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CHARLES cocks his revolver and aims at SEWARD’s heart.

CHARLES

It’ll be a mercy.

As his finger tightens on the trigger, MARY surges up from the bed – her insides open and red – and takes hold of CHARLES from behind, fangs near his throat.

MARY

No, you mustn’t hurt my Jack, my doctor...

GENEVIEVE dashes to help CHARLES, and SEWARD comes for her with the scalpel.

SEWARD

You’re Lucy. You’re Lucy too. I have to keep... helping Lucy...

SEWARD’s scalpel nears GENEVIEVE’s throat. CHARLES fights off the sorely wounded MARY, and hauls SEWARD off GENEVIEVE. SEWARD raises the scalpel to stab, and CHARLES shoots him in the heart.

SEWARD falls on to the bed, into MARY’s bloody embrace. MARY smiles sadly, madly, at him, and expires.

SEWARD

There. She is delivered. God is merciful. See, she is at peace. Sleep well, Lucy my love. It’s over. We’ve beaten him. We’ve defeated the Count. The contagion cannot spread.

SEWARD dies. GENEVIEVE and CHARLES, shaken, stand over the bed.

GENEVIEVE

You’ve killed him. Poor Jack.

CHARLES

Poor Jack. Poor Mary. Poor Lucy. Poor Everybody.

DRAVOT steps in, a bundle on his shoulder.

DRAVOT

Well done, sir. You’ve put an end to Jack the Ripper.

CHARLES

Dravot.

DRAVOT

All along, sir, there were two murderers, working together. It should have been obvious.

DRAVOT opens his bundle. A dead white face stared up, lips drawn back in a last snarl. ARTHUR.

CHARLES

It’s Godalming.

DRAVOT

Lord Godalming, sir. He was in it with Dr Seward. They fell out last night.

CHARLES

How long have you known this, Dravot? How long has the Diogenes Club known but not seen fit to tell me?

DRAVOT

You caught the Rippers, sir. I’ve just been looking out for you. Your guardian angel.

CHARLES

And Jago? Was that you?

DRAVOT

Another matter, sir.

CHARLES

There’ll be a fearful scandal. Godalming was well-thought-of. He had a reputation as a coming man.

DRAVOT

His name will be entirely blackened.

CHARLES

And he was a vampire. That will cause a stir. The assumption was that the Ripper was warm. There will be 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.) Gené, 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. Gené, 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 Geneviève Dieudonné, 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.

CHARLES and GENEVIEVE follow MERRICK to the most elaborate doors yet seen, decorated with gilt bat-motifs.

CHARLES

It amuses the Prince Consort to keep this poor creature on hand.

GENEVIEVE

He’s a monster. Not...

CHARLES

I know who you mean. (MERRICK opens the door.) Gené, if what I do brings harm to you, I am sincerely sorry.

He kisses her again...

BEDROOM, INT. NIGHT. FLASHBACK.

GENEVIEVE, lips bloody, cuddles up to CHARLES, who is awake, brooding.