"Previously on Reign..." " Did you sleep with him?" " Yes." "And now Gideon is on your side." "Were you seducing him so you can get out of this alive?" " I don't know." " Elizabeth is sending you an offer to succeed her as queen of England." "In return, she will choose your next husband." "You are going to accept." "The Vatican wants something." "They want me to accept Elizabeth's offer, and then when I am named her successor, your queen will be assassinated, and I will take her throne." "I'm just a pawn, even if I were assassinated, they'd just replace me with the next Catholic in line." "A man would be their preference." "I have named Queen Mary Stuart as my successor in exchange for choosing her next husband, and I choose you." "It's the Red Knights." "Catherine, watch out!" ""Your debt will be paid."" "You and Father executed 13 knights on the trumped up charge of heresy, simply because you couldn't pay them?" "How could you believe that was your only option?" "Not the only one, the cleanest." "I've already made the unwelcome move of deposing Lord Narcisse... a popular regent... so that you may rule by my side." "I cannot have your past sins affecting my reign." "You won't." "This vendetta is against me, and I will handle it." "Impressive." "Where did you learn to shoot like that?" "My late husband." "He thought it was a skill that would serve me well." "Well, King Francis was right." "Now that I've seen your abilities with a bow," "I certainly won't be crossing you." "It's funny, isn't it?" "The two of us here." "Both knowing we've already had our one true love." "Still, you do as your queen commands, Lord Dudley." "I realize that Elizabeth's given me something that I needed following my wife's death." "A fresh start." "You'll be starting anew as the king consort of Scotland." "That's not so bad, is it?" "Neither is being named Elizabeth's successor." "Becoming the next in line to the English throne validates you as a female monarch, allows you to rally waning support." "I can't imagine things have been easy of late." "What with finding yourself a guest at French court, while your own country turns against you." "Your queen's decision probably has less to do with helping me and my uncomfortable political position, and more to do with bolstering her own." "It's very clever, naming a weakened Catholic queen her successor, to reinforce herself as the better choice." "Elizabeth is shrewd." "I suspect the two of you have that in common." "Perhaps, through our marriage, I can build a bridge between the two of you." "That would be beneficial." "I want you to know that I am fully committed to this union." "I know that ours might never become a great love, but I do believe we can have a congenial life together." "I believe that as well." "Well, then, shall we make it official?" "Mary," "Queen of Scots, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" "Yes, I will." "I know you and Robert Dudley have history, but he's not as terrible as you made him out to be, Gideon." "The man is as ambitious as he is self-serving." "Apparently Elizabeth finds those to be appealing qualities." "He all but admitted that he's still in love with her." "Their love was real," "I can tell you that." "Yes, perhaps, that's the answer... encouraging him that to wed you would be to give up, when he should be fighting for Elizabeth's hand." "Well, they have no chance of a future together." "He knows that." "Well, I could lie and tell him you're a miserable lover." "Dudley made one thing clear, he needs this marriage." "He believes it's his only option." "Lately, however, I've been pondering a different man." "Likely the Vatican thinks that once I take the English throne, I will be ousted or killed." "If they plan to put a king on the throne after me, they must have someone in mind." "That someone isn't Dudley, because he isn't getting the Crown Matrimonial." "Nor is he Catholic." "Are there any other Catholic males in the line of succession?" "The most likely candidate in our family tree is a distant cousin of mine and Elizabeth's." "His name is Joseph Tudor." "A Catholic and a Tudor to boot." "Do you have any idea where he is?" "After Mary Tudor died and Elizabeth turned England Protestant," "Joseph fled to France." "If my theory is correct, then Archbishop Ridolfi has already been in contact with him about stepping in to rule England." "If we can find real evidence of this, and I can get it to Elizabeth, she will be forced to rescind her offer to name you her successor." "Well, that would be taking quite a risk." "Lest you forget, I also have a duty to Elizabeth." "By stopping the Vatican's plot, I save my queen's life." "I would take this risk, even if it weren't my duty." "We will stop the Vatican, but to start, we must find Joseph Tudor." "I trust your visit to Mary's chambers was to end your liaison." "Now that she's my fiancée, your mission to seduce her is obsolete." "Well, Mary will be devastated." "It seems I'm quite good at my job." "Drawing women in, seducing them, learning their every secret." "But you already knew that, didn't you, given my time with Elizabeth." "Stay away from the queen of Scots." "Is that the queen of England's order?" "No, that's my order as the Earl of Leicester and the future king consort of Scotland." "Joseph Tudor appealed to us for asylum when Elizabeth took the throne, and started persecuting all of Mary Tudor's Catholic supporters." "As we are a Catholic monarchy," "Henry granted him sanctuary here in France." "Since when did you become interested in the whereabouts of a distant cousin?" "It's a theory I'm working on with Gideon." "How are things with the English ambassador?" "I know you." "You've come to care for him, correct?" "Perhaps a little." "But I have bigger worries." "I came to ask you about Archbishop Ridolfi." "Has he had any visitors?" "No, he's been too busy borrowing the royal carriages, for what he calls "holy errands."" " Do you know where he's been going?" " No." "But his drivers loathe him." "I'm sure they'd share that information with you." "What are you up to, Mary?" "It's best you remain unaware." "Joseph Tudor?" "Who's asking?" "I have a message from Archbishop Ridolfi." "It's about time." "Did he say how much longer I'm to stay in this dreadful house?" "It's ridiculous." "A man of my future standing." "Why don't we discuss that future inside?" "Thomas and I like the name Logan for a boy and Fiona for a girl." "‭No." "Your choices are far too Scottish for a child growing up in France." "We want the child to fit in, don't we?" "Lord Thomas, for you." "What is it?" "Someone knows." "Somehow they knew." "It says that your pregnancy is a ruse." "That the mother is your sister, a "purveyor of whores."" "They're demanding gold for their silence." "We are being blackmailed?" "How did the secret get out?" "I've been so careful, barely coming out of my room." "We should all leave town until the baby's born." "Once that happens, the blackmailer will have no way to prove that we aren't the real parents." "I'd rather not go." "It puts my business at risk, for one thing." "And traveling now, I'm not sure that's wise." "The point of pretending this baby is yours is to give it a chance to grow up with a good name." "For its sake and yours, we have to agree to the blackmailer's terms." "Perhaps they'll take the money and go away." "And if they press for more, well, then we might have a better idea of who we're dealing with." "Catherine, an update." "Charles has been apprised of the situation with the Red Knights." "Your assailants were last seen riding east from the castle." "My men have searched the nearby villages, but they seem to have vanished." "Well, someone threw that pike at me." "Is it possible the families of the original Red Knights are involved?" "They had no families." "Henry only recruited orphans, training them as boys to ensure their loyalty." "And once they came of age, they had to take oaths of celibacy." "Well, you couldn't have expected them to uphold those vows." "I didn't." "Which is why I discreetly incentivized them with sex." "For every battle won, the Knights, they had their choice of my finest courtesans." "Trust me, they won often." "So it is possible one of them fathered a child." "I suppose it's worth investigating." "And I know exactly where you can go to find out." "Would you like to try some sipping chocolate?" "It's from Spain." "Catherine's daughter, the queen, has it sent specially for us." "Catherine does seem to treat her former courtesans well." "Our reward for a job well done." "Did she send you to us for something special, then?" "No, no." " I'm here on business." " Oh, you sure?" "I may be retired." "I'm not dead." "I'm sure." "It's actually quite serious." "There was an attempt made on the queen mother's life." "We believe it was someone seeking revenge on behalf of the Red Knights." "They're heretics." "They didn't just turn against the monarchy, they turned against God." "Catherine revealed that many of the women here entertained these men before their beliefs were known." "And you want to know if any of us bore their children." "We are no common whores." "We were trained to abide by strict rules." "The most important being never get pregnant." "I'm afraid you've come all this way for nothing." "Thank you." "You overheard me talking about the Red Knights." " I should go." " Is there anything you can tell me?" "Any information could help." "I fear you may be looking for my son." "A child fathered by a Red Knight?" "I fell in love with one of those men." "When I discovered I was with child," "I left court." "I wanted to keep the baby, but when the Knights were revealed to be" "Devil worshippers..." "What did you do?" "I had the baby." "And left him and any belongings I had of his blasphemous father to die in the woods near Dijon." "I have felt nothing since but guilt and remorse." "For leaving the child." "For giving birth to Satan's spawn." "I brought a monster into this world." "What if he still lives?" "I assure you, if your child is still alive, he is no monster." "Only a man." "Are you sure this is the man?" "He was found abandoned in the nearby woods as a suckling infant." "Geant!" "You were right." "The Vatican brought Joseph Tudor from Saint-Veran and rented a house for him in the village." "That's where Archbishop Ridolfi's been holding secret meetings to negotiate his ascension to the English throne." "So Joseph Tudor is complicit." "In searching his house," "I found damning correspondence between him and the Vatican." "This says the Vatican was going to pressure me into naming Joseph Tudor as my successor to the English throne." "Yes." "Joseph was already reaching out to prominent," "Catholic English nobles in an effort to consolidate support for the Vatican's plan." "He wanted to be king, at the cost of your life." "And what if the Vatican says these are forgeries?" "I'll bring Joseph to England with me, where I will get a confession out of him." "He's being held on a ship awaiting my return." "I sail tonight." "Elizabeth will be alerted to the Vatican's plot against her." "She will never think you were involved in any way, as none of it will tie back to you." "I know I said that nothing real could ever happen between us... but it has." "I have come to care for you, Gideon." "Then why do you seem so sad?" "Even if our plan works, and my engagement to Dudley is called off..." "I'm not so foolish as to think I will end up with a queen." "I understand the reality of our stations." "We are loyal to two different countries." "But there's something else I know." "Life is short." "At this point, I thought I would be raising my daughter with my wife by my side." "Instead, I-I've only just met my child, and my wife is gone." "The best I can do is live day by day." "If something feels right," "I embrace it." "And being with you on this particular day, it feels very right." "That's him." "That's the man I saw entering Master Tudor's house." "What's the meaning of this?" "This boy works for Joseph Tudor." "He was on his way to fetch firewood and saw you enter the house." "When the boy returned, he found the place ransacked and Joseph gone." "He is mistaken." "I saw him, dressed as a priest." "Guard, take Ambassador Blackburn" " into custody." " On what grounds?" "You were the last person to be seen with Joseph Tudor, and now he is missing." "Stop fighting us, or you will regret it." "This is outrageous." "You have nothing but conjecture." "Then produce Joseph Tudor." "If you can't, the Vatican must assume you killed him and will be charged with murder." "Leith." "Thank you for coming." "I had a meeting with a wool trader in the village anyway." "Is that so?" "What for?" "I'm trying to strike out on my own." "Raise my station by breaking into the merchant class." " Good for you." " Yes." "Except I haven't any experience, so no one wants to take a chance on me." "I'm what they call an unproven entity." "Maybe you just haven't met the right person yet." "Maybe, but" "I've met with everyone I know, and so far nothing." "I'm sorry." "Why did you want to see me?" "I need your help." "But first," "I have to show you something." "I'll take him, my lord." " Well?" " The wool merchant turned me down." "Another opportunity will come along." "I'm sure it will." "In the meantime, we have a romantic getaway to Paris to look forward to." " I can't go." " Oh, come on." "You've been so busy trying to build a business, we haven't spent any time together." " I miss you." " I know, I'm sorry." "I promised Greer I would do her a favor." "A favor." "For your ex." "Versus Paris with me." "Your lover." "Your princess lover." "I assure you, it is out of friendship." "Greer is pregnant." "No." "Who's the father?" "A pirate." "Greer is having a pirate-baby?" "Don't call it that." "Don't call it anything." "It's a secret." "Greer plans to give the child away fore anyone's the wiser, but somebody's learned the truth of her plans and is blackmailing her." "That's so sad and awful." "We have to help her." " "We"?" " Yeah." "Greer has asked that I covertly follow her brother-in-law when he drops off the money, so that I can expose the perpetrator and stop this threat for good." "You really want to help?" "Of course." "Besides, this is a fantastic adventure." "Better than stuffy old Paris." "Were you seriously not planning on asking me to be part of the fun?" "Claude, I don't think it will be much fun." "Well, I can be of great use, because if you're skulking through the village streets alone," "Greer's brother-in law will spot you straight away." "But, if you're getting henpecked by some horrid fishwife..." "Some horrid fishwife?" "Of the many useless" ""ladies arts" I was forced to study... needlework, harpsichord and the like... there was one in which I excelled... theater." "To pull off this enterprise, you need an actor." "And that, my darling, is me." "Unless Gideon can prove that Joseph Tudor is alive, the Vatican will hold him for murder." "I had no choice but to let them lock Gideon" " in the dungeon." " Catherine, no." "I need Gideon." "Without him, my plans fall apart." "Are these the plans that I'm best to remain unaware of?" "Your words, not mine." "Tell me, or I can not help you." "My theory was right." "Once they have done away with Elizabeth and installed me as the new queen of England, the Vatican planned to position Joseph Tudor to replace me." "They're making you, a woman, do the dirty work to benefit a bunch of spineless men." "Gideon has kidnapped Joseph." "He is going to present him to Elizabeth to expose the plot." "It's the only way to convince Elizabeth to change her mind about naming me her successor." "Something which won't happen as long as Gideon is locked up." "And you can not go to Elizabeth with this." "The fact that I would benefit from her death by sitting on the English throne is enough to convince her that I would be a willing participant." "No one close to me at French court can expose the plot either." "She'll still think you're behind it." "However, there is one recent arrival to France who can help." "Someone who is trusted by Elizabeth and would do anything to protect his queen." "Dudley." "What is the meaning of this note?" ""Visit me in the dungeon." ""You are the only one who can save our queen." ""I need you to take the risk, even if it is not your duty."" " The Vatican plans to kill Elizabeth." " What?" "They want a Catholic English royal to ascend the throne." "Because the Vatican doesn't want this plot revealed, they're accusing me of murder." "But Mary is to be named Elizabeth's successor." "The queen of Scots is an oblivious pawn." "A seat warmer until the Vatican can place a king on the English throne." "I found evidence which confirms their choice is Joseph Tudor." "It's between two stone planters in the southwest corner of the courtyard." "Now get it and make your way to the docks." "There is a ship set to sail later tonight." "Now Tudor is being held on board." "You must go to England in my stead and put both him and those documents in front of Elizabeth." "And I'm to return to a country where I am scorned, challenged to duels in the streets?" "You will return having uncovered an assassination plot." "Not only are you saving the woman you love, but this will work towards giving you something" "I imagine you very much seek... a second chance in England." "Give Mary an excuse why you must leave court and go." "I bet you've never done a thing in your life which didn't also benefit yourself." "So what is it now?" "I understand why you have this opinion of me." "But the truth is, when I am in service to a queen," "I am in service to a queen." "It was true with Elizabeth's predecessor, and it's true with Elizabeth now." "I'm trying to save her life, and I'm asking you to help me!" "I'll do it." "I apologize for the blade, but I've seen the destruction you can cause, Geant, and I am in need of answers." "Where were you three nights ago?" "In the ring." "Fighting before a crowd of a hundred." "What is this about?" "Your father... what do you know of him?" "Nothing." "You wear his helmet." "All I have of a man that I've never met." "But more than I got from my mother, whose only gift was to leave me to die in the woods." "You've become something of a legend in the sparring pits." "Ah, people love a good battle." "But if you've been sent to try and recruit me because of that damn helmet... again, the answer is no." "Who tried to recruit you?" "Some men approached me recently, having heard of a champion who fights wearing a Red Knights' helmet." "They asked me to join their cause, revenge on the queen mother." "And what was your response?" "I sent them on their way." "I see no point in avenging a father I never knew." "Can you give me any details about these men that might reveal their identities?" "Highborn?" "Lowborn?" "One man wore a ruby ring." "He said he'd give it to me if I'd join their cause." "You've been threatening Catherine de Medici from afar, claiming to be the Red Knights." "Well, now you're going to face the woman herself." "After Mary's nuptials to Robert Dudley, will you be inviting her to English court?" "Why do you ask?" "The more time I spend by your side, the more I think you two might get on." "Not to mention, it would be a great opportunity to show the world you are two queens united." "You must miss your friend." "I do." "What are you doing here?" "All of you pressured me to pick a successor, for the good of the realm." "And against my better judgment," "I did." "The only good to come of this was my decision to send Robert Dudley to French court." "Because while he was there, he uncovered a Vatican plot to kill me." "But that was not to be the end of their plan." "After Elizabeth's successor, Mary Stuart, took the throne, the Vatican intended to let the queen of Scots fall, in order to install a Catholic king, an Englishman with a claim to the throne and an eagerness to have it." "That man is Joseph Tudor." "This is the fault of everyone in this room." "Forcing me to open the door to the possibility that even a queen can be replaced." "Certainly you aren't suggesting we go up against the Vatican?" "To accuse them outright would be to declare war." "No, Joseph Tudor will be blamed for this." "The traitor has been brought home to England, where I have ordered him to be drawn and quartered." "That will serve as an example to anyone who dare threaten my reign." "We all owe a show of gratitude to Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester." "Hail Dudley." "Hail Dudley!" "As for Mary Stuart," "I am rescinding my offer." "I shall never name an heir, unless it is my own child." "To name a successor is to place a target on oneself." "And so long as I live," "I shall be the queen of England." "And when I am dead, whoever has the most right shall succeed me." "It worked." "Elizabeth has rescinded her offer to name me her successor." "She attributes the entire plot to Joseph Tudor, who has been executed." "Does the Vatican suspect you were involved?" "I kept them in the dark." "I gave Archbishop Ridolfi the news." "He assured me that I continue to have the Vatican's full support for my return to Scotland." "That is wonderful, as is knowing you are no longer engaged." "I guess I'll be expected to continue my duty to seduce you." "So you don't make another marriage alliance." "What is it?" "The Vatican knows they've been caught." "They want to punish someone, and that someone is you." "But Dudley claimed credit for absconding with Joseph Tudor." "That's why the Vatican were forced to drop their charge against me." "They are convinced that you were Dudley's accomplice in undermining their plot." "What jurisdiction does the Church have in France?" "None, which is why the Archbishop is going to approach the regent and ask her to hand you over." " Hand me over?" " The Vatican wants to take you to Rome, put you on trial, and have you hanged for acts of aggression against the Faith." "They have no evidence but for a testimony from some servant boy." "They will create evidence." "This can't be happening." "I need to take my daughter, and... and... and leave." "With your best horses, we can make it to the Netherlands in a few days time." "If you escape, and then you are caught, it will only solidify the impression of your guilt." "I will talk to the one person who can save your life." "I don't give my heart or give up easily." "We won't end like this." "Not with your death." "The king's deputy, Sebastian, who captured you, believes there's an informant in the king's guard." "Is that true?" "Who told you about our investigation in Dijon?" "If you think you're not going to talk, you are mistaken." "Do you have other agents who infiltrated the castle?" "Only time will tell." "Ah, he speaks." "What is your connection to the original Red Knights?" "Who are your conspirators?" "Answer and the pain will stop." "Christophe, our friend here doesn't seem too attached to his hands." "Let's see how he feels about his eyes." "Have you heard of Spirits of Salts?" "It's used to etch designs into metal by corroding it." "Imagine what one drop can do to a human eye." "Did you frame me for poisoning Francis?" "Was Cardinal Morel one of yours?" "How do you plan to destroy me?" "!" "Destroy you?" "This is about destroying the entire House of Valois." "Your corrupt rule is in its final days." "There's a reason I saved you one eye." "So when I open up your chest, you can see your own beating heart." "Your boy seems to like this work." "Your answers can stop him." "Never." "I will not be the first to die for this cause, nor the last." "We are legion." "Christophe." "If the gold was to be dropped in a vacant room at the inn down the street, why is Thomas at a tavern?" "Maybe he needed a drink to calm his nerves." "He hasn't ordered one yet." "He seems awfully calm." "Making fast friends." "I'm sure it's nothing." "Well, I don't like it." "We need to hear what they're up to." "What's that?" "I'm going over there." "No, Claude, wait." "Some ale, gentlemen?" " No." " Oh, but ours is world famous." "King Charles once came in for a pint." "Oh!" "Oh, I'm so sorry." "Clumsy me." "Uh, get away from us, you wench." "A thousand pardons." "We need to stop that transaction." "Greer's brother-in-law isn't being blackmailed at all." "Your brother-in-law was buying a château in Switzerland with your money." "Thank you, Leith." "If you could return my gold to the counting house," "I'll handle it from here." "Were you planning to move away without telling me?" "Take my baby under the cover of night?" "I wasn't taking your baby." "I was saving it from this moral cesspool." "The blackmailer lectures me on morality?" "It was my idea, Greer." "I convinced Thomas to do it." "You?" "After all I have done for you, you were going to raise my child in another country without telling me?" "Was this your plan all along?" "No." "We arrived with the best of intentions." "This was my opportunity to finally become a mother, and of course I wanted you to be involved in the child's life, but I realized you were never going to let go." "Not really." "And there was no me or Thomas." "Just you, as the mother, as the provider, as the decision-maker." "Not as the doting aunt, as you initially promised." "Greer, I wanted a baby, not a job as your baby's governess." "Then why didn't you say something?" "I said it a hundred ways but you never heard me." "You wouldn't even let me name my child." "I was willing to give up so much for you." "But now I want you out of my life forever." " I can protect this child." " How?" "It will always be the bastard of a fallen lady." "It will be spat upon." "Thomas and I, we lied to you." "Yes." "But we would have given this baby a better home." "Compared to you, almost anyone would." "Get out." "You ask me to defy the Vatican." "I am asking the regent of France to save Gideon's life." "He protected me from Vatican control, and from Elizabeth's potential wrath." "There may be a way to help him." "I am under attack by a rogue group calling themselves the Red Knights." "And my best general, imprisoned in England, could be of great help to me." "General Gaghan." "Francis' godfather." "Hmm, he's been devoted to this family." "He was captured while fighting in Scotland during the Battle of Restalrig." "I can offer Elizabeth a prisoner swap." "Gideon in exchange for Gaghan." "The only solution you can come up is one that serves your own purposes?" "You've worked hard to preserve the Vatican's support for your return to Scotland." "And while I am glad that you have opened yourself up emotionally to Gideon, do not let those emotions cloud your judgment." "But I will lose him." "Then I leave the decision to you." "Make the trade." "What are your plans now that you're no longer engaged?" "I don't know..." "I didn't think it would be up to me." "It seems that the queen's been making most of my life decisions of late." "Catherine de Medici requests the release of General Gaghan from the Tower." "In exchange, she will allow Gideon Blackburn, suspected enemy of the Catholic Church and France, to return to England." "If not, she will hand him over to the Vatican, and he will hang in Rome." "I thought he was a free man." "Who somehow infuriated the Pope." "I guess he can't charm everyone." "He's your ambassador, Elizabeth." "You're just gonna let him die?" "I sent him to France to woo Mary." "He's more a male prostitute than a master of diplomacy." "What?" "You loathe him." "Besides, I'm not about to trade him for a general who commanded a battalion that killed hundreds of my soldiers." "The trade is completely uneven." "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you should agree to the trade." "It was Gideon who uncovered the Vatican plot against you, not me." "Gideon stayed true to his ambassador's mission." "He protected you and the realm." "You can thank him for saving your life." "And what of his other mission?" "Did Mary truly fall for him?" "I believe so, yes." "Then tell me, what would hurt more... knowing the person you love will die, or knowing they are alive, but you cannot have them?" "Knowing they're alive." "But you can not have them." "I don't care if the queen of England agreed to a prisoner exchange." "Gideon Blackburn is an enemy of the Church, and he must be punished." "Have you been to England, Archbishop Ridolfi?" "Everything's damp, the food's wretched." "Trust me when I say, he will be in his own hell." "I don't think you appreciate how upset the Vatican is over this." "This monarchy is under attack by a group, who I suspect turned one of your own, Cardinal Morel." "So you can understand, why I took the opportunity to get one of my most loyal generals back to France... a Catholic country, that you and I and Pope Pius all care for greatly." "Did King Charles approve this?" "Of course." "As well as the privy council?" "Are you asking me if I got permission from the men of this country to make a political move?" "That would be the prudent thing to do." "Why do you dismiss me?" "Because I'm a woman?" "I have a mind of my own." "One that leads me to wonder about things, like your true intentions for Mary, Queen of Scots." "If you were just using her as a puppet." "I don't know what you're talking about." "I find it hard to believe that Joseph Tudor acted alone." "Makes perfect sense that you wanted Elizabeth unseated, and that it would be easy to dupe that poor fool, Mary, into thinking the Vatican truly wanted her to rule England." "Poor fool?" "You've always spoken quite highly of her." "She lost her husband and her country." "Her guard was down, and you took advantage of it." "From where I sit, which is on the French throne as its regent," "I see the Vatican pushing around female monarchs, and I don't appreciate it one bit." "You can go now." "It is a great pleasure." "It was the least I could do." "Lord Narcisse." "A word." "Excuse me." "To what do I owe this pleasure?" "Do you have more false accusations of treason to hurl my way?" "On the contrary, I have come to realize that you were not behind the accusation that I poisoned Francis, or behind the recent appearance of the Red Knights." "What changed your mind?" "We captured one of the Red Knights' conspirators." "He confessed to a plot to dismantle the monarchy." "Stephan, your skills of treachery are great, but your love of country is greater." "You would never have betrayed France in that way." "And people like you... people who will protect this country at any cost... those are the people that I need around me now." "Do I hear the sound of an apology?" "You hear the sound of me asking for your help." "To join me in the fight against the Red Knights." "Then my help you shall receive." "Oh." "Is it done?" "Our prisoner's corpse has been hidden, even from God's sight." "I was keen to see if the Spirits of Salts could dissolve a whole body." "It can." "The Red Knights will strike again, so I will continue to require your particular... skills." "When he threw himself at my blade and it pierced his chest, hot blood spilling onto my hands..." "You couldn't have pulled the knife back?" "I needed information from him." "What can I say?" "He caught me off guard, and my instinct was to drive the knife into him forever." "The instincts of a killer." "I couldn't help but notice that when you were torturing that man, it triggered quite... a reaction." "That I was able to share such an intimate moment... to have you by my side as I held a man's life in my hands..." "It was exciting, wasn't it?" "We are no longer lovers, Christophe." "Just two people who keep each other's secrets." "So many people want to cause you harm." "All I want is to protect you." "So tonight, and every night," "I will sleep at the foot of your bed." "Christophe, you can't be serious?" "Please, stop that." "Hmm-mm." "Are you...?" "Yes, you are sucking my toes." "We make a brilliant team, don't we?" "Yes, I would say we do." "Not just that." "Although, that was rather brilliant." "The other day, working together to expose Greer's brother-in-law." "I enjoyed that." "As did I." "Up until the point where I had to tell Greer her brother-in-law was swindling her." "What if..." "Well, I know you want to raise your station so that we can be together." "What if I helped you?" "Claude, I can't take your money." "Especially as I don't really have any." "To get any, you have to ask the realm." "It's all very formal and accounted for." "I have jewels and the like." "Claude, really, it's-it's all right." "But I know people." "My title opens doors, Leith." "And that's what you really need, isn't it?" "So you would provide the contacts, and I would do the work." "Yes." "And you must work very hard, because I want to be with you very much." "All right." "Really?" "Yes." "That's marvelous." "Oh, the adventures we'll have." "Be sure to watch out for sea creatures when you're crossing the channel." "My father says if I see a dolphin, it means we'll have good luck." "I'll miss you, Agatha." "I'll miss you, too." "I'll see you at the carriage." "Thank you for convincing Catherine to spare me." "It's the least I could do, after all you've done for me." "But now I must continue my service to England." "And you will take back your country." "It's unlikely our paths will cross again." "But I will hope that they do, that one day" "I will be walking through Scottish court, turn a corner and meet my new English ambassador." "I don't give my heart, or give up easily, either." "You will see me again."