"Sire." "How is our Duchess of Orléans?" "Asleep with her husband." "Not in her chamber?" "After her fall, my brother thought it best to let her sleep there." "The rest will do her good." "May we have peace tonight." "Goodnight, Sire." "This is highly irregular, Sire." "My bed, your last stop before retiring." "That was your promise." "I'm tired of waiting for you." "Help me." " Please." " My God." "My King!" "Fetch my doctor." "Do it now!" "Henriette!" "Henriette!" " Sire, sire..." " Don't!" "If the air is impure and puts you at risk you must leave immediately." "Close the doors." "We must put her in the bed." " Get the King to safety." " Sire." "Let me go!" "I command you!" "Don't leave me." "Tell me when the doctor arrives." "Her life is in your hands." " So?" " She collapsed." "She said something about a poison." " How could she know?" " It is what she told me." "She spit blood and doubled over with side pain." "Which side?" " Right." " Left." " Both, then?" " The right." "Not the first time." "You were not here." "For poison, she must purge." "If she's ill that may make it worse:" "I need emetics and charcoal, iced water and cloth." "She always complained of the right side." "Where should we take her?" "She's is no condition to be moved." "She can't stay here." " We are not touching her!" " We have no choice." "She stays." "So do I." "Wait, wait." "No food or drink will be consumed until we know it's safe." "Take it back." "You believe she was poisoned?" "I believe many things." "I believe this palace is a symbol of our King, of his power, of his country, and our enemies have stopped at nothing to destroy it." "Since the first stone was laid," "His Majesty knew this day would come." "Do I believe our enemies would dare poison King Charles of England's sister?" "Yes, I do." "I also know their greatest plan has yet to show itself." "What if she's merely ill?" "Then your appetite will be merely inconvenienced." " Bontemps, how is she?" " It's still not safe." " Fabien." " Sire." "Sequester the palace." "No one enters and no one leaves." "Too bright." "Who compels me to wake?" "Where did you go?" "I had to kiss my pillow last night." "I hope you're suitably jealous." " What's the matter?" " Our dear Henriette." "I'm not surprised she fainted." "She hardly eats." "She's gravely ill." "Then I must go to her." " She's in her chamber?" " She's in mine." "She came to find me." "Yes, I know I would do the same." "If you wish to go, go now." " Do something woman!" " I have to find the source." "It will hurl." "Bite this." "Restrain her." "ls there any change?" "She's worse." "I do not regret sending her." "She brought honor to herself and glory to our court." "I do not regret it for an instant." "We are all proud of her, Sire." "Yes, we are." "Someone is trying to destroy me, by destroying her." "They won't succeed." "I was seeking you, Sire." "I saw your guard outside." "I came as soon as I could." "I wish to offer myself to you, as subject and friend." "Is my son in court?" "With the sequester, the Dauphin was confined with his governess." "Of course." "I want him far away from my chamber." "He is not to hear her pain." "If I may, Sire, I could school him in riding today." "The fresh air and distance might do him good." "Keep him occupied in body and mind." "Thank you." "We will ride to the woods, you have my word." "Although, with the sequester..." "Allow them passage in court." "At once!" "Madame, some privacy for Her Highness." "I need a moment to compose myself." "Of course, Madame." "Her Highness is resting now." "I fear we're not through the worst." "My brother always trusted you." "I am honored." "I don't know what that feels like." "This must be frightening for her and for those who love her." "We are all in sickness here," "waiting for it to take root." "She cannot be treated in the King's chamber!" "She must be moved immediately." "What if the poison spreads?" "So it is poison?" "It's not yet certain, Sire." "But the facts remain stark, Sire." "An attempt was made on her life in England." "It could be so again." "And even if we discover a poison, how do we find the poisoner?" "Eliminate the suspects." "We don't have the same notion of eliminating suspects." "Either way, it will have the desired result." "We must also question the Count and Countess de Gramont," "Colbert de Croissy, Sir Thomas Armstrong," "Henry Howard, Thomas Clifford, Harry Bennett," "Anthony Cooper, John Maitland, George Villiers the Dukes of York and Monmouth, all of whom were with her." "You're suggesting we interrogate them all?" "I agree with His Majesty." "Whatever method gets the truth." "I will talk to everyone who had access to Her Highness." " King Charles himself, perhaps." " No one is above suspicion." "You." "You did this." "Brother." "We warned you, we begged you, yet you heard nothing." "The only voice, your own desire for glory." "How much pain are you willing to endure before you get what you want?" " Why are you casting this rage at me?" " You deserve it!" "The whole world gave you council, your closest confidants told you to look elsewhere." "But the advice you took came from one source." "Or two, perhaps." "Come." "Marie, the room is dirtier than when I left." " Where's my money?" " You'll get your money." "I want my money now!" "You haven't done anything to earn it." "It better be spotless." "Court is locked down." "What are you doing?" "My apartment has a piss-pot and I hate urinating in the stairwells." "Never stopped you before." "To live like a gentleman these days, I must try to act like one." " Challenging days." " Gentlemen." "I hear Fabien's security lurkers are making inquiries." "Henriette's lady was taken in this morning, Sophie de Clermont." "They won't get much from her." "Her lady is ill, what more is there to say?" "Hopefully very little." "We can't be seen together anymore." "Understood?" "The Dauphin must enjoy his lesson." "We won't be long." "You accompanied Her Highness to Dover." "As was my duty." "You had intimate access to her?" "As was my duty." "What contact did you have with her?" "I served her tea." " What kind?" " Chicory." "It gave her great comfort, though I never prepared it." "You know who did?" "Do you know who did?" " Yes, I do." " Then tell me." " What happened to my mother?" " I'm not here to answer you." "Then neither am I." "I recommend that you reconsider." "I have nothing." "What do I have to lose?" "Your life, for one." "I do not have a life." "My mother lied to me about who I was, so I have no idea who I truly am." "You are the daughter of a Huguenot conspirator, funded and supported by William of Orange." "My mother has paid for her treachery." "I am merely trying to survive." "I thought I had your protection." "Unless you are more like your mother than you admit." "Make no mistake, Monsieur Marchal, my mother fooled many people with her treachery, but you were the biggest fool of all." "Who prepared her tea?" "I did." "She knew what she had to do, and she did it willingly." "Because you told her to." "Because she was born to it." "Because she loves you." "If we do not have the English, we cannot attack the Dutch." "You never understood politics, or survival." "The state is a person." "A person asserts himself or is subjugated to the will of others." "We stake our claim or are plowed into the field." "You acted out of pride." "I risked my life for your vanity." "I acted for France." "I am France!" "Without me, this country will consume itself in squabbles!" "Music, dance, art, fashion, these things can change a nation from within to touch the hearts and minds of people, to bring them to us." "We can't invade the world, but we can become its center." "One day, my brother, we will be." "The cost is justified!" "If I were to teach you a piece of music that struck your heart, and the partition was burned, you might play it from memory to a salon of a hundred." "They might take it on and play it and take it on, and on." "The song we sing here, Brother, it will be played forever!" "There is your music." " She was calling..." " I will come." "For you, Sire." "Protocol demands that he stays." "That's always been his excuse." "So it is confirmed." "Poison." " Are there English diplomats at court?" " In Paris." "Sir Thomas Armstrong, Sire." "Throckmorton is in England." "Word will reach Paris tonight," "Sir Thomas Armstrong in the morning and London the next day." "When King Charles hears his sister has been poisoned in France he will declare war within hours." "A war they cannot afford to win." "My mind also moves in a separate area, Sire." "If Philippe loses his wife a power shift might emerge." "How?" "Alive, Henriette strengthens your position." "She curbs your brother's power and is our connection to England." "It follows that her death would weaken you in every possible way." "My King." "Madame de Clermont conspired against the King." "She gave me the names of those who shared her allegiance." "I only knew her in passing." "You knew her hostile intent." "Perhaps it escapes you, but everyone in this building has hostile intent." "Only a few act on it." "Why did you return to us at court?" "I became aware of a threat to Her Highness and I thought it was my duty, as a noble and as a steadfast and true friend of the King, to inform him." "I find that hard to believe." "Although, I would imagine should Her Highness pass away and you were found wanting, such as your lack of judgment about the late Madame de Clermont..." "And what judgment would that be?" "I believe you were seen together a few times in the gardens." "Then again, card tables are so full of idle gossip." "Who would seek to harm Henriette?" "Who harms her, harms the King." "Your asking the wrong question." "You're wondering who, despite his grace and glory, might plot against the King." "I have an idea, if you're interested." "Go on." "It has been my experience that it is only those closest to a man who can inflict the greatest pain." "When we are near, we must make the enemy think we are far away." "When we are far away, we must make him believe we are near." "I saw angels." "When we are the King's enemy we must make him believe we are his friend." "What's it like being a King's son?" "The same as any other, I expect." "You'll be happy to hear you're improving." "It's one thing to ride for fun quite another to train for war." "How would you like to play a game?" " A game of war?" " Precisely." "Before you speak to me," "I would suggest you speak to the King." "I am His Majesty's eyes and ears, Monsieur Louvois." " I speak to whomever I like." " I know that." "I'm just suggesting you might save some time." "Did you have any contact with Henriette in Dover?" "No, I did not." "You were not convinced of the plan." "No, I was not." "I made my opinion clear to the King." "Do you ever agree with the King's ideas?" "I agree with most of his ideas, sir." "Hmm." "Why are the utterances that emanate from your mouth so critical of the King?" "Because I ask him to do so." "Sire." "You are diligent, Fabien, but mistaken in this case." "The King has asked me to play critic and conspirator." "Luring mice to a trap." "There are those who complain sometimes, but I recognize those who act against the King." "This is a task you excel in, Fabien, but I prefer to draw my water from two springs." "You are the angels at my shoulder." "Let's find this poison toad and skin it." "Sire, wait." "Do you remember, you asked me to see the face the Parthenays' killer?" "I believe I might deliver him to you." "Did you deal these cards?" "You are a cheater!" "Clear the room!" "Not you, Montcourt." "Seal the doors." "No one enters." "My prayers have been with Her Highness all day." "Do you think God hears?" "I don't know, Sire." "Of course." "What about the angels?" " The angels?" " Do you see them?" "I do not, Sire." "Many say they see angels before they die." "Charlotte de Parthenay, for example." "Many others killed on my road, members of my court," "and even an attempt on my own life." "Now Her Highness lies dying." "I am sure I do not know what you mean, Sire." "That makes you a liar, Montcourt." "No Sire, I'm a friend." "I'm a true friend of the King." ""When we are the King's enemy we must make him believe we are his friend."" "Right?" " You are a fool." " And you, a murderer!" "I am not your man." "You're a traitor!" "I saved Her Highness from certain death." "You used her to find my favour." "You sickened her with poison." "What?" "I do not seek to harm." "Lies!" "Good idea." "Kill him, then me and blame it on him." "But your first strike would have to be true." "There's the problem:" "you have never been a man who is true!" "Today you get the chance to kill a King." "Your Majesty." "Guards!" "Position one, two, three!" "You're dead, sir!" "Mercy, my lord, mercy!" "Do you remember our fort?" " Which one?" " The first one we ever played in." "A hundred years ago." "Or twenty, I suppose." "We came here for a visit, you, me, Henriette." "We were out with our governess and ran off, you went north, I went south and she went west." "Before they realized it, we'd found our way to the millstream and then down to the promontory." "The wolves might have taken us, but what did we know?" "We were young, cats with nine lives." "We found an old building, a sorry shack made out of stone and moss." "You wanted to make it your castle." "But I said, "Let's make it our fort."" "For once, you played along." "We defended our position all morning and in honor of your distinguished service," "she was the one who found it, a yellow Spanish topaz, buried in the mud." "We awarded it to you for bravery." "In the days when it was only you who truly had my back, like only a brother can." "I was so proud of you, and so was she." "It felt like if the whole world came running for us we might fend off all who would take us ill." ""Hold on to this moment", I told you." ""Never forget."" "Not that you'd remember." "Sire." "She will not survive." "How long?" "I do not know." "But it is her wish to see you both." "I'm so deeply sorry, Your Majesty, Your Highness." "She has asked to be carried to the garden to be surrounded by her favourite flowers." "Then do so." "It would torture her to move." "Bring the garden here." "ls there a breeze today?" "Is there anything more beautiful than the scent of blossom?" "There is." "I'm looking at her now." "I'm scared." "There's nothing to fear." "How do you know?" "What came before birth?" "Do not fear." "Can you feel my skin?" "So cold." "I'm sorry." "I didn't love you well." "You did the best you could." "How handsome you both are!" "Oh God!" "It hurts so much to breathe." " Lift your head." " Make it go away!" "The pillow." "Move the pillow, I'll lift her." " Get him out!" " Henriette..." " I can't bear it!" " She suffers!" " Her throat is closing." " Open it up!" " Brother..." " We must do something!" "Let me live." "Please." "My sweet." "Let me bathe in the lake, feel the sun, let me feel the sun upon me." "Oh Lord, receive me!" "Do you hear it?" "The flowers, they're singing." "Amen." "When we are the King's enemy we must make him believe we are his friend... make him believe" "His friend... those closest to a man can inflict the greatest pain." "You are a fool... his friend." "We're leaving." "And we're never coming back." "I cannot permit it." "I'm not asking for permission." "I'm leaving." " You would defy me in this moment?" " I know what this moment is." "You are grieving." "I grieve alone." " You will remarry." " I just want to live." " It is your duty." " I've had my fill." "You set yourself against me." "Gladly." "You sacrifice your future to see me suffer." "What does a King know of sacrifice?" "Lord Rohan?" " You're injured." " Listen." "There are only two men in this court who pass freely from the world to the King's inner circle, but only one who never counters him." " His brother?" " ..." "Is a critic but another has lain hidden before us." "Rohan." "You told us Montcourt was to blame." "He has killed many, but not her." " How can you be sure?" " The King once told me, he warned me that his enemies would seek to destroy those closest to him." "Montcourt told me the same." "We must get you, the King, and the queen to safety." " Oh my!" " What?" "What is it?" "The King's son, the Dauphin." "Rohan took him riding." "No, no no." "On whose word?" "Call the guard." "Call the guard!"