The Shadow in the North Page #6

- Burn then.

- Come on!

- I can't leave him.

He'll be fine! Come on!

Isabel, open the door!

Come on, Sally!

Come on, Sally!

Isabel, come downstairs!

Please, leave me.

- I don't want to live.

- Come!

Please! Please, please, help me.

Sally, come on!

Come on!

I promised him, Sal, come on!

Oh, God.

Am I going to die?

I have to go.

I'm sorry, Miss.

Mr Bellmann isn't here.

He's visiting our North Star works.

I've come to see Mr Bellmann.

Tell him Sally Lockhart is here.

Miss Lockhart.

What a truly remarkable

young woman you are.

You killed Frederick Garland.

And yet here you are. Undaunted.

How many men would show such courage?

Courage deserves its reward.

Ask me what you will now. I promise you,

I will give you the truth.

Please.

And so... the truth.

Did you kill Arne Nordenfels?

I had no choice.

He came to think of

his invention as evil.

He wanted to destroy it.

He could not see it was nothing less

than the greatest aid to peace

and human happiness ever conceived.

Who would fight a war knowing

that such an instrument

of devastation exists?

Did you sink the Ingrid Lind?

You know I did.

Why?

Why kill so many innocent people?

To save thousands,

perhaps millions more.

There was an agent of

the Mexican government on board,

who would compromise

my standing with my Russian backers.

Support would have been withdrawn.

The steam gun abandoned.

I could not allow that.

Miss Lockhart,

until now, you have attributed

only base motives to my actions.

I beg you to look at

me in a different light.

As a great philanthropist,

with only the best interests

of the human race at heart.

Wait here.

If you doubt my good will,

ask the men here

how their lives have improved.

They will bless my name.

They don't know what

it is they are making.

Not only are they willing to build

the steam gun,

they are proud of it.

You... You have true courage,

Miss Lockhart.

But... you are an innocent.

Do you expect me to believe

you did all this for unselfish reasons?

You're wrong.

Everything you say is wrong.

The cruel injustice

of the world appalls you.

You long to fight it with

every fibre of your being.

I have been foolish.

It is not a vapid young girl

like Lady Mary I should be marrying,

but a strong, independent woman,

like you.

As my wife, you could do

infinitely more good

than as plain Sally Lockhart.

And of course,

you would

no longer be so terribly alone.

Do you understand

what I'm saying to you?

I'm asking you to marry me.

Yes?

Let her go.

Miss Lockhart is entirely

at liberty to do as she chooses.

I've come to take you home, Sal.

It's too late for that.

Mr Bellmann has asked me to marry him.

I'm about to give him my answer.

My hand in marriage

will cost you 3,270.

The total sum you owe my client,

Miss Walsh.

You are a match for me!

Of course.

And you shall have your money.

Will gold suffice?

What are you doing?

That's 70.

To the penny.

Take it, Jim.

Take it to Miss Walsh.

You're not yourself. Come with me.

I'm going to marry Mr Bellmann.

My man will see you out.

What about Fred?

- Fred would understand.

- Well, I don't.

You must be tired.

I will have them prepare you a room.

Before I lie down,

I would like to see the steam gun.

We've talked about it so much and yet

I still don't know what it looks like.

Of course.

It is a good time to see it.

I love the works at night.

If you know anything at all about guns,

Sally, this will fascinate you.

We must keep an eye on

the pressure in the boiler.

They are testing the

automatic grade tonight.

Oh, God. Sally.

The boiler is the secret of this.

A masterpiece of engineering.

It's flatter and more compact

than the ordinary shape.

It has to be,

to make space for the gunnery.

We will be testing

it on the range tomorrow.

You are uncomfortable.

Please.

Allow me.

There has been nothing like

this weapon since the beginning of time.

It is beautiful, is it not?

You killed Frederick Garland.

Did you really think

I would replace a man as brave

and as kind

and as good as him with you?

For a moment, I almost thought

you were right about human nature.

But you're wrong.

Everything you create is based on fear,

deception, murder and lies,

and in the end,

people will see you

and your kind for what you are,

and bring you crashing down.

Frederick Garland understood

things you will never grasp.

Things like love and loyalty,

democracy and truth,

and that is why I loved him.

And why I could never love you.

You will not shoot me.

You will not shoot me because this love

and decency you value so highly,

it leaves you weak.

As weak as our honour and

as weak as Frederick Garland.

You're right.

And thank God for that weakness.

Did I do it right, Fred?

Did I speak well?

I'm coming to you.

I'm sorry, Fred.

It's fine. Come here.

You didn't half put the wind up me.

I knew it, I knew you'd

do something crazy like this.

I wanted to blow up the gun.

I wanted to die with it.

Nobody is dying now, girl.

Not you and me anyway.

Come on.

You did it, Sal! You silly cow!

You did it!

Come on, let's get out of here.

I think it's time we told them.

I think we should take it.

It's got everything we could want

and it's plenty of space.

And I found a perfect little room

for the nursery.

Nursery?

I'm having Fred's baby.

Are you shocked?

Could you care less if we were?

Amazing.

Sally, I'm so happy for you!

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