Mary Shelley Page #5

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You're writing?

Ledgers. But it might

as well be Latin.

- Are you schooled in Latin?

- Yes, my father insisted upon it.

Why don't you sit down?

I fear my Latin is not what

it was when I was at Oxford.

May I...

practice upon you Mary?

[Mary] I'm not sure I'd

be of much use to you.

My mind is all over the place

these days.

[quiet, ominous music ]

Perhaps you should practice

upon me.

[Claire] I cannot believe you fired

the servant for that, Shelley.

Who do you think you are?

[laughter]

[laughter]

Mary?

What's wrong?

Is it the baby?

Claire, could you

please leave us?

Hogg came to the house.

And then

- ...he made an advance, but I didn't, I-

- So you did not comply?

Of course not.

I would never-

Mary. Hey.

I have no quarrel with you

and Thomas becoming lovers.

Isn't this what

we believe in?

Unconventional approaches

to living?

After all, why should we not have such

an arrangement? I do not own you.

You are free to be with

whomever you please.

Oh, but I don't want to be

with anyone else.

Don't you believe that love

is free?

- Yes. Free to be with one person...

- That is poor logic, Mary.

Your choice means

nothing to me.

What disappoints me is that

you wouldn't even consider it.

Leads me to question how much

you value your beliefs

when you will not

attempt to live them.

I believe, with all my heart, there

are all sorts of ways of living.

And I will fight for anyone's

right to live accordingly.

But my truth is that there

is no one else for me.

Do you wish to be with

someone else?

I merely suggest that you do not offer

me the same freedoms I offer you.

You're a hypocrite.

Like your father.

And you are nothing close to the

man that I thought you were.

[Mary, voiceover] Wanting for my 'happily

ever after', I lowered my defenses

forgetting the first lesson

I was taught:

that I was brought into this

world to be abandoned.

That I am irrevocably alone.

[pencil writing]

[knock on the door]

[dramatic, melancholy music ]

[Shelley]

Mary.

Are you not cold, Mary?

My hypocrisy keeps me warm.

As does my cloak

of disappointment.

I'm going to tell Hogg not to

call here again.

I already told him

with my fist.

You have to understand,

Mary, that...

...I have always

lived this way... to a fault.

And I thought this was

something we both believed in.

An ideal we shared.

But had I truly considered it, and I let

myself fully understand what I was doing

I would never let anything...

anything come between us.

I have a surprise for you.

We're going out.

[door knocks]

Well, what are

you waiting for?

[chatter]

Phantasmagoria. Starring

Claire Clairmont,

yours truly.

It's Lord Byron.

Let us go and talk to him.

Lord Byron!

My Lord...

may I introduce to you

the poet

Percy Bysshe Shelley and a

great admirer of your work.

I know Mr. Shelley.

I enjoyed "Queen Mab".

- Credit to you.

- Thank you.

And now our final act,

Mr. Brycison the Galvanizer.

Who amongst you has ever wondered

if the dead could return to life?

Thanks to scientific discovery, mankind

is on the cusp of conquering mortality.

Using this frog

and an electrical current

I will demonstrate how muscular stimulation

is possible via electrical means.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce

you to the process of galvanism.

[crowd gasps]

[airy, dramatic music ]

Is that really possible? That the

dead could come back to life?

There is every possibility.

That has brought you

back to life.

Oh, Clara, you are

so beautiful... and tiny.

Did you ever see

such tiny hands?

She's so beautiful.

Almost as beautiful as you,

my love.

Mary, can I get you anything?

I have all I need.

And what a trio we will be.

Yes, she agrees.

[Shelley] You agree?

We're gonna be a trio.

You're gonna be our special

little prodigy. Yeah.

[light, mysterious music ]

[Mary singing quietly]

[Mary, voiceover] I can scarcely believe

that one small being can be responsible

for such joy.

Is all that is truly required

is that we live well, be happy,

and make others so?

Over the hills and far...

She's sleeping.

[cooing]

[rainfall]

We must leave at once.

What do you mean?

What has happened?

Creditors are coming.

- Percy. Clara's not well.

- Mary, we do not have time to discuss this.

It's raining outside.

[door banging]

We can't take her. The doctor

said she must keep warm.

[Clara crying]

We have no choice.

Claire, are you ready?

Percy.

Eliza,

do not tell them anything.

Claire.

[dramatic music ]

[pounding on the door]

Mary. Come.

Please.

We must get back

to St. Pancras.

They won't find us there.

Mary!

[Clara coughing]

Mary, please.

[Clara crying, coughing]

She needs shelter now.

[silence]

[Shelley, whispering]

Mary...

it breaks my heart to see you

like this.

The doctor told you, Clara

was never for this world.

What about your books?

I mean surely there is something

you would like to read?

The books?

The books survived the

creditors, didn't they?

I miss her, too, Mary.

Desperately.

Desperately. But I don't

want to lose you as well.

Leave me alone.

[fire crackling]

[church bells]

[melancholy dramatic music ]

[Shelley, voiceover] Rose

leaves, when the rose is dead

Are heaped

for the beloved's bed

And so thy thoughts

When thou art gone

Love itself shall slumber on

[Mary, voiceover] Tommy

was a piper's son

He learned to play

when he was young

The only tune

that he could play

[baby wails]

[dramatic music swells ]

[Mary, voiceover] You'll come

to me in dreams, my love.

I will not ask a

dearer bliss.

I dreamed of her last night.

That we lit a fire in the fireplace and the

fire's warmth nursed her back to life.

[door creaks]

[Claire] My love, I haven't

seen you smile at me in weeks.

[Man] Oh, Claire.

- He invited you to Geneva?

- No, Mary. Lord Byron has invited us.

- Us?

- You, me and Shelley. All of us.

Do you think you are the only

one who can attract a poet?

No, Claire. In fact I am

very aware of your abilities.

But... we have to go.

I am pregnant.

Who's the father?

Mary. Mary, it is Byron's,

of course.

I've been meeting him in secret

for quite some time now.

Don't you see?

Geneva will give me the chance to talk

to him, away from the crowds of London.

I mean you, of all people, should

know that this city loves a scandal.

[footsteps approaching]

Shelley, we've been invited

to Geneva by Lord Byron.

Lord Byron? Oh my word!

This is

an unmissable opportunity.

This could help us immensely.

Um...

- [Claire speaks indistinctly]

- I'm not ready for this.

Mary.

Percy, I don't think I'm

ready for this. Please.

- Not yet.

- Oh, Mary, I miss her too.

Oh,

I wish I could have saved her.

I'm not asking you to let go

of her, Mary.

I'm just asking you to raise

above your grief.

To raise her spirit to the

great heights she deserves.

[children playing

in the distance]

[dramatic music ]

Thank you.

I was surprised to hear you

were staying here?

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