"Praise to the Lord." "Who o'er all things so wondrously reignite." "Shelters he under his wings." "Yet so gently sustained." "Hast thou not seen." "How thy desires ever have been." "Granted in what he ordainment" "Are you cold?" "No." "Are you nervous?" "No." "Are you comfortable?" "Yes." "Yes, sir." "Thank you." " You're not cold?" " No." " This house gets very cold." " I'm thick-skinned." "You'll find that there can be a fraught." "Won't be like what you're used to." "You ought to keep to the house." "But I don't mind the fresh air." "You'll be more comfortable in the house." "I like the fresh air." " I like being outside..." " Take it off." "Your nightdress, take it off." "So you'll not go to London, then?" "What?" "My son will stay here with his wife and play master or something." "Excuse me." "Good night." "You're very tired lately, Katherine." "You will wait up for your husband." "I am perhaps a little overtired, sir." "You will wait up, Katherine." "I will try, sir." "Sit with Mrs Lester, see that she doesn't fall asleep." "I'm awake." "Stop staring, Anna." " But Mr Lester said..." " I know what Mr Lester said but I'm awake so there's no need to stare at me." "Stand up." "Stand!" "Leave." "Stop smiling." "Take your nightdress off." "Face the wall." "Face the wall!" "'Where has my husband gone?" "'" "Away." " Away?" " That's what I said." " To do what?" " Nothing for you to concern yourself with." "But I do concern myself." "There's been an explosion, at the colliery at Amble." "An explosion?" " How did that happen?" " Yes, Katherine." "An explosion." "I leave for London this morning." "You'll be on your own for a while." "Perhaps you will find that your energy is restored after a little of your own company, and when your husband returns you can resume your duties with more rigor, madam." " Just taking a break, ma'am." " On my husband's time?" "We'll get straight back to it." "We're weighing a pig, ma'am." "Weighing a sow, to be precise." "A sow?" "As you see." "Take her down." "I said, take her down!" "Face the wall." "And stop smiling." "May we turn around yet, ma'am?" "How much would I weigh?" "Would you like me to check?" "Guess." "You have wasted quite enough of my husband's good time and money." "I shall be keeping an eye on you gentlemen." "Anna?" " Ma'am, if I can explain..." " What was his name?" "The one that called you a pig, what was his name?" " Sebastian, ma'am." " Is he new?" "Yes, ma'am." "He's the new groomsman." "Is there something else, Anna?" "No, ma'am." "My boots, Anna." " It's still cold out there." " It's warm enough." " Mr Lester said that you weren't to..." " Yes?" " It's going to rain today, ma'am." " Good." "Are you lost?" "House is in the other direction." "Mrs Lester!" " Anna, it's too hot." " Your skin's too cold." "Ow!" "It only feels too hot because the cold's got into your bones." "If it feels too hot, then it is too hot." "Anna, you're hurting me." "Anna!" "Anna, stop it!" "What's wrong with you?" " Sorry, I..." " You've made my skin all red." " You'll catch a fever, ma'am." " It's just a bit of fresh air, Anna." "And there's no need for you to stare at me currently, is there?" "It's unnerving." "I'm terribly bored, Mrs Lester." "You should dedicate more time to your work." " Aren't you bored, Katherine?" " You can't call me that." "Get out." "Get out!" "What do you want?" "No!" "No!" "Shh, shh." "You must be anticipating the return of your father-in-law, Mrs Lester." " And your husband." " I must." "It is not good to be without company for too long." " The decline in your health..." " My health?" "Your absence from church, madam." "No doubt brought on by their absence." "No doubt." "Perhaps a little more time spent indoors, Mrs Lester." "I understand you've been taking the air." "Perhaps a little more solitude and reflection will do." "Thank you." "Thank you so much." "It's early for you, Anna." "I said, it's early for you, Anna." "And for you, sir." "Ah, she speaks!" "Not so." "Got to give dogs a run-around." "A bitch gets restless if she's tied up too long." "She was, sir." "Was what?" "Tied up too long." "Mr Lester wouldn't be happy if he knew what was happening in his absence." "What's been happening in his absence, Anna?" "The dogs, sir." "Thank you, Anna." "I'll look into that." "It's good of you to keep such a close eye on things." "Mr Lester has returned." " My husband?" " No, ma'am." " Where is he?" " He's gone up to the fields." "He said not to expect him till dinner." "Katherine." "Welcome home, sir." " Have you kept well?" " I have." "Thank you, sir." "You haven't been running the house in my absence." "I have." "That wasn't a question." " Where's your husband?" " Wherever you put him." "I'm so sorry." " You've heard nothing from him?" " Not a word." "Get a bottle of the Flurried." " He wants a Flurried." " There's none of that left." " None of it?" " Not a drop." "She's drank it all." "Excuse me, sir, but there's none of the Flurried left." "That's impossible." "Look again." "I'm afraid there's none left, sir." "Cook said it had all gone." "And how exactly has it all gone?" "I don't know, sir." " You don't know?" " No, sir." "And the cook, does she not know?" "No, sir." "Do you not think it necessary to keep an account of what happens to my property in this household?" "All my property." " Am I to assume you drank it?" " No, sir." "And yet you can offer no other explanation." "No, sir." "Get down." " Sir?" " On your hands and knees." "You behave like an animal, and I'll treat you like an animal." "Now, get out." "Lock him up." "Sebastian?" "I have no desire to see you, until I've had time to consider what to do with you." "Let him out." " You are entirely without shame." " I have nothing to be ashamed of." "Nothing to be ashamed of?" "Do you have any idea of the damage that you're capable of bringing upon this family?" "You have failed miserably in all of your marital duties, more specifically, to provide your husband with a legitimate heir." "Where is your son?" "Where is he?" "He has made that impossible." "Let him out." "You've had enough time to contemplate, I hope, and to take the opportunity to meditate upon your duties as a wife, Katherine, in this household above anything else." "Give me the key or let him out." "Leave it!" "I cannot bear to look at you." "Sit." "Sit." "Eat." " I'm not..." " Eat with me." "I hate to eat alone." "Tell me about your family, Anna." "Tell me about your home." "I haven't been home in a very long time." "I'm not sure I know what home is." "Do you have any brothers?" "Anna?" "Do you have any brothers?" "How many sisters do you have?" "He's..." "We should..." "What are the names of your sisters?" "Sit back down, Anna." " No, he needs..." " Sit down!" "Run to the village for a doctor." "Quick, go." "Shh, shh." "'He'll not return for the funeral." "He said as much.'" "We won't have long." "He won't come back." "He hated his father." "He hates me." "Perhaps he just won't come back." "There." "Very fine indeed." "Man of the house." "Anna?" "Anna!" "Anna, when you are spoken to, you are to respond." "I'm going to ask one of the maids, um... that young girl, to prepare and bring me breakfast and all my meals from now on." "Just as a precaution." "It could be the mushrooms or his heart." "Nobody's blaming you so don't be so hard on yourself." "You're careful." "He was old and he had a weak stomach." "You heard what Dr Burton said." "The master will be home before long and this will all be done with." "Anna, I wish that you would speak again." "Promise you'll try." "She won't speak." "She's mute." " What if it comes back?" " It won't." "Do you love me?" "Of course." "Do you adore me?" "Of course." "Could you do without me?" "Could you do without me?" "It's husbands and wives that kiss like that." "Did you husband kiss you, Katherine?" "She won't speak." "You know I shan't be parted from you alive, Sebastian?" ""Through hell and high water I will follow you,"" ""to the cross, to the prison, to the grave, to the sky."" "I'd rather stop you breathing than have you doubt how I feel." "Sebastian." "He's come home." " What time is it?" " My husband has returned." "What shall we do?" "Sebastian?" "Can you just shut up?" " You look like a little boy." " Just shut up for one second." "Let me think." " Go out there." " Go out there?" "Why?" "Am I to pretend to be your lady-in-fucking-waiting?" "Just go out there." "You're home." "You're awake." "I heard the horse." "I walked it down the lane." "I'm surprised you heard." "I've been sleeping lightly, ever since your father died." "We had to have his funeral in your absence." "Couldn't let him rot in a corner, could you?" "I shall place my feet on his grave in the morning." "Do you have the bed made up for two every night?" "Ever since your letter came I had no indication of when you'd return." "And thank goodness I did." "You must be tired." "No." "I found it in the fields." "And decided to keep it?" " Holds my skirts up." " Are you skirts in danger of falling down?" "No, sir." "You've grown fatter." "The cook has made an effort to find food to my taste perhaps." "Your face is fatter." "You're altogether larger than when I left." "Perhaps you'd like some tea." "So... you have become a whore in my absence, Katherine." "You think me to be stupid, perhaps." "But perhaps you had no idea that your whoring had been noticed." "You seem surprised." "And surprised that the news of you opening your legs and your cunt for any worthless dog should have reached my ears, but then you opened your legs so very wide, Katherine." "And you've acted so very shamelessly and so very stupidly." "And you've begun to smell, Katherine." "You've gotten so fat and foul-smelling, it was inevitable that the whole county would hear of your behaviour." "My father... bought you," "along with a piece of land not fit enough for a cow to graze upon." "I do not like being talked about, madam." "I do not like being laughed at." "I do not like owning a whore." "You will alter your behaviour, madam." "And how will I alter my behaviour, sir?" "You will never see that man again." "He will be sent from this house and you will remain here, indoors with your prayer book." "I can't sleep." "Try." "I've tried." "Can you sleep?" " I'll sit up until you can." " I can't." "Every time I close my eyes, I see his face." "Can you just get off me?" "How can you, just like it was before?" "It's making me sick." "I feel sick, constantly." "It won't end unless you let it." "Have you let it?" "For you, and for me." "Sebastian, he was going to kill you." "He was weak." "We did it so that we could be together here." "No more bowing and not being who you deserve to be." " You did it for us?" " We did it." " I'm sorry." "I'm not sure I understand." " Teddy was your husband's ward." " Who's Teddy?" " This is Teddy." " I'm sorry." "You're repeating yourself." " It's a shock." " I understand." " My husband had no ward." "Mr Lester knew my daughter very well some time ago and was fond of her." "He fathered a child by her." " I beg your pardon?" " After my daughter's death... he did the honorable thing and made Teddy his ward." "He has been with us lately." "At Amble, near the colliery." "I'm afraid this is impossible." "He was careful to draw up papers." "I'm sorry for the shock." "You needn't apologise for an impossibility." "Sorry you've had a wasted journey." "Given Mr Lester's recent demise..." "My husband is not deceased." " He is assumed so." " He is missing." "But presumed dead." "He is missing and apparently you saw him so soon." "We did." "Perhaps you can advise me as to what has become of him." "He seemed very well." "And certain he was to come here next." "He said it was a matter of urgency." "We can't imagine what has happened to him." "I'm terribly anxious." "I'm sure." "There are papers, Mrs Lester." "I am sorry." "Perhaps we might have tea." "What is it?" "He says you're the prettiest lady he has ever seen." " She's lying." " She has papers." "She's forged them, then." "You don't think that every man and woman in the county with half a brain and an empty pocket isn't coming up with a similar scheme?" "She has legitimate papers." "I thought you said he couldn't fuck you." "He couldn't." "Or wouldn't." "Katherine?" "What?" "Sorry, er..." "I wasn't..." " You were saying?" " I was saying it might be best if Teddy took your room." "Then he's next to my room, and it's larger." "You don't need all that space." " No." " No?" "No, no, I..." "No, I don't need all that space." "After Christmas, then." "Yes." "And perhaps I'll take your room." "You'll be used to smaller spaces from your days in your tiny house, Agnes." "Katherine!" "Can I come?" "What are those ones?" "Swallows." "Look, watch them glide." "Aren't they beautiful?" "I think you're beautiful." "How do you know that?" "What?" "Names of birds." "My mother taught me." "She'd take us on long walks and teach us the names of birds and trees." " Outside things?" " Yes." "Do you miss your mother?" "Yes." "Do you?" "Yes." "You don't mind if I..." "if I join you, do you?" "I just want to walk a little with you, Anna." "I won't scare you." "Promise." "Get off me." "I need to talk to you." "Go back to your house and your little master." "Please come inside." "I can't..." "If I come inside, then we're found out." "And if we're found out, then I'll hang." "While that boy's here, I'm out here." "That's the end of it." "Get out!" "Sebastian!" "Katherine, watch me." " Watch me." " Not now, Teddy." " Please, please!" " Get off!" "Leave me alone!" "Sebastian!" "Sebastian." "Sebastian?" "Sebastian?" "Ma'am." " What is it?" " I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's the boy." "We can't find him anywhere." " Teddy?" " Teddy?" "Teddy?" "Teddy?" " Teddy?" " Teddy?" "Teddy?" "Teddy?" " Teddy!" " He was at the waterfall." "He's freezing." " Get some blankets." " Who are you?" "How dare you walk into this house and give orders?" "Get out." " I saved him." " Get out!" "Teddy, Teddy." "I will not stay here and be humiliated for the sake of that boy." " Sebastian..." " I will not!" "Tell me what to do." "I will do anything." " It's too late." " What?" "What do you mean?" "I stood in front of him, Katherine." "At that waterfall, that... perfect drop." "One step behind him." "And I..." "It's too late." "It doesn't have to be." "It doesn't have to be if you trust me." "You should go to bed." "I can't." "One of us should get some sleep." "I wouldn't sleep." "Lie down for a while." "I'll sit up with him." "You need some rest and he'll need you when he wakes up." " Just for an hour or so." " If you like." "Thank you." " Katherine." " Shh, Teddy." "Sleep." " What are you doing?" " Shh." " Let me go." "Katherine." " Shh." "It is done." "Sebastian." "No, no, no." "Go wait until I come." "Go." "I must've fallen asleep for ten minutes, perhaps." "When I woke, he wasn't breathing." "Can you remember what time that was, Mrs Lester?" "Just before the girl came in." "Er..." "I couldn't say exactly." "Five, perhaps." " I was upset." " Of course." "I wonder..." "What?" "Could you have been asleep longer than you thought?" "Might someone have taken the opportunity to come in?" " There were bruises..." " From the waterfall." "They weren't there before." " When I woke, the boy was dead." " Katherine..." "He must've got the bruises from the waterfall." " Dr Burden says not." " Can Dr Burden swear to W?" " Have we not suffered enough?" " Mrs Lester..." "Forgive me." "Mrs Lester, you do realise..." "We killed the boy." "I beg your pardon, sir." "Who are you?" "She killed him." "She held a pillow over his face and I held his legs." "She killed Alexander Lester." "She killed Boris Lester, poisoned him with mushrooms and let him die." "She... killed that boy." "She killed that boy so that we could be together." "And I thought I loved her." "She suffocated me." "She suffocated me and she hounded me." "And then she never let me be." "She's a disease." "Mrs Lester?" "He's lying." "Anna..." "He and Anna did it." " For whatever reason of their own." " You bitch!" "Everyone knows that she picks the mushrooms and he follows her to the woods every morning." "Perhaps they were found out and threatened with separation." "My father-in-law beat him within an inch of his life the clay before he died." "And that boy..." "That boy was like a child to me." "Anna will say if otherwise." "I did nothing."