?

I did, I did.

I thought, no, old woman.

Not my Sue.

- You brought me up as your own daughter.

- I thought I'd never see you again.

But you know, I--

I had a man looking for you.

I knew you would!

Sue.

[intense music]

Your carriage awaits.

Hello, Charles.

My boots have never been the same.

Sue?

- She's just told me what you've done to her.

So you'd better go.

[intense music]

- You found me out a villain, Charles.

- Oh, honest to God, Mr. Rivers, I never meant to.

Get out!

Don't let him go.

He'll go for Dr. Christie.

Stay!

Stay, stay, stay, stay.

There, there. There.

You're all right.

You're all right.

All right now. There.

There, there.

There, there.

There, there.

All right.

- Oh damme, tell the poor bitch how we used her.

Richard, don't say any more.

Oh, my dear wife.

Have you no feelings at all?

Not that I know of.

But I know you have.

[laughs] Damme, Maud.

What does it matter to you?

You're a fully fledged villain now.

You don't have to care about either of them.

- Gentleman, I-- will you--

Mrs. Sucksby.

- Oh, now I see the resemblance.

You see nothing.

Nothing.

Why did I never suspect it?

No wonder you kicked and cursed and she let you off.

This is rich!

- Did you know, Mr. Ibbs? - No!

He knows nothing. He knows nothing.

Stop it!

[all shouting]

My heart!

Your heart?

You have a heart, Mrs. Sucksby?

No, feel it!

- I should get your daughter to do that.

Grace!

Grace!

[gasping]

She hit me.

[music intensifies]

Oh!

Get me a surgeon.

No surgeons.

God damn you!

- Charlie? Charlie!

- [shouting] Murder! Murder, help!

Charlie.

Help, help!

Help, murder!

Stop the boy!

[gasping]

[eerie music]

He's gone.

Who did this?

She done it.

I saw her.

Wait.

What happened was the knife was on the table.

- [voiceover] Maud started to say something else,

but nobody heard her.

I done it.

Lord knows I'm sorry for it now, but I done it.

And these girls here are innocent girls

and never harmed no one.

- [voiceover] Maud said she had killed him,

but nobody believed her

because she was a lady and a lunatic.

Gentleman weren't a gentleman, after all,

but a draper's son, Frederick Bunt.

The papers said he had been brutally cut down

in his manhood, and girls put his picture

next to their hearts.

I didn't see Maud before she disappeared.

Good job, or I'd have probably ended up with Mrs. Sucksby.

Mrs. Sucksby was so game when the judge put on the black cap

and sentenced her to death.

She always looked behind me, as if she was expecting

someone else to be with me.

But I wanted her for myself.

Quite alone?

That's good.

Just you and me, as it used to be.

Oh, Mrs. Sucksby.

What shall I do without you?

Better, dear girl.

How can you say that?

Watch me tomorrow.

Don't cover your eyes.

And Sue, should you ever hear odd things of me

when I have gone, think back to--

Oh, I will.

[sobbing]

[street barkers shouting]

We had a collection.

It's not very much, but--

Thank you.

How is she?

Game.

Thanks, Tommy.

A lady to see you.

She won't give her name.

[sad music]

No one will listen to me.

You must tell them.

- If you only came to say that, then go.

I done what I done, and that's the end of it.

- You must tell them I killed him.

- No I was wrong to send you away.

And I was wrong to do that to a girl like Sue, a jewel.

I hope she never finds out.

I will never tell her.

I came to see you as well as--

Did you?

Of course I did.

Oh, dear.

Mother, mother.

I wish--

Never mind.

Just this.

[chatter, bell tolling]

- Mrs. Sucksby's daughter, isn't it?

[nostalgic music]

[violent sobs]

Sue.

Sue?

- S-U--

- I, Marianne Lilly of Bear Court?

Briar Court.

- --sound of mind, though feeble of body,

commit my infant daughter, Susan to the guardianship

of Mrs. Grace Sucksby, in exchange for which Mrs.

Sucksby commits into my care her dear daughter, Maud.

Get some water, Dainty!

Got the shock, is it, Sue?

I should say, sir.

I should say, sir.

[nostalgic music]

Look at me, Sue.

Come here.

- [voiceover] I heard that Mr. Lilly had died.

And so I returned to Briar to see

if I could find something to show me where Maud had gone.

[sad music]

[music swells]

[discordant music]

Have you come to kill me?

No, Maude.

How could I harm you?

I know everything.

No.

You know nothing.

You don't know me at all.

How delicious was the glow on her ivory

shoulders as I forced her back on the couch.

I scarcely knew what I was about.

Everything now was an act of exertion.

Tongues, lips, bellies, thighs, arms, legs, bottom--

every part in a voluptuous motion.

They all like that?

Every single one.

I write it myself now.

I must earn a living somehow.

I'm not the good, sweet girl you thought I was.

This is what I am.

I know you must hate m--

hate me.

I don't hate you.

- I-- I'm so sorry for what I did to you, Sue.

I'm sorry.

They tricked us both, then.

I found this in her dress.

Had someone read it out to me.

The money is yours.

- Did you know who my mother was from the very beginning?

No, not till I got to London.

And Mrs. Sucksby never wanted you to find out.

She loved you.

She did, Sue.

She-- she said how wrong she was to try

and turn a jewel like you in--

A jewel?

- -turn a jewel like you into a commonplace girl.

[sobs]

I killed him.

I pleaded with Mrs. Sucksby to tell the truth,

but all she would say was that she had done it and--

and that was the end to it.

I know.

Miss, you're making of yourself, eh?

What does it say?

- They're full of words saying--

[gentle music]

- -how I want you--

- -how--

- -I love you.

[music swells]

♪ ♪