Merchants grow fat on trade while people die.
Work for reform from the House.
You will do as I command. Then I will kill your son!
My wife is beyond help and would be better off in an institution.
Sarah will not live. She has a defect of the heart.
You've been stricken in love
but there be no better young woman than Rosina Hoblyn.
When does your husband visit his family?
Every Thursday at eight for three hours.
That might be the better arrangement.
While I remain in this house
I will never come to grips with the loss of her.
Where will you go? To London.
I will do my best to bring Caroline back to you.
*CREDITS*
Dearest Ross, you are sorely missed by your children, your wife,
your dog and by all at home for whom you speak.
Order! Order! Gentlemen!
Mr Speaker, the Honourable Member for Ilchester has suggested that
poverty is a condition that Christianity may condone.
May I inform him that his arguments are repellent
as... as they are fatuous!
Sit down.
This week we've heard again how
scarcity of food does take its toll.
There's fever in Sawle. Six failing, four dead.
If they were stronger they could fight it, but...
..they've barely a crust between them.
Shamefully, some here consider it acceptable
for small children to be regarded as inevitable casualties
of our current food shortages!
Some blame the war, some the poor harvest,
yet how can it be that a man has work
yet still can't afford to feed his family?
Mr Speaker, yet again this House declines to endorse the Bill
to enforce a fixed price for grain.
Is it a mere coincidence that many of our Members
are also corn merchants?
And how long...
How long will we turn a blind eye to the suffering of the needy?!
If they're that needy, let them apply to the Poor House!
Nothing the House dislikes more than inconvenient truths
thrust in its face.
How does one ever get anything done?
Patience, stealth...
..compromise.
Guineas.
The child is malnourished.
Captain Ross did vow to put an end to this.
Nay, Sam, he went to Westminster to begin the process.
But what have he achieved since he went away? Have aught changed?
How is your wife? Commanding the House at home?
With more distinction than I can do here.
For all the use I am, I might as well be in Cornwall.
Well, you can surely be of use to His Lordship?
Is not his Bill due to come before the House?
The new road through St Day.
And the demolition of half a village to make way for it.
He'll be counting on your support. Yes. He's made that very clear.
So, it appears we are heartless brutes.
Who says so? The "starving poor"?
Apparently, by conspiring to keep grain prices high,
we are "filling our coffers at their expense".
Surely the starving poor should be thanking you
for providing employment.
And how do I do that? By ensuring my businesses remain in profit.
Quite.
Of course, if the starving poor require me to make less profit
by demanding a fall in the price of grain, then I will be unable
to employ so many of them and they will be all the poorer.
Ah.
Captain Poldark, are you here to look after your constituents?
That is the task of an MP, is it not?
Have we met?
Not in the House at any rate.
My Lord, will you and the Captain join me this evening?
A small gathering. No more than a hundred of your closest friends.
A pleasure, ma'am.
What a tiresome fellow.
A lost child is not easily forgot.
Unless one comes to London.
A slight fever but no cause for alarm.
I know I worry overmuch.
Forgive me, Mrs Whitworth...
..you're aware your husband once suggested
that you might harm the child?
I would never do so.
I entirely believe you...
..but why say it?
It's the only weapon I have against my husband's...
..attentions.
'Tis a little bare and cheerless but a woman's touch...
Rosina's?
You have a taking for her, don't you?
Somewhat.
But it isn't love, sister.
Least not what I recollect of love.
But that love can never come again.
I know it.
And Rosina don't rattle away like other girls.
She's quiet, thoughtful and kind.
And in time, love might grow.
Is that how it was for you?
No.
No, it was with me always, but...
..not with Ross.
He did not love me when first we wed.
But he came to.
Do you not think, Vicar, that my new
gown deserves matching slippers?
Oh...
I... may be obliged to limit these visits.
Yes, Vicar.
In fact, it will be for the best when I no longer visit at all.
Whatever you say, Vicar.
Mrs Parkins, do you know, is there a Poor House hereabouts?
St Leonard's, sir.
My nephew's there, to my shame.
Is he in debt?
Has he lost employment?
Oh, no, sir. He had wages, just not enough to live on.
Miss Cane...
..your experience in dealing with unstable and aggressive patients
will prove invaluable.
Every time I approach my wife to...
comfort her as only a husband can...
..she vows to murder our son.
What can be done?
No, please.
Please... Please don't...
'Ee must know that I've a liking for thee.
And 'tis on that account that I wish to explain what's in my heart.
For ye've maybe heard rumours of a girl I did once love.
And maybe it was ill-wished from the start...
..but love her I did.
And love her I always shall.
'Tis a hard thing to hear, I know.
But I can't abare to say what next I wish to say
without ye knowing the truth.
I like ye.
Take pleasure in your company.
I can offer ye a home.
A hearth.
A quiet yet comfortable living.
Maybe you'll go off and think it over...
..and in due time give me your answer.
No, Drake...
..I need no time.
You're a brave and honest man
and I believe our life together will be good.
May I call tomorrow to ask your father's permission?
Who are these people?
My new acquaintances from London, Oxford, Bath...
Not from Cornwall.
Sometimes the last thing one wants is to be reminded of home.
Ah, here's Captain Adderley.
You see his game?
Squiring her around London
so as to ingratiate himself further into high society.
Enys would not be impressed.
Nor Demelza.
Is there scurvy in Mellin?
I sent my steward with potatoes and carrots.
There's no oranges to be had for love nor money.
This is for the mine, but how many it'll feed...?
Do it not make a body wonder
what they London folk get up to?
I hope they have a care for one another,
as your mistress and I do here. Hmm.
'Tin't proper.
It's true that of late I've come to regard this
as more of a home than Killewarren.
The children's laughter consoles me.
Sometimes at Killewarren I find the silence oppressive.
Nights especially.
Do you picture them ever,
Ross and Caroline, together, in a world of which we have no part?
I might not fit as they fit in.
You know, I sometimes wonder...
If they'd met each other before they met us?
They'd be better matched. Would we?
Happy ever, sister. Rosina said yes. Oh... That's cheerful news.
And a blessing, for though Rosina be not of the connection,
she's a God-fearing girl and will surely mend his ways.
And his heart, it's to be hoped. That especially.
Ah, Mrs Warleggan,
Captain P is out of favour.
What makes you say so?
Well, relations between you seem less warm
than that night at Trenwith.
Ross...
..was at my house?
In your gardens.
I took him for an errant troubadour.
You don't recall me telling you?
Because your mind was more agreeably occupied.
It was the night you vowed to return to Parliament.
Ah.
Of course. That would account for it.
I do wonder that such a thing escaped me.
The thought of Ross and my property...
My dear, must we revisit this subject?
Did we not agree?
Suspicion has no place in a marriage.
We did agree.
Your hat, sir.
The night is young.
And I am not. I have a full day in Parliament tomorrow.
Well, I have no intention of retiring
until I fall asleep the moment I close my eyes.
I see that.
Ossie?
Why are you here?
What are you doing, Ossie?
You know what I told you.
Yes, my dear, that you would murder our son.
But Miss Cane is here now.
She will never let him out of her sight
so your threat is quite futile.
But your duty remains...
..so let us say a little prayer...
..and then you will submit to me.
Next.
Oi, you!
Hey... move on.
So, we thought Easter week.
In haste, are we?
Not at all, sir.
My Rosie be a fitty maid. Yes, sir.
Handy with needle and thread.
By rights I should be recompensed.
Is not a well-matched daughter recompense?
Look, how if I offer to mend all thy tools free of charge?
Oh, so it's bribery now? Father...
My brother Tom warned me of thee.
Saying what? What a sneavy, snivey little worm ye be!
Rosina...
..you and I talk over arrangements for the wedding breakfast.
She'll not find a truer, honester man than my brother.
Amen to that!
How the joy of resuming one's conjugal duty
pales beside the pleasure of the act itself.
Is it not a blessing to know we are about God's holy work?
A Poor House? To my shame, I've never set foot inside one.
I wish every Member of this House could do so.
They would soon see why men would rather starve
than commit themselves to such a degrading institution.
But if people lack employment... Many do not.
They only lack the sufficiency to meet the price of bread
and Parliament lacks the will to remedy that.
Perhaps there is no remedy.
Perhaps I should throw up my hands and go home.
Is that new?
How can we afford such fine things?
How do you think, my love?
Every week I save a few pence of your earnings
so that we may allow ourselves these little indulgences.
You're too good for me, Rowella.
Every day I think to marry such a goddess.
You are Artemis...
..Athena, Aphrodite.
My love, your mother and sisters. So kind, always thinking of others.
Give them my love.
Tell them I will visit next week.
No more wagers.
Come to try your luck, sir?
Do you have a reckless streak?
Only with my own money.
Dr Enys? Oh, Mr Solway, your sisters have the ague.
It's nothing to be concerned about but they are resting
and should not be disturbed. I thank you, sir.
I'll visit them tomorrow.
The house wins.
I really am quite hopeless. Should I quit the field?
Well, that seems a pity when it affords you such pleasure.
Interesting advice.
Entirely disinterested.
Having nothing to lose, I have nothing to gain.
How often we see those with nothing to lose
assisting others to lose all they have.
No more wagers.
Damn it, sir, you will pay me in full or give me satisfaction!
Do I make myself clear, Poldark? Are these gentlemen annoying you?
Who the devil are you?
Interesting manoeuvre.
Not one I'd recommend after two bottles of port.
I don't believe we've been introduced.
The Honourable Jasper Inchcliffe.
And I am Viscount Bollington.
Oh, I have the honour of being acquainted
with both your fathers at Westminster.
So, how may we resolve this to everyone's satisfaction?
Players, take your chances, please.
I hope this will recompense you for your trouble.
No trouble at all, sir. Truth be told, it's why I work here.
There's always some gent paying me to swab up after their relations.
Were it not for that, I'd never make ends meet.
Do I look dreadful?
Goodnight.
Ross? Fortunate misunderstanding.
Fortunate? In that I was the target, not Geoffrey Charles.
Where is he? Returned to Harrow.
Lesson learnt.
Are you quite sure he was gambling? I myself discharged the debt.
I must repay you. It's the least I can do for my nephew.
Ross, do you suppose...
Will this become a habit? Is he like...
Like his father?
I hope so.
For a truer, more generous heart would be hard to find.
I shall write and reprimand him.
No, do not.
If he thinks I've informed on him, he will no longer trust me.
If I can keep an eye on him... That role should fall to George.
We both know he would not want it.
Nor would Geoffrey Charles.
I'm obliged to you, Ross.
And I agree, Geoffrey Charles does not need to be told of our meeting
any more than George does.
Then the subject is closed.
My dearest Demelza,
thoughts of you console me and bolster my resolve
against the challenges of the House
where I find I have few allies.
I have a scheme in mind
but doubt it will be well received.
Yet, all the while, the food shortages continue.
My dearest Ross...
..our fortunes here are yet to improve.
In Sawle, the fever carried off three young Nanfans.
Dwight could do nothing for they were weak with starvation.
The loss of innocent lives makes me feel more keenly...
our own loss...
..and the distance between us.
You seem very far away.
Where are you?
Nampara,
thinking of my daughter.
Dear Clowance? No, no.
Julia.
Oh, forgive me. I have no wish to intrude.
Did I tell you how she died in my arms?
How I watched her...
..take her last breath?
I could not conceive how the life could go out of her...
..when the day before I'd...
..danced her on my knee.
We are taught to be strong.
To betray no weakness, but...
..that night I learned to be strong IS weakness.
Pain should not be avoided.
Tears must fall.
I shall visit Nat Pearce today.
Extraordinary how he lingers on.
Extraordinary too that you find not the smallest pleasure
in our congress.
Quite... baffling.
God's blessing be upon you.
You'll need them where you're going.
Yet...
..I must thank you for lingering on.
My visits here have provided the perfect cover for me
to service my ardent young sister-in-law.
Of course, now that I've prevailed upon my wife to resume her duties,
I'll no longer require those services.
So today will be the last time I visit either of you.
And may I cheerfully say,
the devil take you both.
And you, sir.
I've been thinking on this.
Suppose you're a waiter, you earn a pittance,
but with my small gratuity and that of others like me
you go some way towards making ends meet.
Yes. Thus saving yourself from the Poor House.
And?
Thus saving the state from having to pay out even more
to fund an institution which everyone hates.
In other words... Help the workers to keep working...
By helping them to eat.
Oh, Vicar, did I mention, the roof has begun to leak. Good to know.
It must be why Arthur's been laid so low,
shivering and weeping in his bed all week.
But repairs are so expensive. However will you manage?
Well, I was hoping... Blessed are they who live in hope,
for they shall receive God's benison.
Go forth, saith the Lord, and count thy blessings...
..for you have had the last of them.
I never thought I'd see you smile again.
'Tis not something comes easy, even now.
Then you must practise more, for tomorrow you're to be wed
and, in time, like Ross and me...
Love may grow? Love will grow.
Reverend Whitworth.
Yes? Who is it?
What do you want?
This is what I want.
You?
Aaargh!
Aaargh! Aaargh!
You're later than usual. Were your sisters well?
Arthur?
Dead?
? She's out in the meadow flower
? Gathering
? In the merry morning of May... ?
Why tell me, sister?
Why not keep me in the dark and let me wed that sweet, sweet girl?
Drake,
you know why.
This was no accident.
I cannot tell you, ma'am. I was not there. No, I'm telling you.
These lacerations and bruises...
Are consistent with a fall and the headlong bolt of a horse.
For which he could not possibly be at fault.
My son was an excellent horseman. Did he not ride to hounds?
But clearly someone is to blame
and I will not rest till I discover who it is.
I went to the smithy, found no sign of him.
Zacky seen him with Rosina.
Then he left - none knows where.
Judas, Sam, should I have told him?
Should I first have let him wed Rosina?
Yes, for she'd have made him a good and proper wife
and they'd have grown happy and served Christ together. Yes.
But then he'd never have forgiven me.
Demelza.
Drake's gone.
And Rosina? Rosina's brave.
Jack is raging, as is half the village. I don't wonder.
To jilt a girl on her wedding day? Dwight, what shall I do?
I'm that weary of keeping the peace...
..I just wish somebody would take care of me. Yes.
Ross should be here.
And Caroline.
So first you torment me and then you abandon me?
Return with me to Cornwall.
Sir Francis has room in his carriage.
We will have the swiftest possible journey.
Dwight would not thank me for returning with my demons intact.
You know very well he will embrace you, demons and all.
I did not weep.
Could not.
Even when Sarah grew cold in my arms.
I thought, if I could only keep hold of her...
..I could will her back to life.
When Dwight finally prised her from me, the agony was...
..so overwhelming.
I had to remove myself
from even the possibility of ever feeling that again.
By coming to London?
You know, there's nowhere like London for numbing the senses.
Is that what you desire?
Still?
For now.
But I have begun to weep, Ross.
And I will do so again.
Are you hungry? Help yourself.
Here, take some bread.
Ha, mistress or no,
don't you think you'll buy our favour!
Whenever he shows his face, brother
of yours will pay for what he done!
It's unfortunate we cannot attend the funeral.
I will write to my sister,
commiserating with her on the terrible news.
Some people think it was murder.
Do they?
But if that were the case, would not a weapon have been found?
True, yes.
Plans have been made. I shall take charge of John Conan.
As my grandson and heir, he will be properly educated.
His mother is wholly incapable. No wonder Osborne despaired of her.
Miss Cane, fetch the smelling salts.
Mrs Whitworth has fainted.
Morwenna.
Sincere condolences.
You must feel the loss keenly.
I feel nothing...
..but relief.
I loathed him with every bone in my body.
He sought to have me committed.
He took away my son.
He violated me...
..again and again...
..and again.
I did not know.
We could not possibly have known, cousin.
Our only thought was to provide you with an advantageous match.
Advantageous to whom?
He's gone.
But where?
Morwenna. Do not...
What is it? Please.
Leave me. Go away.
I had to come. I've been sleeping rough.
I know I don't look seemly. I beg ye to excuse that. I cannot...
I cannot bear it.
If it's too soon, I can come again tomorrow.
Just tell me when... Never.
What?
I'm sick.
Tainted.
It's done with.
Ended.
Please leave me now and never come back.
No, Morwenna, we can't part like this.
Who is this person, Morwenna?
Begging your pardon, ma'am.
I'm a friend.
A well-wisher.
I come to enquire... Go inside, Morwenna.
So please you, ma'am. Elliot! Clegg!
Morwenna... Horsewhip this person, then remove him from the premises.
Drake Carne was found lurking outside the vicarage?
Osborne's death may not be an accident after all.
You surely don't suggest... Where is Harry?
Should we not send for Captain Ross?
He've London matters to attend to. Besides, what could he do here?
Well, 'tis hoped the thing will blow over soon enough.
And no harm done.
Mr Warleggan did send me in his stead.
Thy little brother is wanted. I have orders to search the house.
George Warleggan don't give orders here - I do -
and you'll not set foot across this threshold.
Care to wager that, missus?
Hey! Hey!
Lunch at Ashbourne or shall we press on?
The latter.
If we're to succeed with this, the
sooner we put forward the scheme...
You will of course require Lord Falmouth's agreement.
As foremost landowner in the district,
nothing will pass without him.
He had no business to threaten them.
If they were sheltering a felon...
What proof had you that they were, or that Drake Carne IS a felon?
You go too far, George! My dear, I merely wish to see justice done.
For whose benefit? Morwenna's?
You heard her. She's glad Osborne is dead. Nonetheless...
George, the man was a monster and we forced her to wed him.
If you value my love... You know I do!
Do not pursue Drake Carne.
As you wish, my dear.
We will call off the search for Drake Carne.
Yes, sir.
There will be other ways to punish him.
See thee, Jacka, it's a terrible thing
young Carne did to thy daughter. Don't I know it!
Last time, Tom let him wriggle off the hook.
This time, we'll do a proper job.
Dear God, it gets worser and worse.
What can we do?
Pray for forgiveness, for sins and sinners.
Why?
Is it a sin to seek happiness for ourselves and others?
Only our merciful Father knows that.
Do he?
Sometimes it do feel like he don't think about happiness at all.
What a wicked thing to have happened.
I can't think it was an accident.
Nor we, maid.
Rosina,
when Drake came to you, did he... he tell you where he was going?
No, ma'am.
Only what had happened and that he had to go
because of what he called his "prior love".
Rosina, I'm that sorry.
To think if it had happened only an hour later, we'd be wed now.
And I know he'd never have left me.
So, if I understand you correctly,
after a year in which you have not once voted as I directed
and ignored my proposal for a road through St Day,
you now come to me seeking my support for a proposal of your own,
which will cost me dear and deliver me nothing in return?
Oh, praise God.
We've been waiting here, praying for you to come home.
Pay no heed to this, brother. She's changed.
She don't want me. She won't see me ever again.
Hey... It's all right.
Brother, Sam will take you home with him.
Ross!
I wish the world would go away.
What world?
Promise me you won't go after George.
I couldn't bear to have the feud stoked up again.
I'll let it pass this once.
For your sake.
And not for yours?
Will you not need his consent to your scheme today?
Which he'll refuse on principle.
So it will be a wasted journey.
Not entirely.
So, in short, I propose
a means-tested, sliding-scale of wage supplements
in order to mitigate the worst effects of the current food crisis.
And, by doing so, we can keep our mines and our mills working
and our workers fed.
And the cost of all this? Would fall
on the landowners of this parish.
We who are assembled here today.
And where, pray, is the incentive to
work if one pays people to be idle?
I believe, sir, you misunderstand the principle. Do I?
The assistance is temporary, while the price of grain is prohibitive,
to enable people to live and not die.
Of course another solution
would be for the grain merchants to lower their prices.
Why should they? Do they not have a living to make
as well as anyone else? I have no capital to spare.
Because you've spent it all buying up an entire borough.
If the scheme is to work, surely it's only fair
that all landowners in the district
participate. Where is Lord Falmouth?
If he's not willing, why should anyone else be?
Well, I suggest we take a vote.
Those in favour.
And those against.
Since there's no clear majority... I rather think there is.
I believe I'm just in time to cast my vote.
The Bill I have in mind has a particular place in my heart.
Were the road in question to be built,
it would considerably aid my scheme to clear the hovels of St Day
and build in their place an extension to my estate.
And the hovels of St Day,
specifically their inhabitants?
They will be rehoused...
..at my expense.
You have my word.
You have my vote.
As you have had mine.
I wish I could stay longer. You did what you came to do.
Now you must tell Westminster.
If it will listen!
Make it listen.
So, I propose that this new system of Poor Relief
devised in my own constituency,
implemented with great success,
should be adopted nationally so that health, welfare
and maintenance become the birthright not of the few
but of all!
Have the Honourable Member for Truro call on me.
He has some interesting things to say.
My brother do wish for no trouble.
I doubt George would approve of my visit.
It is you I'm keen to protect, George, from your own imaginings.
I will have you expelled from Parliament!
Morwenna's dead to me.
Oblivion. Can you supply that?
Good gracious! Mrs Warleggan! Dwight, help her!
My carriage! Call for my carriage!