" Previously on Reign:" " How did we die, Mother?" "She suffocated you." "Do to Claude what she did to us." "Claude's a healthy young woman." "It'll take a lot more poison to bring her down." "This is what you've been putting in my soup, isn't it?" " Why?" " You murdered your sisters." "Do not betray your other children." "I realize I can't change the fact that..." "You blame me for what happened." "I believe that we should lead separate lives." "The money I gave you was never going to build a school." "Tell me we didn't fund an assassination on our king." "There are plans to have Bash legitimized." "You're talking about changing the line of succession, and that's the sort of talk that gets bastards and mistresses beheaded." "Give this to Queen Mary, but not until tomorrow." "I know I agreed to marry Claude on behalf of France, but I've realized I can't..." "I've fallen in love with a queen." "Mary." "I was wondering where you were when you didn't come for breakfast." "I was weary from my trip." "I've been in my chambers." "Not avoiding me?" "It's been two days." "I know that you want distance, but we are king and queen." "I saw you... the night I returned." "You were sleeping with Lola." "The two of you and your baby." "Well, the baby refused to sleep for days." "Lola and I were just exhausted." "There's no need to explain." "I know that there is nothing untoward going on between you." "But it still hurt to see you at peace with them." "Gave me a glimpse of the happier life you could have." "I want a happier life with you." "I'm sorry." "It's not you." "If any man comes close, I..." "I get uneasy." "I still can't bear to be touched." "Even the sound of a man breathing near me..." " I wish I knew how to help." " Just give me time." "All the time you need, of course." "And how can I help you?" "I hear that you've been parceling out Narcisse's land." "That can't be easy." "It's a feeding frenzy, truth be told." "Impartial advice is difficult when every counselor wants a piece of the prize himself." "I have more lands than I could ever need." "Perhaps I could help." "I'd love that." "And as you said, we may be apart, but our duties still remain." "What took you from our bed so early this morning?" "Francis sent for me." "Ah, did he want you to do his dark bidding again, or was it simply a ménage à trois with your sister Claude?" "Well, he wanted to offer me lands and a title, but I said, "My wife wants a husband with honor, so I must decline."" "That's not funny." "Perhaps not, but it's true." "The lands and title part anyway." "I wasn't stupid enough to refuse." "Wait, you're serious?" "Really?" "Oh, Bash!" "And all this time, I've been bowing and scraping to countesses and barons, and now you're saying they can bow to me?" "Who will bowing to me, by the way?" "Countesses?" "Do we get a duchy?" "Are you even aware you're undressing me?" "Uh, Kenna, uh, there's other news." "I'm beginning to understand what Henry saw in her." "Mother, you're early." "Well, since you're here, I suppose, uh," "I should formally present my new wife." "So sorry I missed the wedding." "I heard you wept through the entire thing." "Better now?" "Uh, Kenna, this is the news I was trying to tell you about." "Diane, to what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?" "Are you here for the ice festival?" "Bash hasn't told you?" "My son has gifted me some of the lands granted to him by Francis." "And, as I was staying nearby with friends, he invited me here to go over the details of my new estate." "Well, that's lovely." "Bash, darling, did your mother's estate come with a title perchance?" "Oh, Bash doesn't care about titles." "Or he wouldn't have turned down the duchy the king offered." "Instead, he took the barony closer to Francis so he could continue to serve as the king's deputy." "I could have been a duchess." "Have I caused marital discord?" "Nothing could be further from my mind." "Makeup, jewelry." "They're all just distractions to hide the corrupt flesh underneath." "Your flesh is not nearly corrupt enough since you started this campaign of self-flagellation." "And not the enjoyable kind." "I've made a mess of this family." "If only I knew how to make things right." "Run and play while I talk to your father." "And try not to scare anyone to death." "Especially Claude." "When I chose to let Claude live," "I thought they'd never forgive me." "But they're not angry anymore." "How did you do it?" "I listened, Catherine." "I gave them time, respect and love." "That's what families ought to offer each other, isn't it?" "In a perfect world, yes." "Not a perfect world, Catherine." "This world, which is so close to yours, if only you'd choose to be more a part of it." "How can I choose to be a part of your world?" "I don't even know if it's real, if you're real." "Am I going mad?" "What does "real" even mean, hmm?" "Hello, brother." "You don't seem in very high spirits." "Wife troubles?" "If so, I'm sorry." "I mean it, Bash." "Kenna was rather kind to me, after all." "What are you after?" "Do I have to be after something if, for one moment, I'm not being beastly?" "Is that really what people think of me?" "Only the ones who know you." "I suppose it's no wonder, then." "The leap between beast and murderer isn't so great, is it?" "My mother thinks I killed the twins." "To the point that she was trying to poison me." "Kenna was right." "I was five." "Can you imagine what that's like?" "Being accused of something you're too young to even remember." "This new post you've taken, you get to the bottom of things, don't you?" "You help people." "You want me to look into it." "That's what you're after, isn't it?" "Tell me everything you know." "I suggest retaining the Montagnol château with the northwest parcels." "They contain grain fields, while the eastern lands" " are suitable for sheep husbandry." " Good." "List Montagnol and the northwest parcels as one holding." "Lord Narcisse." "So good to see you cooperating in carving up your empire." "What crime did you confess to in the end?" "I'm guilty of embezzling from the Crown, Majesty." "Ah, embezzlement." "Excellent choice." "If you had been guilty of blackmailing us... unthinkable, really... we would have taken your lands and your head." "I am grateful for the king's mercy." "I only hope that I can be useful." "Francis, since it's time for the king to take trusted counsel," "I think Lord Narcisse would be more useful outside the door." "Thank you for your help, Narcisse." "You may go." "I assume the best parcels of land are to go to Narcisse's allies?" "He may bow and scrape to save his neck, but they won't, not unless we buy them off." "Of course." "But there still is a great deal of land to give away." "I want to start by restoring some lands to the Protestants that Narcisse stole them from." "As long as you take care to send the right message so soon after the castle attack." "That's why I plan to only give lands to lords who have proven their loyalty." "Like Lord Condé, you mean?" "Few Protestants have been as loyal as he." "Especially after the attack." "Condé." "Yes, why not?" "Queen Mary, we have troubling word about one of your ladies." "I've received an unsettling report from the guards." "A prisoner that they are questioning made a rather outrageous claim." "He says that your husband is tied to the radicals who attacked the castle." "That Castleroy funded them." "What prisoner?" "I'm afraid it doesn't matter." "If there is any truth to these claims, any truth whatsoever," "Francis and I may not be able to save you." "I know this is terrible news, and I'm sorry to put you through this." "Put me through this?" "What exactly?" "Greer, you are one of my oldest friends, and I love and trust you, but I need to know if there is any chance you could be linked to this, however unjustly." "If Castleroy gave money to Protestants, if the radicals were in your home, if there is any traceable link to your household." "No." "No, of course not." "My husband has always been loyal, and, for me, I..." "I have never doubted your loyalty." "You're searching your chambers to make sure there's nothing to tie you to Castleroy's treason, aren't you?" "Please don't deny it." "I work with the guards." "I hear everything that comes out of the dungeons." "It's not his treason, Leith." "It's ours." "You knew Castleroy funded the attack?" "Neither one of us knew it." "My husband thought he was funding a school." " We were tricked by the radicals." " Dear God." "I almost confessed to Mary." "Now I wish I had, but I was so afraid." "I can tell her the truth." "I can throw myself on her mercy." "No, Mary's mercy can't save you." "Too many people were killed in the attack." "Too many nobles would happily dangle your fate to extract a price from Francis and Mary." "And if they can't pay it..." " Well, then what can I do?" " Think." "If there's evidence anywhere, we need to find it." "I've been searching through letters and diaries..." "I've found nothing." "Well, is there anything else written down?" "Anywhere?" "Think hard." "I have wondered about the counting house." "He left it to me as a source of income." "It would hold his personal ledger." "If it lists any payments to men now known as radicals..." "You'll die for treason." "Please help me, Leith." "Ah, why, Diane." "I heard you were back to visit your son." "How daring of you to return." "After you banished me?" "After you took away everything that Henry promised me?" "Come, now." "You gained something since Henry's death." "A daughter-in-law, Kenna." "Well, granted, she was Henry's discarded girlfriend." "The one that replaced you." "Ah, with a twitch of her ass." "Enjoy your expanded family." "And what of your family?" "If Claude's looks could kill, I do believe you'd be bathing in your own blood." "Princess Claude." "Ah, have you come to steal a glance at your old mistress?" "Is it just me, or does Diane look a little the worse for wear?" "Say it." "I want to hear you say it." "She looks old and too thin." "So many mistakes, I see them all so clearly now." "That was a very expensive mistake." "What jealous tantrum did that necklace pay for?" "Look at Claude." "She's rubbing my nose in it." "Making sure I see her kindness to everyone else but me." "I don't know why you subject yourself to this torment, when you have another family that loves you without blame or judgment." "Because I wonder about all this." "Your new devotion to me." "And these girls, grown into the very image" "I had of them in my mind." "Are you all in my mind?" "Or are you really here?" "Here to soothe my guilt for all the mistakes that I made?" "What mistakes?" "I heard that Bash is helping Claude find out if she really killed the twins." "Shouldn't I have been asking those questions?" "If you had, you would've only spread suspicion that Claude was a monster." "Instead, you kept the evidence, ample evidence, to yourself." "You even kept it from me." "And I'm glad that you did." "All you've ever done for your children is love and protect them." "Love in return is what you deserve, Catherine." "Come." "Let's get away from here, hm?" "Yes, let's." "You said you thought of something." "What is it?" "Royal children are never alone." "Yet I managed to sneak in and stuff flowers down the twins' throats?" "Where were their nannies that night?" "I had the same question." "I sought out all the nannies that were here at that time." "One of them died of old age." "The others I'm having a harder time finding." "If you locate them," "I want to question them with you." "Louis." "If I'd known you were staying at court to make winter supply deals, I would never have sent my letter through your envoy." "Well, I just received it." "I assume you're pleased." "I might be if I could accept these holdings." "What do you mean?" "Why can't you?" "It doesn't feel right." "Other Protestant lords have sacrificed more." "They're more deserving." "But Francis, your king, has made this offer." "He's going to wonder why you would refuse him." "Let him wonder, then." "Perhaps he should." "Louis, is this about the attack on the castle?" "On me?" "It's about all the attacks." "Blood for blood for blood, none of it needed if Francis had simply said no to a few Catholic thugs." "It's not that simple, believe me." "I know what the politics were." "Please, I can't listen to you defend the man any longer." "Just once, I'd like to hear him defend himself." "Louis." "Please, listen." "If you'll excuse me." "I've never met a lady who knew how to read accounts." "My husband felt I should understand his businesses." "I'll review this in its entirety this evening." "I'd also like my husband's personal ledger." "He asked me to fetch it for safekeeping." "Safekeeping from whom, the Crown?" "I don't know what you mean." "Surely you've heard the rumors if I have." "Word of financial ties between your lord husband and radical Protestants." "I can assure you that no such ties exist." "But if they did, the evidence would be in his personal ledger." "That's why I've taken the precaution of hiding it." "The lady has asked for her property." "I think it'd be best you deliver it." "The lady and I are partners." "It benefits neither of us for the book to be found." "The Crown confiscates any business belonging to traitors." "You have me at a disadvantage." "You know where the ledger is;" "I do not." "You're too good at business not to expect some price." "Your husband deeded me 51% of this business so it would be legally held by a man." "I should like my ownership to be complete." "Don't do it, Greer." "What choice do I have?" "Remember, if that book is found," "I'll make sure the Crown knows you were my partner in its concealment as well." "They might take your head, as well as your new counting house." "It took me longer to find the twins' nanny." "She changed her name after marrying." "She did more than marry." "She married a noble." "Wonder how she managed that." "I hope I haven't kept you." "It's a great honor being invited to speak with Your Highness." "If this is about your charity project, my husband and I would be honored to..." "Actually, we were hoping to speak with you about your time at the castle." "When you were a nanny." "Oh." "Lady Yvonne, I hope our questions aren't making you uncomfortable." "You seem..." "As if you might crawl out of your skin." "Do press on, Bash." "I'm upset because those were such sad days." "When the twins died, we were all very distraught." "You say you were there when the bodies were found." "Can you tell us exactly what happened?" "I'd only gone out for a moment or two to use the privy, and when I came back, they were dead." "Both of them?" "Didn't you think that was odd?" "Were you there when the doctor came?" "Did you see him pull the flowers from their throats?" "Yes, of course." "Bash, it was her." "I don't know what you mean." "There were only three people who knew about the flowers, Yvonne." "The doctor who found them," "Catherine, who alone was told, and the person who put them there." "You killed them." "How could you do such a thing?" "Why?" "I didn't, I swear." "The babies were dead when I found them." "What are you talking about?" "And be very clear, or you will hang, and I will cheer for your death." "He was the king." "How was I supposed to say no?" "He was relentless." "He'd come into the nursery." "He'd follow me to my chambers at night." "Then, one night, he pulled me into a corner." "He wanted me to try some kind of new Turkish smoke." "It was a simpler request than his others." "After that, I lost track of time." "Of myself." "When I woke, I ran back to the nursery, but hours and hours had gone by, and I found the windows blown open by the wind." "It was freezing in there." "I must have forgotten to latch them." "I ran to the babies, but they'd stopped breathing." "I tried to warm them, but it was no use." "And then I realized what would happen to me if the queen found out." "I saw Claude's little dress in the corner... the one with the flowers torn off... and I knew the answer." "So after my sisters froze to death, you shoved flowers into their mouths and waited for my mother to blame me?" "I hoped she would think you were too young to know what you'd done." "I hoped she'd forgive you." "She did not forgive me." "Why weren't you punished for leaving your post?" "Don't you see?" "Mother and Father both covered up for her without realizing the other was doing it." "Mother didn't want any questions asked, because she told that fever story so no one thought me a monster." "And Father married you off to some noble to make sure you never told Mother where you really were that night, isn't that right?" "Please, forgive me." "I was afraid of your parents." " Both of them." " Well, now you can be afraid of me!" "You killed my sisters and made me pay for it my entire life!" "Claude, there will be justice, I promise you." " Guards, please take this woman away." " No!" "Oh, no, please!" "Please, Your Highness." "Forget about her." "What matters is you're innocent." "You've always been innocent." "God." "Come on, Mother!" "Coming." "Forget the Ice Festival; come with us!" "I need rest." "Are you having as much fun as I am?" "I am, as... as much as I can." "As much as you can?" "I want to enjoy myself, I do, but how can I when you bring me such pleasure, but also such pain?" "I hid the truth about your murders, but if Claude killed you, I raised a monster." "And if she didn't, I have been treating her like one for no reason." "So long ago, Catherine." "Who could blame you?" "You lost your babies." "Don't second-guess yourself, or you will go mad." "What about Claude?" "Shouldn't I be with her now?" "You think she needs you?" "That Francis needs you?" "Not anymore." "The girls need you." "They have no one but us, and unlike your other children, they're asking for you." "Catherine, be the mother they want." "Be the mother they need." "I understand you've had some issues with my rule." "You refuse my offers of lands because, what, you... you don't like the way I handle dissent?" "I've questioned a few of your acts of repression, yes." "Do you know where I hear about most of your dissent?" "Mary tells you." "My ambassadors tell me, my lords tell me, everyone at court tells me, except for my wife, who says barely a word." "You think Mary's still protecting me?" "I think it's lucky for you that she does." "I think it's sad that either of us should need her protection." "And that one of us utterly failed to protect her just when she needed it most." "I warn you, Cousin." "Your words are unwise." "Perhaps we should leave our words aside." "Air our differences sportingly." "You've played quarterstaff, yes?" "I should go back inside." "It's so cold." "Girls, enough fun for now." "Run back inside." "Your mother and I will be along shortly." "Oh, my God, Catherine... to see all this light again." "It was so dark without you." "And you... so beautiful." "Henry, stop." " I'm shivering." " And I'm offering warmth." "More than warmth." " Heat." " Oh." "Do you feel it?" " Hmm?" " Yes." "Oh, keep doing that." "Trust me, I know what you need." "What is that?" "Me." "Us." "Together forever." "What did you used to say to me?" "When we'd make love and I was so near..." "You're almost home." "Is there something between them we don't know about?" "You're what's between them." "Enough!" "Stop!" "Catherine?" "Catherine!" "Henry." "What on earth are you doing?" "You'll freeze to death." "You're lucky I found you." "I was looking for you." "A servant saw you by the garden door." "I followed your footprints." "Why are you helping me?" "That's a very good question." "So Henry lured the nanny away and the twins froze to death, poor things." "And then she framed Claude to try to cover her neglect." " Where is she now?" " In the dungeon." "She'll be punished, but who will punish me?" "You thought you were protecting your daughter." "Yes, I believed that." "I think I was just trying to protect myself by not asking questions" "I didn't want to know the answers to." "Was my daughter truly guilty?" "What damage did our terrible marriage do to our children?" "I knew they were hurt." "I didn't know it cost them their lives." "Oh, he hurt your mother, too." "I think she knew what she was getting into." "Oh, you're wrong about that." "Once we had enough heirs," "Henry convinced Diane that he'd be all hers." "How do you know this?" "Because he told me there would be no more carnal relations between us." "He was going to try to be faithful to his mistress." "Of course, he never was." "I know that because of all the things he bought her, just to quell her rage." "It was quite a temper your mother had, when she found out he'd betrayed her." "Oh, but the gifts: châteaux, jewels, that ridiculous chapel he had built with all that stained glass." "That was after the twins were born." "Carnal relations never ended with us, either." "What?" "What is it?" "It's nothing." "I hope it brings you some peace to know your daughter didn't kill the twins." "I should go." "Such haste." "I haven't properly mocked you for saving the life of your mother's worst enemy." "I shouldn't have let him provoke me." "But, Mary, he did provoke me." "There is something in Condé that needs to be dealt with." "His anger towards me is not just about my mistakes as a ruler." "He has feelings for you, and now everyone knows it." "And you think that I encouraged him?" "Francis, have you not been hearing a word I've said?" "I can barely stand to touch my own husband." "Why would I... ever encourage another?" "I know you don't think you will heal, but I know that you will." "You are a survivor and the strongest person I've ever known." "It may be too soon to talk about this, and it is excruciating to have to say this to you, given what you've been through, but, Mary, this notion of "separate lives... "" "Living separate lives is not a solution; it is a threat." "And not just to our marriage, but to our rule." "When you give us an heir someday, as I have every faith that you will, there cannot be the slightest doubt about our child's paternity." "Doubts like these start wars." "They put your country at risk, as well as your life." "My life." "And not yours." "I know." "It is unfair." "My mother was almost beheaded for infidelity, while my father had every woman that he wanted." "But that is the way that it is, right or wrong." "I remind you of this because I care for you." "Oh, was that "caring"?" "It sounds to me like a man trying to tighten his grip on a woman." "You'll understand if I don't stay to hear more." "Oh, thank you, Elise." "There you are, my queen." "I'm sorry for letting our fun outside get out of hand." "I'd forgotten what cold can do to the living." "You've forgotten a lot of things, haven't you?" "Like the nanny that let the twins die because she was too busy with you in bed." "I beg your pardon." "Maybe you honestly don't remember." "Maybe that's not your fault, as I invited you here, such as you are." "Such as I am?" "What am I?" "You're a lie, Henry." "Because I brought you here to ease my conscience." "Oh, but you were a lie in life, too." "Everything you ever spoke of or promised were all lies." "Loyalty, duty... even France." "Nothing mattered more to you than yourself." "Why are you arguing, Mother?" "Because, my darlings, I'm afraid our time together must come to an end." "Now, you need to find peace, away from this place." "I will be with you one day, I promise." "To you, it will seem very soon." "Good-bye, my loves." " Good-bye, Mother." " Good-bye, Mother." "Oh..." "Oh, they're gone." " Catherine..." " It was that simple." "Don't break up our family." "Don't you dare speak of family." "You have no idea what that word means." "A family is more than one person." "A family is loving people, thinking of others before themselves." "I have always loved you and the children." "When it was convenient." "When it didn't keep you from your indulgences that you crave." "I took you back into my bed again and again, because I loved you." "I taught you that it was all right to treat your family with scorn and neglect." "And look how our children suffered because of it." "The twins are gone." "I may have lost Claude forever." "I will never forgive myself for that." "Or you." "I will always bear my guilt, but I will not bear you." "I want you out of my life, Henry." "Do you hear me?" "I don't want you back!" "I don't want you at all." "You're nothing to me." "You're dead." "You're nothing but dust and bile." "It isn't that easy, Catherine." "Oh, begone, ghost of my past, my mistakes, my foolishness." "Return to your hell and leave me to mine!" "Bash." "What's wrong?" "When I was young, you always told me that we were Father's real family." "That Catherine and her children were just for show, for politics." "You said I shouldn't be jealous of them, and I wasn't." "I loved my brothers and sisters." "But what about you?" "Were you threatened by them" " in some way?" " What are you on about, darling?" "Catherine mentioned the chapel that Father built for you." "Do you remember it?" "With all that expensive stained glass?" "Because I remember a day in that chapel." "Damn you, Henry!" "Damn you!" "Father told me that that chapel wasn't built only for you, but also for me." "After it was unveiled, he snuck me inside, and we etched our initials in the lead, he and I, along with the date." "That's why I saved this piece here, you see?" "'Cause it was right after this that you wrecked the window." "I checked the book of records, Mother, and two days later, the twins were dead." "You were cursing at Father when you broke this glass." "Were you still angry that he'd slept with Catherine to conceive the twins?" "Or was it about him seducing the nanny?" "Or was it all part of the same betrayal, eating you up inside?" "Do you think it was easy being the king's mistress?" "Hmm?" "A position easily gained." "But held?" "For decades?" "Say it was an accident, Mother, please." "Say that you only left those nursery windows open to get the nanny dismissed, to keep your hold on the king." "I would like to say that." "I would." "I wanted Catherine to suffer." "I wanted Henry to suffer." "They did." "The estate I offered is no longer yours." "I will protect your secret if you leave today." "But I can't bear to look at you as you are now, much less hanging from a rope." "Go and never come back." "I am your mother." "Where is your forgiveness?" "You absolved your wife, even though she was your father's mistress." "How can you even compare Kenna's affair to this?" "She was young and naive." "She was scared." "You killed two baby girls." "Kenna, young and naive?" "That doesn't describe the girl who told Catherine" "I was in Rome trying to get you legitimized." "What are you talking about?" "Kenna would never do that." "But she did." "Ask Catherine." "Kenna knew that exposing my plan could get us both killed, but she wanted me gone." "Determined to strike at her rival for Henry." "Just as I was when I left that nursery window open." "If that's true, then neither of you deserves my forgiveness." "This is good-bye." "We will never see one another again." "Bash." "Is Francis all right?" "Francis is fine." "Lola, I have a favor to ask of you." "You won't like it, but if you are loyal to me, you won't question it." "Mary asked you to offer yourself as a possible match for me?" "Not as directly as that, but yes." "What does she take us for?" "A couple of game pieces she can shunt aside to unclutter her board?" "Actually, she said she hoped we'd admire each other as much as she admires us." "So we might find the happiness she's found with Francis." "All very neat and tidy, isn't it?" "Well, hardly." "Perhaps you think you're some gallant defender of Mary's, but look around." "You've spawned harmful gossip with your male pride, and she's doing everything she can to stop it." "I don't care if your heart leads you my way or not, but I won't have it lead you to Mary." "She's my oldest friend, and I'll see her protected from any threat, gallant or otherwise." "You're quite fierce when you want to be, aren't you?" "Are you mocking me?" "I'm admiring you." "All right, then." "Shall we take our royal orders and see where they lead us?" "Your Majesty." "You asked for evidence proving the Castleroy's innocence." "This is Castleroy's personal ledger, found in his counting house." "Its contents will confirm guilt rather than innocence." "Mary?" "I don't know how much time I have, but before this is done, there are things I need you to know." "I lied to you, Mary, and that is a treason in itself." "But Aloisius did nothing wrong..." "Greer, stop." "The ledger we found in your counting house is enough to prove your guilt in the eyes of the Catholic nobles." "It is not quite enough in the eyes of the king." "No one can prove which Protestants you thought you were giving your money to." "Then I'll live." "Francis and I have made sure of that, yes." "In the deal we made with the nobles, you may keep your life, but that is all you may keep." "You will lose your title, your lands, your holdings, your rooms here at the castle and your position with me." "But where will I live?" "H... how will I live?" "That can no longer be my concern." "Or Lola's." "Or Kenna's." "I'm sorry." "Because I'm a traitor now." "A pariah." "One more moment, please." "One more moment... is that all we have?" "The wagon is ready to take her away." "Nobles are waiting." "Promise me you'll take care." "Promise me, Greer, for it is a dangerous world." "I will." "Thank you." "Good-bye." "I'm so tired of waiting for liars to tell me the truth." "It's exhausting, you know that?" "Did you hear about Greer?" "It's so awful." "This time, I don't want to wait." "You're my wife." "You should tell me the truth without being asked." "Did you tell Catherine that my mother was talking to Rome about getting me legitimized?" "I could have been executed, Kenna." "I wasn't thinking about that." "I just wanted your mother out of the way." "I was scared." "I couldn't go back to Scotland, and I couldn't find a husband here." "I thought I might lose everything." "And which did you fear losing the most?" "The gifts and privileges of sharing a bed with the king?" "Or his love?" "Both." "Is that what you want to hear?" "Is that what I should have said when we married?" "That, yes, I loved him." "Before he went mad." "You never told me that." "Why would I?" "You asked me to give us a chance, so I did." "Bash, you have no idea what it's like to be a girl in this world." "Owning nothing, having no power except the effect that you have on men." "The king noticed me, and for the first time, I mattered." "What was I supposed to do?" "Throw it away?" "Did you throw away Mary's love when you had it?" "Besides, why are we even fighting about this?" "Everybody makes mistakes." "It's in the past." "Some things can't stay in the past." "Some things are too unforgivable." "When a person is willing to sacrifice lives for their own petty interests... that is one of those things." "Mary?" "I hate to disturb you, but... are you all right?" "After everything that happened with Greer." "The truth?" "No, I'm not all right." "I've been thinking about all that we've been through, my ladies and I." "And sometimes I wonder if I should have even brought them with me." "I would have felt very alone if I hadn't." "As I do now." "Your words were hard to hear, but they were true." "Appearances matter for people like us." "Condé and I can appear to have no friendship that is more than political." "I can't stand to see you hurt." "I don't want you to feel so alone." "But I am alone." "We both are." "We don't have to be." "I'd like to stay with you tonight." "Not for appearances or politics or because you are my wife." "Just to watch over you while you sleep." "I could stay here." "Happily." "I would like that." "My God..." "Catherine." "I admit I was slow to put it together, much to my poor daughter Claude's misfortune." "Then I heard..." "Bash has taken away your estate, told you to leave." "I started thinking." "The nanny may believe that the wind blew open the nursery windows." "That isn't possible." "They have latches on them." "Human hands had to open them." "Jealous hands." "It never occurred to me that a mother would do this to another mother's child." "Don't you want to beg for your life?" "You're a hypocrite." "How many mother's children have you killed?" "Oh, indignation instead of groveling?" "I suppose that'll do." "This is for killing my babies." "This is for taking my husband." "Tearing my family apart." "And this... is for turning my daughter against me." "I did it for Henry." "All of it." "How perfect!" "He did it all for Henry, too!" "You loved him so much?" "He's... all... yours."