- Have mercy. - Father Gabriel...
He didn"t return for morning prayer.
Previously, on "Barkskins"...
A wise man would have run Mr. Cooke out of Wobik.
Put things to order before it is hung on your head.
I hereby exercise the power of the Crown.
Confess your hand in the murder of the innkeep!
Take the boy into the woods. He must not return.
You can"t go back to Wobik.
I"m giving you a chance.
A Mr. Elisha Cooke in Wobik says that he and Randall Cross
had a plan to stir the Iroquois against some French settlers.
Mr. Cooke is well acquainted with the Hudson Bay Company.
The orders were to weaken the French hold.
Cooke is not our only asset in the region.
Bill Selby is about.
You have a housekeeper?
She may test you. She may throw curses
- at you. - Then you must put her in her place.
You will need a man, Mathilde.
- Better you see that now. - No.
I do not need a man.
Oh!
Us girls will make do.
God have mercy.
*CREDITS*
Renardette?
Renardette.
Don"t be afraid.
Nothing to worry about, huh?
Nothing to worry about.
I have you.
Safe?
Did you nick yourself?
Yes.
Where did you spend the night?
Did you try to go home?
Were you looking for your family?
No. They are gone.
Because of me.
- I"m marked by the devil. - Oh...
You are not to blame for the misfortunes of your family.
Why are you not afraid?
Afraid? Of what?
Me.
It takes a lot more than a little fox
to rattle me, my dear.
I will make a bed for you upstairs, with me. Hmm?
Under the window. Would you like that?
Yes.
There are men about with designs to harm you.
But your home is here now.
I will keep you safe.
Monsieur Sel.
Do not abandon me now, Louise.
I will rise back up to meet your expectations of me.
Would you like some water?
- I can fetch some. - No, I have...
I have another need. Um...
Before my vision yellows...
Oh.
Would you look away, at the least?
Having difficulty summoning it forth.
Pardon me.
Ah...
I am finished.
What will you do after?
A bath.
A proper meal and a cup of tea.
And then I shall uncover the identity of my betrayer.
Bonjour, Mathilde.
What is this?
Have you something to say to me?
You poor, poor Englishman.
What would your wife Louise say?
I am a flawed man, Mathilde,
as are we all.
Now, say your piece.
Would you like some sausage?
The buttermilk was sufficient, Mathilde.
What do you have to say?
I do not hold you responsible for the murder of my husband.
Gus was his own man.
Although I am sure there is a line to be drawn,
as you were his master.
But...
What would be the point in drawing a line now?
How would that profit me?
The deed is done.
I am widowed.
What is your ask?
I am aware of your wish to speak to the girl
they found out by the creek.
I have no such wish.
The Intendant De Fer is on his way from Quebec City.
The events at the creek will be of keen interest
to the Intendant.
You see, I know many things, Mr. Cooke.
Well, that much is plain, Mathilde.
So do not take me for a fool.
You wish to find the girl
because she may have seen something
you do not want reported.
I remain blissfully ignorant of what you speak.
The yolk is hard.
It will stall in your throat.
Mr. Duquet will take the egg.
Why don"t you ask Mr. Cooke what it is you want?
Does this creature speak for you?
Yes, in this, he does.
Very well.
The girl has come to me.
She"s a poor and damaged thing. I have taken her in.
And I wish to know that she can come out safely into Wobik.
You suggest that I would harm a child?
I do not suggest what is in the heart of any man, Mr. Cooke.
Especially one such as yourself.
I believe the girl was sent to me.
A small comfort from above during my time of grieving.
Surely you know of the black lake of grief.
I do.
I have swum its icy depths once before.
I will not swim in it a third time.
Give me your word
the girl will remain safe.
She saw nothing.
Of that I am certain.
Yes.
I give you my word. Mr. Duquet is my witness.
No harm will come to her.
You are Mari.
The housekeeper.
He has told me of you.
Some creatures must go back to the wild, it seems.
Monsieur Trepagny smashes them with his stick at night,
and they know to stay away from our bed.
He does have dominion over all.
As his wife, I will therefore need you to serve my needs.
Help me see to the house
so that I may improve the estate
and have it well on the way to prospering,
so that our children
may in turn enjoy the bounty of this land.
- You will bear him no children. - I am the lady of the house.
I steer the man.
In time, I will steer him any way I want.
To renovate,
toss out old habits back into the forest
where they belong.
There is my dear husband.
I was out searching for Sel and I found something, Mari.
These seem to have
run away from my sanctum.
What do you know about this?
Nothing.
And Monsieur Sel?
He, too, has departed.
I go away for one day
and my Doma falls to disorder.
You saw nothing at all?
As the housekeeper, you should be aware
of the comings and goings on the estate.
A dog could do better.
Perhaps you can discover what has happened to Monsieur Sel.
I will speak alone with Melissande.
Go on.
I see now the arrangement you wish to design for yourself.
I have made no such designs, ma chérie.
I wish to do only beautiful things in this Doma,
and you will be my partner in this.
And as my partner,
you will learn to look past my many flaws,
and I will look past your...
shortcomings, which I am sure are few.
Did you know that I sailed across an ocean
and walked into the endless forest
so that I could find the correct man
to bestow my maidenhood on?
That is no small thing.
There are deeper bindings
towards which we must work.
The binding of the two into a one...
There will be no more binding, nor any more bedding
until you tell me the truth.
I gave it once. I may never give it again.
Which truth is this?
There are so many floating about.
Pluck one for me and I will tell it.
Mari.
- Yes. - You have lain with her?
What would you have me do?
You have given her a son?
Did she tell you that?
No one need tell me a thing.
I have eyes. A brain.
They will know when you"ve gone to visit her cabin
and when you have not.
We will have a proper
wedding ceremony.
I will wear a special dress. There will be dancing.
Yes, of course.
We will have a wonderful ceremony.
Now I am brimming with ideas
on how to improve the Doma.
You spoke true of its beauty,
but it must be tamed.
Not everything will lay down for you, Melissande.
This is my Doma.
And as its master,
I must stride it with vigor and authority.
You may stride any way you like with as much vigor
as you may muster,
but you visit Mari"s cabin
at your own peril.
You understand you will not have anotherfille?
I do.
Is this your wish, child?
Yes, it is.
I asked Delphine.
Yes.
We were unable to make a worthy match.
Ah! Intendant De Fer.
Welcome to Wobik.
You"ll see that all has been put to order
since the recent unrest.
We"re all aware of the troubles, Captain Bouchard.
And my goal is to get to the root of them,
and see they don"t boil over.
And that the intendant"s seigneury
doesn"t fall to the English
or the bloody savages.
The unrest has been contained.
I was attacked by a little savage.
What are you going on about, Ratahsénthos?
The old Chief Three Trees story.
That"s a good one.
Savage bastard.
It was a good day for all of us when he croaked off.
What do you want?
Heard about your troubles, so I thought I"d...
travel over, have a look.
What"s this?
You got a live French, I see.
Please, help me.
It"s okay, lad. Ratahsénthos... he"s...
he"s usually quick with the killing part.
You from Wobik?
I am Monsieur Trepagny"s.
He will come for me.
Mad bastard.
He"ll send a songbird, maybe.
If you get out of here alive, will you tell him
Gay Bill says, "Bonjour"?
You must help me.
I wish a choir of angels
sing you into the blackness.
The French down in Wobik
tied my brother to the tree for days.
Your brother has been messing with the wrong sort,
is what I hear.
And I ask you again:
why are you here?
Your father sent me to look on you.
Tell my father
I"m sending a message to the French.
Please! He is a man of God.
Have mercy on him.
I come here
to whisper to my God.
So, you worship a log?
How often have you knelt
before the Virgin Mary?
Too many times.
And what is the Virgin Mary
but a carved log
of a woman with paint?
- She is a symbol. - Ah.
And so is this.
It is the riven soul.
The two halves forced apart
and then grown back together,
but the abyss...
remains.
Do you see?
I see a-a rotten...
log?
Yes, this is also true.
One must always see the other.
For me, this is a place where a man
might find his guidance
and some silence.
I have seen and heard many things in here.
Good.
Then...
I shall have the rest of the house?
Yeah. Of course.
Elisha Cooke, English.
Though married to a Frenchwoman.
I"m aware to Monsieur Cooke.
Monsieur De Fer.
Hey, you have no right to address the intendant.
Monsieur De Fer, Mr. Cooke here conscripted Iroquois
in the service of his bloody massacre.
What say you, Monsieur Cooke?
It was rogue elements in my employ,
if there is blame to be meted out.
There is an Henri Marth.
He remains at large.
He has eluded capture, sir.
I know not what happened by the creek,
but by the blood of the saints, it is the captain here
who hung the bodies of the Iroquois on display.
And those bodies will be answered...
Shut it, English.
Is this true?
Oh, yes.
Monsieur Cooke tells the truth.
It was Captain Bouchard who put the Iroquois on display.
And now, Your Eminence, the Iroquois have abducted
one of our brothers from our mission, Father Gabriel.
Father Gabriel was indifferent to his vows.
We do not know if he fell into the river or drowned
any more than I do to blame phantom Iroquois.
There is one way to know.
A parley with the Iroquois.
And how do you propose we do this, Father?
Claude Trepagny.
His seigneury borders the Wyandot village.
He has the ear of the elders.
If there are Iroquois in the area, they will know.
Better to entreat them and avoid further bloodshed.
The Iroquois are too large a force to confront with sabers.
- Go see Trepagny. - This is not a wise strategy,
Your Eminence.
I saw what they did.
Those Iroquois were dead when myself and my deputies arrived.
I thought better these corpses serve as a warning to others.
You will entreat them with Monsieur Trepagny,
Captain Bouchard.
As you wish.
We will not have Father Gabriel be made a martyr.
Find Trepagny.
And if he refuse?
Remind him of a debt he owes the intendant.
You can release Monsieur Cooke.
His debt has been paid, for now.
Thank you.
I remain a...
loyal servant to Wobik.
You"re loyal to the coin and trade
my seigneury provides.
I have a half a mind to put you on a boat down the river
so you can scrape and taint your fellow Englishmen.
I made no plot.
I give you my word.
Your word is shit, Cooke.
Take your leave.
You"ll be accompanying me on this fool mission, Father.
Ah...
- What is it? - My new boots.
They"re giving me blisters. I need a minute.
We"ll need to be discreet in Wobik.
You must not mince around with tender feet.
I will have answers about Randall.
Cross is dead. That is your answer, Hamish.
My sister will need proof.
- She is one for details. - He died a hero.
That is what you tell her.
She will not let Randall go.
Not until she has a grave where she can mourn at.
I regret this purchase.
They will wear in smart and you will be thankful
when the snow comes to Wobik.
No, we will be gone before that.
You heard the captain.
We are to solicit Mr. Cooke
and advance the company"s trade line.
He ordered us to arm the Iroquois.
No good will come of that.
I have regained full possession of my faculties.
I see, yes.
You have shown great courage in the face of their bald attempts
- to strip your holdings. - I am exposed.
Oh, no, the-the release of your discharge
in the... in the square was hardly observed by anyone,
least of all me.
I"m not talking about my shit and piss, Charles.
I"m talking about my standing.
My name and what it means within these walls.
The intendant may yet strip me of my cooperage
and cast me out into the woods.
I will position myself at the inn and gather
- Intendant De Fer"s intentions. - You will not.
You will be still and you will cease your preening.
I will captain the repair of my own reputation.
We must do something about your clothes.
Well, of course, I-I will, I will neaten them.
There is no neatening those rags. You need new ones.
The right jacket can smarten a man up,
give him an edge in all things.
I would like an edge.
Is that all the beard you can muster?
It is all that has ever come from neglect.
Well, it is no beard at all.
My beard can sense another man"s intentions.
It has barbules that poke out into the minds of others.
It is a powerful beard, sir.
That is a sorry beard.
Projects nothing but weakness and deception.
- Yes, sir. - Now leave me,
that I may speak with my wife.
I pray that she will look aside this day
and think of me in a better light.
It can"t be that bad.
Show me. Go on, child.
- It happened when I was 13. - There is no need to continue.
I must tell it.
The ugly whole of it.
Please.
Go on, then.
When I was a child,
I caught the eye of a woodcutter.
He lived in a shack at the edge of the woods.
He was nice to me.
And one day he followed me into the lavender.
He grabbed me.
He held me down.
He told me he loved me.
I kicked and I screamed.
I kept my virtue.
But he put his knife to my stomach
and made his mark.
The same mark that was on his logs.
And said that everyone would know I was his.
Only, I don"t remember...
I don"t remember any more
except my heart in my throat
and my feet hitting the ground,
running as fast as I could.
And that"s why I came here.
To start over.
To mother this new land.
Be forgiven.
To find a man who would understand,
love me
and be my husband.
Pierre Gasquet is not that man.
He will tell the town, and it will be the same for me
as it were in France.
He will not.
I will speak to him.
In the meantime,
you must find your place, Delphine.
Here?
The vows are not for you, dear.
Good, simple work will find you.
Mari.
I have searched, and there is no sign of Rene Sel.
Now you may search yourself, but I am done being tasked.
He is not the kind of man to vacate his indenture.
Perhaps I took his measure wrong.
You took my measure wrong as well.
It is better we talk about this now
and lance the wicked boil of jealousy
and come to an arrangement that is suitable for us all.
There will be no arrangement.
In time, there must be.
You have brought your child bride to our Doma.
I"m leaving this place.
You"re leaving to where?
- Wobik, the Wyandot. I don"t know. - And do what?
Before you came here, you were welcome nowhere.
Do not take one step outside my Doma
unless you wish to feel the gloom of your former path.
Before I took you in and put clothes on your back
and shared my Doma with you
and lent you the seed that bore my son.
You are here in this place because of me.
Never forget that.
He is our son.
Yes, and the only one it seems
you are able to bring into this world for me.
And Theo favors your wild heart
and will slink back into the woods the first chance he gets.
Your child bride will bear you no children, either.
Bonjour, Monsieur Trepagny.
Captain.
If you have come to lay some peace on my Doma,
you have indeed arrived at the crucial moment.
All is in disarray.
It"s not that, I can assure you.
We need your help, Monsieur Trepagny.
The Iroquois have taken Father Gabriel.
And how is that my problem?
Yes. Yes, I saw the tree of dead Indians.
I knew the bill would come due for Wobik.
It"s the only way to deal with the savages.
Then why do you need me?
Go forth and slaughter and hide behind your walls,
but do not enjoin me in your fool"s mission.
I don"t care what happens to Wobik.
And what of Father Gabriel?
Another martyr.
The cost of collecting souls, I suppose.
I will pray for him, Father.
I have problems of my own.
There is the matter of a proper ceremony
for my beautiful new bride Melissande.
And my man Rene Sel has, uh, run off
when I was in town securing my new bride.
Perhaps you overtasked him.
- Hmm. - This Doma seems to eat men.
He is not the sort of man to shy from work.
Intendant De Fer himself has asked that you
- parley with the Wyandot - Oh,
- to discover the whereabouts of the Iroquois. - No, no, no, no, no, no
no!
He asked to convey the matter of a debt owed to him.
The debt of your Doma.
Ah, yes, the debt.
That toad skull has a... a talent
for twisting all into debt.
Will you help us or not?
I will take you to the Wyandot camp
with no promises,
and that will be the end of my duty.
Thank you.
All right. We will make haste.
I must return to manage my affairs
into some semblance of order.
Will we be safe
in your absence?
Yes, of course, ma chérie.
If the Iroquois come, how will we defend ourselves?
I will leave one of my deputies
to watch over you, Mademoiselle.
I will fetch my weapon and we will be off.
If you kill that priest,
you"ll stir up the French.
They"ll muster soldiers, send them against your father.
He"ll be caught out.
I am not my father.
I just want you to know the tinder
before you set a spark to it.
I have never harmed your people.
I could never.
You"re not even my own man.
Please. The priest is a servant.
He"s a servant of God.
And that doesn"t matter to you.
Then you don"t matter to me.
We have to follow orders, Hamish.
You asked me to go to Wobik
to help find your brother-in-law.
Both of us swore to the Hudson Bay Company.
I did that because I owe you one life.
I do not see it that way.
You saved my life, Hamish.
That debt is now squared.
Now we have orders from our employer.
The company is careful.
Plainly dressed and quietly spoken.
That is its strength.
It does not act on brutality alone.
Seems we work for different companies.
I will not work with that man Cooke.
You will do as the company commands, as will I.
I will not be made unclean in my dealings with Cooke.
It "s Lafarge" s boy.
We should take him back to town.
How will that look to the French?
The same man who told a story about the boy"s father
being run through by a burnt giant?
Mm. Then let us find a suitable tree
and put him to rest under it.
You"ve done wonderfully with Renardette.
The inn is her home now.
Isn"t that right, Renardette?
So, what of Miss Langois" marriage
to Pierre Gasquet?
It did not work out as we imagined.
I see.
I was hoping that there might be a place for her
here at the inn.
It is true...
I am shorthanded since the loss of Francis.
Delphine will earn her keep.
Delphine, come here, child.
There is a surplus of stray men in Wobik.
I"m sure there will soon be a long line of suitors at the inn.
It will be good for business.
Delphine, do you want to work for me?
Yes.
I would be grateful for the opportunity.
Good.
We will begin immediately.
There is a goose to be plucked
and bread to be made.
Come, I show you.
It will do for now.
I"ve not had such a jacket, ever.
You must wear it as though
you have owned many such fine things.
Straighten your back so that you may look men in the eye
until they give way.
You must summon your voice forth from your balls,
every word sure-footed.
Let them think every handshake is a sacred pact.
That you are a man shot through with fairness.
To the core, a square dealer.
I will try.
You will prosper
with little more than words and a handshake.
I"m not fit for the grind of labor.
No. No, that is the province
of a lower order of man.
The sort this town welcomes in abundance.
That is where you and I have an unfair advantage.
We are hawks
in a pen of rabbits.
Do not forget that.
I won"t.
I will be sure to repay you for the jacket.
The only outlay that you owe me
is loyalty.
That as I draw you into my confidence,
you will not question what is asked of you.
Yes, sir.
Good.
Then find me Randall Cross if he is to be found.
He has something of mine.
He worked for the Hudson"s Bay Company.
That"s right.
Now I am off to show Intendant De Fer
that I remain mercilessly in thrall
to the rabbits of Wobik.
Lord, watch over this young man.
Forgive him for his trespasses
and receive him into your good grace.
Young man, you were
an inconvenience in life, and...
you"ve wasted our time yet again today.
We will keep no fire for you.
But let the light of your ancestors
guide you back home to them.
Walk strong and walk well upon the road
to those that await your return back to spirit.
Are we done with the words?
On this, yes.
I believe my brother-in-law yet lives.
I cannot simply put that aside, Yvon.
But you must.
Whether Cross is dead or alive, it doesn"t matter anymore.
You work for the company.
Not if that means consorting with the likes of Cooke.
I will tell you there are far worse men
that we shall meet in the company"s employ.
My dear friend.
Your man isn"t here, Trepagny.
He"s with the Iroquois.
Likely dead. The fat priest, too.
Are you certain?
He had no business with the Iroquois, nor they with him.
I was always a friend to you.
That has been the way of things.
Can you help us retrieve our men?
I don"t make that decision.
Then take me to her.
Pray my touch with women
has not permanently deserted me.
No.
The priest and your man are likely dead.
All I ask is for an escort
to show us where they are.
An escort, for dead men?
My great fear
is they are still alive.
And I should risk my warriors?
The Iroquois will do as they please.
And there is no benefit here for them. Nor for us.
I have always kept my promise.
For years.
You shield me from them, I shield you from Wobik.
The trade has been good for you.
The Iroquois will not stop
at a priest and an indentured man.
I humbly ask your assistance
to recover innocent men
from the roil of barbarous torture
or, if they have passed,
that I might put them into a proper grave.
You would do the same.
Delphine.
C"est bon.
Oh. The brandy is excellent.
Ah.
- It"s cognac. - Mmm.
From Charente. For our most esteemed guests.
Oh.
Hudson"s Bay men.
And what do they swill?
They drink what I give them.
Though, to their credit,
they did save Renardette from the savages.
Mm. The Crown tolerates Englishmen
who know their place.
Oh. I am expert at keeping men in their place.
Do not test me, Intendant.
Mmm.
Bonsoir, Intendant.
May I sit with you a while,
that I may bend your ear?
Very well.
Do not think we are equals,
Monsieur Cooke.
Of course not. I merely wish to point out
a number of our common interests.
No man is above punishment.
- Well, that is true. - We could also have you let
outside the walls to trade with the savages.
If you did, Wobik would be the poorer for it.
- That is plain truth. - What is also true
is that you are a blackhearted merchant.
My barrels...
and the trade they create built Wobik.
Have you not prospered at all?
But of course. I have.
And so may you.
Let"s eat.
While I contemplate your use.
He was a little one, as they go.
Jumped on my back, cut me up.
He was gone before I had time to gather my wits.
It was a dirty ambush.
- But I see the world more clearly now. - Ah.
You can run your mouth in here all you like,
but you will still your hands.
Renardette, more cups.
Bonsoir.
Mr. Goames.
What were the results of your meeting?
We"ll be staying on a bit longer.
The prune tart has a hold of him.
Flatter on, Mr. Goames.
It"s true.
I am partial to it, Mathilde.
Monsieur?
Can I offer you a pour? Or perhaps the plate
of the evening: the hen?
Monsieur.
Mr. Cross.
CREDITS