EYE OF THE DEVIL
From the novel "Day of the Arrow"
by Philip Loraine
Come along and sit down.
I am sorry, Monsieur le Marquis.
Along to bed, darling.
Darling?
Philippe?
Darling, what is it?
Is something wrong?
I have to go home, Catherine.
Home?
Oh, you mean to Bellenac?
Why?
Grandec was just here.
The vineyards are failing again.
Oh darling, I am sorry.
How long would we going to be there?
I mean... we must make plans about
the children's school and everything.
Catherine, I'd rather you didn't come.
During a vineyard failure
it's not very pleasant.
They resent outsiders.
Outsiders?
Please, try to understand...
Please!
Well..
How long will you be away?
I don't know.
Well, if it's for a very long, darling,
please, will you send for us?
We'll see.
Oh, I love you, my Catherine.
I love you very much.
Maman, Jacques's spitting
those things at me again.
Jacques, you'd better not let papa
catch you with that awful thing.
You don't understand, mama.
You see, Antoinette is Marie Antoinette,
actually,
and I am the spirit of free France.
It's my duty to capture her
and bring her back to justice.
Well, so...
your papa will free France you,
if you don't stop teasing your sister.
Maman, why don't you and papa
put Jacques in the army?
Morning, children.
- Good morning, papa.
- Good morning, papa.
Papa, please will you take me
to Bellenac with you today?
Papa, I want to know if I'm going
to Bellenac today with you.
I'll sleep in a car and I promise
I won't ask you any silly questions.
Darling...
Philippe?
Jacques is talking to you.
Oh, I'm sorry, darling.
I'm terribly sorry.
I haven't quite shaken the cobwebs yet.
Well, I want to know if I'm going
to Bellenac with you today.
I'll sing those songs you like to hear
while you drive.
I love your songs
and the trip will be quite unbearable
without them, but not today.
Maybe next time.
Monsieur le Marquis has arrived, sir.
He has come back.
Put another log on the fire.
I'm cold.
I always seem to be cold these days.
Make me some more tea.
But first lock the door
in case my nephew comes up.
Not that I think he will.
I would think madame would be anxious
to see Monsieur le Marquis.
In my own good time, Marianne.
Has the priest come?
Yes, madame.
Pere Dominique.
God be with you.
Well, Rennard?
I... I wish to say we are all proud
you've return, Monsieur le Marquis.
Did you think I would not?
Some thought you would not.
I knew that you would.
How about you, Father?
I never doubt in the path you have chosen.
What makes you think I've chosen it?
You came back, didn't you?
I think you have chosen it,
Philippe, my son.
Haven't you?
I didn't know you'd ever been to Bellenac.
Oh yes, half a dozen times or so,
when Philippe and I were at school together.
We went there just after we were married.
I thought it was the most frightening place.
Almost as all we were back
in the Middle Ages.
You know, I'm worried about Philippe.
He's never been like this before.
I remember even as a child
Bellenac seemed to have
some terrible fascination for him.
As though he would obsessed with finding
some diabolical secret of the place.
Jacques, darling!
What are you doing down here?
Mama...
I want my motorcar.
But darling, you ought to be in bed.
I want my motorcar.
So I can go and see papa.
- Is he...?
- Yes.
But he's never done that before.
Now talk to him quite naturally,
and you won't wake him up.
There's your motorcar, darling.
That's it.
Now, we'll going to see papa
in your motorcar,
first thing in the morning.
Now let's go upstairs,
get back into bed.
She's come with the children.
- Welcome to Bellenac, Madame la Marquise.
- Thank you, Rennard.
Madame.
- I hope you had a pleasant journey.
- Yes, very pleasant, thank you.
Come, Jacques.
Where is papa?
Where is Monsieur le Marquis?
I'm sorry madame, he's gone to Lapiton.
Your telegram was late in arriving.
Did he say what time he would be back?
He said he will not return
until late tonight, madame.
Christian de Caray
is a very wicked boy.
And his sister Odile is no better.
But... why should he do such a thing?
You may ask Philippe
to speak to him about it.
Yes, I certainly shall.
Now, if you will excuse me,
I have a terrible headache.
Marianne, would you fetch me an aspirin, please?
I'm sorry that you're feeling unwell.
I shall try not to trouble you any more.
Don't let her in here again.
This time I can't...
I can't be involved.
Rennard.
Madame?
Didn't Monsieur le Marquis just get back?
No, madame.
- Are you sure?
- Yes, madame.
Because I saw two men
riding to the courtyard.
Who were they?
I'm sorry madame,
I neither saw nor heard anyone.
- Thank you, Rennard.
- Good night, madame.
Take your children. Drive out to the valley.
Never turn back.
Jacques, why aren't you sleep, darling?
What's the matter, darling?
I do love it here.
Oh mama, please let us stay here.
Don't let as leave here.
Oh please, let us stay here forever.
Now darling, you must go to sleep.
It's very very late.
You will be a good boy, eh?
Darling, I am sorry.
Rennard said your telegram arrived
just after I left this morning.
When did you get back?
Oh, just a while ago.
I've forgotten how long that ride
takes in the dark.
I had dninner with
old Conier and his wife.
They send their best regards to you.
Oh darling, I'm sorry
I didn't came up right away,
but I had one or two things
in the office to attempt to.
I saw some lights on, in a tower room.
I went to see who is there, and...
Philippe...
it really was horrible.
Those de Caray children
were carrying in a dead dove.
And there were men in robes...
Darling, the people of Bellenac
have always been steeped in strange rituals.
I never tried to understand them.
Neither should you.
You broght the children of course.
Yes.
Yes, of course I did.
You know...
every time we've been apart,
I'm surprised all over again
how beautiful you are.
- How are the children?
- Oh, very fine.
They've missed you. And so have I.
I had Jean-Claude
in for drinks the other night.
Did you?
He's very worried about you.
Can the vineyards be saved?
In time... maybe.
Well, there's...
not really very much you can do about,
it is there?
Catherine...
my family has lived here in Bellenac
for over a thousand years.
Somehow here the years seem to shrink.
I find myself thinking in...
generations and centuries.
What are you seeking, Philippe?
Am I seeking...
or am I being sought?
Oh darling...
- I just want to help you.
-You can't help me.
I have great responsibilities here,
and they can't be shared.
But Philippe,
what are those responsibilities?
Do the people here think that you're
some kind of a magician...?
Or... a god?
Catherine, you shouldn't have come here.
I asked you not to.
I want you to go back to Paris.
Take the children
and leave first thing in the morning.
But darling, the children
are unhappy without you, and so am I.
Even now you... you don't seem
to need me anynmore.
Of course I need you.
I just want you to leave here.
Yes, but why, Phillipe?
Alright.
Stay then, if you must.
But please,
don't ever question me about this anymore.
- She kept asking me questions.
- What questions?
She implied I was keeping things from her.
- Did you enlighten her?
- Don't be a fool, Philippe!
I'd rather died than speak of that to anyone.
I think I'll go away from here.
As you wish. You know these rooms
are always kept ready for you.
This is no place for a woman,
it never has been.
I sometimes believe you're all mad.
All the men of this family,
from the very beginning.
She loves you.
She's a fine girl, a beautiful girl.
Take her away from here, Philippe.
Take her away and the children.
Put a thousand miles between you and this place.
Hello.
Hello.
What's your name?
I'm Odile.
Odile de Caray.
And you're Jacques, aren't you?
And this is your sister Antoinette.
How did you know?
We met when you were both very young.
What's this?
Tell me,
do you believe in magic?
Do you, Jacques?
Do you?
In magic?
Oh yes, I do.
Do you see that toad,
there, on the lily pad?
Sitting very still.
All by itself.
I can see it, but you have to look.
Exactly where I tell you.
No, Jacques.
Not there.
Just over here...
All by itself...
Do you see it now?
Yes, yes! I see it!
Well, shall we change that toad...
- ...into a dove?
- Yes!
Alright.
There!
- Look! Look!
- Where? Where is it?
There, there it is! Can't you see?
Flying up in the sky!
Look! I can still see it!
You're being silly.
Now come along inside children.
It's starting to rain.
If it does,
the rain will not last, madame.
Mama, she changed the toad into a dove!
Why won't it last, Odile?
These are not life-giving clouds, madame.
Now, just exactly
what are you doing here, Odile?
My brother and I come here often.
Well, you may tell your brother
he is no longer welcome here.
I will not stand for him
killing the doves.
Madame la Marquise.
- Hello, Jacques.
- Hello.
- Antoinette?
- Hello.
You like it here, Jacques?
Oh yes, I love it here.
I want to live here for always.
What lovely children you have.
I hope you overheard,
what I said just now.
I will not permit
your killing the doves on this property.
Killing doves?
Madame must surely have misunderstood.
My sister has just created a dove.
A white dove from a toad.
Mama, it stoped raining.
She said it would.
I warn you, Christian...
if there's any more foolishness
with that bow and arrow,
I shall report it to the police.
Come along, children, come along.
Run and wash your hands,
I'll be along in a moment.
Philippe, you must do something
about Odile and Christian de Caray,
immediately.
They are devils.
What did they do?
Well, that boy Christian,
that bow and arrow of his
is a lethal weapon.
He's just managed
to frighten me half to death!
The day I arrived he shot a dove
right in front of me.
And just now he was actually aiming at me.
- He must have been joking.
- Oh my God, darling, joke or not,
the thing might have slipped,
it might have hit me
or one of the children.
He wouldn't have slip,
he's far too good for that.
Philippe, that is not the point.
The point is the boy is dangerous
and he shouldn't be allowed here.
Catherine, his family have had
a hounting rights here at Bellenac for centuries.
I show you he's quite harmless.
Both of them are.
Strange? Yes, but harmless.
I'm sorry darling, but I don't believe that.
- Believe it, Catherine.
- I just told you I don't.
Believe it...
Believe it...
Believe it...
or leave here.
What?
Philippe!
But what does it mean?
What does it mean, Father?
Has the world reached such a past,
we must ask what it means,
when a man chooses to pray?
Father, you know as well as I do,
that Philippe is not a religious man.
My poor child, you're upset.
Bellenac has this effect on you.
I know that.
Perhaps you should go away,
generate for a little while.
Yes, but why should I?
I only want to help him.
But you're in no position
to help him, my child.
Your husband is one of the few
really great landowners left in Europe.
For three years now
the vines are born no fruit.
If it were not for Philippe's personal generosity,
half of the families in his demain
would have gone hungry.
Isn't it just possible in these circumstances
of the men
might to turn to Almighty God?
Yes. Yes, I suppose it is...
but... what was that ceremony,
up there, in the tower?
That...
that wasn't part of any church ritual.
You should not concern yourself, my child,
with things you know nothing about.
The people of Bellenac
are deeply rooted in the past.
Their traditions of worship are...
ancient.
Some of these traditions may seem
strange to an outsider,
but I think you agree
they should be respected.
Oh, it isn't that I lack respect, Father.
It's just that I...
I want to understand.
Understanding is not always necessary.
Indeed sometimes it is not possible.
Now go to bed, my child.
You're tired.
Jacques!
Odile!
- Mother is angry.
- I think we should go down.
Must you always do
as your mother says?
Mama saw you on the parapet,
so she'll tell papa.
Now you know perfectly well
you're not suppose to be up here!
Now go downstairs at once!
- But mama, we only play...
- Don't argue with me, Jacques!
Go downstairs immediately, both of you!
How could you let Jacques do that?
How could you!
He might have been killed.
You know as well as they do,
that they are not allowed to play up here.
Christian and I
were playing on the roof at home.
And here we may were
far younger than they are.
Because nobody cared enough to stop you.
But I do care about my children,
and I don't want you
seeing them any more.
But don't you think that kind of ultimatum
should come from Philippe?
Well...
has Philippe said nothing to you?
About Christian and the children?
Did he say he will?
Did he lie to you?
Oh, but you must be
used to that by now.
Men always lie.
Personally...
I have no use for them.
Except for Christian.
But then he's different.
Catherine...?
What's the matter?
Is the sun bothering you?
Are you alright?
Would you like to go in?
You're getting very tired.
Would you like to go in?
Your eyes are heavy.
Very heavy.
You must go to sleep.
You must go to sleep, Catherine.
To sleep...
Careful Catherine, you might fall.
Take my hand.
Odile...
Help me.
I am helping you, Catherine.
I am helping you.
Just a few more steps...
then you'll be save.
And you can hold my hand.
Take it, Catherine.
Take it!
Odile!
Poor Philippe.
You're mad.
Quite quite mad.
Then all the men in your family
are all mad.
But of course
you know that, don't you?
I told you to frighten her,
not to kill her.
My child, where is your conscience?
What a hypocrites you are.
What stupid hypocrites!
I don't... I just don't know what happened. I...
One moment I was talking to her
and the next moment I was lying on the roof.
Get killed her
of what she tried to do to you.
Yes, I can believe it.
In fact, it's about the only thing I can believe.
What exactly does that mean?
Oh no... it's just...
in spite of everything I'm... I'm sure...
that you personally...
don't wish me any harm.
But darling, of course
I don't wish you any harm.
I love you, you know that.
Yes, I do know it.
That's exactly what keeps me here, Philippe.
Is it Jean-Claude?
Yes, how did you know?
I telephoned him.
I wish you hadn't done that.
I don't want anyone
staying here at the moment.
Oh, he's not going to stay, darling.
He is just on his way to Spain.
Well I can't see him.
You got to explain him
I had to go to the vineyards.
You say Philippe is
in some kind of torment.
But then he won't confide in you nor shed
any light on what has been happening here.
These are Philippe's ancestors,
aren't they?
Who is that?
Oh, that? I think is...
Yes, that is Edouard,
Edouard de Montfaucon,
Philippe's grandfather.
Philippe's grandfather, eh?
Philippe's father, as I remember it,
was drown, wasn't he?
Yes.
It looks almost medieval.
12 men dancing round the 13th.
Those men in robes...
they yook like the men I saw in the tower.
In the library I seem to remember
some kind of family history.
Records documentation.
Yes. Yes, I think there is.
In fact, I'm sure there is.
Do you realize
how many of Philippe's ancestors
have died under, what the police will call:
mysterious circumstances?
Here is a list of 22 Montfaucons,
22 heads of the family,
who have died in veriest extraordinary ways.
Gillaume, 1262, murdered on the way back
from the crusades.
Jehan, the same in the year 1310.
He was only 19.
Gerard, 1437, killed while out hunting.
Jules, 1509, the same,
and so on, and so on.
Catherine, you're in danger.
Your son maybe too.
- No, you're trying to frighten me.
- Yes, I am.
Have you forgotten already
how that girl tried to kill you?
No, but...
that I can think of at the moment is Philippe
and what's happening to him.
I shouldn't have dragged you
into all of this.
I'm sorry.
- I'm not leaving here...
- No, no, please, it would only...
I can manage. But...
thank you.
Odile, what are you doing here?
I'm waiting for Christian.
Odile,
where is the grave of Edouard de Montfaucon?
It's in the forest, madame.
Where in the forest?
Madame should take the lower road,
to cross the white bridge,
take the path to the right.
The path is steep, very steep.
It leads directly to the place.
Thank you, Odile.
- I beat you. I said I would?
- I let you beat me.
You always get so bad temper,
when you loose.
I saw madame riding into the woods.
Where was she going?
To La Bosse, Monsieur le Marquis.
Madame wishes to see the grave in the forest.
"I would be saved, and I would save.
"The Twelve dance on high.
"Whoso danceth not,
knoweth not what cometh to pass.
No!
I thought...
I thought I heard voices.
You were just regaining consciousness.
There was nobody here.
You knew, didn't you?
I knew from certain things
I was told what might happen.
I warned you
you should be in great danger, if...
You were lucky.
It's only a surface cut.
You won't even have a scar.
Now you must rest.
This will help you.
Dr. Monnet prescribed it.
Remember dr. Monnet?
He says that you'll be perfecly alright.
You're just suffering from shock.
- Philippe...
- Yes, my darling?
- Please, don't leave me.
- You must rest now.
Sleep.
Oh, Philippe...
Come back...
Please, come back...
I can help you.
No one can help me.
Not even you.
You don't understand.
You could never understand.
"Whoso danceth not,
"knoweth not what cometh to pass.
It's in the painting, isn't it?
Is that it?
Is that it, Philippe?
"Whoso danceth not,
"knoweth not...
Good bye, Catherine.
Good bye, my darling.
Open this door!
Open it!
Philippe!
Philippe, where are you?
Oh, please, somebody open this door!
Double two.
You got to go back to the bottom.
No! It's not fair!
Come on young lady,
ride back to the bottom.
- Your throw, Jacques.
- Estelle, see it!
Yes! See it, Estelle!
See it!
Estelle, see it! You must see it!
Nine!
It's not fair. You won again.
One, two, three.
Estelle, help me!
Help me!
What is that, auntie?
It was only a reflection
from a piece of glass.
It's your go, auntie.
Shall I go for you?
It's there! See it! Its there!
I thrown three!
You've got to go back too.
Go on, auntie, go back.
Marianne?
- Marianne, where are you?
- Yes, madame?
I want you to go down
to my niece's bedroom.
Mama is ill.
We're not allowed to go and see her yet.
That's true, madame.
I don't thing Monsieur le Marquis would like...
Monsieur le Marquis
doesn't pay your wages, I do.
Go down there please, at once.
Dr. Monnet is here.
Of course I didn't come.
For the very good reason they never call me.
But they told me, that you'd come...
Is it one of old Mother Blossac's concoctions?
Yes, what is it?
Belladonna.
My friends who practice witchcraft
call it by other names.
Generates a potent narcotic.
And it can induce sleep, as in your case.
And occasionally it's used
for move states of trance.
Trance?
Visionaries, religious seekers
have been using it since the Middle Ages.
Supposedly it induces states
of religious ecstasy,
a spiritual purgative, one might call it.
The user is cleansed, prepared.
But... prepared for what?
Who knows? Ehm,
glorious pilgrimage of the soul, I suppose.
Now, you come along back to bed.
That's it.
Doctor, what's happening down in the square?
The flags and the bells...
It's "Les Treize Jours", madame.
The thirteen days.
Is there something special about it?
Does it have some symbolic meaning?
It's just a fair, madame.
A simple country fair.
No, it's more than that.
I attend of the bodily needs of these people,
not the spiritual ones.
Now, come along back to bed
and promise me you'll take no more
this silly witch's brew.
Now I'll stop by.
See you again tomorrow.
Philippe!
Welcome friends and neighbourd to Bellenac.
And to "Les Treize Jours".
Let the earth bring forth vines,
yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth.
And the word was God.
No!
Oh, Estelle, please,
you must tell me now.
What was it, that you swore
to keep to yourself?
I swore on the Bible.
But surely God will forgive me.
Surely he will.
I think of your little Jacques...
He won't have to do
that terrible thing Alain did.
You... You mean...
Destroy himself.
Then your brother...
wasn't drown by accident.
He killed himself...
to escape from Bellenac.
From whatever it is,
that's happening here now.
He escaped, yes.
But it was neither an accident
nor a suicide.
It was a plan.
He is still alive.
He's in the tower.
Above here.
Estelle?
Where is Catherine?
Leave me alone, Philippe.
You told her.
Yes.
Philippe...
Even before you were born
I prayed that you would...
Shirk my responsibilities,
as Alain did?
Alain is your father.
Yes, but is not
one of the men of this family.
Jacques is.
Philippe, I beg you.
If it is now beyond your power
to prevent this terrible thing,
at least spare your own son.
- Marianne, bring my son to me.
- No.
Bring him!
Madame?
Fetch him, Marianne.
Monsieur! Monsieur Alain!
Oh please, please!
Your sister Estelle sent me.
Oh, Philippe, Philippe...
Isn't there anything anyone could do to?
It was you!
In the hall that night.
What has my sister told you?
Only that you are alive.
And that if anyone can help Phillipe,
it is you.
Sometimes I believe that
on that afternoon in Antibes
I really did drown.
Where did you go?
Oh, for years I wandered,
and in the end I came back...
to this shame.
Do you know the meaning
of the words: "Les Treize Jours"?
There is here not
an amusing play on one word.
"Les Jours" meaning "The Days"
easily becomes "Les Joueurs",
meaning "The Players", meaning...
Dancers.
The thirteen dancers.
The Twelve dance on high.
Amen-amen.
Amen.
The Twelve who were dancing
are the twelve of apostles
and the thirteenth in the midst is...
Christ.
Long before Christianity
there existed religions in which
twelve men danced.
The twelve...
and the one.
The Whole on high hath part in our dancing.
Amen.
Amen.
When you entered the cathedral of Bellenac,
you have the impression that you are
listening to an ordinary mass.
Nearly all round you there are people
who hear.
But you do not hear,
because it is the Black Mass.
And when once a year on that square
you watch the dance of the twelve men,
there are people who see
in the midst of the twelve...
thirteenth: living god.
Those people are not Christians
and never have been.
And Pere Dominique?
He is a part of it.
No, more than the part.
He's all of it.
Pere Dominique is a pagan.
Bellenac is a fortress of heresy.
But what of Philippe?
Men like Philippe, Pere Dominique,
of course they realize
that what these people believing
is heresy,
and they realize too
what heresy is capable of.
The people of Bellenac
issue a command,
that has to be obeyed.
But...
a command that do what?
The earth has to have sacrifice.
There has to be blood.
I would save and I would be saved.
But someone must stop them!
They must be stopped!
There is nothing we could be done.
When he embraced his son...
The Kiss of Peace.
That meant that Philippe was
elected to die.
I will go to the police.
Inspector!
I was just on my way...
Why are you here?
I thought you might want to see me.
Then you know.
We have all been worried about you.
Worried about... me? No.
You don't understand.
My husband is...
You need rest, madame.
It was a bad fall.
Apparently the horse kicked her head.
Serious complications can arise, madame,
if you don't rest
after that kind of an accident.
- Let me take you to your room.
- You stay away from me.
Philippe wishes to see you.
Because of the children.
The children...
Jacques... Where is Jacques?
The children are perfectly safe.
They're locked in the great-aunt's appartment,
just as you must be locked in here.
Philippe, you can't do this!
In a sense it is already done.
But it's meaningless.
Darling, you can't do it.
Catherine, you can't stop this.
Neither you, nor anyone else.
And...
when it's all over...
don't try to make a fuss,
because
no one will believe you.
No one will come forward
to support what you say.
No one ever has.
You must be mad.
You must all be mad!
All of you!
You're dying for nothing.
I'm dying for what I believe.
For me people and for my faith.
You believe in all this primitive nonsense?
Yes, I do.
Philippe,
you are my husband.
I am your wife.
We have two lovely children.
And once we were also happy,
but here at Bellenac
you get sick.
Philippe, listen to me, please...
Please, listen to me.
Leave here now,
with me and with the children.
That's all you have to do.
Just walk away from this...
this stupidity. This...
this evil.
Alain, your father, was right.
He told me once:
drive out of this valley
and never come back.
Oh Philippe, my dearest,
let's do that!
Let's do that now!
Catherine...
It's our belief in something,
that makes that thing
- for a moment, or forever -
divine.
It's time, my son.
Alain! Alain! You must help me!
You must help me!
Alain,
in a few moments
in a very few moments
Philippe will be dead.
Philippe, who you once loved so much,
and who I shall love always
will be murdered.
Sadistically murdered in cold blood.
Alain, you're alive
because you couldn't believe
in all this vile hypocrisy, this...
this heathen mumbo-jumbo,
these sadists...
And because you weren't ill,
in a way that Philippe is ill...
Alain, I'm a prisoner here!
But you can help me.
You told me you came back secretly.
Tell me how?
While there is still time.
You can't be a part
of your own son's murder!
Oh, Alain!
We must save him!
You and I, we must save him!
We've got to, we've got to!
Help me, Alain!
Help me!
Oh no!
"And asked, if it did not strike him
this surprising
"that the fatal shot had been fired
with, of all things, a bow and arrow,
"the Coroner replied, that he was
not in the least surprised.
"He understood from those
who knew about such things,
"that this ancient weapon
"had recently had something
of a vogue among the young."
People don't want
to hear the truth, Catherine.
I shall never come here again.
Not again.
I want to seat by the window.
Oh, my watch!
I forgot my watch!
I left it in my bedroom!
Did you think I'd forgotten?
No, my son.
I knew you would come.
Did you find it?
Yes.