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#mariatheresia #janeeyre #theborgias The Case of Charles Bravo
Julian Fellowes examines the 1876 poisoning of barrister Charles Bravo, recently married to the widow and heiress Florence Ricardo. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Christina Cole, David Schofield, David Calder, Stella Gonet.
Julian Fellowes examines the 1876 poisoning of barrister Charles Bravo, recently married to the widow and heiress Florence Ricardo. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Christina Cole, David Schofield, David Calder, Stella Gonet.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The Priory Balam. A strange, unquiet place. There was a murder in this house. A murder
00:14that rocked Victorian society. A murder, moreover, that was never solved.
00:26Mrs Bravo, need anything more tonight?
00:28That'll be all, thank you, Marianne. Goodnight. Goodnight.
00:35Hot water! Hot water! Get some hot water, for God's sake!
00:42Mrs Cox, you better come. The master's ill.
00:47Hot water! Get some hot water!
00:49Richard, wait, Mrs Bravo.
00:50No, get hot water and mustard, quickly!
00:51I'll put the fire. Will you hurry?
00:54Charles, have you called a doctor?
00:55I'll call Dr Harrison.
00:56I'll call Dr Harrison.
00:57Dr Harrison's miles away.
00:58No!
00:59No!
01:00No!
01:01No, get hot water and mustard, quickly!
01:02I'll put the fire.
01:03No!
01:04No, get the fire.
01:05I'll put the fire.
01:06Will you hurry?
01:07Mrs Bravo.
01:08What's happened?
01:09Oh, my God!
01:10Charles, have you called a doctor?
01:11Mrs. Bravo, what's happened?
01:19Oh, my God.
01:21Charles, have you called a doctor?
01:23I'll call Dr. Harrison.
01:23Dr. Harrison's miles away.
01:25No, no.
01:28Fetch a local doctor.
01:29I don't care who, just fetch him out once.
01:33By the 21st of April, 1876, Charles Bravo, a bridegroom of only five months, was dead.
01:42The cause was antimony, a poison that literally burns away the organs of the victim, ghastly death.
01:50Behind him, he left a young wife and an impenetrable mystery, which this inquest did little to resolve.
01:56Order.
01:57We find that Charles Delaney Turner Bravo did not commit suicide, that he did not meet his death by misadventure,
02:07that he was willfully murdered by the administration of Tata Emetic.
02:13But there is not sufficient evidence to fix the guilt upon any person or persons.
02:18The revelations of life at the Priory had made the inquest the scandal of the age, and no wonder.
02:29It had the lot.
02:31Jealousy, money, sexing, bucket loads, motives without number, hijinks in high society, just what the British loved best.
02:38And at the centre of the storm, the reluctant star on whom the nation's eyes were fixed, was the beautiful, if tarnished, Florence Bravo.
02:47So who did kill Charles Bravo on that terrible night?
02:53Well, one thing we do know, by any standards, it was a most mysterious murder.
02:59Poor Florence.
03:28When she'd first arrived in the leafy and fashionable suburb with Balaam five years earlier,
03:33five years before those ghastly events, it had all been so different.
03:38She'd been full of hope, full of beans.
03:41Of course, she was a woman alone, and she'd had her troubles, but she felt that she'd put them behind her,
03:45that this was a new beginning.
03:47That has to go into the dining room, and for heaven's sake, be careful.
03:50Marianne, that goes into the drawing room, please.
04:04Florence Campbell was the favourite daughter of an Australian millionaire.
04:07She came to England as a child, and she grew up here, at Buskett Park in Oxfordshire, one of England's great houses.
04:18In 1864, at the age of 19, Florence married Alexander Ricardo.
04:24She'd cracked it.
04:25She was inside the charmed circle of the aristocracy.
04:28Nevertheless, her handsome prince proved a violent alcoholic,
04:31and before long, he was whacking his young bride around the room.
04:35In 1871, Ricardo died suddenly in a hotel room in Cologne.
04:40He'd forgotten to change his will.
04:42And as his widow, Florence inherited everything.
04:45Overnight, she was rich, and she was independent.
04:47It's good to see you settled, my dear.
04:52I am my own woman at last.
04:54Can you believe it, James?
04:55I feel like a bird set free from a cage.
04:57You'll be happy here.
04:59Country setting, within easy reach of the city, what could be better?
05:03Well, I'm quite sure I shall never be bored.
05:06Would you like a tour of the house?
05:08I'm quite proud of it, I assure you.
05:11And I feel in need of some praise.
05:14And you shall have it.
05:15Will you be all right on your own, Mrs Cox?
05:19I'm a little tired, Dr Gully.
05:21With your permission, I think I'll go to bed.
05:22Yes, of course.
05:24I must admit, I'm so excited, I doubt I shall sleep at all tonight.
05:29No one has guests on our first night in a new home.
05:32You worked him up at Malvern.
05:34What's he like, this Dr Gully?
05:36Well, he's a good doctor.
05:37No doubt about that.
05:39His clinic's world famous.
05:41Oh, famous? Really?
05:43What's he doing so special, then?
05:44He treats rich people for their, uh, their nerves.
05:47Famous people.
05:48Like who?
05:49Ever heard of Florence Nightingale?
05:51Get away.
05:52Charles Dickens?
05:53Blimey.
05:54Mrs Ricardo, she went to see him, did she?
05:55Yeah, well, when she left her husband, she was a bag of nerves and no mistake.
05:58But he's cured her now, hasn't he?
06:00Oh, yeah.
06:01He's cured her, good and proper.
06:02He's cured her.
06:03He's cured her.
06:03He's cured her.
06:04He's cured her.
06:05He's cured her.
06:06He's cured her.
06:07He's cured her.
06:08Your house is beautiful.
06:09Your taste is perfection.
06:11The proportions are exquisite.
06:21And the details, charming.
06:27I'm glad.
06:30I want you to enjoy what pleases me.
06:35They were breaking every rule in the book.
06:37He was 40 years older than her.
06:39He was married.
06:41Although, admittedly, he was separated and his wife was in a lunatic asylum.
06:45Gully gave up his practice in Malvern, an enormous sacrifice because it was terribly successful,
06:49and moved to her house a few minutes' walk away.
06:52Pathetic, really.
06:53What is?
06:54Uh, waiting for callers.
06:57No one will come.
06:58No one respectable, that is.
07:00Why not?
07:01Because someone caught them at it.
07:03Stark naked in the parlour when we were in Surrey.
07:05She thinks I don't know, but I do.
07:07The lady's maid there told me.
07:09Mrs. Ricardo's finished.
07:11He might as well move in.
07:12Mary Ankiba, your dad.
07:14Why shouldn't he?
07:15He's got a key.
07:16What does she see in him?
07:18Imagine doing it with a man his age.
07:20Ooh, it turns his stomach.
07:22Mary Ann was telling the truth.
07:24During a house party in May 1872, the host came back from a walk unexpectedly to find Florence and Gully going at it, hammer and tongs, on the drawing room sofa.
07:34Well, after the Ricardo breakup, it was too much.
07:36The story whizzed round London, and from that minute, although she'd never quite accept it, Florence was finished in society.
07:42Her friends wouldn't receive her, and nor would her parents.
07:48And there was worse to come.
08:09It'll be all right.
08:12I'll take care of you.
08:13Are you quite sure?
08:27I'll give her something to lessen the pain.
08:28She may bleed.
08:38If it doesn't stop, send for me at once.
08:42Give her this.
08:43It'll help to reduce the temperature.
08:45I'll be back first thing in the morning.
08:48Don't worry.
08:49I'll look after her.
08:51If anyone asks.
08:52Never far from Florence's side was Mrs. Cox, the lady's companion she'd hired in a sad bid for respectability.
09:14Jane Cox cuts a rather mysterious figure in all this.
09:20Born in Jamaica, mixed blood.
09:23By the time she met Florence, she was a widow with three sons.
09:26And a failed attempt to open a school had left her with enormous debts.
09:30Florence was her saviour, and life at the Priory had rescued her from ruin.
09:34I've killed my baby.
09:36I've killed my baby, and now I have no one.
09:42That's not true.
09:44You have Dr. Gully.
09:46You have your parents.
09:47No, I don't.
09:49My mother won't even speak to me.
09:52She doesn't know you're ill.
09:53And if she did, if she knew why I was ill, do you really think she would speak to me then?
10:02Florence, my dear, you have your whole life ahead of you.
10:06I may have children, but who wants a widow with three sons?
10:10If I was as beautiful as you, as young as you, as free as you can be, I'd start again.
10:17And so will you.
10:20Really?
10:20When all of society's turned its back on me?
10:27When no one respectable will even bid me good morning?
10:30Come, you know as well as I do what can change all that.
10:34What?
10:36Why, marriage, of course.
10:39The right marriage can wash away a multitude of sins.
10:46Dr. Gully, good morning.
10:47Mrs. Cox, how are you?
10:49I brought these for Florence.
10:50Is she in the drawing room?
10:51Mrs. Ricciardo isn't receiving visitors today.
10:54She asked me to tell you she's feeling rather tired.
10:58I see.
10:59Oh, well.
11:01Whether he liked it or not, by ending the pregnancy, Gully had altered the relationship.
11:06Give her these from me, will you?
11:07Had Florence ceased to love him?
11:09So I hope she feels better, sir.
11:10I think not.
11:11But she yearned to go back into society, even at a modest level.
11:16Charles Bravo must have seemed like a passport to a better life.
11:21My friends accuse me of showing off in court.
11:24And do you?
11:25I prefer to think of it as a kind of persuasion.
11:30Or perhaps more of a seduction.
11:34But in a way, a lawyer does seduce his jury.
11:37A friend of my father's said that once.
11:39Seduction, persuasion.
11:42How different are they?
11:44I'm quite sure you could persuade anyone to do anything you wanted, once you'd set your mind to it.
11:50You flatter me, Mrs. Ricciardo.
11:51I'm quite sure I do not, Mr. Bravo.
11:56Charles was the adopted son of Joseph Bravo, a successful merchant and an old acquaintance of Mrs. Cox.
12:03But he was beneath Florence in social rank.
12:06And she wouldn't have entertained the notion if she hadn't by this time been tainted.
12:09Then again, can you blame her?
12:12Her first two lovers have been a drunk and a pensioner.
12:16Law is exhilarating.
12:18And it challenges me.
12:19But for a man who wants to make his mark, career at the bar is devilishly slow.
12:25And you are impatient.
12:26I fear I am.
12:27So what will you do?
12:30Promise you won't make fun of me.
12:32I promise I'll make fun very gently.
12:36Someday I mean to stand for election.
12:39Now I've shocked you with my ambition.
12:41No.
12:41I like a man with ambition.
12:46And I am not so easily shocked.
12:49There is another reason why I won't let myself get stuck where I am.
12:53Tell me.
12:53It would take too long before I could offer anything to someone like you.
12:59One day I want to make a woman like you proud of me.
13:08You don't have to.
13:10But if I don't tell him and we do marry, I'll always be afraid he'll find out.
13:16He'll have a power over me.
13:19Surely if he knows, he'll have that power anyway.
13:21The truth is I can't tell him and I can't not tell him.
13:26Why the rush?
13:27You only met him a few weeks ago.
13:30You don't have to decide now.
13:31Yes, I do.
13:33Why?
13:34I want my life to begin again.
13:36I want to be able to laugh and move among decent people.
13:42I want to live again.
13:45Very well.
13:47But if I was you, I wouldn't tell him.
13:53My mother gave me this.
13:55She grew it from a cutting.
13:57You love plants, don't you?
14:00I do.
14:00And animals.
14:04You keep a fine stable, Mrs. Ricardo.
14:06My father used to tease me that I would come back as a horse.
14:11Do you spend much time at Buscott?
14:14Not as much as I would wish.
14:17I am not welcome there.
14:20Oh.
14:23Mr. Bravo, yesterday you spoke of marriage.
14:28I know you weren't exactly proposing, but
14:31before you would feel obliged to say anything further,
14:35I feel there are some circumstances you ought to know.
14:42When I was younger,
14:46we...
14:47You see, my first husband was very difficult.
14:51Difficult?
14:52And perhaps for that reason,
14:55after we had separated,
14:56I became very close with someone
15:00who had been a friend of my family's.
15:02Dr. Gully?
15:05Yes.
15:06I know he's important to you.
15:10I'm afraid I allowed
15:11an intimacy to occur
15:14which was unwise.
15:18I found that I was carrying his child.
15:20I lost the baby.
15:25And the relationship is and has been
15:27for some time quite different.
15:32If you should still wish to marry me,
15:35I feel that you must do so
15:37only in the full knowledge
15:39of what has happened in my life.
15:41And now I will leave you to
15:48think over what I have said.
15:51–
16:03–
16:04What you have told me changes things as you knew it would.
16:31If we are to go forward now, there must be promises made.
16:36You will not see Dr. Gully again.
16:37Of course not.
16:39And no one else will know what you've told me.
16:42No, but Mrs. Cox took care of me when I was recovering.
16:47Do you believe she is discreet?
16:49Yes.
16:50I owe her my life.
16:51I trust her completely.
16:52Very well.
16:53Florence, I think I should tell you that I too have regrets.
17:00There is a woman in Maidenhead.
17:02She has a daughter.
17:04Your child?
17:05Yes, I support her.
17:08Do you still see them?
17:10Yes.
17:11But from now on I won't.
17:14I've told you this to even things out between us.
17:20I'm conscious of the trust you've placed in me.
17:24But I believe that a woman who has gone wrong once is unlikely to go wrong again.
17:30And because you have shown such faith in me, I'm satisfied to make you my wife.
17:38Yes.
17:39Yes.
17:40Yes.
17:41Yes.
17:42Yes.
17:43Charles may sound generous, displaying a tolerance ahead of his time, but don't be deceived.
17:49In that moral climate, no man would have been able simply to set aside an adulterous
17:54liaison, illicit pregnancy.
17:57Florence's real attraction was her money.
18:00We will never refer to these distasteful subjects.
18:03For us, the slate is clean.
18:05Is that clear?
18:06It is.
18:07I thought I'd come on the wrong day.
18:21I'm sorry to have kept you.
18:22James, I need to tell you something that will be painful.
18:35I have decided that we can no longer see each other.
18:38What?
18:39Mama is not well.
18:42You know my father won't allow her to come and visit me and I am forbidden to go there.
18:47She is prevented even from writing to me until our relationship is finished.
18:51It is an absolute condition.
18:53I see.
18:57So I am to be cast aside?
18:59I'm sorry.
19:01Truly.
19:03Please try to understand.
19:08I think that you ought to have these back.
19:10And I would ask for the return of the letters and gifts I have sent you.
19:20And the key.
19:22Am I to have no right to speak?
19:23To what purpose?
19:24My mind is quite made up.
19:27My mother is getting old.
19:30I cannot make her suffer any more than she has suffered already for my conduct.
19:34If you loved me.
19:35If I love you.
19:36If.
19:37Don't make this unpleasant for me.
19:39Unpleasant for you?
19:40I should hope it is unpleasant because it is torture to me.
19:45I have given you everything I have.
19:49By loving you, I have slipped from eminence to laughing stock.
19:54And now you throw me aside like an old shoe.
19:56Good day to you, madam.
20:10It is better this way.
20:26Your lawyer has told me that you invoked the Married Women's Property Act.
20:34Is this true?
20:36I take it then you believe I am marrying you for your money?
20:39No.
20:40What other possible reason could there be?
20:42Oh, Charles, it does not seem so very terrible that I should choose to retain control of my own fortune.
20:47Does it not?
20:48And what of me? Am I to play lord and waiting to my heiress wife?
20:50No.
20:51I will not contemplate a marriage which doesn't make me master of my own house.
20:53Do you wish me to eat at a table or sit in a chair which doesn't belong to me?
20:56I tell you, Florence, unless it's settled, I cannot marry you.
21:10In all fairness, most Victorian men would have been incensed by Florence's decision to invoke the Married Women's Property Act.
21:17To start with, it was brand new.
21:19Less than two years earlier, her whole fortune would have passed to Charles automatically.
21:24Now she would hold on to it.
21:26And in those early years, the act was regarded much as we would think of a prenuptial agreement.
21:31An unpromising start to married life.
21:34No, Florence's decision was provocative.
21:37And it clearly indicates, well to me anyway, that even at that stage, she didn't trust him.
21:42I didn't know who else to turn to.
21:47When is the wedding?
21:49December 7th.
21:51So soon?
21:53It is soon.
21:55Unless he carries out his threat to cancel everything.
21:57Oh, I'm sorry.
22:01It was cruel of me to ask you to help.
22:04I suppose it is hard to expect him to be a lodger in his inn home.
22:09You think I should agree to it then?
22:11No, not entirely.
22:12Give him the lease on the house and the contents.
22:17Keep the capital in your own hands.
22:21He'll object, but he'll take it.
22:24If only I could understand the hiring.
22:27You haven't known him two months.
22:28Why not delay the wedding a little?
22:30Find out more about him.
22:32Test your own feelings.
22:33And then if you're sure...
22:34I don't think Charles believes in long engagements.
22:35No, my God, he believes in short ones.
22:41Oh, my Florence.
22:45You know, there's nothing I wouldn't do to spare your pain.
22:50Now you must go.
22:52You'll be missed.
22:54Thank you, James.
23:04I'm not keeping this.
23:19Jane?
23:20Come in.
23:22Charles.
23:24I thought you'd gone.
23:26It's after ten o'clock.
23:28I wanted to say thank you.
23:30For letting me be a master here.
23:32If you are content, then so am I.
23:35You could make me happy and still.
23:38I'd be glad to try.
23:42I think you should prove to me that you love me more than Gully.
23:45I don't know what you mean.
23:47I think you do.
23:48Please.
23:50We said we would never speak of Dr. Gully.
23:52Give me what you gave him.
23:54Charles, what are you thinking?
23:58What should I think?
23:59No.
24:01You give yourself to an old married man, and not to me.
24:04Oh, my God.
24:05How can I know I've chosen wisely?
24:07No.
24:08Charles, help me.
24:09Can I help you, Mr Bravo?
24:10I've left the horse in the yard.
24:11I'll see to him.
24:12What's that you're using?
24:13She's got a saw.
24:14It makes her coat shine.
24:15What is it?
24:16What is it?
24:17Antimony.
24:18Antimony.
24:19I haven't heard of antimony being used for horses.
24:20What's that you're using?
24:21She's got a saw.
24:22It makes her coat shine.
24:23What is it?
24:24Antimony.
24:25Antimony.
24:26I haven't heard of antimony being used for horses.
24:27Perhaps that's because you don't work with horses, sir.
24:28I've known horses all my life, and I know the properties of antimony.
24:31I used it when I worked for Dr Gully in Malvern.
24:33You can't and get to help with horses.
24:37I used it when I worked for Dr Gully in Malvern.
24:39Is that a cut?
24:40What about you?
24:41Yes.
24:42A cut off, Mr Bravo.
24:43I've never worked with this one.
24:44I've never worked with Scartel.
24:45What about you?
24:46I've never worked with it.
24:47I mean, I've never done that in this one.
24:48I've never worked with it.
24:49What are you doing?
24:50I'm ready for the horses, sir.
24:51I've protected your horses.
24:52Really.
24:53What's that?
24:54The horses.
24:55I've brought them for horses.
24:56I've left it.
24:57They've never been used for horses.
24:58So he taught you how to use it, did he?
25:01He understands how to treat horses, sir.
25:04It seems peculiar to rub a good horse down with poison.
25:10I've worked for Mrs. Ricardo ever since Dr. Gully left Malvern.
25:14She's never had any complaints about my work.
25:24We've decided that you must seek employment elsewhere.
25:27What? What do you mean? I don't understand.
25:31It's not very difficult. You're no longer wanted.
25:34Why?
25:36Look, if it's about the antimony...
25:37It's nothing to do with your poisons. You're a clumsy man.
25:40You're a poor coachman. You're drunk and insolent.
25:42I'm never drunk at work.
25:44You ran the carriage into a milk cart last week.
25:46The milk cart ran into me?
25:48You have a fortnight's wages, which is more than you deserve.
25:51I'll have to leave my home when my wife is pregnant.
25:53Congratulations.
25:54We have two weeks.
25:57That'll be all.
26:09Damn him! And damn this miserable house!
26:11As for the wedding, she'll need a few stiff drinks before she goes to church.
26:15And he won't live four months after.
26:17You mark my words!
26:25What was Florence thinking?
26:27That her difficulties were solved?
26:29Just one week before her marriage to Charles and it already looked like she was exchanging one set of problems for another.
26:35I think there are going to be a few changes around here.
26:44Yes, you must be a bit worried.
26:46Why should I be?
26:48Well, brides don't much feel the need of a companion, do they?
26:52Always there.
26:54Thank God's buddy.
26:55Well, they're here.
27:00Here we are, home again.
27:01Jane, don't you look well.
27:03Have you had a nice rest away from all my fussing?
27:05I've missed you.
27:06Both.
27:07But the change has done you good.
27:08Oh dear, Buskett.
27:09It was so good to be home.
27:11This is your home now.
27:13Charles loved it too, didn't he dear?
27:15We were twenty at least for dinner every night.
27:17Very grand.
27:18It was grand fun.
27:19We can be sure of that.
27:20And your cousin quite stole the show.
27:22Well, the best we had to put up with here was a new law on vivisection.
27:26Oh.
27:27I really can't bear to think about things like that.
27:29I suppose it's better than letting grave robbers hold medical research to ransom.
27:33Of course, if women ever get into medicine.
27:35What an appalling prospect.
27:38He's only jealous.
27:39He wanted to be a doctor too.
27:40I did not.
27:41You spent more time in my laboratory than any of your law lectures.
27:43I didn't know that, Charlie.
27:45I've always been interested in medicine.
27:47Florence, are you all right?
27:52Yes.
27:53Perfectly, thank you.
27:55Well, I think we'll go into the drawing room.
28:02Don't be too long over your brandy and skirts.
28:05I'll stay as long as I want.
28:07We'll be with you directly.
28:09I hope Mrs Bravo is really all right.
28:17She's as right as any woman in her condition.
28:19In her condition?
28:21My son and heir is on his way.
28:23At least we're almost sure he is.
28:25That's a very rapid development.
28:29Congratulations.
28:30You must come back in daylight.
28:34I want to show you around my little kingdom.
28:41We're spending too much in the stables.
28:43How do you mean, dearest?
28:45We don't need so many horses.
28:46We can do very well without the comps.
28:48I do not agree.
28:49We've dismissed Griffith.
28:50There's a saving already.
28:51In the garden, it's a ludicrous expense.
28:53Three gardeners and one would do.
28:56Charles, we have ten acres.
28:58We can't possibly manage with one gardener.
29:02My mother thinks we can manage with one.
29:05I said I thought perhaps two.
29:07And what has your mother to do with it?
29:11Have you been discussing our affairs with her?
29:14Why shouldn't I?
29:15She knows a good deal about running her house.
29:19As do I.
29:21And I will not take advice from a woman who did not attend my wedding.
29:25And will not call at my home.
29:36One horse, one gardener.
29:38We want to dress soon, I suppose.
29:40Oh, it's absurd.
29:42His father was always very careful with money.
29:44But I live within my income.
29:45I always have.
29:47I won't be told how to spend my own money least of all by his mother.
29:50Mrs. Cox, good evening.
29:52Good evening, Mr. Bravo.
29:54I'll be with you in a moment, Jane.
29:55I'll be with you in a moment, Jane.
30:04I'm sorry if I vexed you.
30:10Kiss me.
30:11My darling wife.
30:12But, Charlie, I am used to running things myself. You must allow me.
30:25Florence.
30:27Florence, what is it?
30:29Jane.
30:31Get help.
30:32You've lost the baby.
30:35I've got to make up the bed in the spare room for the master.
30:39What are we supposed to do about those?
30:41I'll leave him here and deal with them later.
30:42You know who's writing this, Liz?
30:43Marianne.
30:44Could I have some tea, please?
30:45Yes, Mum.
30:46No, I don't recognise it.
30:47Are you sure?
30:48Quite sure.
30:49What is it?
30:50Doesn't it say who it's from?
30:51It's from someone who says I only married you for your money.
30:52What?
30:53Read it yourself.
30:54I don't know.
30:55I don't know.
30:56I don't know.
30:57You know who's writing this, Liz?
30:58Marianne.
30:59Could I have some tea, please?
31:00Yes, Mum.
31:01No, I don't recognise it.
31:02Are you sure?
31:03Quite sure.
31:04What is it?
31:05Doesn't it say who it's from?
31:06It's from someone who says I only married you for your money.
31:07What?
31:08Read it yourself.
31:09Oh, this is awful.
31:10It's a vile, cowardly piece of work, and I know who wrote it.
31:11Who?
31:12Isn't it obvious?
31:13No.
31:14I reckon it's George Griffiths.
31:15He heard him when he was dismissed.
31:16And I know who wrote it.
31:17Who?
31:18Isn't it obvious?
31:19No.
31:20I reckon it's George Griffiths.
31:21He heard him when he was dismissed.
31:22You know what he's like.
31:23Well, if it's got a temper on him, no doubt about that.
31:24And he's the sort to bear a grudge.
31:25I knew we hadn't heard the last of him.
31:26If Nibs thinks it's the Doctor.
31:27Dr. Gully?
31:28He wouldn't do a thing like that.
31:29Well, I'm not saying he would or he wouldn't.
31:30But when all's said and done, he got there first, didn't he?
31:31And Mr. Bravo doesn't like it.
31:32Anyway.
31:33I don't know who wrote it.
31:34I don't know who wrote it.
31:35I don't know who wrote it.
31:36I don't know who wrote it.
31:37I don't know who wrote it.
31:38Who?
31:39Isn't it obvious?
31:40No.
31:41I reckon it's George Griffiths.
31:42You heard him when he was dismissed.
31:43He wouldn't do a thing like that.
31:44Well, I'm not saying he would or he wouldn't.
31:46But when all's said and done, he got there first, didn't he?
31:49And Mr. Bravo doesn't like it.
31:51Anyway.
31:52Whoever wrote the letter, it's quite true.
31:54We know who pays the pipe around here.
31:57And that's another thing his lordship doesn't like.
31:59Mrs. Cox will sleep in her own room tonight.
32:02I'll bid you goodnight, then.
32:05Goodnight, Jane.
32:13Please, Charles.
32:15It's too soon.
32:16I'm not ready.
32:17Sleep here if you must.
32:18Don't make such a fuss about everything!
32:20It's my fault I've been too patient with you.
32:22Now come here.
32:23No.
32:24Charles, please.
32:25I'm not ready.
32:26I'm not ready!
32:27Charles, please!
32:28No!
32:29Charles, you're hurting me!
32:30What?
32:31No, please!
32:32No!
32:33No!
32:34No, please!
32:35No!
32:36No, please!
32:38Please!
32:39Please!
32:43You know, I don't think Mrs. Cox is helping you, dearest.
32:48You seem more nervous than ever when she's with you.
32:52I need Jane.
32:55I don't know what I'd do without her.
32:58Then let's find out.
33:00My mother says if we release Mrs. Cox and get rid of her cobs,
33:03we'll save 400 pounds a year straight away.
33:08Perhaps in future your mother would be kind enough
33:11to discuss her ideas with me.
33:14She's very busy.
33:17Once and for all, Charles, I have no intention
33:20of taking advice from a woman who will not call it my home.
33:23Seems you will do nothing to please me.
33:25What have I not done?
33:26You won't ask Dr. Gully to move away from here.
33:28I have asked him and he has refused.
33:30We can't live in such proximity to a man who has known you as...
33:34I can't accept it.
33:36And I can't make him leave.
33:37So he ought to be harassed indefinitely by your raging Romeo.
33:40I do not think it was James who wrote you that letter.
33:43Then you are either stupid or guilty,
33:45for there can be no third explanation.
33:47Charles!
33:49Charles!
33:50Charles, you will apologise to me for what you've just said.
33:53I will do no such thing.
33:54I will not allow you to...
33:55Enough!
33:56Stop!
33:57Looking back on the ten weeks of our marriage,
34:26ten weeks, what an indictment.
34:29I feel that many of my words to you were very harsh.
34:34As in her first marriage, Buskett provided her refuge,
34:37but Charles wanted her back,
34:39even though there wasn't a hint of apology in any of his letters for the physical abuse.
34:43But alas, with Gully gone, Florence had no protectors,
34:47and Robert Campbell, once so loving a father,
34:49wasn't prepared to see her go through a second public failure.
34:53He was deceiving himself. Florence was already a parade.
34:56She had nothing to gain from continuing her dismal marriage,
34:59but he couldn't accept this, and nor could she.
35:01As they saw it, she had no choice but to go back.
35:05And Florence was pregnant again.
35:08But nothing had changed.
35:10Mrs. Cox, this is Gully's handwriting, isn't it?
35:13It's addressed to you.
35:15It may be, Dr. Gully's.
35:17Open it.
35:18I'll open it later.
35:19I insist you open it before me.
35:26I believe it is a prescription for Jamaica fever.
35:29When did you see Gully?
35:34We met by chance at Ballam Railway Station.
35:37We were waiting for the same train.
35:38You spoke to him?
35:39Yes.
35:40What did you talk about?
35:42I said that I might have to visit my aunt in Jamaica, who is unwell,
35:46and that I might need a prescription.
35:48He said that he would send me one.
35:50Did you arrange the meeting?
35:51No.
35:52And that's all that was said?
35:53Mr. Bravo, you are not in a court of law now,
35:56and I am not under investigation.
35:59Please give me my letter.
36:00I don't want you to see him again.
36:02I don't want anyone near this house or anyone who lives in it.
36:05Do you understand?
36:06Have I made myself clear?
36:08That's Crystal.
36:09Charles!
36:10James!
36:11Help me!
36:15Another miscarriage, another blow to Florence's health,
36:18and the chance of ever bearing a living child receding,
36:22all of which must have made Charles' incessant demands intolerable.
36:25But as his own cousin Royce Bell once said,
36:28Charles Bravo was a man of very little sentiment.
36:32How is she sleeping?
36:35Not well.
36:36She's been very low since it happened.
36:38She can't seem to pick up this time.
36:40Even before the miscarriage, she was getting terrible headaches.
36:43She says her back is painful too.
36:46She says she feels sick all the time, which she never used to before.
36:49What can we do, Doctor?
36:51I'll give it some thought.
36:54If I wanted to send something to you, how should I do it?
36:57Don't send it here.
36:58Where then?
36:59My house in Notting Hill.
37:00I'll go there tomorrow.
37:04What did Royce say?
37:09Only that you're doing very well.
37:11And there's absolutely no reason why you wouldn't be able to bear a child.
37:15You just need some rest.
37:17Let me get you some more water.
37:19Ah.
37:20Mrs. Cox.
37:21How are the plans for your trip going?
37:22What trip?
37:23Her aunt in Jamaica is unwell.
37:24She's asked Mrs. Cox to visit her.
37:25Is this true, Jane?
37:26Are you leaving?
37:27I haven't decided yet.
37:28You must bring the boys around before you leave.
37:29I'll give them a game of tennis in the garden.
37:31I'll just take my coat off.
37:33I'll just take my coat off.
37:34All right, Jane.
37:35Come.
37:36I'll have a man up to you.
37:37Come on.
37:38I will be coming back.
37:39Just go for the house, Jane.
37:40I'll have to go for dinner.
37:41I'll have to take my care on.
37:42And see you later.
37:43Bye.
37:44Come on.
37:45The maquillard was a little longer than you were leaving.
37:46She was afraid to go back for a child.
37:47And I'll get them to the mother.
37:48Well, you've got to be very lucky.
37:49You've got to be very lucky.
37:50If you've got the whole car.
37:52We've got to have to go back in the house.
37:53Mallory, the maquillard was a big deal.
37:54But he didn't get to be very lucky.
37:55It was no reason why.
37:56It's not going to be lucky.
37:58Well, it's a big deal.
37:59Florence said you were bringing her some masala.
38:15I'm going up anywhere. I thought I could take it for you.
38:18How thoughtful.
38:21Mrs Cox, has it ever occurred to you that Florence may be drinking too much wine?
38:28She's had a lot to put up with lately.
38:30I was talking to Royce the other day. He came to see her, you know?
38:33Yes.
38:34He was telling me there are ways of curbing a person's craving for alcohol.
38:39I thought I might talk to him about it. Do you think that's a good idea?
38:42I don't see what harm it would do.
38:44I know I can trust you not to say anything to Florence.
38:47I should hate her alarm.
38:52Mrs Cox gets £80 a year. Are you sure?
38:55I'll bet it's not far short.
38:57And when you think, he got rid of George Griffiths and he did a real job.
39:01Marianne, don't have work to do. You'd better look sharp the way things are going round here.
39:05Don't you worry about me, Mr Rowe. Not as long as Mrs Cox is still here.
39:09Master's sick of her and so he should be.
39:11Sleeping with his wife. Eating at his table.
39:14Everywhere he turns, there she is, watching and waiting like a great big spider.
39:18And I heard him say it's not up to him to pay for her sons.
39:21Get on with your work, Marianne.
39:25Just as you wish, Mrs Cox.
39:33Sometimes I think I shall never be a mother.
39:36Of course you will.
39:37If you want to be.
39:41No, I don't think so.
39:42You're tired, my dear.
39:46It's made you melancholy.
39:48Do you ever wonder why I should be punished so?
39:52When I've done nothing wrong?
39:54Shh.
39:56Don't be silly.
40:02Have you thought any more about your trip to Jamaica?
40:05Not yet.
40:07If I do go, it won't be for so very long.
40:09What if Charles won't let you back?
40:14Oh, I'm frightened, Jane.
40:17I don't know what I'd do without you.
40:19Nonsense.
40:20You'll manage perfectly.
40:24Nothing is perfect in this house.
40:26Where's my lovely wife?
40:44Here I am.
40:46I'm going to get changed.
40:47I feel like a ride.
40:49What's that you're reading?
40:50Oh.
40:51Ah.
40:52A holiday in Worthing.
40:53I don't see the point of it, my dear.
40:56Not when you're doing so well here.
40:58You look much more your old self already.
41:02In fact, why don't you stay up for dinner tonight?
41:04It would please me if you would.
41:06I'm really feeling quite tired.
41:08You will sit with me at dinner, damn you.
41:17Saddle Cremorne, would you, George?
41:18You best take the other one, sir.
41:19Cremorne's a bit frisky today.
41:20I said saddle Cremorne.
41:21There'll be another place needed for dinner.
41:25Oh?
41:25The mistress is staying up.
41:26No, she isn't.
41:28She said she'll have a tray in her room.
41:29That was before he came home.
41:31Well, he's a fool.
41:33She fainted again this morning.
41:35There'll be no patter of tiny feet if she doesn't get her health back.
41:40Mary-Anne, will you spare us your philosophy and lay another place at the table?
41:45I'm so sorry.
41:51The train was late.
41:52Did you have a successful day?
41:54I think so.
41:55I brought some details of one particular house I saw.
41:58It's on the edge of Worthing.
41:59Very convenient.
42:00Jane, this is lovely.
42:02Quite suitable.
42:03What do you think, Charles?
42:04I think you could recover perfectly while I'm here.
42:08Charles had a riding accident today.
42:10Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
42:11It wasn't an accident.
42:13The horse bolted.
42:14I told you we should have got rid of it.
42:15It's not Cremorne's fault.
42:17Sell him or I'll have him put down.
42:20Did your bath help?
42:22My back still hurts and I have a toothache.
42:25I'll fetch some Laudan.
42:26If I want your help, I'll ask for it.
42:32This just arrived for you, sir.
42:41Who's it from?
42:45The governor.
42:46He's written me a shirty letter.
42:48Your father has?
42:49Damn it all.
42:50He's opened a letter meant for me.
42:51I'm sure it was a mistake.
42:53Will you kindly keep your opinions to yourself, Mrs Cox?
42:55It's enough that my father and my wife give me no respect.
42:58You at least should know your place.
42:59Perhaps he just wants you to ask his advice more often.
43:02It's intolerable.
43:03First you and now my father.
43:04I don't know what you mean.
43:06I mean, Florence, that I will be master of my own affairs.
43:09You're not well.
43:09Well, why don't you go to bed?
43:12I'll go to bed when I want to and not before.
43:22Thank you, Mary Ann.
43:28You may go.
43:28You've already drunk a bottle of wine this evening and now you've sent for more.
43:43It'll help me sleep.
43:46I've asked Jane to stay with me tonight.
43:48I'm a little bit tired after my first day up.
43:51Very well.
43:53Have it your own way.
43:54I shouldn't wonder if you killed your baby with alcohol poisoning.
44:13Mrs Bravo, need anything more tonight?
44:16That'll be all, thank you, Mary Ann.
44:18Good night.
44:19Good night.
44:19Good night.
44:21Hot water.
44:25Give me some hot water, for God's sake!
44:33Roe!
44:34Virtual local doctor!
44:36I don't care who, just fetch him at once!
44:38Did you hear me, Roe?
44:40Yes, doctor?
44:40Mrs Cox has sent for Dr Harris.
44:42He's miles away.
44:43Get someone local.
44:44Anyone.
44:44I don't care who, but hurry.
44:46And send to London for Dr Roe's bell.
44:49Take it all to be washed.
44:50I want the bath emptied and fresh water in the jug.
44:57When did it happen?
44:58About 9.30.
45:00Charlie, can you hear me?
45:02What have you taken, Charlie?
45:05He told me he had taken poison.
45:06When?
45:07Just before he passed out.
45:08He said, I've taken some of that poison.
45:09Don't tell Florence.
45:11Mrs Cox tells me you say you've taken poison.
45:13I don't remember telling anyone I took any poison.
45:16I can't believe this.
45:17Charlie would never commit suicide.
45:18I've known him since we were children.
45:20He wouldn't do that.
45:21I'd venture my soul.
45:22They say he's taken irritant poison,
45:24and he won't live the night.
45:26Remember what George said?
45:28When?
45:29Well, they dismissed him.
45:30He said Mr Bravo wouldn't live four months after the wedding.
45:33He was all mouth, Mary Ann.
45:35It's going to come true, though, isn't it?
45:43Has a sample been taken of the vomit on the roof?
45:53No.
45:53Why not?
45:54We didn't think...
45:55Get someone to collect it now.
45:58With a clean silver spoon.
46:00It'll be needed for analysis.
46:01Of course.
46:02Did he say anything to you?
46:06He said he had taken poison.
46:08But he didn't say what?
46:09What exactly did he say?
46:13I have taken poison.
46:15Don't tell Florence.
46:26You must tell us what you have taken.
46:29If you don't, someone could be accused of poisoning you.
46:34I'm aware of that.
46:36I have to tell the truth.
46:39It was only laudanum for toothache.
46:43If it wasn't, then so help me God.
46:44I don't know what it was.
46:47Sir William, please, there must be something you can do.
46:49I'm sorry.
46:51It wouldn't be right to give you any hope.
47:07Yes, Charlie.
47:09Could you read some prayers for me, please?
47:12Would you like to see the rector, Charlie?
47:13No.
47:14All right.
47:15It's all right, Charlie.
47:16It's all right.
47:17Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
47:22Thy kingdom come.
47:24They will be done.
47:25Charlie.
47:33He's gone.
47:34The police arrived, but there wasn't much experience of detection in those early years,
47:53and no doubt important clues were lost or overlooked.
47:57Where Florence had once sat alone, aching for company, now the world poured in to gape and stare, eager to witness the scene of a poisoning.
48:06An inquest established that the substance used was antimony.
48:10It had probably been put into Charles' water jug.
48:13Mrs Cox testified that he committed suicide, and the whole thing might have ended there, but for the Bravo family, who insisted on a second inquest.
48:20The question was, who poisoned the water?
48:27Was it suicide, as Mrs Cox suggested, or was it murder, as the nation believed?
48:33In essence, there were four candidates for the role of murderer.
48:37George Griffiths, the coachman, came in for some discomfort for two reasons.
48:41The first was because he did use antimony in his work, but the second, of course, was because he'd made that extraordinary statement about Charles not living above four months beyond the wedding.
48:54He was known to bear grudges, and I, for one, think that he was the author of the anonymous letter to Charles.
49:01But after he left the Priory, he found employment and a home for his wife with a certain lady, Prescott, in Kent.
49:07They got on very well together, and she was even prepared to testify on his behalf, if necessary.
49:13What do you have risked all that, just to settle an old score?
49:17When Agatha Christie made a study of the case, she decided that the culprit was Dr. Gully, and certainly Gully had access to any poison.
49:25He also had a double motive.
49:28First, Charles had taken Florence away from him, and second, he was beating and abusing the woman Gully loved.
49:35Of course, to get the poison into Charles' water jug, he would need an accomplice, but he had one in Mrs. Cox.
49:42And the little bottle that he'd sent to her home in Notting Hill was never found.
49:50But when Gully met Florence for the last time, he advised her to give Bravo the house.
49:56If his jealousy was so great, would he have enabled the marriage?
49:59When at that moment, he could probably have talked her out of it.
50:03Isn't that proof, really, that he'd come to terms with her decision?
50:08I'm not keeping this.
50:10James Gully was a kind, good man, who devoted his life to helping others.
50:16But it seems to me to be quite against his nature to kill.
50:18As the case rumbled on, the London mob chose Mrs. Cox as chief suspect.
50:28Her name appeared in musical songs and jokes.
50:31Her silent manner, her shady past, all suggested the popular image of the poisoning murderess.
50:38It was on her word alone that the suicide theory rested, but was she lying?
50:42Perhaps because of this rising tide of hatred, in a simple act of self-preservation,
50:50Jane Cox decided to shift the spotlight away from herself,
50:54and in so doing, to throw her darling Florence to the wolves.
51:00In your statement to the police, you reported Mr. Bravo as saying,
51:06I have taken poison, don't tell Florence.
51:10That is what I said, then.
51:12Then, are you telling us these words are not true?
51:16No, but I left something out.
51:19Mr. Bravo said, I have taken poison for Dr. Gully, don't tell Florence.
51:26Why should he use that phrase, do you think?
51:31Mrs. Cox, will you tell the court just what was the relationship between Mrs. Bravo and Dr. Gully?
51:37The lurid secret was out.
51:41The affair, the pregnancy, the abortion, all of it.
51:45Victorian England was electrified.
51:47I refuse to answer any more questions about Dr. Gully.
51:51What has this to do with the death of my husband?
51:54What passed between you at Malvern, Mrs. Bravo?
51:56Am I not hurt and humiliated enough?
52:00Will you not be satisfied until I have been beaten into the ground like a dog?
52:05I appeal to the jury, to every man here, as gentlemen and as Britons, to save me from your cruel and irrelevant questions.
52:13It was an abominable misuse of a judicial inquiry.
52:19Now, we will move on to Dr. Gully's decision to follow you to Ballon.
52:25Mrs. Cox had played her cards well.
52:28The noose that seemed to tighten around her neck for a moment slipped away and she was forgotten in the greed for salacious detail.
52:36Could it have been Florence?
52:37No!
52:38Hadn't she suffered enough at his hands with his brutality and his incessant demands?
52:44By that stage, wasn't she aching to be rid of him?
52:47Very probably.
52:49But unlike many Victorian women, Florence wasn't trapped.
52:54She could have walked free.
52:55She had her own money.
52:56And her insistence on keeping control of it means that she envisaged a time when she might want to.
53:02And besides, she craved respectability.
53:04Would she have chosen to be notorious as the widow of a murder victim or a possible suspect?
53:11No.
53:12Florence was one of Fortune's victims.
53:15So was the mob right after all?
53:18Was Mrs. Cox really the villain of the piece?
53:21She was alone with Charles for his supposed confession of suicide and she later gave three different accounts of it.
53:27By her own admission, she had the sheets washed and the water jug emptied.
53:30Surely she was trying to hide something.
53:32I want the bath emptied and fresh water in the jug.
53:34The problem is, Mrs. Cox had no motive.
53:38The most important thing in her life was her son's future.
53:40And at the time Charles died, security was within reach.
53:44She knew her old aunt in Jamaica was going to leave her a considerable estate and it's inconceivable she would have done anything to risk that.
53:50Least of all, get caught up in a scandal.
53:54So if she didn't put the antimony in the jug, why the destruction of evidence?
53:58Why the altered testimony?
53:59Charlie, can you hear me?
54:00What have you taken, Charlie?
54:02When Mrs. Cox gave her first account of Charles's words to his cousin, she reported his speech as...
54:07I've taken some of that poison.
54:08I have taken some of that poison, which surely implies that they both knew the poison he was referring to.
54:14One theory is that Charles, worried by Florence's drinking, had been putting it in her wine in the hope it would deter her.
54:23It wasn't unknown.
54:24Antimony in small doses was sometimes used in this way by husbands and wives.
54:29Perhaps Mrs. Cox had caught Charles tampering with Florence's drink and accepted his explanation.
54:33I know I can trust you not to say anything to Florence.
54:36But of course Mrs. Cox changed her story to conceal that she knew about the poison.
54:41We find that Charles Delaney Turner Bravo did not commit suicide, that he did not meet his death by misadventure, but he was willfully murdered by the administration of Tata Emetic.
54:56Order.
54:57Order.
54:59But there is not sufficient evidence to fix the guilt on any person or persons.
55:07So what did happen?
55:09Who did kill Charles Bravo?
55:12Well, we know two things about Charles's death.
55:16He didn't show any surprise when told that he'd been poisoned, and he never demonstrated the smallest suspicion of anyone in the house.
55:24Hot water.
55:25Hot water.
55:25Get some hot water, for God's sake!
55:27Why would Charles call for hot water if he didn't know what he'd swallowed?
55:31I think the fatal error was a simple one. I think he mistook
55:35Antimony for Epsom salts. But although this theory fits most of the facts,
55:40there's something about it that doesn't quite add up. Why the denial of any
55:45knowledge of the substance, when to reveal it, might have helped.
55:49And after all, it was a clumsy way to try and stop Florence drinking, but it wasn't
55:52malicious.
55:53Or was it?
55:56I don't believe Charles was trying to save Florence from drink. We know that
56:02as a bride she shone with health. Yet only five months later she was an
56:06invalid. The headaches, the backaches, the miscarriages. These are symptoms of slow
56:11poisoning. Charles Bravo was trying to kill his wife. As Florence's heir, he stood to
56:19inherit over 60,000 pounds, a vast sum then. He was a man obsessed with money and he
56:25yearned to be master. And this is the only theory that makes sense of everything that
56:30happened.
56:31Think of the events on that last evening. The horse bolting.
56:37The angry letter from his father. His rage at the Worthing plan. And Florence's rejection
56:44of him. I'd say that he stormed into his bedroom and in his fury he snatched up the poison instead
56:51of the salts.
56:57Remember the flaring fire. I suggest that he flung the rest of the antimony into the flames
57:02to destroy the evidence. The irony can't have been quite lost on him. His careful plans for
57:08murder had resulted in his own death. And yet he had killed Florence after all. Killed her and those dear to her.
57:20Her family was ruined. They soon left England forever. Gully lived on. But shunned by those
57:26who'd once honoured him. While Florence didn't long survive the scandal. Eighteen months later she was dead. Alone and unlimited. She died of drink at the age of 33.
57:56But here she had been.
57:58One day back in the year.
57:59One day back in the news.
58:01Two day back in the old块.
58:02The new one is dead.
58:06The new one is dead.
58:08And he had lived on the earth and his son.
58:11So, when a man has lived on the earth and a man has lived on the earth.
58:15The new one is dead.
58:17So, when the story was gone.
58:19He is dead.
58:21And the first day back in the last night has lived on the earth.
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