Dragonwyk

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- Ma!

- What in the heaven's name?

- It's a letter, Ma, for you.

- Who's it from?

- Aren't you gonna read it?

- Your pa and the boys'll be in soon.

- We might as well wait.

- We'll just have to read it again when Pa gets here.

Oh, please, Ma. It's for you.

You've got a right.

Aren't you dyin' to know what's in it?

Seems to me you're the one that's dying.

"Dragonwyck, May 19, 1844.

My dear Cousin Abigail.

Nicholas Van Ryn."

- Who's that?

- Shh. Tibby.

Read the letter, Ma.

"Though we have never met,

we are related, as you doubtless know...

"through our mutual grandmother,

Annetje Gaansevant.

"My wife and I have decided

to invite one of your daughters...

"into our home for an extended visit.

"We shall naturally be able

to offer her many advantages...

"which she could not hope to enjoy

in her present station.

"In return, if she pleases,

she may serve as a companion...

"to our eight-year-old child, Katrine.

"Upon inquiry, I have been gratified

to find that you and your husband...

"enjoy the honor and respect

of your little community.

"Be so good as to let me know

at your earliest convenience...

"which of your daughters you select...

"and I will make all suitable arrangements

for her journey to Dragonwyck.

Respectfully yours, Nicholas Van Ryn."

Golly! Is he really your cousin?

Now don't go imagining yourselves

a couple of lost duchesses.

There's not a drop of Van Ryn blood

in any of us.

It doesn't make any difference to me,

I'm sure.

But you had the same grandmother.

She was... Let me see.

My grandfather was her second husband.

Her first one died.

His name was Van Ryn.

Nicholas must be his grandson.

He's a patron.

- A patron? Cousin Nicholas?

- What's a patron?

That's what they call the owners of those

enormous land grants on the Hudson River.

They're the descendants

of the original Dutch patrons...

and they're terribly rich and elegant.

He must be very important.

I remember reading about his visiting

President Van Buren at the White House.

But you haven't said yet, Ma,

whether I could go.

The subject hadn't come up yet,

that I know of.

- I think it unlikely that your pa will approve.

- He's more likely to if you do.

And if we do decide to let one of you go,

why not Tibby?

- Me?

- She wouldn't want to go. Would you, Tibby?

I'm sure there isn't anything I want

that I can't find right here.

- I'm not anxious to leave my home.

- That's not fair!

You know I love you and Pa,

all of you, and my home.

It's just that, well, I try to be like everyone else

and want what I'm supposed to want...

but then I start thinking about people

I've never known and places I've never been.

Maybe if the letter hadn't come, I...

Oh, I don't know. I must be loony.

Time I was killing a hen for supper.

You scour the drain boards.

No use mooning over it. Your Pa'll do

whatever he and the Lord think best.

There's one thing you can be sure of.

They'll both feel the same way about it.

This day, O Lord, there has come to me

a matter of slight perplexity.

Deliver us, we pray,

from hankering after fleshpots...

and deliver us from vanity

and false pride.

However, thy will be done.

Keep and preserve us through the night.

Amen.

Well, boys, get.

- Tom.

- Yes, Pa?

You water the stock and look to Whiteface.

She's freshening.

Yes, Pa.

Tibby, is Obadiah Brown likely

to come mooning around again tonight?

Oh, Pa, I'm sure I have

no notion of his plans.

Well, if he does turn up,

be sure and sit on the steps...

where your ma can keep an eye on you.

Although I must say

that Ob is a steady lad...

and you, praise be,

are not the flighty kind.

- Thank you, Pa.

- Now about this letter.

I'd see no reason to discuss it if it wasn't

that your Ma acts like it was important.

It is important, Ephraim.

It might be good for Randy

to live in a great house...

and learn something of the world

outside this farm.

- I'd so like to go, Pa.

- Your opinion is of no consequence

You're past 18, pretty enough, and time

you got settled down with a man.

I don't know what's the matter with you.

As for this fine relation of yours...

I'd like to know what right he's got

to be making inquiries about us.

He doesn't mean it that way, I'm sure.

Perhaps the gentry have different ways

of saying things.

Since when do we have gentry in this country

where all men are free and equal?

A Yankee farmer's as good and maybe better

than any Dutchman on the Hudson River.

- We'll say no more about it.

- Oh, Pa, listen, please.

I have a feeling that the letter was kind

of a sign. I think the Lord wants me to go.

Do you know what you're saying?

During worship tonight,

I had a leading. Truly I did.

At least put it to the test, Pa,

and see what happens.

Are you speaking the truth?

Search your heart.

Very well.

Close your eyes.

Now open the book.

"And Abraham rose up

early in the morning...

"and took bread and a bottle of water

and gave it unto Hagar...

"putting it on her shoulder

and the child and sent her away.

She departed and wandered

in the wilderness of Beersheba. "

Well, it's none too fitting...

but it does seem to have some bearing.

I'll sleep over the matter and pray on it.

Come, Abby.

You know, this is the first time I've ever

known the Lord to go back on your pa.

Golly!

Golly Moses!

It says in his letter for us to meet him

at the Astor House, and this is it.

And a less ft place for God-fearing people

to meet I can't imagine.

Come ahead.

And, uh, what can I do for you,

my good man?

Are you the tavern keeper?

This is not a tavern,

and I am not a keeper, my good man.

I am not your good man!

We were to meet

a Mr. Nicholas Van Ryn.

- Perhaps you can tell...

- Mr. Nicholas Van Ryn? But of course!

- You must be Mr. And Miss Wells.

A thousand pardons. How stupid of me

not to have known at once.

If you will do me the honor

to come with me, please.

Mr. Van Ryn regrets

that he is not here to greet you...

but he has directed that you're

to have everything you wish.

Everything.

- What's all this?

- Dinner, sir.

- I didn't order any.

- Mr. Van Ryn ordered dinner

- Mr. Van Ryn is not here.

- Yes, sir.

Oh, it's beautiful!

The food looks as if it had been painted.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit.

That's the strangest fruit.

It's cold when I eat it

and warm when I swallow it.

Let me taste that.

I thought so. It's got spirits in it.

just a little bit. It's so good.

Even a little bit of evil

cannot be good, Miranda.

Don't be too impatient with me. You won't

have to hear me preach to you much longer.

It's not that I'm impatient, Pa, really.

- But after Mr. Van Ryn went to all this trouble...

- It's no trouble to be wasteful.

And there's something peculiar about a man

who orders supper when he's someplace else.

How did he know what I wanted to eat?

But there's everything here

you could possibly want.

Everything

is what no man should ever want.

Yes, Pa.

We won't be alone much longer, Miranda.

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