I don't think you understand the strength of feeling in the town, ma'am,
against the blues.
I've got this architect coming to take a look at Northgate House.
- Oh, that's still our plan? - Oh, yes.
Have you had a letter from your sister, ma'am?
No.
She's sent instruction for evictions.
The Rawsons have now had between four and five acres of your coal.
How could you know a thing like that?
"The marriage of captain Tom Lister, of Shibden Hall,
"to Miss Ann Walker of Crow Nest."
It's a joke. It's a skit.
I think it's genuine, the apology.
I think the editor really had no idea
he was reprinting anything other than a bona fide
marriage announcement.
Mm.
Internal inquires were made at the newspaper office
about how the item came to be reprinted.
It was inconclusive,
but the editor apologises for not being more rigorous
before it went into print a second time and for the...
...embarrassment it caused.
Oh, I wasn't embarrassed.
But this will satisfy Miss Walker at least,
who did not expect to see it reprinted in the Halifax Guardian.
Moving on...
Bradley has assessed Northgate House.
He thinks I need to spend another £1,000
to turn it into a good inn.
And then Thomas Greenwood's all for leasing it at £200 a year,
although Bradley thinks I should be asking nearer 300.
Would it not be wise,
at the risk of repeating myself,
to sell it and settle some of your borrowing?
No! Good Lord, no. We've had this conversation.
Oh, and I've decided to accept Mawson's offer
for the tenancy of the Stump Cross Inn.
Oh, well, he seems to be...
Good. I'll tell him to come and see you about signing the lease.
And Mytholm, it looks like Aquilla Green might take it.
Oh, I thought that Mallinson...
Mallinson is a yellow.
I spoke to him about it,
and he admitted he would never dare give a blue vote,
so that's that. I told him until he could we couldn't agree.
You do need to be careful.
Oh, yes. Electoral intimidation.
Yes, I suppose they'll have me up before the select committee
before long, and believe you me, I would go, and with pleasure.
Yes, it's...
The yellows are the authors of this repugnant practice
of exclusive dealing, Mr Parker, not me,
for all Mr William Briggs's efforts to disclaim it in the Guardian.
And well may he do so, for the yellows are the losers.
I had to be really quite sharp with Mr Nicholson the other day,
due to the want of civility shown Miss Walker
by one of his young men.
We may shop there again because we pride ourselves
in rising above such nonsense, but others won't,
not if they're addressed so impertinently.
And then where would Mr Nicholson be, hm?
- Out of business. - I agree.
In a trading town like Halifax, we all depend on...
And what was that idiotic marriage announcement,
if not some feeble attempt to intimidate, to humiliate me?
Some cowardly effort to point a finger because they don't like
my opinions or the cut of my jib, or any of it.
Yes, that's...
How dare anyone speak to me about intimidation.
Sync and corrections by btsix www.addic7ed.com
How are you getting on?
We've had some very bad news.
Is that Anne?
Mr Sunderland's dead.
We've just had a note from Dr Kenny.
He was with him all last night,
him and Dr Jubb, and then he died,
just gone midnight, just like that.
Well, what was the matter with him?
Gout of the stomach, apparently.
Although...
- Aunt. - Oh...
Apparently, he was knocked down,
in Halifax, in some skirmish.
And this was after the election result was declared.
Well, he must've got caught up in the throng
and banged his head and...
They think he was trampled on.
- No. - Where will it end, all this nastiness?
You're perfectly safe, Aunt.
Yes, I am, but what about you? You're never in.
Well, I'm never very far away,
and I have a lot of business on hand so...
Oh, poor, poor Mr Sunderland.
Dr Kenny's offered to visit Aunt Anne if she... No!
No. No, no, no.
No. We'll send for Dr Jubb
when we need someone.
- But Dr Kenny's offering... - Anne?
Is that her?
Oh, yes.
- Father wants to see you. - Mm.
I'd rather see Dr Jubb.
I don't know what's the matter with Dr Kenny. He's perfectly...
- Yes, Father? - Where have you been?
Nowhere. Well, Halifax.
Now I'm going to the pit to see Hinscliffe.
This arrived. Shut the door!
Oh!
This came. I opened it.
I assumed it was for me, Captain Lister.
But clearly not.
Some wit, some wag,
begging to "congratulate the parties
"on their happy connection".
Who's seen this?
Nobody.
Has Miss Walker seen this?
- No! - Has Aunt Anne seen this?
No. Just me.
It'll be the Briggses.
10-to-1 it's the Briggses.
You know, if you didn't draw attention to how odd you are,
they wouldn't do these things.
You'd better get up and get dressed and get some fresh air.
You won't recover lying in bed all day.
I'm amazed you've been at it this long and not got it sunk.
Well, we've been unlucky.
It collapsed at one point, and then we had to put everything on hold
to build the drift.
Oh, and there was another pantomime finding a horse fit to turn the gin.
That was Holt.
But we're at 90 yards now,
and they're confident they can reach the lower bed
by June, July... August.
But, yes, this is why a second opinion wouldn't go amiss.
I can't afford any more delays. I need good advice.
I do like Holt, but...
What's the plan once it's sunk?
Where will you sell it, up here or down in Halifax?
Both.
Pickles is building a new road along the top to join the Old Bank,
just below Whiskham.
Then I can cart it down into Halifax, sell it there
for a shilling more than I can at the pit mouth.
But...
...getting and selling coal is just one part of the scheme.
- Mm-hm. - The other would be...
...to be in a position where I could throw water on Rawson's pit.
Not just to stop the trespass, but to prove it.
And soon.
Well, like I said, we might have fallen out over that business
up at Willy Hill pit,
but when it comes to dealing with the Rawsons
I'll be a friend to anyone who'll be a friend to me.
Thank you.
Did you know I've bought Staups?
So you've got Spiggs colliery?
There's a little complication that needs dealing with,
but, yes, strategically, potentially,
it gives me more options
and a lot more control over the coal across the whole of my estate.
Oh, I can see that.
If it's handled well.
I don't know that I can rely on Holt to come up with a good, solid,
coordinated plan and see it through without me having to manage
the thing myself.
But if you helped me...
I've been thinking for a while about opening a new pit,
further down this way.
Sounds like you've got a plan.
Why would you need me?
Because I don't know enough.
I learn more and more every day, and the more I learn
the more I realise how much can go wrong
and how much I don't know,
and just what a slippery business it all is.
See, this is why I don't dislike Holt.
For all of his faults, I...
I do believe he's as straight as a die.
Whereas you, Hinscliffe,
I'm not really sure I could trust you any further than I could spit.
Not that I ever would.
You can think what you like about me, Miss Lister,
but the bottom line is I'm hoping, if I do you a favour,
happen next time I need one back,
you'd be more inclined to oblige me than you were last time.
What's this "little complication" that needs dealing with?
William Keighley and John Oates and Jack Green
believe they have some kind of claim to the loose coal
underneath Spiggs' land, which, to be clear, I already owned,
but which they can only access via my newly acquired colliery.
But there's nothing about it in my uncle's records,
which there would be if he'd have come to an arrangement with them
about the loose.
So I'm wondering about flooding Spiggs,
which I can do because I own it,
and stopping them taking the loose.
Except, then, the worry is I might flood Walker pit
at the same time, before I've bottomed it
and got to the trespass.
You wouldn't.
Really?
If you flooded Spiggs, it wouldn't touch Walker pit.
Oh?
Now, will you tell Holt you're getting rid of him,
or shall I?
Holt.
I-I won't come in.
So I need to talk to you about...
How are you, ma'am?
Very well. So the thing is... Thank you. The thing is...
What it is...
I was going to pop over and see you today
about Mr Walker Priestley's coal and Mrs Machin's coal.
What about them?
Well, he will sell his coal at £160 an acre.
Both beds, hard and soft, upper and lower.
I've offered him 140. He's asked for ten days to think about it,
but between you and me I'd go up to 160 rather than miss the deal,
because he'll be tempted to go to Rawson otherwise.
And we don't want that, do we?
Not down there!
Same at the Machins'.
Now, they've promised me first refusal.
And it's more complicated again with them, like.
- You know she drinks. - Who does?
- She does, Mrs Machin. - No, I didn't know that,
but how... How would I know that?
Thing is the land was left half to her
and half to her children,
and they don't all get on.
Well, there's one daughter in York Castle for debt.
So they all have to agree who they sell their coal rights to,
and they can hardly agree which way is up,
never mind who they might sell their coal to.
Now, I'm well in with 'em...
Well enough. As well as anybody.
...and they'd sell it to me rather than him, Rawson, by choice,
me buying on your behalf, of course, not that they need know that.
But if he offers them a premium,
one of 'em might get it into their heads to go with him.
And you can't let that happen,
not down there,
otherwise Rawson's got another back door straight onto your beds.
- Do you see that? - Mm.
If I was to flood Spiggs colliery to stop access to the loose coal,
there's no danger that I could accidentally flood Walker pit
at the same time, is there?
Oh, yes.
Well, it's highly probable you wou...
Who's told you different?
I don't know who to believe.
I was going to let Holt go, but I... I need him.
I just need to manage them all better.
I told Holt that he must take care of Mr Walker Priestley's coal
for me, and the Machins, and then I explained that I'd instructed
Hinscliffe to work up a plan to look after Walker pit for me.
How did he take that?
Badly, but...
...I need to glean what I can from them all,
and then...
...make my own judgments.
Mm.
They say that Holt drinks, but...
...I've never smelt it on him.
Well, he's getting on a bit, isn't he?
Perhaps he's just... forgetting.
I'm sorry if I upset you,
this morning.
I've always tried to do my best for you,
one way and another.
It's just I...
I haven't always known how.
And I'm sorry if I said the wrong thing.
Are you sure about this Northgate business,
turning it into a hotel?
It'll cost money.
And...
...what if it fails?
You don't want to get yourself laughed at.
Goodnight.
Adney?
Stop leaning on me.
What's the matter, hm?
My little Adney.
You need to brush your teeth.
I read your letter,
to Lady Harriet in Copenhagen.
Was there something the matter with it?
Was it not elegantly expressed?
Hm?
Adney, I thought you'd like it.
I thought you'd be charmed by it.
Was it the bit about you?
Adney?
I did ask if I might mention you and you were delighted. Did I...
Did I misread that?
Adney, I've had a long day.
I've been dealing with men all day.
Tiresome, inarticulate men.
Read it.
Aloud.
The bit about me.
Ah.
"You used to wonder who would be my companion.
"I think I have provided one you will like.
"She is little and amiable with a great deal of common sense
"and good feeling.
"She is now with me here at Shibden,
"and I have never before been so comfortable at home."
What's not to like?
It's in brackets.
You've put me in brackets!
It's a clause, an aside, in a bigger paragraph
about when she and I hope...
...when we all will next meet.
Yes, I'm a clause. I'm an aside.
Nonsense. It's an elegant interjection.
I've been canvassed over.
No, you've been elegantly introduced.
As an afterthought.
Well, I'm sorry if you think that's how it reads.
"I'm sorry if you think..." Oh, I hate that,
that's what men say.
"I'm sorry if YOU'RE so stupid that YOU'VE misunderstood."
I never said anything about stupid, nor would I.
- It's an ugly word. - It's implicit.
Well, then, I shall go and rewrite my letter.
No.
You needn't do that. I wouldn't wish to put you to the trouble.
You could merely delete any reference to me.
That would answer.
Useful to know where I am...
...in the pecking order.
Now, that's just...
My bowels are all wrong again.
Adney?
Can I come in?
It's your house.
Don't say that.
I'm sorry if I...
...hurt you.
That's the last thing I'd...
It's just...
...striking the right note in a letter like that...
People are laughing at us.
No... No, they're not.
Lady Harriet would never be so cruel or vulgar...
In Halifax, they are.
That idiotic marriage announcement,
reprinted twice, and then that humiliating business at Nicholson's.
Oh, I think if anyone's humiliated at Nicholson's, it's not us,
it's Nicholson's silly lads.
I shan't go back there. I know you want us to...
No, we must.
We must make a point of going in there again and again.
We must be consistently clear that we have nothing to hide,
nothing to be ashamed of.
I'm not strong like you.
I dwell on things.
Do you remember at Crow Nest
when Mrs Priestley walked in on us,
and you laughed?
I was mortified, and you...
You laughed.
I think, in that moment,
I saw for the first time the real you.
Who is as brave as anyone.
You're stronger than you think.
What I'm wondering, Miss Lister,
is if we've been thinking too small.
I had expected ground plans and elevations, Mr Bradley,
based on our last conversation, not more sketches.
Oh, they're well under way.
But you've got all this land.
And I know that you want your inn,
casino, whatever you want to call it,
up and running by March next year,
but within that same timescale, frame...
This all depends how ambitious you want to be.
Oh, I don't think anyone can accuse me of lacking ambition, Mr Bradley.
So... Exactly.
So what if... And this is something you could easily accommodate
in the available space, it all depends upon how much capital
you've got to play with.
But what if we were to build new premises here too,
for, say, a bank?
And a news room?
And instead of four or five houses,
you've enough land here for 28 brand-new houses.
This entire area could become a whole new commercial
enclave within the town.
And think of the income that that could generate in rent.
Hmm.
You're going to need a licence for this, ah, inn,
casino, whatever we're calling it this week.
And if you're serious, I'd apply for it now.
There's no point in throwing money at the thing
and then finding the magistrates won't license it.
Well, why wouldn't they?
Well, it's just with Christopher Rawson
being the chief magistrate...
Well, he'd have no reason.
I mean, such an establishment could only be an asset to the town.
Yes, but we both know what he's like.
- Leave it with me. - Yeah.
Mr Bradley thinks I'd need to spend another £4,000
on this new scheme.
- Miss Lister... - Oh, I've been meaning to ask.
If I were a man, for which I have 1001 reasons
to thank heaven and providence that I'm not,
would you even think to question the amount of money I'm borrowing?
All right?
- Mr Booth. - Dr Jubb.
- Have you heard the news, sir? - Which, sir?
Parliament, sir. Dissolved.
Oh, yeah. We all know about it. Miss Lister's...
So we must endure an indifferent Melbourne
once again.
And we might've had the intellect and integrity of appeal.
And you'll have heard the latest, in Halifax.
If Charles Wood is offered high office
in the new Whig administration,
which they seem to think he will be,
it'll trigger a by-election.
Another election? Oh...
And people are saying Mr Rawson himself
will stand this time.
Mr Rawson? Mr Christopher Rawson?
So vexed was he by the attack on his property
a few short weeks ago.
Is that a good idea?
Would not Mr Henry Edwards
be a better choice of candidate for Halifax?
Mr Henry Edwards?
I doubt he has either the money or the stomach for it.
I think Mr Henry Edwards might surprise us all,
given the chance. Hm, Aunt?
Would you not support Mr Rawson, Miss Lister,
with your great influence?
Yes.
Without doubt, without question.
If he was the chosen Tory candidate and I had influence over 1000 votes,
then he should have every one of them.
I just question whether a man who has...
...offended members of some of the oldest families in Halifax
is best placed to unite the Tory vote in a way that's
necessary in such difficult times?
Has he? Has he?
- Whereas Mr Henry Edwards... - Mm. Well, Mr Rawson is...
He can be, erm...
...abrasive.
Is Miss Lister...
There's a Mr William Keighley downstairs, ma'am.
He says Mr Hinscliffe's sent him to...
Something about Staups, Spiggs colliery.
Perhaps, Dr Jubb, when you do your rounds,
you could intimate to anyone who's concerned
that others, such as Mr Henry Edwards,
might be better placed to lead the way
and unite the blue vote.
No need to say from whence the thought sprang.
My aunt and I would hate to be thought of
as intermeddlers in anything political.
Mr Keighley!
Miss Lister.
Come through.
So it's a record of all the expenses I've had
driving the drift through Well Royd Holmes.
Totals £507, 16 shillings and five pence,
which you'll appreciate I'd not have spent
had I not had this agreement with your uncle over the Spiggs coal
in the first place.
Now, if you look in the back...
...you'll see there's a memorandum.
£100, paid by me to your Uncle James to get all the coal in Spiggs land.
But the fact is there's no record to corroborate any of this
in my uncle's accounts.
Well, I know nowt about that.
I just know I've spent a lot of money in good faith.
Why is this memorandum at the back and not in the correct chronology
with the earlier parts of the accounts?
It... It's just...
It's just the way I did it.
I know it wouldn't stand up in a court of law,
but, you know, let's hope it doesn't go that far.
It's just the only record I've got of what we agreed.
The problem, from my point of view,
and I only ever wish to do that which is fair,
I've just bought Staups for a significant sum
and I need some return on my investment.
If you try and get Spiggs coal,
I will flood the pit to prevent access
and try the matter at York.
I'm sorry, but there it is.
Not only did my uncle make no record of it,
but he never mentioned anything of the matter to me
at the time, and nothing of this arose in the last
however many months it's taken to complete the purchase of Staups,
with the searches and so forth, so...
You do know, if you flood Spiggs
you'll flood your little pit up here.
Not necessarily.
Almost certainly you would.
There seems to be some difference of opinion on that.
Who's told you otherwise?
Hinscliffe?
Well, he would say that.
He would say the opposite and then happily watch it flood.
And do you know why?
Because he's had more of your coal than the Rawsons have.
Morning, ma'am.
Has Mr Hinscliffe been up to see you today?
He popped up this morning.
I suppose you and your brothers think I'm foolish
to trust him above Holt?
Who's to say?
I don't necessarily trust him.
I'm just using him to get some information from him.
If I was to stop the loose at Spiggs,
how would it affect this pit,
in your opinion?
Oh, I...
Would it flood it, or would it not flood it?
Well, our Robert'd have an opinion.
He'd certainly know about Spiggs.
He's worked all t'mines round here.
Where is Robert?
He's... digging.
Ah.
So was it right, then, what Mr Hinscliffe said?
You're thinking of sinking another pit further down nearer t'Hall?
Only I hope you'd consider us, ma'am,
to sink it, if you did.
For the right price.
What's the plan, then?
The plan...
...would be to sink this other pit somewhere,
50 or 60 yards Shibden Hall side of Walker pit,
and drive two drifts up to it from such a place in the lower land
as I could build a water-wheel to power a pit engine.
Speak to Robert.
Tell him to come and see me if he thinks he can be useful, hm?
- Anne! - Ah. There you are.
I've found something, in my family papers.
Well, two things, actually. One I half-knew
but I'd half-forgotten, and the other, I had no idea.
What?
Well, it would... It would appear that, erm...
What?
Well, erm, that in 1831 my sister, legally,
through lease and re-lease and some sort of deed of sale,
conveyed all of her property onto Captain Sutherland.
All of it, everything. All her share of the estate.
And that's contrary, directly contrary,
to a provision set out by my father in his will,
which protects us both from having to submit
our fortunes to any husbands.
Does it?
I mean, why would she do that?
Why would she give up that protection?
And why would she not tell me that's what she was doing?
So... Hang on. So your father...
So my father made provision in his will,
in the event of my brother's death,
for me and Elizabeth to jointly inherit everything.
But he also made what I was always given
to believe was an unshakeable clause...
contrary to the normal way of doing things,
that stated that, should we ever get married,
we must, and would, retain ownership
in our own share of the estate, but...
- That was interesting of him, to do that. - Yes, but in 1831...
He never mentioned this when Ainsworth was sniffing about.
Yes, no. Exactly.
He did it to deter fortune hunters like him.
But then, in 1831, three years after they were married,
she submitted everything to him, to Captain Sutherland.
And, Anne, I just...
I can't believe she would've done that willingly.
He must've bullied and cajoled and coerced her
into signing away her half of the family's... Everything.
Knowing that it's contrary to what my father intended.
Anne, she'd never hurt me.
And there are few things in this world I have the confidence
to state so boldly, but one thing I know for sure is
that Elizabeth would never willingly cheat me out of
what's ours, but she has because of him.
Cheated you how?
Some of its property that on her death would've reverted
to the estate, to me.
They don't know that I might not still have children.
He's found a legal loophole to make a mockery of it all,
and to, well, to steal it.
What was the other thing?
So, John, my John, always used to complain
that Mr Priestley and his brother John
had worked their way into my uncle's affections
till he ended up leaving them things in his will
that should've remained entailed to my father.
I never thought of it as my business
but then here it is in black and white.
They have had three properties from us,
substantial properties.
Blackcastle, which is an allotment to High Sunderland,
Hall End in Halifax
and Longley Farm over in Norland.
My uncle had no right to give them away,
and it galls me even more since the Priestleys have been
so objectionable to us.
Parker drew this up.
But who did the legal work on this other business
with Captain and Mrs Sutherland?
Erm...
Parker and Adam.
I've never liked Parker.
I don't know why you put so much faith in him.
Maybe it's not irreversible.
Let's go and consult Mr Gray in York on both matters.
Do you think my family have any clue about what
Captain Sutherland's done?
Of course we knew.
We all knew.
All but me!
Oh, well, you weren't well. We kept it from you.
All your cousins and uncles and aunts knew.
And it's precisely because of it that we've been so zealous in trying
to protect you and your fortune.
But, no, Elizabeth wouldn't've...
Elizabeth did it without scruple!
I don't believe for a second...
He ran rings around her.
She'd have done anything he asked.
Sense was out of the window,
and she might well regret it now, now it's too late.
And that weak, odious Robert Parker...
He was meant to be acting for the family
but no, no...
No, Sutherland ran rings round him too.
I'm half-minded to change my will.
I thought you already had.
No. When? No.
You made Miss Lister your executor instead of your cousin,
Mr Priestley, last year.
Who told you that?
Well, she did.
Last spring.
When you went missing, when you absented yourself in York.
She used to come over here, laying the law down.
I made her my executor, yes,
but the contents remain unchanged.
I certainly wouldn't change it without telling you,
even if others have behaved as they have.
What? What's the matter?
I...
Oh.
Aunt?
I, erm...
Well, I had imagined...
with all this talk of a formal division of the estate,
that you had already changed the will itself.
How? No.
In Miss Lister's favour.
Well, that's...
...a possibility.
And, yes, if I never have children,
and if Miss Lister and I were to continue
as such kind companions, well,
yes, I hope we would think to make some provision
for one another, but as things stand,
no, it still all goes to Elizabeth
and then to Sackville.
Well...
...I changed mine when you moved into Shibden Hall.
I removed you from it,
in Elizabeth's favour.
There was a letter for you this morning,
in the post-bag.
From Washington.
Where is it?
Oh, do you want to see it?
I don't know. Is it interesting?
The distresses you requested have all been carried out.
I didn't request anything.
A Mrs Greaves went to Shibden Hall begging
not to be evicted, but apparently your sister wouldn't hear of it.
She was determined to carry out the, ah...
Your... our...
...request to the very letter.
What a cruel time of year to evict people.
Well, yes, I agree.
But if she wants a division of the estate,
things must be put in order.
Washington tells me he's submitted a proposal to her, to Ann,
for what he believes to be a fair division of the various lots
of the estate, based partly on contiguity
and partly on value, so...
We shall see what she sends us,
when she's gone through it.
Although, I'm tempted...
Oh, I don't know. What?
I still don't know why there's this great urgency
for the thing.
There's something in her last few letters.
This...
...litigious tone.
She's suddenly become so confident, so well informed.
I'm wondering whether you shouldn't write to her
and say that, whilst in principle we... you're happy with the division,
you think it might be better to wait until we can visit them,
when the weather's better for travelling.
That would be...
Yes, I'd like that.
Good. Good!
I think, before we sign off on the thing,
we should satisfy ourselves
there's nothing nefarious going on
with your family.
Although, as I say, I always imagined Miss Lister would
protect her from any nonsense. Mm.
Yes, curious woman...
...Miss Lister.
Well, I'm delighted Miss Walker's gone to see her aunt.
Not that I dislike her, not for a moment.
I'm thrilled for her and just jealous that she has you
to gaze at all day.
When I'm in.
This is the second time in three months.
What are you after?
Only to gaze upon you.
I was telling you about my planned developments at Northgate House.
Oh, yes.
Your Uncle Joseph would be livid!
Yes.
Yes, but the world moves forward, and sometimes
we have to move with it.
And don't you agree, Mrs Rawson,
that this whole enterprise could be a huge boon for the town?
Oh, yes, yes.
Well, the town gets bigger by the week.
Precisely, and this could create a whole new enclave.
And I'm not such a noodle as to refuse what would pay
such good returns.
A whole new quarter.
As long as no-one were to obstruct me
in getting a licence for my casino... inn.
- Hotel. - Oh, is that what you're after?
My influence.
Well, I would hope I wouldn't need it.
As I say, I would hope that such a venture
would be eloquent of its own merits.
But, certainly, one word from you,
in the right ear,
would be worth 1000 from anybody else.
Mr Rawson.
Mrs Rawson.
Mother!
- Oh, hello. - Mr Rawson.
Christopher, is it true what Miss Lister tells me,
that you're standing for Parliament?
Oh, you've heard!
Is it wise?
Yes, I've put my name forward and expect to be adopted
- at the next committee meeting. - You have too many trades.
- Who said that? - Me. I said it.
No point in looking at Miss Lister.
And it's what your father used to say too.
What a shame you can't stand for Parliament, Miss Lister.
With your superior intellect and your powers of diplomacy
and persuasion, you would've stood
head and shoulders above anyone else!
Good Lord, look at the time.
She should be running the country.
Yes, what a shame.
Oh, she's not leaving?
I was very sorry, Mr Rawson...
to hear about the mindless vandalism
at Hope Hall.
Yes, well... And to assure you, as I told Dr Jubb, that,
if you are to be Tory candidate for the town
and I had influence over 1000 votes,
you would have every one of them.
Au revoir.
À bientôt.
Mr Rawson.
Miss Lister.
Ugh. That colour's never suited you.
"Dearest Freddy...
"It is something new to feel that I write
"for two sets of eyes instead of one.
"Now that my mind is more at ease,
"I hope to get into better health.
"Either you or the medicines have done me good.
"And, as you have often said,
"knowing the worst is often the best means
"of reconciling ourselves to it.
"Come what may,
"however at variance with my wishes,
"there is one subject left in which I will never disappoint you.
"I will always...
_
"I once wronged my own heart to please my family,
"but this was not doing right,
"and dearly I have paid for it.
"But the scale is now turned,
"and my thoughts are now set upon...
"deserving your good opinion to the last,
"and I will not put it in your power to find fault
"with me again."
Hmm.
Where's Miss Walker?
Hmm?
Oh, she's not well.
Again?
It's this... nonsense with her aunt.
Every time she goes over there, she says something cruel
and unnecessary, and it always knocks her for six.
Oh, I'm sorry.
"When you speak of your 'little friend',
"write her name in full.
"I dislike the initial.
"Indulge my fancy and let the name you write
"be the one you call her by.
"And tell me, Freddy..."
Is that Mrs Lawton's handwriting?
It is, yes.
- "Tell me, Freddy..." - Has she got anything fresh?
Well, let's see, shall we?
"Tell me, Freddy, do you see the York papers?
"And do you know anything of a paragraph that appeared in one
"respecting yourself and Miss Walker?
"I long to know what it was.
"Tell me if you've heard..."
If you'll excuse me,
I'm going to take Miss Walker her letters and some tea.
Oh, and Mr Abbott's due this evening.
As usual. Just to remind you.
Just so you know to...
...stay out of the way.
She wants to defer the division of the estate again.
"Until we can travel more comfortably."
This is him.
He'll put it off and put it off until it doesn't happen.
Who's this one from?
Perhaps we should instruct Mr Gray to write to him
rather than her in future,
stop this pretence that it's her who's being difficult, hm?
Ann?
What is it?
"Dear Miss Walker. I fear this may not reach you,
"but if it does I urge you, under no circumstances,
"to show it to Miss Lister."
Bad luck.
"However much you may believe this woman to be your friend,
"I tell you plainly she is not."
Do you recognise the hand?
No.
"Are you really unaware of the unspeakable reputation
"this woman has?
"I see that she has already cut you off from your family
"and friends and, though you may not understand it,
"please believe me when I tell you
"that you are in the gravest danger."
Ooh-la-la!
"She will beguile you and, before you know it,
"she will have tricked you out of all you have,
"your reputation, your wealth, your peace of mind.
"Ask her to tell you about Eliza Raine."
"I urge you to get away from her and Shibden Hall
"as quickly as you can."
"Be assured that you will hear from me again soon,
"and that I will not be at ease until I know that you are
"in a place of greater safety.
"I am, madam, a well-wisher."
Anne?
Things like this.
All my life.
Who's Eliza Raine?
I'll tell you about...
...Eliza Raine.
Is she another Mrs Lawton or another Tib?
We were at school together in York, 13-year-olds!
And then...
...when she was older...
...she had problems,
properly, not like...
She's been in an asylum in York for the last 20-odd years.
And I visit her, occasionally, for old time's sake,
but she's violent and she...
She spits and swears and she's attacked me
more than once, and others.
She could never live independently, the way she is.
So the person who sent this knows about her?
Eliza used to come and stay with us in Halifax,
over the summer.
Her parents were in India, so she couldn't go home.
So it could be anyone in Halifax that remembers her.
She's...
She was very striking to look at. She's half Indian.
Were you in love with her?
I loved her, yes.
In love?
This has been sent to cause division and upset.
Will you let it?
Was she in love with you?
Well, we were very young!
And the tawdry implication here is that she ended up
the way she did because of me.
It's just... It's just nonsense.
I did everything I could to help her.
Burn it.
Please get up and get dressed,
for my sake,
for your own sake.
We can't give in to these people.
We must be better than them.
That'll be the men about the pit. I...
I've got to go.
Robert agrees with Mr Holt, ma'am.
He thinks you should bottom Walker pit before you flood Spiggs.
And, as regards another pit 50, 60 yards this way,
I'd say it were a very good thing, ma'am,
if you're willing to spend t'money.
Here. You dropped your...
Because then you could loose a whole sweep of coal
lying on the Shibden Hall side of Pump, and upwards in
a line parallel to the present old waterhead
hold under Cunnery houses.
Where would you sink this new pit?
Well, if you're putting the water wheel
down at Tillyholme stile,
I'd say here,
at Pump, where you suggested.
And then if we drove two heads up from Tillyholme stile,
- that's t'idea? - Yeah. - Which we could do easily enough
if we made a vent hole in t'corner of Dolt,
then this pit at Pump,
you'd have it working just as soon as it were bottomed,
and it'd serve as a vent to Walker pit.
This way, all the coal above the Wakefield Road
and between the two pits could be pulled at Walker pit,
and all t'coal below Wakefield Road could be pulled at
this new pit at Pump.
And then you'd be left with a good barrier of coal
all along this side up here. So in fact you could stop Spiggs colliery
any time you liked after this second one's sunk,
and let all that face of coal stand, covered in water,
ready to throw it on Mr Rawson's works
any time you wanted, which, if he hadn't have trespassed,
you'd never have been able to do, so...
It'd be a way of proving his trespass too.
And anyone else's.
How long do they say it'll take to construct it?
To dig the drifts and sink the pit, eight months.
As to the dam...
You'd have to give Carr notice to quit the Well Royd land
if you're going to turn it into a dam.
His tenancy's up in eight months, so...
I've calculated that, for the volume of water needed to turn
an 18-foot-diameter water wheel, the dam needs to be four-foot deep
across two acres, so with that and the dam goit
we could be up and running in 12 months.
Do you know anyone with a theodolite?
Mr Priestley.
Miss Lister.
Were you at the hall?
Ah, yes, I...
Yes, I went to see your father.
And your sister.
And my cousin. But she wasn't in.
No. She's in Huddersfield, visiting her cousin Catherine.
Yes.
- So you've missed her. - Yes.
Well, then, you've missed her and you've caught me.
That probably wasn't the plan at all, hm?
Plan?
I was hoping she might like to make a subscription
to the clergyman's widows fund.
It's not beyond the realms of possibility.
- Well, then. - Well, then.
You'll have to try again another time.
Miss Lister.
Mr Priestley.
My dear Mary.
I can't at the moment turn to the item from the newspaper
that you refer to, and so I must send it another time,
but the announcement was, in substance,
"The marriage of Captain Tom Lister, of Shibden Hall,
"and Miss Ann Walker, late of Crow Nest."
On discovery of the hoax,
a handsome volunteer apology was sent by the editor
of one of the papers, and here the matter ended,
for nobody was annoyed and nobody cared about it.
- Ma'am? - Yes, thank you.
Thank you, Rachel.
Thank you, Hemingway.
We should start packing for tomorrow.
I ordered the horses for nine.
We should be in York by one.
I'm not sure about this Mr Bradley.
I'm not convinced his intellect matches his ambition.
Shall I do the duty?
I didn't tell you this because...
...I don't know.
But when you went to see Catherine the other day,
and Mr Priestley called,
he was flustered and, I don't know,
I wondered whether it was him who wrote that letter,
or her, or both of them,
and he was calling to see what effect it'd had.
I don't care who sent it.
It's irrelevant.
I don't think we should mention it again.
I told Catherine about what Elizabeth had done.
Did she know?
No.
I think she'd have told me if she did.
We will sort this out.
It just saddens me.
What does?
Thinking about what it's all for.
And...
...without children...
...I'm not sure what it is all for.
And is it not...
Not?
...God's purpose that we...
...people...
...have children?
I just regret that it will all go to them,
ultimately, to Sackville.
I never did before, before this, but...
...it's just made me dwell on it all.
And I suppose I had always imagined that...
...one day...
...I would have..
...children of my own. That's all.
You once told me you felt a kind of repugnance...
...to forming any sort of connection
with the opposite sex.
It's not the same thing.
Isn't it?
You mean, you'd imagined children but not marriage?
To a man.
I don't know. Yes.
Somehow, I...
...had imagined being...
...a mother, but not being, you know, with a man.
So you haven't given up all thought
of ever having children?
It's not... It doesn't signify, does it? I'm with you.
It does signify.
Because I need to have the confidence
that this thing between us is truly settled
and I'm not just keeping you warm until some man comes along.
It's much the same as I told Marian over Mr Abbott,
you'll not find me any obstacle to something you have
very much at heart.
Don't say that.
Because I can be as a meteor in your life,
if that's what you'd like, a meteor that burns
more brightly than anything you could ever imagine.
And then is gone.
Forever.
Things like this.
All my life!
I pretend it gets easier, but it doesn't.
- Anne... - We do things for us.
That's who it's for.
So that we can have a life together. WE matter.
Having children isn't the only reason to strive and do well
and better oneself and be happy.
I'm sorry.
It is, I've said it before,
a great sadness that we can never have children.
But if you're not certain it isn't something
you'll want in the future, then...
...I need to know about that now.
Because it's something that I can never give you.
Just as we can never have a piece of paper that says
we have any kind of legal union to bind us,
neither can we have the bond a child would give us.
So we have to be certain...
- You're frightening me. - I'm frightening you?
- I'm sorry. - You have to be certain...
...before we set off for York,
before we think any further about changing our wills,
that this, here, with me, is what you want.
I want to be with you,
more than anything in the whole world.
- You know that. - Nevertheless...
...it is a great sacrifice,
and if you're not sure it's one you can make,
well, then...
I'm going to start packing for York.
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