Agnes of God Page #6

Agnes disappears down through the trapdoor. Martha throws her

cigarette away.

46 INT - CONVENT - DAY

Mother Miriam is comforting a tearful Agnes. She sees Martha

coming across the courtyard and pushes Agnes gently away.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

You hate us don't you?

MARTHA:

What?

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Nuns... you hate nuns.

MARTHA:

I hate ignorance and stupidity.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

The Catholic Church...

MARTHA:

I haven't said anything against the

the Catholic Church.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Catholicism is not on trial here. I

want you to deal with Agnes without

any religious prejudice or you turn

this case over to someone else...

MARTHA:

How dare you tell me to run my affairs!

Mother Miriam starts to walk away, Martha angrily follows her.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

It's my affair too.

MARTHA:

How dare you think I'm in a position

to be pressured...

MOTHER MIRIAM:

I'm only interested...

MARTHA:

... or bullied or what ever you're doing.

Who the hell do you think you are? You

go around here expecting applause for

the way you treated this child.

Martha and Mother Miriam are climbing the stairs. They pause

briefly.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

She is not a child.

MARTHA:

And she has a right to know that there's

a world out there filled with people who

don't believe in God...

(Mother Miriams walks on)

... and aren't any worse off than you

Mother. People who've gone through

their entire lives without bending their

knees once, to anybody. And people who

fall in love and have babies and occas-

sionally are very happy. She has a right to

know that. But you and your... your order

and your Church have kept her ignorant...

They reach Mother Miriam's study.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

??? (distorted)

MARTHA:

??? (distorted)

... virginity, right Mother? Poverty,

chastity and ignorance is what you

live by.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

I am not a virgin, Doctor. I was married

for twenty three years, two daughters.

I even have grandchildren... surprised?

It might please you to know that I was a

failure as a wife and mother. My children

won't even see me any more, that's their

revenge. I think they tell their friends

that I've passed on. And don't tell me I'm

making up for past mistakes Doctor Freud.

(she sits)

MARTHA:

Then help her.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

I am...

MARTHA:

No, you're shielding her. Let her face

the world.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

What good would it do. No matter what

you decide it's either the... the prison

or the nut house and the differences

between them are pretty thin.

MARTHA:

There's another choice.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

What?

MARTHA:

Aquittal.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

How?

MARTHA:

Innocence. Legal innocence. I know

the judge would be happy for any

reason to throw this case out of court.

A long pause. The tension between them dissolves.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

All right, what do you need.

MARTHA:

Answers.

Martha holds her hand.

47 INT - MOTHER MIRIAM'S STUDY - DAY

Same place, but a little later. Martha is smoking.

MARTHA:

When would Agnes have conceived the

child?

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Oh, some time in January.

MARTHA:

Do you remember anything unusual

happening at the time?

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Earthquakes?

MARTHA:

Visitors to the convent.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Nothing.

MARTHA:

Do you have a... a diary or a day book?

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Yes.

MARTHA:

Take at look at it.

Mother Miriam moves to her desk and opens the day book.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

There's nothing here.

MARTHA:

Was the child full term?

MOTHER MIRIAM:

(reads through the book)

Oh, Dear God...

MARTHA:

What is it?

MOTHER MIRIAM:

The sheets...

MARTHA:

What sheets?

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Oh, Dear God, I should have guessed...

48 INT - CONVENT DINING ROOM - NIGHT

In flashback:
the sisters are sitting around the table at

dinner. SISTER GENEVIEVE, the other novice is serving them. Mother

Miriam folds up a linen towel.

MOTHER MIRIAM (V.O.)

... I should have suspected something.

In flashback, Mother Miriam addresses Agnes.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Sister Marguerite says you have been

sleeping on a bare mattress Sister.

Is that true?

AGNES:

Yes Mother.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Why?

AGNES:

In the medieval days the nuns and monks

would sleep in their own coffins.

Sister Marguerite gives a snort of derision. Mother Miriam

glances sharply

at her, then turns back to Agnes.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

We're not in the Middle Ages, Sister.

AGNES:

It made them holy.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

It made them uncomfortable. And if

they didn't sleep well I'm certain the

next day they were cranky as mules.

Sister where are your sheets?

(no answer)

Do you really believe that sleeping on

a bare mattress is the equivalent of

sleeping in a coffin?

AGNES:

No.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Then tell me. Where are your sheets?

AGNES:

I burnt them.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Why?

AGNES:

(a long pause)

They were stained.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

How many times have I burned into

your thick skull and the thick skull

of your fellow novice, that

menstruation is a perfectly natural

process and nothing to be ashamed of.

AGNES:

Yes, Mother.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Say it!

AGNES and GENEVIEVE

It is a perfectly natural process and

nothing to be ashamed of.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Mean it!

The two girls start to repeat it but Agnes starts to cry and

Genevieve

falters into silence. Mother Miriam goes on more kindly.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

A few years ago one of the Sisters came

to me in tears, asking for comfort,

comfort because she was too old to

have any children. Not that she wanted

to, but once a month she had been

reminded of that possibility.

AGNES:

It's not that... it's not that...

MOTHER MIRIAM:

What do you mean?

AGNES:

It's not my time of month.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

Should you see a doctor?

AGNES:

I don't know. I don't know what

happened Mother, I woke up... there

was blood on the sheets, but I don't

know what happened.

(starts to weep)

I don't know what I did wrong, I don't

know and I should be punished.

MOTHER MIRIAM:

For what?

AGNES:

I don't know... I don't know...

MOTHER MIRIAM (V.O.)

That was the beginning, the night of

the conception. That's why she burnt

the sheets.

49 INT - SICKROOM - NIGHT

Still in flashback, Mother Miriam enters the room where SISTER

PAUL lies dying. Father Martineau is there and many of the other

nuns singing hymns.

MARTHA (V.O.)

When was that?

MOTHER MIRIAM (V.O.)

The twenty third of January. On that

night one of our elder nuns passed away.

MARTHA (V.O.)

Sister Paul?

MOTHER MIRIAM (V.O.)

Yes. I don't remember where Agnes was.

I was needed in the sick room.

Father Martineau annoints the old woman. Then Agnes quietly

slips in unobserved. Sister Paul rallies for a moment, tries to say

a single silent

word to her. The smile slips from Agnes' face. Then Sister Paul

lies back

and dies.

50 INT - CATHEDRAL - DAY

Martha and the MONSIGNOR are walking through the church

talking. He is quite young and has a rather abrasive manner.

(beginning missed)

MARTHA:

No.

MONSIGNOR:

Well you're probably right about

that. It certainly can't help Sister

Agnes to have this investigation

continued for any length of time.

MARTHA:

Why do you call it an investigation?

I never have.

MONSIGNOR:

Your mother was a resident of Saint

Catherines home before you moved

her.

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