Dragonwyk Page #8

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I can buy my farm. It's the law!

Dr. Turner, will you come with me

at once to Dragonwyck?

- We need you urgently.

- Is anything wrong?

Mrs. Van Ryn is having a baby.

Her time is here.

Dr. William Brown has been staying at

the manor. I had him come from New York.

- He's a fine doctor...

- He's a fool. I beg you to come.

Have you any reason

to think she's in danger?

Mrs. Van Ryn? I don't know that she...

Doctor, nothing must happen to my son.

All right.

She's been took bad,

and they won't let me near her.

Please let me go to her.

What is it, Dr. Brown?

What has happened?

Everything's quite all right,

Mr. Van Ryn. Quite, quite.

- Are you certain?

- I assure you.

I want you to take every precaution...

Mr. Van Ryn, would you step out

while I consult with Dr. Brown?

- I can see no reason...

- Your presence here can only

Dr. Turner, thank heaven you've come.

I can't assume

this responsibility alone any longer.

The man's a maniac.

I think he'd kill me if anything went wrong.

- Nonsense.

- My dear fellow, you just don't know.

When I tried to resign from the case,

he had me locked in my room!

He watches me all the time

through those icy eyes of his.

Sometimes I think

he's mesmerizing me.

- Have you been giving her laudanum?

- Yes.

As far as she is concerned,

everything's quite normal.

There is an irregularity

in the child's heartbeat.

But it's sometimes hard to catch

through the stethoscope.

Yes, it often is. I'll wait until

she wakes a little before I examine her.

In the meantime,

why don't you get some rest?

If you'll take over for a while.

My room is just down the corridor.

I will call you if you're needed,

and don't worry.

Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.

- Jeff..

- Hello there.

I don't know

whether to believe this or not.

You can believe it.

Are you going to take care of me now?

Yes, I'm going to take care of you now.

That's good.

It's... I...

It'll be all right now.

I'm not afraid anymore.

Jeff!

Don't be afraid.

Call Dr. Brown.

Jeff, help me.

I'll always help you.

Mr. Van Ryn,

there's something you must know.

Your son is not well.

I can't tell you how sorry I am, but at least

your wife has come through beautifully...

and in time there's no reason

why you can't have other babies.

My son is entirely well, Dr. Turner.

I appreciate your services,

and you will be suitably recompensed.

But he can't live.

His heart is malformed.

It's a miracle he wasn't stillborn.

It's nobody's fault. Nothing could have

prevented it. It's just a tragic accident.

You will find a carriage

waiting to take you to your home.

You just won't face facts, will you?

You'll never believe anything

you don't want to.

And there is no reason for you

to see Mrs. Van Ryn again.

Good day, Doctor.

Adriaen Pieter Van Ryn...

I baptize thee

in the name of the Father...

and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

Amen.

We yield thee hearty thanks,

Most Merciful Father...

that it hath pleased thee to regenerate

this infant for thy Holy Spirit...

to receive him

for thine own child by adoption...

and to incorporate him

into thy holy church.

Amen.

Please accept my most sincere

congratulations, Mynheer Van Ryn.

Thank you, dominie.

You understand, of course...

that this house ceremony was only

at the insistence of Mrs. Van Ryn.

In a month or two, my son will be properly

baptized in the Dragonwyck church.

- Of course...

- No, Nicholas.

We can thank God

that he was baptized just in time.

Please, don't leave her now. Please!

Loathsome little cripple. Why should you

have been permitted to live and not my son?

Should I light some candles?

No, I like to sit here in this half-dark.

You'll ruin your eyes.

- How long has he been up there this time?

- A week. Perhaps more.

Ever since he got back from New York.

And before that...

I'm sure it isn't

very pleasant for him, Peggy.

And what is it for you?

Shut up there for weeks on end

without a word or a sound.

If it was any man but him, I'd say he keeps

a bottle up there in that tower room.

- Peggy!

- Yes, ma'am.

- I'm going with you.

- Don't be silly.

- I'll not let you go up there alone.

- That's enough.

Please don't. I'm afraid!

Oh, it's you.

Yes, Nicholas.

I...

This is an unlooked-for pleasure.

I wasn't expecting you.

Frankly, I'd almost succeeded

in forgetting you.

Don't be frightened of me.

I'm not frightened.

I'm sure you're not.

You have courage, Miranda.

I like that about you.

Must've taken a great deal to make this

pilgrimage up to the mysterious tower room.

I assume your twisted little friend is offering up

suitable prayers for your safe return?

I see no reason

why they should be necessary.

Tell me, are you disappointed

in what you found here?

I'm sure you expected

velvet drapes and heathen idols...

an altar for human sacrifice at least.

Nicholas, what do you do here?

What do I do?

I live.

I'm sure you mean

a great deal by that, but...

but it isn't very clear to me.

I didn't expect you to understand.

How could you?

Don't be offended. By ordinary standards,

you're quite intelligent.

But I will not live by ordinary standards.

I will not run with the pack.

I will not be chained into a routine of living

which is the same for others.

I will not look to the ground

and move on the ground with the rest...

not so long as there are those

mountaintops and clouds...

and limitless space.

I'm sure you are still unable

to understand.

I want to try, if you'll help me.

Shall I? Shall I tell you

what you want to know?

Brace yourself.

Prepare to have your God-fearing,

farm-bred prayer-fattened morality...

shaken to its core!

You see, I have become what is

vulgarly known as a... drug addict.

Why?

No tearful reproaches?

No attempts to save me, to regenerate me?

Why do you find it necessary?

That is what you could not

hope to comprehend.

It is because I have set free

something within me...

something that, ever since I can remember,

has been like a rock...

caught in my heart, in my brain...

pushing at me, choking me.

I know you better than you think.

Perhaps I have underestimated

your intelligence.

No. It's pretty ordinary and farm-bred.

I couldn't follow everything you said,

but I think it's pretty simple.

You're just plain running away.

Is it as simple as that?

I've seen farmers with their crops ruined

and their cattle dead.

And most of them just go to work...

but some of them blame their troubles

on God and get drunk...

to forget, to run away...

to run away and hide!

That's what you're doing.

Whenever you've come up against something

unpleasant that you couldn't change...

- Like the rent laws...

- Or the death of my son.

- Our son.

- Get out of here.

- Nicholas, let me help you.

- I don't need to be helped.

Help me then.

Please don't shut me out like this.

Let me be unhappy with you

and happy again.

Let me be part of you.

Let me love you, and love me too!

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