Vanessa (1988)

In the drawing room of their country house,

Vanessa, the Baroness and Erika await the arrival of Anatol. Vanessa fears that her guest is lost in the blinding snowstorm. The Baroness keeps a silence she has maintained toward her daughter for many years. When the tower bell announces the safe arrival of Anatol, Vanessa begs Erika to allow her to meet him alone: she has awaited this reunion for over twenty years. He appears; without looking at him, Vanessa pours forth her heart and asks his love. Turning, she sees it is not the man she expects. Erika rushes in at her aunt’s cry, helps Vanessa from the room and then returns to confront the impostor. He reveals that he, too, is Anatol- the son of Vanessa’s lover, now dead. The young woman berates him for not disclosing this earlier, but she begins to melt under the charm of the handsome young stranger. When he attempts to undrape a mirror, Erika warns him to stop, for thus Vanessa has arrested time through the years. The two sit down to the supper planned so carefully for another couple.

During the month that has passed since their unhappy meeting, Anatol and Vanessa have become close friends. While they are skating outside, Erika tells the Baroness how the night of Anatol’s arrival she allowed him to seduce her. He has agreed to marry her, but Erika wants a marriage of love, not honor. Radiant, Vanessa and Anatol enter; the doctor arrives. Vanessa announces a gala ball; even the mirrors will be unveiled. She joins the others in folk songs and attempts to teach Anatol country dances. When the men leave, Vanessa tells Erika of the love that is growing between herself and the younger man. Erika is shocked; she seeks Anatol and demands the truth. Evasively he answers that for this life he wants an unquestioning love, full of immediate excitement- that is all. Erika scoffs at his ideals, but realizes that he is truly what her grandmother has said- “the man of today, who chooses that which is easiest.” Remaining behind as the others depart for chapel nearby, she cries that she will allow Vanessa her long-awaited happiness.

A New Year’s Eve celebration is taking place in Vanessa’s ballroom. The Doctor, slightly drunk, stumbles in, muttering about an important announcement that must be made. Vexed that her mother and niece will not come downstairs to the party, Vanessa is assured by Anatol that all will be well; they vow their devotion and rejoin the guests in the ballroom. At the moment when the Doctor, from within, is announcing the engagement of Vanessa and Anatol, Erika appears at the head of the stairs, and falls in a faint as the guests toast the happy couple. Regaining consciousness to murmur that Anatol’s child must not be born, Erika stumbles out into the snowy night. The old Baroness comes down to look for Erika. Going to the open door, she realizes what has happened and calls after her.

In Erika’s bedroom, Vanessa paces the floor asking herself what might have forced the young woman to take such a desperate action. Erika is carried in unconscious. Rushing to embrace Vanessa, Anatol assures her that Erika will be all right: she suffers only from exposure and shock. Regaining consciousness, Erika asks to be left a.one With her grandmother. Then she asks the old woman if anyone suspects the real reason for her actions, but the Baroness does not know. Erika tells her Anatol’s child will not be born.

Now married, Vanessa and Anatol prepare to leave for Paris. The Doctor, before his goodbyes, recalls the years of friendship. Erika has not told her aunt the reason for her attempted suicide. When Vanessa confides, however, that she has left her the estate and pleads for a final explanation, Erika re- plies that hers was a foolish act, one which marked the end of her youth. Swearing that it was not be- cause of Anatol, she tells Vanessa that she is now resolved to remain in seclusion on the estate and care for her grandmother, who will now not speak even to Erika. As the happy couple drive away, she orders all mirrors draped again and all the gates to the castle locked.