It's a book of hate, to wreak revenge on every pompous
trembling worm who taps at Mrs Castaway's door.
And you are? Sugar is all there is to my name.
I am going to get well. Even if it kills me.
Kindred spirits like yourself are difficult to find.
Exclusive patronage of Sugar by me.
I am willing. Your life is going to be very different from now on.
I am not a mad woman!
I expect a full collapse very shortly.
My God, William Rackham. You'll keep me better than you do now!
My angel...
..come at last.
This programme contains some strong language and scenes of a sexual nature.
He sleeps so sweetly,
like a child, imagining that he is safe.
But I have my dreams also.
Dreams of revenge against the men who took my innocence.
You know, it's been years since I've slept beside a woman all night.
But I must get up. I have to look in at home.
You have so many responsibilities.
Oh, did you make those changes we discussed to the letter?
Damn jute merchants. Can't afford to fall out with them. All done.
What is that terrible smell?
My nose is very sensitive at the moment.
If it can distinguish between Lavandula delphinensis
and Lavandula latifolia then it can certainly detect...
Uh! Dog's mess.
Oh, William, I'm sorry.
St Giles is filthy.
I do wish there was somewhere else we could meet.
I hate dragging you to this plague pit.
You know, I sometimes think it would be a miracle if I'm not carried off by the cholera by the time I'm 25!
Don't say that!
Really, one forms the slightest attachment to a woman, then...
The letter.
WOMAN SCREAMS OUTSIDE
William, forgive me, I was joking. Well, I wish you wouldn't.
BIRDS SING
Goodness, Mrs Rackham. You have been busy.
Do you know what this is, Clara?
Er, invitations?
It's forgiveness.
Society opening its doors.
I am to be included in the Season.
Even Lady Bridgelow, see?
And Mrs Amphlett has invited me to tea next week.
A great change is in the air, Clara!
Everything is going to be all right!
Mrs Fox. Henry. I hope I do not inconvenience you.
Not in the least. Forgive all this, I've become the Rescue Society's unofficial warehouse.
SHE COUGHS
Oh, excuse me.
This is why you did not see me at church today.
Forgive me, where is your maid?
I let her go home on the weekends to care for her grandfather.
So, we are alone in the house?
Is that...quite decent?
I'm afraid I find cocoa terrifically stimulating.
We are so easily seduced.
Are we?
Just last week, I was on my way home from visiting a particularly wretched family.
I was tired, discouraged, and I didn't want to walk.
And before I knew what I was doing, I was in the underground railway, speeding through the earth,
mindless of anything except my own pleasure.
And all at the cost of a sixpence.
Goodness.
I enjoyed it so much, I missed my stop.
This is how the world will end, Henry.
The Antichrist is our own desires.
WOMAN SHOUTING
You are the early bird.
I have some errands to run.
Well, you've time on your hands.
We haven't seen much of Mr Hunt lately, have we?
What is it? A week now?
Mr Hunt is a busy man.
Oh, so it seems.
Although with what exactly, I'm never certain.
Well, you can ask him, next time he comes.
Just so long as you parted from him on good terms, hmm?
As always.
But what do we care?
I know you're much missed at the Fireside.
Do you remember the game we used to play when you were a baby?
On the coldest winter nights,
I'd creep in to your room while you were sleeping,
all cuddled up in your blanket, and I'd...
pull it off!
Do you remember?
I'd pull it off
and I'd say,
"That's what God does!"
That's what God does.
Morning.
'The dagger tip touched tender flesh and yet I hesitated.
MAN MOANS
'Was not this man worse than all the rest?
'Had he not abused my trust and cast me back into the pit of filth?
'Yet I could not thrust it home.
'I put away my trusty blade, fetched poison and the softest cloth.'
Sweet dreams, my love.
Mrs Rackham, what is your secret?
My secret? Some new spa, perhaps?
You're looking most terribly well.
Oh, no, no, no, Mrs Amphlett.
Well, I was just thinking that you look quite remarkably different from the last time I saw you.
So thin! I hardly recognised you.
You are very kind. Not at all, I'm envious.
I swear by a strict but simple regime of water and green beans,
and if I am feeling dizzy, a mouthful of oxtail soup.
But the soup must be very well strained.
Oh, oh, I shall remember. No, I shall write this down.
I should caution you that at first you may experience debilitating headaches.
I am already a martyr to headaches!
As we speak, I'm prey to a terrible throbbing.
But there is no need for you to suffer as you do.
Here, look...
On bad days, I take a couple of these...
..with a dose of Godfrey's Cordial. Ask your pharmacist.
Your doctor would give you a lecture on them...
but trust me -
you will hardly know yourself.
Well, this is pleasant.
A meal together.
You suggested we have a meal together.
Yes, I did.
Bon apetit.
What is it, dear? Mmm? Oh...green beans.
No, you were just smiling.
Well, William...
..the fact is...
..I have a guardian angel.
Are you referring to Clara? No, a real guardian angel.
She watches over us.
I feel her about me all the time.
I think she's from the Convent of Health, you know, the place I go when I'm asleep.
I wasn't aware you were going anywhere, dear, when you were sleeping.
The nuns there are really angels.
I suspected that for a long time.
But what a relief to have proof!
Proof?
Yeah, I waved to her and she waved back.
Hmm.
Are you not hungry?
DOOR BELL TINKLES
< He's here!
Well, go on, send him up.
He wants you to come down.
He's talking to Castaway.
Ah, Sugar.
I'm afraid to say, Mr Hunt has had enough of our house.
I'm sorry to hear that, Mr Hunt.
It seems Mr Hunt has other plans for you.
I have missed your company.
It's been difficult getting away.
Agnes is seeing things.
Seeing things?
Angels in the street.
Who else is here?
What is this?
This is yours.
And mine.
I couldn't bear the thought of you living in that filthy part of town any longer.
The bank will send you an allowance.
First payment is here.
You will be independent.
Say something! Oh, dear God!
Will you miss your looking glass?
Oh! Why do I need to look at myself when I have you to look at me?
I've instructed Mrs Castaway that nothing in your room be touched until you remove it.
Did she seem sorry to see me go?
Not in the least!
The old trout knows a good deal when she sees one.
But you need not worry about her any more,
nor anyone from your past.
You have a new life,
here with me.
Taken all your books, I see?
Don't forget your bowl.
Good bowl, that. Well, I won't need it.
There's a bath at the new place.
Who'll take care of your sheets?
I will, I suppose.
That's me out of a job then.
You know, I was thinking, Christopher, that...
I could come back sometimes and you and I could read together.
I will come back for you.
You're leaving us then.
After all these years.
Lord knows I tried hard enough to be rid of you once.
No brew so toxic I didn't inflict it upon myself,
no bath so scalding I didn't immerse myself in it. Hah!
You were indestructible!
Let's hope I remain so.
19 years since we embarked on this life together.
Six since you tiptoed to my room and told me there was a gentleman come to keep me warm.
Well...Mother, I...
Of course, dear.
Nothing to hold you here.
Onward and upward with Mr Hunt!
DOOR CLATTERS
I'm afraid I won't see you for a while.
I'm in Dundee until Thursday,
and then I've Bodley and Ashwell on the Friday.
I will get away from them as early as I can.
You'll be here?
Where else?
Believe it or not, Agnes is also out that night!
Lady Bridgelow is taking her to the Royal Albert Hall.
Goodness, that's a step forward.
Yeah.
Too big a step, she thought, but I persuaded her.
The new Verdi.
Thank goodness for Cheesman. At least I know she'll get there and back in one piece.
I-I told you of this new coachman?
I checked his references for you.
Of course you did.
She's been marvellous really, considering how she has suffered.
Well, perhaps Agnes is stronger than you imagine.
I mean Lady Bridgelow.
She knows better than most the, the cruelty of petty social stigma.
Don't underestimate your own allure, William.
She is a modern aristocrat, not afraid to associate herself
with those who have dealings with people in trade.
I admire her for that.
Do you have enough money?
Plenty.
Make sure you eat properly - go to the Warwick, order the bream.
"But I am a respectable family man,"
he cried as I cut through his shirt with my razor-sharp shears.
WOMAN'S SCREAM
Spare a coin. Miss, spare a coin?
I just came to pick up my powders, I thought I'd call in.
Oh, that's nice.
Can't get your powders in Marylebone then?
Well, I daresay I could, but I don't know where or...or who to ask.
Got no friends up there?
Not that kind.
He's fair to you, then, is he?
Clothes don't mean nothing, Sugar.
Might beat you with a poker or make you lick his shoes for all that. No, he's not like that.
Well, what mighty good luck.
Are you, you know, fond of him?
Well, I'm used to him.
And when he's away, like now...
Do you miss him? I don't miss HIM.
I miss the world that comes with him.
I'm involved with his business.
It's oddly satisfying.
You still got time for your book?
Not as much as I'd hoped.
Perhaps got less to avenge now?
No, I don't think that.
Not at all.
No harm in getting soft, Sugar.
We all would, given half a chance.
Oh, Rackers, buck up!
You look as though you'd rather be tucked up. I got back from Dundee at four this morning!
Flatelli will soon put the wind in your sails.
We have plans to, er, revive you later, don't worry.
We called on Mrs Castaway this morning.
Some lucky gent has taken the legendary Sugar off the market -
before we'd had the benefit of her charms.
If you find out who's got her, do tell him we're dying to have a bash.
Anyway, we thought a trip to the twins in Drury Lane.
Ah, previous engagement.
You are dull, Bill.
But happy.
He's lost his mind. You haven't been drinking the lavender water?
Not everyone can wear white.
No, indeed, Mrs Rackham.
You have to be very thin.
Do you think she ever eats?
Shall we?
MUSIC PLAYS
APPLAUSE
Your opinion, Agnes?
I have no opinion. I'd merely like some air.
Oh, goodness, you do look peakish.
Lady Bridgelow, your concern for me is false and poisonous.
You are fat and your chin has hairs on it!
Agnes?
Agnes? Clara?
You must not look at me in the face.
You're not supposed to see me.
Is it you?
I'm going to help you, Agnes, but you must not look at my face.
William says you are a trick of my imagination.
Oh, I am filthy.
I'm covered in filth.
Stand up, stand up.
Wrap this round you.
You smell familiar.
Now listen,
I need you to walk out of here and turn left.
I'll be watching you, Agnes, but this must be our secret.
Do you understand? Otherwise I could get into trouble.
Can angels get into trouble?
Creatures like us are not supposed to interfere in your world.
I'm watching you, remember.
Go on, keep moving.
I do wonder where you can be at this time of night.
Clara!
It's me, William.
Where's Clara?
Just outside, don't worry.
How do you feel now, dear?
Like a lost bonnet
floating along a dark river.
You are so very understanding.
No, no.
I pity her.
We who have uninterrupted health must be thankful for our good fortune.
Certainly my dear Albert always urged me to be thankful for it when he was alive.
Oh, my dear Lady Bridgelow.
I should not complain.
I have my son, in whom Albert lives on.
The resemblance is very strong.
I don't doubt it will be the same for you when you have a son.
I dare say it will.
You're visiting my sister?
Er, yes. I trust she is well.
Of course she's not well.
Use your sense, man. Don't stay too long and tire her out.
You are perhaps a little pale.
Appearances mean so little.
My dear Bertie appeared to be in the pink of health always, yet he is gone and I remain.
Oh, I am so anxious to be well, Henry.
With no children to look after I have saved all my juices for the cause.
I know the cause is grateful.
I sit here tormented knowing each day that passes
one more woman sinks into a life of unbridled vice.
Mrs Fox,
I want you to know that I have myself begun to work in St Giles.
You, Henry? So you must rest easy in the knowledge that a presence is maintained.
Oh, I knew that you felt as I do.
I do.
Hello, sir.
Want a nice girl, not expensive?
I wish only to talk with you.
Very good. Come to my house.
No, no, I mean what I say.
A shilling,
just to talk.
What you writing it down for?
Oh, I am temporarily taking over the work of a dear friend in the Rescue Society.
I intend to report back in every detail. Oh, nice.
Well, you've paid your shilling, don't be shy.
Oh, er, when, if you don't mind, Caroline, did you lose your virtue?
Age 16.
To my husband.
To your husband?
Ah, well then you did not lose your virtue.
So you must have left him, then, or been cast out?
He died, sir.
Then my little boy followed close behind.
I am deeply sorry.
So, that is when you fell into this way of being?
I didn't fall, I was pushed. Owed the doctor for the child's medicine.
He arranged my start in the profession.
The doctor?
I see.
Well, forgive me,
I know a man who runs a great concern.
I could arrange employment for you.
I have employment. Employment by which you would not risk damnation.
I have employment!
You want me to break my health in a dirty factory
for two shillings a week to help your friend make his fortune?
Now, your shilling's long since up.
Caroline! Do you believe you have a soul?
Anything you got, I got, too.
Then don't you fear for it?
You know, I fear nothing much
because I've loved and I've been loved.
Ain't that what a soul's about?
Brother? Oh, I need to talk to you, William.
Ah, I've only just returned from Birmingham
and I've an important appointment I need to make in Marylebone.
It is a confession...
of sorts.
Sit down, Henry.
RAP ON DOOR
Ma'am.
He dresses it up as spiritual poppycock, of course,
but the fact is that Henry's on heat and too priggish to admit it.
So how did you advise him?
I simply told him that the feelings he had for Mrs Fox bared all
the hallmarks of infatuation and they would simply run their course.
What enthrals us today may simply have no hold tomorrow.
Indeed.
Poor William. Mmm.
The whole world runs to you with its troubles. Ummm.
All except you.
What troubles have I?
I am the luckiest woman alive.
Oh, I wish I could just fall asleep here.
Well, do.
I have to be up early tomorrow.
I have to go into the lavender fields.
The lavender fields? Hmm-mm.
Where the lavender actually grows?
Won't you take me?
Oh, I would love nothing more.
But...
I understand.
It's a shame you don't have a chaperone.
Some kindly old gent to add a veneer of respectability to the exercise.
I need to pee.
Pretend you're at home and do it in your pants.
So kind-hearted.
Six shillings and whisky, remember?
Enjoy the sunshine.
They claim they've been pruning these bushes for weeks.
Yesterday afternoon, more like.
It really is magnificent.
Bigger than I'd ever imagined. Pah!
What a bonfire this'd make, eh?
Actually, we do burn all the plants in their fifth autumn.
The blaze is fragrant enough to cause all of Mitcham to swoon.
Ah, I've been looking for you!
Give it six months and you'll be out on your arse.
You don't know what you're talking about.
Oh, don't let anything dirty pass your lips.
It is breathtaking.
If only I had a son to leave it to.
Dear William.
It suits you, the fresh air.
SHE WRITES
'Bleeding again, underneath.
'I am certain it's caused by eating.
'If I don't eat, I don't bleed,
'but then I get faint and they summon Curlew.
'Where is my angel?
'I have not seen her in so long.
'Perhaps I have not deserved her.'
Some stains you never get out.
Thank you.
You may sit up.
I'm afraid all is not as it should be.
Your womb has moved.
It's much higher than where it ought to be, which is...
Mrs Rackham, are you looking at anything in particular?
I'm looking for something, Dr Curlew.
What? A sign.
I suggest Agnes take more interest in the household.
Next thing I know, she's actually scrubbing.
Curlew's adamant she must be secured.
No.
Surely Agnes would never survive an asylum.
I've told him that.
Exactly.
Awful thing is one day she's normal as you or I
and the next...
..she's waving at angels.
How long has Agnes been this way?
If I'm honest,
her madness has blossomed since the child.
Agnes lost a child?
No, we have a child.
You have?
Yes.
A daughter, unfortunately.
Sophie.
See very little of her.
The odd glimpse as she's being swept off to church by her nurse.
Ach, another looming disaster.
Miss Cleave claims that Sophie needs a governess.
Does a child of eight need schooling?
A girl, too!
Trying to bounce another shilling out of me a week, I don't doubt.
I wish for all the world I could live with you.
FAINTLY: Rejoice, Christ exhorts us, and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth,
but if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted?
It is thenceforth good for nothing,
but to be cast out and to be trodden...
Why, Dr Curlew.
Henry.
I received a message from Mrs Fox today.
Indeed?
I gather she is to be sent away to the coast to recover.
She is going to Folkestone, yes.
That much is true.
Do you have you any idea how long she'll be there?
Er... I imagine, given my experience of the disease,
not long at all.
A couple of months at most.
She'll be gone so long?
Well, I...
I shall strive to find ways to pass the time until she's back.
Dear God, what is the matter with the men in your family?
Do you understand nothing?!
My sister is dying of consumption.
She'll never come back.
Henry?
I hoped it was you.
But what kept you?
Nothing kept me.
Time passes so slowly for me when I am waiting for you.
Mrs Fox,
I am not worthy.
Oh, but you are... No!
My feelings for you leave me in no doubt
I am not cut out to be a clergyman.
Henry, stop.
I rage to see you punished in this way!
God is bigger than one woman's illness.
You would make the kindest, sincerest, handsomest minister.
Forgive me.
Are you quite sure you won't join us this evening, Agnes?
I know how fond you are of Henry.
Dr Curlew has advised against socialising.
I think he also said it might be better not to spend
so much time sitting at the window, dearest.
You don't believe in angels, do you?
No, I don't.
You don't believe in anything except William Rackham.
She's dying, Bill!
No, she's absurdly highly strung and on new medication. Mrs Fox is dying.
Her brother says there's no hope.
Oh.
She stares into my soul, Bill.
Those imploring eyes. You two had...
grown surprisingly close.
Her breast heaves.
She pants and clutches at my hand.
How lucky she is to have you to comfort her, Henry.
It is as if...
As if she wants something more from me.
It's not surprising.
I ask myself over and over and over
what is it she thinks I can give her?
Are you serious?
I have prayed for guidance, night and day!
For pity's sake, Henry!
She wants you to give her a good seeing to!
She wants you to give her a good fucking, Henry!
What sort of a creature...?
I can't stay in this house.
Stop tormenting her, Henry!
If she really is dying, just let her feel pleasure at least once!
William, what is it?
I've asked Cheesman to come at dawn.
We will leave for the lavender fields straightaway.
What about... What do I care what people think?
It's my damn lavender field, it's my damn business!
I'm sick of being judged by fools who have no idea how the world works,
who have the luxury of a clear conscience
because I pay for it on a dirty, daily basis!
Mrs Fox?
You look so well.
Of course, Henry.
I'm in heaven.
I can't wait for you to join me.
I want to join you.
I want to...
but we are not married.
There is no marriage in heaven, Henry.
Mark 12:25.
Mrs Fox...
If only I could live with you.
You are such a help to me.
I wish I could help you more.
It's not only Henry and Agnes.
The entire household is out of control.
Agnes' maid treats me with open contempt,
Miss Cleave has finally handed notice,
so now I have to find a new governess.
Are you serious about living with me?
Of course I am...
..but it's impossible.
Could I not, in fact, live with you as your new governess?
Mr Rackham! You're not serious?
I'm sorry. Mr Rackham!
I only thought...
Mr Rackham!
Sir!
You're wanted, sir, at once!
It's your brother!
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