Dragonwyck

- Ma!

- What in the heaven's name?

- It's a letter, Ma, for you.

- Who's it from?

- Aren't you gonna read it?

- Your pa and the boys'll be in soon.

- We might as well wait.

- We'll just have to read it again when Pa gets here.

Oh, please, Ma. It's for you.

You've got a right.

Aren't you dyin' to know what's in it?

Seems to me you're the one that's dying.

"Dragonwyck, May 1 9, 1 844.

My dear Cousin Abigail.

Nicholas Van Ryn."

- Who's that?

- Shh. Tibby.

Read the letter, Ma.

"Though we have never met,

we are related, as you doubtless know...

"through our mutual grandmother,

Annetje Gaansevant.

"My wife and I have decided

to invite one of your daughters...

"into our home for an extended visit.

"We shall naturally be able

to offer her many advantages...

"which she could not hope to enjoy

in her present station.

"In return, if she pleases,

she may serve as a companion...

"to our eight-year-old child, Katrine.

"Upon inquiry, I have been gratifiied

to fiind that you and your husband...

"enjoy the honor and respect

of your little community.

"Be so good as to let me know

at your earliest convenience...

"which of your daughters you select...

"and I will make all suitable arrangements

for her journey to Dragonwyck.

Respectfully yours, Nicholas Van Ryn."

Golly! Is he really your cousin?

Now don't go imagining yourselves

a couple of lost duchesses.

There's not a drop of Van Ryn blood

in any of us.

It doesn't make any difference to me,

I'm sure.

But you had the same grandmother.

She was... Let me see.

My grandfather was her second husband.

Her frst one died.

His name was Van Ryn.

Nicholas must be his grandson.

He's a patroon.

- A patroon? Cousin Nicholas?

- What's a patroon?

That's what they call the owners of those

enormous land grants on the Hudson River.

They're the descendants

of the original Dutch patroons...

and they're terribly rich and elegant.

He must be very important.

I remember reading about his visiting

President Van Buren at the White House.

But you haven't said yet, Ma,

whether I could go.

The subject hadn't come up yet,

that I know of.

- I think it unlikely that your pa will approve.

- He's more likely to if you do.

And if we do decide to let one of you go,

why not Tibby?

- Me?

- She wouldn't want to go. Would you, Tibby?

I'm sure there isn't anything I want

that I can't fnd right here.

- I'm not anxious to leave my home.

- That's not fair!

You know I love you and Pa,

all of you, and my home.

It's just that, well, I try to be like everyone else

and want what I'm supposed to want...

but then I start thinking about people

I've never known and places I've never been.

Maybe if the letter hadn't come, I...

Oh, I don't know. I must be loony.

Time I was killing a hen for supper.

You scour the drainboards.

No use mooning over it. Your pa'll do

whatever he and the Lord think best.

There's one thing you can be sure of.

They'll both feel the same way about it.

This day, O Lord, there has come to me

a matter of slight perplexity.

Deliver us, we pray,

from hankering after fieshpots...

and deliver us from vanity

and false pride.

However, thy will be done.

Keep and preserve us through the night.

Amen.

Well, boys, get.

- Tom.

- Yes, Pa?

You water the stock and look to Whiteface.

She's freshening.

Yes, Pa.

Tibby, is Obadiah Brown likely

to come mooning around again tonight?

Oh, Pa, I'm sure I have

no notion of his plans.

Well, if he does turn up,

be sure and sit on the steps...

where your ma can keep an eye on you.

Although I must say

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