Original subtitles

I hardly know what to tell you about the next half hour,

except that it has been reported as true

by those to whom it happened.

It has been investigated, and no one, as yet, has been able

to explain it or disprove it.

This historic French château in the Rhone Valley is for sale...

Or rent... As many are these days.

But either way, the price is rather steep.

If you're seriously interested in either buying or leasing

this particular one,

there are some things you should know.

For instance, in its more recent history, around 1892,

this château was the scene of a dark and chilling drama.

The old people in the village below still talk

about that night, and still in whispers.

For one important player of this drama,

the beginning was the end.

Oremus.

Oh, Jeanette!

Jeanette! Oh, Jeanette!

That those who are joined together by Thine authority

may be preserved by Thy help

through the same Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Monsieur le Marquis, Madame.

Madame la Marquise.

Of course, Madame la Marquise.

He meant no disrespect, my dear.

We'll take a light luncheon

in the drawing room, Ernest.

Only for two, Monsieur le Marquis?

Only for two; a small reception.

Very well, Madame.

What are you called?

My name is Ernest, Madame la Marquise.

Ernest... I have seen large strawberries,

huge, fresh ones on the table here

when I came to visit in the past.

I would like some of those.

Very well, Madame la Marquise.

A lot. A big plate!

Very well, Madame la Marquise.

"Madame la Marquise."

We had a name for him in the village, another name.

Ah, but, well, we won't talk about that.

I am a lady now.

I'm here.

I am here!

You have been here before.

Ah, but not this way.

Before, it was "sweet Charlotte

from the village, dear Charlotte"...

Someone to pass a rainy afternoon with

when no one important was around.

I used to sit here

on the edge of the chair, humbly having tea.

Jeanette was very democratic.

Has ever the world seen such an unhappy groom?

No, it's not that, my dear.

It's just that it's been such a strange day today.

It must have been a strange day

for Father Leon, too. He was unhappy.

Well, he buried Jeanette only four months ago.

So, no one is happy but the bride, eh?

Oh, Charlotte, give me a little time.

You know that I love you.

"You know that I love you."

You say that like a mouse!

No one at the church but two choirboys...

and no reception.

Had I married the village chimney sweep

I would have had a more gala wedding than this.

We agreed to do it this way, quietly, so there'd be no talk.

And if they talk, what could they say?

Charlotte!

But I am human.

I want to show off my new husband.

And your new house.

And my new house.

Oh, you don't know what it's like

to be as poor as a sparrow, but not to feel like a sparrow.

Actually, I think some of this furniture is rather old.

Not old, my dear, antique.

When you are rich, something old is antique

but when you are poor, something old is something old.

Do you think I could learn to play the piano at my age?

Am I going to have to look at that 24 hours a day?

Yes.

And why?

Remember, you were so fond of Jeanette.

Well, wasn't I?

Didn't I come to visit her every dreary day of her illness...

bringing her soups and custards and jams

and sitting by her bedside

to be sure that she ate every spoonful?

Charlotte, a little delicacy!

Ah! You've changed from the impatient lover

who complained so bitterly

"Why did it take so long? Why does it take so long?"

Charlotte!

And don't talk to me about delicacy.

The servants might overhear.

She was a mouse, too.

Oh, a pretty mouse.

You should have been very happy.

And she was an aristocrat.

How did you fall in love with someone so lowly

as the widow of a common soldier?

Tell me, Your Honor.

Charlotte.

No, tell me first. Oh, no, tell me first.

This is Rose, Charlotte.

I have seen Rose in the market many times.

Always the best for the Marquise.

The best meats, the best vegetables,

the best this, the best that.

Look at the size of this one!

Open your mouth.

Ernest... Madame?

Take the picture down from the wall, please.

Very well, Madame la Marquise.

Ah! I am so hungry!

Eat, my darling, eat.

Oh, Ernest, will you bring me another bottle

of that marvelous wine?

Very well, Madame la Marquise.

Did Jeanette play the piano very well?

What is it?

What's the matter?

Nothing.

Then why do you act

as though it were something?

I... thought I saw... something on the wall.

Jacques, have you lost your mind?!

What are you doing?

Can't you see it?

See what?

Look more closely.

Oh, it's a stain.

I thought I saw it after lunch.

A little while ago, I woke up.

I had to come down here. Something forced me.

What are you talking about?

Don't you really see what it is?

It's nothing.

It's the outline of a skull.

Come up to bed.

Platters and platters of wonderful things:

meats, fish, and delicate things.

And for the wines, the best wines in the cellar.

I want them to leave with the stomachache of their lives.

Will that be all, Madame la Marquise?

Ernest, excuse us.

You, too, please.

Well... what do you think?

Do I look like a real marquise now?

Will you be proud of me at the party?

Charlotte, I tell you, it's worse.

It's much worse today.

The wall again.

You've got to come and see it.

It's so much clearer now.

Rose has been scrubbing at it for an hour.

You've got to come and see it again.

Come and see what?!

Oh, for the love of heaven, Charlotte, come and see it!

"Come and see it. Come and..."

All right! Let us go and see it!

I scrubbed it for two hours this morning.

I have tried everything. Lye, even.

It is probably some water seeping through the wall.

Then wouldn't it be damp, Madame?

Well, what do you suppose it is?

Charlotte!

Rose, when you were a little child

did you ever play a silly game?

A game, Madame?

Oh, you know, like looking at a stain

on a wall or the ceiling

and imagining it to be something

other than a stain.

Oh, a butterfly, or an elephant,

or a ballerina in her little skirt.

Yes, Madame, I remember that game.

And what does this stain remind you of?

Rose, leave us.

Stay.

Look at the stain.

Let us see how much imagination you have.

It is just some spots, that's all.

Oh, but I can see lots of things in it.

Two blackbirds sitting on a fence,

a skull, a dancing bear.

Rose, I told you to leave.

Yes, Monsieur le Marquis.

But later on, come back

and clean up this mess before the party.

Yes, Madame.

Baiting the girl like that...

Charlotte, have you lost your mind?

No. Have you?

But why won't it wash out?

Look at it. Can't you see?

More and more, it's becoming Jeanette.

Jeanette?!

I tell you, it's true.

And I tell you you need a doctor.

Already I think you're beginning to have a little fever.

And I would like you well for my party.

There won't be any party.

We must lock this room up...

until we find out what this is.

Oh, cheri, this is such nonsense!

You're talking like a little boy.

But what is it?

A stain in the stone.

It is not in the stone.

No, it is in your conscience,

and that is dangerous.

Ernest...

I know it will finally be her face;

the way she looked just before she died,

when she realized what we had done to her.

You remember how she looked?

The terror in her eyes?

How could you even think of having people in here?

Madame la Marquise?

Ernest, Rose seems unable to get the stain off that wall.

I know, Madame la Marquise.

Well, it would look very bad for our guests.

Yes, Madame la Marquise.

It also looks very empty, doesn't it, Ernest?

Yes, Madame la Marquise.

Well, what shall we do about it?

If I may suggest, Madame la Marquise, to cover it.

With what, a picture?

Cheri, would you mind very much

if we hung Jeanette's picture just for tonight?

Get the picture.

And have Rose come back and clean up this mess.

Yes, Madame.

Charlotte, can't we call the party off?

Have it later?

I am so worried.

Yes, I know, and that makes me worried...

about you.

Yes, but...

I-I am so f-frightened, I cannot sleep.

You are losing control.

Can't we put the party off?

No, we cannot.

I did not marry you to bury myself alive.

Madame, I see something.

Oh, I'm sorry, Madame.

That game you mentioned.

What do you see, Rose?

Well, when you look at it a certain way,

it does look exactly like a... Like what?

Charlotte!

A dancing bear.

I thought I had said good night to all of my guests.

I'll be going.

Jacques, aren't you going to say good night to the Father?

What?

What a host you've been.

All evening long, just standing here.

When he has a little too much wine, he becomes like a statue.

Perhaps we should put him in the public park

and let the children dance around him.

Well... Good night, my son.

Don't go.

Wait. Help me.

Help you? How?

Help me.

I'll get it.

It's in the library.

He really shouldn't drink so much wine.

Seems to me, he drank very little.

If you want to go now, I'll explain.

I'll wait.

Well, did you enjoy the evening?

Yes, it was pleasant.

I've come up in the world.

Do you remember when I used to come to mass

with hardly a sou for the collection plate?

Yes. Now, it's different.

Now you don't come at all.

Well, your disapproval of our marriage so quickly,

it was obvious.

It was your decision.

He was very lonely.

And she was a dear friend.

You can help me with this.

You'll know exactly where to find it.

Find what?

Jeanette gave me this.

I poked fun at her.

When did I last come to confession?

Some months, I would say.

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

At least I remember how to begin.

Jacques, confession is on Saturday.

Why don't you go to bed?

Find it for me, please.

Find what?

Is it in Daniel or Isaiah?

The king who saw something on the wall.

Really, I must insist. Midnight is no time for this.

I am speaking to Father Leon.

It's in the book of Daniel.

"In the same hour, there appeared fingers,

"as if it were the hand of a man

writing upon the surface of the king's wall."

Yes... That is it.

"Then was the king's countenance changed

"and his thoughts troubled him.

"And the joints of his loins were loosed,

"and his knees struck

one against the other."

"Then was the king's countenance changed

and his thoughts troubled him."

How well you speak the holy words, Father.

What was on the wall?

The words... "mane thecal phares."

"God hath numbered thy kingdom,

and thou art found wanting."

"Found wanting."

"Thou art weighed in the balance

and art found wanting."

God... No. Oh, God...

Charlotte, I can see her still.

Jacques... I can see her on the wall!

Enough!

Even through the picture.

Enough!

Ernest!

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

Madame la Marquise?

Ernest, help the Marquis upstairs.

Monsieur le Marquis?

He really shouldn't drink so much wine.

Yes, of course.

The wine.

Good night.

Is he all right?

Monsieur le Marquis seems to be.

Seems to be?

I'm sure Monsieur le Marquis will be all right.

What's the matter?

Oh, nothing.

Tell me.

I have known Monsieur le Marquis since...

since he was a little child,

but I never saw him like this.

You've never seen him when he's had too much to drink?

Madame la Marquise, it isn't the drink.

If he has too much to drink, he is gay.

He does all sorts of pleasant things, but he doesn't cry.

He seems to be in such despair.

He asked for writing paper.

What?!

Then a moment later, he changed his mind

and said, "No, Ernest, it's no use."

And then he started talking about...

It is probably just the wine

that affects him differently this time.

What was he talking about?

His first wife.

I see.

If Madame la Marquise would kindly excuse me...

I'm very tired.

What did he tell you of his first wife?

Oh, nothing.

That she was a gentle, kindly lady.

Well, we all know that, don't we, Ernest?

Yes, Madame la Marq...

Forgive me, Madame... I am so afraid.

Afraid of what?

I... He has become so melancholy, so...

so strange.

I fear for his life.

I understand.

Between us, I have felt the same thing.

We must watch him very carefully, Ernest.

Good night.

Good night, Madame la Marquise.

And thank you.

When you asked for the writing paper,

what were you going to do?

Send a message to the police?

I can't go on.

What am I to do?

"What am I to do?"

If you only knew how grand

you and this great house looked to us from the village.

What a feeling of power and strength.

"What am I to do?"

Go to sleep, cheri.

Sleep? How can I?

Would you like something to make you sleep?

I think I would.

Well, it's late for the servants.

I'll go down to the kitchen

and fix you some hot chocolate myself.

Yes, do.

Charlotte...

I want it to work quickly.

Not like Jeanette.

You are such a child.

Charlotte, I'm here.

I came downstairs.

I want to drink it down here.

As you wish.

Drink it all. It will make you feel so much better.

I know it will.

Charlotte... What?

Look at the wall. Oh, the wall again.

Look at the wall, Charlotte.

Such nonsense. Look!

I didn't have enough courage

to drink more than a sip.

Now I must find courage enough to face the guillotine,

eh, Inspector?

What about her?

She touch any of this?

No.

It must have been her heart, the shock.

She dropped to the floor like a stone after seeing it.

Don't touch it!

I had to cover it!

I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand it.

You couldn't stand what?

The Marquis de Roget went to the guillotine

insisting there was an image on this wall,

and at his trial, his servants swore under oath

that something was on the wall,

something that could not be removed.

Well, there is something, isn't there?

It doesn't look very terrifying,

but in the village, there are those who will tell you

that on the anniversary of her death,

the face of Jeanette sometimes reappears.

True or false?

Jeanette died on the 12th of April.

Now, if some April 12, you happen to be in the vicinity,

why not call the local estate agent?

He'll escort you up the hill, and you can see for yourself.

In a moment, something about next week.

When a dominating personality

lives in a house for a long time,

he seems to leave an indelible... And sometimes evil... imprint

on the very atmosphere of the place.

If you're inclined to doubt this, be with us next week,

and see what happens to the captain's guest.