Pit and the Pendulum Page #3

There is not, sir.

My sister's?

Easy, easy.

It was she.

Up, take this.

Thank you.

Hers?

Yes.

You will sleep in a minute or so.

Doctor, will you stay please?

Yes, of course, my dear.

Until the morning, at any rate.

My dear Lord.

It is hers, isn't it?

- It is. | - But how?

Let us not talk yet.

May we use your room, sir?

Yes, of course.

Sit.

What I am about to tell you...

...no one in this world except | Nicholas and myself knows.

That is, I thought that no one else knew.

Take this.

No, thank...

Drink it.

To be absolutely blunt about it...

...Nicholas believes that Elizabeth | may have been interred prematurely.

What?

I hasten to assure you both...

...that such is not the case.

Elizabeth was quite dead.

I would stick my reputation | on that fact.

Then why...

...does he believe it?

Because of what happened to | his mother many years ago.

I'm afraid I don't understand.

I told mister Barnard | what Nicholas saw that day.

No, my dear. Your mother was not | tortured to death...

...as you were told.

But...

She was tortured, yes...

...but not to death.

Do I make myself clear?

Do you mean to say that...?

Your mother was walled up in | her tomb while yet alive.

Oh, no.

From that day forth...

...the very thought of premature | interment...

...was enough to drive your brother | into convulsions of horror.

Nicholas broods about it | constantly.

Already he has told me he has | heard Elizabeth's walking the | corridors...

...even that he has heard her | speaking his name.

- Dr. Leon. | - Sir?

You seem to forget that we all | heard the harpsichord playing.

No, I have not forgotten that, sir.

It is why I said before that I thought...

...that no one but Nicholas and | myself knew about this.

What do you mean?

Someone, I fear, has discovered | Nicholas' secret...

...and is using it as a terrible advantage

The servant, perhaps.

I could almost more easily believe | that...

That what, Dona Medina?

Nothing.

I spoke without thought.

I want to know one thing, sir.

Are you absolutely positive...

...that don Medina's dread is | unwarranted?

If Elizabeth Medina walks the | corridors of this castle...

...it is her spirit, not her living self.

- Where did it come from? | - Elizabeth's room.

What is it, child?

Easy, child. Easy..

But tell us what happened to you.

I... I... I heard her.

Heard?

The mistress.

I was cleaning up the room...

...and she spoke to me.

She called me by my name, Maria.

She said, "Maria, leave | this room".

My wife spoke to you?

-My wife spoke... | -Nicholas!

No one will ever enter that | room again.

- Mister Barnard, I... | - No need explaining, Nicholas.

Mister Barnard knows everything.

Take care of the girl, | will you Catherine.

I'll see to it, dona Medina, if you | want to go with your brother.

Thank you.

Come, Maria, let me help you | downstairs.

Perhaps I should bring some food | to Nicholas.

He will not eat it, my dear...

...any more than you are | eating yours.

I am not hungry.

You need your strength, nonetheless.

If I may interrupt this | fascinating conversation for a moment...

...how long, may I ask, you intend | to accept these occurrences...

...face value?

I should have thought, mister Barnard | that a man of your investigative zeal...

...would have already solved | the mystery.

And have you, doctor?

I am not certain.

But you remember that no one | actually heard Elizabeth's voice?

We have only Maria's word for it.

We proceed on similar lines, doctor.

On questioning Maria, I asked her to | describe the voice she heard.

- And? | - She could not describe it, doctor...

...because it only whispered to her.

This point seems of vital import | to you, doesn't it?

Don Medina!

Don Medina!

The key to Elizabeth's room..

The key, I said!

Again?

Do not go there, Nicholas.

I must, Catherine.

Nicholas!

Come.

What I have dreaded all these months...

...has come to pass.

You are wrong, Nicholas.

No. She haunts me...

...because of the terrible thing | I did to her...

Mister Barnard!

What in the name of heaven?

And have you nothing to say, don Medina?

I don't understand, sir.

Do you not, sir?

Then, with your permission, I will enlighten you.

What is the meaning of this?

The meaning, doctor, is this: | only one person in this castle...

...could have caused all these inexplicable | occurrences.

That person is don Medina.

- What? | - You are mad, sir.

Am I?

Mister Barnard, I swear that I...

The secret passage, sir...

...how convenient for you.

Enabling you to whisper to | Maria without being seen.

Then after the door to Elizabeth's | room had been...

...locked by YOU, enabling you to | return there and...

...at your leisure | demolish everything.

- You are wrong, sir. I swear I... | - You are lying, sir!

When Maria screamed, where | were you?

When Elizabeth's room was being torn apart, | where were you?

How you are not | investigating that?

I was afraid.

You lie!

Both times you were in | Elizabeth's room yourself!

Both times your own door | was locked...

...protecting you from | discovery.

No, that's not true! It's not true!

Why should Nicholas do these things?

Why!?

Is it possible?

Is it possible I am doing these things | unaware?

To punish myself?

No, Nicholas!

One of the servants was responsible

Most likely Maria.

Could I have kept that ring without knowing it?

Play the harpsichord without | knowing it?

Destroy Elizabeth's room | all without knowing it?

My inner mind...

...creating evidence of Elizabeth's | vengeful return....

...because that mind knows...

But I don't know!

I will find out.

No.

It's the only way, Catherine.

And it's the only way I...

I must be sure!

I must be sure.

Can you not stop this?

I do not believe I wish to stop it, my dear.

If this is the only way of | convincing Nicholas...

...that he did not bury his wife alive then | I say by all means- do it.

This groundless dread...

...must finally be put to rest.

We will exhume Elizabeth.

True.

True!

I swear to you I thought she | was dead.

On my honors of physician I | thought she was dead.

I swear to you!

True.

True.

True

It's true.!

No, Nicholas!

It's true.

Nicholas!

I killed her.

I killed her.

No, Nicholas.

I killed her. I killed her.

Nicholas.

I would suggest, Nicholas, | that you leave this place.

Your remaining here cannot | help Elizabeth now.

Try to understand, Nicholas.

I am a doctor of medicine.

Never in my career have I seen a | condition which so completely...

... paralleled the physical appearance...

...of dead.

You cannot feel responsible, Nicholas.

While we were up here mourning...

...and she was alive, struggling | to be free.

I am responsible. | If it were not so...

...she would not want to haunt me

She does not haunt you, Nicholas.

Can you not see that? It is you | punishing yourself.

I must leave in the morning.

Already I have been grossly | negligent...

...of my other patients.

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