Twice Told Tales Page #5

You'll have

to come back.

There's no place

you can go.

You'll come back.

This terrible thing

that Rappaccini

has done to you

and his daughter...

Why, it's so complex.

Are you telling me

that you cannot help us?

I'm not sure.

I have said the problem

is complex.

What Rappaccini has

succeeded in doing,

is converting the poisonous

China tree of India,

so that the plant's

own juices manufacture

a strange solution

of hydrocyanic acid.

That's what

my blood has become?

That is what

I hope it has become.

What do you mean?

We know that to touch

the plant means death.

However, I have managed

to find an antidote

which will destroy all effects

of the acid's radiation.

Professor!

Under a microscope.

But how do I know

what it will do to you?

It would take years

of testing

to find the result

on the human system.

Years?

Every hour

is a thousand years.

Beatrice and I

have no time.

Give it to me.

Giovanni,

can my conscience

let you have it?

Can your conscience

refuse me?

No, please,

put it there.

Whatever happens, sir,

we will always be

in your debt.

May god go with you.

Beatrice!

Beatrice!

Beatrice.

There's no need to stay away

from me now.

What are you saying?

You still don't know

what happened last night?

You see,

I'm still alive.

Giovanni.

That was your

father's answer to us.

He couldn't change you,

so he changed me.

Oh, no.

Giovanni,

I didn't want that.

If I'd known...

Now we're both locked in.

We're both prisoners.

No, we can escape.

Professor Baglioni

made this.

It's an antidote.

He said it could

counteract the poison.

If it will

really free us...

Pray, Beatrice.

No!

Quickly, give it to me.

No, wait.

Giovanni!

Beatrice!

Oh, Giovanni!

Oh!

Oh!

The fool.

Poison was his life,

like yours.

It could only kill him.

You've murdered him.

But you wanted him.

I gave him to you.

You could have

been together.

Then, we will be.

Beatrice.

Beatrice.

Beatrice.

Beatrice,

Beatrice, child,

I only wanted

to give you happiness.

How could

you give me something

you don't have yourself?

You could

only give me hate.

Giovanni.

Giovanni.

Wait for me.

I'll always love you,

wherever I...

Giovanni.

Where does evil begin,

and where does it end?

Can the eye of man

discern the fine line

that separates

sanity from madness?

If not, can there be

a judge so wise

that he can measure

a man's reasons

for the sins he commits?

The House of the Seven Gables

began its existence

in a year of terror.

It was in 1691

that mass hysteria

gripped New England,

and innocent people

were executed as witches.

Yes, it was a time

of horror and blood,

and left a mark on the house

that was not to be forgotten

for more than 150 years.

So you've finally

dared to come back.

This is my wife Alice.

My sister Hannah.

Gerald, are you sure

we have a right to intrude?

Intrude?

This is as much my house

as it is my sister's.

Is that not so,

Hannah?

Your absence of 17 years

makes me question that right.

Would you please

take these up

to the second floor?

My feet took me

this far.

But they're

not taking me

one step further

into this house.

Why did he say that?

The man's an idiot.

It means nothing.

I wouldn't be

too sure, Gerald.

Don't you think

the whole town knows

a male Pyncheon

has returned?

I'm afraid we'll have to

carry these up ourselves.

You will occupy

your old room?

Yes.

If it's possible,

two rooms might be better.

Gerald is

a light sleeper.

He doesn't like

to disturb me.

Very well.

You may have

the guest room,

next to mine.

Hannah,

if our being here

is a great

inconvenience to you--

I can only say,

my brother made

a great mistake

in returning.

Hannah.

Yes?

May I ask why?

You really don't know,

do you?

Whatever

Gerald's reason

for coming here to live,

the decision was his.

It isn't the first

of his mistakes

I've had to accept.

What is it?

Oh,

I feel cold suddenly.

There's no draft here.

It's a strange kind

of cold.

I think I'll feel better

in the morning

when I can look out

the window

and see the garden,

the arbor,

the old well.

How did you know

what's outside that window?

The garden is there,

isn't it?

Yes, it's there.

I don't know how I knew

about the garden.

Gerald never told me.

Hannah, how could...

Afraid of a

bloodstained chair, Gerald?

Or does it hold

too much knowledge

of our illustrious male

ancestors who died in it?

Don't look forward

to my early death, Hannah.

I have no intention

of honoring the chair

with my corpse.

He didn't either.

You're a fool.

Has any man in our family

ever died otherwise?

Then, I shall be

the first not to.

I will not

be frightened away.

When I get what I want

from this house,

then I'll leave,

and not before.

Do you think

you can outwit a ghost?

Are you

so immune to death

that you can defy a curse

that has ruined this family?

I'll stay alive

as long as is necessary.

You don't have a choice.

The man buried under

this house won't wait.

Go back to your books

of demons and witchcraft.

They're your

only companions.

Why not?

It wasn't the dead

who gambled away

the family fortunes.

Now that you've

bankrupted us,

you think you can take

what is rightfully mine?

Yours?

You assume a great deal,

my dear sister.

You'll never find

that vault.

I've searched this house

from top to bottom,

just as every Pyncheon

has searched it

for 150 years.

The ghost won't

let you find it.

It isn't where

you look for it.

It's how.

Now let us see

if a dead man can stop me.

Where's Gerald going?

He didn't say.

But if you want

Gerald to live,

get him out

of this house.

To live?

Do you see

those bloodstains?

That was his blood.

It ran from his lips.

The date is

on his gravestone:

March 17th, 1691,

the very first night

he lived in this house.

The Pyncheons

are cursed.

Every male member

of the family

has died the same way.

And unless

Gerald leaves,

he too will die

with blood on his lips.

Since we both

live here now,

you can at least tell me

who's coming tonight.

You'll find out

when he gets here.

What are you hiding,

Gerald?

I saw you run out of

the house this afternoon.

If it's about

finding the vault,

I'm entitled to know.

Are you entitled to meddle

in my private affairs?

You had no right

to tell Alice

about the bloodstains

on the chair.

How long

do you think

you can hold back

the truth?

Perhaps your visitor

isn't coming.

The time is long past

when the Pyncheons

could give orders

and everyone

had to obey.

You finally

decided to join us.

Is your

empty room

so much

better company?

Somebody's coming.

What are you saying?

There's no one out there.

His name

is Jonathan Maule.

Jonathan Maule?

Is he the one

you expect?

Yes. And if you have

any objections,

I don't care

to hear them.

Who told you Jonathan Maule

was coming here tonight?

Nobody told me.

He's here.

Jonathan Maule

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