The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (1998) s01e04 Episode Script

(THUNDER RUMBLING) Who's there? (THUNDER RUMBLING) BOY: Dad? (BOY GASPING) (THUDDING) Ronnie? Ronnie? What are you doing out here? Now, you know you're not allowed.
-I saw the ghost, Mum.
-What ghost? The ghost of the soldier.
There's no such thing as ghosts, love.
MRS BRADLEY: I'm really reluctant to do this George.
Just the once, madam.
The feminine virtue of self sacrifice is entirely foreign to my nature.
It's all in a good cause.
Tell me, George, how do you feel about visiting a haunted house? -That depends.
-On what? Who's doing the haunting.
Not entirely clear from Isobel's letter.
Mind you, her husband was the type to cling on from beyond the grave.
I take it you didn't care for the old gentleman, madam.
More to the point, he wasn't terribly fond of me.
Banned me from his house.
Frightful old bore.
I got rid of my frightful old bore as soon as it was decently possible.
Rather sooner, in fact.
Isobel Marchmont was more ladylike and waited for nature to take its course.
Now, at long last, she's a merry widow with a grandson, a garden and a ghost.
GEORGE: What's that trench for? MRS BRADLEY: It's not a trench, George, it's a ha-ha.
It's there to keep sheep and riff-raff out of the flowerbeds.
Thank you, George.
I can smell the mothballs from here.
(BELL DINGS ONCE) Exhibit A, your perfect haunted house.
-What do you want? -I am Mrs Bradley.
-What is it, Mum? -Er, I'm not sure yet.
I am a guest.
-Just the two of you, is there? -Mmm-hmm.
Well, that's something.
No doubt you'll find Lady Isobel somewhere round the garden.
Nobody told us you were coming.
I hope your madam isn't fussy.
Fussy enough.
Some sort of explorer, was he? Nosey Parker, are you? I know that uniform.
It's the Royal Rifles.
Well, you can keep that under your hat.
We don't mention the boys.
Not in Lady Isobel's hearing.
Isobel, darling! Hello? -You invited me for the weekend.
-Did I? -Months ago.
-Oh.
Adela! How lovely! MAN: He's nothing but a damned servant.
It's not true.
How can you say that, Douglas? Don't poke your nose where it's not wanted.
And don't dawdle.
Oh, Jessie, make sure Miss Lacey knows we've got guests.
It's not aired.
Oh, not another of your scandalous books, Adela.
MRS BRADLEY: Oh, I don't know.
I thought my wedding present for Lacey was jolly thoughtful.
What have you been saying to her, Seth? Take your hands off me or you'll regret it.
Why can't you just leave her alone? 'Cause it's not in my nature.
-WOMAN: Aunt Adela! -What is it? I hardly dare open it.
What a surprise.
Mummy never told me you were coming.
Lacey, darling.
I see you've thrown away that birth control book I gave you.
LACEY: Isn't it wonderful? And look, here's our firstborn son and heir, Algernon Felix Marchmont Prideux.
You can hold him if you like.
He may be a bit pongy, but he's so sweet.
Your godmother is not an enthusiast for babies, Lacey.
Oh, I don't know.
I can tell which end is which, just about.
Let's take a closer look.
(BABY GURGLING) (GROANING) I still prefer the old Hispano-Suiza for speed and handling.
Since when did you drive a Hispano-Suiza? Before the War.
Lady Isobel ran a grand house in those days.
Poor lady.
Four sons lost.
I saw the picture in the hall.
Lady Isobel had three sons.
The fourth man is Mr Douglas.
Childhood friends, they were.
He was the only one who came home.
Married Miss Lacey and been here ever since.
Alf was a driver in the War, weren't you, Alf? Army Service Corps.
You'll not have dirtied your boots in the trenches, then.
And what was your rank, Tommy? Clever dick, first class? We all fought on the same side, pal.
(IMITATING GUN FIRING) Parsley.
Parsley.
MRS BRADLEY: It's all right, Lacey, really.
I think you've got a lovely baby.
Honestly, I do.
Open your present, Isobel.
I can't wait to see your reaction.
It puts that Marie Stopes book I gave you in the shade.
I got it in Florence.
It's the only place where you can get it.
Printed there privately.
It's strictly illegal.
What is it? -Take it back.
-No, I've got one.
Adela, please.
You told me to tell you when I was ready for you, my lady.
-The gamekeeper? -The gardener.
But if you're busy, maybe Miss Lacey could show me where to put these.
So who plays Lady Chatterley? Parsley.
-How much is it worth, then? -How much is what worth? Your secret.
Seth, I beg you.
You don't know what you're doing.
-I know what I'd like to do.
-Get away from her! You learn to leave my wife alone, Billings, or face the consequences.
Meet my price and I will.
That's Mr Douglas.
Captain Douglas, he likes to be called.
Captain Douglas Prideux.
He reckons he's a right hero.
I think he's barmy.
What's up, George? Seen that ghost? George? JESSIE: Mum! Mum.
Mum.
Mum.
-Grandma? -You stop here, Ronnie.
RONNIE: Grandma! She's always had a weak heart.
But she's all right, isn't she? -Mum.
Mum.
-Is that your child? Take him away from here.
Of course, it could be a simple heart attack.
Well, she seemed fine half an hour ago.
Oh, look at this.
She'd nicked her finger.
She is a cook, George.
So we'll not call the police, then? (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) Let's see what the daughter has to say.
I'm so sorry.
Oh, my lovely mum.
Would you like me to help you with her? Good Lord.
Was your mother in the habit of going about like this? Boots, dress, camisole all perfectly in place.
You can see what's missing, can't you? MRS BRADLEY: Her corset.
For a woman of Mrs Parkin's class and, frankly, dimensions, to go about unfettered by whalebone is more than unusual.
It's unheard of.
I've said it more than once, I know, but the tyranny of the foundation garment is one of the major obstacles to the full emancipation of women.
Therefore, a free pelvic floor is, in that sense, the first step toward a free mind.
ISOBEL: Oh, Mrs Parkin.
I don't know what I'm going to do without her.
She used to put bay leaves in absolutely everything.
-Put some in the rice pudding once.
-Laurus nobilis.
For crowning a hero.
Laurels are extraordinarily useful plants, you know.
The entire laurel family boasts something like 2,600 species.
-Camphor, cinnamon, avocado.
-Avocado? -Several poisonous species, too.
-Poisonous, really? Pardon me, but do I detect an unsavoury relationship between your cook, your gardener and your daughter? Adela, don't talk like that.
-My dear, it's pointless being a prude.
-Stop it! Your cook expired in the parsley patch without her underwear.
You have employed an unnecessarily handsome gardener at whom your daughter can't look without panting.
-And -I really don't want to know.
''Veneno.
'' Arrows.
What do you think you're doing going through my family's private things? Yeah, I'm sorry, madam, but there's an arrow missing.
I won't have snooping in this house.
Won't have it! What's going on? Do I know you? No.
But I know you, Captain Prideux, and I know who you were in the War.
My name is George Moody and there's something I have to ask you.
Get back among the dead where you belong.
-It's over.
The War is over.
-Just tell me the truth.
I was not commanding officer.
I don't have to tell you anything.
Oh, so this is the great war hero.
MRS BRADLEY: George.
Well, Douglas, an interesting start to our reacquaintance.
Your man was rude, insubordinate and wouldn't take no for an answer.
We no longer shoot men at dawn for disobedience.
You will discipline your driver properly, Mrs Bradley, or we may both consider your time here at an end.
Dismissed.
Ordinarily, one would never interfere in the private lives of one's servants.
However, in this case (CLEARING THROAT) I fitted that new fan belt earlier.
So, just checking it's still there? If Douglas Prideux wasn't your commanding officer, whose was he? Your brother's? Veneno.
What does that mean, anyway? It's Portuguese for poison.
Why? -Watch the door, George.
-Careful you don't touch anything.
A poisoned arrow.
Now, where could it (BANGING) Someone's coming.
Madam, will you -Is this the arrow from the casket? -Yes.
Now! JESSIE: Come on.
Come on, then.
Just for a minute.
She looks so peaceful, doesn't she? I could almost envy her that.
ALF: (SOBBING) Amy.
Oh, Amy.
-What have they done to you? -Come on, love.
This won't do.
(ALF SOBBING) (JESSIE SHUSHING) What have they done to you? -Who's they? -Who's he? Ah, he's Alf.
He's the chauffeur.
Prickly devil.
They often are.
Prickly enough to poison the cook? Who'd want to poison a cook? No cook, no dinner.
Get down to the kitchen, George.
Do some foraging.
And let's see what we can both find out.
''Help yourself.
'' I'm afraid the pickled onions don't exactly compliment the Burgundy.
You did brilliantly to find us anything to eat at all.
Poor Mrs P.
We shall miss her.
Her and her ghosts.
Mrs Parkin saw the ghost? Most recent sighting was by her little grandson.
A rather sweet, little ghost from his description.
No clanking chains or carrying its head under its arms or anything.
A flickering light moving through the house, dancing in the garden.
A ghastly spectre and a sort of yowling.
(YOWLING) -You know.
-In a white sheet? Uniform.
MRS BRADLEY: I beg your pardon? The boy said the ghost looked like a soldier.
Then all the ghosts in this house wear uniform, don't they? Take no notice of him.
You know the War? Ronnie, you scared the life out of me.
My dad was a hero.
Want to see? They don't seem terribly happy.
-Lacey and Douglas? -Mmm.
He was the only one of the friends to come home, wasn't he? ISOBEL: Inseparable as children, all those boys.
I was so thrilled when she married him, Adela.
-It was the one point of brightness.
-The one source of hope.
And then the birth control book Well, it was meant kindly, Adela, I know that, but, oh, those endless years of waiting before little Algernon was born.
-Nine years.
-I'm sorry.
I know you longed for a grandson.
Not to replace my boys.
Not ever that.
Isobel, you suspect that Douglas may not be the father of the new baby, don't you? I'd really rather not know, actually.
My dear, sometimes the greatest lies are told in silence.
And not knowing is tormenting you, isn't it? -I'm not sure we should be in here.
-It's all right.
Since Miss Lacey's baby came, Mum has to be in here with him.
She won't mind.
Here it is.
-Hell's teeth.
-I know it's not very shiny.
What's going on? You creeping about in my things and my mother's not even cold in her bed.
And what valuables do you think we have, anyway, after a lifetime in service? Ronnie wanted to show me this.
Your husband was a hero.
-Your boy's very proud of him.
-Proud.
If my husband was a hero, how come his son lives in poverty? LACEY: Jessie? And his wife in slavery? A Victoria Cross? How extraordinary.
A real hero.
''If my husband was a hero, why am I living in slavery?'' Slavery.
That's an odd word to use.
That's why I thought I'd better come and tell you what I found out.
You know, tonight.
Thank you, George.
I was just Get back to your own quarters immediately.
I do wish you'd knock.
I'm not a child any more.
-Neither am I, Letitia.
-Oh, Letitia.
It's only ever Letitia when you're cross with me.
Darling, tell me the truth.
I won't be cross, I promise you.
This new baby What about it? -Is it -Is it what? -Is Douglas the father? -Yes.
Of course, Douglas is the father.
How could you doubt that? (SCREECHING) (GUN FIRING) What the hell's going on? You've no business threatening people with a gun.
Shut up and keep moving.
-What is it? -SETH: Prowler in the garden.
What are you doing prowling about, George? I'm not prowling.
Will you tell him who I am before he brains me? This is my chauffeur.
Unhand him this instant.
-Could have got himself shot.
-Skulking about again, I see, Moody.
I saw a light in the garden, madam.
Seeing ghoulies and ghosties now, are we? -I'm telling you what I saw.
-Poor, little scaredy cat.
-I thought he was just the gardener.
-He is.
So how come he behaves as if he owns the place? It's late, George.
I think you'd better get inside.
Only an idiot stares down the barrel of a gun.
Only a coward walks away.
I always thought old mother Parkin had a glint in her eye.
What you snivelling for, Alf? I reckon you bumped her off yourself.
Say that again, I'll break your other leg.
Got a bit close, did I? What else you hiding? ''To darling Lacey and Douglas, ''with my fondest wishes for a happy and fulfilling marriage, Adela.
'' Oh, dear.
Excuse me.
I thought you said only cowards walk away.
Or is your untimely departure an admission that you personally poisoned the cook? I'll not trouble you for a reference.
-We haven't even seen the ghost yet.
-I have.
The Pontefract Pals.
You and your brother and all your friends joined up just in time for the Battle of the Somme.
Don't pretend you know what it was like.
I know 1 50,000 men went over the top that first morning, and their bones still rise to the surface every year under the farmer's plough.
I know Isobel Marchmont lost three sons, and thousands of families lost fathers, sons and brothers.
I think I know what it is you seek, George, 'cause you've still got the letter from Captain Douglas Prideux of the First Royal Rifle Regiment.
It was enough for my mother, that letter.
Enough for her to read that her oldest son died instantly.
-But you needed to know more.
-I'd seen men die.
I knew what death was like in that mud -and that noise.
-The bombardment? The flies.
You've never heard the noise of a million flies.
''His death was that of a hero and an Englishman.
''I can assure you, Mrs Moody, that your son felt no pain.
''Yours, in deepest sympathy, Captain Douglas Prideux.
'' -It could be true.
-Yeah.
All those letters said that.
Those officers wrote thousands of them.
Every death described the same.
But he was my brother.
He had one life.
One death.
It was all 1 3 years ago, George.
Why do you still blame yourself? Because I came home and he didn't.
Drink up.
We've still got a murder to solve.
Before the police come looking for an unusually inquisitive and headstrong chauffeur.
The handsome gardener, George.
He's the key to this.
Time you talked to him.
Told her about this then, have you? Yes.
You're wasting your time.
Told her all about it? What does it mean? It means, Isobel, that your cook was almost certainly murdered.
I'll call the police.
Mum couldn't have borne a fuss.
Couldn't bear people sniffing round her.
Forgive me, but when I arrived, your mother looked flustered, pink.
Almost amorous.
I interrupted a lovers' tryst, didn't I? Your mother flung on her top clothes but didn't have time to fiddle with her corset.
Even servants are entitled to some privacy.
My dear, your mother was murdered.
A policeman will be here shortly to investigate.
He'll be an insensitive creature, inevitably.
You can either tell him, or you can tell me.
I suppose Jessie has been telling you about the relationship between my cook and my chauffeur.
She thinks you know nothing about it.
Can't keep secrets in a house like this.
-RONNIE: Leave my mum alone! -SETH: Shut up.
It's all right, Ronnie.
I won't be a minute.
I wouldn't let you touch me if you were the last man on earth.
Hoity-toity.
I can destroy all of you, Jessie.
You know that.
You can have her, pal.
She's second-hand goods.
I can always do better.
(GROANING) What's he up to, Jessie? He's just a nasty piece of work.
It's best forgotten.
-Thought you'd gone.
-What and miss me dinner? He's a coward, he is.
RONNIE: He broke his own foot so he didn't have to go to War.
Mmm, delicious.
It was only mutton stew.
If you tell me what Seth's after, I can sort him out for you.
I can look after myself.
I'm sorry about your mother.
Yes.
So am I.
She was company for you.
After the War.
Ronnie said you were in almost as many battles as his dad and came home in one piece.
More or less.
More some days, less others.
My man came home.
He recovered quite well for a bit.
Considering.
Long enough to marry me and father a son.
Ronnie thought that ghost he saw was his dad come back.
He never said, not in so many words, but My husband wasn't much of a talker either.
Not easy things to talk about.
When he was dying, he said, ''Never mind, girl, never mind.
''I'm worth more to both of you dead than alive.
'' He was wrong about that, wasn't he? (STABBING SOUND) The point is, Jessie's husband died of his wounds four years after the War was over.
-And Jessie was refused a pension.
-Why? Because the War Office said that she married him knowing he was damaged.
That's the word they used.
Corporal Ken Midwinter, VC - damaged.
So, the widow was forced back into service or starve.
Which will be why she calls it slavery.
But what's that got to do with the murder of her mother? Let alone ghosts and poisoned arrows, or the fact that Lacey and Douglas were married for nine years without issue until Seth Billings came along and now we're talking two pregnancies in one year.
-Have you talked to Seth Billings? -No.
What's that? Too late now.
I think it's time we talked to the one person in this house who knows about poison.
Ocotea venenosa.
As I thought.
A poison prepared by Brazilian natives to make a deadly tip for their arrows.
I meant to get rid of all his paraphernalia.
I knew it was dangerous.
Something special about this plant, is there, madam? -No -Camphor, cinnamon, avocado and Ocotea venenosa.
One of that extraordinarily useful family of plants upon which you have become such an expert.
You cook was poisoned by laurel.
So was your gardener.
-Seth? -He's in the conservatory.
So now we have two murders in the house, but the police have yet to arrive to investigate the first.
I didn't call them.
I didn't want it all unravelling.
George, the telephone.
I know where the poison came from.
My husband was so proud of his treasures.
Especially this, his Brazilian poison casket.
It's gone.
Hello.
Can you I wouldn't do that if I were you.
Not if you still want to know what happened to your brother.
It's not true that every single letter was the same, you know.
I tried to get a bit of variation in.
Just tell me what really happened to my brother.
The thing is, Moody, I'd like to tell you.
I'd like to tell you, but I can't.
I can't because I don't know.
II simply don't remember.
I don't remember your brother at all.
He is anonymous to me.
What kind of an officer are you? It's all It's all gone, don't you see? It's all blown away.
The faces, the names.
Men under my command died like cattle.
Things I should never forget.
Shellshock.
Oh, I'm not proud of it.
-But I can't help it.
-That's just an excuse.
How can you have forgotten? I'll never forget any of it.
What do you want, congratulations? What about the dreams? You're not telling me you don't have the dreams.
The dreams.
I dream of men who come back for me.
Men without faces.
Your brother.
My friends.
They're all still dead.
What's the point of all this remembering, hmm? It's our duty.
We came back.
Our bodies came back.
We left our souls behind.
Moody, look.
It's the ghost of the soldier.
Oh, my God, Moody.
He's come for me.
Don't let him get me, Moody.
Don't let him get me.
That's no ghost.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR) May I come in for a moment? (GROANING) (PANTING) (LAUGHING) Clever dick, first class.
So you're the ghost young Ronnie saw.
The man in the uniform.
I used to have to creep about that much so he wouldn't ever see me and his grandma together.
You've been drinking again.
Might have managed to hit you if I'd been sober.
I can't get anything right, can I? The fourth arrow.
Amy, my love.
He's such a good boy.
Who do you think he looks like? His mother or his father? Amy.
I did love her, George.
I didn't mean for her to die.
It was you who put the arrow under her bed, wasn't it, Alf? Hiding place.
Just for one night.
So I could shut that nosey bloody gardener up forever.
Someone had to stop him telling on Jessie.
Why? What was Jessie's secret? She's a servant.
He's the master.
Don't let him get away with it.
Promise me.
Listen to me, I have never been unfaithful to Douglas.
That's enough! Stop it! Alf's a good man, really.
Made my mum very happy, he did.
He looks after me and Ronnie, too, when he can.
-And the gardener? -A coward, bully.
He was clever, though.
Kept his eyes and his ears open.
And Alf's not always discreet, especially when he's had one or two.
Alf told Seth something he shouldn't have, didn't he? Come in, Isobel.
Servants.
They creep about, they listen at doors, they gossip in the scullery.
There's no privacy in this house, is there, Mother? Everyone knows everything.
I want my son now! -You should be ashamed.
-She's a willing partner.
She's a servant.
How can she say no to you? I thought you'd understand women of your own class.
-She likes it.
-She calls it slavery.
Help! Come quickly.
Please! She'll hurt the baby.
I have never been unfaithful to my husband.
I have no doubt that Douglas is the father of this child.
But, Lacey, who is the mother? -As I thought.
-He's mine! (BABY CRYING) MRS BRADLEY: George! (LACEY GASPING) I was just getting to that bit.
(LACEY SOBBING) How could you have expected to carry out all these frightful deceptions under my very nose? Isobel, you are in danger of making me very angry indeed.
Why are you blaming me? It's Douglas's fault.
Douglas, who didn't keep his hands off the war widow.
Jessie knows how to take care of men damaged by war.
Don't you? Don't tell me any more.
I don't ever want to know.
But, Isobel, you've known all along that this child was Jessie's, that Lacey's pregnancy was phantom.
And the last darkest secret.
-The one at the heart of this family.
-No, don't.
You see, I had forgotten why Marie Stopes wrote her book.
To help women plan their families.
Family planning was the purpose, but not the reason.
Lacey knows, don't you? Because, for years, she lived a virgin in an unconsummated marriage as I have.
Douglas never loved me.
Perhaps he never even liked me.
I'm sure he loved you before the War.
I tried so hard not to know.
I shut my eyes and my ears.
I couldn't bear to look at her after the War.
I couldn't bear it that my boys were gone and she was here.
There was only one thing she could do to win your love.
Give me a grandson.
Isobel, you forced your daughter into years of loneliness and deceit.
She had to live a lie.
I know.
Why did Miss Lacey pretend she was pregnant for the second time? The power of the mind, George.
If you want something badly enough, that power can make you believe it has really happened.
Goodnight, Dad.
I have some wonderful friends in Florence.
They'll make you feel very welcome.
-For a whole year? -Oh, it will fly by.
So much art and history to explore.
Quite apart from the art and history, Italy has huge pleasures to offer.
I'm sure you'll come back a different woman.
I know people in London, Jessie.
I could help you find a new position.
-But I've got a new position, George.
-Jessie? You'll have to wait.
You can see I'm busy.
Alf made me promise I'd look out for you.
There's no need, is there? Douglas.
I'll still have my garden.
That, at least, nobody can take from me.
Goodbye, Adela.
Careful, madam.
Bit close to the edge of that trench.
It's a ha-ha.
Keeping sheep and riff-raff out of the flowerbeds.
No, George, keeping two worlds apart, the rich and the poor.
Living and dead.
That'll be why they call it a ha-ha.
As in, ''Ha-ha, very funny.
'' Not so funny, George.
The poor are always with us.
No, it's the dead who are always with us.
Did you ever find out what it was you were so desperate to know? No, but it's all right.
I'll live.
Have a read of this, George.
I think it might amuse you.
GEORGE: Oh, yes.
I hear the gamekeeper did it.
# Blues # Twentieth century blues # They're getting me down # Who's # Escaped those weary 20th century blues? # Why # If there's a God in the sky # Why shouldn't he grin? # High # Above this dreary 20th century din #