Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Page #4

- Anyway, you better take it.

- Thank you.

Good night.

Good night.

Good night.

My dress.

Somebody slashed my dress.

They certainly were

attractive youngsters.

Yes, sir.

That was the biggest story

that ever broke in this town.

Yes, I can see you gave it

what you might call "the full treatment".

We couldn't very well bury it

on the society page.

Anyhow, help yourself.

You'll find everything you need here.

And that's a pretty good picture

of Miss Charlotte.

Yes, it is.

I was working for the press

when she arrived in London.

Not one of us succeeded

in getting an interview with her.

They said Big Sam sent her over there

to prevent her being tried.

But that wasn't so. Sending her

out of the country wouldn't have helped.

I reckon Sam's political connections

had more to do with it.

As I remember, the district attorney

tried hard to make the charge stick,

but the whole thing

was transferred over to Baton Rouge.

I reckon Sam's friends in the capital got

busy because nothing ever did come of it.

"Lack of evidence"

was the official explanation.

You wouldn't think so from the headlines.

Hi, Mr. Blake.

Thanks for the use of the hall.

Are you running anything

on the return of Miriam Deering?

Just an insert

in the social column.

The social column?

You gotta be kiddin'.

Mr. Wills, this is a colleague of yours.

Mr. Marchand from New York.

- How do you do?

- Who are you covering that story for?

Don't worry about me, old chap.

My status is that of an amateur.

What journal do you represent?

Crimes of Passion

and Crime Classics.

That Hollis dame

hit the news again over that bridge.

We did a special issue on her.

Here, take a look.

No head. No hand.

Just like the way it was.

Yes, very colourful.

Yeah, we're really

going to town on this one.

Hey, Mr. Blake,

you never showed me this stuff.

One thing they didn't do then was to

play up the sex angle like you can now.

Miriam Deering.

Miss Deering!

My, it's good to see you back!

Jewel. Jewel Mayhew.

- Joseph.

- Here. Let me help you.

You leave me be.

If I ever prayed for anything,

it was that you would never

dare show your face to me again.

After all these years,

what do you mean?

Do you honestly believe that time can

excuse all the things you've done to me?

Please, don't.

Not here on the public...

Oh, I see. Not in public.

We mustn't speak the truth out

in the open, you and I, huh?

It's not about me that I'm worried.

Well, right here, on the public street,

in the light of day,

let me tell you, Miriam Deering,

that murder starts in the heart,

and its first weapon is a vicious tongue.

At the time, would anyone else

have been as kind to you as I?

- Would they?

- Go away from me.

I'm ill. I'm very ill.

I won't give up one more thing to you.

Not even one more minute.

That's all right, Miss Mayhew.

Come along.

A world full of monsters!

Don't you ever show

your white-trash face

in this house again!

Damn! There's some

damned meanness all day long!

There's one filthy mess

to clean up after another!

She's nothing but a child...

Velma.

- Who brought this into the house?

- I did! I brought it in!

It was in the mailbox, just like that.

I reckon somebody put it there.

You know, she broke that teapot up there.

Tea running all down the wall.

Coincidentally, I've found some women

to do the packing.

Let me know when they arrive.

I don't know. I'm gonna get something

to fix this filthy stuff.

Coincidentally,

please tell me when they arrive.

I told you to stay out!

Charlotte, you're behaving like a child.

Throwing a tantrum

over a trivial bit of rubbish like this.

How can you touch that piece of filth?

It's only a magazine,

cheap and disgusting.

Only cheap and disgusting people

will read it.

It is Jewel Mayhew devilling me

in my own house!

You think Jewel Mayhew brought it here?

She couldn't have.

- Why couldn't she have brought it here?

- I just saw her. She's seriously ill.

Much too ill to be running around

playing silly games with magazines.

Well, she deserves to be ill.

She deserves to die!

Charlotte!

It's possible that Jewel Mayhew

hasn't given you a thought in years.

You think so, do you?

You think she's never given me a thought?

I've been getting these in the mail

ever since John died.

That idiot, Luke Standish,

told Papa they were crank notes.

Then some reporter got hold of them

and put it in the newspaper.

Then they started coming in

from all over the world.

But the first one

was mailed here in Hollisport.

And that's where the last one came from!

And nobody can ever make me believe

that Jewel Mayhew didn't send them!

- You saved all these?

- All of 'em.

To show how mean

and unforgiving she can be!

Well,

it's time you got rid of them.

- What do you want now?

- I come to tell her something.

She could use some telling.

Them packing women

you've been looking for, they's arrived.

I'll take care of it.

This is my favourite place now.

Here in the shade.

Yes, it's very pleasant here.

Very pleasant indeed.

Tell me, Mr. Wills. Weren't you a little

surprised when I agreed to see you?

After all, you must have been told

that I don't normally receive visitors.

Well, yes, but then I found

the hospitality

of this part

of the country extraordinary.

Besides, I imagine you had your reasons.

Would you have anything else, ma'am?

No, thank you, Lewis.

Thank you, ma'am.

I did have my reasons, Mr. Wills.

I did.

I hope you won't regret it,

but I did warn you I'd have to touch

on some painful subjects.

Which leads me to confess

to my own reasons for this meeting.

I have a particular need

for a stranger now.

Yes, they have their uses, don't they?

Well, in this little town our interests

are all too tightly interlocked.

If you confide in one person,

you confide in the whole community.

You mean you'd like somebody to talk to?

Only in a sense.

I'm not a well woman.

You can see that much for yourself.

Who was it said,

"This long disease, my life"?

Well, it's... it's coming to an end.

Perhaps a month, a few weeks.

Who knows?

- I'm terribly sorry.

- Oh, no, no. Don't be, not for me.

I think I'm even glad.

Never mind that.

I take it you're no stranger to the...

unhappier aspects of people's lives.

In fact, the only way to trust someone

is on instinct alone.

I want you to have this.

I only ask that you don't open it

until after I'm gone.

Then I want you to use

your own judgment and experience.

You'll know what to do

when the time comes.

Or what not to do.

- It seems a dreadful responsibility.

- Oh, it is. A terrible one.

My honest advice is to refuse it.

You know I won't, of course.

I know.

Ruined finery.

That's all I have left.

I'm stony broke - is that the phrase?

It's a relief to admit it.

But your policy with Lloyd's...

Oh, you know how long it would take

to process an old claim like that.

By the time I received it,

I'd be past needing it.

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