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Wrong Bride, Right Lord- Two Swapped Noble Marriages - Full Episode - Historical Romance Drama
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00:00Mmm, someone should take this cushion away. It's way too firm to sleep on.
00:08By tradition, newlyweds are allowed another hour before getting up.
00:12By tradition? What tradition?
00:16You were the one insisting we follow every rule.
00:19I insisted on... wait.
00:28Celia, what are you doing here?
00:41You... you're my sister's husband?
00:46Get dressed first, now.
00:50Merciful saints! Why am I in bed with the man who was supposed to marry my sister?
00:57Two weeks ago, my sister was to be joined by oath to the Lord of House Ashpington.
01:02A marriage forged for land, trade, and alliance.
01:07As her younger sister, I was the first to protest, so I offered a compromise.
01:11Then I'll marry the younger Ashperton Lucian, I said.
01:15If our houses must be bound, then one should be othersmissed, then bindend us both.
01:20As long as I stay near my sister, I agree.
01:24You always know exactly what suits me.
01:27But really, you're not wearing a bridal gown yourself?
01:30I did not come here to satisfy anyone's taste.
01:33I stand here as the head of House Valahart, that is enough.
01:37My lady, word has come from the Ashperton party.
01:40The storm has blocked the roads, the gentlemen's carriages have been delayed.
01:42The wedding may have to be postponed.
01:45This union is a pact before it is a celebration.
01:48The ceremony itself is only its outer shell.
01:51Since the grooms have not yet arrived, we proceed first.
01:56I know these are two great houses of the realm, but this has gone too far.
02:00Where are the bridegrooms?
02:12Where are the Ashbergs?
02:13Was this not meant to be a Val-held Ashberg union?
02:16Sister, weren't we only supposed to keep the guests from talking?
02:21You've had your eye on this old family ring for years, haven't you?
02:24Then wear it first and see how it feels.
02:27I have! Then yes, I'll gladly wear it!
02:36To be honest, the rest is a blur.
02:39Lady Celelia, we've arrived at the East residence.
02:42A storm raged all night, and I was half asleep on my feet.
02:46Number eight.
02:51My lady, this is number six.
02:54That looks like eight.
02:56We passed number eight earlier.
02:58Lady Celia's carriage already went that way.
03:00The leaves are hiding the rest of the carving.
03:02This one is definitely six.
03:05So yes.
03:07Last night, fate's wheels came off the rails.
03:16This is awful! Why are you being so cold?
03:19I never meant to get into your bed in the first place!
03:23Enough tears. Put your clothes on.
03:27My dress, it's still in the dressing alcobe. Could you bring it to me?
03:31Does she take me for a chambermaid?
03:33Does she take me for a chambermaid?
03:34Absolutely not.
03:35Fetch it yourself.
03:36Alright.
03:44It hurts.
03:47You can't stand.
03:49Because of you.
03:50You are far too much.
03:58Stay where you are.
04:06Celia!
04:16Did Alaric force himself on you?
04:18No.
04:19Not exactly.
04:21You know how I am when thunder starts.
04:23I thought he was my bridegroom.
04:24And he said he was my husband, so I...
04:26And then...
04:26Then tell me this.
04:28What do you make of him?
04:29He was like...
04:31some wild beast.
04:34That was not the question I asked.
04:38Brother, she's barely more than a little songbird.
04:41And you truly showed her no mercy.
04:44Go on.
04:45Say one word more and I'll send you to inspect the furthest northern watchtower.
04:53As for you two, what happened in your chamber?
05:00Wasn't Celia meant to be the soft, sweet one?
05:06Amethysts from the southern traders.
05:08I had these made for my future wife.
05:10This cannot be the wrong room.
05:16Who is it?
05:18Who else would it be?
05:19Your husband?
05:21Husband?
05:30Then fulfill her husband's duty.
05:34What duty?
05:35Give House Fowlhaft an heir.
05:39Have you been drinking?
05:43What are you saying that you cannot?
05:46Cannot?
05:47You may test that yourself.
05:49The storm was fierce.
05:50The stone room markers were obscured,
05:52and the escort order was altered in the confusion.
05:54That is how we were each led to the wrong doors.
05:56But since matters have already gone this far,
05:59Celia, then let us simply exchange the marriage matches.
06:05Serathine has only just taken full hold of House Fowlhaft.
06:07She needs Ashton standing beside her.
06:10So I have to make peace with this.
06:12I cannot keep acting as though the sky has fallen.
06:15Truly, if I may still remain near my sister,
06:17what does it matter which lord I am wed to?
06:21Well, we exchange the marriage contracts.
06:23Do you consent or not?
06:24The church record has not yet been entered into the final roles.
06:27If this preserve order between both houses...
06:29It will.
06:31Then I see no cause to oppose it.
06:33Our account to the court is simple.
06:35The wedding arrangements were altered in haste,
06:38and the message sent outward was mistaken.
06:40Neither pair stood before the hall in full public witness.
06:43It will hold.
06:44Very well.
06:47No! Wait, that is all?
06:49Just like that?
06:50And my say in this counts for nothing?
06:52Is there some grievance you wish to raise?
06:57You did not seem particularly aggraved last night.
07:00That is entirely beside the point!
07:05Brother, I implore you.
07:07Do not let her settle this so easily.
07:09You have no notion what sort of woman she becomes
07:11once she has decided on a thing.
07:13Last night was-
07:14If you wish to be released, say it plainly.
07:16I already have doubts about the strength of his bloodline as it is.
07:19The strength of my bloodline?
07:20Last night was an accident.
07:22I was on edge.
07:22That does not mean I am-
07:23I can explain this.
07:25Properly.
07:26Only grant me a moment.
07:27Two moments-
07:29I have council matters to attend.
07:31I cannot see you off myself.
07:36Hey!
07:37We are not finished speaking!
07:38I ride for the city in two hours.
07:40You are coming with me.
07:42Yes, my lord.
07:44Young.
07:45Clinging.
07:46Trouble in silk.
07:47But at least she can be reasoned with.
07:55My lord!
07:57Here!
07:58We are going into the city for a short stay.
08:01Not marching on a campaign.
08:08She smells of...
08:10Orchard fruit?
08:11Fresh petals?
08:13Something faint?
08:15Something distracting?
08:33My lord.
08:34Are you unwell?
08:37Be quiet.
08:38Be quiet?
08:40Is that truly how lords speak to people plainly?
08:43To their own wives?
08:44Correction.
08:45Young.
08:46Clinging.
08:47Alarmingly effective.
08:49Defiant.
08:49And it seems wholly incapable of holding her time.
08:52Celia.
08:53We must settle something.
08:54Very well.
08:55What is it?
08:56This marriage is an arrangement of houses.
08:57You do understand that?
08:58I do.
08:59As Lady Ashbur, you will be required to appear at councils, feasts and court observances.
09:03You must preserve a certain dignity.
09:05You cannot simply-
09:05That one.
09:06The pale trunk.
09:07Will you hand it to me?
09:09These hands govern bannelmans, roads, levits, grain, trade.
09:13She wants them used for luggage.
09:15Look.
09:16You were far too rough with me last night.
09:18I can scarcely lift a thing.
09:27Lady Celia Volhart Ashbur.
09:30It slipped.
09:30It truly slipped.
09:31I did not mean it.
09:33No food in my carriage.
09:35Why not?
09:36Crumbs.
09:37Odors.
09:39Disorder.
09:41Do you never listen the first time?
09:43I know perfectly well why you are in such a temper.
09:46Because you are hungry.
09:48No crumbs.
09:49Hardly any smell.
09:51And with the straw, no spilling.
09:53I packed warm vegetable soup for you.
10:04Do not let this become a custom.
10:07You sound exactly like my sister.
10:09She says that all the time.
10:11Though when she says, do not make a habit of it, what she really means is, I will permit
10:15it at least 17 more times.
10:18I wonder how many times you mean, my lord.
10:27Have they been making this hard for you?
10:29The Duke is a little frightening.
10:31But Lady Eveline is so kind.
10:33Look!
10:34She gave me this!
10:35That bracelet.
10:36It is handed from Ashboro Lady to Ashboro Lady.
10:38Mother, then this means-
10:39Stay as you are.
10:41Choose what sits right in your own heart.
10:43Do not twist yourself to fit another house.
10:45Do you hear me?
10:46Follow her own heart.
10:47We have indulged one son into uselessness already.
10:50I will not stand by and watch another household be ruined.
10:52They have only just arrived.
10:54Must you begin this tonight?
10:56And that absurd head of his.
10:57What respectable nobleman goes about looking like that?
11:00It is silver hair, not treason.
11:02He altered its shade, nothing more.
11:04Surely that is not a crime in your statutory.
11:09Gods, that was magnificent.
11:11Lady Seraphine Velhart, I see now why Velhart placed its reins in your hands.
11:14You are certainly formidable.
11:16Yet for all that, as a daughter of this house, you seem to have learned nothing of your place.
11:19I am joined to this house by his wife and Celia's sister.
11:22If you demean either of them, Your Grace, you do not stand apart from me when you do it.
11:26You speak boldly for a woman who cannot even keep her own sister in proper order.
11:29In my sight, she requires no correction. She is exactly as she ought to be.
11:34But perhaps you should ask yourself something, Your Grace.
11:36One son stayed away from this keep for years.
11:38Have you never wondered what drove him from his own home?
11:41How dare you?
11:42Every one of you.
11:44Insulent, unruly, without the least shred of breeding or respect.
11:47Say what you please of me if it satisfies you.
11:50But do not speak to my sister that way.
11:54Father, Celia is my wife.
11:57Her nature, her wishes, the way she carries herself.
12:00None of these are yours to sit in judgment over.
12:02She will come to know this house and its customs, in time and not by force.
12:06Until then, as long as she stands beside me, her dignity is mine to defend.
12:11Her joy is mine to guard. She is mine to answer for.
12:21I saw you looking at these before. It seemed a pity to let leave without them.
12:33White Keep is not an easy house to enter.
12:36We keep too many rules and I will not pretend otherwise.
12:39But do not let them press the life out of you.
12:42As you are now, child, you are lovely enough.
12:47Thank you, Mother.
12:53Alaric, stay a moment.
13:00I know this marriage was not made in the manner anyone intended.
13:04Still, that girl's heart is clean.
13:06She is kind in a way this world does not often spare.
13:10And perhaps she may be precisely the wife you require.
13:14Your father has filled your mind with talk of what a lady of Ashburg ought to be, I know.
13:19But hear me well, my son.
13:21A contented wife is worth more than the most faultless mistress of a castle.
13:25Do not wait until she is beyond your reach to learn that lesson.
13:28I hear you, Mother.
13:37I tried. Truly.
13:39Separating them was impossible.
13:40A contented wife is worth more than the most faultless mistress of a castle.
13:44Three months.
13:45If she still behaves like this, do not expect me to acknowledge her as Ashbur's daughter by marriage.
13:50Three months.
13:51Can I truly shape Celia Veilhart into a lady fit for House Ashbur?
13:54Sit properly.
13:57Celia!
13:58I heard you.
13:59I simply chose not to answer.
14:02If you keep lying about like that, your back will suffer for it.
14:06Then I thank you for the advice.
14:08Lying straight must be better for one's bones.
14:11When others are present, you must conduct yourself with some measure, with the berry of a grown lady.
14:15What would people say?
14:17If this is how you mean to go on, you may return by yourself.
14:27Stop the carriage.
14:30I beg your pardon?
14:31If House Ashburle holds my sister in such contempt, then we have remained here too long.
14:36I will not sit by and hear her slighted.
14:38This betrothal ends tonight.
14:49If my sister will not remain in House Ashton, then neither shall I!
15:06Celia!
15:06You drove your own wife away!
15:08What in God's name has that to do with me?
15:10I have no wish to lose mine with her!
15:13What possessed you?
15:15You humiliated a young lady in front of everyone, and now my marriage is paying the price for your temper.
15:20She is too headstrong.
15:21Someone had to-
15:22Then scold your own Duchess in private!
15:24Do not drag me beneath the same cartwheel!
15:27I never agreed to be crushed with you!
15:29Seraphine is not an easy woman.
15:31She will overrule you at every turn.
15:33Is that truly the life you want?
15:35Yes.
15:36You do much the same to me already.
15:39Yes, yes I do!
15:41I never once said I required some meek little saint for a wife.
15:43I care nothing for that!
15:44Go after them and bring them back!
15:46Brother, what is the matter with you?
15:48You can govern a keep, command men, settle disputes, outthink half the realm.
15:51But where the heart is concerned, you are hopeless.
15:54You complain that she is noisy and troublesome, yet all the while you watch her, shield her, tend to her
15:58as though she were the one thing in this world you cannot bear to see harmed.
16:01Did you think I did not notice?
16:03In the Duke's front hall, in the dining chamber, in your own bedchamber, even the inner room, you were forever
16:08looking after her.
16:10You imagine things!
16:38I am telling you this once, and you would do well to heed me.
16:41If you do not go after her now, there may come no second chance to set this right.
16:48Hold the carriage!
16:50Hold the carriage!
16:58Celia!
17:03It is deep into the night.
17:05She does not answer.
17:07And those two women are alone out here in the-
17:15Fetch help!
17:16Quickly!
17:17There's been an accident!
17:27Stand aside!
17:28Make way!
17:39Not them.
17:40Thank heaven.
17:44Sarah, why is Alaric folded over there like a great frightened bird?
17:51Men who grow too certain of their place are sometimes best corrected by fact.
17:59Celia, I thought you had-
18:01Thought what, exactly?
18:03You did more than anger me tonight.
18:05You offended my sister too.
18:07And that was a very poor choice.
18:09You truly challenged the wrong person.
18:13Sarah, this berry cream is heavenly.
18:15May I taste yours?
18:16Of course.
18:18In a few days, I shall have the kitchen send you every sweet you favour.
18:21I'll even have the confectioner bring in the honey chocolates from the southern caravans.
18:26I pressed her too hard.
18:29Too soon.
18:30She is not something to be managed.
18:34She is someone to be heard.
18:40Sarah, are we truly casting off this marriage pact?
18:45Do not trouble yourself over him.
18:47You have simply seen too little of the world yet.
18:50Give me a few days.
18:52I'll let you meet men worthy of a noble lady.
18:55Better men than that one.
18:57Truly?
18:59Will they be as handsome as Alaric?
19:01More so.
19:04And will they be as capable as he is?
19:12Capable in what regard?
19:14In every regard.
19:15I did not mean in a marriage bed way.
19:25In every regard.
19:25Liar.
19:33Go on, go on.
19:34Take him.
19:36Ugh.
19:36Useless thing.
19:48Those steps.
19:49That is not Sarah.
19:51Sarah walks more quietly than that.
19:53That must be...
19:56Oh.
19:57It is only you.
20:07Is that the Abbey Berry Cakes from St. Elswith?
20:11The ones they only make ten of each morning?
20:14I have been trying to get one for months.
20:16I once rose before dawn for them.
20:18No.
20:19Twice.
20:21And now...
20:22You brought the entire box here?
20:27How is anyone meant to stay angry in the face of this?
20:49Have you finished punishing me yet?
20:51Or do I still have to fetch my wife back to Whitecock by force?
20:56Mmm.
20:57This one is lovely.
20:58Soft as a cloud.
20:59Honestly, these are far too good.
21:06Aria, if this is your way of making peace, you might as well admit it.
21:10You needn't hide behind all that lordly dignity.
21:13They were sent up with other gifts.
21:15Nothing more.
21:16I don't believe that in the slightest.
21:19You know what you look like right now.
21:21Exactly like my sister when she's pretending not to care.
21:24All thorns and frost on the outside.
21:26And sweet preserve in the middle.
21:29Like a sugared quince.
21:31You're inventing nonsense.
21:34Still, since you went to such trouble to bring all ten,
21:38I've decided not to hold it against you any longer.
21:41I forgive you.
21:42You can be won over absurdly easily.
21:46What was that?
21:53I said, if you go on devouring this much sugar in a single afternoon,
21:57no physician in the kingdom will save you from the consequences.
22:03You'll grow spoiled and very likely plump.
22:09I beg your pardon?
22:11Wait, cilia.
22:18Which cilia is it that you're calling back?
22:21Plump cilia?
22:23Or slender cilia?
22:29You're not plump.
22:32If anything, you might do with a little more to you.
22:40Very well.
22:42Perhaps I'm not built like my sister, but there is nothing lacking here, my lord.
22:46And what exactly is that meant to mean?
22:49There is absolutely nothing wrong with my figure.
22:56You are far too easy to win over.
22:58A little tenderness and you forget all caution.
23:00Sarah, he truly meant it.
23:02You should have seen him when he came to me.
23:03He looked uncertain.
23:05You have always had a soft heart.
23:07And soft hearts are easily led.
23:09So hear me clearly.
23:10I do not care who he is, not even the Lord of White Kick.
23:13If staying beside him makes you feel small or afraid, you do not stay.
23:18You leave.
23:18Nothing is worth that.
23:20And if this marriage must be undone, then let it be undone.
23:23I can keep you in comfort for the rest of your days and several lifetimes beside.
23:29The truth is, I do not want to leave him.
23:34He can be overbearing and far too used to having things his own way.
23:38And yes, he watches everything.
23:41But he has been kind to me.
23:44You are defending him already.
23:46That is how these things begin.
23:48You are only saying that because no one dotes on you properly.
23:52Keep testing me and I'll send you to supper half shave.
23:56Ow! Sarah!
23:58All right, all right, I yield!
24:08Ahri, I think my hat is sitting crooked. I can hardly tell. Fix it for me.
24:22Back.
24:31Everyone else walks hand in hand.
24:34Ahri, I want that too.
24:36Celia, this is the middle of the street.
24:43Ahri! Look there! A puppy!
24:51It's so close.
24:57Celia, we are leaving.
25:02Lord Ashbrook says we must go, but how is any meant to walk away from a face like yours?
25:06My lady can have him, if she wishes. He ought to belong to someone who will care for him.
25:10Thank you. I'll look after him properly, I swear it.
25:13Stray animals carry filth, infection, fleas. You do not know where that creature has been, so do not simply-
25:18Thank you, my lady!
25:20See? He's gentle. Ahri, just touch him once. Only once.
25:26He's so soft. Truly. And adorable.
25:34Since you seem determined, we will take it to the healer. It will be examined properly, cleaned, treated. If it
25:41is found healthy, then it may stay at Whitekeep.
25:45Truly? We may keep him? Ahri, you're wonderful!
25:52There is already one pampered, clingy little creature in my household. I suppose one more will not ruin me.
26:04I was too slow. I let them make a spectacle of you. Under our own roof. Before the whole household.
26:11Sarah, look at me. I'm alright. Truly. See? Not even a torn sleeve. Your Celia is perfectly whole.
26:17You always do this. You smile and say you're fine so I won't have cause to worry.
26:24Because I am fine. I have you. And it seems... I have him as well.
26:31The little sister I've guarded all these years has at last become someone else's most carefully kept treasure.
26:38If he shields her this closely, then perhaps, for once, I placed her future in the right hands.
26:44Sarah, my hair!
26:46Go on. Your lord is waiting.
27:02Then, what is to be done with the younger girl?
27:04Do not look to me. I did not come here to take on another man's burden. I have heirs enough
27:10of my own.
27:17Enough. Hold your tongue.
27:19Why should I? She is only a useless little thing. No father. No mother. No standing. No...
27:25What was it you called my sister? Because our parents are in their graves, you thought we were yours to
27:29trample?
27:30Courtious before the altar. Venomous behind the mourning cloth.
27:35I have seen every one of your faces. And I will remember them all.
27:43So long as I draw breath, no one lays a hand on my sister. No one.
27:49That was the day I first understood what it meant. To be protected.
27:56Ari, thank you. For today. For all of it.
28:01You are my wife. The moment they sought to shame you, they were slighting Arm Ashborough as surely as they
28:07were slighting you.
28:08To dishonor you is to insult me to my face. I will answer such matters. None of this was your
28:13doing.
28:14Then, if you cannot bear them, why leave your family seal card in their hands? Why give them a way
28:19to reach you?
28:20I know your kin are not people you hold in any affection.
28:23That is a very gentle way to put it.
28:24Even so, each of them has some use. Some quality worth noting.
28:27Your cousin Islae is as Ifra is insufferable, but she reads a room quickly and knows how to secure planning.
28:31And your unquiet branch Oswood, his instincts in trade and alliance are better than I expected.
28:37So, you think well of them?
28:38That is not what I said.
28:40The people I despise most. The ones who made my childhood wretched. And you can still admire them.
28:47Celia, I do not admire them. I am speaking only of what may be of value in them. That is
28:52not the same thing.
28:53Alaric Ashfield, I hate you!
28:59What in God's name just happened?
29:16So you've truly decided you're not returning to White Heap for now?
29:20That frozen tyrant? Please. Alaric Ashperth? He's nothing but a court performance in a velvet cloak.
29:30Celia. Faithless. Arrogant. Double-faith.
29:33What?
29:40Whether a man strays or not, that is rarely difficult to discover.
29:50That viper.
29:52Lord Ashburn, there must be some misunderstanding. The card you gave me was sent in error, was it not?
30:01No error.
30:02That cannot be true. I sent word at once. And some hall clerk answered in White Keep's outer office. Not
30:10your steward, not even one of your personal people. Just some ordinary servant.
30:19Lady Izaleth, I believe you have mistaken the nature of my civility.
30:25Have I?
30:26Such courtesy as I extend to you, and to the Valeheart kin attached to you, exists for one reason only.
30:33And what reason is that?
30:39Celia, were it not for her, those of your escort would never once have entered my notice. Not for a
30:47heartbeat.
30:55His tongue is dreadful. And yet, coming from him it sounds unfairly wonderful.
31:08My lord, the inquiry into the Valeheart family. After Lady Celia's parents died, certain Valeheart relations forced Lady Seraphine to
31:16yield portions of what should have remained hers, and the child was sent away to the country at ten years
31:20of age.
31:21She lived there near a year with no proper protection. No guardian. No household. A child left to manage as
31:30she could.
31:47Every house has its merits. There is always something to admire.
31:51And something worth learning from.
31:56Alaric Ashford. You damned fool.
32:06Am I commanded that on Lucian?
32:08Brother! Lend me a sack of gold.
32:11No.
32:12I am in genuine ruin. Advance me a little. A very little. I swear, or I shall repay it. At
32:18some point, conceivably, if heaven is kind.
32:22Is that the purpose of this call?
32:24Well, then goodbye.
32:28Wait, wait. Why do you sound like Winter itself? Did you offend Celia again?
32:37Ha, I knew it. Shall I enlighten you?
32:41I can have her smiling before supper. This is one of my finer talents.
32:46You have never sustained an attachment longer than a season.
32:51Entirely beside the point.
32:53I am ending this conversation.
32:58The Pottery Atili in the Lower Valley. They take private bookings. She will adore it.
33:06Hey, send me the directions. I'll be there soon.
33:24I owe far more than an apology. And not only for today. I do not yet know how to mend
33:30this. But I will learn.
33:38Driver, this is the place. Truly. Because I can scarcely see my own hand and there is not a living
33:45soul anywhere.
33:46I swear I just heard something with fangs.
33:54Oh, so now you've taken some holy vow of silence. If you'd been despairing with words on my wedding night,
33:59I would not have stepped into the wrong chamber and...
34:30Ah!
34:31A view of what? I cannot see a-
34:37Ari, look! Fireworks! They're beautiful!
34:42Fireworks are an inefficient use of coin, a brief spectacle compounded of powder and vanity with very poor practical return.
34:48And the smoke alone is enough to-
34:50Ari, do you suffer from some afflictment that makes you recoil from romance?
34:54Shall I summon a physician? Perhaps a priest?
35:00Perhaps fireworks are wasteful. Perhaps they vanish too quickly and serve no sensible purpose.
35:07But if they please you, then that is reason enough.
35:14Is this his way of making it up to me? After all of it? After I left in a temper
35:21and told him his fine words were worth nothing?
35:49I have already departed from my usual judgment several times tonight.
35:54I suppose one further indulgence may be allowed.
36:00Hey, no, wait, wait! That is not what I meant!
36:03I meant should we go somewhere else? Somewhere proper? Back to the keep, perhaps? Or home?
36:08I meant home! Home! To sleep!
36:12Separately!
36:19That was not an entirely unreasonable conclusion.
36:23Not unreasonable? Not unreasonable? In what kingdom is that not unreasonable?
36:27I asked what came next, not for you to carry me off like some barbarian bride thief. You leap far
36:32too quickly.
36:33The circumstances suggested-
36:34The circumstances suggested nothing!
36:35I say one harmless sentence and in your mind it turns into a summons to my bedchamber. This is entirely
36:41your doing!
36:45This is not finished!
36:50No. It is not.
36:54And the night has not yet run its course.
37:03Serefta, please tell me again that the marriage covenant said only twice a week.
37:07What happened now? Don't tell me he's been-
37:10Every. Single. Night.
37:13Men will always be men. Even Alaric Ashpurg, the patron saint of household rules, sealed ledgers and proper order, proves
37:21no different when it comes to this.
37:22My back aches. My legs ache. I swear even my bones are offended.
37:26Hush. I'll handle it.
37:28Once I bury him in enough estate business, he won't have the leisure to return before midnight. He'll scarcely have
37:34time to blink.
37:35Truly?
37:37Oh, Seraphine, you are the finest sister ever born.
37:41Naturally.
37:43Ari, are you coming back to our chamber tonight?
37:46I'll be delayed. There's still business from the keep to settle. Sleep without waiting for me.
37:49I see. Then I must stand watch over this dreadful empty room all by myself. Alone. In this vast, freezing,
37:55desolate bed.
37:56Is something the matter?
37:58I'll endure. Somehow. Good night, Ari.
38:04Seraphine is a miracle worker!
38:10No Alaric Ashpurg looming over me like a castle watchtower. No correcting my posture. No solemn speeches about what is
38:17sufficient within a marriage.
38:19Freedom, my long lost love. I'm coming for you.
38:28Celia! I've missed you to death! You've vanished for ages!
38:32What, did you hide away with some secret sweetheart?
38:35Lord Ashbird forgive us for dragging you out to such an hour, but that pastry stall just there is famed
38:41all through this quarter.
38:43Finest cheese pastries in the city. Why not carry some back to your lady wife?
38:47A peaceful household begins with a pleased wife, eh?
38:51Celia has been... troublesome of late.
38:54Perhaps something sweet will keep her content. A small reward for remaining in White Hope as she promised.
39:02Very well.
39:15Celia...
39:19That lord outside is staring at you as if he means to freeze the whole street. Tell me you know
39:23him.
39:23Wasn't Ari supposed to be detained at the council until late?
39:26Wasn't Seraphine supposed to keep him occupied with estate matters?
39:29Why is he here of all places?
39:31No, no, no, no.
39:33Celia, your mask is the wrong...
39:37Ari!
39:38Well, this is unexpected. What a stounging chance! The city is truly small, is it not?
39:45Huh?
39:47It is well past midnight.
39:50You told me you had retired for the night.
39:53I... well, a friend asked me to come.
39:56I had never seen such a place before. I... I only wished to look.
39:59Oh, no. No, no, no. Here it comes. The lord of rules and winter heirs. Will he rebuke me before
40:05the whole street?
40:06Can a husband confine his wife to her chambers? Surely he cannot. Can he?
40:10At least you had enough sense to bring someone with you.
40:15You're not going to scold me?
40:17Would that improve matters?
40:21No.
40:22Then I shall spare us both the noise tonight.
40:24But this will not pass without consequence.
40:26No, no, absolutely not. Ari, I am still sore everywhere. My back, my legs, everything aches. Have mercy.
40:33What in heaven's name do you think I meant? I was speaking of tomorrow.
40:36I shall personally see to your instruction.
40:38Each afternoon you will learn proper conduct, deportment, and the rules of public appearance.
40:41I will examine how you fare.
40:42Instruction? Lessons here? In my own households?
40:45Yes.
40:46Well, perhaps, in truth, my back may not pain me quite much now, nor my legs.
40:50Perhaps instead you might simply...
40:51No.
40:52Ari, must I truly? Could you not overlook it just this once? I shall behave beautifully, I swear it.
40:57As Lady of House Ashfield, there will be feasts, winter balls, chapel observances, and noble gatherings where all eyes will
41:02be upon you.
41:03If you do not know how to carry yourself, they will laugh.
41:06And their laughter will not stop with you. It will reach Serafainen as well.
41:11All right. Then, tonight is finished. You mean not to pursue it further?
41:17See that this does not become your custom.
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