repercussions. Careers will be smashed, reputations overturned. The Prime Minister will look foolish.
GENEVIEVE (to DRAVOT)
And what of me? Am I a ‘loose end’? Like Jack, like Godalming? Like that poor girl? You let him butcher her, didn’t you? You or Jack killed Godalming. Then, knowing what he was, you stood back in the shadows and let him account for her. It was tidier that way. You didn’t even dirty your hands. Can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, eh? What about us eggs?
MILLER’S COURT, WHITECHAPEL. EXT. NIGHT.
CHARLES and GENEVIEVE emerge, following DRAVOT. Police whistles sound. DRAVOT slips into the fog, leaving CHARLES and GENEVIEVE.
GENEVIEVE
What happened here, what truly happened?
CHARLES
I don’t yet know.
GENEVIEVE
You’ll be the hero.
CHARLES
Why?
GENEVIEVE
You’ve no choice.
LESTRADE and a couple of CONSTABLES, augmented by HENTZAU and some CARPATHIANS arrive.
CHARLES
There’s a dead woman in that court. And a pair of murderers, also dead. Jack the Ripper is finished.
LESTRADE and HENTZAU look into MARY’s room. LESTRADE is appalled by the scene.
LESTRADE
That’s Hell in there.
CHARLES
It’s Hell out here.
KATE and DIARMID arrive, followed by OLIVER. More rubber-neckers crowd in.
GENEVIEVE
It was Jack Seward.
KATE
Dr Seward?
GENEVIEVE
He was mad, and not responsible.
KATE
Then who was responsible?
GENEVIEVE
The thing who drove him mad.
They look up through thinning fog at the moon. A bat-shape soars across its face.*
* * *
CARRIAGE. INT. NIGHT.
GENEVIEVE
Look, there’s Van Helsing’s head. It’s a mistake to leave it there. It’s not an example to would-be revolutionaries, it’s a rallying point. Insurrections need martyrs.
OUTSIDE THE PALACE. EXT. NIGHT.
The main gates have barbed wire wrapped around the uprights. CARPATHIANS haul the huge ironwork frames aside as if they were silk curtains and the carriage slides through. The Palace is illuminated. Black smoke pours into the sky.
CARRIAGE. INT. NIGHT.
The carriage stops outside the palace doors.
CHARLES (gets up)
You can stay in the carriage. Safe. I’ll be all right. This will not take long. (She shakes her head.) Gene, I beg you.
GENEVIEVE
Charles, why are you so worried? We’re heroes, we have nothing to fear from the Prince. I am his elder.
The door is opened by a FOOTMAN.
OUTSIDE THE PALACE. EXT. NIGHT.
GENEVIEVE steps down first. CHARLES follows. She takes his arm and nuzzles against him, but he will not be comforted.
Beyond the Palace fences stand crowds. Sullen sightseers peer through bars. GENEVIEVE looks and sees the CHINESE GIRL and a bundled-up MR YEE among the many faces.
The FOOTMAN, a vampire youth with a gold-painted face, leads them up the broad stairs and strikes the doors with his stick. They open, disclosing the marbled length of a vaulted reception hall.
RECEPTION HALL, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT. It’s like the Wizard of Oz’s antechamber. Thirty-foot diaphanous silk curtains part in the draught as CHARLES and GENEVIEVE step into the hall. SERVANTS appear and relieve the visitors of their cloaks. GENEVIEVE expects her dress to be admired but CHARLES glumly has to hand over his cane to a CARPATHIAN.
CHARLES (suddenly grasping her)
Whatever happens, this you must know. Gene, I love you.
GENEVIEVE
And I you, Charles. I you.
CHARLES
I you what?
GENEVIEVE
Love, Charles. I love you.
He kisses her, and they are drawn along the hallway, towards more tall doors, which open for them.
ANTECHAMBER, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT.
CARMILLA, a vampire lady-in-waiting, waits for CHARLES and GENEVIEVE. This hallway is like the last but far more battered. An armadillo wriggles past GENEVIEVE’s feet. The carpets are dirty. CARMILLA guides them to inner doors, which open in noisy lurches. The doorman is JOHN MERRICK, grotesque malformations emphasised by a tailored parti-coloured suit.
CHARLES
Good evening. Merrick, is it not?
GENEVIEVE
Why, it’s...
MERRICK
Don’t be afraid, pretty miss. I know what I’m called. The elephant man.
CHARLES
Mademoiselle Genevieve Dieudonne, may I present Mr John Merrick.
MERRICK (kisses her hand)
A pleasure, miss.
CHARLES
Mr Merrick is a loyal servant of the crown.
GENEVIEVE (quiet)
The Diogenes Club?
MERRICK (manages a twisted smile)
If you will follow me...
They proceed into another hallway.
HALLWAY, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT.
