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00:01It was my fifth year back in the Hartmourne household, when Cassandra pushed me down the staircase at my own
00:07engagement ball and shattered both my legs.
00:09She wasn't. I was. Switched as inference. A deception that lasted 13 years before the truth came out.
00:16I came home at 17. She never left. Tonight should have been the happiest moment of my life.
00:21She slipped! Oh God! I tried to grab her! I tried!
00:26Everyone at the scene believed her. The surgeon arrived overnight.
00:31Both legs broken beyond repair. She will never walk again. The damage to her lower body is severe. She may
00:38never bear children.
00:39My mother wept. My father said nothing. My 20th year should have marked the beginning of a new chapter in
00:44life tonight.
00:45Everyone expected Edmund to break the engagement, but he knelt down beside my bed.
00:49I'll marry you still. I don't care about your legs. I don't care about children. I will take care of
00:54you for the rest of my life.
00:55I cried until I couldn't breathe. My parents immediately took action regarding Cassandra's matter.
01:00Give us everything. Every letter. Every document. Every piece of evidence you have against her. We'll handle it. You just
01:06rest.
01:06I handed over all of it. They were my blood. Of course I trusted them.
01:10Three weeks later, they told me Cassandra tried to flee to France. The ship went down in a storm. No
01:15survivors.
01:16Mother cried at the memorial. Father stood silent. Edmund held my hand.
01:21It's over. She'll never hurt you again.
01:23I believed him. I believed all of them.
01:26Every Tuesday for five years, they took me to Dr. Pemberton's clinic on Calvin Douth Square.
01:32Father carried me from the carriage himself. Always his arms. Never the footman.
01:38My brave girl.
01:39Edmund sat beside me through every treatment. Every injection. Every tonic.
01:44He held my hand. Stroped my knuckles with his thumb. If I winced, he squeezed. If I cried, he kissed
01:50my knuckles and said nothing.
01:51Every Tuesday. Five years. Same words. Same look. Same warmth. I thought it was love.
01:57This Tuesday, I went alone. I asked the coachman to take me early before the others were ready.
02:02He hesitated. He always waited for the master.
02:04I wanted to surprise them. I wanted to show them I was getting stronger. That I wasn't a burden.
02:11I wheeled myself through the hall. It was quiet. A clerk at the desk. An old woman coughing in the
02:17corner.
02:18Then I heard a voice from behind the far door. A voice that drowned in the English channel five years
02:22ago.
02:23Five years, Edmund. Five years of hiding because of her.
02:26I wheeled myself to the door. I leaned forward. Just enough to see through the crack.
02:32Cassandra. Alive. Glowing. My mother's cameoed pinned at her throat.
02:36A boy in her arms. Dark curls. Edmund's eyes.
02:39Her parents destroyed every piece of evidence. They've kept her blind for five years.
02:42But our son is three now. He needs his father.
02:45Thun. Their son. Don't scream. Don't you dare scream, Julia.
02:49You married her to sign papers as next of kin. Control her doctors. Manage her inheritance.
02:53Keep her in that chair while I raised our child alone.
02:56And I'd do it again.
02:58Five years of pretending. Holding her hand. Carrying her to bed. Does she ever wonder why
03:03you never come to her at night?
03:05She blames herself. Her legs. Her body. She thinks she disgusts me.
03:10She really is pathetic. Edmund took the boy. The child grabbed his cray bit and laughed.
03:15Then he kissed her. Slowly. Deeply.
03:20I didn't push her down those stairs for nothing. Tell me it was worth it.
03:24You're alive. Our son is alive. That's all that matters.
03:27And her? Does she matter?
03:29She never did.
03:31Five years of I'll take care of you.
03:34Five years lying awakened in the dark. Hating my body for driving my husband away.
03:39While he was with her.
03:40While he was Peter Althimtier.
03:43While my parents helped him get to her.
03:46While they all smiled at me across the breakfast table.
03:49And called it love.
03:51The door opened.
03:52Edmund came out alone.
03:53Crossed the hall.
03:54Slipped out the side actions.
03:55A minute later, Cassandra walked out the front.
03:57Adjusted her bonnet.
03:59Passed three feet from my cabinet.
04:00I could smell her perfume.
04:02Jasmine.
04:02The same soap mother used to keep in Cassandra's old room.
04:05She didn't see me.
04:06Nobody sees the woman in the chair.
04:08A note arrived.
04:09Street boy.
04:10My mother's handwriting.
04:11Juliet, do not go inside.
04:13Fever in the building.
04:14Wait for us outside.
04:15I looked around the hall.
04:17The clerk writing in his ledger.
04:18The old woman coughing.
04:19No panic.
04:20No fever.
04:21Nothing.
04:22The note wasn't a warning.
04:23It was a leash.
04:25The carriage arrived.
04:26Mother rushed out.
04:29Juliet.
04:30Darling.
04:31You didn't go inside, did you?
04:32I looked at her.
04:33I saw it now.
04:34Not worry.
04:35Fear.
04:35The fear of someone about to be caught.
04:37No, Mama.
04:37I stayed right here.
04:38I didn't see anyone.
04:39Good girl.
04:40She exhaled.
04:41Her whole body relaxed.
04:44Edmund met us at the front steps.
04:46Lifted me from the carriage.
04:48Held me close.
04:49Jasmine on his coat.
04:50How was the journey?
04:53Uneventful.
04:54The girl who left this house this morning is not the girl who came back.
04:57She died behind a cabinet on a Tuesday afternoon with blood in her mouth from a scream she wouldn't let
05:02them hear.
05:02They should have let Sazandra finish what she started.
05:05The next Tuesday, I went back with them.
05:08Same carriage.
05:09Same cushions.
05:10Same smiles.
05:12Father carried me upstairs.
05:14Mother kissed my forehead at the door.
05:16Edmund squeezed my shoulder.
05:19Father, you seem brighter today.
05:21I feel stronger.
05:23Dr. Pamberton prepared the injection.
05:25Same one as every Tuesday.
05:26I was supposed to fall asleep within minutes.
05:29Not anymore.
05:30Months of the same drug.
05:31My body had learned to fight it.
05:33I found out three weeks ago.
05:34Woke up mid-session to an empty room.
05:36Dr. Pamberton checked my pulse.
05:40Walked to the door.
05:41Heavier footsteps.
05:43Father.
05:43Lady Juliet's legs have been neglected too long.
05:46The treatment has never been real.
05:47If she doesn't have surgery soon, she will never stand again.
05:49The medication was switched to tonics months ago, as instructed.
05:52Sir, do you truly intend to let your own daughter spend her life in that chair?
05:55I brought you here from the continent and I pay you handsomely.
05:58I didn't hire you to question me.
05:59Do as you're told.
06:01We will provide for her.
06:03She will want for nothing.
06:04Do your job and keep your mouth shut.
06:06You've been in my service for five years.
06:07You know the rules.
06:09The sedatives are losing effect.
06:10Her body is resisting.
06:12That needs to be addressed.
06:13That's your profit.
06:14She doesn't recover.
06:15She doesn't worsen.
06:16Keep the balance.
06:17Understood, sir.
06:20I lay on that table with tears sliding into my hair.
06:24I didn't wipe them.
06:25If Dr. Pemberton saw my hand move, he would know.
06:28He would tell father.
06:29And they would find another way to keep me blind.
06:31I'm sorry.
06:32He thought I couldn't hear him.
06:35Father carried me downstairs.
06:37Mother was waiting with a shrall.
06:39Any improvement?
06:40Slow progress, madam.
06:42These things take time.
06:44Of course.
06:45We're patient.
06:47Aren't we, Juliet?
06:48Very patient, mama.
06:50That night at supper, Edmund pulled out my chair.
06:52You need your strength.
06:54My strength.
06:55For what?
06:56For sitting?
06:57You're right.
06:59They are not just lying to me.
07:01They are crippling me on purpose.
07:04My own father is paying a man to make sure I never stand again.
07:08I lay in bed that night.
07:09I closed my eyes and recited every word from that afternoon.
07:12Sentence by sentence.
07:13They burned the paper.
07:14They silenced the doctor.
07:15They kept me drugged and smiling.
07:16But they never checked if I was really asleep.
07:18That night, I waited.
07:20Edmund's breathing evened out.
07:22Then I moved.
07:22The key was in his coat pocket.
07:24The coat that still smelled of jasmine.
07:26His study was down the hall.
07:27The door was never locked.
07:28Why would it be?
07:29His wife couldn't walk.
07:30His wife would never suspect a thing.
07:32Letters.
07:33A stack bound with ribbon.
07:35Cassandra's handwriting.
07:38The boy kicked today.
07:40Your mother cried when she felt it.
07:42More letters.
07:43Dates.
07:43Places.
07:44Details.
07:45She was never careful.
07:45Why would she be?
07:46Who was going to find these?
07:47The cripple down the hall.
07:48A deed to a country estate in Sussex.
07:50Bought under a false name.
07:52Funded from my account.
07:53My inheritance.
07:55I wanted to take everything and burn this house down with it.
07:58But if anything went missing, they'd know.
08:00And I'd have nothing.
08:01I took out paper and ink.
08:02Copied everything.
08:04Every letter.
08:04I hid the copies in my old sewing box.
08:06False bottom I'd made had made as a girl to hide pennies.
08:08Put everything back.
08:10Locked the compartment.
08:12Returned the key.
08:13I wheeled myself back to bed.
08:14They destroyed the old evidence.
08:16They thought they were safe.
08:18Cassandra.
08:18They forgot that five years of lies leaves a trail of its own.
08:22The next evening, we sat down to supper as a family.
08:24Mother specially prepared Cassandra's favorite dish.
08:27Roast duck.
08:27Apricot tart.
08:28Sugared almonds.
08:29I said nothing.
08:30Mother's eyes went red halfway through the meal.
08:32She pressed her napkin to her mouth.
08:34Mama?
08:35What's wrong?
08:36These dishes.
08:36They were always her favorites.
08:38Cassandra's.
08:38Father stared at his plate.
08:39She was only 20.
08:40Mother whispered.
08:41She made a terrible mistake.
08:42But she didn't deserve to die.
08:44I felt their eyes on me.
08:45Watching.
08:45Measuring.
08:46It's been five years.
08:47She was young.
08:48Young people do foolish things.
08:50You're right.
08:51She was young.
08:52They relaxed.
08:53Just slightly.
08:55Just enough for me to notice.
08:56Her memorial is in five days.
08:58I know you don't want to go.
09:00You shouldn't have to.
09:01I'll take your parents.
09:02You can stay home and rest.
09:03He said it gently.
09:04The way you tell a child they can't come to a party.
09:06Of course, she lived in this house for 13 years.
09:08She's part of this family.
09:09You should go.
09:10My sweet girl.
09:11You have such a generous heart.
09:13I knew you'd understand.
09:15You've always been the sensible one.
09:17Sensible.
09:18That's what they call it when you swallow everything.
09:20They feed you and ask for more.
09:21After supper, I went back to my room.
09:23Edmund came in with my evening tonic.
09:25The one Dr. Pemberton prescribed.
09:27The one that was nothing from the bedside table.
09:28He set it on the warm cloth.
09:30Wiped my face.
09:31Gentle.
09:32Slow.
09:32Edmund.
09:33Hmm?
09:33Do you love me?
09:34He paused.
09:35Something flickered across his face.
09:37Guilt, maybe?
09:37He leaned down and kissed my forehead.
09:39What a question.
09:40Of course I do.
09:41His lips on my skin.
09:42Not dry.
09:42Not sadness.
09:43Nothing.
09:44And that nothing told me everything.
09:45He fell asleep within minutes.
09:47I lay beside him in the dark.
09:48Five days until the memorial.
09:50Five days until they leave me alone and go to the woman they chose.
09:54Five days.
09:55I can work with five days.
09:56The next morning, father and Edmund left early.
09:59Business in town, they said.
10:00Mother stayed behind.
10:01She sat with me in the drawing room, embroidering, humming softly.
10:05I'll have cook your favorite soup for lunch.
10:08That would be lovely, mama.
10:10She smiled and went to the kitchen.
10:12The moment she was gone, I wheeled myself to father's study.
10:15His study was larger than Edmund's.
10:17More organized.
10:18More careful.
10:19But not careful enough.
10:20The second drawer held a private ledger.
10:22Not the household accounts.
10:23A separate one.
10:24Small.
10:25Plain cover.
10:26Easy to overlook.
10:27Monthly payments.
10:28Going back five years.
10:29Large sums sent to an account in France under the name Mrs. Martin.
10:32Cassandra's new name.
10:33Beside each payment, father's handwriting.
10:35Five years of funding Cassandra's life across the channel.
10:37All from six months ago.
10:38The payments stopped going to France.
10:40Then, six months ago, the payments stopped going to France.
10:43They started going to an address in Sausage.
10:45Cassandra was already in England.
10:46Edmund's travel records.
10:47Every trip he told me was business.
10:49Door.
10:49Brighton.
10:50Chaselton.
10:50At the back of the ledger, a list of dates.
10:52The most recent was five days from now.
10:54Beside it, one word.
10:55Celebration.
10:56Not a memorial.
10:56A celebration.
10:57Cassandra's return.
10:58A party at the Sussex estate.
11:00Everyone except me.
11:01Mother's footsteps in the hollow.
11:03I closed the ledger.
11:05Put it back.
11:06Shut the drawer.
11:06Wheeled myself into the hallway.
11:08Just as she came around the corner.
11:10There you are.
11:11Soup's nearly ready.
11:12Were you looking for a book?
11:13Just bored, mama.
11:14Thought I'd find something to read.
11:16She smiled.
11:17Took the handles of my chair.
11:18You don't need to wheel yourself about, darling.
11:21That's what we're here for.
11:22Yes.
11:23That's what they're here for.
11:24To push me where they want me to go.
11:26That night, I copied Father's ledger into my collection.
11:29Every page.
11:30Every amount.
11:31Every date.
11:32Then I sat in the dark and thought about that word.
11:35Celebration.
11:37They are going to celebrate her return while I sit here alone drinking flavored water.
11:42Believing they're visiting a grave.
11:45Four days now.
11:47Agnes found him in two days.
11:48A solicitor named Whitmore.
11:50Young.
11:51No title.
11:51No connections to the purigy.
11:53His office was above a tailor shop on a back street off Cheapside.
11:56No one my father would ever know.
11:59Agnes wheeled me in through the back door.
12:01Whitmore stood when he saw me.
12:03He was tall, thin, and looked like he hadn't slept well in years.
12:07Lady Juliette Hartmeal?
12:08Yes.
12:09He glanced at my chair, then back at my face.
12:11He didn't ask about my legs.
12:13I liked him for that.
12:14How can I help you?
12:15Sit down, Mr. Whitmore.
12:17This will take a while.
12:18I told him everything.
12:19The engagement ball.
12:23The fall.
12:26The surgeon's verdict.
12:30Cassandra's supposed death.
12:33The son.
12:36My father's instructions to the doctor.
12:40The letters in Edmund's desk.
12:42The deed to the Sussex estate bought with my inheritance.
12:45And the marriage certificate that didn't exist in any parish register in England.
12:50Whitmore never interrupted.
12:52His pen never stopped.
12:54When I finished, the room was quiet.
12:57You have proof of all this?
12:59I reached into the lining of my chair cushion.
13:01Pulled out the copies.
13:03Every letter.
13:03Every ledger entry.
13:04Every date and amount in my own handwriting.
13:07Then I pulled out Cassandra's letter.
13:09The original.
13:10In her own hand.
13:12Lady Juliette?
13:14Yes.
13:15If the marriage is forged, then every document your husband signed on your behalf is void.
13:19The financial authority.
13:20The medical decisions.
13:21The property transfers.
13:22All of it.
13:24I know.
13:25What he has done is not just deception.
13:26It is fraud.
13:27Criminal fraud.
13:28And your father's involvement with the physician makes him party to causing you deliberate bodegal harm.
13:33I know that too.
13:35And the woman.
13:36Cassandra.
13:36A faked death.
13:37Forged documents.
13:38She could face imprisonment.
13:39Yes.
13:40He looked at me for a long moment.
13:42What do you want, Lady Juliette?
13:43The courts?
13:44A public scandal?
13:45A quiet settlement?
13:47I thought about it.
13:48A quiet settlement.
13:49That's what my father would want.
13:51Money exchanged behind closed doors.
13:53Reputations preserved.
13:54The heart made name untouched.
13:56Everyone walks away.
13:57Everyone except me.
13:59I want them to stand in a room full of people and be seen for what they are.
14:02Then we'll need more than copies.
14:03We'll need the originals.
14:04The parish record confirming no marriage exists.
14:06A sworn statement from the surgeon on Wimpin Street.
14:09And ideally a witness who can confirm Cassandra is alive.
14:11The celebration is in two days.
14:13In Sussex.
14:14My entire family will be there.
14:15Cassandra will be there.
14:16Their son will be there.
14:17You want to do this at the celebration?
14:19Every person who matters to them will be in one room.
14:22I want to walk into that room and end it.
14:24You said walk.
14:25I'm having surgery tomorrow.
14:27Lady Juliette, you won't be able to walk in two days after surgery.
14:31Then I'll wheel myself in.
14:32But I'll get there.
14:34I'll have the parish record pulled by tomorrow morning.
14:36I'll contact the surgeon on Wimpled Street for his written statement.
14:39And I'll arrange for a magistrate to be present at the Sussex Estate.
14:43A magistrate?
14:44If you want more than humiliation, you'll want the law in the room.
14:47Fraud.
14:47Forgery.
14:48Conspiracy.
14:48These are criminal matters.
14:49A magistrate can act on the spot.
14:51I hadn't thought of that.
14:52I was thinking about their faces.
14:54He was thinking about their freedom.
14:57Do it.
14:58He stood.
14:59Extended his hand.
15:00Then caught himself and gave a short bow instead.
15:03Two days, Lady Juliette.
15:04Two days.
15:06Agnes wheeled me back to the carriage.
15:07The streets were busy.
15:08Carts and horses and people moving in every direction.
15:11All of them walking without thinking about it.
15:13Two days.
15:14Tomorrow, the surgery.
15:15The day after, Sussex.
15:16I looked down at my legs.
15:18Useless for five years.
15:19Kept useless on purpose.
15:21Two more days.
15:22That's all they get.
15:24Agnes wheeled me home.
15:25I was almost calm.
15:27Then I got to the house.
15:28Edmund's studio.
15:29The door was open.
15:30I always closed it.
15:31Every time I went in, I closed it exactly as I found it.
15:34Handle turned to the left.
15:35Door pulled tight.
15:36It was a jarn.
15:37Just an inch.
15:37I wheeled myself inside.
15:39Went to the desk.
15:40Unlocked the compartment with the key from his coat.
15:41The letters were there.
15:42All of them.
15:43Nothing missing.
15:44But the order was wrong.
15:45The top letter.
15:46It was face up now.
15:47Someone had been through that desk after me.
15:50There was only one person in this house who had the key.
15:52Breakfast the next morning.
15:54Edmund poured my tea.
15:55Buttered my toast.
15:56Asked how I slept.
15:57I looked at him.
15:58His smile was the same.
15:59His voice was the same.
16:00But something had shifted behind his eyes.
16:02Not anger.
16:03Alertness.
16:04He knew something was wrong.
16:05He just didn't know what.
16:07After breakfast, he went to father's study.
16:08I wheeled myself to the hallway.
16:11Pressed my ear against the wood.
16:13The desk was disturbed.
16:15Someone's been through it.
16:16She can barely get out of bed.
16:18Then it's Agnes.
16:20She's the only one in this house we didn't hire.
16:22Move the celebration forward.
16:24Tomorrow.
16:25Tomorrow?
16:25If Juliet knows anything, we move before she can act.
16:28Cassandra receives her new identity documents tomorrow.
16:30Once those are legal, it doesn't matter what Juliet says or does.
16:34And Agnes?
16:35She doesn't come to Sussex.
16:36No excuse.
16:37She stays here.
16:38Two days had become one.
16:40Whitmore wasn't ready.
16:40The evidence wasn't filed.
16:42The magistrate wasn't arranged.
16:43One day.
16:44I had one day.
16:45Wrote two letters.
16:46Short.
16:47No details that could damn me have intersected.
16:49The first letter.
16:49To Dr. Pemberton.
16:51The man who said I'm sorry to a woman he thought was unconscious.
16:53I was betting his guilt was stronger than his fear.
16:56Dot the second letter.
16:56To someone I hadn't spoken to in years.
16:58Someone who owed me nothing.
17:00Someone who might not come.
17:01Two letters.
17:02Two chances.
17:02If both fail, I go in with nothing but my memory and my voice.
17:05And that will have to be enough.
17:06That afternoon, father and Edmund left to prepare the Sussex estate.
17:10Mother stayed behind.
17:12The surgeon from Wimpart Street arrived through the servant's entrance.
17:14Agnes had arranged it before she left with the letters.
17:17He worked on my legs in my own bedroom.
17:19Door locked.
17:19Curtains drawn.
17:20It hurt.
17:21More than I expected.
17:22I bit into a folded cloth and gripped the bedpost until my knuckles went white.
17:26Thirty minutes in.
17:27Mother knocked.
17:28Juliette?
17:29Are you resting?
17:30I've brought tea.
17:31I held my breath.
17:32The surgeon froze.
17:33His hands still on my leg.
17:34I've just dozed off, Mama.
17:36Leave it outside.
17:37Oh.
17:38All right, darling.
17:38Sleep well.
17:39He finished in another hour.
17:41Wrapped my legs.
17:42Sat beside me.
17:43The bones are set properly now.
17:44You'll need three to four months for full recovery.
17:46Can I stand tomorrow?
17:48Briefly.
17:48A few seconds with tremendous pain.
17:50Can I stand?
17:51Yes.
17:51But walking is out of the question.
17:53A few seconds is enough.
17:55She left through the servant's entrance.
17:56No trace remained.
17:58I lay in bed, legs throbbing under the sheets.
18:01I want to sit up.
18:02Then I heard the front door.
18:04Edmund.
18:05Back early.
18:06His footsteps came up the stairs.
18:07Down the hall, the bedroom door opened.
18:10I was in bed.
18:12Covers pulled to my waist.
18:13The bandages hidden beneath.
18:15You look pale.
18:16Dizzy.
18:17I haven't eaten much today.
18:19He sat on the bed.
18:21Touched my forehead.
18:22His fingers were cold.
18:24You're sweating.
18:25The room's too warm.
18:26Too much fire.
18:27He looked at me.
18:28Longer than usual.
18:30Agnes went out today.
18:31She went to buy fabric.
18:33I wanted something to embroider.
18:35He didn't respond.
18:36He stood.
18:36Walked to the window.
18:37Back to me.
18:38Tomorrow we're going to Sussex.
18:39The plans have changed.
18:40We're going a day early.
18:41All right.
18:42You go.
18:42I'll wait here.
18:43No.
18:44He turned around.
18:46You're coming with us.
18:47Father thinks you should get out of the house.
18:49Fresh country air.
18:50It'll do you good.
18:51He smiled.
18:52His eyes didn't.
18:53You don't mind, do you, darling?
18:56Of course not.
18:57Tomorrow he takes me into enemy territory.
19:00Freshly cut legs.
19:01No Whitmore.
19:01No Agnes.
19:02No allies.
19:03He thinks he's trapping me.
19:05He doesn't know I've already set the trap.
19:07We left at dawn.
19:08Mother beside me.
19:09Edmund across.
19:10Father up front with the driver.
19:12Three hours to Sussex.
19:13Fresh incisions under the bandages.
19:15Every bump was agony.
19:16I bit the inside of my cheek.
19:17Kept my face still.
19:19Kept my breathing even.
19:20The hedge roads.
19:21The wildflowers.
19:22How lovely it would be to breathe clean air.
19:24Yes, Mama.
19:25How lovely.
19:26The Sussex state was beautiful.
19:28Of course it was.
19:30My money bought it.
19:32Jasmine.
19:34Everywhere.
19:35In vases.
19:36In garlids along the staircase.
19:38The whole house smelled of her.
19:40From upstairs, a child's laughter.
19:42Mother glanced at me.
19:43A flash of panic.
19:44Then it was gone.
19:45Let's get you settled.
19:46You must be exhausted.
19:47They put me in a room on the ground floor.
19:49Small.
19:49Clean.
19:50Window facing the back garden.
19:51The door had a lock on the outside.
19:53Not a guest room.
19:54A cage.
19:55Edmund set me in the chair by the window.
19:58Rest.
19:59Tomorrow will be a long day.
20:00He left.
20:01The lock clicked behind him.
20:03I was alone.
20:04In a house full of enemies.
20:05Twelve hours of celebration.
20:06Freshly cut legs.
20:07No allies.
20:08Exactly where they wanted me.
20:10At midnight.
20:12A tap at my window.
20:13Dr. Pemberton.
20:14Lady Juliet.
20:16I know you were awake.
20:17On that table.
20:18I saw your eyes move.
20:20I've known for weeks.
20:21Why didn't you tell my father?
20:23Because I'm tired of being his dog.
20:25Five years of records.
20:27Every session.
20:27Every drug I replaced.
20:28Every instruction your father gave me.
20:30Dates.
20:30Dosages.
20:31His exact words.
20:32All in my hand.
20:33This is enough to convict him.
20:35I know.
20:37He'll destroy you for this.
20:38He'll destroy me anyway.
20:40Sooner or later.
20:41Men like your father don't leave witnesses alive forever.
20:44At least this way it means convict him.
20:46I told you I was sorry.
20:48On that table.
20:49Do you remember?
20:49I remember everything.
20:51He nodded.
20:51Then he was gone.
20:52Swallowed by the dark garden.
20:54I closed the window.
20:55Held the package.
20:57Five years of evidence.
20:58Written by the hand that poisoned me.
21:00The hand that just set me free.
21:02One letter answered.
21:03One chance taken.
21:05The second letter.
21:06The second envelope.
21:07I still didn't know if it had reached her.
21:09The house woke early.
21:10Through my locked door.
21:11I could hear everything.
21:13Cassandra's voice in the hall.
21:14Laughing.
21:14Giving orders to the staff.
21:16Comfortable.
21:16At home.
21:17The child running.
21:18Edmund responded gently.
21:19A tone I had never heard before.
21:20Mother humming in the corridor.
21:22Father's heavy footsteps on the stairs.
21:24A family.
21:25A real family.
21:26Getting ready for their celebration.
21:28I sat by the window.
21:29Quietly listening to it all.
21:30A maid unlocked my door.
21:32She was young.
21:33Nervous.
21:34Wouldn't meet my eyes.
21:35The master says you're to join them in the main hall, my lady.
21:39How kind of him.
21:41She wheeled me down the corridor.
21:43The guests were already arriving.
21:45Political allies.
21:46Men and women carefully chosen.
21:48Every one of them useful.
21:49Every one of them blind.
21:51Cassandra stood near the fireplace.
21:53White dress.
21:54My mother's cameo at her throat.
21:55She looked like a bride.
21:57Edmund beside her.
21:58Hand on her waist.
21:59Easy.
21:59Natural.
22:00The boy on his hip.
22:01Dark curls.
22:01Edmund's eyes.
22:02Laughing.
22:03Father at the head of the table.
22:04Mother in the chair beside him.
22:05Both smiling.
22:06Both radiant.
22:06A perfect family portrait.
22:08They put me in the corner.
22:09Wheelchair facing the window.
22:10Back to the room.
22:12You can see the garden from here, my love.
22:13How lovely it is today.
22:15The garden.
22:15They wanted me to look at the garden.
22:17In a house bought with my money.
22:18At a party celebrating the woman who broke my legs.
22:21Beautiful.
22:22Mama.
22:25Thank you all for coming on short notice.
22:27Today I'd like to introduce someone very dear to our family.
22:30Mrs. Martin.
22:30A young woman who has endured great hardship.
22:33She has finally returned to us.
22:35And we are overjoyed to welcome her.
22:36Applause.
22:37Warm.
22:38Polite.
22:39Unsuspecting.
22:40Cassandra smiled.
22:41Gracious.
22:42Humble.
22:43The same performance she'd given at the top of those stairs five years ago.
22:46Cassandra stood.
22:48Smoothed her white dress.
22:49She opened her mouth.
22:50The doors opened.
22:51Lady Helena Ashworth walked in first.
22:54Behind her, three people.
22:55Whitmore.
22:56Mrs. Alcott.
22:56London's most vicious society columnist.
22:58And behind all of them, one more person.
23:00Agnes.
23:01Edmund told her she couldn't come.
23:02Helena brought her anyway.
23:03The second letter.
23:04The second envelope.
23:05The one I didn't know would arrive.
23:06It arrived.
23:07The color.
23:07Drained from father's face.
23:09Mother stopped smiling.
23:10Helena walked to the center of the hall.
23:11Her eyes swept the room.
23:12Landed on me in my corner.
23:14She nodded.
23:14Just once.
23:15Both letters.
23:16Both chances.
23:16I looked across the room at Cassandra.
23:18She was still smiling.
23:19Still poised.
23:20Still performing.
23:20She wouldn't be for long.
23:21Forgive the intrusion.
23:23I'm not here as a guest.
23:24I'm here as the wife of Lord Richard Ashworth.
23:26And as a friend of Lady Juliet Hartmine.
23:29Helena, this is a private gathering.
23:31Fifty guests is private?
23:32He said nothing.
23:33Mrs. Martin.
23:34Or should I call you Cassandra?
23:36The girl who drowned in the English Channel five years ago?
23:39Heads turning.
23:40Fifty pairs of eyes suddenly awake.
23:42Kashinda's smile cracked.
23:43You don't know what you're talking about.
23:45Mr. Whitmore.
23:46Please.
23:47Ladies and gentlemen.
23:48I am the solicitor representing Lady Juliet Hartwin.
23:51I have the following evidence to present.
23:53First.
23:54The marriage between Lady Juliet Hartmuth and Mr. Edmund Ashmuth is fraudulent.
23:58The parish register at St. Martin's contains no record of this union.
24:01The vicar named on if it died eight years ago.
24:03This marriage has never legally existed.
24:04These are absurd accusations.
24:07Whitmore continued as if he hadn't spoken.
24:09Third.
24:09Cassandra Hartmuth did not die five years ago.
24:11Her death certificate was forged.
24:13She has been living in France under the name Mrs. Martin, funded entirely by the Duke of Hartmuth.
24:17She returned to England six months ago.
24:20Fourth.
24:20Whitmore held up a thick bundle of papers.
24:22The private records of Dr. Pemberton, physician to Lady Juliet for the past five years, written in his own hand.
24:26Lady Juliet slags every session in which Lady Juliet's medication was replaced with harmless tonics on the Duke DeLibre.
24:31DeLibre instruction prevented of the Duke her recovery.
24:33Silence.
24:34Complete.
24:35Absolute.
24:36My daughter is mentally unstable.
24:38Years of medication have affected her mind.
24:41These documents are fabricated.
24:43I had been sitting in my corner, facing the window, back to all of them.
24:46Now I turned my chair, slowly, until I faced the room.
24:49Every eye shifted to me.
24:51If I'm mentally unstable, father, why did you need to sedate me before every session?
24:55He stared at me.
24:56If my mind is affected, why did you pay a doctor to make sure I never received real treatment?
25:00She doesn't recover.
25:01She doesn't worsen.
25:02Keep the balance.
25:03Do your job and keep your mouth shut.
25:05I brought you here from the continent and I pay you handsomely.
25:08I didn't hire you to question me.
25:09He sat down, slowly.
25:11Edmund stepped forward.
25:12She's lying.
25:13Pemberton will confirm she's lying.
25:15Dr. Pemberton gave a sworn statement before me this morning.
25:18His written testimony is consistent with Lady Juliet's account in every detail.
25:22Edmund stopped.
25:23Cassandra grabbed his arm.
25:24Edmund, do something.
25:26He didn't look at her.
25:27She looked at father.
25:28Father looked at the floor.
25:30She looked at mother.
25:31Mother was crying, but not moving, not speaking, not defending anyone.
25:34No one was going to save her.
25:36Not this time.
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