Barkskins

Previously on Barkskins...

Doesn't matter what happened before.

Here we can begin again.

What sort of a man are you?

I am your man.

Yes. Come.

In a few days,

you will meet the men you will marry.

Unlike back home, you have the upper hand.

Choose wisely.

I did what you asked.

Land cleared, Iroquois blamed,

the time to move on this territory is now.

No.

We must not appear anxious.

The Hudson Bay Company must see as allies,

and I will take care of that.

The time is now, Mr. Cooke.

Is Mr. Cross missing then?

It's been a month since his last report.

He was a punctual man.

I'm here to discover his fate.

Who might you serve, Mr. Goames?

The truth.

Mr. Goames. What's this?

Found them out by the settlements.

Near the creek.

There were no survivors.

I conducted a thorough search myself.

Not thorough enough it seems.

We did our best.

Do you know who she belongs to?

She has the mark of the devil.

It is a birthmark. Nothing more, now move away.

You shall hand them over to me,

so that I can see to their care and recovery.

We can manage without your assistance, Captain.

One guest per room.

You will move and apply what is owed.

No!

No, no...

Uh, as a priest, he can have a slot at the stable.

Perhaps it is best to keep out the curious.

I will not have my business suffer.

Hush, Francis!

I will draw the girl a bath.

And fetch Véronique's dresses from the chest.

I will not, Mathilde.

We have no use for them.

You will fetch them for me, now.

I will not.

Would you like me to visit your bed or not?

I will stay away a very long time.

Winter. Spring.

Duquet.

Duquet.

No. No.

No, no.

Monsieur Trepagny.

Duquet is gone.

Then he is down the path.

No.

What sort of a man are you?

I don't know what you mean.

Well, you vouched for Duquet.

You gave your word on his character.

I take him here to my doma,

show him the path to become a free and landed man,

and now he has fled the contract of his indenture,

leaving me to suspect what lurks in your heart.

Will you flee?

Or sink your axe into my skull the moment I turn my back?

No, sir.

I will have you know if you abandon our agreement

like our compatriot Duquet,

I will weigh twofold on your hide

the fair and proper punishment due your ilk.

I am a man of my word.

You had better be.

Now.

Now, tell me of the ram.

It is no coincidence that Duquet took his leave

after bringing that cursed ram here.

Duquet said nothing to me.

Now...

I fear I have loosed something into this world

I will soon regret.

Duquet?

Yeah.

A cunning creature who,

if he does not find his death,

will prosper as frog to pond, rat to rot,

the clever Duquet will find his place in Wobik.

Duquet is afraid of the woods.

He will get lost and die.

I'm sure of it.

He will overcome that fear because he is a rat.

And he will prosper with his teeth and claws

and never full belly.

I will search again.

Tomorrow.

No.

You must return to your duties.

Now, if I may avail myself

of your fire just for a moment.

Monsieur Trepagny is passed out in my cabin.

That is a good place for him.

Come in and eat.

We shall see to Trepagny after.

Shut the door.

Did Trepagny ask of your day?

He did.

I did not tell him of your trip to the manor house.

It will be our secret.

And tomorrow, I will show you another secret.

I have trees to clear for the Doma.

Please.

Thank you.

Mari.

How did the manor house get there?

It's a secret.

Who built it?

Men like you. Many men.

What happened to those men?

Hmm, they left.

Why doesn't Trepagny stay in the manor?

He is waiting for a sign,

and then we will live in it together.

As husband and wife?

Yes.

He must not know that you have seen it.

Perhaps now you could help me

with returning Monsieur Trepagny to his bed.

He has already been in it...

Twice.

I will not have him again.

Not when he has been into the brandy.

You can tell me what this is.

Trepagny writes these letters.

I won't intrude on another man's business.

- You can read? - Yes.

Good. Then you shall tell me what it says,

and I will not tell Trepagny of your trip to the manor house

and of what you saw.

Then you will help me return him to bed?

Yes. You have my word.

What does it say?

Nothing.

Look, even I can see the words.

They are to the filles du roi.

No, it is about land, Mari.

A business dealing.

And that he is a faithful and loyal servant of the church.

He has more land than he can hold.

It is for a fille du roi.

He wants to fill the doma with children.

It is about land, Mari, and nothing more.

Now, please, help me return him to bed.

Do not lie to me.

A fair offer.

May we agree on that?

We've told you our price.

You have told me your price and I have told you mine,

and now we find the middle ground.

Middle ground?

Is that where you stick it to us, Mr. Cooke?

Your land is swamp.

The trees are twisted, they're good for fence posts,

not so much for barrel stavings and

there are the Iroquois to consider.

My brother believes Levesque will offer twice your price.

A Frenchman who whispers of no conditions

that we hide his name on the deed.

Go with Levesque.

But you should know it is his wife who holds the purse strings,

and she holds them tighter than she holds his baubles.

And if his offer's really twofold my own,

then what are we doing here?

We only wish a fair price from you

if we are to keep our name on the deed.

'Tis a sad fact of industry that not every man can profit.

But in the interests of concluding this chat

I will offer you an additional 42.

And in return,

you'll vacate the land from the trail to the creek,

and cover my title in your good French name.

Pleasure doing business with you.

Move off.

You told me that this was done.

How is it that they found survivors then?

Sit.

I, I don't know.

You asked me to clear the land of them, that's what I did.

No, I expressed an interest in the parcel.

You proposed a fix,

the details of which I remain gladly ignorant.

I did what you wanted me to do.

And yet it was somehow buggered.

How is that?

I delegated it to Henri Marth.