Catherine! Catherine, help me, for God's sake!
You have heard from James?.
And my parents have consented?.
Yes, your father has been very good.
James is to have a living worth �400 a year
as soon as he is old enough to take it.
But that won't be for another two years, so we must wait that long before we marry.
It seems it wasn't possible for your father to do anything for us immediately.
I'm sure Mr Morland has behaved vastly handsome.
If he finds he can do more, by and by, I dare say he will.
And lsabella's wishes are so moderate.
For myself, it's nothing.
I never think of myself.
But poor James!
�400 a year is hardly enough for the common necessaries of life!
But I suppose everybody has the right to do what they like with their own money.
I am very sure that my father has promised as much as he can afford.
But Mr Allen, I was sure, would do something for James.
Perhaps he does not approve of his choice of bride.
Why should Mr Allen do anything for James?.
Or for any of us?.
It was very kind of Mr and Mrs Allen to bring me to Bath,
but none of us has any expectations from Mr Allen.
My dear, sweet Catherine,
you know I care nothing for money.
If we could only be married tomorrow, I would be happy to live on �50 a year.
But that's the sting.
That's why you find me so cast down.
The two years we must wait before dear Morland can have the living!
Catherine...
How will I endure it?.
I can well understand how she feels.
Two years is a long time.
But at least she can marry the man she loves. Not everyone is so fortunate.
No, I suppose not.
How sad that is.
Yes, it is.
But how many couples marry for love?.
I believe my mother and father love each other even more than they love us,
and they love us very much.
When I was a little girl, I used to think it was like that for everyone.
It was only when I started to read novels that I realised it was not.
I shouldn't have thought one would have to read novels to find that out.
I think you have had quite a dangerous upbringing.
- Dangerous?. How?. - Well, it's as Henry says.
You've been brought up to believe that everyone is as pure in heart as you.
I don't think I'm very pure in heart.
Really?. Why?.
I have the most terrible dreams sometimes.
What's the joke?.
Nothing to concern you.
I love our walks.
I think I should like to stay in Bath forever and go walking with you every day!
Unfortunately, that won't be possible.
Oh?.
Our father told us this morning he's determined on quitting Bath by the end of the week.
Oh.
Miss Morland!
Capital!
Excellent.
Can you, Miss Morland, be prevailed on
to quit this scene of public triumph
and oblige us with your company at Northanger Abbey?.
Northanger Abbey?.
Well, Miss Morland...
..what do you say?.
I am very honoured, sir.
If Mr and Mrs Allen agree,
I should be delighted to accept.
Northanger Abbey!
Aren't you frightened to go there on your own?.
I confess I am, a little.
Well, I dare say, it will be very thrilling for you.
But I do hope you don't forget me, Catherine.
Or our dearest John.
No, indeed.
No need to be coy.
I heard from him today that you and he are as good as engaged.
Indeed we are not!
Useless to dissemble, my dear. Your secret's out.
He says in his letter, not half an hour before he left Bath, you gave him positive encouragement.
He says he as good as made you an offer.
No!
No, there must be some mistake.
Your brother must have misunderstood me, and...
I certainly had no idea he thought he was making me an offer.
Please, undeceive him, and beg his pardon.
Oh.
Well, I dare say we should all be allowed a little harmless flirtation.
But there was no flirtation, not on my side.
And if no-one were allowed to change their minds, where would we all be?.
Perhaps it's for the best, after all.
Isabella, please understand me, once and for all...
Sh! Here he comes!
- Who?. - Tilney, of course!
Oh, I wouldn't have this happen for the world.
Look away, perhaps he's not seen us.
What, always to be watched?.
In person or...
..by proxy?.
Nonsense.
My spirit, you know, is pretty independent.
I wish your heart were independent. That would be enough for me.
My heart?.
What can you have to do with hearts?.
None of you men have hearts.
But we have eyes.
And they give us torment enough.
I think Mrs Allen and your mother are expecting us.
Will you come, lsabella?.
You go.
And tell them I'll follow.
And if I shouldn't see you, write and tell me all your news from Northanger.
Do take a care, sir!
Whoa, there!
Whoa!
Come along now. Four minutes late already coming from Milsom Street.
I'm sure Miss Morland won't keep you waiting, Father.
Oh, Catherine, my dear, quickly, they are here!
How grand!
A chaise and four!
You never aspired to that, Mr Allen!
No, indeed.
Well, Catherine, we shall miss you.
Thank you for all your kindness.
It has been such a happy time.
There, there, my dear.
I should be sharp about it.
These great folks don't like to be kept waiting.
Miss Morland,a thousand pardons for our late arrival.
My eldest son must bear the blame. He stays on in Bath.
Now, my dear Miss Morland, I have a proposal.
As it is a fine day,
how should you like to travel in the curricle with my son,Henry?.
You will enjoy the air and be better able to see the country.
It is, of course, entirely up to you.
I should like that very much.
Did your father say that Captain T:ilney stays on in Bath?.
- Yes. - Oh.
You're disappointed?. You were hoping for my brother's company at Northanger, perhaps?.
No!
No, not at all!
That is, I should have no objection to his company...
Then what is it?. Come.
I am anxious about your brother and Miss Thorpe.
I think he cannot know that she is engaged to my brother.
I suppose he thinks he has a chance with her.
But doesn't he realise how wrong it is of him and what pain it must give to my brother?.
I don't think you should distress yourself too much, Miss Morland.
Your brother shall be returning to Bath very soon.
And my brother should be leaving to rejoin his regiment.
And that will be the end of that.
Now, look there.
It's exactly as I imagined.
It'sjust like what one reads about.
Are you prepared to encounter all of its horrors?.
Horrors?.
Is Northanger haunted, then?.
Oh, that's just the least of it.
Dungeons and sliding panels,
skeletons, strange unearthly cries in the night that pierce your very soul.
And vampires?.
Don't say vampires!
I could bear anything, but not vampires.
Miss Morland,I do believe you're teasing me now.
But if I were to say there is a kind of vampirism...
No, let's just say that all houses have their secrets, and Northanger is no exception.
- Let me help you down. - Thank you.
Miss Morland, welcome to Northanger Abbey.
I hope you will be comfortable.
Do, please, I beg you, make as little alteration to your dress as possible.
My father is most particular about meal times.
I'm sorry to have to ask you.
No...
No, that's quite all right.
I'll see you in a few minutes, then.
If you please,
Miss T:ilney says, do you need any help, miss?.
Oh, no.
No, thank you.
Are you ready?.
So sorry.
Miss Morland. Charming.
Dinner should be on the table directly!
I hope you find our simple style of living to your taste, Miss Morland.
No doubt you have been used to better-sized apartments at Mr Allen's?.
No, indeed, sir.
Mr Allen's dining parlour is only half the size of this room.
Well now, I suppose I care as little as any man for such things,
but a tolerably-large eating room is one of the necessaries of life.
Hmm?.
Tolerably large, indeed, sir.
But I don't think I've ever been in so large a dining room as this one.
You have not?.
Well, no doubt the rooms in Mr Allen's are...
exactly the true size...
..for rational happiness.
Oh!
Oh, why...
What... Whatever are these old things?.
No!
No, leave them, please.
Shirts,
stockings,
cravats.
Laundry lists.
This was my mother's favourite place.
I used to walk so often here with her.
Though I never loved it then as I have loved it since.
Her death must have been a great affliction.
A great and increasing one.
What was she like?. Did she look like you?.
I wish I could show you her portrait.
It hangs in her private chamber.
I suppose you were with her to the last?.
No.
I was away from home when she died.
Her illness was sudden and short, and before I arrived, it was all over.
So you didn't see her body?.
No.
I wish I could have done.
Perhaps it would help me to think of her at peace.
Yes.
I should like to see her room, if you are willing to show me.
We never go there. It is my father's wish.
But to see her picture?.
Yes.
Why should you not see it?.
What do you do there?.
I was going to show Miss Morland Mother's...
There is nothing to interest Miss Morland in this part of the house.
I am surprised at you, Eleanor.
My dearest lsabella,
I long to hear your news.
I hope everything is well with you and James
and that your brother is not too much offended with me.
Northanger Abbey is all that I expected it to be,and Eleanor and her brother very kind.
Oh, lsabella, I fear that this house holds a terrible secret
relating to the death of Mrs Tilney.
Catherine?.
Here I am!
I cannot write more now.
Send me your news, your loving friend, Catherine.
This is a sad day, Miss Morland.
A sad day for me, that is.
I have to go up to town for several days on business.
I trust you'll be able to entertain our guest properly while I am gone?.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure, sir.
Come along!
What are you giggling about?.
One for me, Henry!
This is the last one.
Ooh! Ah!
I thought I might show you Woodston tomorrow, if you'd like to.
It's nothing to Northanger, of course, just a country vicarage.
But I'm very fond of it.
I'd love to.
Look.
Is that your home?.
- It's lovely. - I'm very glad you think so.
I fear we may be about to get a little damp.
Come on, I'll race you back.
Come on! Come on!
Look at the state of the pair of you!
I'll go and get Richards to draw your bath,Catherine.
When we were coming to Northanger Abbey, you said that the house held secrets.
Did l?. And have you discovered any dreadful revelations yet?.
No, but I'd like to know what you meant.
I think that shall have to remain a secret.
A secret once explained loses all of its charms,and all of its danger, too.
Why don't you imagine the worst thing you can, and write your own Gothic romance about it?.
"Northanger Abbey" would make a very good title, don't you think?.
Now you're mocking me.
But I can't help feeling that this house is not a happy one.
Not since our mother died.
And even before then.
I envy you your happy childhood.
My brother Frederick is well enough, I think,sowing his wild oats,
but soon he shall have to make an advantageous match.
My sister is not happy.
Remember the man we met on our country walk?.
He is a good friend of mine,but he is a lot more than that to my sister.
But our father has refused to sanction the match.
Edward is only a second son.
And Eleanor must marry the heir to a rich estate.
And... And you?.
Well, if I'm to retain my father's favour,I must marry a fortune,too.
And shall you?.
I always hoped I'd be lucky,
that the girl I fell in love with would come with a fortune attached.
And...if she should not?.
Then that would be a very...
stern test of my character.
Perhaps we'd better head back.I want to set off for Woodston before nightfall.
See you tomorrow for dinner!
Oh!
Might I ask how you come to be here all alone?.
I wanted to see your mother's room.
Eleanor was going to show me, but your father prevented us.
And so you thought you'd come and see it for yourself?.
Yes.
I suppose Eleanor has talked to you about our mother?.
Yes.
But that is not very much.
What she did say was...
Her dying so suddenly, and none of you being at home,
I thought...
perhaps your father had not been very fond of her.
And from these circumstances you infer...
..some negligence?.
Or something even worse?.
Then let me reassure you,Catherine.
My mother's illness was sudden,
and Eleanor was from home,
but I was here throughout.
And so was my brother Frederick.
Our mother received every possible attention.
Our physician was satisfied that nothing more could be done for her.
The matter was deeply distressing,
- as you may imagine. - Yes, of course.
But your father, was he distressed?.
For a time, greatly so.
She had had to bear a great deal from him but...
..when she was dead, he felt her loss. d
If I understand you rightly, you have been suspecting my father of a crime so dreadful...
You said yourself the house was full of secrets!
And so you decided that my father must be a murderer...
..when to you, at least,
he has shown nothing but kindness?.
Catherine...
how could you?.
What sort of a fevered imagination must you have?.
Perhaps, after all,it is possible to read too many novels.
Look, Catherine.
Oh, whatever is the matter?.
I can't tell you.
Please don't make me.
I have been so wickedly foolish and your brother knows of it.
And now he will hate me for it, and so will you when he tells you.
Oh, my dear Catherine, I'm quite sure that nothing you could do could make me hate you,
or Henry either.
I saw his face. I know.
He will never, ever respect me again.
Come, come. Perhaps it's not as bad as you think.
Look, here is a letter for you.
It will be from lsabella.
Oh.
No, it is my brother's handwriting.
Dear Catherine,I think it my duty to tell you
that everything is at an end between Miss Thorpe and me.
No!
I shall not enter into particulars. They would only pain you more.
You will soon hear enough to know where the blame lies.
I am ashamed to think how long I bore it.
Dear Catherine,I hope your visit at Northanger may be over
before Captain Tilney makes his engagement known.
Captain Tilney?.
Frederick?.
Yes.
It's just what I feared!
-Oh, poor, poor James.He loved her so much. -But Frederick!
And they are engaged?.
- Yes. - No, I can't believe that.
Look here.
"Dearest Catherine, beware how you give your heart."
Dear Catherine, I am sorry for your brother,
sorry that anyone you love should be unhappy.
But my surprise would be greater at Frederick's marrying her than at any other part of the story.
Why do you say that?.
What are Miss Thorpe's connections?.
What is her fortune?. Are they a wealthy family?.
No, not very.
I don't believe lsabella has any fortune at all.
You think your father will forbid the match?.
I doubt if the matter will reach his ears at all.
Why?. Whatever do you mean?.
Catherine, your friend has dealt very badly with your brother.
But I fear she is far out of her depth with mine.
Look at the size of these!
Come on!
And...are we engaged?.
Make yourself decent, Miss Thorpe.
I must return you to your friends before you're missed.
My dearest Catherine,
thank God we leave this vile place tomorrow.
Since you went away, I have had no pleasure in it, and everybody one cares for is gone.
I am quite uneasy about your dear brother
and am fearful of some... misunderstanding.
You will write to him and set everything right?.
He is the only man I ever did or could love, and I know you will convince him of it.
I most certainly shan't!
So, Frederick is safe from her.
I can't say I'm surprised.
Aren't you?. I am, very!
I wish I had never known her.
It will soon be as if you never had.
There is one thing I can't understand.
What has Captain T:ilney been about all this time?.
Why should he pay her such attentions and then fly off himself?.
He has his vanity, as well as Miss Thorpe.
And he is accustomed to...
..having his way.
Though I am surprised he should have stooped to such an easy conquest.
Really?.
Then I am sorry for lsabella.
I am sure she will be over it soon enough.
I hope I don't need to tell you that his brother has a very different character.
Henry has the best and truest heart in the world.
Damned little adventuress!
Eleanor!
Now!
I said now!
Eleanor, whatever can the matter be?.
Come.
Sit down. You are not well?.
My dear Catherine, I am well.
God, how shall I tell you?.
It's not concerning Henry?.
No, no, not Henry.
It is my father himself.
My father has recollected an engagement that takes our whole family away on Monday.
Explanation and apology are impossible.
My dear Eleanor...
Don't be so distressed. I am not offended, I can be ready to leave on Monday.
No, that won't be possible.
Oh, God.
My father insists on your leaving immediately.
As soon as you can make yourself ready.
The carriage will take you to meet the public stagecoach.
No servant will accompany you.
I am to travel all night?.
Alone?.
Have I offended the General?.
I have never seen him more angry.
Your brother must have been so angry with me,he told your father what I did...
..what I suspected.
I deserve to be sent home in disgrace.
You are wrong.
I know my father's reasons and they do him no credit.
To turn you out in the middle of the night! Truly, I fear for your safety.
The journey is nothing.
But have you enough money to pay your way?.
Oh.
I never thought of that.
Well, there at least I can help you.
Oh, Catherine. I am so sorry.
I deserve it.
I deserve it all.
Catherine,I implore you, please take it...
Bye, Catherine.
Newbury! Newbury coach.
Come on, get that luggage off!
It's Cathy!
Hello! How are you?.
Mother, Catherine's back! She's back!
These great men can be very strange and sudden in their behaviour.
Well, we must live and learn.
And the next new friends you make I hope will be better worth keeping
than the ones you made at Bath.
No friend can be better worth keeping than Eleanor.
And Mr Tilney is not to blame.
Such a pleasant, agreeable young man I thought him.
He found us a chair,you know.
And he understands muslin ever so well.
That's greatly to his credit, I'm sure.
But has he written?.
Has he offered any kind of explanation?.
No.
Well...
I dare say there's no harm done in the end.
You did very well to manage that journey all on your own, Catherine.
You always used to be such a scatter-brained little creature.
I'm quite proud of you.
Indeed, I am not proud of myself.
What was the Abbey like?. Was it very scary?.
Were there ghosts?.
It was very big and strange,
with lots of empty rooms and secret passages.
And I did think there might be ghosts. But there weren't any ghosts, really.
People who read too many stories imagine all sorts of horrid things about ghosts and murders.
It is very wrong of them to do so, and it can get you into serious trouble.
So let me not hear of any of you being so silly.
Now, what else would you like to hear about?.
What games did you play?.
Um...
We played I Spy
and charades.
We went horse-riding and got ourselves very muddy indeed.
Was Mr Tilney very handsome,Cathy?.
Yes, I think so.
Very handsome and very kind and everything he should be.
Do you love Mr T:ilney, Cathy?.
No, of course not.
Don't talk such nonsense.
Now...into your beds, all of you.
That's it.
Night-night, Cathy.
GlRL: Night, Cathy!
What did you do to make them send you home, Cathy?.
Did you do something very naughty?.
Come on, back into your bed.
Cathy?.
What is it?.
I did love him!
I do love him!
Now I shall never see him again and it is all my own fault.
Ten...
..men ran to the fen
- to get Ben! - Very good.
- Cathy! - Cathy! Cathy!
It's a man on a white horse!
Go and tell Mama that Mr Tilney is here.
Mr Tilney!
Now!
It's Mr Tilney! He's here!
I am so ashamed of what I said, what I thought...
No, it is I who should apologise.
There's nothing you have said that can justify the way you were treated.
But you were angry with me, and rightly so.
I was angry with you, but that is long past.
Your imagination may be overactive.
But your instinct was true.
Our mother did suffer grievously, and at the hands of our father.
Do you remember I spoke to you of a kind of vampirism?.
Yes.
Perhaps it was stupid to express it so,but we did watch him drain the life out of her
with his coldness and his cruelty.
He married her for her money, you see. She thought it was for love.
It was a long time until she knew his heart was cold.
No vampires, no blood.
The worst crimes are the crimes of the heart.
But it was stupid and wicked of me to think such things as I did.
Cathy!
Mama says, will you bring Mr Tilney to the drawing room?.
Come on.
Mrs Morland,
after what has happened, I have little right to expect a welcome at Fullerton.
You had no part in what happened, Mr Tilney.
And Catherine is as you see her - no harm done.
Any friends of our children are welcome here.
Shall we agree to say no more about it?.
You are very good.
Er...
Are Mr and Mrs Allen now at Fullerton?.
They are, sir.
I should like to pay my respects.
Perhaps Miss Morland might show me the way?.
But you can see their house from the window!
Hush, Lucy.
I'm sure Catherine will be happy to show you,Mr Tilney.
He thought I was rich?.
It was Thorpe who misled him at first, Thorpe, who hoped to marry you himself.
He thought you were Mr Allen's heiress, and he exaggerated Mr Allen's wealth to my father.
You were only guilty of not being as rich as you were supposed to be.
For that, he turned you out of the house.
I thought you were so angry with me you told him what you knew,
which would have justified any discourtesy.
No, the discourtesy was all his.
I have broken with my father, Catherine.
I may never speak to him again.
-What did he say to you?. -Let me instead tell you what I said to him.
I told him that I felt myself bound to you,
by honour,
by affection,
and by a love so strong
that nothing he could do could deter me from...
- From what?. - Before I go on, I should say,
there's a pretty good chance he'll disinherit me.
I fear I may never be a rich man, Catherine.
Please, go on with what you were going to say.
Will you marry me, Catherine?.
Yes!
Yes, I will!
Yes!
NARRATOR: To begin perfect happiness at the respective ages of 26 and 18
is to do pretty well.
Catherine and Henry were married.
And in due course, the joys of wedding gave way to the blessings of a christening.
The bells rang and everyone smiled.
No-one more so than Eleanor
whose beloved's unexpected accession to title and fortune
finally allowed them to marry.
I leave it to be settled
whether the tendency of this story
be to recommend parental tyranny
or reward filial disobedience.