Harlots (2017) s02e05 Episode Script
Series 2, Episode 5
1 You have an instinct for violence, I can see that in you.
A Spartan does not blunder.
I have a hostage, her own daughter.
You work for me when I tell you to.
Mrs.
Quigley is a bawd.
Lord Dodds is the Lord Chief Justice.
Miss Anne Pettifer.
I prefer a riper fruit.
I need your assurance that you'll stand up in a court of law.
- Do I have your word? - You do.
Miss Lydia Quigley, you're under arrest for-â - (GASPS) - Get out! She has the Lord Chief Justice between her thighs.
We need to fight like her.
We're a five-headed beast now.
You just tell us when to roar.
(THEME MUSIC) We'll stab out her eyes with a moldy old post.
(CACKLING) Throw her in a slurry pit, step on her head.
(SOFT MUSIC) Could always get the King's elephant to sit on her.
Shit on her.
(CACKLING) You're a brave slut, Emily Lacey.
We'll look out for you.
Let's hope that's enough.
Suddenly gone very cold in here.
Please keep your voices down.
(GIGGLING) I'll do better than that.
I'll go home.
To my Will.
(GIGGLING) (PANTING) Ride hard, my stallion! Faster, boy, faster! (DRIVING MUSIC) (GIGGLING) (MOANING, GROANING) (MOANING, LAUGHTER) The race is won! You are exquisite.
And you, my good sir, are a powerful steed.
(CHUCKLING) I hope we may ride together often.
(CHUCKLING) Morning.
Girls.
I need you to go on a molly hunt for me.
(GIGGLING) Prince Rasselas.
Do you know him? That pretty boy with a look of the East? That's him.
I need you to find him.
Look everywhere.
Covent Garden, Sodomite's Walk, all the molly houses.
Tell him I want to see him.
We'll pay if we have to.
- Go on.
- You should not admit such an unnatural creature into this house.
We admit much worse.
Tell Mr.
Hunt you made it yourself.
That's a lie, Mother.
You need not wear your cap.
Sounds like you're trying to marry her off, Mrs.
Scanwell.
He is a man of sound convictions, with a good salary from the crown.
I like your thinking.
You should come and work as a pimp for us.
Eh, Fanny? She's just trying to do what's best for her daughter.
Like all of us.
Fanny.
Don't do that again.
Don't insult me in front of Mrs.
Scanwell.
What about my baby, then? You've said she has to go when she's weaned.
And if she goes, I go.
Who'll be your best girl then? What's in your tea this morning, eh? I wouldn't dream of parting you from each other.
No more stomach for it.
Thank you.
Think the justice will act, Mrs.
Wells? On the button that we found in Kitty's hair? (DARK MUSIC) (SOFT SNORING) I'll not sleep on the chaise.
Can you forgive my cockeyed notions? We must show that Golden Square thrives once more.
I think it's time for our annual audience with the goddess Vesta.
Can I play Vesta again? Don't be silly, Ann.
Charlotte is our goddess.
You may organize the rituals of the virgins, while I find us a real one to sacrifice.
I'll come with you.
I want to know how the best bawd in London snags a virgin.
To what purpose? To learn.
To be like her.
I wonder if you have the stomach for it.
Try me.
(DARK MUSIC) Hmph.
(SNORTING NOISES) Go away, Emily Pig.
But I love Emily Pig.
You should love a little piglet like me.
Oh no.
Why not sail on Nell's fulsome tides? Or we could just have a poke.
You have her.
I'll take the little one.
Cherry, would you like to entertain this gentleman? - I'm entertaining Charles.
- He can spare you.
Get up, Emily! Your house is busy.
(SIGHS) (SHOUTING, CLATTER) Help! Someone, my cull's gone mad! Get away, maggot! I'll mash your face in! Nell! - Help! - Nell! (SOUNDS OF STRUGGLE) Charlie! What? (SOUNDS OF STRUGGLE) (THUD) Tie him up! Charles, go to the tavern, fetch William North.
Go, go! My children! (TENSE MUSIC) You're lucky this knife's not for you.
(THUDDING CRASH) - Get out! - Move! (SHOUTING) This is it, Nance, it's started.
(HOOVES CLOP, DOG BARKS) Where's North, where's North? North! Harriet.
Bad men.
Wait! It's plain as day what your ma's up to.
- Don't.
- Why? Make a good match.
You can sing hymns together before humping.
Stop it.
Miss Scanwell.
I expect you've heard by now about Mrs.
Quigley.
It seems I have met with the limits of the law.
If you concede that, what is your purpose? (EXCLAIMS) Think she likes you.
(DOOR SLAMS) (PANTING, GASPING) Twittering turd! Who sent you? The Duke of York.
(EXCLAIMS) You insolent bollock bag! Who hired you? (GROANING) The bawd! Quigley! (GRUNTING) Quigley sent us.
(TENSE MUSIC) (HOOVES CLOPPING) (STREET NOISES) These people want honest jobs.
They think they do.
But who really wants to be a drudge for six pounds a year when they can live in splendor at Golden Square? The virgin will come willingly if you pay her enough.
But she'd lack the reticence so prized amongst our gentlemen.
You know my standards.
Secure me a pretty maid and be sure to test her about her virtue.
You show me.
If you really want to be my apprentice, I insist you try.
Who was your first? A stable boy, chosen by me.
How many men have you had since? I'm a harlot.
I don't keep count.
How many have given you pleasure? Only you.
Well, that makes me your true first.
(GASPS) Do you seek work? Yes, ma'am.
What's your experience? Keeping house with my ma, mostly.
Will I be free to go to church on Sundays? No.
We're a godless household, you should seek somewhere else.
Why have you let her go? She could be positively regal.
She wanted to go to church.
Oh.
Tell them what they want to hear, just get them through the door.
You are more artful with words.
We'll do it together.
Where have you gone to? I was thinking about Kitty.
Who killed her.
These things befall the weak.
You think it was her fault? There are hunters, and there are prey.
Killing is an art.
A killer has a certain nobility.
A superiority of character.
I thought killing was a desperate act.
Quite the contrary.
It is the preserve of a select few.
(STREET NOISES) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) I had a friend who liked faro.
You are a tasty piece, but we do not wish to hear.
She's dead now.
Were her brains in her udders, like yours? (LAUGHTER) That's the man.
Could I have a word, sir? Can a gentleman not play cards in peace? If you would step over here with me, we can t-t-talk in private.
I don't want to t-t-talk at all.
Then I will apply for a warrant and come to your house.
Outrageous! This is meant to be a refuge.
Who let this dismal man in? I will not tolerate the consumption of alcohol, nor any liaison with young men.
The smell of drink makes me sick, ma'am, and I've never so much as kissed a boy.
Oh.
Well, I'm sure you'll fit right in.
(DARK MUSIC) (STREET CLAMOR) The truth is always best.
Do excuse me one moment.
I wish to give alms to the poor.
and the truth, and the life.
We must not lie to each other.
I smell ratsbane.
You will taste it if you fail to do as I ask.
I have no fears for my life.
What of Amelia's? What life could she expect, I wonder, if it were known she spends her days tuft hunting with her black whore? What hell broth do you spew? One of your daughter's making.
I want you to go to Justice Hunt and to tell him that Margaret Wells is forcing girls to work in her house against their will.
Tell him how it sickens you, how you cannot bear such cruelty even for one day more.
She's a good woman.
Your mother.
She's not my mother.
There.
Such deeds are so bracing for the soul.
(DOOR SLAMS) Is that him? (GROANING) Rasselas? (EXCLAIMS) Who in Lucifer's name are you? (BELL TOLLING) (CLEARS THROAT) Mr.
Hunt.
Ah.
Um, for you, in return for the delicious gift you left, with an apology, I fear I upset you earlier.
Oh, I apologize.
I was-âI was harsh.
Then we make an apologetic p-p-pair.
Would you take a walk with me? Um (LIVELY MUSIC) (HUFFING, PUFFING) Come on, Charlie! Put some chops into it! She broke her word! I will not let her scare us.
She will feel the sting of my tongue.
You stay away from her.
Keep your fists up, big man.
(KNOCKING) (THUDDING PUNCHES) Come to crow? I've come to help.
You helped me once before.
Deserve that.
(GRUNTING) What kind of mother attacks her own son? - Concentrate.
- You leave him alone.
You promised me protection.
You're not helping, keeping the son in the house.
How did she find out so soon? Not from him.
He's my only shield against her.
Shame he's a useless prick.
You need a bully.
- Get soldier boy in there.
- I can't pay him.
I've got repairs to make.
I'll pay.
Till you're sorted.
Guilt money.
(SOFT MUSIC) I'll take it.
And stick a musket up Charlotte's ass.
What is she doing in that house? She stands to lose more than any of us.
Not from where I'm standing.
I'm the eldest of five.
My mother cried when I left.
But she'll be pleased when I send money home.
And where is home? - Langley - Ah! London must be overwhelming.
Well, it would be, had I not met such kind people so soon.
I look forward to repaying your faith with hard work.
Well, we're very lucky to have found you.
(TENSE MUSIC) I have dedicated myself to the law, but discovering its imperfections leads me to question - my whole life.
- Oh, please don't.
- You do your best.
- But I I can do better.
Your goodness is a standard by which I wish to be measured.
I am not good.
But you have transformed Violet.
Given the right position in society, you could guide so many others.
(STAMMERS) Would you be my wife? (SOFT MUSIC) You could keep me steadfast.
I could keep you safe.
(STAMMERS) This is, um, too sudden, I see.
Please.
I ask only that you think about it.
(CLEARS HIS THROAT) You'll answer the door and gauge the culls.
And come running if we start screaming.
Does this mean I get favorable terms? No terms, no touching.
- You're one of us now.
- Like a big brother.
You can teach me to fight.
That's not fun.
I'd rather teach you some things I learned in France.
We know it all.
Was it worth running? I feared the same fate as your girl.
A life lived in fear is not life worth living.
What do you want of me? I want you to be my eyes in Golden Square.
(APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS) Rasselas! Amelia! (SOFT MUSIC) Where have you been? There must be some good in you to be missed so.
She will fit in well.
What if she doesn't want to? Why wouldn't she? Virtue is a hindrance to a woman.
After tonight, she can climb.
(DARK MUSIC) I'm proud of you.
Your mother was never strong enough to help with new girls.
You surpass her in every way.
What do you want, Charles? No true mother would attack her son's home.
And no son of mine would be such a dull-headed dupe.
- We had an agreement.
- Which your treacherous trollop broke, she tried to have me hanged.
- You're lying.
- Am I? Go to the justice, ask him yourself, and get out of my house! How can I stand at an altar and vow before God to worship his body? I always follow my heart and live in penury for it.
Amelia.
A word? Alone.
I do not like the company you keep.
- He's my friend.
- He's a sinner.
Jesus taught us to go among them.
But not to become one.
I know.
I know the grubby little secret you have with Violet Cross.
I met Mr.
Hunt.
God has put him in your way.
He asked me for your hand.
- I can't marry him.
- You will marry him! I have given my life to you, Amelia.
I ask that you do this in return.
But I don't love him.
Love.
Mr.
Hunt will save us.
Your black whore will drag you down.
For God's sake, man, first you interrupt my whoring and then this warrant arrives.
Lord Liddington has been implicated in a murder.
I'm sure you'll agree there is a distinction.
He is the son of the Earl of Hovingham.
There is evidence.
This was found on the murdered woman.
It matches a jacket worn by - Lord Liddington.
- Did you find it? - No, one of the victim's friends.
- Have you seen the matching jacket? - No.
- So you want to raise a warrant on the strength of a button and the word of a whore? If there is anything in this, you must find plausible evidence.
And stop harassing the nobility.
(DOOR SLAMS) (BIRDSONG) I feel sick.
It's not your crime.
It will be if I don't save her.
Entrapment, rape, ruin.
Then let's go to the Justice now.
I'm implicated in all of it.
And he won't want a repeat of last night.
We have to get the girl to him.
How? (SIGHS) We need someone trustworthy to bid for her and take her from the house.
Do you know of anyone? I don't trust a single soul in my circle.
Then I must go to my ma on Greek Street.
She'll find someone.
Here.
It's over 100 pounds.
I've known men bid 200 for a virgin.
Add to it if you can.
Ma will too.
You trust me to do this? (TENSE MUSIC) Abigail.
That's the girl's name.
A sweet thing, untarnished by our world.
Help her stay that way.
(HORSE SNUFFLES) (HOOVES CLOPPING) (KNOCKING) (INDISTINCT SHOUTING IN STREET) Miss Scanwell.
Come in, come in.
Please.
Dare I hope you have an answer for me? (SOFT MUSIC) Yes.
My answer is yes.
My mother's keen for it to happen soon.
My dear.
This is my most prized possession, acquired from the furthest reaches of Greece.
The dagger of a Spartan warrior.
The Spartans were a superior race.
They killed their lessers, the Helots, as a rite of passage.
What made them lesser? Their blood.
Have you ever used it? I consider myself a Spartan.
Does that scare you? (MUSIC INTENSIFIES) I'm a Spartan too.
You want money.
I always want money.
Is Charlotte Wells blackmailing you? She saw me out riding naked and threatens to ruin my reputation.
- What's left of it.
- I'm a grown woman.
I should have free access to the money Father left me.
You are ludicrous.
Cavorting with a harlot, letting her fleece you.
It would be reckless of me to give an imbecile like you your own funds.
You need me to take care of you.
You're not fit to take care of anyone.
You see? You're disturbed.
Attacking your devoted guardian.
Just give me a hundred pounds and I will leave you in peace.
Is it the bawd who blackmails you, - is Charlotte - Give me my money! I'm getting warmer.
That's all you get till you start telling me some truths.
(KNOCKING) You have been elusive.
The new justice is hanging my kind.
And persecuting mine.
Your cheek looks hollow.
I lost my dear boy.
So did I.
Hmph.
We're hosting a communion of Vestal Virgins this evening.
Stay.
Be our honorary eunuch.
(INTENSE, DRIVING MUSIC) (SNIFFING) Come again.
You're welcome anytime.
Fanny, how you getting on up there? He only paid for half an hour! (CACKLING) (DEEPLY INHALING) (DEEPLY INHALING) "The prince hacked his way through the forest" and climbed to the tower "where the beauty lay sleeping.
" Much like your todger.
You lost? He had a good old sniff of my fundament, but he didn't want to touch it.
(CACKLING) Margaret.
Girls.
I'm Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam.
Charlotte sent me.
She's contrived the means to trap the viper Quigley.
And what's Quigley to you? A perpetual menace.
(TENSE MUSIC) And what does Charlotte want us to do? We need to buy a virgin.
(DOOR SLAMS) (APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS) Webster's needed in Greek Street.
He's only been here a minute.
Well I'll be your bully tonight.
Mags has other plans for him.
(DOOR SLAMS) What are you doing skulking in here? - You scared of Nancy? - Scared of you.
Why did you give evidence against my mother? - Not sure that I did.
- Don't lie! She threatened to kill me.
Then you should have come to me, instead of plotting with the Wells woman and that virago out there.
I know.
I know.
I'm sorry.
You're my shield.
You'll protect me against her, won't you? You have to.
I need you.
I can't trust you.
Then trust this.
There's a little Quigley growing inside me.
(EXOTIC MUSIC) Welcome, gentlemen, to the sacred Temple of Vesta.
Behold her chaste priestesses, the Vestal Virgins, as they prepare the way for the goddess herself.
Praise Vesta! Goddess of the hearth and bringer of good fortune.
Make your sacrifices, gentlemen, that you may approach her.
Enchanté.
Sent especially for you from Greek Street.
Got your story straight? I think so.
The lads'll be outside when you bring the girl out.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS) You sure he's up to it? Chance to play the hero.
He'll love every minute of it.
(FUNKY, RHYTHMIC MUSIC) You seem agitated, for a goddess.
I'm waiting for the moment that girl awakes and screams the house down.
Have confidence.
She will remain in a stupor all evening.
What swarthy stranger is this? Welcome, sir, you're new to Golden Square.
Oh, I'm long overdue.
Why, Mr.
Webster.
So glad you could come.
- You know this gentleman.
- In every sense.
- He's obscenely rich.
- (GASPS) - What is your business? - Coffee beans, madam.
Only the finest.
Miss Wells knows of my rarefied tastes.
(LAUGHTER) I can see why she invited me.
Then, please, enter the Temple of Vesta.
(CHUCKLING) Will you frolic with me? It smells funny.
It relaxes the mind.
Like laudanum.
My ma's against all that.
She won't take on girls that have anything to do with it.
And you always do what your mother tells you.
Even if she'll never know.
(DEEPLY INHALES) Excuse me, sir.
Have I wandered into heaven? Very close, we hope.
What a delightful surprise.
Please enter our temple of sacred virgins.
I wished only a word.
I'm at your service, Your Lordship.
Are you blackmailing my sister? "Blackmail" is such a vulgar word.
I am a keeper of secrets.
And you keep hers? Who would ever trust me if I gave anything away? (SHE CHUCKLES) Can you not keep away from me? I am relentless.
My demons are all put to bed.
Surely you are too young to have demons.
(SOFT MUSIC) Perhaps I am a demon.
What did you mean earlier when you said you were a Spartan? The same as you.
You've killed? With one stab.
Who? I can't say.
Your sort stick together.
And I know really, I'm a Helot.
You killed a superior in class? Superior in stupidity.
Sir George Howard, perchance? Shh.
Audacious.
You are indeed a Spartan.
A worthy consort.
(CYMBALS TINKLE) Gentlemen! What you see before you is artifice.
The real virgin lies upstairs, as chaste as the day she was born.
(MURMURING) She offers herself as a sacrifice - to the highest bidder.
- May we see her? She is a timid creature.
Shy, quivering, expectant.
In beauty, she more than matches Vesta's retinue.
The rites of Vesta take place but once a year.
I will never understand men's desire for a virgin.
It is like taking the first bite of a pristine piece of fruit, and the pleasure lies in feeling the flesh give way and the juices stir.
(CYMBALS TINKLE) Who will open the bidding at 50 pounds? (MURMURING) Surely a man like you would prefer a real woman like me.
Fresh fruit cleanses the palate.
Do I hear 60, gentlemen, or is the field clear for the marquess? (DRAMATIC MUSIC) Do I hear 70? Eighty? Ninety? One hundred? They'll have no money left for me.
100 from the marquess.
110 for our untouched pearl.
Two hundred pounds.
A most generous bid from the dark gentleman.
What are you doing? You can't have her.
Do I have any advance on 200? I want you more than ever.
200 pounds, gentlemen, our final offer.
Sold! - Well done, good sire.
- Congratulations.
They'll be here soon.
We'll have to go to Hunt's.
And then Charlotte can get out of that hellhole.
That bitch Quigley will be buried forever.
(HE CHUCKLES) What? I'm home.
I will pay more to dally with her in my own lodgings.
She's like a newborn lamb.
She needs the security of the familiar.
He's paid enough to take her to China and back.
This should make up the difference.
Ah! Where did you get that necklace? I won it.
- At cards.
- Hm.
It belonged to my grandmother.
He won it from your sister.
I was with her.
The woman you won this from, what did she look like? I was with her.
I saw her take the necklace off and throw it in as a stake.
Why such protest? It's a simple question for Mr.
Webster.
(CHUCKLING) I drunk a lot of wine that night.
Ah.
I don't remember.
You don't doubt me, do you, Mrs.
Quigley? (LAUGHTER) This man is a liar and a thief, put him out.
I won that girl.
Get off me! (SCUFFLING) Why won't you listen to me? Your Lordship, you win the virgin by default.
Please return this necklace to your sister with my apologies.
He wants me, not the girl.
An unsullied virgin or a deceitful whore.
I think on this occasion, you lose.
Would you excuse me for a moment? Charlotte.
I'm so sorry, I don't know what that was about.
Shall we carry on as we were? You're right.
I haven't the stomach for it.
I want to spare the girl.
There's more to it.
I've been watching you with that imposter, you're plotting something.
You, him, Lady Fitz.
I want to get the girl out.
Lady Fitz knows nothing of it.
Hm.
Liar.
(LOCK CLICKS) Lydia.
Lydia, I'm telling the truth.
(BANGING ON DOOR) Lydia! Can't you let me out?
A Spartan does not blunder.
I have a hostage, her own daughter.
You work for me when I tell you to.
Mrs.
Quigley is a bawd.
Lord Dodds is the Lord Chief Justice.
Miss Anne Pettifer.
I prefer a riper fruit.
I need your assurance that you'll stand up in a court of law.
- Do I have your word? - You do.
Miss Lydia Quigley, you're under arrest for-â - (GASPS) - Get out! She has the Lord Chief Justice between her thighs.
We need to fight like her.
We're a five-headed beast now.
You just tell us when to roar.
(THEME MUSIC) We'll stab out her eyes with a moldy old post.
(CACKLING) Throw her in a slurry pit, step on her head.
(SOFT MUSIC) Could always get the King's elephant to sit on her.
Shit on her.
(CACKLING) You're a brave slut, Emily Lacey.
We'll look out for you.
Let's hope that's enough.
Suddenly gone very cold in here.
Please keep your voices down.
(GIGGLING) I'll do better than that.
I'll go home.
To my Will.
(GIGGLING) (PANTING) Ride hard, my stallion! Faster, boy, faster! (DRIVING MUSIC) (GIGGLING) (MOANING, GROANING) (MOANING, LAUGHTER) The race is won! You are exquisite.
And you, my good sir, are a powerful steed.
(CHUCKLING) I hope we may ride together often.
(CHUCKLING) Morning.
Girls.
I need you to go on a molly hunt for me.
(GIGGLING) Prince Rasselas.
Do you know him? That pretty boy with a look of the East? That's him.
I need you to find him.
Look everywhere.
Covent Garden, Sodomite's Walk, all the molly houses.
Tell him I want to see him.
We'll pay if we have to.
- Go on.
- You should not admit such an unnatural creature into this house.
We admit much worse.
Tell Mr.
Hunt you made it yourself.
That's a lie, Mother.
You need not wear your cap.
Sounds like you're trying to marry her off, Mrs.
Scanwell.
He is a man of sound convictions, with a good salary from the crown.
I like your thinking.
You should come and work as a pimp for us.
Eh, Fanny? She's just trying to do what's best for her daughter.
Like all of us.
Fanny.
Don't do that again.
Don't insult me in front of Mrs.
Scanwell.
What about my baby, then? You've said she has to go when she's weaned.
And if she goes, I go.
Who'll be your best girl then? What's in your tea this morning, eh? I wouldn't dream of parting you from each other.
No more stomach for it.
Thank you.
Think the justice will act, Mrs.
Wells? On the button that we found in Kitty's hair? (DARK MUSIC) (SOFT SNORING) I'll not sleep on the chaise.
Can you forgive my cockeyed notions? We must show that Golden Square thrives once more.
I think it's time for our annual audience with the goddess Vesta.
Can I play Vesta again? Don't be silly, Ann.
Charlotte is our goddess.
You may organize the rituals of the virgins, while I find us a real one to sacrifice.
I'll come with you.
I want to know how the best bawd in London snags a virgin.
To what purpose? To learn.
To be like her.
I wonder if you have the stomach for it.
Try me.
(DARK MUSIC) Hmph.
(SNORTING NOISES) Go away, Emily Pig.
But I love Emily Pig.
You should love a little piglet like me.
Oh no.
Why not sail on Nell's fulsome tides? Or we could just have a poke.
You have her.
I'll take the little one.
Cherry, would you like to entertain this gentleman? - I'm entertaining Charles.
- He can spare you.
Get up, Emily! Your house is busy.
(SIGHS) (SHOUTING, CLATTER) Help! Someone, my cull's gone mad! Get away, maggot! I'll mash your face in! Nell! - Help! - Nell! (SOUNDS OF STRUGGLE) Charlie! What? (SOUNDS OF STRUGGLE) (THUD) Tie him up! Charles, go to the tavern, fetch William North.
Go, go! My children! (TENSE MUSIC) You're lucky this knife's not for you.
(THUDDING CRASH) - Get out! - Move! (SHOUTING) This is it, Nance, it's started.
(HOOVES CLOP, DOG BARKS) Where's North, where's North? North! Harriet.
Bad men.
Wait! It's plain as day what your ma's up to.
- Don't.
- Why? Make a good match.
You can sing hymns together before humping.
Stop it.
Miss Scanwell.
I expect you've heard by now about Mrs.
Quigley.
It seems I have met with the limits of the law.
If you concede that, what is your purpose? (EXCLAIMS) Think she likes you.
(DOOR SLAMS) (PANTING, GASPING) Twittering turd! Who sent you? The Duke of York.
(EXCLAIMS) You insolent bollock bag! Who hired you? (GROANING) The bawd! Quigley! (GRUNTING) Quigley sent us.
(TENSE MUSIC) (HOOVES CLOPPING) (STREET NOISES) These people want honest jobs.
They think they do.
But who really wants to be a drudge for six pounds a year when they can live in splendor at Golden Square? The virgin will come willingly if you pay her enough.
But she'd lack the reticence so prized amongst our gentlemen.
You know my standards.
Secure me a pretty maid and be sure to test her about her virtue.
You show me.
If you really want to be my apprentice, I insist you try.
Who was your first? A stable boy, chosen by me.
How many men have you had since? I'm a harlot.
I don't keep count.
How many have given you pleasure? Only you.
Well, that makes me your true first.
(GASPS) Do you seek work? Yes, ma'am.
What's your experience? Keeping house with my ma, mostly.
Will I be free to go to church on Sundays? No.
We're a godless household, you should seek somewhere else.
Why have you let her go? She could be positively regal.
She wanted to go to church.
Oh.
Tell them what they want to hear, just get them through the door.
You are more artful with words.
We'll do it together.
Where have you gone to? I was thinking about Kitty.
Who killed her.
These things befall the weak.
You think it was her fault? There are hunters, and there are prey.
Killing is an art.
A killer has a certain nobility.
A superiority of character.
I thought killing was a desperate act.
Quite the contrary.
It is the preserve of a select few.
(STREET NOISES) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) I had a friend who liked faro.
You are a tasty piece, but we do not wish to hear.
She's dead now.
Were her brains in her udders, like yours? (LAUGHTER) That's the man.
Could I have a word, sir? Can a gentleman not play cards in peace? If you would step over here with me, we can t-t-talk in private.
I don't want to t-t-talk at all.
Then I will apply for a warrant and come to your house.
Outrageous! This is meant to be a refuge.
Who let this dismal man in? I will not tolerate the consumption of alcohol, nor any liaison with young men.
The smell of drink makes me sick, ma'am, and I've never so much as kissed a boy.
Oh.
Well, I'm sure you'll fit right in.
(DARK MUSIC) (STREET CLAMOR) The truth is always best.
Do excuse me one moment.
I wish to give alms to the poor.
and the truth, and the life.
We must not lie to each other.
I smell ratsbane.
You will taste it if you fail to do as I ask.
I have no fears for my life.
What of Amelia's? What life could she expect, I wonder, if it were known she spends her days tuft hunting with her black whore? What hell broth do you spew? One of your daughter's making.
I want you to go to Justice Hunt and to tell him that Margaret Wells is forcing girls to work in her house against their will.
Tell him how it sickens you, how you cannot bear such cruelty even for one day more.
She's a good woman.
Your mother.
She's not my mother.
There.
Such deeds are so bracing for the soul.
(DOOR SLAMS) Is that him? (GROANING) Rasselas? (EXCLAIMS) Who in Lucifer's name are you? (BELL TOLLING) (CLEARS THROAT) Mr.
Hunt.
Ah.
Um, for you, in return for the delicious gift you left, with an apology, I fear I upset you earlier.
Oh, I apologize.
I was-âI was harsh.
Then we make an apologetic p-p-pair.
Would you take a walk with me? Um (LIVELY MUSIC) (HUFFING, PUFFING) Come on, Charlie! Put some chops into it! She broke her word! I will not let her scare us.
She will feel the sting of my tongue.
You stay away from her.
Keep your fists up, big man.
(KNOCKING) (THUDDING PUNCHES) Come to crow? I've come to help.
You helped me once before.
Deserve that.
(GRUNTING) What kind of mother attacks her own son? - Concentrate.
- You leave him alone.
You promised me protection.
You're not helping, keeping the son in the house.
How did she find out so soon? Not from him.
He's my only shield against her.
Shame he's a useless prick.
You need a bully.
- Get soldier boy in there.
- I can't pay him.
I've got repairs to make.
I'll pay.
Till you're sorted.
Guilt money.
(SOFT MUSIC) I'll take it.
And stick a musket up Charlotte's ass.
What is she doing in that house? She stands to lose more than any of us.
Not from where I'm standing.
I'm the eldest of five.
My mother cried when I left.
But she'll be pleased when I send money home.
And where is home? - Langley - Ah! London must be overwhelming.
Well, it would be, had I not met such kind people so soon.
I look forward to repaying your faith with hard work.
Well, we're very lucky to have found you.
(TENSE MUSIC) I have dedicated myself to the law, but discovering its imperfections leads me to question - my whole life.
- Oh, please don't.
- You do your best.
- But I I can do better.
Your goodness is a standard by which I wish to be measured.
I am not good.
But you have transformed Violet.
Given the right position in society, you could guide so many others.
(STAMMERS) Would you be my wife? (SOFT MUSIC) You could keep me steadfast.
I could keep you safe.
(STAMMERS) This is, um, too sudden, I see.
Please.
I ask only that you think about it.
(CLEARS HIS THROAT) You'll answer the door and gauge the culls.
And come running if we start screaming.
Does this mean I get favorable terms? No terms, no touching.
- You're one of us now.
- Like a big brother.
You can teach me to fight.
That's not fun.
I'd rather teach you some things I learned in France.
We know it all.
Was it worth running? I feared the same fate as your girl.
A life lived in fear is not life worth living.
What do you want of me? I want you to be my eyes in Golden Square.
(APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS) Rasselas! Amelia! (SOFT MUSIC) Where have you been? There must be some good in you to be missed so.
She will fit in well.
What if she doesn't want to? Why wouldn't she? Virtue is a hindrance to a woman.
After tonight, she can climb.
(DARK MUSIC) I'm proud of you.
Your mother was never strong enough to help with new girls.
You surpass her in every way.
What do you want, Charles? No true mother would attack her son's home.
And no son of mine would be such a dull-headed dupe.
- We had an agreement.
- Which your treacherous trollop broke, she tried to have me hanged.
- You're lying.
- Am I? Go to the justice, ask him yourself, and get out of my house! How can I stand at an altar and vow before God to worship his body? I always follow my heart and live in penury for it.
Amelia.
A word? Alone.
I do not like the company you keep.
- He's my friend.
- He's a sinner.
Jesus taught us to go among them.
But not to become one.
I know.
I know the grubby little secret you have with Violet Cross.
I met Mr.
Hunt.
God has put him in your way.
He asked me for your hand.
- I can't marry him.
- You will marry him! I have given my life to you, Amelia.
I ask that you do this in return.
But I don't love him.
Love.
Mr.
Hunt will save us.
Your black whore will drag you down.
For God's sake, man, first you interrupt my whoring and then this warrant arrives.
Lord Liddington has been implicated in a murder.
I'm sure you'll agree there is a distinction.
He is the son of the Earl of Hovingham.
There is evidence.
This was found on the murdered woman.
It matches a jacket worn by - Lord Liddington.
- Did you find it? - No, one of the victim's friends.
- Have you seen the matching jacket? - No.
- So you want to raise a warrant on the strength of a button and the word of a whore? If there is anything in this, you must find plausible evidence.
And stop harassing the nobility.
(DOOR SLAMS) (BIRDSONG) I feel sick.
It's not your crime.
It will be if I don't save her.
Entrapment, rape, ruin.
Then let's go to the Justice now.
I'm implicated in all of it.
And he won't want a repeat of last night.
We have to get the girl to him.
How? (SIGHS) We need someone trustworthy to bid for her and take her from the house.
Do you know of anyone? I don't trust a single soul in my circle.
Then I must go to my ma on Greek Street.
She'll find someone.
Here.
It's over 100 pounds.
I've known men bid 200 for a virgin.
Add to it if you can.
Ma will too.
You trust me to do this? (TENSE MUSIC) Abigail.
That's the girl's name.
A sweet thing, untarnished by our world.
Help her stay that way.
(HORSE SNUFFLES) (HOOVES CLOPPING) (KNOCKING) (INDISTINCT SHOUTING IN STREET) Miss Scanwell.
Come in, come in.
Please.
Dare I hope you have an answer for me? (SOFT MUSIC) Yes.
My answer is yes.
My mother's keen for it to happen soon.
My dear.
This is my most prized possession, acquired from the furthest reaches of Greece.
The dagger of a Spartan warrior.
The Spartans were a superior race.
They killed their lessers, the Helots, as a rite of passage.
What made them lesser? Their blood.
Have you ever used it? I consider myself a Spartan.
Does that scare you? (MUSIC INTENSIFIES) I'm a Spartan too.
You want money.
I always want money.
Is Charlotte Wells blackmailing you? She saw me out riding naked and threatens to ruin my reputation.
- What's left of it.
- I'm a grown woman.
I should have free access to the money Father left me.
You are ludicrous.
Cavorting with a harlot, letting her fleece you.
It would be reckless of me to give an imbecile like you your own funds.
You need me to take care of you.
You're not fit to take care of anyone.
You see? You're disturbed.
Attacking your devoted guardian.
Just give me a hundred pounds and I will leave you in peace.
Is it the bawd who blackmails you, - is Charlotte - Give me my money! I'm getting warmer.
That's all you get till you start telling me some truths.
(KNOCKING) You have been elusive.
The new justice is hanging my kind.
And persecuting mine.
Your cheek looks hollow.
I lost my dear boy.
So did I.
Hmph.
We're hosting a communion of Vestal Virgins this evening.
Stay.
Be our honorary eunuch.
(INTENSE, DRIVING MUSIC) (SNIFFING) Come again.
You're welcome anytime.
Fanny, how you getting on up there? He only paid for half an hour! (CACKLING) (DEEPLY INHALING) (DEEPLY INHALING) "The prince hacked his way through the forest" and climbed to the tower "where the beauty lay sleeping.
" Much like your todger.
You lost? He had a good old sniff of my fundament, but he didn't want to touch it.
(CACKLING) Margaret.
Girls.
I'm Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam.
Charlotte sent me.
She's contrived the means to trap the viper Quigley.
And what's Quigley to you? A perpetual menace.
(TENSE MUSIC) And what does Charlotte want us to do? We need to buy a virgin.
(DOOR SLAMS) (APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS) Webster's needed in Greek Street.
He's only been here a minute.
Well I'll be your bully tonight.
Mags has other plans for him.
(DOOR SLAMS) What are you doing skulking in here? - You scared of Nancy? - Scared of you.
Why did you give evidence against my mother? - Not sure that I did.
- Don't lie! She threatened to kill me.
Then you should have come to me, instead of plotting with the Wells woman and that virago out there.
I know.
I know.
I'm sorry.
You're my shield.
You'll protect me against her, won't you? You have to.
I need you.
I can't trust you.
Then trust this.
There's a little Quigley growing inside me.
(EXOTIC MUSIC) Welcome, gentlemen, to the sacred Temple of Vesta.
Behold her chaste priestesses, the Vestal Virgins, as they prepare the way for the goddess herself.
Praise Vesta! Goddess of the hearth and bringer of good fortune.
Make your sacrifices, gentlemen, that you may approach her.
Enchanté.
Sent especially for you from Greek Street.
Got your story straight? I think so.
The lads'll be outside when you bring the girl out.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS) You sure he's up to it? Chance to play the hero.
He'll love every minute of it.
(FUNKY, RHYTHMIC MUSIC) You seem agitated, for a goddess.
I'm waiting for the moment that girl awakes and screams the house down.
Have confidence.
She will remain in a stupor all evening.
What swarthy stranger is this? Welcome, sir, you're new to Golden Square.
Oh, I'm long overdue.
Why, Mr.
Webster.
So glad you could come.
- You know this gentleman.
- In every sense.
- He's obscenely rich.
- (GASPS) - What is your business? - Coffee beans, madam.
Only the finest.
Miss Wells knows of my rarefied tastes.
(LAUGHTER) I can see why she invited me.
Then, please, enter the Temple of Vesta.
(CHUCKLING) Will you frolic with me? It smells funny.
It relaxes the mind.
Like laudanum.
My ma's against all that.
She won't take on girls that have anything to do with it.
And you always do what your mother tells you.
Even if she'll never know.
(DEEPLY INHALES) Excuse me, sir.
Have I wandered into heaven? Very close, we hope.
What a delightful surprise.
Please enter our temple of sacred virgins.
I wished only a word.
I'm at your service, Your Lordship.
Are you blackmailing my sister? "Blackmail" is such a vulgar word.
I am a keeper of secrets.
And you keep hers? Who would ever trust me if I gave anything away? (SHE CHUCKLES) Can you not keep away from me? I am relentless.
My demons are all put to bed.
Surely you are too young to have demons.
(SOFT MUSIC) Perhaps I am a demon.
What did you mean earlier when you said you were a Spartan? The same as you.
You've killed? With one stab.
Who? I can't say.
Your sort stick together.
And I know really, I'm a Helot.
You killed a superior in class? Superior in stupidity.
Sir George Howard, perchance? Shh.
Audacious.
You are indeed a Spartan.
A worthy consort.
(CYMBALS TINKLE) Gentlemen! What you see before you is artifice.
The real virgin lies upstairs, as chaste as the day she was born.
(MURMURING) She offers herself as a sacrifice - to the highest bidder.
- May we see her? She is a timid creature.
Shy, quivering, expectant.
In beauty, she more than matches Vesta's retinue.
The rites of Vesta take place but once a year.
I will never understand men's desire for a virgin.
It is like taking the first bite of a pristine piece of fruit, and the pleasure lies in feeling the flesh give way and the juices stir.
(CYMBALS TINKLE) Who will open the bidding at 50 pounds? (MURMURING) Surely a man like you would prefer a real woman like me.
Fresh fruit cleanses the palate.
Do I hear 60, gentlemen, or is the field clear for the marquess? (DRAMATIC MUSIC) Do I hear 70? Eighty? Ninety? One hundred? They'll have no money left for me.
100 from the marquess.
110 for our untouched pearl.
Two hundred pounds.
A most generous bid from the dark gentleman.
What are you doing? You can't have her.
Do I have any advance on 200? I want you more than ever.
200 pounds, gentlemen, our final offer.
Sold! - Well done, good sire.
- Congratulations.
They'll be here soon.
We'll have to go to Hunt's.
And then Charlotte can get out of that hellhole.
That bitch Quigley will be buried forever.
(HE CHUCKLES) What? I'm home.
I will pay more to dally with her in my own lodgings.
She's like a newborn lamb.
She needs the security of the familiar.
He's paid enough to take her to China and back.
This should make up the difference.
Ah! Where did you get that necklace? I won it.
- At cards.
- Hm.
It belonged to my grandmother.
He won it from your sister.
I was with her.
The woman you won this from, what did she look like? I was with her.
I saw her take the necklace off and throw it in as a stake.
Why such protest? It's a simple question for Mr.
Webster.
(CHUCKLING) I drunk a lot of wine that night.
Ah.
I don't remember.
You don't doubt me, do you, Mrs.
Quigley? (LAUGHTER) This man is a liar and a thief, put him out.
I won that girl.
Get off me! (SCUFFLING) Why won't you listen to me? Your Lordship, you win the virgin by default.
Please return this necklace to your sister with my apologies.
He wants me, not the girl.
An unsullied virgin or a deceitful whore.
I think on this occasion, you lose.
Would you excuse me for a moment? Charlotte.
I'm so sorry, I don't know what that was about.
Shall we carry on as we were? You're right.
I haven't the stomach for it.
I want to spare the girl.
There's more to it.
I've been watching you with that imposter, you're plotting something.
You, him, Lady Fitz.
I want to get the girl out.
Lady Fitz knows nothing of it.
Hm.
Liar.
(LOCK CLICKS) Lydia.
Lydia, I'm telling the truth.
(BANGING ON DOOR) Lydia! Can't you let me out?