- 9 hours ago
A wedding mix-up changes two noble families forever. As destinies intertwine and unexpected love blossoms, secrets, duty, and romance collide in this captivating historical drama.
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00:00Someone 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.
00:20I insisted on... wait.
00:28Celia, what are you doing here?
00:42You... 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?
00:58Two weeks ago, my sister was to be joined by oath to the Lord of House Ashvington.
01:03A marriage forged for land, trade, and alliance.
01:07As her younger sister, I was the first to protest, so I offered a compromise.
01:12Then I'll marry the younger Ashburton Lucian, I said.
01:15If our houses must be bound, then one to be othersmiths, 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 Ashburton party.
01:40The storm has blocked the roads, the gentlemen's carriages have been delayed.
01:43The 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.
01:57I know these are two great houses of the realm, but this has gone too far.
02:00Where are the bridegrooms?
02:12Where are the Ashburts?
02:14Was this not meant to be a Valhalt-Ashburgu union?
02:17Sister, 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.
02:43A storm raged all night, and I was half asleep on my feet.
02:47Number eight.
02:51My lady, this is number six.
02:55That 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.
03:06So yes.
03:07Last night, fate's wheels came off the rails.
03:15Oh, this is awful!
03:17Why are you being so cold?
03:19I never meant to get into your bed in the first place!
03:23Enough tears.
03:25Put your clothes on.
03:27My dress, it's still in the dressing alcove.
03:30Could you bring it to me?
03:32Does she take me for a chambermaid?
03:33Absolutely not.
03:35Absolutely not.
03:35Fetch it yourself.
03:37All right.
03:44It hurts.
03:47You can't stand.
03:48Because of you, you were far too much.
03:58Stay where you are.
04:06Celia!
04:16Did Alaric force himself on you?
04:18No.
04:20Not 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...
04:27Then tell me this.
04:28What do you make of him?
04:30He 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...
04:56What happened in your chamber?
05:00Wasn't Celia meant to be the soft, sweet one?
05:06Amphithists from the southern traders.
05:08I had these made for my future wife.
05:10This cannot be the wrong room.
05:17Who is it?
05:18Who else would it be?
05:19Your husband.
05:22Husband?
05:30Then fulfill a husband's duty.
05:34What duty?
05:36Give 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 and the escort order was altered in the confusion.
05:54That is how we were each led to the wrong doors.
05:57But since matters have already gone this far...
05:59Celia, then let us simply exchange the marriage matches.
06:05Serethine has only just taken full hold of House Fowlhaft.
06:08She 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, what does it matter which lord I am wed to?
06:21Well?
06:21We exchange the marriage contracts.
06:24Do you consent or not?
06:25The church record has not yet been entered into the final rolls.
06:28If this preserve order between both houses...
06:30It 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.
06:41Neither 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? And 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 once she has decided on a thing.
07:13Last night was...
07:14If you wish to be released, say it plainly.
07:17I already have doubts about the strength of his bloodline as it is.
07:20The strength of my bloodline?
07:21Last night was an accident.
07:22I was on edge.
07:22That does not mean I am a...
07:23I can explain this.
07:26Properly.
07:26Only grant me a moment.
07:28Two 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.
07:56My lord!
07:57Here!
07:58We are going into the city for a short stay.
08:01Not marching on a campaign.
08:08She smells of...
08:11Orchard fruit.
08:12Fresh petals.
08:14Something faint.
08:15Something distracting.
08:33My lord.
08:35Are you unwell?
08:37Be quiet.
08:39Be...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.
08:50And it seems wholly incapable of holding her tongue.
08:52Celia.
08:53We must settle something.
08:54Very well.
08:55What is it?
08:56This marriage is an arrangement of houses.
08:58You do understand that?
08:59I 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...
09:06That 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.
09:31It truly slipped.
09:32I did not mean it.
09:33No food in my carriage.
09:35Why not?
09:37Crumbs.
09:37Odors.
09:39Disorder.
09:42Do you never listen the first time?
09:44I know perfectly well why you are in such a temper.
09:46Because you are hungry.
09:48No crumbs.
09:50Hardly 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 and Lady.
10:39Mother, then this means-
10:40Stay 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.
10:53They 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.
11:02Not treason.
11:03He altered its shade.
11:04Nothing more.
11:05Surely that is not a crime in your statutory.
11:09Gods, that was magnificent.
11:11Lady Serafine Veilhart.
11:12I see now why Veilhart 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.
11:23If 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.
11:30In my sight she requires no correction.
11:31She 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.
11:39Have 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.
11:55Father, 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.
12:07Until then, as long as she stands beside me, her dignity is mine to defend.
12:11Her joy is mine to guard.
12:13She is mine to answer for.
12:21I saw you looking at these before.
12:23It 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.
12:43As you are now, child.
12:44You are lovely enough.
12:47Thank you, Mother.
12:53Alaric.
12:54Stay a moment.
13:00I know this marriage was not made in the manner anyone intended.
13:04Still, that girl's heart is clean.
13:07She is kind in a way this world does not often spare.
13:10And perhaps she may be precisely the wife you require.
13:15Your 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.
13:41A 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?
13:55Sit 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.
14:16What 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?
14:32If 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.
14:39This betrothal ends tonight.
14:49If my sister will not remain in House Ashton, then neither shall I!
15:06Celia!
15:07You 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!
15:25Do 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.
15:40Yes, yes I do!
15:41I never once said I required some meek little saint for a wife.
15:44I 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.
15:52But 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 would be a child.
15:59If you were the one thing in this world you cannot bear to see harmed, did you think I did
16:02not 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.
16:41I 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.
16:48Halt the carriage!
16:58CELIA!
17:02CELIA!
17:04It is deep into the night.
17:05She does not answer.
17:07And those two women are alone out here in the-
17:09CELIA!
17:15CELIA!
17:44CELIA!
17:45CELIA!
17:46CELIA!
17:46Why 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. May 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.
18:27I pressed her too hard.
18:29Too soon.
18:30She is not something to be managed.
18:34She is someone to be heard.
18:41Sarah, are we truly casting off this marriage pact?
18:45Do not trouble yourself over him.
18:48You 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.
19:25Liar.
19:33Go on, go on.
19:35Take 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...
20:08The 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?
20:51How is anyone meant to stay angry in the face of this?
20:54Of course.
20:57Mmm.
20:57This one is lovely.
20:58Soft as a cloud.
21:00Honestly, these are far too good.
21:06Ari, if this is your way of making peace, you might as well admit it.
21:10You needn't hide behind all that lordly dignity.
21:14They 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, I've decided not to hold it against you any
21:40longer.
21:41I forgive you.
21:43You 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, no physician in the kingdom will
21:59save you from the consequences.
22:03You'll grow spoiled.
22:05And very likely plump.
22:09I beg your pardon?
22:11Wait, cilia.
22:19Which cilia is it that you're calling back?
22:21Plump cilia?
22:23Or slender cilia?
22:29You're not plump.
22:33If anything, you might do with a little more to you.
22:41Very well.
22:42Perhaps I'm not built like my sister, but there is nothing lacking here, my lord.
22:47And 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.
23:01Sara, 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. Nothing 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.
23:30The 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!
23:57Sara!
23:58Alright, alright, I yield!
24:08Ari, I think my hat is sitting crooked. I can hardly tell. Fix it for me.
24:22There.
24:31Everyone else walks hand in hand.
24:34Ari, I want that too.
24:37Celia, this is the middle of the street.
24:43Ari! Look there! A puppy!
24:51They're so close.
24:58Celia, 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.
25:08He ought to belong to someone who'll care for him.
25:11Thank you. I'll look after him properly, I swear it.
25:13Stray animals carry filth, infection, fleas.
25:16You do not know where that creature has been, so do not simply-
25:19Thank you, my lady!
25:21See? He's gentle. Ari, just touch him once. Only once.
25:26He's so soft.
25:28Truly.
25:29And adorable.
25:35Since you seem determined, we will take it to the healer.
25:38It will be examined properly, cleaned, treated.
25:41If it is found healthy, then it may stay at Whitekeep.
25:45Truly? We may keep him? Ari, you're wonderful!
25:53There is already one pampered, clingy little creature in my household.
25:57I suppose one more will not ruin me.
26:04I was too slow.
26:06I let them make a spectacle of you.
26:08Under our own roof.
26:10Before the whole household.
26:12Sarah, look at me. I'm alright.
26:14Truly. See? Not even a torn sleeve.
26:16Your Celia is perfectly whole.
26:18You always do this.
26:20You smile and say you're fine, so I won't have cause to worry.
26:24Because I am fine.
26:26I have you.
26:27And it seems...
26:30I have him as well.
26:32The little sister I've guarded all these years
26:34has at last become someone else's most carefully kept treasure.
26:38If he shields her this closely,
26:40then 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?
27:05Do not look to me.
27:06I did not come here to take on another man's burden.
27:09I have heirs enough of my own.
27:17Enough.
27:18Hold your tongue.
27:19Why should I?
27:20She is only a useless little thing.
27:22No father.
27:22No mother.
27:23No standing.
27:24No...
27:25What was it you called my sister?
27:27Because our parents are in their graves,
27:29you thought we were yours to trample?
27:31Courtious before the altar,
27:32venomous behind the morning cloth.
27:36I have seen every one of your faces.
27:38And I will remember them all.
27:43So long as I draw breath,
27:45no one lays a hand on my sister.
27:47No one.
27:49That was the day I first understood what it meant.
27:52To be protected.
27:56Ahri.
27:57Ahri.
27:58For today.
27:59For all of it.
28:01You are my wife.
28:03The moment they sought to shame you,
28:05they were slighting our Ashborough as surely as they were slighting you.
28:08To dishonor you is to insult me to my face.
28:10I will answer such matters.
28:12None of this was your doing.
28:14Then...
28:14If you cannot bear them,
28:16why leave your family seal card in their hands?
28:18Why give them a way to 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.
28:25Even so, each of them has some use,
28:26some quality worth noting.
28:27Your cousin Islae is as Ifra is insufferable,
28:29but she reads a room quickly and knows how to secure planning.
28:31And your unquiet branch Osward,
28:33his 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.
28:43The ones who made my childhood wretched.
28:45And you can still admire them.
28:47Celia, I do not admire them.
28:49I am speaking only of what may be of value in them.
28:52That is not 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?
29:22Please, Alaric Ashperth?
29:24He's nothing but a court performance in a velvet cloak.
29:29Celia.
29:31Faithless, arrogant, double-faith-
29:33What?
29:34What?
29:40Whether a man strays or not.
29:43That is rarely difficult to discover.
29:50That viper!
29:53Lord Ashburn.
29:55There must be some misunderstanding.
29:58The card you gave me was sent in error, was it not?
30:02No error.
30:03That cannot be true.
30:04I sent word at once.
30:06And some hall clerk answered in White Keep's outer office.
30:10Not your steward, not even one of your personal people.
30:12Just some ordinary servant.
30:20Lady Izaleth.
30:21I believe you have mistaken the nature of my civility.
30:25Have I?
30:27Such 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?
30:38Celia.
30:40Were it not for her, those of your escort would never once have entered my notice.
30:46Not for a heartbeat.
30:55His tongue is dreadful.
30:57And yet, coming from him it sounds unfairly wonderful.
31:08My lord, the inquiry into the Valeheart family.
31:11After Lady Celia's parents died, certain Valeheart relations forced Lady Seraphine to yield portions of what should have remained hers,
31:18and the child was sent away to the country at ten years of age.
31:22She lived there near a year with no proper protection.
31:25No guardian.
31:26No household.
31:28A child left to manage as she could.
31:47Every house has its merits.
31:49There is always something to admire, and something worth learning from.
31:56Alaric Ashford.
31:58You damned fool.
32:06Alaric Ashford.
32:20Alaric Ashford.
32:23You damned fool.
32:23I had about the purpose of this call.
32:24Well, then goodbye.
32:28Wait, wait.
32:30Why do you sound like Winter itself?
32:33Did you offend Celia again?
32:37I knew it.
32:39Shall 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 i am ending this conversation
32:58the potteria tilly in the lower valley they take private bookings she will adore it
33:06all right send me the directions i'll be there soon
33:24i owe far more than an apology and not only for today
33:28i do not yet know how to mend this but i will learn
33:40driver this is the place truly because i can scarcely see my own hand
33:44and there is not a living soul anywhere i swear i just heard something with fangs
33:54oh so now you've taken some holy vow of silence
33:57if you'd been despairing with words on my wedding night i would not have stepped
34:00into the wrong chamber
34:09ari
34:10saints above you nearly killed me
34:13what are you doing here how long have you been standing there
34:15long enough
34:17come on we're leaving it's freezing it's black as a crypt and that driver has plainly deserted us
34:25do not be so quick to flee
34:28the summit has a fine view
34:31a view of what i cannot see
34:37ari look fireworks they're beautiful fireworks are an inefficient use of coin a brief spectacle
34:45compounded of powder and vanity with very poor practical return and 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
35:22and told him his fine words were worth nothing
35:37so what comes after this
35:44now yes
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
36:09i meant home home to sleep separately
36:20that 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
36:31you leap far too quickly the circumstances suggested the circumstances suggested nothing
36:36i say one harmless sentence and in your mind it turns into a summons to my bedchamber
36:40this is entirely your doing
36:46this is not finished
36:50no
36:51it is not
36:54and the night has not yet run its course
37:02seraphtha
37:03please tell me again that the marriage covenant said only twice a week
37:08what happened now don't tell me he's been every single night
37:14men will always be men even alaric ashperg the patron saint of household rules sealed
37:19ledgers and proper order proves no different when it comes to this my back aches my legs ache
37:24i swear even my bones are offended hush i'll handle it once i bury him in enough estate business
37:30he won't have the leisure to return before midnight he'll scarcely have time to blink
37:36truly oh seraphine you are the finest sister ever born naturally
37:43ari are you coming back to our chamber tonight i'll be delayed there's still business from the
37:48keep to settle sleep without waiting for me i see then i must stand watch over this dreadful empty
37:52room all by myself alone in this vast freezing desolate bed is something the matter i'll endure
37:59somehow good night ari
38:04ah seraphine is a miracle worker
38:10no alaric ashberg looming over me like a castle watchtower
38:13no correcting my posture no solemn speeches about what is sufficient within a marriage
38:19freedom my long lost love i'm coming for you
38:29celia i've missed you to death you've vanished for ages what did you hide away with some secret
38:34sweetheart lord ashbird forgive us for dragging you out to such an hour but that pastry stall just
38:40there is famed all through this quarter finest cheese pastries in the city why not carry some back to your
38:46lady wife a peaceful household begins with a pleased wife eh celia has been troublesome of late perhaps
38:55something sweet will keep her content a small reward for remaining in white hope as she promised
39:02very well
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 wasn't serene supposed to keep him occupied
39:28with the state matters why is he here of all places no no no no no celia your mask is
39:34the wrong
39:38ari well this is unexpected what astonishing chance the city is truly small is it not
39:47it is well past midnight you told me you had retired for the night
39:53i well a friend asked me to come i had never seen such a place before i i only wished
39:59to look
40:00oh no no no no here it comes the lord of rules and winter heirs will he rebuke me before
40:05the whole
40:05street can a husband confine his wife to her chambers surely he cannot can he at least you had
40:11enough sense to bring someone with you you're not going to scold me would that improve matters
40:21no then i shall spare us both the noise tonight but this will not pass without consequence no no
40:27absolutely 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 i shall personally see to your
40:37instruction each afternoon you will learn proper conduct deportment and the rules of public appearance
40:41i will examine how you fare instruction lessons here in my own households yes well perhaps in truth my
40:48back may not pain me quite much now nor my legs perhaps instead you might simply no ari must i
40:53truly could you not overlook it just this once i shall behave beautifully i swear it as lady of house
40:58ashfield there will be feasts winter balls chapel observances and noble gatherings where all eyes will
41:02be upon you if you do not know how to carry yourself they will laugh and their laughter will not
41:07stop with you it will reach surafenon as well all right then tonight is finished you mean not to pursue
41:16it
41:16father see that this does not become your your custom
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