The Possession Page #4

LIBRARIAN:

(rambling on)

`... Devil and Demonology, Dogs,

Domestic Servants and... Donne...'

(beat)

You can lose anything in here. I

found a set of false teeth once...

Roland isn't listening. Dazzled by a thin shaft of

sunlight, Roland starts to read. On yellowing PAPER, a

sound of a PEN SCRATCHING.

(CONTINUED)

10.

CONTINUED:

And Ash's voice -- deep, intimate -- OVER:

ASH (V.O.)

`... Dear madam, Excuse this letter

to a stranger. Yet since our

pleasant and unexpected conversation

at Crabb Robinson's party, I have

thought of nothing else...'

On hearing Ash's voice, Roland turns the letters over. Like

a spell, the voice stops. Roland stares hard at the

letters, then looks back at the Librarian. Concealing the

letters from view.

Warily, Roland turns the letters over again. As Roland

reads the next passage, his expression changes to wonder.

ASH (V.O.)

`... I feel, I know with a certainty

that cannot be mistaken, that you

and I must speak again...'

He reads on, silently. Then turns the letters over again.

He folds back the book to the front paper: A signature

"Randolph Henry Ash." Roland pulls the letter up beside the

signature -

ROLAND:

Incredible...

CLOSEUP - LETTER/SIGNATURE

A match.

BACK TO SCENE:

Like a great poker hand, Roland can't believe his luck.

Suddenly alive, confused, palpitating, he looks 'round.

LIBRARIAN:

Hm...? Found anything interesting?

EXTREME CLOSEUP ON ROLAND

deliberating. His heartbeat seems to pause. Time stops,

his whole life converges in a single moment: Life or death,

truth or lie, a simple "Yes" or "No":

ROLAND:

No. Nothing really...

11.

BACK TO SCENE:

Guiltily, Roland slides the letters into his copy of

Poems of R.H. Ash. And slips the book beneath his arm, as -

A loud KNOCKING sound CARRIES OVER from -

AUCTIONEER (V.O.)

... Sold once... sold twice...

INT. CHRISTIE'S AUCTION HOUSE (LONDON) - DAY

A hammer bangs on a gavel as an AUCTIONEER closes a deal.

In a panelled room, a crowd of buyers sit waiting, some

poised on phones, others with catalogues: Victorian

Literary Memorabilia.

AUCTIONEER:

Sold for a hundred and twenty-five

thousand guineas...

The tall, handsome buyer, acknowledges the Auctioneer:

MORTIMER CROPPER, U.S. scholar, collector, master of the Ash

universe. Nearby, the elderly LORD ASH, and his wastrel

son, HILDEBRAND.

AUCTIONEER:

... Letters and memorabilia of

Randolph Henry Ash, including

wedding rings belonging to the poet

and his wife... to Professor

Cropper.

Behind him, Blackadder and Fergus Wolf exchange glances.

Cropper acknowledges Blackadder, turns to Lord Ash.

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