No matter what happens, I love you

“Even if I survive this, the regency is lost to me.”

“But you will fight…”

MARY: It's not just that. There are... There are other options, princes, kings.

CATHERINE: Like whom? Eric of Sweden? Frederick of Denmark? Do you know who else is pursuing them? Elizabeth. And she has a much bigger country to offer them.

MARY: You don't understand what he's asking, what he wants from me, what he wants me to do. I don't judge him, but...

CATHERINE: Well, what is it then?

MARY: He has this... contraption. It's for him, not me. I wouldn't be getting hurt at all, but...

CATHERINE: Oh, but he would be?

MARY: He wants me to give the experience a test run.

CATHERINE: Help yourself, Mary. Wed Don Carlos. If you thought that Scotland could rely on me, on France, you were wrong, because I am nothing now! Even if I survive this, the regency is lost to me.

MARY: But you will fight...

NARCISSE: The queen mother is right. She must be treated with all the respect that befits her station, and she must be given time to build a defense, one which I'm sure will exonerate her. We gathered here today because France needs a leader, and quickly, as the queen mother has often reminded us. That has not changed, no matter who bears the blame for this hideous crime. If the Church will not bless the queen mother's election, and no one else will step forward, I will offer myself.

CATHERINE: What? You snake.

NARCISSE: I would assume the position reluctantly, for as long as I have the council's confidence, and only until King Charles comes of age.

CATHERINE: He doesn't come of age for years. You will be acting as king. You are usurping the Valois family!

NARCISSE: Your Grace. We will now vote to confirm the queen mother as regent of France. If there are no objections, I move to confirm.mDo I have a second? Very well. All those in favor?

CARDINAL MOREL: In this urn is proof our late King Francis was murdered. The king's liver. Physicians say blackness like this demonstrates he was poisoned. We found it when shifting his remains to this urn.

CATHERINE: How can that be possible? I asked Francis if he thought his illness was poison, and he insisted that it wasn't. His doctors confirmed it.

CARDINAL MOREL: Some poisons can escape detection. Only an expert knows what they are.

CATHERINE: You think that I killed my son?!

CARDINAL MOREL: Every councillor here knows you've long sought the position of regent, even before Francis died.

CATHERINE: I loved him. He was my son! Are you out of your mind?

Reign

MARY: I'm not taking marriage advice from one of my enemies, thank you.

GIDEON: The prince harbors a secret. A dark one. Anna of Austria expelled him from her court for that very reason.

MARY: Why the sudden concern for my well-being? Perhaps Queen Elizabeth would like to keep me from marrying Spain?

GIDEON: Maybe I'm saving your life and I don't want to waste the effort. My silence would be as wrong as leaving you helpless back there in the woods.

MARY: Oh, very well. I'll bite. What is this terrible rumor?

MARY: No. He was so vague. I can only think of one thing that might...

CATHERINE: What?

MARY: He seemed to dislike that I didn't want to play a-a courting game. Where men chase women through the woods.

CATHERINE: That is... a rather odd request. But Mary, he would have no idea that a game like that...

MARY: Where men hunt women like prey.

CATHERINE: Ending with?

MARY: A kiss.

CATHERINE: It's a chasing game. A game, nothing more.

MARY: You're right.

CATHERINE: I think what he also seeks is some certainty that you will try, if only for a day, to let your grief over Francis pass. To give him a chance to warm your heart, if not to win it.