King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire by challenging him to a duel.
* * *
(ETHEREAL MUSIC PLAYING)
Turn to the right, milady.
Thank you.
That’s it.
(WIND WHISTLING)
(CROWD CHATTERING)
HERALD: Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye!
Lords! Knights! Squires!
And all other manner of people.
That by the command of Our Lord, the king of France, it is strictly prohibited, on pain of death and the loss of property, for anyone here to be armed, or to carry a sword or dagger unless he be one who has the express permission of Our Lord, the king.
Each man is to fight on horseback and on foot, armed in the manner that pleases him, with any weapon or device of attack or defense.
Except for weapons or devices of equal design or made with charms or spells or any other thing that is forbidden by God and holy church to all good Christians.
If either combatant should carry onto the field of battle any arms that have been forged with spells, charms, enchantments, or any other evil arts, then so shall the malefactor be punished as an enemy of God or as a traitor or as a murderer.
JACQUES: Tighter. Tighter.
SERVANT: Monsieur.
(CROWS CAWING)
(DOG BARKING)
(PIERRE INHALES SHARPLY)
(HORSE GALLOPING)
MAN: Knights, proceed.
(SOFT TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
MAN 2: Let them go!
(HORSE NEIGHS)
Let them go! Let them go!
(CROWD CHEERING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES)
(CHEERING FADES OFF)
(GRUNTS)
MAN: (LOUDLY) Come for your fight!
You’re all gonna die!
You’re all gonna die like pigs!
Come on, then!
(WOMEN WEEPING)
Come on, you failed scum…
(WOMAN PLEADING)
We cannot just sit here.
MAN: …and fight!
Jean, we were ordered by Pierre to hold this bridge.
Orders be damned. For the king.
(WOMEN CRYING AND SHRIEKING)
JEAN: For the king!
MEN: For the king!
(ALL SHOUTING)
(ALL CONTINUE SHOUTING)
(ALL GRUNTING AND YELLING)
Thank you.
JEAN: I will make no apology for how you men fought today.
It was an honor to be there with you.
Limoges is lost.
And our allies have failed to take the port at Brest.
Our new Lord, Pierre, has now resigned the campaign and orders us home.
We move at dawn.
MEN: Hear, hear.
MAN: To the king.
Evidently, Pierre is not happy.
Lives were saved.
Not in Limoges.
Let us return home, my friend.
You saved my life today.
Thank you.
(MAN SINGING FRENCH FOLK SONG)
(CONTINUES SINGING)
(ALL TOAST, CHATTERING)
(DOGS BARKING)
(HORSES APPROACHING)
(HORSE WHINNYING)
GATEKEEPER: Declare yourself!
Squire Jean de Carrouges.
Son of the captain of this fort.
GATEKEEPER: Open the gates!
(MAN URGING HORSE)
(PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING)
It’s a great honor for Pierre to have chosen your father’s castle for this ceremony.
I shall be prepared to assume this captaincy upon my father’s passing.
Pray it is not for many years.
Father. Mother.
Captain. Milady.
Squires.
Do not keep Our Lord Pierre waiting.
MAN 1: …become your man. I shall serve you for life.
MAN 2: So, Lord, I become your man. I swear I shall serve you for life.
MAN 3: Milord, I become your man. I shall serve you for life.
MAN 4: Milord, I become your man. I swear I shall serve you for life.
Lord, I become your man. I swear I shall serve you for life.
Lord…
PIERRE: Closer.
Lord, I become your man.
I swear I shall serve you for life.
(SIGHS)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(MAN URGING HORSE)
(DOGS BARKING)
Declare yourself.
It is I. Helen of Troy.
(LAUGHS)
Le Gris.
JACQUES: It’s good to see you, my friend.
Though I do not come only as a friend.
I’m afraid there’s more to my visit than I have let on.
Speak.
Pierre has charged me with the collection of debts.
I see.
I have already visited all the other tenants in his domain.
And now…
You have come to see me.
I have come to see you.
These levies are for military defense.
And you know as well as anyone our enemy’s present.
And we need to be ready.
When have I not been ready to stand and fight for my king?
JACQUES: You have.
More than any other.
But that’s not all this Pierre wants.
No, what Pierre wants…
Pierre wants the money that he’s rightfully owed.
I don’t have it.
This plague has carried off half my workforce.
My rent collection is down.
My fields yield half what they used to.
And the cost of labor has now risen.
Yes.
How is it the other vassals paid?
They paid because I had to insist.
I see.
And now, you insist upon me?
Let me talk to Pierre.
He’s not without reason.
I will explain your situation.
You are a true friend.
But I cannot return empty-handed.
Of course not.
Thank you.
Let me see what I have at hand.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JACQUES: Think about this.
I have.
You have not.
I will be fighting under Admiral de Vienne.
The English are looting the Cotentin Peninsula as we speak.
This plague has taken your wife and son.
JEAN: I will not stand by whilst Lower Normandy falls.
Do not let this obduracy take you.
You have no heir.
If you die, all you have will revert to Count Pierre.
A fact not lost on Pierre, I’m certain.
He does not favor me as he does you.
JACQUES: No, you have much to live for.
What do I have to live for, here? What?
A name.
It’s too great and storied a name for you to treat it so recklessly.
Your father has the captaincy of Belleme.
When he dies, you will inherit that garrison and everything that comes with it.
And I am your friend.
And there are many others like me who would prefer you not perish.
I don’t embark on this campaign recklessly.
I don’t embark on it just to fight.
Then why?
(SCOFFS) Jacques.
I am broke. I need money.
(ALL GRUNTING AND YELLING)
(MAN SCREAMING)
(HORSE SQUEALS)
(UPBEAT MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
TOWNSPEOPLE: Long live the king!
Long live the king!
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
(UPBEAT MEDIEVAL MUSIC CONTINUES)
MAN 1: They’re back! Quick! Come on! They’re back!
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(LAUGHTER)
WOMAN 1: I’ll take that from you.
WOMAN 2: Let me help you, sir.
WOMAN 3: Turn around, please, my lord.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
WOMAN 4: Lift, lift your arm.
WOMAN: Take them more bread.
Over here. They want some more.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER CONTINUES)
(MUFFLED MUSIC PLAYING)
(MEN SINGING IN FRENCH)
(UPBEAT MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(SINGING CONTINUES)
Robert de Thibouville.
He’s providing shelter and vittles for us.
De Thibouville?
Did he not side with the English against us at Poitiers?
Yes, but he was pardoned along with the others.
He’s with us now.
And he’ll stay that way if he knows what’s good for him.
Steady, Jean.
It’s a roof over our heads.
Besides, he has quite the wine cellar.
(LIVELY CHATTER AND LAUGHTER)
JEAN: What a beauty.
She is a de Thibouville?
Yes. Her name is even older than yours.
She’s his only daughter.
There’s a dowry to be had.
Of course, a man would have to bear the mark of her father’s disgrace…
I don’t imagine one would suffer too greatly at the task of producing an heir.
Gentlemen, welcome.
You fought bravely.
Thank you for hosting us.
I would like to introduce… Jean de Carrouges.
Your reputation precedes you.
As does yours.
(ROBERT CHUCKLES)
It’s my pleasure to host you and your men.
It is only just to support the men who fight for the king.
Some lessons are learned later in life, hmm?
(MEN SINGING INDISTINCTLY)
Allow me to introduce my daughter.
Marguerite.
Marguerite, this is Squire Jean de Carrouges.
Milady, I’m pleased to meet you.
Pleasure is mine.
(MEN CONTINUE SINGING)
ROBERT: The dowry includes this parcel as well.
Starting at the hunting grounds.
JEAN: What of this here? The one to the north?
Aunou-le-Faucon.
As I say, starting at the hunting grounds.
JEAN: I’ll have that piece of land as well.
Most certainly.
(BELL TOLLS DISTANTLY)
(PRIEST CHANTING IN LATIN)
ALL: Amen.
(PEOPLE MURMURING)
(DRUMS BEATING)
(APPLAUSE)
(LIVELY MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYS)
(LAUGHTER)
(INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION)
I’m a very jealous man, milady.
Tonight, you are mine and will dance with no other.
And every night hereafter.
(LIVELY MEDIEVAL MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING)
(WOMAN WHOOPS)
(HOLY WATER SLOSHING)
(PRIEST CHANTING IN LATIN)
(HOLY WATER SLOSHING)
No need to worry.
JACQUES: This is it.
(GOATS BLEATING)
Property starts at the river mouth and extends all the way to the hill beyond.
JEAN: So, this is Aunou-le-Faucon.
This was meant to be part of Marguerite’s dowry.
She loved it here.
And Pierre simply gave it to you.
In appreciation of my service.
His accounts were in complete chaos.
Once I was able to reorder them and collect the rents due, everything started functioning properly, and his fortunes turned.
Gave me this as a sign of his gratitude.
It’s not my doing.
The count is generous and impetuous.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
Let us eat.
MARGUERITE: I wish you’d seen the gardens at Aunou-le-Faucon.
We had roses and lavender.
Then, we shall have those here.
I remember my father built a swing on the largest tree in the estate.
I will find the largest tree and do the same.
I have such wonderful memories of my summers there.
(TENDER MUSIC PLAYING)
JEAN: (SIGHS) It’s a pity Pierre took that estate from your father.
I know you miss it.
It’s the only way he could pay what he owed.
Pierre then just gave it to Jacques Le Gris as a gift.
Do all squires enjoy such lavish gifts?
Le Gris more than most.
He has become Pierre’s most trusted.
Perhaps Aunou-le-Faucon is not gone for good.
Perhaps I shall not let that rest.
Jean.
My love, I have bled for this king.
He knows of me.
I may have more power than you think.
I know how powerful you are.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
This land was promised to me as part of my wife’s dowry.
The petition is denied.
This decision comes directly from His Majesty, the king.
(PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
(WOMAN URGING ANIMALS)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(DUCKS QUACKING)
Are you Squire Jean de Carrouges?
That is I.
What does it say?
‘Tis your father.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(WOMAN YELLING IN FRENCH)
JEAN: Open the gate!
Open the gate!
(HORSE NEIGHS)
JEAN: Leave us.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
I was in Paris when the news came.
Your father died quietly.
In his sleep.
I am lost.
They tell me I’m to leave here within a month.
You will do no such thing.
I will assume the captaincy.
You will keep your quarters, your servants.
Everything will be the way it was…
Jean, have you not heard?
You’re not going to follow in your father’s footsteps as captain here at Belleme.
What do you mean?
Why did you have to sue the count for a piece of land?
Just to impress your bride.
That land was promised to me. It was an appeal.
And now, you’ve made an enemy of Count Pierre.
It was right.
(SCOFFS) Right. There’s no right.
There is only the power of men.
You sued him, and you’ve made a powerful enemy.
Your father was a hard man but there was much about this world that he understood.
Who then will assume my father’s captaincy?
(SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PIERRE: Good day!
Join us, my squire.
This is a day for celebration.
I will not be staying, milord.
I do not wish to interrupt such an occasion, but my honor compels me to speak.
I was angered, but I spoke well.
I said to Pierre, “Can you stand there, as a man of honor, as my liege lord, and say that I am not man enough to assume my rightful captaincy that my grandfather and my father held for the last 20 years of his life and take command of that garrison and hold the fort of Belleme for my king?”
And what said Pierre?
And there was Le Gris, whose life I saved, sitting by his side with his captaincy, not even man enough to look at me.
He poisons milord with evil advice.
Whispered in his ear, blackening my name.
(CHUCKLES DRYLY)
Surely, you did not say this.
You did.
We are no longer welcome at court.
Jean…
So be it.
(GOAT BLEATING)
(ROOSTER CROWS)
(DOG BARKING)
Milord.
Jean, an invitation has arrived.
Your friend Jean Crespin has invited us to his home.
They are celebrating the birth of their first child.
It’s a boy.
Oh, wonderful news.
It’s been a year since Belleme.
Perhaps we may show our faces so they know we carry on in spite of this injustice.
A healthy child in these times is cause for a celebration.
Do you think I would deny the rabble of Argentan the sight of a true noblewoman?
Have a gown made.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
MAN: This one is ready. We need more hay over here.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(MERRY MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING IN DISTANCE)
I am very glad you chose to attend.
This will only do you good, my love.
Jean, I’m very pleased to see you. It’s been a long time.
Congratulations, my friend.
Milady, you look lovely.
Thank you.
Please, you’re most welcome.
(MERRY MEDIEVAL MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING)
(LAUGHTER)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Pardon me, milady.
(MUSIC ENDS)
(APPLAUSE)
Le Gris.
Carrouges.
Pax! Well done! Well done, all!
Let there be no ill will among the servants of the king.
He needs us all right now.
Hear, hear. Well spoken, old friend.
Marguerite, come.
Give our old friend a kiss and show the good faith of the house Carrouges.
(APPLAUSE CONTINUES)
I will return in just a few months, my love.
I will be safe and well attended to by Alice and your mother, but I will miss you.
This is what I do.
Let me provide for you.
And what of you?
I have all that I need.
Except an heir.
My love.
(KISSES)
It comes as God wills it.
(SOMBER STRING MUSIC PLAYING)
Be thou a knight in the name of God.
Rise.
(ALL CHEERING)
Jean de Carrouges!
In honor of your service to our king.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Quiet!
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(CHATTERING STOPS)
Be thou a knight in the name of God.
Rise.
All right, men! Make preparations for battle!
Sire?
(WEAPON FIRES SOFTLY)
(FAINT WHOOSHING)
(GROANING)
(MEN CLAMORING)
(SHOUTS) Why do they run?
Why do they run?
(PAINED SCREAMING)
For the king!
(ALL YELLING)
(ALL GRUNTING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
BOY: Our lord returns!
They’re coming!
Our lord returns!
(HORSE WHINNIES)
Our lord returns! (GRUNTS)
(BELL RINGING)
Our lord returns!
He’s coming!
(TRUMPET BLOWING FANFARE)
Welcome back, sire!
(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES)
(SIGHS HAPPILY)
(MARGUERITE CRYING SOFTLY)
(JEAN COUGHING)
MARGUERITE: Milord, you are not well.
This fever is all I’ve brought back from that wretched place. (COUGHS)
As well as your knighthood.
Tomorrow, I must go to Paris.
I’ll be away one week.
What do you want?
I’m owed money by the treasurer.
Jean, you are unwell.
He’s well enough to travel.
To Paris?
That’s three days’ ride.
JEAN: And Argentan.
Duty demands that I report to Pierre.
They will admire you as a knight.
And you will confound those who had not expected you to return, Sir Jean.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(JEAN COUGHING)
(PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
(SOFT MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(DOG BARKING)
(PIGS SQUEALING)
(CHATTERING CONTINUES)
(SOFT MEDIEVAL MUSIC CONTINUES)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(COUGHING)
Sir Jean de Carrouges?
Signature here.
300 gold pieces.
(HORSE WHINNIES IN DISTANCE)
(DOG BARKS)
MAN: Sire.
I will be in my chamber.
Good night.
My love?
What is the matter?
Has my mother quarreled with you yet again?
(SOFTLY) No.
(DOOR OPENS)
JEAN: I have missed you.
Did you not miss me?
(SIGHS) I missed you more than you know.
Then let us go to bed.
What? What is it, my love?
I…
Uh… (BREATHES SHAKILY)
Uh, When… When you were gone, there was a day when your mother had business in Saint Pierre.
Yes.
She took the servants with her on her errand, and I was left alone.
Did she not leave Alice?
I told her in no uncertain terms.
She took all the servants.
Shortly after, a man came unannounced.
I knew the man, so I let him in.
But he was not alone.
He attacked me.
He pinned me down, I protested.
I screamed, I cried out as best I could, but there was no one here.
I was overpowered. There was nothing I could do.
I was raped.
Who? Who did this?
Who?
Jacques Le Gris.
(GASPS SOFTLY)
Are you telling me the truth?
Yes. Yes.
Are you telling me the truth?
Yes, I am telling you the truth.
You must believe me.
You must.
You are my beloved.
Here.
I was not here to protect you.
(JEAN SIGHS)
Please forgive me.
Please.
Jean.
I want him to answer for what he has done.
And he will.
He will.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SOMBER STRING MUSIC PLAYING)
MAN 1: Collect the swords!
MAN 2: Show them in, please.
MAN 3: Take the horses down.
Move them aside.
MAN 2: Show them in, please.
JEAN: And so, I ask for your help.
Marguerite is my wife, and she has been wronged.
I will not allow this to go unpunished.
Your only avenue is through Pierre.
Though I doubt he will give you a hearing.
Tell the story you’ve heard today.
Tell it anywhere you can and to all who will listen.
We will be the subject of gossip.
JEAN: If the story is known across Normandy, Pierre will have to grant us a hearing.
I have a plan.
(SPEAKS LATIN)
(IN ENGLISH) I request a duel to the death.
This custom was outlawed years ago.
Not so, Your Grace.
MAN: It is true that no duels have been fought during your lifetime, though it remains acceptable as a venue…
JEAN: It would require a full convening of the assembled parliamentary body of Paris.
All 32 members of Your Majesty’s court.
One of us has lied.
Let us let God decide.
Sir Jean, if you lose this duel, thus proving these accusations false, your wife would suffer dire consequences.
God will spare those who tell the truth.
And the truth will prevail.
I am not afraid.
Excellent.
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(UNEASY MUSIC PLAYING)
BAILIFF: His Majesty, King Charles VI!
KING CHARLES VI: What is your business today before this court?
Most excellent and powerful king and our sovereign lord, I present myself, Jean de Carrouges, knight, as an appellant in your court and hereby do accuse this squire of a most foul crime against my wife, the Lady Marguerite de Carrouges.
I charge that during the third week of this January past, this same Jacques Le Gris did feloniously and carnally take my wife against her will in our house.
And if this said Jacques Le Gris denies his crime, I stand ready to prove my charge by my body against his and to render him dead at an appointed time.
(COURT MEMBERS MURMURING)
MAN: (LOUDLY) Come for your fight!
You’re all gonna die!
You’re all gonna die like pigs!
Come on, then!
Come on, you failed scum…
We cannot just sit here.
MAN: …and fight!
Jean, we were ordered by Pierre to hold this bridge.
Orders be damned.
JACQUES: They’re baiting you, Jean.
They want us to leave the bridge so they can take Limoges.
(WOMEN CRYING AND SHRIEKING)
Then they shall have their wish!
My son is a fool. Let him go!
If he goes alone, he will die.
For the king!
ALL: For the king!
(ALL YELLING)
(MEN YELLING)
(ALL GRUNTING AND YELLING)
I know he is stubborn.
PIERRE: Yes, stubborn, difficult, jealous, rash, dimwitted, irascible, dimwitted…
Yes. Yes, yes, I know, milord.
…stupid. He does not exactly yield his rents on time.
But I count him as a friend.
(SIGHS) He disobeyed me and let Limoges fall.
He believed he would succeed. His intentions were good.
He’s no fucking fun.
You mean, you’d like to see more of his gloom here in Argentan?
He postures and mopes about like a black cloud.
Milord, I have fought with him and seen the worst of this world with him.
(SIGHS)
He is loyal.
Yeah. So are my fucking hounds.
As you wish. Take your leave. Do as you like.
I think very little of his character.
However, I think a great deal of yours.
It’s the quality that most recommends you.
But do not let your loyalty blind you.
Thank you, milord.
Yes.
Le Gris?
The gold? Or the sandal?
Gold.
Indeed.
The gold.
(PLAYING LIVELY MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(LAUGHTER)
MAN: No, no. I know, I know…
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Ladies and gentlemen. (CLEARS THROAT)
(MAN CLEARS THROAT LOUDLY)
Ladies and gentlemen.
Under ordinary circumstances, your hostess, the viscountess, my wife, Lady Marie Chamaillart, would see the sun come up with all of us, sing louder, dance more and drink you all under the table.
(GUESTS LAUGH)
However, she’s fast at work growing our eighth child in 14 years of marriage.
(GUESTS GASP)
(APPLAUSE)
Well, good night, dear friends.
I shall wait up for absolutely none of you.
(GUESTS LAUGHING)
Especially my husband.
Good night, dear.
My love.
Hear, hear.
GUESTS: Hear, hear.
Good night.
(GUESTS APPLAUDING)
Well, now, perhaps the evening can truly begin.
(CLEARS THROAT)
(LAUGHTER)
Where were we?
Uh… Latour, read.
I do not read Latin.
You do not even read.
(LAUGHTER)
I will read. The Book of Love.
GUESTS: Ooh.
Rule number 24.
(READS IN LATIN)
(IN ENGLISH) Anyone?
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
Squire?
“A new love expels an old one.”
(GUESTS EXCLAIM IN AWE)
Too true.
(GUESTS CHUCKLE)
Well, it appears we have a squire with a hidden talent.
Read, do read.
Uh…
(READING IN LATIN)
(IN ENGLISH) The rule of love number four.
“Love is always growing, or diminishing.”
(ALL LAUGHING)
Insolent bastard!
(LAUGHING) He knows you.
(JACQUES READING IN LATIN)
(IN ENGLISH) “Nothing prevents a woman from being loved by two men.
(GUESTS EXCLAIM TEASINGLY)
“Or a man from being loved by two women.”
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
Well read.
(ALL EXCLAIM AND LAUGH)
Oh. Come, come.
If you run, I will only chase you.
(ALL CLAPPING RHYTHMICALLY)
Wow, he grows serious.
WOMAN 1: No! No! No! (LAUGHING)
No!
(LAUGHING)
(ALL CHEERING)
No! No! No!
(WOMAN 1 STRUGGLING)
(LAUGHING) No! No! No!
(WOMEN LAUGHING)
This customer is rough.
WOMAN 1: No!
JACQUES: And strong.
(MOANS)
Here, come take some evil inside you.
(GRUNTS)
WOMAN 2: Pierre!
Oh.
Come, Pierre.
PIERRE: Great!
Pierre.
(PIERRE GRUNTS)
Pierre. (SQUEALS)
(WOLVES HOWLING IN DISTANCE)
PIERRE: Life is good.
JACQUES: The wolves have not slept, either.
Your wife will awaken soon, milord.
Best be in there when she does.
Pregnant and hysterical.
I prefer to take my chances with the wolves.
(BOTH LAUGH)
So, tell me, squire, how does a man of war become so learned in letters?
I was born with neither a name nor wealth.
I prepared for a life in the church.
The requirements did not suit me.
No, no.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
A libertine after my own heart.
That always came to me easily.
Does that knowledge also apply to numbers?
It does, milord.
Then let me share this with you, and this stays between us.
Of course.
My accounts are in disarray.
Would you mind bringing your expertise to bear on my finances?
How can this be?
Rents are late to come in. The accountants are careless.
Milord, these nobles are holding the money that they are meant to yield up to you.
The plague has carried off half our workforce.
Crop yields are down. Labor costs are up.
I understand the numbers, and absolutely none of this is your concern.
You need to be prepared to raise an army at a moment’s notice.
None of this works if you’re not solvent.
And when they say they do not have it?
Well, let them say that to me.
(CHUCKLES) Well, then.
(GRUNTING)
(GROANS)
(BLOWS LANDING)
(MAN GROANS)
I was trying to have a word with your lord.
This matter is between us. Do not interrupt me again.
All right, let us look at the map.
Shall we?
There is, of course, my property here at Bourg.
(CHUCKLES) No. My good man, no.
What’s this here?
ROBERT: Aunou-le-Faucon.
No.
It’s one of my most valuable estates.
It is to be part of my daughter’s dowry.
I cannot just give it to him.
My friend, Pierre’s not asking you to give him your finest estate.
But Aunou-le-Faucon is worth twice what I owe.
Well, think of how good it will feel to be completely without debt.
(GROANS)
(OBJECTS CLATTER)
(HORN BLOWING)
(DOGS BARKING)
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(HORN BLOWING)
(HORN BLOWING)
(DOGS BARKING)
PIERRE: Have you heard? Reports from the north.
They say there’s a father so desperate, he’ll marry his own daughter to Jean de Carrouges.
Indeed?
Yes, Robert de Thibouville, the traitor.
Carrouges needs an heir.
(SCOFFS) Is she the only noblewoman in Normandy?
JACQUES: He needs money as well.
There’s much to recommend her.
She’s rich, young. They say she’s beautiful.
Yes, and her father betrayed the Crown.
I make no apologies for Robert de Thibouville.
Yeah. Only a shame he wasn’t beheaded for his treason.
He would have been spared the sight of this humiliation.
Gently.
(STAG GROANS)
(DOGS BARKING)
Yeah. Here, boy.
Stag’s blood.
Badge of honor.
Badge of honor.
Well done, Etienne! Uh, Charles.
What?
(WOMAN GIGGLES)
JACQUES: He’s suing me.
Oh. Come in. Take your pants off.
He’s suing me!
Who?
Me!
For land that is rightfully mine.
Jean de Carrouges has filed a lawsuit for a piece of property.
Why would he sue you for a piece of property?
Because you gave it to me.
He’s suing you, too. He’s suing us both.
(LAUGHING)
I fail to see the amusement here, milord.
How do you sue for that which was never yours?
(WOMEN MOANING)
PIERRE: My squire.
Will you finally submit that I was right about Jean de Carrouges?
He’s saying he will take the matter to the king.
He has bled for this king.
My cousin, the king.
WOMAN: Pierre.
So have I bled. So have you.
My friend, this matter is settled.
I’d hoped to surprise you at court.
Now, you have barged in and cast a pall over a rather promising evening.
So, I will tell you now.
Jean de Carrouges will not be the new captain at Belleme.
You will be the new captain at Belleme.
As if by magic.
(SCOFFS)
Carrouges will be furious.
Too true. Now take your fucking pants off.
(WOMEN MOANING)
Minor delay.
(WOMEN LAUGHING)
Who wants to help me restore my previous state?
Come here. (GRUNTS)
(WOMEN GIGGLING)
Come down, my boy! Le Gris!
I will protect this fortress of Belleme and command its garrison as captain to the best of my ability against any and all enemies of my king.
PIERRE: Jacques Le Gris.
Captain, rise and be recognized.
(ETHEREAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(DRAMATIC DRUM MUSIC PLAYING)
(MEN CHANTING IN FRENCH)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PIERRE: Good day!
Join us, my squire.
This is a day for celebration.
I will not be staying, milord.
Good God, man, tell me you’re not here to sue me again.
(MEN LAUGHING)
Mock me, if you may, but you cannot change right from wrong nor wrong from right.
Enlighten me, my squire, as to what is right.
For as I see it, last time you emerged was to file suit against me for land I lawfully owned and gifted to my most faithful of squires for services rendered by him unto me.
What claim could you possibly have had to this land?
You have owned it never.
I know all about your squire.
The squire you gifted the land to.
The one who holds a captaincy now that is rightfully mine.
My friend, please.
Come, let us talk in private.
No! No! No!
I shall be heard!
I do not accept this!
My father, for 20 years, my father…
I’ve waited for 20 years!
There’s not a nobleman in this hall who would speak ill of your father.
You ask for my rents, I yield them up.
Here, as a man of honor, you say I am not the captain?
You say to me I am not the captain here?
I say to you whatever I like.
I decide who is the captain at Belleme.
That is what you prize.
That. That sycophant.
Sycophants all!
I will sue! I will sue you for this!
In just three years, you’ve managed to marry a traitor’s daughter, sue me for land that never belonged to you and to stand before me for the second time in as many years, threatening once again to sue, all while speaking of duty and honor.
This is how you serve me?
I serve the king.
The king.
The king.
Heaven and earth!
Heaven and earth what?
(MEN LAUGHING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(LAUGHTER CONTINUES)
JACQUES: 14.
37. 45.
15. 17 borrowed…
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Come.
Hello.
Thought you were asleep, milord.
Aye, great, good friend. No, almost, but I spied candlelight, and I knew it must be you.
I work better alone.
You make it hard for a man to get his work done.
I came here to tell you I will not be joining you for Crespin’s celebration.
Milord?
Too far a ride, too cold.
We’ll stay here and fuck women of our own.
No.
No.
No, I’m told Jean de Carrouges will be there.
It’s time to heal this wound.
He will never change. Why even try?
Because a feud between your lordship’s vassals brings naught but trouble and distraction.
PIERRE: Oh, good God.
And because I once stood godfather to his late son!
I once held a place in his heart.
Do as you must.
You will get to see the mysterious wife.
Apparently, he’s letting her out of the dungeon for one time only.
One can only hope he hasn’t taken away her books.
Carrouges’ wife reads? (LAUGHING)
In as many languages as you do, I’m told.
Strange match.
It is. Will wonders never cease?
Come to the celebration, milord!
PIERRE: No.
Come!
No.
(SPEAKING LATIN)
Too much wine. My Latin fails me.
“We forgive a child afraid of the dark. Tragedy is men afraid of the light.”
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
Your decency will be the end of you.
And there is no end to my decency.
(OBJECT THUDS)
No, milord!
Recalculate!
Sorry.
JACQUES: I think you’d enjoy it.
We will ride from the valley to where the river ends.
We could, uh, dine there.
(MERRY MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
My servants could prepare a picnic.
Oh, Jacques Le Gris, save your breath.
I’ve heard all about you from the ladies at court.
They’re… They’re just boasting.
Carrouges.
Pardon me, milady.
(MUSIC ENDS)
(APPLAUSE)
Carrouges.
Le Gris.
CRESPIN: Pax! Well done!
Well done, all!
(APPLAUSE)
Let there be no ill will among the servants of our king.
His Majesty needs us all right now.
Hear, hear. Well spoken.
(APPLAUSE CONTINUES)
Marguerite, come.
Give my old friend a kiss.
Show him the good faith of the house Carrouges.
CROWD: Bravo!
(APPLAUSE CONTINUES)
If we…
(MERRY MUSIC PLAYING)
There.
I think… (CHUCKLES) There you go.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
It’s a shame we had not met until tonight.
Is it?
I had no idea what a lucky man Carrouges was for having such a beautiful wife.
From what I have heard, you have no trouble acquiring beautiful women.
(CHUCKLES)
And from what I have heard, we may have a great deal in common.
What could we possibly have in common?
Appreciation of one another’s extraordinary good looks.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
You are quite talented when it comes to flattery.
I only speak the truth.
And what else?
You are a reader?
Like myself.
Romance of the Rose.
I thought it rather dull.
Dull? The book is wretched.
(LAUGHING)
I much prefer Percival’s Courtesy.
It’s a much more challenging and interesting novel.
Smart woman.
(SPEAKS GERMAN)
(REPLIES IN GERMAN)
(IN ENGLISH) Yet he is of so pure a heart he’s able to claim the Grail.
(SPEAKS GERMAN)
(IN ENGLISH) I understand him.
(SPEAKS GERMAN)
(IN ENGLISH) Don’t get ahead of yourself.
(LAUGHING) Carrouges.
Your wife charms me, my friend.
(LIVELY MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
To even think is to covet, my lord.
No less sinful than her coveting me.
(FOOTSTEPS)
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
Please forgive me. I wish…
(ROUSING MUSIC PLAYING)
(PANTING)
(VENDORS SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
Milord?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(CHICKENS CLUCKING)
I’ve never seen you like this, milord.
(EXHALES SHARPLY)
(LOUVEL LAUGHS)
Nor have I, my friend.
Word is not promising on the Scottish front.
Perhaps the Lady Marguerite’s already a widow.
I would not wager against Jean de Carrouges in battle.
What do you think her and Jean speak about?
You think they read together?
But he’s illiterate, though, isn’t he?
The debt we owe to our friends is the greatest of all.
Is it greater than love?
(HORSE GRUNTS)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
I didn’t train him properly.
(DOOR OPENS)
The fault is mine.
(LAUGHING)
HERALD: My lords! My lords!
I present the knight, Sir Jean de Carrouges!
(ALL CHEERING)
Milord, I return from the royal campaign in Scotland to report to you.
Rise, Sir Knight, speak.
We found ourselves unwelcome by our Scottish allies.
We laid siege at Wark.
Louder, Sir Knight, they cannot hear you in the back.
(MEN LAUGHING)
(LOUDER) We laid siege at Wark.
Mm.
Milord, I return with neither plunder nor prisoners.
And without five of the nine squires under my command.
Indeed, I return a knight.
One who curses Scotland and the hour I set foot there.
PIERRE: Yes.
Word had arrived ahead of you of your calamitous campaign.
A tragic result, Jean, though, I dare say, no fault of your command.
MEN: Hear, hear!
Where are you off to now, Jean? (CLEARS THROAT)
I’m bound for Paris.
I have business with the treasurer for my payment.
Very good.
A good soldier and good fortune are not long parted.
(MEN LAUGHING)
JEAN: I return a knight.
That is the second time you do not call me “sir.”
There will not be a third.
(SCATTERED LAUGHS)
No offense intended, Sir Jean.
I will not be patronized by this squire who lies about court, waiting to be feted with gift upon gift upon gift and risks nothing!
Nothing.
He may acquire more property in this world, find more favor… (CHUCKLES)
…eat more, drink more, bed more, and otherwise, call himself a man of arms.
But in this hall and any other, in my company, he will call me “sir.”
Sir.
Sir.
Indeed, good sir.
(COUGHS)
Enjoy your time in Paris, Sir Jean.
That is all, Jean.
(PIERRE CLEARS THROAT)
(LOW MURMUR AND LAUGHTER)
Milord.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER AND LAUGHTER)
MARGUERITE: Who’s there?
It’s, uh, I, Adam Louvel, milady.
Adam Louvel?
I’m ashamed to have to ask a great favor.
My horse has thrown a shoe and…
MARGUERITE: Nobody’s here.
I’m not permitted to open the door.
No, of course.
I just wondered if I could come inside and warm myself while he’s reshod.
I’m so sorry to have to ask.
For a moment. I hate to ask.
(UNLOCKING DOOR)
Oh…
LOUVEL: I…
JACQUES: Milady, forgive me for intruding.
I love you more than any other, and I would do anything for you.
Everything I have is yours.
How can you speak to me like this?
Marguerite, what way then would I speak to you?
Milady, you must know it cannot be helped.
My love for you has consumed me.
How dare you?
Milady, when milord sets his course for love…
Do not speak!
You must leave now. Please.
JACQUES: You heard the lady. Leave us!
Milord.
(DOOR SHUTS)
I am married.
Yes.
You are saddled with a terrible burden.
(SIGHS)
A cold, callous man who does not love you as I do.
Who cannot appreciate you for the marvel that you are.
Please.
I only want for your happiness.
I cannot bear to see you in such hardship.
I know your house’s finances are fragile.
My lord provides for me.
Yes.
But does he know you to be the most… exquisite… fascinating woman?
A woman I would devote my whole life to.
Oh, hear me say I’m in love with you.
I know you love me, too. You must.
You must leave. Now, please.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(GASPS)
(GASPING SOFTLY)
MARGUERITE: (SHOUTS) Jeanette!
(GASPING)
If you run, I will only chase you.
(GASPING)
(CHUCKLING)
(BOTH BREATHING HEAVILY)
No.
Yes.
No.
(MARGUERITE GRUNTS)
(CHUCKLING) No.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(KISSING)
No.
No!
(BOTH BREATHING HEAVILY)
(MARGUERITE MOANS, PANTING)
(BOTH PANTING)
No.
(MARGUERITE GASPING)
(MOANS) No.
Please, no.
(BOTH BREATHING HEAVILY)
(MARGUERITE MOANING)
(GRUNTING SOFTLY)
(BOTH GRUNTING SOFTLY)
(BOTH MOANING)
(CHUCKLING)
(BOTH PANTING HEAVILY)
You fear yourself guilty, but, my love, I beseech you, tell no one.
(MARGUERITE MOANS SOFTLY)
JACQUES: For your own safety.
If your husband hears of this, he may kill you.
Say nothing.
I will keep quiet, too.
Do not feel badly, my love.
We could not help ourselves.
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.
Speak, my son.
(BELL TOLLING)
I carry a sin that weighs heavy upon my heart.
What is it, my son?
I have committed the sin of adultery against a man I once considered a friend.
You know your commandments?
Yes, Father.
I ask forgiveness.
My son, Matthew tells us, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
But is love a sin, Father?
How can I seek absolution for love?
This is the work of the Devil.
This temptress leads you astray.
Just as Eve lured Adam from the divine path.
That is not love.
Then why?
God is faithful.
He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
This is a test.
PIERRE: My friend.
Milord.
(CLEARS THROAT) Sit.
(DOOR CLOSES)
You will need to sit.
Drink this.
You should drink all of it.
There is no other way to say this than to speak plainly. (CLEARS THROAT)
A most unspeakable charge has been brought against you.
Jean de Carrouges evidently, among others, has been telling any and all who will listen that you… took his wife against her will.
I know not what to say.
Why would she say that?
Jacques, it is you and I here.
I must know. This is a serious matter.
The accusation is false.
Of course, she made the customary protest, but she is a lady.
It was not against her will.
Why would I ever need to do that?
Have you ever known me to lack the company of women?
No.
But you have not been yourself of late.
It is true, I confess, it is a feeling I’ve never had before.
A love… that I’ve never known. It… It’s taken all my strength not to return to her.
We knew it was wrong, I confessed my adultery, and performed my penance.
But I swear to you, this charge of rape is false.
Of course it’s absurd. It’s as I suspected.
But I must defend my name.
(SIGHS) No, you must do no such thing.
On my honor, I will, milord. I must.
I know you yearn to defend your name and your honor, but the common mind has no capacity for this sort of nuance.
They simply don’t understand the world as we do.
They see villains and heroes, that is all.
Milord…
Deny, deny, deny.
Everywhere, always, at all times, and to all men.
You did not commit adultery.
It never happened.
There is no proof.
It will always be your word against that of Jean de Carrouges.
Yes, milord.
Of course we will have to endure a public trial, charges of rape will be brought against you and a verdict will be rendered by your overlord adjudicating this matter who, as the fates would have it, happens to be me. (CHUCKLES)
(CHUCKLES)
(LAUGHS)
I hereby find said Jacques Le Gris to be completely innocent and wholly without guilt.
I order the criminal complaint annulled and stricken from the record.
Let there be no further questions about it.
Let there be no more gossip, the penalty a punishment by my hand.
Is that understood?
As to the sworn testimony of Lady Marguerite, one can only come to the conclusion she must have dreamt it.
Now, have these findings sent immediately to Paris before this insouciant knight troubles our king any further with this nonsense.
Yes, speak.
Milord, I have been informed that Jean de Carrouges has already travelled to Paris.
He is filing an appeal to His Majesty at this very moment.
Cunt.
LE COQ: The benefit of clergy.
There really is no decision to make.
You’re a cleric in minor orders.
So, you can escape the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried by the Church where conditions are more favorable.
Men holding church office number disproportionately among those accused of rape.
They escape serious punishment by claiming benefit of clergy, so… we’ll have the church try your case and be done with the matter.
But what of my name?
(SIGHS)
Was there an affair?
Absolutely not.
It’s strange she would claim rape and risk her life.
(SIGHS) Why would she do this?
All of France is talking about this, and I’m innocent.
I’ve said publicly that this never happened!
And yet, under extraordinary pressure and at great risk to her name and reputation, Lady Marguerite has said that it did.
Formally, this is not about her.
Rape is not a crime against a woman.
It is a property crime against her male guardian.
In this case, Jean de Carrouges.
This is not a matter over which a duel should be fought to the death.
It should be settled quietly.
Take the benefit of clergy.
I’m not a coward.
Most excellent and powerful king and our sovereign lord, I present myself, Jacques Le Gris, squire and defendant, and I do hereby deny all the aforesaid charges, especially of Jean de Carrouges, that I did unlawfully… and carnally know his wife, the Lady Marguerite de Carrouges, in the third week of January last, or at any other time.
And I further maintain, saving the honor of Your Majesty, that the said knight has falsely and wickedly lied!
And that he is false and wicked to say this thing.
And I further maintain… and with the aid of God, and with Our Lady, I pledge to do whatever is necessary to prove my innocence.
The knight and the squire have spoken well.
It is ordered now that the parties present the affidavits which, the court having received, will render a verdict upon in a fortnight.
If either man attempts to flee Paris, it will be taken as a sign of his guilt.
Orders will be issued for his summary arrest and he will be hanged.
(PEOPLE GASP)
The king will decide if a duel should indeed be fought.
What now?
DOWRY LAWYER: You will have 330 livres in coin, furnishings, cloth, and jewels in addition to the estate at Mont a Gudot as well as…
And what of Aunou-le-Faucon?
Uh, I was forced to sell that property to Count Pierre.
JEAN: You and I agreed this land should be assumed by whomever marries your daughter.
(SLAMS)
(LOW MURMURING)
Is this not part of the dowry?
ROBERT: I was unable to pay my rents.
JEAN: You promised me.
We discussed this.
ROBERT: My daughter comes with the money and the land that I’ve offered.
That is all that I own.
And what of the bride price?
I offer you a name of value.
I should expect she’s capable of performing her wifely duties?
Bearing an heir.
ROBERT: My daughter is strong and healthy and ready to honor the marriage.
The conception of an heir and children to follow shall be swift.
And prolific.
(CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING)
Proceed.
DOWRY LAWYER: The wedding will proceed!
(CHORAL MUSIC CONTINUES)
(SIGHS)
MAID: You’re perfect.
(JEAN GRUNTING)
(MARGUERITE GASPING)
(CONTINUES GRUNTING)
(BOTH PANTING)
I hope this was pleasurable for you.
Yes, milord, very.
I could not have asked for a more satisfying wedding night.
Perhaps we have conceived on this very night.
(JEAN CONTINUES PANTING)
(MERRY MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
I think you would enjoy it. We will ride from the valley to where the river…
Milord. Carrouges.
Carrouges.
(MUSIC ENDS)
(APPLAUSE)
Le Gris.
CRESPIN: Pax! Well done!
Well done, all!
(APPLAUSE)
Let there be no ill will between servants of our king.
Marguerite, come.
Give my old friend a kiss.
Show him the good faith of the house Carrouges.
(APPLAUSE CONTINUES)
(LIVELY CHATTER AND LAUGHTER)
Who is that squire? He’s dangerously handsome.
Mm. He has quite the reputation.
Should milord not return from battle, I would happily strengthen that reputation.
Mm, I think that could be arranged regardless.
Marie.
How can you speak like this?
I should not be seen nor heard with you.
My husband would have my head.
But you would die happy.
He’s handsome.
Charming, I hear.
True, he is handsome and charming, but my husband does not trust him.
(LIVELY MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
I am proud of you.
I know that this reconciliation must have been difficult.
You gave me good counsel.
You are kind to Jacques Le Gris.
That man is unduly fond of himself.
But you see how a smile and a kind word go much further than a threat.
Even if you don’t mean it.
(CHUCKLES)
JEAN: While I’m gone, besides a bountiful harvest, our fortunes will turn most on the breeding of these horses.
And the collection of rents?
Yes, of course.
Stand over there.
I bought this mare for breeding.
Comes from a long line of war horses.
She will foal many a valuable colt.
Sometimes, the difference between victory and defeat, between life and death…
(HORSE WHINNYING)
MAN: Get out of the way!
Get out of the way!
Mind the gate!
No!
MAN 1: Whoa! Steady!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
No!
MAN 2: Steady, girl.
(HORSE SQUEALS)
MAN 1: Easy! Easy!
MAN 2: Get hold of her.
Not the stallion!
(HORSE NICKERS)
No! Not you!
Not with my mare!
(HORSE SQUEALING)
JEAN: The gates remain closed!
HENRI: Yes, milord.
The mare is in season!
These are not trifling matters.
It costs money.
Nothing would get done around here were it not for me.
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(MARGUERITE MOANS)
(BOTH PANTING)
I trust your little death was a memorable and a productive one.
(PANTING) It was like none other.
Why have I not yet conceived?
I want a child so very badly.
Wanting a child has nothing to do with the matter, Marguerite.
We need a son.
You think I do not know this?
I think of nothing else.
I did not have this problem with my first wife.
I shall return in a few months.
You will be safe here with my mother and your servants.
You must never allow yourself to be unattended.
And do not look so sad.
I prefer you to be in good spirits as I go off to war.
I’m proud of you, milord.
You will take care of the estate.
See that it does not fall into disarray.
Of course.
Good morning.
Milady.
Milady.
Good morning.
Good morning, Henri.
Good morning to you, milady.
(SIGHS) The pregnancy seems to be going well.
Yes, milady.
So why is she penned up?
Before my master left, he had told me to do so.
My husband knows much about horses, riding them.
The upbringing, I leave to you.
It would be better for the health of the mare to be roaming free.
Then she shall roam free.
Thank you, milady.
(GENTLE MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
LOUIS: This is last month’s rent as well, milady.
Were you unable to pay?
Your lord never came to collect it.
Is this unusual?
No.
But it is no trouble.
Thank you.
(GENTLE MEDIEVAL MUSIC CONTINUES)
Henri?
Yes, milady?
(SIGHS) Are the oxen not too slow?
The thaw came late this year.
It’s been hard going for them.
If we are to sow the oats in time for harvest, then we must be much faster.
I should like to use the horses.
Yes, but we never use the horses for that purpose.
My master feels they are too valuable.
They will be of no value if they starve to death this winter.
See that it’s done.
Right away.
I see you have some sun on your face, milady.
You look well.
Do I?
I prefer not to be pink.
Though it was a lovely day.
A little color on one’s face proves they’re alive.
(SNICKERS) Barely.
Have you heard we’ve a famous tailor from Paris arriving in the village next week?
You’ve been working hard, why not buy yourself a new dress?
Oh, I don’t know.
He copies the dresses Queen Isabeau’s been seen wearing.
They’re quite the rage.
I have seen those.
The neckline is very low.
Almost so low that one might see the queen’s pierced nipples.
(FOOTSTEPS)
She does not.
She does.
She does not…
Good evening.
Good evening.
(SNICKERS)
(CLEARS THROAT)
Things seem to be running quite well.
I enjoy doing these tasks.
It’s my pleasure.
Until he returns from Scotland, of course.
It is unfortunate, however, that you’ve not been capable of steering your husband away from conflict with others.
Jean does what he feels is necessary.
May I ask what you’re making? It looks lovely.
(SMACKS LIPS) I say with sorrow, something apparently fruitless.
You are very cruel.
I am a good wife.
As long as you are fulfilling your wifely duties.
Or perhaps you cannot be pleased.
DOCTOR: How is your sleep?
MARGUERITE: Often interrupted.
DOCTOR: Flaccid joints.
Bitter taste in the mouth?
I don’t know.
My lady, it appears you are suffering from an imbalance of the four humors, primarily black bile.
You are severely melancholic, your body is cold and dry.
Perhaps this, combined with various other factors, including God’s will, could be preventing conception.
(SIGHS)
It is imperative that you have a pleasurable conclusion similar to your husband’s, in order to conceive a child.
You achieve this?
Yes.
You find intercourse with your husband pleasurable?
Yes, of course, Doctor.
Although I am not certain I am experiencing “the little death,” as they say.
But if you find it pleasurable, then you are.
(CHUCKLES) Very well.
When Jean returns, he shall be grateful as I have put the books in order, as well as everything else.
Perhaps he won’t mind the expense.
Let us both get dresses.
Surprise your new husband.
MARIE: He would not approve.
He would say I have enough dresses.
I’ve only been married a short time, yet I now understand the burden of this arrangement.
You are a newlywed.
Surely you do not feel burdened.
Bernard is a frugal man and he does not like to kiss me.
I once thought his appearance would become more pleasing, but, instead, it’s become more repulsive.
So I suppose I am relieved about the kissing.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
He is not like Jean, handsome and generous.
My marriage is not without its problems.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SOFT FLUTE MUSIC PLAYING)
TAILOR: I shall be right with you, ladies.
Thank you.
(COMMOTION OUTSIDE)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
Despite Le Gris’ many deplorable qualities, one cannot be blind to his appearance.
Crude as he is.
Offensive as well.
They’re all such fools.
Hmm.
Agreed.
(BELL CLANGS)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(TRUMPET BLOWING FANFARE)
Welcome back, sire.
(SIGHS HAPPILY)
Welcome home, my love.
(SIGHS)
I am so happy to see you.
JEAN: My God, Marguerite, have you lost your dignity?
Go upstairs before the others think you a harlot.
I am your wife.
Welcome home, my courageous son.
Thank you.
NICOLE: Had I seen the gown or known it was being made, I would’ve stopped it.
And how would you have done that in my household?
I wonder.
Are you gonna let your wife speak to me in a tone like this?
Marguerite is a grown woman, Mother.
The decisions she makes are her own.
As well as the lessons learned.
Tomorrow I must go to Paris.
I’ll be away one week.
But you are ill. You must stay here, indoors.
Yes, please stay.
JEAN: I’m owed money.
I intend to collect it.
MARGUERITE: Of course.
Perhaps you may visit some old friends.
Le Gris is in Argentan.
Why Le Gris?
Please ensure Alice is with her while I’m away.
I forbid you from leaving the grounds.
It’s not safe.
I… (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
I should like to see my friends.
We’re so isolated.
Precisely.
Mm.
(SCOFFS QUIETLY)
(SOFT CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING)
DRIVER: Whoa!
Are you leaving?
NICOLE: Yes.
Well, when will you return?
When my tasks are completed.
Before nightfall.
Jean insisted I not be left alone. You heard him.
Antoine!
ANTOINE: Hyah!
Sow! (SCOFFS)
(WHISPERS) Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve…
(BANGING ON DOOR)
(SIGHS)
(DOG GROWLS)
Stay.
(DOOR BANGING CONTINUES)
Who is there?
LOUVEL: It is I.
Adam Louvel, milady.
Uh… (CHUCKLES)
Adam Louvel?
Hello.
LOUVEL: I, uh… I have a great favor to ask.
My horse has thrown a shoe. Uh…
Nobody is here. I am not permitted to open the door.
LOUVEL: Of course. I understand.
If I could… Could I wait inside while he’s reshod?
Just to warm myself for a moment.
I…
Will not be long at all.
Uh, it’s just an inconvenience.
I’m so sorry to have to ask.
Please.
Oh, I’m not alone.
Milady, forgive me for intruding.
(CHUCKLES)
(NERVOUSLY) I love you.
More than any other.
And I would do anything for you.
Everything I have is yours.
(GASPS)
How can you speak to me this way?
Marguerite, what way then would I speak to you?
Milady must know it cannot be helped.
My love for you has consumed me.
How dare you?
Milady, when milord sets his course for love…
You must leave now. Please.
You heard the lady! Leave us.
LOUVEL: Milord.
(LOCKS DOOR)
I am married.
Yes.
And you are saddled with a terrible burden.
(GRUNTS)
A cold, callous man who does not love you as I do.
Who cannot appreciate you for the marvel that you are.
Oh, please, do not speak of my husband.
I want only for your happiness.
I cannot bear to see you in such hardship.
I know your house’s finances are fragile.
My lord provides for me.
Yes.
(SOFT OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
But does he know you to be the most exquisite, fascinating woman?
A woman I would devote my whole life to.
Ah, hear me say I’m in love with you.
And I know you love me too. You must.
You must leave. Please.
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
(GASPING)
Marguerite, do not fight this.
(CONTINUES GASPING)
(GRUNTS)
(GASPING)
(SHOUTING) Jeanette!
(SHUSHING)
Jeanette!
(GASPS)
If you run, I will only chase you.
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
(CHUCKLES)
(SHOUTING) Jeanette!
(WHIMPERING)
No! No! (CRYING)
(CONTINUES CRYING)
Come here.
(JACQUES SHUSHING)
No.
(SCREAMING) No!
(SHUSHING)
(WHIMPERING)
(KISSING)
(CRYING)
(GRUNTING)
No! No! No!
(MARGUERITE GASPING)
(JACQUES KISSING)
(YELPS, GASPING)
(JACQUES SHUSHING)
(MARGUERITE CRYING)
(JACQUES GRUNTS)
(CRYING) No!
No! Please.
Shh.
Please, don’t do this.
(CRYING) Please.
This is our moment.
(MARGUERITE BAWLING)
(GRUNTING)
(CONTINUES GRUNTING)
(GASPING AND CRYING)
(GRUNTING)
(CONTINUES GRUNTING)
(JACQUES PANTING)
(CONTINUES PANTING)
(MARGUERITE GASPING)
MARGUERITE: (TEARFULLY) Please.
(GASPS)
(KISSES)
(JACQUES GRUNTS, PANTS)
(INHALES DEEPLY, CRIES)
(PANTING)
JACQUES: Oh, you feel yourself guilty.
Oh, but, my love, I beseech you, tell no one.
For your own safety.
If your husband hears of this, he may kill you.
Say nothing.
(CRYING SOFTLY)
(SNIFFLING)
Do not feel badly, my love.
We could not help ourselves.
(SORROWFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(CRYING)
(PANTING)
(CONTINUES CRYING)
(SORROWFUL MUSIC CONTINUES)
(BREATHING SHAKILY)
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
ALICE: Milady, we’ve returned.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
She was trying a new cook, and the dish was quite tasty, save for the cheese.
I’ve never enjoyed this particular cheese, but sadly, it’s everywhere.
Thank you.
(DISTANTLY) There is one example, and I’ve forgotten the name of it, um… it has various colors laced through it. Oh, uh…
Do you know the name of this cheese?
I think that it is Roquefort.
No. No, no, not Roquefort. It’s not as strong as Roquefort.
(VOICE FADING) But it has a certain texture that is very good in cookery.
(WHISPERS) Milady.
You haven’t been eating.
Are you ill?
(SIGHS)
Lady Carrouges has enquired about your state of mind.
Uh, my state of mind is fine. Thank you, Alice.
(BANGING ON DOOR)
Do not open the door.
It’s Marie. I’m here to see Marguerite. Is she in?
(SIGHS)
Fine.
It’s me.
ALICE: Come on in.
Good day.
Marguerite! (SQUEALS)
I’ve never felt such joy. I’m pregnant.
I’m pregnant.
Are you… Are you all right?
You don’t seem yourself.
Are you not happy for me?
I’m so very pleased for you.
(CHUCKLES)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(DOG BARKS)
MAN: Sire.
(DOOR OPENS)
I have missed you.
Did you not miss me?
Oh, I missed you more than you know.
Then let us go to bed.
Jean…
Marguerite, I’ve been away for many days.
I cannot.
What do you mean, you cannot?
Well, um, I need to tell you something.
What?
(SIGHS)
What? (SETS CUP DOWN)
While you were gone, there was a day when your mother had business in Saint Pierre.
Yes.
And shortly after, a man came, unannounced.
I knew the man, so I let him in.
But he was not alone.
Jacques Le Gris entered our home without my permission and…
What about Le Gris?
He forced me to this room.
To this bed.
He raped me.
Are you telling me the truth?
Please.
(SHOUTING) Are you telling me the truth?
Jean, please! I am telling you the truth. You must believe me.
I screamed.
I screamed until I lost my voice.
He forced you?
He raped me.
You did not provoke this?
No, Jean.
Could you not run?
I was pinned down, I could not breathe.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(GRUNTS, GASPS)
(CONTINUES SHOUTING) Can this man do nothing but evil to me?
Jean, I intend to speak the truth.
I will not be silent.
I have no legal standing without your support.
Then you shall have it.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)
Come.
I will not allow him to be the last man to have known you.
Jean…
Come.
(SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES)
(LOUDLY) Come!
PRIEST: Milady, do you swear upon your life that what you say is true?
I swear it.
Will you swear it before God?
And all of France?
I will.
Then we fight.
Marguerite is my wife and we have been wronged.
I will not allow it to go unpunished.
Your only avenue is through Pierre.
Though I doubt he will give you a hearing.
Tell the story you heard today.
Tell it anywhere you can and to all who will listen.
We will be the subject of gossip.
If the story is known across Normandy, Pierre will have to grant us a hearing.
We have a plan.
Marie?
Stay a while.
Why can’t you look at me?
I cannot.
Marie?
Do you not recall?
You said, on one or more occasions, that you found Le Gris handsome.
(GASPS)
So did you.
But I do not complain of rape.
BERNARD: Marie!
(SIGHS)
You do not believe me.
I have to go.
No, Jean, no! This is not what I want!
Not what you want?
Can he not simply be tried for his crime in the courts?
Pierre is the courts!
If you appeal to the king, he will only side with Pierre as he has in the past.
(GRUNTS)
I will not appeal to the king.
I will appeal to God.
(ROOSTER CROWS IN DISTANCE)
Marguerite, why have you done this?
Because what happened to me is wrong.
Men like Le Gris take women when they want and how often they want.
Who do you think you are?
My son may die.
That is his choice. Not mine.
You are no different from the peasants our soldiers have their way with when they are at war.
Do they complain?
I cannot be silent. I must speak.
Marguerite!
All you have done is bring shame to our family.
I am telling the truth.
The truth does not matter.
(SCOFFS)
You look at me as if I were never young.
I was raped.
And despite my protestations and my revulsion, did I go crying to my lord who had better things to worry about?
No, I stood up, got on with my life.
But at what cost?
At what cost?
I’m alive.
Well, you have paid a dear price for that privilege.
LE COQ: I have heard from several sources that you told others you found Monsieur Le Gris handsome.
Perhaps you dreamt this event, wishing it to be true.
Yes, a long time ago, some friends and I agreed that he was handsome, but I told them that I knew him to be untrustworthy.
Noticing a man is attractive reveals nothing but that.
(LOW MURMURING)
LE COQ: And if one of these women is your dearest friend, why would she bring this information to the court?
I do not know.
LE COQ: You’ve been with Jean de Carrouges for how many years?
Five.
LE COQ: In that time, you’ve not carried a child, an heir to the family name.
No, monsieur. No.
And yet, here you are, six months from the incident you claim is true, and you are six months pregnant.
Perhaps you have another lover and accuse Le Gris to hide this.
(SIGHS) As I have said, I am loyal to my husband.
Do you enjoy having intercourse with your husband?
(LOW WHISPERING)
Yes, of course.
CLERGY: It is not a matter of course.
You are fully aware that you cannot conceive a child unless you experience pleasure at the end.
Yes.
Yes.
And do you experience pleasure at the end?
Yes. I do.
A rape cannot cause a pregnancy.
This is just science.
LE COQ: It permits the court to wonder if after five years of marital relations, your pregnancy is a coincidence.
Let us say we believe you are telling the truth and such an act did, in fact, take place, perhaps you enjoyed it more than you’re willing to admit.
Please, explain to me how one is to enjoy rape.
Did you experience pleasure?
LE COQ: Simply answer the question.
(LOUDLY) I experienced no pleasure!
(LOW MURMURING)
Are there any more questions?
If your husband were to lose the duel, it would demonstrate God’s judgment and reveal you for having borne false witness.
I understand.
LE COQ: I’m certain your husband told you, the penalty for bearing false witness against a man by a woman, in the case of rape, is that you are to be stripped and shorn, fitted by the neck with an iron collar, lashed to a wooden post, and summarily burned alive.
Lady Marguerite… it is quite common for the accused to burn for 20 to 30 minutes before they are dead.
I am telling the truth.
We will proceed with the duel.
(AUDIENCE GASPS)
(AUDIENCE WHISPERING)
(MARGUERITE SIGHS)
(GASPING)
You think Le Gris handsome, do you?
You have disgraced me before my king and all of France.
You knew what would happen to me should you lose this duel.
You knew and you didn’t tell me.
God will not punish those who tell the truth.
My fate and our child’s fate will be written, not by God’s will, but by which old man will tire first.
How dare you speak to me this way.
What have I to lose?
I begged you to find another way, and now I may be burned alive.
I am risking my life for you.
Hmm.
You are risking my life so you can fight your enemy and save your pride.
And that could render our child an orphan.
Or did you not think of that?
You are a hypocrite.
You are blinded by your vanity.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SCOFFS)
(BABY COOING)
JEAN: All the preparations are made.
I’m ready.
I should like to stay a while longer.
(BABY GURGLES)
(SHUSHING SOFTLY)
Faith, Marguerite.
I finally gave birth to a son who I love more than I could have ever imagined… and I may not live to see him grow.
This was my life.
Had I had known the truth would deprive me of this love, I believe I would have done what many women before me had done.
Nothing.
What you did was right.
Mm.
Not if I die.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)
I am not like you, Jean.
A child needs his mother more than a mother needs to be right.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
KING CHARLES VI: Knights, proceed.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES)
Lady, upon your evidence, I hazard my life in combat with Jacques Le Gris.
You know my cause is just and true.
MARGUERITE: I say before all of you, I spoke the truth.
Let it be in God’s hands.
There’ll be rough justice this day by the grace of God.
Let us pray this ends like the duel at Flanders.
With Le Gris in a wrestling match, removing Carrouges’ testicles by hand.
MAN: Let them go!
(HORSE WHINNIES)
Let them go! Let them go!
(CROWD CHEERING)
(GRUNTS)
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
(HORSE SQUEALS)
(GASPS)
JEAN: Quickly! Give it to me!
JACQUES: Lance, lance! Hurry!
(HORSE WHINNIES)
MAN 1: Whoa. Whoa!
MAN 2: Out of the way!
(CROWD CHEERING)
(GRUNTS)
(ALL EXCLAIM)
JEAN: Lance! Lance!
(GASPING)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(JEAN GRUNTS)
(HORSE WHINNIES)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(GRUNTS)
(JEAN GROANS)
(HORSE SQUEALING)
(GRUNTS)
(CROWD GASPS)
Axe, axe!
(CROWD EXCLAIMING)
(SCREAMS)
(ALL GASP AND EXCLAIM)
(PANTING)
(BOTH GRUNT)
(HORSE SQUEALS)
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
(YELPING)
(GROANING)
(GRUNTING)
(ALL GASP)
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
(GRUNTING)
(SOFT OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(HORSE WHINNYING)
(BOTH PANTING)
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
(BOTH CONTINUE GRUNTING)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
(JEAN SCREAMS)
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
(JEAN GRUNTING)
(GASPING)
(PANTING)
(JEAN PANTING HEAVILY)
(JEAN GRUNTING)
(CONTINUES PANTING)
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
Carrouges may yet bleed out.
Pray God.
(GRUNTS)
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(CHUCKLES)
MAN: Kill him! Kill him!
(CROWD CONTINUES CHEERING)
Kill him!
Kill him! Kill him!
(GASPS)
(JACQUES PANTING)
(JACQUES SCREAMS IN PAIN)
(JEAN YELLING)
(CROWD EXCLAIMING)
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(BOTH STRAINING)
(SHOUTS) Confess!
(GRUNTS)
Confess to me.
Carrouges, there was no rape.
There was no rape.
(PANTING)
There was no rape!
(SHOUTING) In the name of God and on the peril of damnation of my soul, I am innocent of the crime!
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)
(CRYING SOFTLY)
Then you be damned.
(CROWD EXCLAIMS)
(BOTH STRAINING)
(YELLING)
(JACQUES CHOKES)
(ALL GASP)
(WHISPERS) Yes.
(WOMEN CRYING)
(SORROWFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
(GASPING WEAKLY)
(BREATHING STOPS)
(GASPING SHAKILY)
(CROWS CAWING IN DISTANCE)
(SIGHS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(GASPS)
BAILIFF: God be with you, milady.
KING CHARLES VI: No… Rise. You rise.
I grace you with honor, knight.
God has spoken, proving your cause to be truthful and just.
You have fought with strength and humility.
May God be with you and your wife.
Your wife.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(GRUNTS)
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
MAN: Long live Carrouges!
WOMAN: Carrouges!
MAN: The glory of Carrouges!
WOMAN: Carrouges!
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES)
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
(ALL CHEERING)
(PRIEST CHANTING IN LATIN)
(MUSIC RISING)
(DRAMATIC CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(ALL CHEERING)
(MUSIC STOPS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(GRUNTS)
(COOING)
(GASPS, CHUCKLES)
(GRUNTS)
(GASPS)
(COOING)
(CHUCKLING SOFTLY)
MARGUERITE: (SOFTLY) Look at that!
(TENDER MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(TENDER MEDIEVAL MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING)
(CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(UPBEAT MEDIEVAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(SORROWFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
(DREAMY ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING)
