Original subtitles

Don't touch that.

It's not yours.

I brought your creature.

There are rose water wafers with cinnamon and ginger.

Cornelia made them specially. You think you can bribe me?

You haven't eaten in three days. Because you drugged me.

You were beside yourself.

I will not be your prisoner.

Don't be ridiculous. Eat. And then, we can talk.

Enough of your orders, Marin. I understand it all.

Your brother is...

..is a sodomite.

He is unlike most husbands, it's true.

You knew?

You all knew.

Dear God, I am your fool.

I have been a fool from the moment I arrived here.

We never laughed at you. Ever.

You knew he would never love me.

He likes you.

Like a pet. Like the dog, Rzecki, only less so.

It's true, isn't it?

He thinks less of me than his dog.

I cannot forgive this...trick.

You knew what this would be like for me.

How can I be happy with a man who is going to burn in Hell?

Your father left you paupers.

It was a kindness to bring you here.

You would have ended up a farmer's wife.

Who might have loved me. And in ten years,

when your hands are red raw with children squealing to be fed?

At least I would have been a proper woman.

You can be a proper woman without spawning brats.

What are you doing?

There's nothing for me here. There never was.

It was a mistake to come.

What will you tell them in Assendelft, Nella? Words are water.

One drop could drown us all.

I don't expect you to care about me,

but what will happen to Otto and Cornelia?

They are not my responsibility.

But you are mistress of this house.

Whose responsibility do you think they are?

Well, then perhaps I should just tell them the truth.

Do you know what they do to men like my brother?

They drown them.

The holy magistrate will tie weights around their necks

and push them in the water.

You would be signing his death warrant.

Is that what you want?

Go. Spread your wings!

Madame!

What are they going to do?

Throw me out?

This is your home now, Madame.

How can this house of secrets ever be called a home?

What is there for you in Assendelft?

From what I hear, there's more cows than there are people.

What do I have here?

You have a friend, Madame.

And more than just one.

Cornelia...

..was there someone Marin once loved?

I found something.

A note in Marin's room.

What kind of a note?

I think you know very well.

You want me to stay, don't you?

Are you bargaining, madame?

Yes.

I think I am.

Who wrote it?

Do you swear, madame...

..do you swear never to speak of this to a soul?

Why do you think Agnes Meermans hates Marin so much?

You're saying...?

Marin stole her husband's heart.

Frans?

Madame Marin was little more than a child when she first met him.

He was the Seigneur's friend,

perhaps 18, and Marin was 11 or so.

She first saw him at the Feast of St Nicholas.

There was music, dancing.

She thought he was a prince, so handsome.

He eats too much now, but back then...

You were barely a child then!

How do you know all of this?

Keyholes, Madame.

I've put it together, piece by piece.

When she was 15, the Seigneur took his first ship out to Batavia.

Frans stayed here - he was seasick -

but without a chaperone, she couldn't meet him.

Then, when Marin was 20, and the Seigneur had returned a rich man,

Frans came to the house and asked for her hand in marriage.

And Johannes...

Refused him utterly.

But why? He loved her enough to wait five years.

Meermans was handsome enough,

but he didn't have a good reputation.

Did Marin find out what Johannes had done?

Eventually.

But by then, Frans had married Agnes.

So, he's married to Agnes, but he still loves Marin?

He sends her gifts every St Nicholas Day,

the day they met.

He never puts his name, but we all know they're from him.

But a love note...

..that's different.

A love note's dangerous.

You should pretend you never saw it.

Peebo!

Look who has some raisins from the kitchen!

Peebo.

Peebo, where are you?

Peebo.

Peebo, where are...?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Peebo!

Peebo!

Hello?

Wait!

Wait! LOUD KNOCKING

Open up! St George's Militia.

Nothing, nothing at all.

No, there's nobody here.

I just want to talk to you. What are you doing?

Madame, you are needed back in the house.

What are you talking about?

We wondered where you had gone, Madame. Madame Marin was worried.

I was looking for Peebo.

My parakeet. He escaped.

We will help you find him.

"Blue periwinkle for early friends, Persicaria for restoration.

"I would buy you a new bird but..."

It would pale in imitation.

Do you think I can be bought with a cabinet, or dresses, or flowers?

I'm not trying to buy you. No, because you already succeeded.

Did she know, my mother, when she sold me?

Nella, please. The fault is mine.

Don't blame anyone else.

If they find out, they will drown you.

I've spent my entire life on the sea.

I am not afraid of drowning. And what about me?

You were drowning in Assendelft. Here you are safe, warm and dry.

I wanted love. Not safety.

As did I.

Always. You see?

The truth is...

..you and I,

we are more alike than we are different.

Marin, Cornelia, Otto, they wish for love, but value safety more.

You and I, our hearts are constructed differently.

What made you like this, do you think?

Nothing made me.

It was in my soul from the beginning.

They could cut me open from head to foot,

and still not get it out.

Here.

Please, they're yours. A peace offering, nothing more.

If you wish to leave, I will not stop you.

Otto will accompany you back to Assendelft,

with enough to settle your family's debts.

The marriage can be annulled.

You would be free to marry another.

What about the others?

They are not your concern.

And what about you?

I would like you to stay.

If I do...

..it will not be because you gave me flowers.

But because this is my home.

And because you swear to tell me the truth about everything from now on.

Everything, Johannes.

No more secrets.

You have my word.

I've asked Otto, Madame. He says he didn't open the window.

And it wasn't me. I didn't think for a moment it was.

He might fly back, Madame.

He won't.

Here, Madame.What is it?

Was it Jack who delivered this?

It was there when I went to wash the front steps.

What's in it?

Just some things for my cabinet.

You may go, Cornelia.

"Things can change."

Ah!

Mm!

Cornelia!

You're sure you didn't see who delivered that package?

No, Madame. I told you.

It's November now!

By December, it'll be too late.

Not to mention the damp in the warehouse spoiling the sugar.

What about the damp in my bones, boat-hopping in that weather?

But you were the one who told them to sell it abroad. You have to go!

If I go, I must take Otto. Winter is coming.

Are we three women supposed to lug firewood by ourselves?

I suppose I'll have to take someone else!

If you are even thinking...!

Nella. Did you...?

Did you have any luck with your parakeet?

Where are you going?

Venice. To sell Agnes' sugar.

We thought it'd be best.

For whom?For all of us.

Do you have the sample loaves?

My word is enough.

Why don't you take her?

She'd only get in the way.

Look after her while I'm gone.

Goodbye.

You put the flowers in your hair.

For restoration.

Didn't you want to see Venice?

I've been, Madame.

Once is enough to see the Doge's palace.

He could have taken me.

What are you trying to do to us?

Who have you told about us?

Nobody. No, you don't understand...

Dogs and furniture, I understand.

But Jack Philips?

What are you doing? Marin, no.

You shouldn't have done that.

Don't play with fire, Petronella.

Or you'll get burned along with the rest of us.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

INDISTINCT CHATTER

..Long gone...

Found him...a fortnight. He's been there some time.

A drowning.

They come to the surface at this time of year.

MUFFLED SOBBING

SOBBING CONTINUES

SHE GASPS

"Dear Madame, I thank you for your latest package.

"Was it you who returned the doll to the front step?

"If so, I am sorry that your excellent work was hurled

"onto the street.

"But your intentions remain a mystery, and some are unnerved.

"If you are a friend, not a foe, I ask that you send me a sign.

"Of what the English call backgammon,

"as my life is desperately short of such amusements."

All of them! Get rid of the lot!

THEY SHOUT

Oh...

Stop!Right, then, let's go.

What are you doing, Madame? What are they doing?

They've banned it.

Gingerbread? Gingerbread men, dolls.

Anything in the shape of mankind.

Arnoud was so angry, I thought he was going to lay an egg.

But why?

The Burgomasters.

Something to do with Catholics, false idols.

Who knows?

If you ask me, they're just trying to show us who's in charge.

But I'll have the last laugh. See?

I made horses and dogs.

Where was it you were going, Madame?

DOG BARKS

What are you doing here?

Get out...of here. Get out!

Wait! Wait.

I'm back on deliveries.

I have something for you, Madame.

You have no right to be here.

Johannes said...

You squeal like a mouse.

I need to see him. Is he back yet? Johannes!

He's not here.

You need to leave.

So, it's true. He's gone to Venice.

Well, don't tell me you believed him

when he said he was going there to work.How dare you!

I know him, Madame, better than you.

No-one works in Venice.

Milan, maybe.

But Venice is all dark canals and courtesans...

..and pretty little boys like moths,

flying to the brightest flame.

What's happening? Why is the front door open?

Get out.

Get out!

How many times have I told you to keep away?

Clean that up.

Your brother would fuck a dog if the price was right.

I said clean it up.

They say he gives it to you, too -

that he's the only man that will.

What a tired old insult.

DOG BARKS

How brave are you really, Jack?

Do you dare draw my blood?

Is that what you really want?

Bitch!

He said I couldn't work for him any more.

And whose idea was that?

Oh, so that's what this is about?

You child!

Just tell me what it'll cost to get you to go away.

I don't want your money.

I'm here to show you what happens when you meddle.

Otto, he has a knife.

Go.

Before I kill you.

He dresses you up as a lord, but the truth is,

you're nothing but a savage.

Do you know what he says about you?

He's going to get rid of you, savage.

Sell you to the highest bidder.

You're nothing to him, boy.

Now go.

Agh!

THEY GASP DOG YELPS

JACK SCREAMS

HE SHUDDERS

HE GRUNTS

HE WINCES

HE GROANS

Evidence.

Otto. Otto!

Oh...

Poor girl.

Godspeed.

What if Jack reports what I did?

You heard what he said - attempted murder,

with a knife and a wound to prove it.

The Militia would arrest me.

When they ask Jack why he was here?

He'd be signing his own death warrant if he told them.

English, a sodomite...

..a former actor in the playhouses?

I can't think of three things the Burgomasters hate more.

He has no money, and he needs it.

A man may do anything when he's desperate.

The Seigneur saved me, he taught me everything.

And look how I've repaid him.

There was never any debt to pay.

He employed me, Madame.

You haven't killed anyone. The boy's alive.

Johannes will be more worried about his dog than you.

I've endangered you.

I've endangered all of you.

I'm worried about Otto, Madame.

Then you must go to him.

Are you reading my mind now?

"The turnip cannot thrive in the tulip's patch of soil."

"Every woman is the architect of her own fortune."

"I fight to emerge."

"Things can change."

"The turnip cannot thrive in the tulip's patch of soil."

"Enough of this. Who are you?

"What do you want from me?

"Are you a spy?

"What is your business with Agnes Meermans?"

I know you're in there!

You have to come out eventually.

I can wait!

There's no need to bellow! They can hear you in Antwerp.

I need to find the miniaturist.

The what? No-one's been in that building for over a week.

But only yesterday she...

What's your name?

I might have something for you.

Petronella Brandt.

Left on that doorstep.

So...what do you have in there?

Cornelia.

"Don't let sweet weapons stray."

"Windelbreke."

Madame! The Seigneur has returned.

He's already asking where Rzecki is.

You haven't told him?

Rzecki!

I couldn't do it. It has to be you. Please.

Rzecki!

Johannes.

You're home safe.

Was Venice enjoyable?

Venice was Venice.

The Venetians never shut up, and too much dancing for my knees.

It's good to see you.

Rzecki!

Why is there no fire in this room? The house is freezing. Otto!

Morning, Otto.

Something wrong?

How many loaves did you sell in Venice, brother?It was slow.

I told you, I should have waited until the New Year.

Then perhaps it would be better to build such a gigantic fire

once the sugar is actually sold.

Don't provoke me, Marin.

It was you who forced me

to go out on a ship to Italy in the dead of winter.

You are the provocateur, not me.

And stop talking about this household as if it's yours.

It belongs to Petronella now.

Then she can have it.

I have wasted enough of my life

keeping yours smooth.

We are all nothing but prisoners to your desire, all of us.

Otto, do you feel like a prisoner?

No, Seigneur. What do you expect him to say?!

Look around you, Marin!

Amsterdam is closing down like a vice.

This house is the only place any of us are free.You!

You are free!

You keep us here while you barely bother to disguise

the things that you do! Is that the tale you tell yourself?

Marin, against the counsel of my soul,

I made a marriage that was a lie - and I did it for you!

You don't care about us!

The Meermans' sugar is ours!

I have allowed you to live your life without compromise!

And what happens when the Burgomasters find out

what you really are?I'm a rich man, Marin, I tell you what I'll do.

I'll stuff their mouths with gold.

No, Johannes, I am the one who pores over the ledger books,

I am the one - and the story that they tell is a sorry one indeed!

Oh-ho, Marin!

You think because you have some maps on your wall, some books,

and a few animal skulls, you know my business better than I do?

Stop! Stop!

All you had to do was marry. The one thing.

Marry rich, marry well.Both of you!

But, no, you couldn't do that. God knows we tried,

but all the guilders in Amsterdam... Rzecki is dead!

What?

Rzecki.

She's dead, Johannes.

Is this true?Oh, yes.

And all your own fault.

Your Englishman came knocking yesterday.

Your brothel moth.

He put a dagger through her head right here in your own hallway.

I warned you about him.

Over and over.

If it hadn't been for Otto...

What did you do to him? I didn't mean to.

What did you do?

He showed mercy.

Your pretty little English whelp got up and walked away.

"Dear Seigneur Windelbreke, I am writing to enquire about

"an apprentice you once had.

"She is female, with a tall, fair-haired appearance,

"and stares at me as if she would look into my soul.

"She has crept into my life, Seigneur,

"and the miniatures she sends are becoming more unnerving.

"How did she come to you, and why did she leave?"

Did you find him?

Who?Please, Johannes. You swore.

No more lies, remember?

You went to find Jack, didn't you?

It's hard to tell the truth

when your whole life has been built on lies and silence.

Nobody has ever been much interested in hearing it, until now.

This is not the marriage you imagined for yourself, is it?

I was foolish to imagine anything.

Without imagination, what else is there?

And you are no fool.

How much of the sugar did you manage to sell in Venice?

What is happening, Johannes?

Why will you not sell their sugar?

Look at me. The truth.

The truth?

Because Frans hates me and would like to destroy me.

And Agnes hates Marin.

While they had no inheritance, they had no power.

But once they have the money from the sugar,

there will be nothing in Amsterdam that will stop them.

Then why agree to sell it in the first place?

Because if I didn't, somebody else would.

You can't hold them at bay for ever.

I know.

The truth.

Now you have it.

You said something earlier that wasn't true.

What was that?

That our marriage was a lie.

Isn't it?

Not a lie.

Just different.

I wasn't expecting the woman you turned out to be.

Neither was I.

Tell me, Johannes.

How does this end?

I'll tell you how it ends.

Come January, I'll be gone again.

And this time, I'll make their profit for them,

and all will be well.

My stock always sells when I want it to. I promise.

What about you?

I'll take the consequences.

There has to be another way.

Here...

..I've something to show you.

Rzecki.

I've never seen anything like it.

Who on earth could have made such a thing?

I've been asking myself that question for weeks.

DOOR OPENS AND SLAMS

Wake up, Madame, please!

What is it?

Cornelia, what's wrong?

Is it Johannes?

No, Madame. It's Otto.

He's gone.

Why did he have to run like that?

I'll check the docks first.

And then, the prisons, in case he was arrested.

Cornelia!

Cornelia!

I can't light the kindling.

I told him nothing would happen.

Why didn't he listen to me?

It's better that he's gone.

By leaving here, he protected us.

Imagine what would happen to a man like Otto

if the Burgomasters got hold of him.

You knew he was going to leave, didn't you?

Let's just say he saw sense.

You sent him away, Madame?

I suggested it.

Yes, and we all know how your suggestions work.

BANGING ON DOOR

What if it's the Militia, come for Otto?

Well, they won't find him, will they?

BANGING ON DOOR

Frans. Where is Johannes? Johannes!

He'll be at the bourse.

No, I've been to the bourse, and the Company, and several taverns.

I am not my brother's keeper. More's the pity for all of us.

Last night, I went to the warehouse to see for myself

how much sugar had been sold.

Not a grain has been shifted.

Not a single blasted grain of all that sugar.

But it's worse than that.

Our fortune, our entire fortune,

is mouldering in the dark.

I touched it. Some of it was paste.

No, Frans. That's impossible.

Johannes would never permit that to happen.

I saw it with my own eyes.

God knows, that would be reason enough to ruin Johannes Brandt.

But there was worse to come.

Far worse.

Do you know what we saw,

pressed up against the walls?

We saw his devilry. What are you talking about?

Oh, come on, Marin. You've always known it.

You must have. But you, did you know it?

How he spends his time up against the warehouse walls?

Such a thing cannot be unseen.

That's right. Now you know -

and soon, the world will have to know,

how your husband takes his vile pleasures -

with a boy.

And what's more...

What's more, the boy says he attacked him.

No.

You've made a mistake, that's not possible.

Frans.

Frans, please...you're his friend.

Do not seek his punishment.

You know how it will end.

That friendship died years ago.

Our sugar is as abandoned as his soul.

Johannes Brandt is a worm in the fruit of the city.

And I must do my duty as a citizen.

Frans, you will ruin us.

Turn away from this.

Surely, we can... we can come to some arrangement.

We will sell your sugar and let that be an end.No.

I'm a different man now.

DOOR SLAMS

I don't believe...

It can't be true!

S-Surely, he can't have been such a fool!

Madame, calm, please! Did you not hear him?

He is going straight to the Burgomasters.

Then his arrogance is a gift.

Johannes still has a few hours to escape.

First Otto, now the Seigneur?

But we can't live here, just the three of us.

I don't know how, but we need to find a way to sell the sugar

and buy his silence. It can't all be rotten.

Nothing will keep his silence.

And what do you know of selling sugar?

Do you know all of the buyers in Europe and beyond?

The Milanese pastrymen? The London cooks?

Do you know five languages?!

I am searching for the light, Marin.

There must be some in all this darkness.

DOOR CLOSES

You have to go. You have to leave now.

Nella, what's wrong, what's happening?

Frans and Agnes saw you.

They saw you, Johannes.

At the warehouse, with a young man.

Was it Jack?

How could you, after the way he betrayed you?

It is not Jack Philips who has betrayed me, Nella.

It is this city.

Neighbours watching neighbours, twisting ropes to bind us all.

Well, they cannot bind you if you are not here.

Where will you go?

I have friends in many countries.

What does it open?The warehouse.

Here is the list that I've been working on.

People who may be interested in the sugar. Give it to Marin.

She's always wanted to run my business, and now she can.

But she'll find it's not as simple as she thinks.

Will you ever come back?

Amsterdam is a city like no other, but I have never called it home.

Well, where is home? Wherever comfort is.

But for a man like me, it can be hard to find.

I'll miss you.

I'll miss you, too.

More than I ever expected.

Where is Marin? Marin!

She says she is too ill to come down.

Johannes!

Take me with you.

You're serious?

A man travelling with his wife...

..doesn't attract a second glance.

They need you here, Nella.

Otto, Cornelia, even Marin,

much more than you know.

Here.

Promise me you'll come back.

No lies, remember?

I cannot change what I am.

One day, perhaps.

A third key?

What happened? The Militia came for her last night.

You said she'd gone. Then why are you here?

I thought she might have returned. So did they.

They left disappointed, but they cleared the place out.

Where have you gone?

I need your help.

Marin, would you happen to have...?

MUFFLED SOBBING

Marin?

What's wrong?Nothing, go away!

SOBBING CONTINUES

Marin.

I'm coming in. No, no, no, please don't!

What, by all the angels...?

Go away.

What is that in your hand?

I said, go away.What is it?

Marin! CUP SHATTERS

No! No! You have no right!

You understand nothing!

I understand everything! Johannes will be safe.

And even if they catch him, I have a list of names.

We will sell the sugar, and it will all be fine.

Oh, you stupid, stupid girl.

Don't you see?

It's not about him.

What don't I see?

Now do you see?

My God, Marin.

What have you done?