Seeking Persephone (2026) s01e01 Episode Script
Part 1
[gentle instrumental music]
[gentle instrumental
music swells]
- Will you pick
that up, Artemis?
- I don't know why
we have to do this.
- [Persephone]
Because we like to eat.
- But we're only paid pennies.
- Pennies that keep our
family from dire straits.
- [Persephone] I do not enjoy
washing the neighborhood's
laundry any more than you do.
But being upset about it
won't change our situation.
[Artemis sighs]
[dramatic instrumental music]
[gate squeals]
[birds chirping]
- Open the door, sweetheart.
- I have had an atrocious day,
and now I have to open the door.
- [Persephone] I'm sorry
you've suffered so much.
I fear you will simply
have to continue
in your wretched
state a bit longer.
- I will open the door,
but do not be surprised if
I lie on the floor and die.
- I will be many
things if that happens,
my sweet little Artemis,
but above all I will
not be surprised.
[Artemis sighs]
- She has "died" from far
less than this in the past.
[dramatic instrumental
music continues]
[door creaks]
[Persephone grunts]
[shoe clatters]
[dramatic instrumental
music continues]
- Was father wandering again?
[dramatic instrumental
music continues]
Daphne.
- Persephone. You're home.
[Persephone chuckles]
- Was father wandering again?
- Until a letter came.
Then he went
back up to his study.
- Did he say whom
the letter was from?
- You know father doesn't
usually talk to me.
- Well, once I've cleared
the clutter he spread,
sorted the laundry,
and started our meal,
then I very much
wish to talk with you
about whatever
you've learned today.
- It's ever so interesting
and terribly useful.
- I cannot wait.
- Thank you, Persephone.
- Of course, Daphne.
[cheeky music]
You did say this might happen.
- Yes, I did.
- And what has brought you
to such a horrible
end this time?
- My suffering is too great,
no words can
possibly describe it.
- Is this because I
could not buy you a sweet
from the confectionery shop?
- That was tragic.
- But not the reason you're
expiring on the floor?
- I didn't see my friend.
I watched for him,
and he didn't come.
He hasn't in ever so long,
and it's deeply devastating.
- This is the
friend I can't see?
- The friend you don't see.
- Ah.
Do you think your friend
would visit you again
if we had bread pudding tonight?
- Bread pudding?
- I have a bit of stale bread.
And Mrs. Sanford
gave me some cream.
I think we should have
bread pudding tonight.
- It is not even my birthday.
Bread pudding is quite
possibly my favorite thing
in all the world.
- [sighs] Of course, if
you are dead on the floor
you won't be able to have any.
- I am all better!
- It is a miracle!
- Thank you, thank
you, thank you.
- You're very welcome, my
darling little Artemis.
[lighthearted music]
How do you like
the latest fashions?
- These are not the latest.
Mrs. Upton gave me these
because she received
the most recent version.
But they are very
nearly the latest.
- [Persephone] That is gorgeous.
- Isn't it?
I've added it to
my list of dreams.
- Mm, that must be
quite a list by now.
- Isn't that what
dreaming is for?
Believing in those things
you fear you'll never have
but want to continue
hoping are possible?
Like having money enough and
happiness, falling in love.
- I want you to have all
of those things, Athena.
- You must have dreams too.
- Certainly I do.
Artemis' spirits not
being dampened
by the heaviness of life.
Daphne finding a friend
who helps her feel seen
and cared about.
Evander and Linus
returning home to us whole.
- That is far from guaranteed
for two midshipmen in
the navy during wartime.
- I should've done more to
keep them home and safe.
- There was nothing
more you could've done.
- I could've taken
in more laundry,
or reduced my portions at meals.
I could've gone
without fires in my room.
- And it likely still
would not have been enough.
- I suppose that is my version
of "hoping for
impossible things."
- None of the hopes
that you've mentioned
have been of
dreams for yourself.
- Seeing this family happy
is dream enough for me.
[door creaks]
[footsteps approaching]
Fetch Daphne and Artemis and
take them to the kitchen.
I do not know how frustrating
he might be this time.
Have you received a letter?
- We have a very
significant problem.
- What has happened, papa?
Evander? Linus?
- Oh, no, I haven't heard
anything about your brothers.
- Oh.
- I have, however,
received the most
befuddling letter.
You, my dear, have received
an offer of marriage.
- A what?
- An offer from an
incredibly wealthy gentleman
with an old and,
um, prestigious title.
[disquieting music]
- Good heavens!
- Yeah.
What I cannot fathom is why
the duke has settled on you.
He cannot even be remotely
acquainted with our family.
- The duke?
- Of course, dear,
the Duke of Kielder.
- The Duke of Kielder has
asked for my hand in marriage?
- Quite specifically.
[Persephone chuckles]
- I do not believe a word of it.
After all, I do not
know His Grace,
or any Grace, for that matter.
[Richard clears throat]
- "Mr. Lancaster,
I am requesting
the hand of your eldest
daughter in marriage.
I am prepared to settle upon
your three remaining daughters
20,000 each for their dowries
and 50,000 upon yourself
for the sake of your sons.
The ceremony will take
place October the first
at the Falstone chapel.
Please reply as
to your intentions.
Yours, et cetera, Kielder.
- That is certainly
not the most romantic
nor flattering of
proposals, to be sure.
"The ceremony will take place."
There's not the
slightest acknowledgment
that the unforeseen
offer might be declined.
- This offer amounts to
more than 100,000 pounds.
[Persephone exhales softly]
[disquieting music continues]
- What is the Duke
of Kielder like?
- Like?
Well, couldn't say.
I've not met the current duke.
- What was his father like?
- Uh, dull as dishwater.
But his mother
is an active sort.
[disquieting music continues]
[sheep bleating]
[disquieting music continues]
[footsteps approaching]
- 100,000 pounds?
- I can hardly
comprehend such a sum.
[Athena laughs]
It is more than 500 years'
worth our current income.
It is more than five times the
income of the Duke of Sussex,
and he is the son of the king.
- Good heavens.
- We would have
food enough to eat.
We would not need to
wash laundry for pennies.
The boys could soon leave
the navy and return home.
All of your impossible dreams
would suddenly
be entirely possible.
This would not
merely save our family;
it would save
generations of our family.
- But the Duke of Kielder
might be prone to
anger or unkindness.
What, [inhales sharply]
what if he mistreats you?
What if being married to
him makes you miserable
for the rest of your life?
- It is also possible he
will be kind and considerate.
- You don't know
anything about him?
- Only that he clearly has
a tremendous amount of money
and wishes to marry me.
He gave no indication why.
- You needn't simply
accept this offer.
One may yet come from someone
that you at least know
won't treat you abominably.
- There will be no other offers.
If I do not accept this one,
our family will sink further.
Even the simple
hopes we currently have
will be out of reach.
- But then all of your hopes
would be snatched away.
- This family's happiness
is worth every sacrifice.
- Isn't your happiness
worth something as well?
- Artemis has always told
the tale of Hades and
Persephone quite accurately.
Persephone doesn't
get to be happy.
- Then you mean to
accept the duke's offer?
[poignant music]
- Who invited all these people?
- I did.
It is not every day my
poor boy takes a bride.
- This was supposed to
be a quiet ceremony.
I do not believe Miss
Lancaster has invited anyone
beyond her own immediate family.
- I did not intend to
cause awkwardness, Adam.
I only wish to celebrate.
[guests chattering indistinctly]
- [Guest] I wonder if the
chit'll actually turn up.
[sword clinks]
- Try to resist the urge
to run through any
of the wedding guests.
[Harry chuckles]
[sword clangs]
- Where the devil is she?
Another five minutes and
I'll go retrieve her myself.
[footsteps approaching]
- When is this going to start?
I'm hungry.
- Shh.
- Artemis.
[Athena whispers indistinctly]
[guest coughs]
[guest clears throat]
[gentle music]
- She's decided
to come, after all.
[gentle music continues]
- Dearly beloved, we are
gathered here together
in the sight of God and the
face of this congregation
to join together this man and
this woman in holy matrimony,
an honorable estate,
instituted of God
in the time of man's innocence,
signifying unto us
the mystical union
betwixt Christ and His church.
Therefore, if any man
can show any just cause
why they should not
lawfully be joined together,
let him speak, or else hereafter
forever hold his peace.
- Deuced, blasted muck heap.
[guests whispering indistinctly]
Go on.
- Who giveth this woman
to be married to this man?
- Apparently, I giveth myself.
- Take her right hand in yours.
- I, Adam Richard Boyce,
Duke of Kielder,
Marquess of Falstone,
Earl of Falstone,
Viscount Byrness,
Baron Falstone, Baron Whitelee,
take thee to be my wedded wife,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
'till death do us part,
according to God's
holy ordinance;
and thereto I
plight thee my troth.
[disquieting music]
- I, Persephone-
- [Adam] Ridiculous.
- Lancaster, do
Do take thee to be
my wedded husband,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
'till death us do part,
according to God's
holy ordinance;
and thereto I
give thee my troth.
- Is that everything?
- Not usually.
- Can it be?
- I suppose all the
truly essential bits
have been seen to.
Those whom God
hath joined together,
let no man put asunder.
- To the castle, then.
[footsteps retreating]
[Persephone speaks indistinctly]
- I
[poignant music]
[bell tolling]
- Thank you.
[bell continues tolling]
[Harry laughs]
[poignant music continues]
- Is your name
really Persephone?
- It is.
Did you not think to ask?
- [Adam] What were
your parents thinking,
choosing a name like that?
- [Persephone] My
father is a scholar.
He's particularly fond
of Greek mythology.
- Entirely too fond,
it would seem.
Are the rest of your
siblings similarly afflicted?
- In what way afflicted?
- What absurd names
did your parents assign
the other members
of your family?
- Athena is just younger than I.
Evander is 14. Linus, 13.
Daphne will be 12 toward
the end of the year.
The youngest is Artemis.
- Fates save us from
short-sighted scholars.
Do you have a middle name?
- I do.
- I suppose it is
entirely too much to hope
that it is something common.
- Iphigenia.
- Persephone Iphigenia?
Did no one ever call
you anything else?
- Only Miss Lancaster.
- Well, I cannot call you that.
I suppose I will have to
consign myself to Persephone.
- [Persephone] It would seem so.
- You, of course,
will call me Kielder.
- I will not call you Kielder.
- Everyone calls me Kielder.
- Kielder?
It sounds as though I am
accusing you of a crime.
- You would, no doubt,
prefer Agamemnon or Apollo
or something along that vein.
- My papa certainly would.
- What do you propose
to call me, then?
- Adam?
- No one calls me Adam.
- No one?
Certainly your family and
closest friends would.
- Harry does.
- Who is Harry?
- A friend,
one who allows himself
far too much freedom.
[dramatic music]
[dramatic music swells]
Calling me Adam will be fine.
Persephone.
This is Barton, the butler.
Mrs. Smithson, the housekeeper.
Duchess of Kielder.
[Adam clears throat]
[poignant music]
Mrs. Smithson will see
to whatever you need.
[poignant music continues]
- I'm likely meant to be
shown all of the castle,
but I would very
much like to rest.
Perhaps you could
simply point out
the rooms I need to know today,
and save the rest for tomorrow?
- Of course, Your Grace.
[poignant music continues]
The Drawing Room, a
favorite of Queen Elizabeth
when she stayed at
Falstone Castle in 1580.
- Do, do members of the royal
family still visit Falstone?
- Heavens, no.
They wouldn't dare.
This is the Grand Banquet Hall,
which has hosted feasts
for some of the most significant
and influential
people in the kingdom
over the past 500 years.
I believe your family will be
dining in here this evening.
- Is that a gibbet?
- And stocks.
- Was there no room in the
dark, foreboding dungeon?
- There's ample
room, Your Grace.
But the duke says
displaying weapons
makes them more effective.
All of the family bedchambers
are on this floor.
This is your
bedchamber, Your Grace.
Is there anything else you
wish me to do, Your Grace?
- Not at the moment.
- The bell pull is
beside the fireplace
should you require anything.
[door creaks]
[soft music]
[Persephone exhales heavily]
[duck quacks]
[Persephone sighs heavily]
- This is never going to work.
- This is never going to work.
[door creaks]
- I just saw your man of
business leaving the castle.
What did you do to him?
- I fired him.
- Again?
How many times have
you fired the poor man?
- Six, seven.
Every time he sulks away
like a lily-livered coward.
- You didn't pull your pistol
on him this time, did you?
- I have never pulled a
pistol on Josiah Jones.
I may have held an epee to
his throat once or twice,
but he was never
in any real danger.
- Perhaps his fear
has something to do
with your less-than-pristine
reputation, Adam.
Rumor has it you've run
through a few men in your time.
- Rumor has it I've
done quite a few things.
- And you wonder why
Jones thinks the worst
whenever you're angry with him.
- I always reinstate
his employment.
And he never makes
the same mistake twice.
- So what was his
transgression this time, mm?
No, no, don't tell me.
Smiled too much while discussing
the estate investments?
No.
Did not include enough threats
in the business correspondence
he sent on your behalf?
- He recommended a means of
preventing my distant cousin
from one day
inheriting Falstone.
- Ah, Jones was the one
who suggested you marry.
- He knew of a penniless
family in Shropshire,
with an eldest daughter
of the appropriate age
who had no other prospects.
His enthusiastic recommendation
has proven intolerably stupid.
- As stupid as sitting
up in one's book room
with one's friend on
one's wedding night?
Because that, Adam,
is a level of idiocy
far and above
ordinary stupidity.
- I stood through the wedding
and just spent an
interminable dinner
with my flock of
new sisters-in-law.
- Did they stare at you?
It would've been
understandable, you know.
Having not been warned.
- I ought to have
written, then? Mm?
Perhaps I could've included a
postscript with the proposal.
"By the way, I have
a mutilated face
you'll be forced to look
at day in and day out
for the rest of your life.
Hope that's not a problem."
- Mm, perhaps not
those precise words.
- She wasn't exactly
forthcoming, either,
I will have you know.
- Forgot to mention
something important?
Another husband, perhaps?
An extraneous limb?
- Her name is Persephone.
A man ought to
know a thing like that
about his future wife.
Persephone Iphigenia.
What an inexcusably ridiculous
thing to call a child.
- I had the chance
to speak briefly
with your new bride, Adam.
She was
delightful.
Perhaps a little quiet,
but that is to be expected
considering the
upheaval in her life.
I'll confess I had expected
someone rather
long in the tooth;
rather long in the
face, in all honesty.
- So had I.
- But she's a fetching thing.
Young and quite pretty.
Oh.
You expected someone desperate,
and ugly, and undesirable.
Instead, your bride
turned out to be
a vast deal more than passable.
[tongue clicks]
Not quite what you'd
bargained for, I'd guess.
A lady who was too intolerable
to have any other options
would be content with a
curmudgeon in a drafty castle
in the wilds of Northumberland.
And now, because she is
young and fine-looking,
seems to be good-natured and
potentially enjoyable company,
the poor girl is
upstairs, alone,
probably wondering
what she's done wrong,
while you are
down here brooding.
Adam, you are
completely bacon-brained.
- I should call
you out for that.
- Do. [yawns]
But not tonight. I'm tired.
Call me out tomorrow, would you?
- I ought to lock
you in the dungeon.
- You should.
No point having a dungeon
if no one's ever
consigned to suffer in it.
Good night, Adam.
- Good night. Presumptuous lout.
[door creaks]
- And Adam?
- What?
- Give the poor girl a chance.
It's not her fault
you've ended up
with every man's
idea of a perfect wife.
[Harry laughs] [book clatters]
[Adam sighs heavily]
[Persephone breathing nervously]
[footsteps approaching]
[Adam blows candle]
[Persephone sighs]
[disquieting music]
[duck quacking]
- Are you going to be lonely
without us, Persephone?
- I will miss you terribly.
But you will have each other.
So you are
unlikely to be lonely.
- I do not know that anyone
will remember to talk to me
when you're not here.
I'm certain
everything will be fine.
- [Persephone] Mm.
- You don't need
to worry about us.
- Write and tell me about all
the things you're reading.
[poignant music]
I love you.
- Love you, too.
- Make haste.
- I do not want to go!
- Let me speak with her.
[poignant music continues]
Oh, my dear girl. You're crying.
- He cannot make you stay here!
- No one is making
me stay here, dearest.
Falstone Castle is my home now.
I will send you letters,
perhaps with a
guinea under the seal.
You could come here,
we could explore
the castle together.
- He won't let me.
- Of course he will.
We will have grand adventures.
Perhaps there is a tower room
where we can imagine all
sorts of wonderful stories,
the way we always did at home.
- Do you promise?
- I promise.
- Who will take care
of me when you're gone?
- Papa will engage a governess
for both you and Daphne,
a companion for Athena
when you're all in town.
- Will you visit us there?
- [Persephone] Of course.
- Persephone?
- Yes, my dear?
- Who will take care of you?
Will you be happy
even though we're gone?
[poignant music continues]
- Oh.
When have you known
me to be unhappy?
- [Artemis] Then I
will be happy, too.
But if I don't leave
now, I will cry again,
and I do not want
to cry anymore.
- Then let us promise
each other not to cry.
Yes, good.
I will see you soon.
Be good for papa.
- I will.
- [Persephone] I
love you, dearest.
- I love you, too, Persephone.
You're the best mama I ever had.
[poignant music continues]
[Persephone cries silently]
- I thought you weren't
supposed to cry.
- Artemis is crying as
well, I'm certain of it.
- Then why make the promise?
- To lessen her pain.
If my sister knew I was crying,
it would break her heart.
- But you know she is crying.
- I know her better
than she knows me.
- The best mama she ever had.
[poignant music continues]
[Persephone gasping]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[Persephone sobbing]
- 24 hours into this
ill-conceived marriage
and my wife is already in
the back of a garden sobbing.
[sullen music]
How long into your marriage
did mother start crying?
And when did that stop making
you feel like a monster?
[sullen music continues]
[sheep bleating]
[thunder rumbling]
[poignant music]
- Your Grace.
- Mm.
- Good eve
Are you feeling well, child?
- I am excessively tired.
- Do not fret yourself
over dinner, dear.
I'll have a tray
sent to your room.
You rest.
- [Persephone] Thank you.
[Persephone gasps]
[poignant music]
[Harry whistling]
[door clicks]
[door creaks]
[Harry whistles]
[Harry whistles]
- [tongue clicks] You told
me you'd call me out today.
Never did.
- I've decided to shoot you
first thing in the morning.
Go to sleep so I can
load my pistols in peace.
- Your mother said
the new duchess
was indisposed this evening.
Any idea what she meant by that?
- As mother said,
she was indisposed.
- She wouldn't be the first
person to hide from you.
- She? You mean Persephone?
- Well, I certainly
don't mean your mother.
You could shoot a man
dead in the drawing room,
and she'd just smile
indulgently and say, "My-"
- "Poor boy," yes.
And the woman will still be
calling me that when I'm 80.
- When you're
80, she'll be dead.
- Oh, shut up, Harry.
- Is there any chance Persephone
is locked in the dungeon?
- I am not a monster.
And she chose to accept me.
- Ah, yes.
But without the benefit of the
rather ingenious postscript
you composed last night.
I'm don't think she realized-
- You think I've made
her miserable already?
- She took this morning's
farewells particularly hard.
You ought to have insisted
her family stay longer.
- So I'm the villain, am I?
- I wouldn't be surprised
if you never saw the
poor woman again
as long as you lived.
In a place as enormous
as this pile of rock,
she could avoid you for years.
Where are you going?
- My wife is indisposed.
I'm going to see for
myself that she is well.
- Adam.
- I am not going to
hurt the blasted woman.
You know me better than that.
[Harry chuffs]
[footsteps approaching]
[door clicks]
[Adam exhales heavily]
[soft music]
[door creaks]
[door clicks]
[Persephone sighs]
[footsteps thudding]
[Mable exclaims]
- Oh, forgive me, Your Grace.
- I'm attempting to
find the breakfast room.
Please tell me you know
how to reach it from here.
- I got lost a few times when
I first started working here.
Falstone Castle
is quite a big place.
- Enormous.
New arrivals really ought
to be provided with a map.
[Mable laughs softly]
- This way, Your Grace.
And I'll not tell
anyone you were lost.
- Thank you.
- Mother, explain to Harry
that you're not
leaving Falstone Castle
because I forced you to do so.
He seems to think
that I drive every person
who ever comes here
away with a scythe in one hand
and a flaming
torch in the other.
- A regular one-person
bloodthirsty mob,
that's what you are.
You really ought to think
about employing
pitchforks when you-
[door creaks]
- Persephone, come
break your fast, dear.
Kidneys? Eggs?
- Yes, please.
- Harry, will you please-
- [Adam] I will prepare
a plate for her, mother.
- Oh, you needn't
inconvenience yourself.
- Please.
[chinaware clinking]
- Thank you.
Should I sit somewhere else?
- No, you can
stay where you are.
- Will you be coming to
town at Christmastime?
- I never go to town until
absolutely necessary.
- You must convince my poor
boy of the delights of London.
- I have never been to London.
- Well, then you absolutely
must come as soon as possible.
I should positively love
taking you around town
and introducing
you to just everyone.
I'm certain you can
pack quickly, Adam.
And I could delay my
departure by a day or so,
and we could all-
- I shall be forced to take
her in the spring as it is.
- Forced?
The season is such fun.
How can you say forced?
- I despise London.
But the queen will be vexed
if Persephone is not presented,
and that is one bother
I could do without.
Thus, I shall be forced to town.
- Do not let him burden you
with even the tiniest
amount of guilt, Your Grace.
By spring, he will
have gone months
without insulting the
members of the Cabinet
or any of the royal family
and will be itching
for the opportunity.
- That is good to know.
- I suppose, as a good
friend of the family,
I ought to remain
here indefinitely
and offer my insights
into your grumbly husband.
That is simply the sort
of selfless person I am.
- Even selfless people
can be thrown from
the south parapet.
- Mm, I am beginning
to suspect, Adam,
that you do not
like me very much.
I will simply have to ponder
the sorrow of this realization.
Your Grace.
Your Grace.
Your Grace.
This could get confusing.
We really ought to think of
names for the three of you.
[soft music]
[gentle music]
[gentle music swells]
[gentle music fades]
[gentle instrumental
music swells]
- Will you pick
that up, Artemis?
- I don't know why
we have to do this.
- [Persephone]
Because we like to eat.
- But we're only paid pennies.
- Pennies that keep our
family from dire straits.
- [Persephone] I do not enjoy
washing the neighborhood's
laundry any more than you do.
But being upset about it
won't change our situation.
[Artemis sighs]
[dramatic instrumental music]
[gate squeals]
[birds chirping]
- Open the door, sweetheart.
- I have had an atrocious day,
and now I have to open the door.
- [Persephone] I'm sorry
you've suffered so much.
I fear you will simply
have to continue
in your wretched
state a bit longer.
- I will open the door,
but do not be surprised if
I lie on the floor and die.
- I will be many
things if that happens,
my sweet little Artemis,
but above all I will
not be surprised.
[Artemis sighs]
- She has "died" from far
less than this in the past.
[dramatic instrumental
music continues]
[door creaks]
[Persephone grunts]
[shoe clatters]
[dramatic instrumental
music continues]
- Was father wandering again?
[dramatic instrumental
music continues]
Daphne.
- Persephone. You're home.
[Persephone chuckles]
- Was father wandering again?
- Until a letter came.
Then he went
back up to his study.
- Did he say whom
the letter was from?
- You know father doesn't
usually talk to me.
- Well, once I've cleared
the clutter he spread,
sorted the laundry,
and started our meal,
then I very much
wish to talk with you
about whatever
you've learned today.
- It's ever so interesting
and terribly useful.
- I cannot wait.
- Thank you, Persephone.
- Of course, Daphne.
[cheeky music]
You did say this might happen.
- Yes, I did.
- And what has brought you
to such a horrible
end this time?
- My suffering is too great,
no words can
possibly describe it.
- Is this because I
could not buy you a sweet
from the confectionery shop?
- That was tragic.
- But not the reason you're
expiring on the floor?
- I didn't see my friend.
I watched for him,
and he didn't come.
He hasn't in ever so long,
and it's deeply devastating.
- This is the
friend I can't see?
- The friend you don't see.
- Ah.
Do you think your friend
would visit you again
if we had bread pudding tonight?
- Bread pudding?
- I have a bit of stale bread.
And Mrs. Sanford
gave me some cream.
I think we should have
bread pudding tonight.
- It is not even my birthday.
Bread pudding is quite
possibly my favorite thing
in all the world.
- [sighs] Of course, if
you are dead on the floor
you won't be able to have any.
- I am all better!
- It is a miracle!
- Thank you, thank
you, thank you.
- You're very welcome, my
darling little Artemis.
[lighthearted music]
How do you like
the latest fashions?
- These are not the latest.
Mrs. Upton gave me these
because she received
the most recent version.
But they are very
nearly the latest.
- [Persephone] That is gorgeous.
- Isn't it?
I've added it to
my list of dreams.
- Mm, that must be
quite a list by now.
- Isn't that what
dreaming is for?
Believing in those things
you fear you'll never have
but want to continue
hoping are possible?
Like having money enough and
happiness, falling in love.
- I want you to have all
of those things, Athena.
- You must have dreams too.
- Certainly I do.
Artemis' spirits not
being dampened
by the heaviness of life.
Daphne finding a friend
who helps her feel seen
and cared about.
Evander and Linus
returning home to us whole.
- That is far from guaranteed
for two midshipmen in
the navy during wartime.
- I should've done more to
keep them home and safe.
- There was nothing
more you could've done.
- I could've taken
in more laundry,
or reduced my portions at meals.
I could've gone
without fires in my room.
- And it likely still
would not have been enough.
- I suppose that is my version
of "hoping for
impossible things."
- None of the hopes
that you've mentioned
have been of
dreams for yourself.
- Seeing this family happy
is dream enough for me.
[door creaks]
[footsteps approaching]
Fetch Daphne and Artemis and
take them to the kitchen.
I do not know how frustrating
he might be this time.
Have you received a letter?
- We have a very
significant problem.
- What has happened, papa?
Evander? Linus?
- Oh, no, I haven't heard
anything about your brothers.
- Oh.
- I have, however,
received the most
befuddling letter.
You, my dear, have received
an offer of marriage.
- A what?
- An offer from an
incredibly wealthy gentleman
with an old and,
um, prestigious title.
[disquieting music]
- Good heavens!
- Yeah.
What I cannot fathom is why
the duke has settled on you.
He cannot even be remotely
acquainted with our family.
- The duke?
- Of course, dear,
the Duke of Kielder.
- The Duke of Kielder has
asked for my hand in marriage?
- Quite specifically.
[Persephone chuckles]
- I do not believe a word of it.
After all, I do not
know His Grace,
or any Grace, for that matter.
[Richard clears throat]
- "Mr. Lancaster,
I am requesting
the hand of your eldest
daughter in marriage.
I am prepared to settle upon
your three remaining daughters
20,000 each for their dowries
and 50,000 upon yourself
for the sake of your sons.
The ceremony will take
place October the first
at the Falstone chapel.
Please reply as
to your intentions.
Yours, et cetera, Kielder.
- That is certainly
not the most romantic
nor flattering of
proposals, to be sure.
"The ceremony will take place."
There's not the
slightest acknowledgment
that the unforeseen
offer might be declined.
- This offer amounts to
more than 100,000 pounds.
[Persephone exhales softly]
[disquieting music continues]
- What is the Duke
of Kielder like?
- Like?
Well, couldn't say.
I've not met the current duke.
- What was his father like?
- Uh, dull as dishwater.
But his mother
is an active sort.
[disquieting music continues]
[sheep bleating]
[disquieting music continues]
[footsteps approaching]
- 100,000 pounds?
- I can hardly
comprehend such a sum.
[Athena laughs]
It is more than 500 years'
worth our current income.
It is more than five times the
income of the Duke of Sussex,
and he is the son of the king.
- Good heavens.
- We would have
food enough to eat.
We would not need to
wash laundry for pennies.
The boys could soon leave
the navy and return home.
All of your impossible dreams
would suddenly
be entirely possible.
This would not
merely save our family;
it would save
generations of our family.
- But the Duke of Kielder
might be prone to
anger or unkindness.
What, [inhales sharply]
what if he mistreats you?
What if being married to
him makes you miserable
for the rest of your life?
- It is also possible he
will be kind and considerate.
- You don't know
anything about him?
- Only that he clearly has
a tremendous amount of money
and wishes to marry me.
He gave no indication why.
- You needn't simply
accept this offer.
One may yet come from someone
that you at least know
won't treat you abominably.
- There will be no other offers.
If I do not accept this one,
our family will sink further.
Even the simple
hopes we currently have
will be out of reach.
- But then all of your hopes
would be snatched away.
- This family's happiness
is worth every sacrifice.
- Isn't your happiness
worth something as well?
- Artemis has always told
the tale of Hades and
Persephone quite accurately.
Persephone doesn't
get to be happy.
- Then you mean to
accept the duke's offer?
[poignant music]
- Who invited all these people?
- I did.
It is not every day my
poor boy takes a bride.
- This was supposed to
be a quiet ceremony.
I do not believe Miss
Lancaster has invited anyone
beyond her own immediate family.
- I did not intend to
cause awkwardness, Adam.
I only wish to celebrate.
[guests chattering indistinctly]
- [Guest] I wonder if the
chit'll actually turn up.
[sword clinks]
- Try to resist the urge
to run through any
of the wedding guests.
[Harry chuckles]
[sword clangs]
- Where the devil is she?
Another five minutes and
I'll go retrieve her myself.
[footsteps approaching]
- When is this going to start?
I'm hungry.
- Shh.
- Artemis.
[Athena whispers indistinctly]
[guest coughs]
[guest clears throat]
[gentle music]
- She's decided
to come, after all.
[gentle music continues]
- Dearly beloved, we are
gathered here together
in the sight of God and the
face of this congregation
to join together this man and
this woman in holy matrimony,
an honorable estate,
instituted of God
in the time of man's innocence,
signifying unto us
the mystical union
betwixt Christ and His church.
Therefore, if any man
can show any just cause
why they should not
lawfully be joined together,
let him speak, or else hereafter
forever hold his peace.
- Deuced, blasted muck heap.
[guests whispering indistinctly]
Go on.
- Who giveth this woman
to be married to this man?
- Apparently, I giveth myself.
- Take her right hand in yours.
- I, Adam Richard Boyce,
Duke of Kielder,
Marquess of Falstone,
Earl of Falstone,
Viscount Byrness,
Baron Falstone, Baron Whitelee,
take thee to be my wedded wife,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
'till death do us part,
according to God's
holy ordinance;
and thereto I
plight thee my troth.
[disquieting music]
- I, Persephone-
- [Adam] Ridiculous.
- Lancaster, do
Do take thee to be
my wedded husband,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
'till death us do part,
according to God's
holy ordinance;
and thereto I
give thee my troth.
- Is that everything?
- Not usually.
- Can it be?
- I suppose all the
truly essential bits
have been seen to.
Those whom God
hath joined together,
let no man put asunder.
- To the castle, then.
[footsteps retreating]
[Persephone speaks indistinctly]
- I
[poignant music]
[bell tolling]
- Thank you.
[bell continues tolling]
[Harry laughs]
[poignant music continues]
- Is your name
really Persephone?
- It is.
Did you not think to ask?
- [Adam] What were
your parents thinking,
choosing a name like that?
- [Persephone] My
father is a scholar.
He's particularly fond
of Greek mythology.
- Entirely too fond,
it would seem.
Are the rest of your
siblings similarly afflicted?
- In what way afflicted?
- What absurd names
did your parents assign
the other members
of your family?
- Athena is just younger than I.
Evander is 14. Linus, 13.
Daphne will be 12 toward
the end of the year.
The youngest is Artemis.
- Fates save us from
short-sighted scholars.
Do you have a middle name?
- I do.
- I suppose it is
entirely too much to hope
that it is something common.
- Iphigenia.
- Persephone Iphigenia?
Did no one ever call
you anything else?
- Only Miss Lancaster.
- Well, I cannot call you that.
I suppose I will have to
consign myself to Persephone.
- [Persephone] It would seem so.
- You, of course,
will call me Kielder.
- I will not call you Kielder.
- Everyone calls me Kielder.
- Kielder?
It sounds as though I am
accusing you of a crime.
- You would, no doubt,
prefer Agamemnon or Apollo
or something along that vein.
- My papa certainly would.
- What do you propose
to call me, then?
- Adam?
- No one calls me Adam.
- No one?
Certainly your family and
closest friends would.
- Harry does.
- Who is Harry?
- A friend,
one who allows himself
far too much freedom.
[dramatic music]
[dramatic music swells]
Calling me Adam will be fine.
Persephone.
This is Barton, the butler.
Mrs. Smithson, the housekeeper.
Duchess of Kielder.
[Adam clears throat]
[poignant music]
Mrs. Smithson will see
to whatever you need.
[poignant music continues]
- I'm likely meant to be
shown all of the castle,
but I would very
much like to rest.
Perhaps you could
simply point out
the rooms I need to know today,
and save the rest for tomorrow?
- Of course, Your Grace.
[poignant music continues]
The Drawing Room, a
favorite of Queen Elizabeth
when she stayed at
Falstone Castle in 1580.
- Do, do members of the royal
family still visit Falstone?
- Heavens, no.
They wouldn't dare.
This is the Grand Banquet Hall,
which has hosted feasts
for some of the most significant
and influential
people in the kingdom
over the past 500 years.
I believe your family will be
dining in here this evening.
- Is that a gibbet?
- And stocks.
- Was there no room in the
dark, foreboding dungeon?
- There's ample
room, Your Grace.
But the duke says
displaying weapons
makes them more effective.
All of the family bedchambers
are on this floor.
This is your
bedchamber, Your Grace.
Is there anything else you
wish me to do, Your Grace?
- Not at the moment.
- The bell pull is
beside the fireplace
should you require anything.
[door creaks]
[soft music]
[Persephone exhales heavily]
[duck quacks]
[Persephone sighs heavily]
- This is never going to work.
- This is never going to work.
[door creaks]
- I just saw your man of
business leaving the castle.
What did you do to him?
- I fired him.
- Again?
How many times have
you fired the poor man?
- Six, seven.
Every time he sulks away
like a lily-livered coward.
- You didn't pull your pistol
on him this time, did you?
- I have never pulled a
pistol on Josiah Jones.
I may have held an epee to
his throat once or twice,
but he was never
in any real danger.
- Perhaps his fear
has something to do
with your less-than-pristine
reputation, Adam.
Rumor has it you've run
through a few men in your time.
- Rumor has it I've
done quite a few things.
- And you wonder why
Jones thinks the worst
whenever you're angry with him.
- I always reinstate
his employment.
And he never makes
the same mistake twice.
- So what was his
transgression this time, mm?
No, no, don't tell me.
Smiled too much while discussing
the estate investments?
No.
Did not include enough threats
in the business correspondence
he sent on your behalf?
- He recommended a means of
preventing my distant cousin
from one day
inheriting Falstone.
- Ah, Jones was the one
who suggested you marry.
- He knew of a penniless
family in Shropshire,
with an eldest daughter
of the appropriate age
who had no other prospects.
His enthusiastic recommendation
has proven intolerably stupid.
- As stupid as sitting
up in one's book room
with one's friend on
one's wedding night?
Because that, Adam,
is a level of idiocy
far and above
ordinary stupidity.
- I stood through the wedding
and just spent an
interminable dinner
with my flock of
new sisters-in-law.
- Did they stare at you?
It would've been
understandable, you know.
Having not been warned.
- I ought to have
written, then? Mm?
Perhaps I could've included a
postscript with the proposal.
"By the way, I have
a mutilated face
you'll be forced to look
at day in and day out
for the rest of your life.
Hope that's not a problem."
- Mm, perhaps not
those precise words.
- She wasn't exactly
forthcoming, either,
I will have you know.
- Forgot to mention
something important?
Another husband, perhaps?
An extraneous limb?
- Her name is Persephone.
A man ought to
know a thing like that
about his future wife.
Persephone Iphigenia.
What an inexcusably ridiculous
thing to call a child.
- I had the chance
to speak briefly
with your new bride, Adam.
She was
delightful.
Perhaps a little quiet,
but that is to be expected
considering the
upheaval in her life.
I'll confess I had expected
someone rather
long in the tooth;
rather long in the
face, in all honesty.
- So had I.
- But she's a fetching thing.
Young and quite pretty.
Oh.
You expected someone desperate,
and ugly, and undesirable.
Instead, your bride
turned out to be
a vast deal more than passable.
[tongue clicks]
Not quite what you'd
bargained for, I'd guess.
A lady who was too intolerable
to have any other options
would be content with a
curmudgeon in a drafty castle
in the wilds of Northumberland.
And now, because she is
young and fine-looking,
seems to be good-natured and
potentially enjoyable company,
the poor girl is
upstairs, alone,
probably wondering
what she's done wrong,
while you are
down here brooding.
Adam, you are
completely bacon-brained.
- I should call
you out for that.
- Do. [yawns]
But not tonight. I'm tired.
Call me out tomorrow, would you?
- I ought to lock
you in the dungeon.
- You should.
No point having a dungeon
if no one's ever
consigned to suffer in it.
Good night, Adam.
- Good night. Presumptuous lout.
[door creaks]
- And Adam?
- What?
- Give the poor girl a chance.
It's not her fault
you've ended up
with every man's
idea of a perfect wife.
[Harry laughs] [book clatters]
[Adam sighs heavily]
[Persephone breathing nervously]
[footsteps approaching]
[Adam blows candle]
[Persephone sighs]
[disquieting music]
[duck quacking]
- Are you going to be lonely
without us, Persephone?
- I will miss you terribly.
But you will have each other.
So you are
unlikely to be lonely.
- I do not know that anyone
will remember to talk to me
when you're not here.
I'm certain
everything will be fine.
- [Persephone] Mm.
- You don't need
to worry about us.
- Write and tell me about all
the things you're reading.
[poignant music]
I love you.
- Love you, too.
- Make haste.
- I do not want to go!
- Let me speak with her.
[poignant music continues]
Oh, my dear girl. You're crying.
- He cannot make you stay here!
- No one is making
me stay here, dearest.
Falstone Castle is my home now.
I will send you letters,
perhaps with a
guinea under the seal.
You could come here,
we could explore
the castle together.
- He won't let me.
- Of course he will.
We will have grand adventures.
Perhaps there is a tower room
where we can imagine all
sorts of wonderful stories,
the way we always did at home.
- Do you promise?
- I promise.
- Who will take care
of me when you're gone?
- Papa will engage a governess
for both you and Daphne,
a companion for Athena
when you're all in town.
- Will you visit us there?
- [Persephone] Of course.
- Persephone?
- Yes, my dear?
- Who will take care of you?
Will you be happy
even though we're gone?
[poignant music continues]
- Oh.
When have you known
me to be unhappy?
- [Artemis] Then I
will be happy, too.
But if I don't leave
now, I will cry again,
and I do not want
to cry anymore.
- Then let us promise
each other not to cry.
Yes, good.
I will see you soon.
Be good for papa.
- I will.
- [Persephone] I
love you, dearest.
- I love you, too, Persephone.
You're the best mama I ever had.
[poignant music continues]
[Persephone cries silently]
- I thought you weren't
supposed to cry.
- Artemis is crying as
well, I'm certain of it.
- Then why make the promise?
- To lessen her pain.
If my sister knew I was crying,
it would break her heart.
- But you know she is crying.
- I know her better
than she knows me.
- The best mama she ever had.
[poignant music continues]
[Persephone gasping]
[dramatic orchestral music]
[Persephone sobbing]
- 24 hours into this
ill-conceived marriage
and my wife is already in
the back of a garden sobbing.
[sullen music]
How long into your marriage
did mother start crying?
And when did that stop making
you feel like a monster?
[sullen music continues]
[sheep bleating]
[thunder rumbling]
[poignant music]
- Your Grace.
- Mm.
- Good eve
Are you feeling well, child?
- I am excessively tired.
- Do not fret yourself
over dinner, dear.
I'll have a tray
sent to your room.
You rest.
- [Persephone] Thank you.
[Persephone gasps]
[poignant music]
[Harry whistling]
[door clicks]
[door creaks]
[Harry whistles]
[Harry whistles]
- [tongue clicks] You told
me you'd call me out today.
Never did.
- I've decided to shoot you
first thing in the morning.
Go to sleep so I can
load my pistols in peace.
- Your mother said
the new duchess
was indisposed this evening.
Any idea what she meant by that?
- As mother said,
she was indisposed.
- She wouldn't be the first
person to hide from you.
- She? You mean Persephone?
- Well, I certainly
don't mean your mother.
You could shoot a man
dead in the drawing room,
and she'd just smile
indulgently and say, "My-"
- "Poor boy," yes.
And the woman will still be
calling me that when I'm 80.
- When you're
80, she'll be dead.
- Oh, shut up, Harry.
- Is there any chance Persephone
is locked in the dungeon?
- I am not a monster.
And she chose to accept me.
- Ah, yes.
But without the benefit of the
rather ingenious postscript
you composed last night.
I'm don't think she realized-
- You think I've made
her miserable already?
- She took this morning's
farewells particularly hard.
You ought to have insisted
her family stay longer.
- So I'm the villain, am I?
- I wouldn't be surprised
if you never saw the
poor woman again
as long as you lived.
In a place as enormous
as this pile of rock,
she could avoid you for years.
Where are you going?
- My wife is indisposed.
I'm going to see for
myself that she is well.
- Adam.
- I am not going to
hurt the blasted woman.
You know me better than that.
[Harry chuffs]
[footsteps approaching]
[door clicks]
[Adam exhales heavily]
[soft music]
[door creaks]
[door clicks]
[Persephone sighs]
[footsteps thudding]
[Mable exclaims]
- Oh, forgive me, Your Grace.
- I'm attempting to
find the breakfast room.
Please tell me you know
how to reach it from here.
- I got lost a few times when
I first started working here.
Falstone Castle
is quite a big place.
- Enormous.
New arrivals really ought
to be provided with a map.
[Mable laughs softly]
- This way, Your Grace.
And I'll not tell
anyone you were lost.
- Thank you.
- Mother, explain to Harry
that you're not
leaving Falstone Castle
because I forced you to do so.
He seems to think
that I drive every person
who ever comes here
away with a scythe in one hand
and a flaming
torch in the other.
- A regular one-person
bloodthirsty mob,
that's what you are.
You really ought to think
about employing
pitchforks when you-
[door creaks]
- Persephone, come
break your fast, dear.
Kidneys? Eggs?
- Yes, please.
- Harry, will you please-
- [Adam] I will prepare
a plate for her, mother.
- Oh, you needn't
inconvenience yourself.
- Please.
[chinaware clinking]
- Thank you.
Should I sit somewhere else?
- No, you can
stay where you are.
- Will you be coming to
town at Christmastime?
- I never go to town until
absolutely necessary.
- You must convince my poor
boy of the delights of London.
- I have never been to London.
- Well, then you absolutely
must come as soon as possible.
I should positively love
taking you around town
and introducing
you to just everyone.
I'm certain you can
pack quickly, Adam.
And I could delay my
departure by a day or so,
and we could all-
- I shall be forced to take
her in the spring as it is.
- Forced?
The season is such fun.
How can you say forced?
- I despise London.
But the queen will be vexed
if Persephone is not presented,
and that is one bother
I could do without.
Thus, I shall be forced to town.
- Do not let him burden you
with even the tiniest
amount of guilt, Your Grace.
By spring, he will
have gone months
without insulting the
members of the Cabinet
or any of the royal family
and will be itching
for the opportunity.
- That is good to know.
- I suppose, as a good
friend of the family,
I ought to remain
here indefinitely
and offer my insights
into your grumbly husband.
That is simply the sort
of selfless person I am.
- Even selfless people
can be thrown from
the south parapet.
- Mm, I am beginning
to suspect, Adam,
that you do not
like me very much.
I will simply have to ponder
the sorrow of this realization.
Your Grace.
Your Grace.
Your Grace.
This could get confusing.
We really ought to think of
names for the three of you.
[soft music]
[gentle music]
[gentle music swells]
[gentle music fades]