This house, this plantation...
this whole damned parish belonged to my family...
before your people stepped aboard the stinkin'cattle boat...
that brought 'em to this country.
Don't you dare talk back to me, boy.!
My family's seen this state...
crawlin'with lousy carpetbaggers...
that knew more about behaving like a gentleman than you do.
I can't even look at Charlotte...
without ugly thoughts rip my guts.
I'd sooner it'd been one of my field boys.
I could've killed him.
Do you know what it's costin' me not to kill you?
My daughter and Jewel Mayhew's husband.
You gutless, soft, sucklin' swine!
My daddy sat out there on that veranda.
Let this whole place slide to dust.
When he died, there was nothin' but debts and dirt.
I touched that dirt and made it blossom.
I fought to keep this house and to bring it back up.
I don't have a son to give it to.
Only Charlotte...
and she ain't gonna give it to you.
You ain't gonna have my home or my child.
I created both, and I'm gonna keep 'em.
I ain't watched over my girl all these years...
to have some...
to have someone...
to have some creature like you take her away.
Listen, I'm gonna tell you somethin'.
Your daughter ain't a little girl anymore...
and there's gonna be other men in her life besides you.
That's not funny.
Tell me somethin', boy.
How did you have this elopement planned out?
How were you fixin' to go about it?
Tomorrow night during the dance...
Charlotte and I planned to meet out in the summerhouse.
She was gonna have her bags packed...
and we were gonna go away together, that's all.
And I had got us a room in Baton Rouge. We're gonna stay there.
I don't wanna hear about that.
Well, you asked me, so I just told you, that's all.
Now...
you shut your filthy mouth...
and you listen to me.
Charlotte doesn't know about this.
She doesn't know you're here now.
She doesn't even know Jewel was here last night.
How do you mean, Jewel was here last night?
You mean to tell me that my wife come over here to talk to you?
As I recollect, she was sittin' right about here.
Now...
you're gonna come to that dance tomorrow night with your wife.
You're gonna meet Charlotte in the summerhouse...
just like you planned...
but what you're gonna whisper in her ear...
it's gonna be somethin'else again.
Come on, baby. We haven't even danced once.
Champagne wouldn't be half the fun without prohibition.
Sure would like to meet Sam's bootlegger.
Sam Hollis sure knows how to give a party.
I just love to Charleston.
Ginny Mae? Ginny Mae, you seen Charlotte anyplace?
I got some killing news to tell her.
I haven't seen her for a long time now.
The last time I saw her, she was dancin' with John Mayhew.
Yeah, and it looks like it's gonna be quite a spell before you see her again.
I just gotta find...
I made a mistake, Charlotte, that's all.
Don't cry.
Look, I-I know it's no consolation to you...
but I really loved you at one time.
Try and understand that. I really loved you.
I could kill you!
James! You ought to know you can't open them cases with a thing like that.
Look here. Why do you think I brought this special?
- Good evening, Mr. And Mrs. Howard. - Oh, Geraldine.
Hasn't this been just the loveliest evening?
We have to go now. Be a dear and thank Mr. Hollis for us.
- I just can't find him anywhere. - I'll do that little old thing, Mr. Howard.
Thank you, dear. Good night, ladies.
- Good night. - Good night, Mr. And Mrs. Howard.
Charlotte?
Charlotte... Aah!
No!
Oh, my God!
Come on. Once more.
Okay. Now, one more time!
Oh, there's Charlotte.
Somebody ought to call a doctor.
Charlotte, honey...
you come with me now.
No, Papa.
L- I don't want to, Papa.
No, Papa.
- I don't want to, Papa. - Come with me, baby.
No, Papa.
Boy, it sure is spooky around here.
Especially the graveyard. Gets spookier. You'll see.
- Hurry up. It's gettin' late. - You think there really is a ghost?
- Who knows? - Sure, there's a ghost. There's the house now.
Gives me the creeps every time I see it.
- What if she catches me? - Shh!
Then you tell her you'reJewel Mayhew from down the road...
and you come a-lookin' for your poor, little old husband's head.
What if she catches me?
Now, look, you wanna join the Spiders, don't you?
Well, get on in there.
Don't forget to get somethin' she touched with her own hands.
Watch out for that cleaver, now. She's just liable to chop off your little head.
Now, go on! We haven't got all night.
Go on! Go on!
John?
- Get out of here! - Hurry! She'll catch us!
- She ain't catchin'me.! - Come on.! Move.!
- I'm scared! - I'm runnin', I'm runnin',
Chop, chop sweet Charlotte
Chop, chop till he's dead
Chop, chop sweet Charlotte
Chop off his hand and head
To meet your lover you ran, chop, chop
Now everyone understands
Just why you ran to meet your love chop, chop
To chop off his head and hand
Chop, chop sweet Charlotte
Chop, chop till he's dead
Damn you!
Get off my property, or I'll shoot!
I told you to get off my property.!
Stan, look out! Look out up there! Stan!
- Man, oh, man! - That crazy woman. I'm tellin' you.
I wouldn't go out there if I was you.
Now, what do you think you're doin', firing on my man like that?
That's my land he's plowin' up down there.
Damn it.! Ma'am, you could have killed him.
If I'd been aimin' to kill him, I would have.
Now, see here, Miss Hollis. We done everything we could to accommodate you.
But this time, you've gone too far.
Now, we got a bridge to build and roads to lay...
and we ain't got no more time to fool with ya.
Where you are, I could spit in your eye...
with no strain at all.
Now, Miss Hollis, I ain't in no mood for jokes.
I'm goin' straight into town and see the sheriff.
I don't care where you go straight to...
just so long as you go and take that and them with you.
Now, Miss Hollis, you know as well as I do the State of Louisiana...
requisitioned this whole area, includin' your house, more than six months ago.
Just because some old fool in Baton Rouge signed a little bitty piece of paper...
doesn't make it so.
Nobody ever asked me to sign anything...
and nobody's gonna tear down my house...
to build a piddlin' bridge or anything else.
So you just clear off my property once and for all!
I don't know. Some folks seem to think...
they got a natural-born right to get away with murder.
Hey, look out!
You sure had yourself a good time today, didn't you, missy?
You just cool down now.
What are you gonna do, boss?
I'm goin' into town, and you keep those boys out of sight till I get back.
- Okay, boss. - I'll bring that sheriff back out here...
in a half hour if I have to drag him out.
Ah. You fixed things up for fair.
Come on. Come on.
But they're gonna dig up the graves. Papa's grave.
They wasn't within 100 feet of them graves.
Anyhow, they're fixin' to tear down the whole house.
I don't see what difference plowin' up the grounds is gonna make.
Come on. Come on, now.
They offered to move your pappy's remains. You should've let 'em.
They can't do him any harm now.
Now, go on in there and get yourself quieted down.
You've done enough for one day.
Let me tell you somethin',
Ain't gonna be but a half an hour before that sheriff comes over here.
So you get yourself dressed up real pretty...
and you come on downstairs and get your breakfast.
If Luke Standish ever comes out here, he'll be real sorry.
You hush. That ain't no way to talk, Miss Charlotte.
Now, you come on. Get yourself dressed.
Velma'll go downstairs and fix you a nice breakfast.
Don't you worry about that sheriff when he comes out here.
Velma'll get rid of him.
Yes, sir.
It's not very often we have a homicide...
and never able to find the victim's head and hand.
I'm not much concerned about examining your credentials, Mr. Wills.
I'm happy to go along with anything you say.
I just have my doubts about what you can expect to find.
We've had newsmen and all sorts comin' down here for 35 years or more...
and none of'em any the wiser.
I don't expect to unearth anything extraordinary.
After all, there's nothing really unusual...
about an unclaimed insurance policy.
It's just that I don't want to upset anybody.
So if you'll just go along with my little masquerade...
of a reporter from one of our more esoteric crime magazines...
I'd be most awfully grateful to you.
Well, Mr. Wills, since you've come all the way from London, England to see us...
I guess we'll just have to oblige you...
esoteric magazines and all.
I'm sorry, Mr. Standish.
You're gonna to have to come out to the Hollis place. We got real trouble this time.
What a remarkable coincidence.
By the way, Sheriff...
I wonder if you could arrange for me to meetJewel Mayhew?
I guess we'll just have to oblige you.
Thank you very much.
- Velma! - What?
The sheriffs comin', Get rid ofhim. Hear?
Oh.
She's not really crazy. She just acts that way...
because people seem to expect it of her.
You can wait in the car.
She ain't a-gonna come down.
You can't see her. She's sick.
All that dust and all that racket from your machines...
has made her real sick.
She's waiting for Dr. Drew to come and tend to her right now.
That's too bad, 'cause there's a little matter of an unlicensed gun.
- I was hopin' Miss Hollis maybe could help me find it.
Well, I reckon I'll just have to look for it myself, Miss Cruther.
Mornin', Miss Charlotte.
Get out, Luke Standish!
You smirkin'Judas...
comin' around here with your lyin' tricks!
You oughta be ashamed of yourself.
Papa gave you the first job you ever had in this town.
Without him, you wouldn't be Sheriff or anything else.
I know that, Miss Charlotte.
- That's why I'm trying to help you. - Help me?
You had orders to leave this house long ago.
If I'd been doin' my job, you'd have been long gone by now.
If you are so anxious to help me...
why don't you leave me alone?
And tell everybody to stop threatenin' me with cuttin' off my water and electricity.
I can't, Miss Charlotte.
What you did today puts it right out of my hands.
Threatenin' people's one thing, but shootin' at 'em's another.
I got orders now to see that you're gone within 10 days.
They can hold up on the blastin' they've gotta do...
and keep the men and equipment workin' on the approach road on the other side of the river.
But if you aren't out of here by the end of next week...
the county commissioner is gonna have you up for criminal action.
But this is my home. I haven't any other place to go.
- They can build their damn bridge anywhere. - No, ma'am.
They have to build it to meet up with the road on the other side of the river.
There isn't any alternative.
End of next week, this house is comin' down.
When my cousin Miriam comes...
she'll know how to deal with the county commissioner.
- I didn't know you were expectin' her. - Well, I am.
Afraid she won't make a bit of difference as far as the bridge is concerned.
We'll wait and see.
I reckon we will. I ain't gonna take that gun away from you, Miss Charlotte.
I certainly hope you aren't plannin' on using it again.
Comin' in here to fetch you out is the last thing I wanna do.
Then don't come!
What'd you wanna go tellin' him stories about Miss Miriam for?
She ain't even answered your letters.
Well, she's comin' anyway.
Be the saddest day of your life, missy, if she does come.
Your cousin Miriam ain't never had but one idea in her head...
and that was lookin' out for herself.
She's gotta come.
She's the only kin I got left.
Miriam's just gotta come.
She's the only one who can help me now.
She's just gotta come.
I guess there's been a whole heap of changes...
in this part of the country since you was here last, miss.
I imagine there have been.
'Course, things ain't changed much in this parish...
exceptin' folks are gettin' a lot older than they used to be.
I suppose they are.
There's absolutely no point you're gettin' so upset...
the way you did this morning.
Anyone who knew you less well than I do might be forgiven...
for thinkin' you had a persecution complex.
Yes, Dr. Drew.
Charlotte...
they are asking you to leave this house...
because they are going to tear it down...
not because of any of the ulterior motives...
- that you seem to imagine.
- What's that? - Oh, Charlotte, please.
- Don't get so jumpy about everything. - It's Miriam!
Miriam isn't expected till tomorrow evenin'.
Now, come on. Calm down.
Well, ma'am, this is it.
They say that places you knew as a child...
always seem smaller than your memory of them.
It's not true.
Huh.
Velma.
Velma Cruther.
Shall I take these in, miss?
Thank you. Just put them up there.
It's just as I left it.
- How much is that? - $2.50, ma'am.
- Keep the change. - Thank you, ma'am.
You nearly beat your telegram here.
I know I'm a day early. I hope it won't inconvenience anybody.
Miriam.!
I just can't believe it.
- You look marvelous. - What is it that you can't believe, Drew?
That I'm here, or that I look the way I do?
Come on. Don't make fun of an old man.
You know I never was any good at expressin' myself.
Oh, that's not so at all, Drew.
You were always very quick with your compliments.
It was just your intentions...
that were sometimes a little vague.
You all want this stuff upstairs?
I'll give you a hand in just a minute.
I suppose you wanna see Charlotte.
I think I already have.
- Won't she be coming down? - I think we'd better go up. She's a bit upset.
Well, there was a little trouble here this mornin'.
Trouble?
Nothin' serious.
And, besides, you took us by surprise. We weren't expectin' you till tomorrow.
There was a mix-up. I had to take an earlier plane.
What kind of trouble?
Just plain, blind stubborn.
With her money, she could live anywhere in the world like a queen.
But as it is, I'm afraid you'll have more than your hands full...
gettin' her out of this place.
The three of us used to slide down this banister.
I was always the champion.
We just let you win because you were the youngest.
An old house is difficult to keep clean.
If you can get anybody out from town to work in this place...
you're doin' a lot better than I can.
Don't misunderstand me, Velma.
I know how exhausting it must be...
having to do all the work out here alone.
There's a lot more bags out there.
Charlotte, it's Miriam.
How good it was getting your letter asking me to come.
Miriam! I knew you'd come! I just knew you would.
- And you're gonna help me. - Of course I'll do whatever I can.
I've thought of you and the house. It's like coming home.
Oh, but everything is-is-is such a mess.
You see, I wasn't expectin' you until tomorrow.
Don't worry. We're together again. That's the important thing.
Yes. Of course it is.
Miss Charlotte's room.
Remember the night you taught me how to smoke my first cigarette, and you...
or was it I... set the drapes on fire?
I was the one they whopped, I know.
No! That's Velma's job!
Yes, but Velma's... well, Velma.
It's just that we haven't seen each other in so long...
you'd think we'd have other things to talk about.
I mean, arguing about who's gonna make up the bed.
If you all want me to fix supper for you...
you better eat early...
because I gotta get home.
Well, thank you, Velma.
- Is that an invitation? - No!
I just reckon you'd be sniffin' around here more than usual...
now that Miss Miriam's back.
There's nothin' like a family reunion.
I think I'll just get the key to the cellar.
Hmph! Just thinks he's gonna get the key to the cellar.
Well, it's the only thing.
I didn't know Ida told you where the keys to the cellar were.
Thank you, sir.
I can't remember when I last dined in here.
Papa used to say this was his favorite room.
I guess maybe that's 'cause he loved to eat so much.
You know, Miriam...
when all this nonsense about the house is straightened out...
we could give parties here again.
Why not? What's so impossible about that?
It would be lovely.
Yes, it would be nice.
Aren't you forgettin' about the limit they put on vacatin' the house?
You've got to be out of here a week from Monday, and there's no two ways about it.
Drew, you carry on as if you're a member...
of the Department of Roads and Bridges, or somethin'.
Miriam will tell them where to get off, won't you, Cousin, darling?
I wish I could.
Charlotte, you have just got to understand...
that there's nothin', absolutely nothin'...
that Miriam or anybody else can do about it.
Now, they are going to tear down this house, and that is final.
Oh, you're so stuffy.
They took their smelly old equipment out of here, didn't they?
Miriam isn't frightened of a bunch of crooked politicians.
You know, it wouldn't surprise me to find out...
thatJewel Mayhew is behind all this.
Charlotte, that is ridiculous!
Is it? You notice they're not laying a finger on her land.
They're destroying my house, but they're not touching hers.
I've rented a car for you, Miriam.
- You can go tomorrow. - Go where?
To Baton Rouge to put that damn county commissioner straight.
Charlotte...
there's nothing I wouldn't do for you if I could.
You know that. But I'm afraid Drew's right.
There isn't anything we can do about the house.
You have to leave.
What do you think I asked you here for?
Company?
I thought you were gonna help me!
But I shall. That's why I came... to help, to be with you.
To be with me?
I've lived alone here ever since Papa died.
The only people I've ever seen are Velma and Drew...
who comes out when he feels like it just to see if I'm still alive...
- Charlotte, that's not true. - and a bunch of sniggering idiots...
who come out here to make fun of me.
Do you think I'd ask you back here...
just-just to be with me?
Charlotte, she's only tryin' to lend a helpin'hand.
Oh, yes. I can see that.
She's just breakin' her back.
God, do you have gratitude!
When you first came here after your precious papa died...
you acted as if we weren't good enough for you.
- And your mama, a sorry, up-north waitress... - Charlotte, that's enough.
Let her talk, Drew, if insulting me gives her any satisfaction.
When you first came here, Papa took you downtown, bought you a whole new wardrobe.
- Does it insult you to remember that? - Yes, I remember.
You took your poor, up-north cousin downtown for a whole new wardrobe...
down to a sleazy store he wouldn't even let you set foot in.
Oh, that wasn't good enough for you? Papa didn't give you enough?
Well, maybe that's what you came back here for...
to get the rest of Papa's money.
Charlotte! I have a career, and I've given up valuable time to come here.
I know. Now, let me see. What-What is it you call your job?
Oh, yes. Public relations. Sounds like somethin' pretty dirty to me.
The dirt, Charlotte, is entirely in your own mind.
I wouldn't dwell on it if I were you, Charlotte.
She didn't come here to be insulted.
No, most likely she came back here to helpJewel Mayhew...
- drive me out of my own house. - Charlotte, you don't believe that.
Why wouldn't Miriam conspire with Jewel against me?
Who was it went sneakin' off toJewel...
and told her about her husband and me in the first place?
Didn't know about that, did you, Drew?
That's somethin' you never told your precious boyfriend, isn't that so, Miriam?
Isn't it, Cousin, darling?
Yes, I told Jewel. And I told your father too.
Why wouldn't I? After all, I wasn't much more than a child then.
And all I ever got in this house was people telling me how lucky I was...
and your father always favoring you and holding you up as an example!
Why wouldn't I tell him that his pure, darling little girl...
was having a dirty little affair with a married man?
You're a vile, sorry little bitch!
How was I to know it would end in murder with John being butchered?
No, you couldn't have known that.
And you couldn't have known that when Drew found out...
he was so frightened of having his fine old name linked with ours...
that he'd walk out on you.
But Drew's still here...
and you're both still alive and...
and I'm still here.
But, John...
John never even...
John? John?
John?
John.
She is deranged, Drew. She must be.
Well, no. She's certainly worse than when I last wrote you...
but not to the extent of being committed.
I'm sorry. There's just no way to avoid the problem.
There are times when...
she genuinely doesn't know what she's saying, but...
On the other hand, I thought she described...
the way you left me rather accurately.
If it's any comfort, I've always regretted...
having let you go.
We don't have time for regrets now, Drew.
And there is a lot to regret.
John?
What a shame. With all that money...
she could have done such wonderful things with this place...
made it so beautiful again.
How could she stand being alone here all these years?
People who oblige to live alone have a habit of creatin' company for themselves.
Innocent fancies can become fixed delusions.
I think she never fully accepted John Mayhew's death.
At least, part of her mind hasn't.
Sometimes, she speaks of him...
as if he were still alive here in this house...
as if she could still feel his personality.
She plays that old harpsichord, the song he wrote for her.
Often at night, she sits up dressed...
as if she were still young...
and expectin' a beau.
I seem to remember expecting something like that once myself.
You going to be all right here? I could stay over.
You've been content to let me get along on my own all these years.
I don't think another night is gonna kill me.
I guess you're right.
Oh, uh...
maybe you'd better have this.
- What on earth for? - Well, you never know.
You do have people skulkin' around here occasionally.
- Anyway, you'd better take it. - Thank you.
Good night.
My dress.
Somebody slashed my dress.
They certainly were attractive youngsters.
Yes, sir. That was just about the biggest story that ever broke in this town.
Yes, I can see you gave it what you might call "the full treatment".
Well, we couldn't very well bury it on the society page, could we?
Anyhow, help yourself. I think you'll find everything that you need here.
And that's a pretty good picture of Miss Charlotte.
Yes, it is.
I was working for the press when she arrived in London.
Not one of us succeeded in getting an interview with her.
Well, they said that Big Sam sent her over there...
to prevent her from being charged and tried.
But that wasn't so.
Sending her out of the country wouldn't have helped.
I reckon Sam's political connections had more to do with it.
As I remember, the district attorney tried hard to make the charge stick...
but the whole thing was transferred over to Baton Rouge.
I reckon Sam's friends in the capitol got busy, because nothin' ever did come of it.
Lack of evidence was the official explanation.
You wouldn't think so from the headlines.
Hi, Mr. Blake. Thanks for the use of the hall.
Tell me, are you running anything on the return of Miriam Deering?
Just an insert in the social column.
The social column. You gotta be kiddin'.
Excuse me, Mr. Wills. This is a colleague of yours, Mr. Marchand from New York.
- How do you do? - And who are you covering the story for?
Don't worry about me, old chap. My status is that of an amateur.
By the way, what journal do you represent?
Crimes of Passion and Century Crime Classics.
You know, that Hollis dame hit the news again over that business with the bridge.
We did a special issue on her. Here, take a look.
No head, no hand. Just like the way it was.
Yes.
- Very colorful. - Yeah, we're really going to town on this one.
Hey, Mr. Blake.
You never showed me this stuff.
Well, one thing they didn't do then was to play up the sex angle like you can today.
Miriam Deering.
Miss Deering!
My, it's good to see you back.
- Jewel! Jewel Mayhew! - Joseph.
- Oh, here. Let me help you. - You leave me be.
If I ever prayed for anything...
it was that you would never dare show your face to me again.
After all these years, what do you mean?
Do you honestly believe...
that time can excuse all the things you've done to me?
Jewel, please don't. Not here on the public steps.
Oh, I see.
Not in public.
We mustn't speak the truth out in the open, you and I, huh?
It's not about me that I'm worried.
Well, right here on the public street...
in the light of day...
let me tell you, Miriam Deering...
that murder starts in the heart...
and its first weapon is a vicious tongue.
At the time, would anyone else have been as kind to you as I?
- Would they? - Go away from me.
I'm ill. I'm very ill.
I won't give up one more thing to you...
not even one more minute.
It's all right, Mrs. Mayhew. Come along.
A world full of monsters.!
Don't you ever show your white-trash face in this house again.!
Damn.! Just some damn meanness all day long.
Just one filthy mess to clean up after another. She's nothin'but a child.
She never does anything anyway.
- Velma. - Huh?
Who brought this into the house?
I did.! I brought it in.
It was in the mailbox just like that.
I reckon somebody put it there. You know...
she broke that dadburned teapot up there.
Tea runnin' all down the wall. Shoo-ee!
Incidentally, I've managed to find some women to do the packing.
- Please let me know when they arrive. - Oh!
Them women, they just steal you out of house and home.
I got to get something to fix this filthy stuff.
"Incidentally, please tell me when they arrive".
I told you to stay out.!
Charlotte, you're behaving like a child...
throwing a tantrum over a trivial bit of rubbish like this.
How can you touch that piece of filth?
It's only a magazine, cheap and disgusting...
and only cheap and disgusting people will read it.
It's Jewel Mayhew deviling me in my own house.
You thinkJewel Mayhew brought it here?
- She couldn't have. - Why couldn't she have brought it here?
I just saw her. She's seriously ill...
much too ill to be running around playing silly games with magazines.
Well, she deserves to be ill.
She deserves to die!
Charlotte!
It's just possible thatJewel Mayhew hasn't given you a sustained thought in years.
Oh, you think so, do you?
You think she's never given me a thought?
I've been gettin' these in the mail ever sinceJohn died.
That idiot Luke Standish told Papa they were... they were crank notes.
But then some reporter got a hold of'em and put it in the newspaper.
And then they started to come in from all over the world.
But the first one was mailed right here in Hollisport...
and that's where the last one came from.
And nobody can ever make me believe that Jewel Mayhew didn't send them!
- You saved all these? - All of'em...
to show how mean and unforgiving she can be!
Well...
it's time you got rid of them.
- What do you want now? - I come to tell her somethin'.
She could use some tellin'!
Them packin' women you've been lookin' for, they's arrived.
I'll take care of it.
This is my favorite place now...
here in the shade.
Yes, it's very pleasant here.
Very pleasant indeed.
Tell me, Mr. Wills, weren't you a little surprised...
when I agreed to see you?
After all, you must've been told that I don't normally receive visitors.
Well, yes. But then, I found the hospitality...
of this part of the country extraordinary.
Besides, I imagine you had your reasons.
Would you have anything else, ma'am?
Um, no.
- Thank you, Lewis. - Thank you, ma'am.
I did have my reasons, Mr. Wills.
- I did. - I hope you won't regret it...
but I did warn you I'd have to touch on some painful subjects.
Which leads me to confess...
to my own reasons for this meetin'.
I have a particular need for a stranger now.
Yes, they... they have their uses, don't they?
Well, in this little town...
our interests are all too, uh... too tightly interlocked.
If you confide in one person, you confide in the whole community.
You mean you'd like somebody to talk to?
Only in a sense.
I'm not a well woman.
You can see that much for yourself.
Who was it said, "This long disease, my life"?
Well, it's... it's comin' to an end.
Perhaps a month, a few weeks. Who knows?
I'm terribly sorry.
Oh, no, no. Don't be, not for me.
I think I'm even glad.
But never mind that. I take it you're no stranger...
to the unhappier aspects of people's lives.
In fact, the only way to trust someone is on instinct alone.
I want you to have this.
I only ask that you don't open it until after I'm gone.
Then I want you to use your own judgment and experience.
You'll know what to do when the time comes...
or what not to do.
It seems a dreadful responsibility.
Oh, it is. A terrible one.
My honest advice is to refuse it.
You know I won't, of course.
I know.
Ruined finery.
That's all I have left.
I'm, uh, stony broke. Is that the phrase?
It's a relief to admit it.
- But your... your policy with Lloyds? - Oh!
You know how long it would take to process an old claim like that?
By the time I received it, I'd be past needin' it.
Well, now I think you're ready for another cup of tea.
Would you?
I hold two roses within my hand
Two roses I give to you
The red rose tells you
Of my passion
The white rose
My love so true
Hush, hush sweet Charlotte
Charlotte, don't you cry
Hush, hush sweet Charlotte
I'll love you till I die
And every night
After I should die
Yes, every night
When I'm gone
The wind will sing to you
This lullaby
Sweet Charlotte was loved
ByJohn
Charlotte.
Charlotte?
Come. Come to bed, Charlotte.
Come to bed.
Miriam...
he really... isn't here, is he?
Just now I thought I heard...
Sometimes at night when I wake up...
it seems as if he really is here.
Don't turn on the light.
It's not real when it's light.
It's only real when it's dark...
dark and still.
I won't turn on the light.
Come along. You must go to bed.
He's dead.!
He's dead.! He's dead.!
He's dead! He's dead!
- Dead! He's dead! - Charlotte.!
- No, no, he's all right. - He's dead.!
He'll be fine.
- He's dead! He's dead! - Charlotte, don't...
Stop starin' at me!
Man, she sure acts...
like she's crazy sometimes.
That's what all the folks in town say...
but I wouldn't bet on it.
I wouldn't bet on it at all.
Well, upon my word.
Charlotte Hollis.
Now I've frightened you. I'm terribly sorry.
Please don't run away.