Northanger Abbey Page #7

He will never, ever respect me again.

Come, come. Perhaps it's

not as bad as you think.

Look, here is a letter for you.

It will be from lsabella.

Oh.

No, it is my brother's handwriting.

Dear Catherine,I think

it my duty to tell you

that everything is at an end

between Miss Thorpe and me.

No!

I shall not enter into particulars.

They would only pain you more.

You will soon hear enough

to know where the blame lies.

I am ashamed to think how long I bore it.

Dear Catherine,I hope your

visit at Northanger may be over

before Captain Tilney

makes his engagement known.

Captain Tilney?.

Frederick?.

Yes.

It's just what I feared!

-Oh, poor, poor James.He loved her so much.

-But Frederick!

And they are engaged?.

- Yes.

- No, I can't believe that.

Look here.

"Dearest Catherine,

beware how you give your heart."

Dear Catherine,

I am sorry for your brother,

sorry that anyone you

love should be unhappy.

But my surprise would be greater at Frederick's

marrying her than at any other part of the story.

Why do you say that?.

What are Miss Thorpe's connections?.

What is her fortune?.

Are they a wealthy family?.

No, not very.

I don't believe lsabella

has any fortune at all.

You think your father

will forbid the match?.

I doubt if the matter

will reach his ears at all.

Why?. Whatever do you mean?.

Catherine, your friend has dealt

very badly with your brother.

But I fear she is far out

of her depth with mine.

Look at the size of these!

Come on!

And...are we engaged?.

Make yourself decent, Miss Thorpe.

I must return you to your friends

before you're missed.

My dearest Catherine,

thank God we leave this

vile place tomorrow.

Since you went away, I have had no pleasure

in it, and everybody one cares for is gone.

I am quite uneasy about your dear brother

and am fearful of some...

misunderstanding.

You will write to him and

set everything right?.

He is the only man I ever did or could love,

and I know you will convince him of it.

I most certainly shan 't!

So, Frederick is safe from her.

I can't say I'm surprised.

Aren't you?. I am, very!

I wish I had never known her.

It will soon be as if you never had.

There is one thing I can't understand.

What has Captain T:ilney been about

all this time?.

Why should he pay her such attentions

and then fly off himself?.

He has his vanity,

as well as Miss Thorpe.

And he is accustomed to...

..having his way.

Though I am surprised he should have

stooped to such an easy conquest.

Really?.

Then I am sorry for lsabella.

I am sure she will be

over it soon enough.

I hope I don't need to tell you that

his brother has a very different character.

Henry has the best and

truest heart in the world.

Damned little adventuress!

Eleanor!

Eleanor!

Now!

I said now!

Eleanor, whatever

can the matter be?.

Come.

Sit down. You are not well?.

My dear Catherine, I am well.

God, how shall I tell you?.

It's not concerning Henry?.

No, no, not Henry.

It is my father himself.

My father has recollected an engagement

that takes our whole family away on Monday.

Explanation and apology are impossible.

My dear Eleanor...

Don't be so distressed. I am not offended,

I can be ready to leave on Monday.

No, that won't be possible.

Oh, God.

My father insists on

your leaving immediately.

As soon as you can make yourself ready.

The carriage will take you to meet

the public stagecoach.

No servant will accompany you.

I am to travel all night?.

Alone?.

Have I offended the General?.

I have never seen him more angry.

Your brother must have been so angry

with me,he told your father what I did...

..what I suspected.

I deserve to be sent

home in disgrace.

You are wrong.

I know my father's reasons

and they do him no credit.

To turn you out in the middle of the night!

Truly, I fear for your safety.

The journey is nothing.

But have you enough

money to pay your way?.

Oh.

I never thought of that.

Well, there at least

I can help you.

Oh, Catherine. I am so sorry.

I deserve it.

I deserve it all.

Catherine,I implore you,

please take it...

Bye, Catherine.

Newbury! Newbury coach.

Come on, get that luggage off!

It's Cathy!

Hello! How are you?.

Mother, Catherine's back!

She's back!

These great men can be very strange

and sudden in their behaviour.

Well, we must live and learn.

And the next new friends you make

I hope will be better worth keeping

than the ones you made at Bath.

No friend can be better

worth keeping than Eleanor.

And Mr Tilney is not to blame.

Such a pleasant, agreeable

young man I thought him.

He found us a chair,you know.

And he understands

muslin ever so well.

That's greatly to his credit,

I'm sure.

But has he written?.

Has he offered any

kind of explanation?.

No.

Well...

I dare say there's

no harm done in the end.

You did very well to manage that journey

all on your own, Catherine.

You always used to be

such a scatter-brained little creature.

I'm quite proud of you.

Indeed, I am not proud of myself.

What was the Abbey like?.

Was it very scary?.

Were there ghosts?.

It was very big and strange,

with lots of empty rooms

and secret passages.

And I did think there might be ghosts.

But there weren't any ghosts, really.

People who read too many stories imagine all

sorts of horrid things about ghosts and murders.

It is very wrong of them to do so,

and it can get you into serious trouble.

So let me not hear of any

of you being so silly.

Now, what else would you

like to hear about?.

What games did you play?.

Um...

We played I Spy

and charades.

We went horse-riding and

got ourselves very muddy indeed.

Was Mr Tilney very handsome,Cathy?.

Yes, I think so.

Very handsome and very kind

and everything he should be.

Do you love Mr T:ilney, Cathy?.

No, of course not.

Don't talk such nonsense.

Now...into your beds, all of you.

That's it.

Night-night, Cathy.

GlRL:
Night, Cathy!

What did you do

to make them send you home, Cathy?.

Did you do something very naughty?.

Come on, back into your bed.

Cathy?.

What is it?.

I did love him!

I do love him!

Now I shall never see him again

and it is all my own fault.

Ten...

..men ran to the fen

- to get Ben!

- Very good.

- Cathy!

- Cathy! Cathy!

It's a man on a white horse!

Go and tell Mama

that Mr Tilney is here.

Mr Tilney!

Now!

Go on, boys.

In you go, quickly.

It's Mr Tilney! He's here!

I am so ashamed of what I said,

what I thought...

No, it is I who should apologise.

There's nothing you have said that

can justify the way you were treated.

But you were angry with me,

and rightly so.

I was angry with you,

but that is long past.

Your imagination

may be overactive.

But your instinct was true.

Our mother did suffer grievously,

and at the hands of our father.

Do you remember I spoke to

you of a kind of vampirism?.

Yes.

Perhaps it was stupid to express it so,but

we did watch him drain the life out of her

with his coldness and his cruelty.

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