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The Man I Saved Burned My Family HD 720p ASM
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00:10To be continued...
00:44To be continued...
01:24To be continued...
01:29I buried Alice beside my parents and found a stone to serve as a marker.
01:33He swore, word by word, Alice, father, mother, wait for me.
01:37Wait until I have destroyed everything they hold most dear, their title.
01:41I turned without looking back.
01:42I walked into the vast, blinding snow.
01:50I walked into an abandoned church, packed with the displaced and the destitute.
01:54Dangerous. Walking at night in a snowstorm like this, why not huddle up with us?
01:58I'm an herbalist. Sprains, frostbite, fever, cough, I can treat them all.
02:03In exchange for two loaves of bread and a mouthful of hot water.
02:07Please, save my child!
02:09I pressed my hand to the child's forehead and checked his pulse.
02:13Find an iron kettle, boil three cups of water down to one and get it into him.
02:18Mother.
02:18Then, did the people in the church begin to trust me, one by one.
02:22They came to have their injuries treated.
02:26Child, your skills are impressive.
02:29How did you end up like this?
02:31My family is gone.
02:33Someone had them killed.
02:34These days, it's always the poor who suffer.
02:37Those with titles and land, what do they care whether we live or die?
02:39Take the Duke of Ravencroft.
02:41Ambushed on the northern border three months ago, barely survived.
02:43Came back to London and married the Lord Chancellor's daughter.
02:45Brother to the king, decorated war hero.
02:47The whole of London bows to his shadow.
02:49And he dotes on that Victoria of his.
02:51The entire social circle knows it.
02:53Word is he dismissed every old servant in the household for her sake.
02:56I sewed the badge, engraved with the Ravenclaw family crest,
03:01into the lining of my undergarments.
03:03This badge is my shame.
03:09On the road to London, at every town I passed through,
03:12I visited apothecary shops, village doctor's surgeries, and second-hand bookstalls.
03:16I no longer devoted myself solely to the art of saving lives.
03:19I began to study how the very same herbs could kill a person without a sound.
03:24How to brew a draft that mimics death for 12 hours.
03:27How a single silver needle could induce labor, unconsciousness,
03:30even harm an unborn child without weeding a trace.
03:33To test my formulations, I drove myself to the edge of death the first time I tested the death-feigning
03:38draft.
03:39But that time I misjudged a dosage.
03:40When I woke, it was already the dead of the following night.
03:44My body was rigid.
03:45I had nearly frozen to death.
03:47The moment I came to you, I coughed blood and cried for the first time.
03:50Because I thought of Alice.
03:52When she died, how much pain she must have felt.
03:55How terrified she must have been.
03:56I wiped my tears, recorded the residual dosage, and reformulated.
04:00Along this journey, my herb satcher grew heavier by the day.
04:04I wore through one medical text after another.
04:06Until at last, I arrived in London.
04:09I knew that as I was narrow, I needed a new identity.
04:12One that could walk through the doors of Ravencroft House.
04:16That day, I was passing through a narrow alley when I saw a group of ruffians kicking and beating an
04:20old woman.
04:21She clutched a wooden box to her chest.
04:23I rushed in.
04:24A few needles and the ruffians' limbs went numb.
04:26They staggered off cursing.
04:28I crouched down and helped the old woman to her feet.
04:30Her face bore several old scars, running from the corner of her eye down to her jaw.
04:35I helped her back to the crumbling room nearby, cleaned her wounds, and applied a poultice of herbs.
04:40Mrs. Morrow told me she had once served as a dressing maid to the queen,
04:43and that she was skilled in disguise, voice alteration, and the manners of the aristocracy.
04:48Three years ago, she had offended Vittoria.
04:50Vittoria found a pretext.
04:51She had Mrs. Morrow's faith flashed, one eye pull out, her tongue cut so her voice was ruined and then
04:56cast her from court.
04:57She survived by doing up the faces of women.
04:59The moment I heard the name Vittoria, my heart slammed against my ribs.
05:02That night, I brought half a bottle of cheap gin and told Mrs. Morrow everything.
05:07Mrs. Morrow drained the gin from her cup and slammed the tin mug on the ground.
05:10A brute draped in a nobleman's coat.
05:13A duchess fattled on other people's flesh and blood.
05:16I should have died three years ago.
05:18Child, if you need to have your revenge, I will help you.
05:23So long as I live to see Vittoria fall from her heights, this broken body of mine is a price
05:29worth paying.
05:31Mrs. Morrow began to teach me disguise, voice alteration, accent mimicry, and control of posture and bearing.
05:38She also taught me the rules within aristocratic households, the hierarchy of servants, and the filthy secrets hidden behind respectable
05:45facades.
05:46Her art of disguise was a craft carried out from the palace itself capable of transforming a girl of 17
05:51into a woman past 30.
05:53At first, I learned slowly.
05:55The resin adhesive wouldn't hold.
05:57The wrinkles I painted looked stiff and lifeless.
05:59I practiced the hunched gait until my back was covered in blisters of raw, bleeding skin.
06:04The hardest part was the voice.
06:05Every day I practiced with nucleus pressed against my tongue, and I did not stop even when my throat bled.
06:10I had no time to rest.
06:11Alice was still beneath the ground, waiting for me.
06:14My father and mother's deaths were still unavenged.
06:16After a year of training, I could shift between identities with ease.
06:20I gave myself a new name, Susan Marsh.
06:23I would wear this false face into Ravencroft House and dismantle them from within, piece by piece.
06:30Before long, the name Mrs. Marsh had spread.
06:33Wives of minor government clerks and merchants began sending for me as well.
06:37The first time I attended the wife of a senior treasury secretary, I walked into a twin birth god mom.
06:42I steadied the mother's pulse with silver needles, then manually repositioned the babies.
06:46The secretary's family was overwhelmed with gratitude.
06:48He sang my praises at his gentleman's club, and at dinner potties.
06:51I gathered intelligence on the great families, especially Ravencroft House.
06:55I learned that Victoria had finally fallen pregnant.
06:57That the pregnancy was unstable.
06:59You incompetent fool!
07:01That royal physicians were attending high martation.
07:04The duke's mistress, Rydia Kept in the East Wing, was also pregnant.
07:08Yet she lived in conditions worse than a servant's.
07:12Rose beaten death by Victoria, then thrown out onto the street.
07:17Thomas, whose parents were driven to their deaths by the Ravencroft estate land agent.
07:21Catherine, whose father was framed by Damien and widdered away in despair.
07:25I took them in.
07:27I placed Rose in the mistress's residential floor.
07:31I placed Thomas in the kitchens.
07:33I placed Catherine in the butler's office.
07:36They did not know I was Eleanor.
07:37They knew only that Mrs. Mosh could help them have their revenge.
07:40Only late at night, when I peeled away the resin and salve, and my fingers traced the scar on my
07:45wrist where I had tested Damien's poison against my own blood.
07:47Only then did I remember who I truly was.
07:49Damien grew frantic.
07:51He stationed royal physicians inside Ravencroft House around the clock.
07:55Whoever could ensure the safe delivery of the Duchess and his heir 1,000 gold coins.
08:00And through apothecary shops, parish priests, and migwifery circles, quietly put out a bounty.
08:12I raised my hand and under the stunned gazes of the crowd, gently peeled off the notice from the wall.
08:17I'd brought the notice, still bearing its Ravencroft whack feel, to the side entrance of Ravencroft House.
08:24You're the one who took the notice. You don't look like someone with any real skill.
08:27Sir, my name is Susan Marsh. Three generations of midwives in my family.
08:31So long as the Duchess still draws breath, I can ensure both mother and child are delivered safely.
08:34Bold words. Come in then. But if anything goes wrong, it's your neck.
08:39I kept my head low and followed him through colonnaded corridors, past gardens and fathoms.
08:44Every inch of respectability in this estate was stained with my family's blood.
08:53At last I saw him. Damien.
08:58He was more imposing than before.
09:01Victoria, these were just picked from the hothouse. Sweet with a touch of tartness. Try one.
09:06I don't want any. They're far too sour.
09:08The Duchess who destroyed my entire family out of jealousy.
09:11Damien, is this midwife reliable? She's not another fraud, is she?
09:14Susan Marsh, at your grace's service and her graces.
09:18But he looked away almost immediately. He did not recognize me.
09:22The herbalist's daughter who had saved him bare-faced, thin, clean.
09:27Eleanor, wait for me. I will come back to repay you.
09:31How could she possibly be this coarse, wrinkled woman bowing and scraping before him?
09:39Lift your head.
09:41The royal physicians have examined your methods.
09:43They say you possess certain skills of your own.
09:46I'll keep you on for now.
09:48If the Duchess delivers safely,
09:501,000 gold aims.
09:52But if anything goes wrong,
09:54I'll have your entire family buried alongside her.
09:56Damien Ravencroft,
09:57my family is already dead.
09:59The dead do not fear dying again.
10:01I will do everything in my power to ensure her grace
10:03and the child ought to live it safely.
10:05And so I stayed.
10:07I became the Duchess's personal midwife.
10:09Victoria was impossibly difficult to serve.
10:12Every day I brewed herbal tonics for her,
10:14massaged her swollen legs,
10:16pressed too hard and a slap would land.
10:18Your filthy hands, you're hurting me.
10:20Aside from Victoria,
10:21I also happened to tend to Lydia,
10:24Captain Eastland.
10:24She was Damien's mistress installed within the estate.
10:27Low-born, unfavored,
10:28and now pregnant with no one to care.
10:29Whenever I brewed tonics for Victoria,
10:31I would quietly set aside a bowl
10:32and carry it to the east wing under cover of night.
10:35You're the only one in this househouse
10:37who treats me like a human being.
10:39You're carrying a child.
10:41Take care of your health first.
10:43I'll help you.
10:47Victoria's child, also a boy,
10:49had...
10:49Lydia's child, on the other hand,
10:50the pulse was steady,
10:52the positioning ideal,
10:53and I had more than enough means
10:54to collapse that fortnight into a single day.
10:56A night of crashing thunder and driving rain,
10:58Victoria was seized by unbearable pain.
11:00Her waters broke.
11:01The entire state erupted into chaos.
11:03Amy and Ravencroft stood outside the birthing room,
11:05acing back and forth in a frenzy.
11:06Save the Duchess!
11:07Save the child!
11:08Or none of you will live to see mourning!
11:12Save me!
11:13Oh, Mrs. Marsh!
11:15Save me!
11:17Inside the birthing room,
11:18my hands were slick with blood.
11:19This moment,
11:20she was no longer the chess
11:21who looked down on the world
11:23from her gilded height.
11:24I directed the hand-binate
11:25and precision-boiled water
11:26passageers the same time.
11:27I caught the eye of another hand-binate
11:29with a discreet glance.
11:30He was one of mine
11:31placed inside the estate long ago.
11:32Within this estate,
11:33there were many more like her,
11:34all of them biding their time
11:35for the moment vengeance could be struck.
11:36Your Highness the Duke,
11:38Miss Lydia of the Eastern Wing
11:39has been startled by the thunder
11:40and is now in labour.
11:41All of them lying in wait.
11:42One word came from the East Wing.
11:48Your Grace,
11:49the Duchess will not deliver
11:50for some time yet.
11:51The East Wing has also gone into labour.
11:53The child Lydia carries
11:54is your flesh and blood as well.
11:56Perhaps you might allow me
11:57to look in on her.
11:57Get out.
11:58Damien's mind was consumed
11:59entirely by Victoria.
12:01He waved me off
12:02with an impatient hand.
12:04Good boy.
12:06Your fortunes are about to change.
12:10A tincture brewed
12:11from Belladonna earthing linens,
12:12concealed him beneath
12:13her rain-soaked cloak
12:14and followed me back
12:15to the Duchess's birthing room.
12:16Victoria was still screaming,
12:17her voice shredded raw.
12:18Several handmaidens and midwives
12:20turned to look at me.
12:21Hush.
12:21I can see the head.
12:26As I spoke,
12:27I drew a silver needle
12:28from inside my cloak
12:28and drove it hard
12:29into a critical point
12:30between her lower back and abdomen.
12:31He's here.
12:32Congratulations, Your Grace.
12:33A boy.
12:36Good.
12:37You shall be handsomely rewarded.
12:39In the same instant,
12:40I delivered
12:41the child that had been prepared
12:42all along from beneath the bedding.
12:44Damien was so elated
12:45he nearly lost his composure.
12:47He snatched the child
12:47into his arms.
12:48In Victoria's true child's...
12:52I returned to the birthing room
12:53and looked at Victoria
12:54still unconscious.
12:55I delivered the stillborn,
12:57placed it into the wicker basket
12:58I had prepared beforehand.
12:59When Victoria woke,
13:00what she saw was Damien
13:02cradling a healthy, robust
13:03son in his arms.
13:04She did not know.
13:07My child.
13:10Mother's precious darling.
13:12The infant in her arms
13:13was born of the very mistress
13:14she despised most,
13:15just as she had once ordered
13:16my Alice thrown into that same pit.
13:18Lydia had hemorrhage
13:19during a difficult labor.
13:20Mother and child,
13:22both dead.
13:23The baby, too,
13:24was stillborn.
13:25Ill-omen.
13:26As for Lydia,
13:26the next day,
13:27word came from the East Wing.
13:29Lydia had hemorrhage
13:30during a difficult labor.
13:31Mother and child,
13:32both dead.
13:33The baby, too,
13:34was stillborn.
13:35Damien did not even go to look.
13:37And Lydia,
13:38feigning death,
13:39had already been smuggled
13:40out of Ravencroft House
13:41by my people
13:42under cover of night.
13:43When she woke,
13:44she would find herself
13:45in the countryside,
13:46hundreds of miles away.
13:47This, perhaps,
13:48was the last shred of mercy
13:49I still possessed.
13:50As a healer.
13:52From this day forward,
13:54Victoria would pour everything
13:55she had into raising
13:56a mistress's son
13:57to inherit the title.
13:58And this was only the beginning.
14:00I would make every person
14:01in this estate
14:01who owed a debt
14:02suffer a fate worse than death.
14:04I would climb,
14:05step by step,
14:06until I stood above
14:07Victoria's head.
14:11Ravencroft House
14:12held a grand celebration.
14:13The priest christened the child
14:14before the assembled guests,
14:16inscribing his name
14:17into the parish register
14:18and into the Ravencroft
14:19family ledger.
14:20The child was named Nolan.
14:21From that moment,
14:23Lydia's son became
14:24the legally recognized heir
14:25to the Ravencroft title.
14:31Victoria,
14:32you've given me
14:33such a fine son.
14:36You must have suffered greatly.
14:38I stood in the corner,
14:40attending them,
14:40I stepped forward.
14:41Under the pretext
14:42of offering a handkerchief,
14:44I gently brushed aside
14:45the swaddling
14:45behind the baby's ear.
14:47They're a tiny brown mole.
14:48Lydia had an identical mole
14:50behind her ear.
14:51What an uncommon little mole
14:53behind her master's ear.
14:55I recall seeing one
14:56just like it on Lydia.
14:58And I attended
14:59her in this wing.
15:01Damien's movement
15:02stilled just barely.
15:05The child is distressed,
15:06take me away,
15:06I won't have anything
15:07seen with my guests.
15:08The smile on
15:09Victoria's face froze.
15:11She glared at me
15:13with venom,
15:13but did not dare
15:14make a scene.
15:15Not here,
15:16not in front of Damien.
15:17She could only clutch
15:18the still wailing infant
15:19and withdraw.
15:22Someone,
15:23give her 20 slashes
15:24with the board.
15:25The rough wood
15:26struck my face,
15:27searing, burning,
15:28but I did not
15:29make a sound.
15:30Every blow
15:31I added to the legend,
15:32Victoria.
15:33The harder I am beaten,
15:34the more cruel
15:35and unbecoming
15:36you appear
15:36in Damien's eyes.
15:38No!
15:41No!
15:42No!
15:42No!
15:42No!
15:42No!
15:43No!
15:43No!
15:44No!
15:45No!
15:46I was merely discerning!
15:47Susan Marsh
15:48is Nolan's midwife
15:49and the woman
15:50who saved his life.
15:51If you treat servants
15:52this savagely
15:53and word gets out,
15:53how will that reflect
15:54on the Ravencroft name?
15:55He glanced at me.
15:57Go and have
15:57your injuries tended to.
15:59Thank you,
15:59your grace.
16:00As I rose
16:01on it an old scar.
16:02That scar on your hand.
16:04Your grace,
16:05it's...
16:06it's...
16:07it's an old wound
16:08from gathering herbs
16:09years ago.
16:11Damien began visiting
16:12the private quarters
16:13more frequently.
16:14Not always to see
16:15Victoria and the child.
16:17More often,
16:18he came to see me.
16:19I did not make
16:20my disguise appear younger.
16:21I only changed one thing.
16:23I wore again
16:24the herbal scent
16:24I had always used
16:25in the woodland cottage.
16:26A faint trace
16:27of mint and mugwort.
16:29Cool, calming.
16:30Victoria could not detect it.
16:32But Damien could.
16:34One afternoon,
16:35Victoria had taken the child
16:36to visit the Pemberton family.
16:39Ravencroft House
16:40was unusually quiet.
16:41Damien sent for me.
16:45But his eyes
16:46never left my wrist.
16:47Mrs. Marsh,
16:48the scent of herbs on you.
16:50It reminds me
16:51of someone I once knew.
16:52Your grace flatters me.
16:54A crosswoman such as myself
16:56could hardly compare
16:57to anyone you once knew.
16:59Three years ago,
16:59I was attacked.
17:00A girl who gathered herbs
17:02saved my life.
17:03She had a scar here,
17:04identical to this one.
17:06A pity she took
17:06the token I gave her
17:07and tried to use it
17:08to climb her way
17:08into the Ravencroft family.
17:10Nearly dragged me
17:11into a scandal.
17:12I despised being manipulated
17:13so I paid her
17:14no further mind.
17:15So that is the lie
17:15Victoria spun for you.
17:17You sent killers
17:18to silence me
17:19yet she made me the villain
17:20so that even in death
17:21I would carry the name
17:22of a grasping,
17:23lowborn schemer.
17:24The person your graces speaks of.
17:27Would her name be Elinor?
17:30How do you know that name?
17:33Because before I came
17:34to Ravencroft House,
17:36I saw a dead girl
17:37in the pompous pit
17:38behind the parish cemetery
17:39outside the city walls.
17:41She was clutching
17:42a badge in her hand
17:43so tightly that even death
17:45could not pry her fingers open.
17:47That badge bore
17:48the Ravencroft family crest.
17:50What did you say?
17:50She's dead?
17:53Yes, dead.
17:54There wasn't a patch
17:55of unbroken skin
17:56on her body.
17:57It looked as though
17:58she had been beaten to death.
18:00The beggars nearby told me
18:01that girl had been waiting
18:02for her sweetheart
18:03to come for her.
18:04She waited until she died.
18:06He never came.
18:07She said she didn't
18:08covet wealth or station.
18:11She only wanted the man
18:12who had promised her forever.
18:14His face was ashen.
18:15In that instant,
18:16I knew he was remembering
18:17the body thrown
18:18into the pauper's pit that night.
18:20People always
18:21beautify the one
18:21who died because of them.
18:23The one they can
18:23never have again.
18:24And what I was doing now
18:25was forging that remorse
18:26into a blade
18:27aimed straight at
18:28Victoria's heart.
18:30That night,
18:31Damien drank himself
18:32into oblivion.
18:33He did not go
18:34to Victoria's rooms.
18:35He stayed in the study.
18:36I went in to bring him
18:37a sobering tonic.
18:39Through the haze
18:39of drunkenness,
18:40he seemed to see me
18:41as the dead Eleanor.
18:42He seized my hand
18:43and pulled me
18:44into his arms.
18:46Eleanor,
18:48I'm sorry.
18:49I failed you.
18:50I did not push him away,
18:51but neither did I yield.
18:52My fingers threaded
18:53gently through his hair,
18:54but my eyes were cold as ice.
18:57When he tried to go further,
19:00I shoved him back
19:01and struck him hard
19:02across the face.
19:05Your grace,
19:06look clearly.
19:07I am Susan Marsh,
19:08not your Eleanor.
19:12That slap sobered him.
19:14For men like him,
19:15what comes easily
19:15is never treasured.
19:16Only the thorned,
19:17the one who refuses him,
19:19that is what he cannot
19:20let go of.
19:20He stood frozen,
19:21watching me flee
19:22with my clothes in disarray.
19:24The desire in his eyes
19:25did not fade.
19:26It burned stronger.
19:27That was the hunger
19:27to conquer.
19:28Damien fixed his attention
19:29on me.
19:29He began finding excuses
19:31to bestow gifts upon me
19:32with increasing frequency.
19:34Jewelry,
19:34bolts of fine cloth,
19:35even rare and costly herbs.
19:37I refused them all.
19:38The more aloof I appeared,
19:40the more he could not
19:40relinquish the pursuit.
19:42Meanwhile,
19:42Victoria,
19:43because of the child,
19:44grew more volatile
19:45by the day.
19:45The boy carried Damien's blood,
19:47true enough,
19:48but he had been raised
19:49into a frail constitution,
19:50and with my quiet interference
19:51kept perpetual ill,
19:53crying through the nights.
19:55Victoria was worn haggard
19:56by the ordeal.
19:57She looked half mad.
19:59The contrast between us sharpened.
20:01Damien grew more impatient
20:02with her by the day.
20:03On one side,
20:04the gentle,
20:05sensible,
20:05Mrs. Marsh,
20:07carrying the ghostly shadow
20:08of an old regret.
20:09On the other,
20:10a hysterical Victoria,
20:11capable of nothing
20:12but complaints.
20:13I wore a thin white dress
20:15soaked through
20:15and stood in the rain,
20:17holding an umbrella
20:17over a rose bush
20:18the storm had bent sideways.
20:20That rose it
20:21was Eleanor's favorite.
20:23Damien came toward me
20:24with his umbrella.
20:25He looked at the slender,
20:26stubborn figures
20:27standing in the rain.
20:28I did not push him away.
20:30Don't go.
20:31This time,
20:32don't leave me again.
20:37Alice, do you see?
20:38I have him.
20:39I have caught this wolf.
20:41I am going to tear his heart out
20:42and lay it at your grave.
20:43But the face that surfaced
20:45in my mind was Alice's,
20:46desperate,
20:47dying.
20:49I became Damien's mistress,
20:51but I did not ask
20:52for a title.
20:53So long as I may remain
20:54at your grace's side
20:57and atone for the sins
20:58of the past,
20:59I am content.
21:01He began to favor me exclusively.
21:02He even rebuked Victoria
21:04for the first time
21:04on my account.
21:05Mrs. Marsh is in poor health.
21:07Stop making her
21:08do rough labor.
21:09Damien,
21:10she is nothing
21:11but a common midwife.
21:12You would scold me
21:14for her?
21:15She is more sensible than you.
21:17She has more kindness
21:18in her than you.
21:19She has more...
21:20Every time,
21:21Victoria shook a fury.
21:22And in the places
21:23Damien could not see,
21:24she devised ever more
21:25inventive ways
21:26to torment me.
21:35Three months later,
21:36while paying my respects
21:37to Victoria,
21:38I collapsed in front
21:39of the assembled household.
21:47The royal physician
21:49was summoned.
21:49He took my pulse.
21:51His expression
21:51grew complicated,
21:52but his head.
21:57Congratulations,
21:58Your Grace.
21:58My felicitations.
22:00Mrs. Marsh
22:01is with child.
22:05Dead silence.
22:06The teacup
22:07in Victoria's hand
22:08slipped and shattered
22:09against the floor
22:09with a sharp crack.
22:10At last.
22:11I am with child.
22:12This is my baby.
22:14And it is the greatest weapon
22:15I possess
22:16to take everything from them.
22:18Victoria.
22:18Your time is running out.
22:20The news of the pregnancy
22:21fell like a drop
22:22of boiling oil
22:23into Victoria's
22:24already smoldering mind.
22:25She began to lie awake
22:26through the nights.
22:27The handmaiden
22:28on nightlife
22:29reported that
22:30every evening,
22:31the sound of
22:31shattering porcelain
22:32came from the duchess's
22:33bedroom along with cursing.
22:35She called me
22:36a base woman.
22:37A whore
22:37who had seduced
22:38her master.
22:38To soothe me,
22:40Damien sent gifts
22:41into my rooms
22:42like a river in flood.
22:44That was the color
22:44Victoria favored most.
22:46The one she used
22:47to proclaim her status.
22:48I wore it deliberately
22:49and I wore it
22:50on the nights
22:50Damien stayed.
22:52That night,
22:52Damien traced his fingers
22:53over the red babble.
22:54Miss Marsh.
22:56You look beautiful
22:57in red.
23:01More beautiful
23:02than Victoria.
23:03Your grace is too kind.
23:04The duchess is
23:05your lawful wife.
23:07How could I dare
23:07compare myself to her?
23:09If she found out,
23:10I fear she would have me
23:12kneel on broken porcelain again.
23:14A few days prior,
23:15I had been a moment
23:16too slow bringing tea
23:17and Victoria had forced me
23:18to kneel on shards.
23:19She wouldn't dare.
23:20That mad woman.
23:21If she touches you again,
23:23I will not show mercy.
23:24I will peel them from you.
23:25Layer by layer.
23:27That day,
23:27Victoria could bear it no longer.
23:29She made her move.
23:31It was a bowl of egg custard
23:33sweetened with honey.
23:34The one who brought it
23:35was Daisy Victoria's
23:36senior handmaiden.
23:39Mrs. Marsh,
23:40the duchess,
23:41had the kitchen pair
23:42this specially.
23:43She says it is
23:44to nourish your health.
23:45Beneath the cloying sweetness
23:47of faint metallic bitterness.
23:49Arsenic.
23:50Victoria.
23:51Oh, Victoria.
23:51You truly are desperate now.
23:53Watching me grow
23:54more favored by the day,
23:55my belly swelling larger,
23:56while Nolan wailed
23:57and sickened without end,
23:58how could she not be desperate?
23:59She feared that if I bore a son,
24:01it would threaten Nolan's
24:02claim as legitimate heir.
24:03She feared I would
24:05replace her
24:05become the mistress
24:06of Ravencroft House.
24:08A pity.
24:09Her terror had only just begun.
24:13Please thank the duchess for me.
24:15Only,
24:16my appetite is poor at the moment.
24:18I think I shall rest a while first.
24:20Daisy fled as though
24:21granted a pardon.
24:22The moment she was gone,
24:23I drew a silver needle
24:24and pierced the custard.
24:26The needle blackened
24:27almost instantly.
24:28I overturned the trade,
24:31then pinched the soft flesh
24:33of my inner thigh
24:34with savage force.
24:35Help me.
24:37Someone.
24:38The baby.
24:40My baby.
24:41Damien came quickly.
24:43When he burst in,
24:44what he saw was this.
24:50Mrs. Marsh.
24:51He rushed to me and gathered me
24:53into his arms.
24:54His hands were shaking.
24:56What happened?
24:59The custard.
25:00The custard the duchess sent.
25:03She wants to kill me.
25:05To kill our child.
25:07Victoria.
25:11Wait here.
25:12I'll be back.
25:14Send for the royal physician.
25:16Now.
25:17I heard it all.
25:18From the direction of the duchess's chambers,
25:20the thunderous crash of a door kicked open.
25:22It wasn't me.
25:24Damien, believe me.
25:25It truly wasn't me.
25:27How pale a denial.
25:29In Ravencroft House,
25:30the truth has never mattered.
25:32What matters is who holds more favor.
25:34Who appears more the victim.
25:36And besides,
25:36the custard had indeed been sent on her orders.
25:39Witnesses.
25:40Evidence.
25:40All accounted for.
25:42Damien would not believe her.
25:44Just as he had not believed me all those years ago.
25:46An hour later,
25:47Damien returned.
25:49Carrying with him the faint scent of blood.
25:55Don't be afraid.
25:56It's been dealt with.
25:58Victoria has been stripped of all standing for her depravity.
26:02For conspiring to murder my own flesh and blood.
26:06She has been confined to the cauldron in the West Wing.
26:09I have given orders.
26:12Without my express permission,
26:14no one is to visit her.
26:18Even if she dies,
26:19she dies in there.
26:23Your Grace,
26:26the Duchess is still Nolan's birth mother after all.
26:29Don't speak that woman's name to me!
26:32If not for Nolan's sake,
26:34I would have run her through with a blade today.
26:37That boy, she's ruined him.
26:39Timid, cowering,
26:41not an ounce of an air's bearing.
26:42The child in your belly,
26:44that is the one I value most.
26:46From now on,
26:47the keys to Ravencroft's house will be in your hands.
26:51I nodded,
26:52obedient and meek.
26:53But inside,
26:54I was laughing.
26:55Damien Ravencroft.
26:56You think this is the end?
26:58No.
26:59Locking her away
27:00that is merely to let her suffer while she lives.
27:02The true retribution
27:04is only just beginning.
27:05Well,
27:06Ende By
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