Pit and the Pendulum Page #4

Sebastian.

Mr. Barnard.

Dona.

May I speak with you?

Yes, of course.

How is your brother?

Better, thank you. | Dr. Leon is staying with him.

I have come to ask you | to please believe him, Mr. Barnard.

He has told you the truth.

Has he?

Yes. And not telling you before...

...he only meant to spare you pain.

He is a good man, Mr. Barnard...

...a kind and gentle man...

...and I know that he adored | your sister.

I would like to believe him, | Dona Medina...

...but I find it very difficult | to do so.

There is something about him | I cannot help at sense...

...kind of fearful tension that...

I am sorry...

...but an air of | definite guilt.

Of course he suffers from guilt | Mr. Barnard...

...because of what our father did...

...because of what happened to | Elizabeth.

Perhaps it will help you | to understand...

...if I tell you something | that happened to Nicholas...

...when he was just a boy.

One day, while Nicholas was | playing...

...in a lower corridor...

He had been forbidden by | our father...

...to enter this chamber at any time.

The curiosity of youth, however...

...overcame his fear of challenging | our father's discipline.

He had to see the chamber.

Suddenly, there were footsteps.

It was our father.

With him were our mother | and our uncle Bartholomew...

...who was our father's brother.

At first it appeared that for | some inexplicable reason...

...our father was actually...

...conducting them on a tour of | his ghastly chamber.

Nicholas could see that both | our mother and our uncle...

...were uneasy, frightened.

Our father's smiling affability...

...as he described the workings | of these hellish instruments...

...turned Nicholas' blood cold.

He watched them with a mounting | sense of premonition.

Something was wrong, most | terribly wrong.

Even he, no more than | 10 years of age...

...could sense it like a | darkening vapor in the air.

There was no reason...

...for our mother and our uncle | to have been there.

As he struck, he kept on | screaming at his brother...

...one word, over and over.

"Adulterer! Adulterer!"

And then he turned on her.

Accusing her of vile debauchery | with his brother...

...cursing her as faithless...

...promising her the | agonies of hell...

...and payment | for her infidelity...

...and then before my brother's | very eyes...

...our mother was tortured to death.

Ever since then...

...Nicholas has been unable to live | as other men.

Always he is haunted by the memory...

...of that terrible day..

Your sister's death...

...came very close to driving, | him insane, Mr. Barnard.

I beg of you...

...have pity on him.

Help him by believing him.

I will try, dona Medina.

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