Marie Antoinette

-[Villette] How did you filch something like that?

-I didn't.

The "Countess de Valois" bought it.

With a little help from the Poor Fallen Women.

-[laughs] Bloody hell, Jeanne.

How much are you raking in?

-Plenty.

Since she lost that baby, the Queen's been convalescing in her rooms, clinging on to her other children.

They say she has the complexion of spoilt milk.

But her absence plays into our plans.

Ordinary courtiers have no way to disprove my story.

They think I'm the Queen's new friend.

-[Villette] And what about the necklace?

I still don't understand how you are going to convince the jeweller.

-I'm not.

I only have to convince the mark.

-Who you still haven't found, Jeanne.

-Oh, Villette, you are a tedious worry wart.

Versailles is crawling with rich idiots who want to please the Queen.

I just have to find the fool who is desperate enough to want to buy her the world's most expensive necklace.

-You'll make me look like Mesdames!

-[Yolande] No, it looks nice.

-Oh, will you all just stop fussing?

Enough!

[laughs] Mousseline!

-Your Majesty.

-I'm perfectly well.

I have been resting long enough.

You should attend to the Dauphin.

He had a very restless night.

Oh, what's this?

-A gift.

-[Marie] Can you take care of Mousseline?

-[Yolande] Come on then.

Let's go wipe this off.

-This perfume helps lift my spirits when I'm not feeling myself.

-I am not used to this weakness.

What if I never feel the way I did?

-You will.

You are stronger than you know.

[knock on door] [door opens] -[Marie] Leave me.

[sighs] Please tell me you have found the letters.

-I have investigated the theft discreetly.

Nothing has been found.

-Where are they?!

Do you understand?

If they get to Louis, he will divorce me.

-The thief took other items, as well.

It's likely he doesn't know what he has.

Remember how cold it was?

He's probably burnt them as kindling.

-Breteuil, if he burnt them, the heat would have illuminated my words!

[indistinct chatter] Greatly appreciated.

-[Man] Of course.

With pleasure, ma'am.

-Poor Fallen Women, thank you.

-Excuse me, are you drunk?

-Well, what if I am?

I'm married to a pointless, miserable man, and I lead a pointless, miserable existence.

I need to find pleasure somewhere.

-Oh, there's the Countess de Valois.

I must have a word.

-Maybe you should start a charity.

-[snorts] -Or at least find a hobby.

People will start to mistake you for a fishwife.

-Do you know the Countess de Valois?

Is she really friends with the Queen?

-Come here, I'll tell you a secret.

You need to get over your crush on Antoinette.

It's pathetic.

Pathetic!

-[Jeanne] The Princess de Lamballe seems sad.

-That one would do anything for the Queen's affection.

-[Beaumarchais] The problem is, I'm still due payment for the arms I secured for you in America.

-You must speak to Calonne.

The matter is his now.

-Thank you.

I hoped to make an income from my new play, "The Marriage of Figaro", but Your Majesty banned it.

-What did you expect?

It mocks the ruling classes.

Dangerous words have dangerous consequences, Beaumarchais.

-[Beaumarchais] You're right, Sire.

I went too far.

But I have made revisions, and the play is now a harmless romantic farce.

Your Majesty, help me.

You have always been a patron of the arts.

-We all loved your "Barber of Seville."

We loved you in it.

Do you remember, Majesty?

-You lit up the theatre.

-Would a performance be so bad... if only the humour remains?

Don't we all need a little fun?

-I'll read the new pages.

If there's no mention of politics, religion, or government, we can start with a private performance at Versailles.

Invitation only.

-It will be a frivolous entertainment of no consequence.

-I hope so.

I would hate to lock you in the Bastille.

-This will be fun, so much fun.

I should...I must...

I must talk to Rose.

Yes.

About costumes.

[laughs] Sorry.

-[Yolande] What did Fersen say, Antoinette?

-Nothing.

He barely looked at me.

-I'm sure he's dying to see you.

-No, no, no.

That would be worse.

I must avoid him.

I hope he doesn't stay too long.

You deserve love, Antoinette.

-I was born of a duty, not happiness.

At least this little man's fever's better.

Are we feeling better?

And you, you are by my side.

-[Yolande] I got you the job so you could help me pay off the debts.

-There's less in the treasury than you might think.

I can only give you three hundred thousand for now.

-Saint James needs four this month.

If he comes to break my legs, I'll point him in your direction.

Oh, can I maybe?

Powder your hair, Calonne.

You are required by the King.

Duchess Polignac.

Not interrupting, am I?

Not at all.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I asked you to cut spending, and yet new bills arrive every day.

-Actually, no.

You asked me to repair the calamitous hole in the economy.

There are rumours France is weak, and cuts would only confirm that.

What you need is investment to show you're strong.

New roads, new prisons, invest in your vision.

New harbour at Cherbourg.

Cuts now are not the answer.

What you need is spending.

-I have no money.

-We must increase the loans.

-Show me a plan.

-[Marie] Oh, I don't know.

Should I be doing a play when the Dauphin is unwell?

-Well, he's teething, that's all.

-Tell me everything.

How is your new position at the Palais Royal?

-The Duke of Orleans treats me well.

-I hope his son does, too.

If Chartres gives you any trouble, you are welcome back here any time.

-I know.

-Is this the Marriage of Figaro?

Beaumarchais recruited me.

Apparently, my sour countenance is perfect for the role of Marceline.

-But you don't like theatre.

-No, it's ridiculous.

But I need a hobby.

I considered gardening, but this allows me to annoy you at the same time, so win-win.

-Now run along, Suzanne.

You don't want to be late for your first day of rehearsals.

-Yes, mistress!

Right away, mistress!

-Oh, sorry.

All the parts are taken.

-You can't keep me away from her forever.

-I don't see why not.

-She will grow bored with you, too.

-Perhaps.

But your weakness, Lamballe, is that you don't see the whole chessboard, only the Queen.

Wait for me!

[clapping] -Now, your Majesty, friends.

Let me introduce our actors, and set the scene.

Our hero, Figaro, is a man of the world.

He has risen and fallen, and has had to make a living on his merits.

We meet Figaro on the eve of marriage to his beautiful Suzanne.

Yes.

[applause] Figaro's master is Count Almaviva.

Like many powerful nobles, he has the right to deflower local brides on the night before their wedding.

And he is intent on deflowering the lovely Suzanne.

-[laughs] -Ah!

Here's our Count Almaviva now.

-Your Majesty.

Everyone.

-Here's a script for you.

Come on, take the stage.

Now we are all here, we shall let Figaro set the scene.

Saint-Georges, Act Five, Scene Three, please.

-Woman, woman, woman!

What a weak, deceitful creature you are.

Nothing that lives and breathes in creation can deny its nature.

Is it yours to be unfaithful?

After she swore in front of her Ladyship that she would not go, and even while the ceremony was going on... -[Louis] The Paris Parliament already resists me.

What if they won't approve to an extension of my loans?

-There is another way.

-No.

I cannot raise the taxes for the clergy and nobility.

-Why not?

While you've been distracted with war, they've turned the clock back to the Middle Ages.

They've taken control of the Parliament.

They contribute nothing to the state.

France will not progress until the financial system is fair, each taxed according to his means, not his birth.

-Our situation is precarious enough.

What you are suggesting would light a fuse under the country, and I will not do it.

Now, are we done, or will you be joining me in my bath, too?

-We're done.

-We're done.

Find some way to get my new loans approved by Parliament.

-Yes, Majesty.

-Remember the dashing Swede who was said to be the Queen's favourite?

I have cast him opposite her.

-[Felicite] No.

-She can barely get a line out.

-Do you toy with her for a purpose?

-Perhaps the Queen deserves it.

-[Man] For your information.

-Thank you, sir.

-[Man] For your information.

Every night at 9: 00.

Cagliostro.

I heard Cardinal Rohan has become his patron and is launching him in Paris.

-That charlatan?

-Occultist, alchemist, and healer.

I met him in Strasberg.

They say that, unlike most doctors, he cures more than he kills.

-He certainly knows how to create a stir.

-[Felicite] Popularity is power.

The Palais Royal would be the perfect setting for his next audience.

You should invite him, hear him out.

-[Jeanne] Hmm, look who's here.

It's unbearable.

I must withdraw from the play.

-Oh.

-Your Majesty.

-Huh.

A Cardinal in want to the Queen.

-I don't propose-- I don't den-- I don't.

Why must there be so many words?

-You will never find the feeling if you don't look up from the page.

Let's move on.

Act One, Scene Eight.

The Count's first attempt at seduction.

Come on.

Go on.

-Something upset you, Suzanne?

Alone, talking to yourself.

-Was there something you wanted, sir?

If I was seen alone with you.

-[Fersen] Um...

It would be most inconvenient if I were to be found here.

But I think you are aware of my feelings.

I assume Bazile has told you that I love you.

Sorry.

Um...

I've only -- I've only got a moment to tell you my plan, so listen.

-I've only got a mo-- uh, I-- Su-- Suz-- I won't listen!

-Stop, stop!

That's alright.

Your Majesty.

-What?

-What's wrong with you?

Count Fersen, Almaviva is dying for this woman.

Look at her.

He must have her.

And, your Majesty, we must believe your rejection.

I mean, let yourself go.

[chuckles] Release the emotion.

Hmm?

Again!

-Antoinette.

Please, stop.

Sorry, I thought we might be friends.

-I do not want to be friends, thank you.

-I will withdraw from the play.

I don't want to cause you distress.

-Oh, it's too late.

You forgot about me for three years, and now you walk back in like nothing has changed.

Why are you even here?

-I have applied for command of the Swedish Regiment in your army.

-Then why are you here?

-Because I wanted to see you again.

-Oh, please.

I heard nothing from you, not one word.

All this time, I had to read the dispatches to know you weren't dead.

-I couldn't write.

My letters would have been intercepted, they would have put you in danger.

-What happened between us is in the past.

You're chasing a memory.

-I never forgot you, Antoinette.

-Oh, please, please stop!

I am not the girl you knew.

I'm the mother of the future King.

-[Fersen] You're right.

You have changed.

But I think you've sacrificed something of yourself, too.

And I'll confess, it makes me love you even more.

-Suzanne?

-[Marie] Is there something you wanted, Sir?

-It would be most inconvenient if I were to be found here.

But I think you're aware of my feelings.

-Naughty Antoinette!

Who are you?

-Marguerite de Gourbillon.

Beaumarchais hired me to be your reader and help you learn your lines for the play.

-Oh, I don't need help.

-Don't you?

-Pardon me?

-Well, he thinks you're hopeless.

-Have you no decorum or sense of rank?

-I can flatter if I must, but I think you get enough of that already.

-[Josephine] Oh, do I?

-Oh, your breath reeks of cognac.

Let me guess, Provence doesn't satisfy you?

-How dare you.

-I have a husband, too.

-Yes.

-In the country.

But I decided not to let matrimony ruin my life.

-Well, you know nothing about my marriage.

-I have seen your husband strutting around... like a very small ****.

There is freedom here, if you want it.

-Tell me why I'm hosting this.

-Cagliostro has a tremendous gift.

-He predicted the death of the Queen's mother to the precise day and hour.

-[Villette] Cagliostro gives me the creeps.

-Forget him.

We're here to see his patron.

-The Cardinal?

-He's a Rohan, one of the oldest and richest families in France.

He's the perfect mark.

Greedy, stupid and naive.

-I use this water to focus my attention, to listen to the angels of the spheres.

-A fairground trick.

-There is a message for a man of the cloth.

You will grow close to a beautiful woman.

Oh, God.

But double grief hardens her heart and makes her more powerful than any man.

-He's talking about you.

-Or every other woman in the room.

Or do you believe your horoscope, as well?

-Let's go.

-I'm amazed I managed to prise you away from Cardinal Rohan.

-He would have me on a leash.

-Oh.

-I imagine your patron also likes you close at hand.

-Oh, Chartres isn't my patron.

He's my protege.

-Really?

What do you teach him?

-Philosophy, politics.

He is well-placed to bring change to France, but he's lazy.

I hope you might change that.

-What do you have in mind?

-[Provence] Well, he seems very taken with your girlfriend.

-So do you.

You keep staring at her.

-I don't want to miss the moment when the great magician makes her disappear in a puff of smoke.

-[laughs] -Seriously, how can you entertain this crap?

-Since I was cast out of Versailles, I must take my amusement where I can.

Ah, Count Cagliostro, come, please.

You're a magician.

Show us your best trick.

-[chortles] -I consider myself more of an enquirer.

I seek hidden knowledge.

-Of course.

-If you look closely science, magic and religion are not so very far apart.

[both laughing] -No one believes in God anymore.

But they believe in Cagliostro.

-Watch your mouth, cousin.

God gives us a right to rule.

-That he bestowed that right on your brother makes me question him even more.

-Ssh, look.

-There is another message.

-Right.

-The Dauphin will not inherit the throne of France.

France will seek a new King.

A Prince of the Blood, who is present in this very room.

Good night.

...are wayward, and much more than you think.

I don't -- -Leave.

-Stay.

-Madam?

-I am rehearsing.

-[laughs] You're seriously going to appear on stage?

-Well, why not?

-Well, you have no talent.

-Even in the highest ranks of society, all that women get from men is condescension and contempt.

-Okay.

-By a show of false respect, we are lured into slavery.

-Oh, slavery?

-If we have property, the law treats us like children.

And if we stray, it punishes us as adults.

In all your dealings with us, your attitudes deserve nothing but disgust or pity.

-Beaumarchais is a hack.

You know he wasn't even born into nobility.

-Oh, no?

-He made up his title.

-And yet he sees us so clearly.

[door slams] -Well, that is the emotion we were looking for.

And again, to be sure.

-For love of whom you generously abolished a certain vile privilege.

-[Fersen] Speak, my dear.

Speaking freely is a right you have acquired of me for life, so you might as well make a start now.

-[Marie] It's not a right I want.

I don't want anything to do with it.

Just leave me alone, please!

-[Fersen] But first say what you were going to say.

-I don't remember what it was.

-[Fersen] About a wife's duty.

-This way.

Come and talk to me in the garden later when it's getting dark.

I will make it worth your while.

-If I take your place in the garden, you, sweet girl, won't have to go.

Where are you supposed to meet him?

-The garden is all I remember.

-Won't you kiss your mother-in-law, my pretty Suzy?

-[laughs] I was very unhappy when I was a girl.

I was on the way to becoming the most miserable of wives, and now I'm blessed.

-Clearly, you have no idea what has been happening.

-I assume you mean to tell me.

-Your wife is parading herself as a servant on stage in front of Fersen.

-Count Fersen is in the play?

-These newfangled ideas erode our position.

You must stop the rot before it infects the entire building.

Call off the performance.

-[Fersen] Two weeks.

-[Marie] Huh?

No.

Two weeks?

-[Fersen] Two weeks.

-Two weeks anchored off Finistere.

-Uh-huh.

-And then we went across the Atlantic by a circuitous route to avoid the English, and then we landed on Rhode Island.

-Oh, how exciting.

-Well, unfortunately not, because the English fleet blockaded us, and we were confined to camp at Newport for an entire year.

-[laughs] A year?

I'm sure you found ways to entertain yourself.

Were the women very beautiful?

-One or two passed muster.

Of course, I was more interested in the local flora and fauna.

-Liar!

All I see of the world is a view from a window.

I know nothing.

-Then I will be your eyes.

Or, you could stay here.

I could find you a position.

Say yes.

-I won't be another person who needs things from you, Antoinette.

-[sighs] -If I receive this commission, I will be stationed a couple of hours north of here.

When I have leave, I can come and see you.

-I like that.

[both laughing] -[Villette] Using the Cardinal as a mark is crazy.

The Rohan family is powerful.

I have heard they treat their enemies mercilessly.

-Exactly.

The jeweller won't dare question a Cardinal.

-If we are caught, we'll hang.

Now we have enough to buy a farm.

I would provide for you, I would -- -You would provide for me?

-Yes.

-Oh.

You've spent too long in Paris.

You've forgotten that all the good land in this country belongs to the nobility and the church.

Buy your farm, if you want.

You'll find yourself sleeping in a pigsty, breaking your back on bare earth, giving every scrap you produce to some fat lord who will feast on it and **** your wife and daughters.

Only the rich are safe from hunger.

Only the fabulously, filthily, untouchably rich.

You are either with me or against me.

-[Villette] Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.

I tried to seduce a great and virtuous woman, the Countess Jeanne de Valois.

-Valois?

-Yes.

She's a descendent of King Henry II.

In truth, I sought to use Jeanne for her influence over the Queen.

They are close friends.

I heard the Countess got Calonne his job.

-Tell me more.

-[Yolande] Hello, gentlemen.

You are invited to a performance of The Marriage of Figaro.

Hello, you should come and see our play.

Ladies, you are invited to our performance of The Marriage of Figaro.

I do hope you come and see it.

-I'd rather gouge my eyes out.

-Oh, well.

Hello, gentlemen.

You're invited to the play.

I hope you do come to the performance of The Marriage of Figaro.

[indistinct chatter] -The Countess de Valois, isn't it?

It's strange, your name is everywhere.

And yet, until a few weeks ago, we had never heard of you.

-What are you saying, Princess?

-That perhaps you only claimed to be friends with the Queen to solicit donations for your "charity".

-I'm not a thief.

Although I confess there are chapters of my life I'm not proud of.

But the Queen is so kind, she forgives my past mistakes.

Perhaps you would know that if you were still close to her.

-Where did you get that?

-A present from the Queen.

It's pretty, isn't it?

Have you been invited to her play?

-Now I recall, the Queen did mention your charity in passing.

-I look forward to our better acquaintance, Princess.

-We have not been introduced.

Cardinal Louis de Rohan.

-Cardinal.

-Perhaps we could make an appointment to speak privately.

-Sorry.

I did not mean to disturb you.

-Not at all.

-I just thought I'd come and -- -He's just fallen asleep.

-I feel I'm so preoccupied, I'm neglecting my family.

How is my wife?

-The play is doing wonders for her health.

She seems happy.

-Good.

That's good.

And Count Fersen?

He's...

I think she may have liked him once.

-You have nothing to fear.

-I shouldn't have doubted her.

It's easy for things to play on the mind when you have no one to talk to.

I understand that feeling.

-Thank you, Duchess.

[indistinct chatter] -[whispering indistinctly] -I wonder what you're looking for.

A kiss from Count Fersen, per chance?

I'm not going to tell anyone.

-You're not?

-Well, not for now, anyway.

Perhaps we're entitled to a private life here.

Oh, don't think I like you now.

-Did -- did you?

-I heard nothing.

You trust easily, Your Majesty.

But some close to you do not wish you well.

They would burn you for their own ambition.

-Who?

Saint-Georges, if you know something, tell me.

Just tell me.

-Just be careful, Antoinette.

-Fersen.

Josephine knows.

She knows about us.

We were -- -Forgive me.

I had a question about one of our scenes, so.

-Yeah, thank you.

-This performance is cancelled.

-Louis -- -Remember who you are.

-I'm so sorry, Beaumarchais.

I couldn't go through with the play.

The illness came upon me.

-She -- she was dreadfully ill. -Well, we'll arrange another date for the performance when you are well.

But...perhaps the King will not allow that?

I see.

-I had hoped that, for the sake of my finances, our little show would lead to a professional performance in Paris.

-I'm sorry, Beaumarchais.

-Right, how much did Louis actually see?

-Nothing.

Everything.

The last thing I want is to hurt him.

What am I to do?

-You need to show him that he hasn't lost you.

-How?

-It was silly.

You're so silly to accept that role.

It left me open to the perception of impropriety, and I'm sorry.

-If anybody else had found you alone with him.

-It will never happen again.

Never.

I promise.

-Was Beaumarchais very upset?

-Yeah.

He shouldn't be punished for my mistake.

Perhaps you could grant him a public performance in Paris, with professional actors?

The people will love it, and Beaumarchais might finally make some money.

-I like the newest version.

And I'm sure it will be a popular decision.

I'll think about it.

-I feel terrible.

Forgive me?

-Stay with me.

[indistinct chatter] [knocking on door] -Your Eminence.

-Countess.

-You are very late.

But, please, do come in.

Henry II de Valois, my ancestor.

-[Rohan] I come bearing gifts.

A significant donation to your little charity.

-The Poor Fallen Women are in your debt.

Please.

-The women you support are wanton sinners.

Do you dabble yourself?

-I am a respectable woman, and so are my charges.

It is men like you who offend God with such questions.

Leave.

Take your money.

-Countess, you misunderstand.

-You don't mean to seduce me?

-Heavens, no!

What gave you that idea?

-[laughs] Forgive me, Cardinal.

Sometimes I speak out of turn and cause offence without meaning to.

-I have the same fault.

That's how I fell foul of the Queen.

-Then we are kindred spirits.

And now firm friends.

-Have your servant bring wine.

I will stay a while.

-Oh, what a lovely idea, but impossible.

I have to meet other benefactors tonight.

-But my donation?

The Queen will hear of it?

-Oh, yes.

Yes.

But, of course, you must never mention it to her.

She believes charity should remain private.

But she usually sends a note of thanks for larger donations.

-When might I expect that?

-And now I really must go.

[door slams] -[Villette] How much?

-Enough for another month's rent on this place, and to buy you the finest inks.

It's time to become a Queen.

-Ow!

[indistinct chatter] -[Man] Please welcome the King and the Queen to Paris.

[applause] -Good evening.

[Man] Please be seated for the professional premier of The Marriage of Figaro.

-I don't see what this achieves.

-You wait.

[crowd gasping, applauds] -19 foot by 26.

[Suzanne] Look, Figaro.

My wedding bonnet.

Do you reckon it is better like this?

-[laughter] -My pet, it's perfect.

-Was there something you wanted, sir?

If I was seen alone with you -- -It would be most inconvenient if I were to be found here.

But I think you are aware of my feelings.

-You mean, Suzanne, that he seriously intended to seduce you?

-Oh, no.

His Lordship wouldn't go to all that bother for a servant.

[laughter] He tried to buy me.

[laughter] -[Countess] Send word to him at once that you'll meet him in the garden.

Take this pen, and we'll decide on the place.

-Write to him?

-There is no other way.

-But, Madame, at least you should be on the one who -- -I'll take full responsibility.

New lyric to the old tune.

How sweet at eve the balmy breeze, under the spreading chestnut trees.

-[Suzanne] Under the spreading chestnut trees.

Go on.

[Countess] You think he won't understand?

What a weak and deceitful creature you are.

Nothing that lives and breathes in creation can deny its nature.

Is it yours to be unfaithful?

After she swore, in front of her Ladyship, that she would not go.

No, Count, you shall not have her.

You shall not have her!

-[laughter] -Do you think that because you're a great Lord that you are a great genius?

Nobility, wealth, rank, high positions, such things make a man so proud.

But what did you ever do to earn them?

Be born, that is all.

Take your privilege away, and what is left?

A very average man.

-You changed the text?

-[Figaro] Whereas I, by God, was a face in the crowd... -It's the truth, isn't it?

-[Figaro] I've had to show more skill and brain power just to stay alive, and you dare cross swords with me?

-You agreed to this?

-I did not.

Beaumarchais betrayed us.

[Figaro] Anyway, since a man has to eat, I sharpen my pen and ask around for the latest topic of debate.

I am told that, provided I refrain from mentioning the government, religion, politics, morality, public figures, influential bodies, the opera, or any other kind of theatre and anybody who is somebody, I am free to publish whatever I like!

[applause] Once I've got permission from two or three censors.

[booing] [Man] Not the censorship!

[crowd jeering] -[Louis] I can't discuss this with you.

As far as I'm concerned, the matter is done.

-I'm sure we can save this.

-We?

No, no, no.

You clearly have no understanding of politics or matters of state.

-That's not fair!

Louis, you have never allowed me to understand, but I could help.

-You have done enough.

-[Marie] This is not my fault.

He's supposed to be our friend!

-A mob has gathered outside the Bastille.

They're calling Beaumarchais a hero and you a despot.

-That's ridiculous!

-We will never be rid of that damn play now.

It will haunt us.

-Will you stop?

-Do not just walk away!

-You were so desperate.

-I am King!

-They're shouting for Beaumarchais to be released from the Bastille.

-I underestimated you.

I never imagined there would be such anger over a silly play.

-Beaumarchais's arrest shows Louis for the tyrant he is, and that popularity can be lost... and won.

-I'm hardly a man of the people.

-[Felicite] Not yet, you're not.

If you want to fulfil Cagliostro's prophecy, you must replace Louis in their hearts and minds.

-A King anointed by his people, as in England.

A constitutional monarch.

-I told Louis.

I warned him.

I have tried to support him, but it's hopeless.

-A King must be unshakeable.

Masterful.

[horse neighs] [men shouting] -How long has he been missing?

-We think several hours.

-Where have you looked?

-[Vergennes] They've found nothing on the East perimeter.

They're checking the West.

-Saddle my horse, immediately.

I'll search the woods to the north.

-You can't go anywhere, Majesty.

Come to Louis' office.

I'll explain there.

-[Provence] Bring me Calonne's records.

Call the Council of Ministers.

-Wait, what are you doing?

-I need to secure the King's papers.

-There's no need.

I will begin the preliminary paperwork.

-You are not in control here.

-No.

No, not yet.

But don't worry.

When I take the Regency, I will look after you.

And your children.

-[Breteuil] How dare you!

-If I may say so, adopting this position is premature.

-Vergennes, we must prevent news from reaching Paris until we agree on a public statement.

-[Vergennes] Sir, I know my duty.

-[Provence] Vergennes.

-[Vergennes] Please, let us wait to see how events develop.

[Provence] There can be no delay.

The people must know the crown is safe in my hands.

-Provence, issue a statement declaring the King has sprained his ankle.

Right.

You worried us.

You really worried us.

-You can't get rid of me that easily.

-Provence seems disappointed.

[door opens] -Okay.

-The Doctor, Your Majesty.

-Oh, thank you.

-Breteuil.

You're right.

If anything happens to Louis, Provence will destroy me and the children.

And I won't be able to stop him.

I can't defend myself because I have no money, no resources, and everything I have belongs to France.

I own nothing.

I have to be a Queen with real power.

-The French won't like it.

-Then we must be ready for a fight.

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