[gentle tones]
[exciting music]
[metal clashing]
[exciting music]
[swords clanging]
- You are improving, Lancelot.
[swords clanging]
Sir.
Ooh, sir!
- Sir Christopher.
- [Christopher] Sire.
- Might I borrow your helm
and sword for a moment?
- My Lord Arthur.
[Kay grunting]
[swords clanging]
- My liege.
- I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist it.
- Well stroked, sire.
As a matter of fact,
I was just about to use that
very same maneuver myself.
- I realized that, Sir Kay.
That's why I stepped in when I did.
You will forgive me, won't you?
- What about me, sire?
Don't you think you ought
to ask my forgiveness
after such an att*ck?
- There's something else I want
to ask of you, Sir Lancelot.
- Sire?
- Sir Egbert of Lamorack has invited me
to spend Michaelmas with him.
- Surely you're not thinking of accepting?
- My acceptance has already
been conveyed to Sir Egbert,
and you are to accompany me.
- But what about the
Sussex tournament, sir?
- Oh, you better talk
to your friend Merlin.
You see, Lady Lamorack is a cousin of his,
and he's asked me to
accept the invitation.
I can't disappoint the old man.
- But sire,
we've been training for
this tournament for weeks.
- Well, not in vain.
I shall take no revenue.
Lady Guinevere will represent
me at the tournaments
and all the knights can
enter the lists, except one.
- Me, sire?
- You, Lancelot.
[exciting music]
[gentle music]
- My dear, my dear.
The king, the king arrives this morning.
- Egbert, you're not properly dressed.
Where's your sword?
- What?
Oh yes, my sword.
Gault, my sword, my sword.
- I'll get it, uncle.
- Sybil, do stop sniffing.
Go and change your clothes.
Amora, talk to the musicians.
- Now, don't forget to
rise when the king enters.
Do you know that song of
the province minstrel?
[Amora singing]
[musicians playing]
- Shh.
Amora, can I borrow your white
satin dress with the gold?
- Sybil, you're interrupting.
Now that tune you were just playing,
when you see I have Sir Lancelot
as my partner, play that.
- Can I dance with Sir Lancelot?
- Gault will see you're not neglected.
- But I don't want to dance with Gault.
I want to dance with Lancelot [sniffing].
- Sybil, there are 100 things to be done,
and you're just wandering
around jabbering and sniffling.
- What else can I do [sniffing].
- Go and see mother.
- Mother.
- Sybil, not now.
The guests will be here at any minute.
- But Amora says.
- Nevermind.
Don't disagree with everybody, Sybil.
I'm sure Amora's right.
Now then, as soon as the guests arrive,
I want you to stand by the window and say,
"How beautifully the light
falls upon your face."
- Why?
- Why?
Well, I want to make quite
sure that everybody notices it.
It's the largest in England,
apart from the cathedral.
- I'll tell them how much it costs, too.
- Sybil.
Where are you going?
- I'm going to see father [sniffing].
- Come along man, come along.
Gault, Gault.
- Here it is, uncle.
- Hurry man, hurry.
- Hurry for what?
You invite the king and he
comes with one solitary knight.
- Nonetheless, he comes,
and if Amora likes Lancelot,
she'll land him.
Then I shall have a voice at court.
Hmm, the Duke of Lamorack.
Yes, there's a fine sound.
- Why go to all that trouble?
Advance me 1,000 gold nobles
and I'll go to Camelot
and buy you a dukedom.
- You mean you'd gamble it away.
You're a clever man Gulch,
with no gaming sense.
- Father.
- Hello, Sybil.
Run along, child.
Father's busy.
- I wanted to ask
you a question.
- Very well, what do you want to know?
- What?
- I said,
what do you want to know?
- Oh dear, I've forgotten.
- Now really, Sybil.
I don't know, these children.
- There there, Sybil.
I know how you feel.
They sneer at me, too.
Ugly cousin Gault.
But they're afraid to do it to my face.
- I know, you give everyone the shivers.
Oh dear me.
- And you always snivel.
We are a pair in a way, you and I.
- You're all right,
cousin Gault, but.
- But what?
I'm the best you're likely to get.
There's a rumor that you know
where your father keeps his money bags.
- Oh, no I don't.
Do you think he'd tell
me a thing like that?
- No, I suppose not.
Well, nevermind.
I think I hear the guests arriving.
[exciting music]
- Welcome to Castle Lamorack, my liege.
- Thank you, Sir Egbert.
It's a great pleasure for us to be here.
- Sire, my wife, the Lady Lamorack.
And may I present a young
sage of some promise
who escorts me, your cousin Merlin.
[group chuckling]
And last but not least,
I should like you to meet
one of the knights of the round table,
Sir Lancelot of the Lake.
- [Egbert] And this, sire,
is my daughter Amora.
[gentle music]
[Sybil sighing]
- Come with me, Sir Lancelot.
I want to show you the
treasures of Castle Lamorack.
- Are there more?
- Save that for the dancing tonight.
- Now, not to run off with him.
I have planned some
falconry for this afternoon.
- I only want to show
him our glass window.
- It would appear that Lancelot
has found something to take
his mind off the tournament.
- Perhaps your majesty would
care to see the window as well.
I believe it's unique.
- It isn't fair.
I'm supposed to show them the window.
- Now leave them alone,
there's a good girl.
- Amora always wins.
[both laughing]
- There it is, the glass window.
Isn't it wonderful?
- [Lancelot] Very beautiful.
- We had to import the
workmen to put it in.
- Why, the glass makers of the sentium
have been doing this
kind of thing for ages.
- Merlin's professional pride requires
that he remain unimpressed.
- Sire, I had the coat of arms painted on
as an imperishable monument
to the noble record of our family.
[glass breaking]
What maniac did this?
Guards, guards!
Search the ground!
Find them and bring them here to me.
What's this?
It's a message.
"A 1,000 gold nobles ransom
or your daughter Sybil will
not live out this day."
- Sybil?
- They made a mistake.
It must be me.
- It says Sybil.
- No you don't.
- What the devil do
you think you're doing?
- By the way, where is Sybil?
- Here I am, father.
- Where have you been?
- Nowhere, just waiting
for you to introduce me.
- Oh yes, of course.
My Lord Arthur, my other daughter, Sybil.
- Let go of me.
- Who are you?
- Sir Egbert's nephew.
Who are you?
- You see anyone throwing
a rock through that window?
- No, I just arrived here,
the same as you have.
- Is anyone with you?
- No.
I've been at the other end of the garden.
- Oh, shall we go back?
- And your daughter Sybil
will not live out this day.
So that's how it's all going to end.
- No, no, no.
No one will dare to harm you.
You shall be guarded day and night.
- Thank you, father.
- It's all right.
Now tell me, is there anyone
with whom you'd feel absolutely safe?
- Yes, but I wouldn't dream of asking him
to give up the hunt for me.
- I don't want to hear
about your dreams, girl.
Name him.
- All right, Sir Lancelot.
- Well Lancelot, found anything?
- No my Lord, nothing.
- As host, I question my right to.
- She's trying to spoil
things for everybody.
- Now really, Amora.
- May I offer a word?
- Your Majesty.
- Sir Lancelot has a reputation
as a protector of fair ladies.
Therefore, I feel that Lady Sybil's choice
is an excellent one.
- I am honored to have been chosen.
Besides, it's been a long journey,
and I shall welcome the
rest in such good company.
- Rest, you say?
I trust you won't go to sleep.
- Oh, he won't go to sleep.
I won't let him.
- Your worries are over, Lady Lamorack.
Now shall we hunt?
[gentle music]
- That rest you spoke of reminds me
that I feel rather tired,
so I think I'll find my room
and sleep for a bit.
Don't worry, Sybil dear.
You're in very good hands.
[Sybil sniffing]
[gentle music]
[tense music]
[gentle music]
- Don't be nervous, Sybil.
- Oh, I'm not.
This is like having a castle of your own.
The party's over and everyone's gone home.
- I don't like parties either, Sybil.
I like tournaments, though.
[exciting music]
- Sir Lancelot.
Sir Lancelot.
Sir Lancelot.
[metal clashing]
Sir Lancelot.
Sir Lancelot.
Am I as pretty as Amora?
- The right man will think so.
- Promise me you won't
fall in love with her.
- How would you like it
if she made me promise that about you?
- I wouldn't, but that's different.
- Why?
- Because she has everything.
All the money, all the men, everything.
I want just one thing she can't get.
- I see.
Well, I have no particular
feelings for your sister,
but I can't be bound by such a promise.
- But you must.
I'll do anything, anything you want.
I'll tell you where
father keeps his money.
- Sybil!
Sybil.
[gentle music]
[door knocking]
Sybil, don't take it so seriously.
- [Sybil] Go away.
- I can't.
I promised your father
I'd stand guard duty while he was gone.
- [Sybil] Why bother?
You don't think anything about me.
- I do.
I think you're behaving
like a silly little girl.
Now come on, open this door.
- [Sybil] I won't, I won't.
Go away.
- Well, guard duty is guard duty.
[glass breaking]
[Sybil screaming]
What's the matter?
- Look in there.
Look at this.
What does it say?
- "I've changed my mind.
I want Sybil instead of the money.
Nothing can stop me.
Knight of the Black Cross."
- You won't let him get me.
- No, of course not.
Another glass window.
- There was a piece left over
from the one in the hall.
Father had it put in here.
- You're a lucky girl.
- It was Amora's room.
She moved to a bigger one.
- Hello, Merlin.
What's got you up?
- Usually I find the
noise of women's screams
and shattering glass quite restful,
but today for some reason
it affects me adversely.
- I'm sorry, Uncle Merlin.
There's been another threatening note.
- Well, at least we
are being well supplied
with reading matter.
Can you write a note to your father?
- Naturally.
All the Lamoracks can write.
- Then write.
"Dear father, we are
going in search of the.
- Blackmailer.
- Thank you.
- There.
Now where shall I put it?
- On the table.
Now Sybil, let's go into the garden.
- Very well, Uncle Merlin.
- Come on, lad.
[gentle music]
Truly remarkable.
A rock is thrown through a glass window.
- And there's not even a
splinter of glass inside.
- Yet outside the room,
there are several pieces to be found.
- What of it?
- Well, it would look as though the rock
was thrown from inside your room out.
- And another rock with
a note wrapped around it
placed on the floor inside.
- Exactly.
- Who would want to do a thing like that?
- This ransom note,
there's something strange about it, too.
- Is there?
- Well, the writing is
singularly like the other one.
- Perhaps the same man wrote both of them.
- No, this is the note
that you wrote your father,
and both are torn from the
same piece of parchment.
- Sybil!
Sybil, why did you do it?
- Let go.
- Sybil,
I'm trying to help you if I can.
- You're like all the others.
You spoil everything I try to do.
- The truth is you spoil it for yourself.
Sybil, you could be every bit
as attractive as your sister.
- What do you mean?
- Well, if only you developed
warmth where she is haughty,
gentleness where she is cold,
and wit where she has none,
then at least you'd be you
instead of a poor image of her.
- I hate you.
[hand slapping]
[exciting music]
- Sir Lancelot, it was a fine hunt.
- Good.
- Was it very boring for you?
- Oh, not at all.
Your sister kept me very well entertained.
- Lancelot, I see you survived
against the menace from without.
- Against overwhelming odds, my Lord.
- And Sybil, is she quite safe?
- Quite safe.
I'm sure the danger won't occur again.
- You mean you routed him?
Ah, well done, my boy, well done.
- What sort of a man was he?
I mean, to ask a ransom for Sybil.
- Was it anyone we know?
- Sir Egbert, I wonder if I
could have a word with you
in private.
- Yes, of course.
- With your permission, sire.
- Of course.
- Well now, is this
private enough for you?
- Your daughter is the most unusual girl.
- I've never known it to fail.
You've barely exchanged how-do-you-dos
and already she's impressed you.
Let me set your mind at ease.
Amora is completely unattached.
- It was Sybil I meant.
- Sybil?
Oh yes, I know.
Just hasn't the spark.
- She's a most unhappy child.
That's why she did what she did.
- Hmm?
What did she do?
- That ransom note,
she sent it to herself.
- What?
Are you sure?
- She's admitted it.
- Then she deliberately
broke that glass window.
- It was a pathetic attempt
to get a little attention.
Don't scold her.
She's suffered enough already.
- Ah.
[door pounding]
Sybil, open this door.
[door pounding]
Sybil, it's your father.
[door pounding]
Open this door immediately.
Sybil, someone.
You there, man, help me open this door.
- [Man] Right, sir.
[door pounding]
- She's not here.
- She must be hiding somewhere.
- What's all the noise about?
- Oh, where's Sybil?
- Our note writer seems
to be in at work again.
- "Pay 1,000 gold nobles
by tomorrow or Sybil dies.
Put money in a bag."
- I thought you had
ended this dismal game.
- He did.
Sybil's been writing this drivel herself.
- No wonder she's hiding.
- I wish she were.
This is a different parchment
and a very different handwriting.
- Where's Gault?
- He went straight from
the hunt to his own castle
to get ready for the party tonight.
- Excuse me.
- Don't worry.
You stay here and I'll go and
see what Lancelot's doing.
Lancelot, why do you rush off
so quickly like that just now?
- I had an idea I might
find something, sire,
and I think I have.
There's obviously been a struggle here,
and right outside Sybil's window, too.
- Sybil always had a sense of drama.
- [Lancelot] You recognize these marks?
- No, what are they?
- Those are marks made by a pair of heels
being dragged backwards.
- Exactly, and I'd like to see how Sybil
could stage that herself.
- What do you propose to do?
- Merlin, let me see that note again.
Whereabouts is this cave
that is mentioned here?
- [Egbert] The edge of the wood.
- Then my advice is do exactly
as the writer of the note says.
Put the money in a bag
and leave it at the mouth of the cave.
[tense music]
[arrow whooshing]
[tense music]
[arrow whooshing]
[tense music]
[arrow whooshing]
[exciting music]
- Gault.
- You're all right now, Sybil.
- It was Gault.
- Yes, I know, but I'm afraid it was you
who gave him the idea.
He saw how effective those
threatening notes of yours were
and he tried to do it himself.
- I'm so ashamed [sobbing].
- Here, please.
- No, I couldn't.
- It's quite clean.
- No, no, thank you.
My soul would get out of my body that way.
Why do you think people say
God bless you when you sneeze?
- Who on Earth told you that?
- Amora, when I was a little girl.
- Maybe she was jealous.
- Of me?
- Perhaps you were growing up
to be more fun than she was.
Go on, try.
[musicians playing]
- We seem to be causing something
of a commotion, Lancelot.
- Yes, my Lord, we do.
But you and I must face the truth.
It's Sybil they're looking at, not us.
- I think I see a young man
approaching, several young men.
Do you think we're in danger, Lancelot?
- Put your trust in Sybil, my Lord.
She'll break their hearts faster
than you or I could draw a sword.
[pleasant music]
- That's a wonderful
time of life, Lancelot.
- Yes, my Lord, it is.
A wonderful time of life.
[pleasant music]
A wonderful time of life.
[exciting music]
♪ Now listen to my story,
yes listen while I sing ♪
♪ Of days of old in England
when Arthur was the king ♪
♪ In days of old when knights were bold ♪
♪ The stories told of Lancelot ♪
[gentle tones]