01x07 - Begin by Creeping

[bunniefuu]

[DRUMS BANGING RHYTHMICALLY]

[OFFICER CHANTING] Left, right, left!

Right! Left, right, left!

Left, right, left!

[CHANTING CONTINUES]

Left, right, left!

Left, right, left!

Left, right, left!

[CHANTING CONTINUES]

[SOLDIERS JEERING, LAUGHING]

[DRUMS CONTINUE BANGING]

[OFFICER 2] That's right!

Go back to England.

[LAUGHING, JEERING CONTINUES]

[OFFICER 3] And go home!

[IN FRENCH] They won't even look at us.

I think we can get their attention.

Boys, give them a bit, uh

Something livelier to march to.

[SOLDIERS PLAYING YANKEE DOODLE]

Hey, rosbifs! Over here! Over here!

You lost!

How does it feel, huh?

To lose against an army

of rebels and frogs?

I and certain other personages

from New York have discussed

forming a society

dedicated to the principle.

My own conviction is that

abolition is a necessity,

but one which must be approached

in the most carefully

incremental manner.

On the matter of

manumission, for example,

I think release from servitude fitting

once the purchase price

has been earned back.

What have I promised you, Benoit?

I shall be freed after

seven years, Mr. Jay.

And so you shall, assuming

that certain conditions are met.

We're here.

[JOHN] He has arranged things

just to his liking, of course.

He pays no rent. Treats his

debts as mere suggestions.

The grandson gads about

like some c*ck of the walk

- whilst calling himself his secretary.

- [JAY] Hmm.

And more to the point, he's enthralled

to his masters at Versailles.

I strongly urge you to

regard his every utterance

with the greatest skepticism.

You believe him diminished by age?

I believe he should

never have been entrusted

with the commission to begin with.

Did we win at Yorktown only to

bend our knee before a French king?

We have been instructed to do so.

But do you mean to

follow those instructions?

In spirit.

- [DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]

- But not necessarily in letter.

My good Dr. Franklin.

Mr. Jay.

Have you come here to relieve

a weary man of his burden?

No, sir.

But, by the will of Congress,

I am here to aid you

in the making of peace.

- What do you have in mind?

- To give away little and gain much.

My intentions precisely.

Something you wish to say?

I have already said it.

Mr. Adams thinks me too

accommodating of our allies.

Possibly he mentioned it.

To be everyone's friend

is to be no one's.

A dilemma that you'll

never be burdened by.

- I did not come here to be liked.

- Well, you have succeeded admirably.

Perhaps it would be

better to meet tomorrow.

Nonsense. Nonsense. I've

set out a dinner for us here.

That's all we need to

- Doctor?

- [FRANKLIN] Ah, just a twinge.

- It's

- Do you require

I'm fine. I'm fine.

Will you agree to parlay

a roast and a good port?

- I would consent to meet them halfway.

- Mmm. Shall we?

Does your man need to eat?

I wouldn't know.

[IN FRENCH] You must be

pleased with yourself.

Why is that?

The British surrendered.

You got what you paid for.

Or should I say, what you

ransacked the treasury for.

As if you had nothing to do with it.

I'm not playing with toy

soldiers halfway across the world.

- [SIGHS]

- I just count the money.

You told the king it

wouldn't cost a sou.

But you're the one who spent it.

Your point?

You think this America of

yours will turn a profit?

Huh?

And all that gold flows back to France?

It's a reasonable bet.

What if you're wrong?

What if the Americans and the British

make their own deal

and cut us out of it?

- They can do nothing without our consent.

- Oh, really?

Is that what you'd do if

you could get away with it?

You're a sly little conniver, Necker.

And you're not?

This country could

go bankrupt, you know.

That wouldn't turn out well.

For either of us.

[CLEARS THROAT]

[VERGENNES] Very well, gentlemen.

Let's get this meeting over with.

[MEETING ATTENDEES CHATTERING]

[VERGENNES] Ah, oui.

[AUDIENCE CHEERING] Bravo ! Bravo !

[CHEERING, APPLAUSE CONTINUES]

I'm telling you Beaumarchais

was in the audience.

- I didn't notice him.

- He left before the last scene.

Then he can go f*ck himself.

[CHUCKLES] You think he came to see you?

Why not? I'm the only one in

this company with any talent.

- And I'm the king's b*ll s*ck.

- [HISSES]

[LAUGHTER, CHATTERING IN DISTANCE]

[SIGHS]

I BOW BEFORE MY QUEEN.

[SIGHING]

TINCTURE OF ARSENIC

[STAGEHAND] Odette, you have a visitor.

Just a moment.

Enter.

What a gentleman.

I'd hardly recognize you.

You got the flowers?

Are they from you?

How kind.

It's nothing compared

to what you deserve.

It's very sweet. And you're

very sweet to give them to me.

I'd give you the world

if that's what you wanted.

What would I do with such a gift?

Anything you'd like.

I think about you all the time.

[CHUCKLES] I can't possibly be worth it.

What about you?

Do you think about me?

Now, you need to listen.

Someone's coming here and

we'll need to be alone.

- [SIGHS]

- Do you understand?

What if I don't like that?

You could challenge him to a duel.

But I'd be very unhappy if you lost.

[WHISPERS] I wouldn't lose.

That would be even worse.

What do you mean?

Monsieur Beaumarchais was here tonight.

He couldn't stop raving

about my performance.

I invited him to visit.

There's a part in his new play, and

You don't want to spoil

that for me, do you?

When can I see you?

Later. Yes?

[SIGHING]

matter of our instructions.

What is there to say except

we are bound to follow them?

Are we, though?

Meaning what?

That Congress has prostituted itself

by surrendering its sovereignty

to the comte de Vergennes.

[CHUCKLES] Now, there's

a reasonable statement.

We didn't fight a w*r to be

ordered about by Versailles.

Ingratitude is hardly a way to

establish America's reputation.

Here is your friend's

demand for our borders.

Everything west of the Allegheny

is left to Spain for

France's own purposes

or reserved for the benighted natives.

With Britain squatting above us

like a pasha over a chamber pot.

Is this the nation you imagined?

I would not object to

a helping of Canada.

How do you propose to get it?

Since our hosts are not

inclined to serve it.

By goodwill and friendly persuasion.

[JOHN] See why you were sent for, sir?

If we cannot count on France,

then upon who else may we depend?

On God and ourselves, Dr. Franklin.

You would deliberately violate

Congress's instructions?

They are 3,000 miles

and two months away.

Why have they entrusted us with

this task if not to do as we see fit?

That is sophistry, Mr. Jay.

Then I will be clear.

If those instructions compromise

our honor, I would break them.

Like this.

[IN FRENCH] It's me.

Odette?

you think. She had an accident.

What kind of accident?

It's more like a mistake. But it's

done with, and she's all right now.

Why did she send for you?

I suppose she trusts me.

You don't care about her. You don't

care about anyone but yourself.

[SCOFFS]

You won't like it.

Odette.

[ODETTE GASPS]

- [IN FRENCH] Are you ill?

- I felt sick. That's all.

- I'll fetch a doctor.

- No reason.

[SIGHS]

You're cold.

[WHISPERS] I'm fine.

Tell me what's wrong.

It's not serious. Just something

I needed to take care of.

What does that mean? Tell me.

She means she's not ready to give

up the ingenue roles just yet.

[TEMPLE SWALLOWS]

Was it mine?

Was it mine?

[SWALLOWS] I'm tired.

[SEX WORKERS CHUCKLING]

[BANCROFT CLEARS THROAT]

I'm here.

Ah. Ashcroft, is it?

Bancroft.

Of course. Terribly sorry.

Who are you?

Strachey. Undersecretary

to the Home Office.

I expect you know why I'm here.

In the Palais-Royal?

In Paris.

Well, negotiate a peace with

the Americans, I should think.

Hard to believe it's come to

that, but, uh, there we have it.

Awkward thing is, I have

somehow been charged with, uh

Well, your man that you, uh

- How to put it

- Sold secrets to.

He shan't be coming round again.

What does that mean?

He's been sent on.

Well, where to?

Really couldn't say. Suriname?

[STAMMERS, CHUCKLES] H-He's gone?

Oh, absolutely. Yes.

But also no.

[BANCROFT] Beg your pardon?

You don't happen to know

his whereabouts, do you?

Well, I thought he'd be here.

But he's not, though. I'm here.

I don't suppose you've got

any new bits to pass along?

It'd be ever so helpful, you

see, as we, uh, stagger forward.

It's all in the report, I'm afraid.

Yes. Of course.

All right then.

Ever been to Florida?

I've not had that privilege.

Have a plantation there. Indigo.

Requires a great lot of Negroes.

Expect I'll lose it all.

[SIGHS]

[SIGHS]

[CHUCKLES]

Come, come. Uh, the both of you.

- [SEX WORKER] Oh. [LAUGHS]

- [BANCROFT CHUCKLES]

[PATRONS CHATTERING]

[DEALER, IN FRENCH] Young

sir. The bet is to you.

You and me, eh?

How's that?

Till the last candle gutters out.

Bon.

Merde.

What?

[IN FRENCH] I've watched the

queen play this at Versailles.

We're graced with royalty.

The losing card.

I took you for quality

the moment I saw you.

I said to myself, here's a man

who knows how to appreciate

[DEALER] The winning card.

Oh.

We're all fortune's fools, eh?

You bet the jack.

What?

[TEMPLE] You bet the jack.

Not the 10.

You're mistaken.

You moved your tokens.

How did I do that?

[PATRONS EXCLAIMING, MURMURING]

[GROANING, PANTING]

[PATRON] Oh, non !

[BOTH GRUNTING, PANTING]

[PATRONS GASP]

[GRUNTING CONTINUES]

You want to think

about what you do next.

[GASPING, PANTING]

So do you.

- [PATRON] Count Artois. [SIGHS]

- [PATRON 2] It's the king's brother.

[CHARLES] He fixes a

horsehair to the bottom token.

And while he's talking,

he slides his stack over.

Isn't that so?

- [TEMPLE GROANS]

- You can't blame a man for trying,

Your Grace.

[PANTING]

[CHARLES] The other pocket.

Go away.

[GROANS, PANTS]

What's all that horseshit

about you and my sister-in-law?

It's true.

I was in Versailles with my grandfather.

And who's he?

[PANTING]

Benjamin Franklin.

[CHUCKLES] That's right.

You're Lafayette's little monkey.

I'm not anybody's anything.

- [CHUCKLES]

- [GROANS]

And now the great hero is off

fighting for freedom again.

How absolutely f*cking noble.

[SIGHS] Good riddance to him.

And you do what, exactly?

wh*re, drink, gamble

[CHUCKLES] Very good.

We have interests in common.

[PANTING CONTINUES]

Come along.

We'll find something or other for you.

[CHUCKLES]

[GROANS]

We leave them no room for equivocation.

They must affirm they will not parlay

with Britain without telling us first.

They'll demand the same of us.

Which our instructions

already make plain.

They will not see past that shadow.

So let us be frank amongst ourselves.

We mean to deceive.

No.

We mean to lawyer.

Do you concur?

- Dr. Franklin, do you concur?

- Let's seek our terms.

[SIGHS]

[VERGENNES] I am unclear as to

what you are actually saying.

You have read our instructions, sir,

and see what we are charged with.

I have read them, yes.

Then what is your concern?

Not all orders are

[SIGHS] obeyed.

[JOHN] Meaning what?

Only what I have said.

That is an outrageous accusation.

I accuse you of nothing, Mr. Adams.

[JOHN] You called me a liar to my face.

But you have just told me you

are not. Why would I doubt you?

And you, sir?

What assurance have we

that you will not make your own peace

with Britain and leave us bereft?

The same assurance you have given me.

Is that not sufficient?

You do not regard the

word of Congress as bo

[GROANING]

- I-I beg your pardon.

- He's playacting again.

[GROANS, SIGHS]

Monsieur le Comte, my friend.

Doctor, you are in pain.

You and I, we have walked a

long road together, have we not?

We have. With many turns.

And I've come to know you

as a true and generous ally

and an honest man.

[SIGHS]

Now the end that we have both

sacrificed years to is in sight,

and we're both eager at the gate.

But I say, before all

assembled in this room

we will not betray you.

And faithful to you we

shall remain, mon ami.

- [PERSON SPEAKS FRENCH]

- What was that?

- I said what was true.

- That's not what we agreed.

You two agreed. I only listened.

Do you side with America,

France or merely yourself?

Dr. Franklin, I hold you

in the highest regard,

but if we do not act in concert

- Enough of this puffery.

- Mr. Adams, please.

No. I will not hold my

tongue in the face of

[CANE CLATTERS]

- [RAIN PATTERING]

- [THUNDER RUMBLING]

[GROANING]

[GRUNTS]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

What devilment have you been up to?

You're not supposed to talk.

[GROANING] Yet I am doing so.

Well?

[TEMPLE SIGHING]

[TEMPLE PANTS]

I have obtained a position at court.

As what? A punch bag?

That was a separate affair.

Oh, you worry me, boy.

Best worry about yourself.

[SIGHS]

- Do as you see fit.

- [SIGHS]

Ah, my tormentor. What punishment

will you inflict upon me?

Well, no doubt you've

made your own diagnosis.

A bladder stone I've

had at least 50 years.

And now it is having you.

Can he be helped?

Lithotomy. [SIGHS]

Lithos, stone. Tomos, cut.

An incision through the

abdomen above the pubis

and the gravel removed with forceps.

Can you perform such an

operation, Mr. Bancroft?

[STAMMERS, SIGHS]

I would rather entrust it to

others with more experience.

But it would cure him?

Uh, where are Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay?

[TEMPLE] Just Just outside.

Can you fetch them?

If your courtly rank allows that.

[GROANING, SIGHING]

[SIGHING DEEPLY]

He was at your side all night.

I could not make him leave.

How would you parse the odds?

Of surviving the procedure? [SIGHS]

You've calculated that already.

I am in agony, friend.

Then you may chance it.

But I will have no

part in such butchery.

In the meantime [SIGHS]

you must not move.

It would be better to somehow

approach the, uh The urethra.

A tube of some clever design

slid up the canal and

[GRUNTS]

How are you keeping now, sir?

Fit for the Labors of Hercules.

No such exertions will

be required, I think.

[JOHN CLEARS THROAT]

Yes, Mr. Adams?

I wish to

That is to say, I should not

have doubted your distress.

Perhaps I gave you cause.

Mr. Adams and I have been

discussing how to proceed.

We are both of the mind that

delay will not aid our cause.

It will not.

[JAY] And so, we think it best

to move forward with the British.

Keeping you, of course,

informed of our progress.

Within reason.

And the pledge to our allies?

Well, you gave your word.

I propose something else.

We convene here,

and so act in harmony

towards our common goal.

You really deem that prudent?

What says Versailles?

You see how it is?

Not even the drumbeat of mortality

can penetrate that colossal self-regard.

- Mr. Adams

- He would insist from the grave

that he is indispensable.

We are to gather by his

sickbed so that he, only he,

- may cut the Gordian knot

- Mr. Adams

and deliver onto us

his audience, his worship

Mr. Adams!

We need him.

[IN FRENCH] What do you want?

I'm here to serve the Count of Artois.

[LAUGHING]

Says who?

[CLICKS TONGUE]

Through there.

[DOOR OPENS]

Get on with it.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[PAGES MURMURING]

Whose man are you?

[SIGHS]

I serve the Count of Artois.

[CHUCKLES]

He serves the Count of Artois!

[PAGES LAUGHING, MOCKING]

[MOCKING]

[LAUGHING, MOCKING CONTINUES]

[ALL CHEERING]

[SPEAKING FRENCH]

[LAUGHTER CONTINUES]

Who do you serve?

[RECEPTIONIST] Let's go! Step

lively, you miserable squirrels!

- [PAGES CLAMORING] Merci. Monsieur !

- [RECEPTIONIST] Get these delivered!

Hurry! Do this quickly!

[CLAMORING CONTINUES]

- [PAGE] Sir, please!

- [PAGE 2] Please, sir. Please.

[BOTH SPEAK FRENCH]

[RECEPTIONIST] There.

[SPEAKS FRENCH]

[PAGES COMPLAINING]

[SIGHING]

Marie, you'll have to

wash this sheet again.

And Louison, you can take

Well, don't just stand there.

I'm not going to beg you.

[GRUNTS]

had brought my sketchbook.

[STAMMERS] Madame.

How are you?

[GRUNTS] Lifted by your arrival.

After too long an absence.

I have been occupied with

family affairs, I'm afraid.

All is well, I hope.

Absolument.

I am to be a grandmother.

Oh, it's life's greatest blessing.

You are engaged in

weighty matters, I am told.

Horse trading, madame. Plain and simple.

And Mr. Temple?

He flourishes, I expect.

He, um

He's embarked upon a career at court.

I never doubted his prospects.

[IN FRENCH] Do you intend to keep

throwing knives at each other?

[CHUCKLES]

[STAMMERS] What would you have me do?

I've already bathed him

and changed the sheets.

Let's get him onto the bed.

manage that myself, thank you.

[GRUNTING, GROANING]

[SIGHS]

- [ANNE GASPS] Ooh. Ooh!

- [FRANKLIN GRUNTS, SIGHS]

[GROANING CONTINUES]

You are rather enjoying

this, aren't you?

No. No, no. No, not

under the circumstances.

We are happy to leave you being.

No, I [GROANS] I bid you to stay.

Please. Both of you. Please.

[KISSES]

I brought you something, mon bon

papa. Can you guess what it is?

A, um, suckling pig

and a well-aged sherry?

[CHUCKLES] Not exactly.

[SIGHS]

[ANNE] You must keep warm.

[IN FRENCH] Let him in.

First Minister. May I introduce

Who are you really, anyway?

That's up to you.

Mr. Paul Wentworth.

Monsieur le Comte.

What a singular honor.

yourself a gentleman?

[SIGHS] Only when it suits.

And you are in this country why?

I'm fond of a good Bordeaux.

[IN FRENCH] Don't arse

about. You're not in a tavern.

[SIGHS]

for England against the rebels.

You do not seem to have succeeded.

[IN FRENCH] Not for lack of trying.

Eh, my little worm?

negotiation between Britain and America.

The Americans mean to f*ck you

over the first chance they get.

[IN FRENCH] If it's all

right to say that here.

swore to me otherwise.

I swore I'd love some

wench forever last night.

Today I couldn't tell you her name.

We're after the same thing, you know.

What is that?

The best end to a bad bargain.

[SCOFFS]

We do not wish to get

it in the same way.

No. You like some perfume

between you and the stink.

That's what makes you a true gentleman.

- [IN FRENCH] Get him out of my sight.

- You wanted a lever. I brought you one.

You brought me a pig

rooting in the swill.

[LENOIR] What do you

want me to do with him?

Hang him for all I care.

You see? I get my prize either way.

[DOOR SHUTS]

Et

If he's telling the truth?

I'm sending you to London.

[SIGHS]

We need to make sure our

own interests come first.

[GRUNTS]

It's all the same to you.

Mmm. With pleasure. But later.

[IN FRENCH] In the meantime,

you'll keep me informed about what

your countrymen are up to here.

this highly irregular.

It is rather not to our

advantage, Mr. Oswald.

We are already on unfriendly soil.

And what precise room we

negotiate in is of little moment.

But we're coming to them.

It does tilt the balance a bit.

[LAUGHS]

Would you have us turn and leave?

I simply note the circumstances.

[OSWALD] Mm-hmm.

Mr. Grenville?

They shan't be getting

Newfoundland. I tell you that.

[HORSE BLUSTERS]

Dr. Franklin, I am honored

to be in your company.

Though sorry to see you so indisposed.

Oh, think nothing of it, sir. I'm

grateful for your accommodation.

Perhaps future negotiations

should take place with us all abed.

[GROANS]

Merely a suggestion.

Before we proceed,

do you regard yourselves

as beholden to France

concerning agreements we come to here?

We intend to act in whatever fashion

Permits us to remain in concert

with our faithful allies.

[OSWALD] I ask only because

their interests are not yours.

And you may find

yourselves bound by treaty

to a w*r you do not wish to fight.

Debts paid are still obligations owed.

A point of honor for men.

But nations use a different

calculus, do they not?

[JOHN] Three matters are of the essence.

Our unqualified independence,

the removal of all your troops

and the extent of our boundaries.

We are eager to discuss

reparations for seized property.

Plantations, for example.

On what grounds?

On the grounds that

subjects loyal to the Crown

be compensated for their losses.

And of the depredations that

you have visited on Americans?

What recompense for them?

It was your own lawless

rebellion which gave cause to

Can we agree to discuss this issue

in a free and open

manner at a later date?

So I'd wish, Mr. Oswald, but neither

one of us is getting any younger.

What do you propose?

Canada.

What of it?

You give it to us.

Which part?

All of it.

Does that include Newfoundland?

I would imagine.

- That is an impossibility.

- It is an imperative.

How so?

New England's ancient

stake in the sacred codfish.

A century of thieving fishermen

does not constitute a legal claim.

By natural right of usage

under English common law.

Perhaps having once taken a

stroll past the Royal Mint,

you might also like

His Majesty's Treasury.

Enough of this peevish nonsense.

- I will not be hectored.

- Dr. Franklin.

Mr. Oswald.

What would be the

chance of a cup of tea?

[SIGHS]

[RECEPTIONIST, IN FRENCH] Let's go!

Step lively, you wretched lickspittles!

- [PAGES CLAMORING]

- [RECEPTIONIST SPEAKING FRENCH]

[CLAMORING CONTINUES]

- [RECEPTIONIST SPEAKS FRENCH]

- [TEMPLE PANTING]

Excuse me? Hello.

- Message for Monsieur Gérard.

- Give it to me.

I'm supposed to hand

it to him personally.

Then you'll have to chase

him all the way to England.

nothing but a pompous dissembler.

As for Grenville, that untutored cub

He needs a good boxing about the ears.

But Oswald. Oswald is a

canny one like all his kind.

One-eyed men?

The Scots.

I feared you were going to say that.

Are you so blind to not

see he intends to divide us?

No, nor so foolish as to let him do it.

That blunder will fall to someone else.

Me? Is that what you imply?

That I would be the

age That my resolve

You actually have the temerity to

Gentlemen!

[SIGHS]

It has been a long day.

You may think me excitable and

overkeen to judge, but mark me.

His folly demur for France is

a stone that will drag us under.

[IN FRENCH] Come close, gentlemen!

An exceptional show tonight!

For ten sols! Only ten sols!

Come and see, gentlemen!

The great Pyrenean bosom!

[SPEAKING FRENCH]

Do not hesitate but wait

for your turn, gentlemen!

Don't be shy! Everyone

can have their turn!

Did sir find pleasure?

Yes. Marvelous.

Hey, chevalier, fancy a ride?

Look what I've got here for you.

I'll take you to heaven.

I'll take you to hell.

Are you lost?

I've run away from home.

A cruel stepfather?

He locked me in the tower.

But you escaped.

Rescued by my beloved.

Where is he?

Lost on a b*ttlefield

in a place called Virginia.

Died for America, did he?

And took my heart with him.

How can I help?

Five livres.

Up front.

[CHUCKLES]

[IN FRENCH] Through here.

Yes.

[SHOUTS, BREATHES SHAKILY]

Not happy to see me?

No. On the contrary, dear friend. I

I feared some ill fate had befallen you.

Judging by your look, I suspect

Do you remember what I told you?

What exactly?

I'd take you with me.

To Suriname?

To the devil.

- What is that?

- It's the boy's admission of treason.

You don't recognize it?

You did write it, after all.

Wha

- What What am I to do with it now?

- Hand it to a willing recipient.

Our masters have already

begun to negotiate.

I mean, what would be the point?

It would stop me from nosing you

out for the two-faced f*ck you are.

They'll hang you for that,

dear friend.

I did pay her five livres.

I'll see it doesn't go to waste.

- [FRANKLIN GROANING]

- [URINE SPLASHING]

[FRANKLIN] M-Make yourself useful.

[GROANING]

Is it the fashion to

dress as a page now?

[TEMPLE] The queen has

a taste for simplicity.

[FRANKLIN GROANS] No doubt

you'll soon be a prince

done up in rags.

Gérard's gone to England.

- Come again?

- He left this afternoon.

[FRANKLIN PANTING]

You know this how?

I have an intimate in his office.

And the purpose of his journey?

I couldn't say.

But if we were at chess,

I'd keep an eye on Monsieur

Vergennes's king-side bishop.

[SIGHS] I managed to teach

you something after all.

It seems we're obliged to play

a different game ourselves now.

But you gave your word.

Did I?

A shame, really.

I do so like the French.

Sorry to disturb you at

such an hour, but, um

[STAMMERS] Something has

come to light and I

Well, I'm compelled to seek

out the wisest counsel I know.

[CHUCKLES] You are too generous.

[CHUCKLES] You are too modest.

As you may be aware,

I have, on occasion,

aided Dr. Franklin in the

organizing of his papers.

A fool's errand, if you ask me.

Nonetheless, I have tried.

To my dismay, I discovered [CHUCKLES]

that I unwittingly took some

correspondence back to my lodgings.

No great cause for consternation.

Of course, of course.

But [BREATHES SHAKILY]

I found this.

In Master Temple's hand.

I-I-I cannot attest to its veracity,

nor explain why the

doctor kept it secret.

And why show it to me?

Because too much is at stake

to trust a man whose

loyalties are suspect.

Well

you have come to your senses at last.

Sir?

The son, the grandson, and yet

somehow the patriarch is without sin.

Have I not warned against

his duplicity for years?

I did not wish to believe it.

Our fates cannot be founded on wishes.

May I keep this?

If you must. I

Bancroft, I commend you.

As a patriot.