# Hold fast to the law
# of the last cold tome
# Where the earth of the truth
# Lies thick upon the page
# And the loam of faith
# In the ink long fled,
# From the drone of the nip flows on
# To the last of the first depart
# And the least of the past is dust
# And the dust
# The dust is lost
# Hold fast!
# Gormenghast
# Gormenghast #
(Barquentine ) Poet. Day of Ancient. Time of the twenty-third Earl...
(Chuckles ) Did he?
The reading of the Laureate's...
ten-year meditation on...art!
Damned art. Damned poetry. Damned poetic ass.
He won't have finished it. He'll change it at the last minute!
Ass!
Don't worry, damned asswipe,
your assistant knows the ritual of the poet off by heart.
He'll do it for you, like he does everything else.
Excuse me, Lordship!
Titus! Titus Groan! This is no racetrack, young sir!
I can ride in the castle between eight and nine Monday morning.
That's the rules, Professor Bellgrove, sir.
Well, quite, but no permission to trample your old schoolmaster
half to death, am I correct? Yes, I am.
You look pale, young Lordship.
Are you all right? Been riding over somebody's ghost, have you?
There's no such a thing, sir!
And punctuality, Titus.
Tardiness is next to cleanliness. And don't be late.
They were floating about 30 yards out.
Here look. Two hats...
and a letter.
What do you make of that?
No more fire. our lips are sealed. our power is in water.
Clarice and Cora.
The appearance given, Mr Secretary,
is that their two ladyships... drowned themselves.
Good riddance, if you ask me.
- Do you have a goat? - A goat, Ladyship?
Milk. For the cats.
Ha! I see what you mean! A goat? Have I got a goat?
Ah, that's better.
Bring my goat.
Your goat?
The goat, man. Bring it.
We haven't got a goat.
I require service not sophistry. Get my goat!
I'm amazed, Ladyship. Where are the traditions of service?
- How old are you? - Thirty-eight, madam.
Sit down.
Ladyship.
How long since we've seen each other?
Er, five years, Madam.
I've been thinking,
since the burning of the library and the disappearance of my husband,
things have been wrong. For years, something uneasy.
Do you feel it, Squallor?
And now Clarice and Cora. Bodies not found, not buried.
Their note mentioned a burning, Ladyship.
Perhaps it was they who...
Burned the Library?
A Groan burn a Groan? Never!
Made me think of it all again. There is something among us.
There is stench. I can smell it.
Do you mean...
rebellion, Ladyship?
Rebellion?
Who would dare rebel against Gormenghast?
Forgive me, madam.
I want you to watch for me, do you hear?
If there is such a rebellion, we shall find it.
- Do you understand me, Squallor? - I have no doubt, Ladyship.
(Bleats )
I found one, Doctor.
Wrong sex, you idiot!
You bring the female goat, you fool.
Female goat.
Take it away.
Yah!
I have faith in you, Squallor, I don't know why.
I'm honoured, madam.
Mark my words. If this thing exists, it shall be crushed.
Steerpike!
Steerpike, you're a pest! Never where I need you.
Yes, sir.
And don't call me sir, if you don't mean it, you obsequious rat!
A double suicide and no bodies. No bodies, no funeral.
- Where are we then?! - Burying their hats, sir.
I'll wipe that grin off your clock, damn slug!
ouh!
Get me corpses! And quick!
As a matter of fact, I don't think I will, Mr Secretary Barquentine,
asswipe and shit-licker...sir.
(Children's laughter)
(Snores )
Eh!
Doggit! Is that really you behind that mask of grime and ink?
And if it is, are you carving your name in your desk
when you thought your master was asleep?
Yes, sir.
Having a go at the whole thing, were you, Doggit?
only done the first three letters, sir.
Well, leave the second G until later, boy.
- The second G, sir? - Yes, there are two Gs in...
Dammit, don't you know how to spell your name?!
(Bell rings and children cheer)
Come on. off you go. Shoo!
It's break, young Lordship.
Milk and a biscuit?
Stop playing with your teeth, Bellgrove, it's damn rude!
I'm in pain, Mr Perch,
and what have my teeth got to do with you?
You're a hoarder, you damn pedant! Get them extracted!
(All laugh)
oh, poor old fangs!
Fangs! Is that how you consider me, Fluke? Canine!
I'll remind you that fifteen short years ago,
I was considered for headmaster! Yes, Fluke, headmaster!
- Aaah! - Pain doesn't exist, dear boy.
It is merely an expression of inner disturbance.
The fact that you imagine it in your teeth is interesting.
Have you said something you regret, lately?
- Aaagh! - Pain doesn't exist, dear boy.
Perhaps we've put our foot in it lately, have we?
Death!
I can hear it squeak. Here it comes!
(Squeaking)
Make way for Death! Make way for Death!
De'ath, man! De'ath! He has a name. Show some respect!
It's the Headmaster! Get out of it! He's got something to say.
A notice for you all.
Uuh?
oh, who are all these peo...ple?
It's your staff, Headmaster.
Shall I, shall I get Bellgrove to read the edict?
Why...not?
oh, what an honour, Headmaster. Thank you. An edict.
Read it! Hurry up! It's from Barquentine.
Get your teeth into it, Bellgrove!
Yes, can he understand seven words in a row?
Silence!
Professor Bellgrove.
Reference, Lord Titus, 77th Earl.
I, being Secretary Barquentine,
give notice to remind you that no privileges of cast,
class or title shall be afforded the aforesaid lord,
according to the iron-clad precedents of Gormenghast.
He shall be of the ordinary, no more, no less,
until his time of reason and puberty.
Take note - you exist to teach, not fawn.
Fawn?
Barquentine, you bastard bugger!
Headmaster De'ath,
I would have you impress upon your staff the magnitude of their office,
and in particular those who confuse their calling with indolence.
Signed as for Barquentine. Steerpike. Steerpike?
It's you, Bellgrove. The whole damn thing's aimed at you!
How dare you!
Ah, but you teach His Lordship, don't you?
Who did you say all these people were?
Nothing you need be concerned with, Headmaster.
out! out! Death's out!
Steerpike, you bastard bugger!
(Coughing)
It's worse!
Three hundred dead and rising.
And what a way to die!
The fever! The boils! The blood!
Most beg for the mercy of death.
What about Gertrude?
She is quarantined like you.
Are you saying she's not even dead yet?
Not even ill?.
I have heard Lady Fuchsia's looking feverish, so there's hope yet.
Surely the time for you to emerge and claim your rightful power
cannot be far away?
We want some servants.
If I knew they weren't infected, I'd bring you a hundred,
but what would be more tragic?
To be struck down at the very moment you were to mount your thrones?
Are they ready?
- We want to see them. - Ladyships!
I'm trying to keep the plague from your door!
How dare you make these demands on me!
How dare you!
I won't tolerate it!
Get under the carpet!
Get under the carpet now!
Get under it! or you'll get nothing!
No servants! No crowns! No thrones!
Nothing!
Get under the carpet!
Thank you.
Now I shall continue to protect you...
and return with provisions by and by.
(Clarice ) We could, couldn't we?
(Cora ) We could do it together.
(Clarice ) Next time he comes. (Cora ) We could, couldn't we?
(Together) We could kill him.
(Barquentine ) The ninth day of the month.
The ninth, Mr Secretary...
That's what I said.
The egg should be blue, not red.
The ninth, you dolt! Didn't I say the ninth?
The egg should be blue not red!
In addition to your daily scholastic duties, Lordship.
Eleven o'clock,
release of the five hawks from the north-east turret.
1:15, the Groaning of the Dungeon with your sister, Lady Fuchsia.
Four o'clock, Blessing of the Meat Racks.
Five o'clock, the Ceremony of the Laureate,
the Reading of the Ten-year Meditation on Art -
most important, Lordship.
(Bellgrove snoring)
(Clock ticks )
(Bell rings and boys cheer)
Lesson...lesson over.
Lordship, is that you?
We must rehearse the Ceremony of the Laureate...Come back!
..the rigours of ancient learning...
- Where's the boy? - Boy, sir? What boy?
Don't "what boy" me! There was a boy in this corridor!
With respect, Mr Secretary,
you are here confronted with the greatest group of experts on boys.
We know what a boy looks like...
- What he had for dinner! - If I may...
Where's the sodding boy!
Bugger the bastard!
I apologise for the tone of my colleague, Mr Secretary...
But not necessarily his intention.
- (Laughter) - Poor old Fang!
You have protected a boy with insolence!
If I may say, sir, it was not I who...
Let me just say, Bellgrove, that this afternoon...
is the Ceremony of the Laureate.
If every boy, and I mean EVERY boy is not there assembled,
I will personally twist your malodorous intestines
around your brainless skull!
Stand aside!
Titus? Titus?
I know where you went, boy. Come on.
Titus? Titus?
Titus? Titus, come back!
Lordship, please!
It's the ceremony - have you forgotten? Titus!
oh, me an expert on boys?
You're a silly old fool, Professor Bellgrove!
The Hall of Bright Carvings. I must be near to the castle wall!
Ahh.
out!
I'm out of it!
All boys ready for the Day of the Laureate, Headmaster.
Barquentine wants them counted.
Is he asleep?
Famous for somnolent awareness, sir.
(Slagg) once a kitchen slug, always a kitchen slug.
ALL boys, Headmaster!
Every single one of them!
(Slagg) Drainage! Ha ha ha!
(Snoring)
All clear!
(All) Yes!
All clear!
(All) Yes!
All clear!
Look out! It's the headmaster!
Look out! Death is coming!
Head count! Secretary Barquentine has ordered a head count!
All boys to be counted!
The headmaster!
Ahh!
Headmaster!
oh, my goodness!
Uh? What? What?
What happened?
What?
Asleep?
Are you accusing me of dereliction of duty?
I'll have you retract those words!
I was cogitating a particularly deep problem on the nature of...
ambition, as it happens.
Besides what were you all doing in my inner sanctum?
En masse, may I add.
It's the young Earl, sir. He's gone missing.
Supposed to be in your class, wasn't he?
My class? You mean he wasn't? oh, bless my soul.
What do you suggest we do?
I? Suggest? B-b-b...w-why should it be I who does the suggesting?
Stupid bugger. Doesn't get it, does he?
Headmaster, what are we going to do?
Headmaster?
The previous, if he could be said to have existed at all,
now, without any doubt, doesn't.
And as the most senior member of staff, Bellgrove,
whatever your qualifications,
the burden now falls on you.
Me?
Head...head...headmaster?
I... What do you mean, whatever my qualifications? Upstart!
Sluggard!
And you can stop that, Fluke! Your wheezing sets my teeth on edge.
Yes, things are going to change around here, you know.
A new order has begun and the first thing you will all do,
is LISTEN to your new headmaster!
out with it, then.
- out with what, Mule? - The Earl, tosspot!
The Earl?. He's gone missing! What do we do?
Calm! We stay calm, gentlemen. Your headmaster is here.
Authority at last... Search!
Search for him! That's what we do. Search parties!
Never fear, gentlemen, the Earl shall be found, and I, Bellgrove,
shall find him!
Titus, she will be your little sister.
And you'll love her.
No, wait! Come back!
Wait! I know you! I won't hurt you! Wait!
Come on! Come on!
Grrr!
Well, where is he?
Mr Secretary, I have risen in my profession, and as headmaster
I'd be grateful if you did not address me in such tones.
Shut-up, you useless, elongated fart!
I'm damned if I'll see traditions of a thousand years RUINED...
by some damn, little...
- Little WHAT? - Earl, madam, little Earl.
Where is he?
No sign, Mr Secretary, I'm afraid.
We'll do it without him! Pick a boy - any boy!
Put the ribbon in his hair, stand him there,
and when I say tell him to give the Laureate his idiot poem.
Well, don't sit there like some turd-struck grub! Do IT!
Doggit!
- Who, sir? Me, sir? - Yes, come on. Hold this.
Stand still, come on.
Find him, piddlebrain.
Earl or no Earl, I'll teach him to flout the traditions of this place!
There we are. Now, look lively, over there. Go, go, go. Take it up.
Don't show off, Doggit! Come on, you ass of a child - up the steps, boy!
oh, no! No! My odes! My work!
Ten years!
Ten years of crap, no doubt! Leave it! Leave it!
Damn His Lordship! Damn him! Damn!
Damn! Where is he?
Where - in - hell - is he?
I'm lost.
Where are you?
Who are you?
Flay.
I've heard of you, Mr Flay.
You were my father's servant.
Where is this?
It's my home, Lordship.
Are you ill?.
Not ill, boy... Banished.
Banished?
Why?
Knew you right away, Lordship.
The eyes.
Eat, rabbit? I snare, see?
New life.
Look after Flay. That's it.
Duty gone.
I'm very sorry, Mr Flay.
Mr Flay, I saw something in a forest of stone trees.
- She was on a branch. - She? Small thing? Fast?
- She moved like lightning, Mr Flay. - Don't go near her!
Why, Mr Flay? She seemed to me very free and easy.
Leave her! Free!
Duty, Lordship.
Ancient duty. All there is.
- Your father said. - I never saw my father.
You did, boy. You saw him.
What was he like?
Earl of Gormenghast.
Did he love me?
Why would he say leave the girl alone?
Not girl! Wild thing!
Comes from Carvers. Steals from own. Not of the stones.
Bad, Lordship, bad.
Sleep.
Take you back.
Eat.
I like you very much, Mr Flay.
This whelp has searched. No sign, Your Ladyship.
Then search again! And this time you'll succeed, Barquentine,
or I'll have your head on a spike!
Yes, Madam.
He turned up in my room ten minutes ago.
Mr Flay brought me back. Why was he banished, Mother?
I know no Flay.
- Mother... - I know no Flay!
What do you do with him, Mr Secretary?
What can be done? He's gone.
A faithful servant. We don't have many.
The boy! What do you do with His Lordship?
He ran. What's his punishment?
In you go, young sir. You brought it on your own head, remember.
Use the time to think.
Banished.
(Fuchsia ) Six for searching, seven for heaven, eight for aching.
Ahh!
Nine for nothing, ten for less...
Lady Fuchsia,
may I join you?
What do you want?
Just to walk with you. If it would please you. Nothing else.
The wood is free. I can't stop you, can I?
You can walk behind me, if you like.
Nothing is free, Lady Fuchsia.
You said the wood is free.
I don't believe anything is free, except dreams.
What do you know of dreams?
We all dream. I dream of equality, as a matter of fact.
I believe there should be no poor, no rich, no strong or weak.
Equality is everything,...
don't you think, Lady Fuchsia?
I wouldn't know anything about it.
Don't you think it's wrong...
if some people starve and other people have so much they waste it?
Don't you think the brave and the skilful should be rewarded?
Don't you think talent is as important as wealth?
It's raining.
Don't you think cruelty and greed should be stopped for good?
I'm getting wet.
No! I'm getting soaked!
No, Lady Fuchsia! Not that way!
Aaah!
Lady Fuchsia!
Where does it hurt?
I'm all right.
Don't be a hero.
I know you're brave. I want to know exactly where it hurts.
It's my leg - I'm cold.
Gently, gently. Come on. Come on.
Head wound, doctor. Leg might be broken!
Show me, quickly. Fetch men and a stretcher. I'll get my bag.
Stay still! Don't move.
Perfect.
You are magnificent.
Why, thank you, madam.
At your service.
At my service...
oh...
Do try not to jolt her! Steady! Steady there!
This is no ordinary cargo!
(Slagg) oh, my precious! My precious!
Not you, kitchen boy!
Life is amusing, ISN'T IT?
Not a bone in the least broken.
Anatomically quite sound, Your Ladyship.
Where's Steerpike?
You don't want to see that horrid thing, do you?
No. Not at all.
I hate them! I hate them!
Who, my agitato sister?
oh, why do you never listen to me?
Flesh of my flesh...
to cut me would be to carve at the very marrow of yourself!
Wouldn't an envelope be more appropriate?
Why should I be punished like this?
Am I without charm? or grace? or intellect?
A bulging bag of all three, my talented Tyro.
Then why aren't any advances made to me?
Are you speaking financially?
No, Alfred, I am not, and well you know it!
I mean what's wrong with your sex?
Can't they see my neck, my hair? I move well, don't I?
Can't they see my carriage?
You are too powerful, sweet white of egg, that is the unpalatable truth.
I'm sorry to say, but that carriage, as you put it,
super-charged as it is, terrifies them, my spasmic one.
I hate them! Men! Blind, stupid, clumsy, horrible, vulgar things!
And you are one of them! Aaah!
- Irma, dear! - I'm going to have a party!
Bodily functions are nothing to be ashamed of.
A party, Alfred. I... Irma Prunesquallor, this very Irma,
oh, can we have one, Alfred?
Are you the type to give a party? Indeed, are you...
the type to go to one? But I see you are determined.
May I have the knife?
You're going to be the host.
Have I told you, I'm thinking of marriage?
- To one of those you hate? - Alfred!
We'll find just the man, my avenging angel!
Who to invite? What to wear?
That's simple. Evening dress.
Such things can be cruel, my fashionato.
Few ladies have such resplendent gowns.
Who cares? There won't be any women.
No ladies?
I must be alone, Alfred. With them. The male.
I see, and who might they be, these rams,
these tomcats, these bulls, oh, thicker than water?
- A gathering of 40. - 40 men.
It's my last chance, Alfred!
Listen to me, Irma, dear, listen to an affectionate brother.
In a smaller party you'll find more time to size up those present.
- 30? - A dozen?
20, Alfred, don't argue!
I'm merely trying to put myself in your place, dear! Takes effort!
I can't do it. Any idea who this gallant score is?
oh, the professors!
oh, why didn't I think of it before?
And it shall be called...a soiree.
Rams, soirees, professors. Are not those terms mutually exclusive?
I shall issue invitations in blue and gold.
We shall soiree in ten days, Alfred.
- oh, Lord. - In ten days time...
a man of learning will be mine to keep!
I shall understand him, administer to him and keep him clean!
Irma, my dear, do you not think...?
No, Alfred, I don't think! Thought is for mortals! I am a WoMAN!
An invitation... from Miss Prunesquallor.
She has invited us.
(Fluke ) Ha ha ha!
Shut up, Fluke. This is a damn crisis! Nothing less.
Crisis! Stupid bastard! How long is it since you've seen a woman?
And how long is it since you have or have not, Professor Mule?
She wants a husband. Long-necked Irma wants a husband.
No, no, gentlemen, please! Please! I will not have a ladies name...
oh, bloody bugger! It's him! She wants him!
oh, no... oh, yes!
Gentlemen, please! Stop it at once! Nonsense! I...I...
It's no way to talk of a lady or a headmaster!
Him! The very him! The very Head!
- No, no, no, stop! - It's you, Bellgrove.
- Me? - I think it is you, Bellgrove.
No, no. oh, shush! Nonsense!
No, she doesn't want ME! No. Does she?
oh, perfect.
only three days to go, Alfred!
Tempus fugit, my seismic one, tempus fugit...
Titus?
- Titus? - Fuchsia?
Here. I brought you some sweets.
- I miss you, Titus. - And I miss you.
Dr Pru's having some horrid party.
- A party? - All your professors are going.
Yuck!
I hate them. Mother, Barquentine, I hate all of them!
I hate them for locking you up and for ignoring me!
Titus I spat out of my window today!
I spat on the stones!
I hate them all that much!
Titus, can you hear me?
Yes.
And I spit on the stones too!
Can you feel my fingers?
Titus, you're my brother and I love you.
You're my sister and I love you.
(Door opening)
Bye, Titus. Remember what we said.
Fuchsia?!
Fuchsia! I hate them too!
(Titus ) All of them! All of them!
Well... Tonight's the night. Will I or won't I?
Irma Prunesquallor.
Statement made in the staff room, she's passionate about me.
Consider.
one, it's poppycock.
Two, my damned staff are damned interferers!
Call themselves teachers! They lie to add zest to the party.
Three, I haven't questioned their lie,
so they don't know I've seen through it!
Four, so far so good.
Five, how do I turn the tables against these spoilers...
of all that is young, wonderful and, let's face it, lamb-like?
Six, what's wrong with Irma Prunesquallor anyway?
Noses must be some shape or other or, as that idiot Shred would say,
they wouldn't exist at all.
Seven...no bosoms to speak of,
true, but then what are bosoms weighed against, um...quite...
Eight... I'm lonely.
oh, Bellgrove, such scouring, not to say moving, honesty.
Nine, what a catch I am for any woman!
Ten...
oh, God, please make her mine. (Sniffs )
(Irma sings )
Mollocks!
Beside you, madam.
Why don't you make a sound? You see I wear no spectacles.
Don't go, Mollocks. Dust, dust and dust again.
Sister, if you ain't a work of art, I don't know what is!
Alfred, how do I seem to you?
I'm over here, my dear. Turn around, turn around.
oh, to think the same blood batters our veins.
What? I thought you were praising me!
I was! But tell me what it is that somehow looks different?
You've gained a bosom!
You said busts are what you make them.
My dear?
I've made one from a hot water bottle, very expensive.
Don't you think it gives me pride of bearing?
Just tell me, exactly.
(Mollocks snorting)
Mollocks! Go and talk to cook.
(Mollocks snorting)
Dear sister...
No, Alfred, I won't listen! Wait! There's something else. Wait!
Well, Alfred?
What flair you have, Irma.
Don't spare me.
My only thought, my Arabic one,
is that having so precisely positioned such protuberances,
is it not spitting in the face of the divine to conceal them?
You're going to ruin it. I knew you were!
The vivacity of the visage, sweet nicotine,
and the twin peaks of paradise are, shall we say, hidden beneath net.
Paradise?
Hidden?
oh, never!
(Water splashing)
It is I, Irma! oh, let them come!
My men from the mountains!
Come along, gentlemen. Shoe laces, Mule! Shoe laces.
Step lively, like lambs to the slaughter!
Don't dawdle, Mule! Come on!
Stop the bickering. The bickering isn't necessary.
This way. Follow me.
Gentlemen.
Poor old Nannie.
You're the easiest, so you can go first.
All in the cause of science, you understand?
Good night, Nannie. Sleep tight.
Professor Mule!
Chop, chop.
Professor Mule!
Evening!
Bastard!
Bugger!
Pardon us?
Yes, Professor, female of the species.
Strange but true!
Care for a canap?
Now.
The last of them.
Just a minute.
Professor Bellgrove!
Headmaster!
Arse.
Eve!
Head.
Madame.
Master.
(Mule ) Bugger! ouh!
Bugger!
No way to behave in front of a woman!
Aah! Bloody bugger bastard!
(Prunesquallor) Gentlemen! Pass that armchair!
Help me get him into it.
one, two, heave!
(Prunesquallor) one more effort, gentlemen!
Right, stand back, give him air.
Madam. He is before you as a sign of weakness.
We are all mere men. Is this not how we all feel?.
Perch, Fluke, Throttlebum!
convey the professor to his quarters to recover.
No, Headmaster! I understand utterly.
He has honoured me!
Alfred! Do something. He shall not be removed from this room.
It's a full-blown spasm, dearest!
Spasm or no spasm! He shall remain!
Mollocks! Fetch my silver hammer.
oh, and scissors. We'll need to snip his clothes off.
This is not for you!
It is for you to speak and me to listen.
Take my arm, such as it is.
oh! I shall accompany you, Professor.
Excellent!
- Er, where? - The garden?
The garden! It shall be our first promenade together.
But I hardly know you, Headmaster.
(Doctor) Let's see.
Ahem. Lilac! Can you not smell the lilac, my dear madam?
I have a cold.
Ah, yes, women are such sensitive creatures.
And require light, Headmaster.
A light? Certainly.
I'm afraid you... you cannot see me here.
I would have you sit on my right.
Ah, well, um, what you would have, you shall be given!
Shall we rise?
(Fabric tearing)
oh, blast!
How could you use such a word in front of me?
Silence! Am I not your headmaster! oh! oh! I...
Do forgive me! I, er...
(Prunesquallor) Turn him over. (Mollocks ) over.
I am so happy!
I knew it.
So did I.
My dear, you are cold.
It's this damnable arbor!
I will not have you use strong language in our sacred place.
Well, you... you must forgive an old fool,
but I was just trying to damn this dark...
which prevents me from seeing the proud beauty of your face.
Ah! Yes?
oh, Head...
oh, Irma...
Hoh!
Aah! Ahh!
My man...
- Aaah! - Wahhh!
(Gasping)
oh!
Nannie? Nannie!
oh, my weak heart...
Nannie?
Nannie... Help! Someone help!
Nannie! What's wrong?
- Let me see. - No. Not you. You get the doctor.
Yes, Ladyship! At once!
Nannie? Nannie?
(Gasping)
Something...wrong.
All...wrong.
Nannie!
(Sobbing)
See it as a gift from the kitchen boy, Nannie.
Have her buried in the Graveyard for Select Retainers, Squallor.
I don't feel anything, Mother. Am I wicked?
She was a good servant. You'll miss her.
- See to it, Squallor. - Ladyship.
You are not wicked, my dear.
When are they going to let Titus out of the fort?
It's not fair, he's just a little boy.
He'll be out like a jack-in-the-box in no time.
He must.
And I want to see my daddy.
Shh, my dear.
Where did he go, Dr Pru?
He was a very sick man. Who knows what happened?
Mr Flay is still alive.
Mr Flay?
Titus has seen him!
And he also saw something else - a wild thing.
A wild girl, and now he says he's in love with her.
And now, Nannie!
I'm sorry, Nannie!
I can't stand it.
Ladyship.
Now learn, Lordship.
Learn the code, learn the canon. Learn who you are.
Learn Gormenghast!
It's my family, Mr Secretary,
and I'll learn what I'll learn in my own time.
Starve then.
It's him. I hate him, don't you?
This way.
Titus, I'm frightened.
I know what I'm doing.
I want to show you something. This way.
(Titus ) It's her!
The wild girl!
She was there! I saw her!
She can get in and out whenever she wants!
I didn't come all this way to see her! Come down!
You said we were going to see Mr Flay to find out about Father!
This stupid wild girl! Why are you so interested in her?
You can't be like her, and what would Mother say?
I don't care what SHE says!
She never talks to me anyway. She's got her stupid birds.
Now I've got something better and that's what they don't like.
They think they know everything.
And now I know something they don't.
And I'll tell you, Fuchsia, I want to be just like her.
(Gertrude ) Gone again?! He's in your charge!
I'm not his keeper.
Barquentine, find the boy. And his sister,
though you needn't waste too much time on that. Go away!
I'll have you pinned to the rock with your eyes out.
Lordships come and Lordships go, Ladyship.
Gormenghast stays put!
This wild thing? You think that's what all this is about?
It would appear to be, madam.
It's the brat from his foster mother.
I would hypothesise that quite possibly, given the history...
Why not use one word when one will do, Squallor?
Yes.
This thing is stealing from the Carvers?
They say she steals only the most beautiful, Ladyship.
What's that got to do with it? The Carvers loathe her.
He is the heir, Squallor.
Yes.
That infested rag Barquentine is right, Gormenghast is all.
Uh...
I don't know what's worse, you clammed up or in full flow.
Go away, I prefer my birds.
Madam.
The owls? They killed my father? In the Tower of Flints?
What he wanted, Ladyship.
Cook, slug Swelter, he went too. Same time.
Earl, noble man.
Why didn't anybody tell me?
only I knew, Ladyship. Lordship now. Look to duty.
Come back with us.
Can't.
I'll show you how.
Live in the East Wing. No one would find you there.
Banished. That's it. Look out for Steerpike.
Why? Why always Steerpike? It's not fair!
People don't like him just because he's more brilliant than them.
At least he talks to me.
At least he's better than this wild THING!
Please, come back with us, Mr Flay.
Be ready, Lordship. Know tunnel. Will watch. Come when you need me.
Fuchsia! Fuchsia!
Now you'll learn! Because you'll stay there till you do!
I'm so sorry, Nannie. I don't know what to do.
No one loves me!
What shall I do?
I can't dream forever.
Lady Fuchsia.
I had no idea you'd be here.
I didn't know her well, but I thought...
I'm sure your flowers will please her most.
It's all stupid anyway!
And I didn't think you were so sentimental.
I have my moods too.
How dare you?!
You please yourself, why can't I?
You...! You!
- I understand. - No, you don't.
If I understand anything I understand anger!
And that's because I understand what it feels like to be rejected.
Don't think I don't understand loneliness too.
I'm sorry! (Sobs )
No, no, this is horrible! You're horrible!
You leave me alone! Never come near me!
I can wait.
Stones. Stones. Stone. Rock.
I hate...
it...all.