"Sir." "How is our Duchess of Orléans?" "Asleep with her husband." "Not her own chamber?" "After her fall, my brother thought it best to let her sleep there." "The rest will do her good." "May we all have peace tonight." "Hmm." "Good night, Sire!" "This is highly irregular, Your Majesty." "My bed, your last stop before retiring." "That was your promise to me." "I'm tired of waiting for you to keep it." "Help me." "Please!" "My God!" "My King!" "Fetch my doctor!" "Do it now!" "Henriette!" "Henriette!" "Sire..." "Sire!" "Don't!" "The protocol demands if the air is impure and you are at risk, you must leave immediately." "Close the doors!" "We must put her in the bed." "Get His Majesty to safety at once!" "Sire..." "Get your hands off me!" "I command you!" "Don't leave me!" "Let me know when the doctor arrives." "Her life is in your hands." "Tell me what happened." "She collapsed..." "She said something about a poison." "How could she know?" "It is what she told me." "She bled from the mouth, then doubled up with a pain in her side." "Which side?" "The right." "The left." "Both, then?" "It was the right." "Not the first time." "You were not here." "You did not see." "If this is poison, then she must purge." "If it's sickness, then the remedy may make her worse." "I will need emetics and charcoal, iced water and cloth." "It was the right side." "She always complained of it." "Where do you suggest we take her?" "Oh, she's in no condition to be moved." "She cannot stay in the king's bed." "We are not touching her!" "We have no choice." "She stays." "And so do I." "Shhh!" "Shhh!" "Wait, wait!" "No food or drink shall be consumed until its safety can be confirmed." "Take it back." "You believe Her Highness is 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 in this expansion, His Majesty knew this day would come." "So, do I believe that our enemies would dare to poison King Charles of England's sister?" "Yes, I do." "But I also know that their greatest plan has yet to show itself." "But what if she's merely ill?" "Then your appetite will be merely inconvenienced, Louvois." "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." "Well, I'm not surprised that she fainted." "She hardly eats a thing." "She is gravely ill." "Then I must go to her." "She's in her chamber, I assume?" "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 hurt." "Bite this." "Restrain her." "Is there any change?" "She is worse?" "I do not regret sending her." "She brought honour to herself and glory to our court." "And I do not regret it for an instant." "We are all proud of her, Sir." "Yes, we are." "And now someone is trying to destroy me by destroying her." "But they will not succeed." "I was seeking you, Sire." "I saw your guard outside." "When I heard the news, I came as soon as I could." "I wish to offer myself to you as your subject and as your friend." "Is my son still in court?" "With the sequester, Sire, 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 the world of good." "With your blessing, of course." "Keep him occupied in body and mind." "Thank you." "We will ride to the woods, My King." "You have my word on it." "Although, with the sequester..." "Allow them passage in court." "At once!" "Madame, some privacy for Her Highness." "I will need a moment to compose myself." "Of course, Madame." "Her Highness is resting now, but I fear we are not through the worst." "My brother always trusted you." "I am honoured." "I don't believe I know what it feels like." "This must be frightening for her and for those who love her." "We are all of us in sickness here." "We're just waiting for it to take root." "She cannot possibly be treated in the king's chamber!" "She must be moved immediately!" "What if the poison were to spread?" "So it is poison?" "It's not yet certain, Sire." "But the facts remain stark, Sire." "There was an attempt on Her Highness' life during her journey to England." "It could be so again." "And even if we do discover a poison, how do we find the poisoner?" "Eliminate the suspects." "Eliminating suspects doesn't mean the same to me as it does to you." "Either way, it will have the desired result." "By which logic we must also question the Count and Countess de Gramont, Colbert de Croissy, Sir Thomas Armstrong, Henry Howard, Thomas Clifford, Henry Bennett, Anthony Ashley Cooper, John Maitland, George Villiers, The Duke of York and the Duke of Monmouth, all of whom were with her on that journey, either departing, in transit or arriving." "Are you suggesting we interrogate all those people?" "I agree with His Majesty." "Whatever method expedites 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 to her!" "Brother!" "We warned you; we begged you." "Yet you heard nothing." "The only voice, your own desire for glory." "Yet how much pain are you willing to endure before you get what you want?" "Why are you casting all this rage at me?" "Because you deserve it." "Because the whole world gave you counsel." "Your closest confidantes told you to look elsewhere!" "But the advice you took came from only one source." "Or two, perhaps." "Come!" "Marie, the room is dirtier now than when I left it." "Where's my money?" "Your payment will come in due course." "I want my money now!" "It is not yet clear to me what you have done to earn it." "Make sure you leave it spotless." "The court is under lock and key, Montcourt." "What are you doing?" "My apartment has a pisspot and I do hate to urinate in the stairwells." "Never stopped you before." "To live like a gentleman, I find, these days, I must try to act like one." "Challenging days!" "Gentlemen." "I hear Fabien's security lurchers are making enquiries." "Henriette's lady was taken in this morning, Sophie de Clermont." "I don't know what they have to get from her." "In any event, her lady is ill." "What more is there to say?" "Very little, I should hope, for her sake." "We cannot be seen together anymore." "Is that understood?" "It's important that the Dauphin enjoys his lesson." "We should be back in a couple of hours." "You accompanied Her Highness on her mission to Dover." "As was my duty." "You had close and intimate access to her person." "As was my duty." "What contact did you have with her, in particular?" "I served her tea." "What kind?" "Chicory." "It gave her great comfort." "Though I was never the one to prepare it." "Do you know who did?" "Do you know who did?" "Yes, I do." "Then tell me." "What happened to my mother?" "I am not here to answer you." "Then neither am I." "I would recommend very strongly that you reconsider." "I have nothing, so what would I have to lose, except for that?" "Your life, for one." "I do not have a life." "My mother told me who I was, and since that was a lie, who I truly am, I have no idea." "You are the daughter of a Huguenot conspirator against the king, funded and supported by William of Orange." "My mother has paid her price for her treachery." "I am merely trying to survive." "I thought your protection would ensure it." "Unless you are more like your mother than you care to admit." "Make no mistake, Monsieur Marchal." "My mother fooled many people with her treachery, but the biggest fool of all was you." "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, and a person either asserts himself or is subjugated to the will of others." "We stake our claim or we are ploughed into the field." "It is one or the other." "You acted out of pride." "I risked my life for your vanity to rescue your wife's dowry." "I acted for France because I am France, because without me, this country will consume itself in noble squabbles!" "Music, dance, art, fashion, all of these things have the power to change a nation from within, to affect the hearts and minds of people, to bring them over to us." "We could never invade the entire world, but the world can imagine us to be their centre, and one day, my brother, they will." "The cost is justified a hundredfold!" "If I were to teach you a piece of music, if it were to strike you in your heart, and the sheets and the staves were burned, you might then play it from memory to a salon of a hundred." "And they might take it on and play it and take it on and on." "The song we sing here, Brother, I mean it to be played forever!" "There is your music." "She was calling..." "I will come." "...for you, Sire." "Protocol demands that he stays, at least that's always been his excuse." "So it is confirmed." "Poison." "Are there English diplomats at court?" "In Paris." "Sir Thomas Armstrong, Sire." "Throckmorton remained in England." "We must assume that word will reach Paris tonight, reaching Sir Thomas Armstrong in the morning and with him to London the next day." "When King Charles hears that his beloved sister has been poisoned in France, there is only a matter of hours before a declaration of war." "A war they cannot afford to win." "My mind also moves in a separate area, Sire." "Should Philippe lose his wife, then a power shift might emerge from her death." "How could that be?" "Henriette's very existence strengthens your position." "It keeps your brother's power in check and offers a direct connection to England." "It unfortunately follows that her absence would weaken you in every possible way." "My King!" "Madame de Clermont conspired against the king and she gave me the names of all those who shared her allegiance." "I only knew her in passing." "But you knew she had malevolent intent." "It might have escaped your notice, but everyone in this building has malevolent intent, though only a few actually 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 judgement concerning the late Madame de Clermont..." "And what judgement would that be?" "I believe you were seen together a few times walking in the gardens." "But then again, card tables are always so full of idle gossip." "Who would seek to harm Her Highness Henriette?" "Whoever harms her, harms the king." "Your question misses the question." "You are wondering who, despite his grace and glory, might yet plot against His Majesty." "I have an idea if you are 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 believe 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 is it like to have a king as a father?" "The same as any father, I expect." "He will be glad to hear you are improving, but it is one thing to ride for pleasure, 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 this is true." "I'm merely suggesting you might save some time." "Did you have any interactions with Her Highness Henriette on her mission to Dover?" "No, I did not." "But you were not convinced of the merits in the plan." "No, I was not and I made my opinions clear to the king." "Do you ever agree with His Majesty's ideas?" "I agree with most of his ideas, sir." "Hmm..." "Why, then, are the utterances that emanate from your mouth so loudly critical of the king?" "Because I ask him to do so." "Sire." "You are diligent, Fabien, but in this case, quite mistaken." "The king has asked me to assume the role of critic and conspirator." "Attracting the flies to the paper." "Oh, there are those that complain at some time or another, but those that truly move against the king are becoming known to me." "This is a task you yourself excel in, Fabien, but I prefer to maintain two springs from which to draw my water." "You are both the angels at my shoulder." "Now let's find this poison toad and skin him." "Sire, wait!" "Do you remember you once made a request of me to see the faces of those who killed the Parthenays?" "I believe I might deliver him to you now." "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, Sire." "Do you think God will hear you?" "I don't know, Sire." "Of course." "What about the angels?" "The angels?" "Do you see them now?" "I do not, Sire." "I have heard many say they see angels before they die." "Charlotte de Parthenay, for example, and many others killed on my road members of my court and even attempts on my own life." "And now, Her Highness, my beloved Henriette, lies dying." "I am sure I do not know what you mean, Sire." "And that makes you a liar, Montcourt." "No, Sire, I am a friend." "I am a true friend of the king." "And 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!" "You have the wrong man, Sire." "I let a wolf back into my barn!" "I saved Her Highness from certain death." "You used her to find my favour!" "You burned her stomach with a poison!" "What?" "No, I do not seek to harm!" "Lies!" "Good idea." "Kill him, then me and blame it on him." "That's exactly what I would be thinking." "But your first strike would have to be true, and that is the problem you face, Montcourt." "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." "100 years ago, or 20, I suppose." "When we came here for a visit." "You, me, Henriette." "We were taking the air with our governess, and we made a break for freedom." "You went north, I went south and she went west, and by the time they'd righted themselves, we'd found our way down by the mill stream and then down by the promontory." "God knows the wolves might've 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", and for once in your life, you played along." "We defended our position from the Spanish all morning and in honour of your distinguished service..." "She was the one that found it, actually:" "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 the poison." "How long does she have?" "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, so that she might be surrounded by her favourite flowers." "Then do so." "It would cause her too much pain." "It would torture her to move." "Bring the garden here." "Is there a breeze today?" "Is there anything more beautiful than the scent of blossom in the air?" "There is." "I'm looking at her now." "I am scared." "There is nothing to fear." "How do you know?" "Do you remember before you were born?" "Then how can you be scared?" "Can you feel my skin?" "So cold." "I am sorry." "I could never 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!" "Now the pillow." "You move the pillow." "I'll lift her head." "Get him out!" "Henriette..." "I will not hear it!" "Something for the pain!" "Her throat is closing." "Open it up!" "Open it!" "Brother..." "Something must be done!" "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!" "Can you hear that?" "The flowers... they are singing." "Amen." "You are a fool." "When we are the king's enemy, we must make him believe we are his friend, make him believe we are near." "His friend..." "Those closest to a man who 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 even in this moment?" "I know what this moment is." "We are grieving." "I grieve alone." "You will marry again." "I simply want to live." "It is your duty." "I have had my fill of duty!" "Then you set yourself against me." "Gladly." "And sacrifice your future to see me suffer?" "What does a king know of sacrifice?" "Lord Rohan?" "You are injured." "Listen to me!" "There are only two men in this court who move freely between the outside world and the king's inner circle, but only one who has never raised a single voice against him." "The king's brother?" "...is a critic, but there is another who has lain hidden before us:" "Rohan." "You told us Montcourt was to blame." "He has killed many, but not her." "Oh, how can you be so sure?" "The king once told me." "He warned me quite clearly that his enemies would seek to destroy those closest to him." "Montcourt tried to tell me the same." "We must get the king, the queen and yourself to safety at once." "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!"