Original subtitles

ANN WALKER: Would you like to come for dinner?

And then... stay all night?

MAN: Miss Lister's been playing some impenetrable game.

My brother and I thought that you might be more reasonable.

ANNE LISTER: Oh, you mean softer?

Now you know me better.

-She's a fella. -You're drunk, Sowden.

Thomas, I want you to take your father home,

and then I want you to come back.

You're going nowhere!

You said a hungry pig will eat anything and everything.

Miss Walker might make a companion for me.

I don't want you to be hurt.

(WALKER GASPS)

You're playing with fire.

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[sprightly music]

- I have defended that woman

ever since she was in her teens.

Ever since she began staying

with her aunt and uncle at Shibden Hall,

I have defended her against the vilest insults

and innuendo, through thick and thin,

because I never once thought any of it was true,

because I was fond of her.

And, of course, now I realize only too vividly

what a laughingstock I've been.

- Good Lord. - I told them.

I said, "You're playing with fire."

Your cousin laughed as I left.

I could hear her. She laughed.

- Are you sure? - Yes.

Do you think I could make up something like that?

Two men were hanged

outside York Jail just three months ago...

- I know.

- In front of a crowd of 6,000 people

for unnatural acts.

- I know. I know that.

You mustn't repeat it to anyone, any of it, ever.

- Why?

- Because you can't let yourself,

either of us,

or my cousin, Miss Walker,

be associated with that sort of talk.

- I didn't do anything.

- Anne Lister is clever.

She'll twist it. She'll turn it.

She'll make it reflect more badly on you than on herself.

[scoffs] She could run rings

around Lord Grey and his cabinet

if she got anywhere near them.

- She did try to deny it,

even in the room,

as though it was all in my imagination.

- The best thing, the only response,

is to be rather more cool in future,

to establish some distance,

and certainly not to refer to them in company.

- The thing is,

about not mentioning it to anyone,

I was at Stoney Royd a few days ago,

and so I may have mentioned it

to elderly Mrs. Rawson.

I did...mention it

to elderly Mrs. Rawson.

And Mrs. Stansfield Rawson, she was there, too,

with Miss Catherine and Miss Delia Rawson.

And then to your Aunt Ann at Cliffhill.

So I'm afraid...

yes,

it has been mentioned.

[jaunty music]

♪ ♪

To York? - Yesterday.

In your cousin's carriage.

- Both of them?

- Why?

- To consult a doctor about her spine

and her...nerves.

Nervy...nerve business.

- She has a doctor here.

- Miss Lister's line was that Dr. Belcombe

is "no provincial quack."

- Dr. Kenny is

a very properly trained medical man.

- It's an excuse to get her away from her family

and on her own.

- The unspoken, William,

is not always the unknown.

She'll have her in Paris before we know it.

[bell tolling]

[easygoing music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

- Would you like a posy?

- [sighing]

[chuckles softly]

[warm music]

[sighs] [laughs]

♪ ♪

[both laugh]

♪ ♪

- Uh-oh.

Dr. Belcombe will be here in 20 minutes.

- Oh. [laughs] - Oh, Ann, no. [laughs]

[moans softly] - [laughs]

♪ ♪

[door clicks open]

♪ ♪

- She's getting dressed.

- It was good of you to see her at such short notice, Steph.

- Ah.

Well, I've examined her, and we've had a good long chat

about her family and so forth.

I can give her something for the pain in her back,

but its root cause is nervous hysteria.

- Does that mean it's all in her head?

- That's not to dismiss it, of course,

and I've explained this to her.

Mental suffering is just as acute

as physical suffering, but of course,

we can't see it in the same way

that we can see physical suffering,

so we tend to dismiss it.

She's had a lot of sadness to contend with in her life.

We all cope with things in different ways, of course.

Some people are better equipped to deal with it than others.

- Hmm.

Tell me what I can do to help.

- I think you're doing it, Anne.

I think you're probably the best thing

that's ever happened to her.

She says she feels like a fraud now she's here,

because she's felt so different

since you befriended her.

Did you say you were thinking of traveling abroad?

- Yes.

- Well, then if you can persuade her,

it'll do her more good than anything I can prescribe.

- Oh, she wants to go.

- Well, then that's half the battle.

Have you heard from my sister lately?

- Yes.

Yes, I wrote to her,

told her we were coming to see you.

- What scintillating chitchat from Miss Lister?

- Oh, she's in York.

She's taking someone to see Steph--

one of her neighbors, a Miss Walker.

- A Miss Walker?

Of course.

Is there no end to Miss Lister's selflessness?

[jaunty music]

♪ ♪

- Must've shaken you, William.

The accident above the hall the other week.

- Yes, ma'am. It wasn't pleasant.

- The little boy lost a leg. Did you hear?

Sounds like the idiot driving the gig

didn't know how to handle the thing.

- Couldn't say, ma'am. It all happened so fast.

- You were facing him, as I understand it,

as he approached.

- Like I say,

it was all over and done with

before we knew what was going on.

- James Mackenzie told me that just after it happened,

you said you recognized the man driving the gig

as Mr. Christopher Rawson.

They're my tenants-- the Hardcastles.

They're my people,

and I'd like to know the truth.

- Both my brothers work for Mr. Rawson, ma'am,

and with him being magistrate himself, it...

[sighs] Well, it's not as if it'd even do any good, is it?

- There are other magistrates in Halifax.

- Oh, aye, and they all p--

piss in the same pot.

Anyway, I could have been mistaken.

Could've been anyone.

- Ah.

[sighs]

[light music]

♪ ♪

- Is Eugénie all right?

- Oh, she gets travel-sick. She's useless.

- Oh. [laughs]

[warm music]

♪ ♪

- Thomas?

- Mr. Washington.

- How's things at home?

- Uh, same.

- Any sign of him?

- Nothing, no.

- How's your mother?

It's a heck of a thing,

a fellow walking out on his family like that.

- I just wish we knew what was happening with tenancy,

and then we'd know what we were doing, sir.

- All right, we'll have to see

if Miss Lister's had any more thoughts on the matter

when she's back from York, won't we?

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[jaunty music]

♪ ♪

- Dr. Belcombe was very pleased with me...

- Very pleased. - And sees no reason

why I shouldn't make a full recovery.

- A full recovery. - And not only did he say

there was no reason whatsoever

why I shouldn't travel abroad,

but he said it would do me good.

- Well, Dr. Kenny said exactly the same thing weeks ago.

- Can you not see a difference in Miss Walker already,

Miss Walker?

- Well, everyone has been asking where you were:

the Priestleys, the Rawsons,

Mr. and Mrs. Edwards at Pine Nest.

Everyone's been talking about you.

- We were only gone three days.

- Yes, but it wasn't like you. That was the anxiety.

- I feel...

I feel different. I feel better.

And come January,

our plan is to travel,

first across to the Continent,

then through Switzerland, and then on to Rome.

- For Easter, for the carnival.

- And then back to England and then up to Scotland

to see Elizabeth and the children.

- You must never forget

your brother died in Naples.

- Well, that's not...

Italy's--

I've been several times,

and I've never once felt the least bit queasy.

- [chuckles softly]

- Quite the opposite, in fact.

The climate at Easter will be the perfect tonic.

- It appears that you have my niece

quite under your spell, Miss Lister.

- Oh?

I rather think she has me under hers.

- Aren't you delighted to see me so well, Aunt?

- Well, I'm afraid I must burst your bubble.

There's a letter for you on the desk.

It arrived two days ago.

I'm sorry. I opened it.

It was misdirected here,

and I didn't realize it wasn't for me.

[uneasy music]

- Who?

- It's your friend Mrs. Ainsworth.

- [gasps]

- Ann.

Ann, are you all right? - [quavers]

- Your Uncle Edward's made some inquiries,

and apparently, she was thrown out of an open carriage.

- [moans]

- Here, here. Shh, shh, shh.

- But they-- they're coming here.

They--they're coming here next week!

- Do you have any brandy or smelling salts?

- They're burying her on Monday.

♪ ♪

- Well, she's back from York,

but Miss Walker's had bad news--

a bereavement--

so she's staying over there with her tonight.

- Oh, dear.

- Thank you, Eugénie.

And before I forget, before she does come back,

just to warn you,

after you went off to Market Weighton,

I did--I might have...

The name of Mr. Abbott

may have escaped my lips.

- What? - In front of Anne.

- Oh!

- No, it was an accident. It slipped out.

I played it down. And I'm sure--

- There's nothing wrong with

you seeing someone, Marian.

If you want to invite someone to tea,

you invite someone to tea.

- But, Jeremy, he makes carpets.

- He's a founder member

of the Joint Stock Halifax Banking Company.

- Our father's father's father

was a wool merchant.

She forgets that.

She conveniently forgets that when she's doing her,

"15 generations

"and between two and three centuries,

all the way back to Charlemagne."

Trade.

We are descended from trade,

just like the rest.

[gentle orchestral music]

♪ ♪

- [speaking French]

Love, you all right?

- [speaking French]

- Come here. Shh.

Come on, let's sit you down.

- [crying] - I'll get you some tea...

with a bit of sugar.

Let's help ourselves to a bit of sugar for you, eh?

♪ ♪

- [whispering] What's up?

- [whispering] I'll tell you later.

[wind whooshing]

[sharp bang] - [gasps]

[sighs]

I keep thinking he's gonna come through that door

and murder us all.

- Yeah.

- I'm sure he has it in him.

Amy's been crying again.

- Why?

- Oh, happen she misses him.

God knows why. I don't.

Only I wish we knew what we were doing.

- Well, she's supposed to be back from York today,

Miss Lister, so I'll try and talk to her

when I see her.

- She'll no'an help us.

- You don't know.

- You know, what I can't fathom

is why he'd not take any of his things, eh?

There's a brand-new pair of boots

under that bed upstairs.

And his cart.

Why'd he not go over to the big house

and fetch his cart, eh?

- Happen he's walked to Liverpool,

sneaked on board a packet, and sailed to America.

He once told me that's what he'd do,

if he could.

- When?

- Years ago.

- When? - Years ago.

No, we'll not see him again.

We were nothing but an inconvenience to him.

- [speaking French]

Years ago.

And I never found another one.

But...

job...

my leg...

So I'm stuck here, jack-of-all-trades.

Still... [slurps]

It's nice to belong somewhere.

Oh, no.

[door clicks open]

Get it all out.

- What's happened?

[graceful orchestral music]

♪ ♪

- Do you want to talk about her...

Mrs. Ainsworth?

- She was...

kind.

- You must have been very close to her.

- Why do you say that?

- Because you're so upset.

- Not close like we are,

if that's what you're thinking.

♪ ♪

It's death.

It's anything to do with death.

♪ ♪

Terrifies me.

♪ ♪

[liquid pouring]

♪ ♪

[rapid tapping]

- I wonder

if we should pay a house call on Mr. and Mrs. Priestley.

- What?

- Now, this morning, first thing.

- Why?

- [sighs] Because...

if we skulk and avoid her,

it'll look like we have something to hide,

something to be ashamed of, and we haven't.

We don't.

We're just two respectable women

who choose to spend time together, and that's all.

- She saw us...

[quietly] kissing.

- She didn't.

Well, not exactly, but the point is...

if she says anything to anyone,

which she may or may not do-- who knows--

if we carry on as normal,

as if we have nothing to hide,

it'll undermine anything she might go around saying,

whereas if we avoid polite company,

it might reinforce the idea that what she says

has some truth in it.

- Must we do it now, today?

- I always think it's better to broach these things head-on

and deal with them.

You could tell them how you got on in York.

Really, they ought to be delighted.

[clock ticking]

- So will Mr. Ainsworth

still come for his meeting with the church trustees?

- We haven't heard anything else.

- He could always stay here with us

rather than with you, if that's helpful.

Maybe I should write to him.

As one of the church trustees,

I will be meeting with him anyway.

- Thank you.

- And make the offer.

- Such sad news.

What a shame you didn't see Miss Walker

when she'd just returned from York.

She was a different person altogether.

Weren't you?

- Dr. Belcombe was... very pleased with me.

- And sees no reason why she shouldn't make

a full recovery.

And his prescription is to travel,

so...

That went well.

- Did it?

- Well enough.

Listen, I've got to get back to Shibden.

- [sighs] Oh.

- I've got things to do, people to see.

[jaunty music]

♪ ♪

Morning. - Morning, ma'am.

♪ ♪

- Marian.

How was Market Weighton?

- Pleasant.

- Good.

- How's Miss Walker?

- Very...

Well, she was, and then this bereavement

knocked her for six.

- Jeremiah Rawson's here to see you again.

- Hmm.

I've got to go into Halifax.

- I've got to go into Halifax.

- I'm going down a pit.

- I'll come with you.

Not down the pit, just into Halifax.

♪ ♪

- I hear you've been to York.

- Is that of interest to you?

- Only that it would have been helpful

to have sorted this business before you went.

- To you, perhaps.

To me, as I keep telling you,

it's a matter of indifference.

The trip was all a bit last-minute.

I'm thinking of buying a new gig.

Am I right in thinking your brother

bought a new gig recently?

- Yes, yes, he did.

He didn't like it, so he sent it

back to the manufacturer in Liverpool.

- Not a company he'd recommend, then.

Is there a name,

so I can avoid it?

- Oh, uh... I can find out.

- Would you? - But it would be very nice

if we could settle about the coal.

- When was that? - What?

- When he sent it back.

- Four, five weeks ago. Why?

- So, like you,

I was at a loss to account

for the misunderstanding between us.

Why you imagine I'd sell both beds at that price

is a mystery after I'd adumbrated

my calculations so deftly.

- But with the price being so steep,

I imagined it did cover both beds.

- No.

So I value the upper bed, if you want it,

at £160 per acre.

However, I'm prepared to make an abatement on this

and sell it to you at £139 and ten shillings

per acre to show good faith,

but the price of the lower bed remains the same.

I realize you'll have to consult your brother,

but I would like an answer before the end of the week

so I can offer it to the other applicant,

if that's what it comes to.

- Miss Lister, you do know

that my brother isn't someone to mess with,

don't you?

- Are you threatening me?

- No, I'm not.

I'm telling you for your own good.

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- I'm sorry

that we argued before I went away.

I--I said things I regret,

and I apologize.

- I don't like it when we argue any more than you do.

- No, I know that, and I'm sorry.

- I know you think it doesn't affect me,

but it does.

- That's why I'm apologizing.

- It upsets my equilibrium.

- I know. It upsets mine too,

and I'm sorry.

I'm going to Jackson's for flannel to make drawers.

Can I get you any?

I've got a new pattern with an improved gusset.

I can make you some if you like.

- Actually, I am planning on traveling again in February

with Miss Walker,

Aunt Anne's health permitting.

So yes,

new drawers would be useful.

- You've become great friends, you and Miss Walker.

- Hmm.

[bell tolling]

If she were to move in with me at Shibden

as my companion,

how would you feel about that?

- Would she leave Crow Nest?

- [sighs] She says so.

She rattles around in it on her own.

- Oh, I'd be delighted.

- Would you? - Of course!

I like her, the little I've seen of her,

and...I'd be pleased for you

to be more settled.

- Thank you, Marian.

- There was one thing I did say

before I went off to Market Weighton

which may have overstepped the mark

but, at the same time, wasn't entirely inaccurate.

I believe Aunt Anne has mentioned Mr. Abbott to you.

Anne. Anne!

- His name did escape her lips, yes.

- I'd like to invite him to tea.

Father says I can. In fact...

- Really? - He'd like me to.

- Well, then do you need my permission?

- It was more your blessing and...

an undertaking that you'd be civil to him.

- You'll find me no obstacle

to something you have very much at heart, Marian,

as long as it's an intelligent choice,

but one would only be doing one's duty as an elder sister

to question the pedigree of a man who makes rugs.

[rousing music]

- Anne!

♪ ♪

- Miss Lister! - Mr. Holt.

- I have the figures for you, ma'am,

both for sinking a new pit at the top of the hill

and for reopening Listerwick.

♪ ♪

- What's that?

- That's just an occupational hazard.

The ceiling's low in places,

and they will forget their caps,

and then they graze their skulls.

Either that, or they bust their ankles

letting the carts catch up with their heels.

- How old is...

- That one? Uh...

pfft, don't know. Six, seven, eight.

It's better if they don't get too big.

Track's narrow in places and low,

so it's just easier for them all round

if they don't fill out too much.

Are you still determined

to go down there yourself, ma'am?

[energetic music]

♪ ♪

- Keep your 'ead down, mister.

♪ ♪

[water dripping, tools clanging]

- How many people do you employ?

- This pit? 14.

Five men, three women, six boys,

except some of them are girls.

- And how do the shifts work?

- Two 12-hour shifts, ma'am. Round the clock.

Demand is insatiable,

and of course, down here, it don't matter

whether it's 10:00 in the morning

or 10:00 at night.

- And that model would work for my pit?

- Once it's sunk. This is a horizontal shaft.

Yours would be vertical with a winding engine,

which is what makes your setup costs

that much more expensive.

- £2,000 is a lot of money.

- It is indeed, ma'am,

but you'll be laughing when profits come in

and for years to come.

- [sighs] So there I am, knee-deep in water,

and it struck me that I ought to add another clause

to the lease with the Rawsons

to stop them from turning the water back on me

when they've finished loosening my coal.

- Might I ask, Miss Lister,

what is your strategy

as regards this business with the Rawsons,

just to be clear?

- I want them to know that I know

that they've been stealing my coal,

even if we can't name it as such...

- Hmm.

- And for them to pay for it fairly,

and I want them to know that I'm not someone

who will turn a blind eye or be intimidated,

and as soon as I can, I shall get down there myself

and deal with them properly,

but that's going to take time.

- Christopher Rawson is a bully and an opportunist.

He's certainly no gentleman.

Doesn't surprise me

they've been stealing from your beds.

Oh, Jeremiah's decent enough, left to his own devices,

but he's terrified of Christopher.

If anyone's equal to him, it's you.

- [soft laugh] - But, uh, he will play dirty.

- Word has it that he caused the accident above the hall

where the boy lost his leg.

Five weeks ago, he had a new gig,

and then he decided very suddenly

that he didn't like it anymore, sent it back

to the manufacturer in Liverpool.

- No witnesses?

- None that will testify.

- [scoffs] Ah.

Sadly, sending a gig back to the manufacturer

isn't really proof of very much.

- No.

Oh, and another thing,

nothing to do with Christopher Rawson--

not that I know of.

I've heard a tenant disappeared.

- Mm.

- He's left his family behind.

Samuel Sowden, over at Upper Sowden Farm.

I need to know what to do about the tenancy.

- [speaking French]

- [speaking French]

[bell jingles]

- Miss Lister.

- Is she-- - No, ma'am.

She's in the library.

- What's the matter?

I came as quickly as I could.

[kisses]

- I...

I've had a letter from...

[clears throat] Mr. Ainsworth.

- And?

- An account of Mrs. Ainsworth's last day

and how kind she was to some poor people,

and then...

the accident.

I think he wants to marry me,

and I think he wants to propose to me.

- Can I see it?

- What? - The letter.

- Oh, no.

- [sighs]

What do you mean, you think

he's going to propose to you?

- The intention's clear.

- Can I not see it?

- It's marked private.

- Well, I won't tell him.

Well, he's quick off the mark,

with his wife not yet buried.

An offer of marriage-- it's not something

to be sniffed at or treated lightly,

and a curate too, a man of God!

What more could any woman want?

- You're cross. - Am I?

- I don't-- I don't want to marry him.

I want to be with you.

- Well, then...

No, it's...

An offer of marriage

isn't something to be sneezed at.

And obviously,

it needs some consideration.

[sighs] A clergyman's wife.

And who knows? A mother...

in the fullness of time

and then maybe one day a grandmother,

and then you really would have fulfilled

your destiny on this planet as a woman.

- I...

I've been so in love with you.

I always have been,

ever since the first time I saw you

when I was 18--younger!

I think the first time I ever saw you, I was 14,

and then I knew then.

I just--I knew, and...

It's just utterly clear to me now.

So often, whenever I've thought of it,

I've just felt a repugnance

towards forming any sort of connection with a man,

but I... [sobs]

[melancholy music]

♪ ♪

She was a lot older than him.

- Sorry?

- Mrs. Ainsworth, she...

she was 15 years older than him, and...

Once or twice, she would joke--

at least I always thought it was a joke--

that she would die first, and then...

who would look after Thomas?

And she'd say, "It'll have to be you, Annie."

- Why won't you let me see the letter?

- Because...

- What?

- I told you, it's marked private.

♪ ♪

Anne?

- You're going to have to make a decision.

There's clearly more to it

than you're able or willing to tell me.

So he will require an answer,

I assume, as much as I do to this alleged proposal.

- No, he hasn't actually asked me yet.

- No,

but for some reason, it would appear

to be on the cards,

and it would be good to have an answer ready,

so...

Ah, today's Friday.

I propose you have the weekend to think it over, and...

instead of giving me your yes or no

on the 3rd of April,

I'd like it first thing Monday morning,

and then we both of us know what we're doing.

- I can't make such a big decision so quickly!

Do you think I should marry him?

- That...

[sighs]

Only you can decide something like that.

- Most people

would think I'd be foolish not to at my age,

wouldn't they?

- [sighs] Yes.

Yes, they would.

- Would we still see each other?

- No.

I think if you take him, you'd have to give me up.

- No, but not as friends. Only as this, Anne.

- How could we go back to common friendship now?

[poignant music]

No.

♪ ♪

You must think it through carefully,

because you'll have to live with the consequences,

whichever way you decide.

We both will.

And there'll be no going back on it once it's made,

but I think it would be very unlikely

that we could remain friends

after all that's passed between us.

I think it would be too painful.

♪ ♪

- Why do I have to decide on Monday?

- [sniffles]

Because we have to know what we're doing.

I have to know what I'm doing.

♪ ♪

I behaved as well as I could.

Though perpetually saying to myself,

"Well, I care not how she decides;

"I care not much for her;

the whole thing was only ever a game,"

as I left, she hung upon me

and cried and sobbed aloud at parting,

saying, "I hope we shall meet under happier circumstances."

♪ ♪

"Well," said I to myself as I walked off,

"a pretty scene we have had,

"but surely I care not much,

"and I shall take my time of suspense

"very quietly and be easily reconciled

either way."

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

Don't do this to me.

Don't you dare do this to me again.

♪ ♪

[children chattering, dog barking]

- Jeremiah tells me

you've been letting Miss Lister

run rings around you over her coal.

Christopher, is it true?

- No, Mother, it isn't.

- That's not exactly how I worded it, Mother.

- Maneuvering you into paying silly prices.

- Trying to and failing miserably.

- She's very clever. - Oh, we know she's clever.

- That's why I like her,

her company, her conversation,

even though she is a bit of an oddity.

She's been to so many places,

done so many things.

Most women are dull and stupid...

but not her.

- Well, happily,

I'm just as clever as she is,

and I have the measure of her.

- Oh, I doubt it!

- Cake?

- She's threatening to sink her own pits,

so she has us over a barrel as regards price,

given what's gone on.

- You haven't been stealing her coal, have you?

- What?

- Nothing.

- What did Stansfield say?

- Nothing, Mother.

- I'm fast coming to the conclusion

that she's bluffing about sinking her own pits,

because how could she possibly afford it?

And this latest demand is just nonsense.

I'm tempted to tell her

where she can shove her upper bed--

sorry, ladies-- and call her bluff.

- Well, perhaps her little friend

will help her.

She's got plenty of money.

- Sorry, what? Who?

- Miss Walker, your cousin!

They went to York together, apparently,

and now they're inseparable.

- Really? - Next stop, Paris.

Maybe Miss Walker will let Miss Lister

dip into her purse.

Whatever else she's been letting her dip into.

[laughs]

So sorry, ladies.

[warm music]

[chuckles]

♪ ♪

- Me and the lads generally stop

for us dinners about now, Miss Lister,

if that's all right.

- Yes, of course it is.

- Jamie, lad.

- I'll just do this, Mr. Booth.

- Aye, good lad.

He's a good lad.

You should have a drop of beer,

if nowt else, for your dinner, ma'am.

You've been digging like the devil.

- Mm...

Need to talk to you

about you and Eugénie.

Really is an inconvenience.

- It's all off.

- Sorry?

- It's not happening,

so we're all all right.

- Oh. - Yep. [sighs]

- What happened?

- Nothing. Just, uh... [chuckles]

You know.

'Course, as you said, it were a step down for her.

It would never have done,

and she realized that

when she got back from York, so...

[clears throat]

- She was very pale in York...

and tearful.

I pretended not to notice, but...

[sighs]

Was she pregnant?

- Well, it wasn't mine.

- It was George's, wasn't it?

I thought they were getting on very well

in Hastings and in Langton, and then...

Good Lord.

I thought she was preoccupied with something

when we got back here, but...

I just couldn't decide if it was just...

you know, Shibden. - [chuckles]

I felt sorry for her. - [exhales]

- In a new place and a load of unfamiliar faces,

and Mrs. Cordingley said-- - Cordingley?

- She confided in Mrs. Cordingley,

with her having a bit of French,

and we none of us knew what to do to help her--

- Everyone?

Sorry, all of the servants knew?

- And Eliz--Mrs. Cordingley said what she needed,

what Eugénie needed,

was a man with a good Christian heart

to step in and do the decent thing.

- Oh, John.

- Well, it weren't entirely a selfless thing.

I was--I am...

a bit smitten with her.

- You do realize you're too good for her, don't you?

- Well, it's often the way

when you feel like that about someone, isn't it?

It's very rare that both parties feel

exactly the same about each other.

[tender music]

- I don't know.

I think sometimes a thing can start that way,

but then--

- Will you-- you won't dismiss her,

will you?

- Hmm.

Well,

proper French lady's maids don't grow on trees,

certainly not in Halifax.

- [chuckles]

- I don't know what shocks me most,

the thing itself

or Cordingley not saying anything to me.

- Are you all right, ma'am?

♪ ♪

- I'm always all right.

- Ma'am!

There you are. - Hello.

- Hello, John. - Mr. Washington.

- Young Thomas Sowden has asked me

to ask you if you've had any further thoughts

about their tenancy

since his father took off.

- Yes.

I have.

[pigs grunting]

- Come on. Come on.

- Mom.

- Mrs. Sowden? - Yes.

- It's a letter from my father, Mr. Washington,

on behalf of Miss Lister about your tenancy.

- I like your pigs, Mrs. Sowden.

I'd like to farm pigs meself.

- Just ignore her. She talks too much.

- Can either of you girls read?

Thomas?

Thomas, there's a letter from Mr. Washington

about the tenancy.

- Hello!

- Hello.

- Hello.

- Would you mind?

- "Dear Thomas and Mrs. Sowden,

Miss Lister confirm"--

Can never read his spidery writing.

Um, "Miss Lister confirmed this afternoon,

"following a conversation with her lawyer, Mr. Parker,

"in Halifax yesterday,

"that if Samuel has not returned to the farm

"within a period of two months,

"as of today's date,

"she will be obliged to terminate

"her agreement with him

as regards to the tenancy of the farm."

- What?

- Hold on.

"At that point, however, she also"...

What?

- "Confirms that she will offer"...

- "Confirms that she will offer

"a six-month tenancy to you, Thomas,

at the same price your father pays presently."

[both laugh]

[warm music]

[both laugh]

- Can I go and look at your pigs now, Mrs. Sowden?

- Of course you can. Amy, you take this young lady--

- Eliza and Suzannah.

- Well, you take Eliza to look at the pigs.

And, well, I can offer you a cup of tea

and a bit of cake, both of you.

- That's very kind. Thank you.

So no sign, then, of Mr. Sowden?

- No, nothing.

- We're glad he's gone.

♪ ♪

[uneasy music]

♪ ♪

[watch ticking]

- I'd take advice, obviously,

but as well as reopening Listerwick,

I'd like to sink a new pit here, above Conery Wood.

What?

- I've told you before, it's a nasty business.

I wish you wouldn't--

- Hinscliffe has heard Rawson's men

in my upper bed here,

which means they're not just stealing coal;

they're stealing significant amounts of coal.

What am I supposed to do, take it lying down,

let them take what they want from my land

and not do anything?

- Is it costed?

- Just over £2,000.

I believe I can get it to just under.

- I can't lend you more than £450.

- Really?

- And how will you get the rest?

- Well, it's not impossible that...

Miss Walker and I have become very close, and if things...

[knock at door]

How would you feel

if she were to move in here with me as...

- For Miss Lister.

- My companion?

- I'd be very happy for you.

It's time you settled.

- All right, thank you.

- Well, then...

it's not impossible that she might be in a position

to lend me some money.

- Ma'am, the servant from Crow Nest just called

with this for you.

[quiet music]

♪ ♪

- Thank you.

♪ ♪

- My love,

I find it impossible to make up my own mind.

I promised you an answer,

and I'm at your mercy.

I have written the words "yes" and "no"

on a slip of paper and put them in a purse.

If you still think it better to decide today,

the paper you draw out first must be the answer.

Whatever shall be the event,

I shall always remain your faithful and affectionate

Ann Walker.

♪ ♪

[door clicks open]

- I would have known what to do with a yes or a no,

but this?

What am I supposed to do with this?

I mean, do you think, do you really think

that I'm someone to have my future happiness

decided by fate,

by which bit of paper comes out of a purse first,

like a--like a raffle ticket?

- [weakly] No. - What?

- No. I--I couldn't...

- What?

Ann! - [softly] Nothing.

- I'm taking it as a no.

- It isn't a no.

- Well, it isn't a yes.

Will you accept him?

- I don't want to, but--

- But?

But what?

What?

- If I did,

it would be out of duty.

- Duty?

What, to her? To Mrs. Ainsworth?

- No.

- Well, what, then?

- I...

[crying]

- Ann.

- [crying]

- Ann, talk to me. We're adults.

Nothing can be this bad.

- I'll never see you again.

- What? What do you mean?

- If I tell you the truth, you won't want

anything to do with me.

[crying]

- I might surprise you.

Hmm?

- It's him.

- Him? Him who?

- The Reverend Ainsworth.

I've been...

Indiscreet with him.

He said that he was in love with me,

and that he wanted to marry me and she wouldn't live long,

and I didn't want to,

but I didn't know how to say no.

That's why I was so upset

when I heard that she'd died,

because I knew this would happen!

I knew it wouldn't be five minutes

until he was writing to me, and, Anne,

Anne, I never encouraged him.

I told him I didn't want to, but then he just...

managed situations that he was alone with me,

either here when they visited

or there at their house.

Do...

do you understand?

You understand the problem?

He's had...

Intimate knowledge of me.

- Intimate how?

- [crying]

- Kissing?

Did he...

Touching?

Have you been connected?

- Once.

This is the thing.

Does that not...

put me under an obligation to him,

to Mr. Ainsworth?

- Hang on.

He inflicted himself on you.

You were in his house

to visit your friend, his wife.

You were under his protection,

in his house,

and he took advantage of you.

- When she left the room.

But still, does-- morally, does that not--

- No, God. Good God, no! Of course it doesn't.

You're under no obligation at all

because he was married, for heaven's sake!

- You're shouting. You're cross.

- No, I'm not shouting at you. I'm not cross at you.

I'm glad-- I'm glad you've told me, Ann.

Ann, you are not obligated to him.

- And do you see? Do you--

do you see now this is why I couldn't say yes to you,

because I was worried that--

all sorts-- that you'd be c--cross...

- No. - And that you'd expose me,

and that I wasn't even free or fit to say yes to you,

and that's why I couldn't show you the letter,

and it's--

The letter's right here.

And it's just clear from the language he uses

he already thinks I'm his.

To "My own little Annie,"

from "Your own Thomas Ainsworth,"

and I couldn't tell anybody

because he said it would reflect

just as badly on me as it did on him.

[crying]

I know you'll think I'm weak...

and stupid...

but you see, if I'd had someone like you in my life,

this would've never happened,

because I'd have had someone to talk to,

to tell...

someone who would've helped me. [cries]

[melancholy music]

♪ ♪

- Is everything you've told me absolutely true?

- Yes.

♪ ♪

- [kisses]

You do know I would have got you

out of this scrape, don't you,

whether you'd have said yes to me or not?

- Would you?

- Grubby little wretch.

And in a dog collar.

- He'll still be coming over for this position,

this meeting with the church trustees.

The whole thing, no doubt, is just a ruse

to get nearer to me.

- Shh, shh, shh.

[sighs]

You have nothing more to fear from him.

Do you understand me?

- What are you going to do to him?

[jaunty music]

♪ ♪

- I haven't decided yet.

- ♪ Behind her back, she's Gentleman Jack ♪

♪ A Yorkshire lady of renown ♪

♪ Ever so fine, won't toe the line ♪

♪ Speak her name and gentlemen frown ♪

♪ At Shibden Hall, she had them all ♪

♪ The fairer sex fell under her spell ♪

♪ Dapper and bright, she held them tight ♪

♪ Handsome Anne seduced them well ♪

♪ Gentleman Jack, oh, Gentleman Jack ♪

♪ Watch your back, you're under attack ♪

♪ Their husbands are coming, you'd better start running ♪

♪ For nobody likes a Jack-the-lass ♪

♪ Jack-the-lass, Jack-the-lass ♪

♪ No one likes a Jack-the-lass ♪

♪ The code is cracked, your bags are packed ♪

♪ The knives are out for Gentleman Jack ♪

[bright tone]

The Reverend Thomas Ainsworth is at the door.

You don't think he intends to propose to you?

So you shouldn't say anything to Mr. Ainsworth.

Miss Lister! The thing you should understand--

What you need to understand is you would be exposed...

as an adulterer.

MAN: If she wants to start running with the big dogs,

then she's gonna have to find out what it's like

when they really start biting.

You're in the worst kind of danger,

in this world and the next.

ANNE LISTER: I would rather die then people know what we do.

It's wrong! It's repugnant!

You understand nothing about me.