Dangerous Liaisons (2022) s01e07 Episode Script

1
Do you think becoming a marquise
was in the destiny for someone like me?
Walk away and find peace,
Camille, or you will lose me.
This was retrieved from
a dead woman's throat.
I've seen this thread before.
The Montrachets
betrayed me in the worst of ways.
Forgive me for what I want.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
If you are scared, go.
I have no further need of you tonight.
Don't treat me like a servant.
I'm your friend.
When Monsieur de Montrachet
has the king's ear,
he will be able to have
whatever he wants.
Pascal.
We'll start again. I'll
make a good life for us.
Do not come looking for me
or the letters I have taken.
I don't want to be without you.
Marry me.
From the palace.
Madame.
Victoire left me.
She'll come back.
Victoire wanted me
to make peace with the past,
but I can't.
Not until I make them pay.
Montrachet is more powerful now
than even a marquis' wife.
I thought he was gone from my grasp.
And then, last night,
after you and I parted,
I came across the queen.
And she knows too well
the risk of someone
with a secret to protect or exploit.
So I still need the letter.
If you can win her in writing,
then I can give the letter to the queen.
If I can't destroy them, the queen will.
Mere mortals do not go to Versailles.
You will not get close
to the queen again.
The queen's opera,
written by your chevalier.
No one turns down a royal invitation,
especially not the king's
physician and his wife.
I will give the queen the letter.
She will banish them.
They will be humiliated.
The integrity of the messenger
is as important as the message itself.
A devout soul, full of morality
and above reproach,
would serve your cause far better.
I'm not acquainted with such a soul.
You don't recall the man
at the heart of this scandal?
His conscience compels him
to warn the queen
and protect the king.
Let Lucienne deliver the letter.
And let him disappear like the lie he is
and us to be free from all of this.
This is how the story ends.
I've missed you.
The opera is the night after tomorrow.
Can you get the letter by then?
Before.
All you need to do
is leave Saint-Honoré.
I'll meet you at the Luxembourg Gardens
at 8:00 tomorrow night.
I love you.
How long I have waited to hear that.
Your lecture was not well received?
There was a discussion of you.
One of the young men was at the ball.
He spoke to me after
the lecture to warn me.
He witnessed you with another man,
reaching inside his shirt.
You've accused me
previously of being lifeless.
I didn't mean it as a challenge.
Isn't that what society
does when masked?
Forgive me, I've been
out of it for so long.
I'm, er, out of touch.
You were with another man.
Do you have any idea what happens
if these rumours reach the king?
It would destroy the opportunity
before me at Versailles.
You make not simply a fool of me,
but you put everything at risk!
If you cannot behave
as a wife should for my sake,
then do so for yours.
Be sure you have as much to lose as I.
I will bring you chamomile, madame.
Thank you.
Are we expecting visitors?
There wouldn't be enough
room for anyone else.
Such has the marquis' affection
for you expanded.
He requests you in the drawing room.
You've been eluding me all morning,
but I've filled it with thoughts of you.
Oh.
And flowers.
Mm-hmm.
Oh
The toy is named Solomon.
Such is the beauty of his song.
Jean
Jean, I must speak with you.
You're unhappy with the bird.
I have used the day
to think about the idea
of our marriage.
I forced you into its creation.
I pushed you when you had
been exploited already.
Because you wanted me.
Of course.
But I have thought on it,
and it is not fair to you.
You have scarcely had time
to grieve your first marriage.
I grieved during it.
But all that has followed since,
it is too much for you
to keep a clear head,
for you to be sure of what you want.
And I must be sure you are sure.
Think on it, Jean.
Take more time, please,
if only to assuage the guilt I feel
at having manipulated you
into believing you desire me.
Think on it.
And she awaits me with open arms.
I must discuss the orphanage with you.
There's been a development.
My husband and I are
leaving for Versailles.
You may direct your requests
for funding to him.
It is a private matter
I wish to discuss.
Look at me, please.
I did not take you for a cruel man.
Do you forget how you made a fool of me?
It is I who is the fool.
I could not give a name to the feelings
you awakened in me.
But now I know, I am full of regret
that I did not take you last night
and make love to you
till we could not see
or feel the world around us.
For you to speak to me this way
you condemn your soul.
I do not care what happens to my soul.
I cannot give you up.
I'm not yours to give up.
You saved me from myself.
I will remember you in my prayer.
Our business here is done.
I must go again to her tomorrow.
I must raise my game.
I made a promise to Camille.
Well, unmake it.
I love her.
Can't you see what she's doing to you?
You're going to approach
the queen and lie to her!
It will not be a lie.
Well, it's not a truth either.
It's her revenge, not yours.
Camille will ruin you,
and I can't save you
because you don't believe
you deserve to be saved.
The fact that you ask me to
consider my offer of marriage
only further adds to my certainty
that you are unlike any other woman.
I can have my priest here
within the hour.
Jean, I have dreamed of my wedding day.
You think it can be arranged
within one hour?
I want to plan every detail.
Do not turn compassion into torture.
Why would you deny me now?
You don't imagine I would
want all those I care for
at the wedding?
We'll invite everyone.
I'll host all of Paris if you desire it.
My darling Valmont.
Hurry, my love,
with this wretched task I have set you.
And as you promise to avenge me,
I promise the same to you.
Your Camille.
A wedding gift, how kind.
Perhaps it's your sense of humour
or unfamiliarity with me,
but this is not to my taste.
Forgive me. I-I was misinformed.
Beg your pardon?
Though they were very clear
at the Labyrinth Club.
See, they've written down
every one of your liaisons there.
You insult me, mademoiselle?
Ugh, how clumsy of me.
I mean to warn you.
I mean, your forthcoming wedding
and the elevation in your status,
the dowry that will pay for a good deal
of your gambling debts
they mentioned those too
all are at risk, Vicomte de Valmont,
if your affairs were to come to light.
And then, of course,
there is your mother.
What do you want?
For you not to live a lie
I'll not be judged by you.
Because I do not judge you.
I'm no stranger to variety myself,
but I will exploit infidelity
where I find it.
The lie I speak of
is your title of vicomte.
You've taken the life
another man should have had.
And while we may admire
your mother's ambition,
the title belongs to someone else.
And you are the only person
who can make her return it
to the rightful heir,
to Pascal.
That is what I want for my silence.
Come.
Ugh.
I'm busy, Carré.
Forgive me, sir,
but I've made some advances in the case.
You've taken up needlework, huh?
A surgeon I've talked with has found
this thread in another woman,
also found in the river.
Both found dead in the same way,
choked by this thread.
Are you familiar with the myth
of the labyrinth, sir?
A place to find one's way
by following a crimson thread
such as this,
a place that was home to a minotaur,
half man, half bull,
a monster to whom young women of beauty
were sacrificed.
There is such a place in Paris,
a nefarious institute
known as the Labyrinth Club.
Sir, I believe a person within this club
is responsible for this depravity.
I would like your permission to go there
and question all involved!
You return to your work.
This is my work!
Forgive me, sir.
You're losing control of yourself.
Now, I'm warning you, Carré.
Forget this matter
and all that goes with it.
Ow! Ow!
Come on. Come back.
Come back here.
- Ow!
- See these are distributed.
Oh! Ow!
Wait.
Madame de Montrachet, wait, please.
Where does this end, monsieur?
Do you intend to ambush me
into corruption with you?
I'm going to Versailles with my husband.
I wanted only to thank you
and to offer an apology.
How could I imagine
that you would want me
over your husband,
a man who writes
a treatise on the human soul
when I can barely feel mine?
I mistook your devotion
to God as loneliness,
like my own.
But you could not be lonely
because you could not
be unloved
not for a moment.
I underestimated
your marriage, Jacqueline,
and for that, I am sorry.
You are disingenuous to praise
my husband in this way.
Only yesterday, you said you wished
to make love to me till we could not see
or hear the world around us.
And I do not deny it.
I am sick with love.
I wanted to possess you,
to fling you down upon a bed,
to hold you in my arms,
to walk with you beside a river,
lay flowers on your pillow
for when you wake.
Then how can you reconcile yourself
to living without all of that?
I can't.
That's why I'm leaving Paris.
Lucienne.
And what of me?
I imagine confession will suffice.
"I must see you before I leave Paris.
Come to the house".
Monsieur Lucienne, madame.
Thank you for coming, Monsieur Lucienne.
We will discuss the orphanage
and how it may work between us
when I'm in Versailles.
I'm at your service, madame.
I will call the orphanage,
whichever part of the world
I build it, after you.
I'll call it The Children of Jacqueline.
And I will think of you
each day I spend there.
I do not want to talk
about the orphanage.
Why else would you ask me here?
You're wrong about my husband.
I have said as much and apologised.
In your charitable thoughts
of him, you're wrong.
I am alone in this marriage.
Does it corrupt my soul to tell you
that I am glad to hear it?
Well, if it does, then
you must pray for us both.
I do not need to pray for you.
Then you do not know my soul.
Let me show you my soul, Lucienne.
I see it already.
If you did, you would not
kiss me like that.
Like this, perhaps?
She-she covered me in blood.
Let's not spend this precious time
remembering such a brutal act.
I want you to make love to me
till you shut out the world around me.
But fir-but first, Lucienne, I need you
to hear my confession.
Lucienne.
Lucienne, my confession.
My confession.
Until you've heard it,
we cannot truly be together.
Cam-Camille was our servant.
My-my husband defiled her
and left her with child.
I could not let her destroy my marriage.
God forgives you.
No, not for this sin.
This is my soul, Lucienne.
This is my daughter, Odette.
She has her father's smile
and her mother's eyes.
And they are such eyes.
But they're not mine.
I'm barren.
I took her
while the servant girl was sleeping
after giving birth.
Do you think I go to church
to praise Him?
I go to be forgiven.
Will-will you have me now?
I don't want to go to Versailles.
I want to stay with you.
I'll make a plan.
I'll find a way for us to be together.
Put your faith in me, my love.
Azolan.
I need you to go to Camille
and remind her
we are to meet at the Luxembourg Gardens
at 8:00 tonight.
And I need you to take a letter
to Madame de Montrachet.
Wait for her reply.
Then pack up all that's important here.
Hire a cart and meet me at Montmartre.
We are leaving, Azolan.
Here is our plan.
We must move swiftly.
Take courage, Jacqueline.
I'll come to you tonight
under the pre-tense
of discussing the orphanage.
Ensure your husband joins us.
While we talk, have your maid
take Odette to the carriage.
Tell her you plan to surprise Henri
with a ride to see the fireworks
before leaving for Versailles.
I'm to wait for your reply, madame.
Thank you.
I'll leave first by carriage
with your maid and Odette.
I'll reveal our plan to the maid
and pay for her silence.
After half an hour,
make an excuse to Henri
and come to meet us
at the Place des Vosges.
I'll be waiting there with the child.
Give my boy your answer.
Will we take our courage, Jacqueline?
Tell him, boy.
Tell him yes.
Yes. Yes.
Come.
I'm glad it's you. I wanted to see you.
You have a visitor.
A matter of some urgency, apparently.
Boy.
Azolan?
What are you doing here?
I, um, asked first for Victoire,
but the man said she was gone.
You have a message for Victoire?
I'll see she gets it.
How?
Since she's left you.
Well, she has not left me.
We've simply quarreled.
She'll be back soon.
Take this for me.
It will make my departure
less noticeable.
My master says you're
not to come tonight.
He's better off as Lucienne.
All you do is make him unhappy.
None of what you say is true.
He is Valmont, not Lucienne.
I know it will be hard
for you to share him,
but we love each other,
so let's us, you and I,
begin on good terms.
You may start with taking my bag.
Tell Pascal I will see him
at 8:00, as agreed.
What girl?
Camille.
She demands that I return
the title or she'll
Hmm?
She'll ruin me.
I have a life I keep from Cécile,
from everyone.
Certain liaisons that would be damaging
to a match such as ours.
And this woman,
Camille
she knows about these liaisons?
I know all you've done for me,
how you set up this match and everything
to secure my future.
Forgive me.
You think I don't know
every facet of you?
You don't need forgiveness for that.
If she is trying to destroy you,
she'll have to destroy me first,
and she'll find out she doesn't know
the meaning of the word!
Madame.
The marquis will see you now.
I believe I've finally seen
your mysterious fiancée.
She's not your business.
Everything to do with you
is my business.
A man of mine is fishing
Ariadnes from the Seine
and making connections between them.
I've closed up the club,
but he will not look away
for long.
Then approach the duc.
You know very well one
does not approach the duc.
One serves him.
And his appetite must be
sated in another way,
from a source beyond the Labyrinth.
So you do your duty, Marquis.
Find a girl who leaves no trace.
It's Camille, isn't it?
No one can tell me a thing about her,
who she is, where she's from.
She leaves no trace.
I'll do nothing more.
You'll do whatever's asked of you.
Monsieur de Montrachet,
it is a pleasure to finally meet you.
I congratulate you
on your position with the king.
I understand you are to help
lighten our pockets
before we go to Versailles.
An orphanage in need of guardians.
That is fitting.
If we do not care for these
abandoned children, who will?
There is no expectations
of funds, monsieur.
Even your good name connected
with us would
would make a great difference.
Yes.
I am very protective of my good name.
Leave the details
of your request with my wife.
We will do what we can to help you.
Wait, Monsieur. I have
forgotten her blanket.
She cannot be without it.
Go on, then.
Hello, little one.
I am taking you back to your mother.
Her name is Camille.
And her heart has been
broken since the day
you were stolen from her.
But now, her heart will mend.
You will be more loved
than you could ever be.
You have not brought the blanket.
Well, she does not need it after all.
Take him away.
Very well, sir.
Your loyalty will be rewarded.
Valmont!
Mademoiselle.
Where is he?
As always, when one needs him most,
he cannot be relied upon.
Curse that man.
He promised me a story for my opera.
What story did he promise you?
One about his immorality,
about the passion between men and women.
Not really my forte.
The opera is tomorrow night,
and you are not finished?
On the contrary, I am entirely finished
in Paris and beyond.
It's better I fake my death.
It will increase the fondness
of others for my work.
Why did I believe Valmont could save me?
Because he needs us to believe.
It fills the great, dark abyss
we mistake for his heart.
I have a story for you, Chevalier.
Come, sit with me.
Close your eyes and listen.
Once upon a time,
there was an orphan girl.
Friends, this will be
our last gathering in Paris.
We sought to bring healing,
but this city
is not ready for our work.
It is not you,
the people, who resist us.
But too much is rotten here
and cannot be saved.
The elite seek to maintain
an old poison.
They seek to shut out the light.
But they are not
the masters of our souls.
So cast off this darkness.
Burn all that you do not need
and come to the light.
Come.
Come, this side.
A new time is coming, a time
when darkness will be driven out.
Come to the light.
Bring all those who need the light.
Burn your shackles.
Embrace your future
and welcome.
Come.
Take your place at the end.
Take hold of the rope.
Let us make new plans for a new world!
There is nothing left
here for a good soul.
Intrepid souls, embrace your future!
There is no hope here!
That is your Opera of Paris.
That is who these people are.
I'm grateful to you, mademoiselle.
I have a long night and day ahead,
but now, I may actually have an opera
that satisfies our queen.
He does not deserve you Valmont.
And you are better off without him.
Send for your priest.
In nomine Patri
et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.
Take me to the opera tomorrow night.
I don't care for the opera.
But you care for me.
It's what I want.
I want all of Paris to know who I am.
And who is that?
The Marquise de Merteuil,
your wife,
one of the most powerful
women in this city.
No, one of the most
powerful women in France.
Do you know the thing
about power, Marquise?
It corrupts all those that have it.
Can you imagine what
that does to the soul?
Makes you capable of anything.
Yes.
It's you? Oh, my luck.
My
M-m-my
da-darling
Va-l-mo
my darling Valmont.
It's all right, child.
Stay-stay aw stay away from me.