The Phantom Baron
Elfy! Sit still!
You're making me queasy!
Anne! Anne! Sit back down.
- No! My legs hurt. - Mine hurt more than yours do!
Mamma! Tell her to sit down!
- We'll never get there! - We'll arrive shortly. Stop fussing.
Anne: sit down.
Yes, madam.
Oh! You'll be the death of me!
- I want to look! - Anne's behaving herself. Unlike you.
Madam Countess!
What does he want, mamma?
What is it?
Carol!
- What? - The Carols' Castle.
- Mamma... - Madam...
- What did he say... - What did Joseph say?
- Thank God! We've arrived. - We've arrived!
Careful. That wasn't easy.
Come now, Joseph! Go and unlock it.
Madam Countess, that's not possible.
Oh! They're away. What a disaster!
Both of you stay here. Don't move! I'll go see.
- Madam Countess will catch her death! - I don't care!
CONCEALED SPRING-TRAPS
Toussaint?
Toussaint!
Isn't anybody here?
A fine welcome!
- Who's there? - Open up, Toussaint!
It's me! Madame de Saint-Helie.
Go on. Open up!
Hurry up. I'm freezing!
My God! I was frightened!
My God! You startled me!
Who startled you?
- Don't you recognize me? - Oh, yes, Madame Countess.
Where is the Baron?
It's drafty in here now.
Where is my uncle? Is he ill? Hasn't he received my letter?
- What letter? - The letter informing him of my arrival.
Your arrival?
Toussaint, just what is going on here?
My uncle didn't learn I'd been widowed and would come to stay with him? Where is he?
I don't know, Countess.
What do you mean?
You don't know where your master is?
For the last three weeks, I haven't been able to find him any more.
Hello?
Hello.
Where did you come from, you brat?
And you? And them? Who are you?
That's none of your business, good man.
What do you think you're doing here?
- Where do you live? - Me, I live in Paris.
There's nobody as poor as you there and I have a carriage.
- Elfy! - Elfy?
What a funny name. What's yours?
- Anne! What's yours? - Hervé.
And this one. Is she your sister?
She's not my sister.
She's my nurse's daughter. And her mamma's dead.
Go away. Shoo!
Leave the little girls alone. They don't have anything to do with you.
That may be... but I'd sure like to know what you're doing here.
We're waiting at the gates to enter into my castle.
Your castle?
That surprises you? Yes, it's my castle.
It can't be your castle...
And why not, if you don't mind?
Because that castle is mine.
No, no, no madam! Don't go into his room!
I'm too scared.
Lucky for me, I'm strong-headed: you'd make anyone else lose theirs.
I don't see it: a nice man... at his age,
practically bedridden, doesn't suddenly fly away or disappear into thin air.
Is this the door?
No, no, no, no! Madam Countess!
Don't go...
Some fresh air will chase the phantoms away.
Who's that little boy?
That's my nephew.
He frightens me, too, Countess.
He's only 14 years old and he's already acting like the phantoms.
- He's pretending to be a phantom? - No, no, no. He's not pretending.
As he's sleeping at night, he gets up and goes out wandering around.
And he walks with his eyes shut!
Oh! You mean he's a somnambulist.
I don't know, madam. He sleeps and he walks.
Very well. Yes.
Why does he go on living here when next door there is a habitable manor?
No. The Baron would never have been willing to leave the ruins.
Well, I'm not spending one night here.
We shall settle ourselves into that manor.
So now can you see that there's nothing supernatural in this room?
It's simply an empty room that has not been aired out for months.
You must tell me only the facts.
I'm listening...
About a year ago, the Baron just about stopped leaving this room.
I began to notice that the furnishings began to disappear one after another:
a Saint John...
a bas relief,
a brass plate.
What are you looking at?
Nothing, my lord Baron.
I know perfectly well what you're looking at!
And I command you to look elsewhere!
Don't question me! Leave!
I would never listen at the door...
but I loved the Baron and my lord was worrying me.
Soon, I heard...
as he began to swear,
to make such a devilish racket!
He went on and on!
Yes, thundering like a thousand thunderclaps!
Then, all of a sudden...
an even louder noise!
And after that...
silence.
This silence was so complete,
that I opened the door.
The Baron was no longer in his bed.
At his table... no one!
And the credenza had disappeared!
The Baron wasn't in his library.
The Baron was no longer in his room!
I was so scared!
I took care not to neglect my duties.
That same night, as I was making my rounds...
He was walking in his sleep!
And I've never been able to recover that bust of Marie Antoinette.
The next day, the Baron did not appear at all.
He reappeared?
The day after that. He became more and more strange.
Sometimes, he'd disappear for three or four days...
and then... he'd reappear....
and disappear...
and reappear...
and disappear again.
So: three weeks ago he disappeared once and for all?
Yes, madam Countess.
Three weeks ago,
the Baron became a phantom.
It's him!
It's him! My lord the Baron!
He's turned into a cat!
This man is completely insane.
ten years pass...
- What if mamma sees us? - Oh, come on! Let's go.
Oh... Carol!
Carol!
Oh! I'm scared.
Scared of Carol?
Mamma hates it when we call that cat Carol.
He's the guardian of the treasure!
- You mean he's watching us? - Come on! Come in. Come in.
Watch out!
Your candle's dripping.
Listen. I want to go.
The treasure!
Do you really believe it's here, this treasure?
It's a marvelous treasure...
Just think! If we find it, you'll be rich!
I'm sure that ever since his death, Toussaint's been living in this room.
Listen!
No...
it's nothing.
Oh! I must admit, this big room isn't very reassuring.
Do you like being frightened?
A little.
I don't.
Well,
not very much.
- Don't leave me alone! - Treasure-hunters have nothing to fear!
No, no, no! Don't draw that curtain!
Do you think I'm going to find Bluebeard's wives?
- It's empty. - Mamma will be furious
if she finds out we've broken into this room.
Look!
There must be hundreds of them!
Don't touch anything!
Albéric's going to arrive and wonder where we are.
Oh... I can't breathe. I'm scared for real.
I can't stand it any more.
I'll come back on my own.
There's nobody out here. Hurry up!
Hide the candle.
- You scared me! - It was just the box!
You can hear my heart, it's beating so hard!
Albéric believes it's beating for him!
My heart's beating harder and harder!
Calm down! It's the stairs!
Anne!
My sister Anne! Do you see anything coming?
I see a horseman!
Albéric! It's Albéric!
Don't you find Albéric more handsome than Hervé?
- He's something else. - Indeed.
Hurry! He mustn't wait.
Careful! Lift up your dress!
Wait! Do you think Hervé would be as handsome as Albéric in uniform?
But Elfy, my angel... do you love Hervé or Albéric?
How silly you are. Of course I love Hervé.
I love Hervé...
like the cat.
like this castle.
But Albéric... I'm crazy about Albéric!
Come on! Come...
Oh! It's that cat again!
We're the ones who are bothering him!
Go look around. It won't do if anyone surprises us.
- If mamma discovers us...! - Here! We'll take the rampart walkway.
Wait up!
Albéric!
- Albéric! - My little Elfy.
Oh! You look so odd when you're not on a horse!
- Well, I can hardly live on a horse. - Yes you can! You're a horse-man.
A sky-blue man... a centaur!
If I were a centaur, I would gallop away with you.
Take me away, Albéric! Take me away!
Oh! That would be wonderful!
A centaur, galloping away,
carrying a young girl clutching his neck in a white dress, flying out of sight.
Take me away, Albéric! Take me away!
This is no time for fun, Elfy.
Why shouldn't we have fun?
Because I've got some bad news for you.
- Bad news? - My Colonel opposes our marriage.
- He's a monster! - No, Elfy. He's a very good man.
It's just that, as far as he's concerned, everything must follow regulations.
I'm not very fortunate, you know.
Army regulations won't permit me to marry a girl without a dowry.
And you're going to obey them?
Where are you going?
Are you concerned?
Maybe.
- You're trespassing! - Really?
- Keeping watch? - I do as I please.
And me, I go where I want.
You're mistaken, Hervé!
The castle's not yours any more.
That one over there walks wherever he likes.
But dear Hervé you should know that we no longer have our place.
We three were so happy together.
So happy! You beat us from morning ‘til night.
Did I beat Elfy?
Don't cry, Elfy.
Don't cry.
He's horrible, your Colonel.
If I were you, I'd...
I'd go and spit on him!
What good would that do?
Come now. Calm down, Elfy.
I've come up with a scheme that could settle everything.
It must settle everything.
So... it seems that I'm a brute.
Me, too. I'm a brute.
That's true.
We're belong to the same breed, my poor Hervé.
The race who stay in the shadows...
looking on while others live.
Send a letter...
to the woodcutter's house... tomorrow.
My little angel, don't cry any more. What has happened?
I'm so unhappy!
Elfy! Only those who are without a friend could ever be unhappy.
I have no dowry.
The Colonel has rejected me.
Albéric thinks he can settle everything but he won't be able to settle anything.
I'm fed up with these Colonels. They won't pay any heed to lieutenants.
Elfy! Remind yourself of the one thing that matters!
The treasure!
If finding a treasure is what it takes to find happiness.
Put it on my account, won't you?
- Understood, Countess... - Dear lady. Allow me to kiss your hand.
I don't really like being caught when I'm out doing my shopping.
- She's adorable! - I have a daughter dreaming of a cake.
I seem to have a son who's dreaming of none other than your daughter.
- Your son? - Albéric de Marignac!
- How is that? - I'm a father to all my soldiers.
Oh! The prospects for this marriage are impossible, my dear Colonel. Say no more!
Ha! All of these women kneeling!
It's ridiculous.
Do you believe it, Colonel?
- That he's the Dauphin? - Oh, dear lady. Such imprudent words.
Ever since the Bishop felt it necessary to recognize the Count of Balsec...
as the heir apparent of Louis XVI, who escaped the Temple when he was ten,
I have held no personal opinion on the matter, of course.
I admit he has the poise for it.
And the likeness, dear Countess! The resemblance!
- Ah, you do believe it! - Oh!
Elfy! You ought to write it yourself.
But I don't know how to spell.
- You do know how to read? - Yes!
- I can't read as well as you do. - But you know how to read a letter!
I sure could never write one.
"My Albéric,"
"I don't have any skills when it comes to expressing my heart,
"only that the heart has its miracles.
"I feel like I could write a whole book...
"to tell you how confident I am in your love."
Oh, you're brilliant!
How do you come up with such expressions?
"I can't bear to be away from you for a moment.
"If I can conclude my letter at all,
"it's so that Anne can deliver it as swiftly as my heart is fluttering...
"toward you, my angel,
"in your blue tunic,"
- Are you sure "tunic" is spelled that way? - Yes, crazy girl!
Here comes your mother.
Elfy, go down and meet her.
Here.
I'll race to the woodcutter's house.
I'll tell mamma that you're ironing my linens.
If she knew you weren't working!
Look who's here.
I've brought a letter for the lieutenant.
He's supposed to be coming to pick it up.
The marriage isn't going ahead as they'd hoped?
The Colonel's against it.
Good for the Colonel.
- This seems to make you happy. - Me?
- Why? - How should I know?
You should be troubled.
- Elfy might be unhappy. - Unhappy?
She loves this lieutenant then.
- What if she only thinks she love him? - Elfy wouldn't have written to him.
What if she only loves the uniform? A fine uniform
with gold stripes.
Are you sure of what you're saying?
Look at me, Hervé.
Now I know what I wanted to know.
- What did you want to know? - Nothing.
Anne! You have no right!
- Hello Anne. - Step inside, lieutenant.
Watch out for your cap!
- Have you brought me a letter, Anne? - No. I'm sorry. No, no.
There is no letter.
Elfy doesn't have enough courage to open her mouth.
Elfy's mother made a terrible scene.
She's forbidden her from seeing you.
But why?
Because she thinks this would be a marriage between hunger and thirst.
- But Elfy? - Oh...
Elfy is a child, lieutenant. She'll be crying today, but...
she'll be laughing tomorrow.
She'll be laughing tomorrow when I marry her.
You surprise me, lieutenant.
Whether you marry her or not,
she'll laugh tomorrow and go get married to somebody else.
Who else?
Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Just whom do you take me for?
I take you for a remarkable girl.
Oh really, lieutenant?
If I'm a remarkable girl,
you must be a philosopher.
One woman is as good as another.
And you could always find a young girl
whose modest condition wouldn't require marriage at all.
What?
Oh what a fool I am!
This is one of Elfy's traps!
Tell her that you played your part very well...
and that I adore her.
Your finesse is impressive, lieutenant.
I've made arrangements this evening for an extraordinary meeting...
which may change everything.
Is that what I should tell her, lieutenant?
You're a pair of devils, you two!
You've got the look of an executioner!
Not everyone can pass themselves off as a heartbreaker!
What have you been up to in here?
Yes, Hervé.
I came to give myself to the lieutenant.
Are you crazy?
Maybe.
I came to give myself to the lieutenant.
- Do I disgust you? - Why are you acting crazy like this?
I don't know.
To prove to myself that I exist.
And to prove that you exist,
you're destroying the hopes of the little girl who I love...
and who loves this boy?
The lieutenant rejected you I guess?
Exactly!
You love Elfy, Hervé.
What did you say?
I said that you love Elfy.
You're in love with her.
How long have you known?
Forever.
Anne! Could you be jealous?
Repeat what you just said. Repeat it!
I repeat:
Anne, my girl, you are jealous!
Jealous of you?
Monsieur Viscount, you may come up.
The Viscount de Marignac.
I'm listening.
I am the Viscount Albéric de Marignac.
Take a seat.
- I am the Viscount... - Take two seats!
Sir...
That's Monseigneur.
I'm not sleeping. I'm listening.
Has the Monseigneur explained to you the purpose for my visit?
Not at all! Not at all! I've been told nothing at all.
Which other Monseigneur was to speak to me about you?
Our Bishop! Monseigneur Geoffrey de Brűlé?
Yes. That's right. I remember.
So many cases on my mind!
Anyway... let's see...
Allow me to consult my notes.
No. That's not it.
Ah! Here it is! A marriage between youngsters, I see.
So this is about a marriage?
- Uh... yes, Monseigneur. - Don't interrupt me.
You'd like me to intercede on your behalf with the Colonel
to ask him to authorize your marriage to this poor young girl
without losing your rank!
Yes. You're asking me as it were to have the rules bent.
Do we understand one another?
All of that is correct, Monseigneur.
You must know what discipline is?
If it's true that you're in love,
love excuses many faults!
That will be 10,000 francs.
Excuse me?
It's only right that the parish poor benefit from your transgression.
- But Monseigneur that's an enormous sum! - Do what you can!
Well then. Goodbye, dear sir! Goodbye!
I... I'll find it. And I'll bring it to you tomorrow.
- You'd better! Goodbye! - I will.
- Monseigneur knows the way? - Yes, yes. Thank you.
Well?
- Monseigneur asked me for 10,000 francs. - 10,000?
- Did he? - Isn't that a lot...
It's the Prince's prerogative.
Am I disturbing you?
I... Won't you come in, my dear Bishop?
Come in, please.
I'll be in and out.
Your young protégée has just left me.
- He's just left. - And... ?
I shall speak to the Colonel.
I love youth.
And since my youth was a persecuted youth,
I don't want others to suffer a similar fate.
And how are your affairs, Monseigneur?
Do you have any news from the Duchess d'Angoulęme?
My sister is a tease.
She never writes to me. I fear I will be obliged...
- to go see her in Paris. - Oh, I would advise you to do that.
Idle gossip and slander are spreading.
They want some evidence.
Of course, I'm not speaking of myself.
Nor of the chosen souls of our town....
But, for example, the older and charming unmarried women...
who leave you their houses, and I congratulate them,
are living now in squalid backrooms.
To be blunt, disagreeable rumors are being spread.
It would be useful to put an end to them.
Moreover, the presence of a person of your prestige...
casts a great light upon the diocese.
And without any political ambitions, several men...
- conservative souls... - Mmm, hmm.
They find the greatest reassurance in your presence.
Thus, we are turning to you.
And you? What do you advise, Monseigneur?
There's no rush, Monseigneur.
There is also this matter of...
your obtaining legal recognition as the son of Louis XVI.
...as the Dauphin of France.
Here we are.
How should I put this?
A fine gesture will shut some mouths.
10,000 francs for the parish poor would rally favorable opinion.
10,000 francs?
But Monseigneur! I... I couldn't possibly.
- I couldn't possibly! - Do what you can!
- Won't you stay? - No. I must go.
To stay would be an imposition.
I noticed that your table is set for guests.
Monseigneur! Don't go. Monseigneur.
Think about this proposition.
- It would be a good political move. - M- m- my...
I know you. You've got more than one trick in your bag!
Don't come down with me.
Until tomorrow.
Your brother can't always sit at the table with everybody!
Don't mind Leopold.
Well... Marignac?
I tapped him for 10,000 francs! Ha!
You surprise me!
Actually, the Bishop tapped me for 10,000 francs for the poor five minutes later.
We break even.
And you, as usual, lost your head.
An old family habit.
What's amazing, my poor friend...
What's amazing is that you go on playing your role when there's no one around!
But whenever anyone is around, you don't pull anything but gaffs!
I expect a minimum of respect!
Oh! You really do believe you've become the Dauphin!
- That's my business! - Pardon me?
It's my business, too!
Who was in the Baron Carol's service?
Huh?
Who knew about the Baron's desire to leave all his fortune to Louis XVII?
Who transformed the poacher Eustache Dauphin into the Dauphin of France?
Hmm?
Who orchestrated this scheme? And who arranged for Eustache Dauphin to live
in this town with a place to live in this hotel?
Who's living off of the generosity of old royalist ladies?
Huh?
Who?
Monseigneur has received a visit from the lieutenant Marignac!
He didn't even have any idea
that we'd been expecting his visit for two months!
That we'd drag 10,000 francs out of him!
Only to give it to the Bishop tomorrow? Poor imbecile!
It's pathetic, at my age,
in the situation I find myself,
to be treated like an idiot!
There's one thing she refuses to understand:
self-respect!
We don't speak the same language.
10,000 francs?
There must be that much treasure hidden in the Carols' Castle.
I'm sure of it.
- I'd sure like to find out! - Eat!
- Eat what? - You'll eat stewed chicken when we're rich.
- And the donations? - What donations?
May I?
Marignac wants to marry the little Saint-Helie girl.
It's just a question of convincing the Colonel.
You must be these children's benefactor.
We have only to keep our eyes peeled:
Find the Will. And take the castle apart stone by stone to find the treasure.
It's child's play.
You are terrifying!
Aren't you happy about this engagement?
- My hand was forced. - And mine, too, dear Countess!
- And I congratulate you! - Congratulate yourself is more like it!
It's the princely prerogative!
Princely?
There is my aunt! Come on!
Mademoiselle?
Well? Come along, Elfie!
No.
Since when do you call me Mademoiselle?
- Aren't you going to call me Elfy any more? - It's not as simple as that.
That's too bad.
Look what I found yesterday.
What is it?
You probably don't even remember.
This was the wedding gift.
The wedding gift!
We'd marry one another so often.
Do you remember?
I'd marry you.
I'd marry Anne.
We'd pretend to get married and it was always up to me to provide the gift.
It was usual
for our wedding gift to become our engagement gift.
Put it around my neck.
It will bring me good luck.
Thank you, Hervé.
I'll wear this heart.
It's a phantom heart.
It's funny...
It comes from a time before Albéric.
If you want, you could kiss me...
Kiss me, Hervé.
No.
We're too far apart now.
What's wrong?
- Is it that no one wants to marry you? - The same ones always get married!
There must be a reason. Come now. Stop crying.
Do you see me crying?
- Hold on! That can only be the Prince. - Very good.
Monseigneur.
- Monseigneur. - Monseigneur.
Monseigneur.
- Monseigneur. - Monseigneur.
It's magnificent.
Well, well, my young friend.
Congratulations! You can see that we do yet have some power!
- Yes, Monseigneur... - Where is the fiancée?
Friends are arriving from everywhere!
Elfy doesn't know which way to look any more.
No manners! No manners! I want the youngsters to have fun!
- My aunt is waiting in your room. - Fine. I'm going up.
- I hope that Monseigneur will excuse me? - Make your exit.
I hear the most ravishing music!
A very curious concert, Monseigneur.
You seem to like children, Monseigneur.
To think that at his age, you were already a Colonel!
A Colonel?
Oh! Yes, yes! Exactly!
A Colonel at 5 years old? It makes the head spin!
Monsieur le Marignac!
Before we go any further, I have a very nice surprise for you:
- This purse. - A purse?
Monseigneur begged me yesterday to give you 10,000 francs.
Fresh from his strongbox as an engagement gift.
- Mm...mm...me? - Monseigneur! Don't be modest.
- Oh, Monseigneur! - A gesture befitting a King!
No thanks... no thanks are needed.
It was our pleasure!
It's not easy to be alone in that house.
We'll have our whole lives to be alone.
Elfy, you have one strange little heart.
I have a heart of gold.
Want to see it?
No! Don't touch it!
Why?
Because!
Because of what, Elfie?
Because I forbid you to touch it!
How strange you're acting!
It's an engagement gift from Hervé.
Dear Hervé!
He had on a brand new suit.
And his sweet little smile from our childhood.
Elfy!
Elfy?
Wait for me. I'll be right back.
Anne... I need to speak to you.
- I have service to attend to. - It's quite serious.
If it's that serious, we can't talk about it here.
- Where? In your room? - Oh! You can't really think that.
Come with me to the ruins.
You know about the mysterious room. It's my kingdom.
No one would dare to follow us here.
Beside, there are certain things I should tell you.
Here is the magic box...
where I keep my enlightenment.
This is my library lieutenant.
I can hide out for days reading in here.
Here is my seat.
My lamp.
My friends.
I'm listening, lieutenant.
Anne...
Elfy doesn't love me.
You're crazy. Did she tell you that?
No. But over the past week, I've become sure of it.
I can no longer avoid it. This time, I demand to know about it.
Just what do you want to know about, lieutenant?
Hervé!
Hervé?
But lieutenant, Hervé is just the little Hervé of our childhood.
He's only a servant.
If Elfy thinks of Hervé at all, it's only as a servant.
She thinks of him...
- as she thinks of me. - No. I'm sure my suspicions are right.
It's only...
You've succeeded in making me wonder, lieutenant.
Ah!
So you do see!
All the more since I've only dreamt of securing your happiness.
That's why I lied to you lieutenant.
I lied to you at the woodcutter's house.
I had a letter from Elfy for you.
- Why didn't you show it me? - You're bright, lieutenant... .
I couldn't bring myself to because...
because the obstacles to your marriage were becoming more and more apparent.
It had all becoming a dangerous game...
in which I'd become an unwilling accomplice.
And anyway, it wasn't from Elfy. It was me who wrote that letter.
- She was quite incapable of writing it. - You're lying!
No, I'm not. Not this time!
Is it delusional to say that both of you were penniless?
That your Colonel was only joking when he raised such strong objections?
Anne!
Just what kind of game are you playing?
Since I've no story of my own, lieutenant...
I busy myself with those which belong to others.
With cruelty!
Calm down, lieutenant.
Nobody's ever died of love.
I mean there have never been lovers like Elfy and you who have died of it.
When all is said and done, what if what you've said turns out to be true?
That Elfy loves another man?
Hervé!
Did you hear that?
It was Carol!
He loves to frighten people to death.
Let's go, lieutenant.
Elfy's looking for you and, in this room, you'll end up believing your own phantoms.
Anne! Ask her, I'm begging you!
Monseigneur, your place is facing mine.
Dear lady, to the right of Monseigneur.
To her left!
- I have yet to see the fiancée. - And neither have I.
She's so young. Perhaps she's unaware that one ought not make Monseigneur wait.
Monseigneur! Allow me to explain.
Elfy should be here already. I don't understand it.
No explanations are necessary, my dear Countess. I'm not hungry.
However...
I'm starting to get hungry!
Anne! My darling. This is unacceptable.
Go back to her room again and get her.
- Where can that little girl be? - Don't let it trouble you, dear lady.
On maneuvers, I often lose track of my troops.
- And what do you do then? - I don't move a muscle!
They come back.
What a shame!
That may well be but Monseigneur shall no longer wait for her.
Everyone be seated!
It's not like Elfy to make us wait.
I'm very worried.
No one likes cold soup. Eat, Monseigneur.
I must confess... I'm not hungry.
Here is Anne. What happened?
Miss Elfy cannot be found.
I can see that Madam de Saint-Helie is dying of worry.
May I ask Your Highness to permit her to go and search for her daughter?
Let us get up. Get up everyone.
I ask that no one be shy on my account.
I don't know what else to do.
Can't anyone suggest anything?
- Albéric? - A search must be organized!
First of all, we should form two wings.
Let's go. We must not panic.
Yes. After dinner, we'll see to it.
Madam Countess,
as I came in before dinner, I thought I saw Miss Elfy going into the ruins.
Always those ruins.
Those ruins are cursed!
Yoo-hoo!
Elfy?!
Elfy!
Yoo-hoo!
- Elfy! - Yoo-hoo!
- Elfy!
Elfy!
Come on. Hurry.
- You've found something? - Yes!
Yoo-hoo!
Elfy!
Look at his collar!
Our wedding gift!
I gave it back this morning to Elfy.
- Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo! - She must be alive!
I'm following you.
Yoo-hoo!
Elfy!
- Elfy! - You're overreacting.
- She's dead! I'm sure she's dead. - Come now! Come, come, come.
Elfy!
Are you tired?
- Are you sleepy? - No, Hervé.
Where is he going?
Over there.
Elfy!
Where are you?
Elfy!
Where are you?
She's over there.
No.
That's just an echo.
The dog-roses!
Where can he be going?
Ouch!
I've pricked myself!
Let me see.
It's nothing.
Help!
Did you hear her?
Help!
It's Elfy!
Elfy?
- Elfy? Where are you? - Are you hurt?
I'm in the dark.
I'm hurt all over!
How did you get there?
No answer?
Answer us!
- Can you hear me? - Yes, Hervé! I hear you.
How did you get in there?
I was in the Baron's room...
behind the tapestry.
I leaned my shoulder to the right of a niche,
and the wall opened up!
Let me do it.
Hold my skirt. If I fall inside, drag me back out.
Don't let it shut!
Go get a log from the fireplace.
- Stay here. - I'm going with you.
No! Do as I say. Stay!
Oh! I was so afraid.
Elfy! My dear Elfy!
Hervé!
Hervé! Quick!
Come join us.
Hervé! Come, quick!
- Is it serious? - No. She's only lost consciousness.
Take her in your arms and carry her outside. She needs fresh air.
Ready to go?
Take care of the little one. I'll come after you
Here. Take a lantern.
Hervé isn't
Hervé!
Anne!
If finding a treasure is what it takes to find happiness.
Anne! Are you coming?
Yes. Here I am.
What were you doing in that hole?
Shouldn't you be taking care of Elfy?
I was just coming to look after her.
She's burning up. She has a fever.
You'll have to carry her.
I'm following.
Kiss her.
She's been asleep for twenty years.
Hervé!
She doesn't know what she's saying...
Leave us.
This is my will and testament.
Overwhelmed by melancholy, I shall die hidden as I was hidden in life.
Hervé is not Toussaint's nephew but my son and heir...
a somnambulist just like me!
This is why I wish him to become a man of the soil.
I've kept my secret from everyone.
Should the Dauphin of France reappear and prove
his identity, Hervé shall share with him half of my fortune.
Should the case prove otherwise,
that part of my fortune shall go to my niece, Saint-Helie.
Should no one ever find me, as is likely,
let them fend for themselves.
Julius Carol
Baron of the Empire, monarchist and misanthrope.
We're not of the same breed any more.
My poor Hervé.
I love Hervé.
You're feverish, Elfy.
I'm not feverish,
I know what I'm saying.
I love Hervé.
Have you any idea what a shock your awakening has produced?
That's fine by me.
It's Hervé that I love.
One doesn't fall in love overnight: you're crazy!
Something's happened that I'm unaware of. What?
I was wrong about Albéric.
I admired...
his uniform,
his horse,
his dazzle.
It's Hervé that I love.
Well, the upshot of all this is simply ridiculous!
I was blind to allow you to treat Anne and Hervé as your equals.
Anne! It's always Anne!
Anne has nothing to do with this! I want Hervé! I will have him!
You'll cause a scandal! Elfy! I'd rather lock you in your room!
- I won't have Hervé loving anyone else...! - I've had enough of your tantrums!
I'll make Hervé love me. I love him and I'll never give him up!
Hush! Everyone's asleep!
In case the Dauphin of France, reappears and proves his identity,
then Hervé shall share with him half of my fortune.
Should the case prove otherwise,
that part of my fortune will go to my niece, de Saint-Helie.
Should no one ever find me, as is likely,
let them fend for themselves.
The will is signed: Julius Carol,
Baron of the Empire, monarchist and misanthrope.
Very good! This is most excellent news!
- But Monseigneur! - My dear... my dear.
You're forgetting that this Will disinherits Madame de Saint-Helie.
Oh! Forgive me.
But Hervé...
It astonishes me...
how the most clever of men rush willingly into death like a rat into a trap.
I find in this death something...
Egyptian somehow.
But Anne!
Why did you keep this Will hidden from us?
I couldn't bear that it might mean Elfy's disinheritance.
That hasn't prevented you from bearing it just now.
I slept on it.
I have no right to deprive Hervé of the secret of his birth.
If I understand correctly, young Hervé shall inherit
the castle, the domain, the land... Everything!
Now, now!
That depends on whether Monseigneur is recognized.
Recognized? Legally recognized!
Anne, come with me.
You can't do any more here.
Do you see now Monseigneur, how urgent it is for you to settle your suit?
Further delay is impossible.
Just how is your case proceeding?
Well, I am...
I am...
where I was.
That doesn't get us very far!
As you can imagine, dear Anne, all that has been unfolding has been terrible for me.
To be so close to a man who could show us the door.
Well yes, madam Countess.
This marriage seems scandalous to me, outrageous nonsense. Yet Elfy persists.
I wonder if the little one hasn't smelled in Hervé someone of her own breeding?
All the same, I have all the more reason to oppose her strong-headedness.
Yes, madam Countess.
This is nasty business.
I mustn't be implicated or I'll look like a legacy hunter.
Yes, madam Countess.
My dearest Anne,
I'm counting on you.
Here is the Will. You shall take it over to Hervé's place
and find out if he loves the little one.
You're the only one with any skills for such delicate business.
Yes, madam Countess.
I'm going.
You're sick?
No...
How did you get my scarf?
I don't know.
I dropped it in the garden...
and you wrapped it around your neck.
Maybe.
After this strange night, this doesn't surprise me at all.
I was dreaming...
that I was going up the stairs with Elfy.
I went up...
and up...
The stairs were endless.
And Elfy...
became you.
I had the same dream, Hervé.
You were carrying me...
and I wrapped my scarf around your neck.
I never dream usually.
You're a brute.
Tired of being a brute.
I'm surrounded by the feeble-hearted.
That's changing me.
Anne...
Anne.
- What's wrong? - Leave it be.
I must have done something terribly stupid...
slap me.
Here you are, Hervé!
Anne!
I think I love you...
Ever since our childhood, I've loved only you.
Consider me a filthy brute!
Stay here covered up,
while I talk to you...
I thought you loved Elfy.
I found myself unworthy of you.
Be still!
You don't love Elfy.
An Elfy...
could never marry a Hervé...
happily.
But a Hervé...
could marry an Anne.
You're mistaken about that.
Have I said something stupid again?
Hervé...
Anne could never marry a Carol.
You're the Baron Carol's son.
The son of Baron Carol?
And everything that he owned? His land...
belongs to me?
Is this true?
It's true, Hervé.
Well then... you belong to me my little Anne.
Mademoiselle Elfy is not receiving anyone.
Elfy?
Elfy, open up for me.
I need to talk to you, Elfy.
I'm sleeping.
What are you doing in my room?
- Monseigneur! - What?
"What are you doing in my room... Monseigneur?"
Why are you putting on this act?
What do you mean?
You are not the son of Louis XVI.
Well, no.
Why then are you putting on this act?
- For love. - For love of what?
- Some money? - Oh! Mademoiselle!
Do you know Fébronie?
Your cook?
- She's not my cook. - Oh! Very nice.
And you? Who are you?
Eustache Dauphin.
poacher, at your service.
A poor guy with a... a nice wife who's a bit...
And...
what was Eustache Dauphin doing sleeping in my room?
I was waiting for you.
I've seen you at work!
You've got real nerve, you!
I'm afraid, Miss Anne...
I'm afraid of Fébronie. I'm afraid of the police.
I'm afraid plain and simple.
And before giving yourself up to a young girl whom you scarcely know,
- what else did you consider doing? - Making an escape!
A painful memory prevents me...
Varennes!
So you're afraid you'll be recognized?
Recognized and cast into the shadows!
What do you advise?
Very easily, avoid scandal:
- Just disappear as if by magic. - Good God, is that easy?
Very easy!
You'll go back to your old line of work
and I assure you that nobody will bother you in our forest.
And... I won't go to prison?
No more than you ever really escaped the Temple!
Oh...
oh, as sure as I'm a faux Prince, Miss...
you have the qualities to you
of a genuine Princess.
May I?
Monseigneur! Monseigneur. Remember who you are!
- Have you forgotten I'm a servant? - Oh, devil!
I forgot.
Don't trouble yourself to show me out.
There's your style.
The style of Louis XVI.
Who is there?
It's Hervé.
Well come in!
Come in.
I'm surprised to see you here.
And to think that you don't even know my parakeets!
Well... come. Come say hello to them.
Don't you like parakeets?
You're sulking.
What's wrong?
Anne didn't want anybody but me to inform you about our marriage.
I was wondering why she's been keeping herself invisible.
Now I know.
Anne has been overwhelmed.
She feared that she'd be accused of seducing me.
But I was the one who seduced her.
I don't want a shadow of a doubt about this to remain in your mind.
You're the master.
- Me... the master! - Yes.
You're a Carol. You're rich!
You can do whatever you like.
If you want to marry a servant,
that's nobody's concern but your own.
Elfy...
Your beauty always hid from me Anne's which is of a higher order.
For this beauty of heart to catch my eyes,
you had only to disappear for a moment into oblivion.
I'm all the more grateful to you for having made me leave.
Albéric, above all, you must not lose your head.
One mustn't give up so easily. There are only two options:
either this strange Dauphin of France and the Colonel prevail...
or else I inherit and the issue never arises.
This isn't about that treasure... something's been hidden from me!
- Elfy's attitude is intolerable! - Why must you always overdramatize!
It's all quite simple. Elfy is a child.
A dummy.
Yes, I love her but she doesn't love my any more. And if that's true...
Oh! You scared me!
Happy hunting, Viscount!
Good day, Countess.
Pardon me. That shot got away from me.
Is it a rabbit?
No, Countess.
It's Carol.
So it appears!
- My God! - Don't come any closer, Countess!
It's an ugly sight.
Nobody would ever believe that this was once a heart.
Let's go.
This boy is impossible!
Insolently, he's pretending to be the game warden!
I don't like it at all. This death.
I'm going back, Albéric.
And I am staying!
Hervé!
Viscount?
Why don't you call me Albéric?
I admit that that would disgrace me, Viscount.
It's a bit too soon.
You were lucky just now.
Just now?
I could have killed you instead of that poor beast.
You've killed my childhood, Viscount.
You might as well have killed me.
And I suppose that this sensational death
- will only add to your honor! - What honor?
- You know what I'm talking about. - No!
You're lying!
What do you mean...
You've stolen my lover!
- Then you're in love with Anne? - I only had some suspicions,
but Elfy's awakening convinced me of it!
- Elfy? - Now you dare to mock me?
Just about.
If I didn't still think of you as a servant...
You're still eager to kill something?
No.
Someone.
All right.
Follow me.
But my dear girl, it's impossible to change your mind every five minutes!
Carol's son shouldn't be rejected without some reflection.
I don't love him, mamma.
He doesn't love me.
He's in love with someone else and he's going to marry her.
He's going to marry? Whom?
Anne!
Anne?
How monstrous!
I might have known.
I've been as deaf as I've been blind. But I won't be foiled by a schemer.
- Are you ready for service? - Some service!
Well! How low you've stooped!
Oh, mamma. Stop. It's no use.
- I'd like to be alone with Anne. - Very well, I'll leave you.
Bravo! You've wonderfully performed the commission you were given!
You are very crafty.
- By the way, I forgot about the cat. - The cat? Carol?
He's dead. Albéric killed him by mistake.
Hervé had a very strange look.
I left them alone together.
Carol!
Our childhood!
There's only room for one Carol now.
And you'll marry him.
It's no Carol who will marry me, Elfy.
It's Hervé.
Anne!
- I heard everything! - What did you hear?
I was hiding behind the tapestry!
And I heard you with Albéric.
I fell into the wall
because I was taken aback!
And why is that, exactly?
Oh... play innocent!
You lured Albéric to that room to confound him!
To poison him... to make him become disgusted by me!
- Me? - Yes, you. You. It's always you.
When will you stop meddling with everyone and everything!
Elfy! You're being so wicked! So unfair!
I heard what you told Albéric.
That you didn't deliver my letter.
You don't want me to marry either Albéric or Hervé.
Everything that comes my way you attempt to thwart.
You'd like to prevent me from having everything that you couldn't have yourself.
I detest you!
Listen carefully to me, Elfie.
I've always loved Hervé...
without even realizing it.
And I held him in such high regard,
and I held you in such high regard,
that I could only dream about your being joined to one another.
So that's why I tried to delay your marriage with Albéric.
Your only interest in Hervé is in acquiring his fortune and titles.
Elfy!
Elfy, Albéric loves you and you love Albéric.
But you couldn't bear to lose Hervé.
Your selfishness knows no limits.
You're unwilling to lose anything. You're still clinging to our childhood memories.
And Hervé was one thing you had as your own.
You required his unhappiness and mine to veil your own.
You believed Hervé loved you.
And your happiness with Albéric would be incomplete unless Hervé became a victim.
Listen carefully to me, Elfy.
I also believed Hervé loved you.
But Hervé loves me.
And everything will settle back into order.
You were made for Albéric like I was made for Hervé.
If he's a Carol, that changes nothing.
He'll remain a caretaker,
and me a domestic.
I will serve him
and he'll take care of me.
That's the only difference.
- I hate Hervé. - Elfy! Be reasonable!
If you love Albéric, and you do love him,
there can't be any reason for you to hate Hervé!
I don't know any more.
That's exactly what I mean.
When will you stop walking on purpose right in front of me?
Excuse me, Viscount.
Elfy...
Elfy! Give me a hug.
Anne!
My sister Anne.
- Are you mad at me? - No, I'm not mad at you.
I admit my behavior has been difficult
and anybody would have taken me for a schemer.
Let's run and join Albéric and Hervé.
You've caused Albéric a lot of grief.
And the death of Carol hasn't helped things.
Go and set the snares, huh?
- You'll whistle? - Yeah.
- How? - Yeah!
For one gendarme, one blow. For two gendarmes, two blows.
The very idea of putting a Dauphin up a tree!
Oh! These thorns!
Dauphin!
What has happened?
Dauphin!
- I shot into the air. - Dauphin!
- Oh! He's dying. - You've killed a man.
It's terrible, lieutenant.
Terrible?
Albéric...
For these last two months, he's been waiting for this moment.
Long live Monseigneur!
Look at that, old poacher!
Here is a gift that the children have had made!
- THE LAWFUL GAME WARDEN - Oh! A real game warden!
Happy?
- You're happy, Dauphin? - Ah...
Happier than a king!
My children.
My children!
What can I give you in return to make you happy?
If it's a question of payback,
Monseigneur, that's easy:
tell us your story.
I'd much rather hear yours.
Our story?
Anne should tell it I think. She knows it better.
- Tell it, Anne! - Yes. Tell it, Anne!
Just a minute!
Bourbon!
- Here Bourbon! - Here he is...
- Bourbon! Old Bourbon... yes. - Here he is.
I wanted to reunite my entire little family.
There!
Go ahead.
I'm not sleeping.
I'm listening.
This isn't going to be easy.
Once upon a time...
subtitles: depositio, knappen & limbo